Age-related difference in pulmonary response to ozone

Acute exposure to 1.5 ppm O3 produced different responses in adult and aged rat lungs. Total triphosphonucleotides were only slightly decreased in adult animals, but were markedly decreased in aged animals. Also, adult animals maintained a greater proportion of their available triphosphonucleotides in the reduced form (NADPH) compared to aged animals. These results suggest that aged animals may not be able to maintain pulmonary reducing equivalents as efficiently as adult animals in the face of an oxidant insult.     

Reduced genetic diversity and significant genetic differentiation after translocation: Comparison of the remnant and translocated populations of bridled nailtail wallabies (Onychogalea fraenata)

Loss of genetic diversity and increased population differentiation from source populations are common problems associated with translocation programmes established from captive-bred stock or a small number of founders. The bridled nailtail wallaby is one of the most endangered macropods in Australia, having been reduced to a single remnant population in the last 100 years. A translocated population of bridled nailtail wallabies was established using animals sourced directly from the remnant population (wild-released) as well as the progeny of animals collected for a captive breeding programme (captive-bred). The aims of this study were to compare genetic diversity among released animals and their wild-born progeny to genetic diversity observed in the remnant population, and to monitor changes in genetic diversity over time as more animals were released into the population. Heterozygosity did not differ between the translocated and remnant population; however, allelic diversity was significantly reduced across all released animals and their wild-born progeny. Animals bred in captivity and their wild-born progeny were also significantly differentiated from the source population after just four generations. Wild-released animals, however, were representative of the source population and several alleles were unique to this group. Both heterozygosity and allelic diversity among translocated animals decreased over time with the additional release of captive-bred animals, as no new genetic stock was added to the population. Captive breeding programmes can provide large numbers of animals for release, but this study highlights the importance of sourcing animals directly from remnant populations in order to maintain genetic diversity and minimise genetic drift.     

Effects of temperature and infection with Eimeria ochrogasteri on digestive organs of the prairie vole, Microtus ochrogaster

Prairie voles, Microtus ochrogaster, were infected with Eimeria ochrogasteri and exposed to 2 environmental temperatures, 5 and 22 C. Dry weights of the small and large intestines increased by 33% and 19%, respectively, in infected animals. Infected animals also exhibited a 14% decrease in cecal length compared to uninfected animals. The interaction between temperature and infection affected the length of the small intestine. Infected animals maintained at 5 C had longer small intestines than both infected animals housed at 22 C, and uninfected animals at 22 or 5 C. Furthermore, the dry weight of the small intestine was affected by a 3-way interaction (infection, temperature, and sex). Temperature affected stomach and liver dry weights, as well as lengths of the small intestine and cecum. Stomach and liver dry weights, as well as small intestine lengths, were greater in those animals held at 5 C, whereas cecum lengths decreased. Prepatency, patency, and total oocyst production were not affected by temperature; however, infected animals held at 5 C exhibited diarrhea during the patent period.     

The Coldest Dog and Pony Show on Earth: Animal Welfare on the First Expeditions to Reach the South Pole

ABSTRACT

The expeditions to reach the South Pole mounted by Scott, Amundsen, and others between 1901 and 1912 have attracted considerable scholarly effort. These expeditions all took draught animals, which were key to the success or failure of the missions. Much of the literature in this field is highly partisan, focusing on the relative merits of Scott and Amundsen: the fates of their animals have received little attention except as ammunition for one side or another of this very polarized discourse. This paper describes the treatment of the dogs and ponies taken as draught animals on the expeditions led by Scott and Amundsen. These expeditions were planned such that animals would be used to pull sledges and slaughtered when required for food, or when the food for the animals ran out. Each of these expeditions is shown to have engaged in cruel practices and to have caused some animals extreme suffering. Scott's and Amundsen's management of their animals are compared. Amundsen kept close oversight of the care of the animals whereas Scott tended to delegate, with the results that on occasions Scott's animals did not receive timely attention and suffered as a result. Scott had reservations about using dogs because he viewed them mainly as intelligent companion animals. He had difficulties viewing dogs as working animals that might suffer, or as potential food, but no apparent reservations about using ponies in such ways. Amundsen's attitudes towards the dogs on his expedition and the animals' welfare outcomes are closely examined in this paper in the light of previous contentions that Amundsen was a serial animal abuser. While Amundsen also saw dogs as companions, he viewed them as draught animals and/or food sources as he felt his circumstances warranted. It is shown that outrage at the fates of Amundsen's dogs rests within past hagiographic endeavors in addition to modern western beliefs that dogs are pets, not draught animals; and from Western attitudes towards the consumption of dog flesh.     

