Sample records for quantify behavioral responses

  1. Quantifying fish swimming behavior in response to acute exposure of aqueous copper using computer assisted video and digital image analysis

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Calfee, Robin D.; Puglis, Holly J.; Little, Edward E.; Brumbaugh, William G.; Mebane, Christopher A.

    2016-01-01

    Behavioral responses of aquatic organisms to environmental contaminants can be precursors of other effects such as survival, growth, or reproduction. However, these responses may be subtle, and measurement can be challenging. Using juvenile white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) with copper exposures, this paper illustrates techniques used for quantifying behavioral responses using computer assisted video and digital image analysis. In previous studies severe impairments in swimming behavior were observed among early life stage white sturgeon during acute and chronic exposures to copper. Sturgeon behavior was rapidly impaired and to the extent that survival in the field would be jeopardized, as fish would be swept downstream, or readily captured by predators. The objectives of this investigation were to illustrate protocols to quantify swimming activity during a series of acute copper exposures to determine time to effect during early lifestage development, and to understand the significance of these responses relative to survival of these vulnerable early lifestage fish. With mortality being on a time continuum, determining when copper first affects swimming ability helps us to understand the implications for population level effects. The techniques used are readily adaptable to experimental designs with other organisms and stressors.

  2. Quantifying Fish Swimming Behavior in Response to Acute Exposure of Aqueous Copper Using Computer Assisted Video and Digital Image Analysis

    PubMed Central

    Calfee, Robin D.; Puglis, Holly J.; Little, Edward E.; Brumbaugh, William G.; Mebane, Christopher A.

    2016-01-01

    Behavioral responses of aquatic organisms to environmental contaminants can be precursors of other effects such as survival, growth, or reproduction. However, these responses may be subtle, and measurement can be challenging. Using juvenile white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) with copper exposures, this paper illustrates techniques used for quantifying behavioral responses using computer assisted video and digital image analysis. In previous studies severe impairments in swimming behavior were observed among early life stage white sturgeon during acute and chronic exposures to copper. Sturgeon behavior was rapidly impaired and to the extent that survival in the field would be jeopardized, as fish would be swept downstream, or readily captured by predators. The objectives of this investigation were to illustrate protocols to quantify swimming activity during a series of acute copper exposures to determine time to effect during early lifestage development, and to understand the significance of these responses relative to survival of these vulnerable early lifestage fish. With mortality being on a time continuum, determining when copper first affects swimming ability helps us to understand the implications for population level effects. The techniques used are readily adaptable to experimental designs with other organisms and stressors. PMID:26967350

  3. Nanoscale Mechanical Stimulation Method for Quantifying C. elegans Mechanosensory Behavior and Memory.

    PubMed

    Sugi, Takuma; Okumura, Etsuko; Kiso, Kaori; Igarashi, Ryuji

    2016-01-01

    Withdrawal escape response of C. elegans to nonlocalized vibration is a useful behavioral paradigm to examine mechanisms underlying mechanosensory behavior and its memory-dependent change. However, there are very few methods for investigating the degree of vibration frequency, amplitude and duration needed to induce behavior and memory. Here, we establish a new system to quantify C. elegans mechanosensory behavior and memory using a piezoelectric sheet speaker. In the system, we can flexibly change the vibration properties at a nanoscale displacement level and quantify behavioral responses under each vibration property. This system is an economic setup and easily replicated in other laboratories. By using the system, we clearly detected withdrawal escape responses and confirmed habituation memory. This system will facilitate the understanding of physiological aspects of C. elegans mechanosensory behavior in the future.

  4. Quantifying utricular stimulation during natural behavior

    PubMed Central

    Rivera, Angela R. V.; Davis, Julian; Grant, Wally; Blob, Richard W.; Peterson, Ellengene; Neiman, Alexander B.; Rowe, Michael

    2012-01-01

    The use of natural stimuli in neurophysiological studies has led to significant insights into the encoding strategies used by sensory neurons. To investigate these encoding strategies in vestibular receptors and neurons, we have developed a method for calculating the stimuli delivered to a vestibular organ, the utricle, during natural (unrestrained) behaviors, using the turtle as our experimental preparation. High-speed digital video sequences are used to calculate the dynamic gravito-inertial (GI) vector acting on the head during behavior. X-ray computed tomography (CT) scans are used to determine the orientation of the otoconial layer (OL) of the utricle within the head, and the calculated GI vectors are then rotated into the plane of the OL. Thus, the method allows us to quantify the spatio-temporal structure of stimuli to the OL during natural behaviors. In the future, these waveforms can be used as stimuli in neurophysiological experiments to understand how natural signals are encoded by vestibular receptors and neurons. We provide one example of the method which shows that turtle feeding behaviors can stimulate the utricle at frequencies higher than those typically used in vestibular studies. This method can be adapted to other species, to other vestibular end organs, and to other methods of quantifying head movements. PMID:22753360

  5. An unsupervised method for quantifying the behavior of paired animals

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Klibaite, Ugne; Berman, Gordon J.; Cande, Jessica; Stern, David L.; Shaevitz, Joshua W.

    2017-02-01

    Behaviors involving the interaction of multiple individuals are complex and frequently crucial for an animal’s survival. These interactions, ranging across sensory modalities, length scales, and time scales, are often subtle and difficult to characterize. Contextual effects on the frequency of behaviors become even more difficult to quantify when physical interaction between animals interferes with conventional data analysis, e.g. due to visual occlusion. We introduce a method for quantifying behavior in fruit fly interaction that combines high-throughput video acquisition and tracking of individuals with recent unsupervised methods for capturing an animal’s entire behavioral repertoire. We find behavioral differences between solitary flies and those paired with an individual of the opposite sex, identifying specific behaviors that are affected by social and spatial context. Our pipeline allows for a comprehensive description of the interaction between two individuals using unsupervised machine learning methods, and will be used to answer questions about the depth of complexity and variance in fruit fly courtship.

  6. Behavioral response of Daphnia magna to silver salt and nanoparticle exposure

    EPA Science Inventory

    Endpoints in the investigation of the toxicity of metallic nanoparticles have varied from genetic and molecular through whole organism responses such as death and reproduction. The work presented here is an effort to quantify behavioral responses of Daphnia magna to exposure to s...

  7. Quantifying Behavior Driven Energy Savings for Hotels

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

    Dong, Bing; Wang, Na; Hooks, Edward

    2016-08-12

    Hotel facilities present abundant opportunities for energy savings. In the United States, there are around 25,000 hotels that spend on an average of $2,196 on energy costs per room each year. This amounts to about 6% of the total annual hotel operating cost. However, unlike offices, there are limited studies on establishing appropriate baselines and quantifying hotel energy savings given the variety of services and amenities, unpredictable customer behaviors, and the around-the-clock operation hours. In this study, we investigate behavior driven energy savings for three medium-size (around 90,000 sf2) hotels that offer similar services in different climate zones. We firstmore » used Department of Energy Asset Scoring Tool to establish baseline models. We then conducted energy saving analysis in EnergyPlus based on a behavior model that defines the upper bound and lower bound of customer and hotel staff behavior. Lastly, we presented a probabilistic energy savings outlook for each hotel. The analysis shows behavior driven energy savings up to 25%. We believe this is the first study to incorporate behavioral factors into energy analysis for hotels. It also demonstrates a procedure to quickly create tailored baselines and identify improvement opportunities for hotels.« less

  8. Quantifying ecological thresholds from response surfaces

    Treesearch

    Heather E. Lintz; Bruce McCune; Andrew N. Gray; Katherine A. McCulloh

    2011-01-01

    Ecological thresholds are abrupt changes of ecological state. While an ecological threshold is a widely accepted concept, most empirical methods detect them in time or across geographic space. Although useful, these approaches do not quantify the direct drivers of threshold response. Causal understanding of thresholds detected empirically requires their investigation...

  9. Copepod behavior response to Burgers' vortex treatments mimicking turbulent eddies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Elmi, D.; Webster, D. R.; Fields, D. M.

    2017-11-01

    Copepods detect hydrodynamic cues in the water by their mechanosensory setae. We expect that copepods sense the flow structure of turbulent eddies in order to evoke behavioral responses that lead to population-scale distribution patterns. In this study, the copepods' response to the Burgers' vortex is examined. The Burgers' vortex is a steady-state solution of three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations that allows us to mimic turbulent vortices at the appropriate scale and eliminate the stochastic nature of turbulence. We generate vortices in the laboratory oriented in the horizontal and vertical directions each with four intensity levels. The objective of including vortex orientation as a parameter in the study is to quantify directional responses that lead to vertical population distribution patterns. The four intensity levels correspond to target vortex characteristics of eddies corresponding to the typical dissipative vortices in isotropic turbulence with mean turbulent dissipation rates in the range of 0.002 to 0.25 cm2/s3. These vortices mimic the characteristics of eddies that copepods most likely encounter in coastal zones. We hypothesize that the response of copepods to hydrodynamic features depends on their sensory architecture and relative orientation with respect to gravity. Tomo-PIV is used to quantify the vortex circulation and axial strain rate for each vortex treatment. Three-dimensional trajectories of the copepod species Calanus finmarchicus are analyzed to examine their swimming kinematics in and around the vortex to quantify the hydrodynamic cues that trigger their behavior.

  10. Quantifying stock-price response to demand fluctuations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Plerou, Vasiliki; Gopikrishnan, Parameswaran; Gabaix, Xavier; Stanley, H. Eugene

    2002-08-01

    We empirically address the question of how stock prices respond to changes in demand. We quantify the relations between price change G over a time interval Δt and two different measures of demand fluctuations: (a) Φ, defined as the difference between the number of buyer-initiated and seller-initiated trades, and (b) Ω, defined as the difference in number of shares traded in buyer- and seller-initiated trades. We find that the conditional expectation functions of price change for a given Φ or Ω, Φ and Ω (``market impact function''), display concave functional forms that seem universal for all stocks. For small Ω, we find a power-law behavior Ω~Ω1/8 with δ depending on Δt (δ~3 for Δt=5 min, δ~3/2 for Δt=15 min and δ~1 for large Δt). We find that large price fluctuations occur when demand is very small-a fact that is reminiscent of large fluctuations that occur at critical points in spin systems, where the divergent nature of the response function leads to large fluctuations.

  11. Quantifying Access Disparities in Response Plans

    PubMed Central

    Indrakanti, Saratchandra; Mikler, Armin R.; O’Neill, Martin; Tiwari, Chetan

    2016-01-01

    Effective response planning and preparedness are critical to the health and well-being of communities in the face of biological emergencies. Response plans involving mass prophylaxis may seem feasible when considering the choice of dispensing points within a region, overall population density, and estimated traffic demands. However, the plan may fail to serve particular vulnerable subpopulations, resulting in access disparities during emergency response. For a response plan to be effective, sufficient mitigation resources must be made accessible to target populations within short, federally-mandated time frames. A major challenge in response plan design is to establish a balance between the allocation of available resources and the provision of equal access to PODs for all individuals in a given geographic region. Limitations on the availability, granularity, and currency of data to identify vulnerable populations further complicate the planning process. To address these challenges and limitations, data driven methods to quantify vulnerabilities in the context of response plans have been developed and are explored in this article. PMID:26771551

  12. Inferring Characteristics of Sensorimotor Behavior by Quantifying Dynamics of Animal Locomotion

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Leung, KaWai

    Locomotion is one of the most well-studied topics in animal behavioral studies. Many fundamental and clinical research make use of the locomotion of an animal model to explore various aspects in sensorimotor behavior. In the past, most of these studies focused on population average of a specific trait due to limitation of data collection and processing power. With recent advance in computer vision and statistical modeling techniques, it is now possible to track and analyze large amounts of behavioral data. In this thesis, I present two projects that aim to infer the characteristics of sensorimotor behavior by quantifying the dynamics of locomotion of nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, shedding light on statistical dependence between sensing and behavior. In the first project, I investigate the possibility of inferring noxious sensory information from the behavior of Caenorhabditis elegans. I develop a statistical model to infer the heat stimulus level perceived by individual animals from their stereotyped escape responses after stimulation by an IR laser. The model allows quantification of analgesic-like effects of chemical agents or genetic mutations in the worm. At the same time, the method is able to differentiate perturbations of locomotion behavior that are beyond affecting the sensory system. With this model I propose experimental designs that allows statistically significant identification of analgesic-like effects. In the second project, I investigate the relationship of energy budget and stability of locomotion in determining the walking speed distribution of Drosophila melanogaster during aging. The locomotion stability at different age groups is estimated from video recordings using Floquet theory. I calculate the power consumption of different locomotion speed using a biomechanics model. In conclusion, the power consumption, not stability, predicts the locomotion speed distribution at different ages.

  13. Describing and understanding behavioral responses to multiple stressors and multiple stimuli.

    PubMed

    Hale, Robin; Piggott, Jeremy J; Swearer, Stephen E

    2017-01-01

    Understanding the effects of environmental change on natural ecosystems is a major challenge, particularly when multiple stressors interact to produce unexpected "ecological surprises" in the form of complex, nonadditive effects that can amplify or reduce their individual effects. Animals often respond behaviorally to environmental change, and multiple stressors can have both population-level and community-level effects. However, the individual, not combined, effects of stressors on animal behavior are commonly studied. There is a need to understand how animals respond to the more complex combinations of stressors that occur in nature, which requires a systematic and rigorous approach to quantify the various potential behavioral responses to the independent and interactive effects of stressors. We illustrate a robust, systematic approach for understanding behavioral responses to multiple stressors based on integrating schemes used to quantitatively classify interactions in multiple-stressor research and to qualitatively view interactions between multiple stimuli in behavioral experiments. We introduce and unify the two frameworks, highlighting their conceptual and methodological similarities, and use four case studies to demonstrate how this unification could improve our interpretation of interactions in behavioral experiments and guide efforts to manage the effects of multiple stressors. Our unified approach: (1) provides behavioral ecologists with a more rigorous and systematic way to quantify how animals respond to interactions between multiple stimuli, an important theoretical advance, (2) helps us better understand how animals behave when they encounter multiple, potentially interacting stressors, and (3) contributes more generally to the understanding of "ecological surprises" in multiple stressors research.

  14. Quantified trends in the history of verbal behavior research

    PubMed Central

    Eshleman, John W.

    1991-01-01

    The history of scientific research about verbal behavior research, especially that based on Verbal Behavior (Skinner, 1957), can be assessed on the basis of a frequency and celeration analysis of the published and presented literature. In order to discover these quantified trends, a comprehensive bibliographical database was developed. Based on several literature searches, the bibliographic database included papers pertaining to verbal behavior that were published in the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Behaviorism, The Behavior Analyst, and The Analysis of Verbal Behavior. A nonbehavioral journal, the Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior was assessed as a nonexample comparison. The bibliographic database also included a listing of verbal behavior papers presented at the meetings of the Association for Behavior Analysis. Papers were added to the database if they (a) were about verbal behavior, (b) referenced B.F. Skinner's (1957) book Verbal Behavior, or (c) did both. Because the references indicated the year of publication or presentation, a count per year of them was measured. These yearly frequencies were plotted on Standard Celeration Charts. Once plotted, various celeration trends in the literature became visible, not the least of which was the greater quantity of verbal behavior research than is generally acknowledged. The data clearly show an acceleration of research across the past decade. The data also question the notion that a “paucity” of research based on Verbal Behavior currently exists. Explanations of the acceleration of verbal behavior research are suggested, and plausible reasons are offered as to why a relative lack of verbal behavior research extended through the mid 1960s to the latter 1970s. PMID:22477630

  15. Old model organisms and new behavioral end-points: Swimming alteration as an ecotoxicological response.

    PubMed

    Faimali, Marco; Gambardella, Chiara; Costa, Elisa; Piazza, Veronica; Morgana, Silvia; Estévez-Calvar, Noelia; Garaventa, Francesca

    2017-07-01

    Behavioral responses of aquatic organisms have received much less attention than developmental or reproductive ones due to the scarce presence of user-friendly tools for their acquisition. The technological development of data acquisition systems for quantifying behavior in the aquatic environment and the increase of studies on the understanding the relationship between the behavior of aquatic organisms and the physiological/ecological activities have generated renewed interest in using behavioral responses also in marine ecotoxicology. Recent reviews on freshwater environment show that behavioral end-points are comparatively fast and sensitive, and warrant further attention as tools for assessing the toxicological effects of environmental contaminants. In this mini-review, we perform a systematic analysis of the most recent works that have used marine invertebrate swimming alteration as behavioral end-point in ecotoxicological studies by assessing the differences between behavioral and acute responses in a wide range of species, in order to compare their sensitivity. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  16. Adsorption behavior of proteins on temperature-responsive resins.

    PubMed

    Poplewska, Izabela; Muca, Renata; Strachota, Adam; Piątkowski, Wojciech; Antos, Dorota

    2014-01-10

    The adsorption behavior of proteins on thermo-responsible resins based on poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) and its copolymer containing an anionic co-monomer has been investigated. The influence of the polymer composition, i.e., the content of the co-monomer and crosslinker on the thermo-sensitivity of the protein adsorption has been quantified. The properties of ungrafted polymer as well grafted onto the agarose matrix have been analyzed and compared. Batch and dynamic (column) experiments have been performed to measure the adsorption equilibrium of proteins and to quantify the phase transition process. As model proteins lysozyme, lactoferrin, α-chymotrypsinogen A and ovalbumin have been used. The adsorption process was found to be governed by ionic interactions between the negatively charged surface of resin and the protein, which enabled separation of proteins differing in electrostatic charge. The interactions enhanced with increase of temperature. Decrease of temperature facilitated desorption of proteins and reduced the salt usage in the desorption buffer. Grafted polymers exhibited markedly higher mechanical stability and, however, weaker temperature response compared to the ungrafted ones. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. Reappraising social insect behavior through aversive responsiveness and learning.

    PubMed

    Roussel, Edith; Carcaud, Julie; Sandoz, Jean-Christophe; Giurfa, Martin

    2009-01-01

    The success of social insects can be in part attributed to their division of labor, which has been explained by a response threshold model. This model posits that individuals differ in their response thresholds to task-associated stimuli, so that individuals with lower thresholds specialize in this task. This model is at odds with findings on honeybee behavior as nectar and pollen foragers exhibit different responsiveness to sucrose, with nectar foragers having higher response thresholds to sucrose concentration. Moreover, it has been suggested that sucrose responsiveness correlates with responsiveness to most if not all other stimuli. If this is the case, explaining task specialization and the origins of division of labor on the basis of differences in response thresholds is difficult. To compare responsiveness to stimuli presenting clear-cut differences in hedonic value and behavioral contexts, we measured appetitive and aversive responsiveness in the same bees in the laboratory. We quantified proboscis extension responses to increasing sucrose concentrations and sting extension responses to electric shocks of increasing voltage. We analyzed the relationship between aversive responsiveness and aversive olfactory conditioning of the sting extension reflex, and determined how this relationship relates to division of labor. Sucrose and shock responsiveness measured in the same bees did not correlate, thus suggesting that they correspond to independent behavioral syndromes, a foraging and a defensive one. Bees which were more responsive to shock learned and memorized better aversive associations. Finally, guards were less responsive than nectar foragers to electric shocks, exhibiting higher tolerance to low voltage shocks. Consequently, foragers, which are more sensitive, were the ones learning and memorizing better in aversive conditioning. Our results constitute the first integrative study on how aversive responsiveness affects learning, memory and social

  18. Accuracy of HIV-related risk behaviors reported by female sex workers, Iran: a method to quantify measurement bias in marginalized populations.

    PubMed

    Mirzazadeh, Ali; Haghdoost, Ali Akbar; Nedjat, Saharnaz; Navadeh, Soodabeh; McFarland, Willi; Mohammad, Kazem

    2013-02-01

    We quantified discrepancies in reported behaviors of female sex workers (FSW) by comparing 63 face-to-face interviews (FTFI) to in-depth interviews (IDI), with corroboration of the directions and magnitudes of reporting by a panel of psychologists who work with FSW. Sensitivities, specificities, positive and negative predictive values (PPV and NPV) were assessed for FTFI responses using IDI as a "gold standard". Sensitivities were lowest in reporting symptoms of sexually transmitted infections (63.9 %), finding sex partners in venues (52.4 %) and not receiving HIV test results (66.7 %). Specificities (all >83 %) and PPVs (all >74.0 %) were higher than NPV. FSW significantly under-reported number of clients, sexual contacts and non-condom use sex acts with clients and number of days engaging in sex work in the preceding week. This study provides a quantified gauge of reporting biases in FSW behaviors. Such estimates and methods help better understand true HIV risk in marginalized populations and calibrate survey estimates accordingly.

  19. USGS Regional Groundwater Availability Studies: Quantifying Aquifer Response

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Reeves, H. W.

    2017-12-01

    The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) identified six challenges in determining groundwater availability: 1) limited direct measurement, 2) varying response times for different systems, 3) varying spatial scales for different availability questions and aquifer systems, 4) varying tolerance to changes in water levels or outflows, 5) redistribution of stresses and potential return-flow of water pumped from the system, and 6) varying chemical quality of groundwater and the role of quality in determining suitability for different uses. USGS Regional groundwater availability studies are designed to address these challenges. USGS regional groundwater availability studies focus on quantifying the groundwater budget for principal aquifers and determining how this budget has changed in response to pumping or variations in climate. This focus requires relating limited measurements to a quantitative understanding of the temporal and spatial response of regional aquifers. For most principal aquifer studies, aquifer response is quantified using regional groundwater flow models, and USGS regional groundwater availability studies have provided test cases for the development and application of advanced modeling techniques and methods. Results from regional studies from the Lake Michigan Basin and Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain illustrate how different parts of these systems respond differently to pumping with some areas showing large drawdowns and others having much less drawdown but greater capture of discharge. The Central Valley and Mississippi Embayment studies show how extensive pumping and transfer of water have resulted in much more groundwater moving through the aquifer system under current conditions compared to pre-development. These and other results from regional studies will be explored to illustrate how regional groundwater availability and related studies address the six challenges to determining groundwater availability.

  20. Individual-level behavioral responses of immature green turtles to snorkeler disturbance.

    PubMed

    Griffin, Lucas P; Brownscombe, Jacob W; Gagné, Tyler O; Wilson, Alexander D M; Cooke, Steven J; Danylchuk, Andy J

    2017-03-01

    Despite many positive benefits of ecotourism, increased human encounters with wildlife may have detrimental effects on wild animals. As charismatic megafauna, nesting and foraging sea turtles are increasingly the focus of ecotourism activities. The purpose of our study was to quantify the behavioral responses of immature green turtles (Chelonia mydas) to disturbance by snorkelers, and to investigate whether turtles have individual-level responses to snorkeler disturbance. Using a standardized disturbance stimulus in the field, we recorded turtle behaviors pre- and post-disturbance by snorkelers. Ninety percent of turtles disturbed by snorkeler (n = 192) initiated their flights at distances of ≤3 m. Using principal component analysis, we identified two distinct turtle personality types, 'bold' and 'timid', based upon 145 encounters of 19 individually identified turtles and five disturbance response variables. There was significant intra-individual repeatability in behavioral responses to disturbance, but bolder turtles had more behavioral plasticity and less consistent responses than more timid individuals. Bolder individuals with reduced evasion responses might be at a higher risk of shark predation, while more timid turtles might have greater energetic consequences due to non-lethal predator effects and repeated snorkeler disturbance. Over the longer term, a turtle population with a mix of bold and timid individuals may promote more resilient populations. We recommend that snorkelers maintain >3 m distance from immature green turtles when snorkeling, and that ecotourism activities be temporally and spatially stratified. Further, turtle watching guidelines need to be communicated to both tour operators and independent snorkelers to reduce the disturbance of turtles.

  1. Quantifying patterns of change in marine ecosystem response to multiple pressures.

    PubMed

    Large, Scott I; Fay, Gavin; Friedland, Kevin D; Link, Jason S

    2015-01-01

    The ability to understand and ultimately predict ecosystem response to multiple pressures is paramount to successfully implement ecosystem-based management. Thresholds shifts and nonlinear patterns in ecosystem responses can be used to determine reference points that identify levels of a pressure that may drastically alter ecosystem status, which can inform management action. However, quantifying ecosystem reference points has proven elusive due in large part to the multi-dimensional nature of both ecosystem pressures and ecosystem responses. We used ecological indicators, synthetic measures of ecosystem status and functioning, to enumerate important ecosystem attributes and to reduce the complexity of the Northeast Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem (NES LME). Random forests were used to quantify the importance of four environmental and four anthropogenic pressure variables to the value of ecological indicators, and to quantify shifts in aggregate ecological indicator response along pressure gradients. Anthropogenic pressure variables were critical defining features and were able to predict an average of 8-13% (up to 25-66% for individual ecological indicators) of the variation in ecological indicator values, whereas environmental pressures were able to predict an average of 1-5 % (up to 9-26% for individual ecological indicators) of ecological indicator variation. Each pressure variable predicted a different suite of ecological indicator's variation and the shapes of ecological indicator responses along pressure gradients were generally nonlinear. Threshold shifts in ecosystem response to exploitation, the most important pressure variable, occurred when commercial landings were 20 and 60% of total surveyed biomass. Although present, threshold shifts in ecosystem response to environmental pressures were much less important, which suggests that anthropogenic pressures have significantly altered the ecosystem structure and functioning of the NES LME. Gradient response

  2. Interactions Among Behavioral Responses of Baleen Whales to Acoustic Stimuli, Oceanographic Features, and Prey Availability

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2015-05-31

    currently valid OMB control number. PLEASE DO NOT RETURN YOUR FORM TO THE ABOVE ADDRESS. 1. REPORT DATE (■DD-MM-YYYV9 05/31/2015 2. REPORT TYPE...completely describe and quantify behavioral responses of baleen whales to controlled exposure experiments while including the effects of prey provides a...novel and powerful insight into interpreting responses to sound and controlling for environmental factors. In order to determine whether and how

  3. Intensity of play behavior as a potential measure of welfare: A novel method for quantifying the integrated intensity of behavior in African elephants.

    PubMed

    Vicino, Greg A; Marcacci, Emily S

    2015-01-01

    To the authors' knowledge there is currently no discrete index to measure the integrated intensity of a play bout in mammals, despite the potential for using intensity and duration of play bouts as a measure of physical activity and welfare. This study was developed to test an equation that quantified the intensity and duration of play bouts in a particularly gregarious mammal, African elephants (Loxodonta africana) housed at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondido, CA. To quantify these behaviors, we created a scale of intensity and a subsequent equation that produces an index value, giving each unique bout a score. A compilation of these scores provides a range of intensity of play behavior that is a representative value for that particular herd at that point in time, and thus a database to which later bouts can be compared. It can be argued that play behavior is an indicator of positive welfare, and if quantifiable, it is our belief that it can be used as an additional measure of positive welfare in zoo housed animals. Here we present the methods and technique used to calculate a standardized Integrated Play Index (IPI) that has potential for use in other socially living species that are known to exhibit play behavior. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  4. Memory in Microbes: Quantifying History-Dependent Behavior in a Bacterium

    PubMed Central

    Bischofs, Ilka; Price, Gavin; Keasling, Jay; Arkin, Adam P.

    2008-01-01

    Memory is usually associated with higher organisms rather than bacteria. However, evidence is mounting that many regulatory networks within bacteria are capable of complex dynamics and multi-stable behaviors that have been linked to memory in other systems. Moreover, it is recognized that bacteria that have experienced different environmental histories may respond differently to current conditions. These “memory” effects may be more than incidental to the regulatory mechanisms controlling acclimation or to the status of the metabolic stores. Rather, they may be regulated by the cell and confer fitness to the organism in the evolutionary game it participates in. Here, we propose that history-dependent behavior is a potentially important manifestation of memory, worth classifying and quantifying. To this end, we develop an information-theory based conceptual framework for measuring both the persistence of memory in microbes and the amount of information about the past encoded in history-dependent dynamics. This method produces a phenomenological measure of cellular memory without regard to the specific cellular mechanisms encoding it. We then apply this framework to a strain of Bacillus subtilis engineered to report on commitment to sporulation and degradative enzyme (AprE) synthesis and estimate the capacity of these systems and growth dynamics to ‘remember’ 10 distinct cell histories prior to application of a common stressor. The analysis suggests that B. subtilis remembers, both in short and long term, aspects of its cell history, and that this memory is distributed differently among the observables. While this study does not examine the mechanistic bases for memory, it presents a framework for quantifying memory in cellular behaviors and is thus a starting point for studying new questions about cellular regulation and evolutionary strategy. PMID:18324309

  5. Prey-mediated behavioral responses of feeding blue whales in controlled sound exposure experiments.

    PubMed

    Friedlaender, A S; Hazen, E L; Goldbogen, J A; Stimpert, A K; Calambokidis, J; Southall, B L

    2016-06-01

    Behavioral response studies provide significant insights into the nature, magnitude, and consequences of changes in animal behavior in response to some external stimulus. Controlled exposure experiments (CEEs) to study behavioral response have faced challenges in quantifying the importance of and interaction among individual variability, exposure conditions, and environmental covariates. To investigate these complex parameters relative to blue whale behavior and how it may change as a function of certain sounds, we deployed multi-sensor acoustic tags and conducted CEEs using simulated mid-frequency active sonar (MFAS) and pseudo-random noise (PRN) stimuli, while collecting synoptic, quantitative prey measures. In contrast to previous approaches that lacked such prey data, our integrated approach explained substantially more variance in blue whale dive behavioral responses to mid-frequency sounds (r2 = 0.725 vs. 0.14 previously). Results demonstrate that deep-feeding whales respond more clearly and strongly to CEEs than those in other behavioral states, but this was only evident with the increased explanatory power provided by incorporating prey density and distribution as contextual covariates. Including contextual variables increases the ability to characterize behavioral variability and empirically strengthens previous findings that deep-feeding blue whales respond significantly to mid-frequency sound exposure. However, our results are only based on a single behavioral state with a limited sample size, and this analytical framework should be applied broadly across behavioral states. The increased capability to describe and account for individual response variability by including environmental variables, such as prey, that drive foraging behavior underscores the importance of integrating these and other relevant contextual parameters in experimental designs. Our results suggest the need to measure and account for the ecological dynamics of predator

  6. Sensory response system of social behavior tied to female reproductive traits.

    PubMed

    Tsuruda, Jennifer M; Amdam, Gro V; Page, Robert E

    2008-01-01

    Honey bees display a complex set of anatomical, physiological, and behavioral traits that correlate with the colony storage of surplus pollen (pollen hoarding). We hypothesize that the association of these traits is a result of pleiotropy in a gene signaling network that was co-opted by natural selection to function in worker division of labor and foraging specialization. By acting on the gene network, selection can change a suite of traits, including stimulus/response relationships that affect individual foraging behavior and alter the colony level trait of pollen hoarding. The 'pollen-hoarding syndrome' of honey bees is the best documented syndrome of insect social organization. It can be exemplified as a link between reproductive anatomy (ovary size), physiology (yolk protein level), and foraging behavior in honey bee strains selected for pollen hoarding, a colony level trait. The syndrome gave rise to the forager-Reproductive Ground Plan Hypothesis (RGPH), which proposes that the regulatory control of foraging onset and foraging preference toward nectar or pollen was derived from a reproductive signaling network. This view was recently challenged. To resolve the controversy, we tested the associations between reproductive anatomy, physiology, and stimulus/response relationships of behavior in wild-type honey bees. Central to the stimulus/response relationships of honey bee foraging behavior and pollen hoarding is the behavioral trait of sensory sensitivity to sucrose (an important sugar in nectar). To test the linkage of reproductive traits and sensory response systems of social behavior, we measured sucrose responsiveness with the proboscis extension response (PER) assay and quantified ovary size and vitellogenin (yolk precursor) gene expression in 6-7-day-old bees by counting ovarioles (ovary filaments) and by using semiquantitative real time RT-PCR. We show that bees with larger ovaries (more ovarioles) are characterized by higher levels of vitellogenin m

  7. Quantifying biopsychosocial aspects in everyday contexts: an integrative methodological approach from the behavioral sciences

    PubMed Central

    Portell, Mariona; Anguera, M Teresa; Hernández-Mendo, Antonio; Jonsson, Gudberg K

    2015-01-01

    Contextual factors are crucial for evaluative research in psychology, as they provide insights into what works, for whom, in what circumstances, in what respects, and why. Studying behavior in context, however, poses numerous methodological challenges. Although a comprehensive framework for classifying methods seeking to quantify biopsychosocial aspects in everyday contexts was recently proposed, this framework does not contemplate contributions from observational methodology. The aim of this paper is to justify and propose a more general framework that includes observational methodology approaches. Our analysis is rooted in two general concepts: ecological validity and methodological complementarity. We performed a narrative review of the literature on research methods and techniques for studying daily life and describe their shared properties and requirements (collection of data in real time, on repeated occasions, and in natural settings) and classification criteria (eg, variables of interest and level of participant involvement in the data collection process). We provide several examples that illustrate why, despite their higher costs, studies of behavior and experience in everyday contexts offer insights that complement findings provided by other methodological approaches. We urge that observational methodology be included in classifications of research methods and techniques for studying everyday behavior and advocate a renewed commitment to prioritizing ecological validity in behavioral research seeking to quantify biopsychosocial aspects. PMID:26089708

  8. Quantifying the Nonlinear, Anisotropic Material Response of Spinal Ligaments

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Robertson, Daniel J.

    Spinal ligaments may be a significant source of chronic back pain, yet they are often disregarded by the clinical community due to a lack of information with regards to their material response, and innervation characteristics. The purpose of this dissertation was to characterize the material response of spinal ligaments and to review their innervation characteristics. Review of relevant literature revealed that all of the major spinal ligaments are innervated. They cause painful sensations when irritated and provide reflexive control of the deep spinal musculature. As such, including the neurologic implications of iatrogenic ligament damage in the evaluation of surgical procedures aimed at relieving back pain will likely result in more effective long-term solutions. The material response of spinal ligaments has not previously been fully quantified due to limitations associated with standard soft tissue testing techniques. The present work presents and validates a novel testing methodology capable of overcoming these limitations. In particular, the anisotropic, inhomogeneous material constitutive properties of the human supraspinous ligament are quantified and methods for determining the response of the other spinal ligaments are presented. In addition, a method for determining the anisotropic, inhomogeneous pre-strain distribution of the spinal ligaments is presented. The multi-axial pre-strain distributions of the human anterior longitudinal ligament, ligamentum flavum and supraspinous ligament were determined using this methodology. Results from this work clearly demonstrate that spinal ligaments are not uniaxial structures, and that finite element models which account for pre-strain and incorporate ligament's complex material properties may provide increased fidelity to the in vivo condition.

  9. Quantifying the plant actin cytoskeleton response to applied pressure using nanoindentation.

    PubMed

    Branco, Rémi; Pearsall, Eliza-Jane; Rundle, Chelsea A; White, Rosemary G; Bradby, Jodie E; Hardham, Adrienne R

    2017-03-01

    Detection of potentially pathogenic microbes through recognition by plants and animals of both physical and chemical signals associated with the pathogens is vital for host well-being. Signal perception leads to the induction of a variety of responses that augment pre-existing, constitutive defences. The plant cell wall is a highly effective preformed barrier which becomes locally reinforced at the infection site through delivery of new wall material by the actin cytoskeleton. Although mechanical stimulation can produce a reaction, there is little understanding of the nature of physical factors capable of triggering plant defence. Neither the magnitude of forces nor the contact time required has been quantified. In the study reported here, mechanical stimulation with a tungsten microneedle has been used to quantify the response of Arabidopsis plants expressing an actin-binding protein tagged with green fluorescent protein (GFP) to reveal the organisation of the actin cytoskeleton. Using confocal microscopy, the response time for actin reorganisation in epidermal cells of Arabidopsis hypocotyls was shown to be 116 ± 49 s. Using nanoindentation and a diamond spherical tip indenter, the magnitude of the forces capable of triggering an actin response has been quantified. We show that Arabidopsis hypocotyl cells can detect a force as small as 4 μN applied for as short a time as 21.6 s to trigger reorganisation of the actin cytoskeleton. This force is an order of magnitude less than the potential invasive force determined for a range of fungal and oomycete plant pathogens. To our knowledge, this is the first quantification of the magnitude and duration of mechanical forces capable of stimulating a structural defence response in a plant cell.

  10. Quantifying Equid Behavior - A Research Ethogram for Free-Roaming Feral Horses

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Ransom, Jason I.; Cade, Brian S.

    2009-01-01

    Feral horses (Equus caballus) are globally distributed in free-roaming populations on all continents except Antarctica and occupy a wide range of habitats including forest, grassland, desert, and montane environments. The largest populations occur in Australia and North America and have been the subject of scientific study for decades, yet guidelines and ethograms for feral horse behavioral research are largely absent in the scientific literature. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Fort Collins Science Center conducted research on the influences of the immunocontraceptive porcine zona pellucida (PZP) on feral horse behavior from 2003-2006 in three discrete populations in the American west. These populations were the Little Book Cliffs Wild Horse Range in Colorado, McCullough Peaks Herd Management Area in Wyoming, and Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range in Montana; the research effort included over 1,800 hours of behavioral observations of 317 adult free-roaming feral horses. An ethogram was developed during the course of this study to facilitate accurate scientific data collection on feral horse behavior, which is often challenging to quantify. By developing this set of discrete behavioral definitions and a set of strict research protocols, scientists were better able to address both applied questions, such as behavioral changes related to fertility control, and theoretical questions, such as understanding networks and dominance hierarchies within social groups of equids.

  11. Quantifying uncertainties in the structural response of SSME blades

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Nagpal, Vinod K.

    1987-01-01

    To quantify the uncertainties associated with the geometry and material properties of a Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) turbopump blade, a computer code known as STAEBL was used. A finite element model of the blade used 80 triangular shell elements with 55 nodes and five degrees of freedom per node. The whole study was simulated on the computer and no real experiments were conducted. The structural response has been evaluated in terms of three variables which are natural frequencies, root (maximum) stress, and blade tip displacements. The results of the study indicate that only the geometric uncertainties have significant effects on the response. Uncertainties in material properties have insignificant effects.

  12. Toward quantifying the abuse liability of ultraviolet tanning: A behavioral economic approach to tanning addiction.

    PubMed

    Reed, Derek D; Kaplan, Brent A; Becirevic, Amel; Roma, Peter G; Hursh, Steven R

    2016-07-01

    Many adults engage in ultraviolet indoor tanning despite evidence of its association with skin cancer. The constellation of behaviors associated with ultraviolet indoor tanning is analogous to that in other behavioral addictions. Despite a growing literature on ultraviolet indoor tanning as an addiction, there remains no consensus on how to identify ultraviolet indoor tanning addictive tendencies. The purpose of the present study was to translate a behavioral economic task more commonly used in substance abuse to quantify the "abuse liability" of ultraviolet indoor tanning, establish construct validity, and determine convergent validity with the most commonly used diagnostic tools for ultraviolet indoor tanning addiction (i.e., mCAGE and mDSM-IV-TR). We conducted a between-groups study using a novel hypothetical Tanning Purchase Task to quantify intensity and elasticity of ultraviolet indoor tanning demand and permit statistical comparisons with the mCAGE and mDSM-IV-TR. Results suggest that behavioral economic demand is related to ultraviolet indoor tanning addiction status and adequately discriminates between potential addicted individuals from nonaddicted individuals. Moreover, we provide evidence that the Tanning Purchase Task renders behavioral economic indicators that are relevant to public health research. The present findings are limited to two ultraviolet indoor tanning addiction tools and a relatively small sample of high-risk ultraviolet indoor tanning users; however, these pilot data demonstrate the potential for behavioral economic assessment tools as diagnostic and research aids in ultraviolet indoor tanning addiction studies. © 2016 Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

  13. Conservation of the behavioral and transcriptional response to social experience among Drosophilids.

    PubMed

    Shultzaberger, Ryan K; Johnson, Sarah J; Wagner, Jenee; Ha, Kim; Markow, Therese A; Greenspan, Ralph J

    2018-05-24

    While social experience has been shown to significantly alter behaviors in a wide range of species, comparative studies that uniformly measure the impact of a single experience across multiple species have been lacking, limiting our understanding of how plastic traits evolve. To address this, we quantified variations in social feeding behaviors across 10 species of Drosophilids, tested the effect of altering rearing context on these behaviors (reared in groups or in isolation), and correlated observed behavioral shifts to accompanying transcriptional changes in the heads of these flies. We observed significant variability in the extent of aggressiveness, the utilization of social cues during food search, and social space preferences across species. The sensitivity of these behaviors to rearing experience also varied: socially naive flies were more aggressive than their socialized con-specifics in some species, and more reserved or identical in others. Despite these differences, the mechanism of socialization appeared to be conserved within the melanogaster sub-group as species could cross-socialize each other, and the transcriptional response to social exposure was significantly conserved. The expression levels of chemosensory-perception genes often varied between species and rearing conditions, supporting a growing body of evidence that behavioral evolution is driven by the differential regulation of this class of genes. The clear differences in behavioral responses to socialization observed in Drosophilids make this an ideal system for continued studies on the genetic basis and evolution of socialization and behavioral plasticity. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

  14. Responsible leader behavior in health sectors.

    PubMed

    Longest, Beaufort

    2017-02-06

    Purpose The purpose of this paper is to expand attention to responsible leader behavior in the world's health sectors by explaining how this concept applies to health sectors, considering why health sector leaders should behave responsibly, reviewing how they can do so, and asserting potential impact through an applied example. Design/methodology/approach This paper is a viewpoint, reflecting conceptualizations rooted in leadership literature which are then specifically applied to health sectors. A definition of responsible leader behavior is affirmed and applied specifically in health sectors. Conceptualizations and viewpoints about practice of responsible leader behavior in health sectors and potential consequences are then discussed and asserted. Findings Leadership failures and debacles found in health, but more so in other sectors, have led leadership researchers to offer insights, many of them empirical, into the challenges of leadership especially by more clearly delineating responsible leader behavior. Practical implications Much of what has been learned in the research about responsible leader behavior offers pathways for health sector leaders to more fully practice responsible leadership. Social implications This paper asserts and provides a supporting example that greater levels of responsible leader behavior in health sectors hold potentially important societal benefits. Originality/value This paper is the first to apply emerging conceptualizations and early empirical findings about responsible leader behavior specifically to leaders in health sectors.

  15. Spontaneous behavioral responses in the orofacial region: A model of trigeminal pain in mouse

    PubMed Central

    Romero-Reyes, Marcela; Akerman, Simon; Nguyen, Elaine; Vijjeswarapu, Alice; Hom, Betty; Dong, Hong-Wei; Charles, Andrew C.

    2012-01-01

    OBJECTIVES To develop a translational mouse model for the study and measurement of non-evoked pain in the orofacial region by establishing markers of nociceptive-specific grooming behaviors in the mouse. BACKGROUND Some of the most prevalent and debilitating conditions involve pain in the trigeminal distribution. Although there are current therapies for these pain conditions, for many patients they are far from optimal. Understanding the pathophysiology of pain disorders arising from structures innervated by the trigeminal nerve is still limited and most animal behavioral models focus on the measurement of evoked pain. In patients, spontaneous (non-evoked) pain responses provide a more accurate representation of the pain experience than do responses that are evoked by an artificial stimulus. Therefore, the development of animal models that measure spontaneous nociceptive behaviors may provide a significant translational tool for a better understanding of pain neurobiology. METHODS C57BL/6 mice received either an injection of 0.9% Saline solution or complete Freund’s adjuvant (CFA) into the right masseter muscle. Animals were video recorded and then analyzed by an observer blind to the experiment group. The duration of different facial grooming patterns performed in the area of injection were measured. After 2 hrs, mice were euthanized, perfused and the brainstem was removed. Fos protein expression in the trigeminal nucleus caudalis was quantified using immunohistochemistry to investigate nociceptive-specific neuronal activation. A separate group of animals was treated with morphine sulfate, to determine the nociceptive-specific nature of their behaviors. RESULTS We characterized and quantified 3 distinct patterns of acute grooming behaviors: fore-paw rubbing, lower lip skin/cheek rubbing against enclosure floor and hind paw scratching. These behaviors occurred with a reproducible frequency and time course, and were inhibited by the analgesic morphine. CFA

  16. SOME IS NOT ENOUGH: QUANTIFIER COMPREHENSION IN CORTICOBASAL SYNDROME AND BEHAVIORAL VARIANT FRONTOTEMPORAL DEMENTIA

    PubMed Central

    Morgan, Brianna; Gross, Rachel; Clark, Robin; Dreyfuss, Michael; Boller, Ashley; Camp, Emily; Liang, Tsao-Wei; Avants, Brian; McMillan, Corey; Grossman, Murray

    2011-01-01

    Quantifiers are very common in everyday speech, but we know little about their cognitive basis or neural representation. The present study examined comprehension of three classes of quantifiers that depend on different cognitive components in patients with focal neurodegenerative diseases. Patients evaluated the truth-value of a sentence containing a quantifier relative to a picture illustrating a small number of familiar objects, and performance was related to MRI grey matter atrophy using voxel-based morphometry. We found that patients with corticobasal syndrome (CBS) and posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) are significantly impaired in their comprehension of Cardinal Quantifiers (e.g. “At least three birds are on the branch”), due in part to their deficit in quantity knowledge. MRI analyses related this deficit to temporal-parietal atrophy found in CBS/PCA. We also found that patients with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) are significantly impaired in their comprehension of Logical Quantifiers (e.g. “Some the birds are on the branch”), associated with a simple form of perceptual logic, and this correlated with their deficit on executive measures. This deficit was related to disease in rostral prefrontal cortex in bvFTD. These patients were also impaired in their comprehension of Majority Quantifiers (e.g. “At least half of the birds are on the branch”), and this too was correlated with their deficit on executive measures. This was related to disease in the basal ganglia interrupting a frontal-striatal loop critical for executive functioning. These findings suggest that a large-scale frontal-parietal neural network plays a crucial role in quantifier comprehension, and that comprehension of specific classes of quantifiers may be selectively impaired in patients with focal neurodegenerative conditions in these areas. PMID:21930136

  17. Quantifying the impact of Wellington Zoo's persuasive communication campaign on post-visit behavior.

    PubMed

    MacDonald, Edith

    2015-01-01

    Zoos potential to facilitate visitor conservation behavior is commonly articulated. Few studies, however, have quantified whether zoos' conservation messages result in visitors implementing the behavior. To test if zoo conservation messages are adopted at home, I implemented a persuasive communication campaign which advocated keeping cats indoor at night, a behavior that is a potential solution to cats depredating native wildlife. Furthermore, I tested if a public commitment (signing a pledge card) strengthened the relationship between on-site intention to engage in the behavior and actual implementation of the behavior at home. The conservation behavior was included in the twice-daily animal presentations in the amphitheater. A sample of 691 visitors completed a survey as they exited the amphitheater that measured their recall of the conservation behavior and intention to engage in the behavior at home. The last 311 visitors to complete the survey were asked to sign a pledge card which was publicly displayed in the amphitheater. Six weeks after their zoo trip, visitors were contacted and asked if they had implemented the behavior. Recall of the conservation behavior was high (91% for control, 100% for pledge group) and the entire pledge group had implemented the behavior whereas just half (51%) of the control group did. Furthermore, signing the pledge card strengthened the relationship between onsite intention and at home behavior (r = 1.0 of for the pledge group and r = 0.21 for the control group). Overall, the zoo's conservation message was recalled and behavior implemented at home. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  18. Neural response to pictorial health warning labels can predict smoking behavioral change

    PubMed Central

    Riddle, Philip J.; Newman-Norlund, Roger D.; Baer, Jessica; Thrasher, James F.

    2016-01-01

    In order to improve our understanding of how pictorial health warning labels (HWLs) influence smoking behavior, we examined whether brain activity helps to explain smoking behavior above and beyond self-reported effectiveness of HWLs. We measured the neural response in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and the amygdala while adult smokers viewed HWLs. Two weeks later, participants’ self-reported smoking behavior and biomarkers of smoking behavior were reassessed. We compared multiple models predicting change in self-reported smoking behavior (cigarettes per day [CPD]) and change in a biomarkers of smoke exposure (expired carbon monoxide [CO]). Brain activity in the vmPFC and amygdala not only predicted changes in CO, but also accounted for outcome variance above and beyond self-report data. Neural data were most useful in predicting behavioral change as quantified by the objective biomarker (CO). This pattern of activity was significantly modulated by individuals’ intention to quit. The finding that both cognitive (vmPFC) and affective (amygdala) brain areas contributed to these models supports the idea that smokers respond to HWLs in a cognitive-affective manner. Based on our findings, researchers may wish to consider using neural data from both cognitive and affective networks when attempting to predict behavioral change in certain populations (e.g. cigarette smokers). PMID:27405615

  19. Quantifying Square Membrane Wrinkle Behavior Using MITC Shell Elements

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jacobson, Mindy B.; Iwasa, Takashi; Natori, M. C.

    2004-01-01

    For future membrane based structures, quantified predictions of membrane wrinkling behavior in terms of amplitude, angle and wavelength are needed to optimize the efficiency and integrity of such structures, as well as their associated control systems. For numerical analyses performed in the past, limitations on the accuracy of membrane distortion simulations have often been related to the assumptions made while using finite elements. Specifically, this work demonstrates that critical assumptions include: effects of gravity. supposed initial or boundary conditions, and the type of element used to model the membrane. In this work, a 0.2 square meter membrane is treated as a structural material with non-negligible bending stiffness. Mixed Interpolation of Tensorial Components (MTTC) shell elements are used to simulate wrinkling behavior due to a constant applied in-plane shear load. Membrane thickness, gravity effects, and initial imperfections with respect to flatness were varied in numerous nonlinear analysis cases. Significant findings include notable variations in wrinkle modes for thickness in the range of 50 microns to 1000 microns, which also depend on the presence of an applied gravity field. However, it is revealed that relationships between overall strain energy density for cases with differing initial conditions are independent of assumed initial con&tions. In addition, analysis results indicate that the relationship between amplitude scale (W/t) and structural scale (L/t) is linear in the presence of a gravity field.

  20. Real-Time Decision Making and Aggressive Behavior in Youth: A Heuristic Model of Response Evaluation and Decision (RED)

    PubMed Central

    Fontaine, Reid Griffith; Dodge, Kenneth A.

    2009-01-01

    Considerable scientific and intervention attention has been paid to judgment and decision-making systems associated with aggressive behavior in youth. However, most empirical studies have investigated social-cognitive correlates of stable child and adolescent aggressiveness, and less is known about real-time decision making to engage in aggressive behavior. A model of real-time decision making must incorporate both impulsive actions and rational thought. The present paper advances a process model (response evaluation and decision; RED) of real-time behavioral judgments and decision making in aggressive youths with mathematic representations that may be used to quantify response strength. These components are a heuristic to describe decision making, though it is doubtful that individuals always mentally complete these steps. RED represents an organization of social–cognitive operations believed to be active during the response decision step of social information processing. The model posits that RED processes can be circumvented through impulsive responding. This article provides a description and integration of thoughtful, rational decision making and nonrational impulsivity in aggressive behavioral interactions. PMID:20802851

  1. Real-Time Decision Making and Aggressive Behavior in Youth: A Heuristic Model of Response Evaluation and Decision (RED).

