TRANSFERRING THE SCIENCE OF ORGANIC AGRICULTURE THROUGH ACCESSIBLE WRITTEN AND ORAL COMMUNICATION

One of the tenets of organic agriculture is that of land stewardship and respect for the environment. Long term sustainability goals of healthy soils, people and the environment require uninterrupted nurturance. Profitability for the sector must be stressed in order for this production system to thrive and have a positive ecological impact. Thus, the first step towards sustainable agriculture and business practices in organic require a focus on industry stability. This stability begins with economic stability, which revolves around profitability in business endeavors. Stewardship of the land and respect for the environment can involve complex decision-making. Organic practitioners are compelled to follow stringent management practices, designed to optimize environmental benefits in relation to land, air, water and livestock. As self-identified stewards of the land, organic practitioners also create additional management systems designed to protect the environment. Decision-making in organic agriculture is a process in which the needs of the whole are considered, rather than the needs of one aspect of the business. The ability to effectively make these decisions is one which requires a new way of thinking and a critical mass of credible scientific research. Research has shown that organic practitioners prefer information that is developed specifically for the organic community rather than for the agricultural community as a whole (Padel, 1994)

Effect of wheat distillers dried grains with solubles and exogenous xylanase on laying hen performance and egg quality

Despite the rapid increase in the use of wheat distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) within the poultry sector, little information is available on how the long-term feeding of this by-product will affect the performance of laying hens. This experiment examined the effect of wheat DDGS, with and without exogenous xylanase on dietary apparent metabolizable energy (AME), total tract dry matter retention (DMR), nitrogen retention (NR), fat digestibility (FD) coefficients, feed intake (FI), bodyweight gain (BWG), eggs laid, mean egg weight, egg mass output, and egg quality characteristics including albumin height (AH), Haugh units (HU), yolk color, eggshell strength, and thickness. A total of 320 Hy-Line brown laying hens were randomly allocated to 80 enriched layer colonies (groups of 4). A total of 2 control wheat-soybean meal-based diets were formulated to contain 11.60 MJ/kg. One of the diets contained 300 g/kg wheat DDGS, while the other was DDGS free, with a respective crude protein content of 171.1 g/kg and 166.5 g/kg. Both diets were divided by 2 and half of them were supplemented with 2,500 U/kg of xylanase, resulting in 4 diets in total. Data was analyzed as a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments with analysis of variance (ANOVA). Diets were fed ad libitum from 17 to 43 wk of age and data was collected from 23 to 43 wk. The inclusion of wheat DDGS reduced (P < 0.001) dry matter retention (DMR), FI, BWG, eggs laid, mean egg weight, and egg mass. However, xylanase supplementation improved AME and NR in diets containing wheat DDGS and FD in diets without DDGS (DDGS × xylanase, P < 0.05) and tended to improve (P < 0.10) BWG and egg mass output. For egg quality measurements, the inclusion of DDGS improved (P = 0.046) HU values, eggshell strength (P < 0.001), and increased (P < 0.001) yolk color intensity. This experiment showed xylanase can be used to improve the AME and NR of DDGS-based diets. However, the long-term feeding of 300 g/kg wheat DDGS negatively impacts the productive performance of hens

Maxwell-Chern-Simons Q-balls

We examine the energetics of $Q$-balls in Maxwell-Chern-Simons theory in two space dimensions. Whereas gauged $Q$-balls are unallowed in this dimension in the absence of a Chern-Simons term due to a divergent electromagnetic energy, the addition of a Chern-Simons term introduces a gauge field mass and renders finite the otherwise-divergent electromagnetic energy of the $Q$-ball. Similar to the case of gauged $Q$-balls, Maxwell-Chern-Simons $Q$-balls have a maximal charge. The properties of these solitons are studied as a function of the parameters of the model considered, using a numerical technique known as relaxation. The results are compared to expectations based on qualitative arguments.Comment: 6 pages. Talk given at Theory CANADA 2, Perimeter Institut

Application of Shortwave Ultrasound to Tendon-like Constructs Cultured from Bone Marrow Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells in vitro Produces Tissue of Greater Strength

Conference abstract: The research aimed to determine whether there were bio-mechanical benefits in applying therapeutic shortwave ultrasound alongside bone marrow derived stem cell infusion, through an in vitro 3-D tendon construct model

