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Sparrow
In Sparrow, award-winning science and natural history writer Kim Todd explores the bird\"s complex history, biology, and literary tradition. Todd describes the difference between Old World sparrows, like the house sparrow, which can nest in a garage or in an airport, and New World sparrows, which often stake their claim to remote islands or meadows in the high Sierra. In addition, she looks at the nineteenth-century Sparrow War in the United States--a battle over the sparrow\"s introduction--which set the stage for decades of discussions of invasive species. She examines the ways in which sparrows have taught us about evolution and the shocking recent decline of house sparrows in cities globally--this disappearance of a bird that seemed hardwired for success remains an ornithological mystery.
Book
Implementing Nonlethal Solutions for Free-Roaming Cat Management in a County in the Southeastern United States
From 2006 to 2017, stray or free-roaming cats ranged from 35 to 54% of all animals going into the public shelter in Hillsborough County, Florida. Shelter overcrowding of cats, including free-roaming, feral, or community cats, is a major problem in parts of the world. Issues with free-roaming cats include the welfare of the cats themselves, public health and zoonotic diseases, spread of diseases to other species or pet cats, public nuisance, and predation of wildlife. Animal control is a government function and ultimately a taxpayer issue. This paper describes three methods of humane, nonlethal management of free-roaming cat populations that were successfully applied in Hillsborough County, Florida: low-income spay/neuter vouchers; small- and large-scale trap, neuter, vaccinate, and return (TNVR); and return to field (RTF). The methods used were contrary to the long-accepted practice of using euthanasia to control cat populations and generated opposition among certain stakeholders. While the human population of the county increased by 14.6% from 2010 to 2017, the methods used to control free-roaming cats assisted in achieving a 51% decrease in intake since 2007 and increased the live-release rate to 81.8% of cats taken in at the Pet Resources Center in 2017. This paper examines how this change in intake was achieved despite opposition to these programs.
Journal Article
Strategies that influence cost containment in animal research facilities
Care and use of animals in research are expensive, prompting efforts to contain or reduce costs. Components of those costs are personnel, regulatory compliance, veterinary medical care, and laboratory animal management, equipment, and procedures. Many efforts have been made to control and reduce personnel costs, the largest contributing factor to cost, through better facility and equipment design, more efficient use of personnel, and automation of many routine operations. However, there has been no comprehensive, recent analysis of the various cost components or examination of the strategies that have been proven or are purported to decrease the cost of animal facility operation.
Strategies that Influence Cost Containment in Animal Research Facilities examines the current interpretation of governmental policy (Office of Management and Budget Circular A-21) concerning institutional reimbursement for overhead costs of an animal research facility and describes methods for economically operating an animal research facility. This report develops recommendations by which federal auditors and research institutions can establish what cost components of research animal facilities should be charged to institutions' indirect cost pool and what animal research facility cost components should be included in the per diem charges to investigators, and assesses the financial and scientific ramifications that these criteria would have among federally funded institutions. Further, the report determines the cost components of laboratory animal care and use in biomedical research and assesses and recommends methods of cost containment for institutions maintaining animals for biomedical research.
eBook
Wireless, battery-free, fully implantable multimodal and multisite pacemakers for applications in small animal models
Small animals support a wide range of pathological phenotypes and genotypes as versatile, affordable models for pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases and for exploration of strategies in electrotherapy, gene therapy, and optogenetics. Pacing tools in such contexts are currently limited to tethered embodiments that constrain animal behaviors and experimental designs. Here, we introduce a highly miniaturized wireless energy-harvesting and digital communication electronics for thin, miniaturized pacing platforms weighing 110 mg with capabilities for subdermal implantation and tolerance to over 200,000 multiaxial cycles of strain without degradation in electrical or optical performance. Multimodal and multisite pacing in ex vivo and in vivo studies over many days demonstrate chronic stability and excellent biocompatibility. Optogenetic stimulation of cardiac cycles with in-animal control and induction of heart failure through chronic pacing serve as examples of modes of operation relevant to fundamental and applied cardiovascular research and biomedical technology.
