Veterinary Science Collected Works - Research Publications
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ItemGlatiramer Acetate in Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis: A Toolbox of Random Co-Polymers for Targeting Inflammatory Mechanisms of both the Innate and Adaptive Immune System?(MDPI AG, 2012-11)Multiple sclerosis is a disease of the central nervous system, resulting in the demyelination of neurons, causing mild to severe symptoms. Several anti-inflammatory treatments now play a significant role in ameliorating the disease. Glatiramer acetate (GA) is a formulation of random polypeptide copolymers for the treatment of relapsing-remitting MS by limiting the frequency of attacks. While evidence suggests the influence of GA on inflammatory responses, the targeted molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we review the multiple pharmacological modes-of-actions of glatiramer acetate in treatment of multiple sclerosis. We discuss in particular a newly discovered interaction between the leukocyte-expressed integrin α(M)β(2) (also called Mac-1, complement receptor 3, or CD11b/CD18) and perspectives on the GA co-polymers as an influence on the function of the innate immune system.
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ItemLivestock and Food Security: The Relevance of Animal Science to the Hungry Poor(Asian Australasian Animal Production Conference, 2012)Livestock play a major role in basic food-security, which in turn is the first principle of national security and international security. Food-insecure populations emigrate and undermine precarious States. Even at the level of more luxurious food-security expressed in UN ideals, livestock products are critical. Outside single product industrial farms, livestock provide multiple outputs, including: high-quality protein; income; draught and traction power; nutrient recycling; various edible and non-edible by-products, and they reproduce themselves. Children and reproductive-age women, whose diets are deficient in amino acids not readily accessible from plant foods or in micronutrients, benefit significantly from even small amounts of animal protein, which globally makes up perhaps 28 percent of protein intake. In Asia, livestock production has increased markedly in recent decades, particularly from intensive systems in China as part of its planned food-security – an approach that provides lessons for smaller food-insecure countries. Future animal scientists and development planners will learn to balance such innovations with those of the West and move beyond routine European breeds and production systems to consider the livestock 3Rs – ruminants, rabbits and rodents that thrive on waste products and lands not suited to other forms of food production. They will make such contributions to food security as: animal production within city limits; periurban farms; industrial and home-based aquaculture; home-based rodent/rabbit hutches; contract-growers supplying cities; insect-protein units; huge capital-intensive operations with integrated market chains; non-agricultural foods, and more. For now, extensive ruminant grazing systems and small mixed farms seem likely to remain the most efficient production systems, although the majority of animal products that can be delivered to cities, where most of the world will live, will probably be from specialized intensive production, particularly of poultry and pigs. As animal scientists we do well to reflect on our ethical and technical roles, especially with respect to food security.
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ItemSong of Songs of Solomon A Poetic Interpretation(lindsay falvey, 2012)
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