Effects of dietary salbutamol on growth and carcass composition in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus Mykiss) (Walbaum) : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science (Physiology) at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Salbutamol, a β2 adrenergic agonist, has been shown to reduce carcass fat and increase muscle mass and improve feed conversion efficiency in pigs. In the present study, the effects of dietary salbutamol at 20 ppm on growth, feed conversion efficiency, carcass recovery, visceral organ weight, and whole carcass composition of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were studied. Rainbow trout (eighteen months old; average initial weight 324.0±0.4 g) were fed either the control or control + 20 ppm salbutamol diet for four weeks in a completely randomized design. Fish were weighed at the start and termination of the study, and records of feed intake were maintained. Carcasses were analyzed for protein, fat and ash at the start and completion of the four weeks feeding period. Dietary salbutamol had no adverse effect on fish mortality, health or feed intake. Dietary salbutamol had no effect (p>0.10) on growth, feed intake or feed conversion efficiency of rainbow trout. Internal organ weights such as liver, heart, gonads and viscero-somatic index and hepato-somatic index were also not affected (p>0.10) by dietary salbutamol. Interestingly, kidney weight was significantly (p<0.01) increased by salbutamol. However, it is unlikely that salbutamol directly increased the kidney weight. Increased metabolic load on kidney and blood flow to the kidney could be reasons for increased kidney weight. Although the final weight and the growth rate were not affected by salbutamol, the carcass recovery was significantly higher (p<0.01) in salbutamol treated trout. Whole carcass protein content of both treated and control fish showed no significant differences and clearly reflected the normal allometric growth and body composition. It was concluded that dietary salbutamol at 20 ppm level had no repartitioning effect in growing rainbow trout. The effects of salbutamol at various doses in more mature rainbow trout need to be studied in future studies

Investigation of Crop Damage Caused by Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus) Based on Foraging Behaviour

Expansion of Indian peafowl from their traditional habitats into communal areas has become a serious economic, social and cultural issue. Objectives of the study was to investigate the type and intensity of crop damage done by peafowl based on their foraging behaviour and to understand how different ethnic groups reacted in controlling them. A survey was conducted in 4 Divisional Secretariat (DS) Divisions in Vavuniya district. Foraging behaviour was studied for 3 months covering morning (006-008 h), mid-day (1130-1330 h) and evening (1600-1800 h) by direct visual scans of male, female and juvenile bird categories. Opinion of a sample of (n=160) farmers and village level officials on peafowl habitat expansion and associated problems were collected using a structured type questionnaire. There were significant differences (p&lt;0.05) between the time of peafowl attack, the sex, the stage of peafowl with type of plant damaged. Peak activity (63%) was recorded during morning while it was 36% in the evening and 1% during mid-day. The feed materials ingested consisted mainly of a variety of plants and, beetles, snakes, snails and worms. According the respondents observations, peafowl damage was most serious on paddy (83.5%) followed by other cereals (62.5), spicy crops (33%) and leafy vegetables (19.5%), plantation crops (14%), vegetables (12.5 %), legumes (11%) and tubers (6%). Young peafowl mostly attack (90%) lower level vegetation while adults mostly attack (67%) upper parts. Spreading of parasites (40%), disturbing noise (39.50%), damage to vehicles (29.7%) and damage to houses (6.5%) were among the other nuisances caused by peafowl. Irrespective of the ethnic group, all respected peafowl due to religious reasons. A majority of respondents suggested chasing out (63.50%) and hitting (9.50%) while a few opted trapping (2.25%) and death (1%) as controlling measures. It is concluded that damage caused by peafowl varies with the time of the day and the growth stage of the peafowl. Strategies that cause less harm to peafowl were preferred by the respondents. The study highlights the importance of adopting socially acceptable peafowl habitat expansion strategies.Keywords: Crop damage, Ethnic groups, Foraging behaviour, Peafow

A tool for effective transferring of knowledge and technology in contracting organizations

