Sound at the zoo: Using animal monitoring, sound measurement, and noise reduction in zoo animal management.

A clear need for evidence-based animal management in zoos and aquariums has been expressed by industry leaders. Here, we show how individual animal welfare monitoring can be combined with measurement of environmental conditions to inform science-based animal management decisions. Over the last several years, Disney's Animal Kingdom® has been undergoing significant construction and exhibit renovation, warranting institution-wide animal welfare monitoring. Animal care and science staff developed a model that tracked animal keepers' daily assessments of an animal's physical health, behavior, and responses to husbandry activity; these data were matched to different external stimuli and environmental conditions, including sound levels. A case study of a female giant anteater and her environment is presented to illustrate how this process worked. Associated with this case, several sound-reducing barriers were tested for efficacy in mitigating sound. Integrating daily animal welfare assessment with environmental monitoring can lead to a better understanding of animals and their sensory environment and positively impact animal welfare.

Effects of guest feeding programs on captive giraffe behavior.

Zoological institutions develop human-animal interaction opportunities for visitors to advance missions of conservation, education, and recreation; however, the animal welfare implications largely have yet to be evaluated. This behavioral study was the first to quantify impacts of guest feeding programs on captive giraffe behavior and welfare, by documenting giraffe time budgets that included both normal and stereotypic behaviors. Thirty giraffes from nine zoos (six zoos with varying guest feeding programs and three without) were observed using both instantaneous scan sampling and continuous behavioral sampling techniques. All data were collected during summer 2012 and analyzed using linear mixed models. The degree of individual giraffe participation in guest feeding programs was positively associated with increased time spent idle and marginally associated with reduced time spent ruminating. Time spent participating in guest feeding programs had no effect on performance of stereotypic behaviors. When time spent eating routine diets was combined with time spent participating in guest feeding programs, individuals that spent more time engaged in total feeding behaviors tended to perform less oral stereotypic behavior such as object-licking and tongue-rolling. By extending foraging time and complexity, guest feeding programs have the potential to act as environmental enrichment and alleviate unfulfilled foraging motivations that may underlie oral stereotypic behaviors observed in many captive giraffes. However, management strategies may need to be adjusted to mitigate idleness and other program consequences. Further studies, especially pre-and-post-program implementation comparisons, are needed to better understand the influence of human-animal interactions on zoo animal behavior and welfare.

Spatial location of indomethacin associated with unimeric amphiphilic carrier macromolecules as determined by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

A combination of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques including, proton NMR, relaxation analysis, two-dimensional nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy, and diffusion-ordered spectroscopy, has been used to demonstrate the spatial location of indomethacin within a unimolecular micelle. Understanding the location of drugs within carrier molecules using such NMR techniques can facilitate rational carrier design. In addition, this information provides insight to encapsulation efficiency of different drugs to determine the most efficient system for a particular bioactive. This study demonstrates that drugs loaded by the unimolecular amphiphile under investigation are not necessarily encapsulated but reside or localize to the periphery or interfacial region of the carrier molecule. The results have further implications as to the features of the unimolecular carrier that contribute to drug loading. In addition, evidence of drug retention associated with the unimolecular surfactant is possible in organic media, as well as in an aqueous environment. Such findings have implications for rational carrier design to correlate the carrier features to the drug of interest and indicate the strong retention capabilities of the unimolecular micelle for delivery applications. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Development of a low-density-solvent dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction with gas chromatography and mass spectrometry method for the quantitation of tetrabromobisphenol-A from dust.

The development of an alternative dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction protocol utilizing a low-density extraction solvent, toluene, is described here for the extraction of the brominated flame retardant, tetrabromobisphenol-A, from dust prior to selected ion monitoring analysis by gas chromatography with mass spectrometry. Method parameters of dispersive solvent type and extraction solvent type were optimized. Excellent recovery (88.9%; n = 5 spike replicates) with good precision was achieved in a spike and recovery study. This developed method was utilized to survey tetrabromobisphenol-A concentrations in dust sampled from a local electronics recycling facility from the ambient environment and 20 computer towers undergoing recycling. Concentrations of tetrabromobisphenol-A from dust in computer towers ranged from not detected (n = 2) up to 64 µg/g with a mean value of 11 µg/g and median of 4.1 µg/g tetrabromobisphenol-A. A composite sample of dust collected from the ambient indoor environment was analyzed with a resulting concentration of 36 µg/g. This is the first application of this novel green method for pre-concentrating flame retardants from dust and the first report of tetrabromobisphenol-A concentrations at a U.S.-based electronics recycling facility.

Preparing emergency physicians for malpractice litigation: a joint emergency medicine residency-law school mock trial competition.

BACKGROUND: Fear of malpractice affects the daily life of many emergency physicians. Educational programs to prepare for litigation are lacking. OBJECTIVES: An educational collaboration between an emergency medicine residency and a law school, whereby a medical malpractice mock trial competition is used to teach residents basic skills for testifying in legal proceedings. METHODS: Ten residents in an academic emergency medicine program volunteered as witnesses in a malpractice mock trial competition at a law school. Residents testified two or three times and, after each appearance, were provided feedback to prepare them for subsequent rounds of testimony. They were also given access to videotaped testimony. Judges rated each resident using a nine-question survey scored on a 10-point Likert scale. Scores were compared as a group between rounds of testimony. RESULTS: Participants demonstrated significant improvement in seven of nine measured categories. p-Values reached significance in: Worked Well on Direct Examination (p < 0.001), Demeanor/Body Language (p < 0.001), Was Not Arrogant/Did Not Lose Poise on Cross-Examination (p = 0.001), Convincing Witness (p = 0.001), Appeared Knowledgeable (p = 0.012), Courtroom Attire (p = 0.012), and Expressed Themselves Clearly (p = 0.017). In addition, residents anonymously reported broad educational benefit. CONCLUSION: This novel educational collaboration taught residents about the process of litigation. It improved their communication skills and expanded their knowledge of documentation pitfalls, problems with staff interaction, and consequences of medical errors. This mutually beneficial partnership between a medical residency and a law school solidified it as a permanent feature of the residency program.

Micellar nanocarriers assembled from doxorubicin-conjugated amphiphilic macromolecules (DOX-AM).

Amphiphilic macromolecules (AMs) have unique branched hydrophobic domains attached to linear PEG chains. AMs self-assemble in aqueous solution to form micelles that are hydrolytically stable in physiological conditions (37 degrees C, pH 7.4) over 4 weeks. Evidence of AM biodegradability was demonstrated by complete AM degradation after 6 d in the presence of lipase. Doxorubicin (DOX) was chemically conjugated to AMs via a hydrazone linker to form DOX-AM conjugates that self-assembled into micelles in aqueous solution. The conjugates were compared with DOX-loaded AM micelles (i.e., physically loaded DOX) on DOX content, micellar sizes and in vitro cytotoxicity. Physically encapsulated DOX loading was higher (12 wt.-%) than chemically bound DOX (6 wt.-%), and micellar sizes of DOX-loaded AMs (approximately 16 nm) were smaller than DOX-AMs (approximately 30 nm). In vitro DOX release from DOX-AM conjugates was faster at pH 5.0 (100%) compared to pH 7.4 (78%) after 48 h, 37 degrees C. Compared to free DOX and physically encapsulated DOX, chemically bound DOX had significantly higher cytotoxicity at 10(-7) M DOX dose against human hepatocellular carcinoma cells after 72 h. Overall, DOX-AM micelles showed promising characteristics as stable, biodegradable DOX nanocarriers.