ORCID Profile
0000-0001-9564-4316
Current Organisation
Murdoch University
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Publisher: Wiley
Date: 28-07-2015
DOI: 10.1111/AVJ.12348
Abstract: To evaluate the analgesic efficacy of flunixin alone or in combination with diclofenac administered locally to the scrotum at the time of band castration of calves. Angus bull calves (n = 40 ≈7-9 weeks old) were allocated to four treatment groups (n = 10 per group) to examine the effects of two non-steroidal anti-inflammatory analgesics (NSAIDs) administered locally at the time of band castration: sham control castration + flunixin castration + flunixin + diclofenac castration + saline. The NSAIDs and saline were administered subcutaneously into the scrotum under the band. Blood was s led at -0.5, 0.5, 1.5, 3, 12, 24, 48 and 72 h relative to castration. Haematology parameters and plasma cortisol levels were determined in s les at all time points and plasma haptoglobin levels determined in s les collected at -0.5, 24, 48 and 72 h. Pain avoidance and postural behaviours were measured for 2 and 12 h, respectively, after castration. Band-castrated calves exhibited significantly higher peak cortisol and higher integrated cortisol responses during the first 6 h post-castration relative to sham controls. In idual active pain avoidance behaviours observed for 1 h post-castration were not significantly different between treatment groups however the sum of the total behaviours was significantly increased by castration (P = 0.023). Postural changes included increased abnormal ventral lying for all castrated groups and decreased normal standing and increased combined abnormal postures for the flunixin- and saline-treated groups. Growth rates of calves were not affected by treatments during weeks 1 and 2 post-castration however, growth rates of castrated calves were significantly lower than those of sham-treated calves in week 3 post-castration (1.41 vs 0.84, 0.75 and 0.56±0.19 kg/day for sham, flunixin-, flunixin + diclofenac- and saline-treated groups, respectively). The administration of flunixin or flunixin + diclofenac intrascrotally at several sites at the time of banding did not improve the welfare of young Angus bull calves undergoing this method of castration when assessed by both physiological and behavioural parameters. In this study, band castration at 7-9 weeks of age had less effect compared with results for older calves reported previously. Further research is required to develop effective analgesic treatments that can be administered at the time of castration to large numbers of animals.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 02-2016
Abstract: The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of carprofen administered immediately before cautery dehorning on nociception and stress. Forty Holstein calves aged approximately 6 to 8 wk old were either placebo treated and sham dehorned ( = 10) or cautery dehorned following administration of carprofen (1.4 mg/kg) subcutaneously ( = 10) or orally ( = 10) or a subcutaneous and oral placebo ( = 10) in a randomized, controlled trial. All animals were given a cornual nerve block using lidocaine before dehorning. Response variables including mechanical nociception threshold, ocular temperature, heart rate, and respiratory rate were measured before and following cautery dehorning for 96 h. Blood s les were also collected over 96 h following dehorning and analyzed for plasma cortisol and substance P concentrations by RIA. Plasma carprofen concentration and ex vivo PGE concentrations were also determined for this time period. Average daily gain was calculated for 7 d after dehorning. Data were analyzed using a linear mixed effects model with repeated measures, controlling for baseline values by their inclusion as a covariate in addition to planned contrasts. Dehorning was associated with decreased nociception thresholds throughout the study and a stress response immediately after dehorning, following the loss of local anesthesia, and 48 h after dehorning compared with sham-dehorned calves. Carprofen was well absorbed after administration and reached concentrations that inhibited ex vivo PGE concentrations for 72 h (subcutaneous) and 96 h (oral) compared with placebo-treated calves ( < 0.05). Carprofen-treated calves tended to be less sensitive ( = 0.097) to nociceptive threshold tests. Overall, at the dosing regimen studied, the effect of carprofen on sensitivity and stress following cautery dehorning was minimal. Consideration of route of administration and dose determination studies may be warranted.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2020
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2017
DOI: 10.1016/J.RVSC.2017.09.023
