Training in the laboratory animal science community: strategies to support adult learning

The essence of learning is change; learning is the process by which learners customize new information to make it personally meaningful and relevant. Training is the process of helping students make those changes. Research indicates that adults learn differently than children or adolescents and that adults consistently use the following six learning strategies: prior experiences; conversations; metacognition; reflection; authentic experiences; and images, pictures, or other types of visuals. Each of these learning strategies can be combined with the other strategies and often build upon each other. A recent study on how health care professionals learn indicated that the learning strategy they used most often was reflection, which supports learning before, during, and after training. Numerous examples are provided in this article describing how to integrate each of the six adult learning strategies into laboratory animal science training. While lectures and other types of direct instruction are appropriate, they are inadequate and ineffective unless they are integrated with and support adult learning strategies. Both the US Department of Agriculture regulations and the Public Health Service Policy mandate that research institutions must ensure that all personnel involved in animal care, treatment, or use are qualified to perform their duties. Applying adult learning strategies to training for the laboratory animal science community will enhance learning and improve both the science and the humane care of the animals, which is a goal our community must continuously strive to achieve.     

Global harmonization in the care and use of laboratory animals for the space life science research]

Space researches are supported with the international space agencies, NASA and NASDA. Animal experiments on the space life science must conform to the NIH policies and the NASA guide for the care and use of laboratory animals. The goal of the NIH policies is to promote the humane care of animals used biomedical and behavioral research, teaching, and testing. In each institute, the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) plays an important role in conformity with NIH policies. The IACUC is charged with developing, recommending and monitoring NIH/NASA (ARC and KSC) policies, guides and rules relating to animal acquisition, care and use. In ARC and KSC, investigators will be responsible only for activities directly related to the conduct of their animal experiments. Even if researchers have protocols of the space science in Japan, the animal experiment should be carried out under the global harmonized conditions in accordance with NIH policies and NASA guides.     

How to work with children and animals: A guide for school‐based citizen science in wildlife research

Engaging school students in wildlife research through citizen science projects can be a win–win for scientists and educators. Not only does it provide a way for scientists to gather new data, but it can also contribute to science education and help younger generations become more environmentally aware. However, wildlife research can be challenging in the best of circumstances, and there are few guidelines available to help scientists create successful citizen science projects for school students. This paper explores the opportunities and challenges faced when developing school‐based citizen science projects in wildlife research by synthesising two sources of information. First, we conducted a small, school‐based citizen science project that investigated the effects of supplementary feeding on urban birds as a case study. Second, we reviewed the literature to develop a database of school‐based citizen science projects that address questions in wildlife ecology and conservation. Based on these activities, we present five lessons for scientists considering a school‐based citizen science project. Overall, we found that school‐based citizen science projects must be carefully designed to ensure reliable data are collected, students remain engaged, and the project is achievable under the logistical constraints presented by conducting wildlife research in a school environment. Ultimately, we conclude that school‐based citizen science projects can be a powerful way of collecting wildlife data while also contributing to the education and development of environmentally aware students.     

On the need to redress an inadequacy in animal welfare science: toward an internally coherent framework

The time is ripe for a greater interrogation of assumptions and commitments underlying an emerging common ground on the ethics of animal research as well on the 3 R (replacement, refinement, reduction) approach that parallels, and perhaps even further shapes, it. Recurring pressures to re-evaluate the moral status of some animals in research comes as much from within the relevant sciences as without. It seems incredible, in the light of what we now know of such animals as chimpanzees, to deny that these animals are properly accorded high moral status. Barring the requirement that they be human, it is difficult to see what more animals such as chimpanzees would have to possess to acquire it. If the grounds for ascribing high moral status are to be non-arbitrary and responsive to our best knowledge of those individuals who possess the relevant features, we should expect that a sound ethical experimental science will periodically reassess the moral status of their research subjects as the relevant knowledge demands. We already can observe this reassessment as scientists committed to humane experimental science incorporate discoveries of enrichment tools and techniques into their housing and use of captive research animals. No less should this reassessment include a critical reflection on the possible elevation of moral status of certain research animals in light of what is discovered regarding their morally significant properties, characteristics or capacities, or so I will argue. To do anything short of this threatens the social and moral legitimacy of animal research.     

