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Biodiversity is vital to the welfare and survival of humans, but public support for conservation of most animal species is appallingly limited. Vertebrates make up less than 5% of the world’s docum...

The toxic effects of Bisphenol A (BPA) have been studied in individual experimental animals under different conditions. However, without a systematic approach, it is difficult to compare and analyse the results because of differences in doses (concentration), dosing periods (exposure), research methods, and the effects of BPA. We systematically compared and analysed recent research (between 2015 and 2021) that examined the effects of BPA on individual experimental vertebrates (fishes, amphibians, birds, and mammals). We divided the experiments into two categories: experiments on fish and amphibians by indirect administration, and experiments on birds and mammals by direct administration. The deleterious effects of exposure to BPA were classified into two types: morphological and anatomical effects, and physiological and neurocognitive effects. Experimental animals that had less weight, were younger, and were farther away from humans in evolutionary relationships, showed toxic effects even if they were exposed to low concentrations of BPA in the short term. Long-term administration of a small amount of BPA and short-term administration of a large amount of BPA also showed severe toxic effects. When the parents absorbed BPA during puberty, just before fertilisation, or during pregnancy, toxic effects were transmitted from dosed parents to offspring. With increasing amounts of BPA production and waste, there is a growing possibility that animals in various ecosystems will be exposed to BPA. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the harmful effects of BPA on various animals and the conditions under which it affects them. We hope that the results reported here will contribute to the development of standardized study designs for BPA research, to ensure that results can be more readily compared.

Introduction. The profession of firefighters belongs to extreme activities. Fire hazards include flames, sparks, heat flow, elevated ambient temperatures, increased concentrations of toxic combustion and thermal decomposition products, decreased oxygen concentrations, and reduced visibility in smoke. High air temperature during fire extinguishing is one of the main adverse physical factors affecting firefighters’ bodies. Material and methods. The study was carried out on 124 outbred white male 3-month rats weighing 250-300 g, divided randomly into two groups: the first group (62 rats) underwent single hyperthermia. The second group (62 rats) experienced daily hyperthermia for 14 days. The study of the behavioural activity of animals was carried out after single and prolonged hyperthermia using the following methods: “Open field”, “Elevated cruciform maze”, Porsolt’s test, running on a treadmill. The tests were performed two times: the first time - before exposure, the second - after, with intervals between tests of at least two weeks. Results. The data obtained indicate that the high ambient temperature causes changes in the behavioural responses in animals, which is expressed by an increase in the level of anxiety, a decrease in motor and research activity, the development of depressive states, and a decrease in physical endurance. Conclusion. An experimental model of extreme heat exposure on animals showed the emergence and persistence of changes in animals’ behavioural activity and physical performance indicators. This experiment can be used to study the long-term effects of high temperatures on firefighters’ bodies. Contribution: Kriyt V.E. — the concept and design of the study, collection and processing of material, statistical processing, writing a text; Sladkova Yu.N. — collection and processing of material, writing a text; Sannikov M.V. — editing; Pyatibrat A.O. — collection and processing of material, statistical processing. All authors are responsible for the integrity of all parts of the manuscript and approval of the manuscript final version. Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest. Acknowledgement. The study had no sponsorship. The conclusion of the biomedical ethics committee: the study was approved by the local ethics committee of the North-West Public Health Research Center, Federal Service on Customers’ Rights Protection and Human Well-being Surveillance (Rospotrebnadzor), carried out under the European Convention for the Protection of Vertebrate Animals used for Experimental or Other Scientific Purposes (ETS N 123), the directive of the European Parliament and Council of the European Union 2010/63/EU of 22.09.2010 on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes.

Background Small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) are replacing or supplementing manned aircraft and ground-based surveys in many animal monitoring situations due to better coverage at finer spatial and temporal resolutions, access, cost, bias, impacts, safety, efficiency, and logistical benefits. Various sUAS models and sensors are available with varying features and usefulness depending on survey goals. However, justification for selection of sUAS and sensors are not typically offered in published literature and existing reviews do not adequately cover past and current sUAS applications for animal monitoring nor their associated sUAS model and sensor technologies, taxonomic and geographic scope, flight conditions and considerations, spatial distributions of sUAS applications, and reported technical difficulties. We outline a systematic map protocol to collect and consolidate evidence pertaining to sUAS monitoring of animals. Our systematic map will provide a useful synthesis of current applications of sUAS-animal related studies and identify major knowledge clusters (well-represented subtopics that are amenable to full synthesis by a systematic review) and gaps (unreported or underrepresented topics that warrant additional primary research) that may influence future research directions and sUAS applications. Methods Our systematic map will investigate the current state of knowledge using an accurate, comprehensive, and repeatable search. We will find relevant peer-reviewed and grey literature as well as dissertations and theses using online publication databases, Google Scholar, and by request through a professional network of collaborators and publicly available websites. We will use a tiered approach to article exclusion with eligible studies being those that monitor (i.e., identify, count, estimate, etc.) terrestrial vertebrate animals. Extracted data concerning sUAS, sensors, animals, methodology, and results will be recorded in Microsoft Access. We will query and catalogue evidence in the final database to produce tables, figures, and geographic maps to accompany a full narrative review that answers our primary and secondary questions.

