May 2022 : simplebooklet.com

EDITOR*Carole Wilsonbulletineditor@iat.org.ukASSISTANT EDITOR*Paul Barwoodbulletinassistant@iat.org.ukADVERTISEMENTMANAGERSPRC Associates Ltdmail@prcassoc.co.ukPublished monthly by theInstitute of Animal Technology*Registered Office:5 South ParadeSummertownOxfordOX2 7JLISSN 0263-2861For enquiries other thanBulletin related contact:IAT ADMINISTRATOR*admin@iat.org.ukorBulletinThe opinions expressed in theBulletin do not necessarily reflectthose of the Editor or theInstitute.CONTENTSJul20:IATB NEW 10/7/20 10:01 Page 3CONTENTS
SOMNI RODENTNRB SYSTEMSyringe tube ≠ nose conesNo more tapeSEALEDCOMPATIBLE WITHEXISTING UK/EU:ProductsAccessoriesFittingsSOMNI Scientific is centered on the animal welfare and research community with a focus on clinical accuracy,clinician/technician safety, economic performance andintuitive functionality.SOMNI PROVIDES UNPARALLELED CUSTOMER SERVICE, CLINICAL AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT.IAT BULLETIN JAN22.indd 3IAT BULLETIN JAN22.indd 3 28/01/2022 12:1128/01/2022 12:11Vol 58 No 5 May 2022CONTENTSFinal copy date forJune Bulletin23rdMayDear Readers 4-5AAALAC International Fellowship 8AwardHow Little We Knew –9-16Starting a Lifetime in AnimalTechnologyUnclaimed Congress Rafﬂe Ticket16AS-ET News 18-19West Midlands Branch 21Thames Sundown CruiseEDI: Lets talk about… 22-23Neurodiversity in theworkplaceNC3RS: Reﬁnement News 24-25North East Branch Enrichment 26Training DayDiary Dates 2707534 105 703

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Bulletin4 • May 2022Dear ReadersNowthhaatt CCovidrestrictionshaverelaxed,Ihhaaavvveerreeaallllyybbeeeenneennnnjjjoooyyyiiinnngggfffaaaccceeetttooofffaaaccceeemmmeetingsagain–espppeciallythisyear’sConnngggress,althoughittookkkmeawhiletorecover!IItt wwwassuchapositiveeventforme;notonlybbbecauseIcouldseefriendsssandcolleaguesinpersonatlast,butalsobecccauseIdeeplyvaluebeingpartofameetingthhhatenablesAnimalTechnologiststosharetheiiirideasandinspireoneanothertomakearealdifffferenceforlaboratoryanimalwelfare.ItwasalsogreattoholdthhheRSPCA’sﬁrstpost-lockdownmeetinginApril,asahybrideventinassociationwiththeUniveeersityofManchester.Thetopicwasss‘avoidingandreducingseveresuffering’,aspartofourongoingFocccusonSevereSufferinginitiatttive.Thishasreceivedoutstandingsupppportfromthescientiﬁccommunity,includingggfromAnimalTechnologistsss,andweareproudtohave tttheIATlogoonnntheproject’swebsite(focusonseveresuffering.co.uk).Therehasbeen anamazing61%reductioninexperimeeentalprocedures causingseveresufferingsincethe project’slllaunch in222000111444.NNNooodddooouuubbbttt ttthhheeerrreee aaarrreeemmmmuuullltttiiipppllleee rrreeeaaasssooonnnsssfffooorrr ttthhhiiisssbbbuuutttIII’’’mmmsssuuurrreee ttthhhaaattttttheexpertiseandcommitmentofAnimal Technologists–includinguunnnddderstandingharmstoanimals,reﬁningwelfareassessmentprottoocolsandmonitoringanimals–willhaveplayedamajorparrtt.We’rekeenn ttokeepupthemomentumandwewouldlikkee yyourhelp!Thewebpages iinnccludeaRoadmaptoreduceseveree ssuuffffering,withastep-by-stepguiddettoo iimmppllementingthis.. Itt ssttrreesssestheimportanceofateamapproach,andsteersusersthhroughananalysisofeachanimal’slifeexperiencessothatallpotentiallystressfuleventsandIAT BULLETIN MAY22.indd 4 06/05/2022 08:51

