Interspecies Sustainability to Ensure Animal Protection: Lessons from the Thoroughbred Racing Industry

There is a disconnect between dominant conceptions of sustainability and the protection of animals arising from the anthropocentric orientation of most conceptualisations of sustainability, including sustainable development. Critiques of this disconnect are primarily based in the context of industrial animal agriculture and a general model of a species-inclusive conception of sustainability has yet to emerge. The original contribution of this article is two-fold: First, it develops a theoretical framework for interspecies sustainability. Second, it applies this to a case study of the thoroughbred racing industry. Interviews were conducted with thoroughbred industry and animal advocacy informants in the US, Australia and Great Britain. While industry informants claim thoroughbred welfare is seminal for industry sustainability, they adopt a market-oriented anthropocentric conception of sustainability and do not consider animal welfare a sustainability domain in its own right. Animal advocacy informants demonstrate a deeper understanding of welfare but some express discomfort about linking sustainability, welfare and racing. Eight analytical layers have been identified in the discourse in the interface of sustainability and animal protection, of which two have transformational potential to advance interspecies sustainability. Interspecies sustainability urgently needs to be advanced to ensure animal protection in the sustainability transition, and to not leave the defining of animal welfare and sustainability to animal industries

Sustainability, Thoroughbred Racing and the Need for Change

Globally, the thoroughbred breeding and racing industry is reporting a declining trend. A report commissioned by the Jockey Club in the US, known as the McKinsey report, explicitly linked the public’s concern with animal welfare and the use of drugs to declining betting and attendance in the US. In various racing nations in Europe, in Australia and the US, thoroughbred racing is experiencing pressures from external sources and from within, with even industry participants calling for change. The industry is concerned with the integrity of racing. Structural changes, regulation and transparency in reporting are all issues identified in need of improvement in some racing nations. These are important issues and potentially contribute to better welfare outcomes. However, they do not address the principal question emerging from evolving social norms and values of whether thoroughbred racing is ethically justifiable, and if so, how it can be conducted so that it is socially acceptable. To address the declining trend, the McKinsey report framed the suggested strategies around the concept of sustainable growth and thus adopted the rhetoric of sustainable development. The research in this paper takes up the theme of sustainability and applies it to the thoroughbred industry. Elsewhere it has been shown that a focus on growth, as in the sustainable development model, is at the root of unsustainability. Therefore, it is argued in this research that an ecologically oriented sustainability framework is better suited to fully address the ethical and welfare issues in the industry. In this study, it is assumed that society, for the time being, accepts thoroughbred breeding and racing. Under this assumption, the concept of ecological sustainability is applied as a methodological tool by using it as a language system to investigate ethical and welfare issues in the thoroughbred industry. The following recommendations emerge from this research: There is the need for the industry to engage with issues of normativity and to develop alternative models of what constitutes success beyond winning a race. There is also need to advance knowledge production to better understand and respect the experience of thoroughbreds and thoroughbred knowledge systems, determinants of how to remain within the natural physical and emotional limits of the horse, the limits of human uses of horses, and how to promote the flourishing of horse and human-horse relationships in this industry. Engagement with these matters can better address issues of (un)sustainability and move the industry from an economically driven business and management model to a welfare driven model. The discussion of what constitutes a sustainable horseracing industry is inevitable. The question of the continuation of the use of thoroughbreds requires social negotiations in the interest of social sustainability. This is an ongoing dialogue as society’s ethics and values evolve. It would appear that the thoroughbred industry can expect to greatly benefit from proactively engaging with this process

Langfristberichterstattung nachhaltiger öffentlicher Finanzen auf subnationaler Ebene : notwendig oder unmöglich?

