Transport, behavior, and fate of volatile organic compounds in streams

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rathbun, R.E.

1998-01-01

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are compounds with chemical and physical properties that allow the compounds to move freely between the water and air phases of the environment. VOCs are widespread in the environment because of this mobility. Many VOCs have properties making them suspected or known hazards to the health of humans and aquatic organisms. Consequently, understanding the processes affecting the concentration and distribution VOCs in the environment is necessary. The U.S. Geological Survey selected 55 VOCs for study. This report reviews the characteristics of the various process that could affect the transport, behavior, and fate of these VOCs in streams.

Influence of the medication environment on the unsafe medication behavior of nurses: A path analysis.

PubMed

Yu, Xi; Li, Ce; Gao, Xueqin; Liu, Furong; Lin, Ping

2018-04-20

To explore the relationship between the medication environment and the unsafe medication behavior of nurses and to analyze its influence path. Unsafe medication behavior is the direct cause of medication error. The organizational environment is the foundation of and plays a guiding role in work behavior. Whether the medication environment correlates with the unsafe medication behavior of nurses remains unclear. This study used a correlative design with self-administered questionnaires, and the SHEL model, an acronym of its elements of software, hardware, environment, and liveware, was used as the framework for the medication environment. A survey was conducted among 1012 clinical nurses from five tertiary hospitals in China using the nurse unsafe medication behavior scale (NUMBS) and the nurses' perceptions of the medication environment scale (NPMES). Data were collected from January to February 2017. Path analyses were used to examine the hypothesized model. The medication environment correlated negatively with unsafe medication behavior (r=-0.48, p<0.001). The path analysis showed that software, liveware and nurses' personal factors directly affected unsafe medication behavior. Software, hardware and the environment indirectly influenced unsafe medication behavior, and nurses' personal factors played a mediating role in the relationships of unsafe medication behavior with software, hardware, and the environment. The unsafe medication behavior of nurses should be further improved. The medication environment was a predictor of unsafe medication behavior. Care managers should actively improve the medication environment to reduce the incidence of unsafe medication behaviors. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Basic emotions and adaptation. A computational and evolutionary model

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

The core principles of the evolutionary theories of emotions declare that affective states represent crucial drives for action selection in the environment and regulated the behavior and adaptation of natural agents in ancestrally recurrent situations. While many different studies used autonomous artificial agents to simulate emotional responses and the way these patterns can affect decision-making, few are the approaches that tried to analyze the evolutionary emergence of affective behaviors directly from the specific adaptive problems posed by the ancestral environment. A model of the evolution of affective behaviors is presented using simulated artificial agents equipped with neural networks and physically inspired on the architecture of the iCub humanoid robot. We use genetic algorithms to train populations of virtual robots across generations, and investigate the spontaneous emergence of basic emotional behaviors in different experimental conditions. In particular, we focus on studying the emotion of fear, therefore the environment explored by the artificial agents can contain stimuli that are safe or dangerous to pick. The simulated task is based on classical conditioning and the agents are asked to learn a strategy to recognize whether the environment is safe or represents a threat to their lives and select the correct action to perform in absence of any visual cues. The simulated agents have special input units in their neural structure whose activation keep track of their actual “sensations” based on the outcome of past behavior. We train five different neural network architectures and then test the best ranked individuals comparing their performances and analyzing the unit activations in each individual’s life cycle. We show that the agents, regardless of the presence of recurrent connections, spontaneously evolved the ability to cope with potentially dangerous environment by collecting information about the environment and then switching their behavior to a genetically selected pattern in order to maximize the possible reward. We also prove the determinant presence of an internal time perception unit for the robots to achieve the highest performance and survivability across all conditions. PMID:29107988

An integrative model linking feedback environment and organizational citizenship behavior.

PubMed

Peng, Jei-Chen; Chiu, Su-Fen

2010-01-01

Past empirical evidence has suggested that a positive supervisor feedback environment may enhance employees' organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). In this study, we aim to extend previous research by proposing and testing an integrative model that examines the mediating processes underlying the relationship between supervisor feedback environment and employee OCB. Data were collected from 259 subordinate-supervisor dyads across a variety of organizations in Taiwan. We used structural equation modeling to test our hypotheses. The results demonstrated that supervisor feedback environment influenced employees' OCB indirectly through (1) both positive affective-cognition and positive attitude (i.e., person-organization fit and organizational commitment), and (2) both negative affective-cognition and negative attitude (i.e., role stressors and job burnout). Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

City rats: insight from rat spatial behavior into human cognition in urban environments.

PubMed

Yaski, Osnat; Portugali, Juval; Eilam, David

2011-09-01

The structure and shape of the urban environment influence our ability to find our way about in the city. Understanding how the physical properties of the environment affect spatial behavior and cognition is therefore a necessity. However, there are inherent difficulties in empirically studying complex and large-scale urban environments. These include the need to isolate the impact of specific urban features and to acquire data on the physical activity of individuals. In the present study, we attempted to overcome the above obstacles and examine the relation between urban environments and spatial cognition by testing the spatial behavior of rats. This idea originated from the resemblance in the operative brain functions and in the mechanisms and strategies employed by humans and other animals when acquiring spatial information and establishing an internal representation, as revealed in past studies. Accordingly, we tested rats in arenas that simulated a grid urban layout (e.g. Manhattan streets) and an irregular urban layout (e.g. Jerusalem streets). We found that in the grid layout, rat movement was more structured and extended over a greater area compared with their restricted movement in the irregular layout. These movement patterns recall those of humans in respective urban environments, illustrating that the structure and shape of the environment affect spatial behavior similarly in humans and rats. Overall, testing rats in environments that simulate facets of urban environments can provide new insights into human spatial cognition in urban environments.

Evidence of Reactive Gene-Environment Correlation in Preschoolers' Prosocial Play with Unfamiliar Peers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DiLalla, Lisabeth Fisher; Bersted, Kyle; John, Sufna Gheyara

2015-01-01

The development of prosocial behaviors during the preschool years is essential for children's positive interactions with peers in school and other social situations. Although there is some evidence of genetic influences on prosocial behaviors, very little is known about how genes and environment, independently and in concert, affect prosocial…

Interactive effects of 5-HTTLPR genotype and rearing environment on affective attitude towards own infant in Japanese mothers.

PubMed

Sawano, Erika; Doi, Hirokazu; Nagai, Tomoko; Ikeda, Satoko; Shinohara, Kauyuki

2017-05-15

Maternal positive attitude towards one's own infant is the cornerstone of effective parenting. Previous research has revealed an influence of both genetic and environmental factors on maternal parenting behavior, but little is known of the potential gene-environment interaction in shaping a mother's affective attitude. To address this gap, we investigated the effect of a mother's childhood rearing environment and a serotonin transporter gene polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) on affective attitude towards her infant. Our analyses found an interactive effect between rearing environment and 5-HTTLPR genotype on maternal attitude. Specifically, a poor rearing environment (characterized by low maternal care and high paternal overprotection) decreased positive attitude towards one's own infant in mothers with homozygous short allele genotype. In contrast, this detrimental effect was almost eliminated in long allele carriers. Altogether, our results indicate that the 5-HTTLPR gene moderates the influence of experienced rearing environment on maternal parental behavior in a manner consistent with the notion that the short 5-HTTLPR allele amplifies environmental influence. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Affective Behavior and Nonverbal Interaction in Collaborative Virtual Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peña, Adriana; Rangel, Nora; Muñoz, Mirna; Mejia, Jezreel; Lara, Graciela

2016-01-01

While a person's internal state might not be easily inferred through an automatic computer system, within a group, people express themselves through their interaction with others. The group members' interaction can be then helpful to understand, to certain extent, its members' affective behavior in any case toward the task at hand. In this…

Unintended Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Consequences of Group Assignments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Neu, Wayne A.

2012-01-01

Pedagogical strategies can be thought of as a set of stimuli placed in students' environment to influence their cognition, affect, and behavior. The design of strategies such as group assignments and a comprehensive understanding of their consequences for students should then include an analysis of all three of these elements and the…

Perinatal inflammation and adult psychopathology: From preclinical models to humans.

PubMed

Depino, Amaicha Mara

2018-05-01

Perinatal environment plays a crucial role in brain development and determines its function through life. Epidemiological studies and clinical reports link perinatal exposure to infection and/or immune activation to various psychiatric disorders. In addition, accumulating evidence from animal models shows that perinatal inflammation can affect various behaviors relevant to psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, autism, anxiety and depression. Remarkably, the effects on behavior and brain function do not always depend on the type of inflammatory stimulus or the perinatal age targeted, so diverse inflammatory events can have similar consequences on the brain. Moreover, other perinatal environmental factors that affect behavior (e.g. diet and stress) also elicit inflammatory responses. Understanding the interplay between perinatal environment and inflammation on brain development is required to identify the mechanisms through which perinatal inflammation affect brain function in the adult animal. Evidence for the role of the peripheral immune system and glia on perinatal programming of behavior is discussed in this review, along with recent evidence for the role of epigenetic mechanisms affecting gene expression in the brain. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Uniaxial low cycle fatigue behavior for pre-corroded 16MND5 bainitic steel in simulated pressurized water reactor environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Xu; Ren, Bin; Yu, Dunji; Xu, Bin; Zhang, Zhe; Chen, Gang

2018-06-01

The effects of uniaxial tension properties and low cycle fatigue behavior of 16MND5 bainitic steel cylinder pre-corroded in simulated pressurized water reactor (PWR) were investigated by fatigue at room temperature in air and immersion test system, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy disperse spectroscopy (EDS). The experimental results indicated that the corrosion fatigue lives of 16MND5 specimen were significantly affected by the strain amplitude and simulated PWR environments. The compositions of corrosion products were complexly formed in simulated PWR environments. The porous corrosion surface of pre-corroded materials tended to generate pits as a result of promoting contact area to the fresh metal, which promoted crack initiation. For original materials, the fatigue cracks initiated at inclusions imbedded in the micro-cracks. Moreover, the simulated PWR environments degraded the mechanical properties and low cycle fatigue behavior of 16MND5 specimens remarkably. Pre-corrosion of 16MND5 specimen mainly affected the plastic term of the Coffin-Manson equation.

Taekwondo Fighting in Training Does Not Simulate the Affective and Cognitive Demands of Competition: Implications for Behavior and Transfer.

PubMed

Maloney, Michael A; Renshaw, Ian; Headrick, Jonathon; Martin, David T; Farrow, Damian

2018-01-01

Enhancing practice design is critical to facilitate transfer of learning. Considerable research has focused on the role of perceptual information in practice simulation, yet has neglected how affect and cognition are shaped by practice environments and whether this influences the fidelity of behavior (Headrick et al., 2015). This study filled this gap by examining the fidelity of individual (cognition, affect, and actions) and interpersonal behavior of 10 highly skilled Australian Taekwondo athletes fighting in training compared to competition. Interpersonal behavior was assessed by tracking location coordinates to analyze distance-time coordination tendencies of the fighter-fighter system. Individual actions were assessed through notational analysis and approximate entropy calculations of coordinate data to quantify the (un)predictability of movement displacement. Affect and cognition were assessed with mixed-methods that included perceptual scales measuring anxiety, arousal, and mental effort, and post-fight video-facilitated confrontational interviews to explore how affect and cognitions might differ. Quantitative differences were assessed with mixed models and dependent t -tests. Results reveal that individual and interpersonal behavior differed between training and competition. In training, individuals attacked less ( d = 0.81, p < 0.05), initiated attacks from further away ( d = -0.20, p < 0.05) and displayed more predictable movement trajectories ( d = 0.84, p < 0.05). In training, fighters had lower anxiety ( d = -1.26, p < 0.05), arousal ( d = -1.07, p < 0.05), and mental effort ( d = -0.77, p < 0.05). These results were accompanied by changes in interpersonal behavior, with larger interpersonal distances generated by the fighter-fighter system in training ( d = 0.80, p < 0.05). Qualitative data revealed the emergence of cognitions and affect specific to the training environment, such as reductions in pressure, arousal, and mental challenge. Findings highlight the specificity of performer-environment interactions. Fighting in training affords reduced affective and cognitive demands and a decrease in action fidelity compared to competition. In addition to sampling information, representative practice needs to consider modeling the cognitions and affect of competition to enhance transfer.

Taekwondo Fighting in Training Does Not Simulate the Affective and Cognitive Demands of Competition: Implications for Behavior and Transfer

PubMed Central

Maloney, Michael A.; Renshaw, Ian; Headrick, Jonathon; Martin, David T.; Farrow, Damian

2018-01-01

Enhancing practice design is critical to facilitate transfer of learning. Considerable research has focused on the role of perceptual information in practice simulation, yet has neglected how affect and cognition are shaped by practice environments and whether this influences the fidelity of behavior (Headrick et al., 2015). This study filled this gap by examining the fidelity of individual (cognition, affect, and actions) and interpersonal behavior of 10 highly skilled Australian Taekwondo athletes fighting in training compared to competition. Interpersonal behavior was assessed by tracking location coordinates to analyze distance-time coordination tendencies of the fighter–fighter system. Individual actions were assessed through notational analysis and approximate entropy calculations of coordinate data to quantify the (un)predictability of movement displacement. Affect and cognition were assessed with mixed-methods that included perceptual scales measuring anxiety, arousal, and mental effort, and post-fight video-facilitated confrontational interviews to explore how affect and cognitions might differ. Quantitative differences were assessed with mixed models and dependent t-tests. Results reveal that individual and interpersonal behavior differed between training and competition. In training, individuals attacked less (d = 0.81, p < 0.05), initiated attacks from further away (d = -0.20, p < 0.05) and displayed more predictable movement trajectories (d = 0.84, p < 0.05). In training, fighters had lower anxiety (d = -1.26, p < 0.05), arousal (d = -1.07, p < 0.05), and mental effort (d = -0.77, p < 0.05). These results were accompanied by changes in interpersonal behavior, with larger interpersonal distances generated by the fighter–fighter system in training (d = 0.80, p < 0.05). Qualitative data revealed the emergence of cognitions and affect specific to the training environment, such as reductions in pressure, arousal, and mental challenge. Findings highlight the specificity of performer–environment interactions. Fighting in training affords reduced affective and cognitive demands and a decrease in action fidelity compared to competition. In addition to sampling information, representative practice needs to consider modeling the cognitions and affect of competition to enhance transfer. PMID:29445348

Interactive mechanism of working environments and construction behaviors with cognitive work analysis: an elevator installation case study.

PubMed

Wang, Yanqing; Chong, Heap-Yih; Liao, Pin-Chao; Ren, Hantao

2017-09-25

Unsafe behavior is a leading factor in accidents, and the working environment significantly affects behaviors. However, few studies have focused on detailed mechanisms for addressing unsafe behaviors resulting from environmental constraints. This study aims to delineate these mechanisms using cognitive work analysis (CWA) for an elevator installation case study. Elevator installation was selected for study because it involves operations at heights: falls from heights remain a major cause of construction worker mortality. This study adopts a mixed research approach based on three research methodology stages. This research deconstructs the details of the working environment, the workers' decision-making processes, the strategies chosen given environmental conditions and the conceptual model for workers' behaviors, which jointly depict environment-behavior mechanisms at length. By applying CWA to the construction industry, environmental constraints can easily be identified, and targeted engineering suggestions can be generated.

The effect of social environment on markers of vascular oxidative stress and inflammation in the Watanabe heritable hyperlipidemic rabbit.

PubMed

Nation, Daniel A; Gonzales, Julie A; Mendez, Armando J; Zaias, Julia; Szeto, Angela; Brooks, Larry G; Paredes, Jamespaul; D'Angola, Alyssa; Schneiderman, Neil; McCabe, Philip M

2008-04-01

Previous research demonstrated that social environment can influence progression of atherosclerosis in the Watanabe Heritable Hyperlipidemic (WHHL) rabbit. This study examined the effect of social environment on markers of oxidative stress and inflammation to clarify the physiological pathways potentially responsible for the influence of social environment on disease. WHHL rabbits were assigned to 1 of 3 social groups: an unstable group, in which unfamiliar rabbits were paired daily, with the pairing switched each week; a stable group, in which littermates were paired daily; and an individually-caged group. The stable group engaged in more affiliative social behavior than the unstable group. The unstable group showed more agonistic behavior compared with the stable group and higher C-reactive protein levels than the individually caged group. The individually caged group was behaviorally sedentary, had higher 24-hour urinary catecholamine levels than the other groups, and exhibited higher NAD(P)H-oxidase activity in the aortic arch relative to the stable group. The results suggest that social environment creates distinct behavioral contexts that can affect markers of inflammation and oxidative stress early in the development of atherosclerosis. Specifically, physical inactivity associated with individual caging affects indices of oxidative stress and inflammation. These pathophysiological markers may help to explain behaviorally related differences in the extent of atherosclerosis observed in prior studies.

THE ESTROGENIC AND ANTIANDROGENIC PESTICIDE METHOXYCHLOR ALTERS THE REPRODUCTIVE TRACT AND BEHAVIOR WITHOUT AFFECTING PITUITARY SIZE OR LH AND PROLACTIN SECRETION IN MALE RATS

EPA Science Inventory

The estrogenic and antiandrogenic pesticide methoxychlor alters the reproductive tract and behavior without affecting pituitary size or LH and prolactin secretion in male rats.

Gray LE Jr, Ostby J, Cooper RL, Kelce WR.

Endocrinology Branch, United States Environment...

Creating One's Reality: The Interaction of Politics Perceptions and Enactment Behavior.

PubMed

Frieder, Rachel E; Ma, Shuang Sara; Hochwarter, Wayne A

2016-01-01

The current study investigated the previously unexamined relationship between politics perceptions and employee enactment behavior. Consistent with previous job stress and sense-making research, we hypothesized that individuals reporting low levels of enactment behaviors would be more adversely affected by politics perceptions than those who engaged in high levels of enactment behavior. Results across two samples provided strong support for the hypothesized relationships. Specifically, employees who reported low levels of enactment behavior experienced less satisfaction, less person-environment fit, and reported lower levels of effort when faced with highly political environments. Conversely, levels of satisfaction and person-environment fit perceptions of individuals reporting high levels of enactment behaviors were largely unaffected by highly political contexts. Implications of these findings, strengths and limitations, and avenues for future research are provided.

Toward a Mouse Neuroethology in the Laboratory Environment

PubMed Central

Hellier, Jennifer L.; Ly, Xuan; Koka, Kanthaiah; Tollin, Daniel J.; Restrepo, Diego

2010-01-01

In this report we demonstrate that differences in cage type brought unexpected effects on aggressive behavior and neuroanatomical features of the mouse olfactory bulb. A careful characterization of two cage types, including a comparison of the auditory and temperature environments, coupled with a demonstration that naris occlusion abolishes the neuroanatomical changes, lead us to conclude that a likely important factor mediating the phenotypic changes we find is the olfactory environment of the two cages. We infer that seemingly innocuous changes in cage environment can affect sensory input relevant to mice and elicit profound effects on neural output. Study of the neural mechanisms underlying animal behavior in the laboratory environment should be broadened to include neuroethological approaches to examine how the laboratory environment (beyond animal well-being and enrichment) influences neural systems and behavior. PMID:20613876

How Gene-Environment Interaction Affects Children's Anxious and Fearful Behavior. Science Briefs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, 2007

2007-01-01

"Science Briefs" summarize the findings and implications of a recent study in basic science or clinical research. This brief reports on the study "Evidence for a Gene-Environment Interaction in Predicting Behavioral Inhibition in Middle Childhood" (N. A. Fox, K E. Nichols, H. A. Henderson, K. Rubin, L. Schmidt, D. Hamer, M. Ernst, and D. S.…

Individual, group, and environmental influences on helping behavior in a social carnivore

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ausband, David E.; Mitchell, Michael S.; Bassing, Sarah B.; Morehouse, Andrea T.; Smith, Douglas W.; Stahler, Daniel R.; Struthers, Jennifer

2016-01-01

Variation in group composition and environment can affect helping behavior in cooperative breeders. Understanding of how group size, traits of individuals within groups, food abundance, and predation risk simultaneously influence helping behavior is limited. We evaluated pup-guarding behavior in gray wolves (Canis lupus) to assess how differences in individuals, groups, and environment affect helping behavior. We used data from 92 GPS-collared wolves in North America (2001–2012) to estimate individual pup-guarding rates. Individuals in groups with low helper-to-pup ratios spent more time guarding young than those in groups with more helpers, an indication of load-lightening. Female helpers guarded more than male helpers, but this relationship weakened as pups grew. Subset analyses including data on helper age and wolf and prey density showed such factors did not significantly influence pup-guarding rates. We show that characteristics of individuals and groups have strong influences on pup-guarding behavior in gray wolves, but environmental factors such as food abundance and predation risk from conspecifics were not influential.

Self-efficacy, physical activity, and sedentary behavior in adolescent girls: testing mediating effects of the perceived school and home environment.

PubMed

Plotnikoff, Ronald C; Gebel, Klaus; Lubans, David Revalds

2014-11-01

According to social-cognitive theory (SCT), self-efficacy affects health behavior both directly and indirectly by influencing how individuals perceive their environment. This study examines whether perceptions of home and school environment mediate the association between self-efficacy and physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior in adolescent girls. Baseline data from the Nutrition and Enjoyable Activity for Teen Girls (NEAT) was used for this study. Grade 8 female students (n = 357) were recruited from 12 secondary schools located in low-income communities in the Hunter Region, New South Wales, Australia. PA was assessed using accelerometers, and sedentary behavior by self-report and accelerometers. Self-reported measures were used for perceived home and school environment and self-efficacy. Multilevel regression models were calculated to determine if the perceived environment mediated the relationship between self-efficacy with both PA and sedentary behavior. The perceptions of the school and home environment did not mediate the relationship between PA self-efficacy and PA behavior or sedentary behavior. The mediated models were not supported for PA or sedentary behavior. However, other results of this paper may be helpful for future theory development and practice. More research is needed to understand behaviors in unique populations such as this.

Employee health-relevant personality traits are associated with the psychosocial work environment and leadership.

PubMed

Villaume, Karin; Hasson, Dan

2017-01-01

Little is known about personality in relation to assessments of the psychosocial work environment and leadership. Therefore the objective of this study is to explore possible associations and differences in mean values between employee health-relevant personality traits and assessments of the psychosocial work environment and leadership behaviors. 754 survey responses from ten organizations were selected from a large-scale intervention study. The Health-relevant Personality 5 inventory was used to assess personality. Five dimensions of the psychosocial work environment were assessed with 38 items from the QPS Nordic and 6 items from the Developmental Leadership Questionnaire were used to assess leadership behavior. Positive correlations were found between Hedonic capacity (facet of Extraversion) and perceptions of the psychosocial work environment and leadership behavior. Negative correlations were found for Negative affectivity (facet of Neuroticism), Antagonism (facet of Agreeableness), Impulsivity (facet of Conscientiousness) and Alexithymia (facet of Openness). There were also significant differences in mean values of all work environment indicators between levels of health-relevant personality traits. Those with higher levels of hedonic capacity had higher (better) perceptions compared to those with lower levels. Those with higher levels of negative affectivity had lower (worse) perceptions compared to those with lower levels. The findings show a clear association between employee health-relevant personality traits and assessments of the psychosocial work environment and leadership behavior. Personality can be important to take into consideration for leaders when interpreting survey results and when designing organizational interventions.

Criminal Justice Involvement, Trauma, and Negative Affect in Iraq and Afghanistan War Era Veterans

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Elbogen, Eric B.; Johnson, Sally C.; Newton, Virginia M.; Straits-Troster, Kristy; Vasterling, Jennifer J.; Wagner, H. Ryan; Beckham, Jean C.

2012-01-01

Objective: Although criminal behavior in veterans has been cited as a growing problem, little is known about why some veterans are at increased risk for arrest. Theories of criminal behavior postulate that people who have been exposed to stressful environments or traumatic events and who report negative affect such as anger and irritability are at…

Stress responsiveness and anxiety-like behavior: The early social environment differentially shapes stability over time in a small rodent.

PubMed

Sangenstedt, Susanne; Jaljuli, Iman; Sachser, Norbert; Kaiser, Sylvia

2017-04-01

The early social environment can profoundly affect behavioral and physiological phenotypes. We investigated how male wild cavy offspring, whose mothers had either lived in a stable (SE) or an unstable social environment (UE) during pregnancy and lactation, differed in their anxiety-like behavior and stress responsiveness. At two different time points in life, we tested the offspring's anxiety-like behavior in a dark-light test and their endocrine reaction to challenge in a cortisol reactivity test. Furthermore, we analyzed whether individual traits remained stable over time. There was no effect of the early social environment on anxiety-like behavior and stress responsiveness. However, at an individual level, anxiety-like behavior was stable over time in UE- but not in SE-sons. Stress responsiveness, in turn, was rather inconsistent in UE-sons and temporally stable in SE-sons. Conclusively, we showed for the first time that the early social environment differentially shapes the stability of behavioral and endocrine traits. At first glance, these results may be surprising, but they can be explained by the different functions anxiety-like behavior and stress responsiveness have. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Risk attitudes in a changing environment: An evolutionary model of the fourfold pattern of risk preferences.

PubMed

Mallpress, Dave E W; Fawcett, Tim W; Houston, Alasdair I; McNamara, John M

2015-04-01

A striking feature of human decision making is the fourfold pattern of risk attitudes, involving risk-averse behavior in situations of unlikely losses and likely gains, but risk-seeking behavior in response to likely losses and unlikely gains. Current theories to explain this pattern assume particular psychological processes to reproduce empirical observations, but do not address whether it is adaptive for the decision maker to respond to risk in this way. Here, drawing on insights from behavioral ecology, we build an evolutionary model of risk-sensitive behavior, to investigate whether particular types of environmental conditions could favor a fourfold pattern of risk attitudes. We consider an individual foraging in a changing environment, where energy is needed to prevent starvation and build up reserves for reproduction. The outcome, in terms of reproductive value (a rigorous measure of evolutionary success), of a one-off choice between a risky and a safe gain, or between a risky and a safe loss, determines the risk-sensitive behavior we should expect to see in this environment. Our results show that the fourfold pattern of risk attitudes may be adaptive in an environment in which conditions vary stochastically but are autocorrelated in time. In such an environment the current options provide information about the likely environmental conditions in the future, which affect the optimal pattern of risk sensitivity. Our model predicts that risk preferences should be both path dependent and affected by the decision maker's current state. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

The neurobiology of the emotional adolescent: From the inside out

PubMed Central

Guyer, Amanda E.; Silk, Jennifer S.; Nelson, Eric E.

2016-01-01

Adolescents are commonly portrayed as highly emotional, with their behaviors often hijacked by their emotions. Research on the neural substrates of adolescent affective behavior is beginning to paint a more nuanced picture of how neurodevelopmental changes in brain function influence affective behavior, and how these influences are modulated by external factors in the environment. Recent neurodevelopmental models suggest that the brain is designed to promote emotion regulation, learning, and affiliation across development, and that affective behavior reciprocally interacts with age-specific social demands and different social contexts. In this review, we discuss current findings on neurobiological mechanisms of adolescents’ affective behavior and highlight individual differences in and social-contextual influences on adolescents’ emotionality. Neurobiological mechanisms of affective processes related to anxiety and depression are also discussed as examples. As the field progresses, it will be critical to test new hypotheses generated from the foundational empirical and conceptual work and to focus on identifying more precisely how and when neural networks change in ways that promote or thwart adaptive affective behavior during adolescence. PMID:27506384

Classroom-Based Strategies to Incorporate Hypothesis Testing in Functional Behavior Assessments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lloyd, Blair P.; Weaver, Emily S.; Staubitz, Johanna L.

2017-01-01

When results of descriptive functional behavior assessments are unclear, hypothesis testing can help school teams understand how the classroom environment affects a student's challenging behavior. This article describes two hypothesis testing strategies that can be used in classroom settings: structural analysis and functional analysis. For each…

Socioecological psychology.

PubMed

Oishi, Shigehiro

2014-01-01

Socioecological psychology investigates humans' cognitive, emotional, and behavioral adaption to physical, interpersonal, economic, and political environments. This article summarizes three types of socioecological psychology research: (a) association studies that link an aspect of social ecology (e.g., population density) with psychology (e.g., prosocial behavior), (b) process studies that clarify why there is an association between social ecology and psychology (e.g., residential mobility → anxiety → familiarity seeking), and (c) niche construction studies that illuminate how psychological states give rise to the creation and maintenance of a social ecology (e.g., familiarity seeking → dominance of national chain stores). Socioecological psychology attempts to bring the objectivist perspective to psychological science, investigating how objective social and physical environments, not just perception and construal of the environments, affect one's thinking, feeling, and behaviors, as well as how people's thinking, feeling, and behaviors give rise to social and built environments.

SER 2, ENVIRONMENTAL EVALUATIONS. SER, SCHOOL ENVIRONMENTS RESEARCH.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

CARSON, DANIEL H.; AND OTHERS

AN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE ALREADY EXISTS AND IS EVALUATED HERE IN THE SECOND OF A SERIES OF REPORTS INTENDED TO BE VALUABLE TO ANYONE INTERESTED IN HOW ENVIRONMENT AFFECTS LEARNING AND BEHAVIOR. MAN IS A NONSTATIONARY OPEN SYSTEM UNDERGOING CONTINUOUS INTERCHANGE WITH HIS ENVIRONMENT. THIS INTERACTION, AND THE SEVERAL ASPECTS OF HIS…

Behavioral variability in SHR and WKY rats as a function of rearing environment and reinforcement contingency.

PubMed Central

Hunziker, M H; Saldana, R L; Neuringer, A

1996-01-01

The spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) may model aspects of human attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). For example, just as responses by children with ADHD tend to be variable, so too SHRs often respond more variably than do Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) control rats. The present study asked whether behavioral variability in the SHR strain is influenced by rearing environment, a question related to hypotheses concerning the etiology of human ADHD. Some rats from each strain were reared in an enriched environment (housed socially), and others were reared in an impoverished environment (housed in isolation). Four groups--enriched SHR, impoverished SHR, enriched WKY, and impoverished WKY--were studied under two reinforcement contingencies, one in which reinforcement was independent of response variability and the other in which reinforcement depended upon high variability. The main finding was that rearing environment did not influence response variability (enriched and impoverished subjects responded similarly throughout). However, rearing environment affected body weight (enriched subjects weighted more than impoverished subjects) and response rate (impoverished subjects generally responded faster than enriched subjects). In addition, SHRs tended to respond variably throughout the experiment, whereas WKYs were more sensitive to the variability contingencies. Thus, behavioral variability was affected by genetic strain and by reinforcement contingency but not by the environment in which the subjects were reared. PMID:8583193

Pre-Adoption Adversity, Maternal Stress, and Behavior Problems at School-Age in International Adoptees

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gagnon-Oosterwaal, Noemi; Cossette, Louise; Smolla, Nicole; Pomerleau, Andree; Malcuit, Gerard; Chicoine, Jean-Francois; Belhumeur, Celine; Jeliu, Gloria; Begin, Jean; Seguin, Renee

2012-01-01

Internationally adopted children present more behavior problems than non-adopted children and are overrepresented in mental health services. These problems are related to children's pre-adoption environment, but adoptive families' functioning and characteristics may also affect the development of behavior problems in adopted children. The aim of…

Psychotropic in the environment: risperidone residues affect the behavior of fish larvae.

PubMed

Kalichak, Fabiana; Idalencio, Renan; da Rosa, João Gabriel Santos; Barcellos, Heloísa Helena de Alcântara; Fagundes, Michele; Piato, Angelo; Barcellos, Leonardo José Gil

2017-10-26

The ability to avoid and escape from predators are clearly relevant behaviors from the ecological perspective and directly interfere with the survival of organisms. Detected in the aquatic environment, risperidone can alter the behavior of exposed species. Considering the risk of exposure in the early stages of life, we exposed zebrafish embryos to risperidone during the first 5 days of life. Risperidone caused hyperactivity in exposed larvae, which in an environmental context, the animals may be more vulnerable to predation due to greater visibility or less perception of risk areas.

Task-focused behavior mediates the associations between supportive interpersonal environments and students' academic performance.

PubMed

Kiuru, Noona; Pakarinen, Eija; Vasalampi, Kati; Silinskas, Gintautas; Aunola, Kaisa; Poikkeus, Anna-Maija; Metsäpelto, Riitta-Leena; Lerkkanen, Marja-Kristiina; Nurmi, Jari-Erik

2014-04-01

In the longitudinal study presented here, we tested the theoretical assumption that children's task-focused behavior in learning situations mediates the associations between supportive interpersonal environments and academic performance. The sample consisted of 2,137 Finnish-speaking children. Data on supportive interpersonal environments (characterized by authoritative parenting, positive teacher affect toward the child, and peer acceptance) were gathered in Grade 1. The children's task-focused behavior was measured in Grades 2 and 3, and academic performance was measured in Grades 1 and 4. The results supported our assumption by showing that all three supportive environments were positively associated with children's subsequent academic performance via increased task-focused behavior in learning situations. These findings suggest that students' academic performance can be promoted by increasing the support they receive from peers, parents, and teachers because such increased support leads to better task focus in learning tasks.

The Mediating Role of Affective Commitment in the Relation of the Feedback Environment to Work Outcomes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Norris-Watts, Christina; Levy, Paul E.

2004-01-01

The Feedback Environment, as opposed to the formal performance appraisal process, is comprised of the daily interactions between members of an organization (Steelman, Levy, & Snell, in press). Relations between the feedback environment and work outcome variables such as Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) were examined through the mediating…

Reviews on factors affecting fatigue behavior of high-Mn steels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Sangshik; Jeong, Daeho; Sung, Hyokyung

2018-01-01

A variety of factors affect the fatigue behavior of high-Mn steels, which include both extrinsic (i.e., loading type, R ratio, specimen type, surface condition, temperature, and environment) and intrinsic (i.e., chemical composition, grain size, microstructure, stacking fault energy) factors. Very often, the influence of extrinsic factors on the fatigue behavior is even greater than that of intrinsic factors, misleading the interpretation of fatigue data. The metallurgical factors influence the initiation and propagation behaviors of fatigue by altering the characteristics of slip that is prerequisite for fatigue damage accumulation. It is however not easy to separate the effect of each factor since they affect the fatigue behavior of high-Mn steels in complex and synergistic way. In this review, the fatigue data of high-Mn steels are summarized and the factors complicating the interpretation are discussed.

Obesity Treatment: Environment and Behavior Modification.

PubMed

Murphy, Maryanne

2016-09-01

Obesity is commonly encountered in veterinary patients. Although there are various published dietary approaches to achieving weight loss, successful long-term prevention of weight regain has proven elusive. Adding environmental and behavioral treatment strategies to a weight loss plan may help the veterinary team, the pet, and the pet owner maximize the effectiveness of the program. Because the owner directly affects the environment and behavior of the pet undergoing a weight loss plan, treatment strategies with an emphasis on owner involvement is the focus of this review. Veterinary use of the 5 A's behavioral counseling approach with the pet owner is discussed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

THE POTENTIAL OF USING EXERCISE IN NATURE AS AN INTERVENTION TO ENHANCE EXERCISE BEHAVIOR: RESULTS FROM A PILOT STUDY.

PubMed

Calogiuri, Giovanna; Nordtug, Hildegunn; Weydahl, Andi

2015-10-01

According to attention-restoration theory (ART), natural environments can provide restorative experiences. In this pilot study, a mixed-methods approach was used to examine the potential of using exercise in a natural environment to enhance exercise behaviors. The study included an assessment study and an intervention study (overall n = 19). The participants underwent a standardized exercise program including biking and circuit strength training, either indoors or outdoors in nature. Measurements included connectedness to nature, perceived exertion, perceived environmental restorativeness, enjoyment, affect, future exercise intention, and self-reported exercise behavior. The participants also wrote a brief text describing the way in which the environment influenced their feelings while exercising. Quantitative data were analyzed using the Spearman rank correlation and linear mixed-effects modeling. The qualitative information was analyzed thematically. The integrated results indicated that, in accordance with ART, exercising in nature was associated with a greater potential for restoration and affective responses, which in some participants led to enhanced intention to exercise and increased exercise behavior. However, some perceived that the indoor exercise provided a more effective workout. Further studies on larger samples are needed.

Underestimating nearby nature: affective forecasting errors obscure the happy path to sustainability.

PubMed

Nisbet, Elizabeth K; Zelenski, John M

2011-09-01

Modern lifestyles disconnect people from nature, and this may have adverse consequences for the well-being of both humans and the environment. In two experiments, we found that although outdoor walks in nearby nature made participants much happier than indoor walks did, participants made affective forecasting errors, such that they systematically underestimated nature's hedonic benefit. The pleasant moods experienced on outdoor nature walks facilitated a subjective sense of connection with nature, a construct strongly linked with concern for the environment and environmentally sustainable behavior. To the extent that affective forecasts determine choices, our findings suggest that people fail to maximize their time in nearby nature and thus miss opportunities to increase their happiness and relatedness to nature. Our findings suggest a happy path to sustainability, whereby contact with nature fosters individual happiness and environmentally responsible behavior.

Chemical and non-chemical stressors affecting childhood obesity: a systematic scoping review.

PubMed

Lichtveld, Kim; Thomas, Kent; Tulve, Nicolle S

2018-01-01

Childhood obesity in the United States has doubled over the last three decades and currently affects 17% of children and adolescents. While much research has focused on individual behaviors impacting obesity, little research has emphasized the complex interactions of numerous chemical and non-chemical stressors found in a child's environment and how these interactions affect a child's health and well-being. The objectives of this systematic scoping review were to (1) identify potential chemical stressors in the context of non-chemical stressors that impact childhood obesity; and, (2) summarize our observations for chemical and non-chemical stressors in regards to child-specific environments within a community setting. A review was conducted to identify chemical and non-chemical stressors related to childhood obesity for the childhood life stages ranging from prenatal to adolescence. Stressors were identified and grouped into domains: individual behaviors, family/household behaviors, community stressors, and chemical exposures. Stressors were related to the child and the child's everyday environments and used to characterize child health and well-being. This review suggests that the interactions of chemical and non-chemical stressors are important for understanding a child's overall health and well-being. By considering these relationships, the exposure science research community can better design and implement strategies to reduce childhood obesity.

Environmental influences on development of type 2 diabetes and obesity: challenges in personalizing prevention and management.

PubMed

Ershow, Abby G

2009-07-01

Recent epidemic increases in the U.S. prevalence of obesity and diabetes are a consequence of widespread environmental changes affecting energy balance and its regulation. These environmental changes range from exposure to endocrine disrupting pollutants to shortened sleep duration to physical inactivity to excess caloric intake. Overall, we need a better understanding of the factors affecting individual susceptibility and resistance to adverse exposures and behaviors and of determinants of individual response to treatment. Obesity and diabetes prevention will require responding to two primary behavioral risk factors: excess energy intake and insufficient energy expenditure. Adverse food environments (external, nonphysiological influences on eating behaviors) contribute to excess caloric intake but can be countered through behavioral and economic approaches. Adverse built environments, which can be modified to foster more physical activity, are promising venues for community-level intervention. Techniques to help people to modulate energy intake and increase energy expenditure must address their personal situations: health literacy, psychological factors, and social relationships. Behaviorally oriented translational research can help in developing useful interventions and environmental modifications that are tailored to individual needs. Copyright 2009 Diabetes Technology Society.

Corrosion Fatigue Crack Growth Behavior at Notched Hole in 7075 T6 Under Different Biaxial Stress Ratios

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-08-18

structure [24]. 4 Researchers have already started studying crack propagation and the affect of environments on the crack growth behavior [24]. In this...saltwater environment have been started to be conducted [24, 25]. Many of these studies have focused on positive biaxial loading cases . No conclusive...between positive biaxial loading cases and negative biaxial loading cases having the same experimental setup, to study the effect of negative

Affective behavior during mother-daughter conflict and borderline personality disorder severity across adolescence.

PubMed

Whalen, Diana J; Scott, Lori N; Jakubowski, Karen P; McMakin, Dana L; Hipwell, Alison E; Silk, Jennifer S; Stepp, Stephanie D

2014-01-01

Developmental theories of borderline personality disorder (BPD) posit that transactions between child characteristics and adverse environments, especially those in the context of the parent-child relationship, shape and maintain symptoms of the disorder over time. However, very little empirical work has investigated the role of parenting and parent-child transactions that may predict BPD severity over time. We examined maternal and dyadic affective behaviors during a mother-adolescent conflict discussion task as predictors of the course of BPD severity scores across 3 years in a diverse, at-risk sample of girls (N = 74) oversampled for affective instability and their biological mothers. Adolescent girls completed a structured conflict discussion task with their mothers at age 16. Girls' self-reported BPD severity scores were assessed annually from ages 15 to 17. Mother-adolescent interactions were coded using a global rating system of maternal and dyadic affective behaviors. Results from multilevel linear mixed models indicated that positive maternal affective behavior (i.e., supportive/validating behavior, communication skills, autonomy-promoting behavior, and positive affect) and positive dyadic affective behaviors (i.e., satisfaction and positive escalation) were associated with decreases in girls' BPD severity scores over time. Dyadic negative escalation was associated with higher overall levels of BPD severity scores, but negative maternal affective behavior (i.e., negative affect, dominance, conflict, and denial) was not. These findings suggest that the mother-daughter context is an important protective factor in shaping the course of BPD severity scores during adolescence and may be valuable in assessment, intervention, and prevention efforts.

A Bayesian formulation of behavioral control.

PubMed

Huys, Quentin J M; Dayan, Peter

2009-12-01

Helplessness, a belief that the world is not subject to behavioral control, has long been central to our understanding of depression, and has influenced cognitive theories, animal models and behavioral treatments. However, despite its importance, there is no fully accepted definition of helplessness or behavioral control in psychology or psychiatry, and the formal treatments in engineering appear to capture only limited aspects of the intuitive concepts. Here, we formalize controllability in terms of characteristics of prior distributions over affectively charged environments. We explore the relevance of this notion of control to reinforcement learning methods of optimising behavior in such environments and consider how apparently maladaptive beliefs can result from normative inference processes. These results are discussed with reference to depression and animal models thereof.

A path analysis model for explaining unsafe behavior in workplaces: the effect of perceived work pressure.

PubMed

Ghasemi, Fakhradin; Kalatpour, Omid; Moghimbeigi, Abbas; Mohhamadfam, Iraj

2018-06-01

Unsafe behavior is closely related to occupational accidents. Work pressure is one the main factors affecting employees' behavior. The aim of the present study was to provide a path analysis model for explaining how work pressure affects safety behavior. Using a self-administered questionnaire, six variables supposed to affect safety employees' behavior were measured. The path analysis model was constructed based on several hypotheses. The goodness of fit of the model was assessed using both absolute and comparative fit indices. Work pressure was determined not to influence safety behavior directly. However, it negatively influenced other variables. Group attitude and personal attitude toward safety were the main factors mediating the effect of work pressure on safety behavior. Among the variables investigated in the present study, group attitude, personal attitude and work pressure had the strongest effects on safety behavior. Managers should consider that in order to improve employees' safety behavior, work pressure should be reduced to a reasonable level, and concurrently a supportive environment, which ensures a positive group attitude toward safety, should be provided. Replication of the study is recommended.

The Family Economic Environment as a Context for Children's Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farran, Dale Clark; Margolis, Lewis H.

1987-01-01

Longitudinally examines how the complexities of the family economic environment may affect children's health, behavior, and ideas about the world of work. Family economic factors considered include father's/mother's work status (especially parental unemployment); per-capita income; health insurance; father's job security; and satisfaction with…

Evidence of reactive gene-environment correlation in preschoolers' prosocial play with unfamiliar peers.

PubMed

DiLalla, Lisabeth Fisher; Bersted, Kyle; John, Sufna Gheyara

2015-10-01

The development of prosocial behaviors during the preschool years is essential for children's positive interactions with peers in school and other social situations. Although there is some evidence of genetic influences on prosocial behaviors, very little is known about how genes and environment, independently and in concert, affect prosocial behaviors in young children. This study of 126 twin and sibling pairs examined 5-year-old preschool children's positive behaviors (prosocial and easy-going) while playing freely with an unfamiliar, same-age, same-sex peer. Children were randomly paired, allowing us to rule out passive (parent-influenced environment) and active (child-driven peer choices) gene-environment correlations as potential influences on the results. We found evidence of reactive gene-environment correlation, demonstrating that children who are genetically more likely to act prosocially and to be temperamentally outgoing appear to evoke more prosocial and easy-going behaviors from an unfamiliar peer. We also found that both dominant genetic and nonshared environmental factors were significant influences on preschoolers' prosocial play behaviors, but that neither genetic nor shared environmental factors were significant for easy-going play behaviors. These findings shed important light on influences of prosocial behaviors in preschoolers. Via inherited tendencies, preschool children's positive behaviors evoke similar positive behaviors from their play peers. Given that prosocial behaviors are preludes to a large range of important socially appropriate behaviors, prosocial children should be encouraged to interact with their peers to potentially create a more positive atmosphere within social contexts. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Environmental and psychosocial correlates of objectively measured physical activity among older adults.

PubMed

Fleig, Lena; Ashe, Maureen C; Voss, Christine; Therrien, Suzanne; Sims-Gould, Joanie; McKay, Heather A; Winters, Meghan

2016-12-01

Neighborhood environments can support or hinder physical activity especially as health declines with age. This study puts psychological theories of health behavior change in context with built environment research to better understand the interplay of environmental and psychosocial characteristics impacting older adults' sedentary behavior and physical activity. The Active Streets, Active People study recruited 193 older adults living in a highly walkable neighborhood in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Participants completed questionnaires on attitudes toward walking, behavioral control for walking, and perceived built environment variables. To assess behavior, participants wore an ActiGraph GT3X + accelerometer for 7 consecutive days. Regression-based path analysis was conducted to examine whether the link between the perceived environment and behavior is mediated by psychosocial variables. In total, 174 participants had valid accelerometry data (Mage = 70.3, SD = 7.2) and demonstrated a daily average of 525.7 min of sedentary behavior (SD = 65.1) as well as high levels of total physical activity (M = 254.3, SD = 65.1 min/day). Mediation analysis revealed that perceived street connectivity and diversity of land use were negatively related to sedentary behavior, but only indirectly through behavioral control. Similarly, effects of street connectivity and diversity of land use on physical activity were mediated by behavioral control. Results highlighted that the perceived built environment is important for physical activity and sedentary behavior, largely because these environmental perceptions are positively linked to older adults' confidence in walking. By integrating environmental and psychosocial correlates of preventive health behaviors within a theoretical structure, the psychosocial mechanisms through which the environment affects activity can be better understood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

45 CFR 1308.10 - Eligibility criteria: Mental retardation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... and exhibits deficits in adaptive behavior which adversely affect learning. Adaptive behavior refers to age-appropriate coping with the demands of the environment through independent skills in self-care... appropriate to the age range must be used. If they do not exist for the language and cultural group to which...

Two-Generation Programs and Health

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Glied, Sherry; Oellerich, Don

2014-01-01

Parents' health and children's health are closely intertwined--healthier parents have healthier children, and vice versa. Genetics accounts for some of this relationship, but much of it can be traced to environment and behavior, and the environmental and behavioral risk factors for poor health disproportionately affect families living in…

Conditions and constraints of food processing in space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fu, B.; Nelson, P. E.; Mitchell, C. A. (Principal Investigator)

1994-01-01

Requirements and constraints of food processing in space include a balanced diet, food variety, stability for storage, hardware weight and volume, plant performance, build-up of microorganisms, and waste processing. Lunar, Martian, and space station environmental conditions include variations in atmosphere, day length, temperature, gravity, magnetic field, and radiation environment. Weightlessness affects fluid behavior, heat transfer, and mass transfer. Concerns about microbial behavior include survival on Martian and lunar surfaces and in enclosed environments. Many present technologies can be adapted to meet space conditions.

Arousal regulation and affective adaptation to human responsiveness by a robot that explores and learns a novel environment.

PubMed

Hiolle, Antoine; Lewis, Matthew; Cañamero, Lola

2014-01-01

In the context of our work in developmental robotics regarding robot-human caregiver interactions, in this paper we investigate how a "baby" robot that explores and learns novel environments can adapt its affective regulatory behavior of soliciting help from a "caregiver" to the preferences shown by the caregiver in terms of varying responsiveness. We build on two strands of previous work that assessed independently (a) the differences between two "idealized" robot profiles-a "needy" and an "independent" robot-in terms of their use of a caregiver as a means to regulate the "stress" (arousal) produced by the exploration and learning of a novel environment, and (b) the effects on the robot behaviors of two caregiving profiles varying in their responsiveness-"responsive" and "non-responsive"-to the regulatory requests of the robot. Going beyond previous work, in this paper we (a) assess the effects that the varying regulatory behavior of the two robot profiles has on the exploratory and learning patterns of the robots; (b) bring together the two strands previously investigated in isolation and take a step further by endowing the robot with the capability to adapt its regulatory behavior along the "needy" and "independent" axis as a function of the varying responsiveness of the caregiver; and (c) analyze the effects that the varying regulatory behavior has on the exploratory and learning patterns of the adaptive robot.

Dynamic Learner Profiling and Automatic Learner Classification for Adaptive E-Learning Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Premlatha, K. R.; Dharani, B.; Geetha, T. V.

2016-01-01

E-learning allows learners individually to learn "anywhere, anytime" and offers immediate access to specific information. However, learners have different behaviors, learning styles, attitudes, and aptitudes, which affect their learning process, and therefore learning environments need to adapt according to these differences, so as to…

Modeling Student Learning Behavior Patterns in an Online Science Inquiry Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brenner, Daniel G.; Matlen, Bryan J.; Timms, Michael J.; Gochyyev, Perman; Grillo-Hill, Andrew; Luttgen, Kim; Varfolomeeva, Marina

2017-01-01

This study investigated how the frequency and level of assistance provided to students interacted with prior knowledge to affect learning in the "Voyage to Galapagos" ("VTG") science inquiry-learning environment. "VTG" provides students with the opportunity to do simulated science field work in Galapagos as they…

ENVIRONMENTAL EVALUATIONS. SCHOOL ENVIRONMENTS RESEARCH PUBLICATION NO. 2.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

LARSON, C. THEODORE

A COLLECTION OF SIX TECHNICAL PAPERS REPRESENTING AN ATTEMPT TO SUMMARIZE AND EVALUATE THE PRESENT STATE OF KNOWLEDGE CONCERNING THE VARIOUS ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS AFFECTING HUMAN BEHAVIOR IN GENERAL, AND LEARNING IN PARTICULAR. THE FIRST CONCERNS THE INTERACTIONS OF MAN AND HIS ENVIRONMENT. THE SECOND RELATES TO SPACE AS A COMPONENT OF…

Daily Interpersonal and Affective Dynamics in Personality Disorder

PubMed Central

Wright, Aidan G.C.; Hopwood, Christopher J.; Simms, Leonard J.

2015-01-01

In this naturalistic study we adopt the lens of interpersonal theory to examine between-and within-person differences in dynamic processes of daily affect and interpersonal behaviors among individuals (N = 101) previously diagnosed with personality disorders who completed daily diaries over the course of 100 days. Dispositional ratings of interpersonal problems and measures of daily stress were used as predictors of daily shifts in interpersonal behavior and affect in multilevel models. Results indicate that ~40%–50% of the variance in interpersonal behavior and affect is due to daily fluctuations, which are modestly related to dispositional measures of interpersonal problems but strongly related to daily stress. The findings support conceptions of personality disorders as a dynamic form of psychopathology involving the individuals interacting with and regulating in response to the contextual features of their environment. PMID:26200849

10 CFR 55.45 - Operating tests.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... significance of facility instrument readings. (5) Observe and safely control the operating behavior... equipment that could affect reactivity or the release of radioactive materials to the environment. (9...

Heart Rate Variability – a Tool to Differentiate Positive and Negative Affective States in Pigs?

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The causal neurophysiological processes, such as autonomic nervous system activity, that mediate behavioral and physiological reactivity to an environment have largely been ignored. Heart rate variability (HRV) analysis is a clinical diagnostic tool used to assess affective states (stressful and ple...

2015 AAHA Canine and Feline Behavior Management Guidelines.

PubMed

Hammerle, Marcy; Horst, Christine; Levine, Emily; Overall, Karen; Radosta, Lisa; Rafter-Ritchie, Marcia; Yin, Sophia

2015-01-01

The 2015 AAHA Canine and Feline Behavior Management Guidelines were developed to provide practitioners and staff with concise, evidence-based information to ensure that the basic behavioral needs of feline and canine patients are understood and met in every practice. Some facility in veterinary behavioral and veterinary behavioral medicine is essential in modern veterinary practice. More cats and dogs are affected by behavioral problems than any other condition. Behavioral problems result in patient suffering and relinquishment and adversely affect staff morale. These guidelines use a fully inclusive team approach to integrate basic behavioral management into everyday patient care using standardized behavioral assessments; create a low-fear and low-stress environment for patients, staff and owners; and create a cooperative relationship with owners and patients so that the best care can be delivered. The guidelines' practical, systematic approach allows veterinary staff to understand normal behavior and recognize and intervene in common behavioral problems early in development. The guidelines emphasize that behavioral management is a core competency of any modern practice.

Comparison of Knowledge of Obsessive-Compulsive Behavior between Counseling Students and School Administration Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Foster, Sandy

Obsessive-compulsive adolescence behavior in the classroom environment can be disruptive, affecting the teacher and other students. Certain personality traits of the obsessive-compulsive are obvious, while other symptoms are frequently misdiagnosed. As school staff are often the first step in the primary diagnosis process, the purpose of this…

Effects of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports on Attendance, Grades, and Discipline Referrals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miles, Ann C.

2013-01-01

Suspension from school removes students from the educational environment and interferes with school progress by decreasing prospects of gaining academic and social skills. Suspension also negatively affects school attendance and is an indicator of future disciplinary problems. To address problem behaviors that can lead to school suspensions,…

Audio-visual affective expression recognition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Thomas S.; Zeng, Zhihong

2007-11-01

Automatic affective expression recognition has attracted more and more attention of researchers from different disciplines, which will significantly contribute to a new paradigm for human computer interaction (affect-sensitive interfaces, socially intelligent environments) and advance the research in the affect-related fields including psychology, psychiatry, and education. Multimodal information integration is a process that enables human to assess affective states robustly and flexibly. In order to understand the richness and subtleness of human emotion behavior, the computer should be able to integrate information from multiple sensors. We introduce in this paper our efforts toward machine understanding of audio-visual affective behavior, based on both deliberate and spontaneous displays. Some promising methods are presented to integrate information from both audio and visual modalities. Our experiments show the advantage of audio-visual fusion in affective expression recognition over audio-only or visual-only approaches.

Witnessing Substance Use and Same-Day Antisocial Behavior among At-Risk Adolescents: Gene-Environment Interaction in a 30-Day Ecological Momentary Assessment Study

PubMed Central

Russell, Michael A.; Wang, Lin; Odgers, Candice L.

2017-01-01

Many young adolescents are embedded in neighborhoods, schools, and homes where alcohol and drugs are frequently used. However, little is known about (a) how witnessing others’ substance use affects adolescents in their daily lives and (b) which adolescents will be most affected. The current study used ecological momentary assessment with 151 young adolescents (ages 11–15) to examine the daily association between witnessing substance use and antisocial behavior across 38 consecutive days. Results from multilevel logistic regression models indicated that adolescents were more likely to engage in antisocial behavior on days when they witnessed others using substances—an association that held both when substance use was witnessed inside the home as well as outside the home (e.g., at school or in their neighborhoods). A significant gene-by-environment interaction suggested that the same-day association between witnessing substance use and antisocial behavior was significantly stronger among adolescents with, versus without, with the DRD4-7R allele. The implications of our findings for theory and research related to adolescent antisocial behavior are discussed. PMID:26648004

Match Fitness: Development, Evolution, and Behavior--Comment on Frankenhuis and Del Giudice (2012)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gluckman, Peter D.; Beedle, Alan S.

2012-01-01

The application of evolutionary thinking to human physical and psychological medicine suggests several pathways through which evolutionary processes affect risk of disease. Among these is the concept of mismatch between an individual and its environment, either because the environment has changed for the whole species ("evolutionary novelty") or…

Rearing Conditions Differentially Affect the Locomotor Behavior of Larval Zebrafish, but not their Response to Valproate-Induced Developmental Neurotoxicity

EPA Science Inventory

Zebrafish (Dania rerio) are widely used in developmental research, but little is known about the role environment may play in their development. Zebrafish are a highly social organism; thus exposure to or isolation from social environments may have profound effects. Details of re...

Rearing Conditions Differentially Affect the Locomotor Behavior of Larval Zebrafish, but not Their Response to Valproate-Induced Developmental Neurotoxicity*

EPA Science Inventory

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) are widely used in developmental research, but still not much is known about the role of the environment in their development. Zebrafish are a highly social organism; thus exposure to, or isolation from, social environments may have profound developmental ...

Animal-Microbial Symbioses in Changing Environments

PubMed Central

Carey, Hannah V.; Duddleston, Khrystyne N.

2014-01-01

The environments in which animals have evolved and live have profound effects on all aspects of their biology. Predictable rhythmic changes in the physical environment are arguably among the most important forces shaping the evolution of behavior and physiology of animals, and to anticipate and prepare for these predictable changes animals have evolved biological clocks. Unpredictable changes in the physical environment have important impacts on animal biology as well. The ability of animals to cope with and survive unpredictable perturbations depends on phenotypic plasticity and/or microevolution. From the time metazoans first evolved from their protistan ancestors they have lived in close association with a diverse array of microbes that have influenced, in some way, all aspects of the evolution of animal structure, function and behavior. Yet, few studies have addressed whether daily or seasonal rhythms may affect, or be affected by, an animal’s microbial symbionts. This survey highlights how biologists interested in the ecological and evolutionary physiology of animals whose lifestyles are influenced by environmental cycles may benefit from considering whether symbiotic microbes have shaped the features they study. PMID:25086977

Parental criticism and externalizing behavior problems in adolescents: the role of environment and genotype-environment correlation.

PubMed

Narusyte, Jurgita; Neiderhiser, Jenae M; Andershed, Anna-Karin; D'Onofrio, Brian M; Reiss, David; Spotts, Erica; Ganiban, Jody; Lichtenstein, Paul

2011-05-01

Genetic factors are important for the association between parental negativity and child problem behavior, but it is not clear whether this is due to passive or evocative genotype-environment correlation (rGE). In this study, we applied the extended children-of-twins model to directly examine the presence of passive and evocative rGE as well as direct environmental effects in the association between parental criticism and adolescent externalizing problem behavior. The cross-sectional data come from the Twin and Offspring Study in Sweden (N = 909 pairs of adult twins) and from the Twin Study of Child and Adolescent Development (N = 915 pairs of twin children). The results revealed that maternal criticism was primarily due to evocative rGE emanating from their adolescent's externalizing behavior. On the other hand, fathers' critical remarks tended to affect adolescent problem behavior in a direct environmental way. This suggests that previously reported differences in caretaking between mothers and fathers also are reflected in differences in why parenting is associated with externalizing behavior in offspring.

Parental criticism and externalizing behavior problems in adolescents– the role of environment and genotype-environment correlation

PubMed Central

Narusyte, Jurgita; Neiderhiser, Jenae M.; Andershed, Anna-Karin; D’Onofrio, Brian M.; Reiss, David; Spotts, Erica; Ganiban, Jody; Lichtenstein, Paul

2011-01-01

Genetic factors are important for the association between parental negativity and child problem behavior, but it is not clear whether this is dueto passive or evocative genotype-environment correlation (rGE). In this study we applied the extended children-of-twins model to directly examine the presence of passive and evocative rGE as well as direct environmental effects in the association between parental criticism and adolescent externalizing problem behavior. The cross-sectional data come from the Twin and Offspring Study in Sweden (TOSS) (N=909 pairs of adult twins) and from the Twin study of CHild and Adolescent Development (TCHAD) (N=915 pairs of twin children). The results revealed that maternal criticism was primarily due to evocative rGE emanating from their adolescent’s externalizing behavior. On the other hand, fathers’ critical remarks tended to affect adolescent problem behavior in a direct environmental way. This suggests that previously reported differences in caretaking between mothers and fathers also are reflected in differences in why parenting is associated with externalizing behavior in offspring. PMID:21280930

Effects of physiological environments on the hydration behavior of mineral trioxide aggregate.

PubMed

Lee, Yuan-Ling; Lee, Bor-Shiunn; Lin, Feng-Huei; Yun Lin, Ava; Lan, Wan-Hong; Lin, Chun-Pin

2004-02-01

Utilizing scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and microhardness tests, we evaluated how various physiological environments affect the hydration behavior and physical properties of mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA). We found that the microstructure of hydrated MTA consists of cubic and needle-like crystals. The former comprised the principal structure of MTA, whereas the later were less prominent and formed in the inter-grain spaces between the cubic crystals. MTA samples were hydrated in distilled water, normal saline, pH 7, and pH 5. However, no needle-like crystals were observed in the pH 5 specimens, and erosion of the cubic crystal surfaces was noted. XRD indicated a peak corresponding to Portlandite, a hydration product of MTA, and the peak decreased noticeably in the pH 5 group. The pH 5 specimens' microhardness was also significantly weaker compared to the other three groups (p<0.0001). These findings suggest that physiological environmental effects on MTA formation are determined, in part, by environmental pH and the presence of ions. In particular, an acidic environment of pH 5 adversely affects both the physical properties and the hydration behavior of MTA.

Investigation of the leaching behavior of lead in stabilized/solidified waste using a two-year semi-dynamic leaching test.

PubMed

Xue, Qiang; Wang, Ping; Li, Jiang-Shan; Zhang, Ting-Ting; Wang, Shan-Yong

2017-01-01

Long-term leaching behavior of contaminant from stabilization/solidification (S/S) treated waste stays unclear. For the purpose of studying long-term leaching behavior and leaching mechanism of lead from cement stabilized soil under different pH environment, semi-dynamic leaching test was extended to two years to investigate leaching behaviors of S/S treated lead contaminated soil. Effectiveness of S/S treatment in different scenarios was evaluated by leachability index (LX) and effective diffusion coefficient (D e ). In addition, the long-term leaching mechanism was investigated at different leaching periods. Results showed that no significant difference was observed among the values of the cumulative release of Pb, D e and LX in weakly alkaline and weakly acidic environment (pH value varied from 5.00 to 10.00), and all the controlling leaching mechanisms of the samples immersed in weakly alkaline and weakly acidic environments turned out to be diffusion. Strong acid environment would significantly affect the leaching behavior and leaching mechanism of lead from S/S monolith. The two-year variation of D e appeared to be time dependent, and D e values increased after the 210 th day in weakly alkaline and weakly acidic environment. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Exploratory behavior of a native anuran species with high invasive potential.

PubMed

Miller, Amanda J; Page, Rachel A; Bernal, Ximena E

2018-01-01

Exploratory behavior can be a key component of survival in novel or changing environments, ultimately determining population establishment. While many studies have investigated the behavior of wild animals in response to novel food items or objects, our understanding of how they explore novel environments is limited. Here, we examine how experience affects the foraging behavior of a species with high invasive potential. In particular, we investigate the movement and behavior of cane toads as a function of experience in a novel environment, and how the presence of food modulates exploration. Cane toads, from a population in their native range, were repeatedly tested in a large, naturalistic arena with or without food present. Both groups exhibited significant but different changes in exploratory behavior. While toads in an environment without food reduced exploratory behavior over trials, those with food present increased both food intake per trial and the directness of their paths to food, resulting in fewer approaches to food patches over time. Our results suggest that cane toads learn patch location and provide preliminary evidence suggesting toads use spatial memory, not associative learning, to locate food. In sum, we show that with experience, cane toads alter their behavior to increase foraging efficiency. This study emphasizes the role of learning in foraging in cane toads, a characteristic that may have facilitated their success as invaders.

Emotion in languaging: languaging as affective, adaptive, and flexible behavior in social interaction

PubMed Central

Jensen, Thomas W.

2014-01-01

This article argues for a view on languaging as inherently affective. Informed by recent ecological tendencies within cognitive science and distributed language studies a distinction between first order languaging (language as whole-body sense making) and second order language (language as system like constraints) is put forward. Contrary to common assumptions within linguistics and communication studies separating language-as-a-system from language use (resulting in separations between language vs. body-language and verbal vs. non-verbal communication etc.) the first/second order distinction sees language as emanating from behavior making it possible to view emotion and affect as integral parts languaging behavior. Likewise, emotion and affect are studied, not as inner mental states, but as processes of organism-environment interactions. Based on video recordings of interaction between (1) children with special needs, and (2) couple in therapy and the therapist patterns of reciprocal influences between interactants are examined. Through analyzes of affective stance and patterns of inter-affectivity it is exemplified how language and emotion should not be seen as separate phenomena combined in language use, but rather as completely intertwined phenomena in languaging behavior constrained by second order patterns. PMID:25076921

The Microbiome of the Built Environment and Human Behavior: Implications for Emotional Health and Well-Being in Postmodern Western Societies.

PubMed

Stamper, C E; Hoisington, A J; Gomez, O M; Halweg-Edwards, A L; Smith, D G; Bates, K L; Kinney, K A; Postolache, T T; Brenner, L A; Rook, G A W; Lowry, C A

2016-01-01

It is increasingly evident that inflammation is an important determinant of cognitive function and emotional behaviors that are dysregulated in stress-related psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety and affective disorders. Inflammatory responses to physical or psychological stressors are dependent on immunoregulation, which is indicated by a balanced expansion of effector T-cell populations and regulatory T cells. This balance is in part driven by microbial signals. The hygiene or "old friends" hypothesis posits that exposure to immunoregulation-inducing microorganisms is reduced in modern urban societies, leading to an epidemic of inflammatory disease and increased vulnerability to stress-related psychiatric disorders. With the global trend toward urbanization, humans are progressively spending more time in built environments, thereby, experiencing limited exposures to these immunoregulatory "old friends." Here, we evaluate the implications of the global trend toward urbanization, and how this transition may affect human microbial exposures and human behavior. © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Affective Load and Engagement in Second Life: Experiencing Urgent, Persistent, and Long-Term Information Needs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nahl, Diane

2010-01-01

New users of virtual environments face a steep learning curve, requiring persistence and determination to overcome challenges experienced while acclimatizing to the demands of avatar-mediated behavior. Concurrent structured self-reports can be used to monitor the personal affective and cognitive struggles involved in virtual world adaptation to…

Prenatal stress exposure alters postnatal behavioral expression under conditions of novelty challenge in rhesus monkey infants.

