European Federation of Animal Science

In developmental-age kids with specific-learning-disabilities (SLD), functional illiteracy entails poor logical reasoning; in those with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a deficit in prospective memory results in difficulty executing previously planned actions. We model this SLD and/or ADHD construct in the rat via the signalled-licking/avoidance-of-punishment protocol (SLAP): We aim to study to assess rats' ability to merge two independently learned notions (one Pavlovian and one instrumental) and their deliberate exploitation. Rats were tested in Skinner boxes with a water-dispenser and lickometer. The 'Flash' paradigm consists of 30-min daily sessions, in which 5-min safe phases (i.e., sound and light off, signalled free-drinking) are intertwined by 1-min unsafe phases (i.e., sound and light on). If subjects drink during unsafe phases, a mild footshock is released: Rats learn to withhold drinking. The 'Allow' paradigm starts and stays in the unsafe phase. Rats can shift to a 2-min safe phase through a single nose poke in the active-hole. The possibility to exert control over the environment, via seeking dark-and-silence (the predictive contingencies) as deliberate goal, is an unexplored construct in rats. In data from the 'Flash' paradigm, a greater number of licks/h during safe phases is confirming that rats easily understand classical passive-avoidance contingencies. Findings from the 'Allow' paradigm indicate increased inefficacious nose pokes/h during safe phases, compared to unsafe ones. This is clearly suggesting that rats associate the change of phase with an outcome of their own input into the active nose-poking device. However, rats do not understand the 'potential' for instrumental exploitation of their nose pokes. As such, no significant inferences were drawn across the two independent associative notions. Neurobiology of this putative 'insight' capability may rely on limbic-striatal-cortical networks. Impairments in the latter may be involved in deficits of prospective memory (in ADHD), and/or impairments in logic skills (in SLD). The SLAP protocol may offer insights on basic neurobiology as well as modulatory effects thereon of pharmacological molecules.

This paper examines the ethical and legal challenges encountered during the GATEKEEPER Project and how these challenges informed the development of a comprehensive framework for future Large-Scale Pilot (LSP) projects. GATEKEEPER is a LSP Project with 48 partners conducting 30 implementation studies across Europe with 50,000 target participants grouped into 9 Reference Use Cases. The project underscored the complexity of obtaining ethical approval across various jurisdictions with divergent regulations and procedures. Through a detailed analysis of the issues faced and the strategies employed to navigate these challenges, this study proposes an ethical and legal framework. This framework, derived from a comparative analysis of ethical application forms and regulations, aims to streamline the ethical approval process for future LSP research projects. By addressing the hurdles encountered in GATEKEEPER, the proposed framework offers a roadmap for more efficient and effective project management, ensuring smoother implementation of similar projects in the future.

Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is a systemic autoimmune disease that frequently occurs concomitantly with other systemic connective tissue disorders, including rare and complex diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and systemic sclerosis (SSc). The presence of SS influences the clinical expression of the other autoimmune diseases, thus offering the unique opportunity to explore the similarities in genetic signatures, as well as common environmental and biologic factors modulating the expression of disease phenotypes. In this review, we will specifically discuss the possibility of defining "SS/SLE" and "SS/SSc" as distinct subsets within the context of connective tissue diseases with different clinical expression and outcomes, thus deserving an individualised assessment and personalised medical interventions.

This chapter is the result of the joint session hosted by the EAAP (European Federation of Animal Science) and EU-PLF (Precision Livestock Farming) held in Copenhagen 2014. Following the full-length peer-reviewed papers, presented in Chapters 7.1 – 7.3, this chapter brings together ‘questions and answers' debates during this session’s discussions. Unique of this ‘cross-disciplinary’ approach is that animal nutritionists, animal geneticists, animal behaviourists, health and welfare scientists, zoologists, and biologists (i.e. animal-focused scientists), that usually participate in the EAAP meetings, as well as industries, farmers, and PLF engineers raised up further research ideas, contradicting opinions as well as unsolved issues. They concluded that (1) PLF is a management tool that allows farmers to make better decisions based on animal data; (2) it has the potential to support animal feed suppliers, human-food retailers, environment carers, policy makers, and other players along the livestock chain; and (3) that the current challenge for PLF is the integration of the sensors in the majority of the farms and not only to the pioneering farms. This discussion chapter would be interesting to those who are interested in further research (the recorded discussions), companies (ready-to-market applications are described in the papers), extension service and knowledge transfer units, farmers, farm animal protectors activists (sensors for caring farm animals), and all those who ‘touch’ the PLF various fields.