• Title/Summary/Keyword: Humans and animals

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Stewardship, Stockmanship and Sustainability in Animal Agriculture

  • Szucs, E.;Geers, R.;Sossidou, E.N.
    • Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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    • v.22 no.9
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    • pp.1334-1340
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    • 2009
  • Sufficient food supply for all humans was, is, and will remain one of the main priorities for mankind. The choice between food from crops or animals is related to philosophical, religious and ethical, but also cultural and economical, values. However, the concept of sustainable agriculture takes into account the organization of food supply through future generations. Not only quantity, but also quality is important, especially in relation to food safety and the method of production. Specifically, the aspect of animal welfare is becoming increasingly important with the focus on stewardship and stockmanship, i.e. responsibility of humans for their animals. In the future, implications for sustainability in animal production may be of more concern to stewardship paired by stockmanship, responsibility, consciousness and morality. The moral as a basic concept of sustainable agriculture is to maintain continuous development in harmony with nature to meet requirements in the world for living creatures including human beings to live in and steward. The objective of this paper is to discuss the above issues from different viewpoints on sustainable food supply, increasing food consumption and environmental protection.

Effect of Corynebacterium glutamicum on Livestock Material Burial Treatment

  • Kim, Bit-Na;Cho, Ho-Seong;Cha, Yougin;Park, Joon-Kyu;Kim, Geonha;Kim, Yang-Hoon;Min, Jiho
    • Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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    • v.26 no.8
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    • pp.1404-1408
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    • 2016
  • In recent years, foot-and-mouth disease has occurred in all parts of the world. The animals with the disease are buried in the ground; therefore, their concentration could affect ground or groundwater. Moreover, the complete degradation of carcasses is not a certainty, and their disposal is important to prevent humans, livestock, and the environment from being affected with the disease. The treatment of Corynebacterium glutamicum is a feasible method to reduce the risk of carcass decomposition affecting humans or the environment. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of C. glutamicum on the soil environment with a carcass. The composition of amino acids in the soil treated with C. glutamicum was generally higher than those in the untreated soil. Moreover, the plant root in the soil samples treated with C. glutamicum had 84.0% amino acids relative to the standard value and was similar to that of the control. The results of this study suggest the possibility to reduce the toxicity of a grave land containing animals with this disease.

Methyl Isocyanate and Carcinogenesis: Bridgeable Gaps in Scientific Knowledge

  • Senthilkumar, Chinnu Sugavanam;Sah, Nand Kishore;Ganesh, Narayanan
    • Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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    • v.13 no.6
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    • pp.2429-2435
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    • 2012
  • Methyl isocyanate may have a role in cancer etiology, although the link is unclear. There is evidence in the literature that it can induce cancer in animals but the carcinogenic potency is weak. Pheochromocytoma of adrenal medulla and acinar cell tumors of pancreas have been observed in methyl isocyanate exposed animals. Conversely, emerging data from population-based epidemiological studies are contradictory since there is no evidence of such cancers in methyl isocyanate exposed humans. Recently, we reported a high prevalence of breast and lung cancers in such a population in Bhopal. In vitro findings appearing in the latest scientific literature suggest that genomic instability is caused by methyl isocyanate analogs in lung, colon, kidney, ovary epithelial cells, and that hepatocytes may undergo oncogenic transformation, have obvious implications. The conflicting information prompted us to present this update over the last three decades on methyl isocyanate-induced cancers after an extensive literature search using PubMed. While the pertinent literature remains limited, with a scarcity of strong laboratory analyses and field-epidemiological investigations, our succinct review of animal and human epidemiological data including in vitro evidences, should hopefully provide more insight to researchers, toxicologists, and public health professionals concerned with validation of the carcinogenicity of methyl isocyanate in humans.