PubMed

Schneider, M L

1992-11-01

This prospective study investigated whether mild maternal stress during pregnancy could alter the behavioral and affective responses in rhesus monkey infants in a complex, novel environment. Twenty-four rhesus monkey infants were tested on three occasions at 6 months of age in a novel environment. Twelve infants were derived from mothers exposed to a daily 10-min mild stressor from Day 90 to Day 145 postconception, while 12 were derived from mothers undisturbed during pregnancy. Prenatally stressed infants demonstrated more disturbance behavior, and lower levels of gross motor/exploratory behavior. Moreover, half of the prenatally stressed infants showed an abnormal response, falling asleep, while none of the control infants displayed this behavior. Males exhibited more clinging to surrogates, while females spent more time in gross motor/exploratory behaviors, with prenatally stressed males tending to spend the least time in gross motor/exploratory activity.

Arousal regulation and affective adaptation to human responsiveness by a robot that explores and learns a novel environment

PubMed Central

Hiolle, Antoine; Lewis, Matthew; Cañamero, Lola

2014-01-01

In the context of our work in developmental robotics regarding robot–human caregiver interactions, in this paper we investigate how a “baby” robot that explores and learns novel environments can adapt its affective regulatory behavior of soliciting help from a “caregiver” to the preferences shown by the caregiver in terms of varying responsiveness. We build on two strands of previous work that assessed independently (a) the differences between two “idealized” robot profiles—a “needy” and an “independent” robot—in terms of their use of a caregiver as a means to regulate the “stress” (arousal) produced by the exploration and learning of a novel environment, and (b) the effects on the robot behaviors of two caregiving profiles varying in their responsiveness—“responsive” and “non-responsive”—to the regulatory requests of the robot. Going beyond previous work, in this paper we (a) assess the effects that the varying regulatory behavior of the two robot profiles has on the exploratory and learning patterns of the robots; (b) bring together the two strands previously investigated in isolation and take a step further by endowing the robot with the capability to adapt its regulatory behavior along the “needy” and “independent” axis as a function of the varying responsiveness of the caregiver; and (c) analyze the effects that the varying regulatory behavior has on the exploratory and learning patterns of the adaptive robot. PMID:24860492

Early exposure to a low dose of bisphenol A affects socio-sexual behavior of juvenile female rats.

PubMed

Porrini, Stefania; Belloni, Virginia; Della Seta, Daniele; Farabollini, Francesca; Giannelli, Giuletta; Dessì-Fulgheri, Francesco

2005-04-15

Play behavior is affected by alteration of the hormonal environment during development. In fact, congenital adrenal hyperplasia or early administration of diethylstilbestrol are able to modify female play behavior in mammals. In this research, play behavior of female rats was used to explore the effects of perinatal exposure to low, environmentally relevant dose of bisphenol A (BPA), a xenoestrogen widely diffused in the environment. We used 18 females born to mothers exposed to 40 microg/kg/day BPA during pregnancy and lactation, and 18 control females. The subjects were observed in a heterosexual social situation from 35 to 55 days of age. Six main behaviors were identified by principal component analysis (PCA): exploration, defensive behavior to males, play behavior with males, play behavior with females, low-intensity mating behavior, social grooming. Early administration of BPA was responsible for a significant increase of exploration (including social investigation) (p<0.001), as well as a decrease of play with males (p<0.02) and social grooming (p<0.01) at 45 days of age, indicating a general decrease of playful interactions. In general our results suggest that BPA does not induce a clear masculinization of female behavior, but is able however to defeminize some aspects of female behavior. This result is compatible with the estrogenic properties of BPA, and suggests caution in the use of a chemical that, in the range of human exposure, is able to influence the development of the brain during a critical period, resulting in long-term effects on behavior.

Development, maternal effects, and behavioral plasticity.

PubMed

Mateo, Jill M

2014-11-01

Behavioral, hormonal, and genetic processes interact reciprocally, and differentially affect behavior depending on ecological and social contexts. When individual differences are favored either between or within environments, developmental plasticity would be expected. Parental effects provide a rich source for phenotypic plasticity, including anatomical, physiological, and behavioral traits, because parents respond to dynamic cues in their environment and can, in turn, influence offspring accordingly. Because these inter-generational changes are plastic, parents can respond rapidly to changing environments and produce offspring whose phenotypes are well suited for current conditions more quickly than occurs with changes based on evolution through natural selection. I review studies on developmental plasticity and resulting phenotypes in Belding's ground squirrels (Urocitellus beldingi), an ideal species, given the competing demands to avoid predation while gaining sufficient weight to survive an upcoming hibernation, and the need for young to learn their survival behaviors. I will show how local environments and perceived risk of predation influence not only foraging, vigilance, and anti-predator behaviors, but also adrenal functioning, which may be especially important for obligate hibernators that face competing demands on the storage and mobilization of glucose. Mammalian behavioral development is sensitive to the social and physical environments provided by mothers during gestation and lactation. Therefore, maternal effects on offspring's phenotypes, both positive and negative, can be particularly strong. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. All rights reserved. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Growth and social behavior in a cichlid fish are affected by social rearing environment and kinship

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hesse, Saskia; Thünken, Timo

2014-04-01

Living in groups is a widespread phenomenon in many animal taxa. The reduction of predation risk is thought to be an important cause for the formation of groups. Consequently, grouping behavior is particularly pronounced during vulnerable life stages, i.e., as juveniles. However, group living does not only provide benefits but also imposes costs on group members, e.g., increased competition for food. Thus, benefits of grouping behavior might not be evident when predation risk is absent. The adaptive significance of living and also developing in a group independent from predation risk has received relatively little attention although this might have important implications on the evolution and maintenance of group living. The first aim of the present study was to examine whether the social environment affects juvenile performance in the cichlid fish Pelvicachromis taeniatus and, secondly, whether kinship affects social behavior. Kin selection theory predicts benefits from grouping with kin. Here, we demonstrate that juveniles reared in a group grow on average faster compared to juveniles reared in isolation under standardized laboratory conditions without predation risk. Furthermore, we found significant differences in social behavior between juveniles reared in a group and reared in isolation. Fish reared in isolation were significantly more aggressive and less willing to shoal than group-reared fish. As expected, genetic relatedness influenced social behavior in group-reared fish as well: dyads of juveniles consisting of kin showed increased group cohesiveness compared to non-kin dyads. We discuss the potential benefits of group living in general and living with kin in particular.

Cryptic confounding compounds: A brief consideration of the influences of anthropogenic contaminants on courtship and mating behavior

PubMed Central

Blocker, Tomica D.; Ophir, Alexander G.

2012-01-01

Contaminants, like pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins and metals, are persistent and ubiquitous and are known to threaten the environment. Traditionally, scientists have considered the direct physiological risks that these contaminants pose. However, scientists have just begun to integrate ethology and toxicology to investigate the effects that contaminants have on behavior. This review considers the potential for contaminant effects on mating behavior. Here we assess the growing body of research concerning disruptions in sexual differentiation, courtship, sexual receptivity, arousal, and mating. We discuss the implications of these disruptions on conservation efforts and highlight the importance of recognizing the potential for environmental stressors to affect behavioral experimentation. More specifically, we consider the negative implications for anthropogenic contaminants to affect the immediate behavior of animals, and their potential to have cascading and/or long-term effects on the behavioral ecology and evolution of populations. Overall, we aim to raise awareness of the confounding influence that contaminants can have, and promote caution when interpreting results where the potential for cryptic affects are possible. PMID:24244068

Restrictive eating in anorexia nervosa: Examining maintenance and consequences in the natural environment.

PubMed

Fitzsimmons-Craft, Ellen E; Accurso, Erin C; Ciao, Anna C; Crosby, Ross D; Cao, Li; Pisetsky, Emily M; Le Grange, Daniel; Peterson, Carol B; Crow, Scott J; Engel, Scott G; Mitchell, James E; Wonderlich, Stephen A

2015-11-01

This study examined negative and positive affect in relation to restrictive eating episodes (i.e., meals/snacks perceived as restrictive) and whether restrictive eating was associated with likelihood of subsequent eating disorder behaviors (i.e., additional restrictive eating, binge eating, vomiting, laxative use, weighing, exercising, meal skipping, drinking fluids to curb appetite, body checking). Women with anorexia nervosa (N = 118) completed a 2-week ecological momentary assessment protocol. For both restrictive and nonrestrictive eating, negative affect significantly increased from prebehavior to the time of the behavior but remained stable thereafter, while positive affect remained stable from prebehavior to the time of the behavior but decreased significantly thereafter. Across time, negative affect was significantly lower and positive affect was significantly greater in restrictive than nonrestrictive episodes. Engagement in restrictive eating was associated with an increased likelihood of subsequent restrictive eating, laxative use, and body checking, but not other behaviors. Engagement in nonrestrictive eating was associated with a decreased likelihood of subsequent restrictive eating, binge eating, vomiting, laxative use, weighing, meal skipping, drinking fluids to curb appetite, and body checking. Despite similar patterns of affect across eating episodes over time, results suggest affect may be involved in the maintenance of restrictive eating in anorexia nervosa since restrictive episodes were associated with lower negative and greater positive affect across time compared to nonrestrictive episodes. Further, while restrictive episodes increased the likelihood of only three subsequent eating disorder behaviors, nonrestrictive episodes were protective since they decreased likelihood of all but one behavior. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Influences of motorcycle rider and driver characteristics and road environment on red light running behavior at signalized intersections.

PubMed

Jensupakarn, Auearree; Kanitpong, Kunnawee

2018-04-01

In Thailand, red light running is considered as one of the most dangerous behaviors at intersection. Red light running (RLR) behavior is the failure to obey the traffic control signal. However, motorcycle riders and car drivers who are running through red lights could be influenced by human factors or road environment at intersection. RLR could be advertent or inadvertent behavior influenced by many factors. Little research study has been done to evaluate the contributing factors influencing the red-light violation behavior. This study aims to determine the factors influencing the red light running behavior including human characteristics, physical condition of intersection, traffic signal operation, and traffic condition. A total of 92 intersections were observed in Chiang Mai, Nakhon Ratchasima, and Chonburi, the major provinces in each region of Thailand. In addition, the socio-economic characteristics of red light runners were obtained from self-reported questionnaire survey. The Binary Logistic Regression and the Multiple Linear Regression models were used to determine the characteristics of red light runners and the factors influencing rates of red light running respectively. The results from this study can help to understand the characteristics of red light runners and factors affecting them to run red lights. For motorcycle riders and car drivers, age, gender, occupation, driving license, helmet/seatbelt use, and the probability to be penalized when running the red light significantly affect RLR behavior. In addition, the results indicated that vehicle travelling direction, time of day, existence of turning lane, number of lanes, lane width, intersection sight distance, type of traffic signal pole, type of traffic signal operation, length of yellow time interval, approaching speed, distance from intersection warning sign to stop line, and pavement roughness significantly affect RLR rates. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

How Song Experience Affects Female Mate-Choice, Male Song, and Monoaminergic Activity in the Auditory Telencephalon in Lincoln's Sparrows.

PubMed

Sockman, Keith W; Lyons, Susan M

2017-10-01

A sexual signal can indicate not only the signaler's attractiveness as a potential mate but also the signaler's competitiveness relative to rivals. As the attractiveness or competitiveness of the prevailing signaling environment increases, individuals prospecting for mates should change their choice threshold, whereas competing individuals should shift resources toward elevating their own competitiveness. Previous studies show that experimental elevations of song competition increase male competitive behavior in Lincoln's sparrows (Melospiza lincolnii) and European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris). Through a series of experimental manipulations using laboratory-housed Lincoln's sparrows, we have also discovered that females change the strength of their song preferences depending on the attractiveness of the song environment to which they have recently been exposed; compared to a less-attractive environment, a highly-attractive environment elevates the threshold for releasing phonotaxis behavior toward male song. These behavioral adjustments are associated with changes in forebrain monoaminergic activity that are triggered by experimental manipulations of the quality of the song environment. Findings from these studies suggest possible neural mechanisms for the regulation of adaptive behavioral plasticity associated with dynamic sexual signaling environments. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. All rights reserved. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Rearing environment influences boldness and prey acquisition behavior, and brain and lens development of bull trout

USGS Publications Warehouse

Brignon, William R.; Pike, Martin M.; Ebbesson, Lars O.E.; Schaller, Howard A.; Peterson, James T.; Schreck, Carl B.

2018-01-01

Animals reared in barren captive environments exhibit different developmental trajectories and behaviors than wild counterparts. Hence, the captive phenotypes may influence the success of reintroduction and recovery programs for threatened and endangered species. We collected wild bull trout embryos from the Metolius River Basin, Oregon and reared them in differing environments to better understand how captivity affects the bull trout Salvelinus confluentusphenotype. We compared the boldness and prey acquisition behaviors and development of the brain and eye lens of bull trout reared in conventional barren and more structurally complex captive environments with that of wild fish. Wild fish and captive reared fish from complex habitats exhibited a greater level of boldness and prey acquisition ability, than fish reared in conventional captive environments. In addition, the eye lens of conventionally reared bull trout was larger than complex reared captive fish or same age wild fish. Interestingly, we detected wild fish had a smaller relative cerebellum than either captive reared treatment. Our results suggest that rearing fish in more complex captive environments can create a more wild-like phenotype than conventional rearing practices. A better understanding of the effects of captivity on the development and behavior of bull trout can inform rearing and reintroduction programs though prediction of the performance of released individuals.

Behavior of steelhead fry in a laboratory stream is affected by fish density but not rearing environment

USGS Publications Warehouse

Riley, Stephen C.; Tatara, Christopher P.; Berejikian, Barry A.; Flagg, Thomas A.

2009-01-01

We quantified the aggression, feeding, dominance, position choice, and territory size of naturally reared steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss fry stocked with two types of hatchery-reared fry (from conventional and enriched rearing environments) at two densities in experimental flumes to determine how rearing environment and fish density affect the behavior of steelhead fry. We found that fry density had a significant effect on most response variables but that rearing treatment did not. The rates of threats and attacks were positively correlated with fry density, but the overall feeding rate was negatively correlated. Naturally reared fry were dominant more often at low densities, and hatchery-reared fry were dominant more often at high densities. There were no significant effects of hatchery rearing treatment on aggression, feeding, dominance, or territory size. The only significant effect of rearing treatment was on the position of naturally reared fry, which occupied more upstream positions when stocked with conventional than with enriched hatchery-reared fry. Overall, rearing environment had relatively little influence on the behavior of steelhead fry. Our results indicate that stocking hatchery-reared steelhead fry at low densities may have effects on similar-size wild fish comparable to an equivalent increase in the density of wild fish. We suggest that releasing hatchery-reared steelhead fry as a supplementation strategy may have few direct negative ecological effects on wild fry.

Measuring the mechanical behavior of paperboard in a changing humidity environment

Treesearch

Dennis E. Gunderson; John M. Considine

1986-01-01

“Both the strength and stability of compressively loaded paperboard are known to be adversely affected by cyclic changes in relative humidity. Current research at the Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) seeks to observe and explain this phenomenon and to develop a simple, practical test to determine allowable "working loads" in cyclicmoisture environments. A new...

Patterns of Sensitivity to Parenting and Peer Environments: Early Temperament and Adolescent Externalizing Behavior.

PubMed

Tung, Irene; Noroña, Amanda N; Morgan, Julia E; Caplan, Barbara; Lee, Steve S; Baker, Bruce L

2018-03-14

Although parenting behavior and friendship quality predict adolescent externalizing behaviors (EBs), individual differences in temperament may differentially affect susceptibility to these factors over time. In a multi-method and multi-informant study of 141 children followed prospectively from toddlerhood to adolescence, we tested the independent and interactive associations of age 3 reactive temperament (e.g., negative emotionality) and age 13 observed parenting (i.e., positive and negative behavior) and friendship (i.e., conflict and warmth), with multi-informant ratings of age 15 aggression and rule-breaking behavior. Negative parenting predicted growth in parent-rated EB, but only for adolescents with early reactive temperament. Temperament did not affect sensitivity to positive parenting or friendship. Results are discussed in the context of differential susceptibility theory and intervention implications for adolescents. © 2018 Society for Research on Adolescence.

Old models explain new observations of butterfly movement at patch edges.

PubMed

Crone, Elizabeth E; Schultz, Cheryl B

2008-07-01

Understanding movement in heterogeneous environments is central to predicting how landscape changes affect animal populations. Several recent studies point out an intriguing and distinctive looping behavior by butterflies at habitat patch edges and hypothesize that this behavior requires a new framework for analyzing animal movement. We show that this looping behavior could be caused by a longstanding movement model, biased correlated random walk, with bias toward habitat patches. The ability of this longstanding model to explain recent observations reinforces the point that butterflies respond to habitat heterogeneity and do not move randomly through heterogeneous environments. We discuss the implications of different movement models for predicting butterfly responses to landscape change, and our rationale for retaining longstanding movement models, rather than developing new modeling frameworks for looping behavior at patch edges.

Affective state influences perception by affecting decision parameters underlying bias and sensitivity.

PubMed

Lynn, Spencer K; Zhang, Xuan; Barrett, Lisa Feldman

2012-08-01

Studies of the effect of affect on perception often show consistent directional effects of a person's affective state on perception. Unpleasant emotions have been associated with a "locally focused" style of stimulus evaluation, and positive emotions with a "globally focused" style. Typically, however, studies of affect and perception have not been conducted under the conditions of perceptual uncertainty and behavioral risk inherent to perceptual judgments outside the laboratory. We investigated the influence of perceivers' experienced affect (valence and arousal) on the utility of social threat perception by combining signal detection theory and behavioral economics. We compared 3 perceptual decision environments that systematically differed with respect to factors that underlie uncertainty and risk: the base rate of threat, the costs of incorrect identification threat, and the perceptual similarity of threats and nonthreats. We found that no single affective state yielded the best performance on the threat perception task across the 3 environments. Unpleasant valence promoted calibration of response bias to base rate and costs, high arousal promoted calibration of perceptual sensitivity to perceptual similarity, and low arousal was associated with an optimal adjustment of bias to sensitivity. However, the strength of these associations was conditional upon the difficulty of attaining optimal bias and high sensitivity, such that the effect of the perceiver's affective state on perception differed with the cause and/or level of uncertainty and risk.

Affective State Influences Perception by Affecting Decision Parameters Underlying Bias and Sensitivity

PubMed Central

Lynn, Spencer K.; Zhang, Xuan; Barrett, Lisa Feldman

2012-01-01

Studies of the effect of affect on perception often show consistent directional effects of a person’s affective state on perception. Unpleasant emotions have been associated with a “locally focused” style of stimulus evaluation, and positive emotions with a “globally focused” style. Typically, however, studies of affect and perception have not been conducted under the conditions of perceptual uncertainty and behavioral risk inherent to perceptual judgments outside the laboratory. We investigated the influence of perceivers’ experience affect (valence and arousal) on the utility of social threat perception by combining signal detection theory and behavioral economics. We created three perceptual decision environments that systematically differed with respect to factors that underlie uncertainty and risk: the base rate of threat, the costs of incorrect identification threat, and the perceptual similarity of threats and non-threats. We found that no single affective state yielded the best performance on the threat perception task across the three environments. Unpleasant valence promoted calibration of response bias to base rate and costs, high arousal promoted calibration of perceptual sensitivity to perceptual similarity, and low arousal was associated with an optimal adjustment of bias to sensitivity. However, the strength of these associations was conditional upon the difficulty of attaining optimal bias and high sensitivity, such that the effect of the perceiver’s affective state on perception differed with the cause and/or level of uncertainty and risk. PMID:22251054

In vitro simulation of fretting-corrosion in hip implant modular junctions: The influence of pH.

PubMed

Royhman, Dmitry; Patel, Megha; Jacobs, Joshua J; Wimmer, Markus A; Hallab, Nadim J; Mathew, Mathew T

2018-02-01

The fretting-corrosion behavior of mixed metal contacts is affected by various mechanical and electrochemical parameters. Crevice conditions at the junction and patient-specific pathologies can affect the pH of the prosthetic environment. The main objective of this study is to understand the effect of pH variation at the stem/head junction of the hip implant under fretting corrosion exposure. We hypothesized that pH will have a significant influence on the fretting-corrosion behavior hip implant modular junctions. A custom-made setup was used to evaluate the fretting corrosion behavior of hip implant modular junctions. A Newborn calf serum solution (30 g/L protein content) was used to simulate the synovial fluid environment. A sinusoidal fretting motion, with a displacement amplitude of +50 µm, was applied to the Ti alloy rod. The effects of pathology driven, periprosthetic pH variation were simulated at four different pH levels (3.0, 4.5, 6.0 and 7.6). Electrochemical and mechanical properties were evaluated before, during, and after the applied fretting motion. The impedance of the system was increased in response to the fretting motion. The hysteresis tangential load/displacement behavior was not affected by pH level. The worn surfaces of CoCrMo pins exhibited the presence of tribolayer or organic deposits, in the pH 4.5 group, which may explain the lower drop in potential and mass loss observed in that group. Mechanically dominated wear mechanisms, namely, adhesive wear was shown in the pH 7.6 group, which may account for a higher potential drop and metal content loss. This study suggests that the fretting-corrosion mechanisms in hip implant are affected by the pH levels of the surrounding environment and patient-specific factors. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Creating a family health history

MedlinePlus

Family health history; Create a family health history; Family medical history ... Many factors affect your health. These include your: Genes Diet and exercise habits Environment Family members tend to share certain behaviors, genetic traits, and habits. ...

Refuge behaviour from outdoor thermal environmental stress and seasonal differences of thermal sense in tropical urban climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kurazumi, Y.; Ishii, J.; Fukagawa, K.; Kondo, E.; Aruninta, A.

2017-12-01

Thermal sensation affects body temperature regulation. As a starting point for behavioral body temperature regulation taken to improve from a poor thermal environment to a more pleasant environment, thermal sense of thermal environment stimulus is important. The poupose of this sutudy is to use the outdoor thermal environment evaluation index ETFe to quantify effects on thermal sensations of the human body of a tropical region climate with small annual temperature differences, and to examine seasonal differences in thermal sensation. It was found temperature preferences were lower in the winter season than in the dry season, and that a tolerance for higher temperatures in the dry season than in the winter season. It was found effects of seasonal differences of the thermal environment appear in quantitative changes in thermal sensations. It was found that effects of seasonal differences of the thermal environment do not greatly affect quantitative changes in thermal comfort.

Complex Living Conditions Impair Behavioral Inhibition but Improve Attention in Rats

PubMed Central

van der Veen, Rixt; Kentrop, Jiska; van der Tas, Liza; Loi, Manila; van IJzendoorn, Marinus H.; Bakermans-Kranenburg, Marian J.; Joëls, Marian

2015-01-01

Rapid adaptation to changes, while maintaining a certain level of behavioral inhibition is an important feature in every day functioning. How environmental context and challenges in life can impact on the development of this quality is still unknown. In the present study, we examined the effect of a complex rearing environment during adolescence on attention and behavioral inhibition in adult male rats. We also tested whether these effects were affected by an adverse early life challenge, maternal deprivation (MD). We found that animals that were raised in large, two floor MarlauTM cages, together with 10 conspecifics, showed improved attention, but impaired behavioral inhibition in the 5-choice serial reaction time task. The early life challenge of 24 h MD on postnatal day 3 led to a decline in bodyweight during adolescence, but did not by itself influence responses in the 5-choice task in adulthood, nor did it moderate the effects of complex housing. Our data suggest that a complex rearing environment leads to a faster adaptation to changes in the environment, but at the cost of lower behavioral inhibition. PMID:26733839

Early life stress in rats sex-dependently affects remote endocrine rather than behavioral consequences of adult exposure to contextual fear conditioning.

PubMed

Fuentes, Sílvia; Daviu, Núria; Gagliano, Humberto; Belda, Xavier; Armario, Antonio; Nadal, Roser

2018-05-30

Exposure to electric foot-shocks can induce in rodents contextual fear conditioning, generalization of fear to other contexts and sensitization of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis to further stressors. All these aspects are relevant for the study of post-traumatic stress disorder. In the present work we evaluated in rats the sex differences and the role of early life stress (ELS) in fear memories, generalization and sensitization. During the first postnatal days subjects were exposed to restriction of nesting material along with exposure to a "substitute" mother. In the adulthood they were exposed to (i) a contextual fear conditioning to evaluate long-term memory and extinction and (ii) to a novel environment to study cognitive fear generalization and HPA axis heterotypic sensitization. ELS did not alter acquisition, expression or extinction of context fear conditioned behavior (freezing) in either sex, but reduced activity in novel environments only in males. Fear conditioning associated hypoactivity in novel environments (cognitive generalization) was greater in males than females but was not specifically affected by ELS. Although overall females showed greater basal and stress-induced levels of ACTH and corticosterone, an interaction between ELS, shock exposure and sex was found regarding HPA hormones. In males, ELS did not affect ACTH response in any situation, whereas in females, ELS reduced both shock-induced sensitization of ACTH and its conditioned response to the shock context. Also, shock-induced sensitization of corticosterone was only observed in males and ELS specifically reduced corticosterone response to stressors in males but not females. In conclusion, ELS seems to have only a minor impact on shock-induced behavioral conditioning, while affecting the unconditioned and conditioned responses of HPA hormones in a sex-dependent manner. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Multi-Level Family Factors and Affective and Behavioral Symptoms of Oppositional Defiant Disorder in Chinese Children

PubMed Central

Tang, Yixin; Lin, Xiuyun; Chi, Peilian; Zhou, Qing; Hou, Xiangning

2017-01-01

Given the important role of family environment in children's psychological development, the objective of this study was to examine the linkages between family factors at the whole, dyadic, and individual levels and two dimensions (affective and behavioral) of Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) symptoms in Chinese children. Participants comprised of 80 father-child dyads and 169 mother-child dyads from families with ODD children. The results indicated that multilevel family factors were differently associated with children's affective and behavioral ODD symptoms. All the family factors at the dyadic and individual levels were significantly associated with child affective ODD symptoms. However, only the most proximal factors (parent-child relationship and child emotion regulation, which were directly related to child) were significantly related to child behavioral ODD symptoms. The present study extends the current knowledge regarding the relationships between family factors and two dimensions of child ODD symptoms by testing the comprehensive multilevel family factors model. This study also recommends that future interventions for ODD children should consider the multi-level family factors to enhance intervention efficacy. PMID:28713321

A literature review and inventory of the effects of environment on the fatigue behavior of metals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hudson, C. M.; Seward, S. K.

1976-01-01

The current state of knowledge of the effects of gas environments (at atmospheric pressure and below) on the fatigue behavior of metals is reviewed. Among the topics considered are the mechanisms proposed to explain the differences observed in the fatigue behavior of vacuum- and air-tested specimens, the effects of environment on the surface topography of fatigue cycled specimens, the effect of environment on the various phases of the fatigue phenomenon, the effect of prolonged exposure to vacuum on fatigue life, the variation of fatigue life with decreasing gas pressure, and gas evolution during fatigue cycling. Analysis of the findings of this review indicates that hydrogen embrittlement is primarily responsible for decreased fatigue resistance in humid environments, and that dislocations move more easily during tests in vacuum than during test in air. It was found that fatigue cracks generally initiated and propagated more rapidly in air than in vacuum. Prolonged exposure to vacuum does not adversely affect fatigue resistance. The variation of fatigue life with decreasing gas pressure is sometimes stepped and sometimes continuous.

The role of temperament by family environment interactions in child maladjustment.

PubMed

Chen, Nan; Deater-Deckard, Kirby; Bell, Martha Ann

2014-11-01

In order to advance our understanding of the etiology of individual differences in child maladjustment (i.e., conduct and emotional problems), we tested hypotheses about the statistical interactions between child temperament and two aspects of the family environment: maternal negativity and positivity, and household chaos (e.g., crowding, noise, lack of routines). Mothers (n = 149) reported on their child's effortful control, negative affect, surgency, and behavioral/emotional problems. The age range of the children was 3 to 7 years old and half of the sample was girls. Observers rated maternal negativity and positivity based on brief structured interaction tasks in the laboratory. Child temperament moderated the association between maternal negativity/positivity and child maladjustment. Maternal negativity and child problem behavior were associated only for those children who also were high in surgency or negative affectivity. Maternal positivity was associated with less child problem behavior for those high in surgency. Child effortful control interacted with both maternal negativity and chaos. Maternal negativity and child problem behavior were most strongly associated for children who were low in effortful control and living in chaotic homes. The results point to distinct transactions between child temperament and maternal negativity/positivity that depend in part on the dimensions of temperament and parenting behavior in question.

The Role of Temperament by Family Environment Interactions in Child Maladjustment

PubMed Central

Chen, Nan; Deater-Deckard, Kirby; Bell, Martha Ann

2014-01-01

In order to advance our understanding of the etiology of individual differences in child maladjustment (i.e., conduct and emotional problems), we tested hypotheses about the statistical interactions between child temperament and two aspects of the family environment: maternal negativity and positivity, and household chaos (e.g., crowding, noise, lack of routines). Mothers (n = 149) reported on their child’s effortful control, negative affect, surgency, and behavioral/emotional problems. The age range of the children was 3 to 7 years old and half of the sample was girls. Observers rated maternal negativity and positivity based on brief structured interaction tasks in the laboratory. Child temperament moderated the association between maternal negativity/positivity and child maladjustment. Maternal negativity and child problem behavior were associated only for those children who also were high in surgency or negative affectivity. Maternal positivity was associated with less child problem behavior for those high in surgency. Child effortful control interacted with both maternal negativity and chaos. Maternal negativity and child problem behavior were most strongly associated for children who were low in effortful control and living in chaotic homes. The results point to distinct transactions between child temperament and maternal negativity/positivity that depend in part on the dimensions of temperament and parenting behavior in question. PMID:24691836

Song environment affects singing effort and vasotocin immunoreactivity in the forebrain of male Lincoln’s sparrows

PubMed Central

Sewall, Kendra B.; Dankoski, Elyse C.; Sockman, Keith W.

2010-01-01

Male songbirds often establish territories and attract mates by singing, and some song features can reflect the singer’s condition or quality. The quality of the song environment can change, so male songbirds should benefit from assessing the competitiveness of the song environment and appropriately adjusting their own singing behavior and the neural substrates by which song is controlled. In a wide range of taxa social modulation of behavior is partly mediated by the arginine vasopressin or vasotocin (AVP/AVT) systems. To examine the modulation of singing behavior in response to the quality of the song environment we compared the song output of laboratory-housed male Lincoln’s sparrows (Melospiza lincolnii) exposed to one week of chronic playback of songs categorized as either high or low quality, based on song length, complexity and trill performance. To explore the neural basis of any facultative shifts in behavior, we also quantified the subjects’ AVT immunoreactivity (AVT-IR) in three forebrain regions that regulate socio-sexual behavior: the medial bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BSTm), the lateral septum (LS) and the preoptic area. We found that high quality songs increased singing effort and reduced AVT-IR in the BSTm and LS, relative to low quality songs. The effect of the quality of the song environment on both singing effort and forebrain AVT-IR raises the hypothesis that AVT within these brain regions plays a role in the modulation of behavior in response to competition that individual males may assess from the prevailing song environment. PMID:20399213

Changes in food intake and abnormal behavior using a puzzle feeder in newly acquired sub-adult rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta): a short term study.

PubMed

Lee, Jae-Il; Lee, Chi-Woo; Kwon, Hyouk-Sang; Kim, Young-Tae; Park, Chung-Gyu; Kim, Sang-Joon; Kang, Byeong-Cheol

2008-10-01

The majority of newly acquired nonhuman primates encounter serious problems adapting themselves to new environments or facilities. In particular, loss of appetite and abnormal behavior can occur in response to environmental stresses. These adaptation abnormalities can ultimately have an affect on the animal's growth and well-being. In this study, we evaluated the affects of a puzzle feeder on the food intake and abnormal behavior of newly acquired rhesus monkeys for a short period. The puzzle feeder was applied to 47- to 58-month-old animals that had never previously encountered one. We found that there was no difference in the change of food intake between the bucket condition and the puzzle feeder condition. In contrast, the time spent for consumption of food was three times longer in the puzzle feeder condition than in the bucket condition. Two monkeys initially exhibited stereotypic behavior. One showed a decreasing, and the other an increasing pattern of abnormal behavior after introduction of the puzzle feeder. In conclusion, this result suggests that over a short period, the puzzle feeder can only affect the time for food consumption since it failed to affect the food intake and did not consistently influence stereotypic behaviors in newly acquired rhesus monkeys.

Cognitive judgement bias is associated with frequency of anticipatory behavior in bottlenose dolphins.

PubMed

Clegg, Isabella L K; Delfour, Fabienne

2018-03-01

Many animals display a suite of increased vigilance and/or activity responses in relation to upcoming events, termed "anticipatory behavior." Anticipatory behavior toward positive events has been suggested as a cross-species measure of affective state as it likely reflects the balance of the reward-sensitivity system: various studies suggest that animals in poorer welfare situations show higher or excessive levels of anticipation for positive events. Another tool for evaluating animals' affective state is cognitive bias testing, and although it has been attempted, a link has not yet been made between cognitive bias and anticipatory behavior levels. Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in captivity increase the performance of behaviors such as surface-looking and spy-hopping in anticipation of training sessions during which food is provided. In this study we measured anticipatory behavior frequency in bottlenose dolphins prior to positive reinforcement training sessions, and assessed whether frequency of anticipatory behavior correlated with their performance on cognitive bias tasks. We found that higher frequencies of anticipatory behavior for training sessions was significantly associated with more pessimistic judgements in cognitive bias tests, supporting previous findings linking higher reward sensitivity with negative affective states. Anticipatory behavior is an easily measured activity and could represent a welfare indicator in dolphins as well as other animals in captive environments. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Single, African-American, Low Income Mothers' Child-Rearing Practices and Stressors and Their Relationship to Children's Prosocial Behavior and Peer Status.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Howe, Debra; Bhavnagri, Navaz Peshotan

This study examined the relationship between the stress factors affecting low-income African-American mothers' child rearing practices and their children's prosocial behavior and peer status. Thirty at-risk preschool children and their single mothers participated in the study. The Home Observation for the Measurement of the Environment for…

Developmental and behavioral consequences of prenatal methamphetamine exposure: a review of the Infant Development, Environment, and Lifestyle (IDEAL) Study

PubMed Central

Smith, Lynne M.; Diaz, Sabrina; LaGasse, Linda L.; Wouldes, Trecia; Derauf, Chris; Newman, Elana; Arria, Amelia; Huestis, Marilyn A.; Haning, William; Strauss, Arthur; Grotta, Sheri Della; Dansereau, Lynne M.; Neal, Charles; Lester, Barry M.

2015-01-01

This study reviews the findings from the Infant Development, Environment, and Lifestyle Study (IDEAL), a multisite, longitudinal, prospective study designed to determine maternal outcome and child growth and developmental findings following prenatal methamphetamine exposure from birth up to age 7.5 years. These findings are presented in the context of the home environment and caregiver characteristics to determine how the drug and the environment interact to affect the outcome of these children. No neonatal abstinence syndrome requiring pharmacologic intervention was observed but heavy drug exposure was associated with increased stress responses in the neonatal period. Poorer inhibitory control was also observed in heavy methamphetamine exposed children placing them at high risk for impaired executive function. Independent of methamphetamine exposure, children with more responsive home environments to developmental and emotional needs demonstrated lower risks for internalizing and externalizing behavior. PMID:26212684

Mechanisms of Individual Differences in Impulsive and Risky Choice in Rats

PubMed Central

Kirkpatrick, Kimberly; Marshall, Andrew T.; Smith, Aaron P.

2016-01-01

Individual differences in impulsive and risky choice are key risk factors for a variety of maladaptive behaviors such as drug abuse, gambling, and obesity. In our rat model, ordered individual differences are stable across choice parameters, months of testing, and span a broad spectrum, suggesting that rats, like humans, exhibit trait-level impulsive and risky choice behaviors. In addition, impulsive and risky choices are highly correlated, suggesting a degree of correlation between these two traits. An examination of the underlying cognitive mechanisms has suggested an important role for timing processes in impulsive choice. In addition, in an examination of genetic factors in impulsive choice, the Lewis rat strain emerged as a possible animal model for studying disordered impulsive choice, with this strain demonstrating deficient delay processing. Early rearing environment also affected impulsive behaviors, with rearing in an enriched environment promoting adaptable and more self-controlled choices. The combined results with impulsive choice suggest an important role for timing and reward sensitivity in moderating impulsive behaviors. Relative reward valuation also affects risky choice, with manipulation of objective reward value (relative to an alternative reference point) resulting in loss chasing behaviors that predicted overall risky choice behaviors. The combined results are discussed in relation to domain-specific versus domain-general subjective reward valuation processes and the potential neural substrates of impulsive and risky choice. PMID:27695580

How the built environment affects physical activity: views from urban planning.

PubMed

Handy, Susan L; Boarnet, Marlon G; Ewing, Reid; Killingsworth, Richard E

2002-08-01

The link between the built environment and human behavior has long been of interest to the field of urban planning, but direct assessments of the links between the built environment and physical activity as it influences personal health are still rare in the field. Yet the concepts, theories, and methods used by urban planners provide a foundation for an emerging body of research on the relationship between the built environment and physical activity. Recent research efforts in urban planning have focused on the idea that land use and design policies can be used to increase transit use as well as walking and bicycling. The development of appropriate measures for the built environment and for travel behavior is an essential element of this research. The link between the built environment and travel behavior is then made using theoretical frameworks borrowed from economics, and in particular, the concept of travel as a derived demand. The available evidence lends itself to the argument that a combination of urban design, land use patterns, and transportation systems that promotes walking and bicycling will help create active, healthier, and more livable communities. To provide more conclusive evidence, however, researchers must address the following issues: An alternative to the derived-demand framework must be developed for walking, measures of the built environment must be refined, and more-complete data on walking must be developed. In addition, detailed data on the built environment must be spatially matched to detailed data on travel behavior.

Learning Environments and Inquiry Behaviors in Science Inquiry Learning: How Their Interplay Affects the Development of Conceptual Understanding in Physics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bumbacher, Engin; Salehi, Shima; Wierzchula, Miriam; Blikstein, Paulo

2015-01-01

Studies comparing virtual and physical manipulative environments (VME and PME) in inquiry-based science learning have mostly focused on students' learning outcomes but not on the actual processes they engage in during the learning activities. In this paper, we examined experimentation strategies in an inquiry activity and their relation to…

Everything You've Always Wanted to Know About Weather But Were Afraid to Ask.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abbott, Verlin M.

This unit, designed for primary grades of the elementary schools, focuses on weather and is divided into the following five major parts: Weather Affects Man and His Environment; Air, Wind, and Weather; Clouds and Humidity; Precipitation; and Micro-Environments. Each part includes a list of the concepts to be taught, the behavioral objectives and…

Social defeat interacts with Disc1 mutations in the mouse to affect behavior.

PubMed

Haque, F Nipa; Lipina, Tatiana V; Roder, John C; Wong, Albert H C

2012-08-01

DISC1 (Disrupted-in-schizophrenia 1) is a strong candidate susceptibility gene for psychiatric disease that was originally discovered in a family with a chromosomal translocation severing this gene. Although the family members with the translocation had an identical genetic mutation, their clinical diagnosis and presentation varied significantly. Gene-environment interactions have been proposed as a mechanism underlying the complex heritability and variable phenotype of psychiatric disorders such as major depressive disorder and schizophrenia. We hypothesized that gene-environment interactions would affect behavior in a mutant Disc1 mouse model. We examined the effect of chronic social defeat (CSD) as an environmental stressor in two lines of mice carrying different Disc1 point mutations, on behaviors relevant to psychiatric illness: locomotion in a novel open field (OF), pre-pulse inhibition (PPI) of the acoustic startle response, latent inhibition (LI), elevated plus maze (EPM), forced swim test (FST), sucrose consumption (SC), and the social interaction task for sociability and social novelty (SSN). We found that Disc1-L100P +/- and wild-type mice have similar anxiety responses to CSD, while Q31L +/- mice had a very different response. We also found evidence of significant gene-environment interactions in the OF, EPM and SSN. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Fluoxetine effects on molecular, cellular and behavioral endophenotypes of depression are driven by the living environment.

PubMed

Alboni, S; van Dijk, R M; Poggini, S; Milior, G; Perrotta, M; Drenth, T; Brunello, N; Wolfer, D P; Limatola, C; Amrein, I; Cirulli, F; Maggi, L; Branchi, I

2017-04-01

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) represent the most common treatment for major depression. However, their efficacy is variable and incomplete. In order to elucidate the cause of such incomplete efficacy, we explored the hypothesis positing that SSRIs may not affect mood per se but, by enhancing neural plasticity, render the individual more susceptible to the influence of the environment. Consequently, SSRI administration in a favorable environment promotes a reduction of symptoms, whereas in a stressful environment leads to a worse prognosis. To test such hypothesis, we exposed C57BL/6 mice to chronic stress in order to induce a depression-like phenotype and, subsequently, to fluoxetine treatment (21 days), while being exposed to either an enriched or a stressful condition. We measured the most commonly investigated molecular, cellular and behavioral endophenotypes of depression and SSRI outcome, including depression-like behavior, neurogenesis, brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity and long-term potentiation. Results showed that, in line with our hypothesis, the endophenotypes investigated were affected by the treatment according to the quality of the living environment. In particular, mice treated with fluoxetine in an enriched condition overall improved their depression-like phenotype compared with controls, whereas those treated in a stressful condition showed a distinct worsening. Our findings suggest that the effects of SSRI on the depression- like phenotype is not determined by the drug per se but is induced by the drug and driven by the environment. These findings may be helpful to explain variable effects of SSRI found in clinical practice and to device strategies aimed at enhancing their efficacy by means of controlling environmental conditions.

Sometimes Happy People Focus on the Trees and Sad People Focus on the Forest: Context-Dependent Effects of Mood in Impression Formation

PubMed Central

Hunsinger, Matthew; Isbell, Linda M.; Clore, Gerald L.

2014-01-01

Research indicates that affect influences whether people focus on categorical or behavioral information during impression formation. One explanation is that affect confers its value on whatever cognitive inclinations are most accessible in a given situation. Three studies tested this malleable mood effects hypothesis, predicting that happy moods should maintain and unhappy moods should inhibit situationally dominant thinking styles. Participants completed an impression formation task that included categorical and behavioral information. Consistent with the proposed hypothesis, no fixed relation between mood and processing emerged. Whether happy moods led to judgments reflecting category-level or behavior-level information depended on whether participants were led to focus on the their immediate psychological state (i.e., current affective experience; Studies 1 and 2) or physical environment (i.e., an unexpected odor; Study 3). Consistent with research on socially situated cognition, these results demonstrate that the same affective state can trigger entirely different thinking styles depending on the context. PMID:21957087

Size doesn't matter, sex does: a test for boldness in sister species of Brachyrhaphis fishes.

PubMed

Ingley, Spencer J; Rehm, Jeremy; Johnson, Jerald B

2014-11-01

The effect of divergent natural selection on the evolution of behavioral traits has long been a focus of behavioral ecologists. Predation, due to its ubiquity in nature and strength as a selective agent, has been considered an important environmental driver of behavior. Predation is often confounded with other environmental factors that could also play a role in behavioral evolution. For example, environments that contain predators are often more ecologically complex and "risky" (i.e., exposed and dangerous). Previous work shows that individuals from risky environments are often more bold, active, and explorative than those from low-risk environments. To date, most comparative studies of environmentally driven behavioral divergence are limited to comparisons among populations within species that occur in divergent selective environments but neglect comparisons between species following speciation. This limits our understanding of how behavior evolves post-speciation. The Central American live-bearing fish genus Brachyrhaphis provides an ideal system for examining the relationship between selective environments and behavior, within and between species. Here, we test for differences in boldness between sister species B. roseni and B. terrabensis that occur in streams with and without piscivorous predators, respectively. We found that species do differ in boldness, with species that occur with predators being bolder than those that do not. Within each species, we found that sexes differed in boldness, with males being bolder than females. We also tested for a relationship between size (a surrogate for metabolic rate) and boldness, but found no size effects. Therefore, sex, not size, affects boldness. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that complex and risky environments favor individuals with more bold behavioral traits, but they are not consistent with the hypothesis that size (and therefore metabolic rate) drives divergence in boldness. Finally, our results provide evidence that behavioral trait divergence continues even after speciation is complete.

Size doesn't matter, sex does: a test for boldness in sister species of Brachyrhaphis fishes

PubMed Central

Ingley, Spencer J; Rehm, Jeremy; Johnson, Jerald B

2014-01-01

The effect of divergent natural selection on the evolution of behavioral traits has long been a focus of behavioral ecologists. Predation, due to its ubiquity in nature and strength as a selective agent, has been considered an important environmental driver of behavior. Predation is often confounded with other environmental factors that could also play a role in behavioral evolution. For example, environments that contain predators are often more ecologically complex and “risky” (i.e., exposed and dangerous). Previous work shows that individuals from risky environments are often more bold, active, and explorative than those from low-risk environments. To date, most comparative studies of environmentally driven behavioral divergence are limited to comparisons among populations within species that occur in divergent selective environments but neglect comparisons between species following speciation. This limits our understanding of how behavior evolves post-speciation. The Central American live-bearing fish genus Brachyrhaphis provides an ideal system for examining the relationship between selective environments and behavior, within and between species. Here, we test for differences in boldness between sister species B. roseni and B. terrabensis that occur in streams with and without piscivorous predators, respectively. We found that species do differ in boldness, with species that occur with predators being bolder than those that do not. Within each species, we found that sexes differed in boldness, with males being bolder than females. We also tested for a relationship between size (a surrogate for metabolic rate) and boldness, but found no size effects. Therefore, sex, not size, affects boldness. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that complex and risky environments favor individuals with more bold behavioral traits, but they are not consistent with the hypothesis that size (and therefore metabolic rate) drives divergence in boldness. Finally, our results provide evidence that behavioral trait divergence continues even after speciation is complete. PMID:25540696

Divergent predation environment between two sister species of livebearing fishes (Cyprinodontiformes: Poeciliidae) predicts boldness, activity, and exploration behavior.

PubMed

Money, David A; Ingley, Spencer J; Johnson, Jerald B

2017-03-01

Predators can influence a variety of prey traits, including behavior. Traits such as boldness, activity rate, and tendency to explore can all be shaped by predation risk. Our study examines the effects of predation on these behaviors by considering a natural system in which two sister species of livebearing fishes, Brachyrhaphis roseni and B. terrabensis, experience divergent predation environments. In February of 2013, we collected fish in the Río Chiriquí Nuevo drainage, Chiriquí, Panama, and conducted behavioral assays. Using open-field behavioral assays, we evaluated both juveniles and adults, and males and females, to determine if there were differences in behavior between ontogenetic stages or between sexes. We assessed boldness as ‘time to emerge’ from a shelter into a novel environment, and subsequently measured activity and exploration within that novel environment. We predicted that B. roseni (a species that co-occurs with predators) would be more bold, more active, and more prone to explore, than B. terrabensis (a species that does not co-occur with predators). In total, we tested 17 juveniles, 21 adult males, and 20 adult females of B. roseni, and 19 juveniles, 19 adult males, and 18 adult females of B. terrabensis. We collected all animals from streams in Chiriquí, Panama in February 2013, and tested them following a short acclimation period to laboratory conditions. As predicted, we found that predation environment was associated with several differences in behavior. Both adult and juvenile B. roseni were more active and more prone to explore than B. terrabensis. However, we found no differences in boldness in either adults or juveniles. We also found a significant interaction between ‘sex’ and ‘species’ as predictors of boldness and exploration, indicating that predation environment can affect behaviors of males and females differently in each species. Our work demonstrates the importance of considering sex and life history stage when evaluating the evolution of behavior.

Food-related practices and beliefs of rural US elementary and middle school teachers.

PubMed

Findholt, Nancy E; Izumi, Betty T; Shannon, Jackilen; Nguyen, Thuan

2016-01-01

Childhood obesity disproportionately affects rural populations; therefore, promoting healthy eating among rural children is essential. Teachers are important role models for children and can influence children's eating behaviors through their own behaviors and beliefs about food. This study examined the food-related practices and beliefs of rural elementary and middle school teachers. Data were used from the SNACZ study, a school- and community-based trial conducted in rural Oregon. Kindergarten through eighth-grade teachers (n=87), teaching students usually aged 5-14 years, from eight rural school districts completed a baseline survey in November 2012 concerning their classroom food practices, eating behaviors at school, beliefs about the school food environment, and nutrition knowledge. Frequencies of responses to each item were calculated. Nearly all teachers (97.6%) agreed that a healthy school food environment is important, but fewer agreed that teachers' behaviors and the foods available at school influence students' eating behaviors (71.0% and 67.0%, respectively). Nearly 86% of teachers used candy as a reward for students, while 78.2% consumed unhealthy snacks and 42.5% consumed sweetened beverages in the classroom. The results suggest that most rural teachers recognize that having a healthy school food environment is important, but are less aware of factors within the school that influence students' eating behaviors - including their own eating behaviors and classroom food practices - and, perhaps for this reason, many rural teachers engage in classroom practices and behaviors that do not promote healthy eating. Teacher training and expanded school policies that focus on teacher behavior may be needed to ensure a healthier rural school food environment.

The Formation of the Urban Environment in the West Siberian Oil and Gas Region: Problems and Challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bauer, N. V.; Speranskaya, N. I.; Shabatura, L. N.; Iatsevich, O. E.

2016-10-01

The article deals with the problems faced by the person in relation to the culture of creating a sustainable urban environment. The urban environment is seen as space of human existence, influencing its spiritual and physical health. All the experts involved in the urban environment, think about the culture of its formation, unfortunately, only from a departmental point of view. Differently organized human environment inevitably affects behavior, emotional state of a man, his perception and understanding of space. The cultural heritage of society fits in the space of an artificial environment created by a man, and determines the behavior of people.For the solution of problems of formation of the urban environment, it is necessary to apply a set of interrelated technical, social, environmental, aesthetic and other measures. In this capacity, landscape design as a set of methods has to build a sustainable urban environment to ensure harmonious living.Current trends, methods, and techniques of landscape design are to create sustainable environment for a person - creative, spiritual, comfortable, attractive, safe, harmonious.

Genetic and environmental contributions to children's prosocial behavior: brief review and new evidence from a reanalysis of experimental twin data.

PubMed

Knafo-Noam, Ariel; Vertsberger, Dana; Israel, Salomon

2018-04-01

Children's prosocial behaviors show considerable variability. Here we discuss the genetic and environmental contributions to individual differences in children's prosocial behavior. Twin research systematically shows, at least from the age of 3 years, a genetic contribution to individual differences in prosocial behavior, both questionnaire-based and observed. This finding is demonstrated across a wide variety of cultures. We discuss the possibility that different prosocial behaviors have different genetic etiologies. A re-analysis of past twin data shows that sharing and comforting are affected by overlapping genetic factors at age 3.5 years. In contrast, the association between helping and comforting is attributed to environmental factors. The few molecular genetic studies of children's prosocial behavior are reviewed, and we point out genome-wide and polygenic methods as a key future direction. Finally, we discuss the interplay of genetic and environmental factors, focusing on both gene×environment interactions and gene-environment correlations. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

How parental dietary behavior and food parenting practices affect children's dietary behavior. Interacting sources of influence?

PubMed

Larsen, Junilla K; Hermans, Roel C J; Sleddens, Ester F C; Engels, Rutger C M E; Fisher, Jennifer O; Kremers, Stef P J

2015-06-01

Until now, the literatures on the effects of food parenting practices and parents' own dietary behavior on children's dietary behavior have largely been independent from one another. Integrating findings across these areas could provide insight on simultaneous and interacting influences on children's food intake. In this narrative review, we provide a conceptual model that bridges the gap between both literatures and consists of three main hypotheses. First, parental dietary behavior and food parenting practices are important interactive sources of influence on children's dietary behavior and Body Mass Index (BMI). Second, parental influences are importantly mediated by changes in the child's home food environment. Third, parenting context (i.e., parenting styles and differential parental treatment) moderates effects of food parenting practices, whereas child characteristics (i.e., temperament and appetitive traits) mainly moderate effects of the home food environment. Future studies testing (parts of) this conceptual model are needed to inform effective parent-child overweight preventive interventions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Unique genetic loci identified for emotional behavior in control and chronic stress conditions.

PubMed

Carhuatanta, Kimberly A K; Shea, Chloe J A; Herman, James P; Jankord, Ryan

2014-01-01

An individual's genetic background affects their emotional behavior and response to stress. Although studies have been conducted to identify genetic predictors for emotional behavior or stress response, it remains unknown how prior stress history alters the interaction between an individual's genome and their emotional behavior. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify chromosomal regions that affect emotional behavior and are sensitive to stress exposure. We utilized the BXD behavioral genetics mouse model to identify chromosomal regions that predict fear learning and emotional behavior following exposure to a control or chronic stress environment. 62 BXD recombinant inbred strains and C57BL/6 and DBA/2 parental strains underwent behavioral testing including a classical fear conditioning paradigm and the elevated plus maze. Distinct quantitative trait loci (QTLs) were identified for emotional learning, anxiety and locomotion in control and chronic stress populations. Candidate genes, including those with already known functions in learning and stress were found to reside within the identified QTLs. Our data suggest that chronic stress history reveals novel genetic predictors of emotional behavior.

Unique genetic loci identified for emotional behavior in control and chronic stress conditions

PubMed Central

Carhuatanta, Kimberly A. K.; Shea, Chloe J. A.; Herman, James P.; Jankord, Ryan

2014-01-01

An individual's genetic background affects their emotional behavior and response to stress. Although studies have been conducted to identify genetic predictors for emotional behavior or stress response, it remains unknown how prior stress history alters the interaction between an individual's genome and their emotional behavior. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify chromosomal regions that affect emotional behavior and are sensitive to stress exposure. We utilized the BXD behavioral genetics mouse model to identify chromosomal regions that predict fear learning and emotional behavior following exposure to a control or chronic stress environment. 62 BXD recombinant inbred strains and C57BL/6 and DBA/2 parental strains underwent behavioral testing including a classical fear conditioning paradigm and the elevated plus maze. Distinct quantitative trait loci (QTLs) were identified for emotional learning, anxiety and locomotion in control and chronic stress populations. Candidate genes, including those with already known functions in learning and stress were found to reside within the identified QTLs. Our data suggest that chronic stress history reveals novel genetic predictors of emotional behavior. PMID:25374516

Behavioral epigenetics.

PubMed

Moore, David S

2017-01-01

Why do we grow up to have the traits we do? Most 20th century scientists answered this question by referring only to our genes and our environments. But recent discoveries in the emerging field of behavioral epigenetics have revealed factors at the interface between genes and environments that also play crucial roles in development. These factors affect how genes work; scientists now know that what matters as much as which genes you have (and what environments you encounter) is how your genes are affected by their contexts. The discovery that what our genes do depends in part on our experiences has shed light on how Nature and Nurture interact at the molecular level inside of our bodies. Data emerging from the world's behavioral epigenetics laboratories support the idea that a person's genes alone cannot determine if, for example, he or she will end up shy, suffering from cardiovascular disease, or extremely smart. Among the environmental factors that can influence genetic activity are parenting styles, diets, and social statuses. In addition to influencing how doctors treat diseases, discoveries about behavioral epigenetics are likely to alter how biologists think about evolution, because some epigenetic effects of experience appear to be transmissible from generation to generation. This domain of research will likely change how we think about the origins of human nature. WIREs Syst Biol Med 2017, 9:e1333. doi: 10.1002/wsbm.1333 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The ecological rationality of state-dependent valuation.

PubMed

McNamara, J M; Trimmer, P C; Houston, A I

2012-01-01

Laboratory studies on a range of animals have identified a bias that seems to violate basic principles of rational behavior: a preference is shown for feeding options that previously provided food when reserves were low, even though another option had been found to give the same reward with less delay. The bias presents a challenge to normative models of decision making (which only take account of expected rewards and the state of the animal at the decision time). To understand the behavior, we take a broad ecological perspective and consider how valuation mechanisms evolve when the best action depends upon the environment being faced. We show that in a changing and uncertain environment, state-dependent valuation can be favored by natural selection: Individuals should allow their hunger to affect learning for future decisions. The valuation mechanism that typically evolves produces the kind of behavior seen in standard laboratory tests. By providing an insight into why learning should be affected by the state of an individual, we provide a basis for understanding psychological principles in terms of an animal's ecology.

Influence of Temperature on Corrosion Behavior of 2A02 Al Alloy in Marine Atmospheric Environments

PubMed Central

Cao, Min; Liu, Li; Fan, Lei; Yu, Zhongfen; Li, Ying; Oguzie, Emeka E.; Wang, Fuhui

2018-01-01

The corrosion behavior of 2A02 Al alloy under 4 mg/cm2 NaCl deposition at different temperatures (from 30 to 80 °C) has been studied. This corrosion behavior was researched using mass-gain, scanning electron microscopy-SEM, laser scanning confocal microscopy-LSCM, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy-XPS and other techniques. The results showed and revealed that the corrosion was maximal at 60 °C after 200 h of exposure. The increase of temperature not only affected the solubility of oxygen gas in the thin film, but also promoted the transport of ions (such as Cl−), and the formation of protective AlO(OH), which further affects the corrosion speed. PMID:29401690

Positive Side Effects in the Treatment of SIB Using the Self-Injurious Behavior Inhibiting System (SIBIS): Implications for Operant and Biochemical Explanations of SIB.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Linscheid, Thomas R.; And Others

1994-01-01

The rate of self-injurious head hitting in an eight-year old with severe/profound mental retardation was reduced using contingent electric shock delivered via the Self Injurious Behavior Inhibiting System. An improved affective state and increased interaction with the environment were documented. Treatment gains were maintained at one-year…

Alcohol Use among Adolescent Youth: The Role of Friendship Networks and Family Factors in Multiple School Studies

PubMed Central

Wang, Cheng; Hipp, John R.; Butts, Carter T.; Jose, Rupa; Lakon, Cynthia M.

2015-01-01

To explore the co-evolution of friendship tie choice and alcohol use behavior among 1,284 adolescents from 12 small schools and 976 adolescents from one big school sampled in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (AddHealth), we apply a Stochastic Actor-Based (SAB) approach implemented in the R-based Simulation Investigation for Empirical Network Analysis (RSiena) package. Our results indicate the salience of both peer selection and peer influence effects for friendship tie choice and adolescent drinking behavior. Concurrently, the main effect models indicate that parental monitoring and the parental home drinking environment affected adolescent alcohol use in the small school sample, and that parental home drinking environment affected adolescent drinking in the large school sample. In the small school sample, we detect an interaction between the parental home drinking environment and choosing friends that drink as they multiplicatively affect friendship tie choice. Our findings suggest that future research should investigate the synergistic effects of both peer and parental influences for adolescent friendship tie choices and drinking behavior. And given the tendency of adolescents to form ties with their friends' friends, and the evidence of local hierarchy in these networks, popular youth who do not drink may be uniquely positioned and uniquely salient as the highest rank of the hierarchy to cause anti-drinking peer influences to diffuse down the social hierarchy to less popular youth. As such, future interventions should harness prosocial peer influences simultaneously with strategies to increase parental support and monitoring among parents to promote affiliation with prosocial peers. PMID:25756364

Utilising a Collaborative Macro-Script to Enhance Student Engagement: A Mixed Method Study in a 3D Virtual Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bouta, Hara; Retalis, Symeon; Paraskeva, Fotini

2012-01-01

This study examines the effect of using an online 3D virtual environment in teaching Mathematics in Primary Education. In particular, it explores the extent to which student engagement--behavioral, affective and cognitive--is fostered by such tools in order to enhance collaborative learning. For the study we used a purpose-created 3D virtual…

A thought in the park: The influence of naturalness and low-level visual features on expressed thoughts

Treesearch

Kathryn E. Schertz; Sonya Sachdeva; Omid Kardan; Hiroki P. Kotabe; Kathleen L. Wolf; Marc G. Berman

2018-01-01

Prior research has shown that the physical characteristics of one's environment have wide ranging effects on affect and cognition. Other research has demonstrated that one's thoughts have impacts on mood and behavior, and in this three-part research program we investigated how physical features of the environment can alter thought content. In one study, we...

Using a Virtual Environment to Study Pedestrian Behaviors: How Does Time Pressure Affect Children's and Adults' Street Crossing Behaviors?

PubMed

Morrongiello, Barbara A; Corbett, Michael; Switzer, Jessica; Hall, Tom

2015-08-01

The aim of this study was to examine how crossing under time pressure influences the pedestrian behaviors of children and adults. Using a highly immersive virtual reality system interfaced with a 3D movement measurement system, various indices of children's and adults' crossing behaviors were measured under time-pressure and no time-pressure conditions. Pedestrians engaged in riskier crossing behaviors on time-pressure trials as indicated by appraising traffic for a shorter period before initiating their crossing, selecting shorter more hazardous temporal gaps to cross into, and having the car come closer to them (less time to spare). There were no age or sex differences in how time pressure affected crossing behaviors. The current findings indicate that, at all ages, pedestrians experience greater exposure to traffic dangers when they cross under time pressure. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Pediatric Psychology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Situational cues and momentary food environment predict everyday eating behavior in adults with overweight and obesity.

PubMed

Elliston, Katherine G; Ferguson, Stuart G; Schüz, Natalie; Schüz, Benjamin

2017-04-01

Individual eating behavior is a risk factor for obesity and highly dependent on internal and external cues. Many studies also suggest that the food environment (i.e., food outlets) influences eating behavior. This study therefore examines the momentary food environment (at the time of eating) and the role of cues simultaneously in predicting everyday eating behavior in adults with overweight and obesity. Intensive longitudinal study using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) over 14 days in 51 adults with overweight and obesity (average body mass index = 30.77; SD = 4.85) with a total of 745 participant days of data. Multiple daily assessments of eating (meals, high- or low-energy snacks) and randomly timed assessments. Cues and the momentary food environment were assessed during both assessment types. Random effects multinomial logistic regression shows that both internal (affect) and external (food availability, social situation, observing others eat) cues were associated with increased likelihood of eating. The momentary food environment predicted meals and snacking on top of cues, with a higher likelihood of high-energy snacks when fast food restaurants were close by (odds ratio [OR] = 1.89, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.22, 2.93) and a higher likelihood of low-energy snacks in proximity to supermarkets (OR = 2.29, 95% CI = 1.38, 3.82). Real-time eating behavior, both in terms of main meals and snacks, is associated with internal and external cues in adults with overweight and obesity. In addition, perceptions of the momentary food environment influence eating choices, emphasizing the importance of an integrated perspective on eating behavior and obesity prevention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Exploring leadership and team communication within the organizational environment of a dental practice.

PubMed

Chilcutt, Alexa Stough

2009-10-01

A lack of training in leadership and communication skills can place dentists at a disadvantage, leading to high degrees of staff-related stress and turnover. A dentist's leadership style directly affects an office's communication practices, and specific leadership behaviors affect the degree of team identity, interdependence and social distance (a measure of the influential power of team members). The author recruited 10 dental offices to take part in a study. Qualitative methods included in-depth interviews of one dentist, one senior staff member and one newer staff member from each office. The interview findings show that clear and definable relationships exist between leadership behaviors--hierarchical or team-oriented organizational perspectives, proactive or laissez-faire leadership styles, and autocratic or participative decision-making processes--and the team's communication practices. Decision-making processes directly affect the degree of team identification experienced by staff members, and conflict-management tactics affect team members' sense of interdependence and social distance. The findings of this study indicate that dentists should engage in participative decision-making processes that include staff members, thereby communicating their value to the practice and empowering employees. They also must become proactive in facilitating an environment that encourages collaboration and confrontation as healthy forms of conflict management. These leadership and communication behaviors are the most significant in creating a real rather than nominal team culture, which, in turn, leads to increased overall productivity, an enhanced level of services provided to patients and improved team member satisfaction.

The effect of fidelity: how expert behavior changes in a virtual reality environment.

PubMed

Ioannou, Ioanna; Avery, Alex; Zhou, Yun; Szudek, Jacek; Kennedy, Gregor; O'Leary, Stephen

2014-09-01

We compare the behavior of expert surgeons operating on the "gold standard" of simulation-the cadaveric temporal bone-against a high-fidelity virtual reality (VR) simulation. We aim to determine whether expert behavior changes within the virtual environment and to understand how the fidelity of simulation affects users' behavior. Five expert otologists performed cortical mastoidectomy and cochleostomy on a human cadaveric temporal bone and a VR temporal bone simulator. Hand movement and video recordings were used to derive a range of measures, to facilitate an analysis of surgical technique, and to compare expert behavior between the cadaveric and simulator environments. Drilling time was similar across the two environments. Some measures such as total time and burr change count differed predictably due to the ease of switching burrs within the simulator. Surgical strokes were generally longer in distance and duration in VR, but these measures changed proportionally to cadaveric measures across the stages of the procedure. Stroke shape metrics differed, which was attributed to the modeling of burr behavior within the simulator. This will be corrected in future versions. Slight differences in drill interaction between a virtual environment and the real world can have measurable effects on surgical technique, particularly in terms of stroke length, duration, and curvature. It is important to understand these effects when designing and implementing surgical training programs based on VR simulation--and when improving the fidelity of VR simulators to facilitate use of a similar technique in both real and simulated situations. © 2014 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

Genomic Analysis of Genotype-by-Social Environment Interaction for Drosophila melanogaster Aggressive Behavior.

PubMed

Rohde, Palle Duun; Gaertner, Bryn; Ward, Kirsty; Sørensen, Peter; Mackay, Trudy F C

2017-08-01

Human psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder often include adverse behaviors including increased aggressiveness. Individuals with psychiatric disorders often exhibit social withdrawal, which can further increase the probability of conducting a violent act. Here, we used the inbred, sequenced lines of the Drosophila Genetic Reference Panel (DGRP) to investigate the genetic basis of variation in male aggressive behavior for flies reared in a socialized and socially isolated environment. We identified genetic variation for aggressive behavior, as well as significant genotype-by-social environmental interaction (GSEI); i.e. , variation among DGRP genotypes in the degree to which social isolation affected aggression. We performed genome-wide association (GWA) analyses to identify genetic variants associated with aggression within each environment. We used genomic prediction to partition genetic variants into gene ontology (GO) terms and constituent genes, and identified GO terms and genes with high prediction accuracies in both social environments and for GSEI. The top predictive GO terms significantly increased the proportion of variance explained, compared to prediction models based on all segregating variants. We performed genomic prediction across environments, and identified genes in common between the social environments that turned out to be enriched for genome-wide associated variants. A large proportion of the associated genes have previously been associated with aggressive behavior in Drosophila and mice. Further, many of these genes have human orthologs that have been associated with neurological disorders, indicating partially shared genetic mechanisms underlying aggression in animal models and human psychiatric disorders. Copyright © 2017 by the Genetics Society of America.