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BulletinMay 2022 • 5adverse effects can be reﬁned. It would be great if youcould take alook at the Roadmap and ask whether your establishment couldtrialusing it. Even if thereare no severeprotocols at yourestablishment,you can still usethe Roadmaptoreﬁne moderateoreven mildprocedures.We wouldalso really appreciate your feedback aboutthe websiteand Roadmap, and we’d love to hear aboutany examples of severeprocedures you have helped to reﬁne,for our(anonymised) casestudies page. Our work to date has also shown us that avoidingseveresuffering can be morechallenginginsomestudies, especially in modelsof severe diseases –ifthis is your experience,we’d be interestedtohearaboutthisaswell.Morediscussionaboutseveresufferingcan onlyhelpus to further reduce and avoid it,with beneﬁtsfor animals, science andyour welfare too, as severe procedures have been identiﬁed as acauseof compassion fatigue by theUSNA3RsC.Thankyou to Carole forallowing me to take over the Bulletin editorialthis month, andyou can send your comments on the website, Roadmapor tackling severe suffering in general to animalsinscience@rspca.org.uk–welook forward to hearing from you!Penny HawkinsRSPCAIAT BULLETIN MAY22.indd 5 06/05/2022 08:51

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Bulletin8 • May 2022Call for nominations now open for the2022 AAALAC InternationalFellowship AwardThe AAALAC International Fellowship recognises two outstanding individuals—one IAT RAnTech and one AALAS Registered—who have made (or have the potential to make) signiﬁcant contributions to the ﬁeld of laboratory animal care and use.This fellowship is valued at more than £3000. The IAT RAnTech winner will receive a week-long guest visit to prestigious biomedical research facilities in the U.S. this autumn, plus complimentary attendance at the National AALAS Meeting, the U.S.’s largest laboratory animal science and technology meeting. All registration, travel, lodging, meals, and out-of-pocket expenses are covered (receipts are required). Apply online! The online application will ask for information on your professional background, training and meeting participation, along with other supporting information. In addition you will be asked to attach/upload the following:1. A brief letter nominating yourself (or have someone write this letter on your behalf)2. A copy of your CV3. At least one (no more than three) letter(s) of supportAwardees are expected to share their experiences brieﬂy by preparing a written report for AAALAC International. Awardees are also expected to communicate their experiences to peers by presenting at a local or national conference.ONLINE APPLICATIONS MUST BE SUBMITTED BY 1JUNE2022:https://www.aaalac.org/awards/fellowship-award/For complete details and a list of selection criteria, visit www.aaalac.org/about/fellowship.cfm. Receipt of application will be conﬁrmed by email to candidates. If you have not received conﬁrmation or have any questions about this award, please call +1 301.696.9626 or email fellow@aaalac.org. The AAALAC International Fellowship Award is presented by AAALAC International through a grant by Priority One Services, Inc. and Datesand Group Ltd, in cooperation with AALAS, IAT, the Medical Research Council, and the National Institutes of Health. Individuals interested in applying for the Fellowship Award are expected to consider both real (i.e., ﬁnancial orother personal or professional considerations, such as employment at AAALAC International, Priority One Services,Inc. or Datesand Group Ltd) and perceived (i.e., an appearance of being at an advantage) conﬂicts of interestbefore submitting their applications. Questions regarding apotential conﬂict of interest may be directed to theAAALAC international Chief Executive Ofﬁcer,Dr. Kathryn Bayne (kbayne@aaalac.org).©2022 AAALAC International |www.aaalac.org |fellow@aaalac.orgIf you are IATRAnTechapply by 1June2022IAT BULLETIN MAY22.indd 8 06/05/2022 08:51

