Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science
Volume 49, Number 2, March 2010
OVERVIEWS
Alworth et al. Diversity in Laboratory Animal Science: Issues and Initiatives, pp. 138-146
SUMMARY: Diversity in the workplace has largely been evaluated within business and management settings, however is now gaining more interest within the laboratory animal science and veterinary communities. Improving the diversity of the working environment provides both benefits and challenges, and the article describes specific examples of how various companies, academic institutions, and organizations have addressed the challenges to improve the collaboration among diverse workers. The review emphasizes the positive aspects of promoting diversity, citing studies that have found improved work performance, and greater adaptability and innovation. However, management of diversity within the workforce requires greater skill in counteracting the heightened level of environmental conflict, decreased group cohesiveness, and higher employee turnover.Business theories find the diversity model to be one of greater success due to three main points: 1. Recruiting from diverse groups allows the company to obtain the highest quality employees, 2. A more diverse workforce that matches the market demographics can provide “market intelligence”, 3. Diverse workforce has stronger-problem solving and creativity skills than a less diverse one. The Supreme Court upholds campus diversity initiatives on the belief that a diverse learning environment produces higher quality students and thus future professionals.
Programs have been put into place for the promotion of diversity within biomedical science. The NIH has created grants for health related research, universities and academic institutional programs have been put into place, and pharmaceutical companies perform mandatory training sessions. Most companies perform diversity training conducted at two levels, awareness/sensitivity training and communication/conflict resolution training. Ongoing training is required to change behaviors. In cases where there are significant language barriers, alternatives to standard verbal communication are used, such as email only policies and pictorial as well as written instructions in English. In conclusion, the article states that diversity is important for the progress in global laboratory animal and veterinary medicine, and that an effective discussion is needed for the means to create diverse workplace environments within animal care programs.
QUESTIONS:
1. Which group was established in the United States by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to enforce the prohibition of employment discrimination upon the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin?
2. What is the “business case” theory of diversity?
3. The DiVersity Matters initiative was launched by what organization in 2005, and focuses on which 4 areas?
4. In 2003, Supreme Court deliberations in Grutter vs. Bollinger took into consideration what three main research findings regarding diversity in academic institutions?
5. True/False: One-day training sessions are all that is required for successful implementation of new communication skills and conflict resolution in diverse workplaces.
6. What are the benefits of diversity in the workplace?
7. What are the challenges of diversity in the workplace?
ANSWERS:
1. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
2. A. As the workforce becomes more diverse, recruiting from more diverse groups will be necessary to obtain the highest quality employees; B. an increasingly diverse population and more globalized market means a more diverse customer base. A more diverse workforce that matches the market demographics can provide “market intelligence”. C. Because of varied information, perspectives, and cognitive styles, a more diverse workforce has stronger problem-solving and creativity skills than does a less diverse one.
3. By the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC), focuses on: a) increasing racial and ethnic diversity among students; b) increasing racial and ethnic diversity among faculty; c) creating inclusive learning and working environments in the colleges of veterinary medicine; d) infusing the veterinary curriculum with learning opportunities for cultural competence.
4. Specific benefits to a diverse learning environment: 1) Students in structurally diverse environments are less likely to self-segregate by race throughout their lifetime, 2) Students report having more positive academic, social, and personal experiences, 3) Students show “the greatest engagement in active thinking processes, growth in intellectual engagement and motivation, and growth in intellectual and academic skills”
5. False
6. Improved performance, highest quality employees, “market intelligence”, stronger problem-solving skills.
7. Heightened level of environmental conflict with potential decrease in overall performance, decreased group cohesiveness, increased absenteeism, and employee turnover.
Patino. Moving Research to Patient Applications through Commercialization: Understanding and Evaluating the Role of Intellectual Property, pp. 147-154
Domain 3; Task 3 – Design and conduct research
SUMMARY: This article reviews 5 topics: 1) industry motivation to invest in academic research, 2) institutional considerations in partnering with industry, 3) academia’s interactions with investors in the commercialization process, 4) the research institution’s route to commercialization, and 5) the role of intellectual property and commercialization in the advancement of healthcare.
