• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.7
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• pp.978-983
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• 2006

Forages from grazing lands comprise conventional feed resources for ruminants in the tropical region. A study was conducted to assess fodder productivity and nutritive potential of deferred forages of six silvopastoral traditional fodder banks in central northwest Tanzania, traditionally known as Ngitiri. The grazing lands were dominated by low quality increaser grass species: Eragrostis spp., Aristida spp., Urochloa spp., Rottboellia exaltata, Cenchrus spp., Cynodon spp. and Chloris spp., and forbs species. The grazing lands had low vegetative basal cover that varied (p<0.05) from 34.7 to 75%, and low forage biomass productivity that varied (p<0.05) from 0.76 to 3.69 tones (t) dry matter (DM)/ha. The forages contained low crude protein (CP) that varied (p<0.05) from 16 to 27 g/kg DM; and had high fibre contents, which varied (p<0.05) from 702-725, 497-573 and 119-225 g/kg DM for neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF) and acid detergent lignin (ADL), respectively. The forages were poorly degraded in sacco, and showed low DM degradability (DMD) characteristics of 74, 473 and 576 g/kg DM for DM washing losses (a), slowly degradable feed fraction (b) and potential degradability, (a+b), respectively; and low DMD at 48 h incubation, which varied from 317-345 g/kg DM, and contained low metabolizable energy (ME), (4.2-4.36 MJ/kg DM). The herbage forages would not meet protein and energy requirements for maintenance and production, which could be reflected through low animal productivity. Further work is needed to assess animal productivity (growth, milk, draft force) from conserved forages in traditional fodder banks in the dry season.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.223-228
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• 1997

In-vivo balance and nylon bag studies were conducted with rumen fistulated sheep to investigate the effect of type, i.e. Leucaena (L), Gliricidia (G) and Tithonia (T), and level (1, ~15; 2, ${\sim}30g\;DM/kg^{0.75}$) of foliage supplementation on voluntary intake and digestibility of rice straw. Inclusion of these leafy supplements in the diet significantly increase total feed intake. On a metabolic weight basis ($kg^{0.75}$), voluntary intake of digestible DM increased from 23.8 (control straw diet) till 27.7 (L1), 28.4(G1) and 33.1(T1) for the lover level, and till 34.8(L2), 35.9(G2) and 39.6(T2) $g/kg^{0.75}$ for the higher level of supplementation, respectively. Rumen pH was stable, on average 6.75 (control values) and ranging from 6.67 till 6.91 with the supplements. Rumen ammonia increased from 4.9 till 6.7 to 11.8 mmol/l with the supplements. The highest increase was obtained with G and the lover with L and T. The nylon bag studies showed that contrary to the rate of degradation of the supplements themselves, supplementation did not affect the in-sacco rate of straw dry matter degradation ($k_d$; range 1.87-2.08 %/h). At the higher supplement level, for L, G and T, $k_d$ values were 3.36, 8.16 and 8.58 %/h, respectively.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.824-830
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• 2008

Sodium hydroxide (SH) or ammonium bicarbonate (AB) were applied to rice straw to investigate the effects on histological change of stem tissue or cell wall before and after in sacco degradation using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and a transmission electron microscope (TEM). The SEM revealed that, the parenchyma and vascular bundles were distorted by treatment with SH at 30 or 45 g/kg straw dry matter. Faultage between phloem of large vascular bundles and parenchyma occurred with further increasing SH to 60 or 75 g/kg. The cell wall in these stem tissues was crimped when observed by TEM. However, only parenchyma and large vascular tissues were slightly distorted in AB-treated stem. For untreated and AB-treated stems, the initiation of observable ruminal degradation of cell wall was prolonged from 12 h for inner parenchyma to 24 h for sclerenchyma and to 48 h for phloem of small vascular bundles, while the outer epidermis was intact even at 72 h. For SH-treated stem, however, the cell wall from all of the investigated tissues, epidermis, small vascular bundles, sclerenchyma, and parenchyma started to be degraded at 12 h incubation. These results indicate that SH treatment contracts rice straw stem leading to an improvement in rumen degradation, and that the degradation of SH-treated stem is bilateral from inner and outer surface simultaneously.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.13 no.8
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• pp.1102-1108
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• 2000

