Animal Farm Research Articles

Virus Pandemic, Dentistry and the Global Scientific Order

The world had changed. This opening dialogue was actually from the Oscar award winning movie, The Lord of the Rings Part 1. In reality, starting 2020 the same dialogue became the mouthpiece for the common man, kids, students, virologists, healthcare officials that includes doctors, nurses, and therapists, lawmakers, leaders across the globe. Yes, we are in 2021 but the scars of this pandemic left behind in the minds of each and every individual is yet to heal. There are nearly half dozen theories put forth in the last one year for possible origins of this deadly virus by various virologists and WHO [1] officials who recently visited the Wuhan city, in Hubei province of central China, from where the viral pandemic actually began. This is a basic fundamental truth, which no scientist can deny. But the fact of the matter is the open letter [2] signed by 26 scientists across the globe including one from my country, where the scientists had clearly mentioned the shortcomings encountered during their current investigation and had also explained the requirements still needed for fair, open, transparent probe. The investigators had no access to critical and sensitive information including the old initial positive patient samples of Wuhan virus. The reasons for these hurdles are quite obvious. WHO had scrapped plans of tabling interim report on the origins of this virus [3]. The single most mind throbbing question is whether this Pandemic was indeed an avoidable or at least preventable in the very early stages, from global spread if air travel could had been brought under tremendous restrictions across the globe, given the fact there was unrestricted, usual type of travel observed in early first quarter of 2020. The current global spread had been directly attributed to the lack of dissemination of evolving scientific information from local authorities of Wuhan city and from the top leadership of China at that point of time. At this point I am reminded of the information on pandemic systemic failure across the globe [4]. Another recent information I came across was, about a poll conducted across scientific community where they had indicated the current pandemic most likely to exist as an endemic [5]. Recently a study published in PLOS Biology journal explains the fact that after assessment of over a thousand genomic sequences of the COVID viruses, authors had clearly stated properties acquired by this virus have evolved in bats prior to spillover to humans [6]. Dentistry remains one of the worst hit field across the globe because of the droplet mode of spread of the virus which was acknowledged by WHO in first half of 2020 [7]. Nevertheless after evolving evidences on aseptic clinical practices and their role in dental practice coupled with patient selection criterias, currently the situation in dental treatment has changed from psychological fear to evidence based [8-16]. The world woke up after the rude shock of tsunami in 2004, and subsequently it led to the establishement of tsunami warning systems. Similarly, this current pandemic had shaken the globe and had brought about the need to have a global surveillance mechanism or a system to monitor the spread of new forms of viruses from any part of the world. All wet markets across the globe, animal farm houses, mountains harbouring bats should be under biotechnology driven scientific scrutiny. Hoping that to happen soon, it should become a reality. Please do remember that currently our earth is the only viable planet for human life, in our entire solar syatem and in our milky way galaxy. High time, to decontaminate various pollutants including this pandemic biothreat and for that to happen, world countries need to become really serious about their national health policies. This pandemic had indeed given a lesson for all of us to learn on management of Public health crisis [17]. Former WHO director general had also explained on four points for dealing with resolving of global health crisis [18]. Better late than never. Let us save our planet and the future generations.

Underrepresented high diversity of class 1 integrons in the environment uncovered by PacBio sequencing using a new primer

Class 1 integrons (CL1s) are one of the major contributors to the horizontal transfer of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). However, our knowledge of CL1 in the environment is still very limited due to the limitations of the current PCR primers and the sequencing methods adopted. This study developed a new primer coupled with PacBio sequencing to investigate the underrepresented diversity of CL1s in a mixed environmental sample (i.e. activated sludge from wastewater treatment plant and pig feces from animal farm). The new primer successfully uncovered 20 extra ARGs subtypes and 57% (422/739) more unique integron array structures than the previous primers. Compared to the whole genome database, CL1s revealed in the environment in this study were of much greater diversity, having 93% (900/967) novel array structures. Antibiotic resistance is the predominant function (78.3% genes) carried by CL1, and a vast majority (98.6% genes) of them confer resistance to aminoglycoside, beta-lactam, trimethoprim, or chloramphenicol. Additionally, 78.5% unique CL1 arrays carried more than one ARGs, and 25.9% of them carried ARGs of clinical relevance with high transferability potential posing threat to the general public. Our results indicated the importance of CL1s in the spread of ARGs. Overall, combining PacBio sequencing with the new primer designed in this study largely broadened our knowledge of CL1s in the environment and their significance in the environmental proliferation of ARGs.