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BulletinMay 2022 • 9How little we knew –starting alifetime inAnimal TechnologyWhen the chickens come home to roost (or pigeons)!This is aview of acareer in animal technology,something enjoyed very muchboth when working with the animals and people.What you wish you had known or better understood, beforeyou startedThe list could be almost endless, but to select just afew,the helpfulness youreceive and beneﬁt from work colleagues, administrators, those organisingInstitute of Animal Technology courses and events and those working inconnected professions of all kinds. All of which was unexpected and any shynessor reticence you felt at ﬁrst –asayoung, naïve person was unnecessary.Learning that, although you should not expect your views on the care ofanimals to always be followed, pressing too hard could be counterproductiveto your aim. Your ideas were probably not being completely ignored and onoccasion led to the change you desired (or close enough to apositive outcome).Diplomacy is askill most of us probably need to learn when we start out andunderstanding just how far it can take you.The most important lesson and often the most difﬁcult to learn when you start,is the need to listen. Not only to those in authority,where your choices may belimited if you do not, but also those you did not need to necessarily hear (or soyou thought) yet who had insights to impart and wise advice to give you.This sounds like quite aserious list, when reading it back to myself, so rememberto just add all the humour.Including the enjoyment we probably all experiencein very good measure in our profession, especially the many amusing behavioursof our animal charges and discovering what they like and dislike and how theycan confound you sometimes.For me, the experiences during day-release work sponsored college courses,stand out, even amongst all the other enjoyable aspects of the profession Iencountered.IAT BULLETIN MAY22.indd 9 06/05/2022 08:51

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Bulletin10 • May 2022Aspects of the work that surprised or astonished youFirst on this list, in my view had to be witnessing the Professor responsible forastudy looking at adisease that was not well understood at the time and whoyou had assisted during the research in avery limited way,declare that thechanges he had found, “had never been seen before by anyone working in thisﬁeld of research anywhere in the world”.The fact someone then recognised this phenomena or could assert their researchaccordingly was so cutting edge, was astonishing to me and that Icould haveplayed any part in any such discovery still has an impact on my thinking.The uses made of almost every item of environmental enrichment introducedfor all laboratory animals species, surprised me. It was not that Idid not expectthe items to prove useful because whoever designed them must have thoughtthey had value. It was the fact the very basic caging systems of the past hadbeen rightly improved upon and some of the simplest looking enrichmentsachieved more than you could imagine.Another surprise was the activity levels of laboratory rodents during the nightor the periods of darkness set, although as nocturnal animals it should not havebeen ashock to me.Sometimes you must admit that things can go wrong and astonish you.Failure to check well enough usually plays arole in this. Learning to have manysensible checks in your daily routines and unit policies will help. Almost alwayseverything depends upon staffspotting things about to go wrong, or soon afterthey have gone awry.However,acknowledgement should always be given thatneither you nor anyone else can always be wise before the event.Examples of this are probably too numerous to mention but unexpectedhealth problems must be an aspect of the profession Ihave never forgotten.Deﬁciencies in the physical environment is one area in which trouble can arise.Animals sometimes becoming trapped by wrongly ﬁtted equipment, somethingeasily put right but hard to always spot before it happens.Changes in feeding regimes can cause ill health, as we know.Levels of nutrientscan somehow be inadequate and more dominant animals can disadvantagetheir cage mates, limiting their access to food. Studies conducted twenty yearsago showing rodents selectively choosing the pelleted diet have more recentlyled to adding the feed hopper,sticks in my mind. Some seem to ignore thelesson here, perhaps fearing criticism their animals might run out of diet, if theydo not always try to keep feed hoppers or baskets ﬁlled right to the top every day.IAT BULLETIN MAY22.indd 10 06/05/2022 08:51

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BulletinMay 2022 • 11OOOntheFarm!Finally,the way animals choose to drink can surprise you, even doing so upsidedown if this avoids them getting their feet wet. Another issue, being too lazyto even try to access the water available, if it takes any effort. Perhaps analternative explanation would be –until they learn to access awater deliverysystem, they are not familiar with.Technical lessons learnt, the hardwayIthink you will discover,should you be foolish enough to try,that water-basedpaints do not stick on top of the durable ‘eggshell’ oil-based paint, used sooften in the past!Aperch or shelf, placed in an animal cage needs to be durable and easy toclean but can be overlooked if the animals are likely to spend long periodsusing them. Thermal qualities are important too, losing heat to the perch orshelf can become astressor for the animals, hence stainless steel or even someplastics may not always be the best material to use here.Heavily soiled surfaces can beneﬁtfrom the use of relatively inexpensivealkaline detergents, used at the correct concentrations prior to pressurewashing. These can be more effective than more neutral pH detergentsolutions on some surfaces but obviously it should be checked that the alkalinedetergents will not damage the surfaces.Touch plates on doors are there for us to useand not just asadornments. Ihad this helpfullypointed out tome as ayoungtechnician. Iwasalso told notto leave amessbehind me whendoing atask onmy ﬁrst day onthe job, the exactwords of mysupervisor were:“You’re not onthe farm now.”!IAT BULLETIN MAY22.indd 11 06/05/2022 08:52

