Correlative three-dimensional X-ray histology (3D-XRH) as a tool for quantifying mammalian placental structure.

Mammalian placentas exhibit unparalleled structural diversity, despite sharing a common ancestor and principal functions. The bulk of structural studies in placental research has used two-dimensional (2D) histology sectioning, allowing significant advances in our understanding of mammalian placental structure. However, 2D histology sectioning may be limited if it does not provide accurate information of three-dimensional (3D) tissue architecture. Here, we propose correlative 3D X-ray histology (3D-XRH) as a tool with great potential for resolving mammalian placental structures. 3D-XRH involves scanning a formaldehyde-fixed, paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissue block with 3D X-ray microscopy (microCT) prior to histological sectioning to generate a 3D image volume of the embedded tissue piece. The subsequent 2D histology sections can then be correlated back into the microCT image volume to couple histology staining (or immunolabelling) with 3D tissue architecture. 3D-XRH is non-destructive and requires no additional sample preparation than standard FFPE histology sectioning, however the image volume provides 3D morphometric data and can be used to guide microtomy. As such, 3D-XRH introduces additional information to standard histological workflows with minimal effort or disruption. Using primary examples from porcine, bovine, equine, and canine placental samples, we demonstrate the application of 3D-XRH to quantifying placental structure as well as discussing the limitations and future directions of the methodology. The wealth of information derived from 2D histological sectioning in the biomedical, veterinary, and comparative reproductive sciences provides a rich foundation from which 3D-XRH can build on to advance the study of placental structure and function.

Assessing the Welfare of Captive Group-Housed Cockroaches, Gromphadorhina oblongonota.

The welfare of invertebrates under human care is of growing concern, particularly with the increasing interest in insect farming as an environmentally sustainable means of producing food. Additionally, individual welfare monitoring systems can be time-consuming and impractical for larger groups, particularly when individual animals are difficult to identify. It is, therefore, imperative to develop a validated system for monitoring terrestrial invertebrate welfare at a group level. The Animal Welfare Assessment Grid (AWAG) is an objective welfare-monitoring tool that has been approved for use with a wide range of species. This study modified the AWAG for large group-level welfare assessments and successfully trialled it on a terrestrial invertebrate species, a group of captive male Gromphadorhina oblongonota. The modified template evaluated the group's welfare by scoring changes to 12 factors that could be tracked over time. The results highlight that the welfare of G. oblongonota is likely to be influenced by environmental and social factors, and inform practical improvements in G. oblongonota care that will result in improved welfare. The findings also demonstrate an efficient way to assess the welfare of invertebrates at the group level, and given the recent UK legislation (Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill, 2022) plus the emerging interest in invertebrate farming, our findings hold timely significance.

The politics of COVID-19: Differences between U.S. red and blue states in COVID-19 regulations and deaths.

The study investigated infection variables and control strategies in 2020 and 2021 and their influence on COVID-19 deaths in the United States, with a particular focus on comparing red (Republican) and blue (Democratic) states. The analysis reviewed cumulative COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 by year, state political affiliation, and a priori latent factor groupings of mitigation strategies (lockdown days in 2020, mask mandate days, vaccination rates), social demographic variables (ethnicity, poverty rate), and biological variables (median age, obesity). Analyses first identified possible relationships between all assessed variables using K-means clustering for red, blue, and purple states. Then, a series of regression models were fit to assess the effects of mitigation strategies, social, and biological factors specifically on COVID-19 deaths in red and blue states. Results showed distinct differences in responding to COVID infections between red states to blue states, particularly the red states lessor adoption of mitigation factors leaving more sway on biological factors in predicting deaths. Whereas in blue states, where mitigation factors were more readily implemented, vaccinations had a more significant influence in reducing the probability of infections ending in death. Overall, study findings suggest politicalization of COVID-19 mitigation strategies played a role in death rates across the United States.

Welfare Assessment of Invertebrates: Adapting the Animal Welfare Assessment Grid (AWAG) for Zoo Decapods and Cephalopods.

Consumer demand for invertebrates is on the rise as their numbers in the wild dwindle. However, with the growing conservation efforts of modern zoos and aquariums, and evidence from over 300 studies showing that invertebrates are capable of sentience, public interest, and moral concern for welfare of invertebrates have increased. The challenge for zoos and aquariums is in developing an objective and repeatable method for evaluating welfare that can be applied to invertebrates in zoological collections. Recently introduced into zoological collection management is the Animal Welfare Assessment Grid (AWAG). The AWAG helps to identify negative and positive welfare states, through assessing animal- and environmental-based indicators to make changes that lead to a better quality of life. Originally developed for the assessment of laboratory primates, the system has been successfully adapted to assess a variety of taxa across different environments, facilitated by the development of cloud-based software. In this study, the AWAG has been adapted to assess the cumulative lifetime experience of captive decapods and cephalopods at two different institutions, Marwell Zoo and National Marine Aquarium. This study has provided further evidence that the AWAG is adaptable and demonstrates the first time any objective scoring system has been successfully adapted for use in invertebrates. Through graphical representation, the results show that the AWAG identifies changes in welfare scores that can be attributed to specific events and can be used to predict the future vulnerability of species to welfare changes and suggest alternative management methods. This monitoring tool provides a versatile method of implementing practical welfare monitoring in zoos and aquariums.