bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A highly efficient surface plasmon polaritons excitation achieved with a metal-coupled metal-insulator-metal waveguide
Authors: Yang Hongyan , Li Jianqing , Xiao Gongli
Published: December 2014

We propose a novel metal-coupled metal-insulator-metal (MC-MIM) waveguide which can achieve a highly efficient surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) excitation. The MC-MIM waveguide is formed by inserting a thin metal film in the insulator of an MIM. The introduction of the metal film, functioning as an SPPs coupler, provides a space for the interaction between SPPs and a confined electromagnetic field of the intermediate metal surface, which makes energy change and phase transfer in the metal-dielectric interface, due to the joint action of incomplete electrostatic shielding effect and SPPs coupling. Impacts of the metal film with different materials and various thickness on SPPs excitation are investigated. It is shown that the highest efficient SPPs excitation is obtained when the gold film thickness is 60 nm. The effect of refractive index of upper and lower symmetric dielectric layer on SPPs excitation is also discussed. The result shows that the decay value of refractive index is 0.3. Our results indicate that this proposed MC-MIM waveguide may offer great potential in designing a new SPPs source.
Excitation of surface waves on one-dimensional solid–fluid phononic crystals and the beam displacement effect
Authors: Moiseyenko Rayisa P. , Liu Jingfei , Benchabane Sarah , Declercq Nico F. , Laude Vincent
Published: December 2014

The possibility of surface wave generation by diffraction of pressure waves on deeply corrugated one-dimensional phononic crystal gratings is studied both theoretically and experimentally. Generation of leaky surface waves, indeed, is generally invoked in the explanation of the beam displacement effect that can be observed upon reflection on a shallow grating of an acoustic beam of finite width. True surface waves of the grating, however, have a dispersion that lies below the sound cone in water. They thus cannot satisfy the phase-matching condition for diffraction from plane waves of infinite extent incident from water. Diffraction measurements indicate that deeply corrugated one-dimensional phononic crystal gratings defined in a silicon wafer are very efficient diffraction gratings. They also confirm that all propagating waves detected in water follow the grating law. Numerical simulations however reveal that in the sub-diffraction regime, acoustic energy of a beam of finite extent can be transferred to elastic waves guided at the surface of the grating. Their leakage to the specular direction along the grating surface explains the apparent beam displacement effect.
Modelling the risk of different joining times and lamb sale policies
Authors: Robertson S. M. , Southwell A. F. , Friend M. A.
Published: December 2014

Month of joining and lamb sale strategy influence both the quantity and so value of lamb produced, and the feed required, so are important management decisions contributing to the profitability of sheep systems. Simulation modelling was used to evaluate the impact on gross margins of three lamb sale strategies for different months of joining and varying stocking rates. A flock of purchased Merino ewes producing crossbred lambs in southern Australia was modelled between 1971 and 2011. April joining produced higher gross margins than November or January only if the number of ewes per hectare was increased to potential carrying capacity. At the optimum stocking rate for each month of joining, three sale policies – a flexible lamb sale policy (where lambs were sold depending on seasonal conditions); selling lambs in December; or selling at 45-kg liveweight, all produced a similar mean gross margin, but the feed resources required were least using the flexible strategy (April-joined mean 195 ± 253 s.d. kg/ha for flexible compared with 219 ± 270 kg/ha if selling December or 1085 ± 459 kg/ha if sold at 45 kg). Mean gross margin differed between sale strategies by up to AU$66/ha if the optimal stocking rate was not used. These results suggest that the most advantageous lamb sale strategy will vary with both month of joining and stocking rate used, and should be considered when optimising sheep management systems.
What is the best additive to use at the ensiling of sugarcane SP81-3250?
Authors: Rabelo C. H. S. , Costa A. P. , Rezende A. V. , Härter C. J. , Florentino L. A. , Rabelo F. H. S.
Published: December 2014

Our objective was to determine the best additive to use for the ensiling of sugarcane SP81-3250 based on the nutritional properties and aerobic stability of the silages. The additives evaluated were (1) and (2): salt (NaCl) at rates of 1.0 or 2.0 kg/100 kg fresh sugarcane (as-is basis), respectively; (3) and (4): quicklime (CaO) at rates of 1.0 or 2.0 kg/100 kg fresh sugarcane, respectively; (5) and (6): commercial inoculants Silobac® and Maize All®; and a control treatment. The addition of quicklime reduced the NDF and ADF contents of the silages by 11% compared with the control treatment, but did not increase the digestibility. On the other hand, after 24 h of in vitro fermentation, the application of 1.0 and 2.0% salt reduced the gas production by 34.15 and 33.55 mL/g OM, respectively, and the IVOMD was reduced 5.74 and 5.90%, respectively, compared with the untreated silage. Moreover, the addition of quicklime elevated the pH of the sugarcane silages, with a trend towards an increase in the DM recovery. In contrast, the bacterial inoculants did not alter the pH values, but there was an upward trend for a DM recovery. After the silos were opened, the silages that were treated with salt (independent of the dose) and 1.0% quicklime exhibited greater stability. We recommend applying 1.0 kg of quicklime to each 100 kg of sugarcane at the time of ensiling to improve the nutritional characteristics of sugarcane silage variety SP81-3250.
Effect of low light intensity at night on cow traffic in automatic milking systems
Authors: Hjalmarsson Fanny , Olsson Ingemar , Ferneborg Sabine , Agenäs Sigrid , Ternman Emma
Published: December 2014

