Effectiviteit en welzijnsaspecten van kastvallen (verdrinkingsvallen) voor de bestrijding van schadelijke wilde knaagdieren

This report examines the effectiveness and animal welfare aspects of drowning traps for the control of harmful wild rodents, with special attention to the Ekomille or EKO1000 trap. The conclusion is that such systems can be effective in certain situations, but that the welfare impact of the Ekomille is estimated to be severe to extreme. This is because animals in the Ekomille drown consciously. When redesigning, manufacturers could pay attention to direct stunning of animals and/or shortening the time to loss of consciousness and/or death

Shape staggering of midshell mercury isotopes from in-source laser spectroscopy compared with density-functional-theory and Monte Carlo shell-model calculations

Neutron-deficient 177−185Hg isotopes were studied using in-source laser resonance-ionization spectroscopy at the CERN-ISOLDE radioactive ion-beam facility in an experiment combining different detection methods tailored to the studied isotopes. These include either α-decay tagging or multireflection time-of-flight gating for isotope identification. The endpoint of the odd-even nuclear shape staggering in mercury was observed directly by measuring for the first time the isotope shifts and hyperfine structures of 177−180Hg. Changes in the mean-square charge radii for all mentioned isotopes, magnetic dipole, and electric quadrupole moments of the odd-A isotopes and arguments in favor of I=7/2 spin assignment for 177,179Hg were deduced. Experimental results are compared with density functional theory (DFT) and Monte Carlo shell model (MCSM) calculations. DFT calculations using Skyrme parametrizations predict a jump in the charge radius around the neutron N=104 midshell, with an odd-even staggering pattern related to the coexistence of nearly degenerate oblate and prolate minima. This near-degeneracy is highly sensitive to many aspects of the effective interaction, a fact that renders perfect agreement with experiments out of reach for current functionals. Despite this inherent difficulty, the SLy5s1 and a modified UNEDF1SO parametrization predict a qualitatively correct staggering that is off by two neutron numbers. MCSM calculations of states with the experimental spins and parities show good agreement for both electromagnetic moments and the observed charge radii. A clear mechanism for the origin of shape staggering within this context is identified: a substantial change in occupancy of the proton πh9/2 and neutron νi13/2 orbitals

Effectiviteit en welzijnsaspecten van kastvallen (verdrinkingsvallen) voor de bestrijding van schadelijke wilde knaagdieren

This report examines the effectiveness and animal welfare aspects of drowning traps for the control of harmful wild rodents, with special attention to the Ekomille or EKO1000 trap. The conclusion is that such systems can be effective in certain situations, but that the welfare impact of the Ekomille is estimated to be severe to extreme. This is because animals in the Ekomille drown consciously. When redesigning, manufacturers could pay attention to direct stunning of animals and/or shortening the time to loss of consciousness and/or death

TRPV1 pain receptors regulate longevity and metabolism by neuropeptide signaling.

The sensation of pain is associated with increased mortality, but it is unknown whether pain perception can directly affect aging. We find that mice lacking TRPV1 pain receptors are long-lived, displaying a youthful metabolic profile at old age. Loss of TRPV1 inactivates a calcium-signaling cascade that ends in the nuclear exclusion of the CREB-regulated transcriptional coactivator CRTC1 within pain sensory neurons originating from the spinal cord. In long-lived TRPV1 knockout mice, CRTC1 nuclear exclusion decreases production of the neuropeptide CGRP from sensory endings innervating the pancreatic islets, subsequently promoting insulin secretion and metabolic health. In contrast, CGRP homeostasis is disrupted with age in wild-type mice, resulting in metabolic decline. We show that pharmacologic inactivation of CGRP receptors in old wild-type animals can restore metabolic health. These data suggest that ablation of select pain sensory receptors or the inhibition of CGRP are associated with increased metabolic health and control longevity

TRPV1 pain receptors regulate longevity and metabolism by neuropeptide signaling.

The sensation of pain is associated with increased mortality, but it is unknown whether pain perception can directly affect aging. We find that mice lacking TRPV1 pain receptors are long-lived, displaying a youthful metabolic profile at old age. Loss of TRPV1 inactivates a calcium-signaling cascade that ends in the nuclear exclusion of the CREB-regulated transcriptional coactivator CRTC1 within pain sensory neurons originating from the spinal cord. In long-lived TRPV1 knockout mice, CRTC1 nuclear exclusion decreases production of the neuropeptide CGRP from sensory endings innervating the pancreatic islets, subsequently promoting insulin secretion and metabolic health. In contrast, CGRP homeostasis is disrupted with age in wild-type mice, resulting in metabolic decline. We show that pharmacologic inactivation of CGRP receptors in old wild-type animals can restore metabolic health. These data suggest that ablation of select pain sensory receptors or the inhibition of CGRP are associated with increased metabolic health and control longevity

Effectiviteit en welzijnsaspecten van kastvallen (verdrinkingsvallen) voor de bestrijding van schadelijke wilde knaagdieren

This report examines the effectiveness and animal welfare aspects of drowning traps for the control of harmful wild rodents, with special attention to the Ekomille or EKO1000 trap. The conclusion is that such systems can be effective in certain situations, but that the welfare impact of the Ekomille is estimated to be severe to extreme. This is because animals in the Ekomille drown consciously. When redesigning, manufacturers could pay attention to direct stunning of animals and/or shortening the time to loss of consciousness and/or death

NLRX1 dampens oxidative stress and apoptosis in tissue injury via control of mitochondrial activity

Mitochondrial dysfunction is the most prominent source of oxidative stress in acute and chronic kidney disease. NLRX1 is a receptor of the innate immune system that is ubiquitously expressed and localized in mitochondria. We investigated whether NLRX1 may act at the interface of metabolism and innate immunity in a model of oxidative stress. Using a chimeric mouse model for renal ischemia-reperfusion injury, we found that NLRX1 protects against mortality, mitochondrial damage, and epithelial cell apoptosis in an oxidative stress-dependent fashion. We found that NLRX1 regulates oxidative phosphorylation and cell integrity, whereas loss of NLRX1 results in increased oxygen consumption, oxidative stress, and subsequently apoptosis in epithelial cells during ischemia-reperfusion injury. In line, we found that NLRX1 expression in human kidneys decreased during acute renal ischemic injury and acute cellular rejection. Although first implicated in immune regulation, we propose that NLRX1 function extends to the control of mitochondrial activity and prevention of oxidative stress and apoptosis in tissue injur

Evolution of fission-fragment mass distributions in the neutron-deficient lead region

Low-energy β-delayed fission of 194,196At and 200,202Fr was studied in detail at the mass separator ISOLDE at CERN. The fission-fragment mass distributions of daughter nuclei 194,196Po and 202Rn indicate a triple-humped structure, marking the transition between asymmetric fission of 178,180Hg and symmetric fission in the light Ra-Rn nuclei. Comparison with the macroscopic-microscopic finite-range liquid-drop model and the self-consistent approach employing the Gogny D1S energy density functional yields discrepancies. This demonstrates once more the need for dynamical fission calculations, because for both models the potential-energy surfaces lack pronounced structures, in contrast to those for the actinide region.status: publishe