The project-based nature of contracting organizations creates a learning opportunity from most of its activities. Although knowledge helps to gain valuable experience from construction projects, due to its complex and unique nature, organizations do not systematically secure knowledge for later usage. Due to that, contracting organizations create significant discontinuities in flows of knowledge within members, tasks and tools. Therefore, for contracting organizations to make the use of its knowledge, a mechanism for managing knowledge has to exist. That mechanism should include efficient transferring of knowledge throughout the organization. Such transferring can occur through the organization’s various activities and organizations stand to benefit if these activities are done strategically not only to acquire, but also to share and transfer knowledge and ultimately enhance performance. Today, the construction industry is moving towards sustainable solutions for projects. Therefore, necessity of knowledge transferring mechanism has become much more important than ever. The study has henceforth analyzed the knowledge transfer process of contracting organizations in Sri Lanka and explored how these organizations facilitate transfer of knowledge. Three contracting organizations were selected among C1 contractors in Sri Lanka for this case study and the research problem was examined through semi-structured interviews of the key participants of the organizations. The analyses from findings support the propositions set forth in the study: the importance of the knowledge transfer process in contracting organizations, the situational nature of the knowledge being transferred, effects, barriers and measures for its effectiveness for knowledge transfer initiatives. In effect, the study builds a knowledge transfer process reflected in contracting organizations in Sri Lanka by mapping case study findings to the conceptual model and a model for sustainable business process of contracting organizations. Recommendations for contracting organizations at policy and functional level are made based on the findings. Fundamentally, contracting organizations should adapt knowledge transfer process to its organizational strategy to achieve success in their business through sustainable solution

Eutrophication and poultry industry Issues, challenges and opportunities

Eutrophication is the process of excessive growth of algae and cynobacteria due to over enrichmentof the surface waters with mineral nutrients. Eutrophication restricts water use for fisheries, recreation,industry and drinking. Phosphorus (P) is the limiting mineral for the eutropication process. Experiencefrom America, Europe and Austral ia clearly shows that improper land application of poultry litter isamong the main contributors of eutrophication process. Poultry utilizes dietary phosphorus ratherinefficiently, due mainly to high level ofphytate in their diets and, low intrinsic phytase activity both inpoultry and plant materials. Phytates increase the excretion of N and a range of other cations and,thus increases the eutrophic potential of poultry litter. Poultry industry of Sri Lanka expandeddramatically during the last few decades and it has been predicted that the growth will continue.Meanwhile, use of poultry litter as an organic fertilizer is becoming popular, particularly in up countrycropping systems. The, risk of getting water bodies eutrophicated due to the present trend ofindiscriminate land application of poultry litter in up country cropping systems is tremendous. Estimatedminimum annual P output from local poultry industry is around 751.8 metric tonnes. Decreasing the Plevel in faeces through dietary manipulations is probably the most cost-effective and practical approachto reduce the P losses to the environment. In poultry ration formulation, the requirement of P isexpressed as the non-phytate P requirement. No upper limits have been set for the total P level in thediet. This has given the liberty to the feed industry to use poorly digestible plant P sources in the diets.From environmental point of view, it is important to set maximum total P levels for poultry diets.Supplementation of poultry diets with microbial phytases can reduce the faecal P levels by about 30%and also faecal N and other cation levels. Regulatory mechanisms should be imposed to make theuse of phytase compulsory, at least when the total dietary P levels exceed a particular limit. A rangeof chemical and physical means are also available to increase the P utilization in poultry. Both farmersand the feed industry should be encouraged tq adopt those strategies. A maize variety with reduced phytate level has been successfully genetically engineered. Such genetically modified rice varietiesare very much needed because the excretion ofP is greatly increased when poultry diets contain ricebran. The dietary P levels commonly used in industry exceed the most recent NRC recommendationsby about 15%. Many recent researches have shown that the dietary P levels could further be reducedwithout the performance being affected. The poultry feed industry should respond to these newfindings rapidly and reduce the P levels in poultry diets. The dietary P requirement gradually declinesas birds grown and mature. Theoretically, it is possible to prepare a series of diets containing decreasingP levels, and the feeding of such a series of diets as birds grow can reduce the P excretion. Thispaper concludes that the excretion ofP from poultry industry could substantially be reduced throughdietary manipulations and, timely intervention of policy makers, farmers and researchers is of paramountimportance for the sustainability of inland water bodies

Performance analysis of energy detection over hyper-Rayleigh fading channels

This study investigates the performance of energy detection (ED)-based spectrum sensing over two-wave with diffused power (TWDP) fading channels, which have been found to provide accurate characterisation for a variety of fading conditions. A closed-form expression for the average detection probability of ED-based spectrum sensing over TWDP fading channels is derived. This expression is then used to describe the behaviour of ED-based spectrum sensing for a variety of channels that include Rayleigh, Rician and hyper-Rayleigh fading models. Such fading scenarios present a reliable behavioural model of machine-to-machine wireless nodes operating in confined structures such as in-vehicular environments

