90 research outputs found
Environmental and individual factors contributing to the occurrence of stereotypes in female pigs
Environmental and individual factors contributing to the occurrence of stereotypes in female pigs
Environmental and individual factors contributing to the occurrence of stereotypes in female pigs
Understanding the animalâs perception and evaluation of its environment to reduce stress at slaughter: Examples for cattle
Lâabattage dĂ©marre dĂšs la prĂ©paration de lâanimal en Ă©levage pour le dĂ©part Ă lâabattoir et sâachĂšve avec la mort de lâanimal. Câest une pĂ©riode complexe : au cours des diffĂ©rentes Ă©tapes de lâabattage, des sources de stress dâorigine physique, Ă©motionnelle, sociale et cognitive interviennent. Alors que celles dâorigine physique sont bien connues, les autres le sont moins. Elles ont pourtant un impact significatif sur lâĂ©tat de stress des bovins. En effet, les perturbations sociales, lâexposition Ă des Ă©vĂ©nements nouveaux et/ou soudains, les manipulations par lâhomme ainsi que lâenvironnement visuel, sonore et olfactif sont autant de facteurs potentiellement stressants qui sâajoutent et interagissent avec les contraintes physiques. Un certain nombre de conseils pratiques relatifs aux Ă©quipements et Ă la gestion des bovins permettent de limiter ces sources de stress. AssociĂ©s Ă des observations du comportement des animaux au cours des diffĂ©rentes procĂ©dures de la pĂ©riode dâabattage, ils peuvent permettre de rĂ©duire considĂ©rablement le stress des bovins.The slaughter period starts with the preparation of the animal for transport to the abattoir and ends with the death of the animal. It is a complex period, and the different stages may present different causes of stress which may be of physical and emotional, cognitive and social origin. The latter categories are less well described although they have a significant impact on the stress status of cattle at slaughter. Social disturbances, exposure to novel or sudden events, handling by humans and the visual, olfactory and audible context may all be causes of stress, in interaction with the physical constraints. We propose several practical recommendations relative the equipment used and the management of the animals to reduce causes of stress. If behavioural observations at the different slaughter stages indicate difficulties, these recommendations may help to reduce considerably the stress of the cattle at slaughter
Inter-laboratory assessment by trained panelists from France and the United Kingdom of beef cooked at two different end-point temperatures
Proteomic biomarkers of beef colour
peer-reviewedBackground
Implementation of proteomics over the last decade has been an important step toward a better understanding of the complex biological systems underlying the conversion of muscle to meat. These sophisticated analytical tools have helped to reveal the biochemical pathways involved in fresh meat colour and have identified key protein biomarkers.
Scope and approach
Until recently, there have been no detailed or critical studies on the role of protein biomarkers in determining meat colour. This review presents an integromics of recent muscle proteomic studies to investigate pathways and mechanisms of beef colour. A database was created from 13 independent proteomic-based studies including data on five muscles and a list of 79 proteins which were significantly correlated with colour traits. The database was subjected to a multistep analysis including Gene Ontology annotations, pathway analysis and literature mining. This report discusses the key protein biomarkers and the biological pathways associated with fresh beef colour. Biomarkers were prioritised by the frequency of identification and the need for future validation experiments is discussed.
Key findings and conclusions
This review identifies six pathways involved in beef colour including energy metabolism, heat shock and oxidative stress, myofibril structure, signalling, proteolysis and apoptosis. The data-mining of the list of the putative biomarkers showed that certain proteins, such as ÎČ-enolase (ENO3), Peroxiredoxin 6 (PRDX6), HSP27 (HSPB1), Phosphoglucomutase 1 (PGM1), Superoxide Dismutase [Cu-Zn] (SOD1) and ÎŒ-calpain (CAPN1) were consistently reported by multiple studies as being differentially expressed and having a significant role in beef colour. This integromics work proposes a list of 27 putative biomarkers of beef colour for validation using adapted high-throughput methods.FI
To swim or not to swim: an interpretation of farmed mink's motivation for a water bath
How an animalâs behavioural (ethological) needs can be met is a pivotal issue in the assessment of welfare for captive animals. The value of swimming water for farmed mink is an example how scientific and societal questions relating to animal welfare can be answered. A number of studies have addressed the issue of the indispensability of swimming water for mink; however, so far with inconclusive evidence. In this paper, the results of these studies and related literature are reviewed.
First, the biological definition of need is discussed. Subsequently, attention is paid to the effects of the presence, absence and the removal of swimming water on behavioural and physiological correlates of well-being including stereotypic and anticipatory behaviour and urinary cortisol. Thereafter we discuss individual differences in the use of swimming water, the price animals pay for access to a water bath, and the effect of access to swimming water on juvenile play.
