No abstract available. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1978.

No description available.

No description available.

The goal of this research was to evaluate the effects of calf starter fermentation on rumen pH, metabolic adaptation of ruminal epithelia and growth of calves during the weaning transition. In study 1, calf starter consumption increased short chain fatty acid concentration in the rumen and changed expression of genes involved in ketogenesis and intracellular pH regulation but did not affect rumen pH. In study 2, decreasing dietary starch content did not increase rumen pH. However, feeding a calf starter that had the highest in situ dry matter disappearance lowered rumen pH without adversely affecting feed intake and growth of calves. These findings suggest that rumen epithelium can metabolically adapt to increased fermentation in the rumen at molecular level, and that sub-acute rumen acidosis may not adversely affect feed intake and productivity of dairy calves during the weaning transition. / Animal Science

Transition dairy cows are vulnerable to negative consequences of depressed feed intake due to a transient state of negative energy balance that predisposes them to disease after calving. Competition has been identified as one factor that can decrease feeding activity in mid-lactation cows, but the effects of competition on the transition cow are less well understood. The objective of this study was to test the effect of a competition on the behaviour and feed intake of transition cows. Standing behaviour, feeding behaviour and dry matter intake (DMI) was monitored from 1 wk before to 2 wk after calving for 110 Holstein dairy cows. Social behaviour was recorded in the week before calving. Cows were assigned to a competitive (2:1 cows:bin) or non-competitive (1:1 cow:bin) treatment at the start of the study. Treatment groups were balanced for parity and baseline feeding data, resulting in 8 primiparous and 10 multiparous cows per treatment. Competition dramatically increased the number of agonistic behaviours between cows at the feeder. Primiparous cows showed no change in either feeding or standing behaviour when fed in a competitive environment; however, they increased their total meal duration and within-meal intervals in the wk -1 before and wk +1 after calving. In wk -1 before calving, competitively fed multiparous cows increased the frequency of visits to the feeder but consumed less feed at each visit, resulting in decreased daily DMI. Throughout the experiment, multiparous cows fed competitively spent less time eating at each visit and ate at a faster rate, particularly during the 2 wk after calving. Multiparous cows on the competitive treatment also increased the time they spent standing (without eating) compared to cows on the non-competitive treatment. Feeding rate was negatively correlated with social status in multiparous cows. In summary, the results of this study indicate that restricting access to the feeder increases agonistic behaviours regardless of parity, and cows of different parity and social status respond differently in terms of feeding and standing behaviour.

This thesis presents several Raman spectroscopic studies of bovine milk-derived products (skim and whole milk powder, anhydrous milk fat, processed cheese and soy cheese made from milk protein). Raman spectroscopy, unlike infrared spectroscopy (both mid- and near-infrared), has not been widely used as an analytical tool within the dairy industry. The purpose of this project was to assess the utility of Raman spectroscopy in several dairy industry relevant problems. FT-Raman spectroscopy coupled with partial least squares (PLS) reliably predicted the concentration of fat and protein within whole milk and protein within skim milk powders as evidenced by ratios of prediction to deviation in excess of three. It was shown that sample geometry did not significantly affect the calculated predictive models, thereby allowing the simplest, quickest method of sample presentation to be utilised without harming quantification model efficacy. The fat fraction of milk was further investigated, and it was shown that Raman spectra collected from anhydrous milk fat samples were a good basis for solid fat content (SFC) determination. Such spectra were collected when the samples were held at 40 �C, pretreated by baselining and area normalisation, and analysed using PLS with modified jack-knifing (PLS1-JK). Triacylglycerol class concentrations were also well predicted by PLS1-JK models developed from Raman spectroscopic data. Resonance enhancement of β-carotene within fat was shown to have little effect on the reliability of the optimal prediction model when compared to SFC Raman quantification. Raman microscopic mapping for heterogeneity description of processed cheese and soy cheese mimics was examined. The FT-Raman milk powder constituents study had shown fat and protein Raman spectra within complex dairy mixtures could be distinguished, hence this utility was applied to mapping of cheese systems. Univariate, principal components analysis and multivariate curve resolution methods of analyses were compared; as expected the more complex samples required multivariate methods of analyses. Raman microscopic mapping was not a time efficient method in comparison to the standard method of confocal laser scanning microscopy. However, Raman spectroscopic mapping is a more universal technique which allowed the presence of an unexpected localised constituent within the soy cheese mimics to be observed. It was proposed that this constituent was a crystalline form of a short saturated fatty acid.

Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1990. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 106-112). Also available via the Internet.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Uppsala : Uppsala universitet, 2005. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2008. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains x, 121 p. : col. ill. Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 73-75).

Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references.