Animals (Animalia) in the system of organisms. 1. Typological systems

Since times of Aristotle animals were considered as a group, opposing to plants. The last were distinguished by two characters. Plants as distinct from animals live the attached way of a life and all nutrients receive from a substratum on which live and from the surrounding air. Animals live an active way of life and exist due to digestion. Fungi at such definition belong to plants. Only in second half of XX centuries due to works of Whittaker and of Tachtadjan fungi have received the separate status equally with plants and animals. In this new system of a plant embraced either oxygenic phototrophs, or photosynthetic eukaryotes. The traditional characters distinguishing animals from plants and fungi are in detail analysed. Many of them appeared formal, not reflecting the structure of relationship. Comparing heterotrophs some authors saw in absorptive nutrition the main difference of fungi from animals. However on mechanisms of receipt of substances in a cell fungi, animals and plants do not differ. Phagocytosis and pinocytosis (clathrin-mediated endocytosis), considered as the most characteristic feature of animals, are revealed both in fungi, and in plants. On photosynthetic activity plants form heterogeneous group, differing on primary and secondary plastids. The last besides have the various origin connected to symbiogenesis of the host cell with red or green algae. Heterotrophy cannot be considered as a uniting attribute of fungi and animals. It is essentially different and focused on diverse food sources. Evolution of animals is connected to perfection of structure of a plasmatic membrane and saturation by its molecules allowing a cell, and through it all organism to be guided in an environment and adequally to be up to external irritants. At a cellular level animals use the various mechanisms of cellular activity connected to moving of cells, their combination in aggregates and complexes or, on the contrary, separation in new cellular configurations. The complex of cellular adaptations connected to the analysis of external signals and adequate response to them of cells, underlies the phenomenon of irritability. At a cellular level irritability is mediated through work of the actin apparatus. Lamarck in "Philosophie zoologique" considered irritability as the main distinctive feature of animals. Evolution of plants and fungi went in a direction of development of a secondary metabolism. The secondary metabolism, concerning synthesis of protective substances, is peculiar to all sedentary organisms, including the animals.     

A-Level ‘Questions’ in Biology—The Nature of the Influence

The purpose of keeping animals in schools and the main problems encountered in their maintenance are summarised. Many teachers prefer animals which are kept typically in research laboratories over animals which can be collected from the student's environment. However, small animals of economic importance can combine some of the advantages of both of these groups of animals. Chickens, bees, plant pests and their natural enemies have been tried out in the Agriculture as Environmental Science Curriculum Project and can be used for observation and measurement as well as to stress the aspect of relevance to real life problems. In their maintenance, standard equipment and methods can often be used and help the teacher to solve some of the main problems of keeping animals.

Two curriculum units, on a fruit fly and on honey bees, are described. Reasons for a widespread negative image of rural studies are discussed, and positive, effective outcomes, reported in the evaluation of an environmental science course, are used to substantiate the advantages of keeping animals of economic importance in schools.     

哨兵动物概述

哨兵动物在我国还未作为一个＂工具＂用于实验动物微生物检测工作,但随着实验动物种类和特殊动物的日益增加,现有方法已经不能满足检测需要。探讨哨兵动物的应用,采用国外先进方法,对提高我国实验动物质量显得非常重要。本文对哨兵动物的概念、使用方法和设置做一概述。     

Attitudes in China toward the use of animals in laboratory research

Public support is a strong impetus for the adoption of alternatives to laboratory animals. It is therefore important to find out what a society thinks about ethical animal use. In the case of China, a useful line of enquiry was to survey Chinese people's as their country is renowned for the deplorable conditions under which animals are kept. This report concerns an investigation into the attitudes of Chinese university students toward the use of animals in laboratory research. The survey revealed a moderate concern amongst students; for example, they agreed that the use of animals for testing cosmetics and household products is unnecessary and should be stopped, and disagreed that humans have the right to use animals as they see fit. This finding is very encouraging. Further research is needed, in order to understand Chinese views about the justification of using animals in research.     

