Empirical analysis of pig welfare levels and their impact on pig breeding efficiency-Based on 773 pig farmers' survey data

Recent Advances in Anticancer Activity of Novel Plant Extracts and Compounds from Curcuma longa in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

PURPOSE

Among all forms of cancers, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common cancer worldwide. There are several treatment options for HCC ranging from loco-regional therapy to surgical treatment. Yet, there is high morbidity and mortality. Recent research focus has shifted towards more effective and less toxic cancer treatment options. Curcumin, the active ingredient in the Curcuma longa plant, has gained widespread attention in recent years because of its multifunctional properties as an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and anticancer agent.

METHODS

A systematic search of PubMed, Embase and Google Scholar was performed for studies reporting incidence of HCC, risk factors associated with cirrhosis and experimental use of curcumin as an anti-cancer agent.

RESULTS

This review exclusively encompasses the anti-cancer properties of curcumin in HCC globally and it's postulated molecular targets of curcumin when used against liver cancers.

CONCLUSIONS

This review is concluded by presenting the current challenges and future perspectives of novel plant extracts derived from C. longa and the treatment options against cancers.

Scale Difference from the Impact of Disease Control on Pig Production Efficiency

Epidemic disease prevention plays a critical role in ensuring the healthy development of livestock farming, and the subjective willingness of breeders can be affected by the cost of epidemic disease prevention. To correct the misconception that farmers regard the cost of disease control as an ineffective cost, and to promote the healthy development of the pig breeding industry, our study employed the data envelopment analysis super-efficiency model and panel threshold regression model to evaluate the combination of the cost of epidemic disease prevention and swine productivity using data collected from 1998-2018 across 30 provinces in China. The following results were obtained. (1) The cost of epidemic disease prevention generated a non-linear on swine productivity when the swine farming scale was limited; (2) When the number of animals at the beginning of the year was less than 6.0002, swine productivity was impacted negatively; (3) When the number of animals at the beginning of the year ranged between 6.0002 and 12.9994, the impact was insignificant; (4) A strong correlation was observed between the expenses of epidemic disease prevention and animal productivity when the number of animals at the beginning of the year exceeded 12.9994. These results indicate that publicity should be enhanced to elucidate the combination of epidemic disease prevention and swine productivity among breeders. In addition, the government should introduce relevant policies to encourage the development of large-scale pig farming, such as subsidies for the construction of large-scale farms and insurance.

Impact of Socio-Economic Factors on Nutrition Efficiency: An Application of Data Envelopment Analysis

Background

Paying particular attention to sustainable food consumption in low-income households is essential for increasing human health. Due to the growing population globally, this concept will likely become more serious soon.

Methods

Following the importance of optimizing food consumption for sustainability, in this study, a novel methodology is introduced for calculating nutrient intake efficiency and determining choices of food in different locations. The impact of socio-economic factors on nutrition efficiency is assessed. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) as a well-known linear programming (LP) and a Tobit model are used to achieve the goals. Household Consumption and Expenditure Surveys (HCESs) of 30,000 rural and urban Iranian households in all provinces in 2016 are analyzed. A Nutrient Efficiency Map (NEM) of Iran was depicted by GIS software.

Results

The results showed that many townships had nutrient efficiency scores of less than 70%. Northeast townships had the lowest scores, with an efficiency score of less than 50%. Overall, townships have lower efficiency in the North (seaside cities), East (desert cities), and North East (isolated cities) when compared with other areas.

Conclusion

Therefore, it is suggestible that the government should modify the support policies and the protection packages based on social, geographical, and cultural status.

Co-circulation of a Novel Dromedary Camel Parainfluenza Virus 3 and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus in a Dromedary Herd With Respiratory Tract Infections

