Lightweight Radiator System for a Spacecraft

Three documents describe various aspects of a proposed lightweight, deployable radiator system for dissipating excess heat from the life-support system of a habitable spacecraft. The first document focuses on a radiator tube that would include a thin metal liner surrounded and supported by a thicker carbon-fiber-reinforced composite tubular structure that, in turn, would be formed as part of a unitary composite radiator-fin structure consisting mostly of a sheet of reticulated vitreous carbon laminated between carbon-fiber-reinforced face sheets. The thermal and mechanical properties, including the anisotropies, of the component materials are taken into account in the design. The second document describes thermo-structural bumpers, in the form of exterior multiple-ply carbon-fiber sheets enclosing hollows on opposite sides of a radiator fin, which would protect the radiator tube against impinging micrometeors and orbital debris. The third document describes a radiator system that would include multiple panels containing the aforementioned components, among others. The system would also include mechanisms for deploying the panels from compact stowage. Deployment would not involve breaking and remaking of fluid connections to the radiator panels

What Do Population-Level Welfare Indices Suggest About the Well-Being of Zoo Elephants?

To assess zoo elephants' welfare using objective population-level indices, we sought data from zoos and other protected populations (potential ''benchmarks'') on variables affected by poor well-being. Such data were available on fecundity, potential fertility, stillbirths, infant mortality, adult survivorship, and stereotypic behavior. Most of these can also be affected by factors unrelated to well-being; therefore, for each, we analyzed the potential role of these other factors. Population-level comparisons generally indicate poor reproduction, and poor infant and adult survivorship in zoos compared with benchmark populations (with some differences between zoo regions and over time). Stereotypic behavior also occurs in c. 60% of zoo elephants; as the population-level welfare index least open to alternative interpretations, this represents the strongest evidence that well-being is/has been widely compromised. Poor well-being is a parsimonious explanation for the diverse range of population-level effects seen, but to test this hypothesis properly, data are now needed on, for example, potential confounds that can affect these indices (to partition out effects of factors unrelated to well-being), and causes of the observed temporal effects, and differences between species and zoo regions. Regardless of whether such additional data implicate poor well-being, our findings suggest that elephant management has generally been sub-optimal. We also discuss the selection and utilization of benchmark data, as a useful future approach for evaluating such issues. Zoo Biol 29: 256-273, 2010

Frustrations of fur-farmed mink

Captive animals may suffer if strongly motivated to perform activities that their housing does not allow. We investigated this experimentally for caged mink, and found that they would pay high costs to perform a range of natural behaviours, and release cortisol if their most preferred activity, swimming, was prevented. Investigates the effect of limitations on caged mink. Popularity of fur farming; Research into the possible deprivation of mink, which result in their frustration; Details of the experiment; Impact of an access to water; Results which indicate that fur-farmed mink are still motivated to perform the same activities as their wild counterpart

Compromised survivorship in zoo elephants

Keeping elephants in zoos is extremely costly, yet does not yield self-sustaining 16 populations. In Europe, which holds c. half the global zoo elephant population, a long17 term decline of c.10% per year is expected in both species, if reliant on zoo-bred animals 18 under historically prevailing conditions. Fitness in zoos is compromised in several ways. 19 Compared with protected in situ populations (Burmese working Asians; Kenyan free20 living Africans), zoo elephants show premature reproductive senescence and -- despite 21 improving adult survivorship for Africans -- die earlier in adulthood than expected. In 22 Asian elephants, infant survivorship in zoos is also greatly reduced relative to Burmese 23 elephants, and furthermore, zoo-born animals die earlier in adulthood than wild-caught 24 conspecifics kept in zoos, via effects ‘programmed’ peri-natally. In this species, being 25 transferred between zoos also increases mortality rates. Both survival and fecundity 26 would need to improve to attain self-sustaining zoo populations. Our findings 27 demonstrate deficits in zoo elephant management, particularly for Asians, and implicate 28 stress and obesity as likely problems

Winning the Genetic Lottery: Biasing Birth Sex Ratio Results in More Grandchildren.