Several studies have shown benefits of long-day (16 h) photoperiod in lactating dairy cows, but have not identified a suitable light intensity for the dark hours. It is known that the locomotion pattern of dairy cows is altered at low light intensities and this may translate to reduced cow traffic and milking frequency, which would have a negative impact on system productivity. However, it is also recognised that a significant disturbance of rest may have a negative impact on the health and productivity of high-yielding dairy cows. This study examined the effect of three different night-time light intensities (LOW: 11 ± 3, MED: 33 ± 1 and HIGH: 74 ± 6 lx) on number of gate passages, milking frequency and milk yield in dairy cows in automatic milking systems. The study was conducted in Sweden during the winter of 2012–13 and the treatments were applied in a crossover design to three herds with an automatic milking system. Minimum day time light intensity was 158 lx. Data on gate passages, milking frequency and milk yield for 172 ± 49 (mean ± s.d.) cows during the last 22 days of each 34-day study period were analysed for treatment differences and differences in daily distribution over 24 h, during day time and night time. Light intensity did not affect total number of gate passages per 24-h period and cow, but number of gate passages per hour and cow was in all treatments lower during night time than during day time. Milking frequency was increased in MED compared with both HIGH and LOW (P < 0.05). Milk yield decreased with reduced light intensity, and differed significantly between HIGH and LOW treatments, 45 ± 1 kg and 44 ± 1 kg, respectively (P < 0.001). Our conclusion is that reducing light intensity to 11 lx at night time does not affect cows’ general activity as gate passages remained the same for all treatments. However, milk yield decreased with reduced light intensity, which might be related to a lower feed intake. We argue that providing night light for dairy cows, as required by many welfare acts, might be related to production level rather than welfare aspects and that the recommendations should be revised.
Modelling the effect on stocking rate and lamb production of allowing ewes to graze a dual-purpose wheat crop in southern New South Wales
Authors: McGrath S. R. , Virgona J. M. , Friend M. A.
Published: December 2014

Slow pasture growth rates during winter limit the potential gross margins from autumn and early winter lambing in southern New South Wales (NSW) by limiting stocking rates and/or increasing supplementary feed requirements. Dual-purpose crops can reduce the winter feed gap in mixed-farming systems by increasing the available feed in winter. The simulation software AusFarm was used to model a mixed-farming system at Wagga Wagga with Merino ewes joined to terminal sires and grazing lucerne-subterranean clover pasture over a 41-year period. A paddock of dual-purpose wheat was then added to the system, and ewes were allowed to graze the wheat crop when feed on offer reached 850 kg DM/ha and before GS31. Weaned lambs were sold after late August if lamb growth rates fell below 20 g/head.day, mean lamb weight reached 45 kg or production feeding of lambs was required. Lambing in June resulted in the highest median gross margin whether or not ewes were able to graze the wheat crop during winter. Grazing of a dual-purpose wheat crop resulted in greater proportional increases in gross margins as stocking rate was increased, increased lamb production and reduced supplementary feeding costs, and reduced interannual variability in gross margin returns.
Effect of temperature and pre-incubation time of fibrolytic enzymes on in vitro degradability of Brachiaria (Brachiaria decumbens)
Authors: Dineshkumar D. , Abdalla A. L. , Silva S. C. M. L. , Lucas R. C. , Cavalcante S. E. A. S. , Souza G. D. , dos Santos P. P. , dos Santos J. E. M. , Louvandini H.
Published: December 2014

The ruminant production system in Brazil is based mostly on grazing and relies on native pastures and cultivated grass pastures. Improving forage digestibility is essential to overcome the energy loss and excessive nutrient excretion by livestock. Use of exogenous fibrolytic enzymes on tropical grasses has shown promise in increasing forage utilisation and productive efficiency of ruminants. The present study was taken up to evaluate the effect of temperature and pre-incubation time of cellulose-treated substrate (CTS) and xylanase-treated substrate (XTS) on in vitro degradability of Brachiaria decumbens substrate. Two commercial fibrolytic enzymes, cellulase and xylanase, were applied at the manufacturer’s recommended dose of 7.5 and 0.46 enzymatic units per 500 mg DM, respectively. Effect of temperature regimes of substrate exposure (18°C, 25°C and 32°C) and pre-incubation times with the enzymes (0, 12 and 24 h) were investigated in a complete factorial design. Three adult rumen-cannulated Santa Inês sheep served as inoculum donors. Substrates were incubated in vitro in semi-automatic gas production (GP) system and blanks were included for each inoculum. The GP was calculated, rumen degradability and volatile fatty acids (VFA) were determined. Interaction effect between temperature of substrate exposure and pre-incubation time with the enzyme was significant on degradable neutral detergent fibre (DNDF, g/kg) for both CTS (P = 0.01) and XTS (P = 0.04). Net gas production (GP, mL/g DNDF) of XTS (P = 0.06) differ on temperature versus pre-incubation time, whereas CTS were similar (P = 0.34). Partition factor, total VFA and acetate : propionate ratio were non-significant for both the enzymes. These findings highlight that Brachiaria may respond well to exogenous application of cellulase at all the environmental conditions studied and does not need any pre-incubation period.
Nutrient selection by dairy cows grazing chicory or perennial ryegrass during spring
Authors: Muir S. K. , Ward G. N. , Jacobs J. L.
Published: December 2014

