Community engagement: Barriers and drivers in South African higher education

Community engagement professionals experience numerous barriers even though community engagement is the third mission of the university alongside first, teaching and learning, and second, research. Community engagement professionals often refer to community engagement as the “stepchild” of higher education. Yet there are also inter-related successful drivers. This article identifies the barrier–driver duality and makes a case for their systemic interconnectedness, an area that has thus far been underexplored. A prominent barrier for community engagement professionals is that there is a lack of substantive conceptualisation of community engagement, intensified by the contradictory placing of community engagement within community and university structures. Interconnected to such barriers, prominent drivers demonstrate the value of scholarly, reflective practice and to enhance the leadership role of the South African Higher Education Community Engagement Forum, inclusive of the views of pertinent members such as academic leaders, students and communities

Effect of implant strategy and Optaflexx administration on feedlot performance and skeletal muscle β-adrenergic receptor and insulin-like growth factor I mRNA abundance

Feedlot heifers (1,147) weighing 622 lb were used to evaluate the effects of implant strategy and Optaflexx administration. Implant treatments included Revalor-200 (R200) at arrival, or Revalor-IH at arrival and reimplantation with Finaplix-H on day 58 (RF). Optaflexx (200 mg/heifer daily of ractopamine-HCl) was fed the last 28 days. Treatments were randomly assigned to 16 pens. After 182 days, heifers were slaughtered, at which time carcass data were obtained and semimembranosus muscle tissue was excised for RNA isolation. Optaflexx administration significantly increased average daily gain (0.7 lb/day), feed efficiency (3%), hot carcass weight (10.5 lb), and ribeye area (0.42 square inches); decreased back fat thickness; and improved yield grade. There was no significant treatment effect on the expression of β1-adrenergic receptor (AR) mRNA, but there was a tendency for Optaflexx feeding to increase β2-AR mRNA concentrations. For β3-AR mRNA, Optaflexx treatment numerically increased β3-AR mRNA in heifers implanted with R200, but significantly decreased expression in heifers implanted with RF. Optaflexx also significantly decreased IGF-I mRNA in heifers implanted with RF, but numerically increased IGF-I mRNA in heifers implanted with R200. This data aids our understanding of the interaction between steroidal implants and Optaflexx in feedlot heifers. Knowledge about the modes of action of various growth promotants will aid in designing growth promotion strategies to enhance the efficiency of lean tissue deposition in feedlot cattle

Biological basis of water quality assessment : the Kavango river, Namibia

Le fleuve Kavango prend sa source dnas les hauts plateaux d'Angola, se dirige vers le sud formant la frontière Angola-Namibie sur 415 km de direction Ouest-Est, et coule ensuite vers le sud pendant 65 km avant de former le delta de l'Okavango au Botswana. La portion moyenne de la rivière le long de la frontière est caractéristique des fleuves de faible pente des plaines d'inondation. Les crues sont d'environ 6 m au-dessus du niveau normal, avec un lit majeur de 5 km de large. Le fleuve est vital pour les populations locales dont 85% vivent à moins de 10 km du fleuve. Compte tenu des prévisions d'accroissement de la population, des besoins en eau, des programmes de redistribution des terres, de l'évolution des pratiques agricoles et d'une sécheresse chronique, le ministère des Pêches et des Ressources marines prépare les bases d'une gestion durable des ressources dont les populations locales sont directement dépendantes. C'est dans ce cadre qu'une recherche a été mise en place pour définir un protocole de suivi de la qualité des eaux en Namibie, protocole basé sur des critères biologiques. L'utilisation de critères biologiques pour suivre la qualité des cours des rivières dans les pays tempérés est commune. C'est moins le cas pour les pays tropicaux. L'indice d'intégrité biologique (IBI) est utilisé depuis plus de 10 ans en Europe et en Amérique du Nord. Il permet une estimation de la santé d'une rivière par l'analyse de son peuplement de poissons. Des données sur le peuplement de la portion namibienne du Kavango, obtenues en 1992, sont utilisées ici pour base d'un indice approprié. Les limites de l'approche sont analysées et des recommandations pour son extension à d'autres pays au sud du Sahara sont présentés. (Résumé d'auteur

Limit-feeding a high-concentrate diet may alter nutrient absorption

Feeding newly arrived cattle is commonly characterized by a few days of feeding longstemmed hay followed by a series of step-up diets, wherein concentrate levels are increased to promote ruminal adaptation to a highconcentrate finishing diet. This is done to give the rumen microbes time to adjust to larger amounts of readily fermentable starches in cereal grains. Rumen epithelial adaptation may be achievable by limit-feeding a finishing diet, with gradual increases in feed intake, until the cattle are on full feed. If this can be achieved without causing ruminal disorders and days off feed, then the cost of feeding cattle can be reduced. By limit-feeding, the higher roughage step-up diets are replaced with a single high-concentrate diet. The cost of grain is less than that of roughage, and there are decreased costs in terms of storage space, waste disposal (due to decreased manure production), and mixing and hauling of rations. The purpose of this experiment was to examine the effects of a traditional step-up program versus a limit-fed finishing diet in terms of dry matter intake, acetate to propionate ratio, and ruminal dilution rate. Diet effects on volatile fatty acid concentration and absorption were also examined by using valerate as a marker for volatile fatty acid absorption

Service Quality Determinants and Effectiveness in the Real Estate Brokerage Industry

This study provides an analysis of the real estate brokerage industry for the purposes of identifying the determinants of service quality, the level of service quality, and possible service quality improvement measures. Factor analysis of survey response data is used to develop an empirical application of a theoretical service quality model. Except for rank order, real estate service quality determinants are found to match those in other industries. Real estate service quality met expectations in three areas, and was below expectations in two areas. Salesperson performance evaluation measures are suggested to improve service quality.

