scholarly journals Effects of miniature transponders on physiological stress, locomotor activity, growth and survival in small lizards

2011 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-183
Author(s):  
Matthieu Paquet ◽  
Jean-François Le Galliard ◽  
Samuel Perret ◽  
Zorica Pantelic

AbstractThe marking of small animals for long-term ecological studies requires unambiguous and permanent techniques that cause minimal harm. Toe-clipping is frequently used to identify small lizards in the field, but it has been suggested that passive integrated transponders (PIT tags) should be preferred. Here, we evaluate the costs and benefits of new miniature PIT tags to mark the common lizard (Zootoca vivipara). Our protocol enables permanent marking of lizards as small as 1.3 grams with maximal implantation success in the abdominal cavity. Tag injection caused no observable increase in plasma corticosterone levels over five days and no negative effects on long-term growth and survival. However, tag injection had negative effects on locomotor activity during at least 7 days, possibly implying pain. Continuous research to improve tag implantation is needed because negative effects may be caused by anaesthesia and injection rather the tag retention itself. This study demonstrates the utility of combining physiological, behavioural and life history measurements to assess marking stress and pain in animals.

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 222-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nico Johan Badenhorst ◽  
Linda Brand ◽  
Brian Herbert Harvey ◽  
Susanna Maria Ellis ◽  
Christiaan Beyers Brink

ObjectiveAlthough prescription rates of antidepressants for children and adolescents have increased, concerns have been raised regarding effects on neurodevelopment and long-term outcome. Using a genetic animal model of depression, this study investigated the long-term effects of pre-pubertal administration of fluoxetine (FLX) on depressive-like behaviour in early adulthood, as well as on central monoaminergic response to an acute stressor. We postulated that pre-pubertal FLX will have lasting effects on animal behaviour and monoaminergic stress responses in early adulthood.MethodsFlinders sensitive line (FSL) rats received 10 mg/kg/day FLX subcutaneously from postnatal day 21 (PnD21) to PnD34 (pre-pubertal). Thereafter, following normal housing, rats were either subjected to locomotor testing and the forced swim test (FST) on PnD60 (early adulthood), or underwent surgery for microdialysis, followed on PnD60 by exposure to acute swim stress and measurement of stressor-induced changes in plasma corticosterone and pre-frontal cortical monoamine concentrations.ResultsPre-pubertal FLX did not induce a late emergent effect on immobility in FSL rats on PnD60, whereas locomotor activity was significantly decreased. Acute swim stress on PnD60 significantly increased plasma corticosterone levels, and increased pre-frontal cortical norepinephrine (NE) and 5-hydroxyindole-3-acetic acid (5-HIAA) concentrations. Pre-pubertal FLX significantly blunted the pre-frontal cortical NE and 5-HIAA response following swim stress on PnD60. Baseline dopamine levels were significantly enhanced by pre-pubertal FLX, but no further changes were induced by swim stress.ConclusionPre-pubertal FLX did not have lasting antidepressant-like behavioural effects in genetically susceptible, stress-sensitive FSL rats. However, such treatment reduced locomotor activity, abrogated noradrenergic and serotonergic stressor responses and elevated dopaminergic baseline levels in adulthood.


2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (6) ◽  
pp. 1182-1192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazutaka Shinozuka ◽  
Naoki Tajiri ◽  
Hiroto Ishikawa ◽  
Julian P Tuazon ◽  
Jea-Young Lee ◽  
...  

Rodents display “empathy” defined as perceived physical pain or psychological stress by cagemates when co-experiencing socially distinct traumatic events. The present study tested the hypothesis that empathy occurs in adult rats subjected to an experimental neurological disorder, by allowing co-experience of stroke with cagemates. Psychological stress was measured by general locomotor activity, Rat Grimace Scale (RGS), and plasma corticosterone. Physiological correlates were measured by Western blot analysis of advanced glycation endproducts (AGE)-related proteins in the thymus. General locomotor activity was impaired in stroke animals and in non-stroke rats housed with stroke rats suggesting transfer of behavioral manifestation of psychological stress from an injured animal to a non-injured animal leading to social inhibition. RGS was higher in stroke rats regardless of social settings. Plasma corticosterone levels at day 3 after stroke were significantly higher in stroke animals housed with stroke rats, but not with non-stroke rats, indicating that empathy upregulated physiological stress level. The expression of five proteins related to AGE in the thymus reflected the observed pattern of general locomotor activity, RGS, and plasma corticosterone levels. These results indicate that stroke-induced psychological stress manifested on both the behavioral and physiological levels and appeared to be affected by empathy-associated social settings.


2013 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 285-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Oesau ◽  
G. Thaller ◽  
C. Schulz ◽  
J. Tetens

Abstract. Passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags only work in very close proximity of the receiver (cm distance). Therefore, active transponders are mainly used in behavioural monitoring. In the present study, the effects of intraabdominal implantation of PIT tags on survival, well-being and growth performance of juvenile turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) were investigated. Furthermore, the tag retention rate and read out error rate of all tags were examined. Passive integrated transponder tags were implanted in the abdominal cavity of nearly 6 000 turbots. All tags were readout and checked for correct function over a period of 122 days every five and a half weeks. No significant effects of tagging on fish survival (mortality rate <0.2 %), health or growth were detected during the trial period. Tag retention rate was 100 % and no malfunctions were observed. Results suggest that turbots can be marked with PIT tags in the abdominal cavity without obvious negative influences on performance traits and tag retention rate.


