Bio-logging and animal welfare: practical refinements

Although bio-logging can benefit both science and animal welfare, its application involves procedures that can cause animals pain, suffering and distress. It is essential-for both animal welfare and good science-to identify all sources of potential suffering associated with bio-logging and then to minimise suffering and improve welfare. This paper summarises key welfare concerns regarding wild animal studies, taken from a new report on refinements in bio-logging that covers both field and laboratory projects.Many welfare concerns apply to both laboratory and field studies, but wild animals can experience additional psychological stress due to capture and handling by humans. The physiological impact of devices can also be more significant for wild animals, and opportunities to monitor instrumented wild animals following their release are greatly reduced. The report includes recommendations that aim to reduce the impact of bio-logging on wild animals. It addresses refinements in the following areas: surgery, including pain relief; device attachment; releasing animals following surgery or attachment; device impact, including mass, shape and location; and information sharing to promote good practices in experimental protocols. All of these will help to prevent avoidable animal suffering in future projects

Co-producing composite storytelling comics : (counter) narratives by academics of working-class heritage

This work was supported by the Society for Research into Higher Education, (grant number Davis NR2129).Composite storytelling as a social qualitative research method represents a growing spirit of creativity to explore themes of social injustice. This article discusses the potential methodological affordances and challenges of such approaches when used to collectively unsettle, interrogate and (re)imagine what it means to become an academic of working-class heritage. The participatory project discussed in this paper involved eight social science and humanities academics in UK-based elite higher education institutions. In a series of storytelling sessions, the participants created narrative encounters to foster moments of critique and analysis to explore the complex social realities of their routes into and through academia as people of working-class origins. Working alongside an illustrator, the participants used empirical insights to create composite stories in multimodal comic formats. Through this work, we seek to prompt further discussions about the generative possibilities of pursuing similar methods in the social sciences and beyond to challenge forms of social injustice.Peer reviewe

Report of the FELASA-EFAT Working Group

Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2023.Competent, confident and caring laboratory animal caretakers, technicians and technologists (LAS staff) are vital for good animal welfare, high-quality science and a secure Culture of Care. This requires high-quality education, training, supervision and continuing professional development (CPD) of LAS staff. However, there is a lack of harmonisation regarding how this education and training is conducted among European countries, and nor are there recommendations adapted to Directive 2010/63/EU. Therefore, FELASA and EFAT established a working group with the task of establishing recommendations for education, training and CPD for LAS staff. The working group established five different levels (LAS staff levels 0–4), defining the required level of competence and attitude, as well as suggesting educational requirements for reaching each level. Defining these levels should help to ensure that appropriate educational and CPD activities are in place, and to enable employers and LAS staff to determine the level and career stage attained. Furthermore, proper assessment of competencies and effective CPD schemes for all relevant staff should be established. Regulators should support this by setting standards for competence assessment and ensuring that they are consistently applied. In addition, establishments should involve the LAS staff in defining and developing the Culture of Care. The Animal Welfare Body should be involved and have oversight of education, training and CPD. These recommendations will contribute to harmonisation and increased quality of education, training and CPD, as well as provide clearer career pathways for LAS staff, helping to ensure high standards of animal welfare and science.publishersversionepub_ahead_of_prin

The Shoulder Pain due to Metastatic Breast Cancer -A Case Report-

A rotator cuff tear causes shoulder pain and limits movement of the shoulder joint. A chronic degenerative change or impingement is the reason for a rotator cuff tear. Diagnosis is made based on medical history and, physical and radiological examinations. Other causes of shoulder pain include calcific tendinitis, degenerative arthropathy, joint dislocation, fracture, and primary or metastatic neoplasm. However, metastatic cancer in the shoulder joint is difficult to diagnosis. We experienced a case in which a 46-year-old female patient complained of left shoulder pain and limited joint mobility, and these symptoms were due to metastatic breast cancer in the shoulder