Organismal miniaturization is defined by a reduction in body size relative to a large ancestor. In vertebrate animals, miniaturization is achieved by suppressing the energetics of growth. However, this might interfere with reproductive strategies in egg-laying species with limited energy budgets for embryo growth and differentiation. In general, the extent to which miniaturization coincides with alterations in animal development remains obscure. To address the interplay among body size, life history, and ontogeny, miniaturization in chelydroid turtles was examined. The analyses corroborated that miniaturization in the Chelydroidea clade is underlain by a dampening of the ancestral growth trajectory. There were no associated shifts in the early sequence of developmental transformations, though the relative duration of organogenesis was shortened in miniaturized embryos. The size of eggs, hatchlings, and adults was positively correlated within Chelydroidea. A phylogenetically broader exploration revealed an alternative miniaturization mode wherein exceptionally large hatchlings grow minimally and thus attain diminutive adult sizes. Lastly, it is shown that miniaturized Chelydroidea turtles undergo accelerated ossification coupled with a ~10% reduction in shell bones. As in other vertebrates, the effects of miniaturization were not systemic, possibly owing to opposing functional demands and tissue geometric constraints. This underscores the integrated and hierarchical nature of developmental systems.

Pankiv M. V., Paltov Ye. V., Masna Z. Z. Structural components of the normal thoracic and lumbar vertebrae in rats. Journal of Education, Health and Sport. 2021;11(1):163-169. eISSN 2391-8306. DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.12775/JEHS.2021.11.1.016 https://apcz.umk.pl/czasopisma/index.php/JEHS/article/view/JEHS.2021.11.1.016 https://zenodo.org/record/4476516 The journal has had 5 points in Ministry of Science and Higher Education parametric evaluation. § 8. 2) and § 12. 1. 2) 22.02.2019. © The Authors 2021; This article is published with open access at Licensee Open Journal Systems of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Poland Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author (s) and source are credited. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non commercial license Share alike. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) which permits unrestricted, non commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited. The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper. Received: 25.12.2020. Revised: 14.12.2020. Accepted: 28.01.2021. UDK: 611.711/.712.018.3.019 Structural components of the normal thoracic and lumbar vertebrae in rats M. V. Pankiv, Ye. V. Paltov, Z. Z. Masna Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University, Lviv, Ukraine M. V. Pankiv, PhD-student at the Department of Normal Anatomy, Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University, Lviv, Ukraine, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3714-2577 Ye. V. Paltov, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Head of the Laboratory of Electron Microscopy, Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University, Lviv, Ukraine, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2622-4753 Z. Z. Masna, MD, Professor, Head of the Department of Operative Surgery and Topographical Anatomy, Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University, Lviv, Ukraine, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2057-7061 Abstract The relevance of this topic is determined by the fact that laboratory animals are widely used in experimental morphology. The most widely used ones are rats [1 - 7]. There are a number of studies in which the authors cover in detail the normal morphological state of various organs of rats and its changes under experimentally simulated pathological conditions [8 - 12]. The available studies on the rats’ musculoskeletal system and spine highlight this topic insufficiently. Aim. We aimed to study the structure of the normal thoracic and lumbar vertebrae in the rats. Materials and methods of research. The objects of our study were 15 sexually mature outbred male rats, weight 80 g, age 4,5 months. All animals were kept in a vivarium. Keeping, care, labeling, and all other manipulations were carried out in accordance with with ‘the European Convention for the Protection of Vertebrate Animals Used for Experimental and Other Scientific Purposes’ [Strasbourg, 1985], ‘Ethical principles of animal experiments’, approved by the First National Congress on Bioethics [Kyiv, 2001], Law of Ukraine № 3447 - IV ‘On protection of animals from cruel treatment’. The study was approved by the Commission on Bioethics of Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University which declared that the study met the ethical requirements according to the order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine № 231 of November 1, 2000 (protocol № 10 of December 26, 2011), (protocol №2 of February 20, 2012 year). Before sampling, the animals were sedated with dibutyl ether. Skeletalized rat bones were used as material for the macroanatomical study of the structural components of the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae. The spines were dissected after euthanasia, and then the vertebrae of the thoracic and lumbar spine were boiled for four hours, followed by careful separation of the remained soft tissues. The obtained bones were treated with a solution of hydrogen peroxide with the following photography in different projections in order to identify all anatomical structures involved in the formation of thoracic and lumbar vertebrae. Photography was made using a digital camera Nikon D 3100. Results. The study of 15 spinal column preparations of white, outbred male rats weighing 80 g, aged 4.5 months made by the use of a set of morphological methods revealed a lot of aspects of the normal structural components of the vertebrae of the lower thoracic and lumbar spine of rats. The spinal column of the rat consists of a set of vertebrae that form its divisions. There are 57 vertebrae in the rat spine. The cervical division is represented by 7 vertebrae, thoracic - 13, lumbar - 6, sacral - 4 and caudal - 27 vertebrae. Conclusions: As a result of our study, we identified the morphology of normal vertebrae of the thoracic and lumbar spine in rats. We studied a set of morphological components of the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae of the normal spinal column in rats. Keywords: morphology; thoracic and lumbar spine; normal state; rat.