Population dynamics predicts that on average parents should invest equally in male and female offspring; similarly, the physiology of mammalian sex determination is supposedly stochastic, producing equal numbers of sons and daughters. However, a high quality parent can maximize fitness by biasing their birth sex ratio (SR) to the sex with the greatest potential to disproportionately outperform peers. All SR manipulation theories share a fundamental prediction: grandparents who bias birth SR should produce more grandoffspring via the favored sex. The celebrated examples of biased birth SRs in nature consistent with SR manipulation theories provide compelling circumstantial evidence. However, this prediction has never been directly tested in mammals, primarily because the complete three-generation pedigrees needed to test whether individual favored offspring produce more grandoffspring for the biasing grandparent are essentially impossible to obtain in nature. Three-generation pedigrees were constructed using 90 years of captive breeding records from 198 mammalian species. Male and female grandparents consistently biased their birth SR toward the sex that maximized second-generation success. The most strongly male-biased granddams and grandsires produced respectively 29% and 25% more grandoffspring than non-skewing conspecifics. The sons of the most male-biasing granddams were 2.7 times as fecund as those of granddams with a 50:50 bias (similar results are seen in grandsires). Daughters of the strongest female-biasing granddams were 1.2 times as fecund as those of non-biasing females (this effect is not seen in grandsires). To our knowledge, these results are the first formal test of the hypothesis that birth SR manipulation is adaptive in mammals in terms of grandchildren produced, showing that SR manipulation can explain biased birth SR in general across mammalian species. These findings also have practical implications: parental control of birth SR has the potential to accelerate genetic loss and risk of extinction within captive populations of endangered species

Boredom-like states in mink and their behavioural correlates: a replicate study

Scientists and laypeople have long expressed concern that animals in non-enriched, unchanging environments might experience boredom. However, this had attracted little empirical study: the state is difficult to assess without verbal self-reports, and spontaneous behavioural signs of boredom can vary in humans, making it hard to identify signs likely to be valid in other species. We operationally define boredom as a negative state that causes an increased, generalised interest in diverse stimuli. Previously, we demonstrated that this state existed in mink housed in non-enriched cages, compared to those in preferred, stress-reducing enriched enclosures; and that this heightened interest in stimuli positively correlated with time spent lying still but awake, while negatively correlating with locomotor stereotypic behaviour. However, these results needed replication. The current study tested for the same effects, in a new cohort of 20 male mink, by presenting 11 stimuli ranging from those predicted to typically be aversive (e.g. predator cues) to those predicted to be rewarding (e.g. food rewards; moving objects to chase). Where housing treatments differed, non-enriched mink were again more interested in the stimuli presented, spending longer oriented towards and in contact with them (e.g. for aversive stimuli: F1,9=6.27, p=0.034 and F1,9=8.24, p=0.019, respectively). Lying still but awake again correlated with interest in the stimuli (shorter latencies to contact rewarding stimuli: F1,17=3.70, p=0.036; in enriched mink only, more time oriented to and in contact with all stimuli: F1,8=9.49, p=0.015 and F1,8=15.9, p=0.004). In contrast, the previous correlations with stereotypic behaviour were not replicated. We therefore conclude that mink housed in non-enriched cages likely experience boredom-like states, and that time spent lying still while awake could potentially be used as a cage-side indicator of these states. We also suggest how future researchers might address further fundamental and practical questions about animal boredom, in mink and other species

Translating the Human Right to Water and Sanitation into Public Policy Reform

Abstract The development of a human right to water and sanitation under international law has created an imperative to implement human rights in water and sanitation policy. Through forty-three interviews with informants in international institutions, national governments, and non-governmental organizations, this research examines interpretations of this new human right in global governance, national policy, and local practice. Exploring obstacles to the implementation of rights-based water and sanitation policy, the authors analyze the limitations of translating international human rights into local water and sanitation practice, concluding that system operators, utilities, and management boards remain largely unaffected by the changing public policy landscape for human rights realization. To understand the relevance of human rights standards to water and sanitatio

