A practical framework for harmonising welfare and quality of data output in the laboratory-housed dog

In the UK, laboratory-housed dogs are primarily used as a non-rodent species in the safety testing of new medicines and other chemical entities. The use of animals in research is governed by the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act (1986, amended 2012) and legislation is underpinned by the principles of humane experimental technique: Replacement, Reduction and Refinement. A link between animal welfare and the quality of data produced has been shown in other species (e.g. rodents, nonhuman primates), however, no established, integrated methodology for identifying or monitoring welfare and quality of data output previously existed in the laboratory-housed dog. In order to investigate the effects of planned Refinements to various aspects of husbandry and regulated procedures, this project sought to integrate behavioural, physiological and other measures (e.g. cognitive bias, mechanical pressure threshold) and to provide a means for staff to monitor welfare whilst also establishing the relationship between welfare and quality of data output. Affective state was identified using an established method of cognitive bias testing, before measuring welfare at ‘baseline’ using measures of behaviour and physiology. Dogs then underwent ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ behavioural challenges to identify the measures most sensitive to changing welfare and most suitable for use in a framework. The resulting Welfare Assessment Framework, developed in three groups of dogs from contrasting backgrounds within the facility, found a consistent pattern of behaviour, cardiovascular function, affect and mechanical pressure threshold (MPT). Dogs with a negative affective state had higher blood pressure at baseline than those with positive affective states, and the magnitude of the effect of negative welfare suggests that welfare may act as a confound in the interpretation of cardiovascular data. The responses to restraint included increases in blood pressure and heart rate measures which approached ceiling levels, potentially reducing the sensitivity of measurement. If maintained over time this response could potentially have a negative health impact on other organ systems and affecting the data obtained from those. Dogs with a negative welfare state also had a lower mechanical pressure threshold, meaning they potentially experienced greater stimulation from unpleasant physical stimuli. Taken together with the behaviours associated with a negative welfare state (predominantly vigilant or stereotypic behaviours) the data suggest that dogs with a negative welfare state have a greater behavioural and physiological response to stimuli in their environment; as such, data obtained from their use is different from that obtained from dogs with a positive welfare state. This was confirmed by examining the effect size (Cohen’s d ) resulting from the analysis of affective state on cardiovascular data. An increase in variance, particularly in the small dog numbers typical of safety assessment studies, means a reduction in the power of the study to detect the effect under observation; a decrease in variation has the potential to reduce the number of dogs use, in line with the principle of Reduction and good scientific practice. The development of the framework also identified areas of the laboratory environment suitable for Refinement (e.g. restriction to single-housing and restraint) and other easily-implemented Refinements (e.g. feeding toy and human interaction) which could be used to improve welfare. As a result of this, a Welfare Monitoring Tool (WMT) in the form of a tick sheet was developed for technical and scientific staff to identify those dogs at risk of reduced welfare and producing poor quality data, as well as to monitor the effects of Refinements to protocols. Oral gavage is a common regulated procedure, known to be potentially aversive and was identified as an area in need of Refinement. A program of desensitisation and positive reinforcement training was implemented in a study also comparing the effects of a sham dose condition versus a control, no-training, condition. A number of the measures used, including home pen behaviour, behaviour during dosing, MPT and the WMT showed significant benefits to the dogs in the Refined condition. Conversely, dogs in the sham dose condition showed more signs of distress and took longer to dose than dogs in the control condition. The welfare of control dogs was intermediate to sham dose and Refined protocol dogs. This project identified a positive relationship between positive welfare and higher quality of data output. It developed and validated a practical and feasible means of measuring welfare in the laboratory environment in the Welfare Assessment Framework, identified areas in need of Refinement and developed practical ways to implement such Refinements to husbandry and regulated procedures. As such it should have wide implications for the pharmaceutical industry and other users of dogs in scientific research

LINEs, SINEs, and Wallabies: The Dynamic Landscape of a Regional Centromere

Archival abstract submitte

Implementation of Evidence-based Culturally Adapted Interventions, Collaborative Care, and Change Management for Improved Mental Health Outcomes in a Community-based Safety-net Clinic

Mental health disorders are prominent and devastating in the United States. They are more prevalent in low-socioeconomic and minority groups with lower rates of diagnosis and treatment in these populations. Primary care settings are the foremost location for screening, diagnosis, and treatment for common mental health disorders but do not always provide adequate care due to limitations of time, knowledge, and resources. Evidence has shown that collaborative care models can provide more effective treatment for behavioral health services through a team-based approach to holistic patient care. This project focused on implementing culturally adapted, collaborative care models to improve mental health screening, documentation, and interventions at a community-based safety-net clinic and provide the clinic with a change management toolkit for future projects and initiatives. This quality improvement project utilized Kotter’s 8-Step Change Model to improve implementation and sustainability of the project and to develop the toolkit for change management. Results of this project displayed significant improvement of screening, diagnosis, and intervention rates after implementation of volunteer education of new behavioral health processes through development and utilization of educational materials and a change management toolkit

Rethinking Our Mobility: Supporting Our Patrons Where They Live

In anticipation of the release of a mobile VPN to access the George Washington University wireless network, the Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library began developing materials and services to provide support to patrons. This poster is an outline of the mobile services that were implemented to reach patrons where they live