Topicality. Along with the pronounced pharmacological effectiveness, high requirements for the safety are applied to new medicines. To obtain the necessary information regarding the safety of a potential drug and predict the risk of further side effects, a preclinical study of possible toxic effects, primarily acute toxicity, is performed.Aim. To study the acute toxicity of a new pharmaceutical composition for the correction of placental dysfunction in pregnant women.Materials and methods. The study object was the pharmaceutical composition in the form of solid gelatinous capsules containing active pharmaceutical ingredients from basic therapeutic group of drugs used for fetoplacental dysfunction in pregnant women. The acute toxicity was determined according to the methodological guidelines “Preclinical studies of drugs” edited by A. Stefanov, in outbreed female rats weighing 200-250 g in compliance with the “European Convention for the Protection of Vertebrate Animals used for Experimental and other Scientific Purposes” (Strasburg, 1985).Results and discussion. The study of the pharmaceutical safety has been performed by the acute toxicity criterion under the condition of short-term influence of a new pharmaceutical composition combining the required pharmaceutical ingredients in well-balanced doses affecting different chains of pathogenesis of placental dysfunction. Under the condition of the acute experiment a new combined composition (intraperitoneal introduction in the dose of 5000 mg/kg of the body weight) does not cause changes in the rat’s organism. It has been determined that this pharmaceutical composition belongs to practically nontoxic substances – Toxicity Class V according to the generally accepted classification system.Conclusions. The data for the preclinical safety assessment of a new combined composition for the correction of placental dysfunction in pregnant women have been obtained.

A promising area of further research is the use of a combination of components of tissue growth factors in combination with low-intensity electromagnetic effects of light radiation. Objective. Investigation of various methods of influence on the healing of sutures of the small intestinal anastomosis in conditions of peritonitis. Materials and methods. The experiment was conducted on 20 white Wistar male rats weighing 180-250 g, the content, care and methods of experimental work with which corresponded to the observance of the International Principles of the European Convention on the Protection of Vertebrate Animals (Strasbourg, 1985) Results. The research work reflects the results of an experimental study, the purpose of which was to develop a method of sealing the small intestinal anastomosis under peritonitis. The experiment was performed on 20 white Wistar male rats weighing about 250 grams. The possibilities of using physical (light of a certain wavelength) and biological (tissue growth factors) methods in the prevention and treatment of acute inflammatory reactions and stimulation of reparative processes are shown. It is noted that a promising direction for further research on methods for the prevention of insolvency of small bowel anastomoses is the use of electromagnetic effects of low intensity of the light spectrum in combination with the application of tissue growth factors. Conclusion. A promising direction for further research is the use of a combination of sealing lines with the application of components of tissue growth factors in combination with a low-intensity electromagnetic effect of light radiation.

Detection and classification of animals is a major challenge that is facing the researchers. There are five classes of vertebrate animals, namely the Mammals, Amphibians, Reptiles, Birds, and Fish, and each type includes many thousands of different animals. In this paper, we propose a new model based on the training of deep convolutional neural networks (CNN) to detect and classify two classes of vertebrate animals (Mammals and Reptiles). Deep CNNs are the state of the art in image recognition and are known for their high learning capacity, accuracy, and robustness to typical object recognition challenges. The dataset of this system contains 6000 images, including 4800 images for training. The proposed algorithm was tested by using 1200 images. The accuracy of the system’s prediction for the target object was 97.5%.

Summary Amitraz is an insecticide of the formamidine pesticides family, used in veterinary medicine for the treatment of ectoparasites of certain animals. It inhibits monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity, but above all has alpha-2-adrenergic properties in mammals. Very few cases in men have been reported whose circumstances may be accidental or voluntary. Evolution can be fatal if management is delayed. The toxicological screening using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) returned positive to amitraz in the biological matrices. The care in the intensive care unit has consisted in treatment disinfector skin, gastric, and symptomatic in the absence of a specific antidote treatment. Although rare, poisoning with amitraz can be serious. It must be diagnosed and treated early to ensure life-threatening conditions. We report two cases of amitraz poisoning. The main objective is to describe the clinical signs of acute poisoning caused by this uncommon pesticide and to prevent its abuse for the maintenance of hives instead of its usual use as veterinary antiparasitic drugs in vertebrate animals.

