• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
• /
• v.26 no.3
• /
• pp.101-114
• /
• 2023

Pets are increasingly becoming vital companions in human life, prompting researchers to focus on understanding the grief experiences of pet owners. Unlike other forms of loss, pet loss often leads to complicated grief, characterized by intense and prolonged sorrow. This is likely due to the comparatively lower societal value placed on the human-pet relationship, which may restrict pet owners from feeling truly understood by others. The subjective perception of these "social constraints" significantly hampers the process of recovering from pet loss and contributes to the development of complicated grief. In this study, we hypothesize that the perceived social constraints could intensify the transition from the initial shock of pet loss to complicated grief. The results confirm that pet owners' perceived social constraints play a moderating role in the relationship between the shock of pet loss and complicated grief. Notably, pet owners experience heightened levels of complicated grief when perceiving greater social barriers and constraints. By highlighting the pivotal role of perceived social constraints in comprehending the experiences of pet loss and grief, this study underscores the importance of social awareness and improvement.

• Acta Via Serica
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.25-52
• /
• 2023

The astronomic observatory of Graw Village is located on Mount Dari Lolikan, facing the village. Graw is located in the foothills of Mount Ser-i-Rash, 25 km northeast of Erbil Governorate, Iraq. This study attempts to clarify the foundations of this observatory, its components, as well as the founder and the date of its establishment. The study made efforts to clarify the benefits of this calendar to local residents in their daily lives. The database for this study is based on direct observation of the observatory station. The observation included the recording date and position of sunset and the appearance of stars throughout the year. Observation and documentation for both sunset and stars were performed over several years due to weather conditions since observation was not possible on foggy and rainy days and nights. Each observation took five to ten minutes depending on the clarity of the sky. The observatory consists of a group of stone cones. Each cone was built by stones in a specific location after careful and long observation of the sunset. Efforts were made to observe the disappearance and reappearance of the stars based on the change in the position of the Earth in relation to the sun. Graw's calendar helped to recognize important times of the year, such as the winter and summer forties, which were very important, especially when snow covered the roads, transportation stopped, crops spoiled, and pets stayed in their barn. The most important features of the winter forties are the memories, experiences, and minds of the villagers' ancestors. The forties were associated with the arrival of cold and heavier rain throughout the year, which is consistent with modern science, as the angle at which the Earth rotates increases the number and activity of weather depressions that affect the study area during this period. This observatory has a close connection with the daily life of the villagers, especially in the past centuries. It helped the people of the area in their appointments to carry out their work in the field of agriculture. The observatory was also of great importance in the field of education in the past centuries, especially in traditional religious schools. It also appears from this research that the calendar has ancient roots, which extend back thousands of years, as evidenced by the Ezidis who follow an ancient religion whose roots extend back thousands of years and who fast during both the winter and summer forties annually, with the participation of people in various regions of the world. It is not known who made this astronomic observatory but most of the oral information that has been passed down to us by word of mouth agrees on both Mullah Abdullah Al-Kurdi and Mullah Omar. Likely, this astronomic observatory was built around the late 17^th and early 18^th centuries.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.30 no.9
• /
• pp.804-812
• /
• 2020

The giant mealworm beetle, Zophobas atratus (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) has been used as a protein source for small pets and mammals. Recently, it was temporarily registered in the list of the Food Code. We previously performed an in silico analysis of the Zophobas atratus transcriptome to identify putative antimicrobial peptides and identified several antimicrobial peptide candidates. Among them, we assessed the antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activities of zophobacin 1 that was selected bio-informatically based on its physicochemical properties against microorganisms and mouse macrophage Raw264.7 cells. Zophobacin 1 showed antimicrobial activities against microorganisms without inducing hemolysis and decreased the nitric oxide production of the lipopolysaccharide-induced Raw264.7 cells. Moreover, ELISA and Western blot analysis revealed that zophobacin 1 reduced expression levels of pro-inflammatory enzymes such as inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). We also investigated expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines (interleukin-6 and interleukin-1β) production through quantitative real time-PCR and ELISA. Zophobacin 1 markedly reduced the expression level of cytokines through the regulation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signaling. We confirmed that zophobacin 1 bound to bacterial cell membranes via a specific interaction with lipopolysaccharides. These data suggest that zophobacin 1 could be promising molecules for development as antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory therapeutic agents.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Near Infrared Spectroscopy Conference
• /
• 2001.06a
• /
• pp.1153-1153
• /
• 2001