Integrating aerodynamics and structures in the minimum weight design of a supersonic transport wing

An approach is presented for determining the minimum weight design of aircraft wing models which takes into consideration aerodynamics-structure coupling when calculating both zeroth order information needed for analysis and first order information needed for optimization. When performing sensitivity analysis, coupling is accounted for by using a generalized sensitivity formulation. The results presented show that the aeroelastic effects are calculated properly and noticeably reduce constraint approximation errors. However, for the particular example selected, the error introduced by ignoring aeroelastic effects are not sufficient to significantly affect the convergence of the optimization process. Trade studies are reported that consider different structural materials, internal spar layouts, and panel buckling lengths. For the formulation, model and materials used in this study, an advanced aluminum material produced the lightest design while satisfying the problem constraints. Also, shorter panel buckling lengths resulted in lower weights by permitting smaller panel thicknesses and generally, by unloading the wing skins and loading the spar caps. Finally, straight spars required slightly lower wing weights than angled spars

Strengthening Our Collaborations: Building an Electronic Health Record Educational Module

Spurred by the growing adoption of electronic health records, librarians developed an online educational module for second year medical students which was integrated into existing curriculum. This poster presentation is a summary of the project, which required collaboration with staff from the faculty practice group\u27s IT division, the library\u27s web services division, and members of the reference department

Connecting to our Community: Extending Librarians\u27 Roles through Collaboration

Reaching out to various groups of their patron base, the librarians of Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library developed new initiatives to expand their roles and responsibilities. The new outreach initiatives included a film series, an instructional technology series, an art exhibit, and a medical education project. This poster presentation summarizes each initiative and the resulting impact in the user community

The influence of facility and home pen design on the welfare of the laboratory-housed dog

We have an ethical and scientific obligation to Refine all aspects of the life of the laboratory-housed dog. Across industry there are many differences amongst facilities, home pen design and husbandry, as well as differences in features of the dogs such as strain, sex and scientific protocols. Understanding how these influence welfare, and hence scientific output is therefore critical. A significant proportion of dogs’ lives are spent in the home pen and as such, the design can have a considerable impact on welfare. Although best practice guidelines exist, there is a paucity of empirical evidence to support the recommended Refinements and uptake varies across industry. In this study, we examine the effect of modern and traditional home pen design, overall facility design, husbandry, history of regulated procedures, strain and sex on welfare-indicating behaviours and mechanical pressure threshold. Six groups of dogs from two facilities (total n=46) were observed in the home pen and tested for mechanical pressure threshold. Dogs which were housed in a purpose-built modern facility or in a modern design home pen showed the fewest behavioural indicators of negative welfare (such as alert or pacing behaviours) and more indicators of positive welfare (such as resting) compared to those in a traditional home pen design or traditional facility. Welfare indicating behaviours did not vary consistently with strain, but male dogs showed more negative welfare indicating behaviours and had greater variation in these behaviours than females. Our findings showed more positive welfare indicating behaviours in dogs with higher mechanical pressure thresholds. We conclude that factors relating to the design of home pens and implementation of Refinements at the facility level have a significant positive impact on the welfare of laboratory-housed dogs, with a potential concomitant impact on scientific endpoints

Discovering Library Resources using WebFeat Express: Selection, Implementation, and Lessons Learned

In 2006, Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library developed a task force to seek out a federated searching system. This poster presentation summarizes the process of selection and implementation of the chosen federated searching system, WebFeat Express

Role of PTP1B in POMC neurons during chronic high fat diet: Sex differences in regulation of liver lipids and glucose tolerance

Protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) is a negative regulator of leptin receptor signalling and may contribute to leptin resistance in diet-induced obesity. Although PTP1B inhibition has been suggested as a potential weight loss therapy, the role of specific neuronal PTP1B signalling in cardiovascular and metabolic regulation and the importance of sex differences in this regulation are still unclear. In this study, we investigated the impact of pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) neuronal PTP1B deficiency in cardiometabolic regulation in male and female mice fed a high fat diet (HFD). Compared to control mice (PTP1Bflox/flox), male and female mice deficient in POMC neuronal PTP1B (PTP1Bflox/flox/POMC-Cre) had attenuated body weight gain (Male: -18%; Female: -16%) and fat mass (Male: -33%; Female: -29%) in response to HFD. Glucose tolerance was improved by 40% and liver lipid accumulation was reduced by 40% in PTP1Bflox/flox/POMC-Cre males but not in females. Compared to control mice, deficiency of POMC neuronal PTP1B did not alter mean arterial pressure (MAP) in male or female mice (Male: 112±1 vs. 112±1 mmHg in controls; Female: 106±3 vs. 109±3 mmHg in controls). Deficiency of POMC neuronal PTP1B also did not alter MAP response to acute stress in male or female compared to control mice (Male: Δ32±0 vs. Δ29±4 mmHg; Female: Δ22±2 vs. Δ27±4 mmHg). These data demonstrate that POMC-specific PTP1B deficiency improved glucose tolerance and attenuated diet-induced fatty liver only in male mice, attenuated weight gain in males and females, but did not enhance the MAP and HR responses to a HFD or to acute stress