Training strategies for research investigators and technicians

Training programs for research personnel are discussed as a key resource that must be part of an effective animal care and use program. Because of the legal responsibility to ensure that research staff are qualified to use animals, many institutions have justified the necessity for a training coordinator and/or trainers for their animal care and use programs. Effective training programs for research personnel must meet the needs of the client base (research scientists and staff) so that they are relevant, practical, and timely. To meet these objectives, it is useful to involve the scientific staff in the analysis of their learning needs. To meet a performance standard necessary for quality research, a large percentage of the institutional staff must participate in the training program. Often it is the principal investigators who set the tone for their staff members regarding the importance of receiving training. Garnering support from this client base will create a culture that encourages training and engenders a positive attitude about humane animal care and use. One effective approach is to incorporate nonanimal models as alternatives to live animals to teach humane handling techniques and methods, thereby contributing to refinement, reduction, and replacement (the 3Rs). Also discussed are the necessity of timely feedback from clients, documentation of personnel training for regulatory purposes, and the collection of training metrics, which assists in providing justification for the granting of additional fiscal support for the program. Finally, the compliance procedures and opportunities for essential refresher training are discussed and related to high performance standards, humane animal use, and quality research, all of which contribute to the 3Rs.     

A comparative assessment of potential conditioned taste aversion agents for vertebrate management

A conditioned taste aversion (CTA) is acquired through an association between the taste of a food and a feeling of illness experienced after ingestion. It can be induced deliberately by the addition of an undetectable illness-inducing chemical to food. Harnessing the CTA response could provide humane and effective means of controlling vertebrate pest problems. For field use, the ideal illness-inducing chemical should induce a robust CTA after a single oral dose, at which it must cause neither chronic illness nor persistent detrimental effects in the target or any non-target species at risk of exposure; it must also be undetectable and physically stable in the bait substrate. At present, no compound that satisfactorily meets all of these criteria has been identified. 17alpha ethinyl oestradiol meets most but, as a synthetic oestrogenic hormone, it can affect reproductive processes. The ability of two potentially safe compounds, cinnamamide (160 mg/kg) and thiabendazole (100 and 200 mg/kg) to generate a CTA in the laboratory rat Rattus norvegicus11 post-treatment tests (6 months). Thiabendazole at 200 mg/kg induced the next best CTA, persisting for five post-treatment tests. Cinnamamide and thiabendazole could provide safe alternative CTA agents to 17alpha ethinyl oestradiol for field use; the use of a second dose of these compounds to improve longevity of the CTA warrants further study.     

黄土高原沟壑区退耕还林典型优化模式机理分析

以退耕还林工程重点地区的黄土高原沟壑区为研究对象,引入系统动力学理论和技术。采取试验站点观测与广泛调研集成等5个结合的技术路线,横跨自然、经济、社会科学三大领域,共获取原始数据10000多个,对黄河中游黄土高原沟壑区山西省乡宁县试验点退耕还林生态一经济一社会效益最优结合、可持续发展的油松X侧柏X花椒X刺槐优化模式的作用机理,从生态、经济、社会效益及其相互作用等方面进行了分析研究．结果表明,该模式的生态、经济和社会效益各主要指标均处于最佳或较好状态;三大效益综合比较,该模式是最佳模式;经F检验,该模式与其它模式均呈极显著性差异．     

Science funding and infrastructures in Europe

European science in crisis. Scared? Then read on; you should be. I argue that we cannot sit back for much longer and watch our best scientists emigrate to the USA for the most productive part of their career, and that European scientists should not tolerate a funding system that neither rewards an investigator's brilliance nor the innovative nature of their research. The EC Framework Programme is due for a face lift: scientists should wield the scalpel this time.     

Iacuc review of genetic engineering

IACUC approval of research using genetically engineered animals must balance research needs with humane treatment of the animals, safety of animals and personnel, and compliance with regulations.     

Re-aiming the canon.

Although it is unlikely that the national goals for educational reform--such as that, by the year 2000, U.S. students will be first in the world in science and mathematics achievement--can be achieved, a vigorous effort must be made to reach those goals as rapidly as possible. Reform will come not from a massive expansion of what we now do but from a basic shift in the manner in which we educate students in grades K-16 in the sciences and mathematics. Important elements in that basic shift must include an increase in teaching of science, mathematics, and technology (SMT), to about 20%-25% of the curriculum; SMT must include rich hands-on experiences, with an emphasis on concepts and understanding, rather than on facts and memorization, and on how science as a way of knowing differs from other ways of knowing; SMT must consider human problems; and SMT must deal with the basic problem facing humanity--how we must adjust our behavior so as not to exceed, on a worldwide basis, the carrying capacity of the environment.     

