Choice-based severity scale (CSS): assessing the relative severity of procedures from a laboratory animal's perspective.

One primary goal of laboratory animal welfare science is to provide a comprehensive severity assessment of the experimental and husbandry procedures or conditions these animals experience. The severity, or degree of suffering, of these conditions experienced by animals are typically scored based on anthropocentric assumptions. We propose to (a) assess an animal's subjective experience of condition severity, and (b) not only rank but scale different conditions in relation to one another using choice-based preference testing.

Development and optimisation of grid inserts for a preclinical radiotherapy system and corresponding Monte Carlo beam simulations.

. To develop a physical grid collimator compatible with the X-RAD preclinical radiotherapy system and create a corresponding Monte Carlo (MC) model..

A Touchscreen-Based, Multiple-Choice Approach to Cognitive Enrichment of Captive Rhesus Macaques ().

Research on the psychological and physiological well-being of captive animals has focused on investigating different types of social and structural enrichment. Consequently, cognitive enrichment has been understudied, despite the promising external validity, comparability, and applicability. As we aim to fill this gap, we developed an interactive, multiple-choice interface for cage-mounted touchscreen devices that rhesus monkeys () can freely interact with, from within their home enclosure at the Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory of the German Primate Center.

Group size and mating system predict sex differences in vocal fundamental frequency in anthropoid primates.

Vocalizations differ substantially between the sexes in many primates, and low-frequency male vocalizations may be favored by sexual selection because they intimidate rivals and/or attract mates. Sexual dimorphism in fundamental frequency may be more pronounced in species with more intense male mating competition and in those with large group size, where social knowledge is limited and efficient judgment of potential mates and competitors is crucial. These non-mutually exclusive explanations have not been tested simultaneously across primate species.

The BALB/c Mouse Model for the Evaluation of Therapies to Treat Infections with Aerosolized .

, the causative agent of the disease melioidosis, has been isolated from the environment in 45 countries. The treatment of melioidosis is complex, requiring lengthy antibiotic regimens, which can result in the relapse of the disease following treatment cessation. It is important that novel therapies to treat infections with be assessed in appropriate animal models, and discussions regarding the different protocols used between laboratories are critical.