Directive 79/373/EEC on the marketing of compound feeding stuffs, provided far a flexible declaration arrangement confined to the indication of the feed materials without stating their quantity and the possibility was retained to declare categories of feed materials instead of declaring the feed materials themselves. However, the BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) and the dioxin crisis have demonstrated the inadequacy of the current provisions and the need of detailed qualitative and quantitative information. On 10 January 2000 the Commission submitted to the Council a proposal for a Directive related to the marketing of compound feeding stuffs and the Council adopted a Common Position (EC N$^{\circ}$/2001) published at the Official Journal of the European Communities of 2. 2. 2001. According to the EC (EC N$^{\circ}$ 6/2001) the feeds material contained in compound feeding stufs intended for animals other than pets must be declared according to their percentage by weight, by descending order of weight and within the following brackets (I :< 30%; II :> 15 to 30%; III :> 5 to 15%; IV : 2% to 5%; V: < 2%). For practical reasons, it shall be allowed that the declarations of feed materials included in the compound feeding stuffs are provided on an ad hoc label or accompanying document. However, documents alone will not be sufficient to restore public confidence on the animal feed industry. The objective of the present work is to obtain calibration equations fur the instanteneous and simultaneous prediction of the chemical composition and the percentage of ingredients of unground compound feeding stuffs. A total of 287 samples of unground compound feeds marketed in Spain were scanned in a FOSS-NIR Systems 6500 monochromator using a rectangular cup with a quartz window (16 $\times$ 3.5 cm). Calibration equations were obtained for the prediction of moisture ($R^2$= 0.84, SECV = 0.54), crude protein ($R^2$= 0.96, SECV = 0.75), fat ($R^2$= 0.86, SECV = 0.54), crude fiber ($R^2$= 0.97, SECV = 0.63) and ashes ($R^2$= 0.86, SECV = 0.83). The sane set of spectroscopic data was used to predict the ingredient composition of the compound feeds. The preliminary results show that NIRS has an excellent ability ($r^2$$\geq$ 0, 9; RPD $\geq$ 3) for the prediction of the percentage of inclusion of alfalfa, sunflower meal, gluten meal, sugar beet pulp, palm meal, poultry meal, total meat meal (meat and bone meal and poultry meal) and whey. Other equations with a good predictive performance ($R^2$$\geq$0, 7; 2$\leq$RPD$\leq$3) were the obtained for the prediction of soya bean meal, corn, molasses, animal fat and lupin meal. The equations obtained for the prediction of other constituents (barley, bran, rice, manioc, meat and bone meal, fish meal, calcium carbonate, ammonium clorure and salt have an accuracy enough to fulfill the requirements layed down by the Common Position (EC Nº 6/2001). NIRS technology should be considered as an essential tool in food Safety Programs.

• Proceedings of the Korean Environmental Health Society Conference
• /
• 2005.06a
• /
• pp.45-72
• /
• 2005

