Combining Nitrous Oxide with Carbon Dioxide Decreases the Time to Loss of Consciousness during Euthanasia in Mice — Refinement of Animal Welfare?

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most commonly used euthanasia agent for rodents despite potentially causing pain and distress. Nitrous oxide is used in man to speed induction of anaesthesia with volatile anaesthetics, via a mechanism referred to as the “second gas” effect. We therefore evaluated the addition of Nitrous Oxide (N2O) to a rising CO2 concentration could be used as a welfare refinement of the euthanasia process in mice, by shortening the duration of conscious exposure to CO2. Firstly, to assess the effect of N2O on the induction of anaesthesia in mice, 12 female C57Bl/6 mice were anaesthetized in a crossover protocol with the following combinations: Isoflurane (5%)+O2 (95%); Isoflurane (5%)+N2O (75%)+O2 (25%) and N2O (75%)+O2 (25%) with a total flow rate of 3l/min (into a 7l induction chamber). The addition of N2O to isoflurane reduced the time to loss of the righting reflex by 17.6%. Secondly, 18 C57Bl/6 and 18 CD1 mice were individually euthanized by gradually filling the induction chamber with either: CO2 (20% of the chamber volume.min−1); CO2+N2O (20 and 60% of the chamber volume.min−1 respectively); or CO2+Nitrogen (N2) (20 and 60% of the chamber volume.min−1). Arterial partial pressure (Pa) of O2 and CO2 were measured as well as blood pH and lactate. When compared to the gradually rising CO2 euthanasia, addition of a high concentration of N2O to CO2 lowered the time to loss of righting reflex by 10.3% (P<0.001), lead to a lower PaO2 (12.55±3.67 mmHg, P<0.001), a higher lactataemia (4.64±1.04 mmol.l−1, P = 0.026), without any behaviour indicative of distress. Nitrous oxide reduces the time of conscious exposure to gradually rising CO2 during euthanasia and hence may reduce the duration of any stress or distress to which mice are exposed during euthanasia

E8 for Psychological Types and Physics

James Reynierse says: “You have it exactly right when you refer to the symmetry of type beginning with the Pair interactions. My colleague and fellow researcher John Harker and I have frequently discussed these relationships in terms of the natural symmetry of type … showing a circumplex structure for the MBTI is interesting and instructive… ” E8 and its subalgebras are mapped to MBTI types and Enneagram numbers. In the process, analogies with the use of E8 in physics are explored. Down at D3, a Process Circumplex is constructed from MBTI type pair interactions and an analogy is shown with conformal gravity and its rotation, boost, translation, and special conformal bivectors. At D4, an analogy is constructed between the Enneagram’s Law of 7 (1-4-2-8-5-7) and the electroweak force. Also, the Enneagram’s Law of 3 (3-6-9) is related to the color force. At D5, an analogy is constructed between the Enneagram’s first (1-2-3-4) and second (8-7-6-5) quaternities and the real and imaginary dimensions of complex spacetime. At E6, the analogy constructed is between two additional Enneagram patterns and matter/antimatter. E7 and E8 relate to brane universes and perhaps to multiple MBTI type spaces encoded in the brain

Der Einfluss der Bodenluft-Kompression auf die vertikale Infiltration von Wasser in Sanden

SIGLETIB: RA 2579(28) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman

Hawai‘i-grown tea: a market feasibility study executive summary

This report is a feasability study for developing tea into a viable and sustainable industry for the state of Hawai‘i. It examines the economic potential of a Hawai‘i tea industry and provides guidelines for the development of the industry to a mature stage in the product's life cycle