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Bulletin12 • May 2022Side drains joining amain drain together should be slightly offset from oneanother to avoid soiled bedding material being pressssuuurrreeewashed down,blocking the drains and more easily passing thebends.The question of whether an air gap is necessary ornot in arodent water bottle is not fully resolvedto everyone’ssatisfaction and my attempts atinvestigating this by apreference trial could notprovide adeﬁnitive answer.Iadmit though, the IATTTManual published ﬁfty or so years ago had asectionnnin an early chapter discussing many aspects ofwater bottles, including the causes of spontaneousemptying.Early attempts at presenting apaper to your peers and theneed for good audio-visual aidsAnd carrying it offwhen all systems seem to failYour ﬁrst attempts at writing and delivering apresentation on the care andhusbandry of animals can result in you experiencing many common pitfalls.It is hard to say which is the most challenging but choking and beingunable to speak, when it is your turn at the lectern, must both be up there.Hopefully some words start to come out, as you are encouraged by workcolleagues wishing you to succeed. If you really are lucky you start to relaxabout half way through and almost turn on to autopilot. When you see avideo of yourself afterwards, you cannot believe it is you who is deliveringthe paper.Your work colleagues and the Congress attendees listening, allseem to relax along with you.Finding aprevious speaker has, inadvertently,covered some of the groundyou were about to cover is hardly going to make your nerves feel anybetter,but it can happen. Somehow you need to try to accommodate thischallenge, perhaps by ignoring what they have spoken about or by takingadvantage of where your presentation might be supported or conﬁrmed bythe other person’spaper.Dealing with any differences by stating “this maybe controversial” as an explanation, may win you some plaudits too!Apast copy offfthhheIAT MMManuallllIAT BULLETIN MAY22.indd 12 06/05/2022 08:52

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BulletinMay 2022 • 13If you are pleased or even proud of the audio visual material you use toillustrate your presentation, then this gives your conﬁdence aboost. Youmay receive compliments on them given by the moderator at the time or bycolleagues afterwards.Where you know you do not have particularly good visuals to use (perhaps justcartoon type drawings), then you can try to make avirtue of this or tell youraudienceto –“Use their imagination alittle when viewing them”.However bad the visuals are, due to lack of preparation time and limitedopportunity to produce better material, something is always better than nothing.The only example Ican give you where this may not be true, occured to meduring aCongress presentation, when the slides were not ﬂowing in thedesired sequence. (This may be athing of the past with more efﬁcienttechnologies supporting the speakers rather than the old-fashioned slideprojectors.)The last thing to mention on this is very much easier to say than do. It is ofcourse necessary to try and carry on when there is asystems failure of somekind, for example, apower failure or blip messing everything up for you.Youmay receive well deserved appreciation for using self-control but the otherthing to remember is that sometimes those listening to your presentationdo not pick up on what you thought of as serious failings on your part orwhatever you thought was embarrassing. They may only choose to focus uponthose aspects of your presentation that struck achord with them. Meaning youmay have succeeded despite yourself!What could have been done betterOnce again far too many recollections for me to mention here and there issome overlap with previous aspects Ihave touched upon, but here goes.If like me, you came into Animal Technology to some extent because youfeel more comfortable working with animals, than in ajob mainly focussingupon people or providing aservice to the public, it is inevitable that you mayfeel you should have done more, on some occasions for those animals. Forexample, Ihave already mentioned about being more aware of the possibilitiesoffered by environmental enrichment items and also when hazards were foundunexpectedly or that you could not predict.IAT BULLETIN MAY22.indd 13 06/05/2022 08:52