C. neoformans-associated cryptococcosis is primarily a disease of immunocompromised persons, has a world-wide distribution, and is often spread by pigeons in the urban environment. In contrast, C. gattii causes infection in normal hosts, has only been described in tropical and semi-tropical areas of the world, and has a unique niche in river gum Eucalyptus trees. Cryptococcosis is acquired through inhalation of the yeast propagules from the environment. C. gattii has been identified as the cause of an emerging infectious disease centered on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. No cases of C. gattii-disease were diagnosed prior to 1999; the current incidence rate is 36 cases per million population. A search was initiated in 2001 to find the ecological niche of this basidiomycetous yeast. C. gaftii was found in the environment in treed areas of Vancouver Island. The highest percentage of colonized-tree clusters were found around central Vancouver Island, with decreasing rates of colonization to the north and south. Climate, soil and vegetation cover of this area, called the Coastal Douglas fir biogeoclimatic zone, is unique to British Columbia and Canada. The concentration of airborne C. gattii was highest in the dry summer months, and lowest during late fall, winter, and early spring, months which have heavy rainfall. The study of the emerging colonization of this organism and subsequent cases of environmentally acquired disease will be informative in planning public health management of new routes of exposure to exotic agents in areas impacted by changing climate and land use patterns. Cryptococcosis is an infection associated with an encapsulated, basidiomycetous yeast Cryptococcus neoformans. The route of entry for this organism is through the lungs, with possible systemic spread via the circulatory system to the brain and meninges. There are four cryptococcal serogroups associated with disease in humans and animals, distinguished by capsular polysaccharide antigens. Cryptococcus neoformans: variety grubii (serotype A), variety neoformans (serotype D), and variety gattii (serotypes B and C) (Franzot et at. 1999). C. neoformans variety gattii has recently been elevated to species status, C. gattii. C. neoformans val. grubii and var. neoformans have a world-wide distribution, and are particularly associated with soil and weathered bird droppings. In contrast, C. gattii (CG) is not associated with bird excrement, is primarily found in tropical and subtropical climates, and has a restricted environmental niche associated with specific tree species. (Ellis & Pfiffer 1990) Ellis and Pfeiffer theorize that, as a basidiomycete, CG requires an association with a tree in order to become pathogenic to mammals. In Australia, CG has been found to be associated with five species of Eucalypts, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, E. tereticornis, E. blakelyi, E. gomphocephala, and E. rudis. Eucalypts, although originally native to Australia, now have a world-wide distribution. CG has been found associated with imported eucalypts in India, California, Brazil, and Egypt. In addition, in Brazil and Columbia, where eucalypts have been naturalized, native trees have been shown to harbour CG (Callejas et al. 1998; Montenegro et al. 2000). In British Columbia, Canada, since the beginning of 1999, there have been 120 confirmed cases of cryptococcal mycoses associated with CG in humans, including 4 fatalities (data from British Columbia Centre for Disease Control), and over 200 cases in animal pets in BC (data from Central Laboratory for Veterinarians). What is remarkable about the BC outbreak of C. gattii-cryptococcosis is that all of the cases have been residents of, or visitors to, a narrow area along the eastern coast of Vancouver Island, BC, from the tip of the island in the south (Victoria) to Courtenay on the north-central island as illustrated in Figure 1. Of the first 38 human cases, 58% were male with a mean age of 59.7 years (range 20 - 82): 36 cases (95%) were Caucasian. Ten cases (26%) presented with meningitis, the remainder presented with respiratory symptoms. Cultures recovered from cases of cryptococcosis associated with the outbreak were typed as serogroup B, which is specific to CG (Bartlett et al. 2003). This was the first reported outbreak of CVG in Canada, or indeed, the world. Where infection with CG is endemic, for example, Australia, the incidence of cryptococcosis ranges from 1.8 - 4.7 per million between the southern and northern states (Sorrell 2001). However, the overall incidence of cryptococcosis in immunocompenent individuals has been estimated at 0.2 per million population per year (Kwon-Chung et al. 1984). The population of Vancouver Island is approximately 720,000,consequently, even if the organism were endemic, one would expect a maximum of 0.15 cases of cryptococcal disease annually.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
• /
• v.49 no.6
• /
• pp.643-647
• /
• 2006

Purpose : Recently, incidences of chronic cough with allergic disease have been increased. The identification of specific allergens for chronically coughing children is significant for diagnosis, proper treatment and prevention. The aim of this study was to identify significant contributors for sensitization in chronically coughing children. Methods : A total of 106 children, aged 1-6 years, visiting for chronic cough(>3 weeks), were tested for inhalant multiple allergosorbent assay(MAST), eosinophil count and total IgE. Parents completed a questionnaire on past history of atopy(infantile eczema) and bronchiolitis, family history of allergy, breastfeeding, smoking, pets and floor coverings at home. Results : Significant contributors for sensitization were : age(4-6 years), infantile eczema, positive family history of allergy and smoking by family. Conclusion : We were able to identify significant contributors for sensitization in chronically coughing children.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.42 no.6
• /
• pp.523-535
• /
• 2009

The aim of this study was to examine and compare the eating habits and dietary intake patterns of people with or without allergy by the survey during August-September, 2008. The 131 subjects aged 10'-50' (AG = allergy group, n = 62; NG = non-allergy group, n = 69) participated in this study. The questionnaire included general characteristics, dietary habits, and food frequency. Income level tended to be higher in AG than in NG, and AG had more pets and flower pots than NG (p < 0.01). In AG, most affected area of allergy was the skin and the subjects in AG experienced the mixed symptoms and more than 2 types of allergy. Family history of allergy was highly related with allergy of the subjects (AG: 66.1%, NG: 33.9%). Both groups did not exercise regularly, but frequency of alcohol drinking in AG was significantly higher than in NG (p < 0.01). AG skipped meals and had snacking more often than NG (p < 0.05). Most favorite snacks in AG were instant foods, fast foods, cookies, and ice cream (p < 0.05). Therefore, AG tended to consume more allergy-related foods than NG. Highly-consumed allergy-related foods were egg, pork, walnut, onion, tuna, shellfish, and kiwi (p < 0.05). Therefore, nutrition education and guidance is needed to establish good eating habits, food intakes, and life style in people having allergy.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
• /
• v.39 no.6
• /
• pp.600-616
• /
• 2018

