Pair housing of macaques has become a widely implemented compromise between meeting the social needs of the monkeys and allowing for their use in biomedical research. While beneficial to the animals, pair housing can provide challenges for those caring for them. Drawing from both scientific literature and direct experience, this paper provides a review of practical aspects of pair housing including partner selection, pairing methodologies, staff education, and equipment considerations. Recommendations include selecting a pairing method appropriate to the facility and the individual animals being paired, educating staff on social behavior, and establishing a pair monitoring program to facilitate long-term pair maintenance. Assessment of behavior is essential in determining the compatibility of new pairs and in identifying established pairs that may need interventions to enhance their long-term compatibility. The pair housing program at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center is described as one model of a successful program.
Managed honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies are kept at much greater densities than naturally occurring feral or wild colonies, which may have detrimental effects on colony health and survival, disease spread, and drifting behavior (bee movement between natal and nonnatal colonies). We assessed the effects of a straightforward apiary management intervention (altering the density and visual appearance of colonies) on colony health. Specifically, we established three "high density / high drift" ("HD") and three "low density / low drift" ("LD") apiary configurations, each consisting of eight bee colonies. Hives in the HD apiary configuration were of the same color and placed 1m apart in a single linear array, while hives in the LD apiary configuration were placed 10m apart at different heights, facing outwards in a circle, and made visually distinctive with colors and symbols to reduce accidental drift between colonies. We investigated disease transmission and dynamics between the apiary configurations by clearing all colonies of the parasitic mite Varroa destructor, and subsequently inoculating two randomly-chosen colonies per apiary with controlled mite doses. We monitored the colonies for two years and found that the LD apiary configuration had significantly greater honey production and reduced overwinter mortality. Inoculation and apiary management intervention interacted to affect brood mite levels, with the highest levels in the inoculated colonies in the HD configuration. Finally, foragers were more than three times more likely to drift in the HD apiary configurations. Our results suggest that a relatively straightforward management change-placing colonies in low-density visually complex circles rather than high-density visually similar linear arrays-can provide meaningful benefits to the health and productivity of managed honey bee colonies.
The use of systematic preference assessments can enhance positive reinforcement training with captive animals. We found that the multiple stimulus without replacement (MSWO) technique identified food preferences in laboratory housed rhesus macaques, with raisins and grapes being ranked higher on average than dried apricot, pasta, and green beans (Friedman Test, χ2 (4) = 35.52, p < .001). Agreement between individuals (N = 21) was moderate (Kendall’s W = .42), and consistency across time varied among individuals (W = .03 to .90). Highly preferred items identified by the MSWO assessment were subsequently found to increase subjects’ engagement in a husbandry task on which they were being trained (Mann-Whitney U = 6.00, p = .002) and to improve performance on a progressive ratio schedule (Wilcoxon signed-rank test, Z = −2.17, p = .03) when compared with low preference items. The progressive ratio technique supplements other preference assessment techniques by measuring the amount of work a subject will do to gain access to an item. The use of more effective reinforcers identified through systematic assessment has the potential to increase animal performance on husbandry and research tasks and to improve animal welfare in the laboratory setting.
by
Gregory T. Armstrong;
Kevin C. Oeffinger;
Yan Chen;
Toana Kawashima;
Yutaka Yasui;
Wendy Leisenring;
Marilyn Stovall;
Eric J. Chow;
Charles A. Sklar;
Daniel A. Mulrooney;
Ann Mertens;
William Border;
Jean-Bernard Durand;
Leslie L. Robison;
Lillian Meacham
Purpose: To evaluate the relative contribution of modifiable cardiovascular risk factors on the development of major cardiac events in aging adult survivors of childhood cancer. Patients and Methods: Among 10,724 5-year survivors (median age, 33.7 years) and 3,159 siblings in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study, the prevalence of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, and obesity was determined, along with the incidence and severity of major cardiac events such as coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular disease, and arrhythmia. On longitudinal follow-up, rate ratios (RRs) of subsequent cardiac events associated with cardiovascular risk factors and cardiotoxic therapy were assessed in multivariable Poisson regression models. Results: Among survivors, the cumulative incidence of coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular disease, and arrhythmia by 45 years of age was 5.3%, 4.8%, 1.5%, and 1.3%, respectively. Two or more cardiovascular risk factors were reported by 10.3% of survivors and 7.9% of siblings. The risk for each cardiac event increased with increasing number of cardiovascular risk factors (all Ptrend < .001). Hypertension significantly increased risk for coronary artery disease (RR, 6.1), heart failure (RR, 19.4), valvular disease (RR, 13.6), and arrhythmia (RR, 6.0; all P values < .01). The combined effect of chest-directed radiotherapy plus hypertension resulted in potentiation of risk for each of the major cardiac events beyond that anticipated on the basis of an additive expectation. Hypertension was independently associated with risk of cardiac death (RR, 5.6; 95% CI, 3.2 to 9.7). Conclusion: Modifiable cardiovascular risk factors, particularly hypertension, potentiate therapy-associated risk for major cardiac events in this population and should be the focus of future interventional studies.
