Publications
All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others University of Antwerp
Dscam and DSCAM: complex genes in simple animals, complex animals yet simple genes KU Leuven
Cadherins and the immunoglobulin (Ig) proteins give rise to a multitude of surface receptors, which function as diverse cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) or signal-transducing receptors. These functions are often interdependent, and rely on a high degree of specificity in homophilic binding as well as heterophilic interactions. The Drosophila receptor Dscam is an exceptional example of homophilic binding specificity involved in a number of ...
Practice what you preach – the discrepancy in knowing and doing based on moral values to farm animals Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
Most of us agree that animals should have a life that is worth living. Most of us agree that animals should be treated good, and consider animals as sentient beings. This is formulated under the EU treaty of Amsterdam and Lisbon; in which we should pay full regard to their welfare requirements. For our moral consideration, an animals capacity to feel (experience) appears more important than its capacity to think (agency). Sentience is therefore ...
Named, numbered or anonymous: how the Human-Animal Relation affects the naming of individual animals KU Leuven
Seven human-animal relations (or animal categories) can be distinguished. These can be located in a cartesian plane with two axes, a horizontal axis with the amount of veterinary costs considered reasonable, and a vertical axis with a proxy of how problematic the death of the animal is. The way people relate to animals is a strong predictor of whether animals are given names, numbers, or whether they remain anonymous. In general, animals in the ...
Re-connecting farmers and their animals through technology? Representations of animal-human relations in 'Precision Livestock Farming' research and developments Ghent University
Due to scale enlargement in animal agriculture, farmers face difficulties to adequately attend to the well-being of each of their individual animals. To address these difficulties, much recent animal science research focusses on developing and assessing so-called ‘smart farming’ or ‘Precision Livestock Farming’ (PLF) technologies. These technologies, which principally involve on-farm sensors and data-processing software, are promised to extend ...
Killing animals as a matter of collateral damage KU Leuven
Not only meat producing animals are killed in agriculture. Also in the dairy and egg industry enormous numbers of animals are killed, although their deaths are not strictly necessary to produce milk or eggs. These deaths are a side effect of current economic realities and are considered unavoidable collateral damage. We will discuss other cases such as culling during disease control, and euthanasia of aged sports animals and animals in shelters. ...
Estimating herd prevalence on the basis of aggregate testing of animals Hasselt University
It is common practice that some or all animals in a group of animals, e. g. a herd, are tested for their health status by using a diagnostic test to investigate whether the herd is infected by a disease. Several obstacles complicate the estimation of herd prevalence on the basis of test results of the animals. First, diagnostic tests are often imperfect, resulting in a misclassification of the animal's disease status. It is well known how to ...
The study of trypanosome species circulating in domestic animals in two human African trypanosomiasis foci of Côte d'Ivoire identifies pigs and cattle as potential reservoirs of Trypanosoma brucei gambiense Institute of Tropical Medicine
BACKGROUND: Important control efforts have led to a significant reduction of the prevalence of human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) in Côte d'Ivoire, but the disease is still present in several foci. The existence of an animal reservoir of Trypanosoma brucei gambiense may explain disease persistence in these foci where animal breeding is an important source of income but where the prevalence of animal African trypanosomiasis (AAT) is unknown. ...
Antibiotic use and resistance in animals Ghent University
The widespread use of antibiotics in animals is causing concerns about the growing risk for development and the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Antibiotic consumption is higher in animals than in humans as reported in a joint publication of EFSA (European Food Safety Agency), ECDC (European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control), and EMA (European Medicines Agency) using data from 2011 and 2012. Both in humans and animals, ...