Animal welfare in Europe and Iran: policy perspective and society

Intensive animal production systems are compromising current animal welfare standards. Societies' growing concerns regarding how animals are raised have resulted in continuous policy reforms and regulations that have banned certain intensive farming methods. However, these concerns toward animal welfare can vary across different countries and cultures. In many developed countries, EU policymakers are continuously identifying and implementing more restrictive regulations driven by social changes that go beyond the current minimum animal welfare requirements. However, animal welfare is also an emerging concern in developing countries. In this context, the main objectives of this thesis are threefold: Firstly, to analyze the EU consumers' and citizens' attitudes towards more restrictive animal welfare (AW) regulations. The Logit Model (LM) regression was used in eight European countries (Spain, the United Kingdom, Poland, Greece, Lithuania, Romania, Italy, and Sweden) on a sample of 3860 respondents. The results showed that consumers are more reluctant to adopt more restrictive regulations than respondents in their role of citizens. Respondents from northern European countries (Poland and Sweden) are more likely to support more restrictive animal welfare regulations than respondents from southern countries (Spain and Italy). Women were found to be more concerned with the welfare of pigs and laying hens, giving credibility to the Internet as an information source and more likely to support more restrictive animal welfare legislation. Secondly, the students' opinions towards the inclusion of the AW subjects in their educational program were analyzed. The Logit Model (LM) from eight European Union (EU) countries with 1,952 secondary students and 1,929 graduate students was also used. The results showed that female university students with a high level of subjective and objective knowledge on AW and who required more restrictive AW regulations gave support to include the concept in their educational programs. However, students who support medical experiments that use animals to improve human health were less likely to accept the inclusion of the AW in their educational curricula. Furthermore, students in Italy compared to those in Sweden were prone to support AW educational programs. Thirdly, in order to have a comparative view of a developing country compared to results in EU, Iranian citizens' and consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for animal welfare (AW) milk products were analyzed using the choice experiment. The results indicate that citizens are willing to pay the highest price for traditional AW milk but not for industrial and traditional milk without AW certification. Moreover, individuals in their role as consumers exhibit a higher WTP for all types of milk but with a marked preference for industrial AW than traditional. Citizen's women and those who rely on the Internet were more concerned with dairy cattle farms and were more likely to choose AW milk. Citizens below 55 years of age were more reluctant to pay a premium to choose industrial and traditional milk without AW certification. Furthermore, consumer women and those who do not have children show a higher preference for industrial AW milk with lower animal welfare standards. However, consumers who support using animals for sport and those who assign high credibility to the television as an information source were less likely to pay a premium for AW products. Our results highlighted that both consumers and citizens are demanding higher standards regarding animal welfare. Consumers by purchasing animal welfare-friendly products and citizens by adopting a holistic approach to society legislation to achieve a minimum standard of welfare conditions. Finally, our results highlight the importance of policymakers adopting reforms that are in accordance with societal preferences and concerns to create more effective and acceptable animal welfare policies.Los sistemas de producción animal intensiva están comprometiendo los estándares actuales de bienestar animal. La creciente preocupación de las sociedades con respecto a cómo se crían los animales ha dado lugar a continuas reformas políticas y regulaciones que han prohibido ciertos métodos de cultivo intensivo. Sin embargo, estas preocupaciones sobre el bienestar animal pueden variar entre diferentes países y culturas. En muchos países desarrollados, los formuladores de políticas de la UE están identificando e implementando continuamente regulaciones más restrictivas impulsadas por cambios sociales que van más allá de los requisitos mínimos actuales de bienestar animal. Sin embargo, el bienestar animal también es una preocupación emergente en los países en desarrollo. En este contexto, los principales objetivos de esta tesis son tres: En primer lugar, analizar las actitudes de los consumidores y ciudadanos de la UE hacia normas más restrictivas sobre el bienestar de los animales (AW). La regresión del Modelo Logit (LM) se utilizó en ocho países europeos (España, Reino Unido, Polonia, Grecia, Lituania, Rumania, Italia y Suecia) en una muestra con una muestra de 3860 encuestados. Los resultados mostraron que los consumidores son más reacios a adoptar regulaciones más restrictivas que los encuestados en su papel de ciudadanos. Los encuestados de los países del norte de Europa (Polonia y Suecia) son más propensos a apoyar regulaciones de bienestar animal más restrictivas que los encuestados de los países del sur (España e Italia). Se descubrió que las mujeres estaban más preocupadas por el bienestar de los cerdos y las gallinas ponedoras, lo que da credibilidad a Internet como fuente de información y es más probable que apoye una legislación de bienestar animal más restrictiva. En segundo lugar, se analizaron las opiniones de los estudiantes hacia la inclusión de las asignaturas AW en su programa educativo. También se utilizó el modelo Logit (LM) de ocho países de la Unión Europea (UE). Los resultados mostraron que estudiantes universitarios con un alto nivel de conocimiento subjetivo y objetivo sobre AW y que requerían regulaciones de AW más restrictivas dieron apoyo para incluir el concepto en sus programas educativos. Sin embargo, los estudiantes que apoyan los experimentos médicos que utilizan animales para mejorar la salud humana tenían menos probabilidades de aceptar la inclusión del AW en sus planes de estudios educativos. Además, los estudiantes de Italia, en comparación con los de Suecia, eran propensos a apoyar los programas educativos de AW. En tercer lugar, para tener una visión comparativa de un país en desarrollo en comparación con los resultados de la UE, se analizó la disposición a pagar (DAP) de los ciudadanos y consumidores iraníes por productos lácteos de bienestar animal (AW) utilizando el experimento de elección. Los resultados indican que los ciudadanos están dispuestos a pagar el precio más alto por la leche AW tradicional, pero no por la leche industrial y tradicional sin certificación AW. Además, los individuos en su rol de consumidores exhiben una DAP más alta para todos los tipos de leche, pero con una marcada preferencia por la AW industrial que la tradicional. Las mujeres ciudadanas y las que dependen de Internet estaban más preocupadas por las granjas de ganado lechero y eran más propensas a elegir la leche AW. Además, las mujeres consumidoras y las que no tienen hijos muestran una mayor preferencia por la leche industrial AW con un estándar de bienestar animal más bajo. Sin embargo, los consumidores que apoyan el uso de animales para el deporte y aquellos que asignan una alta credibilidad a la televisión como fuente de información tenían menos probabilidades de pagar una prima por los productos AW. Nuestros resultados destacaron que tanto los consumidores como los ciudadanos exigen estándares más altos en materia de bienestar animal. Los consumidores compran productos respetuosos con el bienestar animal y los ciudadanos adoptan un enfoque holístico de la legislación de la sociedad para lograr un estándar mínimo de condiciones de bienestar. Finalmente, los resultados muestran que la enseñanza del concepto de AW en las universidades y programas escolares, principalmente en los países mediterráneos en las escuelas secundarias, es necesaria.Postprint (published version