The main conclusions of the literature review are that 1) the use of a water bath for mink is most likely related to foraging behaviour (foraging areas: land and water); 2) absence of swimming water, without prior experience, does not lead to consistent changes in level of stereotypic behaviour, or anticipatory responses; 3) removal of a previously experienced water bath may induce short-term stress as indicated by behavioural parameters and elevated cortisol responses; 4) mink work hard for access to a swimming bath and running wheel in consumer demand studies. Other cage modifications such as tunnels and biting objects, may also provide environmental enrichment, if they are added to otherwise impoverished conditions; 5) There are individual differences in the use of swimming water: these are related in part to variation in prior experience of aquatic resources.; 6) As prior experience is important both with respect to individual use of swimming water and the response to deprivation, swimming water can not be described as biological need in the sense of a fixed requirement for survival. As swimming water appears to act as an incentive that induces its own motivation a more accurate term may be an âincentive induced or environmentally facilitated needâ. Given the available evidence, it is not possible to conclude whether mink that have never experienced swimming water, suffer as a consequence of its absence. However, it is possible to predict that mink with access to water have improved quality of life, due to increased behavioural opportunities, in comparison to farmed mink without access to swimming water. In practical terms, it is still open to debate whether mink should be provided with swimming water, or if alternative, less valued, but easier to install and maintain forms of environmental enrichment, should be provided in mink housing.
To clarify these issues a number of future studies would be valuable. These include; 1) whether specific environmental cues affect motivation to swim, such as the form of drinking water delivery systems ; 2) whether prior experience of swimming water affects its incentive value; in other words âcan you miss what you never experienced?â; 3) do behavioural parameters such as stereotypic behaviour; rebound effects and vacuum activity have any general utility in assessing the value of absent resources; 4) what are preferences for and the value of alternative resources which may act as substitutes for swimming water. In addition we would recommend further work investigating: relationship between access to swimming water and positive indicators of welfare such as play and/or anticipatory behaviour; the effects of preventing the performance of rewarding behaviours and deprivation of a previous experienced resource; and health and hygeine issues related to provision of a water bath. In future work, it would be desirable to present be the actual percentages of animals using a water bath during the experiment and the use of power analyses, to aid their interpretation
Vuorovaikutteisen suunnittelun haasteet ja mahdollisuudet metsÀtalouden vesiensuojelussa
Rapport de l'expertise scientifique collectiveLes animaux peuvent-ils Ă©prouver des Ă©motions, peuvent-ils penser, ont-ils une histoire de vie ? Depuis lâAntiquitĂ©, les philosophes ont proposĂ© des rĂ©ponses contrastĂ©es Ă ces questions. Du XIXĂšme siĂšcle Ă nos jours, la rĂ©flexion sur ce que sont les animaux sâest enrichie dâapports scientifiques : thĂ©orie de lâĂ©volution, Ă©thologie, neurophysiologie, sciences cognitives. Mais la conscience animale reste toujours lâobjet de dĂ©bats importants dans la communautĂ© scientifique. Ainsi en 2012 un groupe de scientifiques de premier plan a Ă©prouvĂ© la nĂ©cessitĂ© de publier un manifeste intitulĂ© « DĂ©claration de Cambridge sur la Conscience », qui Ă©nonce quâ«âŠune convergence de preuves indique que les animaux non humains disposent des substrats neuro-anatomiques, neurochimiques et neurophysiologiques des Ă©tats conscients ainsi que la capacitĂ© dâexprimer des comportements intentionnels...».Les connaissances actuelles, dont cette expertise collective propose une synthĂšse, montrent que les animaux possĂšdent un large Ă©ventail de capacitĂ©s cognitives associĂ©es Ă des comportements plus ou moins complexes. Les formes de conscience Ă©tudiĂ©es chez les humains supposent des capacitĂ©s cognitives distinctes que lâon retrouve chez certains animaux. Peut-on en postuler que ceux-ci ont des formes de consciences Ă©quivalentes Ă celles de lâhomme, sans ĂȘtre forcĂ©ment identiques ?LâĂ©tude des niveaux et des contenus de la conscience chez les animaux est en passe de devenir un enjeu scientifique important en raison de la complexitĂ© du sujet et des controverses quâil ne manquera pas de susciter. Enfin, les acquis scientifiques dans ce domaine invitent Ă reprendre les rĂ©flexions morales concernant les relations que les hommes entretiennent avec les animaux (et particuliĂšrement avec les animaux domestiques
Dr. Ahmed Ouali, 1948â2020
International audienceAhmed Ouali was born on October 4, 1948 in Tigzirt, Tizi-Ouzou, Algeria. In 1952, he moved with his parents to Montluçon, France. In 1974, he was trained and graduated with a bachelor's degree in Biochemistry at the University of Lyon. He then, in 1976, earned a joint Ph.D. in Animal Science at the University of Blaise Pascal (Clermont-Ferrand) where he studied at the National Institute of Agricultural Research (INRA, Theix). The title of his doctorate thesis was âThe role of muscle proteases on meat tenderizationâ. Subsequently, he was employed in a private laboratory for medical analysis from 1976 to 1978 and thereafter at the Meat Research Laboratory group at INRA, Theix as a permanent researcher. In 1990, he was appointed as a research director and led the âBiochemistry and Functions of Muscle Proteinsâ unit for 8 years. The Meat Research Station focused their research on many topics including colour and protein oxidation; enzymology and tenderness; and muscle protein functionalities. During his entire scientific career at INRA, but before his retirement on October 2013, Ahmed was living in Clermont-Ferrand, the city of the famous volcanic chain of the Puy-de-DĂŽme, with his wife Anne-Marie with whom he had two lovely children: Armelle (41 years) and GĂ€el (38 years). In 2019, they moved to their new house in Montpellier in the South of France
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