Detection of hormones in surface and drinking water in Brazil by LC-ESI-MS/MS and ecotoxicological assessment with Daphnia magna

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Os animais não humanos no material didático do programa São Paulo Faz Escola

The relationship between humans and non-human animals dates back to the Prehistoric Era, when groups of humans migrated from the nomadic and extractive stage to sedentariness, starting to develop agriculture and animal husbandry. Ancient Greek philosophy, notably the Aristotelian school of philosophy, posited that nature has not done anything for nothing, and all things have a purpose: plants were created for the sake of animals, and these for the good of men, while the Bible preaches the view that the world was created for the good of men and other species were subordinated to their wants and needs. During the Renaissance, centuries XIV to XVI, anthropocentrism was established as the main philosophical concept. However, in relation to the treatment of animals, Renaissance did not differ substantially from medieval scholasticism, considering animals like machines, devoid of pain and immortal soul. In this context, scientific knowledge about plants, non-human animals and nature in general, is built on anthropocentric values, thus influencing the construction of school education in the disciplines of Science and Biology. Nowadays, at São Paulo state schools, specifically in the Ensino Fundamental II (6th to 9th grade), the program of the discipline Ciências da Natureza e suas Tecnologias is set by the Currículo Oficial do Estado de São Paulo, via the São Paulo Faz Escola Program, implemented by the Secretaria Estadual de Educação in 2010. This documentary research used the methodology of Content Analysis and aimed to analyze the presentation of non-human animals in Caderno do Professor and Caderno do Aluno, from 6th to 9th grades of the discipline Ciências da Natureza e suas Tecnologias. The analysis of the courseware revealed that its contents were influenced by the anthropocentric view, in both implicitly and explicitly ways, conveying anthropomorphic, utilitarian, stereotyped and derogatory statements towards...

EC28-234 Nebraska System for Tattooing Hogs for Identification after Slaughter

A plan to identify the individual farm upon which hogs reaching markets are produced has been developed in connection with the efforts toward eradicating tuberculosis among farm animals. While primarily intended as a means of tracing back to determine sources of disease infection, the system of tattooing which is being developed has other significant possibilities. With the growing emphasis on quality products in the market, it is only fair that the producers of high quality commodities receive the premiums paid by processors and consumers. Health of farm animals is a quality factor. The producer of healthy hogs should be rewarded. Likewise, the producer of diseased hogs profits from knowledge that his animals are infected and can institute efforts to control that source fo loss. This 1928 extension circular covers what each letter of a tattoo stands for, where it is to be placed on an animal, and material used in tattooing.

RB32-270 A Seven Year Study of a Milk Supply

The amount of butter produced by the grain-belt states is evidence that a great many cows are milked by the midwestern farmer. Most of this milk is separated on the farm, the cream is sold, and the skimmilk is fed to hogs and other livestock. As the market for fluid milk has developed, many farmers near the cities have turned to the sale of milk, because it affords a better return for the butterfat sold. Much of the milk produced for sale as fluid milk is produced under practically the same conditions as milk which is produced primarily for the same of cream. The Department of Dairy Husbandry of the University of Nebraska, in conducting its instructional and investigational work, comes in contact with the milk producer. An effort has been made, therefore, to study the relation of milk quality to farm conditions as found among the milk producers or patrons who have delivered milk to the department. The study was carried on in an effort to find possible ways of bettering the conditions without upsetting the economic balance existing between the production of cream and fluid milk.

EC30-39 Swine Sanitation

From the very beginning of Nebraska's agricultural development its farmers have recognized that the production of swine must of necessity accompany the growing of corn. The latter, one of the state's most important staples, cannot be marketed in a more economical manner than after having been transformed into pork, bacon, and lard. As a result the state has for many years maintained a rather dense swine population mainly divided into large herds kept on relatively small areas of land. This density of population, as well as certain practices in management and selective breeding, has brought about conditions favorable for the propagation of a number of microbic or parasitic diseases which, in a costly manner, force themselves to our attention. The various factors which affect the incidence of swine diseases are numerous and in a given situtation may be so intricately interwoven as to baffle the observer. This extension circular discusses these factors and how to prevent the spread throughout the swine population.