Distribution of antimicrobial resistance across the overall environment of dairy farms – A case study

The environmental implications of antimicrobial resistance arising from food animal farm practice are still a knowledge gap. This study investigates the fate and transport of antimicrobial resistance genes related to the use of antibiotics on a dairy farm in Michigan. Manure, soil, animal feed, animal drinking water, surface and groundwater samples were taken and the abundance of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) were subsequently measured using high parallel quantitative PCR targeting 136 genes. The total abundance and detected numbers of ARGs were found to be highest in the stagnant lagoon. Up to 44 ARG subtypes with high abundance were found in drinking water in pen which was very close to those in manure compost. The ARGs pattern clustered by soil depth although they were treated by different manure. ARGs and MGEs were detected in surface and groundwater surrounded by dairy farmlands, with the occurrence of carbapenemase-encoding KPC gene in two waters, which may be due to transport of ARGs through runoff or other sources. Overall, the results of the study suggest high prevalence of ARGs both inside and outside the animal raising area and their potential contribution to environmental ARGs.

Studies on Pancreatic Gene Expression in Diabetic Rats Treated with Moringa oleifera Leaf

Moringa oleifera leaf have been used for treatment of diabetes, in this work we studied pancreatic gene expression. The gene expression was done by PCR machine. The plant was harvested from garden within Madonna University and was identified in the Department of Pharmacognosy of the University by Dr P. Osuagwu. Each of the extracts was analyzed for bioactive components using Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). Male wistar albino rats (n=40) six weeks old weighing 150-250g were purchased from the animal farm of Madonna University Elele. From this work we observed that, there was significant increase in the expression of ADIPOQ gene in the diabetic rats treated with 300mg/kg of M. oleifera leaf (1.52±0.13), when compared with that of the non-diabetic rats (1.00±0.02). From this study, it could be inferred that M. oleifera leaf powder contains polyphenols that inhibit carbohydrate metabolism, reduced blood glucose level, enhance expression ADIPOQ genes.

Photoperiod on growth and egg characteristics of the white leghorn chicken

One hundred and twenty (120) 16 weeks old White Leghorn layer breeds were used for the study. The objective of the study was to determine effect of photoperiod on layer chicken. The research was carried out at the Poultry Section of the Animal farm of the Department of Animal Science Education, Akenten Appiah-Menka University of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development, Mampong. Four treatments made up of 12 hours of light, 14 hours of light, 16 hours of light and 18 hours of light were used for the study. Each treatment was replicated three times with 10 birds per replicate in a Completely Randomized Design. Birds were exposed equally to common daylight and in the evenings, lights were turned on at specified periods. Growth parameters measured were initial body weight, daily feed intake, daily weight gain and final body weight. Egg traits measured were egg weight, albumen height, yolk color and yolk weight. The data collected were analyzed using General Linear Model procedure of Statistical Analysis System. Results from the study indicated that, varied photoperiod regimes had no significant (P>0.05) effect on initial body weight, daily feed intake but had significant (P<0.05) effect on daily weight gain and final body weight of growth traits. Photoperiod had no significant (P>0.05) effect on the egg characteristics of the white Leghorn layer bird. It was concluded from the study that, increasing photoperiod had no positive effect on growth and egg characteristics of the white Leghorn layer.