An experiment was conducted as a Latin square design with four rumen fistulated local yellow cattle with a mean live weight of 230 kg. The treatments were: $(CLM_0)$ urea-treated rice straw ad libitum plus 1 kg cassava root meal (basal diet), $(CLM_{500})$ basal diet plus 500 g cassava leaf meal, $(CLM_{1000})$ basal diet plus 1,000 g cassava leaf meal, and $(CLM_{1500})$ basal diet plus 1,500 g cassava leaf meal. The results showed that there were differences in dry matter intake of urea-treated rice straw between treatments (p<0.05). The highest total dry matter intake was observed for treatment $CLM_{1500}$, with 2.62 kg DM/100 kg LWt/day, followed by treatments $CLM_{1000}$, $CLM_{500}$ and $CLM_0$, with 2.42, 2.00 and 1.86 kg DM/100 kg LWt/day, respectively. The ruminal ammonia concentration on treatment $CLM_{1500}$ was greater than on treatments $CLM_{1000}$, $CLM_{500}$ and $CLM_0$. There were non-significant differences in the ruminal pH among the treatments. The in sacco degradability of cassava leaf meal and cassava root meal was high, and on average 75 and 85% respectively of the DM had disappeared after 24 h of incubation. Degradation rate of urea treated rice straw was 64% after 72 h of incubation.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.781-790
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• 2011

The effects of seedtime and maturity stage on nutritive value of five maize stover varieties, including conventional maize (Kexiangyu 11, CM), fodder maize (Huqing 1, FM), high oil maize (Gaoyou 115, HOM), sweet maize (Kexiangtianyu 1, SM) and waxy maize (Kexiangluoyu 1, WM), were examined based on chemical composition, in vitro gas production and in situ incubation techniques. Maize stover was sampled at d 17 and d 30 after tasseling, and designated as maturity stage 1 and stage 2, respectively. The average dry matter (DM) organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP) and fiber contents were the greatest for HOM, SM and FM, respectively. CM had the highest in vitro organic matter disappearance (IVOMD) and volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentration. The highest ammonia nitrogen ($NH_3$-N) concentration in the incubation solution, and effective degradability of DM ($ED_{DM}$) and neutral detergent fiber ($ED_{NDF}$) were observed in SM. Advanced maturity stage increased (p<0.05) DM content, $ED_{DM}$ and $ED_{NDF}$, but decreased (p<0.05) OM and CP contents, and decreased (p<0.05) b and a+b values, IVOMD and molar proportion of valerate in the incubation solution for maize stover. Maize sown in summer had greater (p<0.05) OM content, but lower DM, CP, neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) content compared with maize sown in spring. Maize sown in summer had greater (p<0.001) IVOMD, $NH_3$-N concentration in the incubation solution and $ED_{NDF}$, but lower (p<0.01) ratio of acetate to propionate compared to maize sown in spring. The interaction effect of variety${\times}$seedtime was observed running through almost all chemical composition, in vitro gas production parameters and in situ DM and NDF degradability. The overall results suggested that SM had the highest nutrient quality, and also indicated the possibility of selecting maize variety and seedtime for the utilization of maize stover in ruminants.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Near Infrared Spectroscopy Conference
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• 2001.06a
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• pp.1612-1612
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• 2001

The production of grain for export and domestic use is one of Australia's most important agricultural industries, and the NIR technique has been used extensively over many years for the routine monitoring of grain quality, particularly moisture and protein content. Because most Australian grain is intended for human food production, the determinants of grain quality for livestock feed, apart from protein, have been largely ignored. However the increasing use of grain for feeding to pigs, poultry, beef cattle and dairy cows has led to an important national research project entitled “Premium Grains for Livestock”. Two of the objectives of this project are to determine the compositional and functional characteristics of grains which influence their nutritional quality for the various classes of livestock, and to adopt rapid and objective analytical tests for these quality criteria. NIR has been used in this project firstly to identify a set of grain samples from a large population of breeders' lines which showed a wide spectral variation, and hence a potentially wide variation in nutritional value. The selected samples were not only subjected to an extensive array of chemical, physical and in vitro analyses, but also were grown out to produce sufficient quantities of grain to feed to animals in vivo studies. Additional grains were also strategically selected from farms in order to include the effect of weather damage, such as rain, drought and frost. In this study to date, NIR calibrations have been derived or attempted, on both ground and whole grains, for in vivo dry matter digestibility (DMD), pepsin-cellulase dry matter disappearance, protein, fat, acid detergent fibre, neutral detergent fibre, starch, in sacco DMD and in vitro assays to simulate starch digestion in the lumen and small intestine. Results so far indicate high calibration accuracy for chemical components (SECV 0.3 to 2.6%) and very promising statistics for in vivo DMD (SECV 1.8, $R^2$ 0.93, SD 7.0, range 61.9 to 92.3, n=60). There appears to be some potential for NIR to estimate some in vitro properties, depending upon the accuracy of reference methods and appropriate sample populations. Current work is in progress to extend the range of grains with in vivo DMD values (a very laborious and expensive process) and to increase the robustness of the various NIR calibrations, with the aim of implementing uniform testing procedures for nutritional value of grains throughout Australia.