Serological responses in dairy calves to various vaccines administered via needle-free or conventional needle-based injections

One hundred and four, 5- to 10-month-old Holstein heifers and steers were blocked by age within gender and randomly assigned to treatments. Calves were vaccinated with 5- way modified-live respiratory viral vaccine, Mannheimia hemolytic bacterin/toxoid, and 5- way Leptospira bacterin, administered via either needle-free or conventional needle-andsyringe injection techniques. Blood samples were collected from all calves at the time of vaccination and 21 days later. Blood sera were analyzed for antibody titers to infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) virus as the indicator of serological response to the 5-way viral vaccine, to Leptospira pomona (LP) as the indicator of serological response to the 5-way Leptospira bacterin, and to Mannheimia hemolytica (MH) leukotoxoid. Responses of heifers on day 21 to the IBR fraction of the 5-way viral vaccine, MH bacterin, and LP fraction of the 5-way Lepto bacterin did not differ between methods of administration. Responses of steers on day 21 to the IBR fraction of the 5-way viral vaccine and MH bacterin were greater for the needle-free method of administration, whereas serological response to the LP fraction did not differ between methods of administration. We conclude that needle-free injections can eliminate broken needles in the carcass, reduce needle-borne transmission of disease, and possibly produce greater serological responses to various antigens, compared with those obtained with conventional needle-and-syringe injection systems.; Dairy Day, 2005, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, 2005; Dairy Research, 2005 is known as Dairy Day, 200

Effect of Optaflexx and days on feed on feedlot performance, carcass characteristics, and skeletal muscle gene expression in yearling steers

Two-thousand two-hundred fifty-two yearling steers (690 lb) were used to evaluate the effects of Optaflexx and days on feed on finishing steer performance and carcass characteristics. Treatment groups included serial harvest dates of 150, 171, or 192 days. Within each harvest date, steers either received Optaflexx (200 mg/steer daily of ractopamine-HCl) for the final 28 days, or did not receive Optaflexx. All steers were initially implanted with Revalor-IS and were re-implanted with Revalor-S after 75 days on feed. At harvest, muscle samples from the inside round were obtained for mRNA analysis of the β- adrenergic receptors (AR). Optaflexx increased daily gains, hot carcass weight, and ribeye area, and improved feed efficiency. Optaflexx did not affect dressing percentage, USDA yield grade, or quality grade. Optaflexx did not change overall feed intake across the entire feeding period, but feed intake was increased during the 28-day period that steers received Optaflexx. As expected, greater days on feed decreased daily gains, overall feed intake, and the number of yield grade 1 and 2 carcasses, and worsened feed efficiency. Also, greater days on feed increased hot carcass weight, dressing percentage, and the number of prime and choice carcasses, as well as the number of yield grade 4 and 5 carcasses. Increasing days on feed decreased the abundance of mRNA for β1-AR and β3-AR, and increased the abundance of β2-AR mRNA. Optaflexx had no effect on abundance of mRNA for β1-AR or β3-AR, but it increased the abundance of mRNA for β2-AR. Optaflexx may affect expression of the β2-AR gene in skeletal muscle, which could impact the performance responses to Optaflexx feeding in steers

Serological responses to IBR viral vaccine and Mannheimia haemolytica bacterin/leukotoxoid administered with needle-free injection technology

Yearling steers were randomized to treatment and vaccinated with 5-way modified live viral vaccine and Mannheimia haemolytica bacterin/toxoid by using either needle-free or standard needle injection. Blood samples were collected from all animals at the time of vaccination and 21 days later, and the serum was analyzed for antibody titers to infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) virus and M. haemolytica leukotoxoid. Serological responses to the IBR viral fraction of the 5-way viral vaccine were significantly greater on day 21 after administration with the needle-free injection system. Serological responses to the M. haemolytica leukotoxoid tended to be greater on day 21 after administration with the needle-free injection system

Growth performance of nursery pigs fed BIOSAF yeast, alone or in combination with an in-feed antimicrobial

Swine research, 2005 is known as Swine day, 2005A total of 280 pigs were used in a 28-d growth study to evaluate the effects of feeding the antimicrobial carbadox, BIOSAF (0.4%), and the combination of carbadox and BIOSAF yeast (0.15%) in nursery pig diets. Over the length of the entire trial, pigs fed the diet containing carbadox alone had greater ADG than did pigs fed the control diet or the diet containing 0.4% BIOSAF. Overall, pigs fed the diet containing both carbadox and 0.15% BIOSAF had greater ADG than did pigs fed the control diet or the diet containing 0.4% BIOSAF (P<0.04), although their growth performance did not differ from that of pigs fed carbadox alone. Antibody titers in response to routine vaccination against Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae were not affected by dietary treatment. There was no evidence that BIOSAF improved growth performance of nursery pigs, either alone or in combination with the carbadox. It is possible that the interactive effects of BIOSAF that have been reported for other in-feed antibiotics are not present when BIOSAF is combined with carbadox, or perhaps interactive effects are only observed when carbadox itself exerts a more potent stimulation of ADG in nursery pigs

A Coupled Equations Model for Epitaxial Growth on Textured Surfaces

We have developed a continuum model that explains the complex surface shapes observed in epitaxial regrowth on micron scale gratings. This model describes the dependence of the surface morphology on film thickness and growth temperature in terms of a few simple atomic scale processes including adatom diffusion, step-edge attachment and detachment, and a net downhill migration of surface adatoms. The continuum model reduces to the linear part of the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang equation with a flux dependent smoothing coefficient in the long wavelength limit.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures. Submitted to the Journal of Crystal Growt