Occurrence of canine heartworm disease on three breeding farms in the vicinity of Seoul, Korea (수도권 일대 집단 번식농장 사육견에서의 개심장사상충 감염실태)

  • Seo, Young-woo;Shin, Sung-shik;Kim, Jong-taek
    • Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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    • v.41 no.1
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    • pp.79-83
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    • 2001
  • Dirofilaria immitis parasitizes mainly in the pulmonary arteries and in the heart of dogs and cats. The parasite is also of public health importance, because it often elicits nodules in the pulmonary parenchyma and in the subcutaneous tissues, or sometimes parasitize itself in the eyes of human. In this study, we investigated the prevalence of heartworm infection among 165 dogs on three breeding farms in the vicinity of Seoul, Korea. Of 165 dogs, 83 dogs (50.3%) were infected with the parasite, as revealed by an antigen-detecting test using the peripheral blood. Of these, 23 dogs (20.2%) contained microfilaria using the peripheral blood, which are potential source of transmission to uninfected animals and to humans in the endemic area. None of infected dogs showed any clinical signs associated with the disease. Since the three farms were located in the vicinity of Seoul, the unexpectedly high infection rate could imply that the possibility of exposure of both animals and humans living in the metropolitan Seoul area to the parasite is higher than in the other area of Korea.

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Cardiac biomarkers for early detection of heart diseases in small animals

  • Hyun, Chang-Baig
    • Proceedings of the Korean Society of Veterinary Clinics Conference
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    • 2009.04a
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    • pp.137-150
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    • 2009
  • Background: Heart failure can develop secondary to various heart diseases (e.g. mitral valvular insufficiency, congenital heart defects, heart worm infection). The clinical signs of heart failure can be confused with those of other conditions, such as respiratory disease. Therefore, specific, sensitive, rapid and inexpensive blood tests for heart failure are desirable. Cardiac troponins, natriuretic peptides and cytokines have been more recently used as indicators of heart disease in humans and animals. These peptides are sensitive to changes in vasoconstriction and dilation within the heart and are used for the diagnosis and prognosis of heart failure. Methods: Previously developed and newly developed cardiac biomarkers will be discussed for understating clinical implications and diagnostic values in heart diseases in small animals

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Identification of long non-coding RNA-mRNA interactions and genome-wide lncRNA annotation in animal transcriptome profiling

  • Yoon-Been Park;Jun-Mo Kim
    • Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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    • v.65 no.2
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    • pp.293-310
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    • 2023
  • Protein-translated mRNA analysis has been extensively used to determine the function of various traits in animals. The non-coding RNA (ncRNA), which was known to be non-functional because it was not encoded as a protein, was re-examined as it was studied to actually function. One of the ncRNAs, long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), is known to have a function of regulating mRNA expression, and its importance is emerging. Therefore, lncRNAs are currently being used to understand the traits of various animals as well as human diseases. However, studies on lncRNA annotation and its functions are still lacking in most animals except humans and mice. lncRNAs have unique characteristics of lncRNAs and interact with mRNA through various mechanisms. In order to make lncRNA annotations in animals in the future, it is essential to understand the characteristics of lncRNAs and the mechanisms by which lncRNAs function. In addition, this will allow lncRNAs to be used for a wider variety of traits in a wider range of animals, and it is expected that integrated analysis using other biological information will be possible.

One-health Approach in the Post-COVID-19 Era: Focusing on Animal Infection (One-health 관점에서 본 Post-COVID-19 시대의 동물 감염)

  • Hye-Jeong Jang;Sun-Nyoung Yu;O-Yu Kwon;Soon-Cheol Ahn
    • Journal of Life Science
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    • v.33 no.2
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    • pp.199-207
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    • 2023
  • To prepare for the threat of a future epidemic in the post-COVID-19 era, research based on the one-health concept (i.e., the health of humans, animals, and the environment as "one") is essential. Cross-species infections are being identified as a result of the high infection rate and viral load of SARS-CoV-2 in humans. The possibility of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from humans to mink has been determined. In addition, the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from humans to cats through contact has been considered possible. The data so far show that livestock and poultry are less likely to be infected with SARS-CoV-2. However, if infections are established through a new mutation, the resulting diseases are expected to have enormous ripple effects on various fields, such as human food security, the economy, and trade. In addition, there are concerns about the endemic prospect of SARS-CoV-2 and the high accessibility of companion animals. This is because the evolution of the virus likely occurs in animal hosts. Once SARS-CoV-2 is established in other species, they might serve as intermediate hosts for the re-emergence of the virus in the human population. Thus, it is necessary to ensure a rapid response to future outbreaks by accumulating research data on the animal infection of SARS-CoV-2. These data can have implications for the development of animal models for vaccines and therapeutics against SARS-CoV-2. Therefore, in this study, epidemiological reviews were analyzed, and response strategies against SARS-CoV-2 infection in animals were presented using the One-health approach.