Since the emergence of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in 2012, there have been a surge in the discovery and evolutionary studies of viruses in dromedaries. Here, we investigated a herd of nine dromedary calves from Umm Al Quwain, the United Arab Emirates that developed respiratory signs. Viral culture of the nasal swabs from the nine calves on Vero cells showed two different types of cytopathic effects (CPEs), suggesting the presence of two different viruses. Three samples showed typical CPEs of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in Vero cells, which was confirmed by partial RdRp gene sequencing. Complete genome sequencing of the three MERS-CoV strains showed that they belonged to clade B3, most closely related to another dromedary MERS-CoV isolate previously detected in Dubai. They also showed evidence of recombination between lineages B4 and B5 in ORF1ab. Another three samples showed non-typical CPEs of MERS-CoV with cell rounding, progressive degeneration, and detachment. Electron microscopy revealed spherical viral particles with peplomers and diameter of about 170nm. High-throughput sequencing and metagenomic analysis showed that the genome organization (3'-N-P-M-F-HN-L-5') was typical of paramyxovirus. They possessed typical genome features similar to other viruses of the genus Respirovirus, including a conserved motif ³²³FAPGNYALSYAM³³⁶ in the N protein, RNA editing sites 5'-⁷¹⁷AAAAAAGGG⁷²⁵-3', and 5'-¹⁰³⁸AGAAGAAAGAAAGG¹⁰⁵¹-3' (mRNA sense) in the P gene with multiple polypeptides coding capacity, a nuclear localization signal sequence ²⁴⁵KVGRMYSVEYCKQKIEK²⁶¹ in the M protein, a conserved sialic acid binding motif ²⁵²NRKSCS²⁵⁷ in the HN protein, conserved lengths of the leader (55nt) and trailer (51nt) sequences, total coding percentages (92.6–93.4%), gene-start (AGGANNAAAG), gene-end (NANNANNAAAAA), and trinucleotide intergenic sequences (CTT, mRNA sense). Phylogenetic analysis of their complete genomes showed that they were most closely related to bovine parainfluenza virus 3 (PIV3) genotype C strains. In the phylogenetic tree constructed using the complete L protein, the branch length between dromedary camel PIV3 (DcPIV3) and the nearest node is 0.04, which is >0.03, the definition used for species demarcation in the family Paramyxoviridae. Therefore, we show that DcPIV3 is a novel species of the genus Respirovirus that co-circulated with MERS-CoV in a dromedary herd in the Middle East.

First molecular characterization and phylogenetic analysis of the VP2 gene of feline panleukopenia virus in Bangladesh

Feline panleukopenia virus (FPV) is a highly contagious infectious pathogen of cats globally. However, there is no information on the molecular identification and characterization of FPV in Bangladesh. Here, 8.16% (8/98) and 18.37% (18/98) of diarrheic cats tested positive for FPV by an immunochromatography (IC) test and PCR, respectively. The IC test showed 44.44% sensitivity and 100% specificity in comparison with PCR. Our newly sequenced Bangladeshi FPV strain (MN826076) showed the highest (99.71%) sequence identity to strains from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Strain MN826076 contained two characteristic amino acid variations in VP2 identifying it as an FPV strain: valine at position 103 and aspartic acid at position 323. Phylogenetically, the VP2 of strain MN826076 was found to be closely related to 19 FPV strains, sharing the same clade.

Chinese Public Attitudes towards, and Knowledge of, Animal Welfare

Food-producing animals make up the majority of animals that humans manage globally, and China has been a major producer and exporter of animal products since the late 1990s. The opinions of the population in China regarding animal welfare are not as well understood as those in Europe. In China, animal welfare as a societal concern is still at an early stage of development. This survey of Chinese attitudes aimed to understand consumer knowledge of and behaviour towards animal welfare, and to determine whether harnessing consumer interests may be a potential future influence on the development of high-welfare agricultural production. Most participants were not aware of the meaning of animal welfare, but the number of those that were aware was higher than reported previously. The welfare of wild animals was rated particularly important compared to other animals. The links between welfare and the taste and/or safety of food were considered to be important, and Chinese consumers reported a willingness to pay more for food from animals produced in good welfare conditions, although the quality of the food was considered more important than the animal suffering. A large majority of the respondents reported that there should be legislation protecting animals and certification of welfare on farms, that animals on farms should be provided with enjoyable experiences and that transportation times should be minimised. Furthermore, most respondents reported that animals should be stunned before slaughter. We conclude that animal welfare is of importance to the Chinese consumer, in particular because of its connection to food quality.

