Editorial: How to respond to reviewers’ comments

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Editorial

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Topic: A comparative analysis of the causes of primary school dropout in an urban and commercial farm setting in Norton Area, Zimbabwe

A ZJER study to compare and contrast the causes of school dropout in a commercial farm setting and an urban setting in the Zimbabwe educational system.This study sought to compare the causes of school dropout in a commercial farm setting and an urban setting. The sample for the study consisted of forty teachers (twenty from each setting) drawn from two urban schools and three commercial farm schools, twenty parents/ caregivers (ten from each setting) , forty pupils (twenty from each setting), ten primary school dropouts (five from each setting) and five school heads of the five schools in the sample, all drawn from an urban and commercial farm setting. '. Forty questionnaires were administered to forty teachers and structured interviews conducted with the heads of the five schools, pupils primary school dropouts and parents / care givers. The study found that there are similarities and differences in the causes of school'dropout in the two settings. Whilst the causes might be similar, they tend to impact differently on the schools in both settings with schools in the commercial farm setting being the worst affected. Socio cultural factors such as chinamwari (female initiation) and nyau/gure(male dance sub cultural group have a negative impact on retention rates in both settings though they tend to have a greater impact on children in a commercial farm setting Although some schools in an urban setting are also negatively affected by, lack of adequate school facilities and poverty ofparents schools in a commercial farm setting experience these factors to a greater extent. The current land reform programme appears to have negatively affected schools in the commercial farm setting more than those in an urban setting. The study recommends that government and non governmental organisations should assist in infrastructural development in commercial farm schools as they tend to have the poorest facilities in comparative terms, these A multicultural approach which would recognise the different linguistic backgrounds of children in both settings should be introduced and poverty alleviation strategies targeting commercial farm workers should be initiated since farm workers tend to experience the impact of poverty in more adverse ways

Editorial

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Pre-slaughter effects on bleed-out times and some behavioural and physiological responses of Nguni and non-descript steers

The effect of loading, transportation, lairage and slaughter conditions on bleed-out times, behavioural and physiological responses of Nguni and non-descript steers reared extensively on natural pastures was investigated. Twenty Nguni (NG) and 20 non-descript (ND) steers were loaded and transported 120 km from the farm to the abattoir in two groups (TG1 and TG2), each comprised of both genotypes. Some environmental conditions and steer behavioural responses were monitored during on- and off-loading, transportation, lairage, and stunning. Trained observers recorded the posture of the steers during transportation, time-budgets during lairage, avoidance-related behaviour, and vocalization scores at stunning were recorded. The steers were slaughtered in four groups (SG1, SG2, SG3 and SG4) and the number of attempts to stun each steer was recorded. Blood samples were collected from each steer during exsanguination for cortisol, glucose and lactate analysis. It took less time to load (370 s) and off-load (602 s) TG1 than TG2 (420 s and 782 s, respectively). All steers were standing throughout transportation and during the lairage observation period. Avoidance-related behaviour and vocalization in the stunning box were not influenced by genotype. The TG1 steers showed more avoidance behaviour (63.2%) and higher cortisol (140.6 ± 14.50 nmol/L) and lactate (12.4 ± 0.83 nmol/L) levels than TG2 (23.9%; 92.8 ± 15.38; 9.0 ± 0.88, respectively). All SG2 steers showed minimal avoidance behaviour with higher cortisol (175.9 ± 17.24 nmol/L) and lactate (13.5 ± 1.12 mmol/L) levels than other groups. Generally, cortisol and lactate levels were positively correlated (r = 0.70). The 5% vocalization recorded was observed from ND steers, TG1 and SG2. In conclusion, steers of different genotypes displayed similar behavioural and physiological responses to identical pre-slaughter conditions that they were exposed to.Keywords: Cortisol, lactate, lairage duration, on- and off-loading, stun-attempts, transportatio

A balanced perspective on animal welfare for improved meat and meat products

Increased public concern for animal welfare in the logistics chain has led to a rise in the scrutiny of the treatment of food animals. Factors affecting the status of welfare of slaughter animals begin at the farm and occur during transportation and at the abattoir. The activities that animals pass through before slaughter are thought to have negative effects on both the animal and the product. Before or during this period, animals suffer pain, which compromises their physical, health and biochemical status, and meat quality and quantity; which leads to economic losses. Environmental impact plays a role in the behaviour, growth, development and welfare of animals, even though it is associated with the production of greenhouse gases and biodiversity. Food producers are also mindful of the challenges of feeding the ever-increasing human population. Although the issues of animal production, which range from the environment to human health, have been discussed, animal welfare-related factors that are at play in the production chain of farm animals must still be addressed. An understanding of the animal’s environment, behaviour and the biochemical interactions that are at play in stressful conditions; and the implications of these for animal health and welfare are key to developing effective mitigation strategies. Therefore, the objective of this review is to highlight the literature on animal welfare, and suggest strategies that could be adopted for the improvement of meat animals, meat quality and meat products

Expression of ovine ubiquitin C-terminal hydroxylase 1, pH and colour of variety meats from head-stunned Dohne Merino sheep

