We propose a theoretical framework for the relationship between animal welfare and the economic performance of livestock farms. We empirically analyse this relationship based on a unique dataset of randomly sampled Danish pig herds that includes information from unannounced inspections of the compliance with the animal welfare legislation. We find large variations in economic performance and animal welfare. The relationship between these two indicators is rather weak, but tends to be slightly positive. A possible explanation for our results is that management has a major influence on both economic performance and animal welfare so that good farm managers are able to meet all animal welfare regulations, while achieving a high economic performance.
The aim of this paper is to demonstrate, that kernel latent variables approaches have a comparable predictive power with the set of kernel approaches based on regularization (e.g. Support Vector Machines). Kernel latent variable approaches are an alternative to kernel ridge regression, in the same way as PCR or PLS are the alternative approaches to Ridge Regression. Performance of these approaches is demonstrated for simulated data sets and microarray data set.
Background
Macrolides and lincosamides are two leading types of antibiotics commonly used in therapies. The study examines the differences in resistance to these antibiotics and their molecular bases in
S. epidermidis
as well as in rarely isolated species of coagulase-negative staphylococci such as
S. hominis
, S
. haemolyticus
,
S. warneri
and
S. simulans
. The isolates were tested for the presence of the
erm
(A),
erm
(B),
erm
(C),
lnu
(A),
msr
(A),
msr
(B),
mph
(C),
ere
(A) and
ere
(B) genes. Phenotypic resistance to methicillin and mecA presence were also determined.
Results
The MLS
B
resistance mechanism was phenotypically found in isolates of species included in the study. The most prevalent MLS
B
resistance mechanism was observed in
S. hominis
,
S. haemolyticus
and
S. epidermidis
isolates mainly of the MLS
B
resistance constitutive type. Macrolide, lincosamide and streptogramin B resistance genes were rarely detected in isolates individually. The
erm
(B),
ere
(A) and
ere
(B) genes were not found in any of the strains. The
erm
(A) gene was determined only in four strains of
S. epidermidis
and
S. hominis
while
lnu
(A) was seen in eight strains (mainly in
S. hominis
). The
erm
(C) gene was present in most of
S. epidermidis
strains and predominant in
S. hominis
and
S. simulans
isolates. The examined species clearly differed between one another in the repertoire of accumulated genes.
Conclusions
The presence of genes encoding the MLS
B
resistance among CoNS strains demonstrates these genes’ widespread prevalence and accumulation in opportunistic pathogens that might become gene reservoir for bacteria with superior pathogenic potential.
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