Rampage

Description: This work follows on from the previous feature, Soundtrack To War, also prodnced in collaboration with Australian war artist George Gittoes. In this feature, Gittoes travels to Miami with Eliot Lovett, one of the young rappers featured in his previous work, and his two younger brothers, aspiring rappers Mark and Denzel. Lovett lives in the "Brown Subs" of Miami, a neighbourhood he describes as being more dangerous than Baghdad. This is borne out during filming, when Mark Lovett is shot and killed by local gangsters. The program also follows Denzel's ultimately unrealistic dream of breaking out of poverty through a career as a rapper. Slgnificance: This program reveals the story of one American soldier and his family and the violent conditions endemic in many Afro American communities in the US, like that of Miami's "Brown Subs". The young African American men and women who live in this neighbourhood have few options, and many dream of escape. The ideal of the gansta rapper is set against the real life stories of Eliot and his brothers, including thirteen year old Denzel. Denzel at first appears to have the talent to escape his upbringing, but recording company executives ask him to tone down his lyrics, despite promoting older gansta rappers. This program brings to light many contradictions, including the myth and reality of gangster life, the very limited options for young Afro American men and women and the brutality and poverty of a neighbourhood just miles away from the glamour of the Miami strip. The program continued the successful collaboration between the producer and Gittoes in presenting material across film and radio

AW0521 - Determining potential impacts of Precision Breeding on Animal Welfare FINAL REPORT

1. Introduction of the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act in 2023 paved the way for the use of precision breeding technologies (e.g., genome editing) in livestock in England. However, while recognising that there may be major benefits inferred by increased disease resistance and other traits, concern has been raised about the possible wider effects of the use of the technology on animal welfare. This project aimed to understand the current situation with respect to level of use and development of precision-bred animals and to consider what welfare indicators should be used to assess welfare in general, and for specific types of edits.2. A mapping and scoping phase indicated that few companies have initiated data collection or development of precision-bred animals that might be present in/be imported into England. The pig and fish sectors were the only sectors to indicate that development has commenced. Mapping suggested that the first animals are bred in research/university environments where animals are kept under the auspices of ASPA. Apart from the fish and pig sectors, the chicken, cattle and sheep sectors also expressed some interest in developing precision-bred animals in the near future (I.e.., in the next 5 years). For the equine sector, only a few stakeholders expressed some interest in using precison-breeding technologies to improve specific traits such as disease resistance or resilience to environmental stress, but there is no intention to use PB in equine breeding practice in the immediate future. 3. Expert consultation and a review of the literature indicated that the Five Domains Model was the most appropriate of current animal welfare models to use to build indicator lists. This model includes nutritional state, health, environmental responses, behavioural interactions and mental state. While most animal welfare assessment protocols assess the effects of housing and management on welfare outcomes for animals, it is biological functioning that is the most important aspect to assess in the precision breeding context.4. Welfare assessment indicator lists were drawn up for the three main species that are in the most advanced stage of use of precision breeding. These were pigs, poultry and salmon. Indicator lists were constructed that drew on industry handbooks, current animal welfare assessment schemes and relevant literature. These indicator lists aimed to facilitate a holistic assessment of overall animal welfare to detect changes in functioning across the Five Domains. The indicator lists contain welfare indicators that assess the animal across its EVID4 Evidence Project Final Report (Rev. 06/11) Page 3 of 21lifetime, compared with a control group of the same breed and same age and sex ratio. Three levels of assessment were considered: basic, enhanced and enhanced plus. The basic level of assessment does not fully cover the five domains in all three species, so SRUC strongly recommends that the enhanced level of assessment is adopted.5. In addition to the overall welfare assessment indicator lists, three cases studies were considered to determine how and when to add additional welfare indicators to these lists. The aim was to cover welfare-related traits and production-relate traits. To this end, the specific traits considered were PRRS virus, avian influenza and the hypothetical case of myostatin in fish. As animals carrying these edits are not available for inspection, a risk assessment was limited to ‘consequence characterisation’: ie., identifying possible consequences of gene editing on welfare. These case studies showed that a wider consideration of the edit and the pathways involved needs to be investigated. In addition to the overall holistic assessment using the Basic, Enhanced or Enhanced Plus levels, assessment using additional welfare indicators that are relevant to the specific edit may be required.6. Three webinars/workshops were held to present results to stakeholders. In addition, a meeting was held with equine stakeholders and numerous discussions were held with individual stakeholders to gain information on aspects of precision breeding

