• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.8
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• pp.388-394
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• 2020

This study was undertaken to evaluate and compare the status of animal welfare, environmental level, and sow behavior, by including two farmhouses with sow group housing but having different floor types, viz., litter floor and slat floor. Animal welfare level was evaluated for body and vulval wounds of sows. The environmental level was measured for a total of 4 months, assessing the concentrations of H2S, NH3 and CO2 inside the pig house, once a month. Results of this study indicate that the level of animal welfare, with respect to body and vulval wounds, was better in the concrete slat floor farmhouse (H) than in the litter floor farmhouse (K). Environmental levels obtained (in ppm) were: H2S (H, 1.0; K, 0.0), NH3 (H, 45.4; K, 1.3), and CO2 (H, 1102.3; K, 258.8), indicating higher levels in the H than in K farmhouse. Aggressive behavior was mainly encountered in the H farmhouse. These results indicate that the same group housing system, but with different flooring, results in changes pertaining to aggressive behavior and environmental levels. It is therefore necessary to study the behavior changes, welfare, and environmental levels while deliberating different floor types.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.428-434
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• 2019

Many countries have interested animal welfare. Similarly, domestic people have concern for the welfare from companion animals to livestock. Environmental enrichments (EE) are tool to enforce the welfare, however, research with sows is limited. Therefore, this study was investigate to effects of environmental enrichments on performance and behavior properties of gestating sows. A total of 30 pregnant sows (Landrace) were assigned into three treatments that control, T1 (plastic device) and T2 (Rice straw). Period of trial was from Mar. 03. 18. to Mary 19. 18. The EE were allotted to center of experimental pen ($11.6{\times}6.0m$). Body weight (BW), backfat thickness (BF) and cortisol were identified at experimental initial or end date. Behavior was recorded during 24 hours on days 91 of gestation, and then analyzed the patterns. BF was reduced (15.73 vs. 16.56 mm; p>0.05) in T1 than control, but Ending BW, total litter size and alive piglets did not differ. Born dead piglets showed lower tendency (1.00 and 0.63 vs. 1.50 heads; p>0.05) in T1 and T2 than control. Similarly, the enrichments declined farrowing mortality (C, 8.68%; T1, 6.86%; T2, 3.40%; p>0.05). Cortisol was not differed among treatments. In the behavior characteristics, eating showed lower (1.81 vs. 9.68 and 6.99%; p<0.05) in T2 than control and T1. Furthermore, playing or digging were only observed (0.33 and 2.10%; p<0.05) in T1 and T2, respectively, whereas rubbing (0.91%, p<0.05) only showed in the control. These results suggest that the provision of EE would be not negatively affected the performance of the gestating sows and could be led to improvement of the livestock welfare.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.31 no.7
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• pp.992-1006
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• 2018

Beef production extends over almost half of Australia, with about 47,000 cattle producers that contribute about 20% ($A12.7 billion gross value of production) of the total value of farm production in Australia. Australia is one of the world's most efficient producers of cattle and was the world's third largest beef exporter in 2016. The Australian beef industry had 25 million head of cattle in 2016-17, with a national beef breeding herd of 11.5 million head. Australian beef production includes pasture-based cow-calf systems, a backgrounding or grow-out period on pasture, and feedlot or pasture finishing. Feedlot finishing has assumed more importance in recent years to assure the eating quality of beef entering the relatively small Australian domestic market, and to enhance the supply of higher value beef for export markets. Maintenance of Australia's preferred status as a quality assured supplier of high value beef produced under environmentally sustainable systems from 'disease-free' cattle is of highest importance. Stringent livestock and meat quality regulations and quality assurance systems, and productivity growth and efficiency across the supply chain to ensure price competiveness, are crucial for continued export market growth in the face of increasing competition. Major industry issues, that also represent research, development and adoption priorities and opportunities for the Australian beef industry have been captured within exhaustive strategic planning processes by the red meat and beef industries. At the broadest level, these issues include consumer and industry support, market growth and diversification, supply chain efficiency, productivity and profitability, environmental sustainability, and animal health and welfare. This review provides an overview of the Australian beef industry including current market trends and future prospects, and major issues and opportunities for the continued growth, development and profitability of the industry.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.868-872
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• 2005