Isolation and identification of induced systemic resistance determinants from Bacillus simplex Sneb545 against Heterodera glycines

Heterodera glycines is one of the most destructive pathogens of soybean. Soybean seeds coated with Bacillus simplex Sneb545 have shown resistance to H. glycines as a result of induced systemic resistance (ISR) in the plants. In this study, we aimed to identify the resistance-inducing determinants from this B. simplex strain. Combining the ISR bioassay, six ISR-active compounds were isolated from a culture of B. simplex Sneb545 using organic solvent gradient extraction, silica gel column chromatography, Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography, and semi-preparative high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and all systems were based on activity tracking. The compounds were determined as cyclic(Pro-Tyr), cyclic(Val-Pro), cyclic(Leu-Pro), uracil, phenylalanine, and tryptophan using 1H NMR and 13C NMR. In plants from seeds coated with Bacillus simplex Sneb545, these six ISR-active compounds delayed the development of H. glycines in soybean roots. Moreover, cyclic(Pro-Tyr), cyclic(Val-Pro), and tryptophan reduced the number of nematodes in soybean roots. The expression levels of defense-related genes with cyclic(Val-Pro), tryptophan and uracil treatment soybean analysed using Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). The results indicate cyclic(Val-Pro), tryptophan and uracil induced the expression of defense-related genes involved in the SA- and JA-pathways to against H. glycines. Our research results provide new agents for the control of H. glycines.

Tourism Development in Inner Mountain Areas—The Local Stakeholders’ Point of View through a Mixed Method Approach

Tourism in inner areas, especially in the mountains, is a complex phenomenon due to the different tourist’s needs and to the specific local features that vary considerably from one destination to another. Consequently, a unique tourism development strategy cannot be defined and adopted anywhere. When considering tourism-based territorial development in mountain areas, it is crucial to take the vision of local stakeholders into consideration. To drive different and/or unexpressed opinions towards shared tools, this study analyses the local stakeholder’s point of view using a mixed method consisting of a Delphi method followed by a Group Nominal Technique. The research was performed in Soana Valley, a small mountain community in the Northwestern Italian Alps. It involved 17 local stakeholders divided into three main groups—local administrators (n = 3), hospitality operators (9) and retailers (5). Results show how operators converge on three common aspects—local food product offering, territorial promotion and collaboration among operators, on which the community should focus to build a territorial integrated tourism offering.

A framework for assessing local transmission risk of imported malaria cases

Background

A key issue in achieving and sustaining malaria elimination is the need to prevent local transmission arising from imported cases of malaria. The likelihood of this occurring depends on a range of local factors, and these can be used to allocate resources to contain transmission. Therefore, a risk assessment and management strategy is required to identify risk indexes for malaria transmission when imported cases occur. These risks also need to be quantified and combined to give a weighted risk index score. This can then be used to allocate the resources to each administrative region to prevent transmission according to the degree of risk.

Methods

A list of potential risk indexes were generated from a literature review, expert consultation and panel discussion. These were initially classified into 4 first-level indexes including infection source, transmitting conditions, population vulnerability and control capacity. Each of these was then expanded into more detailed second-level indexes. The Delphi method was then used to obtain expert opinion to review and revise these risk indexes over two consecutive rounds to quantify agreement among experts as to their level of importance. Risk indexes were included in the final Transmission Risk Framework if they achieved a weighted importance score ≥ 4. The Analytic Hierarchy Process was then used to calculate the weight allocated to each of the final risk indexes. This was then used to create an assessment framework that can be used to evaluate local transmission risk in different areas.

Results

Two rounds of Delphi consultation were conducted. Twenty-three experts were used at each round with 100% recovery rate of participant questionnaires. The coordination coefficients (W) for the two rounds of Delphi consultation were 0.341 and 0.423, respectively (P < 0.05). Three first-level indexes and 13 second-level indexes were identified. The Analytic Hierarchy Process was performed to calculate the weight of the indexes. For the first-level indexes, infection source, transmitting conditions, and control capacity, the index weight was 0.5396, 0.2970 and 0.1634 respectively. For the three top second-level indexes, number of imported malaria cases, Anopheles species, and awareness of timely medical visit of patient, the index weight was 0.3382, 0.2475, and 0.1509 respectively.

Conclusions

An indexed system of transmission risk assessment for imported malaria was established using the Delphi method and the Analytic Hierarchy Process. This was assessed to be an objective and practical tool for assessing transmission risk from imported cases of malaria into China.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s40249-019-0552-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.