Long-Term Provision of Environmental Resources Alters Behavior but not Physiology or Neuroanatomy of Male and Female BALB/c and C57BL/6 Mice

PubMed Central

Clipperton-Allen, Amy E; Ingrao, Joelle C; Ruggiero, Laura; Batista, Lucas; Ovari, Jelena; Hammermueller, Jutta; Armstrong, John N; Bienzle, Dorothee; Choleris, Elena; Turner, Patricia V

2015-01-01

Few studies have evaluated the long-term effects of providing environmental resources to mice. This consideration is important given that mice are often maintained in vivaria for months. We evaluated the effects of providing simple cage resources (wood wool, cotton nesting material, a plastic tunnel, and oat cereal) compared with standard housing (solid-bottom cage with hardwood chips) to group-housed adult male and female C57BL/6 and BALB/c mice (n = 20/sex/strain/group) over 6 mo to determine whether these resources had a lasting effect on animal physiology, anatomy, and behavior. Body weights increased in all groups over time but were proportionately higher in male and female BALB/c mice housed in resource-supplemented environments. Throughout the study, adding environmental resources had no effect on hematology and lymphocyte subsets, fecal corticoid metabolite levels, response to LPS injection, or dendritic spine length or density. Strain- or sex×environment-specific changes occurred in dark–light activity and thermal nociceptive responses. Dominant agonistic behaviors, abnormal conspecific sexual behaviors, and social nonagonistic behaviors demonstrated sex and strain×environment interactions such that fewer maladaptive social behaviors were noted in mice that were provided with environmental resources. This association was particularly evident in male mice of both strains in resource-supplemented environments. A small but significant increase in brain weight:body weight ratios occurred in mice in resource-supplemented environments. Under the conditions evaluated here, consistent use of simple environmental resources had a positive long-term effect on the behavioral wellbeing of male and female BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice yet minimally affected other aspects of murine physiology and neuroanatomy. PMID:26632781

Behind Bars: Experiences Conducting Behavioral Addictions Research in a County Jail.

PubMed

Hickey, Kari L; Kerber, Cindy; Astroth, Kim Schafer; Kim, MyoungJin; Schlenker, Emily

2015-10-01

Individuals who are incarcerated experience disparities in mental health, warranting study by nurse researchers. However, nurse researchers' unfamiliarity with the jail environment may pose a barrier to conducting research with this vulnerable population. The current article presents an account of the planning and implementation needed to study perceived health and gambling behavior in county jail inmates. The challenges and rewards of research that aim to better understand the mental health issues affecting this population are also identified. Developing relationships with jail personnel and understanding the incarcerated population and their surroundings are key to conducting research in this environment. Copyright 2015, SLACK Incorporated.

Countermeasures to Mitigate the Negative Impact of Sensory Deprivation and Social Isolation in Long-Duration Space Flight

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bachman, Katharine Ridgeway OBrien; Otto, Christian; Leveton, Lauren

2012-01-01

Long-duration space flight presents several challenges to the behavioral health of crew members. The environment that they are likely to experience will be isolated, confined, and extreme (ICE) and, as such, crew members will experience extreme sensory deprivation and social isolation. The current paper briefly notes the behavioral, cognitive, and affective consequences of psychological stress induced by ICE environments and proposes nine countermeasures aimed at mitigating the negative effects of sensory deprivation and social isolation. Implementation of countermeasures aims to maintain successful crew performance and psychological well-being in a long-duration space flight mission.

Effects of early life stress on amygdala and striatal development

PubMed Central

Fareri, Dominic S.; Tottenham, Nim

2016-01-01

Species-expected caregiving early in life is critical for the normative development and regulation of emotional behavior, the ability to effectively evaluate affective stimuli in the environment, and the ability to sustain social relationships. Severe psychosocial stressors early in life (early life stress; ELS) in the form of the absence of species expected caregiving (i.e., caregiver deprivation), can drastically impact one’s social and emotional success, leading to the onset of internalizing illness later in life. Development of the amygdala and striatum, two key regions supporting affective valuation and learning, is significantly affected by ELS, and their altered developmental trajectories have important implications for cognitive, behavioral and socioemotional development. However, an understanding of the impact of ELS on the development of functional interactions between these regions and subsequent behavioral effects is lacking. In this review, we highlight the roles of the amygdala and striatum in affective valuation and learning in maturity and across development. We discuss their function separately as well as their interaction. We highlight evidence across species characterizing how ELS induced changes in the development of the amygdala and striatum mediate subsequent behavioral changes associated with internalizing illness, positing a particular import of the effect of ELS on their interaction. PMID:27174149

Do social utility judgments influence attentional processing?

PubMed

Shore, Danielle M; Heerey, Erin A

2013-10-01

Research shows that social judgments influence decision-making in social environments. For example, judgments about an interaction partners' trustworthiness affect a variety of social behaviors and decisions. One mechanism by which social judgments may influence social decisions is by biasing the automatic allocation of attention toward certain social partners, thereby shaping the information people acquire. Using an attentional blink paradigm, we investigate how trustworthiness judgments alter the allocation of attention to social stimuli in a set of two experiments. The first experiment investigates trustworthiness judgments based solely on a social partner's facial appearance. The second experiment examines the effect of trustworthiness judgments based on experienced behavior. In the first, strong appearance-based judgments (positive and negative) enhanced stimulus recognizability but did not alter the size of the attentional blink, suggesting that appearance-based social judgments enhance face memory but do not affect pre-attentive processing. However, in the second experiment, in which judgments were based on behavioral experience rather than appearance, positive judgments enhanced pre-attentive processing of trustworthy faces. This suggests that a stimulus's potential benefits, rather than its disadvantages, shape the automatic distribution of attentional resources. These results have implications for understanding how appearance- and behavior-based social cues shape attention distribution in social environments. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Parenting begets parenting: A neurobiological perspective on early adversity and the transmission of parenting styles across generations.

PubMed

Lomanowska, A M; Boivin, M; Hertzman, C; Fleming, A S

2017-02-07

The developing brains of young children are highly sensitive to input from their social environment. Nurturing social experience during this time promotes the acquisition of social and cognitive skills and emotional competencies. However, many young children are confronted with obstacles to healthy development, including poverty, inappropriate care, and violence, and their enhanced sensitivity to the social environment means that they are highly susceptible to these adverse childhood experiences. One source of social adversity in early life can stem from parenting that is harsh, inconsistent, non-sensitive or hostile. Parenting is considered to be the cornerstone of early socio-emotional development and an adverse parenting style is associated with adjustment problems and a higher risk of developing mood and behavioral disorders. Importantly, there is a growing literature showing that an important predictor of parenting behavior is how parents, especially mothers, were parented themselves. In this review, we examine how adversity in early-life affects mothering behavior in later-life and how these effects may be perpetuated inter-generationally. Relying on studies in humans and animal models, we consider evidence for the intergenerational transmission of mothering styles. We then describe the psychological underpinnings of mothering, including responsiveness to young, executive function and affect, as well as the physiological mediators of mothering behavior, including hormones, brain regions and neurotransmitters, and we consider how development in these relevant domains may be affected by adversity experienced in early life. Finally, we explore how genes and early experience interact to predict mothering behavior, including the involvement of epigenetic mechanisms. Understanding how adverse parenting begets adverse parenting in the next generation is critical for designing interventions aimed at preventing this intergenerational cycle of early adversity. Copyright © 2015 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Prepartum Maternal Behavior of Domesticated Cattle: A Comparison with Managed, Feral, and Wild Ungulates

PubMed Central

Rørvang, Maria Vilain; Nielsen, Birte L.; Herskin, Mette S.; Jensen, Margit Bak

2018-01-01

The event of giving birth is an essential part of animal production. In dairy cattle production, there are substantial economical and welfare-related challenges arising around the time of parturition, and hence increased focus on efficient management of the calving cow. Drawing on the research literature on prepartum maternal behavior, this review compares cattle to other members of the ungulate clade with the aim of understanding the biological basis of bovine prepartum behavior with main emphasis on dairy cows. Ultimately, this knowledge may be used in future development of housing systems and recommendations for the management of calving cows. Maternal prepartum behavior varies among species, but the final goal of ungulate mothers is the same: ensuring a calm parturition and optimal environment for the onset of postpartum maternal behavior by locating an appropriate birth site, with low risk of predators, disturbances and mistaken identity of offspring. Features of chosen birth sites vary among species and depend largely on the environment, as ungulate females display a considerable ability to adapt to their surroundings. However, within commercial housing conditions in dairy production, the animals’ ability to adapt behaviorally appears to be challenged. Confinement alongside high stocking densities leave little room to express birth-site selection behavior, posing a high risk of agonistic social behavior, disturbances, and mismothering, as well as exposure to olfactory cues influencing both prepartum and postpartum maternal behavior. Dairy cows are thus exposed to several factors in a commercial calving environment, which may thwart their maternal motivations and influence their behavior. In addition, prepartum cattle may be more affected by olfactory cues than other ungulate species (e.g., sheep) because they are attracted to birth fluids already before calving. Hence, providing dairy cows with an environment where they can perform the maternal behavior they are motivated for, may aid a calm and secure calving and provide optimal surroundings for postpartum maternal behavior. Future research should focus on designing motivation-based housing systems allowing freedom to express prepartum maternal behavior and investigate in more detail the effects of the environment on the welfare of calving cows and their offspring. PMID:29594159

Housing conditions influence motor functions and exploratory behavior following focal damage of the rat brain.

PubMed

Gornicka-Pawlak, Elzbieta; Jabłońska, Anna; Chyliński, Andrzej; Domańska-Janik, Krystyna

2009-01-01

The present study investigated influence of housing conditions on motor functions recovery and exploratory behavior following ouabain focal brain lesion in the rat. During 30 days post-surgery period rats were housed individually in standard cages (IS) or in groups in enriched environment (EE) and behaviorally tested. The EE lesioned rats showed enhanced recovery from motor impairments in walking beam task, comparing with IS animals. Contrarily, in the open field IS rats (both lesioned and control) traveled a longer distance, showed less habituation and spent less time resting at the home base than the EE animals. Unlike the EE lesioned animals, the lesioned IS rats, presented a tendency to hyperactivity in postinjury period. Turning tendency was significantly affected by unilateral brain lesion only in the EE rats. We can conclude that housing conditions distinctly affected the rat's behavior in classical laboratory tests.

Performance Analysis for Lateral-Line-Inspired Sensor Arrays

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-06-01

found to affect numerous aspects of behavior including maneuvering in complex fluid environments, schooling, prey tracking, and environment mapping...190 5-29 Maps of the cost function for a reflected vortex model with an increasing array length but constant sensor spacing . The x at...length but constant sensor spacing . The x in each image denotes the true location of the vortex. The black lines correspond to level sets generated by the

Exploring staff perceptions on the role of physical environment in dementia care setting.

PubMed

Lee, Sook Y; Chaudhury, Habib; Hung, Lillian

2016-07-01

This study explored staff perceptions of the role of physical environment in dementia care facilities in affecting resident's behaviors and staff care practice. We conducted focus groups with staff (n = 15) in two purposely selected care facilities in Vancouver, Canada. Focus group participants included nurses, care aides, recreation staff, administrative staff, and family. Data analysis revealed two themes: (a) a supportive physical environment contributes positively to both quality of staff care interaction and residents' quality of life and (b) an unsupportive physical environment contributes negatively to residents' quality of life and thereby makes the work of staff more challenging. The staff participants collectively viewed that comfort, familiarity, and an organized space were important therapeutic resources for supporting the well-being of residents. Certain behaviors of residents were influenced by poor environmental factors, including stimulation overload, safety risks, wayfinding challenge, and rushed care This study demonstrates the complex interrelationships among the dementia care setting's physical environment, staff experiences, and residents' quality of life. © The Author(s) 2014.

Effects of environmental enrichment on behavioral deficits and alterations in hippocampal BDNF induced by prenatal exposure to morphine in juvenile rats.

PubMed

Ahmadalipour, A; Sadeghzadeh, J; Vafaei, A A; Bandegi, A R; Mohammadkhani, R; Rashidy-Pour, A

2015-10-01

Prenatal morphine exposure throughout pregnancy can induce a series of neurobehavioral and neurochemical disturbances by affecting central nervous system development. This study was designed to investigate the effects of an enriched environment on behavioral deficits and changes in hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels induced by prenatal morphine in rats. On pregnancy days 11-18, female Wistar rats were randomly injected twice daily with saline or morphine. Offspring were weaned on postnatal day (PND) 21. They were subjected to a standard rearing environment or an enriched environment on PNDs 22-50. On PNDs 51-57, the behavioral responses including anxiety and depression-like behaviors, and passive avoidance memory as well as hippocampal BDNF levels were investigated. The light/dark (L/D) box and elevated plus maze (EPM) were used for the study of anxiety, forced swimming test (FST) was used to assess depression-like behavior and passive avoidance task was used to evaluate learning and memory. Prenatal morphine exposure caused a reduction in time spent in the EPM open arms and a reduction in time spent in the lit side of the L/D box. It also decreased step-through latency and increased time spent in the dark side of passive avoidance task. Prenatal morphine exposure also reduced immobility time and increased swimming time in FST. Postnatal rearing in an enriched environment counteracted with behavioral deficits in the EPM and passive avoidance task, but not in the L/D box. This suggests that exposure to an enriched environment during adolescence period alters anxiety profile in a task-specific manner. Prenatal morphine exposure reduced hippocampal BDNF levels, but enriched environment significantly increased BDNF levels in both saline- and morphine-exposed groups. Our results demonstrate that exposure to an enriched environment alleviates behavioral deficits induced by prenatal morphine exposure and up-regulates the decreased levels of BDNF. BDNF may contribute to the beneficial effects of an enriched environment on prenatal morphine-exposed to rats. Copyright © 2015 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Linking Indicators: Key Research Questions to Guide Decisions on What to Measure, Map and Model

EPA Science Inventory

Public policy increasingly demands insight into the social consequences of environmental policy and drivers of human behaviors that affect the environment. Social consequences can provide potent justifications for environmental protection and management, and human preferences and...

Environment, Biology, and Culture: Implications for Adolescent Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zahn-Waxler, Carolyn

1996-01-01

Introduces this special theme issue examining the roles of socialization, biology, and culture as they affect adaptive and maladaptive developmental outcomes. Problems of adolescence addressed include antisocial behavior, depressive symptoms, substance abuse, low achievement, and eating problems. Considers factors implicated in successful…

Aging and behavior of functional TiO2 nanoparticles in aqueous environment.

PubMed

Lu, Huiting; Dong, Haifeng; Fan, Wenhong; Zuo, Jinxing; Li, Xiaomin

2017-03-05

Nanoparticles are usually functionalized with various surface capping moieties in practical applications. Understand the behavior and fate of them is critical to evaluate or even predict their risk to environment. However, little attention has been denoted on this issue until now. Using three commercial TiO 2 nanoparticles with different capping moieties, their aging procedures and corresponding change as well as their byproducts were systematically studied. Comprehensive microscopic and spectrometric measurements demonstrated a capping agent-dependent with the aging procedure. All the aging agents exhibited sharp change in morphologies compared to the fresh counterparts. The degraded degree and surface properties including surface charge and hydrophobicity of the functional TiO 2 nanoparticles were varied depended on the capping moieties. Furthermore, the behaviors of these byproducts in various background media had also been investigated. Contrastively, environment factors such as pH, electrolyte valence, and humic acid regardless of capping moieties govern the behavior of these byproducts, despite of the capping moieties slightly affect the point of zero charge. This study highlights the influence of the capping moieties and environmental factors to the transformation progress of functional nanomaterials in environment exposure, which contributes to design and assess the environmental risk of other analogous functional nanoparticles in practical application. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Examining Convergence of Retrospective and Ecological Momentary Assessment Measures of Negative Affect and Eating Disorder Behaviors

PubMed Central

Wonderlich, Joseph A.; Lavender, Jason M.; Wonderlich, Stephen A.; Peterson, Carol B.; Crow, Scott J.; Engel, Scott G.; Le Grange, Daniel; Mitchell, James E.; Crosby, Ross D.

2017-01-01

Objective Data gathered via retrospective forms of assessment are subject to various recall biases. Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) is an alternative approach involving repeated momentary assessments within a participant's natural environment, thus reducing recall biases and improving ecological validity. EMA has been used in numerous prior studies examining various constructs of theoretical relevance to eating disorders. Method This investigation includes data from three previously published studies with distinct clinical samples: (a) women with anorexia nervosa (N=118), (b) women with bulimia nervosa (N=133), and (c) obese men and women (N=50; 9 with current binge eating disorder). Each study assessed negative affective states and eating disorder behaviors using traditional retrospective assessments and EMA. Spearman rho correlations were used to evaluate the concordance of retrospective versus EMA measures of affective and/or behavioral constructs in each sample. Bland-Altman plots were also used to further evaluate concordance in the assessment of eating disorder behaviors. Results There was moderate to strong concordance for the measures of negative affective states across all three studies. Moderate to strong concordance was also found for the measures of binge eating and exercise frequency. The strongest evidence of concordance across measurement approaches was found for purging behaviors. Discussion Overall, these preliminary findings support the convergence of retrospective and EMA assessments of both negative affective states and various eating disorder behaviors. Given the advantages and disadvantages associated with each of these assessment approaches, the specific questions being studied in future empirical studies should inform decisions regarding selection of the most appropriate method. PMID:25195932

Serotonin transporter deficient mice are vulnerable to escape deficits following inescapable shocks.

PubMed

Muller, J M; Morelli, E; Ansorge, M; Gingrich, J A

2011-03-01

Modulation of serotonin transporter (5-HTT) function causes changes in affective behavior, both in humans and rodents. Stressful life events likewise affect emotional behavior. In humans, a low-expressing genetic 5-htt variant, the s allele of the 5-htt linked promoter region, has been associated with increased risk for depression only where there was a history of stressful life events. To investigate this gene by environment interaction in mice, we compared the effects of inescapable shocks on the behavior of wild-type (5-htt+/+), heterozygote (5-htt+/-) and serotonin transporter deficient (5-htt-/-) mice. Inescapable shocks induce behavioral changes including a shock escape deficit, in a subsequent test when escape is possible. Confirming a gene by environment interaction, we found that stress increases escape latencies in a gene-dose dependent manner (5-htt-/->5-htt+/->5-htt +/+), where as there were no differences among the genotypes in the unstressed condition. The vulnerability to increased escape latency could not be accounted for by enhanced fear learning, as 5-htt-/- mice did not show heightened fear conditioning. The interaction of 5-htt genotype and stress appeared to produce a selective behavioral vulnerability, because no interaction of 5-htt genotype and stress was observed in other measures of anxiety and depression-linked behavior, including the open field, novelty suppressed feeding, and forced swim tests. We replicated prior findings that the 5-htt-/- displays heightened anxiety and depression-like behavior at baseline (unstressed condition). In conclusion, our data offer the possibility for future investigation of the neural basis underlying 5-htt genotype-by-stress interaction shown here. © 2010 The Authors. Genes, Brain and Behavior © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society.

Embodied affectivity: on moving and being moved

PubMed Central

Fuchs, Thomas; Koch, Sabine C.

2014-01-01

There is a growing body of research indicating that bodily sensation and behavior strongly influences one's emotional reaction toward certain situations or objects. On this background, a framework model of embodied affectivity1 is suggested: we regard emotions as resulting from the circular interaction between affective qualities or affordances in the environment and the subject's bodily resonance, be it in the form of sensations, postures, expressive movements or movement tendencies. Motion and emotion are thus intrinsically connected: one is moved by movement (perception; impression; affection2) and moved to move (action; expression; e-motion). Through its resonance, the body functions as a medium of emotional perception: it colors or charges self-experience and the environment with affective valences while it remains itself in the background of one's own awareness. This model is then applied to emotional social understanding or interaffectivity which is regarded as an intertwinement of two cycles of embodied affectivity, thus continuously modifying each partner's affective affordances and bodily resonance. We conclude with considerations of how embodied affectivity is altered in psychopathology and can be addressed in psychotherapy of the embodied self. PMID:24936191

Sex- and dose-dependent effects of calcium ion irradiation on behavioral performance of B6D2F1 mice during contextual fear conditioning training

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raber, Jacob; Weber, Sydney J.; Kronenberg, Amy; Turker, Mitchell S.

2016-06-01

The space radiation environment includes energetic charged particles that may impact behavioral and cognitive performance. The relationship between the dose and the ionization density of the various types of charged particles (expressed as linear energy transfer or LET), and cognitive performance is complex. In our earlier work, whole body exposure to 28Si ions (263 MeV/n, LET = 78keV / μ m ; 1.6 Gy) affected contextual fear memory in C57BL/6J × DBA2/J F1 (B6D2F1) mice three months following irradiation but this was not the case following exposure to 48Ti ions (1 GeV/n, LET = 107keV / μ m ; 0.2 or 0.4 Gy). As an increased understanding of the impact of charged particle exposures is critical for assessment of risk to the CNS of astronauts during and following missions, in this study we used 40Ca ion beams (942 MeV/n, LET = 90keV / μm) to determine the behavioral and cognitive effects for the LET region between that of Si ions and Ti ions. 40Ca ion exposure reduced baseline activity in a novel environment in a dose-dependent manner, which suggests reduced motivation to explore and/or a diminished level of curiosity in a novel environment. In addition, exposure to 40Ca ions had sex-dependent effects on response to shock. 40Ca ion irradiation reduced the response to shock in female, but not male, mice. In contrast, 40Ca ion irradiation did not affect fear learning, memory, or extinction of fear memory for either gender at the doses employed in this study. Thus 40Ca ion irradiation affected behavioral, but not cognitive, performance. The effects of 40Ca ion irradiation on behavioral performance are relevant, as a combination of novelty and aversive environmental stimuli is pertinent to conditions experienced by astronauts during and following space missions.

Sex- and dose-dependent effects of calcium ion irradiation on behavioral performance of B6D2F1 mice during contextual fear conditioning training.

PubMed

Raber, Jacob; Weber, Sydney J; Kronenberg, Amy; Turker, Mitchell S

2016-06-01

The space radiation environment includes energetic charged particles that may impact behavioral and cognitive performance. The relationship between the dose and the ionization density of the various types of charged particles (expressed as linear energy transfer or LET), and cognitive performance is complex. In our earlier work, whole body exposure to (28)Si ions (263 MeV/n, LET=78keV/μm; 1.6 Gy) affected contextual fear memory in C57BL/6J × DBA2/J F1 (B6D2F1) mice three months following irradiation but this was not the case following exposure to (48)Ti ions (1 GeV/n, LET=107keV/μm; 0.2 or 0.4 Gy). As an increased understanding of the impact of charged particle exposures is critical for assessment of risk to the CNS of astronauts during and following missions, in this study we used (40)Ca ion beams (942 MeV/n, LET=90keV/μm) to determine the behavioral and cognitive effects for the LET region between that of Si ions and Ti ions. (40)Ca ion exposure reduced baseline activity in a novel environment in a dose-dependent manner, which suggests reduced motivation to explore and/or a diminished level of curiosity in a novel environment. In addition, exposure to (40)Ca ions had sex-dependent effects on response to shock. (40)Ca ion irradiation reduced the response to shock in female, but not male, mice. In contrast, (40)Ca ion irradiation did not affect fear learning, memory, or extinction of fear memory for either gender at the doses employed in this study. Thus (40)Ca ion irradiation affected behavioral, but not cognitive, performance. The effects of (40)Ca ion irradiation on behavioral performance are relevant, as a combination of novelty and aversive environmental stimuli is pertinent to conditions experienced by astronauts during and following space missions. Copyright © 2016 The Committee on Space Research (COSPAR). Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

VARIATIONS AT A QUANTITATIVE TRAIT LOCUS (QTL) AFFECT DEVELOPMENT OF BEHAVIOR IN LEAD-EXPOSED DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER

PubMed Central

Hirsch, Helmut V. B.; Possidente, Debra; Averill, Sarah; Despain, Tamira Palmetto; Buytkins, Joel; Thomas, Valerie; Goebel, W. Paul; Shipp-Hilts, Asante; Wilson, Diane; Hollocher, Kurt; Possidente, Bernard; Lnenicka, Greg; Ruden, Douglas M.

2009-01-01

We developed Drosophila melanogaster as a model to study correlated behavioral, neuronal and genetic effects of the neurotoxin lead, known to affect cognitive and behavioral development in children. We showed that, as in vertebrates, lead affects both synaptic development and complex behaviors (courtship, fecundity, locomotor activity) in Drosophila. By assessing differential behavioral responses to developmental lead exposure among recombinant inbred Drosophila lines (RI), derived from parental lines Oregon R and Russian 2b, we have now identified a genotype by environment interaction (GEI) for a behavioral trait affected by lead. Drosophila Activity Monitors (TriKinetics, Waltham, MA), which measure activity by counting the number of times a single fly in a small glass tube walks through an infrared beam aimed at the middle of the tube, were used to measure activity of flies, reared from eggs to 4 days of adult age on either control or lead-contaminated medium, from each of 75 RI lines. We observed a significant statistical association between the effect of lead on average daytime activity across lines and one marker locus, 30AB, on chromosome 2; we define this as a Quantitative Trait Locus (QTL) associated with behavioral effects of developmental lead exposure. When 30AB was from Russian 2b, lead significantly increased locomotor activity, whereas, when 30AB was from Oregon R, lead decreased it. 30AB contains about 125 genes among which are likely “candidate genes” for the observed lead-dependent behavioral changes. Drosophila are thus a useful, underutilized model for studying behavioral, synaptic and genetic changes following chronic exposure to lead or other neurotoxins during development. PMID:19428504

Maternal negative affect during infancy is linked to disrupted patterns of diurnal cortisol and alpha asymmetry across contexts during childhood.

PubMed

Brooker, Rebecca J; Davidson, Richard J; Goldsmith, H Hill

2016-02-01

Maternal negative affect in the early environment is believed to sensitize long-term coping capacities in children. Yet, little work has identified physiological systems associated with coping responses, which may serve as mechanisms for links between early maternal negativity and child outcomes. Using a longitudinal twin sample (N=89), we found that high levels of maternal negative affect during infancy were associated with dysregulation of diurnal cortisol and electroencephalograph (EEG) asymmetry, two physiological systems that may support active approach-oriented coping when children are 7years old. Flattened slopes of diurnal cortisol were also associated with greater numbers of concurrent overanxious behaviors in children. A mediation analysis supported the role of dysregulated diurnal cortisol as a mediator of the link between maternal negative affect in the early environment and childhood risk for anxiety problems. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Unleashing their potential: a critical realist scoping review of the influence of dogs on physical activity for dog-owners and non-owners.

PubMed

Toohey, Ann M; Rock, Melanie J

2011-05-21

Dog-owners tend to be more physically active than non-owners; however, dogs have also been shown to inhibit physical activity for non-owners, under some circumstances. We conducted a scoping review to identify studies pertaining to the influence of dogs on physical activity for both dog-owners and non-owners, and adopted a critical realist orientation to draw inferences about the positive and negative impact of dogs via their affect on physical and social environments. We identified 35 studies from disparate literatures for review. These studies confirm that dog and owner behaviors affect shared physical and social environments in ways that may influence physical activity patterns, not only among dog-owners but also among non-owners. The direction of influence appears to be most positive in neighborhoods exhibiting high levels of social cohesion, socioeconomic status, perceived safety, dominant culture, or all of these. In disadvantaged neighborhoods, the health of women as well as older adults may be disproportionately affected by dog and owner behavior. While dogs have the potential to increase physical activity for both dog-owners and non-owners, the presence or absence of dogs will not have a standard effect across the physical and social environments of all neighborhoods. Dogs' contributions to shared environments in ways that support physical activity for all must be leveraged. Thus, specific contextual factors must be considered in relation to dogs when planning neighborhood-level interventions designed to support physical activity. We suggest this population health topic merits further investigation.

Alterations to embryonic serotonin change aggression and fearfulness

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Prenatal environment, including maternal hormones, affects the development of the serotonin (5-HT) system, with long-lasting effects on mood and behavioral exhibition in children and adults. The chicken provides a unique animal model to study the effects of embryonic development on childhood and ado...

Social Comparison Processes in Organizations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Greenberg, Jerald; Ashton-James, Claire E.; Ashkanasy, Neal M.

2007-01-01

We systematically analyze the role of social comparison processes in organizations. Specifically, we describe how social comparison processes have been used to explain six key areas of organizational inquiry: (1) organizational justice, (2) performance appraisal, (3) virtual work environments, (4) affective behavior in the workplace, (5) stress,…

Stream dynamics: An overview for land managers

Treesearch

Burchard H. Heede

1980-01-01

Concepts of stream dynamics are demonstrated through discussion of processes and process indicators; theory is included only where helpful to explain concepts. Present knowledge allows only qualitative prediction of stream behavior. However, such predictions show how management actions will affect the stream and its environment.

Neuropsychological Assessment in Schools. ERIC Digest.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Merz, William R., Sr.; And Others

The nature of neuropsychological assessment and its application in the school environment are discussed. Neuropsychology is the study of how the brain and nervous system affect thinking and behavior. A complete neuropsychological assessment requires gathering and analyzing information on a child's: (1) physical, social, and psychological…

Intergenerational Efforts to Develop a Healthy Environment for Everyone: Sustainability as a Human Rights Issue.

PubMed

Kruger, Tina M; Savage, Caroline E; Newsham, Patrick

2014-12-01

As climate change proceeds at an unprecedented rate, concern for the natural environment has increased. The world's population aging also continues to rise at an unprecedented rate, giving greater attention to the implications of an older population. The two trends are linked through the fact that changes to the environment affect older adults, and older adults affect the environment. Sustainability is, therefore, an intergenerational phenomenon, and protecting resources today leaves a positive legacy and enhances quality of life for future generations. Older adults have much to share with younger generations about behaviors that promote sustainable living, yet few sustainability efforts are intergenerational in nature. As large numbers of people currently subsist without secure access to basic needs, ensuring equitable resource consumption for all generations is urgent and aligns with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Through exploring linkages between aging and sustainability, we identify intergenerational strategies to protect the environment and promote human rights and quality of life for older adults. © The Author(s) 2015.

Bullying among radiation therapists: effects on job performance and work environment.

PubMed

Trad, Megan; Johnson, Jordan

2014-01-01

To identify the effects of workplace bullying in the radiation therapy department on job performance and explore the environment and morale of individuals who work with a bully. A quantitative research study was designed to assess the prevalence and effects of bullying in the radiation therapy workplace. A total of 308 radiation therapists participated in the study for a return rate of 46%. Of those, 194 indicated that workplace bullying was present either in their current workplace or in a previous radiation therapy environment and that it negatively affected job performance and satisfaction. Findings of this study indicate a need for evaluation of the radiation therapy workplace, education on how to identify and prevent bullying behavior, and better communication among members of the radiation therapy environment. Participants indicated that working in a hostile environment led to forgetfulness, ineffective communication, and perceived discrepancies in promotion and treatment by management. Any bullying behavior contributes to an overall toxic work environment, which is unhealthy and unsafe for patients and therapists. Those who manage therapists should promote a culture of safety and embrace their staff's independence.

Optimum culture in the cockpit

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yamamori, Hisaaki

1987-01-01

Even with the same program and objectives, if the culture is different, there will be different approaches to the goal of flight safety. However, the cockpit environment is culture-free so it is not as important to think of a person's cultural background as it is to think of the approach to the goal of ultimate safety. Crew members can look at their individual safety goals and compare them to their own performance to see if their behavior matches their own safety goals. The cockpit environment must be culture-free in order to obtain the ultimate safety goal. One must first realize how their culture affects their behavior before they can begin to change their attitude and actions in the cockpit.

MoCog1: A computer simulation of recognition-primed human decision making, considering emotions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gevarter, William B.

1992-01-01

The successful results of the first stage of a research effort to develop a versatile computer model of motivated human cognitive behavior are reported. Most human decision making appears to be an experience-based, relatively straightforward, largely automatic response to situations, utilizing cues and opportunities perceived from the current environment. The development, considering emotions, of the architecture and computer program associated with such 'recognition-primed' decision-making is described. The resultant computer program (MoCog1) was successfully utilized as a vehicle to simulate earlier findings that relate how an individual's implicit theories orient the individual toward particular goals, with resultant cognitions, affects, and behavior in response to their environment.

MoCog1: A computer simulation of recognition-primed human decision making

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gevarter, William B.

1991-01-01

The results of the first stage of a research effort to develop a 'sophisticated' computer model of human cognitive behavior are described. Most human decision making is an experience-based, relatively straight-forward, largely automatic response to internal goals and drives, utilizing cues and opportunities perceived from the current environment. The development of the architecture and computer program (MoCog1) associated with such 'recognition-primed' decision making is discussed. The resultant computer program was successfully utilized as a vehicle to simulate earlier findings that relate how an individual's implicit theories orient the individual toward particular goals, with resultant cognitions, affects, and behavior in response to their environment.

Body mass index gain, fast food, and physical activity: effects of shared environments over time.

PubMed

Nelson, Melissa C; Gordon-Larsen, Penny; North, Kari E; Adair, Linda S

2006-04-01

The magnitude of environmental vs. genetic effects on BMI, diet, and physical activity (PA) is widely debated. We followed a sibling cohort (where individuals shared households in childhood and adolescence) to young adulthood (when some continued sharing households and others lived apart) to examine the role of discordant environments in adult twins' divergent trends in BMI and health behaviors and to quantify the variation in BMI and behavior among all siblings that is attributable to environmental and additive genetic effects. In the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, siblings sharing households for > or =10 years as adolescents (mean age = 16.5 +/- 1.7 years; N = 5524) were followed into adulthood (mean = 22.4 +/- 1.8 years; N = 4368), self-reporting PA, sedentary behavior, and dietary characteristics. Adult BMI and adolescent z scores were derived from measured height and weight. Compared with those living together, twins living apart exhibited greater discordance in change in BMI, PA, and fast food intake from adolescence to adulthood. Adolescent household environments accounted for 8% to 10% of variation in adolescent fast food intake and sedentary behaviors and 50% of variation in adolescent overweight. Adolescent household effects on PA were substantially greater in young adulthood (accounting for 50% of variation) vs. adolescence. Young adult fast food intake was significantly affected by young adult household environment, accounting for 12% of variation. These findings highlight important environmental influences on BMI, PA, and fast food intake during the transition to adulthood. Household and physical environments play an important role in establishing long-term behavior patterns.

The effect of temperament and responsiveness towards humans on the behavior, physiology and milk production of multi-parous dairy cows in a familiar and novel milking environment.

PubMed

Sutherland, Mhairi A; Rogers, Andrea R; Verkerk, Gwyneth A

2012-10-10

The objectives of this study were to investigate whether; 1) temperament or 2) behavioral responsiveness to humans, can affect the behavior, physiology and productivity of dairy cows being milked in a familiar and novel milking environment. Temperament of multi-parous cows was defined based on exit time from a restraint device, as High Responders (HR; n=10), Medium Responders (MR; n=10) or Low Responders (LR; n=10). The behavioral response of cows to humans was assessed using four tests: restraint, exit speed, avoidance distance test and a voluntary approach test. Cows were milked according to their established routines in a rotary (familiar) milking parlor and behavioral, physiological and production data were collected over five consecutive days, including heart rate, cortisol and oxytocin concentrations and milk yield. The following week, cows were milked in a novel environment (herringbone parlor within the same farm facility) over five consecutive days, and the data and sample collection program was repeated. Cows were then given an exogenous adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) challenge to measure adrenal responsiveness. Exit time was negatively correlated with the behavioral responses of cows to restraint and human avoidance distance (HAD) in the paddock and arena. The behavioral response of cows to the milking process was greater in MR than LR and HR cows in the familiar and novel milking environments. Milk yields were greater in LR than HR cows in the novel but not the familiar milking parlor. Oxytocin concentrations increased during milking in the novel environment, regardless of cow temperament. In the familiar and novel environments, heart rates were higher in HR than LR cows before and during milking and rMSSD was lower in HR cows during milking in a novel environment. There was no difference in cortisol concentrations between LR and HR cows in response to an ACTH challenge, but HR cows had higher baseline cortisol levels than LR cows. The number of leg lifts cows performed when restrained in the crush was associated with several physiological and milk production measures. These results indicate that cows with different temperaments vary in their basal physiology as well as their behavioral and physiological responses to milking and stress associated with being milked in a novel environment. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Maternal intraguild predation risk affects offspring anti-predator behavior and learning in mites.

PubMed

Seiter, Michael; Schausberger, Peter

2015-10-09

Predation risk is a strong selective force shaping prey morphology, life history and behavior. Anti-predator behaviors may be innate, learned or both but little is known about the transgenerational behavioral effects of maternally experienced predation risk. We examined intraguild predation (IGP) risk-induced maternal effects on offspring anti-predator behavior, including learning, in the predatory mite Phytoseiulus persimilis. We exposed predatory mite mothers during egg production to presence or absence of the IG predator Amblyseius andersoni and assessed whether maternal stress affects the anti-predator behavior, including larval learning ability, of their offspring as protonymphs. Protonymphs emerging from stressed or unstressed mothers, and having experienced IGP risk as larvae or not, were subjected to choice situations with and without IG predator traces. Predator-experienced protonymphs from stressed mothers were the least active and acted the boldest in site choice towards predator cues. We argue that the attenuated response of the protonymphs to predator traces alone represents optimized risk management because no immediate risk existed. Such behavioral adjustment could reduce the inherent fitness costs of anti-predator behaviors. Overall, our study suggests that P. persimilis mothers experiencing IGP risk may prime their offspring to behave more optimally in IGP environments.

Maternal intraguild predation risk affects offspring anti-predator behavior and learning in mites

PubMed Central

Seiter, Michael; Schausberger, Peter

2015-01-01

Predation risk is a strong selective force shaping prey morphology, life history and behavior. Anti-predator behaviors may be innate, learned or both but little is known about the transgenerational behavioral effects of maternally experienced predation risk. We examined intraguild predation (IGP) risk-induced maternal effects on offspring anti-predator behavior, including learning, in the predatory mite Phytoseiulus persimilis. We exposed predatory mite mothers during egg production to presence or absence of the IG predator Amblyseius andersoni and assessed whether maternal stress affects the anti-predator behavior, including larval learning ability, of their offspring as protonymphs. Protonymphs emerging from stressed or unstressed mothers, and having experienced IGP risk as larvae or not, were subjected to choice situations with and without IG predator traces. Predator-experienced protonymphs from stressed mothers were the least active and acted the boldest in site choice towards predator cues. We argue that the attenuated response of the protonymphs to predator traces alone represents optimized risk management because no immediate risk existed. Such behavioral adjustment could reduce the inherent fitness costs of anti-predator behaviors. Overall, our study suggests that P. persimilis mothers experiencing IGP risk may prime their offspring to behave more optimally in IGP environments. PMID:26449645

Effects of early life stress on amygdala and striatal development.

PubMed

Fareri, Dominic S; Tottenham, Nim

2016-06-01

Species-expected caregiving early in life is critical for the normative development and regulation of emotional behavior, the ability to effectively evaluate affective stimuli in the environment, and the ability to sustain social relationships. Severe psychosocial stressors early in life (early life stress; ELS) in the form of the absence of species expected caregiving (i.e., caregiver deprivation), can drastically impact one's social and emotional success, leading to the onset of internalizing illness later in life. Development of the amygdala and striatum, two key regions supporting affective valuation and learning, is significantly affected by ELS, and their altered developmental trajectories have important implications for cognitive, behavioral and socioemotional development. However, an understanding of the impact of ELS on the development of functional interactions between these regions and subsequent behavioral effects is lacking. In this review, we highlight the roles of the amygdala and striatum in affective valuation and learning in maturity and across development. We discuss their function separately as well as their interaction. We highlight evidence across species characterizing how ELS induced changes in the development of the amygdala and striatum mediate subsequent behavioral changes associated with internalizing illness, positing a particular import of the effect of ELS on their interaction. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Political Dynamics Affected by Turncoats

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Di Salvo, Rosa; Gorgone, Matteo; Oliveri, Francesco

2017-11-01

An operatorial theoretical model based on raising and lowering fermionic operators for the description of the dynamics of a political system consisting of macro-groups affected by turncoat-like behaviors is presented. The analysis of the party system dynamics is carried on by combining the action of a suitable quadratic Hamiltonian operator with specific rules (depending on the variations of the mean values of the observables) able to adjust periodically the conservative model to the political environment.

What affects teacher ratings of student behaviors? The potential influence of teachers' perceptions of the school environment and experiences.

PubMed

Pas, Elise T; Bradshaw, Catherine P

2014-12-01

Teachers serve as the natural raters of students within the school and classroom contexts. Yet teachers' ratings of their students may vary based on these contextual factors. The current study explored the extent to which teacher perceptions of the school environment predict their longitudinal ratings of student behaviors. Data for this study come from 702 teachers in 42 elementary schools. Teachers self-reported their perceptions of the school context at a single time point, and provided ratings of their students' behavior via the Teacher Observation of Classroom Adaption-Checklist (TOCA-C) across three school years. Latent profile analysis identified three latent classes of teachers based on their ratings of school organizational health, burnout, and efficacy. A regression framework demonstrated an association between the baseline profiles in relation to TOCA-C ratings of student behavior across 3 years. Teachers with more favorable perceptions of the environment had lower initial ratings of concentration problems, disruptive behavior, and internalizing symptoms, and higher ratings of prosocial behaviors and family involvement. They also showed slower growth in their ratings of emotion dysregulation and greater increases of their ratings of family involvement over time. This work is particularly important for determining the extent to which teacher ratings may be biased by teacher and contextual factors, and may have implications for the identification of teachers who may rate students poorly over time.

Enduring effects of post-weaning rearing condition on depressive- and anxiety-like behaviors and motor activity in male rats.

PubMed

Mosaferi, Belal; Babri, Shirin; Ebrahimi, Hadi; Mohaddes, Gisou

2015-04-01

Environmental manipulation at early critical periods could have long-lasting effects. In spite of the great interest in the biological effects of the environmental condition so far, its long-lasting effects are less documented. This study looks at the enduring effects of rearing condition on tasks that measure affective responses and exploratory behavior in male Wistar rats. The animals were reared from weaning to adulthood in an enriched environment, standard laboratory condition, or isolated condition. Then, all rats were housed in standard laboratory cages to provide a common environment, and successively exposed to different tests between 0 and 11 weeks post-manipulation. The open field test indicated a more efficient exploratory behavior in the enriched group, and an enhanced spontaneous motor activity in both standard and isolated groups. In addition, rats reared in standard condition showed heightened motor activity in forced swimming test and elevated plus maze. Forced swimming test showed an antidepressive-like effect in the enriched environment group by increased climbing behavior. In respect to the anxiety behavior, environmental enrichment improved threat detection ability. It is concluded that rearing condition from weaning to adulthood has important and long-lasting effects on depressive- and anxiety-like and exploratory behaviors as well as motor activity. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Sexual Experience Enhances Drosophila melanogaster Male Mating Behavior and Success

PubMed Central

Saleem, Sehresh; Ruggles, Patrick H.; Abbott, Wiley K.; Carney, Ginger E.

2014-01-01

Competition for mates is a wide-spread phenomenon affecting individual reproductive success. The ability of animals to adjust their behaviors in response to changing social environment is important and well documented. Drosophila melanogaster males compete with one another for matings with females and modify their reproductive behaviors based on prior social interactions. However, it remains to be determined how male social experience that culminates in mating with a female impacts subsequent male reproductive behaviors and mating success. Here we show that sexual experience enhances future mating success. Previously mated D. melanogaster males adjust their courtship behaviors and out-compete sexually inexperienced males for copulations. Interestingly, courtship experience alone is not sufficient in providing this competitive advantage, indicating that copulation plays a role in reinforcing this social learning. We also show that females use their sense of hearing to preferentially mate with experienced males when given a choice. Our results demonstrate the ability of previously mated males to learn from their positive sexual experiences and adjust their behaviors to gain a mating advantage. These experienced-based changes in behavior reveal strategies that animals likely use to increase their fecundity in natural competitive environments. PMID:24805129

Physiological Environment Induces Quick Response – Slow Exhaustion Reactions

PubMed Central

Hiroi, Noriko; Lu, James; Iba, Keisuke; Tabira, Akito; Yamashita, Shuji; Okada, Yasunori; Flamm, Christoph; Oka, Kotaro; Köhler, Gottfried; Funahashi, Akira

2011-01-01

In vivo environments are highly crowded and inhomogeneous, which may affect reaction processes in cells. In this study we examined the effects of intracellular crowding and an inhomogeneity on the behavior of in vivo reactions by calculating the spectral dimension (ds), which can be translated into the reaction rate function. We compared estimates of anomaly parameters obtained from fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) data with fractal dimensions derived from transmission electron microscopy (TEM) image analysis. FCS analysis indicated that the anomalous property was linked to physiological structure. Subsequent TEM analysis provided an in vivo illustration; soluble molecules likely percolate between intracellular clusters, which are constructed in a self-organizing manner. We estimated a cytoplasmic spectral dimension ds to be 1.39 ± 0.084. This result suggests that in vivo reactions initially run faster than the same reactions in a homogeneous space; this conclusion is consistent with the anomalous character indicated by FCS analysis. We further showed that these results were compatible with our Monte-Carlo simulation in which the anomalous behavior of mobile molecules correlates with the intracellular environment, leading to description as a percolation cluster, as demonstrated using TEM analysis. We confirmed by the simulation that the above-mentioned in vivo like properties are different from those of homogeneously concentrated environments. Additionally, simulation results indicated that crowding level of an environment might affect diffusion rate of reactant. Such knowledge of the spatial information enables us to construct realistic models for in vivo diffusion and reaction systems. PMID:21960972

W(h)ither the Oracle? Cognitive biases and other human challenges of integrated environmental modeling

USGS Publications Warehouse

Glynn, Pierre D.; Ames, D.P.; Quinn, N. W. T.; Rizzoli, A.E.

2014-01-01

Integrated environmental modeling (IEM) can organize and increase our knowledge of the complex, dynamic ecosystems that house our natural resources and control the quality of our environments. Human behavior, however, must be taken into account. Human biases/heuristics reflect adaptation over our evolutionary past to frequently experienced situations that affected our survival and that provided sharply distinguished feedbacks at the level of the individual. Unfortunately, human behavior is not adapted to the more diffusely experienced, less frequently encountered, problems and issues that IEM typically seeks to address in the simulation of natural resources and environments. While seeking inspiration from the prophetic traditions of the Oracle of Delphi, several human biases are identified that may affect how the science base of IEM is assembled, and how IEM results are interpreted and used. These biases are supported by personal observations, and by the findings of behavioral scientists. A process for critical analysis is proposed that solicits explicit accounting and cognizance of potential human biases. A number of suggestions are made to address the human challenges of IEM, in addition to maintaining attitudes of watchful humility, open-mindedness, honesty, and transparent accountability. These include creating a new area of study in the behavioral biogeosciences, using structured processes for engaging the modeling and stakeholder community in IEM, and using “red teams” to increase resilience of IEM constructs and use.

Effect of changes in human ecology and behavior on patterns of sexually transmitted diseases, including human immunodeficiency virus infection.

PubMed Central

Wasserheit, J N

1994-01-01

The last 20 years have witnessed six striking changes in patterns of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs): emergence of new STD organisms and etiologies, reemergence of old STDs, shifts in the populations in which STDs are concentrated, shifts in the etiological spectra of STD syndromes, alterations in the incidence of STD complications, and increases in antimicrobial resistance. For example, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) emerged to devastate the United States with a fatal pandemic involving at least 1 million people. The incidence of syphilis rose progressively after 1956 to reach a 40-year peak by 1990. In both cases, disease patterns shifted from homosexual men to include minority heterosexuals. Over the last decade, gonorrhea became increasingly concentrated among adolescents, and several new types of antimicrobial resistance appeared. Three interrelated types of environments affect STD patterns. The microbiologic, hormonal, and immunologic microenvironments most directly influence susceptibility, infectiousness, and development of sequelae. These microenvironments are shaped, in part, by the personal environments created by an individual's sexual, substance-use, and health-related behaviors. The personal environments are also important determinants of acquisition of infection and development of sequelae but, in addition, they mediate risk of exposure to infection. These are, therefore, the environments that most directly affect changing disease patterns. Finally, individuals' personal environments are, in turn, molded by powerful macroenvironmental forces, including socioeconomic, demographic, geographic, political, epidemiologic, and technological factors. Over the past 20 years, the profound changes that have occurred in many aspects of the personal environment and the macroenvironment have been reflected in new STD patterns. PMID:8146135

Effects of environmental complexity and temporary captivity on foraging behavior of wild-caught meadow voles.

PubMed

Kozuch, Amaranta E; McPhee, M Elsbeth

2014-01-01

Increased housing of wild nonhuman animals in captivity for conservation, research, and rehabilitation has revealed the importance of systematically analyzing effects of the captive environment on behavior. This study focused on the effects of complexity and time held in captivity on foraging behaviors of wild-caught, adult meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus). Forty-six individuals captured from a meadow outside Oshkosh, WI, were assigned to 1 of 4 captive treatment groups: simple/<50 days (SS), simple/>50 days, complex/<50 days, and complex/>50 days. Number of dish visits, proportion foraging, and frequency of nonforaging behaviors recorded during a 15-min foraging trial were measured for all subjects. Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U Tests were conducted to analyze 4 different comparisons within this behavioral data. Overall, neither time in captivity or environmental complexity affected nonforaging behaviors. In contrast, foraging behaviors did change with treatment: Voles were less active at food dishes and visited control dishes more in treatment group SS than in the other treatment groups. In addition, sex-related differences in foraging behaviors were maintained when voles were exposed to environmental complexity. This article includes options for wildlife managers to adapt captive environments to meet the welfare and behavioral needs of translocated wild nonhuman mammals.

The Microbiome-Gut-Behavior Axis: Crosstalk Between the Gut Microbiome and Oligodendrocytes Modulates Behavioral Responses.

PubMed

Ntranos, Achilles; Casaccia, Patrizia

2018-01-01

Environmental and dietary stimuli have always been implicated in brain development and behavioral responses. The gut, being the major portal of communication with the external environment, has recently been brought to the forefront of this interaction with the establishment of a gut-brain axis in health and disease. Moreover, recent breakthroughs in germ-free and antibiotic-treated mice have demonstrated the significant impact of the microbiome in modulating behavioral responses in mice and have established a more specific microbiome-gut-behavior axis. One of the mechanisms by which this axis affects social behavior is by regulating myelination at the prefrontal cortex, an important site for complex cognitive behavior planning and decision-making. The prefrontal cortex exhibits late myelination of its axonal projections that could extend into the third decade of life in humans, which make it susceptible to external influences, such as microbial metabolites. Changes in the gut microbiome were shown to alter the composition of the microbial metabolome affecting highly permeable bioactive compounds, such as p-cresol, which could impair oligodendrocyte differentiation. Dysregulated myelination in the prefrontal cortex is then able to affect behavioral responses in mice, shifting them towards social isolation. The reduced social interactions could then limit microbial exchange, which could otherwise pose a threat to the survival of the existing microbial community in the host and, thus, provide an evolutionary advantage to the specific microbial community. In this review, we will analyze the microbiome-gut-behavior axis, describe the interactions between the gut microbiome and oligodendrocytes and highlight their role in the modulation of social behavior.

Early prediction of student goals and affect in narrative-centered learning environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Sunyoung

Recent years have seen a growing recognition of the role of goal and affect recognition in intelligent tutoring systems. Goal recognition is the task of inferring users' goals from a sequence of observations of their actions. Because of the uncertainty inherent in every facet of human computer interaction, goal recognition is challenging, particularly in contexts in which users can perform many actions in any order, as is the case with intelligent tutoring systems. Affect recognition is the task of identifying the emotional state of a user from a variety of physical cues, which are produced in response to affective changes in the individual. Accurately recognizing student goals and affect states could contribute to more effective and motivating interactions in intelligent tutoring systems. By exploiting knowledge of student goals and affect states, intelligent tutoring systems can dynamically modify their behavior to better support individual students. To create effective interactions in intelligent tutoring systems, goal and affect recognition models should satisfy two key requirements. First, because incorrectly predicted goals and affect states could significantly diminish the effectiveness of interactive systems, goal and affect recognition models should provide accurate predictions of user goals and affect states. When observations of users' activities become available, recognizers should make accurate early" predictions. Second, goal and affect recognition models should be highly efficient so they can operate in real time. To address key issues, we present an inductive approach to recognizing student goals and affect states in intelligent tutoring systems by learning goals and affect recognition models. Our work focuses on goal and affect recognition in an important new class of intelligent tutoring systems, narrative-centered learning environments. We report the results of empirical studies of induced recognition models from observations of students' interactions in narrative-centered learning environments. Experimental results suggest that induced models can make accurate early predictions of student goals and affect states, and they are sufficiently efficient to meet the real-time performance requirements of interactive learning environments.

Influence of Music on the Behaviors of Crowd in Urban Open Public Spaces

PubMed Central

Meng, Qi; Zhao, Tingting; Kang, Jian

2018-01-01

Sound environment plays an important role in urban open spaces, yet studies on the effects of perception of the sound environment on crowd behaviors have been limited. The aim of this study, therefore, is to explore how music, which is considered an important soundscape element, affects crowd behaviors in urban open spaces. On-site observations were performed at a 100 m × 70 m urban leisure square in Harbin, China. Typical music was used to study the effects of perception of the sound environment on crowd behaviors; then, these behaviors were classified into movement (passing by and walking around) and non-movement behaviors (sitting). The results show that the path of passing by in an urban leisure square with music was more centralized than without music. Without music, 8.3% of people passing by walked near the edge of the square, whereas with music, this percentage was zero. In terms of the speed of passing by behavior, no significant difference was observed with the presence or absence of background music. Regarding the effect of music on walking around behavior in the square, the mean area and perimeter when background music was played were smaller than without background music. The mean speed of those exhibiting walking around behavior with background music in the square was 0.296 m/s slower than when no background music was played. For those exhibiting sitting behavior, when background music was not present, crowd density showed no variation based on the distance from the sound source. When music was present, it was observed that as the distance from the sound source increased, crowd density of those sitting behavior decreased accordingly. PMID:29755390

Influence of Music on the Behaviors of Crowd in Urban Open Public Spaces.

PubMed

Meng, Qi; Zhao, Tingting; Kang, Jian

2018-01-01

Sound environment plays an important role in urban open spaces, yet studies on the effects of perception of the sound environment on crowd behaviors have been limited. The aim of this study, therefore, is to explore how music, which is considered an important soundscape element, affects crowd behaviors in urban open spaces. On-site observations were performed at a 100 m × 70 m urban leisure square in Harbin, China. Typical music was used to study the effects of perception of the sound environment on crowd behaviors; then, these behaviors were classified into movement (passing by and walking around) and non-movement behaviors (sitting). The results show that the path of passing by in an urban leisure square with music was more centralized than without music. Without music, 8.3% of people passing by walked near the edge of the square, whereas with music, this percentage was zero. In terms of the speed of passing by behavior, no significant difference was observed with the presence or absence of background music. Regarding the effect of music on walking around behavior in the square, the mean area and perimeter when background music was played were smaller than without background music. The mean speed of those exhibiting walking around behavior with background music in the square was 0.296 m/s slower than when no background music was played. For those exhibiting sitting behavior, when background music was not present, crowd density showed no variation based on the distance from the sound source. When music was present, it was observed that as the distance from the sound source increased, crowd density of those sitting behavior decreased accordingly.

Behavioral compliance for dynamic versus static signs in an immersive virtual environment.

PubMed

Duarte, Emília; Rebelo, Francisco; Teles, Júlia; Wogalter, Michael S

2014-09-01

This study used an immersive virtual environment (IVE) to examine how dynamic features in signage affect behavioral compliance during a work-related task and an emergency egress. Ninety participants performed a work-related task followed by an emergency egress. Compliance with uncued and cued safety signs was assessed prior to an explosion/fire involving egress with exit signs. Although dynamic presentation produced the highest compliance, the difference between dynamic and static presentation was only statistically significant for uncued signs. Uncued signs, both static and dynamic, were effective in changing behavior compared to no/minimal signs. Findings are explained based on sign salience and on task differences. If signs must capture attention while individuals are attending to other tasks, salient (e.g., dynamic) signs are useful in benefiting compliance. This study demonstrates the potential for IVEs to serve as a useful tool in behavioral compliance research. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

Multiple Diffusion Mechanisms Due to Nanostructuring in Crowded Environments

PubMed Central

Sanabria, Hugo; Kubota, Yoshihisa; Waxham, M. Neal

2007-01-01

One of the key questions regarding intracellular diffusion is how the environment affects molecular mobility. Mostly, intracellular diffusion has been described as hindered, and the physical reasons for this behavior are: immobile barriers, molecular crowding, and binding interactions with immobile or mobile molecules. Using results from multi-photon fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, we describe how immobile barriers and crowding agents affect translational mobility. To study the hindrance produced by immobile barriers, we used sol-gels (silica nanostructures) that consist of a continuous solid phase and aqueous phase in which fluorescently tagged molecules diffuse. In the case of molecular crowding, translational mobility was assessed in increasing concentrations of 500 kDa dextran solutions. Diffusion of fluorescent tracers in both sol-gels and dextran solutions shows clear evidence of anomalous subdiffusion. In addition, data from the autocorrelation function were analyzed using the maximum entropy method as adapted to fluorescence correlation spectroscopy data and compared with the standard model that incorporates anomalous diffusion. The maximum entropy method revealed evidence of different diffusion mechanisms that had not been revealed using the anomalous diffusion model. These mechanisms likely correspond to nanostructuring in crowded environments and to the relative dimensions of the crowding agent with respect to the tracer molecule. Analysis with the maximum entropy method also revealed information about the degree of heterogeneity in the environment as reported by the behavior of diffusive molecules. PMID:17040979

The possible effects of anthropogenic acoustic pollution on marine mammals' reproduction: an emerging threat to animal extinction.

PubMed

Nabi, Ghulam; McLaughlin, Richard William; Hao, Yujiang; Wang, Kexiong; Zeng, Xianyuan; Khan, Suliman; Wang, Ding

2018-05-26

For about 119 species of cetaceans and other aquatic animals, sound is the key source of learning about the environment, navigation, communication, foraging, and avoiding predators. However, in the recent era, the introduction of large quantities of anthropogenic noise into the ocean has significantly altered the ocean's acoustic environment. The anthropogenic noises travel very long distances, blanketing enormous areas. This can affect cetaceans, either by direct killing or compromising hearing, navigation, communication, predation, as well as normal behaviors. It has been suggested that acoustic pollution could possibly negatively affect cetacean reproduction, which is harmful for endangered and threatened species. However, it is still unknown how acoustic pollution can suppress cetacean reproduction. This is the first comprehensive review article, which focuses on the possible consequences affecting the reproduction of marine mammals resulting from acoustic pollution.

Corrosion Effects on the Fatigue Crack Propagation of Giga-Grade Steel and its Heat Affected Zone in pH Buffer Solutions for Automotive Application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, H. S.

2018-03-01

Corrosion fatigue crack propagation test was conducted of giga-grade steel and its heat affected zone in pH buffer solutions, and the results were compared with model predictions. Pure corrosion effect on fatigue crack propagation, particularly, in corrosive environment was evaluated by means of the modified Forman equation. As shown in results, the average corrosion rate determined from the ratio of pure corrosion induced crack length to entire crack length under a cycle load were 0.11 and 0.37 for base metal and heat affected zone, respectively, with load ratio of 0.5, frequency of 0.5 and pH 10.0 environment. These results demonstrate new interpretation methodology for corrosion fatigue crack propagation enabling the pure corrosion effects on the behavior to be determined.

Neural Substrate of Cold-Seeking Behavior in Endotoxin Shock

PubMed Central

Almeida, Maria C; Steiner, Alexandre A; Branco, Luiz G S; Romanovsky, Andrej A

2006-01-01

Systemic inflammation is a leading cause of hospital death. Mild systemic inflammation is accompanied by warmth-seeking behavior (and fever), whereas severe inflammation is associated with cold-seeking behavior (and hypothermia). Both behaviors are adaptive. Which brain structures mediate which behavior is unknown. The involvement of hypothalamic structures, namely, the preoptic area (POA), paraventricular nucleus (PVH), or dorsomedial nucleus (DMH), in thermoregulatory behaviors associated with endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide [LPS])-induced systemic inflammation was studied in rats. The rats were allowed to select their thermal environment by freely moving in a thermogradient apparatus. A low intravenous dose of Escherichia coli LPS (10 µg/kg) caused warmth-seeking behavior, whereas a high, shock-inducing dose (5,000 µg/kg) caused cold-seeking behavior. Bilateral electrocoagulation of the PVH or DMH, but not of the POA, prevented this cold-seeking response. Lesioning the DMH with ibotenic acid, an excitotoxin that destroys neuronal bodies but spares fibers of passage, also prevented LPS-induced cold-seeking behavior; lesioning the PVH with ibotenate did not affect it. Lesion of no structure affected cold-seeking behavior induced by heat exposure or by pharmacological stimulation of the transient receptor potential (TRP) vanilloid-1 channel (“warmth receptor”). Nor did any lesion affect warmth-seeking behavior induced by a low dose of LPS, cold exposure, or pharmacological stimulation of the TRP melastatin-8 (“cold receptor”). We conclude that LPS-induced cold-seeking response is mediated by neuronal bodies located in the DMH and neural fibers passing through the PVH. These are the first two landmarks on the map of the circuitry of cold-seeking behavior associated with endotoxin shock. PMID:17183631

A systematic review of the heritability of specific psychopathic traits using Hare's two-factor model of psychopathy.

PubMed

Dhanani, Sapna; Kumari, Veena; Puri, Basant K; Treasaden, Ian; Young, Susan; Sen, Piyal

2018-02-01

There have been no systematic reviews that investigated the heritability of the two-factor model of psychopathy: interpersonal-affective and behavioral. Our review aimed, first, to examine the heritability of general psychopathic traits and, second, if genetic influences were suggested, to determine the heritability of various traits related to the interpersonal-affective and behavioral factors of psychopathy. A systematic literature search was conducted using articles from the PsycINFO, Embase, Global Health, Medline, PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus databases (January of 1980 to December of 2015) in order to identify eligible literature that reported on the heritability of psychopathy-related traits. Papers were also found via manual examination and reference tracking. Papers were subjected to exclusion criteria and quality appraisal. We identified a total of 24 studies. Our results were grouped into three categories: general, interpersonal-affective, and behavioral. All these areas demonstrated modest to high heritability. The highest heritability values were found in studies investigating callous-unemotional behaviors. Heritability was found for all the psychopathic traits. Future research should include endophenotypic approaches that explore gene-environment correlations, which could aid in identification of the behavioral phenotype that is most amenable to early intervention by way of moderation of genetic risk.

A non-randomized [corrected] controlled trial of the active music engagement (AME) intervention on children with cancer.

PubMed

Robb, Sheri L; Clair, Alicia A; Watanabe, Masayo; Monahan, Patrick O; Azzouz, Faouzi; Stouffer, Janice W; Ebberts, Allison; Darsie, Emily; Whitmer, Courtney; Walker, Joey; Nelson, Kirsten; Hanson-Abromeit, Deanna; Lane, Deforia; Hannan, Ann

2008-07-01

Coping theorists argue that environmental factors affect how children perceive and respond to stressful events such as cancer. However, few studies have investigated how particular interventions can change coping behaviors. The active music engagement (AME) intervention was designed to counter stressful qualities of the in-patient hospital environment by introducing three forms of environmental support. The purpose of this multi-site randomized controlled trial was to determine the efficacy of the AME intervention on three coping-related behaviors (i.e. positive facial affect, active engagement, and initiation). Eighty-three participants, ages 4-7, were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: AME (n = 27), music listening (ML; n = 28), or audio storybooks (ASB; n = 28). Conditions were videotaped to facilitate behavioral data collection using time-sampling procedures. After adjusting for baseline differences, repeated measure analyses indicated that AME participants had a significantly higher frequency of coping-related behaviors compared with ML or ASB. Positive facial affect and active engagement were significantly higher during AME compared with ML and ASB (p<0.0001). Initiation was significantly higher during AME than ASB (p<0.05). This study supports the use of the AME intervention to encourage coping-related behaviors in hospitalized children aged 4-7 receiving cancer treatment. (c) 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Sexual orientation of adolescent girls.

PubMed

Frankowski, Barbara L

2002-12-01

It is important for healthcare providers to have a clear understanding of sexual orientation and other components of sexual identity (genetic gender, anatomic gender, gender identity, gender role, and sexual behavior). Knowledge of how a lesbian identity is formed will aide providers in guiding these girls through adolescence. Societal stigma often forces isolation that leads to many risky behaviors that affect health (alcohol and drug use; risky sexual behaviors; truancy and dropping out; running away and homelessness; and depression and suicide). Health providers need to ensure a safe and understanding environment for these girls, to enhance their physical, emotional, and social development to healthy adulthood.

Children with Diabetes: Peer Status, Academic Achievement, and Behavior Problems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Childers, Glenna J.; Carroll, James L.

While the clinical literature frequently asserts that chronic illness negatively affects children's social development, data in support of such assertions are almost without exception obtained in clinical settings from children with chronic illness and their parents, without data from the school or community environment and without control or…

Scholarly Work in the Humanities and the Evolving Information Environment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brockman, William S.; Neumann, Laura; Palmer, Carole L.; Tidline, Tonyia J.

This study explored the perspectives and information behaviors of scholars in the humanities. The following general questions were examined: How do humanities scholars think about, organize, and perform their research? How are information sources used throughout the research process? And, how do electronic information sources affect work…

A Stress Management Classroom Tool for Teachers of Children with BD.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jackson, James T.; Owens, James L.