Traditional measures of the nutrient concentration of herbage before grazing may not accurately depict the nutrient intake of grazing animals. An experiment was conducted to investigate differences in DM and nutrient intake, and milk production of lactating cows offered chicory- or perennial ryegrass-based diets during spring on a commercial dairy farm in south-west Victoria. This experiment was conducted in mid-lactation (spring), with chicory (Cichorium intybus L.), perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) and a mixed sward of chicory and perennial ryegrass offered at two daily allowances (nominally 20 and 30 kg DM/cow to ground level). Selection differentials for estimated metabolisable energy (MJ/kg DM), neutral detergent fibre (NDF; g/kg DM) and acid detergent fibre (g/kg DM) varied (P < 0.05) with forage type, while allowance affected selection for estimated metabolisable energy, crude protein, acid detergent fibre and NDF (P < 0.01). However, the differences in selection differentials observed between the chicory, mixed sward and perennial ryegrass under the same conditions indicated that preferential grazing for leaf rather than stem in chicory may affect nutrient selection in a way that differs from perennial grass species, resulting in much lower intakes of NDF than indicated by traditional measurements of feed characteristics.
Pattern of partitioning of aflatoxins from feed to urine and its effect on serum chemistry in Nili-Ravi buffalo heifers
Authors: Aslam N. , Iqbal Z. M. , Warriach H. M. , Wynn P. C.
Published: December 2014

The objectives of the present study were (1) to monitor the pattern of excretion of aflatoxinM1 in urine after its conversion from aflatoxinB1 and (2) to observe the effects of different levels of aflatoxinB1 in feed on serum concentrations of key metabolites glucose, total protein, cholesterol and urea as indicators of metabolic status. Nili-Ravi buffalo heifers (n = 12) of similar age and weight were randomly distributed to four groups. Animals in Groups A, B and C were offered a contaminated cottonseed cake-based concentrate ration at 0.5%, 1.0% and 1.5% of bodyweight, respectively. Control animals in Group D were fed with aflatoxinB1-free green fodder. Based on the level of contamination of the concentrate ration with aflatoxinB1 (554 µg/kg), Groups A, B and C consumed 953, 2022, 3202 µg of aflatoxinB1 daily. Feed samples were analysed at Romer Laboratories Pty Ltd, Singapore by high performance liquid chromatography. AflatoxinM1 quantification in urine samples was conducted using a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with kits supplied by Helica Biosystems, Inc., USA. Serum samples were analysed for concentrations of glucose, total protein, cholesterol and urea using clinical chemistry kits provided by Human diagnostics (HUMAN, Biochemica und Diagnostica mbH, Germany). Carry-over rate of aflatoxinM1 in urine for Groups A, B and C was 15.51%, 15.44% and 14.04% of aflatoxinB1 while there was no detectable aflatoxinM1 in the urine of the control group (D). There was no significant difference in the concentrations of serum glucose, total protein and cholesterol between treatment groups. However, the concentration of serum urea was significantly higher (P < 0.05) in the group offered the highest level of aflatoxinB1-contaminated concentrate. This result suggests that mycotoxicosis may compromise protein metabolism and accretion in affected animals. This leaves open the possibility that high concentrations of aflatoxins in milk may ultimately affect the health status of human milk consumers.
New approach to improve the calibration of main fatty acids by near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy in ruminant meat
Authors: Mourot B. P. , Gruffat D. , Durand D. , Chesneau G. , Prache S. , Mairesse G. , Andueza D.
Published: December 2014

This study aims to investigate alternative near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) strategies for predicting beef polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) composition, which have a great nutritional interest, and are actually poorly predicted by NIRS. We compared the results of NIRS models for predicting fatty acids (FA) of beef meat by using two databases: a beef database including 143 beef samples, and a ruminant database including 76 lamb and 143 beef samples. For all the FA, particularly for PUFA, the coefficient of determination of cross-validation (R2CV) and the residual predictive deviation (RPD) of models increased when the ruminant muscle samples database was used instead of the beef muscle database. The R2CV values for the linoleic acid, total conjugated linoleic acid and total PUFA increased from 0.44, 0.79 and 0.59 to 0.68, 0.9, 0.8, respectively, and RPD values for these FA increased from 1.33, 2.14, 1.54 to 1.76, 3.11 and 2.24, respectively. RPD above 2.5 indicates calibration model is considered as acceptable for analytical purposes. The use of a universal equation for ruminant meats to predict FA composition seems to be an encouraging strategy.
Methane emissions and feeding behaviour of feedlot cattle supplemented with nitrate or urea
Authors: Velazco J. I. , Cottle D. J. , Hegarty R. S.
Published: December 2014