AW0521 - Determining potential impacts of Precision Breeding on Animal Welfare FINAL REPORT

1. Introduction of the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act in 2023 paved the way for the use of precision breeding technologies (e.g., genome editing) in livestock in England. However, while recognising that there may be major benefits inferred by increased disease resistance and other traits, concern has been raised about the possible wider effects of the use of the technology on animal welfare. This project aimed to understand the current situation with respect to level of use and development of precision-bred animals and to consider what welfare indicators should be used to assess welfare in general, and for specific types of edits.2. A mapping and scoping phase indicated that few companies have initiated data collection or development of precision-bred animals that might be present in/be imported into England. The pig and fish sectors were the only sectors to indicate that development has commenced. Mapping suggested that the first animals are bred in research/university environments where animals are kept under the auspices of ASPA. Apart from the fish and pig sectors, the chicken, cattle and sheep sectors also expressed some interest in developing precision-bred animals in the near future (I.e.., in the next 5 years). For the equine sector, only a few stakeholders expressed some interest in using precison-breeding technologies to improve specific traits such as disease resistance or resilience to environmental stress, but there is no intention to use PB in equine breeding practice in the immediate future. 3. Expert consultation and a review of the literature indicated that the Five Domains Model was the most appropriate of current animal welfare models to use to build indicator lists. This model includes nutritional state, health, environmental responses, behavioural interactions and mental state. While most animal welfare assessment protocols assess the effects of housing and management on welfare outcomes for animals, it is biological functioning that is the most important aspect to assess in the precision breeding context.4. Welfare assessment indicator lists were drawn up for the three main species that are in the most advanced stage of use of precision breeding. These were pigs, poultry and salmon. Indicator lists were constructed that drew on industry handbooks, current animal welfare assessment schemes and relevant literature. These indicator lists aimed to facilitate a holistic assessment of overall animal welfare to detect changes in functioning across the Five Domains. The indicator lists contain welfare indicators that assess the animal across its EVID4 Evidence Project Final Report (Rev. 06/11) Page 3 of 21lifetime, compared with a control group of the same breed and same age and sex ratio. Three levels of assessment were considered: basic, enhanced and enhanced plus. The basic level of assessment does not fully cover the five domains in all three species, so SRUC strongly recommends that the enhanced level of assessment is adopted.5. In addition to the overall welfare assessment indicator lists, three cases studies were considered to determine how and when to add additional welfare indicators to these lists. The aim was to cover welfare-related traits and production-relate traits. To this end, the specific traits considered were PRRS virus, avian influenza and the hypothetical case of myostatin in fish. As animals carrying these edits are not available for inspection, a risk assessment was limited to ‘consequence characterisation’: ie., identifying possible consequences of gene editing on welfare. These case studies showed that a wider consideration of the edit and the pathways involved needs to be investigated. In addition to the overall holistic assessment using the Basic, Enhanced or Enhanced Plus levels, assessment using additional welfare indicators that are relevant to the specific edit may be required.6. Three webinars/workshops were held to present results to stakeholders. In addition, a meeting was held with equine stakeholders and numerous discussions were held with individual stakeholders to gain information on aspects of precision breeding

Parity and housing effects on the behavioural and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis response of pregnant ewes