    PubMed

    Fontaine, Reid Griffith; Dodge, Kenneth A

    2006-11-01

    Considerable scientific and intervention attention has been paid to judgment and decision-making systems associated with aggressive behavior in youth. However, most empirical studies have investigated social-cognitive correlates of stable child and adolescent aggressiveness, and less is known about real-time decision making to engage in aggressive behavior. A model of real-time decision making must incorporate both impulsive actions and rational thought. The present paper advances a process model (response evaluation and decision; RED) of real-time behavioral judgments and decision making in aggressive youths with mathematic representations that may be used to quantify response strength. These components are a heuristic to describe decision making, though it is doubtful that individuals always mentally complete these steps. RED represents an organization of social-cognitive operations believed to be active during the response decision step of social information processing. The model posits that RED processes can be circumvented through impulsive responding. This article provides a description and integration of thoughtful, rational decision making and nonrational impulsivity in aggressive behavioral interactions.

  2. Quantifying human response capabilities towards tsunami threats at community level

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Post, J.; Mück, M.; Zosseder, K.; Wegscheider, S.; Taubenböck, H.; Strunz, G.; Muhari, A.; Anwar, H. Z.; Birkmann, J.; Gebert, N.

    2009-04-01

    Decision makers at the community level need detailed information on tsunami risks in their area. Knowledge on potential hazard impact, exposed elements such as people, critical facilities and lifelines, people's coping capacity and recovery potential are crucial to plan precautionary measures for adaptation and to mitigate potential impacts of tsunamis on society and the environment. A crucial point within a people-centred tsunami risk assessment is to quantify the human response capabilities towards tsunami threats. Based on this quantification and spatial representation in maps tsunami affected and safe areas, difficult-to-evacuate areas, evacuation target points and evacuation routes can be assigned and used as an important contribution to e.g. community level evacuation planning. Major component in the quantification of human response capabilities towards tsunami impacts is the factor time. The human response capabilities depend on the estimated time of arrival (ETA) of a tsunami, the time until technical or natural warning signs (ToNW) can be received, the reaction time (RT) of the population (human understanding of a tsunami warning and the decision to take appropriate action), the evacuation time (ET, time people need to reach a safe area) and the actual available response time (RsT = ETA - ToNW - RT). If RsT is larger than ET, people in the respective areas are able to reach a safe area and rescue themselves. Critical areas possess RsT values equal or even smaller ET and hence people whin these areas will be directly affected by a tsunami. Quantifying the factor time is challenging and an attempt to this is presented here. The ETA can be derived by analyzing pre-computed tsunami scenarios for a respective area. For ToNW we assume that the early warning center is able to fulfil the Indonesian presidential decree to issue a warning within 5 minutes. RT is difficult as here human intrinsic factors as educational level, believe, tsunami knowledge and experience

  3. Place Attachment and Environmentally Responsible Behavior.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vaske, Jerry J.; Kobrin, Katherine C.

    2001-01-01

    Illustrates how an attachment to a local natural resource can influence environmentally responsible behavior (ERB) in an individual's everyday life. Reports four general and three specific behavioral indicators reflecting a single environmentally responsible latent construct. Investigates the place dependence and place identity's role on ERB using…

  4. Quantifying Transmission.

    PubMed

    Woolhouse, Mark

    2017-07-01

    Transmissibility is the defining characteristic of infectious diseases. Quantifying transmission matters for understanding infectious disease epidemiology and designing evidence-based disease control programs. Tracing individual transmission events can be achieved by epidemiological investigation coupled with pathogen typing or genome sequencing. Individual infectiousness can be estimated by measuring pathogen loads, but few studies have directly estimated the ability of infected hosts to transmit to uninfected hosts. Individuals' opportunities to transmit infection are dependent on behavioral and other risk factors relevant given the transmission route of the pathogen concerned. Transmission at the population level can be quantified through knowledge of risk factors in the population or phylogeographic analysis of pathogen sequence data. Mathematical model-based approaches require estimation of the per capita transmission rate and basic reproduction number, obtained by fitting models to case data and/or analysis of pathogen sequence data. Heterogeneities in infectiousness, contact behavior, and susceptibility can have substantial effects on the epidemiology of an infectious disease, so estimates of only mean values may be insufficient. For some pathogens, super-shedders (infected individuals who are highly infectious) and super-spreaders (individuals with more opportunities to transmit infection) may be important. Future work on quantifying transmission should involve integrated analyses of multiple data sources.

  5. Dynamic Response-by-Response Models of Matching Behavior in Rhesus Monkeys

    PubMed Central

    Lau, Brian; Glimcher, Paul W

    2005-01-01

    We studied the choice behavior of 2 monkeys in a discrete-trial task with reinforcement contingencies similar to those Herrnstein (1961) used when he described the matching law. In each session, the monkeys experienced blocks of discrete trials at different relative-reinforcer frequencies or magnitudes with unsignalled transitions between the blocks. Steady-state data following adjustment to each transition were well characterized by the generalized matching law; response ratios undermatched reinforcer frequency ratios but matched reinforcer magnitude ratios. We modelled response-by-response behavior with linear models that used past reinforcers as well as past choices to predict the monkeys' choices on each trial. We found that more recently obtained reinforcers more strongly influenced choice behavior. Perhaps surprisingly, we also found that the monkeys' actions were influenced by the pattern of their own past choices. It was necessary to incorporate both past reinforcers and past choices in order to accurately capture steady-state behavior as well as the fluctuations during block transitions and the response-by-response patterns of behavior. Our results suggest that simple reinforcement learning models must account for the effects of past choices to accurately characterize behavior in this task, and that models with these properties provide a conceptual tool for studying how both past reinforcers and past choices are integrated by the neural systems that generate behavior. PMID:16596980

  6. Neural response to pictorial health warning labels can predict smoking behavioral change.

    PubMed

    Riddle, Philip J; Newman-Norlund, Roger D; Baer, Jessica; Thrasher, James F

    2016-11-01

    In order to improve our understanding of how pictorial health warning labels (HWLs) influence smoking behavior, we examined whether brain activity helps to explain smoking behavior above and beyond self-reported effectiveness of HWLs. We measured the neural response in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and the amygdala while adult smokers viewed HWLs. Two weeks later, participants' self-reported smoking behavior and biomarkers of smoking behavior were reassessed. We compared multiple models predicting change in self-reported smoking behavior (cigarettes per day [CPD]) and change in a biomarkers of smoke exposure (expired carbon monoxide [CO]). Brain activity in the vmPFC and amygdala not only predicted changes in CO, but also accounted for outcome variance above and beyond self-report data. Neural data were most useful in predicting behavioral change as quantified by the objective biomarker (CO). This pattern of activity was significantly modulated by individuals' intention to quit. The finding that both cognitive (vmPFC) and affective (amygdala) brain areas contributed to these models supports the idea that smokers respond to HWLs in a cognitive-affective manner. Based on our findings, researchers may wish to consider using neural data from both cognitive and affective networks when attempting to predict behavioral change in certain populations (e.g. cigarette smokers). © The Author (2016). Published by Oxford University Press.

  7. Quantifying and Generalizing Hydrologic Responses to Dam Regulation using a Statistical Modeling Approach

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

    McManamay, Ryan A

    2014-01-01

    Despite the ubiquitous existence of dams within riverscapes, much of our knowledge about dams and their environmental effects remains context-specific. Hydrology, more than any other environmental variable, has been studied in great detail with regard to dam regulation. While much progress has been made in generalizing the hydrologic effects of regulation by large dams, many aspects of hydrology show site-specific fidelity to dam operations, small dams (including diversions), and regional hydrologic regimes. A statistical modeling framework is presented to quantify and generalize hydrologic responses to varying degrees of dam regulation. Specifically, the objectives were to 1) compare the effects ofmore » local versus cumulative dam regulation, 2) determine the importance of different regional hydrologic regimes in influencing hydrologic responses to dams, and 3) evaluate how different regulation contexts lead to error in predicting hydrologic responses to dams. Overall, model performance was poor in quantifying the magnitude of hydrologic responses, but performance was sufficient in classifying hydrologic responses as negative or positive. Responses of some hydrologic indices to dam regulation were highly dependent upon hydrologic class membership and the purpose of the dam. The opposing coefficients between local and cumulative-dam predictors suggested that hydrologic responses to cumulative dam regulation are complex, and predicting the hydrology downstream of individual dams, as opposed to multiple dams, may be more easy accomplished using statistical approaches. Results also suggested that particular contexts, including multipurpose dams, high cumulative regulation by multiple dams, diversions, close proximity to dams, and certain hydrologic classes are all sources of increased error when predicting hydrologic responses to dams. Statistical models, such as the ones presented herein, show promise in their ability to model the effects of dam regulation effects

  8. Heart rate measurement as a tool to quantify sedentary behavior.

    PubMed

    Åkerberg, Anna; Koshmak, Gregory; Johansson, Anders; Lindén, Maria

    2015-01-01

    Sedentary work is very common today. The aim of this pilot study was to attempt to differentiate between typical work situations and to investigate the possibility to break sedentary behavior, based on physiological measurement among office workers. Ten test persons used one heart rate based activity monitor (Linkura), one pulse oximeter device (Wrist) and one movement based activity wristband (Fitbit Flex), in different working situations. The results showed that both heart rate devices, Linkura and Wrist, were able to detect differences in heart rate between the different working situations (resting, sitting, standing, slow walk and medium fast walk). The movement based device, Fitbit Flex, was only able to separate differences in steps between slow walk and medium fast walk. It can be concluded that heart rate measurement is a promising tool for quantifying and separating different working situations, such as sitting, standing and walking.

  9. Quantifying Phishing Susceptibility for Detection and Behavior Decisions.

    PubMed

    Canfield, Casey Inez; Fischhoff, Baruch; Davis, Alex

    2016-12-01

    We use signal detection theory to measure vulnerability to phishing attacks, including variation in performance across task conditions. Phishing attacks are difficult to prevent with technology alone, as long as technology is operated by people. Those responsible for managing security risks must understand user decision making in order to create and evaluate potential solutions. Using a scenario-based online task, we performed two experiments comparing performance on two tasks: detection, deciding whether an e-mail is phishing, and behavior, deciding what to do with an e-mail. In Experiment 1, we manipulated the order of the tasks and notification of the phishing base rate. In Experiment 2, we varied which task participants performed. In both experiments, despite exhibiting cautious behavior, participants' limited detection ability left them vulnerable to phishing attacks. Greater sensitivity was positively correlated with confidence. Greater willingness to treat e-mails as legitimate was negatively correlated with perceived consequences from their actions and positively correlated with confidence. These patterns were robust across experimental conditions. Phishing-related decisions are sensitive to individuals' detection ability, response bias, confidence, and perception of consequences. Performance differs when people evaluate messages or respond to them but not when their task varies in other ways. Based on these results, potential interventions include providing users with feedback on their abilities and information about the consequences of phishing, perhaps targeting those with the worst performance. Signal detection methods offer system operators quantitative assessments of the impacts of interventions and their residual vulnerability. © 2016, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

  10. Ceteacean Social Behavioral Response to Sonar

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2011-09-30

    behavior data of humpback whales and minke whales was recorded during 5 and 1 CEEs respectively (including tagging, baseline, sonar exposure and...during fieldwork efforts in 2012 and 2013. Figure 1. Example of humpback whale group behavior sampling...cetacean behavioral responses to sonar signals and other stimuli (tagging effort, killer whale playbacks) as well as baseline behavior, are studied

  11. Diffusion of Responsibility and Extreme Behavior.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mathes, Eugene W.; Kahn, Arnold

    The results of this investigation support, in part, the diffusion of responsibility hypothesis which states that antisocial behavior will occur whenever individuals are motivated to engage in socially-unacceptable behavior, and find themselves in a group of similarly motivated individuals. The mechanism by which this antisocial behavior is…

  12. Cetacean Social Behavioral Response to Sonar Exposure

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2015-09-30

    Lam FPA, Tyack PLT, Miller PJO (in review). Disturbance-specific social responses in long-finned pilot whales, Globicephala melas .  Fieldwork...the social behavioral response of long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas ) revealed that a unifying characteristic of their behavioral response...Globicephala melas . 6 Visser F. et al. (in review). Vocal foragers and silent crowds: the socio-behavioural context of long- finned pilot whale

  13. Quantifying Hillslope to Watershed Erosional Response Following Wildfire

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vega, S.; Pierson, F. B.; Williams, C. J.; Brooks, E. S.; Pierce, J. L.; Roehner, C.

    2016-12-01

    The frequency and severity of wildfires is increasing across western US sagebrush steppe rangelands as the result of warming climate conditions and invasive plant species. Following wildfire, the soil surface is left with little vegetation, exposing it to erosion by wind and water. Erosion following wildfires is a concern among land managers due to the threat it poses to resources, infrastructure, and human health. Most post-fire erosion research has used artificial rainfall. This study uses natural rainfall and a network of silt fences to quantify hillslope to watershed scale erosion response following the 2015 Soda Fire that burned 113,300 ha in southwestern Idaho and southeastern Oregon. In this study, we will evaluate the drivers of erosion over multiple spatial scales and assess the recovery of vegetation and soil water repellency for a two year period post-fire. We installed a network of silt fences over long and short hillslope distances and in swales within a 130 ha catchment within the Reynolds Creek Experimental Watershed in southwestern Idaho, USA. The overall study design consists of thirty silt fences spanning north and south facing aspects, an existing weir measuring watershed streamflow and sediment discharge, and two meteorological stations. The erosional response following the fire was mainly driven by wind and snowmelt. The swales produced the most sediment compared to the long and short hillslopes. On the south facing aspect the long and short hillslopes did not produce any sediment whereas on the north facing aspect the swales produced the most sediment. This presentation summarizes these preliminary first year hydrologic and erosion responses. The results provide data for determining the drivers for erosion at different spatial scales, advance understanding of post-fire hillslope to watershed erosional responses, and offer insight into recovery of vegetation and soil water repellency post-fire. This study will aid land management agencies

  14. The game-theoretic national interstate economic model : an integrated framework to quantify the economic impacts of cyber-terrorist behavior.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2014-12-01

    This study suggests an integrated framework to quantify cyber attack impacts on the U.S. airport security system. A cyber attack by terrorists on the U.S. involves complex : strategic behavior by the terrorists because they could plan to invade an ai...

  15. A Behavioral Response to Illness. N106.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tanner, Judith

    A description is provided of "Behavioral Response to Illness," a required course offered in the second quarter of a two-year college nursing program, which examines physiological and psychosocial changes in patients from the framework of illness as a stressor, and the possible behavioral responses to such stress. The course focuses on behavioral…

  16. Delphinid behavioral responses to incidental mid-frequency active sonar.

    PubMed

    Henderson, E Elizabeth; Smith, Michael H; Gassmann, Martin; Wiggins, Sean M; Douglas, Annie B; Hildebrand, John A

    2014-10-01

    Opportunistic observations of behavioral responses by delphinids to incidental mid-frequency active (MFA) sonar were recorded in the Southern California Bight from 2004 through 2008 using visual focal follows, static hydrophones, and autonomous recorders. Sound pressure levels were calculated between 2 and 8 kHz. Surface behavioral responses were observed in 26 groups from at least three species of 46 groups out of five species encountered during MFA sonar incidents. Responses included changes in behavioral state or direction of travel, changes in vocalization rates and call intensity, or a lack of vocalizations while MFA sonar occurred. However, 46% of focal groups not exposed to sonar also changed their behavior, and 43% of focal groups exposed to sonar did not change their behavior. Mean peak sound pressure levels when a behavioral response occurred were around 122 dB re: 1 μPa. Acoustic localizations of dolphin groups exhibiting a response gave insight into nighttime movement patterns and provided evidence that impacts of sonar may be mediated by behavioral state. The lack of response in some cases may indicate a tolerance of or habituation to MFA sonar by local populations; however, the responses that occur at lower received levels may point to some sensitization as well.

  17. The energetic, physiological, and behavioral response of lemon sharks (Negaprion brevirostris) to simulated longline capture.

    PubMed

    Bouyoucos, Ian A; Suski, Cory D; Mandelman, John W; Brooks, Edward J

    2017-05-01

    Commercial fisheries bycatch is a considerable threat to elasmobranch population recovery, and techniques to mitigate sub-lethal consequences can be improved with data on the energetic, physiological, and behavioral response of individuals to capture. This study sought to estimate the effects of simulated longline capture on the behavior, energy use, and physiological stress of juvenile lemon sharks (Negaprion brevirostris). Captive sharks equipped with acceleration biologgers were subjected to 1h of simulated longline capture. Swimming behaviors were identified from acceleration data using a machine-learning algorithm, energetic costs were estimated using accelerometer-calibrated relationships and respirometry, and physiological stress was quantified with point-of-care blood analyzers. During capture, sharks exhibited nine-fold increases in the frequency of burst swimming, 98% reductions in resting, and swam as often as unrestrained sharks. Aerobic metabolic rates during capture were 8% higher than for unrestrained sharks, and accounted for a 57.7% increase in activity costs when excess post-exercise oxygen consumption was included. Lastly, sharks exhibited significant increases in blood lactate and glucose, but no change in blood pH after 1h of capture. Therefore, these results provide preliminary insight into the behavioral and energetic responses of sharks to capture, and have implications for mitigating sub-lethal consequences of capture for sharks as commercial longline bycatch. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Diagnosis and characterization of mania: Quantifying increased energy and activity in the human behavioral pattern monitor

    PubMed Central

    Perry, William; McIlwain, Meghan; Kloezeman, Karen; Henry, Brook L.; Minassian, Arpi

    2016-01-01

    Increased energy or activity is now an essential feature of the mania of Bipolar Disorder (BD) according to DSM-5. This study examined whether objective measures of increased energy can differentiate manic BD individuals and provide greater diagnostic accuracy compared to rating scales, extending the work of previous studies with smaller samples. We also tested the relationship between objective measures of energy and rating scales. 50 hospitalized manic BD patients were compared to healthy subjects (HCS, n=39) in the human Behavioral Pattern Monitor (hBPM) which quantifies motor activity and goal-directed behavior in an environment containing novel stimuli. Archival hBPM data from 17 schizophrenia patients were used in sensitivity and specificity analyses. Manic BD patients exhibited higher motor activity than HCS and higher novel object interactions. hBPM activity measures were not correlated with observer-rated symptoms, and hBPM activity was more sensitive in accurately classifying hospitalized BD subjects than observer ratings. Although the findings can only be generalized to inpatient populations, they suggest that increased energy, particularly specific and goal-directed exploration, is a distinguishing feature of BD mania and is best quantified by objective measures of motor activity. A better understanding is needed of the biological underpinnings of this cardinal feature. PMID:27138818

  19. [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.

  20. An experimental method to quantify the impact fatigue behavior of rocks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wu, Bangbiao; Kanopoulos, Patrick; Luo, Xuedong; Xia, Kaiwen

    2014-07-01

    Fatigue failure is an important failure mode of engineering materials. The fatigue behavior of both ductile and brittle materials has been under investigation for many years. While the fatigue failure of ductile materials is well established, only a few studies have been carried out on brittle materials. In addition, most fatigue studies on rocks are conducted under quasi-static loading conditions. To address engineering applications involving repeated blasting, this paper proposes a method to quantify the impact fatigue properties of rocks. In this method, a split Hopkinson pressure bar system is adopted to exert impact load on the sample, which is placed in a specially designed steel sleeve to limit the displacement of the sample and thus to enable the recovery of the rock after each impact. The method is then applied to Laurentian granite, which is fine-grained and isotropic material. The results demonstrate that this is a practicable means to conduct impact fatigue tests on rocks and other brittle solids.

  1. The Challenges of Analyzing Behavioral Response Study Data: An Overview of the MOCHA (Multi-study OCean Acoustics Human Effects Analysis) Project.

    PubMed

    Harris, Catriona M; Thomas, Len; Sadykova, Dina; DeRuiter, Stacy L; Tyack, Peter L; Southall, Brandon L; Read, Andrew J; Miller, Patrick J O

    2016-01-01

    This paper describes the MOCHA project which aims to develop novel approaches for the analysis of data collected during Behavioral Response Studies (BRSs). BRSs are experiments aimed at directly quantifying the effects of controlled dosages of natural or anthropogenic stimuli (typically sound) on marine mammal behavior. These experiments typically result in low sample size, relative to variability, and so we are looking at a number of studies in combination to maximize the gain from each one. We describe a suite of analytical tools applied to BRS data on beaked whales, including a simulation study aimed at informing future experimental design.

  2. Diagnosis and characterization of mania: Quantifying increased energy and activity in the human behavioral pattern monitor.

    PubMed

    Perry, William; McIlwain, Meghan; Kloezeman, Karen; Henry, Brook L; Minassian, Arpi

    2016-06-30

    Increased energy or activity is now an essential feature of the mania of Bipolar Disorder (BD) according to DSM-5. This study examined whether objective measures of increased energy can differentiate manic BD individuals and provide greater diagnostic accuracy compared to rating scales, extending the work of previous studies with smaller samples. We also tested the relationship between objective measures of energy and rating scales. 50 hospitalized manic BD patients were compared to healthy subjects (HCS, n=39) in the human Behavioral Pattern Monitor (hBPM) which quantifies motor activity and goal-directed behavior in an environment containing novel stimuli. Archival hBPM data from 17 schizophrenia patients were used in sensitivity and specificity analyses. Manic BD patients exhibited higher motor activity than HCS and higher novel object interactions. hBPM activity measures were not correlated with observer-rated symptoms, and hBPM activity was more sensitive in accurately classifying hospitalized BD subjects than observer ratings. Although the findings can only be generalized to inpatient populations, they suggest that increased energy, particularly specific and goal-directed exploration, is a distinguishing feature of BD mania and is best quantified by objective measures of motor activity. A better understanding is needed of the biological underpinnings of this cardinal feature. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Planarian Phototactic Assay Reveals Differential Behavioral Responses Based on Wavelength.

    PubMed

    Paskin, Taylor R; Jellies, John; Bacher, Jessica; Beane, Wendy S

    2014-01-01

    Planarians are free-living aquatic flatworms that possess a well-documented photophobic response to light. With a true central nervous system and simple cerebral eyes (ocelli), planarians are an emerging model for regenerative eye research. However, comparatively little is known about the physiology of their photoreception or how their behavior is affected by various wavelengths. Most phototactic studies have examined planarian behavior using white light. Here, we describe a novel planarian behavioral assay to test responses to small ranges of visible wavelengths (red, blue, green), as well as ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) which have not previously been examined. Our data show that planarians display behavioral responses across a range of wavelengths. These responses occur in a hierarchy, with the shortest wavelengths (UV) causing the most intense photophobic responses while longer wavelengths produce no effect (red) or an apparent attraction (IR). In addition, our data reveals that planarian photophobia is comprised of both a general photophobic response (that drives planarians to escape the light source regardless of wavelength) and wavelength-specific responses that encompass specific behavioral reactions to individual wavelengths. Our results serve to improve the understanding of planarian phototaxis and suggest that behavioral studies performed with white light mask a complex behavioral interaction with the environment.

  4. Quantifying effectiveness of failure prediction and response in HPC systems : methodology and example.

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

    Mayo, Jackson R.; Chen, Frank Xiaoxiao; Pebay, Philippe Pierre

    2010-06-01

    Effective failure prediction and mitigation strategies in high-performance computing systems could provide huge gains in resilience of tightly coupled large-scale scientific codes. These gains would come from prediction-directed process migration and resource servicing, intelligent resource allocation, and checkpointing driven by failure predictors rather than at regular intervals based on nominal mean time to failure. Given probabilistic associations of outlier behavior in hardware-related metrics with eventual failure in hardware, system software, and/or applications, this paper explores approaches for quantifying the effects of prediction and mitigation strategies and demonstrates these using actual production system data. We describe context-relevant methodologies for determining themore » accuracy and cost-benefit of predictors. While many research studies have quantified the expected impact of growing system size, and the associated shortened mean time to failure (MTTF), on application performance in large-scale high-performance computing (HPC) platforms, there has been little if any work to quantify the possible gains from predicting system resource failures with significant but imperfect accuracy. This possibly stems from HPC system complexity and the fact that, to date, no one has established any good predictors of failure in these systems. Our work in the OVIS project aims to discover these predictors via a variety of data collection techniques and statistical analysis methods that yield probabilistic predictions. The question then is, 'How good or useful are these predictions?' We investigate methods for answering this question in a general setting, and illustrate them using a specific failure predictor discovered on a production system at Sandia.« less

  5. Quantifying bile acid malabsorption helps predict response and tailor sequestrant therapy.

    PubMed

    Orekoya, Oluwafikunayo; McLaughlin, John; Leitao, Eugenia; Johns, Wendy; Lal, Simon; Paine, Peter

    2015-06-01

    Although recognised as a cause of chronic diarrhoea for over forty years, diagnostic tests and treatments for bile acid malabsorption (BAM) remain controversial. Recent National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines highlighted the lack of evidence in the field, and called for further research. This retrospective study explores the BAM subtype and severity, the use and response to bile acid sequestrants (BAS) and the prevalence of abnormal colonic histology. 264 selenium-75-labelled homocholic acid conjugated taurine (SeHCAT)-tested patient records were reviewed and the severity and subtype of BAM, presence of colonic histopathology and response to BAS were recorded. 53% of patients tested had BAM, with type-2 BAM in 45% of patients with presumed irritable bowel syndrome. Colonic histological abnormalities were similar overall between patients with (29%) or without (23%) BAM (p = 0.46) and between BAM subtypes, with no significant presence of inflammatory changes. 63% of patients with BAM had a successful BAS response which showed a trend to decreased response with reduced severity. Colestyramine was unsuccessful in 44% (38/87) and 45% of these (17/38) were related to medication intolerance, despite a positive SeHCAT. 47% (7/15) of colestyramine failures had a successful colesevelam response. No patient reported colesevelam intolerance. Quantifying severity of BAM appears to be useful in predicting BAS response. Colesevelam was better tolerated than colestyramine and showed some efficacy in colestyramine failures. Colestyramine failure should not be used to exclude BAM. Colonic histology is of no relevance. © Royal College of Physicians 2015. All rights reserved.

  6. Behavioral responses of juvenile Daphnia magna after exposure to glyphosate and glyphosate-copper complexes.

    PubMed

    Hansen, Lone Rykær; Roslev, Peter

    2016-10-01

    Glyphosate (N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine) is the active ingredient in a range of popular broad-spectrum herbicide formulations. Glyphosate is a chelating agent that can form stable complexes with divalent metal ions including Cu(II). Little is known about the bioavailability and ecotoxicity of glyphosate-Cu(II) complexes to aquatic organisms. In this study, we used video tracking and behavior analysis to investigate sublethal effects of binary mixtures of glyphosate and Cu(II) to juvenile D. magna. Behavioral responses were quantified for individual D. magna after 24h and 48h exposure to glyphosate and glyhosate-Cu(II) mixtures. Sublethal concentrations resulted in decreases in swimming velocity, acceleration speed, and distance moved whereas inactive time of D. magna increased. Distance moved and inactive time were the most responsive parameters to glyphosate and glyphosate-Cu(II) exposure. On a molar basis, glyphosate-Cu(II) complexes appeared more toxic to D. magna than glyphosate alone. The 48h EC50 for glyphosate and glyphosate-Cu(II) determined from swimming distance were 75.2μM and 8.4μM, respectively. In comparison, traditional visual observation of mobility resulted in 48h EC50 values of 52.8μM and 25.5μM for glyphosate and glyphosate-Cu(II), respectively. The behavioral responses indicated that exposure of D. magna to mixtures of glyphosate and Cu(II) attenuated acute metal toxicity but increased apparent glyphosate toxicity due to complexation with Cu(II). The study suggests that glyphosate is a likely mediator of aquatic metal toxicity, and that video tracking provides an opportunity for quantitative studies of sublethal effects of pesticide complexes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  7. Short-term dynamic behavior of Escherichia coli in response to successive glucose pulses on glucose-limited chemostat cultures.

    PubMed

    Sunya, Sirichai; Bideaux, Carine; Molina-Jouve, Carole; Gorret, Nathalie

    2013-04-15

    The effect of repeated glucose perturbations on dynamic behavior of Escherichia coli DPD2085, yciG::LuxCDABE reporter strain, was studied and characterized on a short-time scale using glucose-limited chemostat cultures at dilution rates close to 0.18h(-1). The substrate disturbances were applied on independent steady-state cultures, firstly using a single glucose pulse under different aeration conditions and secondly using repeated glucose pulses under fully aerobic condition. The dynamic responses of E. coli to a single glucose pulse of different intensities (0.25 and 0.6gL(-1)) were significantly similar at macroscopic level, revealing the independency of the macroscopic microbial behavior to the perturbation intensity in the range of tested glucose concentrations. The dynamic responses of E. coli to repeated glucose pulses to simulate fluctuating environments between glucose-limited and glucose-excess conditions were quantified; similar behavior regarding respiration and by-product formations was observed, except for the first perturbation denoted by an overshoot of the specific oxygen uptake rate in the first minutes after the pulse. In addition, transcriptional induction of yciG promoter gene involved in general stress response, σ(S), was monitored through the bioluminescent E. coli strain. This study aims to provide and compare short-term quantitative kinetics data describing the dynamic behavior of E. coli facing repeated transient substrate conditions. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. Quantifying the Physiological Stress Response to Simulated Maritime Pilotage Tasks

    PubMed Central

    Main, Luana C.; Wolkow, Alexander; Chambers, Timothy P.

    2017-01-01

    Objective: The aim of this study was to quantify the stress associated with performing maritime pilotage tasks in a high-fidelity simulator. Methods: Eight trainee and 13 maritime pilots completed two simulated pilotage tasks of varying complexity. Salivary cortisol samples were collected pre- and post-simulation for both trials. Heart rate was measured continuously throughout the study. Results: Significant changes in salivary cortisol (P = 0.000, η2 = 0.139), average (P = 0.006, η2 = 0.087), and peak heart rate (P = 0.013, η2 = 0.077) from pre- to postsimulation were found. Varying task complexity did partially influence stress response; average (P = 0.016, η2 = 0.026) and peak heart rate (P = 0.034, η2 = 0.020) were higher in the experimental condition. Trainees also recorded higher average (P = 0.000, η2 = 0.054) and peak heart rates (P = 0.027, η2 = 0.022). Conclusion: Performing simulated pilotage tasks evoked a measurable stress response in both trainee and expert maritime pilots. PMID:28922309

  9. Everyday stress response targets in the science of behavior change.

    PubMed

    Smyth, Joshua M; Sliwinski, Martin J; Zawadzki, Matthew J; Scott, Stacey B; Conroy, David E; Lanza, Stephanie T; Marcusson-Clavertz, David; Kim, Jinhyuk; Stawski, Robert S; Stoney, Catherine M; Buxton, Orfeu M; Sciamanna, Christopher N; Green, Paige M; Almeida, David M

    2018-02-01

    Stress is an established risk factor for negative health outcomes, and responses to everyday stress can interfere with health behaviors such as exercise and sleep. In accordance with the Science of Behavior Change (SOBC) program, we apply an experimental medicine approach to identifying stress response targets, developing stress response assays, intervening upon these targets, and testing intervention effectiveness. We evaluate an ecologically valid, within-person approach to measuring the deleterious effects of everyday stress on physical activity and sleep patterns, examining multiple stress response components (i.e., stress reactivity, stress recovery, and stress pile-up) as indexed by two key response indicators (negative affect and perseverative cognition). Our everyday stress response assay thus measures multiple malleable stress response targets that putatively shape daily health behaviors (physical activity and sleep). We hypothesize that larger reactivity, incomplete recovery, and more frequent stress responses (pile-up) will negatively impact health behavior enactment in daily life. We will identify stress-related reactivity, recovery, and response in the indicators using coordinated analyses across multiple naturalistic studies. These results are the basis for developing a new stress assay and replicating the initial findings in a new sample. This approach will advance our understanding of how specific aspects of everyday stress responses influence health behaviors, and can be used to develop and test an innovative ambulatory intervention for stress reduction in daily life to enhance health behaviors. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Development of Survey Scales for Measuring Exposure and Behavioral Responses to Disruptive Intraoperative Behavior.

    PubMed

    Villafranca, Alexander; Hamlin, Colin; Rodebaugh, Thomas L; Robinson, Sandra; Jacobsohn, Eric

    2017-09-10

    Disruptive intraoperative behavior has detrimental effects to clinicians, institutions, and patients. How clinicians respond to this behavior can either exacerbate or attenuate its effects. Previous investigations of disruptive behavior have used survey scales with significant limitations. The study objective was to develop appropriate scales to measure exposure and responses to disruptive behavior. We obtained ethics approval. The scales were developed in a sequence of steps. They were pretested using expert reviews, computational linguistic analysis, and cognitive interviews. The scales were then piloted on Canadian operating room clinicians. Factor analysis was applied to half of the data set for question reduction and grouping. Item response analysis and theoretical reviews ensured that important questions were not eliminated. Internal consistency was evaluated using Cronbach α. Model fit was examined on the second half of the data set using confirmatory factor analysis. Content validity of the final scales was re-evaluated. Consistency between observed relationships and theoretical predictions was assessed. Temporal stability was evaluated on a subsample of 38 respondents. A total of 1433 and 746 clinicians completed the exposure and response scales, respectively. Content validity indices were excellent (exposure = 0.96, responses = 1.0). Internal consistency was good (exposure = 0.93, responses = 0.87). Correlations between the exposure scale and secondary measures were consistent with expectations based on theory. Temporal stability was acceptable (exposure = 0.77, responses = 0.73). We have developed scales measuring exposure and responses to disruptive behavior. They generate valid and reliable scores when surveying operating room clinicians, and they overcome the limitations of previous tools. These survey scales are freely available.

  11. Effects of thermo-mechanical behavior and hinge geometry on folding response of shape memory polymer sheets

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mailen, Russell W.; Dickey, Michael D.; Genzer, Jan; Zikry, Mohammed

    2017-11-01

    Shape memory polymer (SMP) sheets patterned with black ink hinges change shape in response to external stimuli, such as absorbed thermal energy from an infrared (IR) light. The geometry of these hinges, including size, orientation, and location, and the applied thermal loads significantly influence the final folded shape of the sheet, but these variables have not been fully investigated. We perform a systematic study on SMP sheets to fundamentally understand the effects of single and double hinge geometries, hinge orientation and spacing, initial temperature, heat flux intensity, and pattern width on the folding behavior. We have developed thermo-viscoelastic finite element models to characterize and quantify the stresses, strains, and temperatures as they relate to SMP shape changes. Our predictions indicate that hinge orientation can be used to reduce the total bending angle, which is the angle traversed by the folding face of the sheet. Two parallel hinges increase the total bending angle, and heat conduction between the hinges affects the transient folding response. IR intensity and initial temperatures can also influence the transient folding behavior. These results can provide guidelines to optimize the transient folding response and the three-dimensional folded structure obtained from self-folding polymer origami sheets that can be applied for myriad applications.

  12. Quantifying Grain Level Stress-Strain Behavior for AM40 via Instrumented Microindentation

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

    Cheng, Guang; Barker, Erin I.; Stephens, Elizabeth V.

    2016-01-01

    ABSTRACT Microindentation is performed on hot isostatic pressed (HIP) Mg-Al (AM40) alloy samples produced by high-pressure die cast (HPDC) process for the purpose of quantifying the mechanical properties of the α-Mg grains. The process of obtaining elastic modulus and hardness from indentation load-depth curves is well established in the literature. A new inverse method is developed to extract plastic properties in this study. The method utilizes empirical yield strength-hardness relationship reported in the literature together with finite element modeling of the individual indentation. Due to the shallow depth of the indentation, indentation size effect (ISE) is taken into account whenmore » determining plastic properties. The stress versus strain behavior is determined for a series of indents. The resulting average values and standard deviations are obtained for future use as input distributions for microstructure-based property prediction of AM40.« less

  13. Defining and quantifying the resilience of responses to disturbance: a conceptual and modelling approach from soil science

    PubMed Central

    Todman, L. C.; Fraser, F. C.; Corstanje, R.; Deeks, L. K.; Harris, J. A.; Pawlett, M.; Ritz, K.; Whitmore, A. P.

    2016-01-01

    There are several conceptual definitions of resilience pertaining to environmental systems and, even if resilience is clearly defined in a particular context, it is challenging to quantify. We identify four characteristics of the response of a system function to disturbance that relate to “resilience”: (1) degree of return of the function to a reference level; (2) time taken to reach a new quasi-stable state; (3) rate (i.e. gradient) at which the function reaches the new state; (4) cumulative magnitude of the function (i.e. area under the curve) before a new state is reached. We develop metrics to quantify these characteristics based on an analogy with a mechanical spring and damper system. Using the example of the response of a soil function (respiration) to disturbance, we demonstrate that these metrics effectively discriminate key features of the dynamic response. Although any one of these characteristics could define resilience, each may lead to different insights and conclusions. The salient properties of a resilient response must thus be identified for different contexts. Because the temporal resolution of data affects the accurate determination of these metrics, we recommend that at least twelve measurements are made over the temporal range for which the response is expected. PMID:27329053

  14. Humans, Fish, and Whales: How Right Whales Modify Calling Behavior in Response to Shifting Background Noise Conditions.

    PubMed

    Parks, Susan E; Groch, Karina; Flores, Paulo; Sousa-Lima, Renata; Urazghildiiev, Ildar R

    2016-01-01

    This study investigates the role of behavioral plasticity in the variation of sound production of southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) in response to changes in the ambient background noise conditions. Data were collected from southern right whales in Brazilian waters in October and November 2011. The goal of this study was to quantify differences in right whale vocalizations recorded in low background noise as a control, fish chorus noise, and vessel noise. Variation in call parameters were detected among the three background noise conditions and have implications for future studies of noise effects on whale sound production.

  15. The genetics of behavioral alcohol responses in Drosophila.

    PubMed

    Rodan, Aylin R; Rothenfluh, Adrian

    2010-01-01

    Drosophila melanogaster is commonly found near rotting or fermenting fruit, reflected in its name pomace, or vinegar fly. In such environments, flies often encounter significant levels of ethanol. Three observations have made Drosophila a very promising model organism to understand the genetic contributions to the behavioral responses to alcohol. First, similar to higher vertebrates, flies show hyperactivation upon exposure to a low to medium dose of alcohol, while high doses can lead to sedation. In addition, when given a choice, flies will actually prefer alcohol-containing food over regular food. Second, the genes and biochemical pathways implicated in controlling these behavioral responses in flies are also participating in determining alcohol responses, and drinking behavior in mammals. Third, the fact that flies have been studied genetically for over one hundred years means that an exceptional repertoire of genetic tools are at our disposal. Here, we will review some of these tools and experimental approaches, survey the methods for, and measures after Drosophila ethanol exposure, and discuss the different molecular components and functional pathways involved in these behavioral responses to alcohol. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Do Behavioral Foraging Responses of Prey to Predators Function Similarly in Restored and Pristine Foodwebs?

    PubMed Central

    Madin, Elizabeth M. P.; Gaines, Steven D.; Madin, Joshua S.; Link, Anne-Katrin; Lubchenco, Peggy J.; Selden, Rebecca L.; Warner, Robert R.

    2012-01-01

    Efforts to restore top predators in human-altered systems raise the question of whether rebounds in predator populations are sufficient to restore pristine foodweb dynamics. Ocean ecosystems provide an ideal system to test this question. Removal of fishing in marine reserves often reverses declines in predator densities and size. However, whether this leads to restoration of key functional characteristics of foodwebs, especially prey foraging behavior, is unclear. The question of whether restored and pristine foodwebs function similarly is nonetheless critically important for management and restoration efforts. We explored this question in light of one important determinant of ecosystem function and structure – herbivorous prey foraging behavior. We compared these responses for two functionally distinct herbivorous prey fishes (the damselfish Plectroglyphidodon dickii and the parrotfish Chlorurus sordidus) within pairs of coral reefs in pristine and restored ecosystems in two regions of these species' biogeographic ranges, allowing us to quantify the magnitude and temporal scale of this key ecosystem variable's recovery. We demonstrate that restoration of top predator abundances also restored prey foraging excursion behaviors to a condition closely resembling those of a pristine ecosystem. Increased understanding of behavioral aspects of ecosystem change will greatly improve our ability to predict the cascading consequences of conservation tools aimed at ecological restoration, such as marine reserves. PMID:22403650

  17. CRYPTOCHROME mediates behavioral executive choice in response to UV light

    PubMed Central

    Baik, Lisa S.; Fogle, Keri J.; Roberts, Logan; Galschiodt, Alexis M.; Chevez, Joshua A.; Recinos, Yocelyn; Nguy, Vinh; Holmes, Todd C.

    2017-01-01

    Drosophila melanogaster CRYPTOCHROME (CRY) mediates behavioral and electrophysiological responses to blue light coded by circadian and arousal neurons. However, spectroscopic and biochemical assays of heterologously expressed CRY suggest that CRY may mediate functional responses to UV-A (ultraviolet A) light as well. To determine the relative contributions of distinct phototransduction systems, we tested mutants lacking CRY and mutants with disrupted opsin-based phototransduction for behavioral and electrophysiological responses to UV light. CRY and opsin-based external photoreceptor systems cooperate for UV light-evoked acute responses. CRY mediates behavioral avoidance responses related to executive choice, consistent with its expression in central brain neurons. PMID:28062690

  18. Quantifying cognition and behavior in normal aging, mild cognitive impairment, and Alzheimer's disease

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Giraldo, Diana L.; Sijbers, Jan; Romero, Eduardo

    2017-11-01

    The diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is based on neuropsychological evaluation of the patient. Different cognitive and memory functions are assessed by a battery of tests that are composed of items devised to specifically evaluate such upper functions. This work aims to identify and quantify the factors that determine the performance in neuropsychological evaluation by conducting an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA). For this purpose, using data from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), EFA was applied to 67 item scores taken from the baseline neuropsychological battery of the three phases of ADNI study. The found factors are directly related to specific brain functions such as memory, behavior, orientation, or verbal fluency. The identification of factors is followed by the calculation of factor scores given by weighted linear combinations of the items scores.

  19. Comprehensive Oculomotor Behavioral Response Assessment (COBRA)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Stone, Leland S. (Inventor); Liston, Dorion B. (Inventor)

    2017-01-01

    An eye movement-based methodology and assessment tool may be used to quantify many aspects of human dynamic visual processing using a relatively simple and short oculomotor task, noninvasive video-based eye tracking, and validated oculometric analysis techniques. By examining the eye movement responses to a task including a radially-organized appropriately randomized sequence of Rashbass-like step-ramp pursuit-tracking trials, distinct performance measurements may be generated that may be associated with, for example, pursuit initiation (e.g., latency and open-loop pursuit acceleration), steady-state tracking (e.g., gain, catch-up saccade amplitude, and the proportion of the steady-state response consisting of smooth movement), direction tuning (e.g., oblique effect amplitude, horizontal-vertical asymmetry, and direction noise), and speed tuning (e.g., speed responsiveness and noise). This quantitative approach may provide fast and results (e.g., a multi-dimensional set of oculometrics and a single scalar impairment index) that can be interpreted by one without a high degree of scientific sophistication or extensive training.

  20. Development and Validation of Children's Responsible Environmental Behavior Scale

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Erdogan, Mehmet; Ok, Ahmet; Marcinkowski, Thomas Joseph

    2012-01-01

    Though environmentally responsible behavior (ERB) has been a focus of many studies in the field of environmental education, very few scales have been developed to assess children's ERB. In this regard, this article focuses on the development and validation of Children's Responsible Environmental Behavior Scale (CREBS) and also reports the…

  1. Quantifying the Physical Response to a Contemporary Amateur Boxing Simulation.

    PubMed

    Finlay, Mitchell J; Greig, Matt; Page, Richard M

    2018-04-01

    Finlay, MJ, Greig, M, and Page, RM. Quantifying the physical response to a contemporary amateur boxing simulation. J Strength Cond Res 32(4): 1005-1012, 2018-This study examined the physical response to a contemporary boxing-specific exercise protocol (BSEP), based on notational analysis of amateur boxing. Nine male senior elite amateur boxers completed a 3 × 3-minute BSEP, with a 1-minute passive recovery period interspersing each round. Average (HRave) and peak (HRpeak) heart rates, average (V[Combining Dot Above]O2ave) and peak oxygen consumptions (V[Combining Dot Above]O2peak), blood lactate (BLa) concentrations, rating of perceived exertion, and both triaxial and uniaxial PlayerLoad metrics were recorded during the completion of the BSEP. Blood lactate concentration increased significantly in each round (Round 1 = 2.4 ± 1.3 mmol·L; Round 2 = 3.3 ± 1.7 mmol·L; Round 3 = 4.3 ± 2.6 mmol·L). Significantly lower HRave and HRpeak values were found in the first round (HRave: 150 ± 15 b·min; HRpeak: 162 ± 12 b·min) when compared with the second (HRave: 156 ± 16 b·min; HRpeak: 166 ± 13 b·min) and third (HRave: 150 ± 15 b·min; HRpeak: 169 ± 14 b·min). No significant differences were found in any of the V[Combining Dot Above]O2 or PlayerLoad metrics recorded during the BSEP. The BSEP based on notational analysis elicited a fatigue response across rounds, confirming its validity. The BSEP can be used as a training tool for boxing-specific conditioning with implications for reduced injury risk, and to assess the physical response to boxing-specific interventions. Moreover, the BSEP can also be manipulated to suit all levels of participants or training phases, with practical applications in performance monitoring and microcycle periodization.

  2. A stochastic approach for quantifying immigrant integration: the Spanish test case

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Agliari, Elena; Barra, Adriano; Contucci, Pierluigi; Sandell, Richard; Vernia, Cecilia

    2014-10-01

    We apply stochastic process theory to the analysis of immigrant integration. Using a unique and detailed data set from Spain, we study the relationship between local immigrant density and two social and two economic immigration quantifiers for the period 1999-2010. As opposed to the classic time-series approach, by letting immigrant density play the role of ‘time’ and the quantifier the role of ‘space,’ it becomes possible to analyse the behavior of the quantifiers by means of continuous time random walks. Two classes of results are then obtained. First, we show that social integration quantifiers evolve following diffusion law, while the evolution of economic quantifiers exhibits ballistic dynamics. Second, we make predictions of best- and worst-case scenarios taking into account large local fluctuations. Our stochastic process approach to integration lends itself to interesting forecasting scenarios which, in the hands of policy makers, have the potential to improve political responses to integration problems. For instance, estimating the standard first-passage time and maximum-span walk reveals local differences in integration performance for different immigration scenarios. Thus, by recognizing the importance of local fluctuations around national means, this research constitutes an important tool to assess the impact of immigration phenomena on municipal budgets and to set up solid multi-ethnic plans at the municipal level as immigration pressures build.

  3. Effect of downed woody debris on small mammal anti-predator behavior

    Treesearch

    Travis M. Hinkelman; John L. Orrock; Susan C Loeb

    2011-01-01

    Anti-Predator behavior can affect prey growth, reproduction, survival, and generate emergent effects in food webs. Small mammals often lower the cost of predation by altering their behavior in response to shrubs, but the importance of other microhabitat features, such as downed woody debris, for anti-predator behavior is unknown. We used giving-up densities to quantify...

  4. Behavioral responses in structured populations pave the way to group optimality.

    PubMed

    Akçay, Erol; Van Cleve, Jeremy

    2012-02-01

    An unresolved controversy regarding social behaviors is exemplified when natural selection might lead to behaviors that maximize fitness at the social-group level but are costly at the individual level. Except for the special case of groups of clones, we do not have a general understanding of how and when group-optimal behaviors evolve, especially when the behaviors in question are flexible. To address this question, we develop a general model that integrates behavioral plasticity in social interactions with the action of natural selection in structured populations. We find that group-optimal behaviors can evolve, even without clonal groups, if individuals exhibit appropriate behavioral responses to each other's actions. The evolution of such behavioral responses, in turn, is predicated on the nature of the proximate behavioral mechanisms. We model a particular class of proximate mechanisms, prosocial preferences, and find that such preferences evolve to sustain maximum group benefit under certain levels of relatedness and certain ecological conditions. Thus, our model demonstrates the fundamental interplay between behavioral responses and relatedness in determining the course of social evolution. We also highlight the crucial role of proximate mechanisms such as prosocial preferences in the evolution of behavioral responses and in facilitating evolutionary transitions in individuality.

  5. Measuring Social Motivation Using Signal Detection and Reward Responsiveness.

    PubMed

    Chevallier, Coralie; Tonge, Natasha; Safra, Lou; Kahn, David; Kohls, Gregor; Miller, Judith; Schultz, Robert T

    2016-01-01

    Recent trends in psychiatry have emphasized the need for a shift from categorical to dimensional approaches. Of critical importance to this transformation is the availability of tools to objectively quantify behaviors dimensionally. The present study focuses on social motivation, a dimension of behavior that is central to a range of psychiatric conditions but for which a particularly small number of assays currently exist. In Study 1 (N = 48), healthy adults completed a monetary reward task and a social reward task, followed by completion of the Chapman Physical and Social Anhedonia Scales. In Study 2 (N = 26), an independent sample was recruited to assess the robustness of Study 1's findings. The reward tasks were analyzed using signal detection theory to quantify how much reward cues bias participants' responses. In both Study 1 and Study 2, social anhedonia scores were negatively correlated with change in response bias in the social reward task but not in the monetary reward task. A median split on social anhedonia scores confirmed that participants with high social anhedonia showed less change in response bias in the social reward task compared to participants with low social anhedonia. This study confirms that social anhedonia selectively affects how much an individual changes their behavior based on the presence of socially rewarding cues and establishes a tool to quantify social reward responsiveness dimensionally.

  6. Using variance structure to quantify responses to perturbation in fish catches

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Vidal, Tiffany E.; Irwin, Brian J.; Wagner, Tyler; Rudstam, Lars G.; Jackson, James R.; Bence, James R.

    2017-01-01

    We present a case study evaluation of gill-net catches of Walleye Sander vitreus to assess potential effects of large-scale changes in Oneida Lake, New York, including the disruption of trophic interactions by double-crested cormorants Phalacrocorax auritus and invasive dreissenid mussels. We used the empirical long-term gill-net time series and a negative binomial linear mixed model to partition the variability in catches into spatial and coherent temporal variance components, hypothesizing that variance partitioning can help quantify spatiotemporal variability and determine whether variance structure differs before and after large-scale perturbations. We found that the mean catch and the total variability of catches decreased following perturbation but that not all sampling locations responded in a consistent manner. There was also evidence of some spatial homogenization concurrent with a restructuring of the relative productivity of individual sites. Specifically, offshore sites generally became more productive following the estimated break point in the gill-net time series. These results provide support for the idea that variance structure is responsive to large-scale perturbations; therefore, variance components have potential utility as statistical indicators of response to a changing environment more broadly. The modeling approach described herein is flexible and would be transferable to other systems and metrics. For example, variance partitioning could be used to examine responses to alternative management regimes, to compare variability across physiographic regions, and to describe differences among climate zones. Understanding how individual variance components respond to perturbation may yield finer-scale insights into ecological shifts than focusing on patterns in the mean responses or total variability alone.

