Improving Animal Facility Management and Research Quality

摘要： 匹兹堡大学实验动物资源部(DLAR)管理着12个 11栋建筑中的独立设施。我们目前的老鼠普查超过33,000个笼子。 养殖业工作人员需要付出巨大的努力来进行日常的笼子监控，包括是否存在 食物和水、卧具状况、笼子和室内温度和湿度。 在新冠肺炎大流行期间，由于人员配备问题，德拉从更换鼠标改为 IVC每7天到每14天关一次笼子。更换笼子的间隔时间延长7天 增加监测食物、水位和床上用品情况的劳动力。笼子 将改善笼子和房间监测的系统代表着亟需的改进和 灵活的设施管理。 这笔赠款寻求通过安装数字通风笼子来提供急需的笼子的资金 (DVC)和Leddy照明系统从Tecniplast安装在三个等候室中。这些笼子 将允许试点计划确定其解决所述问题和关注的能力 上面。这一拟议的成功试点计划将为扩大这些项目提供理由 随着时间的推移，笼子系统遍布子宫。

ABSTRACT: The University of Pittsburgh Division of Laboratory Animal Resources (DLAR) manages 12 separate facilities in 11 buildings. Our current mouse census is in excess of 33,000 cages. Significant effort is required by husbandry staff for daily cage monitoring including the presence of food and water, bedding condition, and cage and room temperature and humidity. During the COVID-19 pandemic, due to staffing issues, DLAR switched from changing mouse IVC cages every 7 days to every 14 days. The additional 7 days between cage changes caused an increase in labor to monitor food and water levels and the condition of bedding. Caging systems that would improve cage and room monitoring represent much-needed improvement and flexibility to facility management. This grant seeks funding to provide much needed caging by installing Digital Ventilated Caging (DVC) and Leddy Lighting System caging from Tecniplast in three holding rooms. These cages will allow a pilot program to determine their ability to address the issues and concerns described above. This proposed successful pilot program will provide justification for expanding these caging systems throughout the vivaria over time.