Nicht erst die jüngste globale Finanzkrise und die daraus resultierenden Schuldenkrisen, von denen vor allem der Euro-Raum stark betroffen war und ist, haben den Fokus auch im öffentlichen Sektor stärker auf eine solide, vergleichbare und transparente Rechnungslegung gelenkt. Neben der traditionell vergangenheitsorientierten Rechnungslegung gewinnt jedoch auch zunehmend eine in die Zukunft gerichtete Prognose der Nachhaltigkeit der öffentlichen Finanzen an Aufmerksamkeit. Während das Thema Langfristperspektiven auf nationaler Ebene an Fahrt gewinnt, ist dessen Relevanz für subnationale Ebenen (Länder, Kantone, Regionen) noch weitgehend unbeleuchtet, aber nicht unkritisch betrachtet. Der Beitrag geht der Fragestellung nach, welchen Nutzen Langfristberichterstattung auf subnationaler Ebene stiften kann und wie sie ausgestaltet sein könnte. The most recent financial crisis and the subsequent debt crisis, which particularly hit the euro zone strongly, has brought the public sector to focus on solid, comparable and transparent financial accounting. In addition to traditional retrospective financial accounting and reporting, future-oriented long term perspectives of sustainable public finances are gaining attention. While longterm projections have become popular at a national level, they have been less relevant at subnational levels (states, cantons, regions). This article addresses the questions, how long-term projections can be beneficial at subnational level and how they could be shaped

Towards Interspecies Sustainability: The Future for Thoroughbreds and Thoroughbred Racing

The international thoroughbred racing industry is increasingly vulnerable to public scrutiny due to its horse welfare record. At the same time, the industry is concerned about its sustainability. The interface of welfare and sustainability however offers little for the horses because of a disconnect between dominant conceptions of sustainability and the protection of animals arising from an anthropocentric orientation of most conceptualisations of sustainability. This study investigates the interface of animal protection and sustainability, a realm of great relevance for animal geographies. It develops a theory of interspecies sustainability and applies it to the horseracing industry. The role of one aspect of this theory, naturalness, is explored further as it plays a salient role in the thoroughbred racing and breeding discourse. Nine industry and seven animal advocacy informants in senior roles from Australia, the US and the UK, have been interviewed using semi-structured interviewing and photo-elicitation. Broadly, the two groups’ differences in conceptualising sustainability, welfare and naturalness follow patterns of contrasting worldviews as expressed in reductionism versus holism, techno-bio-medical control of animal bodies versus the protection of animal integrity, and a downplaying and naturalising of violence committed against the horses versus a recognition of the de-naturalisation of the horses’ life-worlds and its impact on them. Eight analytical layers were identified in the intersecting discourse of sustainability and animal protection, of which two have transformational sway to advance interspecies sustainability. This study seeks to raise conceptual awareness to identify at what layers a particular discourse takes place, to unveil industry co-option of the conceptual space of sustainability and animal protection, and to assist animal advocacy and policy development guided by a paradigm of interspecies sustainability for animal protection

Childhood extraordinary daytime urinary frequency—a case series and a systematic literature review

Childhood extraordinary daytime urinary frequency is likely a common but underreported condition characterized by daytime frequent voiding and typically not linked with complaints of burning, urinary incontinence, altered urinary stream, changes in the nighttime voiding pattern, excessive fluid intake and excessive urinary volume. To determine the features and outcome of extraordinary daytime urinary frequency, we report our experience with 14 children and the results of a formal systematic analysis of peer-reviewed English-language literature on this topic. Nineteen case series were found (together with 16 mostly pertinent comments), with each case series providing details on from one to 119 children. On the basis of our experience and the findings of our systematic analysis, we conclude that, in general practice, extraordinary daytime urinary frequency is a common cause of urinary frequency, that the age of such patients is, on average, 6years and that the micturation abnormalities persist for an average of 6 months. The results of this review must be viewed with an understanding of the limitations of the analysis process, which incorporated data exclusively from case serie

Tecendo a rede de proteção : desafios do enfrentamento intersetorial à violência intrafamiliar contra crianças e adolescentes no Município de Curitiba/PR