  7. Quantifying Pilot Visual Attention in Low Visibility Terminal Operations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ellis, Kyle K.; Arthur, J. J.; Latorella, Kara A.; Kramer, Lynda J.; Shelton, Kevin J.; Norman, Robert M.; Prinzel, Lawrence J.

    2012-01-01

    Quantifying pilot visual behavior allows researchers to determine not only where a pilot is looking and when, but holds implications for specific behavioral tracking when these data are coupled with flight technical performance. Remote eye tracking systems have been integrated into simulators at NASA Langley with effectively no impact on the pilot environment. This paper discusses the installation and use of a remote eye tracking system. The data collection techniques from a complex human-in-the-loop (HITL) research experiment are discussed; especially, the data reduction algorithms and logic to transform raw eye tracking data into quantified visual behavior metrics, and analysis methods to interpret visual behavior. The findings suggest superior performance for Head-Up Display (HUD) and improved attentional behavior for Head-Down Display (HDD) implementations of Synthetic Vision System (SVS) technologies for low visibility terminal area operations. Keywords: eye tracking, flight deck, NextGen, human machine interface, aviation

  8. A framework for quantifying the impact of occupant behavior on energy savings of energy conservation measures

    DOE PAGES

    Sun, K; Hong, T

    2017-07-01

    © 2017 Elsevier B.V. To improve energy efficiency—during new buildings design or during a building retrofit—evaluating the energy savings potential of energy conservation measures (ECMs) is a critical task. In building retrofits, occupant behavior significantly impacts building energy use and is a leading factor in uncertainty when determining the effectiveness of retrofit ECMs. Current simulation-based assessment methods simplify the representation of occupant behavior by using a standard or representative set of static and homogeneous assumptions ignoring the dynamics, stochastics, and diversity of occupant's energy-related behavior in buildings. The simplification contributes to significant gaps between the simulated and measured actual energymore » performance of buildings. This study presents a framework for quantifying the impact of occupant behaviors on ECM energy savings using building performance simulation. During the first step of the study, three occupant behavior styles (austerity, normal, and wasteful) were defined to represent different levels of energy consciousness of occupants regarding their interactions with building energy systems (HVAC, windows, lights and plug-in equipment). Next, a simulation workflow was introduced to determine a range of the ECM energy savings. Then, guidance was provided to interpret the range of ECM savings to support ECM decision making. Finally, a pilot study was performed in a real building to demonstrate the application of the framework. Simulation results show that the impact of occupant behaviors on ECM savings vary with the type of ECM. Occupant behavior minimally affects energy savings for ECMs that are technology-driven (the relative savings differ by less than 2%) and have little interaction with the occupants; for ECMs with strong occupant interaction, such as the use of zonal control variable refrigerant flow system and natural ventilation, energy savings are significantly affected by occupant behavior

  9. A framework for quantifying the impact of occupant behavior on energy savings of energy conservation measures

    DOE PAGES

    Sun, Kaiyu; Hong, Tianzhen

    2017-04-27

    To improve energy efficiency—during new buildings design or during a building retrofit—evaluating the energy savings potential of energy conservation measures (ECMs) is a critical task. In building retrofits, occupant behavior significantly impacts building energy use and is a leading factor in uncertainty when determining the effectiveness of retrofit ECMs. Current simulation-based assessment methods simplify the representation of occupant behavior by using a standard or representative set of static and homogeneous assumptions ignoring the dynamics, stochastics, and diversity of occupant's energy-related behavior in buildings. The simplification contributes to significant gaps between the simulated and measured actual energy performance of buildings. Thismore » paper presents a framework for quantifying the impact of occupant behaviors on ECM energy savings using building performance simulation. During the first step of the study, three occupant behavior styles (austerity, normal, and wasteful) were defined to represent different levels of energy consciousness of occupants regarding their interactions with building energy systems (HVAC, windows, lights and plug-in equipment). Next, a simulation workflow was introduced to determine a range of the ECM energy savings. Then, guidance was provided to interpret the range of ECM savings to support ECM decision making. Finally, a pilot study was performed in a real building to demonstrate the application of the framework. Simulation results show that the impact of occupant behaviors on ECM savings vary with the type of ECM. Occupant behavior minimally affects energy savings for ECMs that are technology-driven (the relative savings differ by less than 2%) and have little interaction with the occupants; for ECMs with strong occupant interaction, such as the use of zonal control variable refrigerant flow system and natural ventilation, energy savings are significantly affected by occupant behavior (the relative savings

  10. A framework for quantifying the impact of occupant behavior on energy savings of energy conservation measures

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

    Sun, Kaiyu; Hong, Tianzhen

    To improve energy efficiency—during new buildings design or during a building retrofit—evaluating the energy savings potential of energy conservation measures (ECMs) is a critical task. In building retrofits, occupant behavior significantly impacts building energy use and is a leading factor in uncertainty when determining the effectiveness of retrofit ECMs. Current simulation-based assessment methods simplify the representation of occupant behavior by using a standard or representative set of static and homogeneous assumptions ignoring the dynamics, stochastics, and diversity of occupant's energy-related behavior in buildings. The simplification contributes to significant gaps between the simulated and measured actual energy performance of buildings. Thismore » paper presents a framework for quantifying the impact of occupant behaviors on ECM energy savings using building performance simulation. During the first step of the study, three occupant behavior styles (austerity, normal, and wasteful) were defined to represent different levels of energy consciousness of occupants regarding their interactions with building energy systems (HVAC, windows, lights and plug-in equipment). Next, a simulation workflow was introduced to determine a range of the ECM energy savings. Then, guidance was provided to interpret the range of ECM savings to support ECM decision making. Finally, a pilot study was performed in a real building to demonstrate the application of the framework. Simulation results show that the impact of occupant behaviors on ECM savings vary with the type of ECM. Occupant behavior minimally affects energy savings for ECMs that are technology-driven (the relative savings differ by less than 2%) and have little interaction with the occupants; for ECMs with strong occupant interaction, such as the use of zonal control variable refrigerant flow system and natural ventilation, energy savings are significantly affected by occupant behavior (the relative savings

  11. The meaning of vaguely quantified frequency response options on a quality of life scale depends on respondents’ medical status and age

    PubMed Central

    Schneider, Stefan; Stone, Arthur A.

    2017-01-01

    Purpose Self-report items in quality of life (QoL) scales commonly use vague quantifiers like “sometimes” or “often” to measure the frequency of health-related experiences. This study examined whether the meaning of such vaguely quantified response options differs depending on people’s medical status and age, which may undermine the validity of QoL group comparisons. Methods Respondents (n = 600) rated the frequency of positive and negative QoL experiences using vague quantifiers (never, rarely, sometimes, often, always) and provided open-ended numeric frequency counts for the same items. Negative binomial regression analyses examined whether the numeric frequencies associated with each vague quantifier differed between medical status (no vs. one or more medical conditions) and age (18–40 years vs. 60+ years) groups. Results Compared to respondents without a chronic condition, those with a medical condition assigned a higher numeric frequency to the same vague quantifiers for negative QoL experiences; this effect was not evident for positive QoL experiences. Older respondents’ numeric frequencies were more extreme (i.e., lower at the low end and somewhat higher at the high end of the response range) than those of younger respondents. After adjusting for these effects, differences in QoL became somewhat more pronounced between medical status groups, but not between age groups. Conclusions The results suggest that people with different medical backgrounds and age do not interpret vague frequency quantifiers on a QoL scale in the same way. Open-ended numeric frequency reports may be useful to detect and potentially correct for differences in the meaning of vague quantifiers. PMID:27071685

  12. Use of automated monitoring to assess behavioral toxicology in fish: Linking behavior and physiology

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Brewer, S.K.; DeLonay, A.J.; Beauvais, S.L.; Little, E.E.; Jones, S.B.

    1999-01-01

    We measured locomotory behaviors (distance traveled, speed, tortuosity of path, and rate of change in direction) with computer-assisted analysis in 30 day posthatch rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) exposed to pesticides. We also examined cholinesterase inhibition as a potential endpoint linking physiology and behavior. Sublethal exposure to chemicals often causes changes in swimming behavior, reflecting alterations in sensory and motor systems. Swimming behavior also integrates functions of the nervous system. Rarely are the connections between physiology and behavior made. Although behavior is often suggested as a sensitive, early indicator of toxicity, behavioral toxicology has not been used to its full potential because conventional methods of behavioral assessment have relied on manual techniques, which are often time-consuming and difficult to quantify. This has severely limited the application and utility of behavioral procedures. Swimming behavior is particularly amenable to computerized assessment and automated monitoring. Locomotory responses are sensitive to toxicants and can be easily measured. We briefly discuss the use of behavior in toxicology and automated techniques used in behavioral toxicology. We also describe the system we used to determine locomotory behaviors of fish, and present data demonstrating the system's effectiveness in measuring alterations in response to chemical challenges. Lastly, we correlate behavioral and physiological endpoints.

  13. Cognitive-Behavioral and Response-Prevention Treatments for Bulimia Nervosa.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Agras, W. Stewart; And Others

    1989-01-01

    Assessed treatment for bulimia nervosa among 77 female patients assigned to wait-list control, self-monitoring of caloric intake and purging behaviors, cognitive-behavioral treatment, and cognitive-behavioral treatment plus response prevention of vomiting. All treatment groups showed significant improvement; control group did not.…

  14. Pathological Imitative Behavior and Response Preparation in Schizophrenia.

    PubMed

    Dankinas, Denisas; Melynyte, Sigita; Siurkute, Aldona; Dapsys, Kastytis

    2017-08-01

    Pathological imitative behavior (ehopraxia) is occasionally observed in schizophrenia patients. However, only a severe form of echopraxia can be detected with the help of a direct observation. Therefore, our goal was to study a latent form of pathological imitative behavior in this disorder, which is indicated by an increase of imitative tendencies. In our study, 14 schizophrenia patients and 15 healthy subjects were employed in two tasks: (a) in an imitative task they had to copy a hand action seen on a screen; (b) in a counter-imitative task they had to make a different movement (which involves an inhibition of prepotent imitative tendency that is impaired in case of pathological imitative behavior). Imitative tendencies were assessed by an interference score - a difference between counter-imitative and imitative response parameters. We also studied a response preparation in both groups by employing precueing probabilistic information. Our results revealed that schizophrenia patients were able to employ probabilistic information to prepare properly not only the imitative, but also the counter-imitative responses, the same as the healthy subjects did. Nevertheless, we detected increased prepotent imitative tendencies in schizophrenia patients, what indicates the latent pathological imitative behavior in case of this disorder. The obtained results suggest that in the case of schizophrenia problems with pathological imitative behavior more likely occurred in executive rather than in the preparatory stage of response. Our findings can help to detect a latent echopraxia in schizophrenia patients that cannot be revealed by direct observation. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  15. Effects of a pesticide and a parasite on neurological, endocrine, and behavioral responses of an estuarine fish.

    PubMed

    Renick, Violet Compton; Weinersmith, Kelly; Vidal-Dorsch, Doris E; Anderson, Todd W

    2016-01-01

    In coastal waters, pesticides and parasites are widespread stressors that may separately and interactively affect the physiology, behavior, and survival of resident organisms. We investigated the effects of the organophosphate pesticide chlorpyrifos and the trematode parasite Euhaplorchis californiensis on three important traits of California killifish (Fundulus parvipinnis): neurotransmitter activity, release of the stress hormone cortisol, and behavior. Killifish were collected from a population without E. californiensis, and then half of the fish were experimentally infected. Following a 30 day period for parasite maturation, infected and uninfected groups were exposed to four concentrations of chlorpyrifos (solvent control, 1-3ppb) prior to behavior trials to quantify activity, feeding behavior, and anti-predator responses. Water-borne cortisol release rates were measured non-invasively from each fish prior to infection, one-month post-infection, and following pesticide exposure. Killifish exposed to 3ppb chlorpyrifos exhibited a 74.6±6.8% and 60.5±8.3% reduction in brain and muscle acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity relative to controls. The rate of cortisol release was suppressed by each chlorpyrifos level relative to controls. Killifish exposed to the medium (2ppb) and high (3ppb) pesticide concentrations exhibited reduced activity and a decrease in mean swimming speed following a simulated predator attack. Muscle AChE was positively related to swimming activity while brain AChE was positively related to foraging behavior. ​No effects of the parasite were observed, possibly because of low metacercariae densities achieved through controlled infections. We found that sublethal pesticide exposure has the potential to modify several organismal endpoints with consequences for reduced fitness, including neurological, endocrine, and behavioral responses in an ecologically abundant fish. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. Behavioral Fever Drives Epigenetic Modulation of the Immune Response in Fish.

    PubMed

    Boltana, Sebastian; Aguilar, Andrea; Sanhueza, Nataly; Donoso, Andrea; Mercado, Luis; Imarai, Monica; Mackenzie, Simon

    2018-01-01

    Ectotherms choose the best thermal conditions to mount a successful immune response, a phenomenon known as behavioral fever. The cumulative evidence suggests that behavioral fever impacts positively upon lymphocyte proliferation, inflammatory cytokine expression, and other immune functions. In this study, we have explored how thermal choice during infection impacts upon underpinning molecular processes and how temperature increase is coupled to the immune response. Our results show that behavioral fever results in a widespread, plastic imprint on gene regulation, and lymphocyte proliferation. We further explored the possible contribution of histone modification and identified global associations between temperature and histone changes that suggest epigenetic remodeling as a result of behavioral fever. Together, these results highlight the critical importance of thermal choice in mobile ectotherms, particularly in response to an infection, and demonstrate the key role of epigenetic modification to orchestrate the thermocoupling of the immune response during behavioral fever.

  17. Behavioral flexibility as a mechanism for coping with climate change

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Beever, Erik; Hall, L. Embere; Varner, Johanna; Loosen, Anne E.; Dunham, Jason B.; Gahl, Megan K.; Smith, Felisa A.; Lawler, Joshua J.

    2017-01-01

    Of the primary responses to contemporary climate change – “move, adapt, acclimate, or die” – that are available to organisms, “acclimate” may be effectively achieved through behavioral modification. Behavioral flexibility allows animals to rapidly cope with changing environmental conditions, and behavior represents an important component of a species’ adaptive capacity in the face of climate change. However, there is currently a lack of knowledge about the limits or constraints on behavioral responses to changing conditions. Here, we characterize the contexts in which organisms respond to climate variability through behavior. First, we quantify patterns in behavioral responses across taxa with respect to timescales, climatic stimuli, life-history traits, and ecology. Next, we identify existing knowledge gaps, research biases, and other challenges. Finally, we discuss how conservation practitioners and resource managers can incorporate an improved understanding of behavioral flexibility into natural resource management and policy decisions.

  18. Classification of human natural killer cells based on migration behavior and cytotoxic response.

    PubMed

    Vanherberghen, Bruno; Olofsson, Per E; Forslund, Elin; Sternberg-Simon, Michal; Khorshidi, Mohammad Ali; Pacouret, Simon; Guldevall, Karolin; Enqvist, Monika; Malmberg, Karl-Johan; Mehr, Ramit; Önfelt, Björn

    2013-02-21

    Despite intense scrutiny of the molecular interactions between natural killer (NK) and target cells, few studies have been devoted to dissection of the basic functional heterogeneity in individual NK cell behavior. Using a microchip-based, time-lapse imaging approach allowing the entire contact history of each NK cell to be recorded, in the present study, we were able to quantify how the cytotoxic response varied between individual NK cells. Strikingly, approximately half of the NK cells did not kill any target cells at all, whereas a minority of NK cells was responsible for a majority of the target cell deaths. These dynamic cytotoxicity data allowed categorization of NK cells into 5 distinct classes. A small but particularly active subclass of NK cells killed several target cells in a consecutive fashion. These "serial killers" delivered their lytic hits faster and induced faster target cell death than other NK cells. Fast, necrotic target cell death was correlated with the amount of perforin released by the NK cells. Our data are consistent with a model in which a small fraction of NK cells drives tumor elimination and inflammation.

  19. 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.

  20. The impact of executive function on response to cognitive behavioral therapy in late-life depression.

    PubMed

    Goodkind, Madeleine S; Gallagher-Thompson, Dolores; Thompson, Larry W; Kesler, Shelli R; Anker, Lauren; Flournoy, John; Berman, Mika P; Holland, Jason M; O'Hara, Ruth M

    2016-04-01

    Late-life depression (LLD) is a common and debilitating condition among older adults. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has strong empirical support for the treatment of depression in all ages, including in LLD. In teaching patients to identify, monitor, and challenge negative patterns in their thinking, CBT for LLD relies heavily on cognitive processes and, in particular, executive functioning, such as planning, sequencing, organizing, and selectively inhibiting information. It may be that the effectiveness of CBT lies in its ability to train these cognitive areas. Participants with LLD completed a comprehensive neuropsychological battery before enrolling in CBT. The current study examined the relationship between neuropsychological function prior to treatment and response to CBT. When using three baseline measures of executive functioning that quantify set shifting, cognitive flexibility, and response inhibition to predict treatment response, only baseline Wisconsin Card Sort Task performance was associated with a significant drop in depression symptoms after CBT. Specifically, worse performance on the Wisconsin Card Sort Task was associated with better treatment response. These results suggest that CBT, which teaches cognitive techniques for improving psychiatric symptoms, may be especially beneficial in LLD if relative weaknesses in specific areas of executive functioning are present. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  1. Play Initiating Behaviors and Responses in Red Colobus Monkeys

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Worch, Eric A.

    2012-01-01

    Red colobus monkeys are playful primates, making them an important species in which to study animal play. The author examines play behaviors and responses in the species for its play initiation events, age differences in initiating frequency and initiating behavior, and the types of social play that result from specific initiating behaviors. Out…

  2. Emergent Behavior of Arctic Precipitation in Response to Enhanced Arctic Warming

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Anderson, Bruce T.; Feldl, Nicole; Lintner, Benjamin R.

    2018-03-01

    Amplified warming of the high latitudes in response to human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases has already been observed in the historical record and is a robust feature evident across a hierarchy of model systems, including the models of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5). The main aims of this analysis are to quantify intermodel differences in the Arctic amplification (AA) of the global warming signal in CMIP5 RCP8.5 (Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5) simulations and to diagnose these differences in the context of the energy and water cycles of the region. This diagnosis reveals an emergent behavior between the energetic and hydrometeorological responses of the Arctic to warming: in particular, enhanced AA and its associated reduction in dry static energy convergence is balanced to first order by latent heating via enhanced precipitation. This balance necessitates increasing Arctic precipitation with increasing AA while at the same time constraining the magnitude of that precipitation increase. The sensitivity of the increase, 1.25 (W/m2)/K ( 240 (km3/yr)/K), is evident across a broad range of historical and projected AA values. Accounting for the energetic constraint on Arctic precipitation, as a function of AA, in turn informs understanding of both the sign and magnitude of hydrologic cycle changes that the Arctic may experience.

  3. Using Insights From Behavioral Economics to Strengthen Disaster Preparedness and Response.

    PubMed

    Linnemayr, Sebastian; O'Hanlon, Claire; Uscher-Pines, Lori; Van Abel, Kristin; Nelson, Christopher

    2016-10-01

    Behavioral economics is based on the idea that individuals' decisions are affected by systematic and predictable cognitive biases and that these same biases can be leveraged to change behavior and improve decision-making. Insights from behavioral economics have been used to encourage a range of desired behaviors but have rarely been used in disaster preparedness and response, though traditional efforts by public health practitioners have failed to increase adoption of key preparedness behaviors. In this work, we aim to show how some of the key concepts in the behavioral economics literature are applicable to behaviors related to disaster preparedness and response, and we present ideas for behavioral economics-based interventions that we vetted with public health officials. Two of the best-received interventions were applications of social norms approaches, which leverage social influence bias, and commitment devices, which leverage present bias and loss aversion. Although the current evidence base for the applications of concepts from behavioral economics in disaster preparedness and response is weak, behavioral economics has achieved positive results in similar decision-making contexts. The low cost and potentially high impact of behavioral economics-based interventions warrant further investigation and testing. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;page 1 of 7).

  4. Quantifying the contributions of behavioral and biological risk factors to socioeconomic disparities in coronary heart disease incidence: The MORGEN study

    PubMed Central

    Kershaw, Kiarri N.; Droomers, Mariël; Robinson, Whitney R.; Carnethon, Mercedes R.; Daviglus, Martha L.; Verschuren, W.M. Monique

    2013-01-01

    Quantifying the impact of different modifiable behavioral and biological risk factors on socioeconomic disparities in coronary heart disease (CHD) may help inform targeted, population-specific strategies to reduce the unequal distribution of the disease. Previous studies have used analytic approaches that limit our ability to disentangle the relative contributions of these risk factors to CHD disparities. The goal of this study was to assess mediation of the effect of low education on incident CHD by multiple risk factors simultaneously. Analyses are based on 15,067 participants of the Dutch Monitoring Project on Risk Factors for Chronic Diseases aged 20–65 years examined 1994–1997 and followed for events until January 1, 2008. Path analysis was used to quantify and test mediation of the low education-CHD association by behavioral (current cigarette smoking, heavy alcohol use, poor diet, and physical inactivity) and biological (obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and hypercholesterolemia) risk factors. Behavioral and biological risk factors accounted for 56.6% (95% CI: 42.6%–70.8%) of the low education-incident CHD association. Smoking was the strongest mediator, accounting for 27.3% (95% CI: 17.7%–37.4%) of the association, followed by obesity (10.2%; 95% CI: 4.5%–16.1%), physical inactivity (6.3%; 95% CI: 2.7%–10.0%), and hypertension (5.3%; 95% CI: 2.8%–8.0%). In summary, in a Dutch cohort, the majority of the relationship between low education and incident CHD was mediated by traditional behavioral and biological risk factors. Addressing barriers to smoking cessation, blood pressure and weight management, and physical activity may be the most effective approaches to eliminating socioeconomic inequalities in CHD. PMID:24037117

  5. Adaptive Responses to Prochloraz Exposure That Alter Dose-Response and Time-Course Behaviors

    EPA Science Inventory

    Dose response and time-course (DRTC) are, along with exposure, the major determinants of health risk. Adaptive changes within exposed organisms in response to environmental stress are common, and alter DRTC behaviors to minimize the effects caused by stressors. In this project, ...

  6. Blue Whale Behavioral Response Study & Field Testing of the New Bioacoustic Probe

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2012-09-30

    L. T. HATCH and C. W. CLARK. 2003. Variation in humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) song length in relation to low-frequency sound broadcasts...1 DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A. Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. Blue Whale Behavioral Response Study & Field Testing of...ucsd.edu Award Number: N000140811221 LONG-TERM GOALS Task 1: Blue Whales Behavioral Response Study The behavioral response of large whales

  7. Improving measurement of injection drug risk behavior using item response theory.

    PubMed

    Janulis, Patrick

    2014-03-01

    Recent research highlights the multiple steps to preparing and injecting drugs and the resultant viral threats faced by drug users. This research suggests that more sensitive measurement of injection drug HIV risk behavior is required. In addition, growing evidence suggests there are gender differences in injection risk behavior. However, the potential for differential item functioning between genders has not been explored. To explore item response theory as an improved measurement modeling technique that provides empirically justified scaling of injection risk behavior and to examine for potential gender-based differential item functioning. Data is used from three studies in the National Institute on Drug Abuse's Criminal Justice Drug Abuse Treatment Studies. A two-parameter item response theory model was used to scale injection risk behavior and logistic regression was used to examine for differential item functioning. Item fit statistics suggest that item response theory can be used to scale injection risk behavior and these models can provide more sensitive estimates of risk behavior. Additionally, gender-based differential item functioning is present in the current data. Improved measurement of injection risk behavior using item response theory should be encouraged as these models provide increased congruence between construct measurement and the complexity of injection-related HIV risk. Suggestions are made to further improve injection risk behavior measurement. Furthermore, results suggest direct comparisons of composite scores between males and females may be misleading and future work should account for differential item functioning before comparing levels of injection risk behavior.

  8. The Driving Behavior Survey as a Measure of Behavioral Stress Responses to MVA-related PTSD

    PubMed Central

    Baker, Aaron S.; Litwack, Scott D.; Clapp, Joshua D.; Beck, J. Gayle; Sloan, Denise M.

    2014-01-01

    Numerous treatments are available that address the core symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, there are a number of related behavioral stress responses that are not assessed with PTSD measures, yet these behavioral stress responses affect quality of life. The goal of the current study was to investigate whether a recently developed measure of behavioral stress response, the Driving Behavior Survey (DBS), was sensitive to change associated with treatment among a group of participants diagnosed with PTSD. The DBS indexes anxious driving behavior, which is frequently observed among individuals with motor vehicle accident-related PTSD. Participants (n = 40) were racially-diverse adults (M age =40.78, 63% women) who met diagnostic criteria for motor vehicle accident-related PTSD. Hierarchical linear modeling analyses indicated that participants who were assigned to a brief, exposure-based intervention displayed significant reductions on the DBS subscales relative to participants assigned to the waitlist control condition (r = .41-.43). Moreover, meditational analyses indicated that the observed reductions on the DBS subscales were not better accounted for by reductions in PTSD. Taken together, these findings suggest that the DBS subscales are sensitive to changes associated with PTSD treatment and can be used to augment outcome measures in PTSD treatment trials PMID:24491201

  9. The Driving Behavior Survey as a Measure of Behavioral Stress Responses to MVA-Related PTSD

    PubMed Central

    Baker, Aaron S.; Litwack, Scott D.; Clapp, Joshua D.; Beck, J. Gayle; Sloan, Denise M.

    2014-01-01

    Numerous treatments are available that address the core symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, there are a number of related behavioral stress responses that are not assessed with PTSD measures, yet these behavioral stress responses affect quality of life. The goal of the current study was to investigate whether a recently developed measure of behavioral stress response, the Driving Behavior Survey (DBS), was sensitive to change associated with treatment among a group of participants diagnosed with PTSD. The DBS indexes anxious driving behavior, which is frequently observed among individuals with motor vehicle accident-related PTSD. Participants (n = 40) were racially diverse adults (M age = 40.78, 63% women) who met diagnostic criteria for motor vehicle accident-related PTSD. Hierarchical linear modeling analyses indicated that participants who were assigned to a brief, exposure-based intervention displayed significant reductions on the DBS subscales relative to participants assigned to the wait-list control condition (r = .41–.43). Moreover, mediational analyses indicated that the observed reductions on the DBS subscales were not better accounted for by reductions in PTSD. Taken together, these findings suggest that the DBS subscales are sensitive to changes associated with PTSD treatment and can be used to augment outcome assessment in PTSD treatment trials. PMID:24800313

  10. Quantifying the Stress Responses of Brassica Rapa Genotypes, With Experimental Drought in Two Nitrogen Treatments

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hickerson, J. L.; Pleban, J. R.; Mackay, D. S.; Aston, T.; Ewers, B. E.; Weinig, C.

    2014-12-01

    In a greenhouse study designed to quantify and compare stress responses of four genotypes of Brassica rapa, broccolette (bro), cabbage (cab), turnip (tur), and oil, leaf water potential and net CO2 assimilations were measured. Individuals from each genotype, grown either with high or low nitrogen, were exposed to experimental drought of the same duration. One hypothesis was that the genotypes would differ significantly in their responses to periodic drought. The other hypothesis was that the nitrogen treatment versus no nitrogen treatment would play a significant role in the stress responses during drought. It would be expected that the nitrogen treated would have greater dry leaf mass. A LI-6400 XT portable photosynthesis system was used to obtain A/Ci curves (net CO2 assimilation rate versus substomatal CO2) for each treatment group. Predawn and midday water potentials were obtained throughout the hydrated and drought periods using a Model 670 pressure chamber. The dry leaf mass was significantly greater among the high nitrogen group versus the low nitrogen group for each genotype. Nitrogen and genotype were both determinants in variation of water potentials and net CO2 assimilation. Bro and cab genotypes with high nitrogen showed the highest net CO2 assimilation rates during hydration, but the assimilation rates dropped to the lowest during droughts. The water potentials for bro and cab were lower than values for tur and oil. Nitrogen treated genotypes had lower water potentials, but higher net CO2 assimilation rates. Bayesian ecophysiological modeling with the TREES model showed significant differences in trait expression, quantified in terms of differences in model parameter posteriors, among the four genotypes.

  11. Use of smartphones and portable media devices for quantifying human movement characteristics of gait, tendon reflex response, and Parkinson's disease hand tremor.

    PubMed

    LeMoyne, Robert; Mastroianni, Timothy

    2015-01-01

    Smartphones and portable media devices are both equipped with sensor components, such as accelerometers. A software application enables these devices to function as a robust wireless accelerometer platform. The recorded accelerometer waveform can be transmitted wireless as an e-mail attachment through connectivity to the Internet. The implication of such devices as a wireless accelerometer platform is the experimental and post-processing locations can be placed anywhere in the world. Gait was quantified by mounting a smartphone or portable media device proximal to the lateral malleolus of the ankle joint. Attributes of the gait cycle were quantified with a considerable accuracy and reliability. The patellar tendon reflex response was quantified by using the device in tandem with a potential energy impact pendulum to evoke the patellar tendon reflex. The acceleration waveform maximum acceleration feature of the reflex response displayed considerable accuracy and reliability. By mounting the smartphone or portable media device to the dorsum of the hand through a glove, Parkinson's disease hand tremor was quantified and contrasted with significance to a non-Parkinson's disease steady hand control. With the methods advocated in this chapter, any aspect of human movement may be quantified through smartphones or portable media devices and post-processed anywhere in the world. These wearable devices are anticipated to substantially impact the biomedical and healthcare industry.

  12. Patterns in response to chronic terrorism threats: A construct of emotional, cognitive, and behavioral responses among Israeli citizens.

    PubMed

    Cohen-Louck, Keren; Saka, Yael

    2017-10-01

    Israeli citizens are exposed to unpredictable and chronic terrorism threats that significantly jeopardize their personal sense of safety. The purpose of the present study is to present how Israeli discourse is structured with regard to emotional, cognitive, and behavioral responses to chronic terrorism threats and to understand the range of responses as well as map the risk and protective factors of this existential threat. Semistructured in-depth interviews were conducted with 40 Israeli adults (22 women and 18 men). Qualitative analysis revealed three patterns of responses to ongoing terrorism: emotional, cognitive, and behavioral. Emotional responses include fear, worry, sense of empathy, and detachment. Cognitive responses include situational assessment and pursuit of solutions, the use of traumatic imagining, beliefs in fate and luck, and optimism. Behavioral responses include looking for information, alertness, and habituation. The findings also revealed another response, which combines cognitive and behavioral responses. Some of the responses are innovative and unique to the threat of terrorism. Mapping the responses revealed mental health risk factors, as well as protective factors that can help structure personal and national resilience. These findings have implications on the treatment and prevention of personal and social pathologies, and how to effectively cope with terrorism threats. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  13. Quantifying the buildup in extent and complexity of free exploration in mice

    PubMed Central

    Benjamini, Yoav; Fonio, Ehud; Galili, Tal; Havkin, Gregor Z.; Golani, Ilan

    2011-01-01

    To obtain a perspective on an animal's own functional world, we study its behavior in situations that allow the animal to regulate the growth rate of its behavior and provide us with the opportunity to quantify its moment-by-moment developmental dynamics. Thus, we are able to show that mouse exploratory behavior consists of sequences of repeated motion: iterative processes that increase in extent and complexity, whose presumed function is a systematic active management of input acquired during the exploration of a novel environment. We use this study to demonstrate our approach to quantifying behavior: targeting aspects of behavior that are shown to be actively managed by the animal, and using measures that are discriminative across strains and treatments and replicable across laboratories. PMID:21383149

  14. Neuroticism and stress: the role of displacement behavior.

    PubMed

    Mohiyeddini, Changiz; Bauer, Stephanie; Semple, Stuart

    2015-01-01

    Neuroticism is linked with an impaired ability to cope with stress and is an important risk factor for stress-related disorders. Hence, there is interest in exploring the behavioral correlates of neuroticism and how such behaviors may moderate the link between neuroticism and the response to stress. Displacement behavior - activity such as face touching and scratching - is important to investigate in this respect, as recent studies indicate that such behavior is linked to negative emotional states and has an important stress coping function. Here, we explored the relationship between neuroticism, displacement behavior, and stress in a healthy population of men. This was a cross-sectional, quasiexperimentally controlled study. We assessed participants' levels of neuroticism, and then during a Trier Social Stress Test quantified displacement behavior, physiological, and cognitive indices of the stress response; after the test we measured the self-reported experience of stress. Displacement behavior was negatively correlated with self-reported experience, physiological, and cognitive measures of stress and moderated the relationships between neuroticism, self-reported experience, and cognitive index of stress. Our results suggest displacement behavior plays an important role in shaping the link between neuroticism and the response to stress.

  15. Internal Wave Apparatus for Copepod Behavior Assays

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jung, S.; Haas, K. A.; Webster, D. R.

    2015-11-01

    Internal waves are ubiquitous features in coastal marine environments and have been observed to mediate vertical distributions of zooplankton in situ. Internal waves are generated through oscillations of the pycnocline in stratified waters and thereby create fine-scale hydrodynamic cues that copepods and other zooplankton are known to sense, such as fluid density gradients and velocity gradients (quantified as shear deformation rate). The role of copepod behavior in response to cues associated with internal waves is largely unknown. Thus, a coupled quantification of copepod behavior and hydrodynamic cues will provide insight to the bio-physical interaction and the role of biological versus physical forcing in mediating organism distributions. We constructed a laboratory-scale internal wave apparatus to facilitate fine-scale observations of copepod behavior in flows that replicate in situ conditions of internal waves in a two-layer stratification. Three cases are chosen with density jump ranging between 0.75 - 1.5 kg/m3. Analytical analysis of the two-layer system provides guidance of the target forcing frequency to generate a standing internal wave with a single dominate frequency of oscillation. Flow visualization and signal processing of the interface location are used to quantify the wave characteristics. A copepod behavior assay is conducted, and sample trajectories are analyzed to identify copepod response to internal wave structure.

  16. Quantifying Hillslope to Watershed Erosional Response Following Wildfire

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vega, S.; Pierson, F. B.; Williams, C. J.; Brooks, E. S.; Strand, E. K.; Seyfried, M. S.; Murdock, M.; Pierce, J. L.; Roehner, C.; Lindsay, K.; Robichaud, P. R.; Brown, R. E.

    2017-12-01

    Across the western US, wildfires in sagebrush vegetation are occurring at a more frequent rate and higher severity. This has resulted in a decline of sagebrush rangeland. The changing fire regime can be attributed to invasive plant species and warming climate conditions. As the result of wildfire, protective vegetation cover is removed leaving the soil bare and exposed to erosion. Erosion following wildfire is a main concern among land managers due to the threat it poses to resources, infrastructure, and human health. Numerous studies have used artificial rainfall to assess post-fire runoff and erosion and rehabilitation treatment effectiveness. These results have found that high intensity rain events typical of summer convective storms drive post-fire erosion. The purpose of this study is to improve scientific understanding of how site-specific physical and biological attributes affect hillslope to watershed scale sediment yield on a mountainous burned sagebrush landscape. This study uses natural rainfall and a network of silt fences to quantify hillslope to watershed scale erosion response. The erosional drivers over various spatial scales were evaluated in context with vegetation recovery for a 2 year post-fire period. A network of silt fences was installed over long and short hillslope distances and in swales within the 130 ha Murphy Creek catchment in the Reynolds Creek Experimental Watershed in southwestern Idaho. We evaluated: 1) vegetation, soils, and sediment delivery across multiple spatial scales associated with 30 silt fences spanning north and south facing aspects, 2) precipitation input at two meteorological stations, and 3) watershed streamflow and sediment discharge from an existing weir. During the first and second year post-fire, the swales on both aspects produced more sediment than the short and long hillslopes. The results suggest that significant amounts of sediment and organic matter were deposited in the swales creating drifts. Sediment

  17. Climate change impacts: The challenge of quantifying multi-factor causation, multi-component responses, and leveraging from extremes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Field, C. B.

    2012-12-01

    Modeling climate change impacts is challenging for a variety of reasons. Some of these are related to causation. A weather or climate event is rarely the sole cause of an impact, and, for many impacts, social, economic, cultural, or ecological factors may play a larger role than climate. Other challenges are related to outcomes. Consequences of an event are often most severe when several kinds of responses interact, typically in unexpected ways. Many kinds of consequences are difficult to quantify, especially when they include a mix of market, cultural, personal, and ecological values. In addition, scale can be tremendously important. Modest impacts over large areas present very different challenges than severe but very local impacts. Finally, impacts may respond non-linearly to forcing, with behavior that changes qualitatively at one or more thresholds and with unexpected outcomes in extremes. Modeling these potentially complex interactions between drivers and impacts presents one set of challenges. Evaluating the models presents another. At least five kinds of approaches can contribute to the evaluation of impact models designed to provide insights in multi-driver, multi-responder, multi-scale, and extreme-driven contexts, even though none of these approaches is a complete or "silver-bullet" solution. The starting point for much of the evaluation in this space is case studies. Case studies can help illustrate links between processes and scales. They can highlight factors that amplify or suppress sensitivity to climate drivers, and they can suggest the consequences of intervening at different points. While case studies rarely provide concrete evidence about mechanisms, they can help move a mechanistic case from circumstantial to sound. Novel approaches to data collection, including crowd sourcing, can potentially provide tools and the number of relevant examples to develop case studies as statistically robust data sources. A critical condition for progress in this

  18. Sub transitional and supersonic travelling field response in nonlinear viscoelastic media

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Padovan, Joe

    1989-01-01

    This paper considers the problem of traveling fields in nonlinearly elastic and viscoelastic media. By introducing the appropriate hierarchical partitioning, the governing equations of motion are shown to be a continuum analogy of Duffing's equation. Through the use of a constrained perturbation procedure, the response behavior is obtained in sub, transitional as well as supersonic ranges of disturbance speed. Due to the generality of the approach taken, the effects of damping can be handled. To quantify the effects of material nonlinearity, strain softening and hardening are considered. Such behavior is quantified in general example problems.

  19. Examining cerebral angiogenesis in response to physical exercise.

    PubMed

    Berggren, Kiersten L; Kay, Jacob J M; Swain, Rodney A

    2014-01-01

    Capillary growth and expansion (angiogenesis) is a prerequisite for many forms of neural and behavioral plasticity. It is commonly observed in both brain and muscle of aerobically exercising animals. As such, several histological methods have been used to quantify capillary density, including perfusion with India ink, various Nissl stains, and immunohistochemistry. In this chapter, we will describe these histological procedures and describe the stereological analysis used to quantify vessel growth in response to aerobic exercise.

  20. A motivational model for environmentally responsible behavior.

    PubMed

    Tabernero, Carmen; Hernández, Bernardo

    2012-07-01

    This paper presents a study examining whether self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation are related to environmentally responsible behavior (ERB). The study analysed past environmental behavior, self-regulatory mechanisms (self-efficacy, satisfaction, goals), and intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in relation to ERBs in a sample of 156 university students. Results show that all the motivational variables studied are linked to ERB. The effects of self-efficacy on ERB are mediated by the intrinsic motivation responses of the participants. A theoretical model was created by means of path analysis, revealing the power of motivational variables to predict ERB. Structural equation modeling was used to test and fit the research model. The role of motivational variables is discussed with a view to creating adequate learning contexts and experiences to generate interest and new sensations in which self-efficacy and affective reactions play an important role.

  1. Blue Whale Behavioral Response Study and Field Testing of the New Bioacoustic Probe

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2011-09-30

    1 DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A. Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. Blue Whale Behavioral Response Study & Field Testing of...6849 email: jhildebrand@ucsd.edu Award Number: N000140811221 LONG-TERM GOALS Task 1: Blue Whales Behavioral Response Study The...behavioral response of large whales to commercial shipping and other low-frequency anthropogenic sound is not well understood. The PCAD model (NRC 2005

  2. Adolescent Physiological and Behavioral Patterns of Emotion Dysregulation Predict Multisystemic Therapy Response.

    PubMed

    Winiarski, D Anne; Schechter, Julia C; Brennan, Patricia A; Foster, Sharon L; Cunningham, Phillippe B; Whitmore, Elizabeth A

    2017-09-01

    This study examined whether physiological and behavioral indicators of emotion dysregulation assessed over the course of Multisystemic Therapy (MST) were related to treatment response. Participants were 180 ethnically diverse adolescents ( n =120 males), ranging in age from 12 to 17 years. Treatment response was assessed through therapist report and official arrest records. Changes in cortisol reactivity and changes in scores on a behavioral dysregulation subscale of the Child Behavior Checklist were used as indicators of emotion dysregulation. Hierarchical linear modeling analyses examined whether a less favorable treatment response was associated with cortisol reactivity measures (a) collected early in treatment and (b) over the course of treatment, as well as with behavioral reports of emotion dysregulation reported (c) early in treatment, and (d) over the course of treatment. Sex was explored as a moderator of these associations. Results indicated that both cortisol and behavioral indices of emotion dysregulation early in treatment and over the course of therapy predicted treatment responsiveness. This relationship was moderated by sex: girls were more likely to evidence a pattern of increasing emotion regulation prior to successful therapy response. The results lend further support to the notion of incorporating emotion regulation techniques into treatment protocols for delinquent behavior.

  3. Emotional and Behavioral Consequences of Bioterrorism: Planning a Public Health Response

    PubMed Central

    Stein, Bradley D; Tanielian, Terri L; Eisenman, David P; Keyser, Donna J; Burnam, M Audrey; Pincus, Harold A

    2004-01-01

    Millions of dollars have been spent improving the public health system's bioterrorism response capabilities. Yet relatively little attention has been paid to precisely how the public will respond to bioterrorism and how emotional and behavioral responses might complicate an otherwise successful response. This article synthesizes the available evidence about the likely emotional and behavioral consequences of bioterrorism to suggest what decision makers can do now to improve that response. It examines the emotional and behavioral impact of previous “bioterrorism-like” events and summarizes interviews with experts who have responded to such events or conducted research on the effects of communitywide disasters. The article concludes by reflecting on the evidence and experts’ perspectives to suggest actions to be taken now and future policy and research priorities. PMID:15330972

  4. Quantifying light-dependent circadian disruption in humans and animal models.

    PubMed

    Rea, Mark S; Figueiro, Mariana G

    2014-12-01

    Although circadian disruption is an accepted term, little has been done to develop methods to quantify the degree of disruption or entrainment individual organisms actually exhibit in the field. A variety of behavioral, physiological and hormonal responses vary in amplitude over a 24-h period and the degree to which these circadian rhythms are synchronized to the daily light-dark cycle can be quantified with a technique known as phasor analysis. Several studies have been carried out using phasor analysis in an attempt to measure circadian disruption exhibited by animals and by humans. To perform these studies, species-specific light measurement and light delivery technologies had to be developed based upon a fundamental understanding of circadian phototransduction mechanisms in the different species. When both nocturnal rodents and diurnal humans, experienced different species-specific light-dark shift schedules, they showed, based upon phasor analysis of the light-dark and activity-rest patterns, similar levels of light-dependent circadian disruption. Indeed, both rodents and humans show monotonically increasing and quantitatively similar levels of light-dependent circadian disruption with increasing shift-nights per week. Thus, phasor analysis provides a method for quantifying circadian disruption in the field and in the laboratory as well as a bridge between ecological measurements of circadian entrainment in humans and parametric studies of circadian disruption in animal models, including nocturnal rodents.

  5. Interparental Aggression and Infant Patterns of Adrenocortical and Behavioral Stress Responses

    PubMed Central

    Towe-Goodman, Nissa R.; Stifter, Cynthia A.; Mills-Koonce, W. Roger; Granger, Douglas A.

    2011-01-01

    Drawing on emotional security theory, this study examined linkages between interparental aggression, infant self-regulatory behaviors, and patterns of physiological and behavioral stress responses in a diverse sample of 735 infants residing in predominately low-income, nonmetropolitan communities. Latent profile analysis revealed four classes of adrenocortical and behavioral stress response patterns at 7-months of age, using assessments of behavioral and cortisol reactivity to an emotion eliciting challenge, as well as global ratings of the child’s negative affect and basal cortisol levels. The addition of covariates within the latent profile model suggested that children with more violence in the home and who used less caregiver-oriented regulation strategies were more likely to exhibit a pattern of high cortisol reactivity with moderate signs of distress rather than the average stress response, suggesting possible patterns of adaptation in violent households. PMID:22127795

  6. Distribution of Auditory Response Behaviors in Normal Infants and Profoundly Multihandicapped Children.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Flexer, Carol; Gans, Donald P.

    1986-01-01

    A study compared the responsiveness to sound by normal infants and profoundly multihandicapped children. Results revealed that the profoundly multihandicapped subjects displayed relatively more reflexive than attentive type behaviors and exhibited fewer behaviors per response. (Author/CB)

  7. Emotional Responses to Environmental Messages and Future Behavioral Intentions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Perrin, Jeffrey L.

    2011-01-01

    The present research investigated effects of message framing (losses-framed or gains-framed), message modality (video with text or text-only) and emotional arousal on environmentally responsible behavioral intentions. The sample consisted of 161 college students. The present research did not find a significant difference in behavioral intentions…

  8. A diagnostic for quantifying heat flux from a thermite spray

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

    E. P. Nixon; M. L. Pantoya; D. J. Prentice

    2010-02-01

    Characterizing the combustion behaviors of energetic materials requires diagnostic tools that are often not readily or commercially available. For example, a jet of thermite spray provides a high temperature and pressure reaction that can also be highly corrosive and promote undesirable conditions for the survivability of any sensor. Developing a diagnostic to quantify heat flux from a thermite spray is the objective of this study. Quick response sensors such as thin film heat flux sensors cannot survive the harsh conditions of the spray, but more rugged sensors lack the response time for the resolution desired. A sensor that will allowmore » for adequate response time while surviving the entire test duration was constructed. The sensor outputs interior temperatures of the probes at known locations and utilizes an inverse heat conduction code to calculate heat flux values. The details of this device are discussed and illustrated. Temperature and heat flux measurements of various thermite sprays are reported. Results indicate that this newly designed heat flux sensor provides quantitative data with good repeatability suitable for characterizing energetic material combustion.« less

  9. Quantifying Trading Behavior in Financial Markets Using Google Trends

    PubMed Central

    Preis, Tobias; Moat, Helen Susannah; Stanley, H. Eugene

    2013-01-01

    Crises in financial markets affect humans worldwide. Detailed market data on trading decisions reflect some of the complex human behavior that has led to these crises. We suggest that massive new data sources resulting from human interaction with the Internet may offer a new perspective on the behavior of market participants in periods of large market movements. By analyzing changes in Google query volumes for search terms related to finance, we find patterns that may be interpreted as “early warning signs” of stock market moves. Our results illustrate the potential that combining extensive behavioral data sets offers for a better understanding of collective human behavior. PMID:23619126

  10. Quantifying Trading Behavior in Financial Markets Using Google Trends

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Preis, Tobias; Moat, Helen Susannah; Stanley, H. Eugene

    2013-04-01

    Crises in financial markets affect humans worldwide. Detailed market data on trading decisions reflect some of the complex human behavior that has led to these crises. We suggest that massive new data sources resulting from human interaction with the Internet may offer a new perspective on the behavior of market participants in periods of large market movements. By analyzing changes in Google query volumes for search terms related to finance, we find patterns that may be interpreted as ``early warning signs'' of stock market moves. Our results illustrate the potential that combining extensive behavioral data sets offers for a better understanding of collective human behavior.

  11. Nonlinear response and avalanche behavior in metallic glasses

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Riechers, B.; Samwer, K.

    2017-08-01

    The response to different stress amplitudes at temperatures below the glass transition temperature is analyzed by mechanical oscillatory excitation of Pd40Ni40P20 metallic glass samples in single cantilever bending geometry. While low amplitude oscillatory excitations are commonly used in mechanical spectroscopy to probe the relaxation spectrum, in this work the response to comparably high amplitudes is investigated. The strain response of the material is well below the critical yield stress even for highest stress amplitudes, implying the expectation of a linear relation between stress and strain according to Hooke's Law. However, a deviation from the linear behavior is evident, which is analyzed in terms of temperature dependence and influence of the applied stress amplitude by two different approaches of evaluation. The nonlinear approach is based on a nonlinear expansion of the stress-strain-relation, assuming an intrinsic nonlinear character of the shear or elastic modulus. The degree of nonlinearity is extracted by a period-by-period Fourier-analysis and connected to nonlinear coefficients, describing the intensity of nonlinearity at the fundamental and higher harmonic frequencies. The characteristic timescale to adapt to a significant change in stress amplitude in terms of a recovery timescale to a steady state value is connected to the structural relaxation time of the material, suggesting a connection between the observed nonlinearity and primary relaxation processes. The second approach of evaluation is termed the incremental analysis and relates the observed response behavior to avalanches, which occur due to the activation and correlation of local microstructural rearrangements. These rearrangements are connected with shear transformation zones and correspond to localized plastic events, which are superimposed on the linear response behavior of the material.

  12. An Introduction to Item Response Theory for Health Behavior Researchers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Warne, Russell T.; McKyer, E. J. Lisako; Smith, Matthew L.