Nitrate may serve as a non-protein nitrogen (NPN) source in ruminant diets while also reducing enteric methane emissions. A study was undertaken to quantify methane emissions of cattle when nitrate replaced urea in a high concentrate diet. Twenty Angus steers were allocated to two treatment groups and acclimated to one of two iso-energetic and iso-nitrogenous finisher rations (containing NPN as urea or as calcium nitrate), with all individual feeding events recorded. A single methane measurement device (C-lock Inc., Rapid City, SD, USA) was exchanged weekly between treatments (2 × 1-week periods per treatment) to provide estimations of daily methane production (DMP; g CH4/day). A 17% reduction in estimated DMP (P = 0.071) resulted from nitrate feeding, attributed to both a tendency for reduced dry matter intake (DMI; P = 0.088) and H2 capture by the consumed nitrate. NO3-fed cattle consumed a larger number of meals (14.69 vs 7.39 meals/day; P < 0.05) of smaller size (0.770 vs 1.820 kg/meal) each day, so the average interval between a feeding event and methane measurement was less in NO3-fed cattle (3.44 vs 5.15 h; P < 0.05). This difference could potentially have skewed the estimated DMP and contributed to the tendency (P = 0.06) for NO3-fed cattle to have a higher methane yield (g CH4/kg DMI) than urea-fed cattle. This study found short-term methane emission measurements made over 2 weeks (per treatment group) were adequate to show dietary nitrate tended to reduce emission and change the feeding pattern of feedlot cattle. Changes in feeding frequency may have confounded the ability of short-term methane measurements to provide data suitable for accurately estimating methane per unit feed intake.
Wireless sensor networks to study, monitor and manage cattle in grazing systems
Authors: González L. A. , Bishop-Hurley G. , Henry D. , Charmley E.
Published: December 2014

Monitoring and management of grazing livestock production systems can be enhanced with remote monitoring technologies collecting information with high temporal and spatial detail. However, the potential benefits of such technologies have yet to be realised and challenges still exist with hardware, and data analysis and interpretation. The objective of this paper was to propose analytical methods and demonstrate the value of remotely collected liveweight (LW) and behaviour of beef cattle grazing tropical pastures. Three remote weighing systems were set up at the water troughs to capture LW of three groups of 20 animals for 341 days. LW data reflected short-term effects following the first rain event (>50 mm) at the end of the dry season, which resulted in LW losses of 22 ± 8.8 kg of LW at a rate of –1.54 ± 0.46 kg/day (n = 60). This period was followed by a peak daily LW change (LWC) of +2 kg/day. The remote weighing system also captured longer environmental effects related to seasonal changes in forage quality and quantity with highest LWC during the wet season and weight loss during the dry season. Effects of management on LW and LWC were observed as a result of moving animals to paddocks with more edible forage during the dry season when the negative trend in LWC was reversed after rotating animals. Behavioural monitoring indicated that resting and ruminating took place at camping sites, and foraging resulted in grazing hotspots. Remotely collected LW data captured both short- and long-term temporal changes associated with environmental and management factors, whereas remote monitoring collars captured the spatial distribution of behaviours in the landscape. Wireless sensor networks have the ability to provide data with sufficient detail in real-time making it possible for increased understanding of animal biology and early management interventions that should result in increased production, animal welfare and environmental stewardship.
Ruminal inoculum activity in cattle supplemented with corn grain at different daily frequencies: evaluation using the in vitro gas-production technique
Authors: Antúnez G. , Cajarville C. , Britos A. , González A. , Repetto J. L.
Published: December 2014

The aim of this study was to evaluate the fermentation activity of ruminal inoculum from cattle fed fresh pasture and supplemented or not with corn grain at different daily frequencies. Twenty heifers with ruminal catheters were randomly assigned to four treatments. Animals were fed pasture ad libitum and non-supplemented (T0) or supplemented with corn grain at 1% of bodyweight offered in one (T1), two (T2) or eight (T8) meals per day. After 20 days of adaptation, ruminal inoculum of each heifer was used to evaluate fermentation activity by the in vitro gas-production technique, using alfalfa, white clover or ryegrass as substrates. Gas production was measured at 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 18, 24, 48, 72 and 96 h from the beginning of incubation. Data were fitted to an exponential model and potential gas volume, fractional rate of gas production and lag time were analysed by PROC MIXED, considering the effect of treatment and substrate, and their interaction. The three parameters were affected by the substrate. Supplementation frequency did not affect the potential gas volume or the fractional rate of gas production. An interaction between treatment and substrate was detected (P < 0.01) on lag time, but only when ryegrass was used as the substrate. In conclusion, increasing the frequency of supplementation did not show benefits for the fermentation activity of ruminal inoculum, at least when the type of pasture used in this experiment was supplemented with corn at 1% of bodyweight.
Nutritive value for ruminants of winter oats–legume intercrops in organic cultivation
Authors: Díaz Alexey , Carro María Dolores , Palacios Carlos , Mateos Iván , Saro Cristina , Tejido María Luisa , Ranilla María José
Published: December 2014