The purpose of this study was to explore how primary school students develop their interest in science. A survey questionnaire was used to investigate students' interest, change of their interest, and engagement in science related activities three times a year. 201 students of two primary schools in Seoul Metropolitan City initially participated in this study. A follow-up case study was conducted with students who showed an increased interest in science. Finally, seven students were chosen in the case study. They were asked to keep a photo journal for 12 weeks, and were interviewed in every other week by one of the researchers. Among these seven participants, two (TK and QQ) were chosen for analyzing their data in this case study because they showed positive changes in developing science interest throughout the study. The results of two participants' survey, photo-journal and interview were analyzed qualitatively. First, TK, whose science interest developed from situational interest II to individual interest I, engaged in doing experiments at home, doing mathematics activities, raising pets or plants, observing phenomena, and visiting informal educational centers. He tended to participate in hands-on activities by himself in out-of-school settings. Second, QQ who developed from situational interest I to situational interest II, engaged in taking pictures as a representative activity at home and school. He tended to participate in activities with either his father or one of the researchers. Both students showed personal characteristics such as doing place-based activities, interaction with others and activity subjectivity. The goal of TK's interactions with others on the various places was to develop in cognitive domain. On the contrary, QQ's goal of interactions with others was to develop in emotional communication. This study reported the cases of characteristics of students who developed their interests in science including activities in- and out-of-school settings and their accompanying people.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
• /
• v.35 no.4
• /
• pp.1456-1471
• /
• 2018

This article discusses the nutritional requirements, reviews senior or geriatric dog nutritional evaluation, and then addresses some common nutrition-related problems in older dogs. The purpose of this study was to investigate the Physiologic change associated with aging, essential nutrients and their diseases in senior or geriatric dog subjects. According to a 2002 market research, 30% to 40% of dogs raisedin the United States are 7 years of age. In Europe the number of dogs considered to be "senior or geriatric" (>7 years of age) increased by approximately 50% between 1983 and 1995. A 2012 e-mail survey of 50,347 respondents revealed that 33.2% of dogs were 6 to 10 years of age and 14.7% were older than 11 years in the United States. The average life expectancy of dogs raised in the home is affected by health care, aging and nutrition.And, the aging process is influenced by breed size, genetics, nutrition, environment, and other factors. Although many pets remain active and youthful well into their teens, most dogs start to slow down and may show signs of aging beginning as early as 5 or 6 years of age. Improvements in the control of various diseases and in the nutrition of dogs have resulted in a gradual increase in the average lifespan of companion dogs. Nutritional goals for aging dogs include supporting health and vitality, preventing the onset or slowing the progression of age-related health disorders, and enhancing the dog's quality of life and, if possible, life expectancy. Aging brings with its physiologicchanges. Some changes are obvious, such as whitening of hair, a general decline in body and coat condition, and failing senses including sight and hearing. Other changes are less obvious, however, and these include alterations in the physiology of the digestive tract, immune system, kidneys, and other organs. Nutritional requirements can change with age. In addition, many diseases common in older dogs may be nutrient-sensitive, meaning that diet can play an important role in the management of the condition.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
• /
• v.7 no.4
• /
• pp.388-395
• /
• 2020

Exotic species have been imported for economic purposes, but more recently, an increasing number of animals are imported as pets. With the increasing popularity of two species of turtles, Mauremys sinensis and Pseudemys concinna, the number of pet turtle owners has gradually increased since 2014. The number of turtles increased by 180 in 2017 and 281 in 2019. However, these turtle species have been abandoned to nature, owing to their long lifespans and the changes in conditions of pet owners. The two turtle species have been designated as invasive alien species (AIS) in Korea considering their ecological risks, and the Biological Diversity Act prohibits their release. The owners of Mauremys sinensis and Pseudemys concinna are required to submit the "Application for Approval of Breeding and Grace for AIS" document. In this study, the breeding conditions for the two turtle species were investigated by analyzing the information in the submitted applications for six months (e.g., the suitability of breeding facilities, number of turtles, breeding period, type of pet adoption, and local district of pet owner). A total of 614 cases were analyzed. Because only 58% of breeders provided suitable breeding conditions, breeding information and responsible pet ownership training should be offered to prevent abandonment in natural ecosystems. In addition, continuous monitoring is necessary to prepare for potential problems caused by the lack of information in many applications and the one-off licensing policy.