Should animal welfare regulations be more restrictive? A case study in eight European Union Countries

Intensive animal production systems are compromising current animal welfare standards. European societies’ growing concerns regarding how animals are raised have resulted in continuous European Union (EU) policy reforms that have banned certain intensive farming methods. We investigated whether EU respondents, differentiated by their roles as citizens and consumers, believe that the current regulations on animal welfare should be more restrictive. Data were collected using a survey approach implemented in eight European countries (Spain, the United Kingdom, Poland, Greece, Lithuania, Romania, Italy, and Sweden) with a sample of 3860 respondents with approximately 240 respondents organized by group and country. The results show that women citizens are more concerned with animal welfare and are prone to accept more restrictive regulations. Respondents from Northern European countries (Poland and Sweden) are willing to accept regulations that are more restrictive than the current minimum standards than respondents from southern countries (Spain and Italy). Our results suggest that increasing knowledge of animal welfare is related to effective information campaigns that use the Internet to endorse the current animal welfare legislation.Postprint (updated version

The Study of transmission of price from farm to retail Shops in Saffron Market (case study of Estahbanat)

The market margin presents the difference between the price offered by supplier and consumer and it is very important in supplying agricultural products especially when the effect of supplier offered price increase (reduction) is not symmetric on the price offered by the consumer. The main purpose of this research is to study the procedure of price transfer (symmetric or asymmetric) in saffron market of Estahbanat. The research data have obtained from monthly prices of saffron retail and wholesale during 2005-2010 by the agricultural Jihad organization. The price transfer test, Hook and asymmetric error modification models were used for determining saffron transfer price from wholesale to retail. The tractions obtained from hook method show the effect of price increase and decrease in farms price separately. If the time series variable is convergent but not static, (i.e. there is a balance and long-term relation between the variables), then the Hook method can not be applied and instead error correction model should be used. In this condition, the acceptance of null hypothesis shows the price transfer symmetry, while non-acceptance shows the asymmetry in price transfer. The results suggest that although the price transfer from supplier to wholesale be asymmetric in short time, this is symmetric in long time. In addition, the price transfer from wholesale to retail is asymmetric in long term. There is a reasonable relation between the supplier price and wholesale price and vice versa.Therefore, establishing the supply cooperatives especially agricultural marketing once including farmers, wholesalers, and even dealers is recommended for solving these problems. This results in making closer the relation between the farmers and wholesalers and eliminating unnecessary dealers in one hand and more benefits of final price for the farmers