Winter oats were grown according to European organic farming regulations in monoculture (oats) and in intercropping with bard vetch (BAV), bitter vetch (BIV) or both legumes (MIX) to evaluate the effects of intercropping on forage yield and nutritive value for ruminants. The experiment was carried out as a randomised complete block design with four replications, and whole forage samples were obtained at two harvest dates (June and July). For both harvest times, all intercrops increased (P < 0.05) forage yield compared with oats, but forage crude protein content was only increased (P < 0.05) for BAV and MIX. Compared with oats, intercropping with BAV increased (P < 0.05) in vitro rate of gas production and total volatile fatty acid production, indicating a higher rate and extent of rumen degradation of BAV forage. In contrast, BIV forage harvested in June had lower (P < 0.05) rate of gas production and total volatile fatty acid production than June oats, but in general no differences in the in vitro rumen fermentation were detected between oats and BIV samples harvested in July. The results indicate that forage yield and quality can be enhanced by intercropping oats with BAV; however, intercropping with BIV increased yield but decreased nutritive value of the forage.
The effect of lipid sources on intake, rumen fermentation parameters and microbial protein synthesis in Nellore steers supplemented with glycerol
Authors: Insuasti Arturo Samuel Gomez , Salcedo Yury Tatiana Granja , Castagnino Pablo de Souza , Vieira Bruno Ramalho , Malheiros Euclides Braga , Berchielli Telma T.
Published: December 2014

The effects of glycerol with fat sources as a feed alternative were investigated in the ration for Nellore steers (Bos indicus). Eight cannulated steers at 30 months of age with initial bodyweight of 554 ± 36.0 kg were used in a double 4 by 4 Latin square design with four consecutive 16-day periods. Treatments were three different diets with lipid sources (soybean, soybean oil and calcium salts of fatty acids) and one diet control without lipid sources. All diets formulated contained 10% crude glycerol and 5% ether extract with a forage:concentrate ratio of 35:65; corn silage was used as forage. The ruminal liquid was sampled for 24 h and ruminal fermentations were monitored by measuring pH, concentrations of ammonia nitrogenand volatile fatty acids in rumen fluid. Urine samples were obtained from the total collection for 24 h for estimation of rumen microbial protein supply using urinary purine derivatives. Our results showed that the use of lipid sources combined with glycerol did not induce significant changes in rumen pH, acetate molar proportion, ruminal microbial protein or dry matter intake. Although the acetate molar proportion was kept constant within normal parameters, the propionate molar proportion was increased by the diet containing lipid sources. Moreover, we found that there was a negative effect of lipid sources on crude protein and neutral detergent fibre corrected for ash and protein intake, and one positive effect on ether extract intake. We believe that association between fat and glycerol may affect rumen fermentation parameters through reducing fibre intake and increasing propionate production and ammonia nitrogen.
New ways of measuring intake, efficiency and behaviour of grazing livestock
Authors: Greenwood Paul L. , Valencia Philip , Overs Leslie , Paull David R. , Purvis Ian W.
Published: December 2014

Wireless sensor networks (WSN) offer a novel method for measuring important livestock phenotypes in commercial grazing environments. This information can then be used to inform genetic parameter estimation and improve precision livestock management. Arguably, these technologies are well suited for such tasks due to their small, non-intrusive form, which does not constrain the animals from expressing the genetic drivers for traits of interest. There are many technical challenges to be met in developing WSN technologies that can function on animals in commercial grazing environments. This paper discusses the challenges of the software development required for the collection of data from multiple types of sensors, the management and analyses of the very large volumes of data, determination of which sensing modalities are sufficient and/or necessary, and the management of the constrained power source. Assuming such challenges can be met however, validation of the sensor accuracy against benchmark data for specific traits must be performed before such a sensor can be confidently adopted. To achieve this, a pasture intake research platform is being established to provide detailed estimates of pasture intake by individual animals through chemical markers and biomass disappearance, augmented with highly annotated video recordings of animal behaviours. This provides a benchmark against which any novel sensor can be validated, with a high degree of flexibility to allow experiments to be designed and conducted under continually differing environmental conditions. This paper also discusses issues underlying the need for new and novel phenotyping methods and in the establishment of the WSN and pasture intake research platforms to enable prediction of feed intake and feed efficiency of individual grazing animals.
Ruminant glycogen metabolism
Authors: Gardner G. E. , McGilchrist P. , Pethick D. W.
Published: December 2014

