Species-specific differences and similarities in the behavior of hand-raised dog and wolf pups in social situations with humans

In order to reveal early species-specific differences, we observed the behavior of dog puppies (n = 11) and wolf pups (n = 13) hand raised and intensively socialized in an identical way. The pups were studied in two object-preference tests at age 3, 4, and 5 weeks. After a short isolation, we observed the subjects' behavior in the presence of a pair of objects, one was always the subject's human foster parent (caregiver) and the other was varied; nursing bottle (3 weeks), unfamiliar adult dog (3 and 5 weeks), unfamiliar experimenter (4 and 5 weeks), and familiar conspecific age mate (4 weeks). Dogs and wolves did not differ in their general activity level during the tests. Wolf pups showed preference for the proximity of the caregiver in two of the tests; Bottle-Caregiver at the age of 3 weeks and Experimenter-Caregiver at the age of 5 weeks, while dogs showed preference to the caregiver in three tests; conspecific Pup-Caregiver and Experimenter-Caregiver at the age of 4 weeks and dog-caregiver at the age of 5. Compared to wolves, dogs tended to display more communicative signals that could potentially facilitate social interactions, such as distress vocalization, tail wagging, and gazing at the humans' face. In contrast to dog puppies, wolf pups showed aggressive behavior toward a familiar experimenter and also seemed to be more prone to avoidance. Our results demonstrate that already at this early age-despite unprecedented intensity of socialization and the comparable social (human) environment during early development-there are specific behavioral differences between wolves and dogs mostly with regard to their interactions with humans

Encouraging Use of Seasonal Climate Forecasts by Farmers

What encourages use of seasonal climate forecasts? Considerable effort is being applied in developing seasonal climate forecasts and demonstrating the potential benefits available to farmers from using seasonal climate forecasts. This study examines three factors underlying the use of seasonal climate forecasts by farmers: the level of forecast understanding by farmers, the format presentation of the forecasts, and the attitude of farmers towards the usefulness of forecasts as indicators of future rainfall. Using judgement analysis, the use of forecasts in cropping decisions was determined for 73 Australian farmers. Then a moderated regression analysis was used to predict forecast use from the three underlying factors. The study found that a good understanding of the forecast was more important than the forecast format in predicting its use. However, this main effect of good understanding on higher use was qualified by a three-way interaction, such that seasonal climate forecasts and the forecasts were presented in a frequency format. Thus, the study found all three factors were important in predicting the use of seasonal climate forecasts by farmers. However, relatively little is known about farmer attitudes toward the usefulness of seasonal climate forecasts and how these attitudes arise, and further research is recommended in these areas

Alkuraskauden keskenmenon hoitovaihtoehdot

Al­ku­ras­kau­den kes­ken­me­non hoi­to­vaih­toeh­to­ja ovat seu­ran­ta, lääk­keel­li­nen hoi­to tai ki­rur­gi­nen toi­men­pi­de. Hoi­don va­lin­taan vai­kut­ta­vat nai­sen yleis­voin­ti ja vuo­don mää­rä, ai­kai­sem­mat hoi­to­toi­men­pi­teet se­kä nai­sen oma toi­ve. Mi­kään hoi­to­muo­to ei ole ylit­se mui­den. Suu­rin osa kes­ken­me­nois­ta on hoi­det­ta­vis­sa seu­ran­nal­la tai lääk­kein. Lää­ke­hoi­to voi­daan yleen­sä to­teut­taa ko­tio­lo­suh­teis­sa. Te­rä­vään ky­ret­ti­kaa­vin­taan liit­tyy eni­ten komp­li­kaa­tioi­ta, ja sen vaih­toeh­to­na voi­daan käyt­tää imu­kaa­vin­taa, jo­ka voi­daan to­teut­taa myös po­lik­lii­ni­se­na hoi­to­na. Hoi­don seu­ran­nak­si riit­tää ko­to­na teh­tä­vä ras­kaus­tes­ti 3–4 vii­kon ku­lut­tua hoi­dos­ta.Peer reviewe

Human Analogue Safe Haven Effect of the Owner : Behavioural and Heart Rate Response to Stressful Social Stimuli in Dogs

The secure base and safe haven effects of the attachment figure are central features of the human attachment theory. Recently, conclusive evidence for human analogue attachment behaviours in dogs has been provided, however, the owner’s security-providing role in danger has not been directly supported. We investigated the relationship between the behavioural and cardiac response in dogs (N = 30) while being approached by a threatening stranger in separation vs. in the presence of the owner, presented in a balanced order. Non-invasive telemetric measures of heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) data during the threatening approaches was compared to periods before and after the encounters. Dogs that showed distress vocalisation during separation (N = 18) and that growled or barked at the stranger during the threatening approach (N = 17) were defined as behaviourally reactive in the given situation. While characteristic stress vocalisations were emitted during separations, the absence of the owner did not have an effect on dogs’ mean HR, but significantly increased the HRV. The threatening approach increased dogs’ mean HR, with a parallel decrease in the HRV, particularly in dogs that were behaviourally reactive to the encounter. Importantly, the HR increase was significantly less pronounced when dogs faced the stranger in the presence of the owner. Moreover, the test order, whether the dog encountered the stranger first with or without its owner, also proved important: HR increase associated with the encounter in separation seemed to be attenuated in dogs that faced the stranger first in the presence of their owner. We provided evidence for human analogue safe haven effect of the owner in a potentially dangerous situation. Similarly to parents of infants, owners can provide a buffer against stress in dogs, which can even reduce the effect of a subsequent encounter with the same threatening stimuli later when the owner is not present