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Bulletin14 • May 2022Whatever you did or did not do correctly or as well as you should havedone. Even by picking up on signs of ill health earlier for example, themethod you employed or tried to employ as aprofessional is akind ofsaving grace, because it should help you and others to learn to do better inthe future. As afellow animal care professional reminded me: “Wecannotchange the past, but if we can learn from it, then we can help build abrighter future”.What didyou accomplish that you canpoint to,ifanything?Ican point to recognising away of moving the siting of abuilding(already designed) by afew metres to the south of the original siteintended, to everyone’sbeneﬁt and just in time before the ﬁnal planningstage and builders being appointed, being initially listened to and thenacted upon by the architect.This meant afence line did not have to be breached, simplifying theplanning process and reducing disruption to the site. The distancesbetween buildings, where there was much necessary foot trafﬁc werereduced and of course, there was aconsiderable cost saving, appreciatedby those holding the purse strings, as we know.The last thing the architect said was that he approved of the way thebuildings more harmoniously interacted with one another and gave apleasing eye line. All this was achieved by just one short and very timelyconversation with aprofessional capable of seeing the beneﬁts andhaving the skill, desire and training to adjust plans and overcome anynew design challenges arising from the proposed site being moved.How many more achievements Ican point to Iamnot sure, if you wantconcrete examples. There must have been some plusses to the way Itriedto organise the areas Iwas responsible for,bearing in mind health andsafety considerations and challenges at the same time. Ithink Ican rightlyclaim Iwas fully up front when things went wrong or as close to this idealas Icould be. Isaw through some problems when it would have beeneasy to give up but even experienced professionals can resign themselvesto the problems they ﬁnd, always existing sometimes.IAT BULLETIN MAY22.indd 14 06/05/2022 08:52

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BulletinMay 2022 • 15New innovations you believe have taken the industryforwardsIamgoing to have to say this again but there truly are too many of these tomention here, so afew will have to sufﬁce.Idonot envy those having to compile and check all the paperwork and otherrecords now required to ensure the quality of work is maintained but Icanaccept how necessary it is.Computers have entered almost every aspect of our lives, for good or ill, butno one would attempt to deny they are vital now to ensure we all try to keepup-to-date and communicate with one another as effectively as possible.Collaboration with people from differing backgrounds and different points ofview on research and insights we may not have thought of ourselves, has takenthe industry forward, Ibelieve.Great advances have been made in cage design and so many other vital pieces ofequipment over the last forty odd years and these cannot be ignored,obviously.Advances incage design.IAT BULLETIN MAY22.indd 15 06/05/2022 08:52

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Bulletin16 • May 2022Summary,and abidingmemoriesAll of these observations are simply my personal views, recounting how Ifelt my career progressed and therefore should be read as nothing morethan that. There are many much higher authorities and more highly skilledpeople to listen to.My last word is this, that although Ican state “How little we’ve learned” inthe title of this paper,Idohope you agree even modest accomplishmentscan be worthwhile. The enjoyment of working with so many committedand able people, as Ihave been lucky enough to encounter,isthe mostmemorable aspect of my career and gives me the most satisfaction andcontentment.From aCongress2022 presentation byKenneth Graham GoodfellowIS THIS YOUR CONGRESS RAFFLE TICKET?Please claim your prize by e-mailing the Bulletin editor –bulletineditor@iat.org.ukAD63334365666555IAT BULLETIN MAY22.indd 16 06/05/2022 08:52

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Bulletin20 • May 2022Watchitinactionby visiting:somniscientific.com/accuracyTHE SOMNI AMD 3+Somni Scientific’sAMD 3+ is the ultimate in Inhalant Anaesthesia gasdelivery. Thispressurized anaesthesia systemcan deliveraccurate adjustable flowrates to 3 stationssimultaneously.Each station is equippedwith aflowmeterand toggle switch thatallows the user to leaveflows preset or adjustto their needs. Unlikeany other systemonthe market this allows usersthe greatestflexibility fortheir procedures.Accuracy(AccurateMultiple Delivery)COMPATIBLE WITH EXISTING UK/EU:ProductsAccessoriesFittingsINHALATION ANAESTHESIA EQUIPMENT AND SERVICESOMNI Scientific is centered on the animal welfareandresearch community with afocus on clinical accuracy,clinician/technician safety, economic performanceandintuitivefunctionality.SOMNI PROVIDES UNPARALLELED CUSTOMER SERVICE, CLINICAL AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT.(T) 0800 0129101 (D) 01872 248890 (M) 07798 969805enquiries@somniscientific.comwww.somniscientific.co.ukIAT BULLETIN MAY22.indd 20 06/05/2022 08:52