The individual postradiation reactions of cyclic nucleotides in the lymphoid cells of the rat spleen]

X irradiation (4.3 Gy) of rats was shown to cause different reactions of the cyclic nucleotide system in differently reactive animals which was determined by the neutrophilic response in the peripheral blood after three-hour immobilization. Changes in the cyclic nucleotide content and in the activity of adenylate cyclase were found to occur in both hyper- and hyporeactive animals 24 h after irradiation. In hyperreactive animals, however, these changes were more pronounced: a relative ability of adenylate cyclase to be activated in hyperreactive animals made 30%, and 52% in hyporeactive animals. The cAMP content in lymphocytes of the spleen of hyporeactive rats was twice as high as that in hyperreactive animals.     

Human flora-associated (HFA) animals as a model for studying the role of intestinal flora in human health and disease

Although the intestinal flora in animals plays an important role in health and disease, there is little direct information regarding the role of the human intestinal flora. By inoculating germfree animals with human faeces, the major components of the human flora can be transferred into the ex-germfree animals, i.e. human flora-associated (HFA) animals. HFA animals therefore provide a stable model for studying the ecosystem and metabolism of the human intestinal flora. Results with HFA animals suggest the role of the human intestinal flora is somewhat different from the role of the animal flora in conventional experimental animals. Studies using HFA animals, therefore, will provide much needed information on the precise role of the intestinal flora in relation to humans. HFA animals also can be used as models to investigate the interactions between the human intestinal flora, host factors, dietary manipulations, and therapeutics, such as probiotics, prebiotics, and antibiotics.     

Vasopressin deficiency and blood glucose interactions on passive avoidance behavior

The performance of a passive avoidance task (measured for two trials based upon number of complete step-downs and latency to respond) and blood glucose levels were examined in five groups of animals. The groups included vasopressin-deficient (DI) and vasopressin-containing (LE) rats under ad lib (AL) and food-restricted (FR) conditions, as well as DI-FR animals provided with access to an 8% sucrose solution (SUC). In the AL condition, no significant differences were found between DI and LE animals in either step-down occurrences or blood glucose levels. However, the DI animals were significantly slower in latency to respond in trial 1. With FR, the LE animals resembled the LE-AL animals in both passive avoidance behavior and blood glucose levels. The DI-FR animals that were not provided with SUC showed an impairment in passive avoidance behavior and low blood glucose levels, whereas DI-FR animals provided with SUC showed an amelioration of passive avoidance deficiencies and had blood glucose levels comparable to AL animals and LE-FR animals. On trial 2, a significant negative correlation was found between number of step-down occurrences and blood glucose levels, and a significant positive correlation was found between latency to respond and blood glucose levels. The experiment demonstrates that: 1) because DI rats have a different responsiveness in novel situations, caution must be exercised in using response latency as a measure of passive avoidance performance in the AL condition; 2) AL and FR conditions produce different responses in DI, but not LE, animals; 3) deficiencies in passive avoidance behavior in DI-FR rats can be ameliorated by the consumption of exogenous carbohydrate; and 4) there is a significant correlation between blood glucose levels and passive avoidance behavior.     

Electron-microscopic study of the parathyroid gland of epinephrine-treated golden hamsters subjected to hypergravity environment.

The ultrastructure of the parathyroid glands of golden hamsters subjected to 5-gravity environment after administration of epinephrine was studied. In the epinephrine-treated animals exposed to a hypergravity environment, the Golgi complexes associated with numerous prosecretory granules were significantly increased compared with those of the control, centrifuged and epinephrine-treated animals, as well as the cisternae of the granular endoplasmic reticulum compared with those of the control and centrifuged animals. In addition, many secretory granules were situated close to the the plasma membrane of the chief cells in the epinephrine-treated animals exposed to a hypergravity environment. Those observations suggest that the secretory activity of the parathyroid gland may be markedly stimulated in the epinephrine-treated animals exposed to a hypergravity environment.     

