• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.575-578
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• 2020

The plasma cortisol of nurserypigs was examined using an outdoor efficacy testwith a digital content-based approach in animal welfare convergence types. Nine nurserypigs,without discriminating between female and male, were classified into 2 groups of 3 pigs each: control and group 1 (effect+nature), control and group 2(effect+nature+music). The control group was the same for group 1 and 2 to compare the effects using a t-test. There was no significant difference in plasma cortisol levels between the control group and group 1 until 4 h after stress induction. However, significant differences were subsequently found between the control group and group 1 from 8 h to 72 h (p<0.05). Further, plasma cortisol was not affected in group 2 at 0 h through 8 h and 72 h. At 12 h through 48 h, group 2 showed a reduction in plasma cortisol level compared to the control group(p<0.05). These results indicated that after stress induction, applying effect plus nature or effect plus nature plus music can effectively decrease plasma cortisol levels in nursery pigs within8 h through 72 h and may serve as a better model for digital content-based approach in animal welfare convergence types.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.65 no.4
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• pp.748-758
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• 2023

This study was conducted to investigate the change in activity and mounting behavior in Hanwoo (Korean Native Cattle) during the peri-estrus period and its application to estrus detection. A total of 20 Hanwoo cows were fitted with a neck-collar accelerometer device, which measured the location and acceleration of cow movements and recorded the number of instances of mounting behavior by the altitude data. The data were analyzed in three periods (24-, 6-, and 2-h periods). Blood samples were collected for 5 days after the prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α) injection, and the concentrations of estradiol, progesterone, follicle-stimulating hormone, and luteinizing hormone were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Activity and mounting behavior recorded over 2-h periods significantly increased as estrus approached and were more efficient at detecting estrus than over 24- and 6-h periods (p < 0.05). Endocrine patterns did not differ with the variation of individual cows during the peri-estrus period (p > 0.05). Activity was selected as the best predictor through stepwise discriminant analysis. However, activity alone is not enough to detect estrus. We suggest that a combination of activity and mounting behavior may improve estrus detection efficiency in Hanwoo. Further research is necessary to validate the findings on a larger sample size.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.34 no.7
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• pp.1235-1242
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• 2021

Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify through infrared thermal imaging technology the facial surface temperature (FST) of laying hens in response to the variations in their thermal environment, and to identify the regional differences in FST to determine the most stable and reliable facial regions for monitoring of thermoregulatory status in chickens. Methods: Thirty Hy-Line Brown hens (25-week-old) were sequentially exposed to three different thermal conditions; optimal (OT, 22℃±2℃), low (LT, 10℃±4℃), and high temperature (HT, 30℃±2℃). The mean values of FST in five facial regions including around the eyes, earlobes, wattles, beak and nose, and comb were recorded through infrared thermography. The maximum FST (MFST) was also identified among the five face-selective regions, and its relationship with temperature-humidity index (THI) was established to identify the range of MFST in response to the variations in their thermal environment. Results: Hens exposed to OT condition at 15:00 displayed a higher temperature at wattles and around the eyes compared to other regions (p<0.001). However, under LT condition at 05:00 to 08:00, around the eyes surface temperature showed the highest value (p<0.01). In HT, wattles temperature tended to show the highest temperature over almost time intervals. Main distribution regions of MFST were wattles (63.3%) and around the eyes (16.7%) in OT, around the eyes (50%) in LT, and wattles (62.2%) and comb (18.3%) in HT. The regression equation between MFST and THI was estimated as MFST = 35.37+0.2383×THI (R² = 0.44; p<0.001). Conclusion: The FST and the frequency of MFST in each facial region of laying hens responded sensitively to the variations in the thermal environment. The findings of this experiment provide useful information about the effect of the thermal conditions on the specific facial regions, thus offering an opportunity to stress and welfare assessment in poultry research and industry.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.63 no.6
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• pp.1453-1463
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• 2021