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24thJune 2022IATWest Middlesex Branch would liketoinvite youtoarelaxing two hour sun-set cruise on the river Thames. With anice glassofsomething ﬁzzyinhand,canapésand live music playing in thebackground, this must be one of themost relaxing ways to enjoythe spectacular views of London passing by...Tickets arelimited and will be allocated on aﬁrst come ﬁrstserved basis. If youwould liketoreserve your place, pleaseemail nilgun@datesand.comSponsored byDate: 24th June 2022Departure: 6.15pm, TowerMillenium PierReturn: 8.30pm, TowerMillenium PierTickets: £15 for IATWMB members£35 for all otherbranch membersIncludes: 2hour river cruisewithspectacular illuminations of LondonAglass of bubbly on arrivalCanapé receptionLivemusicCash bar open throughout the cruiseRiver ThamesSundown CruiseIATWest Middlesex Branch

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Bulletin22 • May 2022This time, the EDI Group is focussing its “Let’sTalk” article onanother protected characteristic, NeurodiversityLet’stalk about …Neurodiversity in the workplace“Youprobably can’ttellbylooking at me, but my brain works very differently to yours.If you were to meet me, you’d probably notice that I’m tall and Ihave blonde hair.Youmight notice that Idon’toften make eye contact. But you won’tsee that I’m also extremelysensitive to bright lights and loud noises. Iamhopeless at reading body language and Imissconversational cues. Ilove coding and enjoy solving problems. Istruggle with changingenvironments, having to hot desk has ahuge impact on me’ Iamnot aneurotypicalperson, Iamwhatisknown as ‘neurodivergent’”What is Neurodiversity?Neurodiversity refers to the different ways the brain can work and interpret information. It highlightsthat people naturally think about things differently.Wehave different interests and motivations, andare naturally better at some things and poorer at others.Most people are neurotypical, meaning that the brain functions and processes information in theway society expects.However,itisestimated that around 1in7people (more than 15% of people in the UK) areneurodivergent,meaning that the brain functions, learns and processes information differently.Neurodivergence includes Attention Deﬁcit Disorders, Autism, Dyslexia and Dyspraxia. These bringstrengths as well as difﬁculties.What does Neurodiversity mean?When we describe people as ‘neurodivergent’, then, we are talking about people who in one orseveral respects have athinking style at the edges of one or more of these continuums, with –inthe words of autistic author,speaker and educator Nick Walker –abrain ‘that functions in ways thatdiverge signiﬁcantly from the dominant societal standards of “normal’. We needtounderstand thatthere is no standard brain.Neurodiversity is, ultimately,abiological fact of the inﬁnite variety of human neurocognition.Now,the same term ‘neurodiversity’ is also being used to represent afast-growing sub-category oforganisational diversity and inclusion that seeks to embrace and maximise the talents of people whothink differently.(CIPD 2018)Let’s talk about ... NeurodiversityIAT BULLETIN MAY22.indd 22 06/05/2022 08:52

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23Mental HealthAwarenesswww.iat.org.ukHow can we embrace Neurodiversity in the workplace?Neurodivergence is fairly common, so most workplaces are already neurodiverse. Yet, there is still alack of understanding around most forms of neurodivergence, and misperceptions persist. It thereforemakes sense for organisations to take steps that make their neurodivergent stafffeel valued, part ofthe team and supported to contribute fully towards achieving the goals of the organisation.Creating amoreinclusive workplace can:lhighlight the employer’scommitment to diversity and inclusionlreduce the stigma around neurodivergencelmake stafffeel safe and empowered to disclose aneurodivergencelmake it more likely that neurodivergent staffwillbetreated fairly by their managers andcolleagueslopen the organisation up to apooloftalent that may otherwise have been overlookedlhelp retain skilled staffand reduce recruitment costs.Further Support and Training can be found at:lADHD Foundation -Adults sectionlBritish Dyslexic Association -Employer sectionlDyspraxia Foundation -Adults sectionlNational Autistic Society -Support for employerslTourettes Action -Employers sectionlNHS website and search for the speciﬁc form of neurodivergenceReferences:CIPD Guide Neurodiversity at work ,Feb 2018https://www.gov.uk/government/news/neurodiversity-in-the-workplaceInstitute ofAnimal TechnologyCOUNCILEquality and Diversity GroupIAT BULLETIN MAY22.indd 23IAT BULLETIN MAY22.indd 23 06/05/2022 08:5206/05/2022 08:52