Discriminative behavior and Pavlovian conditioning in the mollusc Pleurobranchaea

The buccal motor system in the sea slug Pleurobranchaea californica is multifunctional; similar sets of neurons and muscles generate different behaviors through similar electrophysiological motor patterns. Such multifunctional systems compromise the traditional practice of identifying a motor pattern and then using that pattern to indicate the behavior in reduced preparations. We address this issue in a series of experiments leading to the comparison of differential Pavlovian conditioning in whole animals with the conditioned behavior of the same animals during electrophysiological recording. Because differential conditioning requires two conditioned stimuli (CSs), we show here that each of two CSs activated the conditioned response from animals after they received the stimulus (CS+) paired with an unconditioned stimulus (UCS). Conditioning sessions consisted of 5 training trials with a 2-h intertrial interval. In one study, experimental animals received a 60-s CS+, derived from beer (Sbr), paired with a 50-s electrical shock UCS whose onset occurred 10 s after the CS+ onset; control animals received the Sbr and UCS explicitly unpaired. In a second study, animals received similar procedures as in the first but with a CS+ consisting of squid homogenate (Ssq). Tests with both CSs showed that animals did not discriminate between Sbr and Ssq before beginning conditioning, but did so afterward. Experimental animals exhibited robust food aversion (withdrawal and suppressed feeding) to the CS+, but retained strong appetitive responses to the CS they did not receive in training; response thresholds to the CS+ changed as much as 1000-fold by comparison to the preconditioning values. Control animals exhibited similar though significantly smaller behavioral changes as the experimental animals. Both stimuli evoked associatively learned responses, but Sbr produced greater experimental-control differences than Ssq did. Two accompanying papers show the results of using both CSs in differential conditioning, and describe the behavioral/electrophysiological comparisons.     

Gluconeogenesis in vertebrate livers.

1. The hypothesis is advanced that it would be logical for a tissue (liver) to evolve as a gluconeogenic organ in order to recover the lactate produced as a result of rapid and sustained contraction of skeletal muscle. 2. Lactate was present in skeletal muscle of all animals examined and increased following electrical stimulation. It was also present in the blood. 3. Gluconeogenesis from lactate occurred in liver slices of all animals excepting amphibia. However, livers of these animals also contained much glycogen and are probably gluconeogenic. 4. Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase was present in all animals investigated; pyruvate carboxylase was present in all animals excepting the toad.     

Editor's introduction to the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science

Animal welfare names a science in which investigators ask the general question: What are the capacities, sensibilities, needs, and interests of animals as they relate to their welfare? The objects of study in this emerging field are exclusively animals other than humans. Numerous contexts give rise to this interest in nonhuman animal welfare: The intensification of the use of animals since World War II, particularly on the farm and in the laboratory. The development of moral philosophies that establish nonhuman animals as objects of moral consideration. The advances in science in fields that have added to our understanding of animals, such as cognitive ethology. Advances in technology that give us more direct access to human physiology and psychology and undercut the tradition of using animal models. The success of the contemporary animal rights movement in placing the issue of the treatment of animals before the public.     

Effects of light on circadian pacemaker development

The effects of raising cockroaches, Leucophaea maderae, in non-24-h light cycles on the response of the circadian system to light was examined. 1. Phase response curves (PRC) were measured for 6-h light pulses for animals raised in LD 11:11 (T22), LD 12:12 (T24), and LD 13:13 (T26). The delay portion of the PRC was found to be significantly reduced in T22 animals (compared to T24 animals) while the advance portion of the PRC was reduced in T26 animals. Compared to T26 animals, phase shifts were more positive at every phase for animals raised in T22. 2. When transferred from constant darkness (DD) to constant light (LL) the freerunning period lengthened significantly less for T22 animals than T24 animals, and in some cases tau in LL was actually shorter than tau in DD in T22 animals. Animals raised in LL were inactive when exposed to LL as adults, and unlike T24 animals, were consistently reset to the beginning of the subjective night (near CT 12) when transferred to DD. 3. Roaches raised in T22 would entrain to LD 6:18, but a few animals exhibited periods of relative coordination indicating that the 24-h light cycle was near the limits of entrainment. These results indicate that the circadian system's responsiveness to light, as well as its freerunning period (Barrett and Page 1989), is dependent on the lighting conditions to which the animals are exposed during development.     