Smart IOT Cloud Based Livestock Monitoring System: A Survey

Animal husbandry plays a significant role in the world economy. The advancement in new technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and Cloud Computing plays a vital role in governing the health of the livestock, tracking their live location and also smart feeding the cattle. The targeted survey was designed mainly to focus on precision livestock farming (PLF) techniques which helps to improve animal health, welfare, and farm efficiency. The evidence of the interest in, and significant presence of, PLF tools for the individual monitoring of livestock are provided in the survey. Here, in this study, we have discussed about the recent and updated research on the various livestock monitoring and management systems.

Sustainability Assessment of Pasture-Based Dairy Sheep Systems: A Multidisciplinary and Multiscale Approach

This article describes a novel methodological approach for the integrated sustainability assessment of pasture-based dairy sheep systems. Most studies on livestock system sustainability focus on animal production, farm profitability, and mitigation strategies of greenhouse gas emissions. However, recent research indicates that pasture-based livestock farming also contributes positively to rural areas, and the associated increase in plant diversity promotes ecosystem functioning and services in natural and managed grasslands. Likewise, little attention has focused on how pasture-based livestock systems affect soil carbon changes, biodiversity, and ecotoxicity. Furthermore, the quality and safety of food products, particularly sheep milk and cheese, and socioeconomic issues such as cultural heritage and consumer behavior are often neglected in livestock system sustainability assessments. To improve the analysis of sustainability and adaptation strategies of livestock systems, we suggest a holistic approach that integrates indicators from diverse disciplines with complementary methods and models capable of capturing the complexity of these systems at multiple scales. A multidisciplinary perspective generates new indicators to identify critical trade-offs and synergies related to the resilience of dairy sheep livestock systems. A multiscale approach provides insights on the effects of socioeconomic and environmental changes associated with current dairy sheep grazing systems across multiple scales. The combined approach will facilitate the development and progressive implementation of novel management strategies needed to adapt pasture-based dairy sheep farms to changing conditions under future socioeconomic and environmental scenarios.

Investigating Manipulation of Orwell's Animal Farm in Two Arabic Translations: Further Insights

The Manipulation School in translation has brought radical changes in the investigation process of translated texts, particularly the ones.Not only does it regard translation as a linguistic process serving a communicative purpose; but rather a systematic manipulative activityrelying internally on an array of factors (source text and context; target linguistic/social norms, translator's knowledge of text language andworld; his/her ideology as well as experience) simultaneously it is interconnected with other co-existing systems i.e., cultural, literary and political at a given time and place. Due to its creative nature, aesthetic conventions, loose norms as well as its continual link with socio-cultural environment thereof, literary works are said to be the most prone type to manipulation. Henceforth, they form the focused subject of study for theorists belonging to this school where notions such as ideology, power,dominance and manipulation have been intrinsically indicative. This paperaims at examining manipulation as a concept in theory and practice exploiting Dukate's model of translational manipulation (2007), in addition to Lefevere's view (1985/2014,1992) of translation as rewriting of dominant ideology and poetics. The probed data is a corpus of extracts quoted from two Arabic translations of Orwell's Animal Farm (1945), each belonging to a different historical frame work (1951-197). The findings have showed that the three types of manipulation (handling, improvement and distortion) are exhibited, however, with one dominant type in each target text.

Combined microgrid power production and carbon dioxide capture by waste heat cascade utilization of the solar driven Organic Rankine cycle

This paper proposes to utilize the waste heat of a solar-driven Organic Rankine cycle (ORC) to support the regeneration process of the carbon capture by adsorption (CCA) subsystem. The waste heat is utilized in cascaded form, where the higher temperature component is supplied to the CCA device, and the lower temperature component is internally exchanged to increase the ORC efficiency. The proposed system is studied for the microgrid application, where a thermodynamic analysis is conducted to evaluate the electrical and exergy performance of the proposed system under 1 day of solar irradiance. The analysis is achieved by coupling the simulation models of each subsystem, where the influences of the ORC pressure ratio, turbine inlet temperature, regeneration temperature, and the CO2 input source are investigated. Results show that the proposed system is optimal when combined with CO2 capture of the animal farm; When a 50 m2 and 100 solar concentrations solar thermal plant is used, an optimal regeneration temperature of 75 °C existed to yield 4375.6 kg of CO2 per day and 0.3 MW electricity. The corresponding ORC and CO2 capture exergy efficiencies are 0.25 and 0.012, respectively, which sum to be higher than the basic solar-ORC under the same conditions.