Pacing tools that support small animals and can serve as models for pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases are currently not available. Here, the authors report a miniaturized wireless battery-free implantable multimodal and multisite pacemaker that provides unlimited stimulation to test subjects.
Journal Article
Peanut Skins as a Natural Antimicrobial Feed Additive To Reduce the Transmission of Salmonella in Poultry Meat Produced for Human Consumption
Salmonella is the leading cause of bacterial foodborne zoonoses in humans. Thus, the development of strategies to control bacterial pathogens in poultry is essential. Peanut skins, a considerable waste by-product of the peanut industry is discarded and of little economic value. However, peanut skins contain identified polyphenolic compounds that have antimicrobial properties. Hence, we aim to investigate the use of peanut skins as an antibacterial feed additive in the diets of broilers to prevent the proliferation of Salmonella Enteritidis (SE). One hundred sixty male hatchlings (Ross 308) were randomly assigned to (i) peanut skin diet without SE inoculation (PS); (ii) peanut skin diet and SE inoculation (PSSE); (iii) control diet without SE inoculation (CON); and (iv) control diet with SE inoculation (CONSE). Feed intake and body weights were determined at weeks 0 and 5. On days 10 and 24 posthatch, three birds per pen (24 total) from each treatment group were euthanized, and the liver, spleen, small intestine, and ceca were collected. The weights of the liver, spleen, and ceca were recorded. Organ invasion was determined by counting SE colonies. Each pen served as an experimental unit and was analyzed by using a t test. Performance data were analyzed in a completely randomized design by using a general linear mixed model to evaluate differences. There were no significant differences (P > 0.05) in weekly average pen body weight, total feed consumption, bird weight gain, and feed conversion ratio between the treatment groups. There were no significant differences in SE CFU per gram for fecal, litter, or feed between the treatment groups CONSE and PSSE. However, for both fecal and litter, the PSSE treatment group tended (P ≤ 0.1) to have a lower Salmonella CFU per gram compared with the CONSE treatment group. The results indicate that peanut skins may have potential application as an antimicrobial feed additive to reduce the transmission or proliferation of SE in poultry environments or flocks.
•Salmonella Enteritidis predominates within poultry production.•PS waste may be an effective feed additive to mitigate the proliferation of SE.•Dietary supplementation with PS reduced SE in fecal and litter samples (P ≤ 0.1).•PS may have potential application as an antimicrobial feed additive.
Journal Article
Empagliflozin, a sodium glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitor, alleviates atrial remodeling and improves mitochondrial function in high-fat diet/streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats
Background
Diabetes mellitus is an important risk factor for atrial fibrillation (AF) development. Sodium–glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors are used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Their cardioprotective effects have been reported but whether they prevent AF in T2DM patients are less well-explored. We tested the hypothesis that the SGLT-2 inhibitor, empagliflozin, can prevent atrial remodeling in a diabetic rat model.
Methods
High-fat diet and low-dose streptozotocin (STZ) treatment were used to induce T2DM. A total of 96 rats were randomized into the following four groups: (i) control (ii) T2DM, (iii) low-dose empagliflozin (10 mg/kg/day)/T2DM; and (iv) high-dose empagliflozin (30 mg/kg/day)/T2DM by the intragastric route for 8 weeks.
Results
Compared with the control group, left atrial diameter, interstitial fibrosis and the incidence of AF inducibility were significantly increased in the DM group. Moreover, atrial mitochondrial respiratory function, mitochondrial membrane potential, and mitochondrial biogenesis were impaired. Empagliflozin treatment significantly prevented the development of these abnormalities in DM rats, likely via the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-c coactivator 1α (PGC-1α)/nuclear respiratory factor-1 (NRF-1)/mitochondrial transcription factor A (Tfam) signaling pathway.
Conclusions
Empagliflozin can ameliorate atrial structural and electrical remodeling as well as improve mitochondrial function and mitochondrial biogenesis in T2DM, hence may be potentially used in the prevention of T2DM-related atrial fibrillation.
