1,721,249 research outputs found

    The challenges in establishing HEP in laboratory swine

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    The challenges in establishing HEP in laboratory swine Barone F1, Ventrella D1, Elmi A1, Bacci ML1 1 Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum UNIBO In 1998 from the International Conference on Humane Endpoints (HEP) in animal experiments for biomedical research emerged that HEPs are part of a dynamic process, influenced by scientific developments as well as by animal welfare concerns as they evolve with time. Nowadays there are several publications regarding criteria, definition and evaluation of HEPs, but mainly related to the most common laboratory animals such as mouse and rats (Aldred et al., 2002; Vlach et al., 2000). In the last years the role of swine as laboratory animal is increasing due to its translational value (Monticello and Haschek, 2016) and relatively lighter ethical implications when compared to the other large animal models. The need for a specific approach for each protocol, and the limited records available (Harvey-Clark et al., 2000; Malavasi et al., 2006), are probably two of the main reasons behind the lack of dedicated HEP guidelines for the laboratory swine. Despite the above-mentioned issues, the Directive 2010/63/EU requires specific HEPs for each submitted protocol, thus the need for more in-depth knowledge regarding pain assessment. A humane endpoint can be considered as a possible refinement alternative for those experiments that involve pain and discomfort to the animals leading to higher quality research without compromising welfare itself. The task of Veterinary Medicine is to find new biomarkers and behavioral patterns in order to provide researchers with accurate tools that allow for a better understanding of objective swine welfare in each experimental condition. Our aim, as veterinary physiologists, is to establish reliable guidelines for an early detection of para-physiological and pathological stress and pain patterns in the laboratory swine. In this abstract we will present our experience collected within the last 30 years regarding different experimental protocols with the swine as laboratory animal for xenotransplantation, endotoxic shock, gastrointestinal inflammation, inherited genetic disease, CNS and ocular disease. Aldred, A.J., Cha, M.C., Meckling-Gill, K.A., 2002. Determination of a humane endpoint in the L1210 model of murine leukemia. Contemp. Top. Lab. Anim. Sci. Am. Assoc. Lab. Anim. Sci. 41, 24–27. Harvey-Clark, C.J., Gilespie, K., Riggs, K.W., 2000. Transdermal fentanyl compared with parenteral buprenorphine in post-surgical pain in swine: a case study. Lab. Anim. 34, 386–398. Malavasi, L.M., Nyman, G., Augustsson, H., Jacobson, M., Jensen-Waern, M., 2006. Effects of epidural morphine and transdermal fentanyl analgesia on physiology and behaviour after abdominal surgery in pigs. Lab. Anim. 40, 16–27. doi:10.1258/002367706775404453 Monticello, T.M., Haschek, W.M., 2016. Swine in Translational Research and Drug Development. Toxicol. Pathol. 44, 297–298. doi:10.1177/0192623316630838 Vlach, K.D., Boles, J.W., Stiles, B.G., 2000. Telemetric evaluation of body temperature and physical activity as predictors of mortality in a murine model of staphylococcal enterotoxic shock. Comp. Med. 50, 160–166

    Non-clinical Models to Determine Drug Passage into Human Breast Milk

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    Successful practice of clinical perinatal pharmacology requires a thorough understanding of the pronounced physiological changes during lactation and how these changes affect various drug disposition processes. In addition, pharmacokinetic processes unique to lactation have remained understudied. Hence, determination of drug disposition mechanisms in lactating women and their babies remains a domain with important knowledge gaps. Indeed, lack of data regarding infant risk during breastfeeding far too often results in discontinuation of breastfeeding and subsequent loss of all the associated benefits to the breastfed infant. In the absence of age-specific toxicity data, human lactation data alone are considered insufficient to rapidly generate the required evidence regarding risks associated with medication use during lactation

    Validation of a Driverless Railway Vehicle Control Unit Algorithms Through Real-Time Vehicle Simulation

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    The use of Electronic Control Unit (ECU) in vehicle requires them to be widely tested before the first physical prototype is developed. This is even more important when the vehicle is unmanned because most critical tasks are demanded to the control unit without a human supervision. This paper presents a Hardware-in-the-loop (HiL) test bench used to validate the control algorithm of the Vehicle Control Unit (VCU) of a Driverless Railway Vehicle (DLRV). The VCU has the duty to control the traction motor and the pneumatic braking systems but has also to control the hybrid powertrain and its configuration. The test bench is then built in Simulink Real Time environment where the vehicle model is implemented. The model communicates with the VCU through CAN BUS communication as it will operate on the real vehicle

    X and Y chromosome-bearing spermatozoa are equally able to uptake and internalize exogenous DNA by sperm-mediated gene transfer in swine

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    Since proteomic differences between male X/Y chromosome-bearing gametes have recently been described, a question has been raised: could these differences be responsible for different behavior between X and Y chromosome-bearing spermatozoa during the binding and internalization of exogenous DNA in the swine species? In order to investigate this hypothesis, our group studied the process of the uptake and internalization of exogenous DNA in X and Y chromosome-bearing sperm sub-populations. No significant differences were found between sperm types in both the uptake and internalization of exogenous DNA. The quantity of internalized exogenous DNA was significantly lower than that of the uptaken DNA. In conclusion, our results showed that X and Y chromosomes-bearing spermatozoa have the same binding capacity and internalization of DNA, and the proteomic differences between them do not seem to interfere with these complex processe
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