Should animal welfare regulations be more restrictive? A case study in eight European Union Countries

Increasingly, intensive livestock production systems have increased societal concern regarding the current animal welfare standards. We investigated whether individuals in their roles as consumers and citizens believe that the current European regulations regarding animal welfare should be more restrictive. Factors a ecting this decision were assessed by analyzing respondents’ understanding of animal welfare-related issues, their subjective and objective knowledge levels, the credibility they assign to di erent information sources, their perceptions toward the current restrictiveness of animal welfare standards, and their socioeconomic characteristics. Data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire distributed in eight European Union (EU) countries (Spain, the United Kingdom, Poland, Greece, Lithuania, Romania, Italy, and Sweden) with 3860 total responses. The results showed that consumers are more reluctant to adopt more restrictive regulations than respondents in the role of citizens. Respondents from northern European countries (Poland and Sweden) are more likely to support regulations that are more restrictive than the current minimum requirements than respondents from southern countries (Spain and Italy). Women were found to be more concerned with the welfare of pigs and laying hens—lending credibility to the Internet as an information source—and were more likely to support more restrictive animal welfare legislation.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Should animal welfare be included in educational programs? Attitudes of secondary and university students from eight EU countries

Animal Welfare educational programs aim to promote positive attitudes of future generations towards animal production systems. This study investigated whether secondary and university students in the majors that are not related to AW teaching believe that this concept should be included also in their educational programs. The determinant factors affecting students’ attitudes towards such a decision were analysed. This research has focused on eight European countries (Spain, the United Kingdom, Poland, Greece, Lithuania, Romania, Italy, and Sweden) targeting 3,881 respondents composed of 1,952 secondary and 1,929 university students. Results showed that female university students with a level of subjective and objective knowledge on AW and who required more restrictive AW regulations, gave support to include the concept in their educational programs. However, Students who support medical experiments that use animals to improve human health were less likely to accept AW education. Students in Italy compared to those in Sweden were prone to support AW educational programs. Results highlight the importance of teaching the AW concept as a comprehensive teaching tool at universities and schools’ programs as it may constitute a starting point for a more sustainable society toward improving animal living conditions, mainly in the Mediterranean countries in secondary schools

Should animal welfare be included in educational programs? Attitudes of secondary and university students from eight EU Countries

Animal welfare educational programs aim to promote positive attitudes of future generations towards animal production systems. This study investigated whether secondary and university students in the majors that are not related to AW teaching believe that this concept should be included also in their educational programs. The determinant factors affecting students' attitudes towards such a decision were analyzed. This research has focused on eight European countries (Spain, the United Kingdom, Poland, Greece, Lithuania, Romania, Italy, and Sweden) targeting 3,881 respondents composed of 1,952 secondary and 1,929 university students. Results showed that female university students with a level of subjective and objective knowledge on AW and who required more restrictive AW regulations, gave support to include the concept in their educational programs. However, Students who support medical experiments that use animals to improve human health were less likely to accept AW education. Students in Italy compared to those in Sweden were prone to support AW educational programs. Results highlight the importance of teaching the AW concept as a comprehensive teaching tool at universities and schools' programs as it may constitute a starting point for a more sustainable society toward improving animal living conditions, mainly in the Mediterranean countries in secondary schools.Postprint (author's final draft

Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BACKGROUND Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When systematically analysed, mortality rates and life expectancy allow comparisons of the consequences of causes of death globally and over time, providing a nuanced understanding of the effect of these causes on global populations. METHODS The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 cause-of-death analysis estimated mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) from 288 causes of death by age-sex-location-year in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations for each year from 1990 until 2021. The analysis used 56 604 data sources, including data from vital registration and verbal autopsy as well as surveys, censuses, surveillance systems, and cancer registries, among others. As with previous GBD rounds, cause-specific death rates for most causes were estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model-a modelling tool developed for GBD to assess the out-of-sample predictive validity of different statistical models and covariate permutations and combine those results to produce cause-specific mortality estimates-with alternative strategies adapted to model causes with insufficient data, substantial changes in reporting over the study period, or unusual epidemiology. YLLs were computed as the product of the number of deaths for each cause-age-sex-location-year and the standard life expectancy at each age. As part of the modelling process, uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated using the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles from a 1000-draw distribution for each metric. We decomposed life expectancy by cause of death, location, and year to show cause-specific effects on life expectancy from 1990 to 2021. We also used the coefficient of variation and the fraction of population affected by 90% of deaths to highlight concentrations of mortality. Findings are reported in counts and age-standardised rates. Methodological improvements for cause-of-death estimates in GBD 2021 include the expansion of under-5-years age group to include four new age groups, enhanced methods to account for stochastic variation of sparse data, and the inclusion of COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality-which includes excess mortality associated with the pandemic, excluding COVID-19, lower respiratory infections, measles, malaria, and pertussis. For this analysis, 199 new country-years of vital registration cause-of-death data, 5 country-years of surveillance data, 21 country-years of verbal autopsy data, and 94 country-years of other data types were added to those used in previous GBD rounds. FINDINGS The leading causes of age-standardised deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2021, however, COVID-19 replaced stroke as the second-leading age-standardised cause of death, with 94·0 deaths (95% UI 89·2-100·0) per 100 000 population. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the rankings of the leading five causes, lowering stroke to the third-leading and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to the fourth-leading position. In 2021, the highest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (271·0 deaths [250·1-290·7] per 100 000 population) and Latin America and the Caribbean (195·4 deaths [182·1-211·4] per 100 000 population). The lowest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 were in the high-income super-region (48·1 deaths [47·4-48·8] per 100 000 population) and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania (23·2 deaths [16·3-37·2] per 100 000 population). Globally, life expectancy steadily improved between 1990 and 2019 for 18 of the 22 investigated causes. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the positive effect that reductions in deaths from enteric infections, lower respiratory infections, stroke, and neonatal deaths, among others have contributed to improved survival over the study period. However, a net reduction of 1·6 years occurred in global life expectancy between 2019 and 2021, primarily due to increased death rates from COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality. Life expectancy was highly variable between super-regions over the study period, with southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania gaining 8·3 years (6·7-9·9) overall, while having the smallest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 (0·4 years). The largest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean (3·6 years). Additionally, 53 of the 288 causes of death were highly concentrated in locations with less than 50% of the global population as of 2021, and these causes of death became progressively more concentrated since 1990, when only 44 causes showed this pattern. The concentration phenomenon is discussed heuristically with respect to enteric and lower respiratory infections, malaria, HIV/AIDS, neonatal disorders, tuberculosis, and measles. INTERPRETATION Long-standing gains in life expectancy and reductions in many of the leading causes of death have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the adverse effects of which were spread unevenly among populations. Despite the pandemic, there has been continued progress in combatting several notable causes of death, leading to improved global life expectancy over the study period. Each of the seven GBD super-regions showed an overall improvement from 1990 and 2021, obscuring the negative effect in the years of the pandemic. Additionally, our findings regarding regional variation in causes of death driving increases in life expectancy hold clear policy utility. Analyses of shifting mortality trends reveal that several causes, once widespread globally, are now increasingly concentrated geographically. These changes in mortality concentration, alongside further investigation of changing risks, interventions, and relevant policy, present an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of mortality-reduction strategies. Examining patterns in mortality concentration might reveal areas where successful public health interventions have been implemented. Translating these successes to locations where certain causes of death remain entrenched can inform policies that work to improve life expectancy for people everywhere. FUNDING Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Directional Microstrip Antenna by using Metamaterial Superstrate in Fabry-Perot Cavity

Recently Fabry-Perot (FP) resonator structures for enhancing directivity have found wide use in antenna design. FP Resonator antenna generally consists of primary radiator backed with a metal ground plane and a partially reflective surface (PRS). In this paper metamaterial unit cells is utilized as PRS in FP cavity for increasing microstrip antenna directivity. As a novel design an array of Omega unit cells is proposed and designed. FP antenna performance with Omega cover and superstrate of patch and SRR is simulated and compared. For validation of purposes, the antenna is designed and simulated through using of two different 3D full-wave electromagnetic simulation tools CST Microwave Studio and Ansoftâs High Frequency Structure Simulator (HFSS)

Should animal welfare regulations be more restrictive? A case study in eight European Union Countries

Intensive animal production systems are compromising current animal welfare standards. European societies’ growing concerns regarding how animals are raised have resulted in continuous European Union (EU) policy reforms that have banned certain intensive farming methods. We investigated whether EU respondents, differentiated by their roles as citizens and consumers, believe that the current regulations on animal welfare should be more restrictive. Data were collected using a survey approach implemented in eight European countries (Spain, the United Kingdom, Poland, Greece, Lithuania, Romania, Italy, and Sweden) with a sample of 3860 respondents with approximately 240 respondents organized by group and country. The results show that women citizens are more concerned with animal welfare and are prone to accept more restrictive regulations. Respondents from Northern European countries (Poland and Sweden) are willing to accept regulations that are more restrictive than the current minimum standards than respondents from southern countries (Spain and Italy). Our results suggest that increasing knowledge of animal welfare is related to effective information campaigns that use the Internet to endorse the current animal welfare legislation