Orientadora: Profa. Dra. Maria Tarcisa Silva BegaAcompanha CD-ROMTese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal do Parana, Setor de Ciências Humanas, Letras e Artes, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Sociologia. Defesa: Curitiba,15/04/2013Bibliografia: fls. 294-306Resumo: Este trabalho tem por objeto de estudo a Rede de Proteção às Crianças e Adolescentes em Situação de Risco para a Violência do município de Curitiba/PR, no período de 2000 a 2010. Trata-se de um programa intersetorial criado para articular as ações de enfrentamento à violência no âmbito das políticas públicas de educação, saúde e assistência social, e que mantem parceria com diversas instituições governamentais e não governamentais que atuam na proteção especial da população infanto-juvenil. Buscou-se analisar na pesquisa o desenho institucional da Rede de Proteção e as tensões que se faziam presentes nesta interação específica que congrega intersetorialidade, interdisciplinaridade e uma metodologia de rede de políticas públicas, tanto no que se refere aos conflitos dos agentes entre si e com a sua atividade, como dos agentes com suas instituições e das instituições envolvidas com o enfrentamento à violência. A hipótese que orientou nosso trabalho é que a rede é uma estratégia operacional de uma nova forma de gestão das políticas públicas para o enfrentamento da complexidade da violência intrafamiliar contra crianças e adolescentes. Ela deveria propiciar a articulação de ações intersetoriais, a partir da concepção de política de atendimento preconizada pelo Estatuto da Criança e do Adolescente, que cria um Sistema de Garantias dos direitos humanos infanto-juvenis. No entanto, por sua natureza de informalidade, flexibilidade, agilidade e descentralidade, opera com dificuldades no setor público, dada a permanência de uma cultura organizacional das políticas sociais marcadas historicamente pela hierarquia, setorização e centralização do poder de decisões. A partir das contribuições de Norbert Elias com as concepções de rede e de interdependência, de Georg Simmel com as reflexões sobre o caráter sociológico do conflito como constitutivo das relações sociais, e de Pierre Bourdieu sobre estrutura e agência, a pesquisa aponta os principais desafios para o desenvolvimento de ações públicas intersetoriais e conclui que a relação de interdependência entre os agentes e as instituições participantes da Rede de Proteção, ao mesmo tempo em que potencializa as ações de enfrentamento à violência intrafamiliar contra crianças e adolescentes no município de Curitiba, gera uma constante tensão entre as instituições e uma relação de sofrimento nos agentes, que se veem atrelados às dinâmicas institucionais de instituições parceiras, nas quais pouco podem interferir. Através de entrevistas e questionários com os agentes da Rede de Proteção e parceiros, buscamos compreender como os envolvidos com este trabalho percebem a sua efetividade na garantia dos direitos da população infanto-juvenil e os limites desta intervenção. Para atingir os objetivos propostos utilizamos ainda a observação nas atividades da Rede de Proteção, diário de campo e pesquisa documental, mediados constantemente pela reflexividade proposta por Bourdieu.Abstract: This paper's purpose is to study the Network for the Protection of Children and adolescents in situation of Risk of Violence in Curitiba / PR, from 2000 to 2010. This is an intersectoral program created to articulate actions to combat violence in the context of educational public policies, health and social care and to maintain a partnership with several governmental and non-governmental organizations that work in the special protection of the youth population. In this research we attempted to examine the institutional design of the Protection Network and the tensions that were present in this specific interaction that brings intersectoral, interdisciplinarity and a methodology of public policies network, both in the case to the conflicts of agents with each other and with the activity, as the agents with their institutions and the institutions involved in combating violence. The hypothesis that guided our work is that the network is an operational strategy of a new form of management of public policies to confront the complexity of family violence against children and adolescents. It should facilitate the coordination of intersectoral actions, from the conception of a service policy preconized by the Statute of Children and Adolescents, which creates a system of guarantees of the human rights for children and teenagers. However, by the nature of informality, flexibility, agility and centerlessness, operates with difficulty in the public sector, given the permanence of an organizational culture of social policies historically marked by hierarchy, sectorization and centralization of the power of decisions. From the contributions of Norbert Elias with the concepts of networking and interdependence of Georg Simmel with reflections on the sociological character of the conflict as constitutive of social relations and from Pierre Bourdieu on structure and agency, the study identifies the key challenges for the development of intersectoral public actions and concludes that the interdependent relationship between agents and institutions participating in the Protection Network, while it potentiates the actions of combating family violence against children and adolescents in the city of Curitiba, also generates a constant tension between the institutions and a relation of suffering in agents, who see themselves tied to the institutional dynamics of partner institutions, in which little can interfere. Through interviews and questionnaires with the Protection Network agents and partners, we seek to understand how those involved with this work realized the effectiveness in ensuring the rights of the youth population and the limits of this intervention. To achieve the objectives proposed we also used the observation of the Network of Protection activities, field diary and documentary research, constantly mediated by the reflexivity proposed by Bourdieu

Regional-biologische Schulverpflegung - Erstellung einer Broschüre zur Außer-Haus-Verpflegung