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Bulletin24 • May 2022Skinswabbing:refining genotyping ofsmall-bodiedfishesTheNC3Rs hascollaborated with expertstocreatearesource aimedatresearchersand technicians whowant to learn more aboutthe practicaland welfareaspects ofswitching from finclipping to skin swabbing. Theresource includes:▪ Commonlyasked questionsanswered in detail by experts in skin swabbingand laboratory fish welfare.▪ Atable comparingthe practicalaspects of finclipping and skin swabbing.▪ Askinswabbing protocol, peer-reviewedliterature,and videos to help youdevelop and implementaswabbing protocol in your ownfacility.▪ Adviceonrefininggenotyping procedures if youfacility is not yetreadytomake theswitchtoskinswabbing.www.nc3rs.org.uk/fishswabbingMinimising aggressionin group-housed miceTheNC3Rs hascreated anew resource providing recommendationsfor preventingand managing aggression between group-housedmice. Therecommendations focuson male mice and arebased on publishedliterature.Sources includethe NC3Rsmouseaggressionstudy,which analysed data from 137,580male mice that wascollectedbyanimaltechniciansacross44facilities.The resource also includesgeneralinformation that canbeapplied to both sexes, such as guidance on understandingsudden behaviouralchanges and monitoring aggression in mice.www.nc3rs.org.uk/mouse-aggressionIAT BULLETIN MAY22.indd 24 06/05/2022 08:52

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BulletinMay 2022 • 25Learn more aboutrat playpens with anew online resourceConventional cageslimit theability of ratstoexplore, exerciseand engage inspecies-specificbehaviours, such as climbing,burrowing,and upright stretching.Theseconstraintsonrat behaviour cannegatively impact on their physicalandpsychological health,leading to unhealthyanimals andpotentiallyunreliable data.Ratplaypensprovide an opportunity to address thewelfare issues associated withstandard caging,and canalsocreatepositivechange foranimal technicians,researchers, and facilities.To find outmore about thebenefits of providingratswithplaypen access visittheNC3Rsonline ratplaypen resource,which alsoincludes:▪ Answers to your common rat playpen questions.▪ Practicaltipsfor setting up arat playpen in your facility.▪ Video content,including arat playpen webinar.www.nc3rs.org.uk/rat-playpensWith thanks to UniversityCollege London, University of Leicester, and University ofBristolfor images.If youhaveset up arat playpen and would like to share your experiences, we wouldlovetohear from you: tech3Rs@nc3rs.org.ukIAT BULLETIN MAY22.indd 25 06/05/2022 08:52

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BulletinMay 2022 • 27Front cover: Great Grey Owl Courtesy: Ian TrevesDIARY DatesTo View NowEfﬁcient management ofgenetically altered mouse coloniesNC3Rs/Mary Lyons CentreTo view:https://vimeo.com/518501136/2fc46ddd3e?utm_campaign=March+2021&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdeliveryTo View NowProcedures with CareTo view:https://researchanimaltraining.com/article-categories/procedures-with-care/26 May 2022West Midlands Social EventContact: Ian@tecniplastUK.com13-16 June 2022FELASAMarseilleDetails: http://www.felasa2022.eu24 June 2022West Midlands Branch RiverThames Sundown CruiseSee page 2124 June 2022West of Scotland BranchIndoor Crazy GolfGlasgowContact: jmains001@dundee.ac.uk28-29 June 2022UFAW –Advancing Animal WelfareScienceEdinburghDetails:https://www.ufaw.org.uk/ufaw-events/advancing-animal-welfare-science-202229-30 June 2022NACWO Live WebinarThe Learning CurveDetails:info@learningcurvedevelopment.co.uk30 June 2022North-East England BranchEnrichment Training DayDurhamSee page 2613-14 July 2022Accredited Assessors CourseOnlineDetails:Training@redkitevets.co.uk22-23 November 2022LASA ConferenceBirminghamDetails:https://www.lasa.co.uk/lasameetings/IAT BULLETIN MAY22.indd 27 06/05/2022 08:52

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