Compartmental analysis of energy expenditure and glucose/insulin fluxes in sheep

Summary

A workshop led by Dr Ray Boston who is Professor of Applied Biomathematics at the University of Pennsylvania on Compartmental analysis of energy expenditure and glucose/insulin fluxes in sheep was held at the University of New England from 16th - 26th July 2012. This was a follow-up to a previous workshop held in March 2007. The main purpose of this workshop was to enable UNE and NSW DPI staff to work through modelling issues that had arisen since the 2007 workshop. 
At the current workshop, sessions were focussed on various modelling challenges that were posed by the participants and had become apparent since the 2007 meeting. The topics and datasets investigated were derived from current research programs or teaching practicums. All of the research topics and datasets were chosen because they could readily be developed into research publications with joint authorships between the University of New England and the University of Pennsylvania. At the end of the 8-day workshop, Dr Boston delivered a public seminar to the School of Environmental and Rural Science on the topic "A New Model of Non-Esterified Fatty Acid Metabolism: Lessons From the Glucose Minimal Model".
This lecture exemplified the power of the modelling techniques that he had been imparting to our research and teaching staff over the course of his visit. The workshop has helped consolidate the modelling group in Armidale. Some of the projects will lead to further collaborations between our two Universities, and to further joint publications, e.g. the animal-based studies of glucose challenge and insulin response led by Drs Jim McFarlane and Ian Godwin.
Draft papers developed in connection with the recent workshop with Professor Boston as a co-author included:A model of bicarbonate carbon movements through body compartments of sheepA compartmental modelling method for determining the production and inter-conversions of volatile fatty acids in the rumenA model of leptin kinetics in sheepA model of the kinetics of nitrate reduction and use in the rumen of sheepA model describing the kinetics of passage of fluid phase and particulate digesta through the gut of sheep.