    2012-01-01

    Objective: To introduce item response theory (IRT) to health behavior researchers by contrasting it with classical test theory and providing an example of IRT in health behavior. Method: Demonstrate IRT by fitting the 2PL model to substance-use survey data from the Adolescent Health Risk Behavior questionnaire (n = 1343 adolescents). Results: An…

  13. Managing What We Can Measure: Quantifying the Susceptibility of Automated Scoring Systems to Gaming Behavior

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Higgins, Derrick; Heilman, Michael

    2014-01-01

    As methods for automated scoring of constructed-response items become more widely adopted in state assessments, and are used in more consequential operational configurations, it is critical that their susceptibility to gaming behavior be investigated and managed. This article provides a review of research relevant to how construct-irrelevant…

  14. Behavioral and Physiological Responses of Horses to Simulated Aircraft Noise

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1991-01-01

    AL-TR-1991-0123 A R M BEHAVIORAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL S RESPONSES OF HORSES TO SIMULATED T AIRCRAFT NOISE R 0 N G Michelle M. LeBlanc Christoph Lombard...COVERED • 10 January 1991 IFinal Report Dec 89 to Jan 91 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 5. FUNDING NUMBERS Behavioral and Physiological Responses of Horses to...NUMBER OF PAGES Aircraft, Noise, Domestic Animals, Horses , 70 Disturbance, Physiological Effects 16. PRICE CODE 17. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION 18. SECURITY

  15. The Power of the Like in Adolescence: Effects of Peer Influence on Neural and Behavioral Responses to Social Media.

    PubMed

    Sherman, Lauren E; Payton, Ashley A; Hernandez, Leanna M; Greenfield, Patricia M; Dapretto, Mirella

    2016-07-01

    We investigated a unique way in which adolescent peer influence occurs on social media. We developed a novel functional MRI (fMRI) paradigm to simulate Instagram, a popular social photo-sharing tool, and measured adolescents' behavioral and neural responses to likes, a quantifiable form of social endorsement and potential source of peer influence. Adolescents underwent fMRI while viewing photos ostensibly submitted to Instagram. They were more likely to like photos depicted with many likes than photos with few likes; this finding showed the influence of virtual peer endorsement and held for both neutral photos and photos of risky behaviors (e.g., drinking, smoking). Viewing photos with many (compared with few) likes was associated with greater activity in neural regions implicated in reward processing, social cognition, imitation, and attention. Furthermore, when adolescents viewed risky photos (as opposed to neutral photos), activation in the cognitive-control network decreased. These findings highlight possible mechanisms underlying peer influence during adolescence. © The Author(s) 2016.

  16. Behavioral response of manatees to variations in environmental sound levels

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Miksis-Olds, Jennifer L.; Wagner, Tyler

    2011-01-01

    Florida manatees (Trichechus manatus latirostris) inhabit coastal regions because they feed on the aquatic vegetation that grows in shallow waters, which are the same areas where human activities are greatest. Noise produced from anthropogenic and natural sources has the potential to affect these animals by eliciting responses ranging from mild behavioral changes to extreme aversion. Sound levels were calculated from recordings made throughout behavioral observation periods. An information theoretic approach was used to investigate the relationship between behavior patterns and sound level. Results indicated that elevated sound levels affect manatee activity and are a function of behavioral state. The proportion of time manatees spent feeding and milling changed in response to sound level. When ambient sound levels were highest, more time was spent in the directed, goal-oriented behavior of feeding, whereas less time was spent engaged in undirected behavior such as milling. This work illustrates how shifts in activity of individual manatees may be useful parameters for identifying impacts of noise on manatees and might inform population level effects.

  17. A novel approach to quantifying the spatiotemporal behavior of instrumented grey seals used to sample the environment.

    PubMed

    Baker, Laurie L; Mills Flemming, Joanna E; Jonsen, Ian D; Lidgard, Damian C; Iverson, Sara J; Bowen, W Don

    2015-01-01

    Paired with satellite location telemetry, animal-borne instruments can collect spatiotemporal data describing the animal's movement and environment at a scale relevant to its behavior. Ecologists have developed methods for identifying the area(s) used by an animal (e.g., home range) and those used most intensely (utilization distribution) based on location data. However, few have extended these models beyond their traditional roles as descriptive 2D summaries of point data. Here we demonstrate how the home range method, T-LoCoH, can be expanded to quantify collective sampling coverage by multiple instrumented animals using grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) equipped with GPS tags and acoustic transceivers on the Scotian Shelf (Atlantic Canada) as a case study. At the individual level, we illustrate how time and space-use metrics quantifying individual sampling coverage may be used to determine the rate of acoustic transmissions received. Grey seals collectively sampled an area of 11,308 km (2) and intensely sampled an area of 31 km (2) from June-December. The largest area sampled was in July (2094.56 km (2)) and the smallest area sampled occurred in August (1259.80 km (2)), with changes in sampling coverage observed through time. T-LoCoH provides an effective means to quantify changes in collective sampling effort by multiple instrumented animals and to compare these changes across time. We also illustrate how time and space-use metrics of individual instrumented seal movement calculated using T-LoCoH can be used to account for differences in the amount of time a bioprobe (biological sampling platform) spends in an area.

  18. The Delaware Function Rater: A Method of Quantifying Classroom Behavior.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gaynor, John F.; Gaynor, Mary F.

    Developed was a student behavior rating system for use by teachers in identifying and assessing behavior problems and as an aid in classroom management. A time coding instrument was used, with behavior expressed as relative frequencies of a hierarchy of four mutually exclusive, exhaustive categories of behavior--relevent, unproductive, disruptive,…

  19. role of altruistic behavior, empathetic concern, and social responsibility motivation in blood donation behavior.

    PubMed

    Steele, Whitney Randolph; Schreiber, George B; Guiltinan, Anne; Nass, Catharie; Glynn, Simone A; Wright, David J; Kessler, Debra; Schlumpf, Karen S; Tu, Yongling; Smith, James W; Garratty, George

    2008-01-01

    Blood donation can be described as a prosocial behavior, and donors often cite prosocial reasons such as altruism, empathy, or social responsibility for their willingness to donate. Previous studies have not quantitatively evaluated these characteristics in donors or examined how they relate to donation frequency. As part of a donor motivation study, 12,064 current and lapsed donors answered questions used to create an altruistic behavior, empathetic concern, and social responsibility motivation score for each donor. Analysis of variance was used to compare mean scores by demographics and donor status and to determine the influence of each variable on the mean number of donations in the past 5 years. The mean score for each prosocial characteristic appeared high, with lower scores in male and younger donors. Higher altruistic behavior and social responsibility motivation scores were associated with increased past donation frequency, but the effects were minor. Empathetic concern was not associated with prior donation. The largest differences in prior donations were by age and donor status, with older and current donors having given more frequently. Most blood donors appear to have high levels of the primary prosocial characteristics (altruism, empathy, and social responsibility) commonly thought to be the main motivators for donation, but these factors do not appear to be the ones most strongly related to donation frequency. Traditional donor appeals based on these characteristics may need to be supplemented by approaches that address practical concerns like convenience, community safety, or personal benefit.

  20. Behavioral responses by grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) to high frequency sonar.

    PubMed

    Hastie, Gordon D; Donovan, Carl; Götz, Thomas; Janik, Vincent M

    2014-02-15

    The use of high frequency sonar is now commonplace in the marine environment. Most marine mammals rely on sound to navigate, and for detecting prey, and there is the potential that the acoustic signals of sonar could cause behavioral responses. To investigate this, we carried out behavioral response tests with grey seals to two sonar systems (200 and 375 kHz systems). Results showed that both systems had significant effects on the seals behavior; when the 200 kHz sonar was active, seals spent significantly more time hauled out and, although seals remained swimming during operation of the 375 kHz sonar, they were distributed further from the sonar. The results show that although peak sonar frequencies may be above marine mammal hearing ranges, high levels of sound can be produced within their hearing ranges that elicit behavioral responses; this has clear implications for the widespread use of sonar in the marine environment. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Characterizing Sexual Behavior in Frontotemporal Dementia.

    PubMed

    Ahmed, Rebekah M; Kaizik, Cassandra; Irish, Muireann; Mioshi, Eneida; Dermody, Nadene; Kiernan, Matthew C; Piguet, Olivier; Hodges, John R

    2015-01-01

    Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is characterized by a number of prominent behavioral changes. While FTD has been associated with the presence of aberrant or unusual sexual behaviors in a proportion of patients, few studies have formally investigated changes in sexual function in this disease. We aimed to systematically quantify changes in sexual behavior, including current symptoms and changes from prior diagnoses, in behavioral-variant (bvFTD) and semantic dementia (SD), compared to Alzheimer's disease (AD). Carers of 49 dementia patients (21 bvFTD, 11 SD, 17 AD) were interviewed using the Sexual Behavior and Intimacy Questionnaire (SIQ), a survey designed to assess changes in sexual function across multiple domains including initiating, level of affection, and aberrant or unusual sexual behavior. BvFTD patients show prominent hyposexual behavior including decreased affection, initiation, and response to advances by partners, and decreased frequency of sexual relations, compared to AD and to SD patients. The greatest changes in sexual behavior compared to pre-diagnoses were found in the bvFTD group with a 90-100% decrease in initiation, response, and frequency of sexual relations. Notably, aberrant or unusual sexual behavior was reported in a minority of bvFTD and SD patients and occurred in patients who also showed hyposexual behavior toward their partner. Overall loss of affection, reduced initiation of sexual activity, and responsiveness is an overwhelming feature of bvFTD. In contrast, aberrant or unusual sexual behavior is observed in the minority of bvFTD patients. The underlying pathophysiology of these changes likely reflects structural and functional changes in frontoinsular and limbic regions including the hypothalamus.

  2. Do Termites Avoid Carcasses? Behavioral Responses Depend on the Nature of the Carcasses

    PubMed Central

    Neoh, Kok-Boon; Yeap, Beng-Keok; Tsunoda, Kunio; Yoshimura, Tsuyoshi; Lee, Chow-Yang

    2012-01-01

    Background Undertaking behavior is a significant adaptation to social life in enclosed nests. Workers are known to remove dead colony members from the nest. Such behavior prevents the spread of pathogens that may be detrimental to a colony. To date, little is known about the ethological aspects of how termites deal with carcasses. Methodology and Principal Findings In this study, we tested the responses to carcasses of four species from different subterranean termite taxa: Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki and Reticulitermes speratus (Kolbe) (lower termites) and Microcerotermes crassus Snyder and Globitermes sulphureus Haviland (higher termites). We also used different types of carcasses (freshly killed, 1-, 3-, and 7-day-old, and oven-killed carcasses) and mutilated nestmates to investigate whether the termites exhibited any behavioral responses that were specific to carcasses in certain conditions. Some behavioral responses were performed specifically on certain types of carcasses or mutilated termites. C. formosanus and R. speratus exhibited the following behaviors: (1) the frequency and time spent in antennating, grooming, and carcass removal of freshly killed, 1-day-old, and oven-killed carcasses were high, but these behaviors decreased as the carcasses aged; (2) the termites repeatedly crawled under the aging carcass piles; and (3) only newly dead termites were consumed as a food source. In contrast, M. crassus and G. sulphureus workers performed relatively few behavioral acts. Our results cast a new light on the previous notion that termites are necrophobic in nature. Conclusion We conclude that the behavioral response towards carcasses depends largely on the nature of the carcasses and termite species, and the response is more complex than was previously thought. Such behavioral responses likely are associated with the threat posed to the colony by the carcasses and the feeding habits and nesting ecology of a given species. PMID:22558452

  3. Sleep spindles may predict response to cognitive-behavioral therapy for chronic insomnia.

    PubMed

    Dang-Vu, Thien Thanh; Hatch, Benjamin; Salimi, Ali; Mograss, Melodee; Boucetta, Soufiane; O'Byrne, Jordan; Brandewinder, Marie; Berthomier, Christian; Gouin, Jean-Philippe

    2017-11-01

    While cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia constitutes the first-line treatment for chronic insomnia, only few reports have investigated how sleep architecture relates to response to this treatment. In this pilot study, we aimed to determine whether pre-treatment sleep spindle density predicts treatment response to cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia. Twenty-four participants with chronic primary insomnia participated in a 6-week cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia performed in groups of 4-6 participants. Treatment response was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and the Insomnia Severity Index measured at pre- and post-treatment, and at 3- and 12-months' follow-up assessments. Secondary outcome measures were extracted from sleep diaries over 7 days and overnight polysomnography, obtained at pre- and post-treatment. Spindle density during stage N2-N3 sleep was extracted from polysomnography at pre-treatment. Hierarchical linear modeling analysis assessed whether sleep spindle density predicted response to cognitive-behavioral therapy. After adjusting for age, sex, and education level, lower spindle density at pre-treatment predicted poorer response over the 12-month follow-up, as reflected by a smaller reduction in Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index over time. Reduced spindle density also predicted lower improvements in sleep diary sleep efficiency and wake after sleep onset immediately after treatment. There were no significant associations between spindle density and changes in the Insomnia Severity Index or polysomnography variables over time. These preliminary results suggest that inter-individual differences in sleep spindle density in insomnia may represent an endogenous biomarker predicting responsiveness to cognitive-behavioral therapy. Insomnia with altered spindle activity might constitute an insomnia subtype characterized by a neurophysiological vulnerability to sleep disruption associated with impaired responsiveness to

  4. Multiparameter behavioral profiling reveals distinct thermal response regimes in Caenorhabditis elegans

    PubMed Central

    2012-01-01

    Background Responding to noxious stimuli by invoking an appropriate escape response is critical for survival of an organism. The sensations of small and large changes in temperature in most organisms have been studied separately in the context of thermotaxis and nociception, respectively. Here we use the nematode C. elegans to address the neurogenetic basis of responses to thermal stimuli over a broad range of intensities. Results C. elegans responds to aversive temperature by eliciting a stereotypical behavioral sequence. Upon sensation of the noxious stimulus, it moves backwards, turns and resumes forward movement in a new direction. In order to study the response of C. elegans to a broad range of noxious thermal stimuli, we developed a novel assay that allows simultaneous characterization of multiple aspects of escape behavior elicited by thermal pulses of increasing amplitudes. We exposed the laboratory strain N2, as well as 47 strains with defects in various aspects of nervous system function, to thermal pulses ranging from ΔT = 0.4°C to 9.1°C and recorded the resulting behavioral profiles. Conclusions Through analysis of the multidimensional behavioral profiles, we found that the combinations of molecules shaping avoidance responses to a given thermal pulse are unique. At different intensities of aversive thermal stimuli, these distinct combinations of molecules converge onto qualitatively similar stereotyped behavioral sequences. PMID:23114012

  5. Authorship matrix: a rational approach to quantify individual contributions and responsibilities in multi-author scientific articles.

    PubMed

    Clement, T Prabhakar

    2014-06-01

    We propose a rational method for addressing an important question-who deserves to be an author of a scientific article? We review various contentious issues associated with this question and recommend that the scientific community should view authorship in terms of contributions and responsibilities, rather than credits. We propose a new paradigm that conceptually divides a scientific article into four basic elements: ideas, work, writing, and stewardship. We employ these four fundamental elements to modify the well-known International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) authorship guidelines. The modified ICMJE guidelines are then used as the basis to develop an approach to quantify individual contributions and responsibilities in multi-author articles. The outcome of the approach is an authorship matrix, which can be used to answer several nagging questions related to authorship.

  6. Skip the Trip: Air Travelers' Behavioral Responses to Pandemic Influenza

    PubMed Central

    Fenichel, Eli P.; Kuminoff, Nicolai V.; Chowell, Gerardo

    2013-01-01

    Theory suggests that human behavior has implications for disease spread. We examine the hypothesis that individuals engage in voluntary defensive behavior during an epidemic. We estimate the number of passengers missing previously purchased flights as a function of concern for swine flu or A/H1N1 influenza using 1.7 million detailed flight records, Google Trends, and the World Health Organization's FluNet data. We estimate that concern over “swine flu,” as measured by Google Trends, accounted for 0.34% of missed flights during the epidemic. The Google Trends data correlates strongly with media attention, but poorly (at times negatively) with reported cases in FluNet. Passengers show no response to reported cases. Passengers skipping their purchased trips forwent at least $50 M in travel related benefits. Responding to actual cases would have cut this estimate in half. Thus, people appear to respond to an epidemic by voluntarily engaging in self-protection behavior, but this behavior may not be responsive to objective measures of risk. Clearer risk communication could substantially reduce epidemic costs. People undertaking costly risk reduction behavior, for example, forgoing nonrefundable flights, suggests they may also make less costly behavior adjustments to avoid infection. Accounting for defensive behaviors may be important for forecasting epidemics, but linking behavior with epidemics likely requires consideration of risk communication. PMID:23526970

  7. Skip the trip: air travelers' behavioral responses to pandemic influenza.

    PubMed

    Fenichel, Eli P; Kuminoff, Nicolai V; Chowell, Gerardo

    2013-01-01

    Theory suggests that human behavior has implications for disease spread. We examine the hypothesis that individuals engage in voluntary defensive behavior during an epidemic. We estimate the number of passengers missing previously purchased flights as a function of concern for swine flu or A/H1N1 influenza using 1.7 million detailed flight records, Google Trends, and the World Health Organization's FluNet data. We estimate that concern over "swine flu," as measured by Google Trends, accounted for 0.34% of missed flights during the epidemic. The Google Trends data correlates strongly with media attention, but poorly (at times negatively) with reported cases in FluNet. Passengers show no response to reported cases. Passengers skipping their purchased trips forwent at least $50 M in travel related benefits. Responding to actual cases would have cut this estimate in half. Thus, people appear to respond to an epidemic by voluntarily engaging in self-protection behavior, but this behavior may not be responsive to objective measures of risk. Clearer risk communication could substantially reduce epidemic costs. People undertaking costly risk reduction behavior, for example, forgoing nonrefundable flights, suggests they may also make less costly behavior adjustments to avoid infection. Accounting for defensive behaviors may be important for forecasting epidemics, but linking behavior with epidemics likely requires consideration of risk communication.

  8. The power of the “like” in adolescence: Effects of peer influence on neural and behavioral responses to social media

    PubMed Central

    Sherman, Lauren E.; Payton, Ashley A.; Hernandez, Leanna M.; Greenfield, Patricia M.; Dapretto, Mirella

    2016-01-01

    We investigated a unique way in which adolescent peer influence occurs on social media. We developed a novel fMRI paradigm to simulate the popular social photo-sharing tool Instagram, and measured adolescents’ behavioral and neural responses to “Likes,” a quantifiable form of social endorsement and potential source of peer influence. Adolescents underwent fMRI while viewing photographs ostensibly submitted to Instagram. Adolescents were more likely to Like photos depicted with many Likes and refrain from Liking photos with few Likes – indicating the influence of virtual peer endorsement, a finding that held for both neutral photos and photos of risky behaviors (e.g., drinking, smoking). Viewing photographs with many (vs. few) Likes was associated with greater activity in neural regions implicated in reward processing, social cognition, imitation, and attention. Furthermore, when adolescents viewed risky (vs. non-risky) photographs, activation in the cognitive control network decreased. These findings highlight possible mechanisms underlying peer influence during adolescence. PMID:27247125

  9. Quantifying the signals contained in heterogeneous neural responses and determining their relationships with task performance

    PubMed Central

    Pagan, Marino

    2014-01-01

    The responses of high-level neurons tend to be mixtures of many different types of signals. While this diversity is thought to allow for flexible neural processing, it presents a challenge for understanding how neural responses relate to task performance and to neural computation. To address these challenges, we have developed a new method to parse the responses of individual neurons into weighted sums of intuitive signal components. Our method computes the weights by projecting a neuron's responses onto a predefined orthonormal basis. Once determined, these weights can be combined into measures of signal modulation; however, in their raw form these signal modulation measures are biased by noise. Here we introduce and evaluate two methods for correcting this bias, and we report that an analytically derived approach produces performance that is robust and superior to a bootstrap procedure. Using neural data recorded from inferotemporal cortex and perirhinal cortex as monkeys performed a delayed-match-to-sample target search task, we demonstrate how the method can be used to quantify the amounts of task-relevant signals in heterogeneous neural populations. We also demonstrate how these intuitive quantifications of signal modulation can be related to single-neuron measures of task performance (d′). PMID:24920017

  10. Coping with an Acute Psychosocial Challenge: Behavioral and Physiological Responses in Young Women

    PubMed Central

    Villada, Carolina; Hidalgo, Vanesa; Almela, Mercedes; Mastorci, Francesca; Sgoifo, Andrea; Salvador, Alicia

    2014-01-01

    Despite the relevance of behavior in understanding individual differences in the strategies used to cope with stressors, behavioral responses and their relationships with psychobiological changes have received little attention. In this study on young women, we aimed at analyzing the associations among different components of the stress response and behavioral coping using a laboratory psychosocial stressor. The Ethological Coding System for Interviews, as well as neuroendocrine, autonomic and mood parameters, were used to measure the stress response in 34 young women (17 free-cycling women in their early follicular phase and 17 oral contraceptive users) subjected to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and a control condition in a crossover design. No significant differences in cardiac autonomic, negative mood and anxiety responses to the stressor were observed between the two groups of women. However, women in the follicular phase showed a higher cortisol response and a larger decrease in positive mood during the social stress episode, as well as greater anxiety overall. Interestingly, the amount of displacement behavior exhibited during the speaking task of the TSST was positively related to anxiety levels preceding the test, but negatively related to baseline and stress response values of heart rate. Moreover, the amount of submissive behavior was negatively related to basal cortisol levels. Finally, eye contact and low-aggressiveness behaviors were associated with a worsening in mood. Overall, these findings emphasize the close relationship between coping behavior and psychobiological reactions, as well as the role of individual variations in the strategy of coping with a psychosocial stressor. PMID:25489730

  11. Methyltestosterone-induced changes in electro-olfactogram responses and courtship behaviors of cyprinids.

    PubMed

    Belanger, Rachelle M; Pachkowski, Melanie D; Stacey, Norm E

    2010-01-01

    In the tinfoil barb (Barbonymus schwanenfeldii; family Cyprinidae), we previously found that increased olfactory sensitivity to a female prostaglandin pheromone could induce sexual behavior display in juvenile fish treated with androgens. Here, we determined if this phenomenon is widespread among cyprinid fishes by adding 17alpha-methyltestosterone (MT) to aquaria containing juveniles of 4 cyprinid species (tinfoil barbs; redtail sharkminnows, Epalzeorhynchos bicolor; goldfish, Carassius auratus; zebrafish, Danio rerio) and then using electro-olfactogram (EOG) recordings and behavioral assays to determine if androgen treatment enhances pheromone detection and male sex behaviors. In all 4 cyprinids, MT treatment increased the magnitudes and sensitivities of EOG response to prostaglandins and, consistent with our initial study on tinfoil barbs, did not affect EOG responses to the free and conjugated steroid to which each species is most sensitive. In zebrafish, EOG responses to prostaglandins were similar in MT-treated juveniles and adult males, whereas responses of control (ethanol exposed) fish were similar to those of adult females. Finally, as previously observed in tinfoil barbs, MT treatment of juvenile redtail sharkminnows increased courtship behaviors (nuzzling and quivering) with a stimulus fish. We conclude that androgen-induced increase in olfactory responsiveness to pheromonal prostaglandins is common among the family Cyprinidae. This phenomenon will help us unravel the development of sexually dimorphic olfactory-mediated behavior.

  12. Brain-behavioral adaptability predicts response to cognitive behavioral therapy for emotional disorders: A person-centered event-related potential study.

    PubMed

    Stange, Jonathan P; MacNamara, Annmarie; Kennedy, Amy E; Hajcak, Greg; Phan, K Luan; Klumpp, Heide

    2017-06-23

    Single-trial-level analyses afford the ability to link neural indices of elaborative attention (such as the late positive potential [LPP], an event-related potential) with downstream markers of attentional processing (such as reaction time [RT]). This approach can provide useful information about individual differences in information processing, such as the ability to adapt behavior based on attentional demands ("brain-behavioral adaptability"). Anxiety and depression are associated with maladaptive information processing implicating aberrant cognition-emotion interactions, but whether brain-behavioral adaptability predicts response to psychotherapy is not known. We used a novel person-centered, trial-level analysis approach to link neural indices of stimulus processing to behavioral responses and to predict treatment outcome. Thirty-nine patients with anxiety and/or depression received 12 weeks of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Prior to treatment, patients performed a speeded reaction-time task involving briefly-presented pairs of aversive and neutral pictures while electroencephalography was recorded. Multilevel modeling demonstrated that larger LPPs predicted slower responses on subsequent trials, suggesting that increased attention to the task-irrelevant nature of pictures interfered with reaction time on subsequent trials. Whereas using LPP and RT averages did not distinguish CBT responders from nonresponders, in trial-level analyses individuals who demonstrated greater ability to benefit behaviorally (i.e., faster RT) from smaller LPPs on the previous trial (greater brain-behavioral adaptability) were more likely to respond to treatment and showed greater improvements in depressive symptoms. These results highlight the utility of trial-level analyses to elucidate variability in within-subjects, brain-behavioral attentional coupling in the context of emotion processing, in predicting response to CBT for emotional disorders. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd

  13. Emotional responses to behavioral economic incentives for health behavior change.

    PubMed

    van der Swaluw, Koen; Lambooij, Mattijs S; Mathijssen, Jolanda J P; Zeelenberg, Marcel; Polder, Johan J; Prast, Henriëtte M

    2018-03-05

    Many people aim to change their lifestyle, but have trouble acting on their intentions. Behavioral economic incentives and related emotions can support commitment to personal health goals, but the related emotions remain unexplored. In a regret lottery, winners who do not attain their health goals do not get their prize but receive feedback on what their forgone earnings would have been. This counterfactual feedback should provoke anticipated regret and increase commitment to health goals. We explored which emotions were actually expected upon missing out on a prize due to unsuccessful weight loss and which incentive-characteristics influence their likelihood and intensity. Participants reported their expected emotional response after missing out on a prize in one of 12 randomly presented incentive-scenarios, which varied in incentive type, incentive size and deadline distance. Participants primarily reported feeling disappointment, followed by regret. Regret was expected most when losing a lottery prize (vs. a fixed incentive) and intensified with prize size. Multiple features of the participant and the lottery incentive increase the occurrence and intensity of regret. As such, our findings can be helpful in designing behavioral economic incentives that leverage emotions to support health behavior change.

  14. Staffing a Low-Performing School: Behavioral Responses to Selective Teacher Transfer Incentives

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Protik, Ali; Glazerman, Steven; Bruch, Julie; Teh, Bing-ru

    2015-01-01

    We examine behavioral responses to an incentive program that offers high-performing teachers in ten school districts across the country $20,000 to transfer into the district's hardest-to-staff schools. We discuss behavioral responses to the program on high-performing teachers' willingness to transfer (supply) and the effect of the transfer offer…

  15. Excluded and behaving unethically: social exclusion, physiological responses, and unethical behavior.

    PubMed

    Kouchaki, Maryam; Wareham, Justin

    2015-03-01

    Across 2 studies, we investigated the ethical consequences of physiological responses to social exclusion. In Study 1, participants who were socially excluded were more likely to engage in unethical behavior to make money and the level of physiological arousal experienced during exclusion--measured using galvanic skin response--mediated the effects of exclusion on unethical behavior. Likewise, in Study 2, results from a sample of supervisor-subordinate dyads revealed a positive relationship between experience of workplace ostracism and unethical behaviors as rated by the immediate supervisors. This relationship was mediated by employees' reports of experienced physiological arousal. Together, the results of these studies demonstrate that physiological arousal accompanies social exclusion and provides an explanatory mechanism for the increased unethical behavior in both samples. Theoretical implications of these findings for research on ethical behavior and social exclusion in the workplace are discussed. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

  16. Depression and sickness behavior are Janus-faced responses to shared inflammatory pathways

    PubMed Central

    2012-01-01

    It is of considerable translational importance whether depression is a form or a consequence of sickness behavior. Sickness behavior is a behavioral complex induced by infections and immune trauma and mediated by pro-inflammatory cytokines. It is an adaptive response that enhances recovery by conserving energy to combat acute inflammation. There are considerable phenomenological similarities between sickness behavior and depression, for example, behavioral inhibition, anorexia and weight loss, and melancholic (anhedonia), physio-somatic (fatigue, hyperalgesia, malaise), anxiety and neurocognitive symptoms. In clinical depression, however, a transition occurs to sensitization of immuno-inflammatory pathways, progressive damage by oxidative and nitrosative stress to lipids, proteins, and DNA, and autoimmune responses directed against self-epitopes. The latter mechanisms are the substrate of a neuroprogressive process, whereby multiple depressive episodes cause neural tissue damage and consequent functional and cognitive sequelae. Thus, shared immuno-inflammatory pathways underpin the physiology of sickness behavior and the pathophysiology of clinical depression explaining their partially overlapping phenomenology. Inflammation may provoke a Janus-faced response with a good, acute side, generating protective inflammation through sickness behavior and a bad, chronic side, for example, clinical depression, a lifelong disorder with positive feedback loops between (neuro)inflammation and (neuro)degenerative processes following less well defined triggers. PMID:22747645

  17. Measuring and Modeling Behavioral Decision Dynamics in Collective Evacuation

    PubMed Central

    Carlson, Jean M.; Alderson, David L.; Stromberg, Sean P.; Bassett, Danielle S.; Craparo, Emily M.; Guiterrez-Villarreal, Francisco; Otani, Thomas

    2014-01-01

    Identifying and quantifying factors influencing human decision making remains an outstanding challenge, impacting the performance and predictability of social and technological systems. In many cases, system failures are traced to human factors including congestion, overload, miscommunication, and delays. Here we report results of a behavioral network science experiment, targeting decision making in a natural disaster. In a controlled laboratory setting, our results quantify several key factors influencing individual evacuation decision making in a controlled laboratory setting. The experiment includes tensions between broadcast and peer-to-peer information, and contrasts the effects of temporal urgency associated with the imminence of the disaster and the effects of limited shelter capacity for evacuees. Based on empirical measurements of the cumulative rate of evacuations as a function of the instantaneous disaster likelihood, we develop a quantitative model for decision making that captures remarkably well the main features of observed collective behavior across many different scenarios. Moreover, this model captures the sensitivity of individual- and population-level decision behaviors to external pressures, and systematic deviations from the model provide meaningful estimates of variability in the collective response. Identification of robust methods for quantifying human decisions in the face of risk has implications for policy in disasters and other threat scenarios, specifically the development and testing of robust strategies for training and control of evacuations that account for human behavior and network topologies. PMID:24520331

  18. Kids, Candy, Brain and Behavior: Age Differences in Responses to Candy Gains and Losses

    PubMed Central

    Luking, Katherine R; Luby, Joan; Barch, Deanna M

    2014-01-01

    The development of reward-related neural systems, from adolescence through adulthood, has received much recent attention in the developmental neuroimaging literature. However, few studies have investigated behavioral and neural responses to both gains and losses in pre-pubertal child populations. To address this gap in the literature, in the present study healthy children aged 7–11 years and young-adults completed an fMRI card-guessing game using candy pieces delivered post-scan as an incentive. Age differences in behavioral and neural responses to candy gains/losses were investigated. Adults and children displayed similar responses to gains, but robust age differences were observed following candy losses within the caudate, thalamus, insula, and hippocampus. Interestingly, when task behavior was included as a factor in post-hoc mediation analyses, activation following loss within the caudate/thalamus related to task behavior and relationships with age were no longer significant. Conversely, relationships between response to loss and age within the hippocampus and insula remained significant even when controlling for behavior, with children showing heightened loss responses within the dorsal/posterior insula. These results suggest that both age and task behavior influence responses within the extended reward circuitry, and that children seem to be more sensitive than adults to loss feedback particularly within the dorsal/posterior insula. PMID:24534632

  19. Infants' Behaviors as Antecedents and Consequents of Mothers' Responsive and Directive Utterances

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Masur, Elise Frank; Flynn, Valerie; Lloyd, Carrie A.

    2013-01-01

    To investigate possible influences on and consequences of mothers' speech, specific infant behaviors preceding and following four pragmatic categories of mothers' utterances--responsive utterances, supportive behavioral directives, intrusive behavioral directives, and intrusive attentional directives--were examined longitudinally during dyadic…

  20. Bullying among nursing staff: relationship with psychological/behavioral responses of nurses and medical errors.

    PubMed

    Wright, Whitney; Khatri, Naresh

    2015-01-01

    The aim of this article is to examine the relationship between three types of bullying (person-related, work-related, and physically intimidating) with two types of outcomes (psychological/behavioral responses of nurses and medical errors). In addition, it investigates if the three types of bullying behaviors vary with age or gender of nurses and if the extent of bullying varies across different facilities in an institution. Nurses play an integral role in achieving safe and effective health care. To ensure nurses are functioning at their optimal level, health care organizations need to reduce negative components that impact nurses' job performance and their mental and physical health. Mitigating bullying from the workplace may be necessary to create and maintain a high-performing, caring, and safe hospital culture. Using an internal e-mail system, an e-mail requesting the participants to complete the questionnaire on Survey Monkey was sent to a sample of 1,078 nurses employed across three facilities at a university hospital system in the Midwest. Two hundred forty-one completed questionnaires were received with a response rate of 23%. Bullying was measured utilizing the Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised (NAQ-R). Outcomes (psychological/behavioral responses of nurses and medical errors) were measured using Rosenstein and O'Daniel's (2008) modified scales. Person-related bullying showed significant positive relationships with psychological/behavioral responses and medical errors. Work-related bullying showed a significant positive relationship with psychological/behavioral responses, but not with medical errors. Physically intimidating bullying did not show a significant relationship to either outcome. Whereas person-related bullying was found to be negatively associated with age of nurses, physically intimidating bullying was positively associated with age. Male nurses experienced higher work-related bullying than female nurses. Findings from this study suggest

  1. Reinforcing Positive Behavior in a Prison: Whose Responsibility Is It?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Antonio, Michael E.; Young, Jacqueline L.; Wingeard, Lisa M.

    2009-01-01

    In July 2006, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections began delivering a two-hour training session titled Reinforcing Positive Behavior to new employees as part of their required orientation to the Department. The purpose of the training was to inform all employees about their roles and responsibilities for reinforcing positive behavior and…

  2. Descriptive Analysis of Teachers' Responses to Problem Behavior Following Training

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Addison, Laura; Lerman, Dorothea C.

    2009-01-01

    The procedures described by Sloman et al. (2005) were extended to an analysis of teachers' responses to problem behavior after they had been taught to withhold potential sources of positive and negative reinforcement following instances of problem behavior. Results were consistent with those reported previously, suggesting that escape from child…

  3. Decision Making and Behavioral Choice during Predator Avoidance

    PubMed Central

    Herberholz, Jens; Marquart, Gregory D.

    2012-01-01

    One of the most important decisions animals have to make is how to respond to an attack from a potential predator. The response must be prompt and appropriate to ensure survival. Invertebrates have been important models in studying the underlying neurobiology of the escape response due to their accessible nervous systems and easily quantifiable behavioral output. Moreover, invertebrates provide opportunities for investigating these processes at a level of analysis not available in most other organisms. Recently, there has been a renewed focus in understanding how value-based calculations are made on the level of the nervous system, i.e., when decisions are made under conflicting circumstances, and the most desirable choice must be selected by weighing the costs and benefits for each behavioral choice. This article reviews samples from the current literature on anti-predator decision making in invertebrates, from single neurons to complex behaviors. Recent progress in understanding the mechanisms underlying value-based behavioral decisions is also discussed. PMID:22973187

  4. Differences in Acute Alcohol-Induced Behavioral Responses Among Zebrafish Populations

    PubMed Central

    Gerlai, Robert; Ahmad, Fahad; Prajapati, Sonal

    2009-01-01

    Background With the arsenal of genetic tools available for zebrafish, this species has been successfully used to investigate the genetic aspects of human diseases from developmental disorders to cancer. Interest in the behavior and brain function of zebrafish is also increasing as CNS disorders may be modeled and studied with this species. Alcoholism and alcohol abuse are among the most devastating and costliest diseases. However, the mechanisms of these diseases are not fully understood. Zebrafish has been proposed as a model organism to study such mechanisms. Characterization of alcohol’s effects on zebrafish is a necessary step in this research. Methods Here, we compare the effects of acute alcohol (EtOH) administration on the behavior of zebrafish from 4 distinct laboratory-bred populations using automated as well as observation based behavioral quantification methods. Results Alcohol treatment resulted in significant dose-dependent behavioral changes but the dose–response trajectories differed among zebrafish populations. Conclusions The results demonstrate for the first time a genetic component in alcohol responses in adult zebrafish and also show the feasibility of high throughput behavioral screening. We discuss the exploration and exploitation of the genetic differences found. PMID:18652595

  5. Relationship between Achievement Goals and Students' Self-Reported Personal and Social Responsibility Behaviors.

    PubMed

    Agbuga, Bulent; Xiang, Ping; McBride, Ron E

    2015-04-21

    This study utilized the 2x2 achievement goal model (mastery-approach, mastery-avoidance, performance-approach, performance-avoidance goals) to explore the relationships between achievement goals and self-reported personal and social responsibility behaviors in high school physical education settings. Two hundred and twenty one Turkish students completed questionnaires assessing their achievement goals, personal and social responsibility behaviors. Results of the one-way repeated measures ANOVA revealed significant differences among the four achievement goals, F(3, 660) = 137.05, p < .001, η2 = .39. The result also revealed that students were more likely to endorse the mastery-approach goal than three other goals. The simple correlations revealed mastery-approach and performance-approach goals were positively related to students' self-reported personal (r = .54, p < .001; r = .37, p < .001, respectively) and social responsibility (r = .38, p < .001; r = .22, p < .001, respectively) behaviors. However, hierarchical regression analyses indicated only the mastery-approach goal emerged as the significant positive predictor, b = .52, t(216) = 7.19, p < .001 for personal responsibility behaviors, and b = .41, t(216) = 5.23, p < .001 for social responsibility behaviors. These findings seem to provide convergent evidence that mastery-approach goals are positively related to positive educational outcomes.

  6. Behavioral Theory and Culture Special Issue: Authors' Response to Commentaries

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pasick, Rena J.; Burke, Nancy J.; Joseph, Galen

    2009-01-01

    This article presents the authors' response to commentaries that focus on the "Behavioral Constructs and Culture in Cancer Screening" (3Cs) study. The 3Cs study had an unremarkable beginning, with two colleagues discussing their frustration over the narrow range of behavioral theories and the limited guidance the theories offered for a study…

  7. Stimulant-Responsive and Stimulant-Refractory Aggressive Behavior Among Children with ADHD

    PubMed Central

    Blader, Joseph C.; Pliszka, Steven R.; Jensen, Peter S.; Schooler, Nina R.; Kafantaris, Vivian

    2010-01-01

    OBJECTIVES The objective of this study was to examine factors that are associated with aggression that is responsive versus refractory to individualized optimization of stimulant monotherapy among children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). METHODS Children who were aged 6 to 13 years and had ADHD, either oppositional defiant disorder or conduct disorder, significant aggressive behavior, and a history of insufficient response to stimulants completed an open stimulant monotherapy optimization protocol. Stimulant titration with weekly assessments of behavior and tolerability identified an optimal regimen for each child. Families also received behavioral therapy. Parents completed the Retrospective-Modified Overt Aggression Scale (R-MOAS) at each visit. Children were classified as having stimulant-refractory aggression on the basis of R-MOAS ratings and clinician judgment. Differences that pertained to treatment, demographic, and psychopathology between groups with stimulant monotherapy–responsive and –refractory aggression were evaluated. RESULTS Aggression among 32 (49.3%) of 65 children was reduced sufficiently after stimulant dosage adjustment and behavioral therapy to preclude adjunctive medication. Those who responded to stimulant monotherapy were more likely to benefit from the protocol’s methylphenidate preparation (once-daily, triphasic release), showed a trend for lower average dosages, and received fewer behavioral therapy sessions than did children with stimulant-refractory aggression. Boys, especially those with higher ratings of baseline aggression and of depressive and manic symptoms, more often exhibited stimulant-refractory aggression. CONCLUSIONS Among children whose aggressive behavior develops in the context of ADHD and of oppositional defiant disorder or conduct disorder, and who had insufficient response to previous stimulant treatment in routine clinical care, systematic, well-monitored titration of stimulant monotherapy

  8. Mothers' and Fathers' Negative Responsibility Attributions and Perceptions of Children's Problem Behavior

    PubMed Central

    Nelson, Jackie A.; O'Brien, Marion; Calkins, Susan D.; Keane, Susan P.

    2013-01-01

    Parents' negative responsibility attributions about their child's misbehavior are related to a perception that the child has more behavior problems. The current study used a dyadic framework to explore how mothers' and fathers' attributions relate to their own perceptions and to their partner's perceptions of the child's externalizing problems. Participants included 102 couples interviewed when children were 7 years old. Results confirmed that mothers reported more externalizing behavior problems in their children than did fathers, and fathers of boys reported more child behavior problems than fathers of girls. Dyadic analyses suggested that parents' negative responsibility attributions of the child's behavior were associated with greater perceptions of child externalizing problems on behalf of parents and their partners. PMID:24348082

  9. Kids, candy, brain and behavior: age differences in responses to candy gains and losses.

    PubMed

    Luking, Katherine R; Luby, Joan L; Barch, Deanna M

    2014-07-01

    The development of reward-related neural systems, from adolescence through adulthood, has received much recent attention in the developmental neuroimaging literature. However, few studies have investigated behavioral and neural responses to both gains and losses in pre-pubertal child populations. To address this gap in the literature, in the present study healthy children aged 7-11 years and young-adults completed an fMRI card-guessing game using candy pieces delivered post-scan as an incentive. Age differences in behavioral and neural responses to candy gains/losses were investigated. Adults and children displayed similar responses to gains, but robust age differences were observed following candy losses within the caudate, thalamus, insula, and hippocampus. Interestingly, when task behavior was included as a factor in post hoc mediation analyses, activation following loss within the caudate/thalamus related to task behavior and relationships with age were no longer significant. Conversely, relationships between response to loss and age within the hippocampus and insula remained significant even when controlling for behavior, with children showing heightened loss responses within the dorsal/posterior insula. These results suggest that both age and task behavior influence responses within the extended reward circuitry, and that children seem to be more sensitive than adults to loss feedback particularly within the dorsal/posterior insula. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  10. Loudness-dependent behavioral responses and habituation to sound by the longfin squid (Doryteuthis pealeii).

    PubMed

    Mooney, T Aran; Samson, Julia E; Schlunk, Andrea D; Zacarias, Samantha

    2016-07-01

    Sound is an abundant cue in the marine environment, yet we know little regarding the frequency range and levels which induce behavioral responses in ecologically key marine invertebrates. Here we address the range of sounds that elicit unconditioned behavioral responses in squid Doryteuthis pealeii, the types of responses generated, and how responses change over multiple sound exposures. A variety of response types were evoked, from inking and jetting to body pattern changes and fin movements. Squid responded to sounds from 80 to 1000 Hz, with response rates diminishing at the higher and lower ends of this frequency range. Animals responded to the lowest sound levels in the 200-400 Hz range. Inking, an escape response, was confined to the lower frequencies and highest sound levels; jetting was more widespread. Response latencies were variable but typically occurred after 0.36 s (mean) for jetting and 0.14 s for body pattern changes; pattern changes occurred significantly faster. These results demonstrate that squid can exhibit a range of behavioral responses to sound include fleeing, deimatic and protean behaviors, all of which are associated with predator evasion. Response types were frequency and sound level dependent, reflecting a relative loudness concept to sound perception in squid.

  11. Workplace mobbing: How the victim's coping behavior influences bystander responses.

    PubMed

    Mulder, Roelie; Bos, Arjan E R; Pouwelse, Mieneke; van Dam, Karen

    2017-01-01

    Victims of workplace mobbing show diverse coping behavior. We investigated the impact of this behavior on bystander cognitions, emotions, and helping toward the victim, integrating coping literature with attribution theory. Adult part-time university students (N = 161) working at various organizations participated in a study with a 3(Coping: approach/avoidance/neutral) × 2(Gender Victim: male/female) × 2(Gender Bystander: male/female) design. Victims showing approach (vs. avoidance) coping were considered to be more self-reliant and less responsible for the continuation of the mobbing, and they elicited less anger. Continuation responsibility and self-reliance mediated the relationship between the victim's coping behavior and bystanders' helping intentions. Female (vs. male) participants reported more sympathy for the victim and greater willingness to help, and female (vs. male) victims elicited less anger. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

  12. Application of Latent Class Analysis to Identify Behavioral Patterns of Response to Behavioral Lifestyle Interventions in Overweight and Obese Adults

    PubMed Central

    Fitzpatrick, Stephanie L.; Coughlin, Janelle W.; Appel, Lawrence J.; Tyson, Crystal; Stevens, Victor J.; Jerome, Gerald J.; Dalcin, Arlene; Brantley, Phillip J.; Hill-Briggs, Felicia

    2016-01-01

    Background Examining responders and non-responders to behavioral lifestyle interventions among overweight/obese adults with additional comorbidities may aid in refining and tailoring obesity treatment. Purpose The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the use of latent class analysis to identify patterns of response to behavioral lifestyle interventions based on adherence to diet and exercise recommendations. Method Repeated measures latent class analysis was applied to two clinical trial datasets, combination of two active interventions in the PREMIER Trial (n=501) and phase 1 of the Weight Loss Maintenance Trial (WLM; n=1685), to identify patterns of response to behavioral lifestyle interventions. Treatment response was based on adherence to daily recommendations for fruit/vegetable, fat, saturated fat, sodium, and exercise at baseline and 6 months. Results In PREMIER, three distinct latent classes emerged: responders (45.9 %), non-responders (23.6 %), and early adherers (30.5 %). Responders and Early Adherers had greater weight loss at 6 and 18 months and were more likely to meet behavioral recommendations at 18 months than Non-responders. For WLM, there were four latent classes: partial responders (16 %), non-responders (40 %), early adherers (2 %), and fruit/veggie only responders (41 %). Non-responders in WLM had significantly less weight loss at 6 months compared to that of the other three latent classes. Conclusion Latent class analysis is a useful method to apply to clinical trial data to identify distinct patterns of response to behavioral interventions. Overweight/ obese participants who respond to behavioral lifestyle treatment (i.e., meet behavioral recommendations) have significantly greater weight loss than that of participants who do not make behavioral changes. PMID:25331853

  13. Application of Latent Class Analysis to Identify Behavioral Patterns of Response to Behavioral Lifestyle Interventions in Overweight and Obese Adults.

    PubMed

    Fitzpatrick, Stephanie L; Coughlin, Janelle W; Appel, Lawrence J; Tyson, Crystal; Stevens, Victor J; Jerome, Gerald J; Dalcin, Arlene; Brantley, Phillip J; Hill-Briggs, Felicia

    2015-08-01

    Examining responders and non-responders to behavioral lifestyle interventions among overweight/obese adults with additional comorbidities may aid in refining and tailoring obesity treatment. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the use of latent class analysis to identify patterns of response to behavioral lifestyle interventions based on adherence to diet and exercise recommendations. Repeated measures latent class analysis was applied to two clinical trial datasets, combination of two active interventions in the PREMIER Trial (n = 501) and phase 1 of the Weight Loss Maintenance Trial (WLM; n = 1685), to identify patterns of response to behavioral lifestyle interventions. Treatment response was based on adherence to daily recommendations for fruit/vegetable, fat, saturated fat, sodium, and exercise at baseline and 6 months. In PREMIER, three distinct latent classes emerged: responders (45.9%), non-responders (23.6%), and early adherers (30.5%). Responders and Early Adherers had greater weight loss at 6 and 18 months and were more likely to meet behavioral recommendations at 18 months than Non-responders. For WLM, there were four latent classes: partial responders (16%), non-responders (40%), early adherers (2%), and fruit/veggie only responders (41%). Non-responders in WLM had significantly less weight loss at 6 months compared to that of the other three latent classes. Latent class analysis is a useful method to apply to clinical trial data to identify distinct patterns of response to behavioral interventions. Overweight/ obese participants who respond to behavioral lifestyle treatment (i.e., meet behavioral recommendations) have significantly greater weight loss than that of participants who do not make behavioral changes.

  14. Medical errors; causes, consequences, emotional response and resulting behavioral change

    PubMed Central

    Bari, Attia; Khan, Rehan Ahmed; Rathore, Ahsan Waheed

    2016-01-01

    Objective: To determine the causes of medical errors, the emotional and behavioral response of pediatric medicine residents to their medical errors and to determine their behavior change affecting their future training. Methods: One hundred thirty postgraduate residents were included in the study. Residents were asked to complete questionnaire about their errors and responses to their errors in three domains: emotional response, learning behavior and disclosure of the error. The names of the participants were kept confidential. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20. Results: A total of 130 residents were included. Majority 128(98.5%) of these described some form of error. Serious errors that occurred were 24(19%), 63(48%) minor, 24(19%) near misses,2(2%) never encountered an error and 17(12%) did not mention type of error but mentioned causes and consequences. Only 73(57%) residents disclosed medical errors to their senior physician but disclosure to patient’s family was negligible 15(11%). Fatigue due to long duty hours 85(65%), inadequate experience 66(52%), inadequate supervision 58(48%) and complex case 58(45%) were common causes of medical errors. Negative emotions were common and were significantly associated with lack of knowledge (p=0.001), missing warning signs (p=<0.001), not seeking advice (p=0.003) and procedural complications (p=0.001). Medical errors had significant impact on resident’s behavior; 119(93%) residents became more careful, increased advice seeking from seniors 109(86%) and 109(86%) started paying more attention to details. Intrinsic causes of errors were significantly associated with increased information seeking behavior and vigilance (p=0.003) and (p=0.01) respectively. Conclusion: Medical errors committed by residents have inadequate disclosure to senior physicians and result in negative emotions but there was positive change in their behavior, which resulted in improvement in their future training and patient care. PMID:27375682

  15. Improving Student Responsibility through the Use of Individual Behavior Contracts

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dodge, Darlene; Nizzi, Denise; Pitt, Wendy; Rudolph, Kristina

    2007-01-01

    Analysis of prior research, articles and studies revealed that concerns exist regarding student behavior in the classroom, at both the national and local levels. The learning environment is severely impacted by off-task behavior, as well as, lack of responsibility for daily routines and homework. Multiple reasons have been suggested as to why this…

  16. Behavioral, physiological, and endocrine responses of starlings to acute increases in density.

    PubMed

    Nephew, Benjamin C; Romero, L Michael

    2003-09-01

    One potential stressor to vertebrates both in the wild and in captivity is the presence of numerous individuals in a confined space. To examine the effects of increased conspecific density in birds, we simultaneously measured cardiac, behavioral, and endocrine responses of European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) to acute crowding. A cage containing a resident bird was outfitted with a trap door that allowed for the introduction of intruder birds (one, three, or five birds) without human interference. The resident bird was implanted with a subcutaneous heart rate (HR) transmitter, behavior was videotaped through a two-way mirror, and blood samples were taken at the end of each treatment to determine plasma corticosterone (CORT) concentrations. Resident starlings significantly increased both general activity and aggressive behaviors while decreasing preening following the initiation of elevated conspecific density. Intruder starlings increased feeding, drinking, and aggressive pecking rates, but postintrusion feeding rates decreased as intruder number increased. Preening decreased in both residents and intruders following the intrusion. HR increased in the resident starlings at the time of intruder introduction, with an increase in the magnitude of this response directly correlating with increasing intruder number. The CORT response to increased density was dependent on social role (resident or intruder), since increasing density did not alter CORT levels in resident birds, but resulted in elevated CORT 30 min following the five-intruder introduction in the intruder birds. Together, these data suggest that increased conspecific density is a significant acute stressor in starlings which is capable of inducing aggression in both residents and intruders. Furthermore, it elicits different responses from different physiological and behavioral systems, and behavioral responses such as feeding and general activity may be density-dependent. The data specifically illustrate

  17. Timing of transients: quantifying reaching times and transient behavior in complex systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kittel, Tim; Heitzig, Jobst; Webster, Kevin; Kurths, Jürgen

    2017-08-01

    In dynamical systems, one may ask how long it takes for a trajectory to reach the attractor, i.e. how long it spends in the transient phase. Although for a single trajectory the mathematically precise answer may be infinity, it still makes sense to compare different trajectories and quantify which of them approaches the attractor earlier. In this article, we categorize several problems of quantifying such transient times. To treat them, we propose two metrics, area under distance curve and regularized reaching time, that capture two complementary aspects of transient dynamics. The first, area under distance curve, is the distance of the trajectory to the attractor integrated over time. It measures which trajectories are ‘reluctant’, i.e. stay distant from the attractor for long, or ‘eager’ to approach it right away. Regularized reaching time, on the other hand, quantifies the additional time (positive or negative) that a trajectory starting at a chosen initial condition needs to approach the attractor as compared to some reference trajectory. A positive or negative value means that it approaches the attractor by this much ‘earlier’ or ‘later’ than the reference, respectively. We demonstrated their substantial potential for application with multiple paradigmatic examples uncovering new features.