Infrared thermography detects febrile and behavioural responses to vaccination of weaned piglets

An automated, non-invasive system for monitoring of thermoregulation has the potential to mitigate swine diseases through earlier detection. Measurement of radiated temperature of groups of animals by infrared thermography (IRT) is an essential component of such a system. This study reports on the feasibility of monitoring the radiated temperature of groups of animals as a biomarker of immune response using vaccination as a model for febrile disease. In Study A, weaned pigs were either treated with an intramuscular vaccine (FarrowSure Gold), a sham injection of 0.9% saline or left as untreated controls. An infrared thermal camera (FLIR A320) was fixed to the ceiling directly above the pen of animals, and recorded infrared images of the treatment groups at 5 min intervals. The effect on temperature of the spatial distribution of pigs within the pen was significant, with higher temperatures recorded when pigs were grouped together into a single cluster. A higher frequency of clustering behaviour was observed in vaccinated animals compared with controls during a period of the afternoon ~4 to 7 h post-vaccination. The daily mean of the maximum image temperature was significantly higher in vaccinated animals compared with control and sham-treated animals. In the vaccination treated group, the 24 h mean of the maximum temperature was significantly higher during the post-vaccination period compared with the 24 h period before vaccination. Increased temperature in the vaccinated animals occurred from ~3 h, peaked at ~10 h, and remained elevated for up to 20 h post-vaccination. In Study B, the effect of prevalence was tested in terms of the difference in maximum temperature between control and vaccination days. A thermal response to vaccination was detected in a pen of 24 to 26 animals when <10% of the animals were vaccinated. The results support the concept of radiated temperature measurements of groups of animals by IRT as a screening tool for febrile diseases in pig barns.     

The contribution of farm animals to human health

Farm animals and their products have a longstanding and successful history of providing significant contributions to human nutrition, clothing, facilitation of labour, research, development and medicine and have thus been essential in improving life expectancy and human health. With the advent of transgenic technologies the potential of farm animals for improving human health is growing and many areas remain to be explored. Recent breakthroughs in reproductive technologies, such as somatic cloning and in vitro embryo production, and their merger with molecular genetic tools, will further advance progress in this field. Here, we have summarized the contribution of farm animals to human health, covering the production of antimicrobial peptides, dietary supplements or functional foods, animals used as disease models and the contribution of animals to solving urgent environmental problems and challenges in medicine such as the shortage of human cells, tissues and organs and therapeutic proteins. Some of these areas have already reached the level of preclinical testing or commercial application, others will be further advanced only when the genomes of the animals concerned have been sequenced and annotated. Provided the necessary precautions are being taken, the transmission of pathogens from animals to humans can be avoided to provide adequate security. Overall, the promising perspectives of farm animals and their products warrant further research and development in this field.     

Gradual transfer to sea water of rainbow trout: effects on liver carbohydrate metabolism

The levels of glycogen and glucose, as well as of the activities of several key enzymes of glycogenolysis, glycolysis, gluconeogenesis and the pentose phosphate shunt were assessed in livers of small (97 g) and large (166 g) rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss during gradual transfer to sea water (salinities of 0, 9, 18 and 28%). Plasma glucose and protein levels were also evaluated. Liver carbohydrate metabolism changed during gradual adaptation of rainbow trout to sea water. Glucose increased with salinity in livers of both sizes of animals, as did glycogenolysis and gluconeogenesis, but this latter only in large animals, and glycolytic rates in small animals. The different responses in metabolic parameters between sizes of animals may reflect a higher stress of the small animals and/or a better adaptation of large animals to increased salinities, in a way similar to that previously suggested by other authors after evaluation of non-metabolic parameters. The changes observed at 28% can also be the result of reduced food consumption.