Ventilated Caging System to Improve Housing Capacity, Flexibility, and Air Qualit

描述(由申请者提供)：辛辛那提大学(UC)是一所致力于其研究事业持续增长的顶尖公立研究型大学。NCRR最近提供了840万美元，UC承诺提供320万美元来翻新我们最古老和使用最频繁的动物设施(G20RR030832)。翻新将使该设施的容量增加一倍以上，使用MACS160 Gentle空气笼系统(机架)，该设施是为其设计的。在我们目前的人口普查中，我们已经达到了使用效率较低的机架的能力，只能为逐步更换/扩建制定预算，而无法满足改建后的设施和新招聘的教师的需求。简而言之，我们很快就会有一个全新的动物设施，而没有能力扩展到新的领域。因此，迫切需要获得鼠架，使我们能够开始使用新的设施，增加动物容量，最大限度地提高啮齿动物住所的灵活性，提高劳动力、能源和水资源的效率，改善操作安全，提高室内环境空气质量，同时改善啮齿动物的微环境。除非这些未得到满足的需求得到解决，否则加州大学将无法充分利用翻修后的设施，无法提供持续的障碍级啮齿动物住所，也无法保证继续资助研究的无病动物模型，从而危及我们招募和留住优秀研究人员以及满足(主要由NIH赞助的)资助项目未来需求的能力。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The University of Cincinnati (UC) is a premier public research university committed to continued growth of its research enterprise. NCRR has recently awarded $8.4 million and UC has committed $3.2 million to renovate the oldest and most heavily used of our animal facilities (G20RR030832). Renovation will more than double capacity for that facility with the use of the MACS 160 Gentle Air Caging Systems (racks) for which the facility was designed. With our current census we are at capacity using less efficient racks, and can only budget for gradual replacement / expansion without the ability to accommodate the needs of the remodeled facility and new faculty hires. In short, we will soon have a brand new animal facility without the ability to expand into the new space. There is an urgent need, therefore, to obtain rodent racks that will allow us to begin to utilize the new facility, increase animal capacity, maximize flexibility in rodent housing, increase efficiencies for labor, energy, and water, improve operation safety and enhance indoor environmental air quality while improving the micro-environment of the rodents. Unless these unmet needs are addressed, UC will be unable to fully utilize the renovated facility, provide sustained barrier-level rodent housing, or guarantee disease-free animal models for continued grant-funded research, thereby jeopardizing our ability to recruit and retain outstanding researchers and meet the future needs of (primarily NIH-sponsored) grant-funded projects.