Chicken welfare is influenced more by housing conditions than by stocking density

Intensive broiler (meat) chicken production now exceeds 800 million birds each year in the United Kingdom and 2 x 10(10) birds worldwide, but it attracts accusations of poor welfare. The European Union is currently adopting standards for broilers aimed at a chief welfare concern--namely, overcrowding--by limiting maximum 'stocking density' (bird weight per unit area). It is not clear, however, whether this will genuinely improve bird welfare because evidence is contradictory. Here we report on broiler welfare in relation to the European Union proposals through a large-scale study (2.7 million birds) with the unprecedented cooperation of ten major broiler producers in an experimental manipulation of stocking density under a range of commercial conditions. Producer companies stocked birds to five different final densities, but otherwise followed company practice, which we recorded in addition to temperature, humidity, litter and air quality. We assessed welfare through mortality, physiology, behaviour and health, with an emphasis on leg health and walking ability. Our results show that differences among producers in the environment that they provide for chickens have more impact on welfare than has stocking density itself.     

Co-operative Inquiry: Changing Interprofessional Practice

Recent government guidance concerning the welfare of children emphasizes the necessity for change in interprofessional practice. This paper examines how co-operative inquiry enabled a diverse professional group to inquire into how change can be promoted in complex practice systems. It considers the influence of external stakeholders, highlights the consequent tension between task and process, and addresses the implications for the role of facilitators.     

Plasma thyrotrophin concentration in the foetal calf

Résumé On a mesuré le taux de thyrotrophine (TSH), thyroxine et cortisol dans le plasma du foetus du veau pendant les 18 jours précédant la naissance. La diminution du TSH a précédé de 6 jours et s'est poursuivie en même temps que celle du taux de thyroxine.

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We are grateful to the Medical Research Council and the Milk Marketing Board for financial support.

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The TSH preparation used for iodination in these studies was kindly provided by Dr.J. Pierce, and the antiserum to Pierce bovine TSH was provided by Dr.G. D. Thorburn. Synacthen was kindly provided by Dr.D. M. Burley, CIBA Laboratories, Horsham, Sussex and Efcortelan by Dr.E. S. Snell, Glaxo Laboratories, Middx.     

Effect of choline salicylates and some other analogues of salicylic acid on the replication of EMC virus in vitro

Zusammenfassung Es wird eine 90–99,9%ige Hemmung in vitro der Replikation des EMC-Virus durch 0,5–2 m molare Lösungen folgender Salicylsäurederivate festgestellt: Cholinsalicylat, Cholinacetoxysalicylat und der Natriumsalze von 2-Merkaptobenzoesäure, Salicylsäure sowie Acetylsalicylsäure. Ferner wurde eine etwa 70%ige Hemmung des Natriumsalzes der Sulphosalicylsäure, des Cholin-p-chlorobenzoates, sowie des Cholin-o-chlorobenzoates beobachtet. Cholin-p-oxybenzoat und Cholin-p-acetoxybenzoat zeigten hingegen keine Hemmungsaktivität.

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Acknowledgements: We are indebted to Drs. Z.Macho and T.Zawisza from the Department of Synthesis of Drugs, School of Medicine, Wroclaw, for donating of choline salicylates and other derivatives of benzoyl-choline⁶.     

Inulin clearance and renal lymph

Zusammenfassung Bei normaler Diurese ist die durch die renalen Lymphgefässen abgeführte Inulinmenge nur unbedeutend; sie beeinflusst die nach der üblichen Formel errechnete Inulinclearance nur unwesentlich.     

The M2 splice isoform of pyruvate kinase is important for cancer metabolism and tumour growth

Many tumour cells have elevated rates of glucose uptake but reduced rates of oxidative phosphorylation. This persistence of high lactate production by tumours in the presence of oxygen, known as aerobic glycolysis, was first noted by Otto Warburg more than 75 yr ago. How tumour cells establish this altered metabolic phenotype and whether it is essential for tumorigenesis is as yet unknown. Here we show that a single switch in a splice isoform of the glycolytic enzyme pyruvate kinase is necessary for the shift in cellular metabolism to aerobic glycolysis and that this promotes tumorigenesis. Tumour cells have been shown to express exclusively the embryonic M2 isoform of pyruvate kinase. Here we use short hairpin RNA to knockdown pyruvate kinase M2 expression in human cancer cell lines and replace it with pyruvate kinase M1. Switching pyruvate kinase expression to the M1 (adult) isoform leads to reversal of the Warburg effect, as judged by reduced lactate production and increased oxygen consumption, and this correlates with a reduced ability to form tumours in nude mouse xenografts. These results demonstrate that M2 expression is necessary for aerobic glycolysis and that this metabolic phenotype provides a selective growth advantage for tumour cells in vivo.