Do Animal Welfare Schemes Promote Better Animal Health? An Empirical Investigation of German Pork Production

Animal welfare programs support lower production intensity and environmental enrichment to create additional value for animals and consumers, by facilitating farms to resolve the conflict between animal welfare and efficient farming. Yet, the success of such enrichments in improving animal welfare and thus the productive performance depends on farmers’ production process management. Complexity of animal welfare, and its unclear role for the hog finishing process’ performance, challenges the evaluation of animal welfare programs. Using unique farm-level data comprising cost accounting and production economic data, participation status in the German program “Initiative Tierwohl” and animal health scores collected at the abattoir, we investigate the relationship between farm performance, animal health and program participation. This study relies on relative farm performance measures of technical and cost efficiency, obtained by nonparametric data envelopment analysis. Statistical correlation analysis and distribution difference testing was supported by locally estimated scatterplot smoothing. The findings indicate the possibility for high farm performance with low prevalence rates of internal organ alterations, also for non-participants. Program participants, however, achieved better relative farm performance and higher levels of respiratory health scores. Based on the indications from abattoir data, no statistically significant relationship between animal health and farm performance, and no moderating role of the program could be found for the sampled farms. We conclude that low threshold programs, such as the “Initiative Tierwohl”, might provide an incentive for adjusting the environment and can thus contribute to increasing sustainability in pork production.

ANTI-DIABETIC EFFECTS OF ETHANOL LEAF EXTRACT OF ONIONS (Allium cepa) ON ALLOXAN-INDUCED DIABETIC WISTAR ALBINO RATS

ANTI-DIABETIC EFFECTS OF ETHANOL LEAF EXTRACT OF ONIONS (Allium cepa) ON ALLOXAN-INDUCED DIABETIC WISTAR ALBINO RATS

Infrastructure of animal farms: key constructional elements in terms of biosecurity based on experience from Germany

The infrastructural design of an animal farm can significantly motivate or discourage adopting biosecurity measures in the daily routines. Proper planning and collaboration between architects, farmers and veterinarians is critical in the prevention of serious biosecurity issues, possible financial and animal losses. The consistent use of a uniform nomenclature that encompasses both, construction-functional and veterinary-epidemiological terms is therefore essential. We developed a conceptual framework for key constructional elements in terms of biosecurity and characterize key concepts from both disciplines, architecture and veterinary epidemiology. From an epidemiological point of view, we focus on pathogens and vectors, and from a constructional perspective on biosecurity areas, barriers and locks. The central aspect of the framework is the capability of barriers and locks to prevent (uncontrolled) movement of vectors between different biosecurity areas, thus interrupting pathways of pathogen transmission. Concepts are abstracted and aggregated in such a way that they can be applied to any animal husbandry system, regardless of species or size, and independently of a particular disease. The aim is providing a common basis of terminology that facilitates cross-sectoral cooperation.

Misanthropic Attitude of George Orwell’s Animal Farm: from Revolution to Rehabilitation

This paper aims to focus on finding and highlighting the misanthropic aspects and their effects on the characters in the novel Animal Farm by George Orwell. The misanthropic perspectives in the novel have been premeditated deeply. Misanthropy has been implemented on the characters. The characters like, Old Major, Napoleon, Squealer, and others have been studied to manifest the misanthropic attitudes in it. Old major is the father of misanthropy in the novel Animal Farm and gives the idea of rehabilitation in the animals' lives and Napoleon accomplishes it. The disgusting behavior of the animals leads to revolution. Misanthropy affects humans' lives and they become homeless. The findings of the paper are that the animals possess disgusting behavior against humans. The paper concludes that the whole novel is replete with misanthropy and it is the very aspect that has been probed by this article. Eventually, misanthropy proves to be a nightmarish dream for animals of the Animal Farm and a complete disillusionment they expect from the revolution.