RUMINANTS AND GREENHOUSE GASSES SUSTAINABLE FEEDING STRATEGIES TO BALANCING THE ISSUES

Domestic ruminants contribute 16.5 % of the total methane emission to theenvironment and 3.5% of the global warming effect. Methane emission needsto be reduced by 10-20% to stabilize the methane concentration in theatmosphere. Emission of methane from ruminants can be reduced by twoways; reducing per animal emission by efficient fibre digestion and reducingthe number of ruminants by efficient nutrient utilization. Feeding strategiesbased on fossil-fuel-demanding concentrate diets produce more CO2 andconsume voluble natural resources while reducing methane. The most widelyused second feeding strategy uses low quality forages and agro-industrial byproducts. Even though this practice reduces the problems associated with thefirst one, it emits more CH4 due to the deficiencies of many critical nutrientsrequired for efficient microbial activity in the rumen. These critical nutrientsare N, minerals such as P and S, readily available carbohydrates, true proteinsand rumen undegradable proteins. Protozoal activity and low undegradableprotein levels reduce both the quality and quantity of the amino acids andother nutrients absorbed in the small intestine. The composite result of thesecond feeding practice is increased total CH4 emission. Among the solutionsdiscussed in this paper in addressing those problems, tree legumes could playa pivotal role. It is concluded that feeding strategies for ruminants should bebased on materials such as forages and agro-industrial-by products thatconsumes less fossil fuels and natural resources. However, unless theproblems associated with these resources are not properly corrected, thisstrategy would be countered productive

An investigation into the effect of rate of stirring of bath electrolyte on the properties of electrodeposited CdTe thin film semiconductors

Electrodeposition (ED) has been recognized as a low cost and scalable technique available for fabrication of CdS/CdTe solar cells. Photovoltaic activity of these electrodeposited semiconductor materials drastically depends on the ED growth parameters namely; electrodeposition potential, concentrations and ratios of concentrations of precursors used to prepare the bath electrolyte, pH of the electrolyte, deposition temperature and rate of stirring of the electrolyte. In order to grow thin films with good photovoltaic properties, it is essential to maintain these variables at their optimum ranges of values during electrodepositions. Hence, this study was conducted to investigate the dependence of the properties of electrodeposited CdTe thin film material on the rate of stirring of the bath electrolyte. The CdTe material was grown on glass/FTO (23 cm2) and glass/FTO/CdS (23 cm2) surfaces in bath electrolytes containing 1.0 mol/L CdSO4 and 1.0 mmol/L TeO2 solutions at different rates of stirring within the range of 0-350 rpm while keeping the values of pH of the electrolyte, deposition temperature and cathodic deposition potential with respect to the saturated calomel electrode at 2.3, 65 °C and 650 mV respectively. After the heat treatment at 400 °C in air atmosphere, the deposited samples with a good visual appearance were selected and evaluated based on their morphological, elemental, structural, optical and electrical properties in order to identify the optimum range of rate of stirring for electrodeposition of CdTe thin film semiconductors. Results revealed that, rates of stirring in the range of 60-85 rpm in a 100 mL volume of electrolyte containing the substrate and the counter electrodes in the center of the bath with a separation of 2.0 cm between them can electrodeposit CdTe layers exhibiting required levels of morphological, structural, optical and electrical properties on both glass/FTO and glass/FTO/CdS surfaces

The first documentation of the immune response to cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania donovani in Sri Lanka.

Introduction and Objectives: The predominant form of leishmaniasis seen in Sri Lanka is cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) caused by Leishmania donovani, a species commonly causing visceral disease. The objective of this study was to explore the human host immune response to CL in Sri Lanka. Methods: A descriptive comparative study was carried out on nine CL patients referred to the Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, during 2011-2013. mRNA was extracted from the skin biopsy samples and reverse transcribed to cDNA and tested for Th1 and Th2 cytokines by using specific primers for IFN-γ, IL-2 (Th1 cytokines) and IL-4, IL-10 (Th2 cytokines). The results were compared with different characteristics of the lesion (number, duration, size and type of lesion). Results: This study revealed that the majority of CL patients (5/9) elicited a Th1 response whereas a Th2 response was not detected in any of the patients. Of the Th1 cytokine positive patients, majority had single lesions, with a shorter duration and smaller sized lesions which were of the plaque type. Of those which exhibited a negative Th1 response, the majority were larger lesions with a longer duration and were of the papular-nodular type. Conclusions: The study suggests that the predominant immune response to CL caused by L. donovani in Sri Lanka, is a Th1 type of response which may explain the localization of L. donovani which is usually a viscerotropic species, to skin tissue. Limitations of study: This study was done only in nine patients due to resource limitations. A continuation of this study is indicated to validate these results.</p