Skin Cortisol and Acoustic Activity: Potential Tools to Evaluate Stress and Welfare in Captive Cetaceans
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As people's focus broadens from animals on farms to zoos and aquaria, the field of welfare science and the public's concern for animal welfare continue to grow. In captive animals, stress and its causes are topics of interest in welfare issues, and the identification of an objective method that can be used to assess animals' stress as a physiological state is essential. Both behavioral and physiological parameters can be used as indicators in order to assess animal stress quantitatively. To validate this approach, acoustic activity and the sloughed scrape skin cortisol concentration were used to evaluate the animal welfare of captive beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas). The acoustic activity (5 min at 10:00 am) of three captive D. leucas was routinely recorded by a transducer and analyzed using audio editing software. The calls were separated into three main categories: whistles, pulses, and combo calls. The sloughed scrape skin samples were collected non-invasively once a week from all three animals' fluke and/or flipper. Cortisol was extracted using a modified skin steroid extraction technique, and detected via commercially available enzyme immunoassays. The results showed that the cortisol concentration increased by varying levels when the whales encountered the same event. In addition, the number and distribution of the calls changed along with the events. This indicated that the changes in the cortisol concentration and acoustic behavior may have reflected the fluctuations in the environment and body condition. Therefore, the scrape cortisol measurement and acoustic recordings could be used to monitor stress levels in captive beluga whales. We recommend that aquaria consider incorporating skin scrape cortisol and acoustic activity monitoring into their standards for animal welfare.Infectivity
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The ability of animal shelter employees to identify poor welfare states in kenneled dogs is crucial for the mitigation of suffering. Animal shelter employees (n = 28), animal behavior professional (n = 49), and the general public (n = 41) watched 10 videos of kenneled dogs then rated the welfare of the dogs, stated the rationale for their score, indicated how they would improve the welfare, and rated the feasibility of improvements. Professionals gave slightly lower (poorer) welfare scores compared to the public (z = -1.998, p = 0.046). Shelter employees (z = -5.976, p < 0.001) and professionals (z = 9.047, p < 0.001) used body language and behavior to explain their welfare scores more than the public. All three populations mentioned the addition of enrichment to improve the welfare, however, shelter employees (z = -5.748, p < 0.001) and professionals (z = 6.046, p < 0.001) mentioned it significantly more. There were no significant differences in the perceived feasibility of changes. Future research should explore possible reasons for the lack of welfare improvements within animal shelters.
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In a soil bioassay, adult Deroceras reticulatum (Stylommatophora: Limacidae) and three different weight-classes of young Arion lusitanicus (Stylommatophora: Arionidae) were exposed to a single dosage (170 dauer larvae per g of soil) of the nematode Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita monoxenically associated with the bacterium Moraxella osloensis. Groups of 10 slugs were continuously exposed to nematodes for 4 days, and then transferred individually to Petri-dishes containing a disc of Chinese cabbage as food. Food consumption—measured by image analysis—and slug mortality were recorded daily for 10 days. Food consumption was inhibited in both slug species tested. D. reticulatum stopped feeding 6 days after the start of nematode treatment, while all A. lusitanicus continued to feed. However, in the three weight-classes of A. lusitanicus (0.15 g, 0.24 g, 0.45 g), food consumption was reduced by at least 50 %. The greatest reduction in feeding, nearly 90 %, was noted in the smallest A. lusitanicus. The nematodes successfully killed D. reticulatum but were less efficient at killing young A. lusitanicus. At the end of the experiment, mortality was highest in D. reticultatum (98 %) and the smallest weight-class of A. lusitanicus (47 %). There was almost no mortality in the largest weight-class of A. lusitanicus treated with nematodes. P. hermaphrodita associated with M. osloensis can thus be considered as a biological control agent for young stages of A. lusitanicus for its effect as a feeding inhibitor, rather than for its ability to kill the slugs.