New Fundamental dHvA Frequency in Canonical Low-Dimensional Fermi Liquids

We show that a new fundamental period $P_{f}$ of dHvA oscillations, which appears along with other ``forbidden'' combination frequencies in a multi-band canonical Fermi-liquid, is very robust with respect to a finite smearing of Landau levels and a background of non-quantized states. We analyse the possibility of measuring small Fermi surface pockets with the use of the ``forbidden'' frequencies.Comment: 10 pages, RevTeX 3.0, with 2 PS Figure

Exogenous tannase improves feeding value of a diet containing field beans (Vicia faba) when fed to broilers

A total of 72 male Ross 308 broilers were used in a study to investigate the effect of dietary tannase on apparent metabolisable energy (AME), coefficients of dry matter retention (DMR) and nitrogen retention (NR) and fat digestibility (FD) of a diet containing 300 g/kg field beans (Vicia faba). Growth performance variables and gastrointestinal tract development were also measured. Two treatments were used in this study: control (C) and C + 3400 tannase units (TU) per kg feed. Diets were formulated to be nutritionally adequate with the exception that the AME was lower than recommended (12.65 vs 12.97 MJ/kg, respectively). Inclusion of tannase increased AME by 0.4 MJ/kg DM. Tannase supplementation improved dietary DMR, NR and FD by 2.8%, 3.2% and 6.5%, respectively. Birds given tannase had 4.4% reduction in feed intake and 2.6% improvement in gain to feed ratio (P < 0.05). Compared to control diet, birds given tannase had reduced relative to body weight (%BW) proventriculus and gizzard and pancreas weights, 3.29% vs 3.09% and 0.47% vs 0.44%, respectively. The mechanisms of action of the studied enzyme require further elucidation

Rooting out ultraweak photon emission a-mung bean sprouts

It is well known that life has evolved to use and generate light, for instance, photosynthesis, vision and bioluminescence. What is less well known is that during normal metabolism, it can generate 1–100 photons s−1 cm–2 known as ultra-weak photon emission (UPE), biophoton emission or biological autoluminescence. The highest generation of these metabolic photons seem to occur during oxidative stress due to the generation and decay of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and their interaction with other components of the cell. To study this further, we have configured a sensitive detection system to study photon emission in germinating mung beans. Here we investigated growing mung beans over 7 days at a constant temperature of 21 ± 1 °C in a light tight box, using dual top and bottom opposing photomultiplier tubes. Over this time period we showed that in total, mung beans grown from seeds generated an average of 5 ± 1 counts s−1 above background. As the new bean stems grew, they showed a gradual linear increase in emission of up to 30 ± 1 counts s−1, in agreement with previous literature. In addition to this “steady-state” emission we also observe delayed luminescence and drought-stress response emission previously observed in other species. Finally, we also observe episodic increased emission events of between 2 and 15 counts s−1 for durations of around 3 h detected underneath the sample, and assign these to the growing of secondary roots. We then induce secondary root formation using aqueous solutions of growth hormones hydrogen peroxide (H2O2, 167 µM) or 3-indole acetic acid (IAA, 0.5 µM) for watering. Both hormones show prolonged increase in emission above steady-state, over days 3–5 with at least 3 times the number of secondary roots formed compared with water alone. We also observed a significant peak increase in photon emission (474 and 1738 cps vs. 28 and 55 cps for water alone) for the H2O2 which we attribute to direct ROS reaction emission as confirmed by measurement on dead plants. Altogether we have expanded upon and demonstrated an instrument and biological system for reliably producing and measuring intrinsic metabolic photons, first observed 100 years ago by Alexander Gurwitsch

Nutritional value of raw and micronised field beans (Vicia fabaL. var.minor) with and without enzyme supplementation containing tannase for growing chickens