Background: Child stunting, an indicator of chronic malnutrition, is a global public health problem. Malnutrition during pregnancy and the first 2 years of life undermines the survival, growth, and development of children. Exposure to fecal pathogens vis-à-vis inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) has been implicated in the etiology of child stunting, highlighting the need to integrate WASH with nutrition-sensitive interventions to comprehensively address this complex problem. The aim of this study was to describe a systematic, theoretically informed approach (that drew from the Starr and Fornoff approach to the Theory of Change development and the Behavior Change Wheel approach) to design a multi-component and integrated social and behavior change intervention to improve WASH and nutrition-related behaviors in western Kenya. Methods: This intervention was developed to be integrated into an existing project that utilized the care group model and aimed to create a culture of care and support for HIV/AIDS-affected children under two and their caregivers and was executed by local partners. We tested the newly created intervention packages in user-testing trials using an adapted Trials of Improved Practices approach to pilot acceptability and feasibility. Results: Using authentic stakeholder engagement and relevant theories, we conducted an 8-step process: (1) conduct mixed methods formative research, (2) prioritize target behaviors, (3) use causal analysis to create problem trees, (4) develop solution trees and articulate assumptions and rationales for change, (5) link solution trees to intervention functions, (6) develop the intervention plan, (7) create the intervention packages, and (8) test and refine the intervention packages. Conclusions: This study highlights the need to take a multi-sectorial, integrated approach that integrates contextually relevant behavior change theories with the experiential knowledge gleaned from stakeholders into the design of interventions that seek to reduce child stunting. This process resulted in the creation of intervention packages that grouped behaviors thematically to be most relevant and responsive to the population context. This work has the potential to make important contributions towards achievement of the United Nations' sustainable development goals.
Super-shedders are infectious individuals that contribute a disproportionate amount of infectious pathogen load to the environment. A super-shedder host may produce up to 10 000 times more pathogens than other infectious hosts. Super-shedders have been reported for multiple human and animal diseases. If their contribution to infection dynamics was linear to the pathogen load, they would dominate infection dynamics. We here focus on quantifying the effect of super-shedders on the spread of infection in natural environments to test if such an effect actually occurs in Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP). We study a case where the infection dynamics and the bacterial load shed by each host at every point in time are known.
Using a maximum likelihood approach, we estimate the parameters of a model with multiple transmission routes, including direct contact, indirect contact and a background infection risk. We use longitudinal data from persistent infections (MAP), where infectious individuals have a wide distribution of infectious loads, ranging upward of three orders of magnitude. We show based on these parameters that the effect of super-shedders for MAP is limited and that the effect of the individual bacterial load is limited and the relationship between bacterial load and the infectiousness is highly concave. A 1000-fold increase in the bacterial contribution is equivalent to up to a 2-3 fold increase in infectiousness.