  18. Correctional Officers and Workplace Adversity: Identifying Interpersonal, Cognitive, and Behavioral Response Tendencies.

    PubMed

    Trounson, Justin S; Pfeifer, Jeffrey E

    2017-10-01

    This study explored correctional officers' response tendencies (i.e., cognitive, interpersonal, and behavioral response patterns they engage in) when managing workplace adversity. In total, 53 Australian correctional officers participated in the study. Eight exploratory focus group discussions ( n = 42) were conducted to identify a set of officer-endorsed response tendencies. Thematic analysis of group data revealed that correctional officers engage in a range of response tendencies when facing workplace adversity and that these tendencies may be categorized as interpersonally, cognitively, or behaviorally based. Semistructured interviews ( n = 11) were then conducted to provide further depth of information regarding officer response tendency usage. Results are discussed in terms of common themes, future research, and implications for developing training programs designed to ameliorate the effects of workplace adversity.

  19. The missing link: Mothers’ neural response to infant cry related to infant attachment behaviors

    PubMed Central

    Laurent, Heidemarie K.; Ablow, Jennifer C.

    2012-01-01

    This study addresses a gap in the attachment literature by investigating maternal neural response to cry related to infant attachment classifications and behaviors. Twenty-two primiparous mothers and their 18-month old infants completed the Strange Situation Procedure (SS) to elicit attachment behaviors. During a separate functional MRI session, mothers were exposed to their own infant’s cry sound, as well as an unfamiliar infant’s cry and control sound. Maternal neural response to own infant cry related to both overall attachment security and specific infant behaviors. Mothers of less secure infants maintained greater activation to their cry in left parahippocampal and amygdala regions and the right posterior insula. consistent with a negative schematic response bias. Mothers of infants exhibiting more avoidant or contact maintaining behaviors during the SS showed diminished response across left prefrontal, parietal, and cerebellar areas involved in attentional processing and cognitive control. Mothers of infants exhibiting more disorganized behavior showed reduced response in bilateral temporal and subcallosal areas relevant to social cognition and emotion regulation. No differences by attachment classification were found. Implications for attachment transmission models are discussed. PMID:22982277

  20. The missing link: mothers' neural response to infant cry related to infant attachment behaviors.

    PubMed

    Laurent, Heidemarie K; Ablow, Jennifer C

    2012-12-01

    This study addresses a gap in the attachment literature by investigating maternal neural response to cry related to infant attachment classifications and behaviors. Twenty-two primiparous mothers and their 18-month old infants completed the Strange Situation (SS) procedure to elicit attachment behaviors. During a separate functional MRI session, mothers were exposed to their own infant's cry sound, as well as an unfamiliar infant's cry and control sound. Maternal neural response to own infant cry related to both overall attachment security and specific infant behaviors. Mothers of less secure infants maintained greater activation to their cry in left parahippocampal and amygdala regions and the right posterior insula consistent with a negative schematic response bias. Mothers of infants exhibiting more avoidant or contact maintaining behaviors during the SS showed diminished response across left prefrontal, parietal, and cerebellar areas involved in attentional processing and cognitive control. Mothers of infants exhibiting more disorganized behavior showed reduced response in bilateral temporal and subcallosal areas relevant to social cognition and emotion regulation. No differences by attachment classification were found. Implications for attachment transmission models are discussed. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Using Learning Labs for Culturally Responsive Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bal, Aydin; Schrader, Elizabeth M.; Afacan, Kemal; Mawene, Dian

    2016-01-01

    Culturally responsive positive behavioral interventions and supports (CRPBIS) is a statewide research project designed to renovate behavioral support systems to become more inclusive, adaptive, and supportive for all. The CRPBIS methodology, called "learning lab," provides a research-based process to bring together local stakeholders and…

  2. Obese Binge Eaters: Affect, Cognitions, and Response to Behavioral Weight Control.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Marcus, Marsha D.; And Others

    1988-01-01

    Compared obese female binge and nonbinge eaters on mood, diet behavior, and responses to standard and modified behavioral weight control programs, the latter emphasizing meal regularity, intake of complex carbohydrates, and activity. Binge eaters reported significantly more depressive symptomatology, psychological distress and maladaptive diet…

  3. Behavioral Signal Processing: Deriving Human Behavioral Informatics From Speech and Language

    PubMed Central

    Narayanan, Shrikanth; Georgiou, Panayiotis G.

    2013-01-01

    The expression and experience of human behavior are complex and multimodal and characterized by individual and contextual heterogeneity and variability. Speech and spoken language communication cues offer an important means for measuring and modeling human behavior. Observational research and practice across a variety of domains from commerce to healthcare rely on speech- and language-based informatics for crucial assessment and diagnostic information and for planning and tracking response to an intervention. In this paper, we describe some of the opportunities as well as emerging methodologies and applications of human behavioral signal processing (BSP) technology and algorithms for quantitatively understanding and modeling typical, atypical, and distressed human behavior with a specific focus on speech- and language-based communicative, affective, and social behavior. We describe the three important BSP components of acquiring behavioral data in an ecologically valid manner across laboratory to real-world settings, extracting and analyzing behavioral cues from measured data, and developing models offering predictive and decision-making support. We highlight both the foundational speech and language processing building blocks as well as the novel processing and modeling opportunities. Using examples drawn from specific real-world applications ranging from literacy assessment and autism diagnostics to psychotherapy for addiction and marital well being, we illustrate behavioral informatics applications of these signal processing techniques that contribute to quantifying higher level, often subjectively described, human behavior in a domain-sensitive fashion. PMID:24039277

  4. Item Response Theory to Quantify Longitudinal Placebo and Paliperidone Effects on PANSS Scores in Schizophrenia.

    PubMed

    Krekels, Ehj; Novakovic, A M; Vermeulen, A M; Friberg, L E; Karlsson, M O

    2017-08-01

    As biomarkers are lacking, multi-item questionnaire-based tools like the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) are used to quantify disease severity in schizophrenia. Analyzing composite PANSS scores as continuous data discards information and violates the numerical nature of the scale. Here a longitudinal analysis based on Item Response Theory is presented using PANSS data from phase III clinical trials. Latent disease severity variables were derived from item-level data on the positive, negative, and general PANSS subscales each. On all subscales, the time course of placebo responses were best described with Weibull models, and dose-independent functions with exponential models to describe the onset of the full effect were used to describe paliperidone's effect. Placebo and drug effect were most pronounced on the positive subscale. The final model successfully describes the time course of treatment effects on the individual PANSS item-levels, on all PANSS subscale levels, and on the total score level. © 2017 The Authors CPT: Pharmacometrics & Systems Pharmacology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics.

  5. Severity of killer whale behavioral responses to ship noise: a dose-response study.

    PubMed

    Williams, Rob; Erbe, Christine; Ashe, Erin; Beerman, Amber; Smith, Jodi

    2014-02-15

    Critical habitats of at-risk populations of northeast Pacific "resident" killer whales can be heavily trafficked by large ships, with transits occurring on average once every hour in busy shipping lanes. We modeled behavioral responses of killer whales to ship transits during 35 "natural experiments" as a dose-response function of estimated received noise levels in both broadband and audiogram-weighted terms. Interpreting effects is contingent on a subjective and seemingly arbitrary decision about severity threshold indicating a response. Subtle responses were observed around broadband received levels of 130 dB re 1 μPa (rms); more severe responses are hypothesized to occur at received levels beyond 150 dB re 1 μPa, where our study lacked data. Avoidance responses are expected to carry minor energetic costs in terms of increased energy expenditure, but future research must assess the potential for reduced prey acquisition, and potential population consequences, under these noise levels. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Behavior of amphibians on the road in response to car traffic

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Mazerolle, M.J.; Huot, M.; Gravel, M.

    2005-01-01

    Nocturnal car traffic often results in amphibian casualties, especially during rainy nights. The behavior of amphibians presumably influences their vulnerability to mortality on the road, but this hypothesis remains untested. We investigated the behavioral response of individuals of six species of amphibians on roads when confronted by an approaching vehicle. We first conducted a field study consisting of 50 night-driving surveys over 4 yr during which we recorded the behavior (i.e., moving or immobile) of frogs, toads, tree frogs, and salamanders encountered on a 20-km stretch of road. In an effort to tease apart the effects of headlights and the sound of motors on amphibian behavior, we carried out a field experiment on a test road where we exposed individuals to different car-associated stimuli. Here, we tested the hypothesis that simultaneous exposure to headlights and the sound of a car motor would elicit a stronger response than exposure to a single stimulus or a control. Based on the observations of the 2767 individuals in the field survey, immobility was the most common response to the approach of a car (mean probability of 0.82 of remaining immobile); the response differed across species but depended on the season of the survey (May-June vs. July-September). Similarly, the 91 individuals included in the field experiment were more likely to move during the control treatment than during any of the car-associated treatments. The combined stimuli elicited the strongest response, followed by the headlights-only and the motor-only treatments. Spring peepers (Pseudacris crucifer) tended to move more often than the other species we tested in the field experiment, which suggests they spend less time on the road and are less vulnerable to traffic mortality than other species. Both the field survey and field experiment consistently indicated that amphibians tend to remain immobile at the approach of a vehicle. This behavior highlights the vulnerability of amphibians

  7. Variations in disaster evacuation behavior: public responses versus private sector executive decision-making processes.

    PubMed

    Drabek, T E

    1992-06-01

    Data obtained from 65 executives working for tourism firms in three sample communities permitted comparison with the public warning response literature regarding three topics: disaster evacuation planning, initial warning responses, and disaster evacuation behavior. Disaster evacuation planning was reported by nearly all of these business executives, although it was highly variable in content, completeness, and formality. Managerial responses to post-disaster warnings paralleled the type of complex social processes that have been documented within the public response literature, except that warning sources and confirmation behavior were significantly affected by contact with authorities. Five key areas of difference were discovered in disaster evacuation behavior pertaining to: influence of planning, firm versus family priorities, shelter selection, looting concerns, and media contacts.

  8. Behavioral responses of three lemur species to different food enrichment devices.

    PubMed

    Shapiro, Morgan E; Shapiro, Hannah G; Ehmke, Erin E

    2018-05-01

    Environmental enrichment is a tool used to promote the welfare and well-being of captive animals by encouraging the display of species-specific behaviors and reducing the stress or boredom induced by captive environments. Lemurs are highly endangered, yet few studies have analyzed the behavioral impacts of enrichment on captive populations. We studied the impacts of two novel enrichment devices on three lemur species (ring-tailed lemurs [Lemur catta], red-ruffed lemurs [Varecia rubra], and Coquerel's sifaka [Propithecus coquereli]) to determine both the overall and species-specific impacts of enrichment on lemur behavior. We recorded lemur behavior using the continuous sampling method to obtain behavior duration and analyzed our results using ANOVA Repeated Measures. Results showed enrichment effectiveness differed for each species and that different enrichment devices had varying impacts on lemur behavior across all species. We attributed the differences in species-specific responses to the unique locomotor patterns and methods of diet acquisition of each species, and the variances in behavioral responses across all species to the characteristics of each device. Our study highlights the importance of species-specific enrichment and encourages further research in this field in order to maximize the positive effects of enrichment, which in turn has the potential to affect the overall well-being of captive populations. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  9. A Review: Development of a Microdose Model for Analysis of Adaptive Response and Bystander Dose Response Behavior

    PubMed Central

    Leonard, Bobby E.

    2008-01-01

    Prior work has provided incremental phases to a microdosimetry modeling program to describe the dose response behavior of the radio-protective adaptive response effect. We have here consolidated these prior works (Leonard 2000, 2005, 2007a, 2007b, 2007c) to provide a composite, comprehensive Microdose Model that is also herein modified to include the bystander effect. The nomenclature for the model is also standardized for the benefit of the experimental cellular radio-biologist. It extends the prior work to explicitly encompass separately the analysis of experimental data that is 1.) only dose dependent and reflecting only adaptive response radio-protection, 2.) both dose and dose-rate dependent data and reflecting only adaptive response radio-protection for spontaneous and challenge dose damage, 3.) only dose dependent data and reflecting both bystander deleterious damage and adaptive response radio-protection (AR-BE model). The Appendix cites the various applications of the model. Here we have used the Microdose Model to analyze the, much more human risk significant, Elmore et al (2006) data for the dose and dose rate influence on the adaptive response radio-protective behavior of HeLa x Skin cells for naturally occurring, spontaneous chromosome damage from a Brachytherapy type 125I photon radiation source. We have also applied the AR-BE Microdose Model to the Chromosome inversion data of Hooker et al (2004) reflecting both low LET bystander and adaptive response effects. The micro-beam facility data of Miller et al (1999), Nagasawa and Little (1999) and Zhou et al (2003) is also examined. For the Zhou et al (2003) data, we use the AR-BE model to estimate the threshold for adaptive response reduction of the bystander effect. The mammogram and diagnostic X-ray induction of AR and protective BE are observed. We show that bystander damage is reduced in the similar manner as spontaneous and challenge dose damage as shown by the Azzam et al (1996) data. We cite

  10. A review: Development of a microdose model for analysis of adaptive response and bystander dose response behavior.

    PubMed

    Leonard, Bobby E

    2008-02-27

    Prior work has provided incremental phases to a microdosimetry modeling program to describe the dose response behavior of the radio-protective adaptive response effect. We have here consolidated these prior works (Leonard 2000, 2005, 2007a, 2007b, 2007c) to provide a composite, comprehensive Microdose Model that is also herein modified to include the bystander effect. The nomenclature for the model is also standardized for the benefit of the experimental cellular radio-biologist. It extends the prior work to explicitly encompass separately the analysis of experimental data that is 1.) only dose dependent and reflecting only adaptive response radio-protection, 2.) both dose and dose-rate dependent data and reflecting only adaptive response radio-protection for spontaneous and challenge dose damage, 3.) only dose dependent data and reflecting both bystander deleterious damage and adaptive response radio-protection (AR-BE model). The Appendix cites the various applications of the model. Here we have used the Microdose Model to analyze the, much more human risk significant, Elmore et al (2006) data for the dose and dose rate influence on the adaptive response radio-protective behavior of HeLa x Skin cells for naturally occurring, spontaneous chromosome damage from a Brachytherapy type (125)I photon radiation source. We have also applied the AR-BE Microdose Model to the Chromosome inversion data of Hooker et al (2004) reflecting both low LET bystander and adaptive response effects. The micro-beam facility data of Miller et al (1999), Nagasawa and Little (1999) and Zhou et al (2003) is also examined. For the Zhou et al (2003) data, we use the AR-BE model to estimate the threshold for adaptive response reduction of the bystander effect. The mammogram and diagnostic X-ray induction of AR and protective BE are observed. We show that bystander damage is reduced in the similar manner as spontaneous and challenge dose damage as shown by the Azzam et al (1996) data. We cite

  11. Quantifying Spiral Ganglion Neurite and Schwann Behavior on Micropatterned Polymer Substrates.

    PubMed

    Cheng, Elise L; Leigh, Braden; Guymon, C Allan; Hansen, Marlan R

    2016-01-01

    The first successful in vitro experiments on the cochlea were conducted in 1928 by Honor Fell (Fell, Arch Exp Zellforsch 7(1):69-81, 1928). Since then, techniques for culture of this tissue have been refined, and dissociated primary culture of the spiral ganglion has become a widely accepted in vitro model for studying nerve damage and regeneration in the cochlea. Additionally, patterned substrates have been developed that facilitate and direct neural outgrowth. A number of automated and semi-automated methods for quantifying this neurite outgrowth have been utilized in recent years (Zhang et al., J Neurosci Methods 160(1):149-162, 2007; Tapias et al., Neurobiol Dis 54:158-168, 2013). Here, we describe a method to study the effect of topographical cues on spiral ganglion neurite and Schwann cell alignment. We discuss our microfabrication process, characterization of pattern features, cell culture techniques for both spiral ganglion neurons and spiral ganglion Schwann cells. In addition, we describe protocols for reducing fibroblast count, immunocytochemistry, and methods for quantifying neurite and Schwann cell alignment.

  12. College Students' Compensatory Eating and Behaviors in Response to Alcohol Consumption

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bryant, Judith B.; Darkes, Jack; Rahal, Collin

    2012-01-01

    Objective: This study investigates college students' behaviors in response to the calories ingested by drinking alcohol. Participants and Methods: A sample of 274 nonclinical undergraduate alcohol drinkers completed an online survey asking about behaviors that students employed to make up for calories in alcohol or to get drunk more effectively.…

  13. Grade of Membership Response Time Model for Detecting Guessing Behaviors

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pokropek, Artur

    2016-01-01

    A response model that is able to detect guessing behaviors and produce unbiased estimates in low-stake conditions using timing information is proposed. The model is a special case of the grade of membership model in which responses are modeled as partial members of a class that is affected by motivation and a class that responds only according to…

  14. Electricity and Water Conservation on College and University Campuses in Response to National Competitions among Dormitories: Quantifying Relationships between Behavior, Conservation Strategies and Psychological Metrics

    PubMed Central

    Petersen, John E.; Frantz, Cynthia M.; Shammin, Md. Rumi; Yanisch, Tess M.; Tincknell, Evan; Myers, Noel

    2015-01-01

    “Campus Conservation Nationals” (CCN) is a recurring, nation-wide electricity and water-use reduction competition among dormitories on college campuses. We conducted a two year empirical study of the competition’s effects on resource consumption and the relationship between conservation, use of web technology and various psychological measures. Significant reductions in electricity and water use occurred during the two CCN competitions examined (n = 105,000 and 197,000 participating dorm residents respectively). In 2010, overall reductions during the competition were 4% for electricity and 6% for water. The top 10% of dorms achieved 28% and 36% reductions in electricity and water respectively. Participation was larger in 2012 and reductions were slightly smaller (i.e. 3% electricity). The fact that no seasonal pattern in electricity use was evident during non-competition periods suggests that results are attributable to the competition. Post competition resource use data collected in 2012 indicates that conservation behavior was sustained beyond the competition. Surveys were used to assess psychological and behavioral responses (n = 2,900 and 2,600 in 2010 and 2012 respectively). Electricity reductions were significantly correlated with: web visitation, specific conservation behaviors, awareness of the competition, motivation and sense of empowerment. However, participants were significantly more motivated than empowered. Perceived benefits of conservation were skewed towards global and future concerns while perceived barriers tended to be local. Results also suggest that competitions may be useful for “preaching beyond the choir”–engaging those who might lack prior intrinsic or political motivation. Although college life is distinct, certain conclusions related to competitions, self-efficacy, and motivation and social norms likely extend to other residential settings. PMID:26672599

  15. Electricity and Water Conservation on College and University Campuses in Response to National Competitions among Dormitories: Quantifying Relationships between Behavior, Conservation Strategies and Psychological Metrics.

    PubMed

    Petersen, John E; Frantz, Cynthia M; Shammin, Md Rumi; Yanisch, Tess M; Tincknell, Evan; Myers, Noel

    2015-01-01

    "Campus Conservation Nationals" (CCN) is a recurring, nation-wide electricity and water-use reduction competition among dormitories on college campuses. We conducted a two year empirical study of the competition's effects on resource consumption and the relationship between conservation, use of web technology and various psychological measures. Significant reductions in electricity and water use occurred during the two CCN competitions examined (n = 105,000 and 197,000 participating dorm residents respectively). In 2010, overall reductions during the competition were 4% for electricity and 6% for water. The top 10% of dorms achieved 28% and 36% reductions in electricity and water respectively. Participation was larger in 2012 and reductions were slightly smaller (i.e. 3% electricity). The fact that no seasonal pattern in electricity use was evident during non-competition periods suggests that results are attributable to the competition. Post competition resource use data collected in 2012 indicates that conservation behavior was sustained beyond the competition. Surveys were used to assess psychological and behavioral responses (n = 2,900 and 2,600 in 2010 and 2012 respectively). Electricity reductions were significantly correlated with: web visitation, specific conservation behaviors, awareness of the competition, motivation and sense of empowerment. However, participants were significantly more motivated than empowered. Perceived benefits of conservation were skewed towards global and future concerns while perceived barriers tended to be local. Results also suggest that competitions may be useful for "preaching beyond the choir"-engaging those who might lack prior intrinsic or political motivation. Although college life is distinct, certain conclusions related to competitions, self-efficacy, and motivation and social norms likely extend to other residential settings.

  16. Modeling deformation behavior of the baseball.

    PubMed

    Nicholls, Rochelle Llewelyn; Miller, Karol; Elliott, Bruce C

    2005-02-01

    Regulating ball response to impact is one way to control ball exit velocity in baseball. This is necessary to reduce injuries to defensive players and maintain the balance between offense and defense in the game. This paper presents a model for baseball velocity-dependent behavior. Force-displacement data were obtained using quasi-static compression tests to 50% of ball diameter (n = 70 baseballs). The force-displacement curves for a very stiff baseball (Model B) and a softer type (Model C) were characterized by a Mooney-Rivlin model using implicit finite element analysis (ANSYS software, version 6.1). Agreement between experimental and numerical results was excellent for both Model B (C(10) = 0, C(01) = 3.7e(6) Pa) and Model C (C(10) = 0, C(01) = 2.6e(6) Pa). However, this material model was not available in the ANSYS/LSDYNA explicit dynamic software (version 6.1) used to quantify the transient behavior of the ball. Therefore the modeling process was begun again using a linear viscoelastic material. G(infinity), the long-term shear modulus of the material, was determined by the same implicit FEA procedure. Explicit FEA was used to quantify the time-dependent response of each ball in terms of instantaneous shear modulus (G0) and a decay term (beta). The results were evaluated with respect to published experimental data for the ball coefficient of restitution at five velocities (13.4-40.2 ms(-1)) and were in agreement with the experimental values. The model forms the basis for future research on baseball response to impact with the bat.

  17. Sequential analysis of child pain behavior and maternal responses: an observational study.

    PubMed

    Langer, Shelby L; Romano, Joan; Brown, Jonathon D; Nielson, Heather; Ou, Bobby; Rauch, Christina; Zullo, Lirra; Levy, Rona L

    2017-09-01

    This laboratory-based study examined lagged associations between child pain behavior and maternal responses as a function of maternal catastrophizing (CAT). Mothers completed the parent version of the Pain Catastrophizing Scale. Children participated in a validated water ingestion procedure to induce abdominal discomfort with mothers present. Video recordings of their interactions were edited into 30-second segments and coded by 2 raters for presence of child pain behavior, maternal solicitousness, and nontask conversation. Kappa reliabilities ranged from 0.83 to 0.95. Maternal CAT was positively associated with child pain behavior and maternal solicitousness, P values <0.05. In lagged analyses, child pain behavior during a given segment (T) was positively associated with child pain behavior during the subsequent segment (T + 1), P <0.05. Maternal CAT moderated the association between (1) child pain behavior at T and maternal solicitousness at T + 1, and (2) solicitousness at T and child pain behavior at T + 1, P values <0.05. Mothers higher in CAT responded solicitously at T + 1 irrespective of their child's preceding pain behavior, and their children exhibited pain behavior at T + 1 irrespective of the mother's preceding solicitousness. Mothers lower in CAT were more likely to respond solicitously at T + 1 after child pain behavior, and their children were more likely to exhibit pain behavior at T + 1 after maternal solicitousness. These findings indicate that high CAT mothers and their children exhibit inflexible patterns of maternal solicitousness and child pain behavior, and that such families may benefit from interventions to decrease CAT and develop more adaptive responses.

  18. Suppression of epidemic spreading in complex networks by local information based behavioral responses

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Hai-Feng; Xie, Jia-Rong; Tang, Ming; Lai, Ying-Cheng

    2014-12-01

    The interplay between individual behaviors and epidemic dynamics in complex networks is a topic of recent interest. In particular, individuals can obtain different types of information about the disease and respond by altering their behaviors, and this can affect the spreading dynamics, possibly in a significant way. We propose a model where individuals' behavioral response is based on a generic type of local information, i.e., the number of neighbors that has been infected with the disease. Mathematically, the response can be characterized by a reduction in the transmission rate by a factor that depends on the number of infected neighbors. Utilizing the standard susceptible-infected-susceptible and susceptible-infected-recovery dynamical models for epidemic spreading, we derive a theoretical formula for the epidemic threshold and provide numerical verification. Our analysis lays on a solid quantitative footing the intuition that individual behavioral response can in general suppress epidemic spreading. Furthermore, we find that the hub nodes play the role of "double-edged sword" in that they can either suppress or promote outbreak, depending on their responses to the epidemic, providing additional support for the idea that these nodes are key to controlling epidemic spreading in complex networks.

  19. Suppression of epidemic spreading in complex networks by local information based behavioral responses.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Hai-Feng; Xie, Jia-Rong; Tang, Ming; Lai, Ying-Cheng

    2014-12-01

    The interplay between individual behaviors and epidemic dynamics in complex networks is a topic of recent interest. In particular, individuals can obtain different types of information about the disease and respond by altering their behaviors, and this can affect the spreading dynamics, possibly in a significant way. We propose a model where individuals' behavioral response is based on a generic type of local information, i.e., the number of neighbors that has been infected with the disease. Mathematically, the response can be characterized by a reduction in the transmission rate by a factor that depends on the number of infected neighbors. Utilizing the standard susceptible-infected-susceptible and susceptible-infected-recovery dynamical models for epidemic spreading, we derive a theoretical formula for the epidemic threshold and provide numerical verification. Our analysis lays on a solid quantitative footing the intuition that individual behavioral response can in general suppress epidemic spreading. Furthermore, we find that the hub nodes play the role of "double-edged sword" in that they can either suppress or promote outbreak, depending on their responses to the epidemic, providing additional support for the idea that these nodes are key to controlling epidemic spreading in complex networks.

  20. Behavioral Effects of the Fungal Pathogen Batrachochytrium Dendrobatidis on the Crayfish Host Procambarus Alleni

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Waggett, R. J.; Virgl, E. J.; McMahon, T. A.

    2016-02-01

    The chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) is a parasite implicated in local and global amphibian declines. Although it is considered to be an amphibian specialist, co-occurring species such as the crayfish species Procambarus alleni and Procambarus clarkii have been identified as Bd hosts and potential vectors in the spread and transmission of Bd to amphibians. Procambarus alleni is a freshwater crayfish species native to Florida and popular in the aquarium trade due to its distinctive blue coloration. Although many behavioral and physiological studies have been conducted on the congener, Procambarus clarkii, an introduced species found in many niches throughout the United States, few comparative studies have involved P. alleni. Here, we have quantified the escape behavior kinetics of healthy, lab-reared and wild-caught P. alleni (juvenile and adult) using high speed videography and motion analysis. Kinetic parameters analyzed included velocity, acceleration, net to gross displacement ratios (NGDR), response latency, number of thrusts per response and total distance jumped. Further, we exposed wild-caught P. alleni to cultured Bd and quantified the behavioral effects 24 hours and 1 week following exposure. Data on the survival and behavioral changes of P. alleni could provide insight on the potential toxic effects of Bd and the tendency toward Bd transmission.

  1. Culture shapes a mesolimbic response to signals of dominance and subordination that associates with behavior.

    PubMed

    Freeman, Jonathan B; Rule, Nicholas O; Adams, Reginald B; Ambady, Nalini

    2009-08-01

    It has long been understood that culture shapes individuals' behavior, but how this is accomplished in the human brain has remained largely unknown. To examine this, we made use of a well-established cross-cultural difference in behavior: American culture tends to reinforce dominant behavior whereas, conversely, Japanese culture tends to reinforce subordinate behavior. In 17 Americans and 17 Japanese individuals, we assessed behavioral tendencies towards dominance versus subordination and measured neural responses using fMRI during the passive viewing of stimuli related to dominance and subordination. In Americans, dominant stimuli selectively engaged the caudate nucleus, bilaterally, and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), whereas these were selectively engaged by subordinate stimuli in Japanese. Correspondingly, Americans self-reported a tendency towards more dominant behavior whereas Japanese self-reported a tendency towards more subordinate behavior. Moreover, activity in the right caudate and mPFC correlated with behavioral tendencies towards dominance versus subordination, such that stronger responses in the caudate and mPFC to dominant stimuli were associated with more dominant behavior and stronger responses in the caudate and mPFC to subordinate stimuli were associated with more subordinate behavior. The findings provide a first demonstration that culture can flexibly shape functional activity in the mesolimbic reward system, which in turn may guide behavior.

  2. Social responsibility, substance use, and sexual risk behavior in men who have sex with men.

    PubMed

    Martin, Aaron M; Benotsch, Eric G; Cejka, Anna; Luckman, Diana

    2014-01-01

    Considerable public health literature focuses on relationships between problematic human characteristics (e.g., psychopathology) and unhealthy behaviors. A recent movement termed positive psychology emphasizes the advantages of assessing relationships between human strengths (e.g., altruism) and beneficial health behaviors. The present study assessed social responsibility, an orientation to help or protect others even when there is nothing to be gained as an individual, and its relationship to HIV-relevant behaviors. In our sample of 350 men who have sex with men (MSM), social responsibility was negatively correlated with substance use and HIV risk behaviors. Men who had been tested for HIV and knew their HIV status-a behavior that helps men protect their partners but does not protect themselves from the virus-also scored higher in social responsibility. Interventions designed to reduce HIV risk behavior in MSM may benefit from efforts to promote human strengths.

  3. Stability and change: Stress responses and the shaping of behavioral phenotypes over the life span.

    PubMed

    Hennessy, Michael B; Kaiser, Sylvia; Tiedtke, Tobias; Sachser, Norbert

    2015-01-01

    In mammals, maternal signals conveyed via influences on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) activity may shape behavior of the young to be better adapted for prevailing environmental conditions. However, the mother's influence extends beyond classic stress response systems. In guinea pigs, several hours (h) of separation from the mother activates not only the HPA axis, but also the innate immune system, which effects immediate behavioral change, as well as modifies behavioral responsiveness in the future. Moreover, the presence of the mother potently suppresses the behavioral consequences of this innate immune activation. These findings raise the possibility that long-term adaptive behavioral change can be mediated by the mother's influence on immune-related activity of her pups. Furthermore, the impact of social partners on physiological stress responses and their behavioral outcomes are not limited to the infantile period. A particularly crucial period for social development in male guinea pigs is that surrounding the attainment of sexual maturation. At this time, social interactions with adults can dramatically affect circulating cortisol concentrations and social behavior in ways that appear to prepare the male to best cope in its likely future social environment. Despite such multiple social influences on the behavior of guinea pigs at different ages, inter-individual differences in the magnitude of the cortisol response remain surprisingly stable over most of the life span. Together, it appears that throughout the life span, physiological stress responses may be regulated by social stimuli. These influences are hypothesized to adjust behavior for predicted environmental conditions. In addition, stable individual differences might provide a means of facilitating adaptation to less predictable conditions.

  4. A Case Study on Primary, Secondary and University Students' Environmentally Responsible Behaviors in Turkey

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kahyaoglu, Mustafa

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of the study is to prove the environmentally responsible behaviors of primary, secondary and university students in Turkey. The students', who attended the study as participants, environmentally political behaviors, consumer/economical behaviors, direct behaviors toward protecting the environment and individual and public persuasion…

  5. Quantifying Insulin Sensitivity and Entero-Insular Responsiveness to Hyper- and Hypoglycemia in Ferrets

    PubMed Central

    Sui, Hongshu; Yi, Yaling; Yao, Jianrong; Liang, Bo; Sun, Xingshen; Hu, Shanming; Uc, Aliye; Nelson, Deborah J.; Ode, Katie Larson; Philipson, Louis H.; Engelhardt, John F.; Norris, Andrew W.

    2014-01-01

    Ferrets are an important emerging model of cystic fibrosis related diabetes. However, there is little documented experience in the use of advanced techniques to quantify aspects of diabetes pathophysiology in the ferret. Glycemic clamps are the gold standard technique to assess both insulin sensitivity and insulin secretion in humans and animal models of diabetes. We therefore sought to develop techniques for glycemic clamps in ferrets. To assess insulin sensitivity, we performed euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamps in 5–6 week old ferrets in the anesthetized and conscious states. To assess insulin secretion, we performed hyperglycemic clamps in conscious ferrets. To evaluate responsiveness of ferret islet and entero-insular hormones to low glucose, a portion of the hyperglycemic clamps were followed by a hypoglycemic clamp. The euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamps demonstrated insulin responsiveness in ferrets similar to that previously observed in humans and rats. The anesthetic isoflurane induced marked insulin resistance, whereas lipid emulsion induced mild insulin resistance. In conscious ferrets, glucose appearance was largely suppressed at 4 mU/kg/min insulin infusion, whereas glucose disposal was progressively increased at 4 and 20 mU/kg/min insulin. Hyperglycemic clamp induced first phase insulin secretion. Hypoglycemia induced a rapid diminishment of insulin, as well as a rise in glucagon and pancreatic polypeptide levels. The incretins GLP-1 and GIP were affected minimally by hyperglycemic and hypoglycemic clamp. These techniques will prove useful in better defining the pathophysiology in ferrets with cystic fibrosis related diabetes. PMID:24594704

  6. Quantifying insulin sensitivity and entero-insular responsiveness to hyper- and hypoglycemia in ferrets.

    PubMed

    Sui, Hongshu; Yi, Yaling; Yao, Jianrong; Liang, Bo; Sun, Xingshen; Hu, Shanming; Uc, Aliye; Nelson, Deborah J; Ode, Katie Larson; Philipson, Louis H; Engelhardt, John F; Norris, Andrew W

    2014-01-01

    Ferrets are an important emerging model of cystic fibrosis related diabetes. However, there is little documented experience in the use of advanced techniques to quantify aspects of diabetes pathophysiology in the ferret. Glycemic clamps are the gold standard technique to assess both insulin sensitivity and insulin secretion in humans and animal models of diabetes. We therefore sought to develop techniques for glycemic clamps in ferrets. To assess insulin sensitivity, we performed euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamps in 5-6 week old ferrets in the anesthetized and conscious states. To assess insulin secretion, we performed hyperglycemic clamps in conscious ferrets. To evaluate responsiveness of ferret islet and entero-insular hormones to low glucose, a portion of the hyperglycemic clamps were followed by a hypoglycemic clamp. The euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamps demonstrated insulin responsiveness in ferrets similar to that previously observed in humans and rats. The anesthetic isoflurane induced marked insulin resistance, whereas lipid emulsion induced mild insulin resistance. In conscious ferrets, glucose appearance was largely suppressed at 4 mU/kg/min insulin infusion, whereas glucose disposal was progressively increased at 4 and 20 mU/kg/min insulin. Hyperglycemic clamp induced first phase insulin secretion. Hypoglycemia induced a rapid diminishment of insulin, as well as a rise in glucagon and pancreatic polypeptide levels. The incretins GLP-1 and GIP were affected minimally by hyperglycemic and hypoglycemic clamp. These techniques will prove useful in better defining the pathophysiology in ferrets with cystic fibrosis related diabetes.

  7. Predicting and quantifying soil processes using “geomorphon” landform Classification

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Soil development and behavior vary spatially at multiple observation scales. Predicting and quantifying soil properties and processes via a catena integrates predictable landscape scale variation relevant to both management decisions and soil survey. Soil maps generally convey variation as a set of ...

  8. Children's interpretations of general quantifiers, specific quantifiers, and generics

    PubMed Central

    Gelman, Susan A.; Leslie, Sarah-Jane; Was, Alexandra M.; Koch, Christina M.

    2014-01-01

    Recently, several scholars have hypothesized that generics are a default mode of generalization, and thus that young children may at first treat quantifiers as if they were generic in meaning. To address this issue, the present experiment provides the first in-depth, controlled examination of the interpretation of generics compared to both general quantifiers ("all Xs", "some Xs") and specific quantifiers ("all of these Xs", "some of these Xs"). We provided children (3 and 5 years) and adults with explicit frequency information regarding properties of novel categories, to chart when "some", "all", and generics are deemed appropriate. The data reveal three main findings. First, even 3-year-olds distinguish generics from quantifiers. Second, when children make errors, they tend to be in the direction of treating quantifiers like generics. Third, children were more accurate when interpreting specific versus general quantifiers. We interpret these data as providing evidence for the position that generics are a default mode of generalization, especially when reasoning about kinds. PMID:25893205

  9. [Relationships between workers' interpersonal helping behavior, social supports, job stressors, psychological stress responses, and vigor in manufacturing industry].

    PubMed

    Horita, Yuji; Otsuka, Yasumasa

    2014-01-01

    In the NIOSH Generic Job Stress Model, social support is assumed to moderate the relationship between job stressors and stress responses. However, few studies have investigated how to enhance social support in the workplace. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between interpersonal helping behavior, social support, job stressors, psychological stress responses, and vigor among Japanese workers. A total of 240 workers in manufacturing companies returned a questionnaire regarding their interpersonal helping behavior, social support, job stressors, psychological stress responses, and vigor (response rate = 96.0%). After excluding 40 participants due to missing responses, data from a total of 200 participants (163 male and 37 female, mean age = 40.3 yr) were used in the final analyses. Interpersonal helping behavior was assessed by the Japanese version of the Organizational Citizenship Behavior Scale. The Brief Job Stress Questionnaire was used to measure job stressors, psychological stress responses, social support, and vigor. Structured equation modeling was performed to examine the relationships between interpersonal helping behavior, social support, job stressors, psychological stress responses, and vigor. Interpersonal helping behavior had a statistically significant negative effect on psychological stress response through increasing social support. However, interpersonal helping behavior had a statistically significant positive effect on psychological stress response through increasing the quantitative workload. Of these two effects, the former was stronger than the latter. In addition, interpersonal helping behavior had a statistically significant positive effect on vigor through increasing social support. Although interpersonal helping behavior, which helps other workers may increase quantitative workload, leading to high levels of psychological stress responses, that same behavior strengthens trust and team spirit among workers and may

  10. European corn borer sex pheromone : Inhibition and elicitation of behavioral response by analogs.

    PubMed

    Schwarz, M; Klun, J A; Uebel, E C

    1990-05-01

    The male sexual behavior-stimulating and inhibiting properties of a series of analogs of the European corn borer sex pheromone were determined in a flight tunnel. The structural requirements for inhibition of pheromonal response were far less restrictive than those for elicitation of that response. Analogs that by themselves elicited upwind flight response from males at a low dose were generally less inhibitory to male response than many of the analogs that had no pheromonal activity. These findings suggest that many pheromone analogs bind to pheromone receptors without provoking behavioral response and possibly undergo slower degradation on the antenna than pheromonally active compounds. The disparity of response to analogs by two pheromonal types of the European corn borer indicates that the pheromone receptor and pheromone catabolic systems are biochemically very different in the two types.

  11. Embryonic Alcohol Exposure Impairs the Dopaminergic System and Social Behavioral Responses in Adult Zebrafish

    PubMed Central

    Fernandes, Yohaan; Rampersad, Mindy

    2015-01-01

    Background: The zebrafish is a powerful neurobehavioral genetics tool with which complex human brain disorders including alcohol abuse and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders may be modeled and investigated. Zebrafish innately form social groups called shoals. Previously, it has been demonstrated that a single bath exposure (24 hours postfertilization) to low doses of alcohol (0, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, and 1% vol/vol) for a short duration (2 hours) leads to impaired group forming, or shoaling, in adult zebrafish. Methods: In the current study, we immersed zebrafish eggs in a low concentration of alcohol (0.5% or 1% vol/vol) for 2 hours at 24 hours postfertilization and let the fish grow and reach adulthood. In addition to quantifying the behavioral response of the adult fish to an animated shoal, we also measured the amount of dopamine and its metabolite 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid from whole brain extracts of these fish using high-pressure liquid chromatograph. Results: Here we confirm that embryonic alcohol exposure makes adult zebrafish increase their distance from the shoal stimulus in a dose-dependent manner. We also show that the shoal stimulus increases the amount of dopamine and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid in the brain of control zebrafish but not in fish previously exposed to alcohol during their embryonic development. Conclusions: We speculate that one of the mechanisms that may explain the embryonic alcohol-induced impaired shoaling response in zebrafish is dysfunction of reward mechanisms subserved by the dopaminergic system. PMID:25568285

  12. Responses to novel odors mediate maternal behavior and concaveation in gerbils.

    PubMed

    Clark, M M; Spencer, C A; Galef, B G

    1986-01-01

    In a series of three experiments we examined: (Experiment 1) responses to novel odors by early- and late-maturing not-pregnant, pregnant, nursing and postweaning female Mongolian gerbils, (Experiment 2) the response of the same eight groups of female gerbils to unfamiliar pups, and (Experiment 3) the rate of induction of maternal behavior by concaveation in early- and late-maturing nulliparous gerbils. We found: (1) that those females that responded relatively positively to novel odors in Experiment 1 were more likely to retrieve and less likely to attack unfamiliar pups in Experiment 2 than those females responding relatively negatively to novel odors in Experiment 1, and (2) that early-maturing nulliparous gerbils both responded more positively to novel odors and exhibited more rapid induction of maternal behavior by concaveation than late-maturing nulliparous gerbils. The results both confirm and extend Fleming and Rosenblatt's (1974) hypothesis that differences in response to novel odors mediate individual differences in maternal responsiveness.

  13. Spouses’ Attachment Pairings Predict Neuroendocrine, Behavioral, and Psychological Responses to Marital Conflict

    PubMed Central

    Beck, Lindsey A.; Pietromonaco, Paula R.; DeBuse, Casey J.; Powers, Sally I.; Sayer, Aline G.

    2014-01-01

    This research investigated how spouses’ attachment styles jointly contributed to their stress responses. Newlywed couples discussed relationship conflicts. Salivary cortisol indexed physiological stress; observer-rated behaviors indexed behavioral stress; self-reported distress indexed psychological stress. Multilevel modeling tested predictions that couples including one anxious and one avoidant partner or two anxious partners would show distinctive stress responses. As predicted, couples with anxious wives and avoidant husbands showed physiological reactivity in anticipation of conflict: Both spouses showed sharp increases in cortisol, followed by rapid declines. These couples also showed distinctive behaviors during conflict: Anxious wives had difficulty recognizing avoidant husbands’ distress, and avoidant husbands had difficulty approaching anxious wives for support. Contrary to predictions, couples including two anxious partners did not show distinctive stress responses. Findings suggest that the fit between partners’ attachment styles can improve understanding of relationships by specifying conditions under which partners’ attachment characteristics jointly influence individual and relationship outcomes. PMID:23773048

  14. Harnessing the theoretical foundations of the exponential and beta-Poisson dose-response models to quantify parameter uncertainty using Markov Chain Monte Carlo.

    PubMed

    Schmidt, Philip J; Pintar, Katarina D M; Fazil, Aamir M; Topp, Edward

    2013-09-01

    Dose-response models are the essential link between exposure assessment and computed risk values in quantitative microbial risk assessment, yet the uncertainty that is inherent to computed risks because the dose-response model parameters are estimated using limited epidemiological data is rarely quantified. Second-order risk characterization approaches incorporating uncertainty in dose-response model parameters can provide more complete information to decisionmakers by separating variability and uncertainty to quantify the uncertainty in computed risks. Therefore, the objective of this work is to develop procedures to sample from posterior distributions describing uncertainty in the parameters of exponential and beta-Poisson dose-response models using Bayes's theorem and Markov Chain Monte Carlo (in OpenBUGS). The theoretical origins of the beta-Poisson dose-response model are used to identify a decomposed version of the model that enables Bayesian analysis without the need to evaluate Kummer confluent hypergeometric functions. Herein, it is also established that the beta distribution in the beta-Poisson dose-response model cannot address variation among individual pathogens, criteria to validate use of the conventional approximation to the beta-Poisson model are proposed, and simple algorithms to evaluate actual beta-Poisson probabilities of infection are investigated. The developed MCMC procedures are applied to analysis of a case study data set, and it is demonstrated that an important region of the posterior distribution of the beta-Poisson dose-response model parameters is attributable to the absence of low-dose data. This region includes beta-Poisson models for which the conventional approximation is especially invalid and in which many beta distributions have an extreme shape with questionable plausibility. © Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada 2013. Reproduced with the permission of the Minister of the Public Health Agency of Canada.

  15. The role of response force on the persistence and structure of behavior during extinction.

    PubMed

    Pinkston, Jonathan W; Foss, Erica K

    2018-01-01

    Behavior Momentum Theory has emerged as a prominent account of resistance to change in both basic and applied research. Although laboratory studies often define precise, repeatable responses, application research often deals with response classes that may vary widely along a number of dimensions. In general, Behavior Momentum Theory has not addressed how response dimensions impact resistance to change, providing an opportunity to expand the model in new directions. Four rats pressed a force transducer under a multiple variable interval (VI) 60-s VI 60-s schedule of reinforcement. In one component, responses satisfied the schedule only if the response force fell within a "low" force band requirement; responses in the other schedule were required to satisfy a "high" force band. Once responding stabilized, extinction was programmed for three sessions. Then, the procedures were replicated. The results showed that response force came under discriminative control, but force requirements had no impact on resistance to extinction. In a follow-up condition, the schedule was changed to a multiple VI 30-s VI 120-s schedule and the low-force band operated in both components. The results showed that behavior maintained by the VI 30-s schedule was generally more resistant to extinction. A secondary analysis showed that force distributions created under baseline maintained during extinction. Overall, the results suggest that differential response force requirements prevailing in steady state do not affect the course of extinction. © 2018 Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

  16. The different behavioral intentions of collectivists and individualists in response to social exclusion.

    PubMed

    Pfundmair, Michaela; Graupmann, Verena; Frey, Dieter; Aydin, Nilüfer

    2015-03-01

    We investigated how participants with collectivistic and individualistic orientation cope with social exclusion on a behavioral level. In Studies 1 and 2, we found participants with more individualistic orientation to indicate more antisocial behavioral intentions in response to exclusion than in response to inclusion; however, participants with more collectivistic orientation did not differ in their behavioral intentions between exclusion and inclusion. In the third and fourth study, we replicated our findings across cultures: German and U.S. participants indicated more antisocial and avoiding behavioral intentions under exclusion than under inclusion, whereas Turkish and Indian participants did not differ in their behavioral intentions between exclusion and inclusion. In Studies 3 and 4, only German and U.S. participants were significantly affected by exclusion, showing more negative mood, which correlated with their behavioral intentions. In Study 4, the different behavioral intentions of collectivists and individualists were mediated by a different threat experience. The findings emphasize the role of self-construal and culture, as well as the self-threat inherent in exclusion. © 2015 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

  17. Is Empathic Accuracy Enough to Facilitate Responsive Behavior in Dyadic Interaction? Distinguishing Ability From Motivation.

    PubMed

    Winczewski, Lauren A; Bowen, Jeffrey D; Collins, Nancy L

    2016-03-01

    Growing evidence suggests that interpersonal responsiveness-feeling understood, validated, and cared for by other people-plays a key role in shaping the quality of one's social interactions and relationships. But what enables people to be interpersonally responsive to others? In the current study, we argued that responsiveness requires not only accurate understanding but also compassionate motivation. Specifically, we hypothesized that understanding another person's thoughts and feelings (empathic accuracy) would foster responsive behavior only when paired with benevolent motivation (empathic concern). To test this idea, we asked couples (N = 91) to discuss a personal or relationship stressor; we then assessed empathic accuracy, empathic concern, and responsive behavior. As predicted, when listeners' empathic concern was high, empathic accuracy facilitated responsiveness; but when empathic concern was low, empathic accuracy was unhelpful (and possibly harmful) for responsiveness. These findings provide the first evidence that cognitive and affective forms of empathy work together to facilitate responsive behavior. © The Author(s) 2016.

  18. Quantifying over-activity in bipolar and schizophrenia patients in a human open field paradigm.

    PubMed

    Perry, William; Minassian, Arpi; Henry, Brook; Kincaid, Meegin; Young, Jared W; Geyer, Mark A

    2010-06-30

    It has been suggested that a cardinal symptom of mania is over-activity and exaggerated goal-directed behavior. Nevertheless, few attempts have been made to quantify this behavior objectively in a laboratory environment. Having a methodology to assess over-activity reliably might be useful in distinguishing manic bipolar disorder (BD) from schizophrenia (SCZ) during highly activated states. In the current study, quantifiable measures of object interaction were assessed using a multivariate approach. Additionally, symptom correlates of over-activity were assessed. Patients admitted to an acute care psychiatric hospital for either BD with mania or SCZ (paranoid and non-paranoid subtypes) as well as non-patient comparison (NC) participants were assessed in an open field setting referred to as the human Behavioral Pattern Monitor (hBPM). Activity and interactions with novel and engaging objects were recorded for 15min via a concealed video camera and rated for exploratory behavior. Both BD and SCZ patients spent more time near the objects and exhibited more overall walking compared to NC. In contrast, BD patients exhibited greater physical contact with objects (number of object interactions and time spent with objects) relative to SCZ patients or NC participants, as well as more perseverative and socially disinhibited behaviors, indicating a unique pattern of over-activity and goal-directed behavior. Further analyses revealed a distinction between SCZ patients according to their subtype. The current study extends our methodology for quantifying exploration and over-activity in a controlled laboratory setting and aids in assessing the overlap and distinguishing characteristics of BD and SCZ.

  19. Empathy and prosocial behavior in response to sadness and distress in 6- to 7-year olds diagnosed with disruptive behavior disorder and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

    PubMed

    Deschamps, P K H; Schutter, D J L G; Kenemans, J L; Matthys, W

    2015-01-01

    Empathy has been associated with decreased antisocial and increased prosocial behavior. This study examined empathy and prosocial behavior in response to sadness and distress in disruptive behavior disorder (DBD) and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Six- and 7-year-old children with DBD (with and without ADHD) (n = 67) and with ADHD only (n = 27) were compared to typically developing children (TD) (n = 37). Parents and teachers rated affective empathy in response to sadness and distress on the Griffith Empathy Measure. Children reported affective empathic ability in response to sad story vignettes. Empathy-induced prosocial behavior in response to sadness and distress was assessed with a computer task, the Interpersonal Response Task (IRT). Compared to TD, children with DBD (with and without ADHD) and those with ADHD only were rated as less empathic by their teachers, but not by their parents. No differences between groups were observed in children who reported affect correspondence. Children with DBD (with and without ADHD) showed less prosocial behavior in response to sadness and distress compared to TD. Children with ADHD only did not differ from TD. An additional analysis comparing all children with a diagnosis to the TD group revealed that the difference in prosocial behavior remained after controlling for ADHD symptoms, but not after controlling for DBD symptoms. These findings of impaired empathy-induced prosocial behavior in response to sadness and distress in young children with DBD suggest that interventions to ameliorate peer relationships may benefit from targeting on increasing prosocial behavior in these children.