• Archives of design research
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.177-188
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• 2002

A thousands of chairs have designed from the Victorian era to the present. Thonet's Nol4 chair in 1859, Wright's high-back chair in 1904, Ritveld's red/blue chair in 1917, Breuer's Wassily chair in 1925, Aalto's Paimio chair in 1932, Eames's DAR chair in 1948, Piero Gatti's Sacco chair in 1969, Starck's Von Volgelsang chair in 1984, Stumpf's Aeron Chair in 1992, Little's 'Coat of arms' chair in 1994 - the list of architects who have seized the opportunity to express their theories in the design of a chair is seemingly endless. Architects such as Machintosh(1868-1928), Wright(1807-1959), Aalto(1898-1976) included chairs within their artistic schemes for interiors and buildings. But as the manufacture of chairs moved away from the domain of the craftsman towards that of the industrial process, architects were also ideally positioned, with their background knowledge of engineering, to pioneer innovative chair design within the constraints of modern manufacturing technology. Beyond matters of function and structure, the fundamental worth of chairs, past or present, lies in their communication of attitudes, ideas and values. The persuasiveness of a chair depend on the clarity of its rhetoric. Chair has become an ideal medium for designers to make their visual statements and construct their individual manifestos. In chair design there is a ping-pong game played out between absurd and useful design, and this game is one way in which the design profession explores itself.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.623-635
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• 2011

Inefficient rumen microbial fermentation is a major factor limiting intake of low quality roughage in ruminants. In this study, the effect of energy supplementation on rumen microbial fermentation, absorption of balanced digestion products and voluntary feed intake in sheep was investigated. A basal diet of a urea-treated mixture of wheaten chaff and barley straw (3:1 DM) containing 22.2 g N/kg DM was used. Four Merino-cross wethers weighing $45{\pm}4.38\;kg$ and fitted with permanent rumen and abomasal cannulae were allocated to four treatments in a $4{\times}4$ Latin square design. The dietary treatments were basal diet ($E_0$), or basal diet supplemented with sucrose (112.5 g/d) administered to the animals intra-ruminally ($E_R$), abomasally ($E_A$), or through both routes (50:50) ($E_{RA}$). Feed intake (basal and dietary) was increased (p<0.05) by sucrose supplementation through the rumen ($E_R$) or abomasum ($E_A$). However, there was no difference (p>0.05) in intake between animals on the control diet and those supplemented with sucrose through both intraruminal and abomasal routes ($E_{RA}$). The digestibility of DM and OM was highest in $E_R$ and $E_A$ supplemented animals. Although the rumen pH was reduced (p<0.001) in animals supplemented with sucrose entirely intra-ruminally ($E_R$), the in sacco degradation of barley straw in the rumen was not adversely affected (p>0.05). Intra-ruminal sucrose supplementation resulted in a higher concentration of total VFA, acetate and butyrate, while the pattern of fermentation showed a higher propionate: acetate ratio. Intra-ruminal supplementation also increased (p<0.05) the glucogenic potential (G/E) of the absorbed VFA. However, there was no difference (p>0.05) in microbial protein production between the four dietary treatments. Protozoa numbers were increased (p<0.05) by intra-ruminal supplementation of sucrose.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.12 no.7
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• pp.1054-1062
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• 1999