Feeding is the most important behavior that represents the health and welfare of weanling pigs. The early detection of feed refusal is crucial for the control of disease in the initial stages and the detection of empty feeders for adding feed in a timely manner. This paper proposes a real-time technique for the detection and recognition of small pigs using a deep-leaning-based method. The proposed model focuses on detecting pigs on a feeder in a feeding position. Conventional methods detect pigs and then classify them into different behavior gestures. In contrast, in the proposed method, these two tasks are combined into a single process to detect only feeding behavior to increase the speed of detection. Considering the significant differences between pig behaviors at different sizes, adaptive adjustments are introduced into a you-only-look-once (YOLO) model, including an angle optimization strategy between the head and body for detecting a head in a feeder. According to experimental results, this method can detect the feeding behavior of pigs and screen non-feeding positions with 95.66%, 94.22%, and 96.56% average precision (AP) at an intersection over union (IoU) threshold of 0.5 for YOLOv3, YOLOv4, and an additional layer and with the proposed activation function, respectively. Drinking behavior was detected with 86.86%, 89.16%, and 86.41% AP at a 0.5 IoU threshold for YOLOv3, YOLOv4, and the proposed activation function, respectively. In terms of detection and classification, the results of our study demonstrate that the proposed method yields higher precision and recall compared to conventional methods.

• The Journal of Society for e-Business Studies
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.143-163
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to identify acceptance factors and influencing factors of respondents' adoption of smart IoT technology to companion animal health based on the integrated technology acceptance model. Based on the previous studies, we constructed the hypotheses by defining the technical factors, social factors, control variables, and mediating variables (UTAUT), and set the hypotheses between the independent variables of each factor and the dependent intention. A research model was designed to verify the relationship between variables. We developed questionnaires on the items and verified them through data collected from 494 people. As a result, product design, quality of service, product performance, and quality service of technological factors had a significant effects on performance expectancy and effort expectancy. However, product safety, product function awareness, and product price did not significantly affect performance expectancy and effort expectancy. Social influence had significant effects on cognitive effect, welfare system, and welfare facilities. In conclusion, the comparative analysis of technical factors and social factors showed that social factors have more significant effects on welfare systems and facilities.

• The Journal of Economics, Marketing and Management
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.27-36
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• 2024

Purpose: As the number of vegetarians continues to rise in tandem with the development of consumer culture, a novel economic trend named 'Vegenomics' has surfaced. In addition, as interest in social and environmental sustainability such as health, environment, and animal welfare grows due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the alternative protein food market is expanding, focusing on plant-based alternative meat. Research design, data, and methodology: Therefore, this study aims to investigate the impact of the consumption value of alternative protein products on self-efficacy and purchase intention. This study collected a total of 187 questionnaires by conducting an online survey from May 1 to July 10, 2023, to verify the research model and hypothesis. The collected data were subjected to exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and discriminant validity analysis using SPSS 20.0 and AMOS 20.0 programs for structural equation modeling. Results: The results of analyzing consumers' self-efficacy and purchase intention regarding the functional value, health-oriented value, ethical value, and ecological value of alternative protein products are as follows. First, among the consumption values of alternative protein products, ecological value was found to have a significant positive (+) effect on self-efficacy. Second, consumers' self-efficacy for alternative protein products was found to have a significant positive (+) effect on purchase intention. Conclusion: This study is anticipated to provide valuable insights for the formulation of effective marketing strategies for alternative protein products and the development of products that align with consumer needs.

• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.133-139
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• 2022

Recently, livestock farms in Korea are introducing data-based technologies to improve productivity, such as livestock environment and breeding management, safe livestock production, and animal welfare. In addition, the government has been conducting a smart livestock distribution project since 2017 through the modernization of ICT-based livestock facilities in order to improve the productivity of livestock products and improve the livestock environment as a policy. However, the current smart livestock house has limitations in connection, diversity, and integration between monitoring and control. Therefore, in order to intelligently systemize all processes of livestock with intelligent algorithms and remote control in order to link and integrate various monitoring and control, the Internet of Things, big data, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and mobile It is necessary to develop a smart livestock system. In this study, domestic and foreign research trends related to smart livestock based on intelligent information technology were introduced and the limitations of domestic application of advanced technologies were analyzed. Finally, future intelligent information technology applicable to the livestock field was examined.