The welfare of animals transported from Ireland to Spain AND The Physiological haematological and immunological responses of 9-month old bulls (250kg) to transport at two stocking densities (0.85m2 and 1.27m2 /250kg animal) on a 12-hour journey by road.

End of Project ReportFifty-two weanling continental x beef heifers (mean liveweight 269kg) were transported from Ireland to France on a roll-on roll-off ferry (RO-RO), and onwards by road for 3-hours to a French lairage, rested for 24 hours at a staging post and taken by road on an 18-hour journey through France to a feedlot in Spain. Animals transported to France lost 7.6 % of their bodyweight, and gained 3.3 % of their bodyweight by time of arrival in Spain and recovered to pre-transport liveweight values by day 6. Although there was some evidence that transport affected physiological and immunological variables, there was no evidence to suggest that it adversely affected the health or the performance of the animals post transport. Creatine kinase activities were increased but values were still within normal acceptable ranges. Increases in non-esterified fatty acids, beta-hydroxybutyrate and urea concentrations suggested that the animals' normal pattern of feeding was disrupted during transport. Increases in albumin, total plasma protein and osmolality would indicate slight dehydration during transit. However, albumin concentrations returned to control levels by day 38 of the study. While haematocrit values were decreased, they are within the range of normal referenced data (24 - 48%). Similarly, changes in the RBC numbers and haemoglobin were within the normal blood referenced ranges ((RBC; 5.0 – 10.0 x106 /ml) and (haemoglobin 8-14 g%)(Schalm, 1961)). The only time at which white blood counts increased above the upper limit of 12, was 12 hours after arrival at the French lairage. The aspartate transaminase concentrations for the transported animals at arrival in France and Spain were not significantly different from their pre-transport concentrations but were increased at day 11 when compared with baseline levels. Concanavalin-A induced interferon-g levels were lower on arrival in the Spanish feedlot and on Day 11 of the study, when compared with pre-transport baseline levels. Compared with pre-transport levels, keyhole limpet haemocyanin-induced interferon-g levels for the transported animals were significantly decreased on the day of arrival in France, with no significant difference on the day of arrival in Spain or on day 11 of the study. Interferon-g is produced by activated T lymphocytes and natural killer cells in response to antigen. The percentage (%) of lymphocytes decreased and the % neutrophils increased post-transport indicating a shift in the population of these blood cells relative to pre-transport baseline values. There was no significant change in plasma cortisol concentrations in transported animals at arrival in France and in Spain. On Day 11, the plasma cortisol concentrations of transported animals were significantly higher than control animals. There were significantly higher glucose concentrations on arrival in France, and in samples taken at 12 and 24 hours post-arrival in France, on arrival in Spain, and on days 7 and 11 compared with control levels. Transported animals had significantly higher glucose levels at sample 2 on the day of arrival in France compared with their pre-transport values. Transported animals had significantly higher fibrinogen levels at arrival in France compared with their pre-transport baseline concentrations. Inflammation resulting from stress can cause the release of acute phase proteins such as haptoglobin and fibrinogen, and acute phase proteins in cattle have been associated with immunosuppression, however, much higher levels have been reported in inflammatory conditions. Transported animals had significantly higher non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA) levels on arrival in France and Spain and on day 11 compared with their pre-transport baseline concentrations. Control animals had significantly higher levels on day 5 compared with their pre-transport baseline NEFA concentrations. However, all levels were within the normal acceptable ranges. The study concluded that transport had no adverse effect on animal welfare based on the physiological, immunological and haematological measurements made

The Welfare of Animals Transported From Ireland to Italy.

End of Project ReportThe overall objective of the present study was to investigate the physiological, haematological and immunological responses of weanling bulls transported to Italy under present EU legislation and to evaluate the implications in terms of animal welfare

Effects of Pre-Journey Fasting on the Physiological Responses of Young Cattle to 8-hour Road Transport.