The highway infrastructures are a source of multiple environmental problems; one of the worst effects on wildlife is roadkill. Most of the research on roadkill has focused on how certain aspects, such as seasons, traffic density, and location of roadways, among others affect wildlife mortality on roads. However, little attention has been paid to understanding how the geometric design of roads affects wildlife mortality. On a highway in the Central Andes of Colombia, we investigated if the geometric design, specifically horizontal alignment and vertical curves of the road, influence the mortality of vertebrate animals on roadways. We determined the number of the straight lines, circular, transition curves, and vertical convex curves along the entire route of the highway (13.9 km), and from April 2018 to December 2019, we made 336 surveys in search of wildlife roadkill. We then investigated the relation of animal deaths to different road shapes. Out of 95 roadkill, reptile deaths made up 47% of the total. We found no dependence on the distribution of deaths by class of animals on the road shape; the shape in which most deaths occurred was a straight line (58 deaths). However, when the proportion of mortality events per meter was analysed on the shape units on the road, we found that circular and transition curves presented two and three times (respectively) a higher proportion of mortality events per meter than the straight lines. Roadkill hotspots were found in curved segments and were not associated only with riparian forest. The curved sections present more dangerous geometric designs than the straight lines for wildlife, regardless of their length on the road. Our research indicates that the relationship of the geometric design of roads needs to be considered in the development of management and conservation plans of altered ecosystems with the road infrastructure.

Nasilający się przez kilkadziesiąt ostatnich lat wpływ człowieka na Ziemię prowadzi do degradacji środowiska. Okres ten nazwano zatem Antropocenem. Głównymi czynnikami sprawczymi tej degradacji jest liczebny wzrost populacji ludzkiej i potrzeba zaspokajania jej wymagań. Prowadzą one do niedoborów energii i pożywienia, którym przeciwdziałać mogą nowe, odnawialne źródła energii (wiatr, promieniowanie słoneczne, woda geotermalna, biomasa i rozszczepianie atomu) oraz pożywienie w postaci owadów. Owady są nie tylko cennym źródłem białka, lecz także, w farmakologii związanej z odżywianiem, źródłem chityny oraz jej deacetylenowej pochodnej, chitosanu, które wchłaniają w przewodzie pokarmowym człowieka 12 razy więcej tłuszczu niż same ważą. Poza tym związki te regulują zawartość cholesterolu LDL we krwi oraz mogą działać podobnie do błonnika zawartego w innych pokarmach. Owady wymagają o wiele mniej pokarmu i wody do budowy ciała niż zwierzęta kręgowe i rośliny. Opory wielu europejskich narodów przy spożywaniu owadów są mniejsze, gdy pokarm z tych zwierząt jest wysoko przetworzony.

The Cuvieri Cave is a palaeontological site located in the Lagoa Santa Karst, known for its large number of caves containing bones preserved from recent and extinct vertebrate animals. These caves ...

Coronaviruses (CoVs) are a viruses group that co-infects humans and other vertebrate animals. CoV infections affect the respiratory, gastrointestinal, liver, and central nervous systems of humans, livestock, birds, bats, mice, and many other wild animals [Wang, et.al, 2006, Ge]. The source of unexplained pneumonia was first discovered in Wuhan in Dec, 2019, and SARS-CoV-2, a new coronavirus, was isolated from the respiratory epithelium of patients. It belongs to a new evolutionary branch within the CoV. On Feb. 11th, 2020, the new coronavirus was officially renamed “SARS-CoV-2” from “2019-nCoV” [Gorbalenya et.al,2020]. The disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 was called “coronavirus disease 2019” (COVID-19) [Who 2020].

