History and Development of Federal Animal Welfare Regulations

In recent years, Congress has passed a number of laws that direct various government agencies to safeguard animal welfare. Our own agency has been involved principally in enforcing the Animal Welfare Act and the Horse Protection Act, and therefore we will limit this discussion to these two laws. The Animal Welfare Act was passed in 1966 and amended in 1970 and 1976. The Act uses a system of licensing and registration to regulate a number of non-farm businesses and organizations. These groups are required to provide humane care and treatment to regulated animals, which include hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, dogs, cats, monkeys and other nonhuman primates and most other warmblooded animals. A wide variety of practices are required under 10 federal standards which govern transportation, handling, housing, feeding, watering, sanitation, ventilation, shelter from extremes of weather and temperature, separation of incompatible animals, and veterinary care. The Horse Protection Act, passed in 1970 and amended in 1976, protects only a single species -the horse-and regulates a single industry-the horse show business. Only a single practice of the industry is at issue -the showing or sale of horses whose gait is altered by pain in the legs

History and Development of Federal Animal Welfare Regulations

In recent years, Congress has passed a number of laws that direct various government agencies to safeguard animal welfare. Our own agency has been involved principally in enforcing the Animal Welfare Act and the Horse Protection Act, and therefore we will limit this discussion to these two laws. The Animal Welfare Act was passed in 1966 and amended in 1970 and 1976. The Act uses a system of licensing and registration to regulate a number of non-farm businesses and organizations. These groups are required to provide humane care and treatment to regulated animals, which include hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, dogs, cats, monkeys and other nonhuman primates and most other warmblooded animals. A wide variety of practices are required under 10 federal standards which govern transportation, handling, housing, feeding, watering, sanitation, ventilation, shelter from extremes of weather and temperature, separation of incompatible animals, and veterinary care. The Horse Protection Act, passed in 1970 and amended in 1976, protects only a single species -the horse-and regulates a single industry-the horse show business. Only a single practice of the industry is at issue -the showing or sale of horses whose gait is altered by pain in the legs

Letter to Editor: USDA and the Dog Breeding Industry, USDA Response

Brown critiques claims regarding improved regulation of the dog breeding industry with a response by Chaloux and Heppner of the USDA

Selective modulation of subtype III IP3R by Akt regulates ER Ca2+ release and apoptosis

Ca2+ transfer from endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to mitochondria can trigger apoptotic pathways by inducing release of mitochondrial pro-apoptotic factors. Three different types of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor (IP3R) serve to discharge Ca2+ from ER, but possess some peculiarities, especially in apoptosis induction. The anti-apoptotic protein Akt can phosphorylate all IP3R isoforms and protect cells from apoptosis, reducing ER Ca2+ release. However, it has not been elucidated which IP3R subtypes mediate these effects. Here, we show that Akt activation in COS7 cells, which lack of IP3R I, strongly suppresses IP3-mediated Ca2+ release and apoptosis. Conversely, in SH-SY 5Y cells, which are type III-deficient, Akt is unable to modulate ER Ca2+ flux, losing its anti-apoptotic activity. In SH-SY 5Y-expressing subtype III, Akt recovers its protective function on cell death, by reduction of Ca2+ release. Moreover, regulating Ca2+ flux to mitochondria, Akt maintains the mitochondrial integrity and delays the trigger of apoptosis, in a type III-dependent mechanism. These results demonstrate a specific activity of Akt on IP3R III, leading to diminished Ca2+ transfer to mitochondria and protection from apoptosis, suggesting an additional level of cell death regulation mediated by Akt

History and Development of Federal Animal Welfare Regulations

In recent years, Congress has passed a number of laws that direct various government agencies to safeguard animal welfare. Our own agency has been involved principally in enforcing the Animal Welfare Act and the Horse Protection Act, and therefore we will limit this discussion to these two laws. The Animal Welfare Act was passed in 1966 and amended in 1970 and 1976. The Act uses a system of licensing and registration to regulate a number of nonfarm businesses and organizations. These groups are required to provide humane care and treatment to regulated animals, which include hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, dogs, cats, monkeys and other nonhuman primates and most other warmblooded animals. A wide variety of practices are required under 10 federal standards which govern transportation, handling, housing, feeding, watering, sanitation, ventilation, shelter from extremes of weather and temperature, separation of incompatible animals, and veterinary care. The Horse Protection Act, passed in 1970 and amended in 1976, protects only a single species- the horse- and regulates a single industry- the horse show business. Only a single practice of the industry is at issue- the showing or sale of horses whose gait is altered by pain in the legs

Letter to Editor: USDA and the Dog Breeding Industry, USDA Response

Brown critiques claims regarding improved regulation of the dog breeding industry with a response by Chaloux and Heppner of the USDA

Ion and Chain Mobility in a Tetrazole Proton-Conducting Polymer

The morphology, relaxation properties, and conductivity of the statistical copolymer polystyrenic (alkoxy 1<i>H</i>-tetrazole-<i>co</i>-alkoxy nitrile), an anhydrous proton conductor, were measured. The material phase-separates into hard and soft domains, the latter corresponding to a phase richer in the pendant tetrazole groups. Using dielectric and mechanical spectroscopies, two relaxation processes were observed, the slower associated with local segmental dynamics of the backbone and the higher-frequency process involving motion of the tetrazole moieties. The latter is coupled to the ionic conductivity, which means that below the principal glass transition of the material (∼313 K) the conductive mechanism remains active. Thus, the usual compromise in proton exchange membranes between mechanical stability and ion conductivity can be avoided

Carbon-boron clathrates as a new class of sp3-bonded framework materials

Carbon-based frameworks composed of sp3 bonding represent a class of extremely lightweight strong materials, but only diamond and a handful of other compounds exist despite numerous predictions. Thus, there remains a large gap between the number of plausible structures predicted and those synthesized. We used a chemical design principle based on boron substitution to predict and synthesize a three-dimensional carbon-boron framework in a host/guest clathrate structure. The clathrate, with composition 2Sr@B6C6, exhibits the cubic bipartite sodalite structure (type VII clathrate) composed of sp3-bonded truncated octahedral C12B12 host cages that trap Sr2+ guest cations. The clathrate not only maintains the robust nature of diamond-like sp3 bonding but also offers potential for a broad range of compounds with tunable properties through substitution of guest atoms within the cages

Long Directional Interactions (LDIs) in Oligomeric Cofacial Silicon Phthalocyanines and Other Oligomeric and Polymeric Cofacial Phthalocyanines

Crystal structures have been determined for the three-member set of cofacial silicon phthalocyanines, ((<i>n</i>-C₆H₁₃)₃SiO)­[SiPcO]_1–3(Si­(<i>n</i>-C₆H₁₃)₃). The staggering angles between adjacent rings in the dimer and trimer of this set are ∼16°. The interactions leading to these angles have been investigated by the atoms-in-molecules (AIM) and reduced-density-gradient (RDG) methods. The results show that long directional interactions (LDIs) are responsible for these angles. A survey of the staggering angles in various cofacial phthalocyanines described in the literature has revealed the existence of significant LDIs in a number of them. It is apparent that in many cases the ability of LDIs to dominate the forces giving rise to the staggering angles observed in cofacial phthalocyanines depends on their inter-ring separations