2006 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 401-408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gilberto Mosconi ◽  
Kazutoshi Yamamoto ◽  
Sakae Kikuyama ◽  
Marcello Carotti ◽  
Francesco Palermo ◽  
...  

AbstractIn amphibians, as in other vertebrates, stress stimuli have been found to affect different functions, including development, growth, and reproduction. A wide range of responsiveness to stressors has been reported for amphibians; for instance, capture and/or captivity stress induced changes both in the hypothalamus-pituitary-interrenal and hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal axes. However, few studies have examined the response to stress in terms of recovery and/or adaptation by applying stress paradigms for a short and long-term duration. In the present paper, the short-term captivity stress responses were evaluated in the anuran Rana esculenta by measuring peripheral corticosterone, androgens, prolactin (PRL), and growth hormone (GH) changes. Moreover, in long-term captivity and salinity stress, effects were evaluated by measuring peripheral PRL changes and those of PRL mRNA in the pituitary together with plasma corticosterone and androgens. Short-term (24 h) captivity stress induced an increase of peripheral corticosterone together with that of GH and PRL since these hormones are involved in the "alarm phase" and in energy demand of stressed animals. The opposite trend was found for peripheral androgens, in view of the negative effects exerted by stress in the reproductive axis. In long-term (1 month) captivity and salinity stress, responses were consistent with the increasing of PRL mRNA at pituitary level, through a long-loop feedback mechanism depending on the decreasing levels of peripheral PRL, whereas no changes were found in the levels of plasma corticosterone and androgens. Therefore, it seems that Rana esculenta activates different neuroendocrine mechanisms depending on the duration of stress and on the types of stressors.


<i>Abstract</i>.—To track individuals in situ, over 12 million salmon and trout have been marked with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags in the Columbia River Basin, USA. However, few studies have examined long term tag retention as well as tag effects on juvenile salmon and trout. We marked juvenile coho salmon <i>Oncorhynchus kisutch</I> (<I>N</I> = 207), steelhead (anadromous rainbow trout) <i>O. mykiss</I> (<I>N</I> = 221), cutthroat trout <i>O. clarkii</I> (<I>N</I> = 202) and bull trout <i>Salvelinus</I> <i>confluentus</I> (<I>N</I> = 180) with 12, 19, or 23 mm PIT tags and examined tag retention, survival, growth, and physiological performance over a six month period in a laboratory environment. PIT tag retention rates were high for coho salmon (100%), steelhead (95%), cutthroat trout (97%), and bull trout (99%), regardless of tag size. Survival was also high for coho (99%), steelhead (99%), cutthroat trout (97%), and bull trout (88%) and did not vary among tag sizes. Short term individual growth rates for coho salmon marked with 12 mm tags were significantly higher than those marked with 19 mm and 23 mm PIT tags. Likewise, steelhead trout individual growth rates were lower for fish marked with 23 mm PIT tags followed by 19 and 12 mm tags. Conversely, long-term growth rates were positive and not affected by tag size. There were no significant effects of tag size or marking on coho gill Na+, K+, -ATPase activity (μmol ADP x mg protein<sup>–1</sup> h<sup>–1</sup>) and plasma osmolality (μmol kg<sup>–1</sup>) or bull trout hepatosomatic indices. Our study suggests that marking juvenile salmonids with PIT tags results in high retention with little effect upon their survival, growth, and important physiological indicators regardless of tag size in a laboratory environment.


2016 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 202-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meara H. Faw

The social, economic, and physical costs associated with providing long-term care for a child with disabilities can be overwhelming, and it is not uncommon for caregivers to experience burnout, emotional distress, and significant health ailments as a result of their commitment to their child. Social support can be a key resource to combat these negative effects, as ample research has shown that social support can act as a buffer to the negative effects of stress. The current study explored whether short-term supportive interactions between parents of children with disabilities and members of their supportive network ( n = 40 dyads) influenced the physiological stress responses (as measured by salivary cortisol) of both interactants. Results indicated that receiving support in a short interaction resulted in parents experiencing decreases to their physiological stress, though the quality of the support played a key role in determining how beneficial the interaction was in this context. These results suggest the importance of considering support quality when examining the influence of social support on physical outcomes for support recipients.


