An overview of the literature on assistance dogs using text mining and topic analysis.

It is said that dogs are human's best friend. On occasion, dogs can be raised and trained to provide additional specific benefits to humans suffering from a range of physical or mental conditions, working as assistance dogs. In this article, we employed innovative techniques to review the vast and constantly expanding literature on the subject, which covers a multitude of aspects.

The Welfare of Dogs and Cats in the European Union: A Gap Analysis of the Current Legal Framework.

Companion animals, especially dogs and cats, have increasingly been recognized as moral subjects and valued as family members by European citizens. This new role encourages policy makers to face the many companion animals' welfare issues not yet covered by the EU legislation. The main gaps in the protection of dog and cat welfare during their all lifespan have been identified: unhealthy and unethical breeding practices, irresponsible sale and ownership, transport for commercial and non-commercial purposes, training methods, working dog conditions and rights, regulation of dog and cat shows and competitions, the therapeutic neglect, dog and cat end-of-life care, shelter management legislation and the free-ranging cat and dog population rights.

Zygote versus embryo transfer: a prospective randomized multicenter trial.

Purpose: To determine the efficiency of transferring human zygotes as opposed to human day 2 or 3 embryos.

Methods: A prospective, randomized, Multicenter trial. Patients were randomized into zygote or embryo transfer.