The biochemistry of glycogen metabolism is well characterised, having been extensively studied in laboratory rodents and humans, and from this stems the bulk of our knowledge regarding the metabolism of glycogen in ruminants. With respect to intermediary metabolism, the key tissues include the liver and muscle. The liver glycogen depot plays a central role in intermediary metabolism, storing and mobilising glycogen during the fed and fasted metabolic states, with these responses modulated during pregnancy, lactation, and exercise. Alternatively, the muscle glycogen depot is particularly important for local energy homeostasis, and is likely to be less important as a key post-prandial sink for blood glucose given the reduced absorption of glucose from the gut in ruminant animals. Yet similar to the liver, this depot is also in a constant state of turnover, with the muscle glycogen concentration at any point in time a reflection of the rates of glycogen synthesis and degradation. Muscle glycogen metabolism attracts particular attention given its importance for post-mortem acidification of muscle tissue, with a shortage at slaughter leading to dark cutting meat. Simplistically the concentration of muscle glycogen at slaughter is a function of two key factors, the on-farm starting levels of glycogen minus the amount depleted during the pre-slaughter phase. On-farm concentrations of muscle glycogen are largely a reflection of metabolisable energy intake driving increased rates of muscle glycogen synthesis. Compared with simple-stomached species the rate of glycogen synthesis within ruminants is relatively low. Yet there also appears to be differences between sheep and cattle when fed diets of similar metabolisable energy, with cattle repleting muscle glycogen more slowly after depletion through exercise. While metabolisable energy intake is the key driver, genetic and age-related factors have also been shown to influence glycogen repletion. The amount of muscle glycogen depleted during the pre-slaughter phase is largely associated with stress and adrenaline release, and several recent studies have characterised the importance of factors such as exercise, age and genetics which modulate this stress response. This paper presents a summary of recent experiments in both cattle and sheep that highlight current developments in the understanding of this trait.
Interpretation of diffusion gradients in thin films (DGT) measurements: a systematic approach
Authors: Galceran Josep , Puy Jaume
Published: December 2014

Environmental context Dynamic speciation of an element in a natural medium is essential for understanding its availability. The technique of diffusion gradients in thin films (DGT) has become a widely used tool for in situ environmental studies, being applied to determine fluxes of metal cations, anions, organics and nanoparticles. The interpretation of the measurements with suitable physicochemical models gives valuable insights into the behaviour of the system. Abstract Gaining insight into the physicochemical processes integrated in a DGT (diffusion gradients in thin films) measurement and combining them in a model can assist in retrieving fundamental information, both qualitative and quantitative, on the probed system. New experiments (such as varying the thicknesses of the gel or the resin layer) and their mathematical treatment to extract meaningful parameters have been suggested from theoretical considerations. The concept of lability degree is useful in describing an interpretation of the DGT concentration as the summation of the free metal concentration plus the labile fraction of all complexes multiplied by a ratio of diffusion coefficients. In some cases, the lability degree can be directly estimated with specific measurements and a very simple expression. We review the current status of these interpretations, including numerical simulations, with special focus on analytical expressions, because they can be more accessible to the standard DGT practitioner. Present limitations and challenges for future work in DGT interpretation are also discussed.
Neighbourhood influences on mental health in master planned estates: a qualitative study of resident perspectives
Authors: Francis Jacinta , Giles‐Corti Billie , Wood Lisa , Knuiman Matthew
Published: December 2014

Issues addressed

Neighbourhood characteristics have been linked to a range of health outcomes, including mental health. Despite the growth of master planned estates (MPEs) within Australia, few studies have investigated the physical and social correlates of mental health in residents of new housing developments.

Methods

This study aimed to identify the facilitators of, and barriers to, mentally healthy neighbourhoods using focus groups with residents of MPEs in metropolitan Perth, Western Australia. Focus group interviews were analysed using qualitative research software package QSR NVivo. Results an.

Conclusions

Results suggest that mental health is strongly influenced by a sense of community and security, as well as an aesthetically pleasing environment. Residents of MPEs may experience a strong sense of community due to similarities in life‐stage and the community building efforts of property developers. Expanding population size, social exclusion, and insufficient services may negatively affect the mental health of residents in MPEs.

So what?

Identifying correlates of mentally healthy neighbourhoods may help urban planners design residential areas that promote healthy living.
Metal ion and ligand binding of integrin α
5
β
1
Authors: Xia Wei , Springer Timothy A.
Published: December 2014

Significance

Three metal ions are at the heart of the ligand binding site in integrin β-subunits. Furthermore, motions at many domain–domain junctions in integrins regulate ligand binding affinity. High-resolution crystal structures and highly accurate solution ligand binding assays are required to understand the mechanisms by which integrins transmit conformational change in their complex dodecadomain ectodomains. Here we provide information fundamental to understanding these processes in the integrin that assembles fibronectin into fibrils in matrices, α
5
β
1
.
Bush, Obama
Authors: Reyes Antonio
Published: December 2014

This paper, framed under the scope of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), explains social processes by analyzing discourse practices. It proposes (para)linguistic variables employed in the creation of (in)formality in discourse in relation to two Aristotelian persuasive modes: Ethos and Pathos (Kennedy 1991). These modes of persuasion reveal different ways to convey a political message in the current U.S. political scene.