2005 ◽  
Vol 93 (5) ◽  
pp. 2406-2414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew S. Naylor ◽  
Anders I. Persson ◽  
Peter S. Eriksson ◽  
Ingibjörg H. Jonsdottir ◽  
Thorleif Thorlin

Previous work has shown that voluntary running increases cell proliferation and neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus of the adult hippocampus. Here we report that long-term running for 24 days results in a down-regulation of hippocampal progenitor proliferation to one-half the level of nonrunning controls compared with a fivefold increase in progenitor proliferation seen after 9 days of voluntary running (short-term running). The negative effects seen on proliferation after 24 days of running were prevented by restricting daily running distances (by 30–50%) during 24 days. Long-term running for 24 days increases the response of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, with an increase in adrenal gland weight and increased plasma corticosterone levels, as well as decreased thymus weight, indicating a stress response as a possible mediator of decreased progenitor proliferation. Furthermore, the negative effects seen on the observed stress response after 24 days of running were prevented by restricting daily running distance. Short-term running did not alter these stress parameters compared with nonrunning controls. However, it increased phosphorylated cyclic AMP response element binding protein (pCREB) in the dentate gyrus, an increase that was not seen in nonrunning controls or after 24 days of running. Taken together, these data suggest that voluntary running does not always enhance proliferation and that the decrease in progenitor proliferation seen in long-term running is possibly mediated by mechanisms involving a stress response in the animal. However, a moderate level of long-term running was able to prevent the negative stress-related changes seen in unrestricted long-term running.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack D’Arcy ◽  
Suzanne Kelly ◽  
Tom McDermott ◽  
John Hyland ◽  
Dave Jackson ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags are used to study the movement and behaviour in populations of a wide variety of fish species and for a number of different applications from fisheries to aquaculture. Before embarking on long-term studies, it is important to collect information on both short- and medium-term survival and tag retention for the species in question. In this study, 90 juvenile lumpfish (10–20 g, 30 fish per replicate tank) were implanted with 12.5-mm FDX PIT tags. Results Tag retention, growth rates and survival were compared to those of fish subjected to handling only (90 fish, 30 per replicate tank). Overall survival was 100% during the 28-day monitoring period, and tag retention was 99%. Conclusions Results indicate that retention rates of 12.5-mm PIT tags in juvenile lumpfish are high, and there is no significant effect on growth rates or survival in a hatchery environment.


2014 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Éva Lehoczky ◽  
M. Kamuti ◽  
N. Mazsu ◽  
J. Tamás ◽  
D. Sáringer-Kenyeres ◽  
...  

Plant nutrition is one of the most important intensification factors of crop production. The utilization of nutrients, however, may be modified by a number of production factors, including weed presence. Thus, the knowledge of occurring weed species, their abundance, nutrient and water uptake is extremely important to establish an appropriate basis for the evaluation of their risks or negative effects on crops. That is why investigations were carried out in a long-term fertilization experiment on the influence of different nutrient supplies (Ø, PK, NK, NPK) on weed flora in maize field.The weed surveys recorded similar diversity on the experimental area: the species of A. artemisiifolia, S. halepense and D. stramonium were dominant, but C. album and C. hybridum were also common. These species and H. annuus were the most abundant weeds.Based on the totalized and average data of all treatments, density followed the same tendency in the experimental years. It was the highest in the PK treated and untreated plots, and significantly exceeded the values of NK fertilized areas. Presumably the better N availability promoted the development of nitrophilic weeds, while the mortality of other small species increased.Winter wheat and maize forecrops had no visible influence on the diversity and the intensity of weediness. On the contrary, there were consistent differences in the density of certain weed species in accordance to the applied nutrients. A. artemisiifolia was present in the largest number in the untreated control and PK fertilized plots. The density of S. halepense and H. annuus was also significantly higher in the control areas. The number of their individuals was smaller in those plots where N containing fertilizers were used. Contrary to them, the density of D. stramonium, C. album and C. hybridum was the highest in the NPK treatments.


Author(s):  
Omar Hashim Thanon

Since peaceful coexistence reflects in its various aspects the concept of harmony between the members of the same society with their different national, religious and sectarian affiliations, as well as their attitudes and ideas, what brings together these are the common bonds such as land, interests and common destiny. But this coexistence is exposing for crises and instability and the theft of rights and other that destroy the communities with their different religious, national, sectarian, ethnic aspects, especially if these led to a crisis of fighting or war, which produces only destruction and mass displacement, ttherefore, the process of bridging the gap between the different parts of society in the post-war phase through a set of requirements that serve as the basis for the promotion of peaceful coexistence within the same country to consolidate civil and community peace in order to create a general framework and a coherent basis to reconstruct the community again.      Hence the premise of the research by asking about the extent of the possibility and ability of the community of religious and ethnic diversity, which has been exposed to these crises, which aimed at this diversity, basically to be able to rise and re-integrate within the same country and thus achieve civil and community peace, and Mosul is an example for that, the negative effects of the war and the accomplices of many criminal acts have given rise to hatred and fear for all, leading to the loss of livelihoods, which in the long term may have devastating social and psychological consequences.        To clarify all of this, the title of the first topic was a review of the concept and origin of peaceful coexistence. While the second topic dealt with the requirements of peaceful coexistence and social integration in Mosul, the last topic has identified the most important challenges facing the processes of coexistence and integration in Mosul. All this in order to paint a better future for the conductor at all levels in the near term at the very least to achieve the values of this peaceful coexistence, especially in the post-war period.


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