Introduction. Special attention has been recently paid to photosensitizers that absorb and fluoresce in the near infrared region of the spectrum. One of the most promising photosensitizers is bacteriosens, a synthetic bacteriochlorin derivative. Objective. To conduct a preclinical study of the biodistribution and pharmacokinetics of bacteriosens in animals.Materials and methods. The active ingredient of bacteriosens is (meso-tetra(3-pyridyl)bacteriochlorin) with of λmax 747 nm). The biodistribution and pharmacokinetics of the agent were studied in mice and rabbits. It was administered intravenously once at three doses: 1.0; 2.5 and 6.25 mg/kg for the mice and 0.236; 0.59 and 1.475 mg/kg for the rabbits. Local fluorescence spectroscopy was used for the quantitative determination of the pharmacokinetic parameters of bacteriosens.Results. Bacteriosens was removed quickly from the mouse bloodstream at 1 and 4 days after using minimal (1.0 mg/kg) and maximal (6.25 mg/kg) doses, respectively. When given at doses of 6.25 mg/kg and 1.0 mg/kg, bacteriosens was recorded in the skin, muscle, and spleen for 4 days and 24 h, respectively. The agent most intensively accumulated and long persisted in the omentum, liver, and kidneys for more than 6 days (6.25 mg/kg) and 2 days (1.0 mg/kg). A similar pattern was observed in the rabbits. Bacteriosens was rapidly removed from the rabbit bloodstream at 1 and 3 days after using at doses of 0.236 and 1.475 mg/kg, respectively. The agent was recorded in the skin, muscle, and spleen up to 4 days (1.475 mg/kg) and 3 days (0.236 mg/kg). It most intensively accumulated and long persisted in the omentum, liver, and kidneys for more than 6 days (1.475 mg/kg) and 4 days (0.236 mg/kg).Conclusion. Bacteriosens was removed from the animal bloodstream within 3–4 days after administration of the maximum dose that was 2.5 times higher than therapeutic one. The half-life of bacteriosens for mice was directly proportional to the dose and increased from 8 to 24 min; the half-life for rabbits was 20 min, irrespective of the dose. The drug was recorded in the skin for no more than 4 days. The main routes of bacteriosens elimination from the body of animals were the kidneys and liver.The study was performed in accordance with ethical principles adopted by the European Convention for the protection of vertebrate animals used for experimental and other scientific purposes.

Non-vertebrate species represent about ~95% of known metazoan (animal) diversity. They remain to this day relatively unexplored genetically, but understanding their genome structure and function is pivotal for expanding our current knowledge of evolution, ecology and biodiversity. Following the continuous improvements and decreasing costs of sequencing technologies, many genome assembly tools have been released, leading to a significant amount of genome projects being completed in recent years. In this review, we examine the current state of genome projects of non-vertebrate animal species. We present an overview of available sequencing technologies, assembly approaches, as well as pre and post-processing steps, genome assembly evaluation methods, and their application to non-vertebrate animal genomes.

Leptospirosis is a disease that disproportionately affects impoverished urban communities, but is likely to become more prevalent as changing climate alters flooding regimes. The persistence and transmission of the Leptospira pathogen is reliant on small vertebrate animals, predominantly rodents. In this issue of Molecular Ecology, Peterson et al. demonstrate how changes in rodent diversity and abundances across the complex mosaic of abandonment and recovery investment in post-Katrina New Orleans can predict zoonotic infection prevalence. Understanding the ecological conditions that support persistence and transmission of zoonotic pathogens in urban ecosystems, where they are most likely to affect humans, is critical to effective monitoring and prevention.

In line with the Latin expression “sed parva forti” meaning “small but mighty,” the family Parvoviridae contains many of the smallest known viruses, some of which result in fatal or debilitating infections. In recent years, advances in metagenomic viral discovery techniques have dramatically increased the identification of novel parvoviruses in both diseased and healthy individuals. While some of these discoveries have solved etiologic mysteries of well-described diseases in animals, many of the newly discovered parvoviruses appear to cause mild or no disease, or disease associations remain to be established. With the increased use of animal parvoviruses as vectors for gene therapy and oncolytic treatments in humans, it becomes all the more important to understand the diversity, pathogenic potential, and evolution of this diverse family of viruses. In this review, we discuss parvoviruses infecting vertebrate animals, with a special focus on pathogens of veterinary significance and viruses discovered within the last four years.

Many spinal circuits dedicated to locomotor control have been identified in the developing zebrafish. How these circuits operate together to generate the various swimming movements during development remains to be clarified. In this study, we iteratively built models of developing zebrafish spinal circuits coupled to simplified musculoskeletal models that reproduce coiling and swimming movements. The neurons of the models were based upon morphologically or genetically identified populations in the developing zebrafish spinal cord. We simulated intact spinal circuits as well as circuits with silenced neurons or altered synaptic transmission to better understand the role of specific spinal neurons. Analysis of firing patterns and phase relationships helped to identify possible mechanisms underlying the locomotor movements of developing zebrafish. Notably, our simulations demonstrated how the site and the operation of rhythm generation could transition between coiling and swimming. The simulations also underlined the importance of contralateral excitation to multiple tail beats. They allowed us to estimate the sensitivity of spinal locomotor networks to motor command amplitude, synaptic weights, length of ascending and descending axons, and firing behavior. These models will serve as valuable tools to test and further understand the operation of spinal circuits for locomotion., eLife digest The spinal cord is a column of nerve tissue that connects the brain to the rest of the body in vertebrate animals. Nerve cells in the spinal cord, called neurons, help to control and coordinate the body's movements. As the spinal cord develops, new neurons are born and new connections are made between neurons and muscles, resulting in more coordinated and skillful movements as time goes on. Zebrafish, for example, display body-bending maneuvers called coils within 24 hours of the egg being fertilized. Next, bursts of swimming movements emerge, which are driven by sporadic tail beats. These tail maneuvers become more consistent as the fish develops, and eventually result in smooth movements called beat-and-glide swimming. The groups of spinal cord neurons that appear at each stage of zebrafish development have been characterized, but it remains unclear how newly formed circuits (groups of neurons recently connected to each other) work together to produce swimming maneuvers. To answer this question, Roussel et al. simulated changes in the spinal cord that help zebrafish acquire new swimming movements as they grow. The computer models encoded neural circuits based on cell populations identified in experimental studies, and replicated swimming behaviors that emerge during the first few days of zebrafish development. Simulations tested how specific neural circuits generate the characteristic swimming movements that represent key developmental milestones in zebrafish. The results showed that adding new neurons and more cell-to-cell connections led to increasingly sophisticated swimming maneuvers. As the zebrafish spinal cord matured, the fish were better able to control the pace and duration of their swimming movements. Roussel et al. also identified specific patterns of neural activity linked to particular maneuvers. For example, tail beats switch direction when neurons on one side of the spinal cord excite neurons on the opposite side. This activity, which becomes more rhythmic, also needs to be exquisitely timed to produce and coordinate the right motion. Roussel et al.'s modelling of developmental milestones in growing zebrafish provides insights into how neural networks control movement. The computer models are among the first to accurately reproduce swimming behaviors in developing zebrafish. More experimental data could be added to the models to capture the full range of early zebrafish movements, and to further investigate how maturing spinal cord circuits control swimming. Since zebrafish and mammals have many spinal neurons in common, further research may aid our understanding of movement disorders in humans.