This paper compares the stylistic differences in speeches given by George W. Bush and Barack Obama to justify escalating troops in the conflicts of Iraq (2007) and Afghanistan (2009), respectively. I propose (para)linguistic indicators of formality associated with Aristotelian modes at the level of linguistic choices (“lexical variables” [Schilling-Estes 2004] and “marked register usages” [Myers-Scotton 2001]), textual organization (structure and predictability), non-verbal communication (i.e. laughter;Jefferson, Sacks & Schegloff 1987), and intertextuality (Blackledge 2005;Fairclough 1992, 2003) by means of new voices (Bakhtin 1981) into the here-and-now moment of discourse.
How practitioners deal with their clients' "off-track" talk
Authors: Antaki Charles
Published: December 2014

In institutional encounters where a client engages with a practitioner for advice or guidance, there is a phase in which the client may be expected to ‘tell their tale’ before the practitioner offers a response. In this chapter I shall analyse the kind of professional conversation which involves with a client being invited to describe a personal and indeed intimate problem, in order for the professional to offer their perspective (and possibly suggest a solution). The client’s problems here are matters of emotion, conflict or life-style, caused or sharpened by psychological disorder or disability – in other words, we shall be listening in to what the editors term as the ‘professional format’ of the counselling, personal-­support and therapy consultation.
Empathic practices in client-centred psychotherapies
Authors: Muntigl Peter , Knight Naomi , Watkins Ashley
Published: December 2014

We explore how client-centred empathy is practiced within a specific interaction type: troubles telling sequences. Building on the work of Carl Rogers, who viewed empathy as a form of understanding that privileges the client’s point of view, empathy is examined as an interactional achievement in which clients create empathic opportunities by displaying their affectual stance, followed by therapists taking up these opportunities through affiliative displays. We found that empathic practices could be realized through a variety of verbal (naming other’s feelings, formulations, co-completions) and non-verbal resources (nodding, smiling). Further, we found that continuers played an important role in helping clients to develop their troubles stance in more detail, which, in turn, invited more explicit empathic displays from therapists.
The interactional accomplishment of feelings-talk in psychotherapy and executive coaching
Authors: Graf Eva-Maria , Pawelczyk Joanna
Published: December 2014

Feelings-talk is considered an important interaction type in many helping professions as the ‘helping’ element often involves various forms of engagement in emotional work. In this chapter we identify and critically assess the interactional forms and functions of feelings-talk in Relationship-focused Integrative Psychotherapy and Emotional Intelligentes Coaching. By adopting methods and insights from Conversation Analysis, (Critical) Discourse Analysis and Interactional Sociolinguistics, we demonstrate how the endemic feature of psychotherapy, i.e. feelings-talk, emerges as an interactionally accomplished project as psychotherapist and clients work through the clients’ personal issues. We then show how the interactional context of executive coaching both relies on, and further extends, the psychotherapeutic feelings-talk strategies to address clients’ professional dilemmas. Besides emancipatory goals such as fostering clients’ self-enhancement, clients’ emotions are thereby partly functionalized for organizational goals. Feelings-talk can thus be regarded as a constitutive feature of both helping professional formats addressed in this paper, yet with different professional goals.
"I mean is that right?"
Authors: Hutchby Ian
Published: December 2014

This chapter analyses the operation of the “expert system” for the provision of advice in the setting of a call-in radio programme. It investigates the sequential properties of calls in which the central communicative activity of advice-seeking is merged with another activity, that of troubles-telling. In most calls, advice-seekers (members of the public) succeed in identifying a clear advice topic and advice-givers (the radio host and a social welfare expert) succeed in advising on that topic, albeit within the distinctive constraints of the broadcast setting. In a small number of cases, however, there is a difference in that the advice-seeking turns instantiate an ambiguous framing in which it is unclear whether the caller is seeking advice about, or making a complaint about, the social welfare system. This poses a problem for the expert system comprising the show’s host and accredited expert, in terms of how they design the reception of advice-giving turns and the development of subsequent sequences. It is shown how the different speaker identities of caller, host and expert operate in different ways as the expert system responds to the call’s frame ambiguity and seeks to re-invoke the standard features of advice-giving.
Professional roles in a medical telephone helpline
Authors: Landquist Mats
Published: December 2014

This paper deals with the professional roles of medical advisors working in a medical help line. The analysis focuses on telephone calls with questions about the swine flu epidemic in 2009. A number of calls have been collected from the help line database and analyzed with the purpose of examining the advisors’ role shifts and adaption to the changes of the situation and the callers’ needs. This study is mainly instructed by the concept of hybridity as a main characteristic of counseling as an interaction type. Different sub-types, i.e. interaction formats, have been identified, connected to the shifting contexts of the call. Communicative tasks performed during a call can, to some degree, be regarded as typical subtypes in a modern medical help line. Phenomena such as hybridity and role shifts are thus viewed as reflections of the participants’ roles and their adaption to context, and as such a necessary trait of an advisor’s professional communicative competence.
Anticipatory reactions
Authors: Spranz-Fogasy Thomas
Published: December 2014

