Managing macropods without poisoning ecosystems

A recent review of the management of hyperabundant macropods in Australia proposed that expanded professional shooting is likely to lead to better biodiversity and animal welfare outcomes. While the tenets of this general argument are sound, it overlooks one important issue for biodiversity and animal health and welfare: reliance on toxic lead-based ammunition. Lead poisoning poses a major threat to Australia's wildlife scavengers. Current proposals to expand professional macropod shooting would see tons of an extremely toxic and persistent heavy metal continue to be introduced into Australian environments. This contrasts with trends in many other countries, where lead ammunition is, through legislation or voluntary programs, being phased out. Fortunately, there are alternatives to lead ammunition that could be investigated and adopted for improved macropod management. A transition to lead-free ammunition would allow the broad environmental and animal welfare goals desired from macropod management to be pursued without secondarily and unintentionally poisoning scavengers. Through this article, we hope to increase awareness of this issue and encourage discussion of this potential change.publishedVersio

Small Molecule Inhibitors of Metabolic Enzymes Repurposed as a New Class of Anthelmintics

We thank Qi Wang for her technical assistance related to clustering compounds and identifying representatives for screening. This work was supported by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) grant AI081803 to M.M. The study was also partly supported by NIAID grant AI056189 to R.V.A.Peer reviewedPostprin

Reducing the EPEI-Time Using Discrete Event Simulation

One of the cornerstones in LEAN production is ‘make to order’, which requires small batch sizes and, thus, short Every Part Every Interval (EPEI) times. EPEI-time is defined as the time it takes to produce all product variants, before the first variant in the cycle returns in the schedule. However, many companies are reluctant to reduce their EPEI-times due to the increased number of set-ups. This skepticism is also supported by parts of existing theory, while other research contributions mean that companies often can reduce batch-sizes without affecting productivity. This paper presents a case study which uses discrete event simulation (DES) to evaluate the relation between EPEI-time and productivity. The results show that it is possible to reduce the EPEI-time and still maintain productivity and service levels to customers, without any investments. Increased variation in the production schedule evened out the load among the machines and, hence, the time lost in set-ups was gained in more parallel work

Reducing the EPEI-Time Using Discrete Event Simulation

One of the cornerstones in LEAN production is ‘make to order’, which requires small batch sizes and, thus, short Every Part Every Interval (EPEI) times. EPEI-time is defined as the time it takes to produce all product variants, before the first variant in the cycle returns in the schedule. However, many companies are reluctant to reduce their EPEI-times due to the increased number of set-ups. This skepticism is also supported by parts of existing theory, while other research contributions mean that companies often can reduce batch-sizes without affecting productivity. This paper presents a case study which uses discrete event simulation (DES) to evaluate the relation between EPEI-time and productivity. The results show that it is possible to reduce the EPEI-time and still maintain productivity and service levels to customers, without any investments. Increased variation in the production schedule evened out the load among the machines and, hence, the time lost in set-ups was gained in more parallel work

Identification of small molecule enzyme inhibitors as broad-spectrum anthelmintics

Targeting chokepoint enzymes in metabolic pathways has led to new drugs for cancers, autoimmune disorders and infectious diseases. This is also a cornerstone approach for discovery and development of anthelmintics against nematode and flatworm parasites. Here, we performed omics-driven knowledge-based identification of chokepoint enzymes as anthelmintic targets. We prioritized 10 of 186 phylogenetically conserved chokepoint enzymes and undertook a target class repurposing approach to test and identify new small molecules with broad spectrum anthelmintic activity. First, we identified and tested 94 commercially available compounds using an in vitro phenotypic assay, and discovered 11 hits that inhibited nematode motility. Based on these findings, we performed chemogenomic screening and tested 32 additional compounds, identifying 6 more active hits. Overall, 6 intestinal (single-species), 5 potential pan-intestinal (whipworm and hookworm) and 6 pan-Phylum Nematoda (intestinal and filarial species) small molecule inhibitors were identified, including multiple azoles, Tadalafil and Torin-1. The active hit compounds targeted three different target classes in humans, which are involved in various pathways, including carbohydrate, amino acid and nucleotide metabolism. Last, using representative inhibitors from each target class, we demonstrated in vivo efficacy characterized by negative effects on parasite fecundity in hamsters infected with hookworms

Managing macropods without poisoning ecosystems

A recent review of the management of hyperabundant macropods in Australia proposed that expanded professional shooting is likely to lead to better biodiversity and animal welfare outcomes. While the tenets of this general argument are sound, it overlooks one important issue for biodiversity and animal health and welfare: reliance on toxic lead-based ammunition. Lead poisoning poses a major threat to Australia's wildlife scavengers. Current proposals to expand professional macropod shooting would see tons of an extremely toxic and persistent heavy metal continue to be introduced into Australian environments. This contrasts with trends in many other countries, where lead ammunition is, through legislation or voluntary programs, being phased out. Fortunately, there are alternatives to lead ammunition that could be investigated and adopted for improved macropod management. A transition to lead-free ammunition would allow the broad environmental and animal welfare goals desired from macropod management to be pursued without secondarily and unintentionally poisoning scavengers. Through this article, we hope to increase awareness of this issue and encourage discussion of this potential change

Sublethal Lead Exposure Alters Movement Behavior in Free-Ranging Golden Eagles

Lead poisoning of animals due to ingestion of fragments from lead-based ammunition in carcasses and offal of shot wildlife is acknowledged globally and raises great concerns about potential behavioral effects leading to increased mortality risks. Lead levels in blood were correlated with progress of the moose hunting season. Based on analyses of tracking data, we found that even sublethal lead concentrations in blood (25 ppb, wet weight), can likely negatively affect movement behavior (flight height and movement rate) of free-ranging scavenging Golden Eagles (<i>Aquila chrysaetos</i>). Lead levels in liver of recovered post-mortem analyzed eagles suggested that sublethal exposure increases the risk of mortality in eagles. Such adverse effects on animals are probably common worldwide and across species, where game hunting with lead-based ammunition is widespread. Our study highlights lead exposure as a considerably more serious threat to wildlife conservation than previously realized and suggests implementation of bans of lead ammunition for hunting