Myiasis is the lesion resulting from the parasitism of diptera larval form in the living tissues of vertebrate animals. These are bloody conditions, causing severe damage to the welfare and the health of humans and animals. In Brazil, Cochliomyia hominivorax is the main responsible species for causing myiasis in humans and animals. The conventional treatment of these lesions in animals massively uses chemosynthetic products. The irrational use of these molecules has led to environmental degradation and has affected human health. The standard treatment of human myiasis is based only on larvae removal, surgically or not, supported by the use of antiparasitic drugs. Human myiasis is an important zoonosis, given its close relation with animal myiasis. However, this zoonosis has currently been neglected in Brazil and other developing countries in America. The One Health approach makes it possible to realize that the occurrence of myiasis in humans is directly related to the maintenance of stocks of this diptera in nature. Recognizing the direct relation that domestic and wild animals have as reservoirs in the human myiasis cycle is essential, in order to formulate strategies to control this ancient and important disease that still affects the population in Brazil.

BACKGROUND The effect of hyponatremia on the body is studied on model objects. The related question concerns the degree of compliance between manifestations of hyponatremia and protective mechanisms in humans and other species of vertebrates. OBJECTIVES To identify the regulation ranges and patterns of adaptation to hyponatremia by cells of various organs and tissues of vertebrate animals. METHODS To assess the regulation ranges and patterns of adaptation to hyponatremia, a comparative analysis has been applied to the data obtained from humans, mammals and freshwater fish. RESULTS The physiological content of sodium in the blood plasma in humans is regulated and maintained within a narrow value range which is similar to that occurring in a number of other vertebrate species. The counteraction to hyponatremia is performed by means of accelerating the transport of sodium, potassium, chloride and organic osmolytes from the cells into the internal environment. CONCLUSIONS The data regarding mammals are fragmented and reflect the manifestation of protective mechanisms taking place during the initial period of hyponatremia. The method tested on freshwater fish allows for studying patterned changes in inorganic ions and content of organic osmolytes in the internal environment and cells of various organs and tissues of the body from the start of developing hyponatremia till the completion of the recovery process in vivo (Fig. 2, Ref. 72).

Objective. Elaboration of method for hermetization of sutures of the small bowel anastomosis in conditions of peritonitis. Materials and methods. The experiment was performed on 20 white male rats of a Wistar line owing a body mass approximately 250 g. The protocol for the laboratory animals care, the content and methods of experimental work were corresponded to principles of European Convention for defense of a vertebrate animals, which are used for research and scientific purposes (Strasbourg, 1986). Results. The experimental investigation conduction have shown the possibilities of application of physical (the light waves of a certain length) and biological (the tissue growth factors) methods in prophylaxis and treatment of an acute inflammatory reactions and for stimulation of reparative processes. Conclusion. The trend for further investigation of prophylactic measures for the small bowel anastomoses insufficiency, using the electro–magnet impact of the low–intense of the light spectrum in combination with application of the tissue growth factors, demonstrate a perspective.

