scholarly journals Towards animal-friendly machines

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 204-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver Bendel
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Farm Animals ◽  
Machine Ethics ◽  
Animal Suffering ◽  
Design Studies ◽  
Risks And Benefits ◽  
Relative Risks ◽  
Moral Machines ◽  
Autonomous Machines ◽  
Important Basis

Abstract Semi-autonomous machines, autonomous machines and robots inhabit closed, semi-closed and open environments. There they encounter domestic animals, farm animals, working animals and/or wild animals. These animals could be disturbed, displaced, injured or killed. Within the context of machine ethics, the School of Business FHNW developed several design studies and prototypes for animal-friendly machines,which can be understood as moral machines in the spirit of this discipline. They were each linked with an annotated decision tree containing the ethical assumptions or justifications for interactions with animals. Annotated decision trees are seen as an important basis in developing moral machines. They are not without problems and contradictions, but they do guarantee well-founded, secure actions that are repeated at a certain level. This article documents completed and current projects, compares their relative risks and benefits, and makes proposals for future developments in machine ethics. The findings in this article and proposals for the future hope to systemically promote animal well-being and prevent animal suffering in encounters between machines and animals.

The capacity to designate a surrogate is distinct from decisional capacity: normative and empirical considerations

2021 ◽  
pp. medethics-2020-107078
Author(s):  
Mark Navin ◽  
Jason Adam Wasserman ◽  
Devan Stahl ◽  
Tom Tomlinson
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Medical Decision Making ◽  
Medical Decision ◽  
Decisional Capacity ◽  
Risks And Benefits ◽  
Relative Risks ◽  
Decision Making Capacity ◽  
Cognitive Diseases ◽  
Surrogate Selection

The capacity to designate a surrogate (CDS) is not simply another kind of medical decision-making capacity (DMC). A patient with DMC can express a preference, understand information relevant to that choice, appreciate the significance of that information for their clinical condition, and reason about their choice in light of their goals and values. In contrast, a patient can possess the CDS even if they cannot appreciate their condition or reason about the relative risks and benefits of their options. Patients who lack DMC for many or most kinds of medical choices may nonetheless possess the CDS, particularly since the complex means-ends reasoning required by DMC is one of the first capacities to be lost in progressive cognitive diseases (eg, Alzheimer’s disease). That is, patients with significant cognitive decline or mental illness may still understand what a surrogate does, express a preference about a potential surrogate, and be able to provide some kind of justification for that selection. Moreover, there are many legitimate and relevant rationales for surrogate selection that are inconsistent with the reasoning criterion of DMC. Unfortunately, many patients are prevented from designating a surrogate if they are judged to lack DMC. When such patients possess the CDS, this practice is ethically wrong, legally dubious and imposes avoidable burdens on healthcare institutions.

scholarly journals A concise review on certain important veterinary viruses in the Americas

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. e1965
Author(s):  
Sebastian Giraldo-Ramirez ◽  
Santiago Rendon-Marin ◽  
Julian Ruiz-Saenz
Keyword(s):  
Companion Animals ◽  
Foot And Mouth Disease ◽  
African Swine Fever ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Complex Problem ◽  
Farm Animals ◽  
Human Consumption ◽  
Emerging Viruses ◽  
Animal Populations ◽  
Being There

Animals have become an essential member for our society, with roles related to company, human well-being and therapy for some diseases, and as a source of food in many populations around the world. Animals intended for human consumption like pigs and cattle, as well as companion animals, specifically cats and dogs, are constantly threatened by multiple viral agents. This puts at risk pet owners and threatens food security in the region. Considering that control or eradication is a complex problem that involves several aspects, there is a limited success in this regard for viral diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease, rabies and classical or African swine fever, this review aims to show the most important characteristics, in the epidemiological context, from farm animals virus, re-emerging viruses affecting companion animals, and emerging and re-emerging zoonotic viruses. Since viral pathogens affect animal populations and human well-being, there is a need to increase efforts to control, monitor and eradicate them from livestock and companion animals. The following sections contribute to improve the understanding of these viral agents and orchestrate actions of control entities in the Americas.