Animal Farm in healthcare: definitions, policies, laws and implications for health professionals.

Animal Farm in healthcare: definitions, policies, laws and implications for health professionals.

Iguales en responsabilidad: Participación civil en el nacimiento de un estado totalitario Un estudio de La rebelión en la granja, de George Orwell

Orwell's Animal Farm has been widely discussed and analyzed from multiple standpoints, some of them diametrically opposite. This article examines the features that enable such divergent socio-political interpretations and argues that a core literary device that has been generally disregarded is that of the civilian contribution in the creation of political systems. When one shifts the focus to citizens, one sees how the work actually manifests the responsibility of regular individuals in the development of a totalitarian government by means of their acceptance of the elite’s discourse, their creation of national symbols, and the apathetic, negligent attitude of many toward politics. The article undermines the idea that the seemingly powerless animals stand as mere victims of an oppressive system and shows that, in forging a new governmental system, all animals were indeed equal in responsibility.

An Analysis of Totalitarianism in Animal Farm from an Allegorical Perspective

An Analysis of Totalitarianism in Animal Farm from an Allegorical Perspective

MOTION VERBS IN PERSIAN AND ENGLISH: A FRAMENET-BASED CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS

The current research aims at exploring and comparing the semantic frames of motion verbs in English and Persian. In pursuit of this goal, the novel Animal farm by G. Orwell (1945) was selected and compared with its Persian translation, Qale heyvanat (Atefi, 2010). The sentences including motion verbs were primarily extracted from the novel and then a comparison was made between each English sentence and its Persian counterpart. Afterwards, the semantic frames of the English and Persian motion verbs were obtained from the FrameNet database. It should be noted that when the motion verbs in English had an equivalent which could be interpreted in a different way in Persian, the Persian verb was searched for in one of the most reliable Persian to English dictionaries—Persian to English Dictionary (Aryanpur and Aryanpur, 2007). We searched for its English equivalent and then the newly obtained English verb was searched in FrameNet for the semantic frame. When comparing the semantic frames of the motion verbs in the two languages examined, we concluded that motion events in English and Persian were expressed through miscellaneous motion verbs each of which involves a semantic frame peculiar to it. Likewise, the frames may be similar or different cross-linguistically in case of semantic differences, or they might be pragmatically similar.

Epidemiology of Bovine Tuberculosis and Its Zoonotic Implication in Addis Ababa Milkshed, Central Ethiopia

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) continues to be one of the most widely distributed chronic infectious diseases of zoonotic importance, which causes a significant economic loss in animal production. A cross-sectional study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of bTB and its associated risk factors and type the Mycobacterium bovis isolated in central Ethiopia. A total of 65 dairy farms and 654 cattle were tested for bTB using a single intradermal comparative cervical tuberculin (SICCT) test. Data on farm management, animal-related characteristics, and the owner's knowledge of the zoonotic importance of bTB were collected using a structured questionnaire. In addition, a total of 16 animals from different farms were identified for postmortem examination. Lowenstein Jensen (LJ) culture was also conducted, and spoligotyping was used to type the M. bovis strains isolated. Chi-square test and logistic regression models were used to analyze the herd- and animal-level risk factors. Herd- and animal-level prevalence rates of bTB were 58.5% (95% CI: 46.2%−69.2%) and 39.3% (95% CI: 35.5%−43.5%), respectively. At the herd level, poor farm management was the predictor for bTB positivity (p < 0.05). Animal breed, poor BCS, farm type, and poor farm management conditions were significant predictors of bTB positivity (p < 0.05) at an individual animal level. All animals identified for postmortem examination were found to have gross TB-like lesions. A total of 14 M. bovis strains were identified from 12 animals that were positive for LJ culture. The strain with the largest number of clusters (five isolates) was SB1176, followed by SB0134 (three isolates), SB0192 (two isolates), and SB2233 (two isolates), and two new strains, each consisting of only one isolate. The majority (58.5%) of the respondents did not know the zoonotic importance of bTB. The result of this study showed a high prevalence of bTB in the Addis Ababa milkshed and a low level of consciousness of the owners on its transmission to humans. Therefore, the launching of acceptable control measures of bTB and the creation of public awareness about its zoonotic transmission and prevention measures are required.

