scholarly journals The Ethics of Farm Animal Biotechnology from an Anthropological Perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 3674
Author(s):  
Philipp Aerni
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Genetic Research ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Religious Activities ◽  
Anthropogenic Landscapes ◽  
Anthropological Perspective ◽  
Animal Biotechnology ◽  
Animal Domestication ◽  
Ethical Debate ◽  
Wide Range

Over the past 11,000 years, humans have domesticated a wide range of animals for different purposes designed to serve the human economy, society, and religious activities. The resulting mutual dependence between humans and their domestic partners created anthropogenic landscapes designed to sustain and protect their members. In this paper, we review the literature on the latest insights in interdisciplinary anthropological research on the evolution of animal domestication and breeding and put them in the context of the contemporary ethical debate on animal welfare and the application of modern biotechnology to animal breeding. Opponents of the use of animal biotechnology tend to see breeders often as enablers of industrial farming that would seek selective business advantage at the expense of the environment and animal welfare. Many applications of animal biotechnology may, however, also help to address environmental and animal welfare concerns in an effective way. Moreover, recent archeological and genetic research findings on the history of animal domestication reveal a distinctive kind of mutualism in the human–animal relationship based on a gradual co-evolutionary process with clear benefits for both parties in the relationship. These insights challenge the popular Neo-Darwinian account of unilateral adaptation only benefiting the more powerful party. Instead, they support the hypothesis that humans do not just adapt, but actively shape the environment through cultural niche construction (CNC) that also involves care and protection for domesticated animals. These empirical findings should also be taken into account in the contemporary ethical debate on animal welfare, which has become increasingly detached from the real-world efforts to improve animal welfare through best practices.

Creativity from perspective of axiology

2021 ◽  
Vol 92 (2) ◽  
pp. 10-20
Author(s):  
A. V Kiriakova ◽  
◽  
V.V. Moroz ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Value Orientations ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Collective Creativity ◽  
The Social ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Interdisciplinary Knowledge ◽  
Main Components ◽  
The Individual

Interest in creativity as a subject of research has been growing exponentially since the second half of the 20th century in all areas of human history. A wide range of both domestic and foreign studies allows authors to assert that creativity is a personality trait, inherent to one degree or another. Whereas the development of such trait becomes an urgent necessity in the new reality. The entire evolutionary process of the social development illustrates its dependence on personal and collective creativity. The aim of this research is to study the phenomenon of creativity through the perspective of axiology, i.e. the science of values. Axiology allows us to consider the realities of the modern world from the perspective of not only external factors, circumstances and situations, but also of deep value foundations. Creativity has been studied quite deeply from the point of view of psychology: the special characteristics of a creative person, stages of the creative process, the relationship between creative and critical thinking, creativity and intelligence. Some psychologists emphasize motivation, creative skills, interdisciplinary knowledge, and the creative environment as the main components that contribute to the development of creativity. The authors of the article argue that values and value orientations towards cognition, creativity, self-realization and self-expression are the drivers of creativity. In a broad sense, values as a matrix of culture determine the attitude of society to creativity, to the development of creativity of the individual and the creative class, and to how economically successful a given society will be. Since innovation and entrepreneurship are embodied creativity. Thus, the study of creativity from the perspective of axiology combines the need for a deep study of this phenomenon and the subjective significance of creativity in the context of new realities

scholarly journals Occurrence of the amphibians in the Volga, Don River basins and adjacent territories (Russia): research in 1996-2020

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Ruchin ◽  
Oleg Artaev ◽  
Elvira Sharapova ◽  
Oleg Ermakov ◽  
Renat Zamaletdinov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Genetic ◽  
Genetic Research ◽  
Russian Plain ◽  
Amphibian Species ◽  
Volga River ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Don River ◽  
Global Biodiversity ◽  
Single Standard ◽  
Living Organisms

Knowledge about the distribution of living organisms on Earth is very important for many areas of biological science and understanding of the surrounding world. However, much of the existing distributional data are scattered throughout a multitude of sources, such as taxonomic publications, checklists and natural history collections and often, bringing them together is difficult. A very successful attempt to solve this problem is the GBIF project, which allows a huge number of researchers to publish data in one place in a single standard. Our dataset represents a significant addition to the occurrences of amphibians in the Volga, Don riverine basins and adjacent territories. The dataset contains up-to-date information on amphibian occurrences in the Volga river basin and adjacent territories, located for the most part on the Russian plain of European Russia. The dataset is based on our own studies that were conducted in the years 1996-2020. The dataset consists of 5,030 incident records, all linked to geographical coordinates. A total of 13 amphibian species belonging to nine genera and six families have been registered within the studied territory, although the distribution of amphibian species in this region of Russia has not yet been fully studied. This is especially relevant with the spread of cryptic species that can only be identified using molecular genetic research methods. The main purpose of publishing a database is to make our data available in the global biodiversity system to a wide range of users. The data can be used by researchers, as well as helping the authorities to manage their territory more efficiently. All occurrences are published in GBIF for the first time. Most of the data are stored in field diaries and we would like to make it available to everyone by adding it in the global biodiversity database (GBIF).