Complete Field Guide to Dragonflies of Australia

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gunther Theischinger ◽  
John Hawking
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Freshwater Fish ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Detailed Knowledge ◽  
Field Guide ◽  
Distribution Maps ◽  
Identification Keys ◽  
Complete Field ◽  
First Time ◽  
Important Basis

Dragonflies and damselflies are conspicuous insects – many are large and brightly coloured. Here for the first time is a comprehensive guide to the Australian dragonfly fauna. The book includes identification keys not only for adults but also for their larvae, commonly known as ‘mud eyes’ and often used as bait for freshwater fish. With stunning full-colour images and distribution maps, the book covers all 30 families, 110 genera and 324 species found in Australia. Dragonflies are valuable indicators of environmental well-being. A detailed knowledge of the dragonfly fauna and its changes is therefore an important basis for decisions about environmental protection and management. Their extraordinary diversity will interest entomologists and amateur naturalists alike.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Ethics

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 74-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keng Siau ◽  
Weiyu Wang
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Data Privacy ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Critical Issue ◽  
Ethical Principles ◽  
Machine Ethics ◽  
Moral Issues ◽  
Ai Ethics ◽  
Self Driving Cars

Artificial intelligence (AI)-based technology has achieved many great things, such as facial recognition, medical diagnosis, and self-driving cars. AI promises enormous benefits for economic growth, social development, as well as human well-being and safety improvement. However, the low-level of explainability, data biases, data security, data privacy, and ethical problems of AI-based technology pose significant risks for users, developers, humanity, and societies. As AI advances, one critical issue is how to address the ethical and moral challenges associated with AI. Even though the concept of “machine ethics” was proposed around 2006, AI ethics is still in the infancy stage. AI ethics is the field related to the study of ethical issues in AI. To address AI ethics, one needs to consider the ethics of AI and how to build ethical AI. Ethics of AI studies the ethical principles, rules, guidelines, policies, and regulations that are related to AI. Ethical AI is an AI that performs and behaves ethically. One must recognize and understand the potential ethical and moral issues that may be caused by AI to formulate the necessary ethical principles, rules, guidelines, policies, and regulations for AI (i.e., Ethics of AI). With the appropriate ethics of AI, one can then build AI that exhibits ethical behavior (i.e., Ethical AI). This paper will discuss AI ethics by looking at the ethics of AI and ethical AI. What are the perceived ethical and moral issues with AI? What are the general and common ethical principles, rules, guidelines, policies, and regulations that can resolve or at least attenuate these ethical and moral issues with AI? What are some of the necessary features and characteristics of an ethical AI? How to adhere to the ethics of AI to build ethical AI?

scholarly journals Predicting State-Wide Votes on Ballot Initiatives to Ban Battery Cages and Gestation Crates

2014 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katie Smithson ◽  
Max Corbin ◽  
Jayson L. Lusk ◽  
F. Bailey Norwood
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Farm Animals ◽  
Ballot Initiatives ◽  
Demographic Profile ◽  
State Initiative ◽  
Livestock Population ◽  
Battery Cages ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Gestation Crates

After California voters decided in a state initiative to ban gestation crates and battery cages, some are asking whether other states will host similar initiatives and if they will pass. This study addresses this question by using voting data in California to predict how voters in other states would respond to a similar initiative. Results suggest that a number of states allow such initiatives and possess a demographic profile favorable to the initiative's passage. However, because these states host only a small portion of the livestock population, the impact of such initiatives on the well-being of farm animals is questionable.

scholarly journals Women Empowerment and Frequency of Meal Intake Among Children in Ghana

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis Kobina Dadzie ◽  
Joshua Amo-Adjei ◽  
Kobina Esia-Donkoh
Keyword(s):  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Women Empowerment ◽  
Meal Frequency ◽  
Meal Intake ◽  
Large Household ◽  
Regression Techniques ◽  
Important Basis ◽  
Health And Well Being

Abstract BackgroundQuality nutrition is an important basis of health and well-being, especially for children as their bodies need to grow, develop and reach their physical and mental potential. Women’s empowerment is not only important for women’s human rights, but also improves nutrition outcomes of both mothers and their children. This study sought to investigate the association between women’s empowerment and minimum meal frequency in Ghana.MethodsThe study used data from the 2014 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS). A sample of 1,640 mother-child (6-23 months) dyad was used and univariate and multiple linear regression techniques were applied.ResultsDecisions on large household purchases (β=0.351, p<0.01) and family visits (β=0.743, p<0.01), ownership over house (β=-0.245, p<0.10), age of child (β=1.387, p<0.01), mother’s educational attainment (β=0.496, p<0.10) and residence (β=-0.298, p<0.10) were significantly associated with minimum meal frequency in Ghana.ConclusionMinimum meal frequency was largely influenced by economic and socio-familial empowerment of women as decisions on large household purchases and family visits showed association with minimum meal frequency. Interventional programs should target households and mothers with lower socio-demographics characteristics such as lower educational level.