Individual management of the animal is the first step towards reaching the goal of precision livestock farming that aids animal welfare. Accurate recognition of each individual animal is important for precise management. Electronic identification of cattle, usually referred to as RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), has many advantages for farm management. In practice, however, RFID implementations can cause several problems. Reading speed and distance must be optimized for specific applications. Image processing is more effective than RFID for the development of precision farming system in livestock. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to attempt the identification of cattle by using image processing. The majority of the research on the identification of cattle by using image processing has been for the black-and-white patterns of the Holstein. But, native Japanese and Korean cattle do not have a consistent pattern on the body, so that identification by pattern is impossible. This research aims to identify to Japanese black cattle, which does not have a black-white pattern on the body, by using image processing and a neural network algorithm. 12 Japanese black cattle were tested. Values of input parameter were calculated by using the face image values of 12 cows. The face was identified by the associate neural memory algorithm, and the algorithm was verified by the transformed face image, for example, of brightness, distortion, noise and angle. As a result, there was difference due to a transformation ratio of the brightness, distortion, noise, and angle. The algorithm could identify 100% in the range from -30 to +30 degrees of brightness, -20 to +40 degrees of distortion, 0 to 60% of noise and -20 to +30 degree of angle transformed images.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.63 no.4
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• pp.681-692
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• 2021

Environment, food, and disease have a selective force on the present and future as well as our genome. Adaptation of livestock and the environmental nexus, including forest encroachment for anthropological needs, has been proven to cause emerging infectious diseases. Further, these demand changes in meat production and market systems. Meat is a reliable source of protein, with a majority of the world population consumes meat. To meet the increasing demands of meat production as well as address issues, such as current environmental pollution, animal welfare, and outbreaks, cellular agriculture has emerged as one of the next industrial revolutions. Lab grown meat or cell cultured meat is a promising way to pursue this; however, it still needs to resemble traditional meat and be assured safety for human consumption. Further, to mimic the palatability of traditional meat, the process of cultured meat production starts from skeletal muscle progenitor cells isolated from animals that proliferate and differentiate into skeletal muscle using cell culture techniques. Due to several lacunae in the current approaches, production of muscle replicas is not possible yet. Our review shows that constant research in this field will resolve the existing constraints and enable successful cultured meat production in the near future. Therefore, production of cultured meat is a better solution that looks after environmental issues, spread of outbreaks, antibiotic resistance through the zoonotic spread, food and economic crises.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.762-774
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• 2022

The COVID 19 pandemic resulted in a considerable influence on the world economy. Being a big sector of the economy, the food supply chain struggled. The meat supply chain was most notably affected as every part of the supply chain from farm to shelf was closely inter-related. With the closure of businesses and restaurants the demand for at home food from grocery stores increased. Meat production facilities were impacted when the virus spread to the workers causing facilities to close or line speeds to slow. The combination of these two issues, in turn, led to there being less meat on the shelves. With less meat animals being harvested, there was less demand for livestock leading to farmers having an excess in slaughter ready animals. The decreased demand for livestock led to economic issues as money was lost in multiple sections of the supply chain. Aside from the economy and supply chain issues, other issues include concerns over the safety of meat products due to decreased safety protocols to increase line speed. Additionally, concerns of animal welfare with the excess of animals being culled were raised due to decreased capacity in processing facilities. While this review paper mainly focuses on characterizing the impact of COVID 19 on the meat supply chain in the USA, the compiled information should be able to provide practical insights to the meat/food industry across the globe to develop potential mitigating strategies against the COVID 19 and/or any similar pandemic incidences in the future.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.12
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• pp.995-1001
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• 2023