1999-01-01

This article discusses how stress may affect the lives of children with behavior disorders, provides educators with a model for introducing stress management techniques, and closes with strategies for managing stress in the classroom, including listening to relaxing music, manipulating the environment, and providing a morning physical education…

Heat Waves, Droughts, and Preferences for Environmental Policy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Owen, Ann L.; Conover, Emily; Videras, Julio; Wu, Stephen

2012-01-01

Using data from a new household survey on environmental attitudes, behaviors, and policy preferences, we find that current weather conditions affect preferences for environmental regulation. Individuals who have recently experienced extreme weather (heat waves or droughts) are more likely to support laws to protect the environment. We find…

Factors Affecting Information Seeking and Evaluation in a Distributed Learning Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Jae-Shin; Cho, Hichang

2011-01-01

The purpose of this study was to identify and analyze the processes of seeking information online and evaluating this information. We hypothesized that individuals' social network, in-out group categorization, and cultural proclivity would influence their online information-seeking behavior. Also, we tested whether individuals differentiated…

Determination of piglet location in farrowing crates based on depth and digital images

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Understanding and properly managing behavioral responses of prewean piglets to the farrowing environment can improve well-being and pre-weaning performance of the piglets. This paper aims to quantify piglet location in the farrowing crate as affected by the lactating sow’s lying posture. Each farrow...

Not by Bread Alone: Reversing the Effects of Childhood Malnutrition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carson, David K.; Greeley, Sharon

1988-01-01

Investigates three central findings in human malnutrition research: (1) behavioral changes in infants and young children are observable outcomes of malnutrition; (2) non-nutritional factors in the environment affect child development; (3) nutritional supplementation with a consistent and varied regimen of stimulation hold potential for reversing…

How Can Gender Affect Psychopathology in Lebanese School-Age Children?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Khamis, Vivian

2018-01-01

This study investigated the extent to which gender differences in coping, school and family environments could account for variation in psychopathology among school-age children. Participants were 665 middle school students. Results showed no gender differences for PTSD. Females scored higher on emotional problems and prosocial behavior whereas…

The Development of Generosity and Moral Cognition across Five Cultures

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cowell, Jason M.; Lee, Kang; Malcolm-Smith, Susan; Selcuk, Bilge; Zhou, Xinyue; Decety, Jean

2017-01-01

Morality is an evolved aspect of human nature, yet is heavily influenced by cultural environment. This developmental study adopted an integrative approach by combining measures of socioeconomic status (SES), executive function, affective sharing, empathic concern, theory of mind, and moral judgment in predicting sharing behavior in children (N =…

Making Schools the Model for Healthier Environments Toolkit: What It Is

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2012

2012-01-01

Healthy students perform better. Poor nutrition and inadequate physical activity can affect not only academic achievement, but also other factors such as absenteeism, classroom behavior, ability to concentrate, self-esteem, cognitive performance, and test scores. This toolkit provides information to help make schools the model for healthier…

The Effects of Collaborative Technologies on Individual and Team Performance in a Network Centric Warfare (NCW) Environment

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-02-01

realizations of success. For example, Alberts , Garstka, & Stein (1999) identify three domains of research necessary for NCW to become plausibly effective...internal cognitive and affective states, as well as behavioral task processes ( Bandura , 1986). Without an understanding of the present

EFFECTS OF HUMIC SUBSTANCES ON ATTENUATION OF METALS: BIOAVAILABILITY AND MOBILITY IN SOIL

EPA Science Inventory

Humic substances play vastly important roles in metal behavior in a wide variety of environments. They can affect the mobility and bioavailability of metals by binding and sequestration thereby decreasing the mobility of a metal. They can also transport metals into solution or ...

Heat flow control and segregation in directional solidification: Development of an experimental and theoretical basis for Bridgman-type growth experiments in a microgravity environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Witt, A. F.

1986-01-01

Within the framework of the proposed research, emphasis was placed on application of magnetic fields to semiconductor growth systems. It was found that magnetic fields up to 3 kGauss do not affect the growth behavior nor the macro-segregation behavior in the system Ge(Ga). Applied fields are found to significantlty alter the radial dopant distribution, which is attributed to alterations in the spatial orientation of convective cells. Increasing the magnetic field to 30 kGauss is found to have a fundamental effect on dopant segregation. Emphasis is also placed on the potential of KC-135 flights for preliminary studies on the effects of reduced gravity environments on the wetting behavior of semiconductor systems in growth configuration. The limited number of experiments conducted does not allow any conclusions on the merits of KC-135 flights for semiconductor processing research.

Do Parenting and the Home Environment, Maternal Depression, Neighborhood, and Chronic Poverty Affect Child Behavioral Problems Differently in Different Racial-Ethnic Groups?

PubMed Central

Pachter, Lee M.; Auinger, Peggy; Palmer, Ray; Weitzman, Michael

2006-01-01

OBJECTIVE To determine whether the processes through which parenting practices, maternal depression, neighborhood, and chronic poverty affect child behavioral problems are similar or different in minority and nonminority children in the United States. METHODS Data from 884 white, 538 black, and 404 Latino families with children who were 6 to 9 years of age in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth were analyzed. The outcome, child behavioral problems, was measured using the Behavior Problems Index externalizing and internalizing subscales. The effects of chronic poverty, neighborhood, maternal depression, and parenting on the outcome were analyzed using multigroup structural equation modeling. RESULTS Chronic poverty affected child behavioral problems indirectly through the other variables, and parenting practices had direct effects in each racial/ethnic group. The effects of maternal depression were partially mediated through parenting in the white and Latino samples but were direct and unmediated through parenting practices in the black sample. Neighborhood effects were present in the white and black samples but were not significant for the Latino sample. CONCLUSIONS Chronic poverty, neighborhood, maternal depression, and parenting practices have effects on child behavioral problems in white, black, and Latino children, but the processes and mechanisms through which they exert their effects differ among the groups. The differences may be related to social stratification mechanisms as well as sociocultural differences in family and childrearing practices. PMID:16585331

[Research on the aging of all-ceramics restoration materials].

PubMed

Zhang, Dongjiao; Chen, Xinmin

2011-10-01

All-ceramic crowns and bridges have been widely used for dental restorations owing to their excellent functionality, aesthetics and biocompatibility. However, the premature clinical failure of all-ceramic crowns and bridges may easily occur when they are subjected to the complex environment of oral cavity. In the oral environment, all-ceramic materials are prone to aging. Aging can lead all-ceramic materials to change color, to lower bending strength, and to reduce anti-fracture toughness. There are many factors affecting the aging of the all-ceramic materials, for example, the grain size, the type of stabilizer, the residual stress and the water environment. In order to analyze the aging behavior, to optimize the design of all-ceramic crowns and bridges, and to evaluate the reliability and durability, we review in this paper recent research progress of aging behavior for all-ceramics restoration materials.

The Role of Parents' Critical Thinking About Media in Shaping Expectancies, Efficacy and Nutrition Behaviors for Families.

PubMed

Austin, Erica Weintraub; Pinkleton, Bruce E; Radanielina-Hita, Marie Louise; Ran, Weina

2015-01-01

A convenience survey completed online by 137 4-H parents in Washington state explored their orientation toward critical thinking regarding media sources and content and its implications for family dietary behaviors. Parents' critical thinking toward media sources predicted their information efficacy about content. Critical thinking toward media content predicted information efficacy about sources, expectancies for parental mediation, and expectancies for family receptiveness to lower-fat dietary changes. Expectancies for receptiveness to dietary changes and expectancies for parental mediation predicted efficacy for implementing healthy dietary practices; this strongly predicted healthy dietary practices. Media-related critical thinking, therefore, indirectly but consistently affected self-reported family dietary behaviors through its effects on efficacy for managing media and expectancies for the family's receptiveness to healthy dietary changes. The results suggest parents' media literacy skills affect their family's dietary behavior. Health campaigns that help parents interpret and manage the media environment may benefit all family members.

Disorganized attachment and defense: exploring John Bowlby’s unpublished reflections

PubMed Central

Reisz, Samantha; Duschinsky, Robbie; Siegel, Daniel J

2018-01-01

ABSTRACT Main and Solomon were the first to create a formal infant Strange Situation classification of attachment disorganization. Bowlby’s reflections on the underlying psychological processes of such behaviors, however, began early in his career, including the term “disorganization.” Most of these remained unpublished but are available through the John Bowlby Archive. Bowlby saw affective experiences as the source of the attachment behavioral system’s organization and regulation, and he introduced the term “effector equipment” to describe the emergent organization of attention, expectation, affect, and behavior to orchestrate responses to the environment. In his thinking, disorganization results from threat conflict, safe haven ambiguity, and/or activation without assuagement, which interfere with coordination and integration across a behavioral system. Bowlby’s unpublished writings also amplify his published work on segregated systems and defensive exclusion. Bowlby’s insights are relevant today and can provide greater background and clarity to current work, as researchers and clinicians consider the origins, manifestations, and meaning of disorganization. PMID:28952412

Larger cages with housing unit environment enrichment improve the welfare of marmosets.

PubMed

Yoshimoto, Takuro; Takahashi, Eiki; Yamashita, Shunji; Ohara, Kiichi; Niimi, Kimie

2018-02-09

The provision of adequate space for laboratory animals is essential not only for good welfare but accurate studies. For example, housing conditions for primates used in biomedical research may negatively affect welfare and thus the reliability of findings. In common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus), an appropriate cage size enables a socially harmonious family environment and optimizes reproductive potential. In this study, we investigated the effects of cage size on body weight (BW), behavior, and nursing succession in the common marmoset. Large cages (LCs) with environment enrichment led to an increase in BW while small cages (SCs) caused stereotypic behaviors that were not observed in LCs. In addition, the BW of infants increased with aging in LCs. Our findings indicate that the welfare of marmosets was enhanced by living in LCs. Research on non-human primates is essential for understanding the human brain and developing knowledge-based strategies for the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric and neurological disorders. Thus, the present findings are important because they indicate that different cages may influence emotional and behavioral phenotypes.

In vitro studying corrosion behavior of porous titanium coating in dynamic electrolyte.

PubMed

Chen, Xuedan; Fu, Qingshan; Jin, Yongzhong; Li, Mingtian; Yang, Ruisong; Cui, Xuejun; Gong, Min

2017-01-01

Porous titanium (PT) is considered as a promising biomaterials for orthopedic implants. Besides biocompatibility and mechanical properties, corrosion resistance in physiological environment is the other important factor affecting the long stability of an implant. In order to investigate the corrosion behavior of porous titanium implants in a dynamic physiological environment, a dynamic circle system was designed in this study. Then a titanium-based implant with PT coating was fabricated by plasma spraying. The corrosion resistance of PT samples in flowing 0.9% NaCl solution was evaluated by electrochemical measurements. Commercial pure solid titanium (ST) disc was used as a control. The studies of potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) show that the pores in the PT play a negetive part in corrosion resistance and the flowing electrolyte can increase the corrosive rate of all titanium samples. The results suggest that pore design of titanium implants should pay attention to the effect of dynamic process of a physiological environment on the corrosion behavior of implants. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A dynamic framework on travel mode choice focusing on utilitarian walking based on the integration of current knowledge.

PubMed

Yang, Yong

2016-09-01

Recently, research on utilitarian walking has gained momentum due to its benefits on both health and the environment. However, our overall understanding of how built and social environments affect travel mode choice (walking or not) is still limited, and most existing frameworks on travel mode choice lack dynamic processes. After a review of several mainstream theories and a number of frameworks, we propose an integrated framework. The basic constructs in the travel mode choice function are utilities, constraints, attitudes, and habits. With a hierarchical structure and heuristic rules, the travel mode choice function is modified by individual characteristics and travel characteristics. The framework explicitly presents several dynamic processes, including the perception process on the environment, attitude formation process, habit formation process, interactions among an individual's own behaviors, interactions among travelers, feedback from travel to the built and social environments, and feedback from other behaviors to the built and social environments. For utilitarian walking, the framework may contribute to the study design, data collection, adoption of new research methods, and provide indications for policy interventions.

A dynamic framework on travel mode choice focusing on utilitarian walking based on the integration of current knowledge

PubMed Central

Yang, Yong

2016-01-01

Recently, research on utilitarian walking has gained momentum due to its benefits on both health and the environment. However, our overall understanding of how built and social environments affect travel mode choice (walking or not) is still limited, and most existing frameworks on travel mode choice lack dynamic processes. After a review of several mainstream theories and a number of frameworks, we propose an integrated framework. The basic constructs in the travel mode choice function are utilities, constraints, attitudes, and habits. With a hierarchical structure and heuristic rules, the travel mode choice function is modified by individual characteristics and travel characteristics. The framework explicitly presents several dynamic processes, including the perception process on the environment, attitude formation process, habit formation process, interactions among an individual’s own behaviors, interactions among travelers, feedback from travel to the built and social environments, and feedback from other behaviors to the built and social environments. For utilitarian walking, the framework may contribute to the study design, data collection, adoption of new research methods, and provide indications for policy interventions. PMID:27747158

No Effect of Ambient Odor on the Affective Appraisal of a Desktop Virtual Environment with Signs of Disorder

PubMed Central

Toet, Alexander; van Schaik, Martin; Theunissen, Nicolet C. M.

2013-01-01

Background Desktop virtual environments (VEs) are increasingly deployed to study the effects of environmental qualities and interventions on human behavior and safety related concerns in built environments. For these applications it is essential that users appraise the affective qualities of the VE similar to those of its real world counterpart. Previous studies have shown that factors like simulated lighting, sound and dynamic elements all contribute to the affective appraisal of a desktop VE. Since ambient odor is known to affect the affective appraisal of real environments, and has been shown to increase the sense of presence in immersive VEs, it may also be an effective tool to tune the affective appraisal of desktop VEs. This study investigated if exposure to ambient odor can modulate the affective appraisal of a desktop VE with signs of public disorder. Method Participants explored a desktop VE representing a suburban neighborhood with signs of public disorder (neglect, vandalism and crime), while being exposed to either room air or subliminal levels of unpleasant (tar) or pleasant (cut grass) ambient odor. Whenever they encountered signs of disorder they reported their safety related concerns and associated affective feelings. Results Signs of crime in the desktop VE were associated with negative affective feelings and concerns for personal safety and personal property. However, there was no significant difference between reported safety related concerns and affective connotations in the control (no-odor) and in each of the two ambient odor conditions. Conclusion Ambient odor did not affect safety related concerns and affective connotations associated with signs of disorder in the desktop VE. Thus, semantic congruency between ambient odor and a desktop VE may not be sufficient to influence its affective appraisal, and a more realistic simulation in which simulated objects appear to emit scents may be required to achieve this goal. PMID:24250810

No effect of ambient odor on the affective appraisal of a desktop virtual environment with signs of disorder.

PubMed

Toet, Alexander; van Schaik, Martin; Theunissen, Nicolet C M

2013-01-01

Desktop virtual environments (VEs) are increasingly deployed to study the effects of environmental qualities and interventions on human behavior and safety related concerns in built environments. For these applications it is essential that users appraise the affective qualities of the VE similar to those of its real world counterpart. Previous studies have shown that factors like simulated lighting, sound and dynamic elements all contribute to the affective appraisal of a desktop VE. Since ambient odor is known to affect the affective appraisal of real environments, and has been shown to increase the sense of presence in immersive VEs, it may also be an effective tool to tune the affective appraisal of desktop VEs. This study investigated if exposure to ambient odor can modulate the affective appraisal of a desktop VE with signs of public disorder. Participants explored a desktop VE representing a suburban neighborhood with signs of public disorder (neglect, vandalism and crime), while being exposed to either room air or subliminal levels of unpleasant (tar) or pleasant (cut grass) ambient odor. Whenever they encountered signs of disorder they reported their safety related concerns and associated affective feelings. Signs of crime in the desktop VE were associated with negative affective feelings and concerns for personal safety and personal property. However, there was no significant difference between reported safety related concerns and affective connotations in the control (no-odor) and in each of the two ambient odor conditions. Ambient odor did not affect safety related concerns and affective connotations associated with signs of disorder in the desktop VE. Thus, semantic congruency between ambient odor and a desktop VE may not be sufficient to influence its affective appraisal, and a more realistic simulation in which simulated objects appear to emit scents may be required to achieve this goal.

Retrospective reports of parental physical affection and parenting style: a study of Finnish twins.

PubMed

Harlaar, Nicole; Santtila, Pekka; Björklund, Johanna; Alanko, Katarina; Jern, Patrick; Varjonen, Markus; von der Pahlen, Bettina; Sandnabba, Kenneth

2008-08-01

Individual differences in parenting behaviors are due, in part, to genetic factors. In the present study, the authors sought to determine whether the degree of genetic influence varied according to the type of parental behavior under consideration. A population-based sample of 2,334 pairs of Finnish twins provided ratings on the physical affection, control, abusiveness, and indifference shown by their father and mother during childhood. Genetic influences, shared environmental influences, and nonshared environmental influences accounted for a small-to-medium proportion (17%-30%), a small-to-large proportion (22%-44%), and a medium-to-large proportion (37%-55%) of the variance in each parenting measure, respectively. There were no significant differences in effect sizes for mothers and fathers or across the 4 types of parental behavior. The genetic results may reflect characteristic styles with which parents respond to genetically influenced behaviors of individuals (gene-environment correlations) or individual perceptions of this relationship (gene-person correlation processes). The findings have implications for intervention and prevention work with families and for interpretation of evidence for interactions between genes and parenting behaviors.

Innovativeness and the effects of urbanization on risk-taking behaviors in wild Barbados birds.

PubMed

Ducatez, Simon; Audet, Jean-Nicolas; Rodriguez, Jordi Ros; Kayello, Lima; Lefebvre, Louis

2017-01-01

The effects of urbanization on avian cognition remain poorly understood. Risk-taking behaviors like boldness, neophobia and flight distance are thought to affect opportunism and innovativeness, and should also vary with urbanization. Here, we investigate variation in risk-taking behaviors in the field in an avian assemblage of nine species that forage together in Barbados and for which innovation rate is known from previous work. We predicted that birds from highly urbanized areas would show more risk-taking behavior than conspecifics from less urbanized parts of the island and that the differences would be strongest in the most innovative of the species. Overall, we found that urban birds are bolder, less neophobic and have shorter flight distances than their less urbanized conspecifics. Additionally, we detected between-species differences in the effect of urbanization on flight distance, more innovative species showing smaller differences in flight distance between areas. Our results suggest that, within successful urban colonizers, species differences in innovativeness may affect the way species change their risk-taking behaviors in response to the urban environment.

Assessing the relationship between quality of life and behavioral activation using the Japanese Behavioral Activation for Depression Scale-Short Form.

PubMed

Shudo, Yusuke; Yamamoto, Tatsuya

2017-01-01

Quality of life (QOL) is an important health-related concept. Identifying factors that affect QOL can help develop and improve health-promotion interventions. Previous studies suggest that behavioral activation fosters subjective QOL, including well-being. However, the mechanism by which behavioral activation improves QOL is not clear. Considering that QOL improves when depressive symptoms improve post-treatment and that behavioral activation is an effective treatment for depression, it is possible that behavioral activation affects QOL indirectly rather than directly. To clarify the mechanism of the influence of behavioral activation on QOL, it is necessary to examine the relationships between factors related to behavioral activation, depressive symptoms, and QOL. Therefore, we attempted to examine the relationship between these factors. Participants comprised 221 Japanese undergraduate students who completed questionnaires on behavioral activation, QOL, and depressive symptoms: the Japanese versions of the Behavioral Activation for Depression Scale-Short Form (BADS-SF), WHO Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-26), and Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). The BADS-SF comprises two subscales, Activation and Avoidance, and the WHOQOL-26 measures overall QOL and four domains, Physical Health, Psychological Health, Social Relationships, and Environment. Mediation analyses were conducted with BADS-SF activation and avoidance as independent variables, CES-D as a mediator variable, and each WHO-QOL as an outcome variable. Results indicated that depression completely mediated the relationship between Avoidance and QOL, and partially mediated the relationship between Activation and QOL. In addition, analyses of each domain of QOL showed that Activation positively affected all aspects of QOL directly and indirectly, but Avoidance had a negative influence on only part of QOL mainly through depression. The present study provides behavioral activation strategies aimed at QOL enhancement.

Conservation implications of anthropogenic impacts on visual communication and camouflage.

PubMed

Delhey, Kaspar; Peters, Anne

2017-02-01

Anthropogenic environmental impacts can disrupt the sensory environment of animals and affect important processes from mate choice to predator avoidance. Currently, these effects are best understood for auditory and chemosensory modalities, and recent reviews highlight their importance for conservation. We examined how anthropogenic changes to the visual environment (ambient light, transmission, and backgrounds) affect visual communication and camouflage and considered the implications of these effects for conservation. Human changes to the visual environment can increase predation risk by affecting camouflage effectiveness, lead to maladaptive patterns of mate choice, and disrupt mutualistic interactions between pollinators and plants. Implications for conservation are particularly evident for disrupted camouflage due to its tight links with survival. The conservation importance of impaired visual communication is less documented. The effects of anthropogenic changes on visual communication and camouflage may be severe when they affect critical processes such as pollination or species recognition. However, when impaired mate choice does not lead to hybridization, the conservation consequences are less clear. We suggest that the demographic effects of human impacts on visual communication and camouflage will be particularly strong when human-induced modifications to the visual environment are evolutionarily novel (i.e., very different from natural variation); affected species and populations have low levels of intraspecific (genotypic and phenotypic) variation and behavioral, sensory, or physiological plasticity; and the processes affected are directly related to survival (camouflage), species recognition, or number of offspring produced, rather than offspring quality or attractiveness. Our findings suggest that anthropogenic effects on the visual environment may be of similar importance relative to conservation as anthropogenic effects on other sensory modalities. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

Do infants influence their quality of care? Infants' communicative gestures predict caregivers' responsiveness.

PubMed

Vallotton, Claire D

2009-12-01

Infants' effects on adults are a little studied but important aspect of development. What do infants do that increases caregiver responsiveness in childcare environments? Infants' communicative behaviors (i.e. smiling, crying) affect mothers' responsiveness; and preschool children's language abilities affect teachers' responses in the classroom setting. However, the effects of infants' intentional communications on either parents' or non-parental caregivers' responsiveness have not been examined. Using longitudinal video data from an infant classroom where infant signing was used along with conventional gestures (i.e. pointing), this study examines whether infants' use of gestures and signs elicited greater responsiveness from caregivers during daily interactions. Controlling child age and individual child effects, infants' gestures and signs used specifically to respond to caregivers elicited more responsiveness from caregivers during routine interactions. Understanding the effects of infants' behaviors on caregivers is critical for helping caregivers understand and improve their own behavior towards children in their care.

The origin of bounded rationality and intelligence.

PubMed

Lo, Andrew W

2013-09-01

Rational economic behavior in which individuals maximize their own self-interest is only one of many possible types of behavior that arise from natural selection. Given an initial population of individuals, each assigned a purely arbitrary behavior with respect to a binary choice problem, and assuming that offspring behave identically to their parents, only those behaviors linked to reproductive success will survive, and less successful behaviors will disappear exponentially fast. This framework yields a single evolutionary explanation for the origin of several behaviors that have been observed in organisms ranging from bacteria to humans, including risk-sensitive foraging, risk aversion, loss aversion, probability matching, randomization, and diversification. The key to understanding which types of behavior are more likely to survive is how behavior affects reproductive success in a given population's environment. From this perspective, intelligence is naturally defined as behavior that increases the likelihood of reproductive success, and bounds on rationality are determined by physiological and environmental constraints.

Digest: Context matters: The effects of light environment and female presence on the structure of wolf spider courtship displays.

PubMed

Fialko, Kristina

2018-05-01

Does variation in the environment in which a signal is presented affect the components of a complex, ritualized animal display? Using a signal phenotype network, Rosenthal et al. (2018) found that light and female presence alter the structure of wolf spider courtship displays, providing evidence that complex signaling behaviors may be modified depending on the social and environmental context. © 2018 The Author(s). Evolution © 2018 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Noise exposure of immature rats can induce different age-dependent extra-auditory alterations that can be partially restored by rearing animals in an enriched environment.

PubMed

Molina, S J; Capani, F; Guelman, L R

2016-04-01

It has been previously shown that different extra-auditory alterations can be induced in animals exposed to noise at 15 days. However, data regarding exposure of younger animals, that do not have a functional auditory system, have not been obtained yet. Besides, the possibility to find a helpful strategy to restore these changes has not been explored so far. Therefore, the aims of the present work were to test age-related differences in diverse hippocampal-dependent behavioral measurements that might be affected in noise-exposed rats, as well as to evaluate the effectiveness of a potential neuroprotective strategy, the enriched environment (EE), on noise-induced behavioral alterations. Male Wistar rats of 7 and 15 days were exposed to moderate levels of noise for two hours. At weaning, animals were separated and reared either in standard or in EE cages for one week. At 28 days of age, different hippocampal-dependent behavioral assessments were performed. Results show that rats exposed to noise at 7 and 15 days were differentially affected. Moreover, EE was effective in restoring all altered variables when animals were exposed at 7 days, while a few were restored in rats exposed at 15 days. The present findings suggest that noise exposure was capable to trigger significant hippocampal-related behavioral alterations that were differentially affected, depending on the age of exposure. In addition, it could be proposed that hearing structures did not seem to be necessarily involved in the generation of noise-induced hippocampal-related behaviors, as they were observed even in animals with an immature auditory pathway. Finally, it could be hypothesized that the differential restoration achieved by EE rearing might also depend on the degree of maturation at the time of exposure and the variable evaluated, being younger animals more susceptible to environmental manipulations. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Enriched environment experience overcomes learning deficits and depressive-like behavior induced by juvenile stress.

PubMed

Ilin, Yana; Richter-Levin, Gal

2009-01-01

Mood disorders affect the lives and functioning of millions each year. Epidemiological studies indicate that childhood trauma is predominantly associated with higher rates of both mood and anxiety disorders. Exposure of rats to stress during juvenility (JS) (27-29 days of age) has comparable effects and was suggested as a model of induced predisposition for these disorders. The importance of the environment in the regulation of brain, behavior and physiology has long been recognized in biological, social and medical sciences. Here, we studied the effects of JS on emotional and cognitive aspects of depressive-like behavior in adulthood, on Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis reactivity and on the expression of cell adhesion molecule L1 (L1-CAM). Furthermore, we combined it with the examination of potential reversibility by enriched environment (EE) of JS - induced disturbances of emotional and cognitive aspects of behavior in adulthood. Three groups were tested: Juvenile Stress -subjected to Juvenile stress; Enriched Environment--subjected to Juvenile stress and then, from day 30 on to EE; and Naïves. In adulthood, coping and stress responses were examined using the elevated plus-maze, open field, novel setting exploration and two way shuttle avoidance learning. We found that, JS rats showed anxiety- and depressive-like behaviors in adulthood, altered HPA axis activity and altered L1-CAM expression. Increased expression of L1-CAM was evident among JS rats in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and Thalamus (TL). Furthermore, we found that EE could reverse most of the effects of Juvenile stress, both at the behavioral, endocrine and at the biochemical levels. The interaction between JS and EE resulted in an increased expression of L1-CAM in dorsal cornu ammonis (CA) area 1 (dCA1).

Effects of developmental change in body size on ectotherm body temperature and behavioral thermoregulation: caterpillars in a heat-stressed environment.

PubMed

Nielsen, Matthew E; Papaj, Daniel R

2015-01-01

Ectotherms increase in size dramatically during development, and this growth should have substantial effects on their body temperature and ability to thermoregulate. To better understand how this change in size affects temperature, we examined the direct effects of body size on body temperature in Battus philenor caterpillars, and also how body size affects both the expression and effectiveness of thermal refuge-seeking, a thermoregulatory behavior. Field studies of both live caterpillars and physical operative temperature models indicated that caterpillar body temperature increases with body size. The operative temperature models also showed that thermal refuges have a greater cooling effect for larger caterpillars, while a laboratory study found that larger caterpillars seek refuges at a lower temperature. Although the details may vary, similar connections between developmental growth, temperature, and thermoregulation should be common among ectotherms and greatly affect both their development and thermal ecology.

Effect of professional expertise and exposure to everyday life decision-making on moral choices.

PubMed

Boccia, Maddalena; Verde, Paola; Angelino, Gregorio; Carrozzo, Paolo; Vecchi, Diego; Piccardi, Laura; Colangeli, Stefano; Cordellieri, Pierluigi; Ferlazzo, Fabio; Giannini, Anna Maria

2017-07-27

Moral sense is defined as a feeling of fairness or unfairness of an action that knowingly causes harm to people other than the subject. It is crucial in determining human behavior and becomes pivotal in operational environments. Here we assessed whether professional daily life experience in an operational environment affects moral judgment by asking 41 military pilots of the Italian Air Force (P) and 69 controls (C) to solve 40 moral dilemmas. We found that P gave more morally acceptable utilitarian responses to moral dilemmas. Interestingly, men and women in P equally accepted utilitarian resolutions of moral dilemmas, whereas in C women were less prone than men to accept utilitarian responses. We conclude that professional daily life experience of P, in an operational environment, affects moral judgment and mitigates gender predisposition towards moral dilemmas. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Simulation Environment for the Dynamic Evaluation of Disaster Preparedness Policies and Interventions

PubMed Central

Lewis, Bryan; Swarup, Samarth; Bisset, Keith; Eubank, Stephen; Marathe, Madhav; Barrett, Chris

2013-01-01

Disasters affect a society at many levels. Simulation based studies often evaluate the effectiveness of one or two response policies in isolation and are unable to represent impact of the policies to coevolve with others. Similarly, most in-depth analyses are based on a static assessment of the “aftermath” rather than capturing dynamics. We have developed a data-centric simulation environment for applying a systems approach to a dynamic analysis of complex combinations of disaster responses. We analyze an improvised nuclear detonation in Washington DC with this environment. The simulated blast affects the transportation system, communications infrastructure, electrical power system, behaviors and motivations of population, and health status of survivors. The effectiveness of partially restoring wireless communications capacity is analyzed in concert with a range of other disaster response policies. Despite providing a limited increase in cell phone communication, overall health was improved. PMID:23903394

Effects of egg testosterone on female mate choice and male sexual behavior in the pheasant.

PubMed

Bonisoli-Alquati, Andrea; Matteo, Angelo; Ambrosini, Roberto; Rubolini, Diego; Romano, Maria; Caprioli, Manuela; Dessì-Fulgheri, Francesco; Baratti, Mariella; Saino, Nicola

2011-01-01

Evidence is accumulating that sex steroids in the eggs, besides affecting progeny phenotype and behavior in the short term, also have enduring effects until adulthood, when they may translate into differences in reproductive strategies and success. Maternal steroids transfer may therefore affect both agonistic behavior and mate choice decisions, either through the promotion of body size and condition or through a priming effect on the neuroendocrine system. However, owing to the prevalence of a short-term perspective, relevance of maternal transfer of sex steroids to sexual selection processes has been seldom studied. Here we investigate the effects of an experimental increase in egg testosterone on male dominance and copulation success in the ring-necked pheasant, Phasianus colchicus, a polygynous galliform with multiple male ornamental traits, in captivity. We found that females from testosterone (T) injected eggs copulated less than control females. Males from T-injected eggs obtained more copulations than control males, specifically with control females. The effect of male 'ordinary' and secondary sexual traits on either dominance or copulation frequency did not depend on early exposure to T, nor did T treatment affect male dominance. Present results demonstrate that variation in the early hormonal environment set up by mothers affects sexual behavior of the offspring, which might translate into fitness differences. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Infant pathways to externalizing behavior: evidence of Genotype x Environment interaction.

PubMed

Leve, Leslie D; Kerr, David C R; Shaw, Daniel; Ge, Xiaojia; Neiderhiser, Jenae M; Scaramella, Laura V; Reid, John B; Conger, Rand; Reiss, David

2010-01-01

To further the understanding of the effects of early experiences, 9-month-old infants were observed during a frustration task. The analytical sample was composed of 348 linked triads of participants (adoptive parents, adopted child, and birth parent[s]) from a prospective adoption study. It was hypothesized that genetic risk for externalizing problems and affect dysregulation in the adoptive parents would independently and interactively predict a known precursor to externalizing problems: heightened infant attention to frustrating events. Results supported the moderation hypotheses involving adoptive mother affect dysregulation: Infants at genetic risk showed heightened attention to frustrating events only when the adoptive mother had higher levels of anxious and depressive symptoms. The Genotype x Environment interaction pattern held when substance use during pregnancy was considered.

Using Picture Books to Create Peer Awareness about Autism Spectrum Disorders in the Inclusive Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maich, Kimberly; Belcher, E. Christina

2012-01-01

Students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) may exhibit behaviors that can negatively affect peer relationships. A process for raising awareness about this exceptionality to their peers can build a foundation for authentic inclusion in the classroom environment. This article suggests that deliberately planned interventions using picture books to…

Limited Evidence That Competitive Food and Beverage Practices Affect Adolescent Consumption Behaviors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vericker, Tracy C.

2013-01-01

Childhood obesity is emerging as a considerable public health problem with no clear antidote. The school food environment is a potential intervention point for policy makers, with competitive food and beverage regulation as a possible policy lever. This research examines the link between competitive food and beverage availability in school and…

SEXUALLY DIMORPHIC LORDOSIS BEHAVIOR IS MORE SENSITIVE TO DISRUPTION BY DEVELOPMENTAL EXPOSURE TO ETHINYL ESTRADIOL THAN IS REPRODUCTIVE MORPHOLOGY IN THE LONG EVANS FEMALE RAT.

EPA Science Inventory

Anthropogenic estrogens are pervasive in the environment. Although the effects of these xenoestrogens are controversial in humans, some fish species are adversely affected in contaminated ecosystems. While studies investigating endocrine disruptors typically focus on reproducti...

Does Webinar-Based Financial Education Affect Knowledge and Behavior?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Carrie L.; Schumacher, Joel B.

2016-01-01

Using webinar delivery for Extension financial education programs allows educators to reach a broader range of clientele. It can, however, be difficult to gauge participants' learning of concepts in an online environment. Evaluations of two webinar series, one in Montana and the other in South Dakota, sought to determine the effectiveness of using…

The Winter Environment. Environmental Education Curriculum.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Topeka Public Schools, KS.

Winter seems to hold more mysteries than any other season. It changes the behavior of wildlife and also brings about drastic changes in plant life. This unit, designed around the following two ideas: (1) to develop an appreciation and understanding of the winter season and (2) to understand how plants and wildlife are affected by the winter…

Kids Count in Delaware, Families Count in Delaware: Fact Book, 2003.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Delaware Univ., Newark. Kids Count in Delaware.

This Kids Count Fact Book is combined with the Families Count Fact Book to provide information on statewide trends affecting children and families in Delaware. The Kids Count and Families Count indicators have been combined into four new categories: health and health behaviors, educational involvement and achievement, family environment and…

Acoustic Behavior of Vapor Bubbles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Prosperetti, Andrea; Oguz, Hasan N.

1996-01-01

In a microgravity environment vapor bubbles generated at a boiling surface tend to remain near it for a long time. This affects the boiling heat transfer and in particular promotes an early transition to the highly inefficient film boiling regime. This paper describes the physical basis underlying attempts to remove the bubbles by means of pressure radiation forces.

Report Card: Environmental Attitudes and Knowledge in America. The Fifth Annual Survey of Adult Americans.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Environmental Education and Training Foundation, Washington, DC.

This study investigates environmental knowledge, attitudes, and behavior among adult Americans. The fifth survey, conducted by Roper Starch, explores the relationship between attitudes about the environment and how those attitudes are affected by learning. This report concludes that Americans have very positive views toward the need to conserve…

Relationship of Class-Size to Classroom Processes, Teacher Satisfaction and Pupil Affect: A Meta-Analysis.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Mary Lee; Glass, Gene V.

Using data from previously completed research, the authors of this report attempted to examine the relationship between class size and measures of outcomes such as student attitudes and behavior, classroom processes and learning environment, and teacher satisfaction. The authors report that statistical integration of the existing research…

Enhancing a Computer-Based Testing Environment with Optimum Item Response Time

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Delen, Erhan

2015-01-01

As technology has become more advanced and accessible in instructional settings, there has been an upward trend in computer-based testing in the last decades. The present experimental study examines students' behaviors during computer-based testing in two different conditions and explores how these conditions affect the test results. Results…

Total Environment Education: An Open Design to Real Life Learning Experiences.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Indiana State Dept. of Public Instruction, Indianapolis.

Six global objectives--energy, earth resources, waste disposal, population, interdependence, and quality of life--are used as a framework in preparing this open design for environmental education, one which emphasizes behavioral change in the affective domain. To aid classroom teachers in achieving these goals, the guide is divided into five…

Behavioral development and habitat structure affect postfledging movements of songbirds

Treesearch

Julianna M. A. Jenkins; Frank R., III Thompson; John Faaborg

2016-01-01

Postfledging survival of neotropical migrant songbirds has been linked to seasonal and annual changes in the environment and to individual condition. Understanding what influences variation in postfledging movements may provide insight into the differential value of habitat across life-history stages. We conducted a radio-telemetry study of postfledging ovenbirds (

Effect of chemical environment and rock composition on fracture mechanics properties of reservoir lithologies in context of CO2 sequestration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Major, J. R.; Eichhubl, P.; Callahan, O. A.

2015-12-01

The coupled chemical and mechanical response of reservoir and seal rocks to injection of CO2 have major implications on the short and long term security of sequestered carbon. Many current numerical models evaluating behavior of reservoirs and seals during and after CO2 injection in the subsurface consider chemistry and mechanics separately and use only simple mechanical stability criteria while ignoring time-dependent failure parameters. CO2 injection irreversibly alters the subsurface chemical environment which can then affect geomechanical properties on a range of time scales by altering rock mineralogy and cements through dissolution, remobilization, and precipitation. It has also been documented that geomechanical parameters such as fracture toughness (KIC) and subcritical index (SCI) are sensitive to chemical environment. Double torsion fracture mechanics testing of reservoir lithologies under controlled environmental conditions relevant to CO2 sequestration show that chemical environment can measurably affect KIC and SCI. This coupled chemical-mechanical behavior is also influenced by rock composition, grains, amount and types of cement, and fabric. Fracture mechanics testing of the Aztec Sandstone, a largely silica-cemented, subarkose sandstone demonstrate it is less sensitive to chemical environment than Entrada Sandstone, a silty, clay-rich sandstone. The presence of de-ionized water lowers KIC by approximately 20% and SCI 30% in the Aztec Sandstone relative to tests performed in air, whereas the Entrada Sandstone shows reductions on the order of 70% and 90%, respectively. These results indicate that rock composition influences the chemical-mechanical response to deformation, and that the relative chemical reactivity of target reservoirs should be recognized in context of CO2 sequestration. In general, inert grains and cements such as quartz will be less sensitive to the changing subsurface environment than carbonates and clays.

Challenges of managing child behavior in the 21st century dental setting.

PubMed

Sheller, Barbara

2004-01-01

This paper discussed factors influencing behavior management of the child dental patient. Pediatric dentists are affected by changes in: (1) society; (2) marketing and media; (3) communications and technology; and (4) parenting practices. Behavior of pediatric patients reflects fewer boundaries, less discipline and self-control, and lowered behavioral expectations by parents and contemporary culture. The insurance industry, regulatory bodies, legal system, dental staff, and pediatric dentist education are other influences on behavior management. Responses of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD), which could support the pediatric dentist in the changing environment, include: (1) research; (2) continuing education for staff and dentists; (3) development of Internet accessible materials for the public; (4) legislative activity; (5) partnering with pediatric medicine to develop new behavior management strategies; (6) establishment of an AAPD Council on Child Behavior; and (7) ongoing critical reassessment of behavior issues by the AAPD.

Dynamic cultural influences on neural representations of the self.

PubMed

Chiao, Joan Y; Harada, Tokiko; Komeda, Hidetsugu; Li, Zhang; Mano, Yoko; Saito, Daisuke; Parrish, Todd B; Sadato, Norihiro; Iidaka, Tetsuya

2010-01-01

People living in multicultural environments often encounter situations which require them to acquire different cultural schemas and to switch between these cultural schemas depending on their immediate sociocultural context. Prior behavioral studies show that priming cultural schemas reliably impacts mental processes and behavior underlying self-concept. However, less well understood is whether or not cultural priming affects neurobiological mechanisms underlying the self. Here we examined whether priming cultural values of individualism and collectivism in bicultural individuals affects neural activity in cortical midline structures underlying self-relevant processes using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Biculturals primed with individualistic values showed increased activation within medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) during general relative to contextual self-judgments, whereas biculturals primed with collectivistic values showed increased response within MPFC and PCC during contextual relative to general self-judgments. Moreover, degree of cultural priming was positively correlated with degree of MPFC and PCC activity during culturally congruent self-judgments. These findings illustrate the dynamic influence of culture on neural representations underlying the self and, more broadly, suggest a neurobiological basis by which people acculturate to novel environments.

Basking behavior predicts the evolution of heat tolerance in Australian rainforest lizards.

PubMed

Muñoz, Martha M; Langham, Gary M; Brandley, Matthew C; Rosauer, Dan F; Williams, Stephen E; Moritz, Craig

2016-11-01

There is pressing urgency to understand how tropical ectotherms can behaviorally and physiologically respond to climate warming. We examine how basking behavior and thermal environment interact to influence evolutionary variation in thermal physiology of multiple species of lygosomine rainforest skinks from the Wet Tropics of northeastern Queensland, Australia (AWT). These tropical lizards are behaviorally specialized to exploit canopy or sun, and are distributed across marked thermal clines in the AWT. Using phylogenetic analyses, we demonstrate that physiological parameters are either associated with changes in local thermal habitat or to basking behavior, but not both. Cold tolerance, the optimal sprint speed, and performance breadth are primarily influenced by local thermal environment. Specifically, montane lizards are more cool tolerant, have broader performance breadths, and higher optimum sprinting temperatures than their lowland counterparts. Heat tolerance, in contrast, is strongly affected by basking behavior: there are two evolutionary optima, with basking species having considerably higher heat tolerance than shade skinks, with no effect of elevation. These distinct responses among traits indicate the multiple selective pressures and constraints that shape the evolution of thermal performance. We discuss how behavior and physiology interact to shape organisms' vulnerability and potential resilience to climate change. © 2016 The Author(s). Evolution © 2016 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Motivating teacher and student engagement with the environment through renewable energy education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patel, Nirav Sanat

Environmental and energy education is focused on fostering environmental behavior. This study investigates empirically if education leads to changes in environmental attitudes and subsequent environmentally significant behavior (ESB). The study contextualizes teachers' and students' motivation to engage in ESB within an environmental educational training framework. The results of structured questionnaires administered in Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Midwestern K-12 schools (n=214 for teachers and n=1498 for students) reveal that environmental attitudes are not a good predictor of teaching behavior but they do predict students' intent towards ESB. Teachers' energy attitudes are a better predictor in motivating them to teach while students are most responsive to their affective attitudes. The study finds that education does not play a significant role in changing environmental or energy attitudes of teachers and students. The study also advances a methodological tool for data collection that can expand the reach of evaluation instruments and measure learning across formal and informal audiences. It highlights how interactional technology can be readily utilized for future research and outreach in classrooms, nature learning centers, professional training programs, and museums. Overall, the work advances social-psychological understanding of how adults and youth respond to educational programming. It highlights the need to go beyond the cognitive shifts in affecting behavior. Curriculum based on environment might be necessary but is often not sufficient for changing environmental values. Finally, information and knowledge acquired must motivate the teachers' and students' desire and ability to conscientiously act, wherever necessary.

Exploring relationships between the use of affect in science instruction and the pressures of a high-stakes testing environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jerome, Diane C.

This study explored how science teachers and school administrators perceive the use of the affective domain during science instruction situated within a high-stakes testing environment. Through a multimethodological inquiry using phenomenology and critical ethnography, the researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with six fifth-grade science teachers and two administrators from two Texas school districts. Data reconstructions from interviews formed a bricolage of diagrams that trace the researcher's steps through a reflective exploration of these phenomena. This study addressed the following research questions: (a) What are the attitudes, interests, and values (affective domain) that fifth-grade science teachers integrate into science instruction? (b) How do fifth-grade science teachers attempt to integrate attitudes, interests and values (affective domain) in science instruction? and (c) How do fifth-grade science teachers manage to balance the tension from the seeming pressures caused by a high-stakes testing environment and the integration of attitudes, interests and values (affective domain) in science instruction? The findings from this study indicate that as teachers tried to integrate the affective domain during science instruction, (a) their work was set within a framework of institutional values, (b) teaching science for understanding looked different before and after the onset of the science Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS), and (c) upon administration of the science TAKS---teachers broadened their aim, raised their expectations, and furthered their professional development. The integration of the affective domain fell into two distinct categories: 1) teachers targeted student affect and 2) teachers modeled affective behavior.

The Inclination to Evil and the Punishment of Crime - from the Bible to Behavioral Genetics

PubMed Central

Gold, Azgad; Appelbaum, Paul S.

2012-01-01

The evolving field of behavioral genetics is gradually elucidating the complex interplay between genes and environment. Scientific data pertaining to the behavioral genetics of violent behavior provides a new context for an old dilemma regarding criminal responsibility and punishment: if the inclination to violent behavior is inherent in someone's nature, how should it affect punishment for crime? Should it be considered as a mitigating or an aggravating factor? Given psychiatrists’ increasing involvement in providing testimony on behavioral genetics in the criminal justice system, this paper first provides the necessary background required for understanding how this question arises and reviews the relevant literature. Then, we address this question from the perspective of the Bible and its commentators, in the belief that their insights may enrich the contemporary discussion of this question. PMID:25618278

The inclination to evil and the punishment of crime - from the bible to behavioral genetics.

PubMed

Gold, Azgad; S Appelbaum, Paul

2014-01-01

The evolving field of behavioral genetics is gradually elucidating the complex interplay between genes and environment. Scientific data pertaining to the behavioral genetics of violent behavior provides a new context for an old dilemma regarding criminal responsibility and punishment: if the inclination to violent behavior is inherent in someone's nature, how should it affect punishment for crime? Should it be considered as a mitigating or an aggravating factor? Given psychiatrists' increasing involvement in providing testimony on behavioral genetics in the criminal justice system, this paper first provides the necessary background required for understanding how this question arises and reviews the relevant literature. Then, we address this question from the perspective of the Bible and its commentators, in the belief that their insights may enrich the contemporary discussion of this question.

Environmental concentrations of metformin exposure affect aggressive behavior in the Siamese fighting fish, Betta splendens.

PubMed

MacLaren, Ronald David; Wisniewski, Kathryn; MacLaren, Christina

2018-01-01

Metformin, the medicine most commonly prescribed for treatment of Type II diabetes, is among the most abundant pharmaceuticals being introduced into the environment. Pharmaceuticals are increasingly found in wastewater and surface waters around the world, often due to incomplete metabolism in humans and subsequent excretion in human waste. Risk analyses and exposure studies have raised concerns about potential negative impacts of pharmaceuticals at current environmental levels. Results of the present study indicate that metformin at concentrations in the range of what has been documented in freshwater systems and waste-water effluent (40 μg/L) affects aggressive behavior in adult male Betta splendens. Subjects exhibited less aggression toward a male dummy stimulus after four weeks exposure to metformin-treated water when compared to behavior measured immediately prior to their exposure, and in comparison to a separate cohort of un-exposed control fish. This effect persisted after 20 weeks exposure as well. Subjects exposed to metformin at a concentration twice that currently observed in nature (80 μg/L) exhibited an even more substantial reduction in aggressive behaviors compared to controls and pre-exposure measurements than those observed in the low-dose treatment group. Such changes in behavior have the potential to affect male fitness and possibly impact the health of natural populations of aquatic organisms exposed to the drug.

[Influence of home nurture environment on language development and social emotion in children with developmental language disorder].

PubMed

Li, Guo-Kai; Liu, Gui-Hua; Qian, Qin-Fang; Ge, Pin; Xie, Yan-Qin; Yang, Min-Yan; Wang, Zhang-Qiong; Ou, Ping

2017-05-01

To investigate the influence of home nurture environment on language development and social emotion in children with developmental language disorder (DLD). The 1-3 Years Child Home Nurture Environment Scale, Gesell Developmental Scale, and Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment Scale were used for the evaluation of 125 children with DLD. A total of 130 children with normal language development matched for age and sex were enrolled as control group. Compared with the control group, the DLD group had a significantly higher proportion of children in a bad home nurture environment and significantly lower scores of all domains of home nurture environment (P<0.05). In children with DLD, the home nurture environment score was positively correlated with the level of language development (r=0.536, P<0.01) and the score of ability domain in social emotion (r=0.397, P<0.01) and was negatively correlated with the scores of the domains of explicit behavior, covert behavior, and imbalance in social emotion (r=-0.455, -0.438, and -0.390 respectively, P<0.01). Home nurture environment had direct influence on language development in children with DLD and affected their language development via the mediating effect of social emotion. Home nurture environment influences language development and social emotion in children with DLD, and social emotion has a partial mediating effect between home nurture environment and language development.

Conceptualizations of waste-related implications on health and welfare among elementary school students in the Negev's Bedouin Arab community

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sedawi, Wisam; Ben Zvi Assaraf, Orit; Cwikel, Julie

2014-12-01

This study addresses the manner in which 4th-5th grade children from unrecognized Bedouin settlements in Israel's Negev desert perceive waste and its effects on health and the environment, with an eye towards building a future model for their environmental education. These children participate in local practices with environmental repercussions, such as incinerating waste or collecting it for reuse and sale. These lead to injury, exposure to toxic chemicals and chronic disease. Understanding such dangers would not only help these children avoid future environmental and personal harm, but potentially allow them to influence the knowledge, affect and behavior of adults in their household as well. Data was collected by a combination of interviews and observations, with results divided into three main categories: knowledge, affect and behavior. We found that though waste is an integral part of the children's domestic environment, their knowledge of it was only superficial, based in social and personal experience. In terms of affect, children's reactions were ambiguous—demonstrating environmental responsibility whilst simultaneously describing a lack of interest towards environmental preservation. The children described several waste-related everyday behaviors: going to the valley to dump waste, burning or playing with it, making toys from discarded objects, and gathering metals, batteries, and bottles for sale. Together, the three aspects of this study reveal the extent and pervasiveness of waste's impact on these children's lives. They also highlight the areas that should be targeted in future environmental education if positive change is to be achieved.

Ovariectomy results in inbred strain-specific increases in anxiety-like behavior in mice

PubMed Central

Schoenrock, Sarah Adams; Oreper, Daniel; Young, Nancy; Ervin, Robin Betsch; Bogue, Molly A.; Valdar, William; Tarantino, Lisa M.

2017-01-01

Women are at an increased risk for developing affective disorders during times of hormonal flux, including menopause when the ovaries cease production of estrogen. However, while all women undergo menopause, not all develop an affective disorder. Increased vulnerability can result from genetic predisposition, environmental factors and gene by environment interactions. In order to investigate interactions between genetic background and estrogen depletion, we performed bilateral ovariectomy, a surgical procedure that results in estrogen depletion and is thought to model the post-menopausal state, in a genetically defined panel of 37 inbred mouse strains. Seventeen days post-ovariectomy, we assessed behavior in two standard rodent assays of anxiety- and depressive-like behavior, the open field and forced swim tests. We detected a significant interaction between ovariectomy and genetic background on anxiety-like behavior in the open field. No strain specific effects of ovariectomy were observed in the forced swim assay. However, we did observe significant strain effects for all behaviors in both the open field and forced swim tests. This study is the largest to date to look at the effects of ovariectomy on behavior and provides evidence that ovariectomy interacts with genetic background to alter anxiety-like behavior in an animal model of menopause. PMID:27693591

MoCog1: A computer simulation of recognition-primed human decision making

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gevarter, William B.

1991-01-01

This report describes the successful results of the first stage of a research effort to develop a 'sophisticated' computer model of human cognitive behavior. Most human decision-making is of the experience-based, relatively straight-forward, largely automatic, type of response to internal goals and drives, utilizing cues and opportunities perceived from the current environment. This report describes the development of the architecture and computer program associated with such 'recognition-primed' decision-making. The resultant computer program was successfully utilized as a vehicle to simulate findings that relate how an individual's implicit theories orient them toward particular goals, with resultant cognitions, affects, and behavior in response to their environment. The present work is an expanded version and is based on research reported while the author was an employee of NASA ARC.

Behavioral and Environmental Modification of the Genetic Influence on Body Mass Index: A Twin Study.

PubMed

Horn, Erin E; Turkheimer, Eric; Strachan, Eric; Duncan, Glen E

2015-07-01

Body mass index (BMI) has a strong genetic basis, with a heritability around 0.75, but is also influenced by numerous behavioral and environmental factors. Aspects of the built environment (e.g., environmental walkability) are hypothesized to influence obesity by directly affecting BMI, by facilitating or inhibiting behaviors such as physical activity that are related to BMI, or by suppressing genetic tendencies toward higher BMI. The present study investigated relative influences of physical activity and walkability on variance in BMI using 5079 same-sex adult twin pairs (70 % monozygotic, 65 % female). High activity and walkability levels independently suppressed genetic variance in BMI. Estimating their effects simultaneously, however, suggested that the walkability effect was mediated by activity. The suppressive effect of activity on variance in BMI was present even with a tendency for low-BMI individuals to select into environments that require higher activity levels. Overall, our results point to community- or macro-level interventions that facilitate individual-level behaviors as a plausible approach to addressing the obesity epidemic among US adults.

Behavioral and environmental modification of the genetic influence on body mass index: A twin study

PubMed Central

Horn, Erin E.; Turkheimer, Eric; Strachan, Eric; Duncan, Glen E.

2015-01-01

Body mass index (BMI) has a strong genetic basis, with a heritability around 0.75, but is also influenced by numerous behavioral and environmental factors. Aspects of the built environment (e.g., environmental walkability) are hypothesized to influence obesity by directly affecting BMI, by facilitating or inhibiting behaviors such as physical activity that are related to BMI, or by suppressing genetic tendencies toward higher BMI. The present study investigated relative influences of physical activity and walkability on variance in BMI using 5,079 same-sex adult twin pairs (70% monozygotic, 65% female). High activity and walkability levels independently suppressed genetic variance in BMI. Estimating their effects simultaneously, however, suggested that the walkability effect was mediated by activity. The suppressive effect of activity on variance in BMI was present even with a tendency for low-BMI individuals to select into environments that require higher activity levels. Overall, our results point to community- or macro-level interventions that facilitate individual-level behaviors as a plausible approach to addressing the obesity epidemic among U.S. adults. PMID:25894925

Dominance rank causally affects personality and glucocorticoid regulation in female rhesus macaques

PubMed Central

Kohn, Jordan N.; Snyder-Mackler, Noah; Barreiro, Luis B.; Johnson, Zachary P.; Tung, Jenny; Wilson, Mark E.

2017-01-01

Low social status is frequently associated with heightened exposure to social stressors and altered glucocorticoid regulation by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Additionally, personality differences can affect how individuals behave in response to social conditions, and thus may aggravate or protect against the effects of low status on HPA function. Disentangling the relative importance of personality from the effects of the social environment on the HPA axis has been challenging, since social status can predict aspects of behavior, and both can remain stable across the lifespan. To do so here, we studied an animal model of social status and social behavior, the rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta). We performed two sequential experimental manipulations of dominance rank (i.e., social status) in 45 adult females, allowing us to characterize personality and glucocorticoid regulation (based on sensitivity to the exogenous glucocorticoid dexamethasone) in each individual while she occupied two different dominance ranks. We identified two behavioral characteristics, termed ‘social approachability’ and ‘boldness,’ which were highly social status-dependent. Social approachability and a third dimension, anxiousness, were also associated with cortisol dynamics in low status females, suggesting that behavioral tendencies may sensitize individuals to the effects of low status on HPA axis function. Finally, we found that improvements in dominance rank increased dexamethasone-induced acute cortisol suppression and glucocorticoid negative feedback. Our findings indicate that social status causally affects both behavioral tendencies and glucocorticoid regulation, and that some behavioral tendencies also independently affect cortisol levels, beyond the effects of rank. Together, they highlight the importance of considering personality and social status together when investigating their effects on HPA axis function. PMID:27639059

Dominance rank causally affects personality and glucocorticoid regulation in female rhesus macaques.

PubMed

Kohn, Jordan N; Snyder-Mackler, Noah; Barreiro, Luis B; Johnson, Zachary P; Tung, Jenny; Wilson, Mark E

2016-12-01

Low social status is frequently associated with heightened exposure to social stressors and altered glucocorticoid regulation by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Additionally, personality differences can affect how individuals behave in response to social conditions, and thus may aggravate or protect against the effects of low status on HPA function. Disentangling the relative importance of personality from the effects of the social environment on the HPA axis has been challenging, since social status can predict aspects of behavior, and both can remain stable across the lifespan. To do so here, we studied an animal model of social status and social behavior, the rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta). We performed two sequential experimental manipulations of dominance rank (i.e., social status) in 45 adult females, allowing us to characterize personality and glucocorticoid regulation (based on sensitivity to the exogenous glucocorticoid dexamethasone) in each individual while she occupied two different dominance ranks. We identified two behavioral characteristics, termed 'social approachability' and 'boldness,' which were highly social status-dependent. Social approachability and a third dimension, anxiousness, were also associated with cortisol dynamics in low status females, suggesting that behavioral tendencies may sensitize individuals to the effects of low status on HPA axis function. Finally, we found that improvements in dominance rank increased dexamethasone-induced acute cortisol suppression and glucocorticoid negative feedback. Our findings indicate that social status causally affects both behavioral tendencies and glucocorticoid regulation, and that some behavioral tendencies also independently affect cortisol levels, beyond the effects of rank. Together, they highlight the importance of considering personality and social status together when investigating their effects on HPA axis function. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of e-liquid flavor on electronic cigarette topography and consumption behavior in a 2-week natural environment switching study.

PubMed

Robinson, R J; Hensel, E C; Al-Olayan, A A; Nonnemaker, J M; Lee, Y O

2018-01-01

Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) offer an alternate means to consume nicotine in a variety of flavored aerosols. Data are needed to better understand the impact of flavors on use behavior. A natural environment observational study was conducted on experienced ENDS users to measure the effect of e-liquid flavor on topography and consumption behavior. The RIT wPUMTM monitor was used to record to record the date and time and puff topography (flow rate, volume, duration) for every puff taken by N = 34 participants over the course of two weeks. All participants used tobacco flavor for one week, and either berry or menthol flavor for one week. Results provide strong evidence that flavor affects the topography behaviors of mean puff flow rate and mean puff volume, and there is insufficient evidence to support an influence of flavor on mean puff duration and mean puff interval. There was insufficient evidence, due to the low power associated with the limited number of observation days, to establish a relationship between flavor and cumulative consumption behavior. While the results indicate that an effect may be evident, additional observation days are required to establish significance.

Effect of e-liquid flavor on electronic cigarette topography and consumption behavior in a 2-week natural environment switching study

PubMed Central

al-Olayan, A. A.; Nonnemaker, J. M.; Lee, Y. O.

2018-01-01

Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) offer an alternate means to consume nicotine in a variety of flavored aerosols. Data are needed to better understand the impact of flavors on use behavior. A natural environment observational study was conducted on experienced ENDS users to measure the effect of e-liquid flavor on topography and consumption behavior. The RIT wPUMTM monitor was used to record to record the date and time and puff topography (flow rate, volume, duration) for every puff taken by N = 34 participants over the course of two weeks. All participants used tobacco flavor for one week, and either berry or menthol flavor for one week. Results provide strong evidence that flavor affects the topography behaviors of mean puff flow rate and mean puff volume, and there is insufficient evidence to support an influence of flavor on mean puff duration and mean puff interval. There was insufficient evidence, due to the low power associated with the limited number of observation days, to establish a relationship between flavor and cumulative consumption behavior. While the results indicate that an effect may be evident, additional observation days are required to establish significance. PMID:29718974

The influence of information processing goal pursuit on postdecision affect and behavioral intentions.

PubMed

Laran, Juliano

2010-01-01

Two important forces in human behavior are action and inaction. Although action and inaction are commonly associated with the presence and the absence of behavioral activity, they can also be represented as information processing goals. Action (inaction) goals influence decision effort and increase satisfaction with environments that are structured to allow for more (less) processing (Studies 1 and 2). This increased satisfaction can transfer to the decision (Study 3) and can increase the intent to perform a decision-congruent behavior (Studies 4 and 6). Finally, the author shows escalation of action and inaction goals when they are not achieved (Study 5) and rebound of the alternative goal when the focal goal is achieved (Study 6).

A potentiodynamic study of aluminum-lithium alloys in an aqueous sodium chloride environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tsao, C.-H. T.; Pizzo, P. P.

1985-01-01

The characteristics of the potentiodynamic curves for Al-Li alloys in 3.5 percent NaCl aqueous solution are explained and the electrochemical parameters of the potentiodynamic technique are correlated to observed pitting and intergranular cracking behavior. It is shown that the oxygen content of the sodium chloride electrolyte plays an important role in the electrochemical behavior of Al-Li alloys. The potentiodynamic behavior of the alloys is found to be insensitive to variation in compositional content and heat treatment, both of which affect the stress-corrosion behavior. Stringer oxide particle attack and random pitting are observed. It is shown that alternate-immersion exposure prior to potentiodynamic polarization may offer a means of assessing susceptibility to stress-corrosion cracking.

Public Response to a Near-Miss Nuclear Accident Scenario Varying in Causal Attributions and Outcome Uncertainty.

PubMed

Cui, Jinshu; Rosoff, Heather; John, Richard S

2018-05-01

Many studies have investigated public reactions to nuclear accidents. However, few studies focused on more common events when a serious accident could have happened but did not. This study evaluated public response (emotional, cognitive, and behavioral) over three phases of a near-miss nuclear accident. Simulating a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) scenario, we manipulated (1) attribution for the initial cause of the incident (software failure vs. cyber terrorist attack vs. earthquake), (2) attribution for halting the incident (fail-safe system design vs. an intervention by an individual expert vs. a chance coincidence), and (3) level of uncertainty (certain vs. uncertain) about risk of a future radiation leak after the LOCA is halted. A total of 773 respondents were sampled using a 3 × 3 × 2 between-subjects design. Results from both MANCOVA and structural equation modeling (SEM) indicate that respondents experienced more negative affect, perceived more risk, and expressed more avoidance behavioral intention when the near-miss event was initiated by an external attributed source (e.g., earthquake) compared to an internally attributed source (e.g., software failure). Similarly, respondents also indicated greater negative affect, perceived risk, and avoidance behavioral intentions when the future impact of the near-miss incident on people and the environment remained uncertain. Results from SEM analyses also suggested that negative affect predicted risk perception, and both predicted avoidance behavior. Affect, risk perception, and avoidance behavior demonstrated high stability (i.e., reliability) from one phase to the next. © 2017 Society for Risk Analysis.

Transport of gadolinium- and arsenic-based pharmaceuticals in saturated soil under various redox conditions.

PubMed

Menahem, Adi; Dror, Ishai; Berkowitz, Brian

2016-02-01

The release of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) to the soil-water environment necessitates understanding of PPCP transport behavior under conditions that account for dynamic flow and varying redox states. This study investigates the transport of two organometallic PPCPs, Gd-DTPA and roxarsone (arsenic compound) and their metal salts (Gd(NO3)3, AsNaO2); Gd-DTPA is used widely as a contrasting agent for MRI, while roxarsone is applied extensively as a food additive in the broiler poultry industry. Here, we present column experiments using sand and Mediterranean red sandy clay soil, performed under several redox conditions. The metal salts were almost completely immobile. In contrast, transport of Gd-DTPA and roxarsone was affected by the soil type. Roxarsone was also affected by the different redox conditions, showing delayed breakthrough curves as the redox potential became more negative due to biological activity (chemically-strong reducing conditions did not affect the transport). Mechanisms that include adsorptive retardation for aerobic and nitrate-reducing conditions, and non-adsorptive retardation for iron-reducing, sulfate-reducing and biologically-strong reducing conditions, are suggested to explain the roxarsone behavior. Gd-DTPA is found to be a stable complex, with potential for high mobility in groundwater systems, whereas roxarsone transport through groundwater systems is affected by redox environments, demonstrating high mobility under aerobic and nitrate-reducing conditions and delayed transport under iron-reducing, sulfate-reducing and biologically-strong reducing conditions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Chronic blockade or constitutive deletion of the serotonin transporter reduces operant responding for food reward.

PubMed

Sanders, Amy Cecilia; Hussain, Ali J; Hen, René; Zhuang, Xiaoxi

2007-11-01

The therapeutic effects of chronic selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are well documented, yet the elementary behavioral processes that are affected by such treatment have not been fully investigated. We report here the effects of chronic fluoxetine treatment and genetic deletion of the serotonin transporter (SERT) on food reinforced behavior in three paradigms: the progressive ratio operant task, the concurrent choice operant task, and the Pavlovian-to-Instrumental transfer task. We consistently find that chronic pharmacological blockade or genetic deletion of SERT result in similar behavioral consequences: reduced operant responding for natural reward. This is in line with previous studies reporting declines in operant responding for drugs and intracranial self-stimulation with fluoxetine treatment, suggesting that the effect of SERT blockade can be generalized to different reward types. Detailed analyses of behavioral parameters indicate that this reduction in operant responding affect both goal-directed and non-goal-directed behaviors without affecting the Pavlovian cue-triggered excessive operant responding. In addition, both pharmacological and genetic manipulations reduce locomotor activity in the open field novel environment. Our data contrast with the effect of dopamine in increasing operant responding for natural reward specifically in goal-directed behaviors and in increasing Pavlovian cue-triggered excessive operant responding. Serotonin and dopamine have been proposed to serve opposing functions in motivational processes. Our data suggest that their interactions do not result in simple opponency. The fact that pharmacological blockade and genetic deletion of SERT have similar behavioral consequences reinforces the utility of the SERT null mice for investigation of the mechanisms underlying chronic SSRIs treatment.

Effects of sex and housing on social, spatial, and motor behavior in adult rats exposed to moderate levels of alcohol during prenatal development

PubMed Central

Rodriguez, Carlos I.; Magcalas, Christy M.; Barto, Daniel; Fink, Brandi C.; Rice, James P.; Bird, Clark W.; Davies, Suzy; Pentkowski, Nathan S.; Savage, Daniel D.; Hamilton, Derek A.