Summary The laboratory experiment described in this article evaluated the death rate of larvae of Haemonchus contortus (Rudolphi, 1803) nematodes of the Strongylida order and Strongyloides papillosus (Wedl, 1856) of the Rhabditida order under the impact of different concentrations of 8 flavouring acids and source materials approved for use in and on foods and in medicine (formic, wine, benzoic, salicylic, stearic, kojic, aminoacetic, succinic acids). Minimum LD50 for third stage larvae of (L3) S. papillosus was observed with salicylic and wine acids, for L3 H. contortus larvae – with formic acid. Minimum impact on all studied stages of development of nematodes was caused by stearic, kojic, aminoacetic and succinic acids: larvae did not die in the course of one day even at 1 % concentration of these substances. The best parameters of LD50 were observed for benzoic and formic acid. Further experiments on flavouring acids and source materials approved for use in and on foods and in medicines, and also their compounds, will contribute to developing preparations with a stronger impact on nematode larvae – parasites of the digestive tract of vertebrate animals and humans.

Author(s): Lockwood, JL; Welbourne, DJ; Romagosa, CM; Cassey, P; Mandrak, NE; Strecker, A; Leung, B; Stringham, OC; Udell, B; Episcopio-Sturgeon, DJ; Tlusty, MF; Sinclair, J; Springborn, MR; Pienaar, EF; Rhyne, AL; Keller, R | Abstract: The annual trade in exotic vertebrates as pets is a multi-billion-dollar global business. Thousands of species, and tens of millions of individual animals, are shipped both internationally and within countries to satisfy this demand. Most research on the exotic pet trade has focused on its contribution to native biodiversity loss and disease spread. Here, we synthesize information across taxa and research disciplines to document the exotic pet trade's contribution to vertebrate biological invasions. We show recent and substantial worldwide growth in the number of non-native animal populations introduced via this invasion pathway, which demonstrates a strong potential to increase the number of invasive animals in the future. Key to addressing the invasion threat of exotic pets is learning more about the socioeconomic forces that drive the massive growth in the exotic pet market and the socioecological factors that underlie pet release by owners. These factors likely vary according to cultural pet-keeping traditions across regions and whether purchases were legal or illegal. These gaps in our understanding of the exotic pet trade must be addressed in order to implement effective policy solutions.

Using live vertebrate animals to demonstrate learning and memory is typically not done in high school biology classes. We designed an apparatus and protocol by which students observe learning in fish. Students generate questions and discover answers (e.g., does age, sex, species, or chemical exposure impact learning and memory outcomes)?

In XXI century in vivo experiments came into a common use in connection with development of biological and medical scientific fields. In the first part of the work historical and techni-cal aspects of use of animals in in vivo experiments are considered. In the work the problem of choice of a kind of laboratory animal for experimental purposes is discussed, and also the number of animals in the experimental groups is substantiated for further statistical processing of the primary information and determination of the reliability of differences in interpretation of the obtained results. According to the data of analyzed literature sources, modern researchers keep to the non-violence strategy and ahimsa principle (from Lat. ahimsᾱ causing no harm). Here, the dominating point of view is the necessity for in vivo experiments for further development of the biomedical science. This is possible provided suffering of animals are minimized with their minimal number in an experiment. The choice of the animal species first of all depends on the task faced by an experimenter. Besides, in each research a thorough choice of a specific animal is required based on the information of its health, maintenance and feeding, anatomical and physiological peculiarities, age, genetic characteristics. Chronic and acute surgical experiments are usually conducted on large vertebrate animals: dogs, European rabbits, house cats, while the action and effectiveness of pharmacological drugs are more conveniently studied on small laboratory animals: house mice, common rats, guinea-pigs, golden hamsters.

Zoonotic diseases are infectious diseases of humans caused by pathogens that are shared between humans and other vertebrate animals. Previously, pristine natural areas with high biodiversity were seen as likely sources of new zoonotic pathogens, suggesting that biodiversity could have negative impacts on human health. At the same time, biodiversity has been recognized as potentially benefiting human health by reducing the transmission of some pathogens that have already established themselves in human populations. These apparently opposing effects of biodiversity in human health may now be reconcilable. Recent research demonstrates that some taxa are much more likely to be zoonotic hosts than others are, and that these animals often proliferate in human-dominated landscapes, increasing the likelihood of spillover. In less-disturbed areas, however, these zoonotic reservoir hosts are less abundant and nonreservoirs predominate. Thus, biodiversity loss appears to increase the risk of human exposure to both new and established zoonotic pathogens. This new synthesis of the effects of biodiversity on zoonotic diseases presents an opportunity to articulate the next generation of research questions that can inform management and policy. Future studies should focus on collecting and analyzing data on the diversity, abundance, and capacity to transmit of the taxa that actually share zoonotic pathogens with us. To predict and prevent future epidemics, researchers should also focus on how these metrics change in response to human impacts on the environment, and how human behaviors can mitigate these effects. Restoration of biodiversity is an important frontier in the management of zoonotic disease risk.