EC34-48 Farm Sheep Facts

The farm flock and the fattening of western feeder lambs are the only methods of sheep production of importance in Nebraska. The farm flock is not a major enterprise on Nebraska farms. It serves as a side line on farms having a well-drained place which sheep may call their own. This 1934 extension circular contains information on: Nebraska Sheep-industry facts; market, ewe, ram, and lamb facts; shearing and wool facts; two parasites and one pest; grading and marketing wool; and scouring and carding wool for home use.

RB30-250 Raising Early Lambs from Aged Western Ewes

Many farm flocks in Nebraska are comprised of aged western ewes. They are easily obtained because of the state's geographical position with reference to the sheep-producing sections of the West and the leading feeder lamb markets. Nebraska ranks second in number of western lambs fed. This also tends to acquaint farmers with range sheep. This 1930 research bulletin discusses factors in early lamb production; objects of the experiment, experimental procedure, and experimental data of raising early lambs from aged western ewes.

EC24-721 Dairy Barns for Nebraska

The increasing interest shown among the farmers thruout this state in the betterment of dairy stock, and the tendency to give more attention to dairying on the farms, is bringing to the Agricultural College a great many requests for plans and suggestions for dairy barn construction. It is impossible to give every one of these inquiries individual attention to the extent of drawing a detailed plan to suit the conditions in each case. It is hoped therefore, that the material contained in this bulletin will offer helpful suggestions and answer many questions in the minds of prospective dairy men and dairy barn builders relative to the arrangement and construction of barns.

RB30-252 Sex and Age as Factors in Cattle Feeding

Varying economic conditions and changes in the demands of the meat consuming public have been responsible for the turns that have taken place in the beef industry during recent years. Both feeder and producer must recognize and conform to these changes if they are to continue in business. Among the most important of these changes have been the turn toward the marketing of lighter cattle and the gradual disappearance from feed lots of two- and three-year-old animals. Furthermore, the cattle population of the United States is fast reaching stabilization with the resulting effect that more heifers are being marketed, since only one-fourth of the heifer crop is needed to replace worn-out breeding animals. Realizing the increasing importance of the heifer problem from the standpoint of the producer, feeder, and consumer, the Nebraska Experiment Station undertook to compare steers and heifers in a series of trials both in the feedlot and in the beef. It was hoped that these experiments would yield results which would bring out existing differences, if any, between steers and heifers both in quality and quantity of beef produced and thus provide or disprove many of the complaints against heifers. The results of these trials are summarized in this bulletin. Age as well as the sex factor has been considered, since two-year-olds, yearlings, and calves were included in these trials.

Management of Wolf-Livestock Conflicts in Minnesota

In 1975, the gray wolf (Canis lupus) population in Minnesota was protected by the federal Endangered Species Act (USA). At that time, there were 500-750 wolves. By 2004, the population had grown to an estimated 3,020 wolves. Over time, conflicts between wolves and livestock increased. Wolf depredation control programs have been conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (1975-1986) and by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services program (1986 to present). In 1978, Minnesota’s wolves were reclassified from endangered to threatened which allowed authorized federal agents to lethally remove wolves that had depredated on livestock or pets. A State funded wolf compensation program was also established in 1978. Wildlife Services’ wolf damage management approach utilizes both nonlethal and lethal methods of control. Currently, wolf depredations are verified at 60-85 farms annually and 125-175 wolves are taken each year. Wolf compensation payments to livestock producers have averaged $67,111 per year during the past five years. Most livestock losses occur during spring and summer. Selective removal of depredating wolves, coupled with improvements in animal husbandry practices, has potential for reducing wolf-livestock conflicts. Minnesota’s wolf population is currently considered to be fully recovered and federal delisting is expected to occur in the near future.

Bovine Tb Eradication Project – Recognizing Hot Button Issues

The Michigan Departments of Agriculture, Community Health, and Natural Resources, US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Michigan State University work cooperatively together as the bovine TB eradication project partners. The interagency group combines expertise in epidemiology, veterinary and human medicine, pathology, wildlife biology, animal husbandry, regulatory law and policy and risk communications. The stakeholders, those impacted by the disease, include agriculture and tourism industry representatives, “Mom-and-Pop” businesses, hunters, wildlife enthusiasts, farmers, Local Health Departments and legislators. The regulatory agencies are the above mentioned project partners, excluding MSU and USDA Wildlife Services, both of which offer services to agencies and stakeholders. Eradicating bovine TB would not be difficult if there were no social issues surrounding it. The economy, hunting traditions, animal management, tourism and human health are all impacted by regulatory response to the disease. Often the social issues play a large role in decision making, therefore it is important to understand your clientele and anticipate public reaction to policy changes and requirements.

