Effects of different raising systems on colour and quality characteristics of Turkish Pekin duck meats

The current trial was conducted to determine the influence of different raising systems on the meat quality properties of male Turkish Pekin ducks. Ninety male ducklings were randomly allocated to three experimental groups: an animal-fish integrated farming group (IG), a non-animal-fish integrated farming group (NIG) and a poultry house group (PHG). All ducklings were fed a starter diet from weeks 2 to 6 and a finisher diet from weeks 6 to 10. Feed and water were offered ad libitum. At the end of the trial all ducks were slaughtered and the carcasses were stored at 3 °C for 24 hours, after which L*, a* and b* values of the carcass skins were measured. After standard dissection of carcasses, pectoralis muscles were obtained on which pH, colour (L*, a*, b*, C and H), total aerobic mesophilic, total aerobic psychrotrophic, lactic acid bacteria, Micrococcus/Staphylococcus, yeast-mould and Enterobacteriaceae counts were determined. The different raising systems of the ducks had significant effects on the pH, total aerobic mesophilic, Enterobacteriaceae, and L* and b* values of the pectoralis muscle. The lowest pH, total aerobic mesophilic and Enterobacteriaceae counts were found in the PHG group. The lowest L* values for the pectoralis muscle were found in the IG group while the highest a* value was recorded in the IG group. Significant differences in skin colour were observed between the experimental groups. For all production groups, all microbial counts were found to be within acceptable ranges. However, pH, total aerobic mesophilic and Enterobacteriaceae results were found to be lower in the PHG group than in the other groups. Different raising systems were thus found to affect the meat and skin colour of ducks, which may influence the preference of consumers. Keywords: Pekin duck, integrated farming, carcass and meat colour, microbial propertiesSouth African Journal of Animal Science Vol. 38 (3) 2008: pp. 217-22

Chitin Research Revisited

Two centuries after the discovery of chitin, it is widely accepted that this biopolymer is an important biomaterial in many aspects. Numerous studies on chitin have focused on its biomedical applications. In this review, various aspects of chitin research including sources, structure, biosynthesis, chitinolytic enzyme, chitin binding protein, genetic engineering approach to produce chitin, chitin and evolution, and a wide range of applications in bio- and nanotechnology will be dealt with

Research Productivity and Its Relationship to Library Collections

Objective – The purpose of this study was to explore in the current academic library environment, the relationship between library collections data (collections’ size, expenditures, and usage) and faculty productivity (scholarly output). The researchers also examined the degree to which new and existing library metrics predict faculty productivity.Methods – Demographic data (e.g., faculty size, student size, research and development expenditures), library budget data (e.g., collection expenditures), collection use data (e.g., full-text article requests and database searches), and publication output for 81 doctoral granting universities in the United States were collected to explore potential relationships between research productivity, collection use, library budgets, collection size, and research expenditures using partial correlations. A hierarchical multiple regression was also used to ascertain the significance of certain predictors of research productivity (publications).Results – A correlation existed between the number of publications (research productivity) and library expenditures (total library expenditures, total library material expenditures, and ongoing library resource expenditures), collection size (volumes, titles, and ebooks), use of collection (full-text article requests and total number of references in the articles), and research and development expenditures. Another key finding from the hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that full-text article requests were the best predictor of research productivity, which uniquely explained 10.2% of the variation in publication.Conclusion – The primary findings were that full-text article requests, followed by library material expenditures and research expenditures, were found to be the best predictor of research productivity as measured by articles published

Validating Students’ Library Experience Survey using Rasch Model

Few studies have investigated the psychometric property of new instruments developed locally to assess students’ library experience, such as their behavior, perception and attitude towards library use. Validating a survey instrument is critical because using untested assessment instruments is more likely to lead to a lack of credibility in the results, as well as a lack of accuracy in the study’s purpose (Sullivan, 2011). This study used data from a locally developed student library experience survey distributed in Spring 2018 at a large public research university library to examine undergraduate and graduate students’ behaviors, attitudes and perceptions of library use. To test the validity of the survey as to whether six subdomains of the library experience survey contributed to a single construct, library experience, the study used Rasch model framework. This study contributes to the field as a first example using the Rasch model for library assessment purposes. Suggestions for best practices are discussed