  20. Response to Intervention (RTI) for Students Presenting with Behavioral Difficulties: Culturally Responsive Guiding Questions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Abou-Rjaily, Kathleen; Stoddard, Susan

    2017-01-01

    Response to Intervention (RTI) is a tiered intervention that assists school personnel in determining eligibility for special education services. Studies support the use of RTI as an early intervention for addressing significant learning disabilities (SLD) and social emotional behaviors, as well as for students who are culturally and linguistically…

  1. Quantifying capture stress in free ranging European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus).

    PubMed

    Huber, Nikolaus; Vetter, Sebastian G; Evans, Alina L; Kjellander, Petter; Küker, Susanne; Bergvall, Ulrika A; Arnemo, Jon M

    2017-05-10

    To understand and reduce the concomitant effects of trapping and handling procedures in wildlife species, it is essential to measure their physiological impact. Here, we examined individual variation in stress levels in non-anesthetized European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), which were captured in box traps and physically restrained for tagging, biometrics and bio-sampling. In winter 2013, we collected venous blood samples from 28 individuals during 28 capture events and evaluated standard measurements for stress (heart rate, body temperature, neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio, lactate and total cortisol). Additionally, we assessed stress using the immunological tool, Leukocyte Coping Capacity (LCC), a real-time proxy for stress measuring oxygen radical production by leukocytes. Finally, the behavioral response to handling was recorded using a scoring system. LCC and therefore stress levels were negatively influenced by the time animals spent in the box trap with human presence at the capture site prior to handling. In contrast, none of the classical stress measures, including total cortisol, nor the behavioral assessment, were correlated with the stressor tested (time of human presence prior to handling) and thus did not provide a clear depiction regarding the extent of the animals short-term stress response. Overall our study verifies the LCC as a strong method to quantify short-term stress reactions in wildlife. Moreover, our results clearly show that human presence at the trapping site prior to handling should be kept to an absolute minimum in order to reduce stress levels.

  2. Quantifying uncertainty in climate change science through empirical information theory.

    PubMed

    Majda, Andrew J; Gershgorin, Boris

    2010-08-24

    Quantifying the uncertainty for the present climate and the predictions of climate change in the suite of imperfect Atmosphere Ocean Science (AOS) computer models is a central issue in climate change science. Here, a systematic approach to these issues with firm mathematical underpinning is developed through empirical information theory. An information metric to quantify AOS model errors in the climate is proposed here which incorporates both coarse-grained mean model errors as well as covariance ratios in a transformation invariant fashion. The subtle behavior of model errors with this information metric is quantified in an instructive statistically exactly solvable test model with direct relevance to climate change science including the prototype behavior of tracer gases such as CO(2). Formulas for identifying the most sensitive climate change directions using statistics of the present climate or an AOS model approximation are developed here; these formulas just involve finding the eigenvector associated with the largest eigenvalue of a quadratic form computed through suitable unperturbed climate statistics. These climate change concepts are illustrated on a statistically exactly solvable one-dimensional stochastic model with relevance for low frequency variability of the atmosphere. Viable algorithms for implementation of these concepts are discussed throughout the paper.

  3. Neuropeptidergic Signaling Partitions Arousal Behaviors in Zebrafish

    PubMed Central

    Schoppik, David; Shi, Veronica J.; Zimmerman, Steven; Coleman, Haley A.; Greenwood, Joel; Soucy, Edward R.

    2014-01-01

    Animals modulate their arousal state to ensure that their sensory responsiveness and locomotor activity match environmental demands. Neuropeptides can regulate arousal, but studies of their roles in vertebrates have been constrained by the vast array of neuropeptides and their pleiotropic effects. To overcome these limitations, we systematically dissected the neuropeptidergic modulation of arousal in larval zebrafish. We quantified spontaneous locomotor activity and responsiveness to sensory stimuli after genetically induced expression of seven evolutionarily conserved neuropeptides, including adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide 1b (adcyap1b), cocaine-related and amphetamine-related transcript (cart), cholecystokinin (cck), calcitonin gene-related peptide (cgrp), galanin, hypocretin, and nociceptin. Our study reveals that arousal behaviors are dissociable: neuropeptide expression uncoupled spontaneous activity from sensory responsiveness, and uncovered modality-specific effects upon sensory responsiveness. Principal components analysis and phenotypic clustering revealed both shared and divergent features of neuropeptidergic functions: hypocretin and cgrp stimulated spontaneous locomotor activity, whereas galanin and nociceptin attenuated these behaviors. In contrast, cart and adcyap1b enhanced sensory responsiveness yet had minimal impacts on spontaneous activity, and cck expression induced the opposite effects. Furthermore, hypocretin and nociceptin induced modality-specific differences in responsiveness to changes in illumination. Our study provides the first systematic and high-throughput analysis of neuropeptidergic modulation of arousal, demonstrates that arousal can be partitioned into independent behavioral components, and reveals novel and conserved functions of neuropeptides in regulating arousal. PMID:24573274

  4. Effects of environmental novelty on fear-related behavior and stress responses of rats to emotionally relevant odors.

    PubMed

    Nikaido, Y; Nakashima, T

    2009-05-16

    Although various emotional behaviors and activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis of rats are induced by the exposure of 2,5-dihydro-2,4,5-trimethylthiazoline: TMT, a component of fox odor, these odor-induced responses are influenced by the external environment. Our previous study demonstrated that exposure to green odor, a mixture of cis-3-hexenol and trans-2-hexenal, attenuated stress-induced elevation of the plasma ACTH level in rats. The present study investigated the effect of TMT or green odor on emotional behavior and the HPA axis stress response with or without the influence of environmental novelty. We exposed rats to TMT or green odor in "familiar" or "unfamiliar" environments and compared the various responses, including fear-related behaviors, non-defensive behaviors and plasma ACTH concentrations. TMT induced enhanced freezing behavior, reduced exploration behavior and elevations in plasma ACTH concentrations in two environmental conditions. Comparing TMT-induced responses in an unfamiliar environment with the familiar environment showed that environmental novelty enhanced TMT-induced fear-related behaviors and elevations of plasma ACTH concentrations. These results revealed that TMT causes fear and stress responses in both familiar and unfamiliar environments, although the novelty of an unfamiliar environment enhances these TMT-induced responses. On the other hand, green odor did not induce any responses in either environment. These findings indicate that odor-induced responses are influenced by the surrounding environment.

  5. Behavioral and physiological responses to prey match-mismatch in larval herring

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Illing, Björn; Moyano, Marta; Berg, Julia; Hufnagl, Marc; Peck, Myron A.

    2018-02-01

    The year-class success of Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) spawning in the autumn/winter in the North Sea (NSAS stock) and in the spring in the western Baltic Sea (WBSS) appears driven by prey match-mismatch dynamics affecting the survival of larvae during the first weeks of life. To better understand and model the consequences of prey match-mismatch from an individual-based perspective, we measured aspects of the physiology and behavior of NSAS and WBSS herring larvae foraging in markedly different prey concentrations. When matched with prey (ad libitum concentrations of the copepod Acartia tonsa) larval growth, swimming activity, nutritional condition and metabolic rates were relatively high. When prey was absent (mismatch), swimming and feeding behavior rapidly declined within 2 and 4 days, for WBSS and NSAS larvae, respectively, concomitant with reductions in nutritional (RNA-DNA ratio) and somatic (weight-at-length) condition. After several days without prey, respiration measurements made on WBSS larvae suggested metabolic down-regulation (8-34%). An individual-based model depicting the time course of these Behavioral and physiological responses suggested that 25-mm larvae experiencing a mismatch would survive 25-33% (10, 7 °C) longer than 12-mm larvae. Warmer temperatures exacerbate starvation-induced decrements in performance. Without Behavioral and metabolic adjustments, survival of 25-mm larvae would be reduced from 8 to 6 days at 7 °C. Our findings highlight how adaptive Behavioral and physiological responses are tightly linked to prey match-mismatch dynamics in larval herring and how these responses can be included in models to better explore how bottom-up processes regulate larval fish growth and survival.

  6. Differences in maternal responsive and directive behavior during free play with and without aided AAC.

    PubMed

    Medeiros, Kara F; Cress, Cynthia J

    2016-06-01

    Maternal directive and responsive behaviors were compared for 25 mothers and children with complex communication needs using two types of toys (familiar and unfamiliar toys). Each type of toy play was conducted with and without a single message speech-generating communication device (SGD) programmed to say "more." Rate percentages of coded intervals for maternal directive and responsive behaviors were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVAs. Results indicated that mothers used significantly more responsive behaviors when playing with their own familiar toys than with unfamiliar toys, but no differences in directiveness between types of play. Mothers showed no differences in responsivity or directiveness when the SGD was added to play interactions, indicating that the SGD did not introduce task features that detracted from the mothers' existing levels of responsivity with their children. Clinical implications are discussed.

  7. Relations between Children's Levels of Responsiveness and Resistance, Maternal Interaction Behaviors, and Children's Social Behaviors with Peers in School

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Salinas, Daniela; Neitzel, Carin

    2017-01-01

    Children's peer relationships have their origins in family relationships. The present study focuses on the relative importance of children's levels of responsiveness and/or resistance during mother-child interactions and tests a model of the direct and indirect relations between mother interaction behaviors and children's social behaviors with…

  8. Advances in Understanding Stimulus Responsive Phase Behavior of Intrinsically Disordered Protein Polymers.

    PubMed

    Ruff, Kiersten M; Roberts, Stefan; Chilkoti, Ashutosh; Pappu, Rohit V

    2018-06-24

    Proteins and synthetic polymers can undergo phase transitions in response to changes to intensive solution parameters such as temperature, proton chemical potentials (pH), and hydrostatic pressure. For proteins and protein-based polymers, the information required for stimulus responsive phase transitions is encoded in their amino acid sequence. Here, we review some of the key physical principles that govern the phase transitions of archetypal intrinsically disordered protein polymers (IDPPs). These are disordered proteins with highly repetitive amino acid sequences. Advances in recombinant technologies have enabled the design and synthesis of protein sequences of a variety of sequence complexities and lengths. We summarize insights that have been gleaned from the design and characterization of IDPPs that undergo thermo-responsive phase transitions and build on these insights to present a general framework for IDPPs with pH and pressure responsive phase behavior. In doing so, we connect the stimulus responsive phase behavior of IDPPs with repetitive sequences to the coil-to-globule transitions that these sequences undergo at the single chain level in response to changes in stimuli. The proposed framework and ongoing studies of stimulus responsive phase behavior of designed IDPPs have direct implications in bioengineering, where designing sequences with bespoke material properties broadens the spectrum of applications, and in biology and medicine for understanding the sequence-specific driving forces for the formation of protein-based membraneless organelles as well as biological matrices that act as scaffolds for cells and mediators of cell-to-cell communication. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  9. Mismatched anti-predator behavioral responses in predator-naïve larval anurans.

    PubMed

    Albecker, Molly; Vance-Chalcraft, Heather D

    2015-01-01

    Organisms are adept at altering behaviors to balance the tradeoff between foraging and predation risk in spatially and temporally shifting predator environments. In order to optimize this tradeoff, prey need to be able to display an appropriate response based on degree of predation risk. To be most beneficial in the earliest life stages in which many prey are vulnerable to predation, innate anti-predator responses should scale to match the risk imposed by predators until learned anti-predator responses can occur. We conducted an experiment that examined whether tadpoles with no previous exposure to predators (i.e., predator-naive) exhibit innate antipredator behavioral responses (e.g., via refuge use and spatial avoidance) that match the actual risk posed by each predator. Using 7 treatments (6 free-roaming, lethal predators plus no-predator control), we determined the predation rates of each predator on Lithobates sphenocephalus tadpoles. We recorded behavioral observations on an additional 7 nonlethal treatments (6 caged predators plus no-predator control). Tadpoles exhibited innate responses to fish predators, but not non-fish predators, even though two non-fish predators (newt and crayfish) consumed the most tadpoles. Due to a mismatch between innate response and predator consumption, tadpoles may be vulnerable to greater rates of predation at the earliest life stages before learning can occur. Thus, naïve tadpoles in nature may be at a high risk to predation in the presence of a novel predator until learned anti-predator responses provide additional defenses to the surviving tadpoles.

  10. Mismatched anti-predator behavioral responses in predator-naïve larval anurans

    PubMed Central

    Vance-Chalcraft, Heather D.

    2015-01-01

    Organisms are adept at altering behaviors to balance the tradeoff between foraging and predation risk in spatially and temporally shifting predator environments. In order to optimize this tradeoff, prey need to be able to display an appropriate response based on degree of predation risk. To be most beneficial in the earliest life stages in which many prey are vulnerable to predation, innate anti-predator responses should scale to match the risk imposed by predators until learned anti-predator responses can occur. We conducted an experiment that examined whether tadpoles with no previous exposure to predators (i.e., predator-naive) exhibit innate antipredator behavioral responses (e.g., via refuge use and spatial avoidance) that match the actual risk posed by each predator. Using 7 treatments (6 free-roaming, lethal predators plus no-predator control), we determined the predation rates of each predator on Lithobates sphenocephalus tadpoles. We recorded behavioral observations on an additional 7 nonlethal treatments (6 caged predators plus no-predator control). Tadpoles exhibited innate responses to fish predators, but not non-fish predators, even though two non-fish predators (newt and crayfish) consumed the most tadpoles. Due to a mismatch between innate response and predator consumption, tadpoles may be vulnerable to greater rates of predation at the earliest life stages before learning can occur. Thus, naïve tadpoles in nature may be at a high risk to predation in the presence of a novel predator until learned anti-predator responses provide additional defenses to the surviving tadpoles. PMID:26664805

  11. Intrinsic Fluctuations and Driven Response of Insect Swarms

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ni, Rui; Puckett, James G.; Dufresne, Eric R.; Ouellette, Nicholas T.

    2015-09-01

    Animals of all sizes form groups, as acting together can convey advantages over acting alone; thus, collective animal behavior has been identified as a promising template for designing engineered systems. However, models and observations have focused predominantly on characterizing the overall group morphology, and often focus on highly ordered groups such as bird flocks. We instead study a disorganized aggregation (an insect mating swarm), and compare its natural fluctuations with the group-level response to an external stimulus. We quantify the swarm's frequency-dependent linear response and its spectrum of intrinsic fluctuations, and show that the ratio of these two quantities has a simple scaling with frequency. Our results provide a new way of comparing models of collective behavior with experimental data.

  12. Initial description of a quantitative, cross-species (chimpanzee-human) social responsiveness measure

    PubMed Central

    Marrus, Natasha; Faughn, Carley; Shuman, Jeremy; Petersen, Steve; Constantino, John; Povinelli, Daniel; Pruett, John R.

    2011-01-01

    Objective Comparative studies of social responsiveness, an ability that is impaired in autistic spectrum disorders, can inform our understanding of both autism and the cognitive architecture of social behavior. Because there is no existing quantitative measure of social responsiveness in chimpanzees, we generated a quantitative, cross-species (human-chimpanzee) social responsiveness measure. Method We translated the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS), an instrument that quantifies human social responsiveness, into an analogous instrument for chimpanzees. We then retranslated this "Chimp SRS" into a human "Cross-Species SRS" (XSRS). We evaluated three groups of chimpanzees (n=29) with the Chimp SRS and typical and autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) human children (n=20) with the XSRS. Results The Chimp SRS demonstrated strong inter-rater reliability at the three sites (ranges for individual ICCs: .534–.866 and mean ICCs: .851–.970). As has been observed in humans, exploratory principal components analysis of Chimp SRS scores supports a single factor underlying chimpanzee social responsiveness. Human subjects' XSRS scores were fully concordant with their SRS scores (r=.976, p=.001) and distinguished appropriately between typical and ASD subjects. One chimpanzee known for inappropriate social behavior displayed a significantly higher score than all other chimpanzees at its site, demonstrating the scale's ability to detect impaired social responsiveness in chimpanzees. Conclusion Our initial cross-species social responsiveness scale proved reliable and discriminated differences in social responsiveness across (in a relative sense) and within (in a more objectively quantifiable manner) humans and chimpanzees. PMID:21515200

  13. Intra-population variation in behavior modification by the acanthocephalan Acanthocephalus dirus: are differences mediated by host condition?

    PubMed

    Caddigan, Sara C; Barkauskas, Rima T; Sparkes, Timothy C

    2014-11-01

    The acanthocephalan parasite Acanthocephalus dirus infects the freshwater isopod Caecidotea intermedius as an intermediate host before completing its life cycle in a fish. Male C. intermedius infected by A. dirus parasites are less likely to engage in mating behavior than uninfected males but there is a significant intra-population variation in the occurrence of this behavioral change. Previous studies on uninfected isopods have shown that glycogen content is a predictor of male mating behavior and we examined whether the intra-population variation in the mating behavior of infected male C. intermedius could be explained by this relationship. A field-based behavioral experiment was used to quantify intra-population variation in male mating behavior, which showed that 50% of infected males were responsive to females and 50% were not responsive. Biochemical analysis of responsive and non-responsive males revealed that glycogen content was a predictor of the mating behavior for uninfected males but was not a predictor of mating behavior for infected males. For infected males, parasite intensity was a predictor of mating behavior. Males that contained more A. dirus parasites were less likely to undergo modification of mating behavior. We propose that the intra-population variation in the mating behavior of infected C. intermedius identified in nature was not mediated by host condition.

  14. Quantifying human behavior uncertainties in a coupled agent-based model for water resources management

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hyun, J. Y.; Yang, Y. C. E.; Tidwell, V. C.; Macknick, J.

    2017-12-01

    Modeling human behaviors and decisions in water resources management is a challenging issue due to its complexity and uncertain characteristics that affected by both internal (such as stakeholder's beliefs on any external information) and external factors (such as future policies and weather/climate forecast). Stakeholders' decision regarding how much water they need is usually not entirely rational in the real-world cases, so it is not quite suitable to model their decisions with a centralized (top-down) approach that assume everyone in a watershed follow the same order or pursue the same objective. Agent-based modeling (ABM) uses a decentralized approach (bottom-up) that allow each stakeholder to make his/her own decision based on his/her own objective and the belief of information acquired. In this study, we develop an ABM which incorporates the psychological human decision process by the theory of risk perception. The theory of risk perception quantifies human behaviors and decisions uncertainties using two sequential methodologies: the Bayesian Inference and the Cost-Loss Problem. The developed ABM is coupled with a regulation-based water system model: Riverware (RW) to evaluate different human decision uncertainties in water resources management. The San Juan River Basin in New Mexico (Figure 1) is chosen as a case study area, while we define 19 major irrigation districts as water use agents and their primary decision is to decide the irrigated area on an annual basis. This decision will be affected by three external factors: 1) upstream precipitation forecast (potential amount of water availability), 2) violation of the downstream minimum flow (required to support ecosystems), and 3) enforcement of a shortage sharing plan (a policy that is currently undertaken in the region for drought years). Three beliefs (as internal factors) that correspond to these three external factors will also be considered in the modeling framework. The objective of this study is

  15. Narratives of Response Error from Cognitive Interviews of Survey Questions about Normative Behavior

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brenner, Philip S.

    2017-01-01

    That rates of normative behaviors produced by sample surveys are higher than actual behavior warrants is well evidenced in the research literature. Less well understood is the source of this error. Twenty-five cognitive interviews were conducted to probe responses to a set of common, conventional survey questions about one such normative behavior:…

  16. Climate change and environmentally responsible behavior on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

    Treesearch

    Jee In Yoon; Gerard Kyle; Carena J. vanRiper; Stephen G. Sutton

    2012-01-01

    This study explored the relationship between Australians' perceptions of climate change, its impact on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), and predictors of environmentally responsible behavior (ERB). Our hypothesized model suggested that general attitudes toward climate change, social pressure for engaging in ERBs (subjective norms), and perceived behavioral control (...

  17. Electrokinesis is a microbial behavior that requires extracellular electron transport

    PubMed Central

    Harris, H. W.; El-Naggar, M. Y.; Bretschger, O.; Ward, M. J.; Romine, M. F.; Obraztsova, A. Y.; Nealson, K. H.

    2009-01-01

    We report a previously undescribed bacterial behavior termed electrokinesis. This behavior was initially observed as a dramatic increase in cell swimming speed during reduction of solid MnO2 particles by the dissimilatory metal-reducing bacterium Shewanella oneidensis MR-1. The same behavioral response was observed when cells were exposed to small positive applied potentials at the working electrode of a microelectrochemical cell and could be tuned by adjusting the potential on the working electrode. Electrokinesis was found to be different from both chemotaxis and galvanotaxis but was absent in mutants defective in electron transport to solid metal oxides. Using in situ video microscopy and cell tracking algorithms, we have quantified the response for different strains of Shewanella and shown that the response correlates with current-generating capacity in microbial fuel cells. The electrokinetic response was only exhibited by a subpopulation of cells closest to the MnO2 particles or electrodes. In contrast, the addition of 1 mM 9,10-anthraquinone-2,6-disulfonic acid, a soluble electron shuttle, led to increases in motility in the entire population. Electrokinesis is defined as a behavioral response that requires functional extracellular electron transport and that is observed as an increase in cell swimming speeds and lengthened paths of motion that occur in the proximity of a redox active mineral surface or the working electrode of an electrochemical cell. PMID:20018675

  18. Rapid behavioral and genomic responses to social opportunity.

    PubMed

    Burmeister, Sabrina S; Jarvis, Erich D; Fernald, Russell D

    2005-11-01

    From primates to bees, social status regulates reproduction. In the cichlid fish Astatotilapia (Haplochromis) burtoni, subordinate males have reduced fertility and must become dominant to reproduce. This increase in sexual capacity is orchestrated by neurons in the preoptic area, which enlarge in response to dominance and increase expression of gonadotropin-releasing hormone 1 (GnRH1), a peptide critical for reproduction. Using a novel behavioral paradigm, we show for the first time that subordinate males can become dominant within minutes of an opportunity to do so, displaying dramatic changes in body coloration and behavior. We also found that social opportunity induced expression of the immediate-early gene egr-1 in the anterior preoptic area, peaking in regions with high densities of GnRH1 neurons, and not in brain regions that express the related peptides GnRH2 and GnRH3. This genomic response did not occur in stable subordinate or stable dominant males even though stable dominants, like ascending males, displayed dominance behaviors. Moreover, egr-1 in the optic tectum and the cerebellum was similarly induced in all experimental groups, showing that egr-1 induction in the anterior preoptic area of ascending males was specific to this brain region. Because egr-1 codes for a transcription factor important in neural plasticity, induction of egr-1 in the anterior preoptic area by social opportunity could be an early trigger in the molecular cascade that culminates in enhanced fertility and other long-term physiological changes associated with dominance.

  19. A fuzzy Bayesian network approach to quantify the human behaviour during an evacuation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ramli, Nurulhuda; Ghani, Noraida Abdul; Ahmad, Nazihah

    2016-06-01

    Bayesian Network (BN) has been regarded as a successful representation of inter-relationship of factors affecting human behavior during an emergency. This paper is an extension of earlier work of quantifying the variables involved in the BN model of human behavior during an evacuation using a well-known direct probability elicitation technique. To overcome judgment bias and reduce the expert's burden in providing precise probability values, a new approach for the elicitation technique is required. This study proposes a new fuzzy BN approach for quantifying human behavior during an evacuation. Three major phases of methodology are involved, namely 1) development of qualitative model representing human factors during an evacuation, 2) quantification of BN model using fuzzy probability and 3) inferencing and interpreting the BN result. A case study of three inter-dependencies of human evacuation factors such as danger assessment ability, information about the threat and stressful conditions are used to illustrate the application of the proposed method. This approach will serve as an alternative to the conventional probability elicitation technique in understanding the human behavior during an evacuation.

  20. Behavioral and physiologic responses to environmental enrichment in the maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus).

    PubMed

    Cummings, Dawn; Brown, Janine L; Rodden, Melissa D; Songsasen, Nucharin

    2007-09-01

    The ex situ population of maned wolves is not self-sustaining due to poor reproduction, caused primarily by parental incompetence. Studies have shown that environmental enrichment can promote natural parental behaviors in zoo animals. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of environmental enrichment on behavioral and physiological responses of maned wolves. During an 8-week experimental period, daily behavior observations and fecal sample collection were conducted on four adult wolves (2.2) individually housed in environments without enrichment. After 2 weeks, the wolves were chronologically provided with 2-week intervals of hiding dead mice around the exhibit, no enrichment, and introduction of boomer balls. Responses of the wolves to enrichment were assessed based on activity levels and exploratory rates, as well as the level of corticoid metabolites in fecal samples collected daily throughout the study period. Providing wolves with environmental enrichment significantly increased exploratory behaviors (P<0.05), especially when mice were hidden in the enclosure. Fecal corticoid concentrations were increased during periods of enrichment in males (P<0.05), but not in females. Overall, there were no correlations between behavioral responses to enrichment and fecal corticoid levels. Behavioral results suggest that environmental enrichment elicits positive effects on the behavior of captive maned wolves. There is evidence suggesting that providing animals with ability to forage for food is a more effective enrichment strategy than introducing objects. There is need for a longer term study to determine the impact of environmental enrichment in this species. Zoo Biol 26:331-343, 2007. (c) 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  1. Behavioral responses of silverback gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) to videos.

    PubMed

    Maloney, Margaret A; Leighty, Katherine A; Kuhar, Christopher W; Bettinger, Tamara L

    2011-01-01

    This study examined the impact of video presentations on the behavior of 4 silverback, western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla). On each of 5 occasions, gorillas viewed 6 types of videos (blue screen, humans, an all-male or mixed-sex group engaged in low activity, and an all-male or mixed-sex group engaged in agonistic behavior). The study recorded behavioral responses and watching rates. All gorillas preferred dynamic over static videos; 3 watched videos depicting gorillas significantly more than those depicting humans. Among the gorilla videos, the gorillas clearly preferred watching the mixed-sex group engaged in agonistic behavior; yet, this did not lead to an increase in aggression or behavior indicating agitation. Further, habituation to videos depicting gorillas did not occur. This supports the effectiveness of this form of enrichment, particularly for a nonhuman animal needing to be separated temporarily due to illness, shipment quarantine, social restructuring, or exhibit modification. Copyright © The Walt Disney Company®

  2. Deprived, but not depraved: Prosocial behavior is an adaptive response to lower socioeconomic status.

    PubMed

    Robinson, Angela R; Piff, Paul K

    2017-01-01

    Individuals of lower socioeconomic status (SES) display increased attentiveness to others and greater prosocial behavior compared to individuals of higher SES. We situate these effects within Pepper & Nettle's contextually appropriate response framework of SES. We argue that increased prosocial behavior is a contextually adaptive response for lower-SES individuals that serves to increase control over their more threatening social environments.

  3. Single-pass environmental chamber for quantifying human responses to airborne chemicals.

    PubMed

    Suarez, Joseph C; Warmath, D Stan; Koetz, Kurt P; Hood, Alison F; Thompson, Mark L; Kendal-Reed, Martin S; Walker, Dianne B; Walker, James C

    2005-03-01

    Despite increasing interest in the short-term effects of airborne environmental contaminants, experimental findings are generated at a very slow pace. This is due in part to the expense and complexity of most environmental chambers, which are needed for quantifying effects of wholebody exposures. We lessened this obstacle by designing, constructing, and testing a single-pass, 10-m3 stainless-steel chamber. Compressed air is purified before being sent to an air dilution olfactometer, which supplies 1000 L (1 m3) per minute (referenced to STP) while maintaining 40% relative humidity (RH) and 22.6 degrees C. Precise control of all stimulus parameters is greatly simplified since air is not recirculated. Vapor-phase odorant concentrations are achieved by varying the proportion of total airflow passing through one or more saturators, and are verified in real time by an infrared (IR) spectrometer. An adjoining 5-m3 anteroom is used for introducing known intensities of more chemically complex vapor and/or particulate stimuli into the chamber. Prior to the point that air is exhausted from the chamber, all components are made of stainless steel, Teflon, or glass. A LabView program contains feedback loops that achieve document chamber conditions and document performance. Additional instrumentation and computer systems provide for the automated collection of perceptual, respiratory, eye blink, heart rate, blood pressure, psychological state, and cognitive data. These endpoints are now being recorded, using this facility, in response to ranges of concentrations of propionic acid and environmental tobacco smoke.

  4. Attention Alters Neural Responses to Evocative Faces in Behaviorally Inhibited Adolescents

    PubMed Central

    Pérez-Edgar, Koraly; Roberson-Nay, Roxann; Hardin, Michael G.; Poeth, Kaitlin; Guyer, Amanda E.; Nelson, Eric E.; McClure, Erin B.; Henderson, Heather A.; Fox, Nathan A.; Pine, Daniel S.; Ernst, Monique

    2007-01-01

    Behavioral inhibition (BI) is a risk factor for anxiety disorders. While the two constructs bear behavioral similarities, previous work has not extended these parallels to the neural level. This study examined amygdala reactivity during a task previously used with clinically anxious adolescents. Adolescents were selected for enduring patterns of BI or non-inhibition (BN). We examined amygdala response to evocative emotion faces in BI (N=10, mean 12.8 years) and BN (N=17, mean 12.5 years) adolescents while systematically manipulating attention. Analyses focused on amygdala response during subjective ratings of internal fear (constrained attention) and passive viewing (unconstrained attention) during the presentation of emotion faces (Happy, Angry, Fearful, and Neutral). BI adolescents, relative to BN adolescents, showed exaggerated amygdala response during subjective fear ratings and deactivation during passive viewing, across all emotion faces. In addition, the BI group showed an abnormally high amygdala response to a task condition marked by novelty and uncertainty (i.e., rating fear state to a Happy face). Perturbations in amygdala function are evident in adolescents temperamentally at risk for anxiety. Attention state alters the underlying pattern of neural processing, potentially mediating the observed behavioral patterns across development. BI adolescents also show a heightened sensitivity to novelty and uncertainty, which has been linked to anxiety. These patterns of reactivity may help sustain early temperamental biases over time and contribute to the observed relation between BI and anxiety. PMID:17376704

  5. Behavioral Responses of Odontocetes to Playback of Anthropogenic and Natural Sounds

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2011-09-30

    risk. Conservation Ecology 6(1):11 Ford JKB. 1989. Acoustic behavior of resident killer whales (Orcinus orca) off Vancouver Island, British...to natural sounds such as those from killer whales ; and to measure exposure parameters for sounds that evoke a behavioral response. APPROACH The...overall timing and bandwidth similar to the MFA stimulus, and recorded calls of killer whales (ORCA). The protocol put the highest priority on

  6. Sexual Behaviors and Experiences among Behaviorally Bisexual Men in the Midwestern United States

    PubMed Central

    Dodge, Brian; Schnarrs, Phillip W.; Reece, Michael; Martinez, Omar; Goncalves, Gabriel; Malebranche, David; Van Der Pol, Barbara; Nix, Ryan; Fortenberry, J. Dennis

    2011-01-01

    Research examining the sexual behaviors and experiences of behaviorally bisexual men is limited. Most studies focus primarily on highlighting sexual risk behaviors among groups of “men who have sex with men (MSM)” or “gay and bisexual men,” which may not be appropriate in terms of behaviorally bisexual men’s sexual repertoires with both men and women. This study aimed to assess a broad range of sexual behaviors and associated experiences among bisexual men living in the midwestern United States. An interviewer-administered questionnaire containing items from the National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior assessed lifetime and recent (i.e., past six months and last event) sexual behaviors and experiences with both male and female partners among a diverse sample of 75 behaviorally bisexual men. Responses were quantified and analyzed using descriptive and multivariate statistics. A wide range of sexual behaviors with partners of both genders was found. Vaginal intercourse and oral sex with both men and women were the most commonly reported behaviors. Subjective reports of pleasure, arousal, and sexual function during sexual activity were similar with both male and female partners. Many participants reported using condoms during insertive sexual behaviors with male and female partners, but less during oral sex. Unprotected receptive anal sex was less commonly reported. Overall, participants reported a variety of sexual behaviors and experiences; however, unlike other populations, they shared these with partners of both genders. Results have implications for interventions targeting the sexual behaviors and associated issues among behaviorally bisexual men. PMID:22187027

  7. [Behavioral pharmacological properties of nicergoline. Effects on gross-behavior in rats and monkeys and on DRL response, CER, and CAR in rats].

    PubMed

    Yamamura, M; Maeda, K; Nakagawa, H; Ishida, R

    1986-02-01

    Whether nicergoline has psychotropic-like pharmacological properties was examined through the gross-behavioral and operant behavioral observations in rats and monkeys. In gross-behavioral observations, slight decrement of spontaneous motor activity, lying on the abdomen and relaxation of abdominal tone were observed in rats when nicergoline was administered intravenously (1 mg/kg or more) and intraperitoneally (4 mg/kg or more). However, when it was administered orally, slight decrement of spontaneous motor activity was observed only at large doses of 32 and 128 mg/kg. In monkeys, nicergoline produced decrement of spontaneous motor activity, palpebral ptosis, and lacrimation when administered intraperitoneally at doses of 1 mg/kg or more. Under a differential reinforcement of low rate (DRL) schedule for food reinforcement in rats, nicergoline depressed the response at 4 mg/kg, i.p., or 128 mg/kg, orally. In conditioned emotional response (CER), nicergoline had no effect on the responses during both the alarm and safe periods at doses of 0.25, 1, and 4 mg/kg, i.p., or 8, 32, and 128 mg/kg, p.o. In Sidman continuous avoidance response (CAR), nicergoline (0.25, 1, and 4 mg/kg, i.p., or 8, 32, and 128 mg/kg, p.o.) slightly depressed the response and increased the total shock. These results were compared with those of chlorpromazine, chlordiazepoxide, pentobarbital, and methamphetamine and the following conclusion was drawn: Inhibitory effects of nicergoline on gross and operant behaviors seem to be non-specific, and its behavioral pharmacological properties are qualitatively different from those of anti-psychotics, anti-anxietics, hypnotics, and stimulants.

  8. Effects of Issue Involvement and Framing of a Responsible Drinking Message on Attitudes, Intentions, and Behavior.

    PubMed

    de Graaf, Anneke; van den Putte, Bas; de Bruijn, Gert-Jan

    2015-08-01

    To decrease the prevalence and the amount of alcohol consumption among students, health messages advocating responsible alcohol behavior can be used. However, it is unclear whether responsible drinking messages are most effective when they use a gain frame, presenting the advantages of responsible drinking, or a loss frame, presenting the disadvantages of irresponsible drinking. This study tests the effects of framing and the moderating role of involvement with the issue of responsible drinking. A three-wave, between-subjects, experimental study was conducted, in which participants (N = 90) were exposed to either a gain- or loss-framed message about responsible drinking behavior at Wave 2. At all three waves, attitudes, intentions and behavior toward responsible drinking were measured. Results showed that for participants with low issue- involvement, a gain frame led to more positive attitudes and intentions toward responsible alcohol use, whereas a loss frame did not have any effects for them. For participants with high issue involvement, a loss frame led to more positive attitudes and intentions toward responsible alcohol use, whereas a gain frame did not have an effect on attitude and only a delayed effect on intention. However, there were no effects of frame and issue involvement on adhering to the guideline of responsible alcohol use and average drinking behavior.

  9. Evidence of cue synergism in termite corpse response behavior

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ulyshen, Michael D.; Shelton, Thomas G.

    2012-02-01

    Subterranean termites of the genus Reticulitermes are known to build walls and tubes and move considerable amounts of soil into wood but the causes of this behavior remain largely unexplored. In laboratory assays, we tested the hypothesis that Reticulitermes virginicus (Banks) would carry more sand into wooden blocks containing corpses compared to corpse-free controls. We further predicted that the corpses of predatory ants would elicit a stronger response than those of a benign beetle species or nestmates. As hypothesized, significantly more sand was carried into blocks containing corpses and this material was typically used to build partitions separating the dead from the rest of the colony. Contrary to expectations, however, this behavior did not vary among corpse types. We then tested the hypothesis that oleic acid, an unsaturated fatty acid released during arthropod decay and used by ants and other arthropod taxa in corpse recognition, would induce a similar building response in R. virginicus. To additionally determine the role of foreign objects in giving rise to this behavior, the experiment was carried out with and without imitation corpses (i.e., small glass beads). As predicted, oleic acid induced building (a tenfold increase) but only when applied to beads, suggesting strong synergism between tactile and chemical cues. Oleic acid also significantly reduced the amount of wood consumed by R. virginicus and may possess useful repellent properties.

  10. Vocalization behavior and response of black rails

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Legare, M.L.; Eddleman, W.R.; Buckley, P.A.; Kelly, C.

    1999-01-01

    . Observers should be trained to identify black rail vocalizations and should have acceptable hearing ability. Given the number of variables that may have large effects on the response behavior of black rails to tape playback, we recommend that future studies using playback surveys should be cautious when presenting estimates of 'absolute' density. Though results did account for variation in response behavior, we believe that additional variation in vocal response between sites, with breeding status, and bird density remains in question. Playback surveys along fixed routes providing a simple index of abundance would be useful to monitor populations over large geographic areas, and over time. Considering the limitations of most agency resources for webless waterbirds, index surveys may be more appropriate. Future telemetry studies of this type on other species and at other sites would be useful to calibrate information obtained from playback surveys whether reporting an index of abundance or density estimate.

  11. Are cyberbullies less empathic? Adolescents' cyberbullying behavior and empathic responsiveness.

    PubMed

    Steffgen, Georges; König, Andreas; Pfetsch, Jan; Melzer, André

    2011-11-01

    Meta-analyses confirm a negative relationship between aggressive behavior and empathy, that is, the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. Based on theoretical considerations, it was, therefore, hypothesized that a lack of empathic responsiveness may be characteristic for cyberbullies in particular. In the present study, 2.070 students of Luxembourg secondary schools completed an online survey that included a cyberbullying questionnaire(4) and a novel empathy short scale. According to the main hypothesis, analyses of variances indicated that cyberbullies demonstrated less empathic responsiveness than non-cyberbullies. In addition, cyberbullies were also more afraid of becoming victims of cyberbullying. The findings confirm and substantially extend the research on the relationship between empathy and aggressive behavior. From an educational point of view, the present findings suggest that training of empathy skills might be an important tool to decrease cyberbullying.

  12. DAT Genotype Modulates Brain and Behavioral Responses Elicited by Cigarette Cues

    PubMed Central

    Franklin, Teresa R; Lohoff, Falk W; Wang, Ze; Sciortino, Nathan; Harper, Derek; Li, Yin; Jens, Will; Cruz, Jeffrey; Kampman, Kyle; Ehrman, Ron; Berrettini, Wade; Detre, John A; O'Brien, Charles P; Childress, Anna Rose

    2011-01-01

    We previously demonstrated differential activation of the mesocorticolimbic reward circuitry in response to cigarette cues independent of withdrawal. Despite robust effects, we noted considerable individual variability in brain and subjective responses. As dopamine (DA) is critical for reward and its predictive signals, genetically driven variation in DA transmission may account for the observed differences. Evidence suggests that a variable number of tandem repeats (VNTRs) polymorphism in the DA transporter (DAT) SLC6A3 gene may influence DA transport. Brain and behavioral responses may be enhanced in probands carrying the 9-repeat allele. To test this hypothesis, perfusion fMR images were acquired during cue exposure in 19 smokers genotyped for the 40 bp VNTR polymorphism in the SLC6A3 gene. Contrasts between groups revealed that 9-repeat (9-repeats) had a greater response to smoking (vs nonsmoking) cues than smokers homozygous for the 10-repeat allele (10/10-repeats) bilaterally in the interconnected ventral striatal/pallidal/orbitofrontal cortex regions (VS/VP/OFC). Activity was increased in 9-repeats and decreased in 10/10-repeats in the VS/VP/OFC (p<0.001 for all analyses). Brain activity and craving was strongly correlated in 10/10-repeats in these regions and others (anterior cingulate, parahippocampal gyrus, and insula; r2 = 0.79–0.86, p<0.001 in all regions). Alternatively, there were no significant correlations between brain and behavior in 9-repeats. There were no differences in cigarette dependence, demographics, or resting baseline neural activity between groups. These results provide evidence that genetic variation in the DAT gene contributes to the neural and behavioral responses elicited by smoking cues. PMID:18704100

  13. Price-Minimizing Behaviors in Response to Increasing Tobacco Price: A Cross-Sectional Study of Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rutter, Lucy; Britton, John; Langley, Tessa

    2017-01-01

    Background: The public health benefits of tobacco taxation are undermined when smokers engage in price-minimizing behaviors other than quitting in response to rising prices. Methods: 314 students at the University of Nottingham, UK, completed an online survey about their smoking behavior and their likely responses to hypothetical tobacco price…

  14. The role of the Drosophila lateral horn in olfactory information processing and behavioral response.

    PubMed

    Schultzhaus, Janna N; Saleem, Sehresh; Iftikhar, Hina; Carney, Ginger E

    2017-04-01

    Animals must rapidly and accurately process environmental information to produce the correct behavioral responses. Reactions to previously encountered as well as to novel but biologically important stimuli are equally important, and one understudied region in the insect brain plays a role in processing both types of stimuli. The lateral horn is a higher order processing center that mainly processes olfactory information and is linked via olfactory projection neurons to another higher order learning center, the mushroom body. This review focuses on the lateral horn of Drosophila where most functional studies have been performed. We discuss connectivity between the primary olfactory center, the antennal lobe, and the lateral horn and mushroom body. We also present evidence for the lateral horn playing roles in innate behavioral responses by encoding biological valence to novel odor cues and in learned responses to previously encountered odors by modulating neural activity within the mushroom body. We describe how these processes contribute to acceptance or avoidance of appropriate or inappropriate mates and food, as well as the identification of predators. The lateral horn is a sexually dimorphic and plastic region of the brain that modulates other regions of the brain to ensure that insects produce rapid and effective behavioral responses to both novel and learned stimuli, yet multiple gaps exist in our knowledge of this important center. We anticipate that future studies on olfactory processing, learning, and innate behavioral responses will include the lateral horn in their examinations, leading to a more comprehensive understanding of olfactory information relay and resulting behaviors. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Response Blocking with Guided Compliance and Reinforcement for a Habilitative Replacement Behavior: Effects on Public Masturbation and On-Task Behavior

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dufrene, Brad A.; Watson, T. Steuart; Weaver, Adam

    2005-01-01

    There is limited empirical research regarding effective treatment for public masturbation. In the current study, the relative and combined effects of reinforcement of an incompatible habilitative replacement behavior and response blocking with guided compliance on masturbation and on-task behavior were evaluated for a seven year-old…

  16. Brain-Behavior Correlations: Relationships between Mother-Stranger Face Processing and Infants' Behavioral Responses to a Separation from Mother

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Swingler, Margaret M.; Sweet, Monica A.; Carver, Leslie J.

    2010-01-01

    Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 6-month-olds (N = 30) as they looked at pictures of their mother's face and a stranger's face. Negative component (Nc) and P400 component responses from the ERP portion of the study were correlated with behavioral responses of the infants during a separation from their mothers. We measured the…

  17. Understanding behavioral and physiological phenotypes of stress and anxiety in zebrafish.

    PubMed

    Egan, Rupert J; Bergner, Carisa L; Hart, Peter C; Cachat, Jonathan M; Canavello, Peter R; Elegante, Marco F; Elkhayat, Salem I; Bartels, Brett K; Tien, Anna K; Tien, David H; Mohnot, Sopan; Beeson, Esther; Glasgow, Eric; Amri, Hakima; Zukowska, Zofia; Kalueff, Allan V

    2009-12-14

    The zebrafish (Danio rerio) is emerging as a promising model organism for experimental studies of stress and anxiety. Here we further validate zebrafish models of stress by analyzing how environmental and pharmacological manipulations affect their behavioral and physiological phenotypes. Experimental manipulations included exposure to alarm pheromone, chronic exposure to fluoxetine, acute exposure to caffeine, as well as acute and chronic exposure to ethanol. Acute (but not chronic) alarm pheromone and acute caffeine produced robust anxiogenic effects, including reduced exploration, increased erratic movements and freezing behavior in zebrafish tested in the novel tank diving test. In contrast, ethanol and fluoxetine had robust anxiolytic effects, including increased exploration and reduced erratic movements. The behavior of several zebrafish strains was also quantified to ascertain differences in their behavioral profiles, revealing high-anxiety (leopard, albino) and low-anxiety (wild type) strains. We also used LocoScan (CleverSys Inc.) video-tracking tool to quantify anxiety-related behaviors in zebrafish, and dissect anxiety-related phenotypes from locomotor activity. Finally, we developed a simple and effective method of measuring zebrafish physiological stress responses (based on a human salivary cortisol assay), and showed that alterations in whole-body cortisol levels in zebrafish parallel behavioral indices of anxiety. Collectively, our results confirm zebrafish as a valid, reliable, and high-throughput model of stress and affective disorders.

  18. ITAG: A fine-scale measurement platform to inform organismal response to a changing ocean

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Katija, K.; Shorter, K. A.; Mooney, T. A.; Mann, D.; Wang, A. Z.; Sonnichsen, F. N.

    2016-02-01

    Soft-bodied marine invertebrates comprise a keystone component of ocean ecosystems, however we know little of their behaviors and physiological responses within their natural habitat. Quantifying ocean conditions and measuring an organisms' response to the physical environment is vital to understanding organismal responses to a changing ocean. However, we face technological limitations when attempting to quantify the physical and environmental conditions that organisms encounter at spatial and temporal scales of an individual organism. Here we describe a novel, eco-sensor tag (the ITAG) that has 3-axis accelerometer, 3-axis magnetometer, pressure, temperature, and light sensors. Current and future efforts involve miniaturizing and integrating O2 and salinity sensors to the ITAG. The tagging package is designed to be neutrally buoyant, and after a prescribed time, the electronics separate from a weighted base and floats to the surface. Tags were deployed on five jellyfish (Aurelia aurita) and eight squid (Loligo forbesi) in laboratory conditions for up to 24 hr. Using concurrent video and tag data, movement signatures for specific behaviors were identified. Based on these laboratory trials, we found that squid activity level changed in response to ambient light conditions, which can inform trade-offs between behavior and energy expenditure in captive and wild animals. The ITAG opens the door for lab and field-based measurements of behavior, physiology, and concurrent environmental parameters that not only inform interactions in a changing ocean, but also provides a novel platform by which characterization of the environment can be conducted at fine spatial and temporal scales.

  19. Quantifying Stock Return Distributions in Financial Markets.

    PubMed

    Botta, Federico; Moat, Helen Susannah; Stanley, H Eugene; Preis, Tobias

    2015-01-01

    Being able to quantify the probability of large price changes in stock markets is of crucial importance in understanding financial crises that affect the lives of people worldwide. Large changes in stock market prices can arise abruptly, within a matter of minutes, or develop across much longer time scales. Here, we analyze a dataset comprising the stocks forming the Dow Jones Industrial Average at a second by second resolution in the period from January 2008 to July 2010 in order to quantify the distribution of changes in market prices at a range of time scales. We find that the tails of the distributions of logarithmic price changes, or returns, exhibit power law decays for time scales ranging from 300 seconds to 3600 seconds. For larger time scales, we find that the distributions tails exhibit exponential decay. Our findings may inform the development of models of market behavior across varying time scales.

  20. Children's Developing Knowledge of "Wh"-/Quantifier Question-Answer Relations

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Achimova, Asya; Syrett, Kristen; Musolino, Julien; Déprez, Viviane

    2017-01-01

    In response to questions in which a "wh"-term interacts with a universal quantifier in object position, such as "Who picked every toy?," children as old as 5 years of age often provide a list, pairing toys with the people who picked each of them. This response pattern is unexpected, it has been claimed, because children appear…

  1. Enduring influences of peripubertal/adolescent stressors on behavioral response to estradiol and progesterone in adult female mice.

    PubMed

    Laroche, Julie; Gasbarro, Lauren; Herman, James P; Blaustein, Jeffrey D

    2009-08-01

    Exposure to stressors during particular stages of development leads to acute and long-term physiological and behavioral changes. We have reported that shipping mice during the peripubertal/adolescent period results in decreased induction of feminine sexual behavior by estradiol and progesterone in adult female mice. To study further the factors involved in this decreased behavioral response, female mice were exposed to a variety of experimental stressors when 6 wk old. Effects of peripubertal/adolescent exposure to these stressors on acute plasma corticosterone levels and changes in body weight and adult behavioral response to estradiol and progesterone were assessed. Although restraint for three daily 3-h periods, 36-h food deprivation, or a multiple stressor regimen acutely increased plasma corticosterone levels and reduced body weight, only exposure to particular doses of the bacterial endotoxin lipopolysaccharide (LPS; 1-1.5 mg/kg body weight, doses that induced moderate levels of sickness behavior in these studies) resulted in reduced behavioral response to estradiol and progesterone in adulthood. Like the effects of shipping, the effects of LPS on adult feminine sexual behavior appear most robust when injected at 6 wk old and are limited to exposure during a vulnerable period at approximately 4-6 wk of age. Therefore, an immune stressor during the peripubertal/adolescent period, but not restraint, food restriction, or a combined stressor, has an enduring influence on behavioral response to estradiol and progesterone. This demonstrates that the decreased response to estradiol and progesterone is not a general response to all stressors during this developmental stage.

  2. Socioeconomic Differences in Maternal Responses to Young Children's Behavior.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brody, Grace F.

    Three different socioeconomic groups of mothers were studied to determine the similarities and differences of their responses to typical behaviors of their children, aged one to four, in order to gain insight into differences in the socialization process. The three groups were: (1) black, low-income, inner-city mothers of 35 children (Group I);…

  3. Mouse model of fragile X syndrome: behavioral and hormonal response to stressors.

    PubMed

    Nielsen, Darci M; Evans, Jeffrey J; Derber, William J; Johnston, Kenzie A; Laudenslager, Mark L; Crnic, Linda S; Maclean, Kenneth N

    2009-06-01

    Fragile X syndrome, a form of mental retardation caused by inadequate levels of fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP), is characterized by extreme sensitivity to sensory stimuli and increased behavioral and hormonal reactivity to stressors. Fmr1 knockout mice lack FMRP and exhibit abnormal responses to auditory stimuli. This study sought to determine whether Fmr1 knockout mice on an F1 hybrid background are normal in their response to footshock. Knockout mice were also examined for signs of hyperexcitation across an extended trial range, and serum corticosterone levels were evaluated in response to various stressors. The ability to acquire conditioned taste aversion was also assessed. Knockout mice exhibited no impairment in associative aversive learning or memory, since they successfully expressed conditioned taste aversion. Footshock-sensitivity, freezing behavior, and corticosterone response to various stressors did not differ between knockout and wild-type mice. However, knockout mice exhibited significantly increased responses during the extended test. The knockout mice's increased responsiveness to footshock in the extended test may be an indication of increased vulnerability to stress or enhanced emotional reactivity. Copyright (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved.

