No effect of variation in handling on behaviour in a porcine elevated plus-maze - a brief report.

The elevated plus-maze is a widely used model of anxiety in rodents and has recently been suggested as a putative model of anxiety or fear in swine. The aim of the present experiment was to examine the effects of a pretest blood sampling procedure on the behaviour of weaned pigs in an elevated plus-maze. Animals in the control group were lifted one-by-one into a transport trolley and moved to the test apparatus, where they were observed for a 5-min period. The treatment group differed from the control group in that these animals were immobilized with a nose snare and a blood sample was extracted from the jugular vein prior to transport to the test room. Behaviour in the porcine elevated plus-maze did not differ significantly between the two handling procedures.

Safety, simplicity and convenience of a modified prefilled insulin pen.

OBJECTIVE: To assess patient perception of usability, safety and convenience of Next Generation FlexPen (NGFP), a newly modified version of the insulin delivery device FlexPen (FP), and the ease of attaching NovoTwist and NovoFine needles. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: A 35-item questionnaire was completed by patients with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes to compare the visual appearance of NGFP with FP (prefilled with either insulin detemir, insulin aspart or biphasic insulin aspart), the ease or difficulty of attaching needles onto NGFP and FP, and the ease of use, convenience, trust and safety of NGFP and FP when used to inject 20, 40 or 60 IU of insulin into an injection pillow. RESULTS: A total of 64 patients completed all questions. Most patients found the identification of the type of insulin easiest with NGFP based on the label, the cartridge and the packaging, whereas < 5% found it easier with FP. Attaching the NovoTwist needle was significantly easier than attaching the NovoFine needle. Patients found NGFP significantly easier to use than FP when injecting insulin doses of 20 IU (52%), 40 IU (97%) and 60 IU (97%). NGFP instilled more trust and confidence than FP in 50% of patients, and 48% had no preference. Overall, 95% of patients preferred NGFP to FP and 77% of patients preferred the NovoTwist needle to the NovoFine needle. CONCLUSIONS: Measures of usability, convenience, patient perception of safety and trust, and overall patient preference with NGFP, showed that this newly modified pen was preferred to the widely used FP.