Animal Welfare in Different Human Cultures, Traditions and Religious Faiths

  • Szucs, E.;Geers, R.;Jezierski, T.;Sossidou, E.N.;Broom, D.M.
    • Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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    • v.25 no.11
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    • pp.1499-1506
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    • 2012
  • Animal welfare has become a growing concern affecting acceptability of agricultural systems in many countries around the world. An earlier Judeo-Christian interpretation of the Bible (1982) that dominion over animals meant that any degree of exploitation was acceptable has changed for most people to mean that each person has responsibility for animal welfare. This view was evident in some ancient Greek writings and has parallels in Islamic teaching. A minority view of Christians, which is a widespread view of Jains, Buddhists and many Hindus, is that animals should not be used by humans as food or for other purposes. The commonest philosophical positions now, concerning how animals should be treated, are a blend of deontological and utilitarian approaches. Most people think that extremes of poor welfare in animals are unacceptable and that those who keep animals should strive for good welfare. Hence animal welfare science, which allows the evaluation of welfare, has developed rapidly.

Comprehensive Measures for Foot and Mouth Disease(FMD) (구제역(口蹄疫) 종합대책)

  • Rhee, Seong-Kap;Park, Yong-Bae
    • Journal of the Korean Professional Engineers Association
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    • v.44 no.2
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    • pp.34-38
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    • 2011
  • Foot and mouth disease (FMD) is a highly contagions disease of cloven-hoofed animals and occurs in many non-European countries, in particular in huge parts of Asia including Turkey, in most countries of Africa and in parts of South America. The extreme contagiousness of the disease requires comprehensive to control an outbreak, causing high economic losses. The outbreak of FMD, which affects livestock including cattle, swine,sheep,goats,deer and other animals as a highly communicable disease that affects. The agency issued a statement noting that FMD disease does not spread to humans. The disease and meat from infected animals are news reports that more than 3.400.000 livestock have been ordered slaughtered so far across the country.

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An Environment Restoration Plan Study for Management of Conservation Area Devastated - Damage and Management Plan of Imported Organism in Japan's Ogasawara Island - (훼손된 보전지역 관리를 위한 환경복원방안 연구 - 일본 오가사와라(小笠原) 제도의 이입생물의 피해 및 관리방안 -)

  • Shin, Hyun-Tak;Park, Seok-Gon
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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    • v.11 no.2
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    • pp.123-132
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    • 2008
  • The problems caused by new biological organisms in Ogasawara Island of Japan include : (1) loss of native species' habitats and extinction of native species due to the multiplication of invasive species; (2) reduction of native species and confusion in the food chain in result of invasive species' predation; (3) confusion in genes due to hybridization of new and native plants; and (4) destruction of ecosystem and erosion of earth due to rapid increase of invasive species. The natural ecosystem of preserved areas in Korea is constantly confused and destroyed by new animals and plants, but Korea does not has any solutions because new animals and plants rarely affect human lives. Invasive species are manually introduced by humans and are considered disasters caused by humans. Korea is in desperate need of campaigns as the general public does not understand the seriousness of the destruction and confusion of natural ecosystem caused by new biological organisms and their indirect/direct influences on humans. It is necessary to evaluate the biological characteristics, ecological influence, and harms of invasive species in preserved areas to establish a system to manage invasive species and plan the priority removal of species that are highly harmful and locally distributed. Manual removal and suppression of new biological organisms that cause problems is effective, but it takes cost, effort, and time. Therefore, we would need to research and develop the most efficient and effective techniques and measures to manage invasive species in our ecosystem.