It is patent that society is evolving an ethic for the treatment of animals which goes well beyond the standard prohibitions against cruelty. This new ethic for animals takes the consensus ethic for the treatment of humans in society and extends it,mutatis mutandis, to the treatment of animals. Though this ethic has been applied first to research animals, its extension to agricultural animals is inevitable, and has already begun. This article explores the extent to which veterinary medicine and animal science, the major scientific fields relevant to animal agriculture, can accommodate the emerging ethic. 相似文献
Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a highly contagious disease of livestock that has serious consequences on livestock production
and trade. In Australia, preparedness and planning includes the development of decision-support tools that would assist priority
setting and resource management in the event of an incursion. In this paper we describe an integrated modelling approach using
geographic information system (GIS) technology to assess the risk of wind-borne spread of FMD virus. The approach involves
linking an intra-farm virus production model, a wind transport and dispersal model, and an exposure-risk model to identify
and rank farms at risk of wind-borne infection of FMD. This will assist authorities by enabling resources for activities like
surveillance and vaccination to be allocated on the basis of risk. 相似文献
Participatory environmental management can empower communities and enhance the sustainability of environmental interventions.
However, existing power structures and inequalities along class, gender, or ethnic lines could prevent part of the community
from accessing the full benefits of the intervention. An analysis of determinants of the willingness-to-participate in an
environmental intervention in a Beirut neighborhood is conducted. Socioeconomic, health-risk distribution, and perception
of community efficacy are used as predictors. A randomly selected sample of residents was surveyed. Respondents were asked
to specify the frequency with which they were willing to be involved in an intervention to address priority environmental
problems in the neighborhood. Bivariate and multivariate ordinal regression analyses were conducted. Tests of significance
were based on the 95% confidence intervals (CI) of the odds ratio (OR). Males versus females (OR = 4.89, P < 0.001), respiratory patients versus nonsufferers (OR = 5.65, P < 0.001), tenants versus house owners (OR = 2.98, P < 0.01), and the less educated versus the more educated (OR = 2.42, P < 0.05) were significantly more likely to be willing to participate. The reluctance of female community members to participate
might be a major hindrance to community-based environmental protection and special strategies must be devised to overcome
it. On the other hand, respondents suffering from an illness perceived to be related to environmental toxins are likely to
be strong participants in environmental conservation efforts. Finally, the study yielded no evidence that belief or lack of
it in the efficacy of community action is a good predictor of the willingness-to-participate in such action. 相似文献
Objective: To determine whether the standard Spanish driving test (ASDE test) was able to identify patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) at risk of unsafe driving and to examine the relationship between the ASDE test and the Useful Field of View (UFOV) as well as with a battery of neuropsychological tests in drivers with PD.
Methods: Thirty-seven patients with PD and 33 controls matched by age and education level were included in an observational study. All participants were active drivers and patients with PD underwent study procedures after taking the medication in the “on” period. Subjects with a Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score ≤ 24 were excluded. Neuropsychological tests (Repeatable Battery for Neuropsychological Status [RBANS], Trail Making Test [TMT-A and -B], and Block Design test), driving performance tests (ASDE Driver Test and UFOV), and daytime sleepiness (Epworth Sleepiness Scale) were assessed.
Results: The PD group performed significantly worse than healthy controls in the ASDE Motor Coordination tests. No significant differences were observed in anticipation speed, multiple reaction time, concentrated attention, and resistance to monotony. All participants successfully completed the UFOV tests. Statistically significant differences between patients with PD and controls were found in processing speed (UFOV1; P =.03) and more patients with PD were found in the categories of higher driving risk levels (P =.03). In addition, patients with PD showed worse scores than healthy controls in visuospatial capacities (Line Orientation), psychomotor speed (Coding and TMT-A), memory (List Recognition, Story Recall), and executive function (TMT-B). The driving tests (ASDE and UFOV) showed a low sensitivity and a high specificity but a higher percentage of patients in the PD group failed in multiple reaction time, concentrated attention, and resistance to monotony. In addition, 18.9% of patients with PD showed a cutoff of 4 for UFOV risk. In the discriminant analysis, Line Orientation (visuospatial/constructive domain) and Figure Recall (delayed memory) were found to be statistically significant with a rate of correct classification of unsafe drivers with PD of 78.2%. In addition, normal results on the Line Orientation item were associated with a 1.5 times higher probability of non-risky driving in the multivariate analysis.
Conclusions: At early stages of the disease, about 19% of patients with PD showed difficulties that may affect their driving capabilities. Line Orientation and Figure Recall are useful to alert clinicians to the risk of unsafe driving. For this reason, patients with PD should be evaluated for driving abilities more regularly to determine the extent of deficits that may influence driving performance. 相似文献
This study investigated total arsenic (As) and As species contents of oysters (Crassostrea gigas) in different production areas, seasons and sea locations on the southwestern coast of Taiwan. Analytical results indicate
that contents of total As, arsenite, arsenate, dimethylarsinic acid, monomethylarsonic acid and arsenobetaine in oysters are
9.90 ± 3.68, 0.091 ± 0.104, 0.033 ± 0.038, 0.529 ± 0.284, 0.037 ± 0.046 and 3.94 ± 1.33 mg/g (dry wt), respectively. A ratio
of inorganic As concentrations to total As concentrations is 1.26%. Total As contents of oysters cultured in the outer sea
are statistically significantly lower than those of oysters cultured in the inner sea. The total As contents of oysters is
the highest in Putai, where the blackfoot disease prevails. The low As contents in oysters is attributed to the low temperature
in winter, which slows the metabolism of oysters. A maximum value is 33.37 μg/g (dry) in Putai in spring, because a considerable
amount of aquacultural waste water with high As contents is discharged into adjacent drainage channels and rivers there during
that season. 相似文献
The northern reef of Yongxing Island, the largest reef island of the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea, was in good condition with significant cover of scleractinian corals until 2002. Surveys in 2008 and 2010, however, found that coral coverage had declined rapidly and severely, implying that catastrophic coral mortality occurred during the past 8 years. A blackish mat was observed covering live and dead corals in both 2008 and 2010 that was identified as an encrusting sponge, Terpios hoshinota, by special surface morphology and spicule structure. In addition, spicule residues were found on the surface of long-dead corals, indicating a previous invasion of T. hosinota. T. hoshinota is referred to as the "black disease" because it rapidly overgrows and kills corals. Our evidence indicates that outbreaks of black disease are at least partially responsible for the massive coral mortality at the northern reef of Yongxing Island over the past 8 years, although human activities and heat-related coral bleaching cannot be discounted as minor causes for this coral decline. 相似文献