The effects of dry roasting whole faba beans (WFB) and whole lupin seeds (WLS) at 110, 130 or $150{^{\circ}C}$ for 15, 30 or 45 min on rumen (RDCP%), estimated intestinal (IDCP%) and total tract disappearance of CP (TDCP%) and intestinal availability (IARUCP%) of rumen undegraded CP (RUCP%) were determined. The RDCP values were estimated by in sacco technique by incubating nylon bags for 8, 12 and 24 h in the rumen of dairy cows. The IDCP and IARUCP values were estimated using a sequence of ruminal incubation, in vitro incubation in acid-pepsin for 1 h and then in pancreatin for 24 h of three-step in vitro procedure technique. Dry roasting at 130 and $150^{\circ}C$ decreased RDCP with correspondingly increasing IDCP. The IDCP value generally increased from 12.3(raw) to 8.6, 14.8 and 39.6% (WFB) and from 28.3 (raw) to 33.7, 36.2 and 56.2% (WLS) at 8 h rumen incubation; from 2.9 (raw) to 2.9, 4.6 and 23.3% (WFB) and from 19.6 (raw) to 19.0, 24.0 and 46.6% (WLS) at 12 h rumen incubation; from 1.3 (raw) to 1.9, 1.7 and 11.0% (WFB) and from 4.4 (raw) to 4.2, 10.7 and 36.7% (WLS) at 12 h rumen incubation as the temperatures rose to 110, 130 and $150{^{\circ}C}$ respectively. The TDCP values were always high and increased by time in the rumen, the average values of which were 97.9, 96.6; 99.2, 96.9 and 99.6, 98.7% for WFB and WLS, respectively, at 8, 12 and 24 h rumen incubation. But within the same retention time, TDCP was generally unchanged. The average IARUCP increased from 87.3 (raw) to 87.4, 88.7 and 92.0% (WFB); from 87.6 (raw) to 88.9, 91.5 and 93.0% (WLS) at roasting temperatures of 110, 130 and $150{^{\circ}C}$, respectively. It was concluded that dry roasting can shift the digestion of CP from rumen to the lower gastrointestinal tract without depressing the digestion of RUCP. The best processing condition in this study was dry roasting at $150{^{\circ}C}$ for 45 min in terms of effects on the disappearances and availability of CP. Research data on intestinal availability of individual amino acids need to be further investigated.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.510-521
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• 1998

The effects of two types of protein, soybean meal (SBM) and fish meal (FM); and two types of energy supplements, corn flour (CF) and paper pulp (PP), on intake of guinea grass (Panicum maximum), fibre digestion and microbial activities in four Merino rams with an average weight of $54.4{\pm}4.5kg$ were studied. Each animal was fitted with a ruminal cannula and a duodenal cannula at the proximal position. The animals were fed twice daily with chopped guinea grass (5 cm) ad libitum and one of the four dietary supplements: 170 g FM+268 g PP; 170 g FM+268 g CF; 200 g SBM+200 g PP or 200 g SBM+200 g CF. All the supplements were mixed with 100 g molasses. In sacco and in vivo digestibilities, digesta flow rates, fermentation and microbial population were studied in a $4{\times}4$ Latin square design with a $2{\times}2$ factorial arrangement of dietary treatments. The effects of energy or protein sources were not significant on grass intake of sheep. The potential degradabilities of NDF and ADF were not significantly affected by any of the supplements. However, the energy and protein sources had significant efects on disappearance rate of NDF and ADF. The disappearance rate of both NDF and ADF were significantly (p < 0.05) higher in animals fed PP when compared to animals fed CF. Animals fed FM also showed significantly (p < 0.03) higher disappearance rate of ADF than those fed SBM. Animals fed PP showed better digestion in the rumen and total tract. Total flow of NDF and ADF through the duodenum was not significantly affected by the various supplements. The mean rumen pH values (5.8-6.1) were not significantly different among the four different diets. The concentration of rumen ammonia was significantly (p < 0.0001) higher in animals fed SBM (235-266.4 mg N/L) supplement than in animals fed FM (174.9-179.7 mg N/L), while total VFA concentration was not significantly affected by both energy and protein supplements. Mean values of total VFA ranged from 72.5-82.3 mM. Molar proportions of acetate, propionate and butyrate were typical of a roughage type fermentation. Molar proportion of acetate was significantly (p < 0.0001) higher in sheep fed PP when compared to sheep fed CF. Animals fed FM had higher total viable bacterial counts, while animals fed CF showed higher protozoal numbers. Proportions of cellulolytic bacteria were only slightly higher in animals fed SBM or PP.