Ubiquitin C-terminal hydroxylase (UCH-L1) has been identified in few transcriptome studies as a biomarker coding for trauma and perception of pain in non-meat species. For the first time, real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay was used to quantitate the expression of ovine ubiquitin C-terminal hydroxylase 1 (ovUCH-L1 mRNA) from head-stunned Dohne Merino ewes and lambs presented for slaughter at a high-throughput abattoir. The correlation between ambient environment and quality of variety meats from those ovine species was also determined. The level of ovUCH-L1 mRNA expression found in lambs was high, based on the outcome of qPCR quantification. The effect of head stunning shows that ewes exhibited higher capacity to impede electric insults than lambs. Except for the trachea and heart, ambient conditions had a negative correlation with pH of most variety meats. Similarly, a negative correlation was observed between total colour difference (ΔE*) for fillet and dew point. Saturation index of a few variety meats showed a moderate relationship with ambient temperature. Industrially, the results on ambient conditions are important for post-mortem control of pH, colour, and preservation of other physiochemical properties of variety meats. Findings from qPCR quantification indicated that ovUCH-L1 is a novel candidate marker for pain detection in head-stunned ovine species.Keywords: Biomarker, edible offal, halal slaughter, ovine species, stunnin

Characterization of surface orientation and tenderness of sous vide processed edible offal and psoas muscle from Dohne Merino sheep

The microstructural orientation and tenderness of edible offal and the psoas minor muscle from Dohne Merino sheep were compared in this study. Following evisceration and cleaning, fresh meat samples were collected from slaughtered lambs and ewes of different age groups and thermally processed to varying degrees of doneness using sous vide apparatus. A scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used for the characterization of the surface orientation and elemental composition. The results for tenderness showed that edible offal with anisotropic orientation had higher Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF) values, but those with some degrees of uniformity (isotropicity) in their surface orientation were comparatively tender. The rumen and trachea from the lambs, six-tooth and eight-tooth sheep at 10 - 12, 23 - 36 and 28 - 48 months old at slaughter had the highest WBSF values among all the meat samples. Our findings showed that edible offal from the lambs with isotropic orientation was more tender and richer in protein than those from ewes. Also, processing the psoas minor muscle and edible offal with sous vide at 100 ºC in the shortest cooking time of 30 minutes had the greatest effect on tenderness of the meat samples. In descending order, the psoas minor muscle, liver and tongue from the lambs were found to be inherently more proteinaceous than other meat samples. The differences observed in the tenderness and protein contents of the edible offal and the psoas muscle could be attributed to variations in the microstructural organization of the muscle fibres in Dohne Merino and to their response to thermal processing.Keywords: anisotropy, doneness, isotropy, meat processing, Merino, scanning electron microscop

Teachers' Coping in Financial Difficulties: a Case Study of the 'Classroom Tuckshop' Phenomenon in Zimbabwean Urban Primary Schools in Norton

A ZJER study on the financial difficulties faced by primary school teachers in Zimbabwe and the counter measures they adopted to cope with their low wages and incomes.The study sought to investigate the prevalence of the ‘classroom tuck shop' phenomenon in Zimbabwean urban primary schools. The sample consisted of five school heads, fifty teachers, and one hundred pupils, all drawn from five urban schools in Norton. Interviews were conducted with the five school heads and one hundred pupils. Questionnaires were administered to the teachers and focused group discussions were conducted with the school teachers and pupils. The study found out that the ‘classroom tuck shop ‘phenomenon is prevalent in urban primary schools. A large number of teachers felt that this phenomenon does not affect the teacher pupil relationship though the majority of pupils were of the opinion that teachers should not sell items in their classrooms. All the school heads felt that this practice negatively affects the quality of instructs n. It was also found out that teachers have resorted to this practice as a result of the unfavourable macro economic environment, which has witnessed a decline in the status of the teacher. The study recommends that teachers should not sell items in their classroom. The concerned Ministry should seriously consider reviewing teachers ‘salaries and schools should be allowed to engage in income generating projects to cushion teachers from the effects of the harsh inflationary macro economic environment

A review of current concepts on sex determination in animals

A journal article on the sexual determinants of farm animals.Despite being a complex development process, sex determination is important in reproduction of farm animals. Chromosome sex, which is based on the presence of sex chromosomes, is the most common to scientists. Most common to the layman, is what can be termed phenotypic sex, which is based on what can be seen in an individual. It encompasses the urogenital, external features, such as the external genitalia and secondary sex characteristics. From a molecular genetics point of view, there is also what is termed genetic sex, which is based on the presence of a sex-determining gene. In other words, an XY individual without the sex-determining gene is not a genetic male. The sex-determining gene is located on the Y-chromosome. Since 1959, when the Y-chromosome was shown to be the male-determining factor, there has been controversy as to what really determines sex in animals. However, the identification of what has been termed the sex-determining gene on the Y-chromosome (SRY) in 1990 has narrowed the controversy to the actual mechanism of sex determination. This review focuses on the genetic sex-determination mechanism by which genes determine sex, the fate of the supporting cells and evidence on issues, which are still inconclusive