Industry is relying increasingly on academia as a leading source of new drug and medical device discoveries that develop through basic research or cross-disciplinary collaborations. This can be attributed to many factors. Appropriate management of technology transfer is essential to ensuring that research conducted at universities and similar institutions advances to become useable products or service. Intellectual property rights consist of patents, copyrights, know-how, trade secrets, trademarks, trade dress, and service marks. Without sufficient attention to securing and negotiating intellectual property rights, the inventor institution may be out-maneuvered in a technology-transfer negotiation, inadvertently giving away valuable information or missing opportunities entirely.
In negotiating with potential partners for the commercialization of intellectual property, institutions should consider the risk associated with accepting sponsorship and licensing from a biotechnology company in generating acceptable terms. Goals set by universities when establishing and using a technology transfer program include: 1) facilitate the commercialization of university discoveries for the public good, 2) reward, retain, and recruit faculty, 3) forge partnerships with industry, 4) promote economic growth, and 5) generate income.
With the assistance of the Bayh-Dole Act in 1980, academic research institutions can retain close to ownership-type rights in patented technologies that were developed using federal grant funds. Most research institutions offer some type of financial compensation in the form of profit sharing to reward those scientists whose discoveries or ideas result in commercial success. Providing the faculty inventor with an economic interest in the success of a technology can blur the lines of intellectual property ownership, and disputes over property interests in these assets can result in legal action.
The movement of a technology or product from research to patient application requires an understanding of the commercialization process, which can be considered in 2 parts: how a technology develops from the perspective of the inventor, and how a secured idea gets developed into a product.
Intellectual property is a tool that can promote the movement of ideas from academia to industry, and eventually to patients. The use of intellectual property rights to advance healthcare technologies brings financial returns to the university and the inventor, yet several economic realities engender disadvantages in terms of the use of patent protection for healthcare advances (i.e. the rising cost of healthcare). To lower the hurdle that patents create with regard to the availability of generic drugs, Congress has attempted to protect certain forms of research from patent infringement charges via the Hatch-Waxman Act in 1985.
Commercialization of medical discoveries is necessary for bringing new biomedical advancements to market. The role of academia, acting through its office of technology transfer, is to balance the interests of the institution, the inventors, social responsibilities, and market demands.\
QUESTIONS:
1. This statement defines the following term: Similar to trade secrets but may also be defined as closely held knowledge in a given field created by skills or experience.
a. Know-how
b. Trade Secret
c. Creative Commons
2. T/F: The patent examination process and its rules are in a constant state of flux.
3. Seed Funding is defined as:
a. Grant mechanism which allows researchers employed at nonprofit research institutions to apply for grants where the institution has a formal relationship with a small company.
b. Money intended to help launch a startup company and comprise private investors, venture capital investments, or funds from friends or family pulled from savings or mortgages.
c. Money or other forms of consideration that are investments managed by a separate party that often use company growth benchmarks as a condition to receive additional investment funds.
ANSWERS:
1. A
2. T
3. B
ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Biology
Hickman and Swan. Use of a Body Condition Score Technique to Assess Health Status in a Rat Model of Polycystic Kidney Disease, pp. 155-159
SUMMARY: The authors review why assessment of body condition scoring is a helpful indicator of health and wellbeing. Briefly, BCS is simple, rapid, noninvasive, and insensitive to inter-observer variability, making it an ideal parameter to monitor. It can be useful in cases where body weight alone is not helpful; i.e. tumor studies, ascites models, and is indicative of the animals’ nutritional state. This study used middle-aged to geriatric male and female Han:SPRD rats, a model for polycystic kidney disease, to evaluate the usefulness of the mouse body condition scoring system for rats. Han:SPRD rats heterozygous for this trait have an increased chance of renal failure and death compared with wild-type littermates. An observer palpated the hips and lumbar spine and weighed rats weekly; a BCS was assigned for each rat. At the final time point, terminal BCS assessment was performed by necropsy technicians, as well as carcass body weight and carcass body weight minus liver and kidneys (adjusted carcass weight). Results of this study showed that rats tend to develop body fat over the pelvic bones, followed by the lumbar vertebrae. The opposite is true of mice. Thus, the BCS system was modified to reflect this physiologic difference in rats. Figure 2 in the article describes the modified scoring system. Male rats’ carcass body weights were significantly different compared with adjusted carcass weight; there were no significant differences between BCS and carcass weight. Males also showed significant differences between BCS and BUN/Creatinine. Female rats’ BCS, carcass body weights and adjusted carcass weights were significantly different. Females only showed significant differences between BCS and BUN. In summary, this modified BCS scoring for rats was effective in identifying animals with later stage polycystic kidney disease, especially for males. As BCS declined, BUN and creatinine increased.