End of Project ReportThe present study evaluated the effects of fasting animals for 8 hours prior to an 8-hour road journey and their ability to cope with the stress of transport.There was no significant difference in rectal body temperature, pre and post transport and there were no significant differences in liveweight among treatments on days 0 (pre-transport), 1, 4 and 10 (post-transport). Bulls (230kg) undergoing an 8-h transportation at stocking densities of 0.82 m2 /animal showed physiological and haematological responses that were within normal referenced ranges. Animals that were fasted for 8-hours and then transported lost 9.4% bodyweight following the 8-hour journey, while non-fasted and transported animals (NF+T) lost 7.2%. The control animals remaining at grass and non-fasted (NF+G) gained 2%. The animals that were fasted continuously and not transported (F+F) and the non-fasted control animals that were fasted for 8 hours (NF+F) lost 6.1% and 6.2% respectively. There was no significant change in globulin, glucose, urea, haemoglobin, beta-hydroxy butyrate, fibrinogen concentrations, haematocrit and monocyte percentages, monocyte and red blood cell numbers, platelet numbers among treatments prior to or after transport. The % lymphocytes were reduced in the fasted and non-fasted transported animals and post-transport and there was no significant change in lymphocyte numbers. The % of neutrophils and the number of neutrophils were significantly increased in the fasted and non-fasted transported animals. Baseline protein concentrations were significantly lower in the non-fasted and transported and nonfasted then fasted treatments initially. Following transport, protein concentrations were significantly higher in the fasted and transported treatment compared with the non-fasted animals at grass. White blood cell (WBC) numbers were not significantly different prior to transport. Following transport, the WBC numbers were significantly higher in the fasted and transported treatment compared with the non-fasted at grass, fasted and then fasted, and the non-fasted and fasted treatments. Albumin concentrations were significantly higher following transport in the F+T treatment compared with the NF+G, F+F, and NF+F treatments and the NF+T treatment had significantly lower albumin levels than the F+T and NF+F treatments. Haptoglobin concentrations were not significantly different prior to transport. Following transport, haptoglobin concentrations were significantly higher in the F+T compared with the NF+G treatment. Lactate concentrations were significantly higher in the F+T and NF+T compared with the NF+G, F+F, and NF+F treatments following transport. In conclusion, from the physiological and haematological measurements, an 8 hour journey time, even without access to feed for 8 hours prior to transport did not impact negatively on animal welfare

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Organocatalytic Michael addition–lactonisation of carboxylic acids using α,β-unsaturated trichloromethyl ketones as α,β-unsaturated ester equivalents

The authors thank the Royal Society for a University Research Fellowship (ADS), The Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland (LCM), Syngenta/EPSRC (Case award to DGS), GSK/EPSRC (CASE award to SRS), the EU (IEF for CS), and the European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) ERC Grant Agreement no. 279850 (JET) for funding.Isothiourea HBTM-2.1 catalyses the Michael addition-lactonisation of 2-aryl and 2-alkenylacetic acids and α,β-unsaturated trichloromethyl ketones. Ring-opening of the resulting dihydropyranones and subsequent alcoholysis of the CCl ketone with an excess of methanol gives a range of diesters in high diastereo- and enantioselectivity (up to 95:5 dr and >99% ee). Sequential addition of two different nucleophiles to a dihydropyranone gives the corresponding differentially substituted diacid derivative.PostprintPeer reviewe

Organocatalytic Michael addition–lactonisation of carboxylic acids using α,β-unsaturated trichloromethyl ketones as α,β-unsaturated ester equivalents

Isothiourea HBTM-2.1 catalyses the Michael addition-lactonisation of 2-aryl and 2-alkenylacetic acids and α,β-unsaturated trichloromethyl ketones. Ring-opening of the resulting dihydropyranones and subsequent alcoholysis of the CCl ketone with an excess of methanol gives a range of diesters in high diastereo- and enantioselectivity (up to 95:5 dr and >99% ee). Sequential addition of two different nucleophiles to a dihydropyranone gives the corresponding differentially substituted diacid derivative

On a uniformly accurate finite difference approximation of a singularly perturbed reaction-diffusion problem using grid equidistribution

We examine the convergence properties of a finite difference approximation of a singularly perturbed reaction-diffusion boundary value problem using a nonuniform grid. The grid is based on the equidistribution of a positive monitor function that is a linear combination of a constant floor and a power of the second derivative of the solution. Analysis shows how the monitor function can be chosen to ensure that the accuracy of the numerical approximation is insensitive to the size of the singular perturbation parameter. The use of equidistribution principles appears in many practical grid adaption schemes and our analysis provides insight into the convergence behaviour on such grids. Numerical results are given that confirm the uniform convergence rates