This article examines patients’ answers to doctors’ questions during history taking as a central activity format which reveal a deeper understanding of each other. An analysis of medical interactions shows that patients mostly expand the topical, structural and/or pragmatic scope of their questions. The sequential positioning of answers provides more possibilities than is to be seen from a strict perspective of question types. Patients’ answers reflect their understanding of the current interaction type, and of the question’s implications, doctors’ relevancies as patients assume them, or even the doctors’ presupposed next question; a phenomenon we call anticipatory reaction. Both action formats and their interplay point to two important principles of interaction: the principle of cooperation and the principle of progressivity within the frame of the particular interaction type.
“Doctor vs. patient”
Authors: Peters Tim
Published: December 2014

The physician-patient-relationship and the process of decision making are widely dealt with in linguistics and medical ethics. However, there is little knowledge on how the physician-patient-relationship is initially established and which roles doctor and patient are adopting in it. To close this gap, this paper uses videotaped interactions between third year medical students and standardized simulated patients, covering information and treatment decisions following a diagnosis of high blood pressure as empirical bases. In addition to the conversation-analytical approach, the medical-ethic typology of relationship-construction is applied in the analysis. The analysis shows that a global relationship-model for a whole conversation does not work for the interactive process of decision making. In addition to furnishing insights about the communicative course of decision making, this paper aims to strengthen linguistic research on medical decision making and to aspire to a stronger cooperation between medical ethics and linguistics.
Time pressure and digressive speech patterns in doctor-patient consultations
Authors: Menz Florian , Plansky Luzia
Published: December 2014

Medicine counts among the oldest and institutionally best developed helping professions in Western societies. It finds itself characterized by a number of unique aspects, among which the increasing fragmentation of the medical sciences which in turn resulted in the “fragmentation of the patient” has been widely discussed. One of the most visible forms of fragmentation is the fragmentation of time in medical treatment represented by small time slots and long waits for the patients. Physicians, frequently blame verbose patients, who cannot easily be prevented from talking, for increasing scheduling problems. This contribution, however, will present some opposing results. On the basis of a quantitative and qualitative analysis of 268 transcribed medical interviews the findings indicate that it is not so much the patients’ psychic structure (“being talkative”) that protracts medical consultations, but rather the physicians’ interactional patterns. For medical education (in particular, and counseling settings in general) these results might be of considerable interest as they counter popular prejudices on patient behavior and might contribute to reshaping the doctor-patient relationship.
Neurologists' approaches to making psychosocial attributions in patients with functional neurological symptoms
Authors: Monzoni Chiara M. , Reuber Markus
Published: December 2014

Doctors perceive consultations with patients with functional neurological symptoms (FNS) as challenging because of the dichotomy between the psychosocial nature of the symptoms and patients’ perceptions that their condition is essentially physical. Through conversation analysis, we describe some communicative strategies neurologists employ to make psychosocial attributions, ranging from unilateral to more bilateral approaches. In unilateral approaches doctors employ general explanations about the psychosocial aetiology, thereby pre-empting any potential resistance. In bilateral approaches, doctors actively involve patients in discussing potential psychosocial causes, by also making direct and specific psychosocial attributions. These practices display doctors’ great caution in this communicative task; and they exhibit an hybridization with those employed by psychologists, which might be strictly linked to this type of patients.
Clausal domains and clitic placement generalizations in Romance
Authors: Tortora Christina
Published: December 2014

Adopting the view that Romance object clitics adjoin to functional heads within the functional structure of clause, this chapter offers a novel approach to object clitic syntax in Romance, which brings together an array of clitic placement patterns across a variety of languages under one system. In order to explain why some “clausal domains” are available for clitic placement in some languages but not others, I examine a unidirectional entailment regarding object clitic syntax in simple and complex predicate clauses, in an understudied group of Italian dialects. The facts suggest that all Romance languages have the same series of functional heads within the clause, and as such, the inability of some varieties to place the clitic in a particular clausal domain cannot be attributed to the idea that some languages or structures are missing the appropriate functional head. Instead, I propose that the languages in question vary with respect to which junctures in the clause “divide” domains; this together with a theory of uninterpretable feature spreading allows us to capture the cross-linguistic patterns.
Spanish VSX
Authors: Leonetti Manuel
Published: December 2014

This paper addresses the question of why VSX word order is possible in Spanish but excluded in other Romance languages (Catalan and Italian). It aims at offering an overview of the properties of VSX in Spanish, as well as explaining how the availability of VSX depends on interface requirements on the mapping between syntactic structure and information structure. VSX is interpreted as a single informational unit, without internal partitions (topic-comment, focus-background); this typically results in a thetic, wide focus interpretation, related to a stage topic. Languages like Italian and Catalan reject the processing of marked orders as non-partitioned units, which rules out VSX. More permissive languages, like Spanish, allow for the absence of partitions in marked orders.