Mixed-strain housing for female C57BL/6, DBA/2, and BALB/c mice: validating a split-plot design that promotes refinement and reduction

Abstract Background Inefficient experimental designs are common in animal-based biomedical research, wasting resources and potentially leading to unreplicable results. Here we illustrate the intrinsic statistical power of split-plot designs, wherein three or more sub-units (e.g. individual subjects) differing in a variable of interest (e.g. genotype) share an experimental unit (e.g. a cage or litter) to which a treatment is applied (e.g. a drug, diet, or cage manipulation). We also empirically validate one example of such a design, mixing different mouse strains -- C57BL/6, DBA/2, and BALB/c -- within cages varying in degree of enrichment. As well as boosting statistical power, no other manipulations are needed for individual identification if co-housed strains are differentially pigmented, so also sparing mice from stressful marking procedures. Methods The validation involved housing 240 females from weaning to 5 months of age in single- or mixed- strain trios, in cages allocated to enriched or standard treatments. Mice were screened for a range of 26 commonly-measured behavioural, physiological and haematological variables. Results Living in mixed-strain trios did not compromise mouse welfare (assessed via corticosterone metabolite output, stereotypic behaviour, signs of aggression, and other variables). It also did not alter the direction or magnitude of any strain- or enrichment-typical difference across the 26 measured variables, or increase variance in the data: indeed variance was significantly decreased by mixed- strain housing. Furthermore, using Monte Carlo simulations to quantify the statistical power benefits of this approach over a conventional design demonstrated that for our effect sizes, the split- plot design would require significantly fewer mice (under half in most cases) to achieve a power of 80 %. Conclusions Mixed-strain housing allows several strains to be tested at once, and potentially refines traditional marking practices for research mice. Furthermore, it dramatically illustrates the enhanced statistical power of split-plot designs, allowing many fewer animals to be used. More powerful designs can also increase the chances of replicable findings, and increase the ability of small-scale studies to yield significant results. Using mixed-strain housing for female C57BL/6, DBA/2 and BALB/c mice is therefore an effective, efficient way to promote both refinement and the reduction of animal-use in research

Benefits of a ball and chain: simple environmental enrichments improve welfare and reproductive success in farmed American mink (Neovison vison)

Can simple enrichments enhance caged mink welfare? Pilot data from 756 sub-adults spanning three colour-types (strains) identified potentially practical enrichments, and suggested beneficial effects on temperament and fur-chewing. Our main experiment started with 2032 Black mink on three farms: from each of 508 families, one juvenile male-female pair was enriched (E) with two balls and a hanging plastic chain or length of hose, while a second pair was left as a non-enriched (NE) control. At 8 months, more than half the subjects were killed for pelts, and 302 new females were recruited (half enriched: ‘late E’). Several signs of improved welfare or productivity emerged. Access to enrichment increased play in juveniles. E mink were calmer (less aggressive in temperament tests; quieter when handled; less fearful, if male), and less likely to fur-chew, although other stereotypic behaviours were not reduced. On one farm, E females had lower cortisol (inferred from faecal metabolites). E males tended to copulate for longer. E females also weaned more offspring: about 10% more juveniles per E female, primarily caused by reduced rates of barrenness (‘late E’ females also giving birth to bigger litters on one farm), effects that our data cautiously suggest were partly mediated by reduced inactivity and changes in temperament. Pelt quality seemed unaffected, but E animals had cleaner cages. In a subsidiary side-study using 368 mink of a second colour-type (‘Demis’), similar temperament effects emerged, and while E did not reduce fur-chewing or improve reproductive success in this colour-type, E animals were judged to have better pelts. Overall, simple enrichments were thus beneficial. These findings should encourage welfare improvements on fur farms (which house 60-70 million mink p.a.) and in breeding centres where endangered mustelids (e.g. black-footed ferrets) often reproduce poorly. They should also stimulate future research into more effective practical enrichments