It is common in many countries for sheep to be housed during winter from mid-gestation until lambing to protect ewes and lambs from adverse conditions andimprove late gestation nutritional management. Keeping ewes indoors, however, has its own challenges as the animals may be mixed with unfamiliar conspecifics, have limited floor and feeding space, experience changes to their diet and increased handling by humans. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the effect of variation in housing management (space allowance and social stability) on the behaviour and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis responses of pregnant ewes from mid to late gestation (weeks 11 to 18 of pregnancy). Seventy-seven ewes (41 primiparous, 36 multiparous) were divided into two groups: ‘Control’ and ‘Restricted space and mixed’ (RS-Mix), where RS-Mix ewes were allocated half the amount of space (1.27 m2 vs 2.5 m2 for RS-Mix and Control respectively) and feedface (concentrate feeder space) allowance (36 vs 71 cm per ewe) given to the Control group and were also subjected to two social mixing events. Aggressive behaviour at the feedface and time spent standing, lying, walking, feeding and ruminating wererecorded and faecal samples were collected for assessment of faecal glucocorticoid metabolite (FGM) concentrations. Higher aggression was observed in RS-Mix ewes during the first week of observation (P = 0.044), which gradually declined to the same level as Control ewes by the end of the study (P = 0.045). RS-Mix ewes were significantly less likely to be able to freely join the feedface compared to Controls (P = 0.022). No other significant treatment effects on aggressive behaviour or FGM during gestation were found. RS-Mix ewes displayed significantly higher ruminating behaviour at week 18 of gestation compared to Control ewes (P<0.001), but no other effects were seen on general pen behaviour. However, the effect of indoor housing had a significantimpact on primiparous ewes, who had lower weight gain (P = 0.015) and higher FGM concentrations (P = 0.014) compared to multiparous ewes regardless of treatment group. The data suggest that, although no sustained effects on behaviour or HPA axis responses were seen with the differences in space and feeder allowance or social stability at the levels used in this study, inexperienced ewes may find indoor housing more stressful; and are less able to adapt compared to multiparous ewes. These effects may influence the behaviour of the ewe at lambing time, and her offspring

Increasing the understanding of nutrient-transport capacity of the ovine placentome

Placental nutrient transport capacity influences fetal growth and development; however, it is affected by environmental factors, which are poorly understood. The objective of this study was to understand the impact of the ovine placentome morphological subtype, tissue type, and maternal parenteral supplementation of arginine mono-hydrochloride (Arg) on nutrient transport capacity using a gene expression approach. Placentomal tissues of types A, B, and C morphologic placentome subtypes were derived from 20 twin-bearing ewes, which were infused thrice daily with Arg (n = 9) or saline (Ctrl, n = 11) from 100 to 140 days of gestation. Samples were collected at day 140 of gestation. Expression of 31 genes involved in placental nutrient transport and function was investigated. Differential expression of specific amino acid transporter genes was found in the subtypes, suggesting a potential adaptive response to increase the transport capacity. Placentomal tissues differed in gene expression, highlighting differential transport capacity. Supplementation with Arg was associated with differential expressions of genes involved in amino acid transport and angiogenesis, suggesting a greater nutrient transport capacity. Collectively, these results indicate that the morphological subtype, tissue type, and maternal Arg supplementation can influence placental gene expression, which may be an adaptive response to alter the transport capacity to support fetal growth in sheep.</p

Visual Similarity Perception of Directed Acyclic Graphs: A Study on Influencing Factors

While visual comparison of directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) is commonly encountered in various disciplines (e.g., finance, biology), knowledge about humans' perception of graph similarity is currently quite limited. By graph similarity perception we mean how humans perceive commonalities and differences in graphs and herewith come to a similarity judgment. As a step toward filling this gap the study reported in this paper strives to identify factors which influence the similarity perception of DAGs. In particular, we conducted a card-sorting study employing a qualitative and quantitative analysis approach to identify 1) groups of DAGs that are perceived as similar by the participants and 2) the reasons behind their choice of groups. Our results suggest that similarity is mainly influenced by the number of levels, the number of nodes on a level, and the overall shape of the graph.Comment: Graph Drawing 2017 - arXiv Version; Keywords: Graphs, Perception, Similarity, Comparison, Visualizatio