Die Außer-Haus-Verpflegung von Kindern und Jugendlichen ist nachwie vor ein aktuelles Thema. Aus diesem Grund wurden im Rahmen des Bundesprogramms Ökologischer Landbau Modellprojekte zu diesem Thema eingeworben. Das Ziel war, mehr Bio in der Schulverpflegung und in Kindertagesstätten zu etablieren. Aus der Vielzahl von Vorschlägen wurden vier Modellprojekte ausgewählt, die die Einführung von Biokost in Schulen und Kindertagesstätten mit allen möglichen Fragen und Stolpersteinen aus verschiedenen Blickwinkeln beleuchten. Als Projektstandorte wurden Hamburg, Berlin, Rhein-Main-Gebiet und der Schwalm-Eder-Kreis in Nordhessen ausgewählt. Die Ergebnisse aus den Projekten zeigen, wie vielseitig die Problematik, aber auch die Herangehensweise zur Lösung der Probleme sein kann

The additive value of CA19.9 monitoring in a pancreatic cyst surveillance program

Background:Surveillance of pancreatic cysts focuses on the detection of (mostly morphologic) features warranting surgery. European guidelines consider elevated CA19.9 as a relative indication for surgery. We aimed to evaluate the role of CA19.9 monitoring for early detection and management in a cyst surveillance population. Methods: The PACYFIC-registry is a prospective collaboration that investigates the yield of pancreatic cyst surveillance performed at the discretion of the treating physician. We included participants for whom at least one serum CA19.9 value was determined by a minimum follow-up of 12 months.Results: Of 1865 PACYFIC participants, 685 met the inclusion criteria for this study (mean age 67 years, SD 10; 61% female). During a median follow-up of 25 months (IQR 24, 1966 visits), 29 participants developed high-grade dysplasia (HGD) or pancreatic cancer. At baseline, CA19.9 ranged from 1 to 591 kU/L (median 10 kU/L [IQR 14]), and was elevated (≥37 kU/L) in 64 participants (9%). During 191 of 1966 visits (10%), an elevated CA19.9 was detected, and these visits more often led to an intensified follow-up (42%) than those without an elevated CA19.9 (27%; p &lt; 0.001). An elevated CA19.9 was the sole reason for surgery in five participants with benign disease (10%). The baseline CA19.9 value was (as continuous or dichotomous variable at the 37 kU/L threshold) not independently associated with HGD or pancreatic cancer development, whilst a CA19.9 of ≥ 133 kU/L was (HR 3.8, 95% CI 1.1–13, p = 0.03). Conclusions: In this pancreatic cyst surveillance cohort, CA19.9 monitoring caused substantial harm by shortening surveillance intervals (and performance of unnecessary surgery). The current CA19.9 cutoff was not predictive of HGD and pancreatic cancer, whereas a higher cutoff may decrease false-positive values. The role of CA19.9 monitoring should be critically appraised prior to implementation in surveillance programs and guidelines.</p

Hundreds of variants clustered in genomic loci and biological pathways affect human height

Most common human traits and diseases have a polygenic pattern of inheritance: DNA sequence variants at many genetic loci influence the phenotype. Genome-wide association (GWA) studies have identified more than 600 variants associated with human traits, but these typically explain small fractions of phenotypic variation, raising questions about the use of further studies. Here, using 183,727 individuals, we show that hundreds of genetic variants, in at least 180 loci, influence adult height, a highly heritable and classic polygenic trait. The large number of loci reveals patterns with important implications for genetic studies of common human diseases and traits. First, the 180 loci are not random, but instead are enriched for genes that are connected in biological pathways (P = 0.016) and that underlie skeletal growth defects (P < 0.001). Second, the likely causal gene is often located near the most strongly associated variant: in 13 of 21 loci containing a known skeletal growth gene, that gene was closest to the associated variant. Third, at least 19 loci have multiple independently associated variants, suggesting that allelic heterogeneity is a frequent feature of polygenic traits, that comprehensive explorations of already-discovered loci should discover additional variants and that an appreciable fraction of associated loci may have been identified. Fourth, associated variants are enriched for likely functional effects on genes, being over-represented among variants that alter amino-acid structure of proteins and expression levels of nearby genes. Our data explain approximately 10% of the phenotypic variation in height, and we estimate that unidentified common variants of similar effect sizes would increase this figure to approximately 16% of phenotypic variation (approximately 20% of heritable variation). Although additional approaches are needed to dissect the genetic architecture of polygenic human traits fully, our findings indicate that GWA studies can identify large numbers of loci that implicate biologically relevant genes and pathways.