QUESTIONS:
1. T/F: The modified BCS system described in this paper uses fat deposition over the ribs as an indicator of health.
2. Heterozygous Han:SPRD rats tend to develop polycystic kidney disease and renal failure between:
a. 4-6 months of age
b. 6-12 months of age
c. 12-18 months of age
d. 18-24 months of age
e. Only the homozygous Han:SPRD rats develop PKD
3. T/F: Female Han:SPRD rats in this study showed more severe disease than male rats.
4. T/F: In the modified rat BCS system, a score of 5 is assigned when one can still palpate the pins of the pelvis with firm pressure.
ANSWERS:
1. F; the lumbar vertebrae and pelvic bones are palpated, not the ribs
2. c; 12-18 months of age
3. F; females developed small cysts on the kidneys compared with males in this study
4. F; a score of 5 is assigned when one cannot palpate the pins of the pelvis with firm pressure
Reproduction
Yamashiro et al. Lactate and Adenosine Triphosphate in the Extender Enhance the Cryosurvival of Rat Epididymal Sperm, pp. 160-166
Primary Species
Domain 3: Research Knowledge, K1 Biomethodology Techniques
SUMMARY: This study evaluated the cryosurvival of rat epididymal sperm preserved in raffinose–modified Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate–egg yolk extender supplemented with various energy-yielding substrates (glucose, pyruvate, lactate, and ATP) and assessed the effect on sperm oxygen consumption. Previous research showed freezing rat sperm in an extender of raffinose dissolved in modified Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate (mKRB) containing egg yolk enhanced cryosurvival based on both viability and acrosomal integrity. The study showed that sperm had decreased motility and oxygen consumption in lactate-free extender. Sperm, however, that were then frozen and thawed in extender supplemented with 32.37 mM lactate exhibited the highest motility. Sperm that were supplemented with both 32.37 mM lactate and 1.85 mM ATP had higher motility and viability than those sperm frozen and thawed in ATP-free extender. This is the first report that demonstrates supplementing raffinose modified Krebs–Ringer bicarbonate–egg yolk extender with 32.37 mM lactate and 1.85 mM ATP increases of number of motile sperm before freezing and enhances the cryosurvival of rat sperm. The extender supplements may enhance sperm cryosurvival by improving the metabolic capacity of sperm before freezing.
QUESTIONS:
1. T/F Sperm in lactate-free extender had decreased sperm motility and oxygen consumption compared to sperm in both glucose and pyruvate mediums.
2. How much supplemental lactate enabled increased sperm motility?
3. How much supplemental ATP enabled sperm to have higher motility and viability?
ANSWERS:
1. TRUE
2. 32.37 mM lactate
3. 1.85 mM ATP
Yamashiro et al. Extracellular ATP and Dibutyryl cAMP Enhance the Freezability of Rat Epididymal Sperm, pp. 167-172
Primary Species: Rat
Domain 3: Research Knowledge, K1 Biomethodology Techniques
SUMMARY: The basic mechanochemical effect underlying sperm motility is ATP-induced microtubule sliding. ATP, calcium, and cAMP have received considerable attention as potential primary regulators of sperm motility in several species. Extracellular ATP acts on sperm by triggering a purinergic receptor-mediated increase in the intracellular calcium level which may enhance sperm motility. Increased calcium levels presumably activate soluble adenylyl cyclase, thereby increasing the cAMP concentration in the sperm. The authors of this study analyzed freezability, under various conditions, of rat epididymal sperm preserved in raffinose-mKRB-egg yolk extender with ATP, ionomycin (a calcium ionophore), and dibutyryl cAMP (dbdAMP - a membrane permeable cAMP analog). They also determined the effects of these agents on oxygen consumption by sperm (an indicator of mitochondrial activity). Sperm cryopreservation was considered successful if frozen-thawed sperm fertilized oocytes. To improve the effectiveness of in vitro fertilization (IVF), they determined whether ATP-and dbcAMP-supplemented IVF media improve the fertilizing ability of sperm. The authors also attempted artificial insemination with frozen-thawed rat sperm. This study was conducted in Japan using Wistar rats.