scholarly journals Mechanismen der Bewältigung von Stress

2000 ◽  
Vol 43 (5) ◽  
pp. 441-450 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. von Borell
Keyword(s):  
Stress Response ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Physical Nature ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Farm Animals ◽  
Neural Pathways ◽  
Neural Signals ◽  
Psychological Stressors ◽  
Central Nervous Systems ◽  
Neurophysiological Mechanisms

Abstract. Title of the paper: Coping strategies during stress The response to Stressors requires a progression of events beginning with sensing and signalling the animal's various biological mechanisms that a threat exists. These events are followed by activation of neurophysiological mechanisms to mount a biological effort to resist and prevent major damage. The various sensory detectors not only receive the information but transform that information into neural signals that are transmitted to either or botn cognitive and non-cognitive centres of the nervous system to generate a co-ordinated response to the challenge. The hypothalamic-adrenal medullary system involves the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, the sympathetic neural pathways to the adrenal medulla, and the release of epinephrine by the adrenal gland. This short acting stressresponse was originally proposed by W. Cannon and is referred to as the Fight-Flight Syndrome (FFS). The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) stress-response System represents a longer-term, sustained response to Stressors and was conceptualised by Hans Selye (General Adaptation Syndrome, GAS). The major adrenal cortical hormones are corticosteroids and aldosterone. These two classical stress response Systems have been linked to different coping pattern in that FFS is primarily activated in situations of threat of control, whereas the pituitary-adrenocortical System is activated in situations of loss of control. Besides these classical physiological Systems other Systems are activated during stress, including the immune system. Recent research suggests that the endocrine, immune and central nervous Systems interact and respond to stressful Stimuli in a co-ordinated manner. The presence of hormones, neurotransmitters and receptors common to all three Systems Supports the view that communication exists between these Systems. Psychological Stressors perceived as threats may be equally important as those of a physical nature in challenging coping mechanisms. Situations of uncertainty, social pressure and fear are potent Stressors with relevance for the well-being of animals, leading to severe damage to specific target organs and tissues or even to death in some species. Studies on stress responses in farm animals are often conducted on the basis of single physiological alterations or irregular behavioural phenomena that might be difficult to interpret. Non-invasive methods for measuring stress-indicating parameters have been developed in addition to classical descriptive behavioural observations, allowing an evaluation of stress by multiple criteria under different housing conditions and handling procedures.

scholarly journals MAIN DIRECTIONS OF INCREASING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF TRICHINOSCOPIC CONTROL

2019 ◽  
pp. 633-638
Author(s):  
Uspensky ◽  
Skvortsova
Keyword(s):  
Russian Federation ◽  
Meat Products ◽  
Technical Information ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Farm Animals ◽  
Main Method ◽  
Parasitic Zoonoses ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Pig Carcasses ◽  
New Generation

Trichinosis is one of the most dangerous parasitic zoonoses which is characterized by the wide-spread occurrence among the population of the RF and mammals (more than 80 species). Up to 350 cases of this invasion is registered in humans and up to 500 of pig carcasses infected with trichinosis are detected every year, but in general there is a pronounced tendency for stabilization of the situation. Trichinosis is most often detected among game animals (bears, boars, raccoon dogs, etc.) in the natural biocenosis, and this has a significant epidemiological importance. Due to this fact, the whole territory of the Russian Federation can be considered as a contamina-tion zone or as a troublesome zone in relation to this invasion. This article presents scientific and technical information on the spreading of trichinosis in the Russian Federation, the existing approaches to ensuring well-being in relation to this in-vasion among the population and farm animals. Modern methods of a veterinary-sanitary inspection for trichinosis and their prospective viability in different working conditions were evaluated. The main method for the prevention of trichinosis is a veterinary-sanitary inspection performed through the compressor trichinoscopy or peptolysis. There is a promising direction in the development and serial production of a computer trichinelloscope with corresponding software, as well as of a portable trichinelloscope for use in field conditions. A comprehensive assessment of the new generation of instruments and devices for trichinoscopic control has shown their effectiveness in ensuring the parasitic safety of meat products, their importance for monitoring trichinosis and licensing of livestock facilities.

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