2016-01-01

Persistent deficits in social behavior, motor behavior, and behavioral flexibility are among the major negative consequences associated with exposure to ethanol during prenatal development. Prior work from our laboratory has linked moderate prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) in the rat to deficits in these behavioral domains, which depend upon the ventrolateral frontal cortex [20]. Manipulations of the social environment cause modifications of dendritic morphology and experience-dependent immediate early gene expression in ventrolateral frontal cortex [19], and may yield positive behavioral outcomes following PAE. In the present study we evaluated the effects of housing PAE rats with non-exposed control rats on adult behavior. Rats of both sexes were either paired with a partner from the same prenatal treatment condition (ethanol or saccharin) or from the opposite condition (mixed housing condition). At four months of age (~3 months after the housing manipulation commenced), social behavior, tongue protrusion, and behavioral flexibility in the Morris water task were measured as in [20]. The behavioral effects of moderate PAE were primarily limited to males and were not ameliorated by housing with a non-ethanol exposed partner. Unexpectedly, social behavior, motor behavior, and spatial flexibility were adversely affected in control rats housed with a PAE rat (i.e., in mixed housing), indicating that housing with a PAE rat has broad behavioral consequences beyond the social domain. These observations provide further evidence that moderate PAE negatively affects social behavior, and underscore the importance of considering potential negative effects of housing with PAE animals on the behavior of critical comparison groups. PMID:27424779

Evolutionary relevance facilitates visual information processing.

PubMed

Jackson, Russell E; Calvillo, Dusti P

2013-11-03

Visual search of the environment is a fundamental human behavior that perceptual load affects powerfully. Previously investigated means for overcoming the inhibitions of high perceptual load, however, generalize poorly to real-world human behavior. We hypothesized that humans would process evolutionarily relevant stimuli more efficiently than evolutionarily novel stimuli, and evolutionary relevance would mitigate the repercussions of high perceptual load during visual search. Animacy is a significant component to evolutionary relevance of visual stimuli because perceiving animate entities is time-sensitive in ways that pose significant evolutionary consequences. Participants completing a visual search task located evolutionarily relevant and animate objects fastest and with the least impact of high perceptual load. Evolutionarily novel and inanimate objects were located slowest and with the highest impact of perceptual load. Evolutionary relevance may importantly affect everyday visual information processing.

Toddler development.

PubMed

Colson, E R; Dworkin, P H

1997-08-01

The toddler years are ones of exciting and challenging changes in cognitive, affective, and physical growth. Physical growth is particularly remarkable for the child's increasing skills and ability to navigate the environment. Affective development is marked by the push for autonomy and independence and the highly visible nature of the child's temperament or behavioral style. The toddler also enters the wonderful years of imagination and pretend play. Perhaps most noteworthy is the child's dramatic increase in ability to communicate with others through speech and language, as evidence of the progression to symbolic thinking. The dynamic changes in children's development during the toddler years have important implications for child health supervision. Familiarity with toddler development will enable the pediatrician to monitor children's development effectively and to address common, stage-related behaviors with families during anticipatory guidance.

Affect and Therapeutic Process in Groups for Chronically Mentally Ill Persons

PubMed Central

Stone, Walter N.

1998-01-01

A dynamic group treatment model for chronically ill persons allowing them to determine the frequency of attendance empowers the members and potentiates group development. This format respects patients' needs for space as represented by missed meetings. In this context, absences are formulated as self-protective and self-stabilizing acts rather than as resistance. In an accepting, supportive environment, members can be helped to explore affects and gain insight into their behaviors. A clinical example illustrates patients' examination of the meaning of missing and attending sessions, with particular focus on intensity of involvement, autonomy, and control. In the process of testing the therapist and group, members show capacity to gain insight into recent in-group and extra-group behaviors.(The Journal of Psychotherapy Practice and Research 1998; 7:208–216) PMID:9631342

Social Brains in Context: Lesions Targeted to the Song Control System in Female Cowbirds Affect Their Social Network

PubMed Central

Maguire, Sarah E.; Schmidt, Marc F.; White, David J.

2013-01-01

Social experiences can organize physiological, neural, and reproductive function, but there are few experimental preparations that allow one to study the effect individuals have in structuring their social environment. We examined the connections between mechanisms underlying individual behavior and social dynamics in flocks of brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater). We conducted targeted inactivations of the neural song control system in female subjects. Playback tests revealed that the lesions affected females' song preferences: lesioned females were no longer selective for high quality conspecific song. Instead, they reacted to all cowbird songs vigorously. When lesioned females were introduced into mixed-sex captive flocks, they were less likely to form strong pair-bonds, and they no longer showed preferences for dominant males. This in turn created a cascade of effects through the groups. Social network analyses showed that the introduction of the lesioned females created instabilities in the social structure: males in the groups changed their dominance status and their courtship patterns, and even the competitive behavior of other female group-mates was affected. These results reveal that inactivation of the song control system in female cowbirds not only affects individual behavior, but also exerts widespread effects on the stability of the entire social system. PMID:23650558

Social brains in context: lesions targeted to the song control system in female cowbirds affect their social network.

PubMed

Maguire, Sarah E; Schmidt, Marc F; White, David J

2013-01-01

Social experiences can organize physiological, neural, and reproductive function, but there are few experimental preparations that allow one to study the effect individuals have in structuring their social environment. We examined the connections between mechanisms underlying individual behavior and social dynamics in flocks of brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater). We conducted targeted inactivations of the neural song control system in female subjects. Playback tests revealed that the lesions affected females' song preferences: lesioned females were no longer selective for high quality conspecific song. Instead, they reacted to all cowbird songs vigorously. When lesioned females were introduced into mixed-sex captive flocks, they were less likely to form strong pair-bonds, and they no longer showed preferences for dominant males. This in turn created a cascade of effects through the groups. Social network analyses showed that the introduction of the lesioned females created instabilities in the social structure: males in the groups changed their dominance status and their courtship patterns, and even the competitive behavior of other female group-mates was affected. These results reveal that inactivation of the song control system in female cowbirds not only affects individual behavior, but also exerts widespread effects on the stability of the entire social system.

Persuasibility--A Reception-yielding Process: A Nonmonotonic Theory of Man's Reception Distortion Behaviors as a Function of Environmental Fluctuations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crawford, John E.; Reinard, John C., Jr.

Three environmental elements--messages, events, and perceived consequences of choices--cause varying amounts of stress on an individual and affect his capacity to deal with his environment. There is a nonmonotonic relationship between environmental pressures ("event press") and persuasibility in that the number and importance of…

The Effects of Computer-Mediated Communication Anxiety on Student Perceptions of Instructor Behaviors, Perceived Learning, and Quiz Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wombacher, Kevin A.; Harris, Christina J.; Buckner, Marjorie M.; Frisby, Brandi; Limperos, Anthony M.

2017-01-01

Online environments increasingly serve as contexts for learning. Hence, it is important to understand how student characteristics, such as student computer-mediated communication anxiety (CMCA) affects learning outcomes in mediated classrooms. To better understand how student CMCA may influence student online learning experiences, we tested a…

Effect of carbide precipitation on the corrosion behavior of Inconel alloy 690

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sarver, J.M.; Crum, J.R.; Mankins, W.L.

1987-01-01

Intergranular carbide precipitation reactions have been shown to affect the stress corrosion cracking (SCC) resistance of nickel-chromium-iron alloys in environments relative to nuclear steam generators. Carbon solubility curves, time-temperature-sensitization plots and other carbide precipitation data are presented for alloy 690 as an aid in developing heat treatments for improved SCC resistance.

Do the Values of First Year Education Students and Successful Urban Teachers Differ?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lemlech, Johanna Kasin; Sikula, John P.

A survey of 18 values held by selected groups of preservice teaching candidates and by successful, urban, secondary-school teachers showed a divergence that can be expected to affect personal characteristics and teacher behaviors, as well as instructional success or failure in a variety of teaching environments. The two groups differed…

Strategic Plan for the Elimination of Childhood Lead Poisoning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Binder, Sue; Falk, Henry

This document describes an agenda for the first 5 years of a comprehensive effort to eliminate childhood lead poisoning. In 1984, between 3 and 4 million children were estimated to have blood lead levels high enough to adversely affect intelligence and behavior. Lead in the home environment, especially lead-based paint, is the major source of lead…

Atmospheric turbulence observations in the vicinity of surface fires in forested environments

Treesearch

Warren E. Heilman; Xindi Bian; Kenneth L. Clark; Nicholas S. Skowronski; John L. Hom; Michael R. Gallagher

2017-01-01

Ambient and fire-induced atmospheric turbulence in the vicinity of wildland fires can affect the behavior of those fires and the dispersion of smoke. The presence of forest overstory vegetation can further complicate the evolution of local turbulence regimes and their interaction with spreading fires and smoke plumes. Previous observational studies of wildland fire...

A Study on the Relationship between Six-Year-Old Children's Creativity and Mathematical Ability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baran, Gülen; Erdogan, Serap; Çakmak, Aygen

2011-01-01

Creativity is defined as a totality of processes and a way of attitude and behavior which exists in every child to a different extent. Every child is creative owing to their nature and their perspective on life. Offering children creative environments, especially during early childhood education, affects their mathematical abilities and supports…

The Process of Coorientation Toward a Definition of the Situation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Craig, Robert; And Others

The concept of definition of the situation is rooted in the view that human behavior is affected by the environment only indirectly, via the person's image or cognitive map. As a communication concept, however, definition of the situation must also have a relational aspect; an interaction process depends, in part, on the relationship between the…

Assessment of agricultural groundwater users in Iran: a cultural environmental bias

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salehi, Saeid; Chizari, Mohammad; Sadighi, Hassan; Bijani, Masoud

2018-02-01

Many environmental problems are rooted in human behavior. This study aimed to explore the causal effect of cultural environmental bias on `sustainable behavior' among agricultural groundwater users in Fars province, Iran, according to Klockner's comprehensive model. A survey-based research project was conducted to gathering data on the paradigm of environmental psychology. The sample included agricultural groundwater users ( n = 296) who were selected at random within a structured sampling regime involving study areas that represent three (higher, medium and lower) bounds of the agricultural-groundwater-vulnerability spectrum. Results showed that the "environment as ductile (EnAD)" variable was a strong determinant of sustainable behavior as it related to groundwater use, and that EnAE had the highest causal effect on the behavior of agricultural groundwater users. The adjusted model explained 41% variance of "groundwater sustainable behavior". Based on the results, the groundwater sustainable behaviors of agricultural groundwater users were found to be affected by personal and subjective norm variables and that they are influenced by casual effects of the "environment as ductile (EnAD)" variable. The conclusions reflect the Fars agricultural groundwater users' attitude or worldview on groundwater as an unrecoverable resource; thus, it is necessary that scientific disciplines like hydrogeology and psycho-sociology be considered together in a comprehensive approach for every groundwater study.

Analysis on factors affecting household customers decision in using electricity at peak time and its correlation towards saving electricity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pasasa, Linus; Marbun, Parlin; Mariza, Ita

2015-09-01

The purpose of this paper is to study and analyse the factors affecting customer decisions in using electricity at peak-load hours (between 17.00 to 22.00 WIB) and their behaviors towards electricity conservation in Indonesian household. The underlying rationale is to influence a reduction in energy consumption by stimulating energy saving behaviors, thereby reducing the impact of energy use on the environment. How is the correlation between the decisions in using electricity during peak load hours with the household customer's behavior towards saving electricity? The primary data is obtained by distributing questionnaires to customers of PT. PLN Jakarta Raya and Tangerang Distribution from Household segment. The data is analysed using the Structural Equation Model (SEM) and AMOS Software. The research is finding that all factors (Personal, Social, PLN Services, Psychological, and Cultural) are positively influence customer decision in using electricity at peak load hours. There is a correlation between the decisions in using electricity during peak load hours with the household customer's behavior towards saving electricity.

Prenatal Stress as a Risk-and an Opportunity-Factor.

PubMed

Hartman, Sarah; Freeman, Sara M; Bales, Karen L; Belsky, Jay

2018-04-01

Two separate lines of research indicate (a) that prenatal stress is associated with heightened behavioral and physiological reactivity and (b) that these postnatal phenotypes are associated with increased susceptibility to both positive and negative developmental experiences. Therefore, prenatal stress may increase sensitivity to the rearing environment. We tested this hypothesis by manipulating prenatal stress and rearing-environment quality, using a cross-fostering paradigm, in prairie voles. Results showed that prenatally stressed voles, as adults, displayed the highest behavioral and physiological reactivity when cross-fostered to low-contact (i.e., low-quality) rearing but the lowest behavioral and physiological reactivity when cross-fostered to high-contact (i.e., high-quality) rearing; non-prenatally stressed voles showed no effect of rearing condition. Additionally, while neither prenatal stress nor rearing condition affected oxytocin receptor binding, prenatally stressed voles cross-fostered to high-contact rearing showed the highest vasopressin-1a receptor binding in the amygdala. Results indicate that prenatal stress induces greater environmental sensitivity, making it both a risk and an opportunity factor.

Omnivores Going Astray: A Review and New Synthesis of Abnormal Behavior in Pigs and Laying Hens

PubMed Central

Brunberg, Emma I.; Rodenburg, T. Bas; Rydhmer, Lotta; Kjaer, Joergen B.; Jensen, Per; Keeling, Linda J.

2016-01-01

Pigs and poultry are by far the most omnivorous of the domesticated farm animals and it is in their nature to be highly explorative. In the barren production environments, this motivation to explore can be expressed as abnormal oral manipulation directed toward pen mates. Tail biting (TB) in pigs and feather pecking (FP) in laying hens are examples of unwanted behaviors that are detrimental to the welfare of the animals. The aim of this review is to draw these two seemingly similar abnormalities together in a common framework, in order to seek underlying mechanisms and principles. Both TB and FP are affected by the physical and social environment, but not all individuals in a group express these behaviors and individual genetic and neurobiological characteristics play an important role. By synthesizing what is known about environmental and individual influences, we suggest a novel possible mechanism, common for pigs and poultry, involving the brain–gut–microbiota axis. PMID:27500137

Disentangling neighborhood contextual associations with child body mass index, diet, and physical activity: The role of built, socioeconomic, and social environments

PubMed Central

Carroll-Scott, Amy; Gilstad-Hayden, Kathryn; Rosenthal, Lisa; Peters, Susan M.; McCaslin, Catherine; Joyce, Rebecca; Ickovics, Jeannette R.

2014-01-01

Obesity prevalence among US children and adolescents has tripled in the past three decades. Consequently, dramatic increases in chronic disease incidence are expected, particularly among populations already experiencing health disparities. Recent evidence identifies characteristics of “obesogenic” neighborhood environments that affect weight and weight-related behaviors. This study aimed to examine associations between built, socioeconomic, and social characteristics of a child’s residential environment on body mass index (BMI), diet, and physical activity. We focused on pre-adolescent children living in New Haven, Connecticut to better understand neighborhood environments’ contribution to persistent health disparities. Participants were 1048 fifth and sixth grade students who completed school-based health surveys and physical measures in fall 2009. Student data were linked to US Census, parks, retailer, and crime data. Analyses were conducted using multilevel modeling. Property crimes and living further from a grocery store were associated with higher BMI. Students living within a 5-min walk of a fast food outlet had higher BMI, and those living in a tract with higher density of fast food outlets reported less frequent healthy eating and more frequent unhealthy eating. Students’ reported perceptions of access to parks, playgrounds, and gyms were associated with more frequent healthy eating and exercise. Students living in more affluent neighborhoods reported more frequent healthy eating, less unhealthy eating, and less screen time. Neighborhood social ties were positively associated with frequency of exercise. In conclusion, distinct domains of neighborhood environment characteristics were independently related to children’s BMI and health behaviors. Findings link healthy behaviors with built, social, and socioeconomic environment assets (access to parks, social ties, affluence), and unhealthy behaviors with built environment inhibitors (access to fast food outlets), suggesting neighborhood environments are an important level at which to intervene to prevent childhood obesity and its adverse consequences. PMID:23642646

Control systems engineering for optimizing a prenatal weight gain intervention to regulate infant birth weight.

PubMed

Savage, Jennifer S; Downs, Danielle Symons; Dong, Yuwen; Rivera, Daniel E

2014-07-01

We used dynamical systems modeling to describe how a prenatal behavioral intervention that adapts to the needs of each pregnant woman may help manage gestational weight gain and alter the obesogenic intrauterine environment to regulate infant birth weight. This approach relies on integrating mechanistic energy balance, theory of planned behavior, and self-regulation models to describe how internal processes can be impacted by intervention dosages, and reinforce positive outcomes (e.g., healthy eating and physical activity) to moderate gestational weight gain and affect birth weight. A simulated hypothetical case study from MATLAB with Simulink showed how, in response to our adaptive intervention, self-regulation helps adjust perceived behavioral control. This, in turn, changes the woman's intention and behavior with respect to healthy eating and physical activity during pregnancy, affecting gestational weight gain and infant birth weight. This article demonstrates the potential for real-world applications of an adaptive intervention to manage gestational weight gain and moderate infant birth weight. This model could be expanded to examine the long-term sustainable impacts of an intervention that varies according to the participant's needs on maternal postpartum weight retention and child postnatal eating behavior.

Neuroscience of resilience and vulnerability for addiction medicine: From genes to behavior.

PubMed

Morrow, Jonathan D; Flagel, Shelly B

2016-01-01

Addiction is a complex behavioral disorder arising from roughly equal contributions of genetic and environmental factors. Behavioral traits such as novelty-seeking, impulsivity, and cue-reactivity have been associated with vulnerability to addiction. These traits, at least in part, arise from individual variation in functional neural systems, such as increased striatal dopaminergic activity and decreased prefrontal cortical control over subcortical emotional and motivational responses. With a few exceptions, genetic studies have largely failed to consistently identify specific alleles that affect addiction liability. This may be due to the multifactorial nature of addiction, with different genes becoming more significant in certain environments or in certain subsets of the population. Epigenetic mechanisms may also be an important source of risk. Adolescence is a particularly critical time period in the development of addiction, and environmental factors at this stage of life can have a large influence on whether inherited risk factors are actually translated into addictive behaviors. Knowledge of how individual differences affect addiction liability at the level of genes, neural systems, behavioral traits, and sociodevelopmental trajectories can help to inform and improve clinical practice. © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Skin in aviation and space environment.

PubMed

Grover, Sanjiv

2011-01-01

The aerospace environment is a dynamic interaction between man, machine and the environment. Skin diseases are not particularly significant aeromedically, yet they could permanently affect an aviator's status for continued flying duty. A number of dermatological conditions lend themselves to flying restrictions for the aviator. Aircrew and ground crew are exposed to a myriad of elements that could also adversely impact their flying status. Inflight stresses during flights as well as space travel could impact certain behaviors from a dermatological standpoint. With the advent of space tourism, dermatological issues would form an integral part of medical clearances. With limited literature available on this subject, the review article aims to sensitize the readers to the diverse interactions of dermatology with the aerospace environment.

Study on basalt fiber parameters affecting fiber-reinforced mortar

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Orlov, A. A.; Chernykh, T. N.; Sashina, A. V.; Bogusevich, D. V.

2015-01-01

This article considers the effect of different dosages and diameters of basalt fibers on tensile strength increase during bending of fiberboard-reinforced mortar samples. The optimal dosages of fiber, providing maximum strength in bending are revealed. The durability of basalt fiber in an environment of cement, by means of microscopic analysis of samples of fibers and fiberboard-reinforced mortar long-term tests is examined. The article also compares the behavior of basalt fiber in the cement stone environment to a glass one and reveals that the basalt fiber is not subject to destruction.

Tributyltin affects shoaling and anxiety behavior in female rare minnow (Gobiocypris rarus).

PubMed

Zhang, Jiliang; Zhang, Chunnuan; Sun, Ping; Shao, Xian

2016-09-01

Effects of tributyltin (TBT) on reproduction are well established in many fish species. However, few studies report the effects of TBT on non-reproductive behaviors, which is a novel aspect of endocrine disruption in fish. Thus, the present study used rare minnow (Gobiocypris rarus) to investigate the effects of TBT, at environmental concentrations of 1, 10 and 100ng/L, on shoaling and anxiety behaviors. The results showed that fish exposed to TBT had less group cohesion during the course of the 10-min observation period as compared with the control fish. Further, TBT altered the shoaling in the Novel tank test, where shoaling is determined as the tendency to leave a shoal of littermates trapped behind a Plexiglas barrier at one end of the test tank. Fish exposed to TBT had shorter latency before leaving shoal mates and spent more time away from shoal than control fish. In addition, we also used Novel tanks to study the anxiety behavior as the tendency to stay at the bottom when introduced into an unfamiliar environment. The fish exposed to TBT showed increased anxiety, manifested as increased latency to enter the upper half and decreased time in upper half when compared with the control fish. TBT exposure increased the levels of dopamine and its metabolite 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid, and decreased the levels of 5-hydroxytryptamine and its metabolite 5-hydroxy indole acetic acid in the brain. Thus, the hypofunction of the dopaminergic system or of the serotoninergic system or the combination of the two may underlie the observed behavioral change, which might affect the fitness of fish in their natural environment. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of environment and a feline facial pheromone analogue on physiologic and behavioral measures in cats.

PubMed

Conti, Laura Mc; Champion, Tatiana; Guberman, Úrsula C; Mathias, Carlos Ht; Fernandes, Stéfano L; Silva, Elisângela Gm; Lázaro, Monique A; Lopes, Aline Dcg; Fortunato, Viviane R

2017-02-01

Objectives This study assessed behavioral and physiologic stress parameters in cats placed in two environments: home and the veterinary hospital. With a widely used scale, several parameters were assessed, including respiratory rate (RR), heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (SBP), vagosympathetic responses using calculated intervals (heart rate variability [HRV]10, HRV20 and vasovagal tonus index [VVTI]) and 'stress attitude', such as struggling, vocalization and agitation during handling. In addition, we evaluated whether a feline facial pheromone analogue (FFPA) had an effect on any of these measures in either environment. Methods Using a placebo and a pheromone substance, we evaluated 30 adult and healthy cats at home and in veterinary hospitals. Statistical analyses were performed using the Shapiro-Wilk, Kruskal-Wallis, and Dunn or ANOVA and Tukey tests, as well as Spearman's correlation ( P <0.05). Results We found that exposure to FFPA did not reduce the effects of stress. Some parameters presented differences with regard to environment: the RR was 45 and 70 breaths/min and stress attitude score was 1.3 and 0.0 for cats evaluated at home and at the hospital, respectively. The HR and two vagosympathetic responses were also different between the two environments, with a HR of 160 and 187 beats/min, HRV10 of 14.24 and 14.00, and HRV20 of 14.89 and 14.65 in cats at home and the hospital, respectively. There was no variation in SBP and VVTI parameters between the environments. Conclusions and relevance Exposure to FFPA does not reduce the physiologic and behavioral changes measured in this study. Furthermore, environmental change, physical restraint and manipulation during the physical examination alter RR, HR, HRV and behavior but not SBP and VVTI. This study is relevant because physiologic and behavioral stress can affect the quality and interpretation of physical examination results. This study presents detailed data that show the effects of environment and manipulation on such parameters. Furthermore, this study shows a lack of effect of FFPA on any of these parameters.

Early experiences matter: a review of the effects of prenatal environment on offspring characteristics in poultry.

PubMed

Dixon, L M; Sparks, N H C; Rutherford, K M D

2016-03-01

Early life experiences can be important in determining offspring phenotypes and may influence interaction with the environment and hence health, welfare, and productivity. The prenatal environment of poultry can be divided into the pre-lay environment and the egg storage/incubation environment, both of which can affect offspring outcomes. The ability to separate maternal and egg/incubation effects makes birds well suited to this type of research. There are many factors, including feeding and nutrition, environmental conditions, husbandry practices, housing system, social environment, infectious environment, and maternal health status, that can influence both the health and performance and behavior and cognition of the offspring. There are some aspects of the environments that can be changed to produce beneficial effects in the offspring, like addition of certain additives to feed or short changes in incubation temperatures, while other aspects should be avoided to reduce negative effects, such as unpredictable feeding and lighting regimens. Measures of offspring characteristics may prove to be a useful method of assessing parent stock welfare if known stressors result in predictable offspring outcomes. This has the advantage of assessing the parent environment without interfering with the animals and possibly affecting their responses and could lead to improved welfare for the animals. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Poultry Science Association.

On cognitive ecology and the environmental factors that promote Alzheimer disease: lessons from Octodon degus (Rodentia: Octodontidae).

PubMed

Rivera, Daniela S; Inestrosa, Nibaldo C; Bozinovic, Francisco

2016-02-20

Cognitive ecologist posits that the more efficiently an animal uses information from the biotic and abiotic environment, the more adaptive are its cognitive abilities. Nevertheless, this approach does not test for natural neurodegenerative processes under field or experimental conditions, which may recover animals information processing and decision making and may explain, mechanistically, maladaptive behaviors. Here, we call for integrative approaches to explain the relationship between ultimate and proximate mechanisms behind social behavior. We highlight the importance of using the endemic caviomorph rodent Octodon degus as a valuable natural model for mechanistic studies of social behavior and to explain how physical environments can shape social experiences that might influence impaired cognitive abilities and the onset and progression of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer disease. We consequently suggest neuroecological approaches to examine how key elements of the environment may affect neural and cognitive mechanisms associated with learning, memory processes and brain structures involved in social behavior. We propose the following three core objectives of a program comprising interdisciplinary research in O. degus, namely: (1) to determine whether diet types provided after weaning can lead to cognitive impairment associated with spatial memory, learning and predisposing to develop Alzheimer disease in younger ages; (2) to examine if early life social experience has long term effects on behavior and cognitive responses and risk for development Alzheimer disease in later life and (3) To determine if an increase of social interactions in adult degu reared in different degree of social stressful conditions alter their behavior and cognitive responses.

Environmental influences on young adult weight gain: evidence from a natural experiment.

PubMed

Kapinos, Kandice A; Yakusheva, Olga

2011-01-01

This study investigated the importance of environmental influences in explaining weight gain and related behaviors among freshman college students. We exploited a natural experiment that takes place on most college campuses in the United States--randomized dormitory assignments. We estimated the effects of living in dormitories with varying physical environment characteristics on weight gain and related behaviors (daily number of meals and snacks, weekly frequency of exercise) among randomly assigned freshman students. We found strong evidence linking weight and related behaviors to individual dormitories, as well as to specific characteristics of the dormitories. On average, students assigned to dormitories with on-site dining halls gained more weight and exhibited more behaviors consistent with weight gain during the freshman year as compared with students not assigned to such dormitories. Females in such dormitories weighed .85 kg (p = .03) more and exercised 1.43 (p < .01) times fewer; males consumed .22 (p = .02) more meals and .38 (p = .01) more snacks. For female students, closer proximity of the dormitory to a campus gym led to more frequent exercise (.54, p = .03), whereas living closer to central campus reduced exercise (-.97, p = .01). Using a natural experiment to deal with the potential endogeneity of the living environment, this study found that the physical environment affects both students' weight changes and weight-related behaviors. Copyright © 2011 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Generalized optimal risk allocation: foraging and antipredator behavior in a fluctuating environment.

PubMed

Higginson, Andrew D; Fawcett, Tim W; Trimmer, Pete C; McNamara, John M; Houston, Alasdair I

2012-11-01

Animals live in complex environments in which predation risk and food availability change over time. To deal with this variability and maximize their survival, animals should take into account how long current conditions may persist and the possible future conditions they may encounter. This should affect their foraging activity, and with it their vulnerability to predation across periods of good and bad conditions. Here we develop a comprehensive theory of optimal risk allocation that allows for environmental persistence and for fluctuations in food availability as well as predation risk. We show that it is the duration of good and bad periods, independent of each other, rather than the overall proportion of time exposed to each that is the most important factor affecting behavior. Risk allocation is most pronounced when conditions change frequently, and optimal foraging activity can either increase or decrease with increasing exposure to bad conditions. When food availability fluctuates rapidly, animals should forage more when food is abundant, whereas when food availability fluctuates slowly, they should forage more when food is scarce. We also show that survival can increase as variability in predation risk increases. Our work reveals that environmental persistence should profoundly influence behavior. Empirical studies of risk allocation should therefore carefully control the duration of both good and bad periods and consider manipulating food availability as well as predation risk.

A Review of Training Methods and Instructional Techniques: Implications for Behavioral Skills Training in U.S. Astronauts (DRAFT)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hysong, Sylvia J.; Galarza, Laura; Holland, Albert W.

2007-01-01

Long-duration space missions (LDM) place unique physical, environmental and psychological demands on crewmembers that directly affect their ability to live and work in space. A growing body of research on crews working for extended periods in isolated, confined environments reveals the existence of psychological and performance problems in varying degrees of magnitude. The research has also demonstrated that although the environment plays a cathartic role, many of these problems are due to interpersonal frictions (Wood, Lugg, Hysong, & Harm, 1999), and affect each individual differently. Consequently, crewmembers often turn to maladaptive behaviors as coping mechanisms, resulting in decreased productivity and psychological discomfort. From this body of research, critical skills have been identified that can help a crewmember better navigate the psychological challenges of long duration space flight. Although most people lack several of these skills, most of them can be learned; thus, a training program can be designed to teach crewmembers effective leadership, teamwork, and self-care strategies that will help minimize the emergence of maladaptive behaviors. Thus, it is the purpose of this report is twofold: 1) To review the training literature to help determine the optimal instructional methods to use in delivering psychological skill training to the U.S. Astronaut Expedition Corps, and 2) To detail the structure and content of the proposed Astronaut Expedition Corps Psychological Training Program.

The Importance of Organizational Justice in Ensuring Research Integrity

PubMed Central

Martinson, Brian C.; Crain, A. Lauren; De Vries, Raymond; Anderson, Melissa S.

2011-01-01

The professional behavior of scientists, for good or ill, is likely associated with their perceptions of whether they are treated fairly in their work environments, including their academic department and university and by relevant regulatory bodies. These relationships may also be influenced by their own personal characteristics, such as being over-committed to their work, and by the interactions between these factors. Theory also suggests that such associations may be mediated by negative or positive affect. We examined these issues using data from a national, mail-based survey administered in 2006 and 2007 to 5,000 randomly selected faculty from biomedical and social science departments at 50 top-tier research universities in the United States. We found that perceptions of justice in one’s workplace (organizational justice) are positively associated with self-report of "ideal" behaviors and negatively associated with self-report of misbehavior and misconduct. In contrast, researchers who perceive that they are being unfairly treated are less likely to report engaging in "ideal" behaviors and more likely to report misbehavior and misconduct. Over-commitment to one’s work is also associated with negative affect and interacts with perceptions of unfair treatment in ways that are associated with higher self-report of misbehavior. Thus, perceptions of fair treatment in the work environment appear to play important roles in fostering — or undermining — research integrity. PMID:20831422

Person perception and the bounded rationality of social judgment.

PubMed

Wright, J C; Dawson, V L

1988-11-01

In this article, we develop a bounded rationality view of the relation between person perception and social behavior. Two theses of this approach are that behaviors vary in their significance to observers, and that observers pursue bounded rather than global utility in forming personality impressions. Observers are expected to be sensitive to targets' overall behavioral tendencies and to the variability of their behavior across situations, but both sensitivities are bounded, being greater for behaviors that directly affect observers' outcomes. In two investigations involving extensive hourly and 6-s observations, we examined the bounded utility of people's impressions of personality, demonstrating how impression accuracy is linked to the significance of behaviors. Observers were sensitive to the organization of aggressive behaviors, but less sensitive to the organization of withdrawn behaviors, even when the consistency of those behaviors was comparable. The results clarify the relation between people's inferential shortcomings in laboratory paradigms and the bounded utility of person perception in the natural environment.

The effects of environmental and visitor variables on the behavior of free-ranging ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) in captivity.

PubMed

Collins, Courtney; Corkery, Ilse; Haigh, Amy; McKeown, Sean; Quirke, Thomas; O'Riordan, Ruth

2017-07-01

The effect of the zoo environment on captive animals is an increasingly studied area of zoo research, with visitor effects and exhibit design recognized as two of the factors that can contribute to animal welfare in captivity. It is known that in some situations, visitors may be stressful to zoo-housed primates, and this may be compounded by environmental factors such as the weather, the time of day, and zoo husbandry routines. Exhibit design and proximity of the public are also known to influence behavioral response of primates to visitors; however, there is minimal research on free-ranging zoo animals, even though they are potentially subjected to intense interactions with visitors. The current study explores the effect of the zoo environment, several visitor variables and specific animal-visitor interactions on the behavior of free-ranging ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) at Fota Wildlife Park, Ireland. Data were obtained through scan samples collected over 18 months (n = 12,263) and analyzed using a range of statistical tests, including general estimating equations (GEE). Results demonstrate that the free-ranging lemurs' behavior at Fota Wildlife Park is affected by season, weather and time of day. Similarities in feeding behavior exist between the free-ranging group and lemurs in the wild when resources are plentiful. Visitor variables had a limited effect on lemur behavior and behavioral diversity level. Lemurs rarely reacted to visitors when specific interactions were considered. Generally, the results indicate that the ring-tailed lemurs in this study have adapted well to the zoo environment and habituated to visitors. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Optimizing temperament through litter size in short-lived, iteroparous mammals in seasonal environments.

PubMed

Eccard, Jana A; Rödel, Heiko G

2011-09-01

A number of short-lived, iteroparous animal species have small broods in the early breeding season and larger broods in later breeding season. Brood size affects not only offspring size, but as recent results suggest, may also affect offspring's temperament, hormonal status, and aggression as adults. Most populations of short-lived, iteroparous mammals fluctuate predictably over the season, with low densities in winter, increasing densities in summer and a population peak in late summer followed by a population breakdown. If animals live only through parts of the season, possibly such differences in density and hence also in social environments among seasons require different personality types to increase individual fitness. We present data on behavior of European rabbits from a field enclosure study. These data clearly show that aggressiveness is higher in young from smaller litters than in young from larger litters, and smaller litters are usually born during the early breeding season. Moreover, our data suggest that behavioral types of the young rabbits are stable over time, at least during their subadult life. We suggest, that changes in mean litter size over the course of the breeding season may not only be a product of mothers' age or food availability, but may also have an adaptive function by preparing offspring characteristics for adulthood in a social environment undergoing predictable density changes within the season. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Fear no colors? Observer clothing color influences lizard escape behavior

PubMed Central

Drury, Jonathan P.; Blumstein, Daniel T.; Pauly, Gregory B.

2017-01-01

Animals often view humans as predators, leading to alterations in their behavior. Even nuanced aspects of human activity like clothing color affect animal behavior, but we lack an understanding of when and where such effects will occur. The species confidence hypothesis posits that birds are attracted to colors found on their bodies and repelled by non-body colors. Here, we extend this hypothesis taxonomically and conceptually to test whether this pattern is applicable in a non-avian reptile and to suggest that species should respond less fearfully to their sexually-selected signaling color. Responses to clothing color could also be impacted by habituation to humans, so we examine whether behavior varied between areas with low and high human activity. We quantified the effects of four T-shirt colors on flight initiation distances (FID) and on the ease of capture in western fence lizards (Sceloporus occidentalis), and we accounted for detectability against the background environment. We found no differences in lizard behavior between sites. However, lizards tolerated the closest approaches and were most likely to be captured when approached with the T-shirt that resembled their sexually-selected signaling color. Because changes in individual behavior affect fitness, choice of clothing color by people, including tourists, hikers, and researchers, could impact wildlife populations and research outcomes. PMID:28792983

An investigation of driver distraction near the tipping point of traffic flow stability.

PubMed

Cooper, Joel M; Vladisavljevic, Ivana; Medeiros-Ward, Nathan; Martin, Peter T; Strayer, David L

2009-04-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the interrelationship between driver distraction and characteristics of driver behavior associated with reduced highway traffic efficiency. Research on the three-phase traffic theory and on behavioral driving suggests that a number of characteristics associated with efficient traffic flow may be affected by driver distraction. Previous studies have been limited, however, by the fact that researchers typically do not allow participants to change lanes, nor do they account for the impact of varying traffic states on driving performance. Participants drove in three simulated environments with differing traffic congestion while both using and not using a cell phone. Instructed only to obey the speed limit, participants were allowed to vary driving behaviors, such as those involving forward following distance, speed, and lane-changing frequency. Both driver distraction and traffic congestion were found to significantly affect lane change frequency, mean speed, and the likelihood of remaining behind a slower-moving lead vehicle. This research suggests that the behavioral profile of "cell phone drivers," which is often described as compensatory, may have far-reaching and unexpected consequences for traffic efficiency. By considering the dynamic interplay between characteristics of traffic flow and driver behavior, this research may inform both public policy regarding in-vehicle cell phone use and future investigations of driving behavior.

Fear no colors? Observer clothing color influences lizard escape behavior.

PubMed

Putman, Breanna J; Drury, Jonathan P; Blumstein, Daniel T; Pauly, Gregory B

2017-01-01

Animals often view humans as predators, leading to alterations in their behavior. Even nuanced aspects of human activity like clothing color affect animal behavior, but we lack an understanding of when and where such effects will occur. The species confidence hypothesis posits that birds are attracted to colors found on their bodies and repelled by non-body colors. Here, we extend this hypothesis taxonomically and conceptually to test whether this pattern is applicable in a non-avian reptile and to suggest that species should respond less fearfully to their sexually-selected signaling color. Responses to clothing color could also be impacted by habituation to humans, so we examine whether behavior varied between areas with low and high human activity. We quantified the effects of four T-shirt colors on flight initiation distances (FID) and on the ease of capture in western fence lizards (Sceloporus occidentalis), and we accounted for detectability against the background environment. We found no differences in lizard behavior between sites. However, lizards tolerated the closest approaches and were most likely to be captured when approached with the T-shirt that resembled their sexually-selected signaling color. Because changes in individual behavior affect fitness, choice of clothing color by people, including tourists, hikers, and researchers, could impact wildlife populations and research outcomes.

A Novel Framework for Characterizing Exposure-Related ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Descriptions of where and how individuals spend their time are important for characterizing exposures to chemicals in consumer products and in indoor environments. Herein we create an agent-based model (ABM) that is able to simulate longitudinal patterns in behaviors. By basing our ABM upon a needs-based artificial intelligence (AI) system, we create agents that mimic human decisions on these exposure-relevant behaviors. In a case study of adults, we use the AI to predict the inter-individual variation in the start time and duration of four behaviors: sleeping, eating, commuting, and working. The results demonstrate that the ABM can capture both inter-individual variation and how decisions on one behavior can affect subsequent behaviors. Preset NERL's research on the use of agent based modeling in exposure assessments. To obtain feed back on the approach from the leading experts in the field.

Crucial Dimensions of Human Altruism. Affective vs. Conceptual Factors Leading to Helping or Reinforcing Others

PubMed Central

Szuster, Anna

2016-01-01

The aim of this article is to identify factors leading to favorable attitudes toward other people from different social categories. The parts of article reflect diverse levels of altruism regulation from primary affective responses to the environment, through social norms, to abstract moral concepts related to good and evil. The latter allow understanding of the perspective of other people (including those belonging to out-groups), acceptance of their values and engagement not only in helping behavior but also in supporting the development of others. PMID:27148127

Environmental Enrichment Duration Differentially Affects Behavior and Neuroplasticity in Adult Mice.

PubMed

Leger, Marianne; Paizanis, Eleni; Dzahini, Kwamivi; Quiedeville, Anne; Bouet, Valentine; Cassel, Jean-Christophe; Freret, Thomas; Schumann-Bard, Pascale; Boulouard, Michel

2015-11-01

Environmental enrichment is a powerful way to stimulate brain and behavioral plasticity. However the required exposure duration to reach such changes has not been substantially analyzed. We aimed to assess the time-course of appearance of the beneficial effects of enriched environment. Thus, different behavioral tests and neurobiological parameters (such as neurogenesis, brain monoamines levels, and stress-related hormones) were concomitantly realized after different durations of enriched environment (24 h, 1, 3, or 5 weeks). While short enrichment exposure (24 h) was sufficient to improve object recognition memory performances, a 3-week exposure was required to improve aversive stimulus-based memory performances and to reduce anxiety-like behavior; effects that were not observed with longer duration. The onset of behavioral changes after a 3-week exposure might be supported by higher serotonin levels in the frontal cortex, but seems independent of neurogenesis phenomenon. Additionally, the benefit of 3-week exposure on memory was not observed 3 weeks after cessation of enrichment. Thus, the 3-week exposure appears as an optimal duration in order to induce the most significant behavioral effects and to assess the underlying mechanisms. Altogether, these results suggest that the duration of exposure is a keystone of the beneficial behavioral and neurobiological effects of environmental enrichment. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Antarctic Space Analog Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Palinkas, Lawrence A; Gunderson, E. K. Eric; Johnson, Jeffrey C.; Holland, Albert W.

1998-01-01

The primary aim of this project was to examine group dynamics and individual performance in extreme, isolated environments and identify human factors requirements for long-duration space missions using data collected in an analog environment. Specifically, we wished to determine: 1) the characteristics of social relations in small groups of individuals living and working together in extreme, isolated environments, and 2) the environmental, social and psychological determinants of performance effectiveness in such groups. These two issues were examined in six interrelated studies using data collected in small, isolated research stations in Antarctica from 1963 to the present. Results from these six studies indicated that behavior and performance on long-duration space flights is likely to be seasonal or cyclical, situational, social, and salutogenic in nature. The project responded to two NASA program emphases for FY 1997 as described in the NRA: 1) the primary emphasis of the Behavior and Performance Program on determining long-term individual and group performance responses to space, identifying critical factors affecting those responses and understanding underlying mechanisms involved in behavior and performance, and developing and using ground-based models and analogs for studying space-related behavior and performance; and 2) the emphasis of the Data Analysis Program on extended data analysis. Results from the study were used to develop recommendations for the design and development of pre-flight crew training and in-flight psychological countermeasures for long-duration manned space missions.

Environmental temperature affects the dynamics of ingestion in the nectivorous ant Camponotus mus.

PubMed

Falibene, Agustina; Josens, Roxana

2014-12-01

Environmental temperature influences physiology and behavior in animals in general and is particularly determinant in ectotherms. Not least because temperature defines metabolism and body temperature, muscle activity in insects also strongly depends on this factor. Here, we analyzed how environmental temperature influences the dynamics of ingestion due to its effect on the sucking pump muscles in the nectivorous ants Camponotus mus. Feeding behavior and sucking pump activity during sucrose solution ingestion were first recorded in a natural environment in an urban setting throughout the day and in different seasons. Then, controlled temperature experiments were performed in the laboratory. In both situations, feeding time decreased and pumping frequency increased with temperature. However, different pumping frequencies under a same temperature were also observed in different seasons. Besides, in the laboratory, the volume of solution ingested increased with temperature. Consequently, intake rate increased when temperature rose. This change was exclusively promoted by a variation in the pumping frequency while volume taken in per pump contraction was not affected by temperature. In summary, environmental temperature modified the dynamics of ingestion and feeding behavior by directly affecting pumping frequency. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Clinical Considerations Related to the Behavioral Manifestations of Child Maltreatment.

PubMed

Sege, Robert D; Amaya-Jackson, Lisa

2017-04-01

Children who have suffered early abuse or neglect may later present with significant health and behavior problems that may persist long after the abusive or neglectful environment has been remediated. Neurobiological research suggests that early maltreatment may result in an altered psychological and physiologic response to stressful stimuli, a response that deleteriously affects the child's subsequent development. Pediatricians can assist caregivers by helping them recognize the abused or neglected child's emotional and behavioral responses associated with child maltreatment and guide them in the use of positive parenting strategies, referring the children and families to evidence-based therapeutic treatment and mobilizing available community resources. Copyright © 2017 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Motorcycles entering from access points and merging with traffic on primary roads in Malaysia: behavioral and road environment influence on the occurrence of traffic conflicts.

PubMed

Abdul Manan, Muhammad Marizwan

2014-09-01

This paper uses data from an observational study, conducted at access points in straight sections of primary roads in Malaysia in 2012, to investigate the effects of motorcyclists' behavior and road environment attributes on the occurrence of serious traffic conflicts involving motorcyclists entering primary roads via access points. In order to handle the unobserved heterogeneity in the small sample data size, this study applies mixed effects logistic regression with multilevel bootstrapping. Two statistically significant models (Model 2 and Model 3) are produced, with 2 levels of random effect parameters, i.e. motorcyclists' attributes and behavior at Level 1, and road environment attributes at Level 2. Among all the road environment attributes tested, the traffic volume and the speed limit are found to be statistically significant, only contributing to 26-29% of the variations affecting the traffic conflict outcome. The implication is that 71-74% of the unmeasured or undescribed attributes and behavior of motorcyclists still have an importance in predicting the outcome: a serious traffic conflict. As for the fixed effect parameters, both models show that the risk of motorcyclists being involved in a serious traffic conflict is 2-4 times more likely if they accept a shorter gap to a single approaching vehicle (time lag <4s) and in between two vehicles (time gap <4s) when entering the primary road from the access point. A road environment factor, such as a narrow lane (seen in Model 2), and a behavioral factor, such as stopping at the stop line (seen in Model 3), also influence the occurrence of a serious traffic conflict compared to those entering into a wider lane road and without stopping at the stop line, respectively. A discussion of the possible reasons for this seemingly strange result, including a recommendation for further research, concludes the paper. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The mediating effect of parental neglect on adolescent and young adult anti-sociality: a longitudinal study of twins and their parents.

PubMed

Eaves, Lindon J; Prom, Elizabeth C; Silberg, Judy L

2010-07-01

The causes of correlation between parental treatment and offspring behavior are ambiguous since genetic and social factors are correlated in typical family studies. The problem is complicated by the need to characterize the effects of genes and environment on both juvenile and adult behavioral outcomes. A model is developed for the resemblance between juvenile and adult twins and their parents that allows some of these effects to be resolved. Data on childhood adversity, parental anti-social behavior, and longitudinal adult and juvenile anti-social behavior were obtained from 1,412 families of adolescent and young adult twins. A structural model is fitted that allows for the effects of genetic and social transmission of information from parents to children. Environmental effects of parents may be mediated through measured features of the home environment. Parameters were estimated by diagonal weighted least squares applied to the 33 distinct polychoric correlations between relatives and between variables within and between ages. Sub-hypotheses were tested. Results confirmed that effects of genes and environment were both highly significant. Genetic effects were large in juveniles and largely age and sex-specific. Approximately 30% of the variation due to the shared environment was due to the effect of childhood adversity. The remaining shared environmental effects are unexplained. Adversity is affected significantly by maternal anti-social behavior. The correlation between paternal ASP and adversity may be explained by antisocial fathers selecting (or creating) antisocial mothers. All significant environmental effects of parental ASP are mediated through the measure of adversity. Though transmission of ASP is both genetic and social, passive genotype-environment correlation is very small. Assortative mating for ASP has barely detectable consequence for the genetic correlation between siblings. The longitudinal study of twins and their parents makes it possible to demonstrate there is a direct causal effect of childhood adversity on child conduct disorder over and above any indirect genetic correlation.

GlioLab-a space system for Glioblastoma multiforme cells on orbit behavior study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cappelletti, Chantal; Twiggs, Robert J.

Microgravity conditions and ionizing radiation pose significant health risks for human life in space. This is a concern for future missions and also for future space tourism flights. Nev-ertheless, at the same time it is very interesting to study the effects of these conditions in unhealthy organism like biological samples affected by cancer. It is possible that space envi-ronment increases, decreases or doesn't have any effect on cancer cells. In any case the test results give important informations about cancer treatment or space tourism flight for people affected by cancer. GlioLab is a joint project between GAUSS-Group of Astrodynamics at the "Sapienza" University of Roma and the Morehead State University (MSU) Space Science Center in Kentucky. The main goal of this project is the design and manufacturing of an autonomous space system to investigate potential effects of the space environment exposure on a human glioblastoma multiforme cell line derived from a 65-year-old male and on Normal Human Astrocytes (NHA). In particular the samples are Glioblastoma multiforme cancer cells because the radiotherapy using ionizing radiation is the only treatment after surgery that can give on ground an improvement on the survival rate for this very malignant cancer. During a mission on the ISS, GlioLab mission has to test the in orbit behavior of glioblastoma cancer cells and healthy neuronal cells, which are extremely fragile and require complex experimentation and testing. In this paper engineering solutions to design and manufacturing of an autonomous space system that can allow to keep alive these kind of cells are described. This autonomous system is characterized also by an optical device dedicated to cells behavior analysis and by microdosimeters for monitoring space radiation environment.

Environmental enrichment in steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) hatcheries: Field evaluation of aggression, foraging, and territoriality in natural and hatchery fry

USGS Publications Warehouse

Tatara, C.P.; Riley, S.C.; Scheurer, J.A.

2008-01-01

Reforms for salmonid hatcheries include production of hatchery fish with behavioral characteristics similar to wild conspecifics. Enrichment of the hatchery environment has been proposed to achieve this goal. Field experiments of steelhead (i.e., sea-run rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss) fry from a common stock reared under natural (i.e., stream), enriched hatchery, and conventional hatchery conditions indicated no significant differences in the rates of foraging or aggression between rearing treatments. However, the rates of foraging and aggression of natural fry were significantly affected by the type of hatchery fry stocked with them. Natural steelhead fry fed at lower rates and exhibited higher rates of aggression when stocked with steelhead fry raised in enriched hatchery environments. Territory sizes of steelhead fry ranged from 0.015 to 0.801 m2; were significantly, positively related to body length; and were not significantly different between rearing treatments. We conclude that hatchery steelhead fry released into streams establish territories that are proportional to their body length and similar in size to territories of natural steelhead fry. Our results indicate that both conventional and enriched hatchery environments produce natural social behaviors in steelhead released as fry and that fry from enriched hatchery environments may alter the foraging and aggressive behavior of natural, resident steelhead fry. ?? 2008 NRC.

Low-Volatility Model Demonstrates Humidity Affects Environmental Toxin Deposition on Plastics at a Molecular Level.

PubMed

Hankett, Jeanne M; Collin, William R; Yang, Pei; Chen, Zhan; Duhaime, Melissa

2016-02-02

Despite the ever-increasing prevalence of plastic debris and endocrine disrupting toxins in aquatic ecosystems, few studies describe their interactions in freshwater environments. We present a model system to investigate the deposition/desorption behaviors of low-volatility lake ecosystem toxins on microplastics in situ and in real time. Molecular interactions of gas-phase nonylphenols (NPs) with the surfaces of two common plastics, poly(styrene) and poly(ethylene terephthalate), were studied using quartz crystal microbalance and sum frequency generation vibrational spectroscopy. NP point sources were generated under two model environments: plastic on land and plastic on a freshwater surface. We found the headspace above calm water provides an excellent environment for NP deposition and demonstrate significant NP deposition on plastic within minutes at relevant concentrations. Further, NP deposits and orders differently on both plastics under humid versus dry environments. We attributed the unique deposition behaviors to surface energy changes from increased water content during the humid deposition. Lastly, nanograms of NP remained on microplastic surfaces hours after initial NP introduction and agitating conditions, illustrating feasibility for plastic-bound NPs to interact with biota and surrounding matter. Our model studies reveal important interactions between low-volatility environmental toxins and microplastics and hold potential to correlate the environmental fate of endocrine disrupting toxins in the Great Lakes with molecular behaviors.

Fluoroquinolones (FQs) in the environment: A review on their abundance, sorption and toxicity in soil.

PubMed

Riaz, Luqman; Mahmood, Tariq; Khalid, Azeem; Rashid, Audil; Ahmed Siddique, Muhammad Bashir; Kamal, Atif; Coyne, Mark S

2018-01-01

The use of fluoroquinolones (FQs) antibiotics as therapeutic agents and growth promoters is increasing worldwide; however their extensive uses are also resulting in antibiotic resistance among world communities. FQs have also become one of the major contaminants in the waste water bodies, which are not even completely removed during the treatment processes. Furthermore, their abundance in agricultural resources, such as the irrigation water, the bio-solids and the livestock manure can also affect the soil micro-environment. These antibiotics in soil tend to interact in several different ways to affect soil flora and fauna. The current review endeavors to highlight the some critical aspects of FQs prevalence in the environment. The review presents a detailed discussion on the pathways and abundance of FQs in soil. The discussion further spans the issue of sorption and FQs transformation into the soil better understand of their behavior and their toxicity to soil flora and fauna. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Highly efficient enzyme encapsulation in a protein nanocage: towards enzyme catalysis in a cellular nanocompartment mimic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schoonen, Lise; Nolte, Roeland J. M.; van Hest, Jan C. M.

2016-07-01

The study of enzyme behavior in small nanocompartments is crucial for the understanding of biocatalytic processes in the cellular environment. We have developed an enzymatic conjugation strategy to attach a model enzyme to the interior of a cowpea chlorotic mottle virus capsid. It is shown that with this methodology high encapsulation efficiencies can be achieved. Additionally, we demonstrate that the encapsulation does not affect the enzyme performance in terms of a decreased activity or a hampered substrate diffusion. Finally, it is shown that the encapsulated enzymes are protected against proteases. We believe that our strategy can be used to study enzyme kinetics in an environment that approaches physiological conditions.The study of enzyme behavior in small nanocompartments is crucial for the understanding of biocatalytic processes in the cellular environment. We have developed an enzymatic conjugation strategy to attach a model enzyme to the interior of a cowpea chlorotic mottle virus capsid. It is shown that with this methodology high encapsulation efficiencies can be achieved. Additionally, we demonstrate that the encapsulation does not affect the enzyme performance in terms of a decreased activity or a hampered substrate diffusion. Finally, it is shown that the encapsulated enzymes are protected against proteases. We believe that our strategy can be used to study enzyme kinetics in an environment that approaches physiological conditions. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Experimental procedures for the cloning, expression, and purification of all proteins, as well as supplementary figures and calculations. See DOI: 10.1039/c6nr04181g

Sociocultural and Environmental Influences on Brazilian Immigrant Mothers' Beliefs and Practices Related to Child Feeding and Weight Status.

PubMed

Lindsay, Ana Cristina; Wallington, Sherrie F; Greaney, Mary L; Hasselman, Maria H; Machado, Marcia M T; Mezzavilla, Raquel S; Detro, Barbara M

2017-05-01

Background Length of residence in the United States (US), changes in dietary and physical activity behaviors, and economic and social barriers contribute to high childhood obesity rates among children from immigrant families in the US. Brazilians comprise a fast-growing immigrant population group in the US, yet little research has focused on health issues affecting Brazilian children in immigrant families. Understanding sociocultural and environmental influences on parents' beliefs and practices related to child feeding and weight status is essential to altering obesity trends in this group. Methods Qualitative study consisting of five focus groups with a convenience sample of 29 Brazilian immigrant mothers. Results Analyses revealed that the sociocultural and environment transitions faced by Brazilian immigrant mothers' influence their beliefs and practices related to child feeding and weight status. Additionally, acculturation emerged as a factor affecting mothers' feeding practices and their children's eating habits, with mothers preferring Brazilian food environments and that their children preferring American food environments. Mothers viewed themselves as being responsible for promoting and maintaining their children's healthy eating and feeding behaviors, but changes in their social and cultural environments due to immigration and the pressures and demands of raising a family in a new country make this difficult. Conclusions Health promotion interventions to improve healthful eating and feeding practices of Brazilian children in immigrant families must account for social and cultural changes and daily life demands due to immigration as well as potential variation in the levels of acculturation between mothers and their children.

Strength of clean indoor air laws and smoking related outcomes in the USA

PubMed Central

McMullen, K; Brownson, R; Luke, D; Chriqui, J

2005-01-01

Objectives: Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is often encountered in the workplace. There have been efforts to apply and enforce state laws limiting workplace smoking. There has been little study of the relative effectiveness of state and/or local laws in affecting both rates of workplace ETS exposure and adult smoking rates. This study investigates these hypotheses, as well as the effect of these laws on youth smoking. Design: This is a secondary data analysis using sources including the Current Population Survey (CPS), Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), and the National Household Survey of Drug Abuse (NHSDA) between the years of 1996 and 1999. Linear regression models were used to investigate the effect of a state's clean indoor air (CIA) law (using a measure of extensiveness) on the overall amount of people who reported working in a smoke-free environment, youth smoking rates and adult smoking rates. Results: The extensiveness of a state's CIA law was found to be a reliable predictor of the percentage of indoor workers who report a smoke-free work environment and the rates of youth smoking. State CIA laws were not conclusively associated with adult smoking rates. Conclusions: The extensiveness of a state's CIA law is strongly associated with a higher percentage of indoor workers reporting a smoke-free work environment. This study did not reveal a similar association between local laws and smoke-free work environments. Youth smoking rates, shown to be related to state CIA laws, may be further affected with more stringent CIA policy. PMID:15735299

Decreased sexual motivation and heightened anxiety in male Long-Evans rats are correlated with the memory for a traumatic event.

PubMed

Hawley, Wayne R; Grissom, Elin M; Belkin, Mark N; James, Thomas F; Dohanich, Gary P

2013-05-01

Individuals suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) frequently report disturbances in sexual functioning in addition to alterations in their affective behaviors. Notably, maladaptive cognitions and dysfunctional behaviors are perpetuated by the emergence of the intrusive thoughts that characterize the disorder. In rats, reminders of a traumatic event designed to simulate intrusive thoughts are associated with impairments in affective, social, and sexual behaviors. The current study examined the relationship between the memory for a traumatic event and changes in sexual and affective behaviors in male Long-Evans rats (N = 36). The trauma featured a combination stressor consisting of simultaneous exposure to a footshock and the odor of soiled cat litter. Memory for the trauma was reactivated by re-exposures to the context of the trauma in the absence of stressors and confirmed by assessing the percentage of time spent freezing. Following the second and final reminder, traumatized males exhibited reduced sexual motivation and increased anxiety, signified by longer latencies to achieve their first mount on a post-stress test of sexual behavior, and longer latencies to begin feeding in a novel environment, respectively. Correlational analyses revealed that decreased sexual motivation and heightened anxiety were predicted by the memory for the trauma as indicated by the time spent freezing during the re-exposures. The findings from the current study have implications for understanding the relationship between stress and sexual functioning and indicate that the impairments in sexual behavior that often occur in individuals with PTSD may be impacted by their memory for the trauma.

Sexual motivation and anxiety-like behaviors of male rats after exposure to a trauma followed by situational reminders.

PubMed

Hawley, Wayne; Grissom, Elin; Keskitalo, Lisa; Hastings, Tyler; Dohanich, Gary

2011-02-01

Experiencing a traumatic event can produce long-lasting impairments in affective and social behaviors. In humans, psychopathologies associated with exposure to a single traumatic event often are associated with varying degrees of sexual dysfunction. Similarly, in rats, exposure to a trauma results in long-lasting changes in social behaviors. The current investigation examined if the sexual and affective behaviors of male rats were impacted by exposure to a discrete traumatic event that was followed days later by reminders of the event. The initial trauma combined exposure to a foot shock and predator odor, followed 3 and 7 days later by reminders of the trauma in the absence of either stressor. A day after the final reminder, traumatized rats exhibited decreased sexual motivation indicated by prolonged mount and intromission latencies, although ejaculation latencies and post-ejaculatory intervals remained unchanged. Traumatized rats also exhibited marked increases in anxiety-like behavior in a novel environment as evidenced by longer latencies to begin feeding, decreased movement and ambulation, and fewer entries into the center of an open field. Taken together, the results of the current study suggest that exposure to a single traumatic event, followed by reminders of the event, affected the motivation of male rats to interact with a receptive female and increased their anxiety-like behaviors. Moreover, because posttraumatic stress disorder can arise from exposure to a single traumatic event and is associated with recurrent and intrusive thoughts related to the trauma, the current findings have implications for our understanding of this disorder. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effects of media violence on health-related outcomes among young men.

PubMed

Brady, Sonya S; Matthews, Karen A

2006-04-01

To test the effects of media violence exposure on blood pressure, negative affect, hostile social information processing, uncooperative behavior, and attitudes toward health risk behaviors among young men varying in lifetime violence exposure within the home and community. Experimental laboratory study. University campus situated within an urban environment. One hundred male undergraduates aged 18 to 21 years. Men who had previously reported differing amounts of lifetime home and community violence were randomly assigned to play The Simpsons: Hit and Run (low-violence condition) or Grand Theft Auto III (high-violence condition). Systolic and diastolic blood pressure; negative affect; hostile social information processing; uncooperative behavior; and permissive attitudes toward violence, alcohol use, marijuana use, and sexual activity without condom use. Men randomly assigned to play Grand Theft Auto III exhibited greater increases in diastolic blood pressure from a baseline rest period to game play, greater negative affect, more permissive attitudes toward using alcohol and marijuana, and more uncooperative behavior in comparison with men randomly assigned to play The Simpsons. Only among participants with greater exposure to home and community violence, play of Grand Theft Auto III led to elevated systolic blood pressure in comparison with play of The Simpsons (mean, 13 vs 5 mm Hg). Media violence exposure may play a role in the development of negative attitudes and behaviors related to health. Although youth growing up in violent homes and communities may become more physiologically aroused by media violence exposure, all youth appear to be at risk for potentially negative outcomes.

A Survey of Educational Games as Interaction Design Tools for Affective Learning: Thematic Analysis Taxonomy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yusoff, Zarwina; Kamsin, Amirrudin; Shamshirband, Shahaboddin; Chronopoulos, Anthony T.

2018-01-01

A Computer game is the new platform in generating learning experiences for educational purposes. There are many educational games that have been used as an interaction design tool in a learning environment to enhance students learning outcomes. However, research also claims that playing video games can have a negative impact on student behavior,…

Emotions Influence Cognition: The Missing Ingredient in School Evaluations.

PubMed

Hoffman, Leon; Catapano, Carrie

2015-01-01

In this paper we describe an intake evaluation process of elementary schoolchildren who have exhibited difficulties in a more traditional school environment. We show how a dynamic understanding of the child's emotional life and the child's emotions affects his or her behavior, cognitive development, and academic performance. We illustrate how to utilize this understanding in planning an approach in the classroom.

Culturally Aware Agents for Training Environments (CAATE): Phase I Final Report

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-01-01

attitudes, relationships , personality, personal traits, state, social roles, physical context. The initial set of potentially important cultural... relationships that affect culturally situated behavior. For instance, we will want to be able to model interconnections such as familial... relationships , group membership, and attitudes (e.g., trust, dislike). To accomplish this, our design leverages social network modeling technologies provided by

English Bar as a Venue to Boost Students' Speaking Self-Efficacy at the Tertiary Level

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, Mingxu

2013-01-01

Research in EFL and ESL has confirmed that self-efficacy affects language learners' choices of learning tasks, persistence, motivation and achievement. As a cognitive construct, self-efficacy can be strengthened by both outcomes of behaviors and input from the environment. This paper studies the effects of an English Bar, a self-access center for…

AN ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECTS OF GESTATIONAL AND LACTATIONAL EXPOSURE TO ETHINYL ESTRADIOL (EE) AND BISPHENOL A (BPA) ON REPRODUCTIVE MORPHOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR IN FEMALE AND MALE LONG EVANS HOODED RAT

EPA Science Inventory

Anthropogenic estrogens are pervasive in the environment. Although the effects of these 'xenoestrogens' are controversial in humans, some fish species are adversely affected in contaminated ecosystems. The current project focuses on the effects of developmental exposure to two ...

AN ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECTS OF GESTATIONAL AND LACTATIONAL EXPOSURE TO ETHINYL ESTRADIOL (EE) AND BISPHENOL A (BPA) ON REPRODUCTIVE MORPHOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR IN THE FEMALE LONG EVANS HOODED RAT

EPA Science Inventory

Anthropogenic estrogens are pervasive in the environment. The effects of these 'xenoestrogens' are controversial in humans, although there is a clear indication that some fish species are adversely affected in contaminated ecosystems. The current project focuses on the effects ...

Alternative Approaches to Modeling the Individual Enlistment Decision: A Literature Review

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-05-01

particular competitive environment (Johnson, 1974, p. 121). Most marketing research is oriented toward consumers. Speci- fically, considerable interest...technique and its application in marketing research . A discussion of conjoint measurement (or multidimensional scaling) use in the marketing...among cognitions, affect, intentions, and behavior. Journal of Marketing Research , 19, 562-584. Bagozzi, R. P. & Burnkrant, R.,(1979). Attitude

Contributing Factors That Affect the Achievement of African-American Females Taught by Caucasian Teachers on the Arkansas Literacy Exam: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Felicia R.

2013-01-01

This qualitative intrinsic case study was designed to assist Caucasian educators with the researched academic skills and behaviors to engage African-American females in the learning environment. The study provided strategies and recommendations to promote self-worth, self-motivation, self-efficacy, and morale in African-American females when they…

Social Problem Solving as a Predictor of Well-Being in Adolescents and Young Adults

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Siu, Andrew M. H.; Shek, Daniel T. L.

2010-01-01

Social problem solving is the cognitive-affective-behavioral process by which people attempt to resolve real-life problems in a social environment, and is of key importance in the management of emotions and well-being. This paper reviews a series of studies on social problem solving conducted by the authors. First, we developed and validated the…

The Relations between the Acceptance and Child-Rearing Attitudes of Parents of Children with Mental Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aydin, Aydan; Yamaç, Ali

2014-01-01

Problem Statement: The relationship between parent and child plays a fundamental role in the social and emotional development of the child. Parental acceptance-rejection behavior may be critical in shaping the quality of the affective bond between parent and child and is established within the specific contexts of the parent-child environment.…

Teacher and Staff Voices: Implementation of a Positive Behavior Bullying Prevention Program in an Urban School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Letendre, Joan; Ostrander, Jason A.; Mickens, Alison

2016-01-01

Bullying is a problem that affects the academic, social, and emotional well-being of scores of children and youths daily in U.S. schools. Understanding how to influence the environment in which the bullying occurs is essential to creating safe schools. Whole-school intervention programs train teachers, school staff, and administrators to model and…

A Case Study to Understand the Behavioral Issues Affecting E-Learning with Reference to IHL, Sultanate of Oman

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chakraborty, Manishankar; Al Rashdi, Salim; Hashim, Vazeem

2013-01-01

IHL, a leading institute offering higher education in the Sultanate of Oman is on the cusp of translating from an organization with conventional modes of teaching-learning to those of the modern day practices notably electronic learning. The challenges posed in the implementation of an environment conducive to electronic learning and its different…

Fire behavior, fuel treatments, and fire suppression on the Hayman Fire - Part 6: Daily emissions

Treesearch

Wei Min Hao

2003-01-01

Biomass burning is a major source of many atmospheric trace gases and aerosol particles (Crutzen and Andreae 1990). These compounds and particulates affect public health, regional air quality, air chemistry, and global climate. It is difficult to assess quantitatively the impact wildfires have on the environment because of the uncertainty in determining the size of...