Os animais não humanos no material didático do programa São Paulo Faz Escola

The relationship between humans and non-human animals dates back to the Prehistoric Era, when groups of humans migrated from the nomadic and extractive stage to sedentariness, starting to develop agriculture and animal husbandry. Ancient Greek philosophy, notably the Aristotelian school of philosophy, posited that nature has not done anything for nothing, and all things have a purpose: plants were created for the sake of animals, and these for the good of men, while the Bible preaches the view that the world was created for the good of men and other species were subordinated to their wants and needs. During the Renaissance, centuries XIV to XVI, anthropocentrism was established as the main philosophical concept. However, in relation to the treatment of animals, Renaissance did not differ substantially from medieval scholasticism, considering animals like machines, devoid of pain and immortal soul. In this context, scientific knowledge about plants, non-human animals and nature in general, is built on anthropocentric values, thus influencing the construction of school education in the disciplines of Science and Biology. Nowadays, at São Paulo state schools, specifically in the Ensino Fundamental II (6th to 9th grade), the program of the discipline Ciências da Natureza e suas Tecnologias is set by the Currículo Oficial do Estado de São Paulo, via the São Paulo Faz Escola Program, implemented by the Secretaria Estadual de Educação in 2010. This documentary research used the methodology of Content Analysis and aimed to analyze the presentation of non-human animals in Caderno do Professor and Caderno do Aluno, from 6th to 9th grades of the discipline Ciências da Natureza e suas Tecnologias. The analysis of the courseware revealed that its contents were influenced by the anthropocentric view, in both implicitly and explicitly ways, conveying anthropomorphic, utilitarian, stereotyped and derogatory statements towards...

A farm-level programming model to compare the atmospheric impact of conventional and organic farming

A model is developed to represent the activity of a farm using the method of linear programming. Two are the main components of the model, the balance of soil fertility and the livestock nutrition. According to the first, the farm is supposed to have a total requirement of nitrogen, which is to be accomplished either through internal sources (manure) or through external sources (fertilisers). The second component describes the animal husbandry as having a nutritional requirement which must be satisfied through the internal production of arable crops or the acquisition of feed from the market. The farmer is supposed to maximise total net income from the agricultural and the zoo-technical activities by choosing one rotation among those available for climate and acclivity. The perspective of the analysis is one of a short period: the structure of the farm is supposed to be fixed without possibility to change the allocation of permanent crops and the amount of animal husbandry. The model is integrated with an environmental module that describes the role of the farm within the carbon-nitrogen cycle. On the one hand the farm allows storing carbon through the photosynthesis of the plants and the accumulation of carbon in the soil; on the other some activities of the farm emit greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The model is tested for some representative farms of the Emilia-Romagna region, showing to be capable to give different results for conventional and organic farming and providing first results concerning the different atmospheric impact. Relevant data about the representative farms and the feasible rotations are extracted from the FADN database, with an integration of the coefficients from the literature.

The prehistoric inhabitants of the Wadi Howar : an anthropological study of human skeletal remains from the Sudanese part of the Eastern Sahara