Studying Jewish Women

2021 ◽  
pp. 10-36
Author(s):  
Lindsey Taylor-Guthartz
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experience ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Orthodox Jews ◽  
Orthodox Judaism ◽  
Jewish Women ◽  
Religious Activities ◽  
Torah Study ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Religious Lives ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter explores the problems of studying Orthodox Jewish women, in particular the 'double invisibility' they experience, first from the perspective of male Orthodox Jews, and, second, in the lack of knowledge about them in the non-Jewish world. Orthodox women engage in a wide range of communal and domestic religious activities, in spite of their exclusion from an active role in worship in synagogue and from some areas of Torah study. Activities defined by Orthodoxy as the supreme religious privileges of women, such as keeping a kosher kitchen, preparing food for sabbath and festivals, and nurturing and educating children, remain largely invisible to Orthodox men. Standard descriptions of women's practices in the domestic and individual spheres omit many widespread customs and practices, often characterized as 'superstitions' although they form an integral and meaningful part of many women's religious lives. A major problem in studying women's religious lives and the ways in which they differ from and intersect with those of men is imagining how women fit into one's overall picture of Jewish religious activity. Neither the 'separate but equal' apologetic nor the simplistic identification of 'oppressed and oppressors' made by some feminists provides an adequate way of thinking about the relationship between male and female lived experience of Judaism. Given that Orthodox Judaism is undeniably patriarchal, it may reasonably be asked whether women have any access to power or agency within the religious life of the community, particularly in matters of ritual and correct practice.

Implementing a Container Ship Stowage Problem for Humanitarian Aid in Palestine Based on Cultural Algorithms

2016 ◽  
pp. 309-318
Author(s):  
Alberto Ochoa-Zezzatti ◽  
Julio Arreola ◽  
Kyrk Haltaufoerhyde ◽  
Vinicius Scarandangotti
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Algorithms ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Humanitarian Aid ◽  
Cultural Algorithms ◽  
Cultural Paradigms ◽  
Living Things ◽  
Generic Term ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Bioinspired Algorithms

Bioinspired algorithms are a generic term used to refer to the solution of computational problems, based on the planning and implementation based on existing models in the evolutionary process-related nature. Most evolutionary algorithms proposed paradigms that occur in the biology of living things and concepts of natural selection, mutation and reproduction. However, other paradigms that can be taken in the creation of evolutionary algorithms also exist such as the forces of nature, which have been many algorithms based on water, gas and wind reactions. Many of the environments involving unstructured problems in this case a problem of accommodation of containers of humanitarian aid to a company with limited resources, which can be considered from the perspective of cultural paradigms, because the cultural paradigms offer a wide range categorized models that ignore the possible solutions to the problem-a common situation in real life. The purpose of this research is to apply evolutionary computation properties of cultural technology; in this case, to corroborate through data mining analysis of how low the support of various companies use technology for their own benefit to propose a solution to a given problem, in our case carry different types of goods deemed humanitarian aid . The mentioned above, to carry out an adaptation from the standpoint of the modeling societies. An environment for conducting tests for this type of analysis in our case a model arrangement of containers was developed in order to enable learning about not very conventional characteristics of a cultural technology. This environment was named Allaliyah in Palestinian culture means “Together we can achieve everything.”

The ethical basis of intensive livestock production systems

2001 ◽  
Vol 2001 ◽  
pp. 266-266
Author(s):  
G. Gatward
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Animal Rights ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Livestock Production ◽  
Animal Rights Movement ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Impact

Many of the ethical issues regarding the livestock production systems of the late twentieth century have concentrated on the process of intensification. The extent of public disquiet at the welfare and ethical implications of intensification has been reflected in the burgeoning membership of animal welfare and animal rights organisations. The reasons for this increase as well as the impact that it has had on the livestock industry can be traced back to the 1960s, to factors such as the growing urbanisation of the population and especially the emergence of the animal rights movement which focused attention on a wide range of issues including the human exploitation of other animal species. This in turn led to a demarcation between those who supported the animal welfare cause and those who argued for animal rights.

scholarly journals The Views of the UK Public Towards Routine Neutering of Dogs and Cats

Animals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chanakarn Wongsaengchan ◽  
Dorothy McKeegan
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Linear Model ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
General Linear Model ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Future Policy ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Level Of Agreement

