Gender of Authors in Laboratory Animal Medicine and Science in 2 Peer-Reviewed U. S. Journals.

Multiple recent surveys have examined the prevalence of female first or senior authors on publications for various scientific and medical disciplines. First and senior authorships are significant achievements for purposes of professional advancement, especially in academia. Such surveys can also provide information regarding diversity and inclusion.

Characterization and Etiology of Swollen Muzzles in Irradiated Mice.

Several investigators performing bone marrow transplantation studies have previously reported sporadic increases in mortality that were associated with pronounced swelling in the face, head and neck of mice. Over the past few years, we and others have noted an increasing number of experiments in which mice that have received total-body irradiation (TBI) or partial-body irradiation (PBI) develop swollen muzzles, drastic thickening of the upper lip and redness, bruising and/or swelling around the nose and muzzle and sometimes over the top of the head. We refer to this rapid and extreme swelling after irradiation as swollen muzzle syndrome (SMS).

Quality testing of autoclaved rodent drinking water during short-term and long-term storage.

All animals need clean water to drink. At the authors' animal facility, drinking water for immunocompromised rodents is filtered by reverse osmosis, acidified during bottling and sterilized in an autoclave. Autoclaved water bottles can be stored in unopened autoclave bags for 7 d or in opened bags for 2 d; if not used during that time, they are emptied, cleaned, refilled and sterilized again.