For decades, animal welfare standards and practices have been advanced by evidence from research conducted in agricultural, biomedical, and zoological settings (Broom, 1988; Broom, 2011). These standards and practices are generally aimed at defining minimum rather than optimal criteria for welfare. One outcome of this is that regulated animals whose care and housing meets the minimum standards may be able to cope but may not thrive. The welfare continuum of suffering, to coping, to thriving has been proposed as a useful lens through which to view animal welfare, and is based on the study of human well-being (Maple and Bocian, 2013). Indeed, coping has been characterized by some investigators as an indicator of animal welfare. The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) website, for example, defines animal welfare as “how an animal is coping with conditions in which it lives.” If an animal is judged to be “healthy, comfortable, well nourished, safe, able to express innate behavior, and it if is not suffering from unpleasant states such as pain, fear, and distress” it is said to be living in a “good” state of animal welfare (AVMA). Animal welfare science developed out of concern for animal suffering in captive settings. Suffering has been dramatically reduced due to improvements in physical and social environments (Maple, 2016), but thriving is still a distant goal. Elsewhere, we have argued that we are aiming too low if we accept coping as a good outcome (Maple and Perdue, 2013). In fact, all of the welfare attributes advocated by AVMA and other organizations are characteristics of animals that thrive. Thriving goes beyond what most minimal regulatory standards require. It is the difference between good and optimal welfare.
Purpose. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the effects of tomato powder (TP) on glucose and lipid metabolism, as well as oxidative stress and the NF-B, mTOR, and Nrf2 pathways during the aging process in healthy rats. Methods and Results. Male Wistar rats were randomly assigned to four groups as follows: (i) Control group 1 (n=15, 3-week old): rats were fed standard diet for 7 weeks; (ii) TP group 1 (n=15, 3-week old): rats were fed standard diet supplemented with TP for 7 weeks; (iii) Control group 2 (n=15, 8-week old): rats were fed standard diet for 69 weeks; and (iv) TP group 2 (8-week old): rats were fed standard diet supplemented with TP for 69 weeks. TP supplementation significantly reduced the hyperglycemia, hypertriglyceridemia, and hypercholesterolemia and improved liver function and kidney function in 77-week old rats compared with the control animals (P<0.05). In addition, TP significantly decreased the serum and liver MDA levels (P<0.003 and P<0.001, respectively) while increasing the activities of liver SOD (P<0.001), CAT (P<0.008), and GPx (P<0.01) compared with the control groups in both 10-week-old and 77-week-old rats (P<0.05). Age-related increases in phosphorylation of NF-Bp65, mTOR, 4E-BP1, and P70S6K were observed in livers of 77-week-old rats compared to those of 10-week-old rats (P<0.001). TP supplementation decreased the expression of NF-Bp65 and activation of mTOR, 4E-BP1, and P70S6K in livers of 77-week-old rats compared to the control animals. Moreover, TP supplementation significantly elevated Nrf2 expression in livers of both 10-week-old and 77-week-old rats (P<0.05). Conclusion. TP ameliorates age-associated inflammation and oxidative stress through the inhibition of NF-Bp65, mTOR pathways, and Nrf2 activation may explain the observed improvement in glucose and lipid metabolism as well as the improved liver and kidney functions.
17β-estradiol (E2) has numerous rapid effects on the brain and behavior. This review focuses on the rapid effects of E2 on aggression, an important social behavior, in songbirds. First, we highlight the contributions of studies on song sparrows, which reveal that seasonal changes in the environment profoundly influence the capacity of E2 to rapidly alter aggressive behavior. E2 administration to male song sparrows increases aggression within 20 min in the non-breeding season, but not in the breeding season. Furthermore, E2 rapidly modulates several phosphoproteins in the song sparrow brain. In particular, E2 rapidly affects pCREB in the medial preoptic nucleus, in the non-breeding season only. Second, we describe studies of the white-throated sparrow, which reveal how a genetic polymorphism may influence the rapid effects of E2 on aggression. In this species, a chromosomal rearrangement that includes ESR1, which encodes estrogen receptor α (ERα), affects ERα expression in the brain and the ability of E2 to rapidly promote aggression. Third, we summarize studies showing that aggressive interactions rapidly affect levels of E2 and other steroids, both in the blood and in specific brain regions, and the emerging potential for steroid profiling by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Such studies of songbirds demonstrate the value of an ethologically informed approach, in order to reveal how steroids act rapidly on the brain to alter naturally-occurring behavior.