Testing the potential of the Sow Stance Information System (SowSIS) based on a force plate system built into an electronic sow feeder for on-farm automatic lameness detection in breeding sows

Lameness is a common problem in breeding sows, which often goes undetected for long periods with severe consequences for animal welfare and farm productivity. Automatic lameness detection could help pig farmers to recognise and treat lameness sooner. The SowSIS (Sow Stance Information System) is a device consisting of four force plates and providing non-invasive force measurements per leg of the sow. In this study, the SowSIS was built into electronic sow feeders and validated for lameness detection in group-housed gestating sows. Data was automatically collected for 71 sows. Visual gait scoring was performed twice a week using a 150-mm tagged visual analogue scale to determine the sows' lameness status. Only data from 32 gait scoring days were included, adding up to 674 sow days. A sow was classified as lame using >60 mm as the cut-off value for the visual gait scores. Stance variables were calculated from the SowSIS data per sow per day. First, a multivariable linear mixed model was used to detect lameness, using stance variables with significant influence on the gait score. The model's performance was 78.5% sensitivity, 81.4% specificity, 80.7% accuracy, 57.4% lame predictive value and 92.2% non-lame predictive value. Second, five types of classification models were tested to determine the lame leg on a sub-dataset. The random forest model could predict the lame leg correctly 90% of the time. The SowSIS shows great promise as an on-farm lameness detection system, as it allows continuous non-invasive data collection in a practical setting. • The Sow Stance Information System is robust and well adapted for on-farm use. • Daily non-invasive stance measurements of individual sows during feeding visits. • A linear mixed model using stance variables can correctly detect lameness in sows. • The lame leg can be identified using machine learning models.

The Intersection of Translators’ Ideology and Linguistic Context: Jayanti Dalal and Harendra Bhatt in a Comparative Framework

The paper attempts to critically examine two literary translations of George Orwell’s novella Animal Farm: A Fairy Story (1945) into the Gujarati language. The two translations published in chronological order are Pashurajya (October 1947 ;) translated by Jayanti Dalal (1909–1970) and Chopaga Nu Raj (2015 ;) translated by Harendra Bhatt (1953). Both the translations are viewed through the observations of translation theorists Lawrence Venuti, Eugene Nida, and Peter Newmark with regard to what makes a good translation. While the question of whether these translations of the source text were alert to George Orwell’s political ideology and the resonances was paid attention to, how the translations are placed particularly within the Gujarati language and its culture is closely examined. Similarly, the analytical study situates the author and his text in their particular historical context and seeks to determine how the translations of the source text are likewise informed by the translators’ political and individual ideologies and the lexical choices they made in translating the text and relocating it within the Gujarati milieu. Critically, both the translations contain complex issues related to their lexical variations, translators’ potentialities and their ideologies that will help to distinguish the translated texts in many ways. In the linguistic equivalence approach, the use of colloquial words, renaming of characters’ names and translation of the sentence struc ture in both the translations are found to be diverse because of one of the translators’ choices of exercising liberty and their potentialities. The translator’s use of freely added sentences will also be examined in Chopaga Nu Raj. The comparative study concludes, by linguistically examining the translation of Minimus’s poem in Pashurajya and Chopaga Nu Raj.