Despite being routinely recommended by veterinarians, neutering of dogs and cats has both positive and negative impacts on animal welfare and is ethically problematic. We examined attitudes of a sample of the UK public towards routine neutering of dogs and cats using a questionnaire. Respondents indicated their level of agreement with statements describing welfare and ethical reasons ‘for’ and ‘against’ the neutering of male and female dogs and cats. We conducted a general linear model (GLM) analysis to investigate the effects of demographic factors on agreement scores. Respondents (n = 451) expressed views both supporting and opposing neutering. The predominant view (>80%) supported neutering, justified primarily by prevention of unwanted offspring and reproductive diseases. Around 10% of the respondents disagreed and felt that neutering should only be done for medical reasons. Men were less likely than women to support neutering (p < 0.001). Those with meat reduction diets were more likely to be against neutering (p < 0.05) and cat owners supported neutering more than non-cat owners (p < 0.05). Although the data reflected a wide range of ethical views, our findings show that the UK public generally supports the routine neutering of dogs and cats. This insight has implications for future policy-making and compliance with veterinary advice.

The ethical basis of intensive livestock production systems

2002 ◽  
Vol 2002 ◽  
pp. 245-245
Author(s):  
G. Gatward
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Animal Rights ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Livestock Production ◽  
Animal Rights Movement ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Impact

Many of the ethical issues regarding the livestock production systems of the late twentieth century have concentrated on the process of intensification. The extent of public disquiet at the welfare and ethical implications of intensification has been reflected in the burgeoning membership of animal welfare and animal rights organisations. The reasons for this increase as well as the impact that it has had on the livestock industry can be traced back to the 1960s, to factors such as the growing urbanisation of the population and especially the emergence of the animal rights movement which focused attention on a wide range of issues including the human exploitation of other animal species. This in turn led to a demarcation between those who supported the animal welfare cause and those who argued for animal rights.

Plant and animal domestication: direct versus indirect evidence

Antiquity ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 60 (228) ◽  
pp. 7-14
Author(s):  
Ruben Mendoza
Keyword(s):  
Morphological Change ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Indirect Evidence ◽  
Adaptive Strategies ◽  
External Stimulus ◽  
Development Patterns ◽  
Animal Domestication ◽  
Diagnostic Characteristics ◽  
Ecological Habitats

The domestication of plants and animals was the byproduct of an evolutionary process in which particular elements in the constellation of potential domesticates were subject to human manipulation as a response to adaptive strategies within diverse ecological habitats (Braidwood, 1971, 238). During the course of this development, patterns of exploitation apparently exerted an external stimulus which eventually resulted in the selective modification of the adaptive attributes of particular species of plants and animals. Such morphological change has been taken as a key criterion in delineating the diagnostic characteristics distinguishing wild from domestic plants and animals (Jarman, 1972, 16). The problem then becomes one of identifying the most reliable indicators in the resultant effects upon the domestication of plants and animals, as well as the inherent limitations stemming from the interpretive potential of such attributes (be they biological or cultural).

scholarly journals A minimal yet flexible likelihood framework to assess correlated evolution

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdelkader Behdenna ◽  
Patrice Petot ◽  
Joël Pothier ◽  
Camille Nous ◽  
Amaury Lambert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Tree ◽  
Computing Time ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Evolutionary Processes ◽  
Correlated Evolution ◽  
Parameters Tuning ◽  
Current Implementation ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Parameter Values ◽  
Selection Of

1AbstractAn evolutionary process is reflected in the sequence of changes through time of any trait (e.g. morphological, molecular). Yet, a better understanding of evolution would be procured by characterizing correlated evolution, or when two or more evolutionary processes interact. A wide range of parametric methods have previously been proposed to detect correlated evolution but they often require significant computing time as they rely on the estimation of many parameters. Here we propose a minimal likelihood framework modelling the joint evolution of two traits on a known phylogenetic tree. The type and strength of correlated evolution is characterized by few parameters tuning mutation rates of each trait and interdependencies between these rates. The framework can be applied to study any discrete trait or character ranging from nucleotide substitution to gain or loss of a biological function. More specifically, it can be used to 1) test for independence between two evolutionary processes, 2) identify the type of interaction between them and 3) estimate parameter values of the most likely model of interaction. In its current implementation, the method takes as input a phylogenetic tree together with mapped discrete evolutionary events on it and then maximizes the likelihood for one or several chosen scenarios. The strengths and limits of the method, as well as its relative power when compared to a few other methods, are assessed using both simulations and data from 16S rRNA sequences in a sample of 54 γ-enterobacteria. We show that even with datasets of less than 100 species, the method performs well in parameter estimation and in the selection of evolutionary scenario.

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