Effects of prior exposure to animate objects on approach tendency in chicks

Earlier research has shown that brief amounts of social stimulation prior to testing results in an increased tendency in chicks to approach and follow a novel object. Those studies could not, however, distinguish between the effects of viewing animate objects and the effects of simple activation due to disturbances in the subjects' rearing situations. The current study manipulated the effects of environmental novelty and exposure to objects independently. It was found that exposure to a novel environment prior to testing produced evidence for activation. Exposure to objects during pronounced changes in the rearing condition reduced latency to approach a novel object in a later test, but exposure to a novel environment without exposure to objects, or exposure to objects under conditions of low environmental novelty, did not produce such a reduction.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/33875/1/0000136.pd

Imprinting.

Imprinting is a type of learning by which an animal restricts its social preferences to an object after exposure to that object. Filial imprinting occurs shortly after birth or hatching and sexual imprinting, around the onset of sexual maturity; both have sensitive periods. This review is concerned mainly with filial imprinting. Filial imprinting in the domestic chick is an effective experimental system for investigating mechanisms underlying learning and memory. Extensive evidence implicates a restricted part of the chick forebrain, the intermediate and medial mesopallium (IMM), as a memory store for visual imprinting. After imprinting to a visual stimulus, neuronal responsiveness in IMM is specifically biased toward the imprinting stimulus. Both this bias and the strength of imprinting measured behaviorally depend on uninterrupted sleep shortly after training. When learning-related changes in IMM are lateralized they occur predominantly or completely on the left side. Ablation experiments indicate that the left IMM is responsible for long-term storage of information about the imprinting stimulus; the right side is also a store but additionally is necessary for extra storage outside IMM, in a region necessary for flexible use of information acquired through imprinting. Auditory imprinting gives rise to biochemical, neuroanatomical, and electrophysiological changes in the medio-rostral nidopallium/mesopallium, anterior to IMM. Auditory imprinting has not been shown to produce learning-related changes in IMM. Imprinting may be facilitated by predispositions. Similar predispositions for faces and biological motion occur in domestic chicks and human infants. WIREs Cogn Sci 2013, 4:375-390. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1231 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.This review is written in memory of the late Sir Gabriel Horn, in recognition of his pioneering work on the neurobiology of imprinting. I am indebted to Robert Levin, Alister Nicol, Revaz Solomonia, Rie Suge, and two anonymous referees for valuable comments on a draft manuscript. The review was written while in receipt of a project grant from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/wcs.123

Rates of distress vocalizations in naive domestic chicks as an index of approach tendency to an imprinting stimulus

Naive chicks were exposed to an imprinting target, consisting of a bank of miniature flashing lights, under normal (100[deg]F) and reduced temperatures (75 and 57[deg]F). It was found that cold reliably evoked distress calls and that the cyclic presentations of the target substantially reduced distress calling when the target was present, relative to when it was absent. When later tested for approach tendencies to the target, clear differences between temperature groups did not emerge. Evidence was obtained, however, that chicks that showed the greatest reduction in distress calling in response to the presentation of the target under the cold conditions showed significantly greater approach tendencies in the subsequent tests.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/33786/1/0000041.pd