实验动物学教学内容及方法的探索与改进

实验动物学是生命科学研究的基础和支撑条件之一。在医学院校实验动物学的教学中,应以实验动物与动物实验标准化为中心,增加和完善动物模型、分子遗传、胚胎工程及转基因动物等理论内容,紧跟生命科学的发展趋势;同时注重理论教学与实验教学的相互结合,充分利用现代先进的教育技术,以基本实验、综合实验和自主设计实验培养学生的操作能力和创新思维。这些改革措施将对改进实验动物学的教学质量,提高医学院学生的科研水平有重要意义。     

Fundamental training for individuals involved in the care and use of laboratory animals: a review and update of the 1991 NRC Core Training Module

Public trust demands that individuals who do research, testing, or teaching with animals use humane, ethical, and scientifically sound methods. Furthermore, the Animal Welfare Act and the Public Health Service Policy require research institutions to provide basic training and to ensure that anyone who cares for and/or works with laboratory animals has the appropriate training or experience relevant to their job responsibilities. Institutions accredited by the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International must also provide training programs and ensure the qualifications of personnel. The primary goal of this training is to provide individuals with basic knowledge and to reinforce attitudes and behaviors that help to ensure humane animal care and use. This article provides an overview of the core training module outline and content from the 1991 report of the Institute for Laboratory Animal Research, Education and Training in the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals: A Guide for Developing Institutional Programs, as well as pertinent updates for introducing personnel to information regarding the care and use of laboratory animals. Both mandatory and suggested training topics are reviewed, including relevant regulations and standards, ethical considerations, humane methods of animal experimentation and maintenance, and other pertinent topics. Although the fundamental training course content and delivery will vary depending on the nature and complexity of an institution's animal care and use program, this basic training provides the foundation for more in-depth training programs and supports humane and ethical animal care and use.     

Reflections on the use of interviews in the history of science: who will write the history of science?

Interviews are an excellent source of information for historians of science. They should be done by historians who understand science in detail and, if possible, better than the scientists they interview. In the case of applied industrial or governmental sciences, historians must have detailed knowledge of economic or historic sources. Again they should know more in these areas than those they interview. If, on the contrary, the interviewers are not scientists at heart who know science, the history they write will become at best literature but at worst pseudoscientific abracadabra.     

道德规范与动物学

道德规范教育如今已经提升到了专业的水平。因此在专业领域里 (例如工程学和医学 ) ,道德规范教育应作为必修课程。但至今很多理科课程仍没有把它列为必修课。这就给我们提出了一个疑问 :理科是专业课程吗 ?如果是的话 ,那么科学家例如动物学家需不需要熟悉他们职责范围内的道德准则和尺度呢 ?动物学家对医学上暴露的一些问题很敏感———包括我们怎样对待动物以及我们怎样或者是否开展基因工程。但是从道德观念上来看 ,道德规范教育的实行是比这两件事更实际的。这篇论文就以上观点进行了进一步的论述 ,并且对把道德规范教育加入理科课程的需求和可能性做了评估。在现实社会里 ,动物科学家是被敬重的专业人士。他们每天面对着许多极可能影响我们生活环境的决策。有鉴于此 ,动物科学家必需掌握道德规范的标准 ,并且有能力做出与此相符合的决策。这才能使我们在动物学的教学过程中确保动物学家持续稳定的专业发展方向     

Retrospective comparison of rat recovery weights using inhalation and injectable anaesthetics, nutritional and fluid supplementation for right unilateral neurosurgical lesioning.

Current veterinary standards of biomedical research support include refinements in animal models that are targeted at enhancing humane care and decreasing inter-animal variability. This ultimately results in fewer numbers of animals being used and reduction in animal experimentation through mitigation of waste as well as faster research results. 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioning of the substantia nigra using a stereotactic frame device is a common procedure and is routinely performed under pentobarbital anaesthesia with monitoring by 8 h workforces. Our programme supports the humane care and use of several protocols involving the unilateral stereotactic-lesioning of rats for the purposes of creating research models of Parkinsonianism. Such procedures are commonly performed as unilateral in order to minimize aphagia and other untoward effects of the lesion. Generally, this procedure is considered minor because it involves a small incision, a cranial burrhole, and penetration of the dura. Inflammation and/or irritation of the ear canal can occur secondarily to the earbar placement procedure. Human patients undergoing similar procedures typically complain of headaches from loss of intracranial pressure; which is a transient outcome. Despite the perception of minor insult, we provided aggressive periprocedural care, and our veterinary staff documented weight loss that was often greater than 15% body weight during the first 3 days. The goal of this study was to evaluate refinements to improve this outcome. For humane concerns, and because of the need to begin experimental testing one week following surgery, a goal in the recent past has been to enhance outcome for researchers and animals by refining postoperative support modalities as well as by seeking the best anaesthetic regimen to shorten postoperative deviations from baseline. Analysis of three groups of rat patients lesioned by the same investigative group over the course of refinements made in our programme indicate that an early return of homeostasis was achieved by the use of inhalation anaesthetics as replacements for barbiturates in these models. Comparison with pentobarbital recipients also indicated that homeostasis is achieved earlier when barbiturates are utilized with fluid therapy and analgesics immediately after operative procedures rather than the next morning.     