Virtual bystanders in a language lesson: examining the effect of social evaluation, vicarious experience, cognitive consistency and praising on students' beliefs, self-efficacy and anxiety in a virtual reality environment.

PubMed

Qu, Chao; Ling, Yun; Heynderickx, Ingrid; Brinkman, Willem-Paul

2015-01-01

Bystanders in a real world's social setting have the ability to influence people's beliefs and behavior. This study examines whether this effect can be recreated in a virtual environment, by exposing people to virtual bystanders in a classroom setting. Participants (n = 26) first witnessed virtual students answering questions from an English teacher, after which they were also asked to answer questions from the teacher as part of a simulated training for spoken English. During the experiment the attitudes of the other virtual students in the classroom was manipulated; they could whisper either positive or negative remarks to each other when a virtual student was talking or when a participant was talking. The results show that the expressed attitude of virtual bystanders towards the participants affected their self-efficacy, and their avoidance behavior. Furthermore, the experience of witnessing bystanders commenting negatively on the performance of other students raised the participants' heart rate when it was their turn to speak. Two-way interaction effects were also found on self-reported anxiety and self-efficacy. After witnessing bystanders' positive attitude towards peer students, participants' self-efficacy when answering questions received a boost when bystanders were also positive towards them, and a blow when bystanders reversed their attitude by being negative towards them. Still, inconsistency, instead of consistency, between the bystanders' attitudes towards virtual peers and the participants was not found to result in a larger change in the participants' beliefs. Finally the results also reveal that virtual flattering or destructive criticizing affected the participants' beliefs not only about the virtual bystanders, but also about the neutral teacher. Together these findings show that virtual bystanders in a classroom can affect people's beliefs, anxiety and behavior.

Psychological Distress and Emotional Expression on Facebook.

PubMed

Bazarova, Natalya N; Choi, Yoon Hyung; Whitlock, Janis; Cosley, Dan; Sosik, Victoria

2017-03-01

Social network sites (SNS) are a novel social environment for college students with psychological distress to connect with their peers, but the nature and effects of these interactions are not well understood. This study reports findings from a Facebook study among 238 college students reporting nonspecific psychological distress using the K-6 scale. Behavioral data included Facebook status updates containing affect words written by participants within the past 60 days and the number of responses (comments and likes) each update received. The updates were also coded for depression symptoms. Self-report data included participants' self-presentational concerns, the affective valence of each post, effects of responses on mood, and satisfaction with the responses to and outcome of each status update. Higher psychological distress was associated with displaying depression language on Facebook, with higher self-presentational concerns, and with less satisfaction with audiences' responses and less overall satisfaction with the outcome of the interaction. These results offer a unique glimpse into the social world of college students with psychological distress through their everyday use of Facebook, and how the interplay of this novel environment and students' mental health impacts their social behaviors and interaction meaning-making on Facebook.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Matusik, Katarzyna E.; Duke, Daniel J.; Kastengren, Alan L.

The sparking behavior in an internal combustion engine affects the fuel efficiency, engine-out emissions, and general drivability of a vehicle. As emissions regulations become progressively stringent, combustion strategies, including exhaust gas recirculation (EGR), lean-burn, and turbocharging are receiving increasing attention as models of higher efficiency advanced combustion engines with reduced emissions levels. Because these new strategies affect the working environment of the spark plug, ongoing research strives to understand the influence of external factors on the spark ignition process. Due to the short time and length scales involved and the harsh environment, experimental quantification of the deposited energy from themore » sparking event is difficult to obtain. We present the results of x-ray radiography measurements of spark ignition plasma generated by a conventional spark plug. Our measurements were performed at the 7-BM beamline of the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory. The synchrotron x-ray source enables time-resolved measurements of the density change due to glow discharge in the spark gap with 153 ns temporal and 5 μm spatial resolutions. We also explore the effects of charging time, EGR-relevant gas compositions, and gas pressure on the sparking behavior. We also quantify the influence of the measurement technique on the obtained results.« less

Stress reactivity, condition, and foraging behavior in zebra finches: effects on boldness, exploration, and sociality.

PubMed

Crino, O L; Buchanan, Katherine L; Trompf, Larissa; Mainwaring, Mark C; Griffith, Simon C

2017-04-01

The arid and semi-arid zones of Australia are characterized by highly variable and unpredictable environmental conditions which affect resources for flora and fauna. Environments which are highly unpredictable in terms of both resource access and distribution are likely to select for a variety of adaptive behavioral strategies, intrinsically linked to the physiological control of behavior. How unpredictable resource distribution has affected the coevolution of behavioral strategies and physiology has rarely been quantified, particularly not in Australian birds. We used a captive population of wild-derived zebra finches to test the relationships between behavioral strategies relating to food access and physiological responses to stress and body condition. We found that individuals that were in poorer body condition and had higher peak corticosterone levels entered baited feeders earlier in the trapping sequence of birds within the colony. We also found that individuals in poorer body condition fed in smaller social groups. Our data show that the foraging decisions which individuals make represent not only a trade-off between food access and risk of exposure, but their underlying physiological response to stress. Our data also suggest fundamental links between social networks and physiological parameters, which largely remain untested. These data demonstrate the fundamental importance of physiological mechanisms in controlling adaptive behavioral strategies and the dynamic interplay between physiological control of behavior and life-history evolution. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Microplastics and Nanoplastics in Aquatic Environments: Aggregation, Deposition, and Enhanced Contaminant Transport.

PubMed

Alimi, Olubukola S; Farner Budarz, Jeffrey; Hernandez, Laura M; Tufenkji, Nathalie

2018-02-20

Plastic litter is widely acknowledged as a global environmental threat, and poor management and disposal lead to increasing levels in the environment. Of recent concern is the degradation of plastics from macro- to micro- and even to nanosized particles smaller than 100 nm in size. At the nanoscale, plastics are difficult to detect and can be transported in air, soil, and water compartments. While the impact of plastic debris on marine and fresh waters and organisms has been studied, the loads, transformations, transport, and fate of plastics in terrestrial and subsurface environments are largely overlooked. In this Critical Review, we first present estimated loads of plastics in different environmental compartments. We also provide a critical review of the current knowledge vis-à-vis nanoplastic (NP) and microplastic (MP) aggregation, deposition, and contaminant cotransport in the environment. Important factors that affect aggregation and deposition in natural subsurface environments are identified and critically analyzed. Factors affecting contaminant sorption onto plastic debris are discussed, and we show how polyethylene generally exhibits a greater sorption capacity than other plastic types. Finally, we highlight key knowledge gaps that need to be addressed to improve our ability to predict the risks associated with these ubiquitous contaminants in the environment by understanding their mobility, aggregation behavior and their potential to enhance the transport of other pollutants.

Developmental Exposure to Low Levels of Ethinylestradiol Affects Play Behavior in Juvenile Female Rats.

PubMed

Zaccaroni, Marco; Massolo, Alessandro; Della Seta, Daniele; Farabollini, Francesca; Giannelli, Giulietta; Fusani, Leonida; Dessì-Fulgheri, Francesco

2018-05-01

Juvenile social play contributes to the development of adult social and emotional skills in humans and non-human animals, and is therefore a useful endpoint to study the effects of endocrine disrupters on behavior in animal models. Ethinylestradiol (EE 2 ) is a widely produced, powerful synthetic estrogen that is widespread in the environment mainly because is a component of the contraceptive pill. In addition, fetuses may be exposed to EE2 when pregnancy is undetected during contraceptive treatment. To understand whether exposure to EE 2 during gestation or lactation affects social play, we exposed 72 female Sprague-Dawley rats to EE 2 or vehicle either during gestation (gestation day (GD) 5 through GD 20) or during lactation (from postnatal day (PND) 1 through PND 21). Two doses of EE 2 were used to treat the dams: a lower dose in the range of possible environmental exposure (4 ng/kg/day) and a higher dose equivalent to that received during contraceptive treatment (400 ng/kg/day). Behavioral testing was carried out between PND 40 and 45. A principal component analysis of frequencies of behavioral items observed during play sessions identified three main components: defensive-like play, aggressive-like play, and exploration. Aggressive-like play was significantly increased by both doses of EE 2 , and the gestational administration was in general more effective than the lactational one. Defensive-like play and exploration were not significantly affected by treatment. This research showed that low and very low doses of EE 2 that mimic clinical or environmental exposure during development can affect important aspects of social behavior even during restricted time windows.

Impact of Life History on Fear Memory and Extinction

PubMed Central

Remmes, Jasmin; Bodden, Carina; Richter, S. Helene; Lesting, Jörg; Sachser, Norbert; Pape, Hans-Christian; Seidenbecher, Thomas

2016-01-01

Behavioral profiles are strongly shaped by an individual's whole life experience. The accumulation of negative experiences over lifetime is thought to promote anxiety-like behavior in adulthood (“allostatic load hypothesis”). In contrast, the “mismatch hypothesis” of psychiatric disease suggests that high levels of anxiety-like behavior are the result of a discrepancy between early and late environment. The aim of the present study was to investigate how different life histories shape the expression of anxiety-like behavior and modulate fear memory. In addition, we aimed to clarify which of the two hypotheses can better explain the modulation of anxiety and fear. For this purpose, male mice grew up under either adverse or beneficial conditions during early phase of life. In adulthood they were further subdivided in groups that either matched or mismatched the condition experienced before, resulting in four different life histories. The main results were: (i) Early life benefit followed by late life adversity caused decreased levels of anxiety-like behavior. (ii) Accumulation of adversity throughout life history led to impaired fear extinction learning. Late life adversity as compared to late life benefit mainly affected extinction training, while early life adversity as compared to early life benefit interfered with extinction recall. Concerning anxiety-like behavior, the results do neither support the allostatic load nor the mismatch hypothesis, but rather indicate an anxiolytic effect of a mismatched early beneficial and later adverse life history. In contrast, fear memory was strongly affected by the accumulation of adverse experiences over the lifetime, therefore supporting allostatic load hypothesis. In summary, this study highlights that anxiety-like behavior and fear memory are differently affected by specific combinations of adverse or beneficial events experienced throughout life. PMID:27757077

Latent Variables Affecting Behavioral Response to the Human Intruder Test in Infant Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta)

PubMed Central

Gottlieb, Daniel H.; Capitanio, John P.

2012-01-01

The human intruder test is a testing paradigm designed to measure rhesus macaques’ behavioral responses to a stressful and threatening situation. In the test, an unfamiliar human positions him/herself in various threatening positions relative to a caged macaque. This paradigm has been utilized for over twenty years to measure a variety of behavioral constructs, including fear and anxiety, behavioral inhibition, emotionality, and aggression. To date there have been no attempts to evaluate comprehensively the structure of the behavioral responses to the test. Our first goal was to identify the underlying latent factors affecting the different responses among subjects, and our second goal was determine if rhesus reared in different environments respond differently in this testing paradigm. To accomplish this, we first performed exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses on the behavioral responses of 3–4 month-old rhesus macaques, utilizing data from over 2,000 separate tests conducted between 2001–2007. Using the resulting model, we then tested to see whether early rearing experience affected responses in the test. Our first analyses suggested that most of the variation in infant behavioral responses to the human intruder test could be explained by four latent factors: “Activity,” “Emotionality,” “Aggression,” and “Displacement.” Our second analyses revealed a significant effect of rearing condition for each factor score (P < 0.001); most notable socially-reared animals had the lowest Activity score (P < 0.001), indoor mother-reared animals had the highest Displacement score (P < 0.001), and nursery-reared animals had the highest Emotionality (P < 0.001) and lowest Aggression scores (P < 0.001). These results demonstrate that this standardized testing paradigm reveals multiple patterns of response, which are influenced by an animal’s rearing history. PMID:23229557

Latent variables affecting behavioral response to the human intruder test in infant rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta).

PubMed

Gottlieb, Daniel H; Capitanio, John P

2013-04-01

The human intruder test is a testing paradigm designed to measure rhesus macaques' behavioral responses to a stressful and threatening situation. In the test, an unfamiliar human positions him/herself in various threatening positions relative to a caged macaque. This paradigm has been utilized for over 20 years to measure a variety of behavioral constructs, including fear and anxiety, behavioral inhibition, emotionality, and aggression. To date, there have been no attempts to evaluate comprehensively the structure of the behavioral responses to the test. Our first goal was to identify the underlying latent factors affecting the different responses among subjects, and our second goal was to determine if rhesus reared in different environments respond differently in this testing paradigm. To accomplish this, we first performed exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses on the behavioral responses of 3- to 4-month-old rhesus macaques, utilizing data from over 2,000 separate tests conducted between 2001-2007. Using the resulting model, we then tested to see whether early rearing experience affected responses in the test. Our first analyses suggested that most of the variation in infant behavioral responses to the human intruder test could be explained by four latent factors: "activity," "emotionality," "aggression," and "displacement." Our second analyses revealed a significant effect of rearing condition for each factor score (P < 0.001); most notable socially reared animals had the lowest activity score (P < 0.001), indoor mother-reared animals had the highest displacement score (P < 0.001), and nursery-reared animals had the highest emotionality (P < 0.001) and lowest aggression scores (P < 0.001). These results demonstrate that this standardized testing paradigm reveals multiple patterns of response, which are influenced by an animal's rearing history. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Sending-country violence and receiving-country discrimination: effects on the health of Colombian refugees in Ecuador.

PubMed

Shedlin, Michele G; Decena, Carlos U; Noboa, Hugo; Betancourt, Óscar

2014-02-01

This study explored factors affecting the health and well being of recent refugees from Colombia in Ecuador. Data collection focused on how sending-country violence and structural violence in a new environment affect immigrant health vulnerability and risk behaviors. A qualitative approach included ethnographic observation, media content analysis, focus groups, and individual interviews with refugees (N = 137). The focus groups (5) provided perspectives on the research domains by sex workers; drug users; male and female refugees; and service providers. Social and economic marginalization are impacting the health and well being of this growing refugee population. Data illustrate how stigma and discrimination affect food and housing security, employment and health services, and shape vulnerabilities and health risks in a new receiving environment. Widespread discrimination in Ecuador reflects fears, misunderstanding, and stereotypes about Colombian refugees. For this displaced population, the sequelae of violence, combined with survival needs and lack of support and protections, shape new risks to health and well-being.

Different fits satisfy different needs: linking person-environment fit to employee commitment and performance using self-determination theory.

PubMed

Greguras, Gary J; Diefendorff, James M

2009-03-01

Integrating and expanding upon the person-environment fit (PE fit) and the self-determination theory literatures, the authors hypothesized and tested a model in which the satisfaction of the psychological needs for autonomy, relatedness, and competence partially mediated the relations between different types of perceived PE fit (i.e., person-organization fit, person-group fit, and job demands-abilities fit) with employee affective organizational commitment and overall job performance. Data from 163 full-time working employees and their supervisors were collected across 3 time periods. Results indicate that different types of PE fit predicted different types of psychological need satisfaction and that psychological need satisfaction predicted affective commitment and performance. Further, person-organization fit and demands-abilities fit also evidenced direct effects on employee affective commitment. These results begin to explicate the processes through which different types of PE fit relate to employee attitudes and behaviors. (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved.

Sending-Country Violence & Receiving-Country Discrimination: Effects on the Health of Colombian Refugees in Ecuador

PubMed Central

Shedlin, Michele G.; Decena, Carlos U.; Noboa, Hugo; Betancourt, Óscar

2013-01-01

BACKGROUND This study explored factors affecting the health and well being of recent refugees from Colombia in Ecuador. Data collection focused on how sending-country violence and structural violence in a new environment affect immigrant health vulnerability and risk behaviors. METHODS A qualitative approach included ethnographic observation, media content analysis, focus groups, and individual interviews with refugees (N=137). The focus groups (5) provided perspectives on the research domains by sex workers; drug users; male and female refugees; and service providers. RESULTS Social and economic marginalization are impacting the health and well being of this growing refugee population. Data illustrate how stigma and discrimination affect food and housing security, employment and health services, and shape vulnerabilities and health risks in a new receiving environment. DISCUSSION Widespread discrimination in Ecuador reflects fears, misunderstanding, and stereotypes about Colombian refugees. For this displaced population, the sequelae of violence, combined with survival needs and lack of support and protections, shape new risks to health and well-being. PMID:23377565

Socio-cultural effects on children's initiation of joint attention

PubMed Central

Gavrilov, Yana; Rotem, Sarit; Ofek, Renana; Geva, Ronny

2012-01-01

Exchanging gazes with a social partner in response to an event in the environment is considered an effective means to direct attention, share affective experiences, and highlight a target in the environment. This behavior appears during infancy and plays an important role in children's learning and in shaping their socio-emotional development. It has been suggested that cultural values of the community affect socio-emotional development through attentional dynamics of social reference (Rogoff et al., 1993). Maturational processes of brain-circuits have been found to mediate socio-cultural learning and the behavioral manifestation of cultural norms starting at preschool age (Nelson and Guyer, 2011). The aim of the current study was to investigate the relations between cultural ecology levels and children's joint attention (JA). Initiation of JA bids was studied empirically as a function of the level of social load of the target toy (3 levels), the community level of adherence to traditional values (3 levels), parental education (2 levels), and gender. Sixty-two kindergarten aged children were enrolled in a structured toy-exploration task, during which they were presented with toys of various social loads, with social agents (i.e., mother and experimenter) present nearby, and non-social distracters presented intermittently. Measurements included the child's number of JA bids and the extent of positive affect. Analysis of variance indicated that the child's initiation of JA toward the social partner was affected by all levels of cultural ecology (i.e., toy's social load, adherence to tradition values, parental education, gender), thus supporting the study's hypotheses. The effects were such that overall, children, particularly girls' JA initiation was augmented in social toys and moderated by the socio-cultural variables. These results suggest that cultural ecology is related to children's JA, thereby scaffolding initiation of social sharing cues between children and adults. JA plays a role in adjusting children's internal representations of their respective ecological environment. PMID:23112768

The light spot test: Measuring anxiety in mice in an automated home-cage environment.

PubMed

Aarts, Emmeke; Maroteaux, Gregoire; Loos, Maarten; Koopmans, Bastijn; Kovačević, Jovana; Smit, August B; Verhage, Matthijs; Sluis, Sophie van der

2015-11-01

Behavioral tests of animals in a controlled experimental setting provide a valuable tool to advance understanding of genotype-phenotype relations, and to study the effects of genetic and environmental manipulations. To optimally benefit from the increasing numbers of genetically engineered mice, reliable high-throughput methods for comprehensive behavioral phenotyping of mice lines have become a necessity. Here, we describe the development and validation of an anxiety test, the light spot test, that allows for unsupervised, automated, high-throughput testing of mice in a home-cage system. This automated behavioral test circumvents bias introduced by pretest handling, and enables recording both baseline behavior and the behavioral test response over a prolonged period of time. We demonstrate that the light spot test induces a behavioral response in C57BL/6J mice. This behavior reverts to baseline when the aversive stimulus is switched off, and is blunted by treatment with the anxiolytic drug Diazepam, demonstrating predictive validity of the assay, and indicating that the observed behavioral response has a significant anxiety component. Also, we investigated the effectiveness of the light spot test as part of sequential testing for different behavioral aspects in the home-cage. Two learning tests, administered prior to the light spot test, affected the light spot test parameters. The light spot test is a novel, automated assay for anxiety-related high-throughput testing of mice in an automated home-cage environment, allowing for both comprehensive behavioral phenotyping of mice, and rapid screening of pharmacological compounds. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Dopamine D2 gene expression interacts with environmental enrichment to impact lifespan and behavior.

PubMed

Thanos, Panayotis K; Hamilton, John; O'Rourke, Joseph R; Napoli, Anthony; Febo, Marcelo; Volkow, Nora D; Blum, Kenneth; Gold, Mark

2016-04-12

Aging produces cellular, molecular, and behavioral changes affecting many areas of the brain. The dopamine (DA) system is known to be vulnerable to the effects of aging, which regulate behavioral functions such as locomotor activity, body weight, and reward and cognition. In particular, age-related DA D2 receptor (D2R) changes have been of particular interest given its relationship with addiction and other rewarding behavioral properties. Male and female wild-type (Drd2 +/+), heterozygous (Drd2 +/-) and knockout (Drd2 -/-) mice were reared post-weaning in either an enriched environment (EE) or a deprived environment (DE). Over the course of their lifespan, body weight and locomotor activity was assessed. While an EE was generally found to be correlated with longer lifespan, these increases were only found in mice with normal or decreased expression of the D2 gene. Drd2 +/+ EE mice lived nearly 16% longer than their DE counterparts. Drd2 +/+ and Drd2 +/- EE mice lived 22% and 21% longer than Drd2 -/- EE mice, respectively. Moreover, both body weight and locomotor activity were moderated by environmental factors. In addition, EE mice show greater behavioral variability between genotypes compared to DE mice with respect to body weight and locomotor activity.

The nurse's load: early-life exposure to brood-rearing affects behavior and lifespan in honey bees (Apis mellifera).

PubMed

Amdam, Gro V; Rueppell, Olav; Fondrk, M Kim; Page, Robert E; Nelson, C Mindy

2009-01-01

Long-lived honey bees (Apis mellifera) develop in fall. This pattern may be explained by reduced nurse loads. When the amount of brood in colonies declines as a function of adverse foraging conditions, adult bees build up surplus nutrient stores that include vitellogenin, a behavioral affector protein that also can increase lifespan. Although the seasonal reduction in exposure to nursing tasks predictably results in vitellogenin accumulation, the assumption that long-lived adults thereby develop is confounded by a concomitant decline in foraging effort. Foraging activity reduces lifespan, and is influenced by colony resource consumption, brood pheromones, availability of nectar and pollen, and weather. Here, we perform the first controlled experiment where the nursing environment of pre-foraging sister bees was set to vary, while their foraging environment later was set to be the same. We measure vitellogenin, age at foraging onset and lifespan. We establish that reduced brood-rearing increases vitellogenin levels, and delays foraging onset and death. Longevity is largely explained by the effect of nursing on the onset of foraging behavior, but is also influenced by the level of brood-rearing independent of behavioral change. Our findings are consistent with the roles of vitellogenin in regulation of honey bee behavior and lifespan.

[How does noise affect us? In our health, life styles and environs].

PubMed

Murillo, Inma Castells

2007-10-01

Noise acts by means of the ear on the central and autonomous nervous systems. When this stimulus passes determined limits, it provokes deafness and has pathological effects, both instantaneous and differed, on both nervous systems. At much lower levels, noise produces discomfort, diminishes attention, or impedes communication, concentration and sleep; noise reduces school or professional performance; noise increases the possibility for antisocial behavior; noise can lead to a loss in the value of a building or can cause accidents in the work place. The author describes the importance of this topic, reviews the anatomical-physiological features of the ear, and describes noise and its properties. The author also describes how noise affects our organism, habits, life styles, society, working environment and health. The author finishes by providing some current preventive measures and some recommendations to avoid this pollutant.

Parental Work Schedules and Adolescent Risky Behaviors

PubMed Central

Han, Wen-Jui; Miller, Daniel P.; Waldfogel, Jane

2013-01-01

Using a large contemporary data set, the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-Child Supplement (NLSY-CS), this paper examines the effects of parental work schedules on adolescent risky behaviors at age 13 or 14 and the mechanisms that might explain them. Structural equation modeling suggests mothers who worked more often at night spent significantly less time with children and had lower quality home environments, and these mediators were significantly linked to adolescent risky behaviors. Similar effects were not found for evening work schedules, while other types of maternal and paternal nonstandard work schedules were linked to higher parental knowledge of children’s whereabouts, which led to lower levels of adolescent risky behaviors. Subgroup analyses revealed that males, those in families with low incomes, and those whose mothers never worked at professional jobs may particularly be affected by mothers working at nights, due to spending less time together, having a lower degree of maternal closeness, and experiencing lower quality home environments. In addition, the effects of maternal night shifts were particularly pronounced if children were in the preschool or middle-childhood years when their mothers worked those schedules. Implications and avenues for future research are discussed. PMID:20822236

Defensive behaviors and prosencephalic neurogenesis in pigeons (Columba livia) are affected by environmental enrichment in adulthood.

PubMed

Melleu, F F; Pinheiro, M V; Lino-de-Oliveira, C; Marino-Neto, J

2016-05-01

Neurogenesis in the adult brain appears to be phylogenetically conserved across the animal kingdom. In pigeons and other adult non-oscine birds, immature neurons are observed in several prosencephalic areas, suggesting that neurogenesis may participate in the control of different behaviors. The mechanisms controlling neurogenesis and its relevance to defensive behaviors in non-oscine birds remain elusive. Herein, the contribution of the environment to behavior and neurogenesis of pigeons was investigated. Adult pigeons (Columba livia, n = 6/group), housed in standard (SE) or enriched environment (EE) for 42 days, were exposed to an unfamiliar environment (UE) followed by presentation to a novel object (NO). Video recordings of UE+NO tests were analyzed and scored for latency, duration and frequency of angular head movements, peeping, grooming, immobility and locomotion. Twenty-four hours later, pigeons were submitted to the tonic immobility test (TI) and number of trials for TI and TI duration were scored, followed by euthanasia 2 h later. Brains were immunohistochemically processed to reveal doublecortin (DCX), a marker for newborn neurons. Compared to those housed in SE, the pigeons housed in EE responded to a NO with more immobility. In addition, the pigeons housed in EE presented longer TI, more DCX-immunoreactive (DCX-ir) cells in the hippocampus and fewer DCX-ir cells in the lateral striatum than those housed in SE. There was no correlation between the number of DCX-ir cells and the scores of immobility in behavioral tests. Together, these data suggest that enrichment favored behavioral inhibition and neurogenesis in the adult pigeons through different, parallel mechanisms.

A role for anterior thalamic nuclei in affective cognition: interaction with environmental conditions.

PubMed

Dupire, Alexandra; Kant, Patricia; Mons, Nicole; Marchand, Alain R; Coutureau, Etienne; Dalrymple-Alford, John; Wolff, Mathieu

2013-05-01

Damage to anterior thalamic nuclei (ATN) is a well-known cause of diencephalic pathology that produces a range of cognitive deficits reminiscent of a hippocampal syndrome. Anatomical connections of the ATN also extend to cerebral areas that support affective cognition. Enriched environments promote recovery of declarative/relational memory after ATN lesions and are known to downregulate emotional behaviors. Hence, the performance of standard-housed and enriched ATN rats in a range of behavioral tasks engaging affective cognition was compared. ATN rats exhibited reduced anxiety responses in the elevated plus maze, increased activity and reduced corticosterone responses when exploring an open field, and delayed acquisition of a conditioned contextual fear response. ATN rats also exhibited reduced c-Fos and phosphorylated cAMP response element-binding protein (pCREB) immunoreactivity in the hippocampal formation and the amygdala after completion of the contextual fear test. Marked c-Fos hypoactivity and reduced pCREB levels were also evident in the granular retrosplenial cortex and, to a lesser extent, in the anterior cingulate cortex. Unlike standard-housed ATN rats, enriched ATN rats expressed virtually no fear of the conditioned context. These results show that the ATN regulate affective cognition and that damage to this region may produce markedly different behavioral effects as a function of environmental housing conditions. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Sustaining anti-littering behavior within coastal and marine environments: Through the macro-micro level lenses.

PubMed

Beeharry, Yashna Devi; Bekaroo, Girish; Bokhoree, Chandradeo; Phillips, Michael Robert; Jory, Neelakshi

2017-06-30

Being regarded as a problem of global dimensions, marine litter has been a growing concern that affects human beings, wildlife and the economic health of coastal communities to varying degrees. Due to its involvement with human behavior, marine littering has been regarded as a cultural matter encompassing macro and micro level aspects. At the micro or individual level, behavior and behavioral motivation of an individual are driven by perception of that person while at the macro or societal level, aspects including policies and legislations influence behavior. This paper investigates marine littering through the macro-micro level lenses in order to analyze and recommend how anti-littering behavior can be improved and sustained. Using Coleman's model of micro-macro relations, research questions are formulated and investigated through a social survey. Results showed important differences in perceptions among participating groups and to address key issues, potential actions are proposed along with a framework to sustain anti-littering behavior. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sleep, Dietary, and Exercise Behavioral Clusters among Truck Drivers with Obesity: Implications for Interventions

PubMed Central

Olson, Ryan; Thompson, Sharon V.; Wipfli, Brad; Hanson, Ginger; Elliot, Diane L.; Anger, W. Kent; Bodner, Todd; Hammer, Leslie B.; Hohn, Elliot; Perrin, Nancy A.

2015-01-01

Objective Our objectives were to describe a sample of truck drivers, identify clusters of drivers with similar patterns in behaviors affecting energy balance (sleep, diet, and exercise), and test for cluster differences in health and psychosocial factors. Methods Participants’ (n=452, BMI M=37.2, 86.4% male) self-reported behaviors were dichotomized prior to hierarchical cluster analysis, which identified groups with similar behavior co-variation. Cluster differences were tested with generalized estimating equations. Results Five behavioral clusters were identified that differed significantly in age, smoking status, diabetes prevalence, lost work days, stress, and social support, but not in BMI. Cluster 2, characterized by the best sleep quality, had significantly lower lost workdays and stress than other clusters. Conclusions Weight management interventions for drivers should explicitly address sleep, and may be maximally effective after establishing socially supportive work environments that reduce stress exposures. PMID:26949883

Sleep, Dietary, and Exercise Behavioral Clusters Among Truck Drivers With Obesity: Implications for Interventions.

PubMed

Olson, Ryan; Thompson, Sharon V; Wipfli, Brad; Hanson, Ginger; Elliot, Diane L; Anger, W Kent; Bodner, Todd; Hammer, Leslie B; Hohn, Elliot; Perrin, Nancy A

2016-03-01

The objectives of the study were to describe a sample of truck drivers, identify clusters of drivers with similar patterns in behaviors affecting energy balance (sleep, diet, and exercise), and test for cluster differences in health safety, and psychosocial factors. Participants' (n = 452, body mass index M = 37.2, 86.4% male) self-reported behaviors were dichotomized prior to hierarchical cluster analysis, which identified groups with similar behavior covariation. Cluster differences were tested with generalized estimating equations. Five behavioral clusters were identified that differed significantly in age, smoking status, diabetes prevalence, lost work days, stress, and social support, but not in body mass index. Cluster 2, characterized by the best sleep quality, had significantly lower lost workdays and stress than other clusters. Weight management interventions for drivers should explicitly address sleep, and may be maximally effective after establishing socially supportive work environments that reduce stress exposures.

The Impact of Student Self-efficacy on Scientific Inquiry Skills: An Exploratory Investigation in River City, a Multi-user Virtual Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ketelhut, Diane Jass

2007-02-01

This exploratory study investigated data-gathering behaviors exhibited by 100 seventh-grade students as they participated in a scientific inquiry-based curriculum project delivered by a multi-user virtual environment (MUVE). This research examined the relationship between students' self-efficacy on entry into the authentic scientific activity and the longitudinal data-gathering behaviors they employed while engaged in that process. Three waves of student behavior data were gathered from a server-side database that recorded all student activity in the MUVE; these data were analyzed using individual growth modeling. The study found that self-efficacy correlated with the number of data-gathering behaviors in which students initially engaged, with high self-efficacy students engaging in more data gathering than students with low self-efficacy. Also, the impact of student self-efficacy on rate of change in data gathering behavior differed by gender. However, by the end of their time in the MUVE, initial student self-efficacy no longer correlated with data gathering behaviors. In addition, students' level of self-efficacy did not affect how many different sources from which they chose to gather data. These results suggest that embedding science inquiry curricula in novel platforms like a MUVE might act as a catalyst for change in students' self-efficacy and learning processes.

Temporal issues in person-organization fit, person-job fit and turnover: The role of leader-member exchange.

PubMed

Boon, Corine; Biron, Michal

2016-12-01

Person-environment fit has been found to have significant implications for employee attitudes and behaviors. Most research to date has approached person-environment fit as a static phenomenon, and without examining how different types of person-environment fit may affect each other. In particular, little is known about the conditions under which fit with one aspect of the environment influences another aspect, as well as subsequent behavior. To address this gap we examine the role of leader-member exchange in the relationship between two types of person-environment fit over time: person-organization and person-job fit, and subsequent turnover. Using data from two waves (T1 and T2, respectively) and turnover data collected two years later (T3) from a sample of 160 employees working in an elderly care organization in the Netherlands, we find that person-organization fit at T1 is positively associated with person-job fit at T2, but only for employees in high-quality leader-member exchange relationships. Higher needs-supplies fit at T2 is associated with lower turnover at T3. In contrast, among employees in high-quality leader-member exchange relationships, the demands-abilities dimension of person-job fit at T2 is associated with higher turnover at T3.

Temporal issues in person–organization fit, person–job fit and turnover: The role of leader–member exchange

PubMed Central

Boon, Corine; Biron, Michal

2016-01-01

Person–environment fit has been found to have significant implications for employee attitudes and behaviors. Most research to date has approached person–environment fit as a static phenomenon, and without examining how different types of person–environment fit may affect each other. In particular, little is known about the conditions under which fit with one aspect of the environment influences another aspect, as well as subsequent behavior. To address this gap we examine the role of leader–member exchange in the relationship between two types of person–environment fit over time: person–organization and person–job fit, and subsequent turnover. Using data from two waves (T1 and T2, respectively) and turnover data collected two years later (T3) from a sample of 160 employees working in an elderly care organization in the Netherlands, we find that person–organization fit at T1 is positively associated with person–job fit at T2, but only for employees in high-quality leader–member exchange relationships. Higher needs–supplies fit at T2 is associated with lower turnover at T3. In contrast, among employees in high-quality leader–member exchange relationships, the demands–abilities dimension of person–job fit at T2 is associated with higher turnover at T3. PMID:27904171

Prenatal immune activation in mice blocks the effects of environmental enrichment on exploratory behavior and microglia density.

PubMed

Buschert, Jens; Sakalem, Marna E; Saffari, Roja; Hohoff, Christa; Rothermundt, Matthias; Arolt, Volker; Zhang, Weiqi; Ambrée, Oliver

2016-06-03

Adverse environmental factors including prenatal maternal infection are capable of inducing long-lasting behavioral and neural alterations which can enhance the risk to develop schizophrenia. It is so far not clear whether supportive postnatal environments are able to modify such prenatally-induced alterations. In rodent models, environmental enrichment influences behavior and cognition, for instance by affecting endocrinologic, immunologic, and neuroplastic parameters. The current study was designed to elucidate the influence of postnatal environmental enrichment on schizophrenia-like behavioral alterations induced by prenatal polyI:C immune stimulation at gestational day 9 in mice. Adult offspring were tested for amphetamine-induced locomotion, social interaction, and problem-solving behavior as well as expression of dopamine D1 and D2 receptors and associated molecules, microglia density and adult neurogenesis. Prenatal polyI:C treatment resulted in increased dopamine sensitivity and dopamine D2 receptor expression in adult offspring which was not reversed by environmental enrichment. Prenatal immune activation prevented the effects of environmental enrichment which increased exploratory behavior and microglia density in NaCl treated mice. Problem-solving behavior as well as the number of immature neurons was affected by neither prenatal immune stimulation nor postnatal environmental enrichment. The behavioral and neural alterations that persist into adulthood could not generally be modified by environmental enrichment. This might be due to early neurodevelopmental disturbances which could not be rescued or compensated for at a later developmental stage. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Hygrothermal behavior of polybenzimidazole

DOE PAGES

Liu, Peng; Mullins, Michael; Bremner, Tim; ...

2016-04-11

Poly[2,2’-(m-phenylene)-5,5’-bibenzimidazole] (PBI) is used in extremely high temperature harsh environment applications. It is a unique engineering material that is formed into parts by powder-sintering at temperatures as high as 500 °C. Recently, ever increasing demands for high temperature polymers have led to significant interest in PBI such that engineering guidelines could be established for its application in high temperature and highly humid environments. The goal of this work was to understand the material science of PBI in hot-wet environments at temperatures up to 288 °C. Thermal gravimetric analysis and mass spectrometry were employed to identify the degraded volatile products. Themore » molecular scale damping behavior of PBI was probed using dynamic mechanical analysis. The changes in tensile properties and fracture toughness due to environmental exposure were also characterized. Upon heating above 250 °C, moisture-containing PBI exhibits obvious molecular structure change. Evidence of crosslinking and degradation is observed. With 288 °C hot water treatment severe degradation of PBI is observed. As a result, fundamental structure-property relationships of PBI affected by these higher temperature, high moisture content environments are discussed.« less

Integrated Analysis of Environment, Cattle and Human Serological Data: Risks and Mechanisms of Transmission of Rift Valley Fever in Madagascar

PubMed Central

Olive, Marie-Marie; Chevalier, Véronique; Grosbois, Vladimir; Tran, Annelise; Andriamandimby, Soa-Fy; Durand, Benoit; Ravalohery, Jean-Pierre; Andriamamonjy, Seta; Rakotomanana, Fanjasoa; Rogier, Christophe; Heraud, Jean-Michel

2016-01-01

Background Rift Valley fever (RVF) is a vector-borne disease affecting ruminants and humans. Madagascar was heavily affected by RVF in 2008–2009, with evidence of a large and heterogeneous spread of the disease. The identification of at-risk environments is essential to optimize the available resources by targeting RVF surveillance in Madagascar. Herein, the objectives of our study were: (i) to identify the environmental factors and areas favorable to RVF transmission to both cattle and human and (ii) to identify human behaviors favoring human infections in Malagasy contexts. Methodology/Principal Findings First, we characterized the environments of Malagasy communes using a Multiple Factor Analysis (MFA). Then, we analyzed cattle and human serological data collected at national level using Generalized Linear Mixed Models, with the individual serological status (cattle or human) as the response, and MFA factors, as well as other potential risk factors (cattle density, human behavior) as explanatory variables. Cattle and human seroprevalence rates were positively associated to humid environments (p<0.001). Areas with high cattle density were at risk (p<0.01; OR = 2.6). Furthermore, our analysis showed that frequent contact with raw milk contributed to explain human infection (OR = 1.6). Finally, our study highlighted the eastern-coast, western and north-western parts as high-risk areas for RVF transmission in cattle. Conclusions/Significance Our integrated approach analyzing environmental, cattle and human datasets allow us to bring new insight on RVF transmission patterns in Madagascar. The association between cattle seroprevalence, humid environments and high cattle density suggests that concomitant vectorial and direct transmissions are critical to maintain RVF enzootic transmission. Additionally, in the at-risk humid environment of the western, north-western and the eastern-coast areas, suitable to Culex and Anopheles mosquitoes, vectorial transmission probably occurs in both cattle and human. The relative contribution of vectorial or direct transmissions could be further assessed by mathematic modelling. PMID:27415438

Integrated Analysis of Environment, Cattle and Human Serological Data: Risks and Mechanisms of Transmission of Rift Valley Fever in Madagascar.

PubMed

Olive, Marie-Marie; Chevalier, Véronique; Grosbois, Vladimir; Tran, Annelise; Andriamandimby, Soa-Fy; Durand, Benoit; Ravalohery, Jean-Pierre; Andriamamonjy, Seta; Rakotomanana, Fanjasoa; Rogier, Christophe; Heraud, Jean-Michel

2016-07-01

Rift Valley fever (RVF) is a vector-borne disease affecting ruminants and humans. Madagascar was heavily affected by RVF in 2008-2009, with evidence of a large and heterogeneous spread of the disease. The identification of at-risk environments is essential to optimize the available resources by targeting RVF surveillance in Madagascar. Herein, the objectives of our study were: (i) to identify the environmental factors and areas favorable to RVF transmission to both cattle and human and (ii) to identify human behaviors favoring human infections in Malagasy contexts. First, we characterized the environments of Malagasy communes using a Multiple Factor Analysis (MFA). Then, we analyzed cattle and human serological data collected at national level using Generalized Linear Mixed Models, with the individual serological status (cattle or human) as the response, and MFA factors, as well as other potential risk factors (cattle density, human behavior) as explanatory variables. Cattle and human seroprevalence rates were positively associated to humid environments (p<0.001). Areas with high cattle density were at risk (p<0.01; OR = 2.6). Furthermore, our analysis showed that frequent contact with raw milk contributed to explain human infection (OR = 1.6). Finally, our study highlighted the eastern-coast, western and north-western parts as high-risk areas for RVF transmission in cattle. Our integrated approach analyzing environmental, cattle and human datasets allow us to bring new insight on RVF transmission patterns in Madagascar. The association between cattle seroprevalence, humid environments and high cattle density suggests that concomitant vectorial and direct transmissions are critical to maintain RVF enzootic transmission. Additionally, in the at-risk humid environment of the western, north-western and the eastern-coast areas, suitable to Culex and Anopheles mosquitoes, vectorial transmission probably occurs in both cattle and human. The relative contribution of vectorial or direct transmissions could be further assessed by mathematic modelling.

Microgravity: Molecular Dynamics Simulations at the NCCS Probe the Behavior of Liquids in Low Gravity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2002-01-01

The life of the very small, whether in something as complicated as a human cell or as simple as a drop of water, is of fundamental scientific interest: By knowing how a tiny amount of material reacts to changes in its environment, scientists maybe able to answer questions about how a bulk of material would react to comparable changes. NASA is in the forefront of computational research into a broad range of basic scientific questions about fluid dynamics and the nature of liquid boundary instability. For example, one important issue for the space program is how drops of water and other materials will behave in the low-gravity environment of space and how the low gravity will affect the transport and containment of these materials. Accurate prediction of this behavior is among the aims of a set of molecular dynamics experiments carried out on the NCCSs Cray supercomputers. In conventional computational studies of materials, matter is treated as continuous - a macroscopic whole without regard to its molecular parts - and the behavior patterns of the matter in various physical environments are studied using well-established differential equations and mathematical parameters based on physical properties such as compressibility density, heat capacity, and vapor pressure of the bulk material.

Long-Term Weight Loss Effects of a Behavioral Weight Management Program: Does the Community Food Environment Matter?

PubMed Central

Zenk, Shannon N.; Tarlov, Elizabeth; Wing, Coady; Tong, Hao; Jones, Kelly K.; Powell, Lisa M.

2018-01-01

This study examined whether community food environments altered the longer-term effects of a nationwide behavioral weight management program on body mass index (BMI). The sample was comprised of 98,871 male weight management program participants and 15,385 female participants, as well as 461,302 and 37,192 inverse propensity-score weighted matched male and female controls. We measured the community food environment by counting the number of supermarkets, convenience stores, and fast food restaurants within a 1-mile radius around each person’s home address. We used difference-in-difference regression models with person and calendar time fixed effects to estimate MOVE! effects over time in sub-populations defined by community food environment attributes. Among men, after an initial decrease in BMI at 6 months, the effect of the program decreased over time, with BMI increasing incrementally at 12 months (0.098 kg/m2, p < 0.001), 18 months (0.069 kg/m2, p < 0.001), and 24 months (0.067 kg/m2, p < 0.001). Among women, the initial effects of the program decreased over time as well. Women had an incremental BMI change of 0.099 kg/m2 at 12 months (p < 0.05) with non-significant incremental changes at 18 months and 24 months. We found little evidence that these longer-term effects of the weight management program differed depending on the community food environment. Physiological adaptations may overwhelm environmental influences on adherence to behavioral regimens in affecting longer-term weight loss outcomes. PMID:29373556

The evolution of conformist transmission in social learning when the environment changes periodically.

PubMed

Nakahashi, Wataru

2007-08-01

Conformity is often observed in human social learning. Social learners preferentially imitate the majority or most common behavior in many situations, though the strength of conformity varies with the situation. Why has such a psychological tendency evolved? I investigate this problem by extending a standard model of social learning evolution with infinite environmental states (Feldman, M.W., Aoki, K., Kumm, J., 1996. Individual versus social learning: evolutionary analysis in a fluctuating environment. Anthropol. Sci. 104, 209-231) to include conformity bias. I mainly focus on the relationship between the strength of conformity bias that evolves and environmental stability, which is one of the most important factors in the evolution of social learning. Using the evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS) approach, I show that conformity always evolves when environmental stability and the cost of adopting a wrong behavior are small, though environmental stability and the cost of individual learning both negatively affect the strength of conformity.

The role of lipopolysaccharide on the electrochemical behavior of titanium.

PubMed

Barão, V A; Mathew, M T; Assunção, W G; Yuan, J C; Wimmer, M A; Sukotjo, C

2011-05-01

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) may induce peri-implantitis and implant failure. However, the role of LPS in titanium (Ti) electrochemical behavior remains unknown. We hypothesized that LPS in saliva with different pHs affects Ti corrosion properties. Thirty-six Ti discs (15 mm × 3 mm) were divided into 12 groups according to saliva pH (3, 6.5, and 9) and Escherichia coli LPS concentration (0, 0.15, 15, and 150 µg/mL). Electrochemical tests, such as open circuit potential, potentiodynamic, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, were conducted in a controlled environment. Data were evaluated by Pearson correlation and regression analysis (α = 0.05). LPS and pH affected Ti corrosive behavior. In general, lower pH and higher LPS concentration accelerated Ti corrosion. In the control group, the increase of pH significantly reduced the corrosion rate and increased the capacitance of the double layer. In LPS groups, the decrease of pH significantly increased the corrosion rate of Ti. LPS negatively influenced Ti corrosion behavior. C(dl), capacitance of double layer; E(corr), corrosion potential; EIS, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy; I(corr), corrosion current density; I(pass), passivation current density; LPS, lipopolysaccharide; OCP, open circuit potential; R(p), polarization resistance; Ti, titanium.

Discussion and theoretical summarization of the experimental data. [psychophysiology in human factors engineering

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mileryan, Y. A.

1975-01-01

A summary of research on psychological factors that cause substantial changes in the reliability indicators of an operators work is followed by a conclusion that strong moral-volitional qualities are the basic factors that make the human behavior under conditions of stress effective; emotional subcortical subdominants affect a person's conscious organization and self control in a man machine environment.

The Agony and Ecstasy of Workplace Creativity: A Qualitative Study of How Facilitators View Affect in Helping Adults Learn Creativity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fleming, Kirk D.

2012-01-01

The business world is constantly striving for new, better, more efficient products and services. As such, the call for innovation rings out loud and clear throughout every industry and every workplace environment. As a foundation for innovation, creativity is typically positioned as a valued attribute, skill or behavior for adults in the…

Simulation and thermal imaging of the 2006 Esperanza Wildfire in southern California: application of a coupled weather-wildland fire model

Treesearch

Janice L. Coen; Philip J Riggan

2014-01-01

The 2006 Esperanza Fire in Riverside County, California, was simulated with the Coupled Atmosphere-Wildland Fire Environment (CAWFE) model to examine how dynamic interactions of the atmosphere with large-scale fire spread and energy release may affect observed patterns of fire behavior as mapped using the FireMapper thermal imaging radiometer. CAWFE simulated the...

Salient Mainstream and Hispanic Values in a Navy Training Environment: An Anthropological Description.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-08-01

nature of personal relationships , over the neutral or depersonalized organizational contacts. They felt that other individuals were more readily...be more in consonance with Anglo/mainstream interactive behavior; it places less im- portance on consanguineally or afinally ascribed connections, and...Triandis notes that values are "conceptions of relationships among abstract categories (e.g., humans, nature, time) which have strong affective components

Linking Classroom Environment with At-Risk Engagement in Science: A Mixed Method Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Collins, Stephen Craig

This explanatory sequential mixed-method study analyzed how the teacher created learning environment links to student engagement for students at-risk across five science classroom settings. The learning environment includes instructional strategies, differentiated instruction, positive learning environment, and an academically challenging environment. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered in the form of self-reporting surveys and a follow-up interview. The researcher aimed to use the qualitative results to explain the quantitative data. The general research question was "What are the factors of the teacher-created learning environment that were best suited to maximize engagement of students at-risk?" Specifically explaining, (1) How do the measured level of teacher created learning environment link to the engagement level of students at-risk in science class? and (2) What relationship exists between the student perception of the science classroom environment and the level of behavioral, cognitive, emotional, and social engagement for students at-risk in science class? This study took place within a large school system with more than 20 high schools, most having 2000-3000 students. Participating students were sent to a panel hearing that determined them unfit for the regular educational setting, and were given the option of attending one of the two alternative schools within the county. Students in this alternative school were considered at-risk due to the fact that 98% received free and reduced lunch, 97% were minority population, and all have been suspended from the regular educational setting. Pairwise comparisons of the SPS questions between teachers using t-test from 107 students at-risk and 40 interviews suggest that each category of the learning environment affects the level of behavioral, cognitive, emotional, and social engagement in science class for students at-risk in an alternative school setting. Teachers with higher student perceptions of learning environment showed increased levels of all types of engagement over the teachers with a lower perception of learning environment. Qualitative data suggested that teachers who created a more positive learning environment had increased student engagement in their class. Follow-up questions also revealed that teachers who incorporated a wider variety of classroom instructional strategies increased behavioral engagement of students at-risk in science class.

Symptomatic complex partial status epilepticus manifesting as utilization behavior of a mobile phone.

PubMed

Carota, Antonio; Novy, Jan; Rossetti, Andrea O

2009-03-01

Utilization behavior (UB) consists of reaching out and using objects in the environment in an automatic manner and out of context. This behavior has been correlated to frontal lobe dysfunction, especially of the right hemisphere. We describe a 60-year-old woman, affected by a glioblastoma located in the right frontal region, who presented with intermittent UB of the mobile phone as the main clinical manifestation of partial complex status epilepticus. Video/EEG studies showed a striking correlation between mobile phone utilization and ictal epileptic activity. Clinical and EEG findings were markedly reduced after the introduction of antiepileptic drugs. This case study suggests that UB may be added to the symptoms described for partial seizures originating from frontal areas.

Intergenerational transmission of violence and resilience in conflict-affected Burundi: a qualitative study of why some children thrive despite duress.

PubMed

Berckmoes, L H; de Jong, J T V M; Reis, R

2017-01-01

Research suggests that in environments where community conflict and violence are chronic or cyclical, caregiving can impact how children may begin to reproduce violence throughout the various stages of their lives. The aim of this study is to understand how caregiving affects processes of reproducing violence and resilience among children in conflict-affected Burundi. We combined a socio-ecological model of child development with a child-actor perspective. We operationalized the core concepts 'vulnerable household', 'resilience', and 'caregiving' iteratively in culturally relevant ways, and put children's experiences at the center of the inquiry. We carried out a comparative case study among 74 purposively sampled vulnerable households in six collines in three communes in three provinces in the interior of Burundi. Burundian field researchers conducted three consecutive interviews; with the head of the household, the main caregiver, and a child. Our findings reveal a strong congruence between positive caregiving and resilience among children. Negative caregiving was related to negative social behavior among children. Other resources for resilience appeared to be limited. The overall level of household conditions and embedment in communities attested to a generalized fragile ecological environment. In conflict-affected socio-ecological environments, caregiving can impact children's functioning and their role in reproducing violence. Interventions that support caregivers in positive caregiving are promising for breaking cyclical violence.

Interactions Between Housing Density and Ambient Temperature in the Cage Environment: Effects on Mouse Physiology and Behavior.

PubMed

Toth, Linda A; Trammell, Rita A; Ilsley-Woods, Megan

2015-11-01

To determine how housing density and ambient temperature interact to influence the physiology and behavior of mice, we systematically varied housing density (1 to 5 mice per cage) and ambient temperature (22, 26, or 30 °C) and measured effects on body weight, food intake, diurnal patterns of locomotor activity and core temperature, fecal corticosterone, and serum cytokine and adipokine panels. Temperatures inside cages housing 5 mice were 1 to 2 °C higher than the ambient temperature. As the housing density decreased, in-cage temperatures began to fall at a density of 2 or 3 mice per cage and did not differ from ambient temperature at 1 mouse per cage. Ambient temperature, but not housing density, significantly affected food intake. Although neither ambient temperature nor housing density affected core temperature or activity, hyperthermia and behavioral activation occurred during the 12-h period after cage change. Fecal concentrations of corticosterone metabolites and serum cytokines, chemokines, insulin, and leptin were not influenced by cage density and were only sporadically influenced by ambient temperature. Our data document that the number of mice housed per cage influences the intracage environmental conditions and that ambient temperature influences food intake even when temperatures are within or near recommended or thermoneutral ranges. We conclude that investigators should be cautious when changing the number of mice housed in a cage over the course of a study, because doing so significantly alters the cage environment to which remaining mice are exposed.

Interactions Between Housing Density and Ambient Temperature in the Cage Environment: Effects on Mouse Physiology and Behavior

PubMed Central

Toth, Linda A; Trammell, Rita A; Ilsley-Woods, Megan

2015-01-01

To determine how housing density and ambient temperature interact to influence the physiology and behavior of mice, we systematically varied housing density (1 to 5 mice per cage) and ambient temperature (22, 26, or 30 °C) and measured effects on body weight, food intake, diurnal patterns of locomotor activity and core temperature, fecal corticosterone, and serum cytokine and adipokine panels. Temperatures inside cages housing 5 mice were 1 to 2 °C higher than the ambient temperature. As the housing density decreased, in-cage temperatures began to fall at a density of 2 or 3 mice per cage and did not differ from ambient temperature at 1 mouse per cage. Ambient temperature, but not housing density, significantly affected food intake. Although neither ambient temperature nor housing density affected core temperature or activity, hyperthermia and behavioral activation occurred during the 12-h period after cage change. Fecal concentrations of corticosterone metabolites and serum cytokines, chemokines, insulin, and leptin were not influenced by cage density and were only sporadically influenced by ambient temperature. Our data document that the number of mice housed per cage influences the intracage environmental conditions and that ambient temperature influences food intake even when temperatures are within or near recommended or thermoneutral ranges. We conclude that investigators should be cautious when changing the number of mice housed in a cage over the course of a study, because doing so significantly alters the cage environment to which remaining mice are exposed. PMID:26632780

Innovative use of influential prenatal counseling may improve breastfeeding initiation rates among WIC participants.

PubMed

Hildebrand, Deana A; McCarthy, Pam; Tipton, Debi; Merriman, Connie; Schrank, Melody; Newport, Melinda

2014-01-01

To determine whether integrating influence strategies (reciprocation, consistency, consensus, feeling liked, authority, and scarcity) throughout Chickasaw Nation Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) clinics (1) changed participants' perception of the WIC experience and (2) affected breastfeeding initiation rates. Two-part, quasi-experimental design. Four WIC clinics. Parents and caregivers of children birth to 3 years. Behavior change intervention based on Social Cognitive Theory using Caildini's Principles of Influence. Traditional-model groups (control) received services prior to the intervention; influence-model groups (experimental) received services after initiation of the intervention. The preliminary demonstration project surveyed 2 groups to measure changes in their perceptions of the WIC environment. Secondary data analysis measured changes in breastfeeding initiation in 2 groups of postpartum women. Frequency analysis, independent sample t tests, chi-square for independence, step-wise logistic regression. The demonstration project resulted in 5 improved influence measures (P < .02), aligning with the influence principle of "feeling liked." The model had a small effect (φ = 0.10) in distinguishing breastfeeding initiation; women in the influence model were 1.5 times more likely (95% CI, 1.19-1.86; P < .05) to initiate breastfeeding compared with women in the traditional model, controlling for parity, mother's age, and race. Consistent with Social Cognitive Theory, changing the WIC environment by integrating influence principles may positively affect women's infant feeding decisions and behaviors, specifically breastfeeding initiation rates. Copyright © 2014 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Dose-dependent fluoxetine effects on boldness in male Siamese fighting fish.

PubMed

Dzieweczynski, Teresa L; Campbell, Brennah A; Kane, Jessica L

2016-03-01

As the use of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) continues to rise, these compounds enter the environment in increasing frequency. One such PPCP, fluoxetine, has been found in detectable amounts in aquatic ecosystems worldwide, where it may interfere with the behavior of exposed organisms. Fluoxetine exposure has been found to influence boldness and exploration in a range of fish species; however, how it might alter behavior in multiple contexts or over time is rarely examined. To this end, the effects of fluoxetine on boldness over time were studied in male Siamese fighting fish. Three different groups of males (0, 0.5 and 5 µg l(-1) fluoxetine) were tested in multiple boldness assays (empty tank, novel environment and shoal) once a week for 3 weeks to collect baseline measures and then at three different time points post-exposure. The effects of these varying exposure amounts on behavior were then examined for overall response, consistency and across-context correlations. Unexposed males were bolder in all contexts, were more consistent within a context, and had stronger between-context correlations than exposed males. Fluoxetine had dose-dependent effects on behavior, as males that received the higher dose exhibited greater behavioral effects. This study stresses the potential fitness consequences of fluoxetine exposure and suggests that examining behavioral effects of PPCPs under different dosing regimens and in multiple contexts is important to gain an increased understanding of how exposure affects behavior. © 2016. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

Hypergravity-induced altered behavior in Drosophila

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hosamani, Ravikumar; Wan, Judy; Marcu, Oana; Bhattacharya, Sharmila

2012-07-01

Microgravity and mechanical stress are important factors of the spaceflight environment, and affect astronaut health and behavior. Structural, functional, and behavioral mechanisms of all cells and organisms are adapted to Earth's gravitational force, 1G, while altered gravity can pose challenges to their adaptability to this new environment. On ground, hypergravity paradigms have been used to predict and complement studies on microgravity. Even small changes that take place at a molecular and genetic level during altered gravity may result in changes in phenotypic behavior. Drosophila provides a robust and simple, yet very reliable model system to understand the complexity of hypergravity-induced altered behavior, due to availability of a plethora of genetic tools. Locomotor behavior is a sensitive parameter that reflects the array of molecular adaptive mechanisms recruited during exposure to altered gravity. Thus, understanding the genetic basis of this behavior in a hypergravity environment could potentially extend our understanding of mechanisms of adaptation in microgravity. In our laboratory we are trying to dissect out the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying hypergravity-induced oxidative stress, and its potential consequences on behavioral alterations by using Drosophila as a model system. In the present study, we employed pan-neuronal and mushroom body specific knock-down adult flies by using Gal4/UAS system to express inverted repeat transgenes (RNAi) to monitor and quantify the hypergravity-induced behavior in Drosophila. We established that acute hypergravity (3G for 60 min) causes a significant and robust decrease in the locomotor behavior in adult Drosophila, and that this change is dependent on genes related to Parkinson's disease, such as DJ-1α , DJ-1β , and parkin. In addition, we also showed that anatomically the control of this behavior is significantly processed in the mushroom body region of the fly brain. This work links a molecular mechanism of response to changes in gravity with a phenotypical outcome. Characterizing the changes in altered gravity that are consequential for the overall physiology of organisms is crucial for assessing the risks of long-term space travel.

Overcoming Biological, Behavioral and Structural Vulnerabilities: New Directions in Research to Decrease HIV Transmission in Men who have Sex with Men

PubMed Central

Wheeler, Darrell P.; Bekker, Linda-Gail; Grinsztejn, Beatriz; Remien, Robert H.; Sandfort, Theodorus G. M.; Beyrer, Chris

2013-01-01

Men who have sex with men, including transgender women, comprise a heterogeneous group of individuals, whose sexual behaviors and gender identities may varying widely between cultures and among individuals. Their sources of increased vulnerability to HIV are diverse, including the increased efficiency of HIV transmission via unprotected anal intercourse, sexual role versatility, asymptomatic sexually transmitted infections, as well as behavioral factors that may be associated with condomless sex with multiple partners. Societal stigmatization of homosexual behavior and gender non-conformity may result in internalized negative feelings that lead to depression, other affective disorders, and substance use, which in turn are associated with increased risk taking behaviors. Social stigma and punitive civil environments may lead to delays in seeking HIV and STD screening, and later initiation of antiretroviral therapy. The iPrEX study demonstrated that chemoprophylaxis can decrease HIV acquisition in MSM, and the HPTN 052 study established the biological plausibility that earlier initiation of HAART can decrease HIV transmission to uninfected partners. Despite these advances, MSM remain among the most significantly HIV-affected population in resource rich and limited settings. New studies will integrate enhanced understanding of the biology of enhanced rectal transmission of HIV and the focused use of antiretrovirals for prevention with culturally-tailored approaches that address the potentiating social and behavioral factors associated with enhanced HIV spread among MSM. PMID:23764630

The matching law: a tutorial for practitioners.

PubMed

Reed, Derek D; Kaplan, Brent A

2011-01-01

The application of the matching law has historically been limited to use as a quantitative measurement tool in the experimental analysis of behavior to describe temporally extended patterns of behavior-environment relations. In recent years, however, applications of the matching law have been translated to clinical settings and populations to gain a better understanding of how naturally-occurring events affect socially important behaviors. This tutorial provides a brief background of the conceptual foundations of matching, an overview of the various matching equations that have been used in research, and a description of how to interpret the data derived from these equations in the context of numerous examples of matching analyses conducted with socially important behavior. An appendix of resources is provided to direct readers to primary sources, as well as useful articles and books on the topic.

The Effect of Green Home, Green Behavior, and Livability on the Financial Incentive in Medan City, Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fachrudin, K. A.; Fachrudin, H. T.

2017-03-01

A green home focuses on the efficient usage of resources. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of green homes, green behavior, and livability on financial incentives. The population of this study is a largest and oldest housing in Medan City and sample is 100 houses. The method that used is path analysis. The findings show that the application of the green concept according to the residents have positive and significant impact on livability within alpha 5 percent, but livability has positive and unsignificant impact on the financial incentive. The application of green concept have no significant effect either directly or through livability to the financial incentive. Factor affecting the financial incentive is green behavior. It is expected that residents can increase the awareness about environment and have green behavior.

The Matching Law: A Tutorial for Practitioners

PubMed Central

Kaplan, Brent A

2011-01-01

The application of the matching law has historically been limited to use as a quantitative measurement tool in the experimental analysis of behavior to describe temporally extended patterns of behavior-environment relations. In recent years, however, applications of the matching law have been translated to clinical settings and populations to gain a better understanding of how naturally-occurring events affect socially important behaviors. This tutorial provides a brief background of the conceptual foundations of matching, an overview of the various matching equations that have been used in research, and a description of how to interpret the data derived from these equations in the context of numerous examples of matching analyses conducted with socially important behavior. An appendix of resources is provided to direct readers to primary sources, as well as useful articles and books on the topic. PMID:22649575

Serious Gaming for Test & Evaluation of Clean-Slate (Ab Initio) National Airspace System (NAS) Designs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Allen, B. Danette; Alexandrov, Natalia

2016-01-01

Incremental approaches to air transportation system development inherit current architectural constraints, which, in turn, place hard bounds on system capacity, efficiency of performance, and complexity. To enable airspace operations of the future, a clean-slate (ab initio) airspace design(s) must be considered. This ab initio National Airspace System (NAS) must be capable of accommodating increased traffic density, a broader diversity of aircraft, and on-demand mobility. System and subsystem designs should scale to accommodate the inevitable demand for airspace services that include large numbers of autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and a paradigm shift in general aviation (e.g., personal air vehicles) in addition to more traditional aerial vehicles such as commercial jetliners and weather balloons. The complex and adaptive nature of ab initio designs for the future NAS requires new approaches to validation, adding a significant physical experimentation component to analytical and simulation tools. In addition to software modeling and simulation, the ability to exercise system solutions in a flight environment will be an essential aspect of validation. The NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) Autonomy Incubator seeks to develop a flight simulation infrastructure for ab initio modeling and simulation that assumes no specific NAS architecture and models vehicle-to-vehicle behavior to examine interactions and emergent behaviors among hundreds of intelligent aerial agents exhibiting collaborative, cooperative, coordinative, selfish, and malicious behaviors. The air transportation system of the future will be a complex adaptive system (CAS) characterized by complex and sometimes unpredictable (or unpredicted) behaviors that result from temporal and spatial interactions among large numbers of participants. A CAS not only evolves with a changing environment and adapts to it, it is closely coupled to all systems that constitute the environment. Thus, the ecosystem that contains the system and other systems evolves with the CAS as well. The effects of the emerging adaptation and co-evolution are difficult to capture with only combined mathematical and computational experimentation. Therefore, an ab initio flight simulation environment must accommodate individual vehicles, groups of self-organizing vehicles, and large-scale infrastructure behavior. Inspired by Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG) and Serious Gaming, the proposed ab initio simulation environment is similar to online gaming environments in which player participants interact with each other, affect their environment, and expect the simulation to persist and change regardless of any individual player's active participation.

Effects of In utero environment and maternal behavior on neuroendocrine and behavioral alterations in a mouse model of prenatal trauma.

PubMed

Golub, Y; Canneva, F; Funke, R; Frey, S; Distler, J; von Hörsten, S; Freitag, C M; Kratz, O; Moll, G H; Solati, J

2016-11-01

Maternal posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following trauma exposure during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of affective disorders in children. To investigate the mechanisms by which prenatal trauma and/or maternal PTSD affect brain development and behavior we established a mouse model of prenatal traumatic (PT) experience based on the application of an electric foot shock to C57Bl/6N female mice on the gestational day 12 during their pregnancy. The model is based on a previously validated animal model of PTSD. We found high anxiety levels and poor maternal care along with reduced serum prolactin and increased corticosterone levels in dams following maternal trauma (MT). PT-pups were born smaller and stayed smaller throughout their life. We show increased time and frequency of ultrasonic calls in PT-pups when separated from the mothers on the postnatal day (PND) 9. Cross-fostering experiments reveal lower anxiety levels in PT pups raised by healthy mothers as compared to trauma-naive pups raised by MT-dams. Importantly, the combination of prenatal trauma and being raised by a traumatized mother leads to: (1) the highest corticosterone levels in pups, (2) longest USV-call time and (3) highest anxiety levels in comparison to other experimental groups. Our data indicates a distinct change in maternal care following MT which is possibly associated with trauma-induced decrease in prolactin levels. Furthermore, we show that maternal behavior is crucial for the development of the offspring anxiety and specific aspects in maternal care overwrite to a significant extend the effects of in utero and postnatal environment. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 76: 1254-1265, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Effect of environment on low-cycle fatigue of a nickel-titanium instrument.