This study investigated the effects of three music genres (classical, new age, and rock) on the stress levels of six Jeju crossbred horses (Jeju horse × Thoroughbred) in a horse stable. The horses were exposed to the three genres for seven days, and their stress levels were measured by analyzing physiological markers, including neurotransmitter (cortisol, β-endorphin, dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin) plasma levels and creatine phosphokinase (CPK) and aldolase serum levels. The neurotransmitter analysis showed significant differences in cortisol levels between classical and new age music exposure. Dopamine levels decreased significantly only with new age exposure. Although there were no significant differences in β-endorphin levels between the three genres, β-endorphin levels decreased with increasing classical and new age music playback times and increased with increasing rock music playback times. There were no significant differences in serotonin levels between the three genres. Oxytocin levels decreased significantly with exposure to classical and rock music. The CPK and aldolase analyses showed that CPK levels decreased significantly only with exposure to new age music and increased after playback ended, while aldolase levels decreased significantly with classical and new age music exposure and increased after playback ended. These findings suggest that classical music and new age are the optimal music genres for the psychological stability of Jeju crossbred horses. Playing back an appropriate music genre could be used to improve breeding and promote the welfare of Jeju crossbred horses.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.219-227
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• 2020

As the earth's average temperature rises, crop and livestock productions are at risk. Chickens are sensitive to heat stress, and increased temperatures may have adverse effects on their production performance and animal welfare. Reliable stress measurements are crucial for heat stress adaptation. Therefore, various measurement methods and biomarkers are used to evaluate poultry stress levels. Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are heat sensitive biological markers that are highly expressed under stress, thereby acting as a cellular thermometer. HSPs also have chaperone activity, which protects cells from heat stress. This review details the role of HSP70 as a molecular chaperone and biomarker for heat stress, which is important for breeding climate-adaptable, thermo-tolerant poultry.

• Smart Media Journal
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• v.11 no.8
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• pp.84-92
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• 2022

Precision livestock monitoring promises greater management efficiency for farmers and higher welfare standards for animals. Recent studies on video-based animal activity recognition and tracking have shown promising solutions for understanding animal behavior. To achieve that, surveillance cameras are installed diagonally above the barn in a typical cattle farm setup to monitor animals constantly. Under these circumstances, tracking individuals requires addressing challenges such as occlusion and visual appearance, which are the main reasons for track breakage and increased misidentification of animals. This paper presents a framework for multi-cattle tracking in closed barns with appearance and motion models. To overcome the above challenges, we modify the DeepSORT algorithm to achieve higher tracking accuracy by three contributions. First, we reduce the weight of appearance information. Second, we use an Ensemble Kalman Filter to predict the random motion information of cattle. Third, we propose a supplementary matching algorithm that compares the absolute cattle position in the barn to reassign lost tracks. The main idea of the matching algorithm assumes that the number of cattle is fixed in the barn, so the edge of the barn is where new trajectories are most likely to emerge. Experimental results are performed on our dataset collected on two cattle farms. Our algorithm achieves 70.37%, 77.39%, and 81.74% performance on HOTA, AssA, and IDF1, representing an improvement of 1.53%, 4.17%, and 0.96%, respectively, compared to the original method.

• International Area Studies Review
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.255-292
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• 2018

This paper evaluates the new food policy adopted by the European Union to enhance the food safety after the mad cow crisis occurred in 1990's. Newly introduced rules at the EU level are characterized by two features. Firstly, an important part of them have the form of Regulation which is a binding legislative to all member countries. Secondly, most of them are horizontally applied to the whole food industry, irrespective of their kinds of performance, hygiene or labelling. According to theoretical studies on this topic, any food safety regulation for solving adverse selection problem or reducing negative externality in food consumption should be fine-tuning depending on the concrete demand and costs conditions of the food sector concerned. In this theoretical perspective, the food safety laws introduced at EU level after mad cow crisis have been over-regulated for improving social welfare. The true motivation for the transfer of the policy competence on food safety to the Union level is political rather than economic. Our analysis with a political economic perspective shows that how the EU food regulations have been embraced not only by the governments of member countries, but also by diverse interest groups like food processor & distributors, consumers and agro-livestock groups, and that they have been used as protectionist purpose specially against non-member developing countries. Taking into account the fact that the basic aim to form the Union is to establish a single market to enhance economic efficiency at the Union level, the EU is required to adopt some policy actions to reduce negative effects of too restrictive food safety regulations.