An experiment examined the effects of two field bean cultivar samples with different tannin contents, the effect of heat treatment (micronising) and the effect of dietary supplementation of a proprietary enzyme preparation containing tannase, pectinase, and xylanase activities on metabolisable energy (ME), total tract dry matter digestibility (DMD) and ether extract digestibility (EED), nitrogen retention (NR), tannin degradability, gastrointestinal tract (GIT) development, and endogenous mucin losses excretion in broiler chickens. The Control diet contained per kg 221 g crude protein and 12.83 MJ ME. Four additional diets contained 300 g/kg of each of the two untreated or micronised experimental field bean cultivar samples. Each diet was then split into two batches and one of them was supplemented with 3400 units tannase per kg diet resulting in 10 diets in total. Each diet was fed to seven pens with two randomly selected male broilers each. Birds fed the high tannin bean sample had a lower weight gain (p < 0.001), and a lower determined apparent ME (p < 0.05), and DMD (p < 0.001) but a higher tannin degradability (p < 0.001). Compared to the Control diet, feeding field beans increased (p < 0.001) the weights of the proventriculus and gizzard of the birds, and also increased endogenous mucin losses (p < 0.05). Supplementing diets with the tannase-containing enzyme preparation improved dietary ME (p < 0.001), DMD (p < 0.001), NR (p < 0.001) and DEE (p < 0.05), but did not change tannin degradability. Heat treatment of the beans reduced the degradability of condensed tannins and increased endogenous mucin losses (p < 0.05). The differences in the feeding value of the different field bean samples were not improved by heat treatment, but enzyme supplementation improved the feeding value of all diets regardless of the bean samples or heat treatment. Further research is warranted to study the effectiveness of tannase supplementation in poultry diet formulations by dose response trials with purified tannase preparations

From double Lie groupoids to local Lie 2-groupoids

We apply the bar construction to the nerve of a double Lie groupoid to obtain a local Lie 2-groupoid. As an application, we recover Haefliger's fundamental groupoid from the fundamental double groupoid of a Lie groupoid. In the case of a symplectic double groupoid, we study the induced closed 2-form on the associated local Lie 2-groupoid, which leads us to propose a definition of a symplectic 2-groupoid.Comment: 23 pages, a few minor changes, including a correction to Lemma 6.

Dietary starch concentration alters reticular pH, hepatic copper concentration, and performance in lactating Holstein-Friesian dairy cows receiving added dietary sulfur and molybdenum

To test the hypothesis that Cu metabolism in dairy cows is affected by dietary starch concentration and additional sulfur S and Mo, 60 Holstein-Friesian dairy cows that were [mean ± standard error (SE)] 33 ± 2.5 days postcalving and yielding 41 ± 0.9 kg of milk/d were fed 1 of 4 diets in a 2 × 2 factorial design experiment over a 14-wk period. The 4 diets had a Cu concentration of approximately 15 mg/kg of dry matter (DM), a grass silage-to-corn silage ratio of 1:1, a dietary starch concentration of either 150 g/kg of DM (low starch, LS) or 220 g/kg of DM (high starch, HS), and were either unsupplemented (−) or supplemented (+) with an additional 0.8 g of S/kg of DM and 4.4 mg of Mo/kg of DM. We found an effect of dietary starch concentration on mean reticular pH, which was 0.15 pH units lower in cows fed the high starch diets. The addition of S and Mo decreased intake by 1.8 kg of DM/d, an effect that was evident beginning in wk 1 of the study. Mean milk and fat yields were 37.0 and 1.51 kg/d, respectively, and were not affected by dietary treatment. We found an effect of dietary starch concentration on milk protein concentration, protein yield, and urea nitrogen, which were increased by 2.8 g/kg, 0.09 kg/d, and 2.1 mg/dL, respectively, in cows fed the high starch diets. We found no effect of dietary treatment on either cow live weight or body condition. Mean plasma Cu, Fe, and Zn concentrations were 15.3, 42.1, and 14.4 µmol/L, respectively, and were not affected by dietary treatment. In contrast, we found an interaction between dietary starch concentration and Cu antagonists on plasma Mo, where feeding additional S and Mo increased plasma Mo to a greater extent when cows were offered the high versus low starch diet. We also found that increasing dietary starch concentration increased serum ceruloplasmin activity, but serum haptoglobin concentration was not affected by dietary treatment. The addition of S and Mo decreased hepatic Cu concentration, whereas in cows fed the higher dietary starch concentration, hepatic Cu concentration was increased over the period of our study. We concluded that increasing dietary starch concentration decreases rumen pH and increases milk protein yield and hepatic Cu concentration, whereas feeding additional S and Mo decreases intake and hepatic Cu concentration