Financiado para publicación en acceso aberto: Universidade de Vigo/CISUG Emerging evidences show that innate immune cells can display changes in their functional programs after infection or vaccination, which lead to immunomodulation (increased or reduced responsiveness) upon secondary activation to the same stimuli or even to a different one. Innate cells acquire features of immunological memory, nowadays using the new term of "trained immunity" or "innate immune memory", which is different from the specific memory immune response elicited by B and T lymphocytes. The review focused on the concept of trained immunity, mostly on myeloid cells. Special attention is dedicated to the pathogen recognition along the evolution (bacteria, plants, invertebrate and vertebrate animals), and to techniques used to study epigenetic reprogramming and metabolic rewiring. Nanomaterials can be recognized by immune cells offering a very promising way to learn about trained immunity. Nanomaterials could be modified in order to immunomodulate the responses ad hoc. Many therapeutic possibilities are opened, and they should be explored. Xunta de Galicia | Ref. GRC-ED431C 2020/02 Agencia Estatal de Investigación | Ref. BIO2017-84974-R Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer | Ref. PROYE16074BORR Departamento de Salud del Gobierno Vasco | Ref. 2020333024

Giving chances of hands-on experience is important for K-12 education, in order to make students obtain deep understanding. However, there is less opportunities of such experience in science education in Japan, due to some reasons. Therefore, in this paper, a virtual reality system is proposed with which the students can interactively experiment the dissection of vertebrate animals. Through a series of four stages in VR space, the proposed system provides a learner to learn the inner structure of the animal and the procedure of the dissection. Also giving the haptic sense in use of the vibration on the hand controllers, the system represents difference between alive and dead, so that the learner has a chance to think of the animal ethics.

Alone among Western nations, the United States has a two-tier system for welfare protections for vertebrate animals in research. Because its Animal Welfare Act (AWA) excludes laboratory rats and mice (RM), government veterinarians do not inspect RM laboratories and RM numbers are only partially reported to government agencies1. Without transparent statistics, it is impossible to track efforts to reduce or replace these sentient animals’ use or to project government resources needed if AWA coverage were expanded to include them. I obtained annual RM usage data from 16 large American institutions and compared RM numbers to institutions’ legally-required reports of their AWA-covered mammals. RM comprised approximately 99.3% of mammals at these representative institutions. Extrapolating from 780,070 AWA-covered mammals in 2017–18, I estimate that 111.5 million rats and mice were used per year in this period. If the same proportion of RM undergo painful procedures as are publicly reported for AWA-covered animals, then some 44.5 million mice and rats underwent potentially painful experiments. These data inform the questions of whether the AWA needs an update to cover RM, or whether the NIH should increase transparency of funded animal research. These figures can benchmark progress in reducing animal numbers in general and more specifically, in painful experiments. This estimate is higher than any others available, reflecting the challenges of obtaining statistics without consistent and transparent institutional reports.

Aquatic vertebrate animals—in particular, fish—present a series of traumatic and/or toxic defenses to survive in their environment. A large number of fish species produce toxins. Some have specialized structures to inoculate these substances, and this feature characterizes them as venomous animals. Fish of commercial value (such as catfish) can be venomous, and encounters with rays and many other fish capable of envenomations are common. These injuries occur mainly in professional fishermen. In addition to fish, there are venomous sea snakes and even venomous mammals, which are also discussed in this chapter. The chapter also addresses treatment measures and ways to try and prevent traumatic injuries and envenomations by fish and reptiles.

The classification of viruses is relevant to a number of scientific and clinical disciplines, including the practice of diagnostic virology. Here, we provide an update to our previous review of taxonomic changes for disease-causing viruses in humans and vertebrate animals, covering changes between 2018 and 2020. Recent advances in virus taxonomy structure by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses inform this update.

The hypothesis proposed by Macphail (1987) is that differences in intelligent behavior thought to distinguish different species were likely attributed to differences in the context of the tasks being used. Once one corrects for differences in sensory input, motor output, and incentive, it is likely that all vertebrate animals have comparable intellectual abilities. In the present article I suggest a number of tests of this hypothesis with pigeons. In each case, the evidence suggests that either there is evidence for the cognitive behavior, or the pigeons suffer from biases similar to those of humans. Thus, Macphail’s hypothesis offers a challenge to researchers to find the appropriate conditions to bring out in the animal the cognitive ability being tested.

A potential cause of suffering in animal experimentation is pain induced by procedures, diseases, and injuries. Pain is not only nociception, the sensory nervous system’s response to (potentially) harmful stimuli, but has been defined as a “subjective, sensory and emotional experience” [1, 2] in humans. It is very likely that pain, as an affective experience, also exists in other vertebrate animals than humans. Therefore, anesthesia and pain treatment become ethical and, in most countries, legal obligations in any animal experiment or related procedures, e.g., breeding or marking procedures, that induce more than mild pain of short duration. Article 14 of the EU Directive 2010/63/EU on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes, for example, states that “member states shall ensure that, unless it is inappropriate, procedures are carried out under general or local anesthesia, and that analgesia or another appropriate method is used to ensure that pain, suffering and distress are kept to a minimum.”