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Abstract Despite increased concerns about dairy cattle welfare, there is a paucity of knowledge regarding their welfare and the attitudes of farmers and veterinarians in the Western Balkan region. This is the first on-farm study to address dairy cattle welfare and the attitudes of farmers and veterinarians towards animal welfare in Kosovo. Thirty tie-stall dairy farms across seven Kosovo regions were assessed twice with an interval of 10 to 12 months. During the first visit, the Welfare Quality ® assessment protocol was applied, whilst the second visit focused on clinical animal-based indicators and interviews with the farmers regarding intervention thresholds for a number of welfare indicators. Additionally, such thresholds were obtained from 15 veterinarians via an online questionnaire. The main areas of concern that were highlighted relate to comfort around resting (soiling of animals, restriction of lying down movements) and injuries, including lameness. Farmers and veterinarians agreed on the intervention thresholds for the majority of the indicators (eg animals with dirty udders, animals with lesions/swellings) but differences were found for important health and welfare issues (eg farmers suggesting a higher threshold for lameness compared to veterinarians). Compared to the on-farm prevalences, both farmers and veterinarians suggested lower intervention levels for welfare issues indicating an awareness of problems. In conclusion, investments into close co-operation between farmers, veterinarians and other advisors regarding awareness-building and inducing changes in daily management routines are considered necessary to improve dairy cow welfare.
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In response to DNA damage, p53 undergoes post-translational modifications (including acetylation) that are critical for its transcriptional activity. However, the mechanism by which p53 acetylation is regulated is still unclear. Here, we describe an essential role for HLA-B-associated transcript 3 (Bat3)/Scythe in controlling the acetylation of p53 required for DNA damage responses. Depletion of Bat3 from human and mouse cells markedly impairs p53-mediated transactivation of its target genes Puma and p21 . Although DNA damage-induced phosphorylation, stabilization, and nuclear accumulation of p53 are not significantly affected by Bat3 depletion, p53 acetylation is almost completely abolished. Bat3 forms a complex with p300, and an increased amount of Bat3 enhances the recruitment of p53 to p300 and facilitates subsequent p53 acetylation. In contrast, Bat3-depleted cells show reduced p53–p300 complex formation and decreased p53 acetylation. Furthermore, consistent with our in vitro findings, thymocytes from Bat3-deficient mice exhibit reduced induction of puma and p21, and are resistant to DNA damage-induced apoptosis in vivo. Our data indicate that Bat3 is a novel and essential regulator of p53-mediated responses to genotoxic stress, and that Bat3 controls DNA damage-induced acetylation of p53.
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SUMMARY A hitherto unrecorded virus having flexible rod‐shaped particles about 740–760 × 13 nm was isolated from Anthoxanthum odoratwn L. It was transmitted by sap inoculation, but not by several species of insect, seed or soil to 18 species of Gramineae including wheat, oats and barley. In susceptible species the virus normally produced a mosaic mottling of the leaves which was sometimes followed by a necrotic streaking or striping.
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HLA-B-associated transcript 3 (BAT3) was originally identified as one of the genes located within human major histocompatibility complex. It encodes a large proline-rich protein with unknown function. In this study, we found that a fragment of the BAT3 gene product interacts with a candidate tumor suppressor, DAN, in the yeast-based two-hybrid system. We cloned the full-length rat BAT3 cDNA from a fibroblast 3Y1 cDNA library. Our sequence analysis has demonstrated that rat BAT3 cDNA is 3617 nucleotides in length and encodes a full-length BAT3 (1098 amino acids) with an estimated molecular mass of 114,801 daltons, which displays an 87.4% identity with human BAT3. The deletion experiment revealed that the N-terminal region (amino acid residues 1-80) of DAN was required for the interaction with BAT3. Green fluorescent protein-tagged BAT3 was largely localized in the cytoplasm of COS cells. Northern hybridization showed that BAT3 mRNA was expressed in all the adult rat tissues examined but predominantly in testis. In addition, the level of BAT3 mRNA expression was more downregulated in some of the transformed cells, including v-mos- and v-Ha-ras-transformed 3Y1 cells, than in the parental cells.
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