  4. Role of Adrenal Glucocorticoid Signaling in Prefrontal Cortex Gene Expression and Acute Behavioral Responses to Ethanol

    PubMed Central

    Costin, Blair N.; Wolen, Aaron R.; Fitting, Sylvia; Shelton, Keith L.; Miles, Michael F.

    2012-01-01

    Background Glucocorticoid hormones modulate acute and chronic behavioral and molecular responses to drugs of abuse including psychostimulants and opioids. There is growing evidence that glucocorticoids might also modulate behavioral responses to ethanol. Acute ethanol activates the HPA axis, causing release of adrenal glucocorticoid hormones. Our prior genomic studies suggest glucocorticoids play a role in regulating gene expression in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) of DBA2/J (D2) mice following acute ethanol administration. However, few studies have analyzed the role of glucocorticoid signaling in behavioral responses to acute ethanol. Such work could be significant, given the predictive value for level of response to acute ethanol in the risk for alcoholism. Methods We studied whether the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) antagonist, RU-486, or adrenalectomy (ADX) altered male D2 mouse behavioral responses to acute (locomotor activation, anxiolysis or loss-of-righting reflex (LORR)) or repeated (sensitization) ethanol treatment. Whole genome microarray analysis and bioinformatics approaches were used to identify PFC candidate genes possibly responsible for altered behavioral responses to ethanol following ADX. Results ADX and RU-486 both impaired acute ethanol (2 g/kg) induced locomotor activation in D2 mice without affecting basal locomotor activity. However, neither ADX nor RU-486 altered initiation of ethanol sensitization (locomotor activation or jump counts), ethanol-induced anxiolysis or LORR. ADX mice showed microarray gene expression changes in PFC that significantly overlapped with acute ethanol-responsive gene sets derived by our prior microarray studies. Q-rtPCR analysis verified that ADX decreased PFC expression of Fkbp5 while significantly increasing Gpr6 expression. In addition, high dose RU-486 pre-treatment blunted ethanol-induced Fkbp5 expression. Conclusions Our studies suggest that ethanol’s activation of adrenal glucocorticoid release and subsequent

  5. Effects of neonatal novelty exposure on sexual behavior, fear, and stress-response in adult rats.

    PubMed

    Benetti, Fernando; Andrade de Araujo, Paulo; Sanvitto, Gilberto Luiz; Lucion, Aldo Bolten

    2007-04-01

    Environmental stimuli in early life may result in permanent behavioral and physiological changes. Present study evaluated the effects of exposing pups to a novel environment on behaviors (open-field test and sexual behavior) and prolactin stress-responses in adult male rats. Half of a litter was daily removed outside (OUT) from the nest and stimulated by handling for 3 min, while the other half remained inside (IN) the nest and was also handled for the same period during the first 10 days postpartum. Maternal behavior after all the pups were returned to the nest was not different between IN and OUT littermates. In adulthood, OUT males showed increased general and central locomotion activity in the open-field test, reduced sexual behavior, and attenuated prolactin secretion in response to restraint stress compared with the IN littermates. The repeated exposition of rat pups to a novel environment is a causal factor for the long-lasting behavioral and endocrine changes. The premature exposition of the pup to unfamiliar environments decreases fear and stress-response, and also reduces sexual behavior. We suggest that the absence of the odor of the mother may be crucial to explain the effects detected in adulthood. (c) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  6. Physiological and behavioral responses of horses during police training.

    PubMed

    Munsters, C C B M; Visser, E K; van den Broek, J; Sloet van Oldruitenborgh-Oosterbaan, M M

    2013-05-01

    Mounted police horses have to cope with challenging, unpredictable situations when on duty and it is essential to gain insight into how these horses handle stress to warrant their welfare. The aim of the study was to evaluate physiological and behavioral responses of 12 (six experienced and six inexperienced) police horses during police training. Horses were evaluated during four test settings at three time points over a 7-week period: outdoor track test, street track test, indoor arena test and smoke machine test. Heart rate (HR; beats/min), HR variability (HRV; root means square of successive differences; ms), behavior score (BS; scores 0 to 5) and standard police performance score (PPS; scores 1 to 0) were obtained per test. All data were statistically evaluated using a linear mixed model (Akaike's Information criterium; t > 2.00) or logistic regression (P < 0.05). HR of horses was increased at indoor arena test (98 ± 26) and smoke machine test (107 ± 25) compared with outdoor track (80 ± 12, t = 2.83 and t = 3.91, respectively) and street track tests (81 ± 14, t = 2.48 and t = 3.52, respectively). HRV of horses at the indoor arena test (42.4 ± 50.2) was significantly lower compared with street track test (85.7 ± 94.3 and t = 2.78). BS did not show significant differences between tests and HR of horses was not always correlated with the observed moderate behavioral responses. HR, HRV, PPS and BS did not differ between repetition of tests and there were no significant differences in any of the four tests between experienced and inexperienced horses. No habituation occurred during the test weeks, and experience as a police horse does not seem to be a key factor in how these horses handle stress. All horses showed only modest behavioral responses, and HR may provide complimentary information for individual evaluation and welfare assessment of these horses. Overall, little evidence of stress was observed during these police training tests. As three of these

  7. The Effect of Noseband Tightening on Horses’ Behavior, Eye Temperature, and Cardiac Responses

    PubMed Central

    Yoon, Samuel; McGreevy, Paul

    2016-01-01

    Restrictive nosebands are common in equestrian sport. This is concerning, as recent evidence suggests that very tight nosebands can cause a physiological stress response, and may compromise welfare. The objective of the current study was to investigate relationships that noseband tightness has with oral behavior and with physiological changes that indicate a stress response, such as increases in eye temperature (measured with infrared thermography) and heart rate and decreases in heart rate variability (HRV). Horses (n = 12) wearing a double bridle and crank noseband, as is common in dressage at elite levels, were randomly assigned to four treatments: unfastened noseband (UN), conventional area under noseband (CAUN) with two fingers of space available under the noseband, half conventional area under noseband (HCAUN) with one finger of space under the noseband, and no area under the noseband (NAUN). During the tightest treatment (NAUN), horse heart rate increased (P = 0.003), HRV decreased (P < 0.001), and eye temperature increased (P = 0.011) compared with baseline readings, indicating a physiological stress response. The behavioral results suggest some effects from bits alone but the chief findings are the physiological readings that reflect responses to the nosebands at their tightest. Chewing decreased during the HCAUN (P < 0.001) and NAUN (P < 0.001) treatments. Yawning rates were negligible in all treatments. Similarly, licking was eliminated by the NAUN treatment. Following the removal of the noseband and double bridle during the recovery session, yawning (P = 0.015), swallowing (P = 0.003), and licking (P < 0.001) significantly increased compared with baseline, indicating a post-inhibitory rebound response. This suggests a rise in motivation to perform these behaviors and implies that their inhibition may place horses in a state of deprivation. It is evident that a very tight noseband can cause physiological stress responses and inhibit the expression of

  8. Identifying and quantifying interactions in a laboratory swarm

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Puckett, James; Kelley, Douglas; Ouellette, Nicholas

    2013-03-01

    Emergent collective behavior, such as in flocks of birds or swarms of bees, is exhibited throughout the animal kingdom. Many models have been developed to describe swarming and flocking behavior using systems of self-propelled particles obeying simple rules or interacting via various potentials. However, due to experimental difficulties and constraints, little empirical data exists for characterizing the exact form of the biological interactions. We study laboratory swarms of flying Chironomus riparius midges, using stereoimaging and particle tracking techniques to record three-dimensional trajectories for all the individuals in the swarm. We describe methods to identify and quantify interactions by examining these trajectories, and report results on interaction magnitude, frequency, and mutuality.

  9. Animal biometrics: quantifying and detecting phenotypic appearance.

    PubMed

    Kühl, Hjalmar S; Burghardt, Tilo

    2013-07-01

    Animal biometrics is an emerging field that develops quantified approaches for representing and detecting the phenotypic appearance of species, individuals, behaviors, and morphological traits. It operates at the intersection between pattern recognition, ecology, and information sciences, producing computerized systems for phenotypic measurement and interpretation. Animal biometrics can benefit a wide range of disciplines, including biogeography, population ecology, and behavioral research. Currently, real-world applications are gaining momentum, augmenting the quantity and quality of ecological data collection and processing. However, to advance animal biometrics will require integration of methodologies among the scientific disciplines involved. Such efforts will be worthwhile because the great potential of this approach rests with the formal abstraction of phenomics, to create tractable interfaces between different organizational levels of life. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. The Characteristic Long-Term Upregulation of Hippocampal NF-κB Complex in PTSD-Like Behavioral Stress Response Is Normalized by High-Dose Corticosterone and Pyrrolidine Dithiocarbamate Administered Immediately after Exposure

    PubMed Central

    Cohen, Hagit; Kozlovsky, Nitsan; Matar, Michael A; Zohar, Joseph; Kaplan, Zeev

    2011-01-01

    Nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) is a ubiquitously expressed transcription factor for genes involved in cell survival, differentiation, inflammation, and growth. This study examined the role of NF-κB pathway in stress-induced PTSD-like behavioral response patterns in rats. Immunohistochemical technique was used to detect the expression of the NF-κB p50 and p65 subunits, I-κBα, p38, and phospho-p38 in the hippocampal subregions at 7 days after exposure to predator scent stress. Expression of p65 nuclear translocation was quantified by western blot as the level of NF-κB activation. The effects of intraperitoneally administered corticosterone or a selective NF-κB inhibitor (pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC)) at 1 h post exposure on behavioral tests (elevated plus-maze and acoustic startle response) were evaluated 7 days later. Hippocampal expressions of those genes were subsequently evaluated. All data were analyzed in relation to individual behavior patterns. Extreme behavioral responder animals displayed significant upregulation of p50 and p65 with concomitant downregulation of I-κBα, p38, and phospho-p38 levels in hippocampal structures compared with minimal behavioral responders and controls. Immediate post-exposure treatment with high-dose corticosterone and PDTC significantly reduced prevalence rates of extreme responders and normalized the expression of those genes. Stress-induced upregulation of NF-κB complex in the hippocampus may contribute to the imbalance between what are normally precisely orchestrated and highly coordinated physiological and behavioral processes, thus associating it with stress-related disorders. PMID:21734649

  11. Intraspecific variation shapes community-level behavioral responses to urbanization in spiders.

    PubMed

    Dahirel, Maxime; Dierick, Jasper; De Cock, Maarten; Bonte, Dries

    2017-09-01

    Urban areas are an extreme example of human-changed environments, exposing organisms to multiple and strong selection pressures. Adaptive behavioral responses are thought to play a major role in animals' success or failure in such new environments. Approaches based on functional traits have proven especially valuable to understand how species communities respond to environmental gradients. Until recently, they have, however, often ignored the potential consequences of intraspecific trait variation (ITV). When ITV is prevalent, it may highly impact ecological processes and resilience against stressors. This may be especially relevant in animals, in which behavioral traits can be altered very flexibly at the individual level to track environmental changes. We investigated how species turnover and ITV influenced community-level behavioral responses in a set of 62 sites of varying levels of urbanization, using orb web spiders and their webs as models of foraging behavior. ITV alone explained around one-third of the total trait variation observed among communities. Spider web structure changed according to urbanization, in ways that increase the capture efficiency of webs in a context of smaller urban prey. These trait shifts were partly mediated by species turnover, but ITV increased their magnitude, potentially helping to buffer the effects of environmental changes on communities. The importance of ITV varied depending on traits and on the spatial scale at which urbanization was considered. Despite being neglected from community-level analyses in animals, our results highlight the importance of accounting for intraspecific trait variation to fully understand trait responses to (human-induced) environmental changes and their impact on ecosystem functioning. © 2017 by the Ecological Society of America.

  12. Dissecting genetic architecture of startle response in Drosophila melanogaster using multi-omics information.

    PubMed

    Xue, Angli; Wang, Hongcheng; Zhu, Jun

    2017-09-28

    Startle behavior is important for survival, and abnormal startle responses are related to several neurological diseases. Drosophila melanogaster provides a powerful system to investigate the genetic underpinnings of variation in startle behavior. Since mechanically induced, startle responses and environmental conditions can be readily quantified and precisely controlled. The 156 wild-derived fully sequenced lines of the Drosophila Genetic Reference Panel (DGRP) were used to identify SNPs and transcripts associated with variation in startle behavior. The results validated highly significant effects of 33 quantitative trait SNPs (QTSs) and 81 quantitative trait transcripts (QTTs) directly associated with phenotypic variation of startle response. We also detected QTT variation controlled by 20 QTSs (tQTSs) and 73 transcripts (tQTTs). Association mapping based on genomic and transcriptomic data enabled us to construct a complex genetic network that underlies variation in startle behavior. Based on principles of evolutionary conservation, human orthologous genes could be superimposed on this network. This study provided both genetic and biological insights into the variation of startle response behavior of Drosophila melanogaster, and highlighted the importance of genetic network to understand the genetic architecture of complex traits.

  13. Graded behavioral responses and habituation to sound in the common cuttlefish Sepia officinalis.

    PubMed

    Samson, Julia E; Mooney, T Aran; Gussekloo, Sander W S; Hanlon, Roger T

    2014-12-15

    Sound is a widely available and vital cue in aquatic environments, yet most bioacoustic research has focused on marine vertebrates, leaving sound detection in invertebrates poorly understood. Cephalopods are an ecologically key taxon that likely use sound and may be impacted by increasing anthropogenic ocean noise, but little is known regarding their behavioral responses or adaptations to sound stimuli. These experiments identify the acoustic range and levels that elicit a wide range of secondary defense behaviors such as inking, jetting and rapid coloration change. Secondarily, it was found that cuttlefish habituate to certain sound stimuli. The present study examined the behavioral responses of 22 cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) to pure-tone pips ranging from 80 to 1000 Hz with sound pressure levels of 85-188 dB re. 1 μPa rms and particle accelerations of 0-17.1 m s(-2). Cuttlefish escape responses (inking, jetting) were observed between frequencies of 80 and 300 Hz and at sound levels above 140 dB re. 1 μPa rms and 0.01 m s(-2) (0.74 m s(-2) for inking responses). Body patterning changes and fin movements were observed at all frequencies and sound levels. Response intensity was dependent upon stimulus amplitude and frequency, suggesting that cuttlefish also possess loudness perception with a maximum sensitivity around 150 Hz. Cuttlefish habituated to repeated 200 Hz tone pips, at two sound intensities. Total response inhibition was not reached, however, and a basal response remained present in most animals. The graded responses provide a loudness sensitivity curve and suggest an ecological function for sound use in cephalopods. © 2014. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

  14. Food collection and response to pheromones in an ant species exposed to electromagnetic radiation.

    PubMed

    Cammaerts, Marie-Claire; Rachidi, Zoheir; Bellens, François; De Doncker, Philippe

    2013-09-01

    We used the ant species Myrmica sabuleti as a model to study the impact of electromagnetic waves on social insects' response to their pheromones and their food collection. We quantified M. sabuleti workers' response to their trail, area marking and alarm pheromone under normal conditions. Then, we quantified the same responses while under the influence of electromagnetic waves. Under such an influence, ants followed trails for only short distances, no longer arrived at marked areas and no longer orientated themselves to a source of alarm pheromone. Also when exposed to electromagnetic waves, ants became unable to return to their nest and recruit congeners; therefore, the number of ants collecting food increases only slightly and slowly. After 180 h of exposure, their colonies deteriorated. Electromagnetic radiation obviously affects social insects' behavior and physiology.

  15. DOSE-RESPONSE BEHAVIOR OF ANDROGENIC AND ANTIANDROGENIC CHEMICALS: IMPLICATIONS FOR LOW-DOSE EXTRAPOLATION AND CUMULATIVE TOXICITY

    EPA Science Inventory

    DOSE-RESPONSE BEHAVIOR OF ANDROGENIC AND ANTIANDROGENIC CHEMICALS: IMPLICATIONS FOR LOW-DOSE EXTRAPOLATION AND CUMULATIVE TOXICITY. LE Gray Jr, C Wolf, J Furr, M Price, C Lambright, VS Wilson and J Ostby. USEPA, ORD, NHEERL, EB, RTD, RTP, NC, USA.
    Dose-response behavior of a...

  16. Quantifying the Behavior of Stock Correlations Under Market Stress

    PubMed Central

    Preis, Tobias; Kenett, Dror Y.; Stanley, H. Eugene; Helbing, Dirk; Ben-Jacob, Eshel

    2012-01-01

    Understanding correlations in complex systems is crucial in the face of turbulence, such as the ongoing financial crisis. However, in complex systems, such as financial systems, correlations are not constant but instead vary in time. Here we address the question of quantifying state-dependent correlations in stock markets. Reliable estimates of correlations are absolutely necessary to protect a portfolio. We analyze 72 years of daily closing prices of the 30 stocks forming the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA). We find the striking result that the average correlation among these stocks scales linearly with market stress reflected by normalized DJIA index returns on various time scales. Consequently, the diversification effect which should protect a portfolio melts away in times of market losses, just when it would most urgently be needed. Our empirical analysis is consistent with the interesting possibility that one could anticipate diversification breakdowns, guiding the design of protected portfolios. PMID:23082242

  17. Behavioral response of brown meagre (Sciaena umbra) to boat noise.

    PubMed

    La Manna, G; Manghi, M; Perretti, F; Sarà, G

    2016-09-15

    Underwater man-made noise is recognized as a major global pollutant in the 21st Century, and its reduction has been included in national and international regulations. Despite the fact that many studies have pointed out the ecological impact of noise on marine organisms, few studies have investigated - in a field context - the behavioral response to boat noise in fish. In the present study we measure how Sciaena umbra reacts to boat noise. We found that boat noise: i) increased duration of flight reactions and number of individuals performing them, ii) increased the frequency of hiding behaviors, and iii) did not elicit a change in fish activity level and sound emission. Flights and hiding behavior, usually related to predation risk, were not uniform between individuals and showed a quick recovery after noise exposure. On the basis of these results, potential metabolic, physiological and behavioral consequences are discussed and management recommendations are proposed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. 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

  19. 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.

  20. Development and Standardization of the Diagnostic Adaptive Behavior Scale: Application of Item Response Theory to the Assessment of Adaptive Behavior

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tassé, Marc J.; Schalock, Robert L.; Thissen, David; Balboni, Giulia; Bersani, Henry, Jr.; Borthwick-Duffy, Sharon A.; Spreat, Scott; Widaman, Keith F.; Zhang, Dalun; Navas, Patricia

    2016-01-01

    The Diagnostic Adaptive Behavior Scale (DABS) was developed using item response theory (IRT) methods and was constructed to provide the most precise and valid adaptive behavior information at or near the cutoff point of making a decision regarding a diagnosis of intellectual disability. The DABS initial item pool consisted of 260 items. Using IRT…

  1. Quantifying Stock Return Distributions in Financial Markets

    PubMed Central

    Botta, Federico; Moat, Helen Susannah; Stanley, H. Eugene; Preis, Tobias

    2015-01-01

    Being able to quantify the probability of large price changes in stock markets is of crucial importance in understanding financial crises that affect the lives of people worldwide. Large changes in stock market prices can arise abruptly, within a matter of minutes, or develop across much longer time scales. Here, we analyze a dataset comprising the stocks forming the Dow Jones Industrial Average at a second by second resolution in the period from January 2008 to July 2010 in order to quantify the distribution of changes in market prices at a range of time scales. We find that the tails of the distributions of logarithmic price changes, or returns, exhibit power law decays for time scales ranging from 300 seconds to 3600 seconds. For larger time scales, we find that the distributions tails exhibit exponential decay. Our findings may inform the development of models of market behavior across varying time scales. PMID:26327593

  2. Behavioral Strategies of Phorid Parasitoids and Responses of Their Hosts, the Leaf-Cutting Ants

    PubMed Central

    Elizalde, Luciana; Folgarait, Patricia Julia

    2012-01-01

    Host-searching and oviposition behaviors of parasitoids, and defensive responses of the hosts, are fundamental in shaping the ecology of host-parasitoid interactions. In order to uncover key behavioral features for the little known interactions between phorid parasitoids (Diptera: Phoridae) and their leaf-cutting ant hosts (Formicidae: Attini), host-related behavioral strategies (i.e., host searching and oviposition) for 13 phorid species, and host defensive responses (i.e., hitchhikers and particular body postures) for 11 ant species, were studied. Data was collected at 14 localities, one of them characterized by its high species richness for this host-parasitoid system. Phorid species showed both great variation and specificity in attacking behaviors. Some chose their hosts using either an ambush or an actively searching strategy, while some species attacked ants on different body parts, and specialized on ants performing different tasks, such as when ants were foraging, removing wastes to refuse piles, or repairing the nest. Combining all the behaviors recorded, most phorid species differed in performance in at least one, making it possible to recognize species in the field through their behavior. Phorid species that attacked hosts with greater activity levels showed overall higher attack rates, although there was no significant correlation between attack rates by most phorid species and ant activity outside the nest while parasitoids were attacking. The presence of phorids was a significant determinant for the presence of defensive behaviors by the ants. Although ant species varied in the incidence levels of these defensive behaviors, most ant species reacted against different phorids by utilizing similar behaviors, in contrast to what parasitoids do. General features of the observed phorid-ant interactions were parasitoid specialization and corresponding high interspecific variation in their behaviors, while their hosts showed generalized responses to attacks

  3. Odor-identity dependent motor programs underlie behavioral responses to odors

    PubMed Central

    Jung, Seung-Hye; Hueston, Catherine; Bhandawat, Vikas

    2015-01-01

    All animals use olfactory information to perform tasks essential to their survival. Odors typically activate multiple olfactory receptor neuron (ORN) classes and are therefore represented by the patterns of active ORNs. How the patterns of active ORN classes are decoded to drive behavior is under intense investigation. In this study, using Drosophila as a model system, we investigate the logic by which odors modulate locomotion. We designed a novel behavioral arena in which we could examine a fly’s locomotion under precisely controlled stimulus condition. In this arena, in response to similarly attractive odors, flies modulate their locomotion differently implying that odors have a more diverse effect on locomotion than was anticipated. Three features underlie odor-guided locomotion: First, in response to odors, flies modulate a surprisingly large number of motor parameters. Second, similarly attractive odors elicit changes in different motor programs. Third, different ORN classes modulate different subset of motor parameters. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.11092.001 PMID:26439011

  4. Mammalian TRPV4 (VR-OAC) directs behavioral responses to osmotic and mechanical stimuli in Caenorhabditis elegans

    PubMed Central

    Liedtke, Wolfgang; Tobin, David M.; Bargmann, Cornelia I.; Friedman, Jeffrey M.

    2003-01-01

    All animals detect osmotic and mechanical stimuli, but the molecular basis for these responses is incompletely understood. The vertebrate transient receptor potential channel vanilloid subfamily 4 (TRPV4) (VR-OAC) cation channel has been suggested to be an osmo/mechanosensory channel. To assess its function in vivo, we expressed TRPV4 in Caenorhabditis elegans sensory neurons and examined its ability to generate behavioral responses to sensory stimuli. C. elegans ASH neurons function as polymodal sensory neurons that generate a characteristic escape behavior in response to mechanical, osmotic, or olfactory stimuli. These behaviors require the TRPV channel OSM-9 because osm-9 mutants do not avoid nose touch, high osmolarity, or noxious odors. Expression of mammalian TRPV4 in ASH neurons of osm-9 worms restored avoidance responses to hypertonicity and nose touch, but not the response to odorant repellents. Mutations known to reduce TRPV4 channel activity also reduced its ability to direct nematode avoidance behavior. TRPV4 function in ASH required the endogenous C. elegans osmotic and nose touch avoidance genes ocr-2, odr-3, osm-10, and glr-1, indicating that TRPV4 is integrated into the normal ASH sensory apparatus. The osmotic and mechanical avoidance responses of TRPV4-expressing animals were different in their sensitivity and temperature dependence from the responses of wild-type animals, suggesting that the TRPV4 channel confers its characteristic properties on the transgenic animals' behavior. These results provide evidence that TRPV4 can function as a component of an osmotic/mechanical sensor in vivo. PMID:14581619

  5. Quantifying the hydrological responses to climate change in an intact forested small watershed in southern China

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Zhou, Guo-Yi; Wei, Xiaohua; Wu, Yiping; Liu, Shu-Guang; Huang, Yuhui; Yan, Junhua; Zhang, Deqiang; Zhang, Qianmei; Liu, Juxiu; Meng, Ze; Wang, Chunlin; Chu, Guowei; Liu, Shizhong; Tang, Xu-Li; Liu, Xiaodong

    2011-01-01

    Responses of hydrological processes to climate change are key components in the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) assessment. Understanding these responses is critical for developing appropriate mitigation and adaptation strategies for sustainable water resources management and protection of public safety. However, these responses are not well understood and little long-term evidence exists. Herein, we show how climate change, specifically increased air temperature and storm intensity, can affect soil moisture dynamics and hydrological variables based on both long-term observation and model simulations using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) in an intact forested watershed (the Dinghushan Biosphere Reserve) in Southern China. Our results show that, although total annual precipitation changed little from 1950 to 2009, soil moisture decreased significantly. A significant decline was also found in the monthly 7-day low flow from 2000 to 2009. However, the maximum daily streamflow in the wet season and unconfined groundwater tables have significantly increased during the same 10-year period. The significant decreasing trends on soil moisture and low flow variables suggest that the study watershed is moving towards drought-like condition. Our analysis indicates that the intensification of rainfall storms and the increasing number of annual no-rain days were responsible for the increasing chance of both droughts and floods. We conclude that climate change has indeed induced more extreme hydrological events (e.g. droughts and floods) in this watershed and perhaps other areas of Southern China. This study also demonstrated usefulness of our research methodology and its possible applications on quantifying the impacts of climate change on hydrology in any other watersheds where long-term data are available and human disturbance is negligible.

  6. Quantifying the role of noise on droplet decisions in bifurcating microchannels

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Norouzi Darabad, Masoud; Vaughn, Mark; Vanapalli, Siva

    2017-11-01

    While many aspects of path selection of droplets flowing through a bifurcating microchannel have been studied, there are still unaddressed issues in predicting and controlling droplet traffic. One of the more important is understanding origin of aperiodic patterns. As a new tool to investigate this phenomena we propose monitoring the continuous time response of pressure fluctuations at different locations. Then we use time-series analysis to investigate the dynamics of the system. We suggest that natural system noise is the cause of irregularity in the traffic patterns. Using a mathematical model, we investigate the effect of noise on droplet decisions at the junction. Noise can be derived from different sources including droplet size variation, droplet spacing, and pump induced velocity fluctuation. By analyzing different situations we explain system behavior. We also investigate the ``memory'' of a microfluidic system in terms of the resistance to perturbations that quantify the allowable deviation in operating condition before the system changes state.

  7. Providers' response to child eating behaviors: A direct observation study.

    PubMed

    Tovar, Alison; Vaughn, Amber E; Fallon, Megan; Hennessy, Erin; Burney, Regan; Østbye, Truls; Ward, Dianne S

    2016-10-01

    Child care providers play an important role in feeding young children, yet little is known about children's influence on providers' feeding practices. This qualitative study examines provider and child (18 months -4 years) feeding interactions. Trained data collectors observed 200 eating occasions in 48 family child care homes and recorded providers' responses to children's meal and snack time behaviors. Child behaviors initiating provider feeding practices were identified and practices were coded according to higher order constructs identified in a recent feeding practices content map. Analysis examined the most common feeding practices providers used to respond to each child behavior. Providers were predominately female (100%), African-American (75%), and obese (77%) and a third of children were overweight/obese (33%). Commonly observed child behaviors were: verbal and non-verbal refusals, verbal and non-verbal acceptance, being "all done", attempts for praise/attention, and asking for seconds. Children's acceptance of food elicited more autonomy supportive practices vs. coercive controlling. Requests for seconds was the most common behavior, resulting in coercive controlling practices (e.g., insisting child eat certain food or clean plate). Future interventions should train providers on responding to children's behaviors and helping children become more aware of internal satiety and hunger cues. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Psychophysiological response patterns and risky sexual behavior in heterosexual and homosexual men.

    PubMed

    Janssen, Erick; Goodrich, David; Petrocelli, John V; Bancroft, John

    2009-08-01

    The past few years have seen an increased awareness of the relevance of studying the role of sexual response, emotion, and traits such as sensation seeking and the propensity for sexual inhibition in risky sexual behavior. The current study examined the association between self-reported sexual risk taking and psychophysiological response patterns in 76 heterosexual and homosexual men. Measures included genital, electrodermal, startle eyeblink, and cardiovascular responses, and stimuli included threatening (depicting coercive sexual interactions) and nonthreatening (depicting consensual sexual interactions) sexual film excerpts. Sexual risk taking was hypothesized to be associated with decreased inhibition of sexual arousal and hyporeactive affective and autonomic responses to threatening sexual stimuli. Controlling for age and number of sexual partners in the past year, sexual risk taking (number of partners during the past 3 years with whom no condoms were used) was found to be associated with stronger genital responses and smaller eyeblink responses to both threatening and nonthreatening sexual stimuli. Correlations between genital and subjective sexual arousal were relatively low. Sexual risk taking was related to sensation seeking but not to the propensity for sexual inhibition. The findings suggest that risky sexual behavior may involve a role for psychophysiological mechanisms that are specific to sex as well as for ones that are associated with more general approach/avoidance response tendencies.

  9. Quantifiers more or less quantify online: ERP evidence for partial incremental interpretation

    PubMed Central

    Urbach, Thomas P.; Kutas, Marta

    2010-01-01

    Event-related brain potentials were recorded during RSVP reading to test the hypothesis that quantifier expressions are incrementally interpreted fully and immediately. In sentences tapping general knowledge (Farmers grow crops/worms as their primary source of income), Experiment 1 found larger N400s for atypical (worms) than typical objects (crops). Experiment 2 crossed object typicality with non-logical subject-noun phrase quantifiers (most, few). Off-line plausibility ratings exhibited the crossover interaction predicted by full quantifier interpretation: Most farmers grow crops and Few farmers grow worms were rated more plausible than Most farmers grow worms and Few farmers grow crops. Object N400s, although modulated in the expected direction, did not reverse. Experiment 3 replicated these findings with adverbial quantifiers (Farmers often/rarely grow crops/worms). Interpretation of quantifier expressions thus is neither fully immediate nor fully delayed. Furthermore, object atypicality was associated with a frontal slow positivity in few-type/rarely quantifier contexts, suggesting systematic processing differences among quantifier types. PMID:20640044

  10. Salivary cortisol and behavioral response to social evaluative threat in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder.

    PubMed

    Edmiston, E Kale; Blain, Scott D; Corbett, Blythe A

    2017-02-01

    Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in social behavior. One possible explanation for social communication deficits in ASD could be differences in biological systems that support responses to environmental stimuli. If so, it is unclear if differences in the arousal response to social stimuli in ASD are due to reduced interest in social information, or to an increased stress response. The hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis facilitates arousal and the stress response to sensory input, including social stimuli. Previous research shows blunted cortisol response to social evaluative threat in children with ASD. The majority of prior work has focused on children with ASD, but adolescents with ASD are understudied. The adolescent period is of interest, as this developmental epoch is associated with increased salience of social evaluative threat in typically developing (TD) populations. In this study, we employed the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), a laboratory paradigm that involves exposure to social evaluative threat, to study the cortisol and behavioral response to social evaluative threat in ASD and TD adolescents. Salivary cortisol data were collected at six time points before and after the TSST. Behavioral data were collected using video recordings of the TSST, which were then operationalized and coded. Paired sample t-tests were used to calculate within-group cortisol response to the TSST. Cortisol significantly increased in response to the TSST in the TD group but not the ASD group. The TD group showed a trend for more self-soothing behaviors during the stressor than the ASD group. The lack of a cortisol response to the TSST in the ASD group suggests that the TSST is not interpreted as stressful or salient for ASD adolescents. Autism Res 2017, 10: 346-358. © 2016 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  11. Effects of pretransport handling stress on physiological and behavioral response of ostriches.

    PubMed

    Bejaei, M; Cheng, K M

    2014-05-01

    Ostrich (Struthio camelus) production is a relatively young industry and there has been little research on ostrich welfare during pretransport handling and the transportation process. A heavy body with a high center of gravity makes ostriches' handling and transportation problems different from other livestock. The main objective of this study was to investigate the effects of the pretransport holding time duration on ostrich behavior and physiological responses. A second objective was to identify and validate behavioral indicator(s) that could be used to identify stressed birds during pretransport handling. Prior to shipping, twenty-four 2.5-yr-old ostriches were moved into a holding pen. Birds were then individually restrained, hooded, and walked from the holding pen (approximately 12 min/bird) to a sampling pen (visually isolated from the holding pen) where they were weighed and a 10-mL blood sample obtained. A second blood sample was taken from each bird after a 1,100-km transportation. Blood samples were analyzed for concentrations of blood metabolites, enzymes, corticosterone, and white blood cell and differential counts. Behavioral responses and physical damages of ostriches were also recorded before and after transport. Results indicated that birds that spent longer time in the pretransport holding pen had higher pretransport plasma concentrations of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, sodium, and packed cell volume. Immobile sitting behavior, observed in 5 out of the last 11 birds handled, was positively correlated with higher pretransport handling stress, higher posttransport aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, creatine phosphokinase, and glucose concentrations, and transport losses. Knowledge of pretransport handling impacts on ostrich stress and availability of behavioral indicators (e.g., immobile sitting response) could be used to improve handing processes, thereby decreasing potential weight loss, injury, and

  12. Foraging and ingestive behaviors of whale sharks, Rhincodon typus, in response to chemical stimulus cues.

    PubMed

    Dove, Alistair D M

    2015-02-01

    Whale sharks, Rhincodon typus, display a number of behaviors that suggest these animals can locate food from afar, as well as identify and discriminate between food items. However, their intractably large size and relative rarity in the field has so far prevented direct studies of their behavior and sensory capability. A small population of aquarium-held whale sharks facilitated direct studies of behavior in response to chemical stimulus plumes. Whale sharks were exposed to plumes composed of either homogenized krill or simple aqueous solutions of dimethyl sulfide (DMS), which is associated with krill aggregations and is used by several pelagic species as a food-finding stimulus. Whale sharks exhibited pronounced ingestive and search behaviors when exposed to both types of stimuli, compared to control trials. Ingestive behaviors included open mouth swimming and active surface feeding (gulping). These behaviors were stronger and more prevalent in response to krill homogenate plumes than to DMS plumes. Both chemical stimuli also increased visitation rate, and krill homogenate plumes additionally affected swimming speed. Whale sharks use chemosensory cues of multiple types to locate and identify palatable food, suggesting that chemical stimuli can help direct long-range movements and allow discrimination of different food items. There appears to be a hierarchy of responses: krill metabolites directly associated with food produced more frequent and intense feeding responses relative to DMS, which is indirectly associated with krill. DMS is used to find food by a number of pelagic species and may be an important signaling molecule in pelagic food webs. © 2015 Marine Biological Laboratory.

  13. Sharks modulate their escape behavior in response to predator size, speed and approach orientation.

    PubMed

    Seamone, Scott; Blaine, Tristan; Higham, Timothy E

    2014-12-01

    Escape responses are often critical for surviving predator-prey interactions. Nevertheless, little is known about how predator size, speed and approach orientation impact escape performance, especially in larger prey that are primarily viewed as predators. We used realistic shark models to examine how altering predatory behavior and morphology (size, speed and approach orientation) influences escape behavior and performance in Squalus acanthias, a shark that is preyed upon by apex marine predators. Predator models induced C-start escape responses, and increasing the size and speed of the models triggered a more intense response (increased escape turning rate and acceleration). In addition, increased predator size resulted in greater responsiveness from the sharks. Among the responses, predator approach orientation had the most significant impact on escapes, such that the head-on approach, as compared to the tail-on approach, induced greater reaction distances and increased escape turning rate, speed and acceleration. Thus, the anterior binocular vision in sharks renders them less effective at detecting predators approaching from behind. However, it appears that sharks compensate by performing high-intensity escapes, likely induced by the lateral line system, or by a sudden visual flash of the predator entering their field of view. Our study reveals key aspects of escape behavior in sharks, highlighting the modulation of performance in response to predator approach. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

  14. Quantifying soil respiration at landscape scales. Chapter 11

    Treesearch

    John B. Bradford; Michael G. Ryan

    2008-01-01

    Soil CO2, efflux, or soil respiration, represents a substantial component of carbon cycling in terrestrial ecosystems. Consequently, quantifying soil respiration over large areas and long time periods is an increasingly important goal. However, soil respiration rates vary dramatically in space and time in response to both environmental conditions...

  15. Animal Models of Maladaptive Traits: Disorders in Sensorimotor Gating and Attentional Quantifiable Responses as Possible Endophenotypes

    PubMed Central

    Vargas, Juan P.; Díaz, Estrella; Portavella, Manuel; López, Juan C.

    2016-01-01

    Traditional diagnostic scales are based on a number of symptoms to evaluate and classify mental diseases. In many cases, this process becomes subjective, since the patient must calibrate the magnitude of his/her symptoms and therefore the severity of his/her disorder. A completely different approach is based on the study of the more vulnerable traits of cognitive disorders. In this regard, animal models of mental illness could be a useful tool to characterize indicators of possible cognitive dysfunctions in humans. Specifically, several cognitive disorders such as schizophrenia involve a dysfunction in the mesocorticolimbic dopaminergic system during development. These variations in dopamine levels or dopamine receptor sensibility correlate with many behavioral disturbances. These behaviors may be included in a specific phenotype and may be analyzed under controlled conditions in the laboratory. The present study provides an introductory overview of different quantitative traits that could be used as a possible risk indicator for different mental disorders, helping to define a specific endophenotype. Specifically, we examine different experimental procedures to measure impaired response in attention linked to sensorimotor gating as a possible personality trait involved in maladaptive behaviors. PMID:26925020

  16. A Responsive Tier 2 Process for a Middle School Student with Behavior Problems

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McDaniel, Sara C.; Bruhn, Allison L.; Mitchell, Barbara S.

    2017-01-01

    Students requiring Tier 2 behavioral supports frequently display behavioral deficits in multiple domains (e.g., emotional symptoms and peer problems). The Tier 2 framework developed by McDaniel, Bruhn, & Mitchell (2015a) is a responsive structure for identifying and intervening at Tier 2. This process is described with a practical case example…

  17. Impact of Comorbidity on Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Response in Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Storch, Eric A.; Merlo, Lisa J.; Larson, Michael J.; Geffken, Gary R.; Lehmkuh, Heather D.; Jacob, Marni L.; Murphy, Tanya K.; Goodman, Wayne K.

    2008-01-01

    A chronic psychiatric condition among children and adolescents of concern is obsessive-compulsive disorder, which involves comorbid conditions. The impact of a range of comorbid illnesses on cognitive-behavioral therapy response and remission rates was conducted, with results revealing a negative impact on treatment response.

  18. Behaviors of southwestern native fishes in response to introduced catfish predators

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Ward, David L.; Figiel, Chester R.

    2013-01-01

    Native fishes reared in hatcheries typically suffer high predation mortality when stocked into natural environments. We evaluated the behavior of juvenile bonytail Gila elegans, roundtail chub Gila robusta, razorback sucker Xyrauchen texanus, and Sonora sucker Catostomus insignis in response to introduced channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus and flathead catfish Pylodictis olivaris. Our laboratory tests indicate these species did not inherently recognize catfish as a threat, but they can quickly (within 12 h) change their behavior in response to a novel predator paired with the sight and scent of a dead conspecific. Chubs appear to avoid predation by swimming away from the threat, whereas suckers reduced movement. Effects of antipredator conditioning on survival of fish reared in hatcheries is unknown; however, our results suggest some native fish can be conditioned to recognize introduced predators, which could increase poststocking survival.

  19. Neurophysiological and Behavioral Responses to Music Therapy in Vegetative and Minimally Conscious States

    PubMed Central

    O’Kelly, Julian; James, L.; Palaniappan, R.; Taborin, J.; Fachner, J.; Magee, W. L.

    2013-01-01

    Assessment of awareness for those with disorders of consciousness is a challenging undertaking, due to the complex presentation of the population. Debate surrounds whether behavioral assessments provide greatest accuracy in diagnosis compared to neuro-imaging methods, and despite developments in both, misdiagnosis rates remain high. Music therapy may be effective in the assessment and rehabilitation with this population due to effects of musical stimuli on arousal, attention, and emotion, irrespective of verbal or motor deficits. However, an evidence base is lacking as to which procedures are most effective. To address this, a neurophysiological and behavioral study was undertaken comparing electroencephalogram (EEG), heart rate variability, respiration, and behavioral responses of 20 healthy subjects with 21 individuals in vegetative or minimally conscious states (VS or MCS). Subjects were presented with live preferred music and improvised music entrained to respiration (procedures typically used in music therapy), recordings of disliked music, white noise, and silence. ANOVA tests indicated a range of significant responses (p ≤ 0.05) across healthy subjects corresponding to arousal and attention in response to preferred music including concurrent increases in respiration rate with globally enhanced EEG power spectra responses (p = 0.05–0.0001) across frequency bandwidths. Whilst physiological responses were heterogeneous across patient cohorts, significant post hoc EEG amplitude increases for stimuli associated with preferred music were found for frontal midline theta in six VS and four MCS subjects, and frontal alpha in three VS and four MCS subjects (p = 0.05–0.0001). Furthermore, behavioral data showed a significantly increased blink rate for preferred music (p = 0.029) within the VS cohort. Two VS cases are presented with concurrent changes (p ≤ 0.05) across measures indicative of discriminatory responses to both music therapy

  20. Development and Standardization of the Diagnostic Adaptive Behavior Scale: Application of Item Response Theory to the Assessment of Adaptive Behavior.

    PubMed

    Tassé, Marc J; Schalock, Robert L; Thissen, David; Balboni, Giulia; Bersani, Henry Hank; Borthwick-Duffy, Sharon A; Spreat, Scott; Widaman, Keith F; Zhang, Dalun; Navas, Patricia

    2016-03-01

    The Diagnostic Adaptive Behavior Scale (DABS) was developed using item response theory (IRT) methods and was constructed to provide the most precise and valid adaptive behavior information at or near the cutoff point of making a decision regarding a diagnosis of intellectual disability. The DABS initial item pool consisted of 260 items. Using IRT modeling and a nationally representative standardization sample, the item set was reduced to 75 items that provide the most precise adaptive behavior information at the cutoff area determining the presence or not of significant adaptive behavior deficits across conceptual, social, and practical skills. The standardization of the DABS is described and discussed.

  1. Numerical Simulation of Thermal Response and Ablation Behavior of a Hybrid Carbon/Carbon Composite

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Bai; Li, Xudong

    2017-09-01

    The thermal response and ablation behavior of a hybrid carbon/carbon (C/C) composite are studied herein by using a numerical model. This model is based on the energy- and mass-conservation principles as well as on the calculation of the thermophysical properties of materials. The thermal response and ablation behavior are simulated from the perspective of the matrix and fiber components of a hybrid C/C composite. The thermophysical properties during ablation are calculated, and a moving boundary is implemented to consider the recession of the ablation surface. The temperature distribution, thermophysical properties, char layer thickness, linear ablation rate, mass flow rate of the pyrolysis gases, and mass loss of the hybrid C/C composite are quantitatively predicted. This numerical study describing the thermal response and ablation behavior provides a fundamental understanding of the ablative mechanism of a hybrid C/C composite, serving as a reference and basis for further designs and optimizations of thermoprotective materials.

  2. Numerical Simulation of Thermal Response and Ablation Behavior of a Hybrid Carbon/Carbon Composite

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Bai; Li, Xudong

    2018-06-01

    The thermal response and ablation behavior of a hybrid carbon/carbon (C/C) composite are studied herein by using a numerical model. This model is based on the energy- and mass-conservation principles as well as on the calculation of the thermophysical properties of materials. The thermal response and ablation behavior are simulated from the perspective of the matrix and fiber components of a hybrid C/C composite. The thermophysical properties during ablation are calculated, and a moving boundary is implemented to consider the recession of the ablation surface. The temperature distribution, thermophysical properties, char layer thickness, linear ablation rate, mass flow rate of the pyrolysis gases, and mass loss of the hybrid C/C composite are quantitatively predicted. This numerical study describing the thermal response and ablation behavior provides a fundamental understanding of the ablative mechanism of a hybrid C/C composite, serving as a reference and basis for further designs and optimizations of thermoprotective materials.

  3. Dorsomedial Prefrontal Cortex Contribution to Behavioral and Nucleus Accumbens Neuronal Responses to Incentive Cues

    PubMed Central

    Ishikawa, Akinori; Ambroggi, Frederic; Nicola, Saleem M.; Fields, Howard L.

    2008-01-01

    Cue-elicited phasic changes in firing of nucleus accumbens (NAc) neurons can facilitate reward-seeking behavior. Here, we test the hypothesis that the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), which sends a dense glutamatergic projection to the NAc core, contributes to NAc neuronal firing responses to reward-predictive cues. Rats trained to perform an operant response to a cue for sucrose were implanted with recording electrodes in the core of the NAc and microinjection cannulas in the dorsal mPFC (dmPFC). The cue-evoked firing of NAc neurons was reduced by bilateral injection of GABAA and GABAB agonists into the dmPFC concomitant with loss of behavioral responding to the cue. In addition, unilateral dmPFC inactivation reduced ipsilateral cue excitations and contralateral cue inhibitions. These findings indicate that cue-evoked excitations and inhibitions of NAc core neurons depend on dmPFC projections to the NAc and that these phasic changes contribute to the behavioral response to reward-predictive cues. PMID:18463262

  4. Responsible Adult Culture (RAC): Cognitive and Behavioral Changes at a Community-Based Correctional Facility

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Devlin, Renee S.; Gibbs, John C.

    2010-01-01

    This article examined cognitive and behavioral changes among participants in Responsible Adult Culture (RAC), a cognitive-behavioral (especially, cognitive restructuring) treatment program in use at the Franklin County Community-Based Correctional Facility (CBCF). Participants were adult felony offenders (approximately three-fourths male). A…

  5. Oxytocin attenuates aversive response to nicotine and anxiety-like behavior in adolescent rats.

    PubMed

    Lee, Hyunchan; Jang, Minji; Noh, Jihyun

    2017-02-01

    Initial tobacco use is initiated with rewarding and aversive properties of nicotine and aversive response to nicotine plays a critical role in nicotine dependency. Decrease of nicotine aversion increases the nicotine use that causes behavioral and neuronal changes of animals. Oxytocin influences drug abuse and reciprocally affect vulnerability to drug use. To assess the effect of oxytocin on initial nicotine aversion and anxiety, we examined voluntary oral nicotine intake and anxiety-like behavior following oxytocin treatment in adolescent rats. Sprague-Dawley male rats (4 weeks old) were used. For oxytocin administration, rats were injected subcutaneously with saline or oxytocin (0.01, 0.1 and 1mg/kg) according to the assigned groups. Voluntary oral nicotine consumption test was performed by two bottle free-choice paradigm. To examine anxiety-like behavior in rats, we performed a light/dark box test. Oxytocin not only significantly increased the nicotine intake but also alleviated nicotine aversion after acclimation to nicotine solution in a concentration dependent manner. Meanwhile, oxytocin significantly reduced anxiety-like behavior. We suggest that oxytocin itself mitigates aversive response toward initial nicotine intake and anxiety-like behavior. These results widen the psychophysiological perspective on oxytocin for better understanding of nicotine addiction related behaviors influenced by diverse social factors. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd and Japan Neuroscience Society. All rights reserved.

  6. Initial description of a quantitative, cross-species (chimpanzee-human) social responsiveness measure.

    PubMed

    Marrus, Natasha; Faughn, Carley; Shuman, Jeremy; Petersen, Steve E; Constantino, John N; Povinelli, Daniel J; Pruett, John R

    2011-05-01

    Comparative studies of social responsiveness, an ability that is impaired in autism spectrum disorders, can inform our understanding of both autism and the cognitive architecture of social behavior. Because there is no existing quantitative measure of social responsiveness in chimpanzees, we generated a quantitative, cross-species (human-chimpanzee) social responsiveness measure. We translated the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS), an instrument that quantifies human social responsiveness, into an analogous instrument for chimpanzees. We then retranslated this "Chimpanzee SRS" into a human "Cross-Species SRS" (XSRS). We evaluated three groups of chimpanzees (n = 29) with the Chimpanzee SRS and typical and human children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; n = 20) with the XSRS. The Chimpanzee SRS demonstrated strong interrater reliability at the three sites (ranges for individual ICCs: 0.534 to 0.866; mean ICCs: 0.851 to 0.970). As has been observed in human beings, exploratory principal components analysis of Chimpanzee SRS scores supports a single factor underlying chimpanzee social responsiveness. Human subjects' XSRS scores were fully concordant with their SRS scores (r = 0.976, p = .001) and distinguished appropriately between typical and ASD subjects. One chimpanzee known for inappropriate social behavior displayed a significantly higher score than all other chimpanzees at its site, demonstrating the scale's ability to detect impaired social responsiveness in chimpanzees. Our initial cross-species social responsiveness scale proved reliable and discriminated differences in social responsiveness across (in a relative sense) and within (in a more objectively quantifiable manner) human beings and chimpanzees. Copyright © 2011 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. Reliability and Validity of "Parents' Evaluation of Responsible Behaviors of 5-6 Year Old Children" Scale

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Polat, Ozgul; Dagal, Asude B.