Abstract: Thermal imaging technology has been identified as a potential method for non-invasive study of thermogenesis in the neonatal lamb. In comparison to measurement of the core body temperature, infrared thermography may observe thermal loss and thermogenesis linked to subcutaneous brown fat depots. This study aimed to identify a suitable method to measure heat loss in the neonatal lamb under a cold challenge. During late pregnancy (day 125), ewes were subjected to either shearing (n=15) or mock handling (sham-shorn for 2min mimicking the shearing movements) (n=15). Previous studies have shown an increase in brown adipose tissue deposition in lambs born to ewes shorn during pregnancy and we hypothesized that the shearing treatment would impact thermoregulatory capacities in newborn lambs. Lambs born to control ewes (n=14 CONTROL) and shorn ewes (n=13 SHORN) were subjected to a cold challenge of 1h duration at 4h after birth. During the cold challenge, thermography images were taken every 10min, from above, at a fixed distance from the dorsal midline. On each image, four fixed-size areas were identified (shoulder, mid loin, hips and rump) and the average and maximum temperatures of each recorded. In all lambs, body surface temperature decreased over time. Overall the SHORN lambs appeared to maintain body surface temperature better than CONTROL lambs, while CONTROL lambs appeared to have higher core temperature. At 30min post cold challenge SHORN lambs tended to have higher body surface temperatures than lambs (P=0.0474). Both average and maximum temperatures were highest at the hips. Average temperature was lowest at the shoulder (P<0.05), while maximum temperatures were lowest at both shoulder and rump (P<0.005). These results indicate that lambs born to shorn ewes maintained their radiated body surface temperature better than CONTROL lambs. In conjunction with core temperature changes under cold challenge, this insight will allow us to understand whether increased body surface temperature contributes to increased overall heat loss or whether increased body surface temperature is indeed a mechanism contributing to maintenance of core body temperature under cold challenge conditions. This study has confirmed the utility of infrared thermography images to capture and identify different levels of thermoregulatory capacity in newborn lambs.
Publisher: University of New England, Armidale
Date: 12-2021
DOI: 10.14742/ASCILITE2021.0137
Abstract: This study compared the associated impact of gamified molecular genetics lessons on undergraduate student grades for pre-COVID-19 blended delivery and COVID-19 online only delivery of a first-year biology course. When the molecular genetics gamified lessons were used by on- and off-c us students to support their learning, most students had successful learning outcomes in either blended or online only learning environments. In contrast, students who chose not to use these lessons had significantly greater failure rates for both the molecular biology and the genetics short answer questions in the final invigilated exams. Importantly, there was noticeable gamified lesson fatigue observed by both on- and off-c us students and therefore when incorporating gamified lessons into courses, curriculum design needs to be carefully considered. In conclusion, the use of gamified lessons was associated with significantly reduced student failure rates for molecular genetics concepts studied in a university foundational biology course.
Publisher: EJournal Publishing
Date: 2021
DOI: 10.18178/IJLT.7.2.154-165
Abstract: The rapid migration of courses from blended teaching to a fully online learning environment during the COVID-19 pandemic required the timely development of new, online teaching resources and re-imagined strategies, to teach practical skills to university students. The move to deliver content that was fully online challenged the assumptions and conventions about the use of face-to-face classes, especially in STEM disciplines that rely on experiential learning. This critical review uses case studies to describe the innovations that were used to adapt undergraduate, first year (foundation) biology courses which were previously delivered using a blended learning pedagogy to a fully online format. In doing so, the opportunities to enhance traditionally practical based activities have also been considered. Future innovations for blended learning, however, require inherent properties and capacity of technologies to support aligned learning tasks. Reflections on the crisis response to learning however, act as a catalyst for educational change towards more flexible models and practices in future interconnected learning environments.
No related grants have been discovered for Lea Labeur.