PubMed

Cheung, Gary S P; Shen, Ya; Darvell, Brian W

2007-12-01

This study examined the low-cycle fatigue (LCF) behavior of a nickel-titanium (NiTi) engine-file under various environmental conditions. One brand of NiTi instrument was subjected to rotational-bending fatigue in air, deionized water, sodium hypochlorite, or silicone oil. The curvature of each instrument, diameter of the fracture cross-section, and the number of rotations to failure were determined. The strain-life relationship in the LCF region was examined by using one-way analysis of variance, and the number of crack origins with chi2, for differences between groups. The results showed a linear relationship, on logarithmic scales, between the LCF life and the surface strain amplitude; regression line slopes were significantly different between noncorrosive (air, silicone oil) and corrosive (water, hypochlorite) environments (P < .05), as well as number of crack origins (P < .05). Hypochlorite was more detrimental to fatigue life than water. In conclusion, environmental conditions significantly affect the LCF behavior of NiTi rotary instruments. Fatigue testing of NiTi engine-files should be in a service-like environment.

Boys' serotonin transporter genotype affects maternal behavior through self-control: a case of evocative gene-environment correlation.

PubMed

Pener-Tessler, Roni; Avinun, Reut; Uzefovsky, Florina; Edelman, Shany; Ebstein, Richard P; Knafo, Ariel

2013-02-01

Self-control, involving processes such as delaying gratification, concentrating, planning, following instructions, and adapting emotions and behavior to situational requirements and social norms, may have a profound impact on children's adjustment. The importance of self-control suggests that parents are likely to modify their parenting based on children's ability for self-control. We study the effect of children's self-control, a trait partially molded by genetics, on their mothers' parenting, a process of evocative gene-environment correlation. Israeli 3.5-year-old twins (N = 320) participated in a lab session in which their mothers' parenting was observed. DNA was available from most children (N = 228). Mothers described children's self-control in a questionnaire. Boys were lower in self-control and received less positive parenting from their mothers, in comparison with girls. For boys, and not for girls, the serotonin transporter linked polymorphic region gene predicted mothers' levels of positive parenting, an effect mediated by boys' self-control. The implications of this evocative gene-environment correlation and the observed sex differences are discussed.

The imbalanced brain: from normal behavior to schizophrenia.

PubMed

Grossberg, S

2000-07-15

An outstanding problem in psychiatry concerns how to link discoveries about the pharmacological, neurophysiological, and neuroanatomical substrates of mental disorders to the abnormal behaviors that they control. A related problem concerns how to understand abnormal behaviors on a continuum with normal behaviors. During the past few decades, neural models have been developed of how normal cognitive and emotional processes learn from the environment, focus attention and act upon motivationally important events, and cope with unexpected events. When arousal or volitional signals in these models are suitably altered, they give rise to symptoms that strikingly resemble negative and positive symptoms of schizophrenia, including flat affect, impoverishment of will, attentional problems, loss of a theory of mind, thought derailment, hallucinations, and delusions. This article models how emotional centers of the brain, such as the amygdala, interact with sensory and prefrontal cortices (notably ventral, or orbital, prefrontal cortex) to generate affective states, attend to motivationally salient sensory events, and elicit motivated behaviors. Closing this feedback loop between cognitive and emotional centers is predicted to generate a cognitive-emotional resonance that can support conscious awareness. When such emotional centers become depressed, negative symptoms of schizophrenia emerge in the model. Such emotional centers are modeled as opponent affective processes, such as fear and relief, whose response amplitude and sensitivity are calibrated by an arousal level and chemical transmitters that slowly inactivate, or habituate, in an activity-dependent way. These opponent processes exhibit an Inverted-U, whereby behavior becomes depressed if the arousal level is chosen too large or too small. The negative symptoms are owing to the way in which the depressed opponent process interacts with other circuits throughout the brain.

Impaired neurocognitive functions affect social learning processes in oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder: implications for interventions.

PubMed

Matthys, Walter; Vanderschuren, Louk J M J; Schutter, Dennis J L G; Lochman, John E

2012-09-01

In this review, a conceptualization of oppositional defiant (ODD) and conduct disorder (CD) is presented according to which social learning processes in these disorders are affected by neurocognitive dysfunctions. Neurobiological studies in ODD and CD suggest that the ability to make associations between behaviors and negative and positive consequences is compromised in children and adolescents with these disorders due to reduced sensitivity to punishment and to reward. As a result, both learning of appropriate behavior and learning to refrain from inappropriate behavior may be affected. Likewise, problem solving is impaired due to deficiencies in inhibition, attention, cognitive flexibility, and decision making. Consequently, children and adolescents with ODD and CD may have difficulty learning to optimize their behavior in changeable environments. This conceptualization of ODD and CD is relevant for the improvement of the effect of psychological treatments. Behavioral and cognitive-behavioral interventions that have been shown to be modestly effective in ODD and CD are based on social learning. Limited effectiveness of these interventions may be caused by difficulties in social learning in children and adolescents with ODD and CD. However, although these impairments have been observed at a group level, the deficits in reward processing, punishment processing, and cognitive control mentioned above may not be present to the same extent in each individual with ODD and CD. Therefore, the neurocognitive characteristics in children and adolescents with ODD and CD should be assessed individually. Thus, instead of delivering interventions in a standardized way, these programs may benefit from an individualized approach that depends on the weaknesses and strengths of the neurocognitive characteristics of the child and the adolescent.

Food Shopping Behaviors and Exposure to Discrimination

PubMed Central

Zenk, Shannon N.; Schulz, Amy J.; Israel, Barbara A.; Mentz, Graciela; Miranda, Patricia Y.; Opperman, Alisha; Odoms-Young, Angela M.

2013-01-01

Objective This study examined food shopping behaviors, particularly distance to grocery shop, and exposure to discrimination. Design Cross-sectional observational study utilizing data from a community survey, neighborhood food environment observations, and the decennial census. Setting Three communities in Detroit, Michigan, USA. Subjects Probability sample of 919 African-American, Latino, and White adults in 146 census blocks and 69 census block groups. Results On average, respondents shopped for groceries 3·1 miles from home, with 30·9% shopping within one mile and 22·3% more than five miles from home. Longer distance to shop was associated with being younger, African-American (compared to Latino), a woman, higher socioeconomic status, lower satisfaction with the neighborhood food environment, and living in a neighborhood with higher poverty, without a large grocery store, and farther from the nearest supermarket. African-Americans and those with the lowest incomes were particularly likely to report unfair treatment at food outlets. Each mile increase in distance to shop was associated with a 7% increase in the odds of unfair treatment; this relationship did not differ by race/ethnicity. Conclusions This study suggests that unfair treatment in retail interactions warrants investigation as a pathway by which restricted neighborhood food environments and food shopping behaviors may adversely affect health and contribute to health disparities. Efforts to promote “healthy” and equitable food environments should emphasize local availability and affordability of a range of healthy food products, as well as fair treatment while shopping regardless of race/ethnicity or socioeconomic status. PMID:23534814

Investigation into the influence of build parameters on failure of 3D printed parts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fornasini, Giacomo

Additive manufacturing, including fused deposition modeling (FDM), is transforming the built world and engineering education. Deep understanding of parts created through FDM technology has lagged behind its adoption in home, work, and academic environments. Properties of parts created from bulk materials through traditional manufacturing are understood well enough to accurately predict their behavior through analytical models. Unfortunately, Additive Manufacturing (AM) process parameters create anisotropy on a scale that fundamentally affects the part properties. Understanding AM process parameters (implemented by program algorithms called slicers) is necessary to predict part behavior. Investigating algorithms controlling print parameters (slicers) revealed stark differences between the generation of part layers. In this work, tensile testing experiments, including a full factorial design, determined that three key factors, width, thickness, infill density, and their interactions, significantly affect the tensile properties of 3D printed test samples.

A comparison of force control algorithms for robots in contact with flexible environments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilfinger, Lee S.

1992-01-01

In order to perform useful tasks, the robot end-effector must come into contact with its environment. For such tasks, force feedback is frequently used to control the interaction forces. Control of these forces is complicated by the fact that the flexibility of the environment affects the stability of the force control algorithm. Because of the wide variety of different materials present in everyday environments, it is necessary to gain an understanding of how environmental flexibility affects the stability of force control algorithms. This report presents the theory and experimental results of two force control algorithms: Position Accommodation Control and Direct Force Servoing. The implementation of each of these algorithms on a two-arm robotic test bed located in the Center for Intelligent Robotic Systems for Space Exploration (CIRSSE) is discussed in detail. The behavior of each algorithm when contacting materials of different flexibility is experimentally determined. In addition, several robustness improvements to the Direct Force Servoing algorithm are suggested and experimentally verified. Finally, a qualitative comparison of the force control algorithms is provided, along with a description of a general tuning process for each control method.

The Relationship between Home Environment and Children's Dietary Behaviors, Lifestyle Factors, and Health: Super Food Education School Project by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

PubMed

Nakahori, Nobue; Sekine, Michikazu; Yamada, Masaaki; Tatsuse, Takashi

2016-01-01

Objectives The numbers of nuclear families and working women have been increasing. Such changes in the home environment may affect children's dietary behaviors, lifestyle factors, and health. This study aims to clarify the associations between the home environment and children's dietary behaviors, lifestyle factors, and health.Methods In July 2014, we questioned the students and parents of five elementary schools that joined the Super Food Education School Project in Takaoka City, Toyama Prefecture. Of 2057 subjects, 1936 (94.1%) answered and 1719 of these subjects were analyzed. In this study, the phrase "home environment" describes such terms as "mother's employment status", "family structure", "subjective economic state", "communication between parents and children", "having breakfast or supper with family", "household chores by children", "parents' awareness of food education", "regard for balanced nutrition", and "teaching table manners". We performed logistic-regression analyses using children's dietary behaviors, lifestyle factors, and health as dependent variables; the items relating to home environment were independent variables.Results Children with parents who are employed, those who do not have breakfast or supper with family, those who do not help with household chores, and those with parents who are less conscious of food education were more likely to eat fewer vegetables, to have likes and dislikes of foods, to skip breakfast, and to have snacks. Children who have little communication with their parents, who do not help with household chores, and those with parents who are less conscious of food education were less likely to exercise, sleep well, spend less time with television, and spend less time on playing videogames. Children with less affluence, those who have little communication with their parents, those who do not help with household chores, and those with parents who are less conscious of food education were less likely to have high health satisfaction levels, to feel good when waking up, to be calm, or to have good self-affirmation.Conclusion The results of this study show that a good home environment relates to children's good dietary behaviors, positive lifestyle factors, and good health. It is important to maintain a good home environment, such as by raising parents' food awareness, increasing opportunities for communication between children and parents, and having children help with household chores to improve children's dietary behaviors, lifestyle factors, and health.

Paracetamol (acetaminophen) administration during neonatal brain development affects cognitive function and alters its analgesic and anxiolytic response in adult male mice.

PubMed

Viberg, Henrik; Eriksson, Per; Gordh, Torsten; Fredriksson, Anders

2014-03-01

Paracetamol (acetaminophen) is one of the most commonly used drugs for the treatment of pain and fever in children, both at home and in the clinic, and is now also found in the environment. Paracetamol is known to act on the endocannabinoid system, involved in normal development of the brain. We examined if neonatal paracetamol exposure could affect the development of the brain, manifested as adult behavior and cognitive deficits, as well as changes in the response to paracetamol. Ten-day-old mice were administered a single dose of paracetamol (30 mg/kg body weight) or repeated doses of paracetamol (30 + 30 mg/kg body weight, 4h apart). Concentrations of paracetamol and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) were measured in the neonatal brain, and behavioral testing was done when animals reached adulthood. This study shows that acute neonatal exposure to paracetamol (2 × 30 mg) results in altered locomotor activity on exposure to a novel home cage arena and a failure to acquire spatial learning in adulthood, without affecting thermal nociceptive responding or anxiety-related behavior. However, mice neonatally exposed to paracetamol (2 × 30 mg) fail to exhibit paracetamol-induced antinociceptive and anxiogenic-like behavior in adulthood. Behavioral alterations in adulthood may, in part, be due to paracetamol-induced changes in BDNF levels in key brain regions at a critical time during development. This indicates that exposure to and presence of paracetamol during a critical period of brain development can induce long-lasting effects on cognitive function and alter the adult response to paracetamol in mice.

Rapid effects of 17β-estradiol on aggressive behavior in songbirds: Environmental and genetic influences.

PubMed

Heimovics, Sarah A; Merritt, Jennifer R; Jalabert, Cecilia; Ma, Chunqi; Maney, Donna L; Soma, Kiran K

2018-04-24

17β-estradiol (E 2 ) has numerous rapid effects on the brain and behavior. This review focuses on the rapid effects of E 2 on aggression, an important social behavior, in songbirds. First, we highlight the contributions of studies on song sparrows, which reveal that seasonal changes in the environment profoundly influence the capacity of E 2 to rapidly alter aggressive behavior. E 2 administration to male song sparrows increases aggression within 20 min in the non-breeding season, but not in the breeding season. Furthermore, E 2 rapidly modulates several phosphoproteins in the song sparrow brain. In particular, E 2 rapidly affects pCREB in the medial preoptic nucleus, in the non-breeding season only. Second, we describe studies of the white-throated sparrow, which reveal how a genetic polymorphism may influence the rapid effects of E 2 on aggression. In this species, a chromosomal rearrangement that includes ESR1, which encodes estrogen receptor α (ERα), affects ERα expression in the brain and the ability of E 2 to rapidly promote aggression. Third, we summarize studies showing that aggressive interactions rapidly affect levels of E 2 and other steroids, both in the blood and in specific brain regions, and the emerging potential for steroid profiling by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Such studies of songbirds demonstrate the value of an ethologically informed approach, in order to reveal how steroids act rapidly on the brain to alter naturally-occurring behavior. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Sound the alarm: A meta-analysis on the effect of aquatic noise on fish behavior and physiology.

PubMed

Cox, Kieran; Brennan, Lawrence P; Gerwing, Travis G; Dudas, Sarah E; Juanes, Francis

2018-07-01

The aquatic environment is increasingly bombarded by a wide variety of noise pollutants whose range and intensity are increasing with each passing decade. Yet, little is known about how aquatic noise affects marine communities. To determine the implications that changes to the soundscape may have on fishes, a meta-analysis was conducted focusing on the ramifications of noise on fish behavior and physiology. Our meta-analysis identified 42 studies that produced 2,354 data points, which in turn indicated that anthropogenic noise negatively affects fish behavior and physiology. The most predominate responses occurred within foraging ability, predation risk, and reproductive success. Additionally, anthropogenic noise was shown to increase the hearing thresholds and cortisol levels of numerous species while tones, biological, and environmental noise were most likely to affect complex movements and swimming abilities. These findings suggest that the majority of fish species are sensitive to changes in the aquatic soundscape, and depending on the noise source, species responses may have extreme and negative fitness consequences. As such, this global synthesis should serve as a warning of the potentially dire consequences facing marine ecosystems if alterations to aquatic soundscapes continue on their current trajectory. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Neuroinflammatory and cognitive consequences of combined radiation and immunotherapy in a novel preclinical model

PubMed Central

McGinnis, Gwendolyn J.; Friedman, David; Young, Kristina H.; Torres, Eileen Ruth S.; Thomas, Charles R.; Gough, Michael J.; Raber, Jacob

2017-01-01

Background Cancer patients often report behavioral and cognitive changes following cancer treatment. These effects can be seen in patients who have not yet received treatment or have received only peripheral (non-brain) irradiation. Novel treatments combining radiotherapy (RT) and immunotherapy (IT) demonstrate remarkable efficacy with respect to tumor outcomes by enhancing the proinflammatory environment in the tumor. However, a proinflammatory environment in the brain mediates cognitive impairments in other neurological disorders and may affect brain function in cancer patients receiving these novel treatments. Currently, gaps exist as to whether these treatments impact the brain in individuals with or without tumors and with regard to the underlying mechanisms. Results Combined treatment with precision RT and checkpoint inhibitor IT achieved control of tumor growth. However, BALB/c mice receiving combined treatment demonstrated changes in measures of anxiety levels, regardless of tumor status. C57BL/6J mice with tumors demonstrated increased anxiety, except following combined treatment. Object recognition memory was impaired in C57BL/6J mice without tumors following combined treatment. All mice with tumors showed impaired object recognition, except those treated with RT alone. Mice with tumors demonstrated impaired amygdala-dependent cued fear memory, while maintaining hippocampus-dependent context fear memory. These behavioral alterations and cognitive impairments were accompanied by increased microglial activation in mice receiving immunotherapy alone or combined with RT. Finally, based on tumor status, there were significant changes in proinflammatory cytokines (IFN-γ, IL-6, IL-5, IL-2, IL-10) and a growth factor (FGF-basic). Materials and Methods Here we test the hypothesis that IT combined with peripheral RT have detrimental behavioral and cognitive effects as a result of an enhanced proinflammatory environment in the brain. BALB/c mice with or without injected hind flank CT26 colorectal carcinoma or C57BL/6J mice with or without Lewis Lung carcinoma were used for all experiments. Checkpoint inhibitor IT, using an anti-CTLA-4 antibody, and precision CT-guided peripheral RT alone and combined were used to closely model clinical treatment. We assessed behavioral and cognitive performance and investigated the immune environment using immunohistochemistry and multiplex assays to analyze proinflammatory mediators. Conclusions Although combined treatment achieved tumor growth control, it affected the brain and induced changes in measures of anxiety, cognitive impairments, and neuroinflammation. PMID:27893434

Understanding the Relative Contributions of Direct Environmental Effects and Passive Genotype-Environment Correlations in the Association between Familial Risk Factors and Child Disruptive Behavior Disorders

PubMed Central

Bornovalova, Marina A.; Cummings, Jenna R.; Hunt, Elizabeth; Blazei, Ryan; Malone, Steve; Iacono, William G.

2013-01-01

Background: Previous work reports an association between familial risk factors stemming from parental characteristics and offspring disruptive behavior disorders (DBDs). This association may reflect a) the direct effects of familial environment, and b) a passive gene-environment correlation, wherein the parents provide both the genes and the environment. The current study examined the contributions of direct environmental influences and passive gene-environment correlations by comparing the effects of familial risk factors on child DBDs in genetically related (biological) and non-related (adoptive) families. Method: Participants were 402 adoptive and 204 biological families. Familial environment was defined as maternal and paternal maladaptive parenting and antisociality, marital conflict, and divorce; offspring DBDs included attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, and oppositional defiant disorder. Mixed-level regressions estimated the main effects of familial environment, adoption status, and the familial environment by adoption status interaction term, which tested for a presence of passive gene-environment correlations. Results: There was a main effect of maternal and paternal maladaptive parenting and marital discord on child DBDs, indicating a direct environmental effect. There was no direct environmental effect of maternal or paternal antisociality, but maternal and paternal antisociality had stronger associations with child DBDs in biological families than adoptive families, indicating the presence of a passive gene-environment correlation. Conclusions: Many familial risk factors affected children equally across genetically-related and non-related families, providing evidence for direct environmental effects. The relationship of parental antisociality and offspring DBDs was best explained by a passive gene-environment correlation, where a general vulnerability toward externalizing psychopathology is passed down by the parents to the children. PMID:23714724

Fluoxetine exposure impacts boldness in female Siamese fighting fish, Betta splendens.

PubMed

Dzieweczynski, Teresa L; Kane, Jessica L; Campbell, Brennah A; Lavin, Lindsey E

2016-01-01

The present study examined the effects of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, fluoxetine, on the behavior of female Siamese fighting fish, Betta splendens, in three different boldness assays (Empty Tank, Novel Environment, Social Tendency). When females were unexposed to fluoxetine, boldness was consistent within a context and correlated across assays. Fluoxetine exposure affected behavior within and among individuals on multiple levels. Exposure reduced overall boldness levels, made females behave in a less consistent manner, and significantly reduced correlations over time and across contexts. Fluoxetine exerted its effects on female Betta splendens behavior in a dose-dependent fashion and these effects persisted even after females were housed in clean water. If fluoxetine exposure impacts behaviors such as exploration that are necessary to an individual’s success, this may yield evolutionary consequences. In conclusion, the results show that fluoxetine exposure alters behavior beyond the level of overall response and highlights the importance of studying the behavioral effects of inadvertent pharmaceutical exposure in multiple contexts and with different dosing regimes.

Changes in dive behavior during naval sonar exposure in killer whales, long-finned pilot whales, and sperm whales.

PubMed

Sivle, L D; Kvadsheim, P H; Fahlman, A; Lam, F P A; Tyack, P L; Miller, P J O

2012-01-01

Anthropogenic underwater sound in the environment might potentially affect the behavior of marine mammals enough to have an impact on their reproduction and survival. Diving behavior of four killer whales (Orcinus orca), seven long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas), and four sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) was studied during controlled exposures to naval sonar [low frequency active sonar (LFAS): 1-2 kHz and mid frequency active sonar (MFAS): 6-7 kHz] during three field seasons (2006-2009). Diving behavior was monitored before, during and after sonar exposure using an archival tag placed on the animal with suction cups. The tag recorded the animal's vertical movement, and additional data on horizontal movement and vocalizations were used to determine behavioral modes. Killer whales that were conducting deep dives at sonar onset changed abruptly to shallow diving (ShD) during LFAS, while killer whales conducting deep dives at the onset of MFAS did not alter dive mode. When in ShD mode at sonar onset, killer whales did not change their diving behavior. Pilot and sperm whales performed normal deep dives (NDD) during MFAS exposure. During LFAS exposures, long-finned pilot whales mostly performed fewer deep dives and some sperm whales performed shallower and shorter dives. Acoustic recording data presented previously indicates that deep diving (DD) is associated with feeding. Therefore, the observed changes in dive behavior of the three species could potentially reduce the foraging efficiency of the affected animals.

Changes in dive behavior during naval sonar exposure in killer whales, long-finned pilot whales, and sperm whales

PubMed Central

Sivle, L. D.; Kvadsheim, P. H.; Fahlman, A.; Lam, F. P. A.; Tyack, P. L.; Miller, P. J. O.

2012-01-01

Anthropogenic underwater sound in the environment might potentially affect the behavior of marine mammals enough to have an impact on their reproduction and survival. Diving behavior of four killer whales (Orcinus orca), seven long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas), and four sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) was studied during controlled exposures to naval sonar [low frequency active sonar (LFAS): 1–2 kHz and mid frequency active sonar (MFAS): 6–7 kHz] during three field seasons (2006–2009). Diving behavior was monitored before, during and after sonar exposure using an archival tag placed on the animal with suction cups. The tag recorded the animal's vertical movement, and additional data on horizontal movement and vocalizations were used to determine behavioral modes. Killer whales that were conducting deep dives at sonar onset changed abruptly to shallow diving (ShD) during LFAS, while killer whales conducting deep dives at the onset of MFAS did not alter dive mode. When in ShD mode at sonar onset, killer whales did not change their diving behavior. Pilot and sperm whales performed normal deep dives (NDD) during MFAS exposure. During LFAS exposures, long-finned pilot whales mostly performed fewer deep dives and some sperm whales performed shallower and shorter dives. Acoustic recording data presented previously indicates that deep diving (DD) is associated with feeding. Therefore, the observed changes in dive behavior of the three species could potentially reduce the foraging efficiency of the affected animals. PMID:23087648

Sustained disruption of narwhal habitat use and behavior in the presence of Arctic killer whales

PubMed Central

Breed, Greg A.; Matthews, Cory J. D.; Marcoux, Marianne; Higdon, Jeff W.; LeBlanc, Bernard; Petersen, Stephen D.; Orr, Jack; Reinhart, Natalie R.; Ferguson, Steven H.

2017-01-01

Although predators influence behavior of prey, analyses of electronic tracking data in marine environments rarely consider how predators affect the behavior of tracked animals. We collected an unprecedented dataset by synchronously tracking predator (killer whales, N = 1; representing a family group) and prey (narwhal, N = 7) via satellite telemetry in Admiralty Inlet, a large fjord in the Eastern Canadian Arctic. Analyzing the movement data with a switching-state space model and a series of mixed effects models, we show that the presence of killer whales strongly alters the behavior and distribution of narwhal. When killer whales were present (within about 100 km), narwhal moved closer to shore, where they were presumably less vulnerable. Under predation threat, narwhal movement patterns were more likely to be transiting, whereas in the absence of threat, more likely resident. Effects extended beyond discrete predatory events and persisted steadily for 10 d, the duration that killer whales remained in Admiralty Inlet. Our findings have two key consequences. First, given current reductions in sea ice and increases in Arctic killer whale sightings, killer whales have the potential to reshape Arctic marine mammal distributions and behavior. Second and of more general importance, predators have the potential to strongly affect movement behavior of tracked marine animals. Understanding predator effects may be as or more important than relating movement behavior to resource distribution or bottom-up drivers traditionally included in analyses of marine animal tracking data. PMID:28223481

Sustained disruption of narwhal habitat use and behavior in the presence of Arctic killer whales.

PubMed

Breed, Greg A; Matthews, Cory J D; Marcoux, Marianne; Higdon, Jeff W; LeBlanc, Bernard; Petersen, Stephen D; Orr, Jack; Reinhart, Natalie R; Ferguson, Steven H

2017-03-07

Although predators influence behavior of prey, analyses of electronic tracking data in marine environments rarely consider how predators affect the behavior of tracked animals. We collected an unprecedented dataset by synchronously tracking predator (killer whales, [Formula: see text] = 1; representing a family group) and prey (narwhal, [Formula: see text] = 7) via satellite telemetry in Admiralty Inlet, a large fjord in the Eastern Canadian Arctic. Analyzing the movement data with a switching-state space model and a series of mixed effects models, we show that the presence of killer whales strongly alters the behavior and distribution of narwhal. When killer whales were present (within about 100 km), narwhal moved closer to shore, where they were presumably less vulnerable. Under predation threat, narwhal movement patterns were more likely to be transiting, whereas in the absence of threat, more likely resident. Effects extended beyond discrete predatory events and persisted steadily for 10 d, the duration that killer whales remained in Admiralty Inlet. Our findings have two key consequences. First, given current reductions in sea ice and increases in Arctic killer whale sightings, killer whales have the potential to reshape Arctic marine mammal distributions and behavior. Second and of more general importance, predators have the potential to strongly affect movement behavior of tracked marine animals. Understanding predator effects may be as or more important than relating movement behavior to resource distribution or bottom-up drivers traditionally included in analyses of marine animal tracking data.

An overture to overeating: The cross-modal effects of acoustic pitch on food preferences and serving behavior.

PubMed

Lowe, Michael; Ringler, Christine; Haws, Kelly

2018-04-01

Billions of dollars are spent annually with the aim of enticing consumers to purchase food. Yet despite the prevalence of such advertising, little is known about how the actual sensation of this advertising media affects consumer behavior, including consequential choices regarding food. This paper explores the effect of acoustic pitch in food advertising, demonstrating in two studies, including a field study in a live retail environment, how the perception of pitch in advertising can impact food desirability and decisions regarding serving size. In study 1, a field study, pitch affects actual serving sizes and purchase behavior in a live, self-serve retail setting, with low pitch leading to larger serving sizes. Study 2 demonstrates how low pitch increases desire for a food product among hungry consumers, and that this effect is mediated by perceptions of size and how filling consumers believe the product will be. We discuss these results in the context of cross-modal correspondence and mental imagery. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The mind-body-microbial continuum

PubMed Central

Gonzalez, Antonio; Stombaugh, Jesse; Lozupone, Catherine; Turnbaugh, Peter J.; Gordon, Jeffrey I.; Knight, Rob

2011-01-01

Our understanding of the vast collection of microbes that live on and inside us (microbiota) and their collective genes (microbiome) has been revolutionized by culture-independent “metagenomic” techniques and DNA sequencing technologies. Most of our microbes live in our gut, where they function as a metabolic organ and provide attributes not encoded in our human genome. Metagenomic studies are revealing shared and distinctive features of microbial communities inhabiting different humans. A central question in psychiatry is the relative role of genes and environment in shaping behavior. The human microbiome serves as the interface between our genes and our history of environmental exposures; explorations of our microbiomes thus offer the possibility of providing new insights into our neurodevelopment and our behavioral phenotypes by affecting complex processes such as inter- and intra personal variations in cognition, personality, mood, sleep, and eating behavior, and perhaps even a variety of neuropsychiatric diseases ranging from affective disorders to autism. Better understanding of microbiome-encoded pathways for xenobiotic metabolism also has important implications for improving the efficacy of pharmacologic interventions with neuromodulator agents. PMID:21485746

Teaching and Practicing Caring in the Classroom: Students' Responses to a Self-Awareness Intervention in Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing.

PubMed

Kim, Min-Shik; Patterson, Kathleen T

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to test the assumption that caring could be taught by nurse educators in the classroom environment and that learning to be self-aware in a mindful state would facilitate students to listen more closely to their inner spirit, which would affect caring behaviors. A convenience sample of 238 students in the Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing course in a baccalaureate program was obtained from 2007 to 2011. At the beginning of each class and throughout the semester, self-awareness was explained to the students, a reflection statement was read, and students were asked to take two minutes of quiet time, with their eyes closed. At the end of each semester, an author-composed Self-Awareness Questionnaire and Measurement Scale was administered to consenting students to assess whether self-awareness led to caring behaviors. Students' responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Findings were positive and supported the assumption that self-awareness and silence positively affected caring behaviors in nursing students in their psychiatric nursing rotation.

From Feline Idiopathic Ulcerative Dermatitis to Feline Behavioral Ulcerative Dermatitis: Grooming Repetitive Behaviors Indicators of Poor Welfare in Cats

PubMed Central

Titeux, Emmanuelle; Gilbert, Caroline; Briand, Amaury; Cochet-Faivre, Noëlle

2018-01-01

Feline idiopathic head-and-neck dermatitis—also named feline idiopathic ulcerative dermatitis (IUD)—is considered as a rare skin disease of unknown origin. It is usually associated with a crusted, non-healing, self-induced ulcer occurring most commonly on the dorsal or lateral neck or between the scapula where self-grooming by scratching occurs. Usually, IUD is diagnosed after exclusion of other causes of pruritus. In feline medicine, self-induced alopecia is recognized as a behavioral disorder (abnormal repetitive behavior) due to excessive licking, which is an amplification of a normal maintenance behavior. Such repetitive behaviors, like self-induced alopecia or self-induced wounds, are named stereotypies and considered as indicators of poor welfare. The objectives of our study were to determine, first, if the repetitive behavior associated with self-induced wounds was related to a poor welfare, and, second, if improving the welfare in the cat’s environment would lead to healing, thanks to environmental enrichment. We recruited 13 cats diagnosed with IUD by a dermatologist. These cats were referred to a behaviorist for welfare evaluation. A welfare score was attributed using a new 21-point welfare scale. The median score of the 13 IUD cats was 16, while the median score of 35 healthy cats was 7 (significant difference, p < 0.001). Major modifications of the cat’s environment and the human–cat relationship were then recommended for IUD cats. Within 15 days after environment modifications, ulcerative lesions were healed and welfare scores improved significantly (median score of 6, significantly different from the score before environmental modifications), being similar to healthy cats (no significant differences). Only one cat was treated with a psychotropic drug, owners being reluctant to improve environmental modifications. These results suggest that feline IUD is a behavioral disorder indicative of poor welfare and that it requires management by behavior specialists, proposing environmental modifications. We hence propose to rename this affection to “behavioral ulcerative dermatitis,” given that welfare scores were significantly different from healthy cats, and that environmental modifications modified welfare scores and lead to successful healing in all cases. PMID:29713639

Levels of behavioral organization and the evolution of division of labor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Page, Robert E.; Erber, Joachim

2002-03-01

The major features of insect societies that fascinate biologists are the self-sacrificing altruism expressed by colony members, the complex division of labor, and the tremendous plasticity demonstrated in the face of changing environments. The social behavior of insects is a result of complex interactions at different levels of biological organization. Genes give rise to proteins and peptides that build the nervous and muscular systems, regulate their own synthesis, interact with each other, and affect the behavior of individuals. Social behavior emerges from the complex interactions of individuals that are themselves far removed from the direct effects of the genes. In order to understand how social organization evolves, we must understand the mechanisms that link the different levels of organization. In this review, we discuss how behavior is influenced by genes and the neural system and how social behavior emerges from the behavioral activities of individuals. We show how different levels of organization share common features and are linked through common mechanisms. We focus on the behavior of the honey bee, the best studied of all social insects.

The effect of low versus high approach-motivated positive affect on the balance between maintenance and flexibility.

PubMed

Liu, Liting; Xu, Baihua

2016-05-27

Successful goal-directed behavior in a constantly changing environment requires a balance between maintenance and flexibility. Although some studies have found that positive affect influences this balance differently than neutral affect, one recent study found that motivational intensity of positive affective states influences this balance in a cognitive set-shifting paradigm. However, working memory updating and set shifting are interrelated but distinct components of cognitive control. The present study examined the effect of low versus high approach-motivated positive affect on the balance between maintenance and flexibility in working memory. A simple cuing paradigm (the AX Continuous Performance Task) was employed, and neutral affect and high and low approach-motivated positive affect were induced using affective pictures. The results revealed that, relative to neutral affect, low approach-motivated positive affect attenuated maintenance and increased flexibility, whereas high approach-motivated positive affect promoted maintenance and decreased flexibility. These findings offer further evidence that the effects of positive affect on cognitive control are modulated by approach motivational intensity. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Physiological characterization of ocular melanosis-affected canine melanocytes.

PubMed

Dawson-Baglien, Ethan M; Noland, Erica L; Sledge, Dodd G; Kiupel, Matti; Petersen-Jones, Simon M

2018-04-27

Cairn terriers with ocular melanosis (OM) accumulate large, heavily pigmented melanocytes in the anterior uvea. Darkly pigmented plaques develop within the sclera, leading us to hypothesize that OM uveal melanocytes may have an abnormal migratory capacity. Globes from OM-affected Cairn terriers and unaffected control eyes enucleated for reasons unrelated to this study were used for immunohistochemistry and to culture melanocytes for in vitro cell behavior assays. The scleral plaques of six dogs were immunolabeled for HMB-45, MelanA, PNL2, CD18, CD204, and Iba-1 and compared with the pigment cells accumulated within the irides. Cultured uveal melanocytes from OM-affected and control dogs were compared using conventional assays measuring cell proliferation, invasion capability, and melanin production. Melanocytes isolated from OM eyes had significantly elevated levels of per-cell melanin content and production compared to controls. The majority of pigmented cells in the scleral plaques were HMB45 positive indicating a melanocytic origin. Many were also CD18 positive. No differences were observed between cultured melanocytes from OM-affected and control uvea for standard in vitro proliferation or invasion assays. Pigmented cells which accumulate in the sclera of OM-affected Cairn terriers are predominantly melanocytes; however, in vitro assays of uveal melanocytes did not reveal differences in migratory behavior between OM and control cells. Migratory behavior of OM-melanocytes may be environment-dependent. We suggest that RNA sequencing and differential expression analysis would be a useful next step in understanding this disease. © 2018 American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists.

Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dingerson, Michael R.

1997-01-01

Report includes: (1) CLUSTER: "Studies in Macromolecular Behavior in Microgravity Environment": The Role of Protein Oligomers in Protein Crystallization; Phase Separation Phenomena in Microgravity; Traveling Front Polymerizations; Investigating Mechanisms Affecting Phase Transition Response and Changes in Thermal Transport Properties in ER-Fluids under Normal and Microgravity Conditions. (2) CLUSTER: "Computational/Parallel Processing Studies": Flows in Local Chemical Equilibrium; A Computational Method for Solving Very Large Problems; Modeling of Cavitating Flows.

Exploring Music-Based Rehabilitation for Parkinsonism through Embodied Cognitive Science

PubMed Central

Schiavio, Andrea; Altenmüller, Eckart

2015-01-01

Recent embodied approaches in cognitive sciences emphasize the constitutive roles of bodies and environment in driving cognitive processes. Cognition is thus seen as a distributed system based on the continuous interaction of bodies, brains, and environment. These categories, moreover, do not relate only causally, through a sequential input–output network of computations; rather, they are dynamically enfolded in each other, being mutually implemented by the concrete patterns of actions adopted by the cognitive system. However, while this claim has been widely discussed across various disciplines, its relevance and potential beneficial applications for music therapy remain largely unexplored. With this in mind, we provide here an overview of the embodied approaches to cognition, discussing their main tenets through the lenses of music therapy. In doing so, we question established methodological and theoretical paradigms and identify possible novel strategies for intervention. In particular, we refer to the music-based rehabilitative protocols adopted for Parkinson’s disease patients. Indeed, in this context, it has recently been observed that music therapy not only affects movement-related skills but that it also contributes to stabilizing physiological functions and improving socio-affective behaviors. We argue that these phenomena involve previously unconsidered aspects of cognition and (motor) behavior, which are rooted in the action-perception cycle characterizing the whole living system. PMID:26539155

X-Ray Radiography Measurements of the Thermal Energy in Spark Ignition Plasma at Variable Ambient Conditions

DOE PAGES

Matusik, Katarzyna E.; Duke, Daniel J.; Kastengren, Alan L.; ...

2017-04-09

The sparking behavior in an internal combustion engine affects the fuel efficiency, engine-out emissions, and general drivability of a vehicle. As emissions regulations become progressively stringent, combustion strategies, including exhaust gas recirculation (EGR), lean-burn, and turbocharging are receiving increasing attention as models of higher efficiency advanced combustion engines with reduced emissions levels. Because these new strategies affect the working environment of the spark plug, ongoing research strives to understand the influence of external factors on the spark ignition process. Due to the short time and length scales involved and the harsh environment, experimental quantification of the deposited energy from themore » sparking event is difficult to obtain. We present the results of x-ray radiography measurements of spark ignition plasma generated by a conventional spark plug. Our measurements were performed at the 7-BM beamline of the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory. The synchrotron x-ray source enables time-resolved measurements of the density change due to glow discharge in the spark gap with 153 ns temporal and 5 μm spatial resolutions. We also explore the effects of charging time, EGR-relevant gas compositions, and gas pressure on the sparking behavior. We also quantify the influence of the measurement technique on the obtained results.« less

Occupational safety beliefs among Latino residential roofing workers.

PubMed

Arcury, Thomas A; Summers, Phillip; Carrillo, Lourdes; Grzywacz, Joseph G; Quandt, Sara A; Mills, Thomas H

2014-06-01

This analysis describes beliefs about work safety and personal protective equipment (PPE) among Latino roofing workers, it delineates their perceptions of work environment characteristics that affect work safety and PPE use, and it describes how they experience work injuries and the consequences of these injuries. In-depth interviews were completed with 10 current and former Latino residential roofers. Interview transcripts were subjected to systematic qualitative analysis. Participants' valued productivity over safety, and this had a negative influence on their safety behavior and reduced their PPE use. They understood that roofing was hazardous. They limited use of PPE when they felt it reduced productivity and when it was uncomfortable. Work environment characteristics that affected safety included company size, the physical demands of the job, lack of training, the need for work, general life stress, and distractions at work. An injury had to result in lost work time to be considered significant. Access to health care is limited by employers not providing Workers' compensation. Future research is needed to substantiate these descriptive results and to delineate factors that are associated with safety behavior and use of PPE. Interventions, based on a lay health educator model, are needed to improve safety in this population. Safety regulations need to be evaluated and their enforcement needs to be improved. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Exploring Music-Based Rehabilitation for Parkinsonism through Embodied Cognitive Science.

PubMed

Schiavio, Andrea; Altenmüller, Eckart

2015-01-01

Recent embodied approaches in cognitive sciences emphasize the constitutive roles of bodies and environment in driving cognitive processes. Cognition is thus seen as a distributed system based on the continuous interaction of bodies, brains, and environment. These categories, moreover, do not relate only causally, through a sequential input-output network of computations; rather, they are dynamically enfolded in each other, being mutually implemented by the concrete patterns of actions adopted by the cognitive system. However, while this claim has been widely discussed across various disciplines, its relevance and potential beneficial applications for music therapy remain largely unexplored. With this in mind, we provide here an overview of the embodied approaches to cognition, discussing their main tenets through the lenses of music therapy. In doing so, we question established methodological and theoretical paradigms and identify possible novel strategies for intervention. In particular, we refer to the music-based rehabilitative protocols adopted for Parkinson's disease patients. Indeed, in this context, it has recently been observed that music therapy not only affects movement-related skills but that it also contributes to stabilizing physiological functions and improving socio-affective behaviors. We argue that these phenomena involve previously unconsidered aspects of cognition and (motor) behavior, which are rooted in the action-perception cycle characterizing the whole living system.

Effect of "enriched environment" during development on adult rat behavior and response to the dopamine receptor agonist apomorphine.

PubMed

Hoffmann, L C; Schütte, S R M; Koch, M; Schwabe, K

2009-02-18

Enriched housing conditions (enriched environment, EE) during development has been shown to influence adult rat behavior and transmitter systems, especially dopamine function. We were interested in how different degrees of enrichment during development would affect adult rats' behavior and response to dopamine receptor challenge. Two groups of male Wistar rats (n=11-12) were raised under two different degrees of EE, i.e. "high enriched" and "low enriched" groups. A third group was kept under standard conditions and served as "non-enriched" control. As adults, rats were tested for anxiety (elevated plus-maze), for spatial learning (four-arm-baited eight-arm radial maze), and for motivation (breakpoint of the progressive ratio test). Finally, locomotor activity (activity box) and sensorimotor gating (prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the acoustic startle response (ASR)) were tested with and without challenge with the dopamine receptor agonist apomorphine. The time spent on the open or enclosed arms of the elevated plus-maze did not differ between groups, but the high enriched group showed higher rearing activity on the open arms. The breakpoint did not differ between groups. Learning and memory in the radial maze task only differed on the first few trials, but high enriched rats run faster compared with the other groups. In contrast, in the activity box enriched groups were less active, but apomorphine had the highest effect. Between groups, no difference in PPI and startle amplitude was found, but in the high and low EE group startle amplitude was enhanced after administration of apomorphine, while the PPI deficit induced by this drug was not different between groups. Altogether, we found no evidence that different amounts of environmental enrichment without differences in social EE affect rats' cognitive, emotional or motivational behavior. However, motor activity seems to be enhanced when rats are behaviorally or pharmacologically challenged by dopamine receptor agonists.

Effect of microgravity & space radiation on microbes.

PubMed

Senatore, Giuliana; Mastroleo, Felice; Leys, Natalie; Mauriello, Gianluigi

2018-06-01

One of the new challenges facing humanity is to reach increasingly further distant space targets. It is therefore of upmost importance to understand the behavior of microorganisms that will unavoidably reach the space environment together with the human body and equipment. Indeed, microorganisms could activate their stress defense mechanisms, modifying properties related to human pathogenesis. The host-microbe interactions, in fact, could be substantially affected under spaceflight conditions and the study of microorganisms' growth and activity is necessary for predicting these behaviors and assessing precautionary measures during spaceflight. This review gives an overview of the effects of microgravity and space radiation on microorganisms both in real and simulated conditions.

You are what you eat.

PubMed

Lewis, Zenobia; Heys, Chloe; Prescott, Mark; Lizé, Anne

2014-07-01

Gut bacteria is now considered as an additional host organ, and it has been shown that they have important influences on host developmental and physiological processes. More recently gut bacteria have additionally been implicated in behavioral processes. We showed that in two species of Drosophila, gut bacteria variation affects behavior, altering partner investment in copulation in relation to whether individuals were familiar (i.e., having developed in the same environment), or were related. This suggests that gut bacteria play a role in kin recognition in these species. We suggest that this phenomenon is associated with gut bacteria influencing the scent profiles used by Drosophila in mate choice.

Underwater noise in an impacted environment can affect Guiana dolphin communication.

PubMed

Bittencourt, Lis; Lima, Isabela M S; Andrade, Luciana G; Carvalho, Rafael R; Bisi, Tatiana L; Lailson-Brito, José; Azevedo, Alexandre F

2017-01-30

This study focused on whistles produced by Guiana dolphin under different noise conditions in Guanabara Bay, southeastern Brazil. Recording sessions were performed with a fully calibrated recording system. Whistles and underwater noise levels registered during two behavioral states were compared separately between two areas. Noise levels differed between the two areas across all frequencies. Whistle duration differed between areas and was negatively correlated with noise levels. Whistling rate was positively correlated with noise levels, showing that whistling rate was higher in noisier conditions. Results demonstrated that underwater noise influenced Guiana dolphin acoustic behavior. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Studying and Treating Schizophrenia Using Virtual Reality: A New Paradigm

PubMed Central

Freeman, Daniel

2008-01-01

Understanding schizophrenia requires consideration of patients’ interactions in the social world. Misinterpretation of other peoples’ behavior is a key feature of persecutory ideation. The occurrence and intensity of hallucinations is affected by the social context. Negative symptoms such as anhedonia, asociality, and blunted affect reflect difficulties in social interactions. Withdrawal and avoidance of other people is frequent in schizophrenia, leading to isolation and rumination. The use of virtual reality (VR)—interactive immersive computer environments—allows one of the key variables in understanding psychosis, social environments, to be controlled, providing exciting applications to research and treatment. Seven applications of virtual social environments to schizophrenia are set out: symptom assessment, identification of symptom markers, establishment of predictive factors, tests of putative causal factors, investigation of the differential prediction of symptoms, determination of toxic elements in the environment, and development of treatment. The initial VR studies of persecutory ideation, which illustrate the ascription of personalities and mental states to virtual people, are highlighted. VR, suitably applied, holds great promise in furthering the understanding and treatment of psychosis. PMID:18375568

Effects of diversity in olfactory environment on children's sense of smell.

PubMed

Martinec Nováková, Lenka; Fialová, Jitka; Havlíček, Jan

2018-02-13

Diversity in children's everyday olfactory environment may affect the development of their olfactory abilities and odor awareness. To test this, we collected data on olfactory abilities using the Sniffin' Sticks and odor awareness with Children's Olfactory Behaviors in Everyday Life Questionnaire in 153 preschool children and retested them one and a half year later. Parents completed an inventory on children's exposure to a variety of odors and on their own odor awareness using the Odor Awareness Scale. We controlled for the effects of age and verbal fluency on the children's performance. We found that the children's odor identification and discrimination scores differed as a function of parental odor awareness. Although these effects were rather small, they were commensurate in size with those of gender and age. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to present evidence that diversity in children's olfactory environment affects variation in their olfactory abilities and odor awareness. We suggest that future studies consider the long-term impact of perceptual learning out of the laboratory and its consequences for olfactory development.

Nursing management and organizational ethics in the intensive care unit.

PubMed

Wlody, Ginger Schafer

2007-02-01

This article describes organizational ethics issues involved in nursing management of an intensive care unit. The intensive care team and medical center management have the dual responsibility to create an ethical environment in which to provide optimum patient care. Addressing organizational ethics is key to creating that ethical environment in the intensive care unit. During the past 15-20 yrs, increasing costs in health care, competitive markets, the effect of high technology, and global business changes have set the stage for business and healthcare organizational conflicts that affect the ethical environment. Studies show that critical care nurses experience moral distress and are affected by the ethical climate of both the intensive care unit and the larger organization. Thus, nursing moral distress may result in problems related to recruitment and retention of staff. Other issues with organizational ethics ramifications that may occur in the intensive care unit include patient safety issues (including those related to disruptive behavior), intensive care unit leadership style, research ethics, allocation of resources, triage, and other economic issues. Current organizational ethics conflicts are discussed, a professional practice model is described, and multidisciplinary recommendations are put forth.

Predictors of Behavior and Performance in Extreme Environments: The Antarctic Space Analogue Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Palinkas, Lawrence A.; Gunderson, E K. Eric; Holland, A. W.; Miller, Christopher; Johnson, Jeffrey C.

2000-01-01

To determine which, if any, characteristics should be incorporated into a select-in approach to screening personnel for long-duration spaceflight, we examined the influence of crewmember social/ demographic characteristics, personality traits, interpersonal needs, and characteristics of station physical environments on performance measures in 657 American men who spent an austral winter in Antarctica between 1963 and 1974. During screening, subjects completed a Personal History Questionnaire which obtained information on social and demographic characteristics, the Deep Freeze Opinion Survey which assessed 5 different personality traits, and the Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation-Behavior (FIRO-B) Scale which measured 6 dimensions of interpersonal needs. Station environment included measures of crew size and severity of physical environment. Performance was assessed on the basis of combined peer-supervisor evaluations of overall performance, peer nominations of fellow crewmembers who made ideal winter-over candidates, and self-reported depressive symptoms. Social/demographic characteristics, personality traits, interpersonal needs, and characteristics of station environments collectively accounted for 9-17% of the variance in performance measures. The following characteristics were significant independent predictors of more than one performance measure: military service, low levels of neuroticism, extraversion and conscientiousness, and a low desire for affection from others. These results represent an important first step in the development of select-in criteria for personnel on long-duration missions in space and other extreme environments. These criteria must take into consideration the characteristics of the environment and the limitations they place on meeting needs for interpersonal relations and task performance, as well as the characteristics of the individuals and groups who live and work in these environments.

Differentiating Motivational from Affective Influence of Performance-contingent Reward on Cognitive Control: The Wanting Component Enhances Both Proactive and Reactive Control.

PubMed

Chaillou, Anne-Clémence; Giersch, Anne; Hoonakker, Marc; Capa, Rémi L; Bonnefond, Anne

2017-04-01

Positive affect strongly modulates goal-directed behaviors and cognitive control mechanisms. It often results from the presence of a pleasant stimulus in the environment, whether that stimulus appears unpredictably or as a consequence of a particular behavior. The influence of positive affect linked to a random pleasant stimulus differs from the influence of positive affect resulting from performance-contingent pleasant stimuli. However, the mechanisms by which the performance contingency of pleasant stimuli modulates the influence of positive affect on cognitive control mechanisms have not been elucidated. Here, we tested the hypothesis that these differentiated effects are the consequence of the activation of the motivational "wanting" component specifically under performance contingency conditions. To that end, we directly compared the effects on cognitive control of pleasant stimuli (a monetary reward) attributed in a performance contingent manner, and of random pleasant stimuli (positive picture) not related to performance, during an AX-CPT task. Both proactive and reactive modes of control were increased specifically by performance contingency, as reflected by faster reaction times and larger amplitude of the CNV and P3a components. Our findings advance our understanding of the respective effects of affect and motivation, which is of special interest regarding alterations of emotion-motivation interaction found in several psychopathological disorders. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The interaction between temperament and the family environment in adolescent substance use and externalizing behaviors: Support for diathesis–stress or differential susceptibility?

PubMed Central

Rioux, Charlie; Castellanos-Ryan, Natalie; Parent, Sophie; Séguin, Jean R.

2016-01-01

Both individual and environmental factors predict externalizing behaviors and substance use (EB-SU); however, different patterns of interaction among these factors may have different implications. This review first examines how temperament and the family environment interact in the prediction of adolescent EB-SU. Second, studies are reviewed according to two theoretical models: (1) diathesis–stress, i.e., certain individual characteristics are linked to vulnerability and later problems in adverse environments; (2) differential susceptibility, i.e., these characteristics are linked to susceptibility, predicting problems in adverse environments, but also better than average outcomes in good environments. Fourteen studies focusing on the prediction of EB-SU at ages 12–18 were selected through a literature search. Results showed that certain temperament traits (high levels of impulsivity and disinhibition; low levels of effortful control, negative affect, fearfulness and shyness), hereby designated as “adventurous” disposition, were associated with higher levels of EB-SU in adverse family environments. Some studies also showed that children with “adventurous” temperament traits in positive environments had the lowest levels of EB-SU. This suggests that prevention of EB-SU might target family factors such as parenting and focus on children with “adventurous” temperament traits. Further, studies that supported the differential susceptibility model were those assessing temperament and the family environment in childhood and studies that supported the diathesis–stress model assessed these variables in adolescence. It is thus possible that some of these “adventurous” temperament traits, with regard to EB-SU, would be indicators of susceptibility to both enriched and adverse environments in childhood but no longer in adolescence, when they would only be indicators of vulnerability to adverse environments. PMID:27413247

Evolution and Genetics of Precocious Burrowing Behavior in Peromyscus Mice.

PubMed

Metz, Hillery C; Bedford, Nicole L; Pan, Yangshu Linda; Hoekstra, Hopi E

2017-12-18

A central challenge in biology is to understand how innate behaviors evolve between closely related species. One way to elucidate how differences arise is to compare the development of behavior in species with distinct adult traits [1]. Here, we report that Peromyscus polionotus is strikingly precocious with regard to burrowing behavior, but not other behaviors, compared to its sister species P. maniculatus. In P. polionotus, burrows were excavated as early as 17 days of age, whereas P. maniculatus did not build burrows until 10 days later. Moreover, the well-known differences in burrow architecture between adults of these species-P. polionotus adults excavate long burrows with an escape tunnel, whereas P. maniculatus dig short, single-tunnel burrows [2-4]-were intact in juvenile burrowers. To test whether this juvenile behavior is influenced by early-life environment, we reciprocally cross-fostered pups of both species. Fostering did not alter the characteristic burrowing behavior of either species, suggesting that these differences are genetic. In backcross hybrids, we show that precocious burrowing and adult tunnel length are genetically correlated and that a P. polionotus allele linked to tunnel length variation in adults is also associated with precocious onset of burrowing in juveniles, suggesting that the same genetic region-either a single gene with pleiotropic effects or linked genes-influences distinct aspects of the same behavior at these two life stages. These results raise the possibility that genetic variants affect behavioral drive (i.e., motivation) to burrow and thereby affect both the developmental timing and adult expression of burrowing behavior. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Community environments shaping transactional sex among sexually active men in Malawi, Nigeria, and Tanzania.

PubMed

Stephenson, Rob; Winter, Amy; Elfstrom, Miriam

2013-01-01

Transactional sex, or the exchange of sex for material goods or money, is a risky sexual behavior that has been linked to HIV/AIDS and gender-based violence. Throughout sub-Saharan Africa, transactional sex remains a common practice, putting men and women at risk of HIV. However, little is known of how community environments shape men's participation in risky transactional sex. This analysis examines community-level influences on participation in risky transactional sex among sexually active men in three African countries (Malawi, Tanzania, and Nigeria). The analysis uses Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data to examine the association between men's report of risky transactional sex and community characteristics including economic, gender norms, HIV behavior and knowledge, and demographic factors. The results show that men residing in communities with more female education and later age of first birth are less likely to report risky transactional sex, while men who live in communities where men report higher number of sexual partners are more likely to report risky transactional sex. While programmatic interventions should continue to improve women's status individually and relative to men, such efforts should be extended to recognize that many community and cultural influences also affect men's sexual behavior. Programs that understand, discuss, and challenge community factors that influence men's sexual behavior may be able to provide a more effective intervention resulting in opportunities for communities to initiate behavioral change.

Slowly switching between environments facilitates reverse evolution in small populations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tan, Longzhi; Gore, Jeff

2011-03-01

The rate at which a physical process occurs usually changes the behavior of a system. In thermodynamics, the reversibility of a process generally increases when it occurs at an infinitely slow rate. In biological evolution, adaptations to a new environment may be reversed by evolution in the ancestral environment. Such fluctuating environments are ubiquitous in nature, although how the rate of switching affects reverse evolution is unknown. Here we use a computational approach to quantify evolutionary reversibility as a function of the rate of switching between two environments. For small population sizes, which travel on landscapes as random walkers, we find that both genotypic and phenotypic reverse evolution increase at slow switching rates. However, slow switching of environments decreases evolutionary reversibility for a greedy walker, corresponding to large populations (extensive clonal interference). We conclude that the impact of the switching rate for biological evolution is more complicated than other common physical processes, and that a quantitative approach may yield significant insight into reverse evolution.

Assessment of child behavior in dental operatory in relation to sociodemographic factors, general anxiety, body mass index and role of multi media distraction.

PubMed

Mishra, Gyanendra; Thakur, Seema; Singhal, Parul; Ghosh, Shiv Nath; Chauhan, Deepak; Jayam, Cheranjeevi

2016-01-01

Children and adolescents comprise a group of individuals representing a large variation in size, competence, maturity, personality, temperament and emotions experience, oral health, family background, culture, etc. Furthermore, a growing child is in a constant state of flux as he grows up and actively interacts with the environment. Many factors contribute to the dental behavior of the child. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of sociodemographic factors, general anxiety, body mass index (BMI), and role of multimedia on the child behavior (CB) in the dental operatory. Three hundred and one children aged 3-14 years and their parents participated in the study. In the first visit, the questionnaire was filled by the parent and general examination was done. During the second visit, the required dental procedure was rendered, and the behavior was recorded by a single examiner. Among sociodemographic factors, increasing age is directly related to child's positive behavior, whereas other factors such as gender and socioeconomic status (SES) are not significantly related. General anxiety significantly affects the child's behavior. BMI of the child is not related to child's behavior in dental operatory. Multimedia was not found to be significantly affecting the behavior of the child in dental operatory. Interpretations and Conclusion: The principle conclusion of this study is that there is a significant association of age and treatment procedure rendered with the CB in the dental operatory whereas gender, SES, general anxiety, BMI, and multimedia do not show any significant association with the CB in the dental operatory.

Developmental sub-chronic exposure to chlorpyrifos reduces anxiety-related behavior in zebrafish larvae

PubMed Central

Richendrfer, Holly; Pelkowski, Sean D.; Colwill, Ruth M.; Créton, Robbert

2013-01-01

Neurobehavioral disorders such as anxiety, autism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorders are typically influenced by genetic and environmental factors. Although several genetic risk factors have been identified in recent years, little is known about the environmental factors that either cause neurobehavioral disorders or contribute to their progression in genetically predisposed individuals. One environmental factor that has raised concerns is chlorpyrifos, an organophosphate pesticide that is widely used in agriculture and is found ubiquitously in the environment. In the present study, we examined the effects of sub-chronic chlorpyrifos exposure on anxiety-related behavior during development using zebrafish larvae. We found that sub-chronic exposure to 0.01 or 0.1 μM chlorpyrifos during development induces specific behavioral defects in 7-day-old zebrafish larvae. The larvae displayed decreases in swim speed and thigmotaxis, yet no changes in avoidance behavior were seen. Exposure to 0.001 μM chlorpyrifos did not affect swimming, thigmotaxis, or avoidance behavior and exposure to 1 μM chlorpyrifos induced behavioral defects, but also induced defects in larval morphology. Since thigmotaxis, a preference for the edge, is an anxiety-related behavior in zebrafish larvae, we propose that sub-chronic chlorpyrifos exposure interferes with the development of anxiety-related behaviors. The results of this study provide a good starting point for examination of the molecular, cellular, developmental, and neural mechanisms that are affected by environmentally relevant concentrations of organophosphate pesticides. A more detailed understanding of these mechanisms is important for the development of predictive models and refined health policies to prevent toxicant-induced neurobehavioral disorders. PMID:22579535

Development of snake-directed antipredator behavior by wild white-faced capuchin monkeys: II. Influence of the social environment.

PubMed

Meno, Whitney; Coss, Richard G; Perry, Susan

2013-03-01

Young animals are known to direct alarm calls at a wider range of animals than adults. If social cues are safer and/or more reliable to use than asocial cues for learning about predators, then it is expected that the development of this behavior will be affected by the social environment. Our study examined the influence of the social environment on antipredator behavior in infant, juvenile, and adult wild white-faced capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus) at Lomas Barbudal Biological Reserve in Costa Rica during presentations of different species of model snakes and novel models. We examined (a) the alarm calling behavior of the focal animal when alone versus in the vicinity of conspecific alarm callers and (b) the latency of conspecifics to alarm call once the focal animal alarm called. Focal animals alarm called more when alone than after hearing a conspecific alarm call. No reliable differences were found in the latencies of conspecifics to alarm call based on age or model type. Conspecifics were more likely to alarm call when focal individuals alarm called at snake models than when they alarm called at novel models. Results indicate (a) that alarm calling may serve to attract others to the predator's location and (b) that learning about specific predators may begin with a generalized response to a wide variety of species, including some nonthreatening ones, that is winnowed down via Pavlovian conditioned inhibition into a response directed toward specific dangerous species. This study reveals that conspecifics play a role in the development of antipredator behavior in white-faced capuchins. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The effectiveness of asking behaviors among 9-11 year-old children in increasing home availability and children's intake of fruit and vegetables: results from the Squire's Quest II self-regulation game intervention.

PubMed

DeSmet, Ann; Liu, Yan; De Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse; Baranowski, Tom; Thompson, Debbe

2017-04-21

Home environment has an important influence on children's fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption, but children may in turn also impact their home FV environment, e.g. by asking for FV. The Squire's Quest II serious game intervention aimed to increase asking behaviors to improve home FV availability and children's FV intake. This study's aims were to assess: 1) did asking behaviors at baseline predict home FV availability at baseline (T0) (RQ1); 2) were asking behaviors and home FV availability influenced by the intervention (RQ2); 3) did increases in asking behaviors predict increased home FV availability (RQ3); and 4) did increases in asking behaviors and increases in home FV availability mediate increases in FV intake among children (RQ4)? This is a secondary analysis of a study using a randomized controlled trial, with 4 groups (each n = 100 child-parent dyads). All groups were analyzed together for this paper since groups did not vary on components relevant to our analysis. All children and parents (n = 400 dyads) received a self-regulation serious game intervention and parent material. The intervention ran for three months. Measurements were taken at baseline, immediately after intervention and at 3-month follow-up. Asking behavior and home FV availability were measured using questionnaires; child FV intake was measured using 24-h dietary recalls. ANCOVA methods (research question 1), linear mixed-effect models (research question 2), and Structural Equation Modeling (research questions 3 and 4) were used. Baseline child asking behaviors predicted baseline home FV availability. The intervention increased child asking behaviors and home FV availability. Increases in child asking behaviors, however, did not predict increased home FV availability. Increased child asking behaviors and home FV availability also did not mediate the increases in child FV intake. Children influence their home FV environment through their asking behaviors, which can be enhanced via a serious game intervention. The obtained increases in asking behavior were, however, insufficient to affect home FV availability or intake. Other factors, such as child preferences, sample characteristics, intervention duration and parental direct involvement may play a role and warrant examination in future research. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01004094 . Date registered 10/28/2009.

Human Behavior and Environmental Sustainability: promoting a pro-environmental behavior by harnessing the social, psychological and physical influences of the built environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abusafieh, Shaden; Razem, Maiss

2017-11-01

Recently, technological advancements in the sustainable design field have allowed us to reduce the ecological impact of the built environment, to reduce consumption of non-renewable resources, to create healthy environments and in some cases may even rehabilitate the ecosystem. Nevertheless, several studies have been carried out showing that sustainable technology does not automatically lead to environmentally friendly behaviors in its users. Various environmental problems threaten environmental sustainability and many of these problems are rooted in human behavior. Unfortunately, there is a lack in studies which take into consideration the human behavior influences within a sustainable built environment. We believe that the built environment should be used to support human goals and requirements, but at the same time we should consider it as a context in which human values and behaviors are cultivated. This research aimed to help in promoting environmental sustainability by using architectural design in changing relevant human behavior toward an environmentally friendly behavior. In order to achieve this, the research adopted Environment-centered Approach to gain more acute perspective into the relationship between the physical environment and human behavior, focusing on social, psychological and physical influences of the built environment. It appears that environmental psychology's merits have high potential in changing behavior within the built environment. The research provides a systematic approach for selecting, assessing, evaluating the behaviors to be changed and the factors that determine them. Furthermore, this approach helps in choosing the best interventions that could be applied in built environment to encourage such a sustainable behavior. This study tried to construct an agenda for further researches to find particular architectural design elements and strategies that we can harness to develop a pro-environment human behavior.

Thermal effects on nonlinear vibration of a carbon nanotube-based mass sensor using finite element analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kang, Dong-Keun; Kim, Chang-Wan; Yang, Hyun-Ik

2017-01-01

In the present study we carried out a dynamic analysis of a CNT-based mass sensor by using a finite element method (FEM)-based nonlinear analysis model of the CNT resonator to elucidate the combined effects of thermal effects and nonlinear oscillation behavior upon the overall mass detection sensitivity. Mass sensors using carbon nanotube (CNT) resonators provide very high sensing performance. Because CNT-based resonators can have high aspect ratios, they can easily exhibit nonlinear oscillation behavior due to large displacements. Also, CNT-based devices may experience high temperatures during their manufacture and operation. These geometrical nonlinearities and temperature changes affect the sensing performance of CNT-based mass sensors. However, it is very hard to find previous literature addressing the detection sensitivity of CNT-based mass sensors including considerations of both these nonlinear behaviors and thermal effects. We modeled the nonlinear equation of motion by using the von Karman nonlinear strain-displacement relation, taking into account the additional axial force associated with the thermal effect. The FEM was employed to solve the nonlinear equation of motion because it can effortlessly handle the more complex geometries and boundary conditions. A doubly clamped CNT resonator actuated by distributed electrostatic force was the configuration subjected to the numerical experiments. Thermal effects upon the fundamental resonance behavior and the shift of resonance frequency due to attached mass, i.e., the mass detection sensitivity, were examined in environments of both high and low (or room) temperature. The fundamental resonance frequency increased with decreasing temperature in the high temperature environment, and increased with increasing temperature in the low temperature environment. The magnitude of the shift in resonance frequency caused by an attached mass represents the sensing performance of a mass sensor, i.e., its mass detection sensitivity, and it can be seen that this shift is affected by the temperature change and the amount of electrostatic force. The thermal effects on the mass detection sensitivity are intensified in the linear oscillation regime and increase with increasing CNT length; this intensification can either improve or worsen the detection sensitivity.

How do lesbian women develop serenity?

PubMed

Deevey, S; Wall, L J

1992-01-01

This article considers how lesbian women recover from alcoholism and develop serenity in the context of a homophobic society. We review what is known about the incidence and lethality of alcoholism in lesbian women. We critique Finnegan and McNally's (1987) five-stage conceptual framework of lesbian and alcoholic identity development, which is based on the disease model of recovery. We present our own model, based on our own recovery experiences. The Deevey-Wall model describes factors that may determine how shaming social environments may affect drinking behavior and recovery in lesbian women. In conclusion, we explain Wall's theory of self-hate as a survival mechanism in traumatically hostile environments.

Pubertal timing and sexual risk behaviors among rural African American male youth: testing a model based on life history theory.