All currently available human skeletal remains from the Wadi Howar (Eastern Sahara, Sudan) were employed in an anthropological study. The study’s first aim was to describe this unique 5th to 2nd millennium BCE material, which comprised representatives of all three prehistoric occupation phases of the region. Detecting diachronic differences in robusticity, occupational stress levels and health within the spatially, temporally and culturally heterogeneous sample was its second objective. The study’s third goal was to reveal metric and non-metric affinities between the different parts of the series and between the Wadi Howar material and other relevant prehistoric as well as modern African populations. rnThe reconstruction and comprehensive osteological analysis of 23 as yet unpublished individuals, the bulk of the Wadi Howar series, constituted the first stage of the study. The analyses focused on each individual’s in situ position, state of preservation, sex, age at death, living height, living weight, physique, biological ancestry, epigenetic traits, robusticity, occupational stress markers, health and metric as well as morphological characteristics. Building on the results of these efforts and the re-examination of the rest of the material, the Wadi Howar series as a whole, altogether 32 individuals, could be described. rnA wide variety of robusticity, occupational stress and health variables was evaluated. The pre-Leiterband (hunter-gatherer-fisher/hunter-gatherer-fisher-herder) and the Leiterband (herder-gatherer) data of over a third of these variables differed statistically significantly or in tendency from each other. The Leiterband sub-sample was characterised by higher enamel hypoplasia frequencies, lower mean ages at death and less pronounced expressions of occupational stress traits. This pattern was interpreted as evidence that the adoption and intensification of animal husbandry did probably not constitute reactions to worsening conditions. Apart from that, the relevant observations, noteworthy tendencies and significant differences were explained as results of a broader spectrum of pre-Leiterband subsistence activities and the negative side effects of the increasingly specialised herder-gatherer economy of the Leiterband phase. rnUsing only the data which could actually be collected from it, multiple, separate, individualised discriminant function analyses were carried out for each Wadi Howar skeleton to determine which prehistoric and which modern comparative sample it was most similar to. The results of all individual analyses were then summarised and examined as a whole. Thus it became possible to draw conclusions about the affinities the Wadi Howar material shared with prehistoric as well as modern populations and to answer questions concerning the diachronic links between the Wadi Howar’s prehistoric populations. When the Wadi Howar remains were positioned in the context of the selected prehistoric (Jebel Sahaba/Tushka, A-Group, Malian Sahara) and modern comparative samples (Southern Sudan, Chad, Mandinka, Somalis, Haya) in this fashion three main findings emerged. Firstly, the series as a whole displayed very strong affinities with the prehistoric sample from the Malian Sahara (Hassi el Abiod, Kobadi, Erg Ine Sakane, etc.) and the modern material from Southern Sudan and, to a lesser extent, Chad. Secondly, the pre-Leiterband and the Leiterband sub-sample were closer to the prehistoric Malian as well as the modern Southern Sudanese material than they were to each other. Thirdly, the group of pre-Leiterband individuals approached the Late Pleistocene sample from Jebel Sahaba/Tushka under certain circumstances. A theory offering explanations for these findings was developed. According to this theory, the entire prehistoric population of the Wadi Howar belonged to a Saharo-Nilotic population complex. The Jebel Sahaba/Tushka population constituted an old Nilotic and the early population of the Malian Sahara a younger Saharan part of this complex. The pre-Leiterband groups probably colonised the Wadi Howar from the east, either during or soon after the original Saharo-Nilotic expansion. Unlike the pre-Leiterband groups, the Leiterband people originated somewhere west of the Wadi Howar. They entered the region in the context of a later, secondary Saharo-Nilotic expansion. In the process, the incoming Leiterband groups absorbed many members of the Wadi Howar’s older pre-Leiterband population. The increasing aridification of the Wadi Howar region ultimately forced its prehistoric inhabitants to abandon the wadi. Most of them migrated south and west. They, or groups closely related to them, probably were the ancestors of the majority of the Nilo-Saharan-speaking pastoralists of modern-day Southern Sudan and Eastern Chad.

Vertical transmission of a fluoroquinolone-resistant Escherichia coli within an integrated broiler operation

The epidemiology of an enrofloxacin-resistant Escherichia coli clone was investigated during two separate outbreaks of colibacillosis in the Danish broiler production. In total five flocks were reported affected by the outbreaks. Recorded first-week mortalities were in the range of 1.7-12.7%. The clone was first isolated from dead broilers and subsequently demonstrated in samples from associated hatchers and the parent flock with its embryonated eggs, suggesting a vertical transmission from the parents. The second outbreak involved two broiler flocks unrelated to the affected flocks from the first outbreak. However, the clone could not be demonstrated in the associated parent flock. Furthermore, samplings from grand-parent flocks were negative for the outbreak clone. The clonality was evaluated by plasmid profiling and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. None of the recognized virulence factors were demonstrated in the outbreak clone by microarray and PCR assay. The molecular background for the fluoroquinolone-resistance was investigated and point mutations in gyrA and parC leading to amino-acid substitutions in quinolone-resistance determining regions of GyrA and ParC were demonstrated. Vertical transmission of enrofloxacin-resistant E. coli from healthy parents resulting in high first-week mortality in the offspring illustrates the potential of the emergence and spreading of fluoroquinolone-resistant bacteria in animal husbandry, even though the use of fluoroquinolones is restricted.