Applying refinement to the use of mice and rats in rheumatoid arthritis research

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a painful, chronic disorder and there is currently an unmet need for effective therapies that will benefit a wide range of patients. The research and development process for therapies and treatments currently involves in vivo studies, which have the potential to cause discomfort, pain or distress. This Working Group report focuses on identifying causes of sufferingwithin commonly used mouse and rat ‘models’ of RA, describing practical refinements to help reduce suffering and improve welfare without compromising the scientific objectives. The report also discusses other, relevant topics including identifying and minimising sources of variation within in vivo RA studies, the potential to provide pain relief including analgesia, welfare assessment, humane endpoints, reporting standards and the potential to replace animals in RA research

Three Rs Approaches in the Production and Quality Control of Fish Vaccines

The workshop on Three Rs Approaches in the Production and Quality Control of Fish Vaccines aimed a) to identify animal tests currently stipulated for the production and quality control of fish vaccines and to highlight animal welfare concerns associated with these tests; b) to identify viable options to replace, reduce, and refine animal use for fish vaccine testing; and c) to discuss the way forward and set out how the Three Rs may be implemented without jeopardizing the quality of the vaccines. The workshop participants -- experts from academia, regulatory authorities, a scientific animal welfare organization, and the fish vaccine industry -- agreed that efforts should be undertaken to replace the vaccination challenge batch potency testing with tests based on antigen quantification or antibody response tests. Regulatory requirements of questionable scientific value and relevance for the quality of fish vaccines, such as the re-testing of batches produced outside Europe, or the double-dose batch safety test, should be re-considered. As an immediate measure the design of the current animal tests should be evaluated and modified in the light of refinement and reduction, for example, the number of unprotected control fish in vaccination-challenge tests should be reduced to the minimum

Applying refinement to the use of mice and rats in rheumatoid arthritis research

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a painful, chronic disorder and there is currently an unmet need for effective therapies that will benefit a wide range of patients. The research and development process for therapies and treatments currently involves in vivo studies, which have the potential to cause discomfort, pain or distress. This Working Group report focuses on identifying causes of suffering within commonly used mouse and rat ‘models’ of RA, describing practical refinements to help reduce suffering and improve welfare without compromising the scientific objectives. The report also discusses other, relevant topics including identifying and minimising sources of variation within in vivo RA studies, the potential to provide pain relief including analgesia, welfare assessment, humane endpoints, reporting standards and the potential to replace animals in RA research

Poison prevention practices and medically attended poisoning in young children: multicentre case-control study

Introduction Childhood poisonings are common, placing a substantial burden on health services. Case-control studies have found inconsistent evidence about modifiable risk factors for poisonings amongst 0-4 year olds. This study quantifies associations between poison prevention practices and medically attended poisonings in 0-4 year olds. Methods Multicentre case-control study conducted at hospitals, minor injury units and family practices from four study centres in England between 2010 and 2013. Participants comprised 567 children presenting with unintentional poisoning occurring at home, and 2320 community control participants matched on age, sex, date of event and study centre. Parents/caregivers provided data on safety practices, safety equipment use, home hazards and potential confounders, by means of self-completion questionnaires. Data were analysed using conditional logistic regression. Results Compared with community controls, parents of poisoned children were significantly more likely not to store medicines out of reach (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 1.59; 95%CI, 1.21, 2.09; population attributable fraction (PAF) 15%), not to store medicines safely (locked or out of reach (AOR 1.83; 95%CI 1.38, 2.42; PAF 16%) and not to have put all medicines (AOR 2.11; 95%CI 1.54, 2.90; PAF 20%) or household products (AOR 1.79, 95%CI 1.29, 2.48; PAF 11%) away immediately after use. Conclusions Not storing medicines out of reach or locked away and not putting medicines and household products away immediately after use increased the odds of secondary care attended poisonings in 0-4 year olds. If associations are causal, implementing these poison prevention practices could each prevent between 11% and 20% of poisonings