PubMed

Kogan, Steven M; Cho, Junhan; Simons, Leslie Gordon; Allen, Kimberly A; Beach, Steven R H; Simons, Ronald L; Gibbons, Frederick X

2015-04-01

Life History Theory (LHT), a branch of evolutionary biology, describes how organisms maximize their reproductive success in response to environmental conditions. This theory suggests that challenging environmental conditions will lead to early pubertal maturation, which in turn predicts heightened risky sexual behavior. Although largely confirmed among female adolescents, results with male youth are inconsistent. We tested a set of predictions based on LHT with a sample of 375 African American male youth assessed three times from age 11 to age 16. Harsh, unpredictable community environments and harsh, inconsistent, or unregulated parenting at age 11 were hypothesized to predict pubertal maturation at age 13; pubertal maturation was hypothesized to forecast risky sexual behavior, including early onset of intercourse, substance use during sexual activity, and lifetime numbers of sexual partners. Results were consistent with our hypotheses. Among African American male youth, community environments were a modest but significant predictor of pubertal timing. Among those youth with high negative emotionality, both parenting and community factors predicted pubertal timing. Pubertal timing at age 13 forecast risky sexual behavior at age 16. Results of analyses conducted to determine whether environmental effects on sexual risk behavior were mediated by pubertal timing were not significant. This suggests that, although evolutionary mechanisms may affect pubertal development via contextual influences for sensitive youth, the factors that predict sexual risk behavior depend less on pubertal maturation than LHT suggests.

Environmental Enrichment for Broiler Breeders: An Undeveloped Field.

PubMed

Riber, Anja B; de Jong, Ingrid C; van de Weerd, Heleen A; Steenfeldt, Sanna

2017-01-01

Welfare problems, such as hunger, frustration, aggression, and abnormal sexual behavior, are commonly found in broiler breeder production. To prevent or reduce these welfare problems, it has been suggested to provide stimulating enriched environments. We review the effect of the different types of environmental enrichment for broiler breeders, which have been described in the scientific literature, on behavior and welfare. Environmental enrichment is defined as an improvement of the environment of captive animals, which increases the behavioral opportunities of the animal and leads to improvements in biological function. This definition has been broadened to include practical and economic aspects as any enrichment strategy that adversely affects the health of animals (e.g., environmental hygiene), or that has too many economic or practical constraints will never be implemented on commercial farms and thus never benefit animals. Environmental enrichment for broiler breeders often has the purpose of satisfying the behavioral motivations for feeding and foraging, resting, and/or encouraging normal sexual behavior. Potentially successful enrichments for broiler breeders are elevated resting places, cover panels, and substrate (for broiler breeders housed in cage systems). However, most of the ideas for environmental enrichment for broiler breeders need to be further developed and studied with respect to the use, the effect on behavior and welfare, and the interaction with genotype and production system. In addition, information on practical use and the economics of the production system is often lacking although it is important for application in practice.

Prospective predictors of adolescent suicidality: 6-month post-hospitalization follow-up

PubMed Central

Yen, S.; Weinstock, L. M.; Andover, M. S.; Sheets, E. S.; Selby, E. A.; Spirito, A.

2013-01-01

Background The aim of this study was to examine prospective predictors of suicide events, defined as suicide attempts or emergency interventions to reduce suicide risk, in 119 adolescents admitted to an in-patient psychiatric unit for suicidal behaviors and followed naturalistically for 6 months. Method Structured diagnostic interviews and self-report instruments were administered to adolescent participants and their parent(s) to assess demographic variables, history of suicidal behavior, psychiatric disorders, family environment and personality/temperament. Results Baseline variables that significantly predicted time to a suicide event during follow-up were Black race, high suicidal ideation in the past month, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), childhood sexual abuse (CSA), borderline personality disorder (BPD), low scores on positive affectivity, and high scores on aggression. In a multivariate Cox regression analysis, only Black race, CSA, positive affect intensity and high aggression scores remained significant. Conclusions Our findings suggest the following for adolescent populations: (1) in a very high-risk population, risk factors for future attempts may be more difficult to ascertain and some established risk factors (e.g. past suicide attempt) may not distinguish as well; and (2) cross-cutting constructs (e.g. affective and behavioral dysregulation) that underlie multiple psychiatric disorders may be stronger predictors of recurrent suicide events than psychiatric diagnoses. Our finding with respect to positive affect intensity is novel and may have practical implications for the assessment and treatment of adolescent suicide attempters. PMID:22932393

Preterm Infants Who Are Prone to Distress: Differential Effects of Parenting on 36-month Behavioral and Cognitive Outcomes

PubMed Central

Poehlmann, Julie; Hane, Amanda; Burnson, Cynthia; Maleck, Sarah; Hamburger, Elizabeth; Shah, Prachi E.

2012-01-01

Background The differential susceptibility (DS) model suggests that temperamentally prone-to-distress infants may exhibit adverse outcomes in negative environments but optimal outcomes in positive environments. This study explored temperament, parenting, and 36-month cognition and behavior in preterm infants using the DS model. We hypothesized that temperamentally prone to distress preterm infants would exhibit more optimal cognition and fewer behavior problems when early parenting was positive; and less optimal cognition and more behavior problems when early parenting was less positive. Methods Participants included 109 preterm infants (gestation < 37 weeks) and their mothers. We assessed neonatal risk and basal vagal tone in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU); infant temperament and parenting interactions at 9 months postterm; and child behavior and cognitive skills at 36 months postterm. Hierarchical regression analyses tested study hypotheses. Results Temperamentally prone-to-distress infants exhibited more externalizing problems if they experienced more critical parenting at 9 months (β= -.20, p<0.05) but fewer externalizing problems with more positive parenting. Similarly, variations in maternal positive affect (β= .25, p< .01) and intrusive behaviors (β= .23, p< .05) at 9 months predicted 36-month cognition at high but not at low levels of infant temperamental distress. Higher basal vagal tone predicted fewer externalizing problems (β= -.19, p< .05). Conclusions Early parenting behaviors relate to later behavior and development in preterm infants who are temperamentally prone to distress, and neonatal basal vagal tone predicts subsequent externalizing behaviors. These findings suggest that both biological reactivity and quality of caregiving are important predictors for later outcomes in preterm infants and may be considered as foci for developmental surveillance and interventions. PMID:22582942

Social context affects behavior, preoptic area gene expression, and response to D2 receptor manipulation during territorial defense in a cichlid fish.

PubMed

Weitekamp, C A; Nguyen, J; Hofmann, H A

2017-07-01

Social context often has profound effects on behavior, yet the neural and molecular mechanisms which mediate flexible behavioral responses to different social environments are not well understood. We used the African cichlid fish, Astatotilapia burtoni, to examine aggressive defense behavior across three social contexts representing different motivational states: a reproductive opportunity, a familiar male and a neutral context. To elucidate how differences in behavior across contexts may be mediated by neural gene expression, we examined gene expression in the preoptic area, a brain region known to control male aggressive and sexual behavior. We show that social context has broad effects on preoptic gene expression. Specifically, we found that the expression of genes encoding nonapeptides and sex steroid receptors are upregulated in the familiar male context. Furthermore, circulating levels of testosterone and cortisol varied markedly depending on social context. We also manipulated the D2 receptor (D2R) in each social context, given that it has been implicated in mediating context-dependent behavior. We found that a D2R agonist reduced intruder-directed aggression in the reproductive opportunity and familiar male contexts, while a D2R antagonist inhibited intruder-directed aggression in the reproductive opportunity context and increased aggression in the neutral context. Our results demonstrate a critical role for preoptic gene expression, as well as circulating steroid hormone levels, in encoding information from the social environment and in shaping adaptive behavior. In addition, they provide further evidence for a role of D2R in context-dependent behavior. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society.

Hatching behavior in turtles.

PubMed

Spencer, Ricky-John; Janzen, Fredric J

2011-07-01

Incubation temperature plays a prominent role in shaping the phenotypes and fitness of embryos, including affecting developmental rates. In many taxa, including turtles, eggs are deposited in layers such that thermal gradients alter developmental rates within a nest. Despite this thermal effect, a nascent body of experimental work on environmentally cued hatching in turtles has revealed unexpected synchronicity in hatching behavior. This review discusses environmental cues for hatching, physiological mechanisms behind synchronous hatching, proximate and ultimate causes for this behavior, and future directions for research. Four freshwater turtle species have been investigated experimentally, with hatching in each species elicited by different environmental cues and responding via various physiological mechanisms. Hatching of groups of eggs in turtles apparently involves some level of embryo-embryo communication and thus is not a purely passive activity. Although turtles are not icons of complex social behavior, life-history theory predicts that the group environment of the nest can drive the evolution of environmentally cued hatching.

Modeling mechanical interactions in growing populations of rod-shaped bacteria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Winkle, James J.; Igoshin, Oleg A.; Bennett, Matthew R.; Josić, Krešimir; Ott, William

2017-10-01

Advances in synthetic biology allow us to engineer bacterial collectives with pre-specified characteristics. However, the behavior of these collectives is difficult to understand, as cellular growth and division as well as extra-cellular fluid flow lead to complex, changing arrangements of cells within the population. To rationally engineer and control the behavior of cell collectives we need theoretical and computational tools to understand their emergent spatiotemporal dynamics. Here, we present an agent-based model that allows growing cells to detect and respond to mechanical interactions. Crucially, our model couples the dynamics of cell growth to the cell’s environment: Mechanical constraints can affect cellular growth rate and a cell may alter its behavior in response to these constraints. This coupling links the mechanical forces that influence cell growth and emergent behaviors in cell assemblies. We illustrate our approach by showing how mechanical interactions can impact the dynamics of bacterial collectives growing in microfluidic traps.

The biological effects of antidepressants on the molluscs and crustaceans: a review.

PubMed

Fong, Peter P; Ford, Alex T

2014-06-01

Antidepressants are among the most commonly detected human pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment. Since their mode of action is by modulating the neurotransmitters serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine, aquatic invertebrates who possess transporters and receptors sensitive to activation by these pharmaceuticals are potentially affected by them. We review the various types of antidepressants, their occurrence and concentrations in aquatic environments, and the actions of neurohormones modulated by antidepressants in molluscs and crustaceans. Recent studies on the effects of antidepressants on these two important groups show that molluscan reproductive and locomotory systems are affected by antidepressants at environmentally relevant concentrations. In particular, antidepressants affect spawning and larval release in bivalves and disrupt locomotion and reduce fecundity in snails. In crustaceans, antidepressants affect freshwater amphipod activity patterns, marine amphipod photo- and geotactic behavior, crayfish aggression, and daphnid reproduction and development. We note with interest the occurrence of non-monotonic dose responses curves in many studies on effects of antidepressants on aquatic animals, often with effects at low concentrations, but not at higher concentrations, and we suggest future experiments consider testing a broader range of concentrations. Furthermore, we consider invertebrate immune responses, genomic and transcriptomic sequencing of invertebrate genes, and the ever-present and overwhelming question of how contaminant mixtures could affect the action of neurohormones as topics for future study. In addressing the question, if antidepressants affect aquatic invertebrates at concentrations currently found in the environment, there is strong evidence to suggest the answer is yes. Furthermore, the examples highlighted in this review provide compelling evidence that the effects could be quite multifaceted across a variety of biological systems. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ts1Cje Down syndrome model mice exhibit environmental stimuli-triggered locomotor hyperactivity and sociability concurrent with increased flux through central dopamine and serotonin metabolism.

PubMed

Shimohata, Atsushi; Ishihara, Keiichi; Hattori, Satoko; Miyamoto, Hiroyuki; Morishita, Hiromasa; Ornthanalai, Guy; Raveau, Matthieu; Ebrahim, Abdul Shukkur; Amano, Kenji; Yamada, Kazuyuki; Sago, Haruhiko; Akiba, Satoshi; Mataga, Nobuko; Murphy, Niall P; Miyakawa, Tsuyoshi; Yamakawa, Kazuhiro

2017-07-01

Ts1Cje mice have a segmental trisomy of chromosome 16 that is orthologous to human chromosome 21 and display Down syndrome-like cognitive impairments. Despite the occurrence of affective and emotional impairments in patients with Down syndrome, these parameters are poorly documented in Down syndrome mouse models, including Ts1Cje mice. Here, we conducted comprehensive behavioral analyses, including anxiety-, sociability-, and depression-related tasks, and biochemical analyses of monoamines and their metabolites in Ts1Cje mice. Ts1Cje mice showed enhanced locomotor activity in novel environments and increased social contact with unfamiliar partners when compared with wild-type littermates, but a significantly lower activity in familiar environments. Ts1Cje mice also exhibited some signs of decreased depression like-behavior. Furthermore, Ts1Cje mice showed monoamine abnormalities, including increased extracellular dopamine and serotonin, and enhanced catabolism in the striatum and ventral forebrain. This study constitutes the first report of deviated monoamine metabolism that may help explain the basis for abnormal behaviors, including the environmental stimuli-triggered hyperactivity, increased sociability and decreased depression-like behavior in Ts1Cje mice. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Do students with higher self-efficacy exhibit greater and more diverse scientific inquiry skills: An exploratory investigation in "River City", a multi-user virtual environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ketelhut, Diane Jass

In this thesis, I conduct an exploratory study to investigate the relationship between students' self-efficacy on entry into authentic scientific activity and the scientific inquiry behaviors they employ while engaged in that process, over time. Scientific inquiry has been a major standard in most science education policy doctrines for the past two decades and is exemplified by activities such as making observations, formulating hypotheses, gathering and analyzing data, and forming conclusions from that data. The self-efficacy literature, however, indicates that self-efficacy levels affect perseverance and engagement. This study investigated the relationship between these two constructs. The study is conducted in a novel setting, using an innovative science curriculum delivered through an interactive computer technology that recorded each student's conversations, movements, and activities while behaving as a practicing scientist in a "virtual world" called River City. River City is a Multi-User Virtual Environment designed to engage students in a collaborative scientific inquiry-based learning experience. As a result, I was able to follow students' moment-by-moment choices of behavior while they were behaving as scientists. I collected data on students' total scientific inquiry behaviors over three visits to River City, as well as the number of sources from which they gathered their scientific data. I analyzed my longitudinal data on the 96 seventh-graders using individual growth modeling. I found that self-efficacy played a role in the number of data-gathering behaviors students engaged in initially, with high self-efficacy students engaging in more data gathering than students with low self-efficacy. However, the impact of student self-efficacy on rate of change in data gathering behavior differed by gender; by the end of the study, student self-efficacy did not impact data gathering. In addition, students' level of self-efficacy did not affect how many different sources from which they chose to gather data. There are indications in my results that novel interventions like a Multi-user Virtual Environment might act as a catalyst for change in student learning. Further research using these techniques may enable a better understanding of the interaction between self-efficacy and scientific inquiry, and eventually science learning outcomes.

Social Adversity and Antisocial Behavior: Mediating Effects of Autonomic Nervous System Activity.

PubMed

Fagan, Shawn E; Zhang, Wei; Gao, Yu

2017-11-01

The display of antisocial behaviors in children and adolescents has been of interest to criminologists and developmental psychologists for years. Exposure to social adversity is a well-documented predictor of antisocial behavior. Additionally, measures of autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity, including heart rate variability (HRV), pre-ejection period (PEP), and heart rate, have been associated with antisocial behaviors including rule-breaking and aggression. Social neuroscience research has begun to investigate how neurobiological underpinnings affect the relationship between social adversity and antisocial/psychopathic behavior in children and adolescents. This study investigated the potential mediating effects of ANS activity on the relationship between social adversity and antisocial behavior in a group of 7- to 10-year-old children from the community (N = 339; 48.2% male). Moderated multiple mediation analyses revealed that low resting heart rate, but not PEP or HRV, mediated the relationship between social adversity and antisocial behavior in males only. Social adversity but not ANS measures were associated with antisocial behavior in females. Findings have implications for understanding the neural influences that underlie antisocial behavior, illustrate the importance of the social environment regarding the expression of these behaviors, and highlight essential gender differences.

Social Environment Shapes the Speed of Cooperation

PubMed Central

Nishi, Akihiro; Christakis, Nicholas A.; Evans, Anthony M.; O’Malley, A. James; Rand, David G.

2016-01-01

Are cooperative decisions typically made more quickly or slowly than non-cooperative decisions? While this question has attracted considerable attention in recent years, most research has focused on one-shot interactions. Yet it is repeated interactions that characterize most important real-world social interactions. In repeated interactions, the cooperativeness of one’s interaction partners (the “social environment”) should affect the speed of cooperation. Specifically, we propose that reciprocal decisions (choices that mirror behavior observed in the social environment), rather than cooperative decisions per se, occur more quickly. We test this hypothesis by examining four independent decision time datasets with a total of 2,088 subjects making 55,968 decisions. We show that reciprocal decisions are consistently faster than non-reciprocal decisions: cooperation is faster than defection in cooperative environments, while defection is faster than cooperation in non-cooperative environments. These differences are further enhanced by subjects’ previous behavior – reciprocal decisions are faster when they are consistent with the subject’s previous choices. Finally, mediation analyses of a fifth dataset suggest that the speed of reciprocal decisions is explained, in part, by feelings of conflict – reciprocal decisions are less conflicted than non-reciprocal decisions, and less decision conflict appears to lead to shorter decision times. PMID:27435940

Early-life experience affects honey bee aggression and resilience to immune challenge

PubMed Central

Rittschof, Clare C.; Coombs, Chelsey B.; Frazier, Maryann; Grozinger, Christina M.; Robinson, Gene E.

2015-01-01

Early-life social experiences cause lasting changes in behavior and health for a variety of animals including humans, but it is not well understood how social information ‘‘gets under the skin’’ resulting in these effects. Adult honey bees (Apis mellifera) exhibit socially coordinated collective nest defense, providing a model for social modulation of aggressive behavior. Here we report for the first time that a honey bee’s early-life social environment has lasting effects on individual aggression: bees that experienced high-aggression environments during pre-adult stages showed increased aggression when they reached adulthood relative to siblings that experienced low-aggression environments, even though all bees were kept in a common environment during adulthood. Unlike other animals including humans however, high-aggression honey bees were more, rather than less, resilient to immune challenge, assessed as neonicotinoid pesticide susceptibility. Moreover, aggression was negatively correlated with ectoparasitic mite presence. In honey bees, early-life social experience has broad effects, but increased aggression is decoupled from negative health outcomes. Because honey bees and humans share aspects of their physiological response to aggressive social encounters, our findings represent a step towards identifying ways to improve individual resiliency. Pre-adult social experience may be crucial to the health of the ecologically threatened honey bee. PMID:26493190

Modeling and Reinforcement to Combat HIV: The MARCH Approach to Behavior Change

PubMed Central

Galavotti, Christine; Pappas-DeLuca, Katina A.; Lansky, Amy

2001-01-01

Theory and research suggest that behavioral interventions to prevent HIV/AIDS may be most effective when they are personalized and affectively compelling, when they provide models of desired behaviors, and when they are linked to social and cultural narratives. Effective strategies must also take into account the opportunities and obstacles present in the local environment. The Modeling and Reinforcement to Combat HIV (MARCH) projects combine key aspects of individual behavior change with efforts to change social norms. There are 2 main components to the program: entertainment as a vehicle for education (longrunning serialized dramas on radio or television portray role models evolving toward the adoption of positive behaviors) and interpersonal reinforcement at the community level (support from friends, family members, and others can help people initiate behavior changes; support through changes in social norms is necessary for behavioral effects to be sustained over time). Both media and interpersonal intervention activities should be linked to existing resources in the community and, wherever possible, provide increased access to preventive services, supplies, and other supporting elements. PMID:11574317

Developmental Exposure to Ethinylestradiol Affects Reproductive Physiology, the GnRH Neuroendocrine Network and Behaviors in Female Mouse.

PubMed

Derouiche, Lyes; Keller, Matthieu; Martini, Mariangela; Duittoz, Anne H; Pillon, Delphine

2015-01-01

During development, environmental estrogens are able to induce an estrogen mimetic action that may interfere with endocrine and neuroendocrine systems. The present study investigated the effects on the reproductive function in female mice following developmental exposure to pharmaceutical ethinylestradiol (EE2), the most widespread and potent synthetic steroid present in aquatic environments. EE2 was administrated in drinking water at environmentally relevant (ENVIR) or pharmacological (PHARMACO) doses [0.1 and 1 μg/kg (body weight)/day respectively], from embryonic day 10 until postnatal day 40. Our results show that both groups of EE2-exposed females had advanced vaginal opening and shorter estrus cycles, but a normal fertility rate compared to CONTROL females. The hypothalamic population of GnRH neurons was affected by EE2 exposure with a significant increase in the number of perikarya in the preoptic area of the PHARMACO group and a modification in their distribution in the ENVIR group, both associated with a marked decrease in GnRH fibers immunoreactivity in the median eminence. In EE2-exposed females, behavioral tests highlighted a disturbed maternal behavior, a higher lordosis response, a lack of discrimination between gonad-intact and castrated males in sexually experienced females, and an increased anxiety-related behavior. Altogether, these results put emphasis on the high sensitivity of sexually dimorphic behaviors and neuroendocrine circuits to disruptive effects of EDCs.

Corridors and olfactory predator cues affect small mammal behavior.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brinkerhoff, Robert Jory; Haddad, Nick M.; Orrock, John L.

2005-03-30

Abstract The behavior of prey individuals is influenced by a variety of factors including, but not limited to, habitat configuration, risk of predation, and availability of resources, and these habitat-dependent factors may have interactive effects. We studied the responses of mice to an increase in perceived predation risk in a patchy environment to understand how habitat corridors might affect interactions among species in a fragmented landscape. We used a replicated experiment to investigate corridor-mediated prey responses to predator cues in a network of open habitat patches surrounded by a matrix of planted pine forest. Some of the patches were connectedmore » by corridors. We used mark–recapture techniques and foraging trays to monitor the movement, behavior, and abundance of small mammals. Predation threat was manipulated in one-half of the replicates by applying an olfactory predator cue. Corridors synchronized small mammal foraging activity among connected patches. Foraging also was inhibited in the presence of an olfactory predator cue but apparently increased in adjacent connected patches. Small mammal abundance did not change as a result of the predator manipulation and was not influenced by the presence of corridors. This study is among the 1st to indicate combined effects of landscape configuration and predation risk on prey behavior. These changes in prey behavior may, in turn, have cascading effects on community dynamics where corridors and differential predation risk influence movement and patch use.« less

Exploring the Use of Sensors to Measure Behavioral Interactions: An Experimental Evaluation of Using Hand Trajectories

PubMed Central

Bergmann, Jeroen H. M.; Langdon, Patrick M.; Mayagoitia, Ruth E.; Howard, Newton

2014-01-01

Humans appear to be sensitive to relative small changes in their surroundings. These changes are often initially perceived as irrelevant, but they can cause significant changes in behavior. However, how exactly people’s behavior changes is often hard to quantify. A reliable and valid tool is needed in order to address such a question, ideally measuring an important point of interaction, such as the hand. Wearable-body-sensor systems can be used to obtain valuable, behavioral information. These systems are particularly useful for assessing functional interactions that occur between the endpoints of the upper limbs and our surroundings. A new method is explored that consists of computing hand position using a wearable sensor system and validating it against a gold standard reference measurement (optical tracking device). Initial outcomes related well to the gold standard measurements (r = 0.81) showing an acceptable average root mean square error of 0.09 meters. Subsequently, the use of this approach was further investigated by measuring differences in motor behavior, in response to a changing environment. Three subjects were asked to perform a water pouring task with three slightly different containers. Wavelet analysis was introduced to assess how motor consistency was affected by these small environmental changes. Results showed that the behavioral motor adjustments to a variable environment could be assessed by applying wavelet coherence techniques. Applying these procedures in everyday life, combined with correct research methodologies, can assist in quantifying how environmental changes can cause alterations in our motor behavior. PMID:24516583

Interaction of brain 5-HT synthesis deficiency, chronic stress and sex differentially impact emotional behavior in Tph2 knockout mice.

PubMed

Gutknecht, Lise; Popp, Sandy; Waider, Jonas; Sommerlandt, Frank M J; Göppner, Corinna; Post, Antonia; Reif, Andreas; van den Hove, Daniel; Strekalova, Tatyana; Schmitt, Angelika; Colaςo, Maria B N; Sommer, Claudia; Palme, Rupert; Lesch, Klaus-Peter

2015-07-01

While brain serotonin (5-HT) function is implicated in gene-by-environment interaction (GxE) impacting the vulnerability-resilience continuum in neuropsychiatric disorders, it remains elusive how the interplay of altered 5-HT synthesis and environmental stressors is linked to failure in emotion regulation. Here, we investigated the effect of constitutively impaired 5-HT synthesis on behavioral and neuroendocrine responses to unpredictable chronic mild stress (CMS) using a mouse model of brain 5-HT deficiency resulting from targeted inactivation of the tryptophan hydroxylase-2 (Tph2) gene. Locomotor activity and anxiety- and depression-like behavior as well as conditioned fear responses were differentially affected by Tph2 genotype, sex, and CMS. Tph2 null mutants (Tph2(-/-)) displayed increased general metabolism, marginally reduced anxiety- and depression-like behavior but strikingly increased conditioned fear responses. Behavioral modifications were associated with sex-specific hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) system alterations as indicated by plasma corticosterone and fecal corticosterone metabolite concentrations. Tph2(-/-) males displayed increased impulsivity and high aggressiveness. Tph2(-/-) females displayed greater emotional reactivity to aversive conditions as reflected by changes in behaviors at baseline including increased freezing and decreased locomotion in novel environments. However, both Tph2(-/-) male and female mice were resilient to CMS-induced hyperlocomotion, while CMS intensified conditioned fear responses in a GxE-dependent manner. Our results indicate that 5-HT mediates behavioral responses to environmental adversity by facilitating the encoding of stress effects leading to increased vulnerability for negative emotionality.

Intelligent Entity Behavior Within Synthetic Environments. Chapter 3

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kruk, R. V.; Howells, P. B.; Siksik, D. N.

2007-01-01

This paper describes some elements in the development of realistic performance and behavior in the synthetic entities (players) which support Modeling and Simulation (M&S) applications, particularly military training. Modern human-in-the-loop (virtual) training systems incorporate sophisticated synthetic environments, which provide: 1. The operational environment, including, for example, terrain databases; 2. Physical entity parameters which define performance in engineered systems, such as aircraft aerodynamics; 3. Platform/system characteristics such as acoustic, IR and radar signatures; 4. Behavioral entity parameters which define interactive performance, including knowledge/reasoning about terrain, tactics; and, 5. Doctrine, which combines knowledge and tactics into behavior rule sets. The resolution and fidelity of these model/database elements can vary substantially, but as synthetic environments are designed to be compose able, attributes may easily be added (e.g., adding a new radar to an aircraft) or enhanced (e.g. Amending or replacing missile seeker head/ Electronic Counter Measures (ECM) models to improve the realism of their interaction). To a human in the loop with synthetic entities, their observed veridicality is assessed via engagement responses (e.g. effect of countermeasures upon a closing missile), as seen on systems displays, and visual (image) behavior. The realism of visual models in a simulation (level of detail as well as motion fidelity) remains a challenge in realistic articulation of elements such as vehicle antennae and turrets, or, with human figures; posture, joint articulation, response to uneven ground. Currently the adequacy of visual representation is more dependant upon the quality and resolution of the physical models driving those entities than graphics processing power per Se. Synthetic entities in M&S applications traditionally have represented engineered systems (e.g. aircraft) with human-in-the-loop performance characteristics (e.g. visual acuity) included in the system behavioral specification. As well, performance affecting human parameters such as experience level, fatigue and stress are coming into wider use (via AI approaches) to incorporate more uncertainty as to response type as well as performance (e.g. Where an opposing entity might go and what it might do, as well as how well it might perform).

Cyclic and SCC Behavior of Alloy 690 HAZ in a PWR Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alexandreanu, Bogdan; Chen, Yiren; Natesan, Ken; Shack, Bill

The objective of this work is to determine the cyclic and stress corrosion cracking (SCC) crack growth rates (CGRs) in a simulated PWR water environment for Alloy 690 heat affected zone (HAZ). In order to meet the objective, an Alloy 152 J-weld was produced on a piece of Alloy 690 tubing, and the test specimens were aligned with the HAZ. The environmental enhancement of cyclic CGRs for Alloy 690 HAZ was comparable to that measured for the same alloy in the as-received condition. The two Alloy 690 HAZ samples tested exhibited maximum SCC CGR rates of 10-11 m/s in the simulated PWR environment at 320°C, however, on average, these rates are similar or only slightly higher than those for the as-received alloy.

Navigation Patterns and Scent Marking: Underappreciated Contributors to Hippocampal and Entorhinal Spatial Representations?

PubMed

Lebedev, Mikhail A; Pimashkin, Alexey; Ossadtchi, Alexei

2018-01-01

According to the currently prevailing theory, hippocampal formation constructs and maintains cognitive spatial maps. Most of the experimental evidence for this theory comes from the studies on navigation in laboratory rats and mice, typically male animals. While these animals exhibit a rich repertoire of behaviors associated with navigation, including locomotion, head movements, whisking, sniffing, raring and scent marking, the contribution of these behavioral patterns to the hippocampal spatially-selective activity has not been sufficiently studied. Instead, many publications have considered animal position in space as the major variable that affects the firing of hippocampal place cells and entorhinal grid cells. Here we argue that future work should focus on a more detailed examination of different behaviors exhibited during navigation to better understand the mechanism of spatial tuning in hippocampal neurons. As an inquiry in this direction, we have analyzed data from two datasets, shared online, containing recordings from rats navigating in square and round arenas. Our analyses revealed patchy navigation patterns, evident from the spatial maps of animal position, velocity and acceleration. Moreover, grid cells available in the datasets exhibited similar periodicity as the navigation parameters. These findings indicate that activity of grid cells could affect navigation parameters and/or vice versa. Additionally, we speculate that scent marks left by navigating animals could contribute to neuronal responses while rats and mice sniff their environment; the act of sniffing could modulate neuronal discharges even in virtual visual environments. Accordingly, we propose that future experiments should contain additional controls for navigation patterns, whisking, sniffing and maps composed of scent marks.

The Social Environment and Neurogenesis in the Adult Mammalian Brain

PubMed Central

Lieberwirth, Claudia; Wang, Zuoxin

2012-01-01

Adult neurogenesis – the formation of new neurons in adulthood – has been shown to be modulated by a variety of endogenous (e.g., trophic factors, neurotransmitters, and hormones) as well as exogenous (e.g., physical activity and environmental complexity) factors. Research on exogenous regulators of adult neurogenesis has focused primarily on the non-social environment. More recently, however, evidence has emerged suggesting that the social environment can also affect adult neurogenesis. The present review details the effects of adult–adult (e.g., mating and chemosensory interactions) and adult–offspring (e.g., gestation, parenthood, and exposure to offspring) interactions on adult neurogenesis. In addition, the effects of a stressful social environment (e.g., lack of social support and dominant–subordinate interactions) on adult neurogenesis are reviewed. The underlying hormonal mechanisms and potential functional significance of adult-generated neurons in mediating social behaviors are also discussed. PMID:22586385

Urban Latino Families' Food Built Environment and Young Children's Produce Consumption.

PubMed

Mathieu, Ne P; Sommer, Evan C; Mitchell, Stephanie J; Barkin, Shari L

2016-01-01

This study explored the association between objective and subjective ratings of the food environment and child produce consumption for Latino preschoolers at-risk for obesity. Parental surveys (N = 115) assessed perceptions of food availability, affordability, and acceptability. Comparable factors were objectively rated by a trained observer, using the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey for Stores (NEMS-S), in commonly frequented grocery stores cited by participants. There were no significant correlations between objective and subjective measures of food availability, affordability, and acceptability. Greater household income was associated with higher participant perceptions of food acceptability (r = .33, p = .003) and affordability (r = .22, p = .04). Participant-perceived affordability of food was correlated with more frequent child fruit and vegetable consumption (r = .21, p = .03). These findings support that parental subjective ratings of the food environment affects their child's eating behaviors more than objective ratings.

ARTIE: An Integrated Environment for the Development of Affective Robot Tutors

PubMed Central

Imbernón Cuadrado, Luis-Eduardo; Manjarrés Riesco, Ángeles; De La Paz López, Félix

2016-01-01

Over the last decade robotics has attracted a great deal of interest from teachers and researchers as a valuable educational tool from preschool to highschool levels. The implementation of social-support behaviors in robot tutors, in particular in the emotional dimension, can make a significant contribution to learning efficiency. With the aim of contributing to the rising field of affective robot tutors we have developed ARTIE (Affective Robot Tutor Integrated Environment). We offer an architectural pattern which integrates any given educational software for primary school children with a component whose function is to identify the emotional state of the students who are interacting with the software, and with the driver of a robot tutor which provides personalized emotional pedagogical support to the students. In order to support the development of affective robot tutors according to the proposed architecture, we also provide a methodology which incorporates a technique for eliciting pedagogical knowledge from teachers, and a generic development platform. This platform contains a component for identiying emotional states by analysing keyboard and mouse interaction data, and a generic affective pedagogical support component which specifies the affective educational interventions (including facial expressions, body language, tone of voice,…) in terms of BML (a Behavior Model Language for virtual agent specification) files which are translated into actions of a robot tutor. The platform and the methodology are both adapted to primary school students. Finally, we illustrate the use of this platform to build a prototype implementation of the architecture, in which the educational software is instantiated with Scratch and the robot tutor with NAO. We also report on a user experiment we carried out to orient the development of the platform and of the prototype. We conclude from our work that, in the case of primary school students, it is possible to identify, without using intrusive and expensive identification methods, the emotions which most affect the character of educational interventions. Our work also demonstrates the feasibility of a general-purpose architecture of decoupled components, in which a wide range of educational software and robot tutors can be integrated and then used according to different educational criteria. PMID:27536230

ARTIE: An Integrated Environment for the Development of Affective Robot Tutors.

PubMed

Imbernón Cuadrado, Luis-Eduardo; Manjarrés Riesco, Ángeles; De La Paz López, Félix

2016-01-01

Over the last decade robotics has attracted a great deal of interest from teachers and researchers as a valuable educational tool from preschool to highschool levels. The implementation of social-support behaviors in robot tutors, in particular in the emotional dimension, can make a significant contribution to learning efficiency. With the aim of contributing to the rising field of affective robot tutors we have developed ARTIE (Affective Robot Tutor Integrated Environment). We offer an architectural pattern which integrates any given educational software for primary school children with a component whose function is to identify the emotional state of the students who are interacting with the software, and with the driver of a robot tutor which provides personalized emotional pedagogical support to the students. In order to support the development of affective robot tutors according to the proposed architecture, we also provide a methodology which incorporates a technique for eliciting pedagogical knowledge from teachers, and a generic development platform. This platform contains a component for identiying emotional states by analysing keyboard and mouse interaction data, and a generic affective pedagogical support component which specifies the affective educational interventions (including facial expressions, body language, tone of voice,…) in terms of BML (a Behavior Model Language for virtual agent specification) files which are translated into actions of a robot tutor. The platform and the methodology are both adapted to primary school students. Finally, we illustrate the use of this platform to build a prototype implementation of the architecture, in which the educational software is instantiated with Scratch and the robot tutor with NAO. We also report on a user experiment we carried out to orient the development of the platform and of the prototype. We conclude from our work that, in the case of primary school students, it is possible to identify, without using intrusive and expensive identification methods, the emotions which most affect the character of educational interventions. Our work also demonstrates the feasibility of a general-purpose architecture of decoupled components, in which a wide range of educational software and robot tutors can be integrated and then used according to different educational criteria.

Collective Motion in Bacterial Populations with Mixed Phenotypic Behaviors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoeger, Kentaro; Strickland, Ben; Shoup, Daniel; Ursell, Tristan

The motion of large, densely packed groups of organisms is often qualitatively distinct from the motion of individuals, yet hinges on individual properties and behaviors. Collective motion of bacteria depends strongly on the phenotypic behaviors of individual cells, the physical interactions between cells, and the geometry of their environment, often with multiple phenotypes coexisting in a population. Thus, to characterize how these selectively important interactions affect group traits, such as cell dispersal, spatial segregation of phenotypes, and material transport in groups, we use a library of Bacillus subtilis mutants that modulate chemotaxis, motility, and biofilm formation. By mixing phenotypes and observing bacterial behaviors and motion at single cell resolution, we probe collective motion as a function of phenotypic mixture and environmental geometry. Our work demonstrates that collective microbial motion exhibits a transition, from `turbulence' to semiballistic burrowing, as phenotypic composition varies. This work illuminates the role that individual cell behaviors play in the emergence of collective motion, and may signal qualitatively distinct regimes of material transport in bacterial populations. University of Oregon.

An investigation of the role of job satisfaction in employees' organizational citizenship behavior.

PubMed

Talachi, Rahil Kazemi; Gorji, Mohammad Bagher; Boerhannoeddin, Ali Bin

2014-06-01

Job satisfaction, as an integral part of organizational environment, can affect organizational citizenship behavior. Therefore, the present paper aimed at determination of the relationship between these two factors among the employees to provide an appropriate model. The population of this study consisted of all employees of Golestan Province industry, mine and trade organization (Iran), the number of whom is 154, out of which, 120 employees were selected as a sample by the simple random sampling method. For collecting the data, two questionnaires of job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior were applied, and the obtained data was analyzed using the statistical methods of Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, Spearman's correlation, Pearson's correlation coefficient, Regression analysis, F-test and T-test. From the results, it was found that the variable of job satisfaction had a significant positive relationship with organizational citizenship behavior and one unit increase in organizational citizenship behavior is resulted from 0.622 unit increase in job satisfaction.

Transport and reactivity of nanoparticles in the soil-water environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ben Moshe, Tal

The nanotechnology market is developing rapidly with new applications for nanoparticles emerging constantly. As a result of the increased exposure to nanoparticles through consumer use and release to the environment it is becoming necessary to investigate their environmental effects. Little is known about the behavior of such particles in the environment, in general, and in water resources, in particular. The aim of this study was to investigate the behavior of metal oxide nanoparticles in saturated porous media. The study focused on several aspects of this behavior: (1) Transport, mobility and capture of untreated nanoparticles in porous media: The mobility was found to be highly variable among the different particles and highly dependent on the experimental conditions. The mobility was quite low in most cases but could be enhanced by presence of humic acid. (2) Use of copper oxide nanoparticles for the remediation of water polluted by persistent organic compounds: The nanoparticles were shown to be highly efficient catalysts for the complete degradation of the pollutants without formation of hazardous byproducts and without the need for radiation for activation. The nanoparticles were immobilized on sand to enable easy recovery at the end of the experiment; they were shown to retain their catalytic behavior. This was demonstrated by monitoring organic dye degradation in a flow-through system. (3) Interactions between nanoparticles and soil, and changes in soil properties. The nanoparticles affect the micro properties of the soil, as demonstrated by FTIR and fluorescence spectroscopy, as well as the microbial activity. They had little effect on the macro properties of the soil.

Social complexity beliefs predict posttraumatic growth in survivors of a natural disaster.

PubMed

Nalipay, Ma Jenina N; Bernardo, Allan B I; Mordeno, Imelu G

2016-09-01

Most studies on posttraumatic growth (PTG) have focused on personal characteristics, interpersonal resources, and the immediate environment. There has been less attention on dynamic internal processes related to the development of PTG and on how these processes are affected by the broader culture. Calhoun and Tedeschi's (2006) model suggests a role of distal culture in PTG development, but empirical investigations on that point are limited. The present study investigated the role of social complexity-the generalized belief about changing social environments and inconsistency of human behavior-as a predictor of PTG. Social complexity was hypothesized to be associated with problem-solving approaches that are likely to give rise to cognitive processes that promote PTG. A sample of 446 survivors of Typhoon Haiyan, 1 of the strongest typhoons ever recorded at the time, answered self-report measures of social complexity, cognitive processing of trauma, and PTG. Structural equation modeling indicated a good fit between the data and the hypothesized model; belief in social complexity predicted stronger PTG, mediated by cognitive processing. The results provide evidence for how disaster survivors' beliefs about the changing nature of social environments and their corresponding behavior changes are predictors of PTG and suggest a psychological mechanism for how distal culture can influence PTG. Thus, assessing social complexity beliefs during early the phases of a postdisaster psychosocial intervention may provide useful information on who is likely to experience PTG. Trauma workers might consider culture-specific social themes related to social complexity in disaster-affected communities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

The Relationship between the Second-to-Fourth Digit Ratio and Behavioral Sexual Dimorphism in School-Aged Children.

PubMed

Mitsui, Takahiko; Araki, Atsuko; Miyashita, Chihiro; Ito, Sachiko; Ikeno, Tamiko; Sasaki, Seiko; Kitta, Takeya; Moriya, Kimihiko; Cho, Kazutoshi; Morioka, Keita; Kishi, Reiko; Shinohara, Nobuo; Takeda, Masayuki; Nonomura, Katsuya

2016-01-01

Sexually dimorphic brain development and behavior are known to be influenced by sex hormones exposure in prenatal periods. On the other hand, second-to forth digit ratio (2D/4D) has been used as an indirect method to investigate the putative effects of prenatal exposure to androgen. In the present study, we herein investigated the relationship between gender-role play behavior and the second-to-fourth digit ratio (2D/4D), which has been used as an indirect method to investigate the putative effects of prenatal exposure to androgens, in school-aged children. Among 4981 children who became 8 years old by November 2014 and were contactable for this survey by The Hokkaido Study of Environment and Children's Health, 1631 (32.7%), who had data for 2D/4D and Pre-school Activities Inventory (PSAI) as well as data for the survey at baseline, were available for analysis. Parents sent reports of PSAI on the sex-typical characteristics, preferred toys, and play activities of children, and black and white photocopies of the left and right hand palms via mail. PSAI consisted of 12 masculine items and 12 feminine items, and a composite score was created by subtracting the feminine score from the masculine score, with higher scores representing masculine-typical behavior. While composite scores in PSAI were significantly higher in boys than in girls, 2D/4D was significantly lower in boys than in girls. Although the presence or absence of brothers or sisters affected the composite, masculine, and feminine scored of PSAI, a multivariate regression model revealed that 2D/4D negatively correlated with the composite scores of PSAI in boys, whereas no correlation was found in girls. Although 2D/4D negatively correlated with the masculine score in boys and girls, no correlation was observed between 2D/4D and the feminine score. In conclusion, although social factors, such as the existence of brother or sisters, affect dimorphic brain development and behavior in childhood, the present study revealed that the prenatal hormonal environment was an important factor influencing masculine-typical dimorphic brain development and behavior in school-aged children.

Virtual Bystanders in a Language Lesson: Examining the Effect of Social Evaluation, Vicarious Experience, Cognitive Consistency and Praising on Students' Beliefs, Self-Efficacy and Anxiety in a Virtual Reality Environment

PubMed Central

Qu, Chao; Ling, Yun; Heynderickx, Ingrid; Brinkman, Willem-Paul

2015-01-01

Bystanders in a real world's social setting have the ability to influence people’s beliefs and behavior. This study examines whether this effect can be recreated in a virtual environment, by exposing people to virtual bystanders in a classroom setting. Participants (n = 26) first witnessed virtual students answering questions from an English teacher, after which they were also asked to answer questions from the teacher as part of a simulated training for spoken English. During the experiment the attitudes of the other virtual students in the classroom was manipulated; they could whisper either positive or negative remarks to each other when a virtual student was talking or when a participant was talking. The results show that the expressed attitude of virtual bystanders towards the participants affected their self-efficacy, and their avoidance behavior. Furthermore, the experience of witnessing bystanders commenting negatively on the performance of other students raised the participants’ heart rate when it was their turn to speak. Two-way interaction effects were also found on self-reported anxiety and self-efficacy. After witnessing bystanders’ positive attitude towards peer students, participants’ self-efficacy when answering questions received a boost when bystanders were also positive towards them, and a blow when bystanders reversed their attitude by being negative towards them. Still, inconsistency, instead of consistency, between the bystanders’ attitudes towards virtual peers and the participants was not found to result in a larger change in the participants’ beliefs. Finally the results also reveal that virtual flattering or destructive criticizing affected the participants’ beliefs not only about the virtual bystanders, but also about the neutral teacher. Together these findings show that virtual bystanders in a classroom can affect people’s beliefs, anxiety and behavior. PMID:25884211

Predictable enriched environment prevents development of hyper-emotionality in the VPA rat model of autism.

PubMed

Favre, Mônica R; La Mendola, Deborah; Meystre, Julie; Christodoulou, Dimitri; Cochrane, Melissa J; Markram, Henry; Markram, Kamila

2015-01-01

Understanding the effects of environmental stimulation in autism can improve therapeutic interventions against debilitating sensory overload, social withdrawal, fear and anxiety. Here, we evaluate the role of environmental predictability on behavior and protein expression, and inter-individual differences, in the valproic acid (VPA) model of autism. Male rats embryonically exposed (E11.5) either to VPA, a known autism risk factor in humans, or to saline, were housed from weaning into adulthood in a standard laboratory environment, an unpredictably enriched environment, or a predictably enriched environment. Animals were tested for sociability, nociception, stereotypy, fear conditioning and anxiety, and for tissue content of glutamate signaling proteins in the primary somatosensory cortex, hippocampus and amygdala, and of corticosterone in plasma, amygdala and hippocampus. Standard group analyses on separate measures were complemented with a composite emotionality score, using Cronbach's Alpha analysis, and with multivariate profiling of individual animals, using Hierarchical Cluster Analysis. We found that predictable environmental enrichment prevented the development of hyper-emotionality in the VPA-exposed group, while unpredictable enrichment did not. Individual variation in the severity of the autistic-like symptoms (fear, anxiety, social withdrawal and sensory abnormalities) correlated with neurochemical profiles, and predicted their responsiveness to predictability in the environment. In controls, the association between socio-affective behaviors, neurochemical profiles and environmental predictability was negligible. This study suggests that rearing in a predictable environment prevents the development of hyper-emotional features in animals exposed to an autism risk factor, and demonstrates that unpredictable environments can lead to negative outcomes, even in the presence of environmental enrichment.

Predictable enriched environment prevents development of hyper-emotionality in the VPA rat model of autism

PubMed Central

Favre, Mônica R.; La Mendola, Deborah; Meystre, Julie; Christodoulou, Dimitri; Cochrane, Melissa J.; Markram, Henry; Markram, Kamila

2015-01-01

Understanding the effects of environmental stimulation in autism can improve therapeutic interventions against debilitating sensory overload, social withdrawal, fear and anxiety. Here, we evaluate the role of environmental predictability on behavior and protein expression, and inter-individual differences, in the valproic acid (VPA) model of autism. Male rats embryonically exposed (E11.5) either to VPA, a known autism risk factor in humans, or to saline, were housed from weaning into adulthood in a standard laboratory environment, an unpredictably enriched environment, or a predictably enriched environment. Animals were tested for sociability, nociception, stereotypy, fear conditioning and anxiety, and for tissue content of glutamate signaling proteins in the primary somatosensory cortex, hippocampus and amygdala, and of corticosterone in plasma, amygdala and hippocampus. Standard group analyses on separate measures were complemented with a composite emotionality score, using Cronbach's Alpha analysis, and with multivariate profiling of individual animals, using Hierarchical Cluster Analysis. We found that predictable environmental enrichment prevented the development of hyper-emotionality in the VPA-exposed group, while unpredictable enrichment did not. Individual variation in the severity of the autistic-like symptoms (fear, anxiety, social withdrawal and sensory abnormalities) correlated with neurochemical profiles, and predicted their responsiveness to predictability in the environment. In controls, the association between socio-affective behaviors, neurochemical profiles and environmental predictability was negligible. This study suggests that rearing in a predictable environment prevents the development of hyper-emotional features in animals exposed to an autism risk factor, and demonstrates that unpredictable environments can lead to negative outcomes, even in the presence of environmental enrichment. PMID:26089770

Sex-specific modulation of juvenile social play behavior by vasopressin and oxytocin depends on social context

PubMed Central

Bredewold, Remco; Smith, Caroline J. W.; Dumais, Kelly M.; Veenema, Alexa H.

2014-01-01

We recently demonstrated that vasopressin (AVP) in the lateral septum modulates social play behavior differently in male and female juvenile rats. However, the extent to which different social contexts (i.e., exposure to an unfamiliar play partner in different environments) affect the regulation of social play remains largely unknown. Given that AVP and the closely related neuropeptide oxytocin (OXT) modulate social behavior as well as anxiety-like behavior, we hypothesized that these neuropeptides may regulate social play behavior differently in novel (novel cage) as opposed to familiar (home cage) social environments. Administration of the specific AVP V1a receptor (V1aR) antagonist (CH2)5Tyr(Me2)AVP into the lateral septum enhanced home cage social play behavior in males but reduced it in females, confirming our previous findings. These effects were context-specific because V1aR blockade did not alter novel cage social play behavior in either sex. Furthermore, social play in females was reduced by AVP in the novel cage and by OXT in the home cage. Additionally, females administered the specific OXT receptor antagonist desGly-NH2,d(CH2)5−[Tyr(Me)2,Thr4]OVT showed less social play in the novel as compared to the home cage. AVP enhanced anxiety-related behavior in males (tested on the elevated plus-maze), but failed to do so in females, suggesting that exogenous AVP alters social play and anxiety-related behavior via distinct and sex-specific mechanisms. Moreover, none of the other drug treatments that altered social play had an effect on anxiety, suggesting that these drug-induced behavioral alterations are relatively specific to social behavior. Overall, we showed that AVP and OXT systems in the lateral septum modulate social play in juvenile rats in neuropeptide-, sex- and social context-specific ways. These findings underscore the importance of considering not only sex, but also social context, in how AVP and OXT modulate social behavior. PMID:24982623

An actor-partner interdependence analysis of associations between affect and parenting behavior among couples.

PubMed

Murdock, Kyle W; Lovejoy, M Christine; Oddi, Kate B

2014-03-01

Prior studies evaluating associations between parental affect and parenting behavior have typically focused on either mothers or fathers despite evidence suggesting that affect and parenting behavior may be interdependent among couples. This study addressed this gap in the literature by evaluating associations between self-reported affect and parenting behavior using an actor-partner interdependence analysis among a sample of 53 mother-father dyads of 3- to 5-year-old children. Results suggested that mothers' and fathers' negative affect, as well as mothers' and fathers' positive affect, were positively associated. Both mothers' and fathers' negative affect were negatively associated with fathers' positive affect. Mothers' and fathers' harsh/negative parenting behavior, and supportive/engaged parenting behavior, were positively associated. Furthermore, mothers' negative affect was positively associated with mothers' and fathers' harsh/negative parenting behavior while mothers' positive affect was negatively associated with mothers' harsh/negative behavior and positively associated with mothers' supportive/engaged behavior. Fathers' negative affect was positively associated with fathers' supportive/engaged parenting behavior, while fathers' positive affect was positively associated with mothers' and fathers' supportive/engaged behavior. Results highlight the importance of conceptualizing and measuring characteristics of both mothers and fathers, if applicable, when researching the dynamics of interpersonal relationships within families. © 2014 FPI, Inc.

Sex-based differences in the adaptive value of social behavior contrasted against morphology and environment.

PubMed

Vander Wal, E; Festa-Bianchet, M; Réale, D; Coltman, D W; Pelletier, F

2015-03-01

The adaptive nature of sociality has long been a central question in ecology and evolution. However, the relative importance of social behavior for fitness, compared to morphology and environment, remains largely unknown. We assessed the importance of sociality for fitness (lamb production and survival) in a population of mark6d bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) over 16 years (n = 1022 sheep-years). We constructed social networks from observations (n = 38,350) of group membership (n = 3150 groups). We then tested whether consistent individual differences in social behavior (centrality) exist and evaluated their relative importance compared to factors known to affect fitness: mass, age, parental effects, and population density. Sheep exhibited consistent individual differences in social centrality. Controlling for maternal carryover effects and age, the positive effect of centrality in a social network on adult female lamb production and survival was equal or greater than the effect of body mass or population density. Social centrality had less effect on male survival and no effect on adult male lamb production or lamb survival. Through its effect on lamb production and survival, sociality in fission-fusion animal societies may ultimately influence population dynamics equally or more than morphological or environmental effects.

Mass and energy budgets of animals: Behavioral and ecological implications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Porter, W.P.

1991-11-01

The two major aims of our lab are as follows: First, to develop and field-test general mechanistic models that predict animal life history characteristics as influenced by climate and the physical, physiological behavioral characteristics of species. This involves: understanding how animal time and energy budgets are affected by climate and animal properties; predicting growth and reproductive potential from time and energy budgets; predicting mortality based on climate and time and energy budgets; and linking these individual based models to population dynamics. Second to conduct empirical studies of animal physiological ecology, particularly the effects of temperature on time and energy budgets.more » The physiological ecology of individual animals is the key link between the physical environment and population-level phenomena. We address the macroclimate to microclimate linkage on a broad spatial scale; address the links between individuals and population dynamics for lizard species; test the endotherm energetics and behavior model using beaver; address the spatial variation in climate and its effects on individual energetics, growth and reproduction; and address patchiness in the environment and constraints they may impose on individual energetics, growth and reproduction. These projects are described individually in the following section. 24 refs., 9 figs.« less

Intergenerational Transmission of Stress in Humans

PubMed Central

Bowers, Mallory E; Yehuda, Rachel

2016-01-01

The hypothesis that offspring are affected by parental trauma or stress exposure, first noted anecdotally, is now supported empirically by data from Holocaust survivor offspring cohorts and other populations. These findings have been extended to less extreme forms of stress, where differential physical, behavioral, and cognitive outcomes are observed in affected offspring. Parental stress-mediated effects in offspring could be explained by genetics or social learning theory. Alternatively, biological variations stemming from stress exposure in parents could more directly have an impact on offspring, a concept we refer to here as ‘intergenerational transmission', via changes to gametes and the gestational uterine environment. We further extend this definition to include the transmission of stress to offspring via early postnatal care, as animal studies demonstrate the importance of early maternal care of pups in affecting offsprings' long-term behavioral changes. Here, we review clinical observations in offspring, noting that offspring of stress- or trauma-exposed parents may be at greater risk for physical, behavioral, and cognitive problems, as well as psychopathology. Furthermore, we review findings concerning offspring biological correlates of parental stress, in particular, offspring neuroendocrine, epigenetic, and neuroanatomical changes, in an attempt to determine the extent of parental stress effects. Although understanding the etiology of effects in offspring is currently impeded by methodological constraints, and limitations in our knowledge, we summarize current information and conclude by presenting hypotheses that have been prompted by recent studies in the field. PMID:26279078

Social context influences chemical communication in D. melanogaster males.

PubMed

Kent, Clement; Azanchi, Reza; Smith, Ben; Formosa, Amanda; Levine, Joel D

2008-09-23

Chemical communication mediates social interactions in insects. For the fruit fly, D. melanogaster, the chemical display is a key fitness trait because it leads to mating. An exchange of cues that resembles a dialogue between males and females is enacted by pheromones, chemical signals that pass between individual flies to alter physiology and behavior. Chemical signals also affect the timing of locomotor activity and sleep. We investigated genetic and environmental determinants of chemical communication. To evaluate the role of the social environment, we extracted a chemical blend from individual males selected from groups composed of one genotype and compared these extracts to those from groups of mixed genotypes. To evaluate the role of the physical environment, these comparisons were performed under a light-dark cycle or in constant darkness. Here, we show that chemical signaling is affected by the social environment, light-dark cycle, and genotype as well as the complex interplay of these variables. Gene-by-environment interactions produce highly significant effects on chemical signaling. We also examined individual responses within the groups. Strikingly, the response of one wild-type fly to another is modulated by the genotypic composition of his neighbors. Chemical signaling in D. melanogaster may be a "fickle" trait that depends on the individual's social background.

Sexual display and mate choice in an energetically costly environment.

PubMed

Head, Megan L; Wong, Bob B M; Brooks, Robert

2010-12-09

Sexual displays and mate choice often take place under the same set of environmental conditions and, as a consequence, may be exposed to the same set of environmental constraints. Surprisingly, however, very few studies consider the effects of environmental costs on sexual displays and mate choice simultaneously. We conducted an experiment, manipulating water flow in large flume tanks, to examine how an energetically costly environment might affect the sexual display and mate choice behavior of male and female guppies, Poecilia reticulata. We found that male guppies performed fewer sexual displays and became less choosy, with respect to female size, in the presence of a water current compared to those tested in still water. In contrast to males, female responsive to male displays did not differ between the water current treatments and females exhibited no mate preferences with respect to male size or coloration in either treatment. The results of our study underscore the importance of considering the simultaneous effects of environmental costs on the sexual behaviors of both sexes.

[Mediolateral gradient of the nucleus accumbens nitrergic activation during exploratory behavior].

PubMed

Saul'skaia, N B; Sudorgina, P V

2012-04-01

In Sprague-Dawley rats, by means of in vivo microdialysis combined with HPLC analysis it has been shown that an exploratory behavior in a new environment is accompanied by a rise in extracellular levels of citrulline (an NO co-product) in the mediolateral regions of the n. accumbens with the maximum observed in the medial n. accumbens. Infusions of 7-nitroindazole (0.5 mM), a neuronal NO synthase inhibitor, into the medial n. accumbens prevented the exploration-induced rise of extracellular citrulline levels in this area. The second presentation of the same chamber did not produce any significant changes of extracellular citrulline levels in the medial n. accumbens, although there was a tendency of a small increase. The presentation of a familiar chamber did not affect citrulline extracellular levels in this area. The data obtained indicate for the first time that exploratory activity in a new environment is accompanied by the nitrergic activation in the entire n. accumbens with the maximal activation in the medial part of this brain area.

Behavior of Selected Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in Sewage Treatment Plant

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Xinze; Lu, Jiaming; Ollivier, Natacha; Saturnino, Anais; Gomez, Elena; Casellas, Claude; Picot, Bernadette

2010-11-01

The behavior of endocrine disrupting chemicals in sewage treatment plant affects their final fate in water environment. We selected six endocrine disrupting chemicals: 4 alkylphenols (4-tert-octylphenol, octylphenol, 4-nonylphenol, bisphenol A) and 2 steroids (17α-ethinylestradiol and estriol) as targets, their removal and transformation in wastewater treatment plant were studied. Five mixed liquors were sampled respectively from different stages of Minhang wastewater treatment plant in Shanghai. EDCs concentration were analyzed with GC-MS. The main removal pathways of EDCs include initial adsorption by suspended solids and following biodegradation in biological sludge. The removal efficiency of six targets was more than 86%. The concentration of OP and 4-n-NP in water significantly increased in anoxic stage, the reason may be the releases of EDCs from sludge to water on the condition of low DO. And it was also found that the EDCs could be released to water phase in the secondary clarifier, which may cause potential risk of EDCs entering the environment with discharge.

Effects of Alcohol on the Endocrine System

PubMed Central

Rachdaoui, Nadia; Sarkar, Dipak K.

2013-01-01

Synopsis The endocrine system ensures a proper communication between various organs of the body to maintain a constant internal environment. The endocrine system also plays an essential role in enabling the body to respond and appropriately cope with changes in the internal or external environments, such as respond to stress and injury. These functions of the endocrine system to maintain body homeostasis are aided by its communication with the nervous system, immune system and body’s circadian mechanism. Chronic consumption of a large amount of alcohol disrupts the communication between nervous, endocrine and immune system and causes hormonal disturbances that lead to profound and serious consequences at physiological and behavioral levels. These alcohol-induced hormonal dysregulations affect the entire body and can result in various disorders such as stress abnormalities, reproductive deficits, body growth defect, thyroid problems, immune dysfunction, cancers, bone disease and psychological and behavioral disorders. This review summarizes the findings from human and animal studies that provide consistent evidence on the various effects of alcohol abuse on the endocrine system. PMID:24011889

The formation of Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxin in food environments and advances in risk assessment

PubMed Central

Wallin-Carlquist, Nina; Thorup Cohn, Marianne; Lindqvist, Roland; Barker, Gary C; Rådström, Peter

2011-01-01

The recent finding that the formation of staphylococcal enterotoxins in food is very different from that in cultures of pure Staphylococcus aureus sheds new light on, and brings into question, traditional microbial risk assessment methods based on planktonic liquid cultures. In fact, most bacteria in food appear to be associated with surfaces or tissues in various ways, and interaction with other bacteria through molecular signaling is prevalent. Nowadays it is well established that there are significant differences in the behavior of bacteria in the planktonic state and immobilized bacteria found in multicellular communities. Thus, in order to improve the production of high-quality, microbiologically safe food for human consumption, in situ data on enterotoxin formation in food environments are required to complement existing knowledge on the growth and survivability of S. aureus. This review focuses on enterotoxigenic S. aureus and describes recent findings related to enterotoxin formation in food environments, and ways in which risk assessment can take into account virulence behavior. An improved understanding of how environmental factors affect the expression of enterotoxins in foods will enable us to formulate new strategies for improved food safety. PMID:22030860

The formation of Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxin in food environments and advances in risk assessment.

PubMed

Schelin, Jenny; Wallin-Carlquist, Nina; Cohn, Marianne Thorup; Lindqvist, Roland; Barker, Gary C; Rådström, Peter

2011-01-01

The recent finding that the formation of staphylococcal enterotoxins in food is very different from that in cultures of pure Staphylococcus aureus sheds new light on, and brings into question, traditional microbial risk assessment methods based on planktonic liquid cultures. In fact, most bacteria in food appear to be associated with surfaces or tissues in various ways, and interaction with other bacteria through molecular signaling is prevalent. Nowadays it is well established that there are significant differences in the behavior of bacteria in the planktonic state and immobilized bacteria found in multicellular communities. Thus, in order to improve the production of high-quality, microbiologically safe food for human consumption, in situ data on enterotoxin formation in food environments are required to complement existing knowledge on the growth and survivability of S. aureus. This review focuses on enterotoxigenic S. aureus and describes recent findings related to enterotoxin formation in food environments, and ways in which risk assessment can take into account virulence behavior. An improved understanding of how environmental factors affect the expression of enterotoxins in foods will enable us to formulate new strategies for improved food safety.

How Affectively-Based and Cognitively-Based Attitudes Drive Intergroup Behaviours: The Moderating Role of Affective-Cognitive Consistency

PubMed Central

Zhou, Jie; Dovidio, John; Wang, Erping

2013-01-01

The moderating role of affective-cognitive consistency in the effects of affectively-based and cognitively-based attitudes on consummatory and instrumental behaviors was explored using two experimental studies in the intergroup context. Study 1 revealed that affectively-based attitudes were better predictors than cognitively-based attitudes regardless of affective-cognitive consistency for consummatory behaviors (e.g., undergraduates’ supportive behaviors toward government officials). Study 2, which investigated task groups’ supportive behaviors toward an immediate supervisory group, found that for these instrumental behaviors cognitively-based attitudes were better predictors than affectively-based attitudes only when affective-cognitive consistency was high. The present research also examined the mechanism by which affective-cognitive consistency moderates the relative roles of affectively-based and cognitively-based attitudes in attitude-behavior consistency. Results indicated that attitude-behavior consistency is eroded primarily because of the weaker relationship of affective or cognitive components to behaviors than to general attitudes. The reciprocal implications of research on attitudes and work on intergroup relations are considered. PMID:24244751

[The relationship of empathic-affective responses toward others' positive affect with prosocial behaviors and aggressive behaviors].

PubMed

Sakurai, Shigeo; Hayama, Daichi; Suzuki, Takashi; Kurazumi, Tomoe; Hagiwara, Toshihiko; Suzuki, Miyuki; Ohuchi, Akiko; Chizuko, Oikawa

2011-06-01

The purposes of this study were to develop and validate the Empathic-Affective Response Scale, and to examine the relationship of empathic-affective responses with prosocial behaviors and aggressive behaviors. Undergraduate students (N = 443) participated in a questionnaire study. The results of factor analysis indicated that empathic-affective responses involved three factors: (a) sharing and good feeling toward others' positive affect, (b) sharing of negative affect and (c) sympathy toward others' negative affect. Correlations with other empathy-related scales and internal consistency suggested that this scale has satisfactory validity and reliability. Cluster analysis revealed that participants were clustered into four groups: high-empathic group, low-empathic group, insufficient positive affective response group and insufficient negative affective response group. Additional analysis showed the frequency of prosocial behaviors in high-empathic group was highest in all groups. On the other hand, the frequency of aggressive behaviors in both insufficient positive affective response group and low-empathic group were higher than others' groups. The results indicated that empathic-affective responses toward positive affect are also very important to predict prosocial behaviors and aggressive behaviors.

Children's differential susceptibility to parenting: An experimental test of "for better and for worse".

PubMed

Slagt, Meike; Dubas, Judith Semon; van Aken, Marcel A G; Ellis, Bruce J; Deković, Maja

2017-02-01

Differential susceptibility theory proposes that a subset of individuals exist who display enhanced susceptibility to both negative (risk-promoting) and positive (development-enhancing) environments. This experiment represents the first attempt to directly test this assumption by exposing children in the experimental group to both negative and positive feedback using puppet role-plays. It thereby serves as an empirical test as well as a methodological primer for testing differential susceptibility. Dutch children (N=190, 45.3% girls) between the ages of 4 and 6years participated. We examined whether negative and positive feedback would differentially affect changes in positive and negative affect, in prosocial and antisocial intentions and behavior, depending on children's negative emotionality. Results show that on hearing negative feedback, children in the experimental group increased in negative affect and decreased in positive affect more strongly than children in the control group. On hearing positive feedback, children in the experimental group tended to increase in positive affect and decrease in prosocial behavior. However, changes in response to negative or positive feedback did not depend on children's negative emotionality. Moreover, using reliable change scores, we found support for a subset of "vulnerable" children but not for a subset of "susceptible" children. The findings offer suggestions to guide future differential susceptibility experiments. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Trait-based Affective Processes in Alcohol-Involved Risk Behaviors

PubMed Central

Wray, Tyler B.; Simons, Jeffrey S.; Dvorak, Robert D.; Gaher, Raluca M.

2012-01-01

This study tested a theoretical model of alcohol use, markers of extreme intoxication, and risk behavior as a function of trait affect, distress tolerance, and affect-based behavior dysregulation. Positive affective pathways to risk behavior were primarily expected to be indirect via high levels of alcohol use, while negative affect paths were expected to be more directly associated with engagement in risk behavior. In addition, we expected trait affectivity and distress tolerance would primarily exhibit relationships with alcohol use and problems through behavioral dysregulation occurring during extreme affective states. To evaluate these hypotheses, we tested a SEM with three alcohol–related outcomes: “Typical” alcohol use, “blackout” drinking,” and risk behavior. Results were complex, but generally supported the hypotheses. High trait negative affect and low tolerance for affective distress contribute to difficulty controlling behavior when negatively aroused and this is directly associated with increased risk behavior when drinking. In contrast, associations between positive urgency and risk behaviors are indirect via increased alcohol consumption. Positive affectivity exhibited both inverse and positive effects in the model, with the net effect on alcohol outcomes being insignificant. These findings contribute important information about the distinct pathways between affect, alcohol use, and alcohol-involved risk behavior among college students. PMID:22770825