Evaluation of herb pastures for New Zealand dairy systems : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Animal Sciences at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand

Chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) and plantain (Plantago lanceolata L.) sown in pure swards or both herbs sown with red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) and white clover (T. repens L.) are able to produce large amounts of high-quality forage in summer and autumn, when production and quality of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) are often limited. There have been many cases of poor persistence of chicory with current management practices, but there is limited information for plantain and the herb-clover mix pastures when grazed in dairy systems. Additionally, the presence of bioactive compounds in plantain has created interest in their potential effect on rumen fermentation. The objectives of this research were to evaluate the effect of grazing frequency, two and four weeks, on the agronomic characteristics and diet selection of chicory, plantain, and herb-clover mix pastures, with dairy cows during two growing seasons (2011-2012; 2012-2013) and to examine the effect of the bioactive compounds in plantain on in vitro rumen fermentation. Chicory plants grazed every two weeks, rather than every four weeks, did not develop large taproots, and consequently stored less carbohydrate reserves (fructan and fructose) and failed to develop extra shoots. Chicory grazed every two weeks failed to persist, while chicory grazed every four weeks persisted only for the two growing seasons. For plantain the grazing frequency did not affect its plant density nor taproot diameter; however, the number of shoots per plant increased when grazed every two weeks compared to every four weeks. Overall, plantain and herb-clover mix pastures were more productive and persistent than chicory. The three pastures produced high-quality feed for dairy cows. Dairy cows preferred the herb-clover mix pasture, rather than pure chicory or plantain swards, and selected indiscriminately between chicory, plantain, and red clover. The diet selection for chicory and plantain varied between seasons and was affected by the vertical access and horizontal distribution of the species in the swards. The presence of bioactive compounds, aucubin and acteoside in plantain reduced the ammonia concentration during fermentation and probably causes less urea to be excreted in the cow‘s urine when grazing plantain. In conclusion, the herb-clover mix performed best due to its high herbage production and nutritive value and greater grazing preference by dairy cows, plus its potential to reduce the nitrogen lost from dairy systems

Optical microscopy on agrobacterium-mediated transient transformated arabidopsis nahg plants

Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transient transformation has demonstrated to be an invaluable tool in plant cell biology. However, low efficiency and inconsistency of this method in Arabidopsis has forced the implementation of Nicotiana benthamiana as a surrogate system, limiting applicability. Previous results suggested that hormone-mediated defence responses against bacteria might be responsible for the low efficiency of Agrobacterium-mediated transient transformation in Arabidopsis. In this work, we evaluate the efficiency of Agrobacterium-mediated transient transformation in Arabidopsis genotypes affected in JA perception or signalling (coi1, jin1), or with low SA or JA content (sid2, NahG, aos). We demonstrate that expression of the NahG transgene dramatically improves this process. Arabidopsis NahG plants can be efficiently used for transient expression-based optical microscopy assays routinely performed in N. benthamiana, such as determination of subcellular localization of GFP-fused proteins or analysis of protein-protein interactions by Bimolecular Fluorescent Complementation. Considering the wide-spread use of Agrobacterium-mediated transient transformation, this system can enormously facilitate research in the model plant Arabidopsis, allowing for an efficient use of the full potential of the numerous tools and resources currently available to the community.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Scalars on asymptotically locally AdS wormholes with R2\mathcal{R}^{2} terms

In this paper we study the propagation of a probe scalar on an asymptotically locally AdS wormhole solution of Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet theory in five dimensions. The radial coordinate $\rho$ connects both asymptotic regions located at $\rho\rightarrow\pm\infty$. The metric is characterized by a single integration constant $\rho_{0}$ and the wormhole throat is located at $\rho=0$. In the region $0<\rho<\rho _{0}$, both the gravitational pull as well as the centrifugal contributions to the geodesic motion point in the same direction and therefore they cannot balance. We explore the consequences of the existence of this region on the propagation of a scalar probe. The cases with $\rho_{0}=0$ as well as the limit $\rho_{0}\rightarrow +\infty$ lead to exactly solvable differential eigenvalue problems, with shape-invariant potentials of the Rosen-Morse and Scarf family, respectively. Here, we numerically obtain the normal modes of a scalar field when $\rho_0\neq 0$, with reflecting boundary conditions at both asymptotic regions. We also explore the effect of a non-minimal coupling between the scalar curvature and the scalar field. Remarkably, there is a particular value of the non-minimal coupling parameter that leads to fully resonant spectra in the limit of vanishing $\rho_0$ as well as when $\rho_0\rightarrow+\infty$, for purely radial modes.Comment: 16 pages, many figures. V2: typos corrected and new appendix on the wormhole obtained in the limit $\rho_0\rightarrow+\infty

El apagón analógico... ¿y después qué? : estrategias de la TDT en España

El apagón analógico y el desarrollo de un mercado completamente digital dibujan un nuevo escenario para la TDT en España. En ese momento, los servicios digitales deberían desplegar todo su potencial y la búsqueda del valor añadido en un mercado hipercompetitivo podría incentivar la diferenciación a través de las aplicaciones interactivas, la mayor calidad de la alta definición y los servicios de televisión en movilidad. Las evidencias de los mercados más desarrollados del planeta, el Reino Unido y los Estados Unidos, nos proporcionan algunas pistas sobre los retos a los que se deberán enfrentar los radiodifusores

Testimonios / documentación: apostillas a la memoria visual

The research is addressed on three moments of the visual memory of Chile. The first one, the testimony conformation as an aesthetic device. The second one, inside the document as a historical construction. Finally, the third moment has its thoughts on the post-testimony construction. All kind of instances that account for phases and dialogues between visuality and temporality.La investigaci&oacute;n se sit&uacute;a en tres momentos de la memoria visual desde Chile. El primero, en la conformaci&oacute;n del testimonio como dispositivo est&eacute;tico. El segundo, dentro del documento como construcci&oacute;n hist&oacute;rica. De esta manera, el tercer momento reflexiona sobre la configuraci&oacute;n del post-testimonio. Todas instancias que dan cuenta de fases y di&aacute;logos entre la visualidad y la temporalidad

Televisiones autonómicas : evolución y crisis del modelo público de proximidad

Obra ressenyada: Juan Carlos MIGUEL DE BUSTOS ; Miguel Ángel CASADO DEL RÍO (coords.), Televisiones autonómicas : evolución y crisis del model público de proximidad. Barcelona: Gedisa, 201

El perfil de las revistas españolas de comunicación (2007-2008)

The evolution of parameters for scholarly publications and of academic requirements in Spain has resulted in changes to scholarly journals, among others, those in the field of communication sciences. This article characterizes the core Spanish communication journals according to variables such as the number of published articles, language, author institution and collaboration networks, and citation patterns during 2007-2008. By applying bibliometric techniques and social network analysis, a profi le showing similarities and differences among the journals is obtained, as well as a profile of the overall system

Strategies of transnational media corporations in the Spanish television industry

This article analyses the presence of large-scale transnational communication groups in the Spanish television industry through an analysis of several television markets: free-to-air television (both nationwide and autonomous regional channels), independent production, pay television and the production of thematic channels. In order to do this, we detail the quantitative presence of the leading players in the field and, complementing this with an approach from the social network analysis, we outline the commercial relationships between them. To this quantitative dimension, we add an exploration of the strategies employed by these groups in accessing the market, examining the typology of their presence and the relative positions of strength of each one of the groups detected. Amongst our conclusions, we stress the growing internationalisation of the television industry in Spain and we note the differences observed within different groups in relation to their country of origin