Animal welfare in studies on murine tuberculosis : assessing progress over a 12-year period and the need for further improvement

There is growing concern over the welfare of animals used in research, in particular when these animals develop pathology. The present study aims to identify the main sources of animal distress and to assess the possible implementation of refinement measures in experimental infection research, using mouse models of tuberculosis (TB) as a case study. This choice is based on the historical relevance of mouse studies in understanding the disease and the present and long-standing impact of TB on a global scale. Literature published between 1997 and 2009 was analysed, focusing on the welfare impact on the animals used and the implementation of refinement measures to reduce this impact. In this 12-year period, we observed a rise in reports of ethical approval of experiments. The proportion of studies classified into the most severe category did however not change significantly over the studied period. Information on important research parameters, such as method for euthanasia or sex of the animals, were absent in a substantial number of papers. Overall, this study shows that progress has been made in the application of humane endpoints in TB research, but that a considerable potential for improvement remains.Nuno H. Franco is funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (SFRH/BD/38337/2007). This work is funded by FEDER funds through the Operational Competitiveness Programme - COMPETE and by national funds through FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia under the project FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-022718 (PEst-C/SAU/LA0002/2011

Compact Electrostatic Coalescer Technology

The Encyclopedic Handbook of Emulsion Technology profiles experimental and traditional measurement techniques in a variety of emulsified systems, including rheology, nuclear magnetic resonance, dielectric spectroscopy, microcalorimetry, video-enhanced microscopy, and conductivity. The chapter of concern is on compact electrostatic coalescer (CEC) technology. In the offshore production of petroleum, technical problems are sometimes encountered with emulsions which are formed at different stages of the production and transportation processes. These have to be taken into consideration at an early stage of the planning and construction of a platform. Enough space must be reserved for emulsion destabilization equipment such as coalescers and separators. With effective methods of emulsion separation, based on reliable information about crude oil and its tendency to form emulsions, much of this space could be reserved for other more useful purposes. The stability of water-in-oil emulsions has been investigated thoroughly during the last 20 years, which has resulted in increased understanding of the underlying mechanisms. This information could be utilized in order to develop more efficient chemical demulsifiers and, as a result, improve the separation efficiency of platforms. Another way of improving separation efficiency is to establish more refined or new methods of physical separation. In this chapter, the electrostatic destabilization of water-in-oil emulsions under flowing conditions is investigated

Development of a New, Compact Electrostatic Coalescer Concept

The demand for more cost-effective field developments have led to a substantial focus on separation equipment that reduces weight and deck space. Of particular concern are field developments with subsea production templates and multiphase transportation to existing field installations. Additionally, environmental aspects concerning the use of large amounts of chemical demulsifiers are crucial these days. This paper presents a new compact electrostatic coalescer (CEC) that has the capability to reduce both weight and size, and to eliminate the use of chemical demulsifiers in some cases. The basic principle of performance of the laboratory version of the CEC is discussed with respect to emulsion properties, flow rate, applied voltage, and residence time in the electric field. Performance is quantified using both a laser particle and droplet size analyser and a Hamamatsu image analysis system. Some results from a prototype test on live crude are also given