Algorithm visualization systems have gained much interest lately. However, most of today’s animation systems do not support reuse or the integration of extensions. If extensions can be implemented, they usually require source code modification and intimate system knowledge. In this paper, we present a simple yet powerful framework architecture for AV systems that allows easy reuse and extensibi...

Policy makers in the European Union are envisioning the introduction of a community farm animal welfare label which would allow consumers to align their consumption habits with their farm animal welfare preferences. For welfare labelling to be viable the market for livestock products produced to higher welfare standards has to be sufficiently segmented with consumers having sufficiently distinc...

Food safety is now universally recognised as a public health priority. It requires a global approach, from production to consumption. This article addresses the first stage of the food chain and the steps farmers can take to optimise the food safety control of products of animal origin. This inevitably means controlling the health status of the animals from which food products are derived. The ...

In January 2008, the United States Food and Drug Administration concluded "meat and milk from cattle, swine, and goat clones or their offspring are as safe to eat as food we eat from those species now" (U.S. FDA, 2010). However, cloning remains a very controversial topic. A web-based survey administered by Knowledge Networks was used to determine U.S. consumers' awareness of and attitudes towar...

In farm animals (bovine, ovine, swine, rabbit and poultry), muscle fibre characteristics play a key role in meat quality. The present review summarises the knowledge on muscle fibre characteristics and ontogenesis in these species. Myofibre ontogenesis begins very early during embryonic life, with the appearance of two or three successive waves of myoblasts which constitute the origin of the di...

Over the last three decades biotechnology has advanced to a level where it is generally feasible to make particular changes to the genome, and therefore to the expressed characteristics of living organisms. The product of such a change is called a transgenic or a genetically modified organism (GMO). GMOs are created and/or modified in the laboratory to amplify desired characteristics which are ...

Health is an important part of welfare and whenever an animal is diseased, welfare is poorer than when there is no disease. This point is often not recognised adequately by those studying animal welfare. Also, the full extent of the effects of clinically diagnosed disease on the welfare of the animal is seldom quantified. This quantification of the extent of poor welfare during disease is impor...

Production of safe and healthy high quality food for human population, preservation of stable rural social economic infrastructure and sustainable use of agricultural land and animal resources are important goals of European livestock sector. Research and innovation in the livestock sector will play an important role in development of more effi cient and sustainable strategies for supply of hea...

As a part of the USEPA's concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) final rule, all CAFOs are required to develop and implement a nutrient management plan (NMP). The USEPA's emphasis on better management of nutrients appropriately targets a critical environmental issue associated with animal production. The concentration of animals in livestock feeding operations, often separate from feed gra...