Peer-Selected “Best Papers”—Are They Really That “Good”?

Background

Peer evaluation is the cornerstone of science evaluation. In this paper, we analyze whether or not a form of peer evaluation, the pre-publication selection of the best papers in Computer Science (CS) conferences, is better than random, when considering future citations received by the papers.

Methods

Considering 12 conferences (for several years), we collected the citation counts from Scopus for both the best papers and the non-best papers. For a different set of 17 conferences, we collected the data from Google Scholar. For each data set, we computed the proportion of cases whereby the best paper has more citations. We also compare this proportion for years before 2010 and after to evaluate if there is a propaganda effect. Finally, we count the proportion of best papers that are in the top 10% and 20% most cited for each conference instance.

Results

The probability that a best paper will receive more citations than a non best paper is 0.72 (95% CI = 0.66, 0.77) for the Scopus data, and 0.78 (95% CI = 0.74, 0.81) for the Scholar data. There are no significant changes in the probabilities for different years. Also, 51% of the best papers are among the top 10% most cited papers in each conference/year, and 64% of them are among the top 20% most cited.

Discussion

There is strong evidence that the selection of best papers in Computer Science conferences is better than a random selection, and that a significant number of the best papers are among the top cited papers in the conference.     

Neencephalization,hominization and behaviour

Neencephalization, i.e. enlargement of the neocortex of the brain, became representative of the higher mammals, including the primates, during the Tertiary. Consequently, the number of embryos per gestation became limited to one per gestation in nearly all cases. The intra-uterine time-span increased at the same time and also the ontogeny. As an effect of this, childhood and youth until adulthood became longer and sexual maturation was retarded to the same extent. Consequently the duration of one generation increased, and so, too, did the time-span that elapsed before a new combination of haploid gene-sets of the partners could (in view of the high death-rate before adulthood) realize the possibility of self reproduction.From paleodemographical data we know that this “effective duration of one generation” needed for Homo sapiens sapiens was about 35 years. This means, that for the process of evolution the number of new gene-combinations offered in the sequence of generations was very much lower, and at the same time the length of each generation became greater. As a significant compensation we find as an effect of neencephalization the ability to learn, realized through learned behaviour. Thus, the remarkably lower number of offspring could in fact “better” survive, using vertically transmitted experience in socialized groups instead of high losses through only personal trial and error with innate modes of behaviour.The possible tempo of evolutive processes must consequently have became slower, if in addition we consider the fact, that a smaller number of realizable mutations needed more time to became through selection representative of a taxon by distribution over slow gene-flow. Add to this the fact that most of our characteristics are directed multifactorially and pleiotropically. Hominid fossils represent thus in every case only local sectors of small populations. Their combinations of morphological traits represent in most cases limited sections. In view of this we must be careful not to confuse the issue by denominating morpho= as bio-taxa. In every case, we have to calculate for the human phase only about 3000 generation-sequences in 100,000 years. This indicates for the humane phase the time needed to reach the full state of a “species” with fully developed physiologically effective barriers separating them from related preceding or following taxa, must be calculated as being relatively large.     

Are our universities producing too many PhDs?

As we enter the 21st century, we face a world that will be increasingly dominated by science and technology. More and more jobs will require many of the analytical and thinking skills of a scientist. Citizens everywhere must also become better able to evaluate and understand the judgements of scientific and technical experts when making personal and community decisions. To spread the values and knowledge of science much more widely throughout our societies, we must also spread scientists. Therefore, advanced training in science and the acquisition of important skills through an extensive exposure to research are valuable tools for a wide variety of occupations.     

Are our universities producing too many PhDs?

As we enter the 21st century, we face a world that will be increasingly dominated by science and technology. More and more jobs will require many of the analytical and thinking skills of a scientist. Citizens everywhere must also become better able to evaluate and understand the judgements of scientific and technical experts when making personal and community decisions. To spread the values and knowledge of science much more widely throughout our societies, we must also spread scientists. Therefore, advanced training in science and the acquisition of important skills through an extensive exposure to research are valuable tools for a wide variety of occupations.     

Are our universities producing too many PhDs?

As we enter the 21st century, we face a world that will be increasingly dominated by science and technology. More and more jobs will require many of the analytical and thinking skills of a scientist. Citizens everywhere must also become better able to evaluate and understand the judgements of scientific and technical experts when making personal and community decisions. To spread the values and knowledge of science much more widely throughout our societies, we must also spread scientists. Therefore, advanced training in science and the acquisition of important skills through an extensive exposure to research are valuable tools for a wide variety of occupations.