Journal Article
Parallel multi-criteria decision analysis for sub-national prioritization of zoonoses and animal diseases in Africa: The case of Cameroon
The use of multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) for disease prioritization at the sub-national level in sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) is rare. In this research, we contextualized MCDA for parallel prioritization of endemic zoonoses and animal diseases in The Adamawa and North regions of Cameroon. MCDA was associated to categorical principal component analysis (CATPCA), and two-step cluster analysis. Six and seven domains made of 17 and 19 criteria (out of 70) respectively were selected by CATPCA for the prioritization of zoonoses and animal diseases, respectively. The most influencing domains were “public health” for zoonoses and “control and prevention” for animal diseases. Twenty-seven zoonoses and 40 animal diseases were ranked and grouped in three clusters. Sensitivity analysis resulted in high correlation between complete models and reduced models showing the robustness of the simplification processes. The tool used in this study can be applied to prioritize endemic zoonoses and transboundary animal diseases in SSA at the sub-national level and upscaled at the national and regional levels. The relevance of MCDA is high because of its contextualization process and participatory nature enabling better operationalization of disease prioritization outcomes in the context of African countries or other low and middle-income countries.
Journal Article
Safely rehabilitating badgers to prevent bovine TB spread
When a badger is presented to a rescue centre, measures must be taken to ensure not only the safety of the wild animal, but also to prevent the risk of bovine TB spreading. Georgina Mills reports.When a badger is presented to a rescue centre, measures must be taken to ensure not only the safety of the wild animal, but also to prevent the risk of bovine TB spreading. Georgina Mills reports.
Journal Article
Prioritizing core areas, corridors and conflict hotspots for lion conservation in southern Africa
Conservation of large carnivores, such as the African lion, requires preservation of extensive core habitat areas, linkages between them, and mitigation of human-wildlife conflict. However, there are few rigorous examples of efforts that prioritized conservation actions for all three of these critical components. We used an empirically optimized resistance surface to calculate resistant kernel and factorial least cost path predictions of population connectivity and conflict risk for lions across the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA) and surrounding landscape. We mapped and ranked the relative importance of (1) lion dispersal areas outside National Parks, (2) corridors between the key areas, and (3) areas of highest human-lion conflict risk. Spatial prioritization of conservation actions is critical given extensive land use redesignations that are reducing the extent and increasing the fragmentation of lion populations. While our example focuses on lions in southern Africa, it provides a general approach for rigorous, empirically based comprehensive conservation planning based on spatial prioritization.
Journal Article
Small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) and femtosecond laser LASIK: comparison of corneal wound healing and inflammation
Aim To evaluate and compare early corneal wound healing and inflammatory responses after small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) versus femtosecond laser laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK). Methods Thirty-six eyes of 36 rabbits underwent SMILE, while another 36 eyes of 36 rabbits were treated with femtosecond laser LASIK. All the eyes were subjected to the same refractive correction of −6.00 DS/−1.00 DC. Twelve eyes that had no surgery were included for control. After euthanisation, corneal tissue sections were evaluated with terminal deoxyribonucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-digoxigenin nick-end labelling (TUNEL) assay to detect apoptosis at postoperative 4 and 24 h, immunocytochemistry for Ki67 to detect keratocyte proliferation at postoperative day 3, week 1 and month 1, and immunocytochemistry for CD11b to detect inflammation at postoperative day 1, day 3 and week 1, respectively. Results No adverse effects were noted after SMILE or LASIK. Corneal healing postoperatively was uneventful in all cases. There were significantly fewer TUNEL-positive corneal stromal cells after the SMILE procedure at 4 and 24 h postoperatively (p<0.01) compared with the LASIK procedure. In addition, immunocytochemistry showed significantly fewer Ki67-positive cells in the SMILE group than those in the femtosecond laser LASIK group at day 3 and week 1 postoperatively (p<0.05), but there was little expression of Ki67 at month 1 postoperatively in both groups. The CD11b-positive cells were significantly fewer in the SMILE group at day 1, day 3 and week 1 postoperatively (p<0.01). Conclusions SMILE induces less keratocyte apoptosis, proliferation and inflammation compared with femtosecond laser LASIK.
Journal Article