Serum ferritin levels in women with polycystic ovary syndrome

Abstract Objective: To study ferritin levels, and potential factors influencing them, in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and investigate potential associations between ferritin levels and other parameters in these women. Design: Longitudinal general population-based cohort study, including data from both questionnaires and clinical measurements. Subjects: The study was conducted with data from the participants of the Women’s Health Study, including a total of 1,918 Finnish women aged approximately 35 years. Exposure: Polycystic ovary syndrome was defined according to the Rotterdam criteria by the presence of at least 2 of the following findings: oligomenorrhea/amenorrhea, hyperandrogenism (clinical or biochemical), and polycystic ovarian morphology. Main Outcome Measures: Serum ferritin levels and other parameters were determined from the cohort data, and the associations between ferritin levels and other investigated parameters were investigated with linear regression models. Results: Women with PCOS had significantly higher median ferritin levels than those without PCOS (51.43 μg/L vs. 44.85 μg/L). Low ferritin levels were less common among women with PCOS who had oligomenorrhea or amenorrhea compared with those among women who did not (1.5% vs. 11.8%). The median ferritin levels were also found to be lower in hyperandrogenic women with PCOS than in those with normoandrogenemia (49.96 μg/L vs. 73.50 μg/L). Women with PCOS had higher fasting insulin levels than those without PCOS (8.85 mU/L vs. 7.60 mU/L), and a positive association between fasting insulin and ferritin levels was found in the whole population (effect size, 0.0619; 95% confidence interval, 0.005–0.119). Finally, associations between ferritin levels and history of infertility were investigated in both the total population and women with PCOS; however, no significant associations were found. Conclusion: Our results suggest that women with PCOS have higher ferritin levels than those without PCOS and that both the decreased blood loss from irregular menstruation and increased androgen levels can influence ferritin levels in women with PCOS. A metabolic connection was also found because the serum insulin levels were associated positively with the serum ferritin levels in the total population, whereas the history of infertility did not seem to be associated with the serum ferritin levels in any of the study groups.Abstract Objective: To study ferritin levels, and potential factors influencing them, in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and investigate potential associations between ferritin levels and other parameters in these women. Design: Longitudinal general population-based cohort study, including data from both questionnaires and clinical measurements. Subjects: The study was conducted with data from the participants of the Women’s Health Study, including a total of 1,918 Finnish women aged approximately 35 years. Exposure: Polycystic ovary syndrome was defined according to the Rotterdam criteria by the presence of at least 2 of the following findings: oligomenorrhea/amenorrhea, hyperandrogenism (clinical or biochemical), and polycystic ovarian morphology. Main Outcome Measures: Serum ferritin levels and other parameters were determined from the cohort data, and the associations between ferritin levels and other investigated parameters were investigated with linear regression models. Results: Women with PCOS had significantly higher median ferritin levels than those without PCOS (51.43 μg/L vs. 44.85 μg/L). Low ferritin levels were less common among women with PCOS who had oligomenorrhea or amenorrhea compared with those among women who did not (1.5% vs. 11.8%). The median ferritin levels were also found to be lower in hyperandrogenic women with PCOS than in those with normoandrogenemia (49.96 μg/L vs. 73.50 μg/L). Women with PCOS had higher fasting insulin levels than those without PCOS (8.85 mU/L vs. 7.60 mU/L), and a positive association between fasting insulin and ferritin levels was found in the whole population (effect size, 0.0619; 95% confidence interval, 0.005–0.119). Finally, associations between ferritin levels and history of infertility were investigated in both the total population and women with PCOS; however, no significant associations were found. Conclusion: Our results suggest that women with PCOS have higher ferritin levels than those without PCOS and that both the decreased blood loss from irregular menstruation and increased androgen levels can influence ferritin levels in women with PCOS. A metabolic connection was also found because the serum insulin levels were associated positively with the serum ferritin levels in the total population, whereas the history of infertility did not seem to be associated with the serum ferritin levels in any of the study groups

Naisten laparoskooppisen ja hysteroskooppisen sterilisaation kustannusvaikutukset

JOHDANTO: Tavoitteena oli selvittää päiväkirurgisesti munatorveen asetettujen puristimien avulla tehdyn sterilisaation ja polikliinisesti munatorven aukkoihin asetetuilla mikroimplanteilla tehdyn sterilisaation kustannuksia sekä kliinisiä tuloksia. AINEISTO JA MENETELMÄT: Kaikki Hyvinkään sairaalassa vuosina 2006 - 2007 tehdyt munatorvien puristin- ja mikroimplanttisterilisaatiot analysoitiin. Tutkimusasetelmana oli takautuva lähtöryhmien mukainen analyysi. Sterilisaatiot hinnoiteltiin ottamalla mukaan suorat ja epäsuorat kustannukset. Lisäksi selvitettiin toimenpiteen onnistuminen, komplikaatiot ja uusintatoimenpiteet. TULOKSET: Mikroimplanttisterilisaation kokonaiskustannuksiksi saatiin 1 146 euroa ja puristinsterilisaation 1 712 euroa potilasta kohden. Mikroimplanttiryhmässä leikkauksenjälkeinen kipu oli merkittävästi vähäisempää, ja potilaan maksettavaksi jäävät kustannukset sekä tulonmenetykset olivat pienemmät. Puristinryhmässä toimenpiteeseen liittyviä haittavaikutuksia esiintyi enemmän. Elämänlaatu tai tyytyväisyys toimenpiteeseen eivät eronneet ryhmissä. Raskauksia ei todettu. PÄÄTELMÄT: Polikliininen mikroimplanttisterilisaatio on kustannusvaikuttavampi kuin laparoskooppinen puristinsterilisaatio. Polikliininen sterilisaatio on kokonaiskustannuksiltaan hieman halvempi, ja siihen liittyy vähemmän komplikaatioita.MATERIAL AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis was carried out on sterilizations conducted at the Hyvinkää hospital in 2006 to 2007 by tubal ligation with clips and by microimplants. RESULTS: Total costs obtained for microimplant sterilization per patient were 1 146 € and for clip sterilization 1 712 €. Postoperative pain was significantly less in the microimplant group, and adverse effects associated with the procedure were more common in the clip sterilization group. CONCLUSIONS: Microimplant sterilization performed on an outpatient basis is more cost-effective than laparoscopic clip sterilization