    2013-01-01

    This study is aimed at developing a scale (Parents' Evaluation of Responsible Behaviors of 5-6 Year Old Children) for measuring parents' evaluation of their 5-6 year-old children's responsible behaviors. The construct validity of the scale was tested by Factor Analysis. Factor analysis determined that the scale can be clustered under 10 factors.…

  8. Quantifying the hydrological responses to climate change in an intact forested small watershed in Southern China

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Zhou, G.; Wei, X.; Wu, Y.; Huang, Y.; Yan, J.; Zhang, Dongxiao; Zhang, Q.; Liu, J.; Meng, Z.; Wang, C.; Chu, G.; Liu, S.; Tang, X.; Liu, Xiuying

    2011-01-01

    Responses of hydrological processes to climate change are key components in the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) assessment. Understanding these responses is critical for developing appropriate mitigation and adaptation strategies for sustainable water resources management and protection of public safety. However, these responses are not well understood and little long-term evidence exists. Herein, we show how climate change, specifically increased air temperature and storm intensity, can affect soil moisture dynamics and hydrological variables based on both long-term observation and model simulations using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) in an intact forested watershed (the Dinghushan Biosphere Reserve) in Southern China. Our results show that, although total annual precipitation changed little from 1950 to 2009, soil moisture decreased significantly. A significant decline was also found in the monthly 7-day low flow from 2000 to 2009. However, the maximum daily streamflow in the wet season and unconfined groundwater tables have significantly increased during the same 10-year period. The significant decreasing trends on soil moisture and low flow variables suggest that the study watershed is moving towards drought-like condition. Our analysis indicates that the intensification of rainfall storms and the increasing number of annual no-rain days were responsible for the increasing chance of both droughts and floods. We conclude that climate change has indeed induced more extreme hydrological events (e.g. droughts and floods) in this watershed and perhaps other areas of Southern China. This study also demonstrated usefulness of our research methodology and its possible applications on quantifying the impacts of climate change on hydrology in any other watersheds where long-term data are available and human disturbance is negligible. ?? 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  9. Behavioral responses of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) to full-scale ATOC signals.

    PubMed

    Frankel, A S; Clark, C W

    2000-10-01

    Loud (195 dB re 1 microPa at 1 m) 75-Hz signals were broadcast with an ATOC projector to measure ocean temperature. Respiratory and movement behaviors of humpback whales off North Kauai, Hawaii, were examined for potential changes in response to these transmissions and to vessels. Few vessel effects were observed, but there were fewer vessels operating during this study than in previous years. No overt responses to ATOC were observed for received levels of 98-109 dB re 1 microPa. An analysis of covariance, using the no-sound behavioral rate as a covariate to control for interpod variation, found that the distance and time between successive surfacings of humpbacks increased slightly with an increase in estimated received ATOC sound level. These responses are very similar to those observed in response to scaled-amplitude playbacks of ATOC signals [Frankel and Clark, Can. J. Zool. 76, 521-535 (1998)]. These similar results were obtained with different sound projectors, in different years and locations, and at different ranges creating a different sound field. The repeatability of the findings for these two different studies indicates that these effects, while small, are robust. This suggests that at least for the ATOC signal, the received sound level is a good predictor of response.

  10. Pediatricians' affective communication behavior attenuates parents' stress response during the medical interview.

    PubMed

    Gemmiti, Marco; Hamed, Selei; Lauber-Biason, Anna; Wildhaber, Johannes; Pharisa, Cosette; Klumb, Petra L

    2017-03-01

    To investigate whether the medical interview in the pediatric context generates a stressful response in parents in form of heightened cortisol activity, and whether pediatricians' empathetic communication is able to attenuate this stress response. 68 parents were recruited at pediatric out-patient and in-patient consultations. Salivary samples were collected between 60 and 30min prior to the consultation, shortly before the consultation, 20min as well as 45min after the consultation. 19 pediatricians participated in the study and effectuated the medical visit as usual. We videotaped the consultations and coded pediatricians' affective communication using the RIAS and the Four Habits Coding Scheme. Parents' cortisol increased during the medical visit with a peak at 20min after the medical encounter. Furthermore, multilevel analysis revealed a lesser increase in parents' cortisol response associated with pediatricians' levels in supportive communication behaviors. As indicated by their humoral stress responses, the medical encounter was stressful for the parents. Pediatricians' affective communication modulated this stress response in that more supportive communication was related to smaller cortisol increases. Pediatricians' affective communication behavior during the medical visit can alleviate parents' distress and anxiety, representing a source of social and emotional support. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Behavioral and psychophysiological responses to job demands and association with musculoskeletal symptoms in computer work.

    PubMed

    Griffiths, Karin Lindgren; Mackey, Martin G; Adamson, Barbara J

    2011-12-01

    The purpose of this study was to identify and compare individual behavioral and psychophysiological responses to workload demands and stressors associated with the reporting of musculoskeletal symptoms with computer work. Evidence is growing that the prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms increases with longer hours of computer work and exposure to psychosocial stressors such as high workloads and unrealistic deadlines. Workstyle, or how an individual worker behaves in response to such work demands, may also be an important factor associated with musculoskeletal symptoms in computer operators. Approximately 8,000 employees of the Australian Public Service were invited to complete an on-line survey if they worked with a computer for 15 or more hours per week. The survey was a composite of three questionnaires: the ASSET to measure perceived organizational stressors, Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire to measure reported prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms and additional questions to measure individual work behaviors and responses. 934 completed surveys were accepted for analyses. Logistic regression was used to identify significant behavioral and work response predictors of musculoskeletal symptoms. Reporting of heightened muscle tension in response to workload pressure was more strongly associated, than other physical behavioral factors, with musculoskeletal symptoms for all body areas, particularly the neck (OR = 2.50, 95% CI: 2.09-2.99). Individual workstyles in response to workload demands and stressors, including working with heightened muscle tension and mental fatigue, were significantly associated with musculoskeletal symptoms. Future risk management strategies should have a greater focus on the identification and management of those organizational factors that are likely to encourage and exacerbate adverse workstyles.

  12. Quantifying the Physiological Stress Response to Simulated Maritime Pilotage Tasks: The Influence of Task Complexity and Pilot Experience.

    PubMed

    Main, Luana C; Wolkow, Alexander; Chambers, Timothy P

    2017-11-01

    The aim of this study was to quantify the stress associated with performing maritime pilotage tasks in a high-fidelity simulator. Eight trainee and 13 maritime pilots completed two simulated pilotage tasks of varying complexity. Salivary cortisol samples were collected pre- and post-simulation for both trials. Heart rate was measured continuously throughout the study. Significant changes in salivary cortisol (P = 0.000, η = 0.139), average (P = 0.006, η = 0.087), and peak heart rate (P = 0.013, η = 0.077) from pre- to postsimulation were found. Varying task complexity did partially influence stress response; average (P = 0.016, η = 0.026) and peak heart rate (P = 0.034, η = 0.020) were higher in the experimental condition. Trainees also recorded higher average (P = 0.000, η = 0.054) and peak heart rates (P = 0.027, η = 0.022). Performing simulated pilotage tasks evoked a measurable stress response in both trainee and expert maritime pilots.

  13. Histamine-dependent behavioral response to methamphetamine in 12-month-old male mice

    PubMed Central

    Acevedo, Summer F.; Raber, Jacob

    2011-01-01

    Methamphetamine (MA) use is a growing problem across the United States. Effects of MA include hyperactivity and increased anxiety. Using a mouse model system, we examined behavioral performance in the open field and elevated zero maze and shock-startle response of 12-month-old wild-type mice injected with MA once (1mg/kg) 30 min prior to behavioral testing. MA treatment resulted in behavioral sensitization in the open field, consistent with studies in younger mice. There was an increased activity in the elevated zero maze and an increased shock-startle response 30 and 60 min post-injection. Since histamine mediates some effects of MA in the brain, we assessed whether 12-month-old mice lacking histidine decarboxylase (Hdc−/−), the enzyme required to synthesize histamine, respond differently to MA than wild-type (Hdc+/+) mice. Compared to saline treatment, acute and repeated MA administration increased activity in the open field and measures of anxiety, though more so in Hdc−/− than Hdc+/+ mice. In the elevated zero maze, opposite effects of MA on activity and measures of anxiety were seen in Hdc+/+ mice. In contrast, MA similarly increased the shock-startle response in Hdc−/− and Hdc+/+ mice, compared to saline-treated genotype-matched mice. These results are similar to those in younger mice suggesting that the effects are not age-dependent. Overall, single or repeated MA treatment causes histamine-dependent changes in 12-month-old mice in the open field and elevated zero-maze, but not in the shock-startle response. PMID:21466792

  14. The behavioral response of Lasioderma serricorne (Coleoptera: Anobiidae) to citronellal, citral, and rutin.

    PubMed

    Lü, Jianhua; Liu, Shuli

    2016-01-01

    The behavioral response of Lasioderma serricorne adults to citronellal, citral, and rutin was investigated by using the area preference method. The L. serricorne adults were exposed to citronellal, and citral at the rate of 1:10, 1:50, 1:100 and 1:1000 (citronellal: ethanol, v/v) for 1, 2, 12 and 24 h, to rutin at the rate of 10, 30 and 90 g/m(2) for 1, 2, 12 and 24 h, respectively. The citronellal and citral had attractive activity at the low rates and repellent potential at the high rates. The highest behavioral response values of L. serricorne adults to citronellal and citral were -88.89 % at the rate of 1:100 and 100.00 % at the rate of 1:50 respectively. Rutin had strong repellent effectiveness on L. serricorne adults, which significantly increased with increasing rates with the highest behavioral response values 100.00 % at the rate of 90 g/m(2) after 12 h exposure. These data suggest that the citronellal, citral, and rutin have great potential for preventing stored products from L. serricorne infestation.

  15. Propranolol medication among coronary patients: relationship to type A behavior and cardiovascular response.

    PubMed

    Krantz, D S; Durel, L A; Davia, J E; Shaffer, R T; Arabian, J M; Dembroski, T M; MacDougall, J M

    1982-09-01

    The present correlational study compared behavioral and psychophysiological characteristics of coronary patients who were either medicated or not medicated with the beta-adrenergic blocking drug propranolol. Eighty-eight patients were given a structured Type A interview (SI) and a history quiz while heart rate and blood pressure were monitored. Data were analyzed controlling for age, sex, extent of coronary artery disease, and history of angina. Results indicated that patients taking propranolol (n = 65) were significantly lower in intensity of Type A behavior than patients not taking propranolol (n = 23). No effects were obtained for patients medicated or not medicated with diuretics, nitrates, or other CNS active drugs. Propranolol patients also showed lesser heart rate and rate-pressure product responses to the interview, but did not differ in blood pressure responses. Components of Type A which were lower in propranolol patients included speech stylistics (loud/explosive, rapid/accelerated, potential for hostility). Content of responses to the SI and scores on the Jenkins Activity Survey did not differ between the groups. An explanation for these results is offered in terms of the effects of propranolol on peripheral sympathetic responses, and evidence for a physiological substrate for Type A behavior. A conceptualization of the Type A pattern in terms of cognitive and physiological components is advanced, and implications for clinical intervention are discussed.

  16. Modeling the role of behavior in wildlife responses to landscape change

    EPA Science Inventory

    Land-use change alters landscapes at different rates and to different degrees. Wildlife responses to shifting habitat conditions vary from species to species depending on the rate of landscape change, species’ life history traits, and aspects of behavior such as dispersal patter...

  17. Different behavioral effect dose–response profiles in mice exposed to two-carbon chlorinated hydrocarbons: Influence of structural and physical properties

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

    Umezu, Toyoshi, E-mail: umechan2@nies.go.jp; Shibata, Yasuyuki, E-mail: yshibata@nies.go.jp

    2014-09-01

    The present study aimed to clarify whether dose–response profiles of acute behavioral effects of 1,2-dichloroethane (DCE), 1,1,1-trichloroethane (TCE), trichloroethylene (TRIC), and tetrachloroethylene (PERC) differ. A test battery involving 6 behavioral endpoints was applied to evaluate the effects of DCE, TCE, TRIC, and PERC in male ICR strain mice under the same experimental conditions. The behavioral effect dose–response profiles of these compounds differed. Regression analysis was used to evaluate the relationship between the dose–response profiles and structural and physical properties of the compounds. Dose–response profile differences correlated significantly with differences in specific structural and physical properties. These results suggest that differencesmore » in specific structural and physical properties of DCE, TCE, TRIC, and PERC are responsible for differences in behavioral effects that lead to a variety of dose–response profiles. - Highlights: • We examine effects of 4 chlorinated hydrocarbons on 6 behavioral endpoints in mice. • The behavioral effect dose–response profiles for the 4 compounds are different. • We utilize regression analysis to clarify probable causes of the different profiles. • The compound's physicochemical properties probably produce the different profiles.« less

  18. Quantifying spatial habitat loss from hydrocarbon development through assessing habitat selection patterns of mule deer.

    PubMed

    Northrup, Joseph M; Anderson, Charles R; Wittemyer, George

    2015-11-01

    Extraction of oil and natural gas (hydrocarbons) from shale is increasing rapidly in North America, with documented impacts to native species and ecosystems. With shale oil and gas resources on nearly every continent, this development is set to become a major driver of global land-use change. It is increasingly critical to quantify spatial habitat loss driven by this development to implement effective mitigation strategies and develop habitat offsets. Habitat selection is a fundamental ecological process, influencing both individual fitness and population-level distribution on the landscape. Examinations of habitat selection provide a natural means for understanding spatial impacts. We examined the impact of natural gas development on habitat selection patterns of mule deer on their winter range in Colorado. We fit resource selection functions in a Bayesian hierarchical framework, with habitat availability defined using a movement-based modeling approach. Energy development drove considerable alterations to deer habitat selection patterns, with the most substantial impacts manifested as avoidance of well pads with active drilling to a distance of at least 800 m. Deer displayed more nuanced responses to other infrastructure, avoiding pads with active production and roads to a greater degree during the day than night. In aggregate, these responses equate to alteration of behavior by human development in over 50% of the critical winter range in our study area during the day and over 25% at night. Compared to other regions, the topographic and vegetative diversity in the study area appear to provide refugia that allow deer to behaviorally mediate some of the impacts of development. This study, and the methods we employed, provides a template for quantifying spatial take by industrial activities in natural areas and the results offer guidance for policy makers, mangers, and industry when attempting to mitigate habitat loss due to energy development. © 2015 The Authors

  19. Scale dependent behavioral responses to human development by a large predator, the puma.

    PubMed

    Wilmers, Christopher C; Wang, Yiwei; Nickel, Barry; Houghtaling, Paul; Shakeri, Yasaman; Allen, Maximilian L; Kermish-Wells, Joe; Yovovich, Veronica; Williams, Terrie

    2013-01-01

    The spatial scale at which organisms respond to human activity can affect both ecological function and conservation planning. Yet little is known regarding the spatial scale at which distinct behaviors related to reproduction and survival are impacted by human interference. Here we provide a novel approach to estimating the spatial scale at which a top predator, the puma (Puma concolor), responds to human development when it is moving, feeding, communicating, and denning. We find that reproductive behaviors (communication and denning) require at least a 4× larger buffer from human development than non-reproductive behaviors (movement and feeding). In addition, pumas give a wider berth to types of human development that provide a more consistent source of human interference (neighborhoods) than they do to those in which human presence is more intermittent (arterial roads with speeds >35 mph). Neighborhoods were a deterrent to pumas regardless of behavior, while arterial roads only deterred pumas when they were communicating and denning. Female pumas were less deterred by human development than males, but they showed larger variation in their responses overall. Our behaviorally explicit approach to modeling animal response to human activity can be used as a novel tool to assess habitat quality, identify wildlife corridors, and mitigate human-wildlife conflict.

  20. Behavioral Responses to Epidemics in an Online Experiment: Using Virtual Diseases to Study Human Behavior

    PubMed Central

    Chen, Frederick; Griffith, Amanda; Cottrell, Allin; Wong, Yue-Ling

    2013-01-01

    We report the results of a study we conducted using a simple multiplayer online game that simulates the spread of an infectious disease through a population composed of the players. We use our virtual epidemics game to examine how people respond to epidemics. The analysis shows that people's behavior is responsive to the cost of self-protection, the reported prevalence of disease, and their experiences earlier in the epidemic. Specifically, decreasing the cost of self-protection increases the rate of safe behavior. Higher reported prevalence also raises the likelihood that individuals would engage in self-protection, where the magnitude of this effect depends on how much time has elapsed in the epidemic. Individuals' experiences in terms of how often an infection was acquired when they did not engage in self-protection are another factor that determines whether they will invest in preventive measures later on. All else being equal, individuals who were infected at a higher rate are more likely to engage in self-protective behavior compared to those with a lower rate of infection. Lastly, fixing everything else, people's willingness to engage in safe behavior waxes or wanes over time, depending on the severity of an epidemic: when prevalence is high, people are more likely to adopt self-protective measures as time goes by; when prevalence is low, a ‘self-protection fatigue’ effect sets in whereby individuals are less willing to engage in safe behavior over time. PMID:23326360

  1. Comparison of in vivo and ex vivo viscoelastic behavior of the spinal cord.

    PubMed

    Ramo, Nicole L; Shetye, Snehal S; Streijger, Femke; Lee, Jae H T; Troyer, Kevin L; Kwon, Brian K; Cripton, Peter; Puttlitz, Christian M

    2018-03-01

    Despite efforts to simulate the in vivo environment, post-mortem degradation and lack of blood perfusion complicate the use of ex vivo derived material models in computational studies of spinal cord injury. In order to quantify the mechanical changes that manifest ex vivo, the viscoelastic behavior of in vivo and ex vivo porcine spinal cord samples were compared. Stress-relaxation data from each condition were fit to a non-linear viscoelastic model using a novel characterization technique called the direct fit method. To validate the presented material models, the parameters obtained for each condition were used to predict the respective dynamic cyclic response. Both ex vivo and in vivo samples displayed non-linear viscoelastic behavior with a significant increase in relaxation with applied strain. However, at all three strain magnitudes compared, ex vivo samples experienced a higher stress and greater relaxation than in vivo samples. Significant differences between model parameters also showed distinct relaxation behaviors, especially in non-linear relaxation modulus components associated with the short-term response (0.1-1 s). The results of this study underscore the necessity of utilizing material models developed from in vivo experimental data for studies of spinal cord injury, where the time-dependent properties are critical. The ability of each material model to accurately predict the dynamic cyclic response validates the presented methodology and supports the use of the in vivo model in future high-resolution finite element modeling efforts. Neural tissues (such as the brain and spinal cord) display time-dependent, or viscoelastic, mechanical behavior making it difficult to model how they respond to various loading conditions, including injury. Methods that aim to characterize the behavior of the spinal cord almost exclusively use ex vivo cadaveric or animal samples, despite evidence that time after death affects the behavior compared to that in a living

  2. Neural correlates of the behavioral-autonomic interaction response to potentially threatening stimuli

    PubMed Central

    Farrow, Tom F. D.; Johnson, Naomi K.; Hunter, Michael D.; Barker, Anthony T.; Wilkinson, Iain D.; Woodruff, Peter W. R.

    2013-01-01

    Subjective assessment of emotional valence is typically associated with both brain activity and autonomic arousal. Accurately assessing emotional salience is particularly important when perceiving threat. We sought to characterize the neural correlates of the interaction between behavioral and autonomic responses to potentially threatening visual and auditory stimuli. Twenty-five healthy male subjects underwent fMRI scanning whilst skin conductance responses (SCR) were recorded. One hundred and eighty pictures, sentences, and sounds were assessed as “harmless” or “threatening.” Individuals' stimulus-locked, phasic SCRs and trial-by-trial behavioral assessments were entered as regressors into a flexible factorial design to establish their separate autonomic and behavioral neural correlates, and convolved to examine psycho-autonomic interaction (PAI) effects. Across all stimuli, “threatening,” compared with “harmless” behavioral assessments were associated with mainly frontal and precuneus activation with specific within-modality activations including bilateral parahippocampal gyri (pictures), bilateral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and frontal pole (sentences), and right Heschl's gyrus and bilateral temporal gyri (sounds). Across stimulus modalities SCRs were associated with activation of parieto-occipito-thalamic regions, an activation pattern which was largely replicated within-modality. In contrast, PAI analyses revealed modality-specific activations including right fusiform/parahippocampal gyrus (pictures), right insula (sentences), and mid-cingulate gyrus (sounds). Phasic SCR activity was positively correlated with an individual's propensity to assess stimuli as “threatening.” SCRs may modulate cognitive assessments on a “harmless–threatening” dimension, thereby modulating affective tone and hence behavior. PMID:23335893

  3. Quantifying the multi-scale response of avifauna to prescribed fire experiments in the southwest United States.

    PubMed

    Dickson, Brett G; Noon, Barry R; Flather, Curtis H; Jentsch, Stephanie; Block, William M

    2009-04-01

    Landscape-scale disturbance events, including ecological restoration and fuel reduction activities, can modify habitat and affect relationships between species and their environment. To reduce the risk of uncharacteristic stand-replacing fires in the southwestern United States, land managers are implementing restoration and fuels treatments (e.g., mechanical thinning, prescribed fire) in progressively larger stands of dry, lower elevation ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forest. We used a Before-After/Control-Impact experimental design to quantify the multi-scale response of avifauna to large (approximately 250-400 ha) prescribed fire treatments on four sites in Arizona and New Mexico dominated by ponderosa pine. Using distance sampling and an information-theoretic approach, we estimated changes in density for 14 bird species detected before (May-June 2002-2003) and after (May-June 2004-2005) prescribed fire treatments. We observed few site-level differences in pre- and posttreatment density, and no species responded strongly to treatment on all four sites. Point-level spatial models of individual species response to treatment, habitat variables, and fire severity revealed ecological relationships that were more easily interpreted. At this scale, pretreatment forest structure and patch characteristics were important predictors of posttreatment differences in bird species density. Five species (Pygmy Nuthatch [Sitta pygmaea], Western Bluebird [Sialia mexicana], Steller's Jay [Cyanocitta stelleri], American Robin [Turdus migratorius], and Hairy Woodpecker [Picoides villosus]) exhibited a strong treatment response, and two of these species (American Robin and Hairy Woodpecker) could be associated with meaningful fire severity response functions. The avifaunal response patterns that we observed were not always consistent with those reported by more common studies of wildland fire events. Our results suggest that, in the short-term, the distribution and abundance of

  4. Glucocorticoid receptor gene inactivation in dopamine-innervated areas selectively decreases behavioral responses to amphetamine

    PubMed Central

    Parnaudeau, Sébastien; Dongelmans, Marie-louise; Turiault, Marc; Ambroggi, Frédéric; Delbes, Anne-Sophie; Cansell, Céline; Luquet, Serge; Piazza, Pier-Vincenzo; Tronche, François; Barik, Jacques

    2014-01-01

    The meso-cortico-limbic system, via dopamine release, encodes the rewarding and reinforcing properties of natural rewards. It is also activated in response to abused substances and is believed to support drug-related behaviors. Dysfunctions of this system lead to several psychiatric conditions including feeding disorders and drug addiction. These disorders are also largely influenced by environmental factors and in particular stress exposure. Stressors activate the corticotrope axis ultimately leading to glucocorticoid hormone (GCs) release. GCs bind the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) a transcription factor ubiquitously expressed including within the meso-cortico-limbic tract. While GR within dopamine-innervated areas drives cocaine's behavioral responses, its implication in responses to other psychostimulants such as amphetamine has never been clearly established. Moreover, while extensive work has been made to uncover the role of this receptor in addicted behaviors, its contribution to the rewarding and reinforcing properties of food has yet to be investigated. Using mouse models carrying GR gene inactivation in either dopamine neurons or in dopamine-innervated areas, we found that GR in dopamine responsive neurons is essential to properly build amphetamine-induced conditioned place preference and locomotor sensitization. c-Fos quantification in the nucleus accumbens further confirmed defective neuronal activation following amphetamine injection. These diminished neuronal and behavioral responses to amphetamine may involve alterations in glutamate transmission as suggested by the decreased MK801-elicited hyperlocomotion and by the hyporeactivity to glutamate of a subpopulation of medium spiny neurons. In contrast, GR inactivation did not affect rewarding and reinforcing properties of food suggesting that responding for natural reward under basal conditions is preserved in these mice. PMID:24574986

  5. Golden Eagle Migratory Behaviors in Response to Arctic Warming

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    LaPoint, S.; Bohrer, G.; Davidson, S. C.; Gurarie, E.; Mahoney, P.; Boelman, N.

    2017-12-01

    Understanding how animals adapt to climate change is a conservation priority, particularly in arctic landscapes where these changes are accelerated. Doing so however, remains challenging because animal behavior datasets are typically conducted at site- or population-specific scales and are often short term (e.g., 2-3 years). We have overcome this challenge by compiling a long-term (25 years), large-scale (northwestern North America) dataset of > 0.5 million locations collected via 86 adult-aged golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) fitted with satellite and GPS data loggers. We used mechanistic range shift analyses to identify the locations and dates when each eagle performed a behavioral switch from a stationary phase (e.g., over-wintering or breeding) to migration and vice-versa. We annotated these spatio-temporal data with a suite of environmental data, including: %snow cover, time-to snow cover, time-to greening, air temperature, and wind direction and magnitude. Preliminary generalized additive mixed-models suggest these eagles have performed significant shifts in their departure dates, yet their arrival dates have remained relatively consistent. We will use a survival analysis (e.g., Cox proportional-hazard regression model) to quantify the influence of the environmental variables on these dates. It appears golden eagles migrating across northwestern North America are adapting to changes in the timing and duration of artic winters, by arriving to their northern breeding grounds earlier every spring, presumably to extend their breeding and chick rearing phases. Golden eagles exhibit some resiliency to changes in the arctic climate, but further work is warranted across other taxa and populations.

  6. Relating Neuronal to Behavioral Performance: Variability of Optomotor Responses in the Blowfly

    PubMed Central

    Rosner, Ronny; Warzecha, Anne-Kathrin

    2011-01-01

    Behavioral responses of an animal vary even when they are elicited by the same stimulus. This variability is due to stochastic processes within the nervous system and to the changing internal states of the animal. To what extent does the variability of neuronal responses account for the overall variability at the behavioral level? To address this question we evaluate the neuronal variability at the output stage of the blowfly's (Calliphora vicina) visual system by recording from motion-sensitive interneurons mediating head optomotor responses. By means of a simple modelling approach representing the sensory-motor transformation, we predict head movements on the basis of the recorded responses of motion-sensitive neurons and compare the variability of the predicted head movements with that of the observed ones. Large gain changes of optomotor head movements have previously been shown to go along with changes in the animals' activity state. Our modelling approach substantiates that these gain changes are imposed downstream of the motion-sensitive neurons of the visual system. Moreover, since predicted head movements are clearly more reliable than those actually observed, we conclude that substantial variability is introduced downstream of the visual system. PMID:22066014

  7. Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal and cardiac autonomic responses to transrectal examination differ with behavioral reactivity in dairy cows.

    PubMed

    Kovács, L; Kézér, F L; Kulcsár-Huszenicza, M; Ruff, F; Szenci, O; Jurkovich, V

    2016-09-01

    Behavior, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, and cardiac autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity were evaluated in response to transrectal examination in nonlactating Holstein-Friesian cows with different behavioral reactivity. According to behavioral reactions shown to the procedure of fixing the heart rate (HR) monitors, the 20 cows with the highest and the 20 cows with the lowest behavioral reactivity were involved in the study (high responder, n=20; and low responder, n=20, respectively). Activity of the ANS was assessed by HR and HR variability parameters. Blood and saliva were collected at 5 min before (baseline) and 0, 5 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 60, and 120 min after the examination to determine cortisol concentrations. The examination lasted for 5 min. Cardiac parameters included HR, the root mean square of successive differences between the consecutive interbeat intervals, the high frequency (HF) component of heart rate variability, and the ratio between the low frequency (LF) and HF parameter (LF/HF). Following the examination, peak plasma and saliva cortisol levels and the amplitude of the plasma and saliva cortisol response were higher in high responder cows than in low responders. Areas under the plasma and saliva cortisol response curves were greater in high responder cows. Plasma and salivary cortisol levels correlated significantly at baseline (r=0.91), right after examination (r=0.98), and at peak levels (r=0.96). Area under the HR response curve was higher in low responder cows; however, maximum HR and the amplitude of the HR response showed no differences between groups. Minimum values of both parameters calculated for the examination were higher in high responders. Following the examination, response parameters of root mean square of successive differences and HF did not differ between groups. The maximum and the amplitude of LF/HF response and area under the LF/HF response curve were lower in low responder cows, suggesting a lower sympathetic

  8. Neural and behavioral responses to attractiveness in adult and infant faces.

    PubMed

    Hahn, Amanda C; Perrett, David I

    2014-10-01

    Facial attractiveness provides a very powerful motivation for sexual and parental behavior. We therefore review the importance of faces to the study of neurobiological control of human reproductive motivations. For heterosexual individuals there is a common brain circuit involving the nucleus accumbens, the medial prefrontal, dorsal anterior cingulate and the orbitofrontal cortices that is activated more by attractive than unattractive faces, particularly for faces of the opposite sex. Behavioral studies indicate parallel effects of attractiveness on incentive salience or willingness to work to see faces. There is some evidence that the reward value of opposite sex attractiveness is more pronounced in men than women, perhaps reflecting the greater importance assigned to physical attractiveness by men when evaluating a potential mate. Sex differences and similarities in response to facial attractiveness are reviewed. Studies comparing heterosexual and homosexual observers indicate the orbitofrontal cortex and mediodorsal thalamus are more activated by faces of the desired sex than faces of the less-preferred sex, independent of observer gender or sexual orientation. Infant faces activate brain regions that partially overlap with those responsive to adult faces. Infant faces provide a powerful stimulus, which also elicits sex differences in behavior and brain responses that appear dependent on sex hormones. There are many facial dimensions affecting perceptions of attractiveness that remain unexplored in neuroimaging, and we conclude by suggesting that future studies combining parametric manipulation of face images, brain imaging, hormone assays and genetic polymorphisms in receptor sensitivity are needed to understand the neural and hormonal mechanisms underlying reproductive drives. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Examining How Proactive Management and Culturally Responsive Teaching Relate to Student Behavior: Implications for Measurement and Practice

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Larson, Kristine E.; Pas, Elise T.; Bradshaw, Catherine P.; Rosenberg, Michael S.; Day-Vines, Norma L.

    2018-01-01

    The discipline gap between White students and African American students has increased demand for teacher training in culturally responsive and behavior management practices. Extant research, however, is inconclusive about how culturally responsive teaching practices relate to student behavior or how to assess using such practices in the classroom.…

  10. Item response theory and the measurement of motor behavior.

    PubMed

    Safrit, M J; Cohen, A S; Costa, M G

    1989-12-01

    Item response theory (IRT) has been the focus of intense research and development activity in educational and psychological measurement during the past decade. Because this theory can provide more precise information about test items than other theories usually used in measuring motor behavior, the application of IRT in physical education and exercise science merits investigation. In IRT, the difficulty level of each item (e.g., trial or task) can be estimated and placed on the same scale as the ability of the examinee. Using this information, the test developer can determine the ability levels at which the test functions best. Equating the scores of individuals on two or more items or tests can be handled efficiently by applying IRT. The precision of the identification of performance standards in a mastery test context can be enhanced, as can adaptive testing procedures. In this tutorial, several potential benefits of applying IRT to the measurement of motor behavior were described. An example is provided using bowling data and applying the graded-response form of the Rasch IRT model. The data were calibrated and the goodness of fit was examined. This analysis is described in a step-by-step approach. Limitations to using an IRT model with a test consisting of repeated measures were noted.

  11. Women’s Sexuality: Behaviors, Responses, and Individual Differences

    PubMed Central

    Andersen, Barbara L.; Cyranowski, Jill M.

    2009-01-01

    Classic and contemporary approaches to the assessment of female sexuality are discussed. General approaches, assessment strategies, and models of female sexuality are organized within the conceptual domains of sexual behaviors, sexual responses (desire, excitement, orgasm, and resolution), and individual differences, including general and sex-specific personality models. Where applicable, important trends and relationships are highlighted in the literature with both existing reports and previously unpublished data. The present conceptual overview highlights areas in sexual assessment and model building that are in need of further research and theoretical clarification. PMID:8543712

  12. The planarian TRPA1 homolog mediates extraocular behavioral responses to near-ultraviolet light.

    PubMed

    Birkholz, Taylor R; Beane, Wendy S

    2017-07-15

    Although light is most commonly thought of as a visual cue, many animals possess mechanisms to detect light outside of the eye for various functions, including predator avoidance, circadian rhythms, phototaxis and migration. Here we confirm that planarians (like Caenorhabditis elegans , leeches and Drosophila larvae) are capable of detecting and responding to light using extraocular photoreception. We found that, when either eyeless or decapitated worms were exposed to near-ultraviolet (near-UV) light, intense wild-type photophobic behaviors were still observed. Our data also revealed that behavioral responses to green wavelengths were mediated by ocular mechanisms, whereas near-UV responses were driven by extraocular mechanisms. As part of a candidate screen to uncover the genetic basis of extraocular photoreception in the planarian species Schmidtea mediterranea , we identified a potential role for a homolog of the transient receptor potential channel A1 ( TRPA1 ) in mediating behavioral responses to extraocular light cues. RNA interference (RNAi) to Smed-TrpA resulted in worms that lacked extraocular photophobic responses to near-UV light, a mechanism previously only identified in Drosophila These data show that the planarian TRPA1 homolog is required for planarian extraocular-light avoidance and may represent a potential ancestral function of this gene. TRPA1 is an evolutionarily conserved detector of temperature and chemical irritants, including reactive oxygen species that are byproducts of UV-light exposure. Our results suggest that planarians possess extraocular photoreception and display an unconventional TRPA1-mediated photophobic response to near-UV light. © 2017. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

  13. Evolution of behavior and neural control of the fast-start escape response.

    PubMed

    Hale, Melina E; Long, John H; McHenry, Matthew J; Westneat, Mark W

    2002-05-01

    The fast-start startle behavior is the primary mechanism of rapid escape in fishes and is a model system for examining neural circuit design and musculoskeletal function. To develop a dataset for evolutionary analysis of the startle response, the kinematics and muscle activity patterns of the fast-start were analyzed for four fish species at key branches in the phylogeny of vertebrates. Three of these species (Polypterus palmas, Lepisosteus osseus, and Amia calva) represent the base of the actinopterygian radiation. A fourth species (Oncorhynchus mykiss) provided data for a species in the central region of the teleost phylogeny. Using these data, we explored the evolution of this behavior within the phylogeny of vertebrates. To test the hypothesis that startle features are evolutionarily conservative, the variability of motor patterns and kinematics in fast-starts was described. Results show that the evolution of the startle behavior in fishes, and more broadly among vertebrates, is not conservative. The fast-start has undergone substantial change in suites of kinematics and electromyogram features, including the presence of either a one- or a two-stage kinematic response and change in the extent of bilateral muscle activity. Comparative methods were used to test the evolutionary hypothesis that changes in motor control are correlated with key differences in the kinematics and behavior of the fast-start. Significant evolutionary correlations were found between several motor pattern and behavioral characters. These results suggest that the startle neural circuit itself is not conservative. By tracing the evolution of motor pattern and kinematics on a phylogeny, it is shown that major changes in the neural circuit of the startle behavior occur at several levels in the phylogeny of vertebrates.

  14. Towards quantifying the arc-scale and global magmatic response to deglaciation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Watt, S. F.; Pyle, D. M.; Mather, T. A.

    2012-12-01

    There is a growing body of evidence that the retreat of ice sheets after the last glacial maximum resulted in temporarily enhanced levels of volcanism. This has been postulated on the scale of individual edifices, and on regional scales in intraplate and rift settings. It has been proposed that this pattern was of global significance in contributing to rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations, and thereby formed a feedback process for global warming. However, the impact of deglaciation on volcanic arcs has been incompletely explored. Volcanic arcs account for 90% of present-day subaerial volcanic eruptions, and for volcanically-sourced volatiles they are therefore of first-order significance. Without a proper understanding of fluctuations in arc volcanic output, an assessment of global changes in volcanic activity cannot be made. Here, we present the first systematic assessment of the response of glaciated volcanic arcs to deglaciation. By using comprehensive compilations of eruption records from southern Chile, augmented by records from the Cascade and Kamchatka arcs, we show that the post-glacial increase in volcanism was relatively small in comparison to non-arc volcano-tectonic settings. Where ice unloading was at its greatest, eruption frequency approximately doubled for ~5 kyr, but this pattern is at the limit of statistical significance. The same period coincides with a few notably large explosive eruptions. In less heavily glaciated regions, no pattern can be deduced at the resolution of available data. While eruption patterns are commonly episodic, the timing of increases in activity does not always show a clear link to deglaciation. In light of the above, we critically examine available eruption records in an effort to constrain global-scale changes in volcanic output. We show that great caution must be exercised when attempting to quantify variation in volcanism from such data. Due to extremely sparse sampling (i.e. highly incomplete records), both temporal

  15. Quantifying and Disaggregating Consumer Purchasing Behavior for Energy Systems Modeling

    EPA Science Inventory

    Consumer behaviors such as energy conservation, adoption of more efficient technologies, and fuel switching represent significant potential for greenhouse gas mitigation. Current efforts to model future energy outcomes have tended to use simplified economic assumptions ...

  16. Ensuring PhD development of responsible conduct of research behaviors: who's responsible?

    PubMed

    Titus, Sandra L; Ballou, Janice M

    2014-03-01

    The importance of public confidence in scientific findings and trust in scientists cannot be overstated. Thus, it becomes critical for the scientific community to focus on enhancing the strategies used to educate future scientists on ethical research behaviors. What we are lacking is knowledge on how faculty members shape and develop ethical research standards with their students. We are presenting the results of a survey with 3,500 research faculty members. We believe this is the first report on how faculty work with and educate their PhD students on basic research standards. Specifically, we wanted to determine whether individual faculty members, who are advisors or mentors, differ in how they implemented components of responsible conduct of research (RCR) with their PhD students. Mentors were more likely than advisors or supervisors to report working with all of their PhDs, who graduated in the last 5 years, on the 17 recognized critical components of RCR training and research skill development. We also found about half of the faculty members believe RCR is an institutional responsibility versus a faculty responsibility. Less than a quarter have had opportunities to participate in faculty training to be a better mentor, advisor, or research teacher, and about one third of faculty did not or could not remember whether they had guidelines related to their responsibilities to PhD students. We discuss the implications of our findings and focus on ways that PhD research mentoring can be enhanced.

  17. Quantifying the behavioral response of spawning chum salmon to elevated discharges from Bonneville Dam, Columbia River, USA

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Tiffan, K.F.; Haskell, C.A.; Kock, T.J.

    2010-01-01

    Chum salmon Oncorhynchus keta that spawn in main-stem habitats below Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River, USA, are periodically subjected to elevated discharges that may alter spawning behaviour. We investigated behavioural responses of spawning chum salmon to increased water velocities associated with experimental increases in tailwater elevation using acoustic telemetry and a dual-frequency identification sonar. Chum salmon primarily remained near their redds at base tailwater elevations (3.5 m above mean sea level), but displayed different movement and behavioural responses as elevations were increased to either 4.1 or 4.7m for 8-h periods. When velocities remained suitable (<0.8m s-1) during elevated-tailwater tests, female chum salmon remained near their redds but exhibited reduced digging activity as water velocities increased. However, when velocities exceeded 0.8m s-1, the females that remained on their redds exhibited increased swimming activity and digging virtually ceased. Female and male chum salmon that left their redds when velocities became unsuitable moved mean distances ranging from 32 to 58 m to occupy suitable velocities, but returned to their redds after tailwaters returned to base levels. Spawning events (i.e. egg deposition) were observed for five of nine pairs of chum salmon following tests indicating any disruptions to normal behaviour caused by elevated tailwaters were likely temporary. We believe a chum salmon's decision to either remain on, or leave, its redd during periods of unsuitably high water velocities reflects time invested in the redd and the associated energetic costs it is willing to incur. ?? 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  18. Behavioral and hematological responses of broiler chickens administered with betaine and ascorbic acid during hot-dry season.

    PubMed

    Egbuniwe, Ifeanyichukwu C; Ayo, Joseph O; Kawu, Mohammed U; Mohammed, Aliyu

    2018-02-05

    Heat stress is a major problem in poultry production in tropical regions. Assessing the impact of thermally stressful environmental conditions on the welfare of broiler chickens is of great importance. Behavioral responses in a novel environment and hematology of broiler chickens administered with betaine and/or ascorbic acid (AA) during the hot-dry season were evaluated. Broiler chickens were randomly divided into four groups: Group I (control) was given sterile water, Group II was given betaine, Group III was given AA, and Group IV received betaine + AA orally and daily for 42 days. An open-field test was used to assess behavior. Hematological parameters were obtained using a hematology auto-analyzer. The natural environmental conditions were predominantly outside the thermoneutral zone for broiler chickens. Results demonstrated that treated groups exhibited improved ability to adjust faster to a new environment and better hematological responses than controls, evidenced by enhanced behavioral responses, oxygen-carrying capacity, and immune responses of broiler chickens under unfavorable environmental conditions. Betaine and/or AA administration to broiler chickens improved some behavioral responses, hemoglobin concentrations, packed cell volume, and total leukocyte count during the hot-dry season.

  19. Academic, Behavioral, and Psychological Responses of Hyperactive Children to Stimulant Medication.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bradley, Eunice

    The paper reviews educational, medical, and psychopharmacological research concerning the academic, behavioral, and psychological responses of hyperactive children to stimulant medication. In Chapter 1 on the problem and plan of study, brief sections are included on the educational community's lack of knowledge regarding stimulant medication, the…

  20. 38 CFR 17.107 - VA response to disruptive behavior of patients.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 38 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false VA response to disruptive behavior of patients. 17.107 Section 17.107 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS MEDICAL Disciplinary Control of Beneficiaries Receiving Hospital, Domiciliary Or Nursing Home Care...

  1. 38 CFR 17.107 - VA response to disruptive behavior of patients.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 38 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false VA response to disruptive behavior of patients. 17.107 Section 17.107 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS MEDICAL Disciplinary Control of Beneficiaries Receiving Hospital, Domiciliary Or Nursing Home Care...

  2. 38 CFR 17.107 - VA response to disruptive behavior of patients.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 38 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false VA response to disruptive behavior of patients. 17.107 Section 17.107 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS MEDICAL Disciplinary Control of Beneficiaries Receiving Hospital, Domiciliary Or Nursing Home Care...

  3. Manual for Coding Academic Survival Skill Behaviors and Teacher/Peer Responses. Report No. 3.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cobb, Joseph A.

    The manual describes procedures and techniques required for the collection of academic survival skill data (data on the classroom behavior of students and the teacher or peer responses to that behavior). The observer is provided with guidelines to assure smooth data collection through proper equipment functioning and the maintenance of good…

  4. Effects of moderate prenatal ethanol exposure and age on social behavior, spatial response perseveration errors and motor behavior

    PubMed Central

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

    2014-01-01

    Persistent deficits in social behavior are among the major negative consequences associated with exposure to ethanol during prenatal development. Prior work from our laboratory has linked deficits in social behavior following moderate prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) in the rat to functional alterations in the ventrolateral frontal cortex [21]. In addition to social behaviors, the regions comprising the ventrolateral frontal cortex are critical for diverse processes ranging from orofacial motor movements to flexible alteration of behavior in the face of changing consequences. The broader behavioral implications of altered ventrolateral frontal cortex function following moderate PAE have, however, not been examined. In the present study we evaluated the consequences of moderate PAE on social behavior, tongue protrusion, and flexibility in a variant of the Morris water task that required modification of a well-established spatial response. PAE rats displayed deficits in tongue protrusion, reduced flexibility in the spatial domain, increased wrestling, and decreased investigation, indicating that several behaviors associated with ventrolateral frontal cortex function are impaired following moderate PAE. A linear discriminant analysis revealed that measures of wrestling and tongue protrusion provided the best discrimination of PAE rats from saccharin-exposed control rats. We also evaluated all behaviors in young adult (4-5 mos.) or older (10-11 mos.) rats to address the persistence of behavioral deficits in adulthood and possible interactions between early ethanol exposure and advancing age. Behavioral deficits in each domain persisted well into adulthood (10-11 mos.), however, there was no evidence that age enhances the effects of moderate PAE within the age ranges that were studied. PMID:24769174

  5. Quantifying Reinforcement Value and Demand for Psychoactive Substances in Humans

    PubMed Central

    Heinz, Adrienne J.; Lilje, Todd C.; Kassel, Jon D.; de Wit, Harriet

    2013-01-01

    Behavioral economics is an emerging cross-disciplinary field that is providing an exciting new contextual framework for researchers to study addictive processes. New initiatives to study addiction under a behavioral economic rubric have yielded variable terminology and differing methods and theoretical approaches that are consistent with the multidimensional nature of addiction. The present article is intended to provide an integrative overview of the behavioral economic nomenclature and to describe relevant theoretical models, principles and concepts. Additionally, we present measures derived from behavioral economic theories that quantify demand for substances and assess decision making processes surrounding substance use. The sensitivity of these measures to different contextual elements (e.g., drug use status, acute drug effects, deprivation) is also addressed. The review concludes with discussion of the validity of these approaches and their potential for clinical application and highlights areas that warrant further research. Overall, behavioral economics offers a compelling framework to help explicate complex addictive processes and it is likely to provide a translational platform for clinical intervention. PMID:23062106

  6. Quantifying the ventilatory control contribution to sleep apnoea using polysomnography.

    PubMed

    Terrill, Philip I; Edwards, Bradley A; Nemati, Shamim; Butler, James P; Owens, Robert L; Eckert, Danny J; White, David P; Malhotra, Atul; Wellman, Andrew; Sands, Scott A

    2015-02-01

    Elevated loop gain, consequent to hypersensitive ventilatory control, is a primary nonanatomical cause of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) but it is not possible to quantify this in the clinic. Here we provide a novel method to estimate loop gain in OSA patients using routine clinical polysomnography alone. We use the concept that spontaneous ventilatory fluctuations due to apnoeas/hypopnoeas (disturbance) result in opposing changes in ventilatory drive (response) as determined by loop gain (response/disturbance). Fitting a simple ventilatory control model (including chemical and arousal contributions to ventilatory drive) to the ventilatory pattern of OSA reveals the underlying loop gain. Following mathematical-model validation, we critically tested our method in patients with OSA by comparison with a standard (continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) drop method), and by assessing its ability to detect the known reduction in loop gain with oxygen and acetazolamide. Our method quantified loop gain from baseline polysomnography (correlation versus CPAP-estimated loop gain: n=28; r=0.63, p<0.001), detected the known reduction in loop gain with oxygen (n=11; mean±sem change in loop gain (ΔLG) -0.23±0.08, p=0.02) and acetazolamide (n=11; ΔLG -0.20±0.06, p=0.005), and predicted the OSA response to loop gain-lowering therapy. We validated a means to quantify the ventilatory control contribution to OSA pathogenesis using clinical polysomnography, enabling identification of likely responders to therapies targeting ventilatory control. Copyright ©ERS 2015.

  7. Quantifying the ventilatory control contribution to sleep apnoea using polysomnography

    PubMed Central

    Terrill, Philip I.; Edwards, Bradley A.; Nemati, Shamim; Butler, James P.; Owens, Robert L.; Eckert, Danny J.; White, David P.; Malhotra, Atul; Wellman, Andrew; Sands, Scott A.

    2015-01-01

    Elevated loop gain, consequent to hypersensitive ventilatory control, is a primary nonanatomical cause of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) but it is not possible to quantify this in the clinic. Here we provide a novel method to estimate loop gain in OSA patients using routine clinical polysomnography alone. We use the concept that spontaneous ventilatory fluctuations due to apnoeas/hypopnoeas (disturbance) result in opposing changes in ventilatory drive (response) as determined by loop gain (response/disturbance). Fitting a simple ventilatory control model (including chemical and arousal contributions to ventilatory drive) to the ventilatory pattern of OSA reveals the underlying loop gain. Following mathematical-model validation, we critically tested our method in patients with OSA by comparison with a standard (continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) drop method), and by assessing its ability to detect the known reduction in loop gain with oxygen and acetazolamide. Our method quantified loop gain from baseline polysomnography (correlation versus CPAP-estimated loop gain: n=28; r=0.63, p<0.001), detected the known reduction in loop gain with oxygen (n=11; mean±SEM change in loop gain (ΔLG) −0.23±0.08, p=0.02) and acetazolamide (n=11; ΔLG −0.20±0.06, p=0.005), and predicted the OSA response to loop gain-lowering therapy. We validated a means to quantify the ventilatory control contribution to OSA pathogenesis using clinical polysomnography, enabling identification of likely responders to therapies targeting ventilatory control. PMID:25323235

  8. Risk-assessment and risk-taking behavior predict potassium- and amphetamine-induced dopamine response in the dorsal striatum of rats

    PubMed Central

    Palm, Sara; Momeni, Shima; Lundberg, Stina; Nylander, Ingrid; Roman, Erika

    2014-01-01

    Certain personality types and behavioral traits display high correlations to drug use and an increased level of dopamine in the reward system is a common denominator of all drugs of abuse. Dopamine response to drugs has been suggested to correlate with some of these personality types and to be a key factor influencing the predisposition to addiction. This study investigated if behavioral traits can be related to potassium- and amphetamine-induced dopamine response in the dorsal striatum, an area hypothesized to be involved in the shift from drug use to addiction. The open field and multivariate concentric square field™ tests were used to assess individual behavior in male Wistar rats. Chronoamperometric recordings were then made to study the potassium- and amphetamine-induced dopamine response in vivo. A classification based on risk-taking behavior in the open field was used for further comparisons. Risk-taking behavior was correlated between the behavioral tests and high risk takers displayed a more pronounced response to the dopamine uptake blocking effects of amphetamine. Behavioral parameters from both tests could also predict potassium- and amphetamine-induced dopamine responses showing a correlation between neurochemistry and behavior in risk-assessment and risk-taking parameters. In conclusion, the high risk-taking rats showed a more pronounced reduction of dopamine uptake in the dorsal striatum after amphetamine indicating that this area may contribute to the sensitivity of these animals to psychostimulants and proneness to addiction. Further, inherent dopamine activity was related to risk-assessment behavior, which may be of importance for decision-making and inhibitory control, key components in addiction. PMID:25076877

  9. A Separable Two-Dimensional Random Field Model of Binary Response Data from Multi-Day Behavioral Experiments.

    PubMed

    Malem-Shinitski, Noa; Zhang, Yingzhuo; Gray, Daniel T; Burke, Sara N; Smith, Anne C; Barnes, Carol A; Ba, Demba

    2018-04-18

    The study of learning in populations of subjects can provide insights into the changes that occur in the brain with aging, drug intervention, and psychiatric disease. We introduce a separable two-dimensional (2D) random field (RF) model for analyzing binary response data acquired during the learning of object-reward associations across multiple days. The method can quantify the variability of performance within a day and across days, and can capture abrupt changes in learning. We apply the method to data from young and aged macaque monkeys performing a reversal-learning task. The method provides an estimate of performance within a day for each age group, and a learning rate across days for each monkey. We find that, as a group, the older monkeys require more trials to learn the object discriminations than do the young monkeys, and that the cognitive flexibility of the younger group is higher. We also use the model estimates of performance as features for clustering the monkeys into two groups. The clustering results in two groups that, for the most part, coincide with those formed by the age groups. Simulation studies suggest that clustering captures inter-individual differences in performance levels. In comparison with generalized linear models, this method is better able to capture the inherent two-dimensional nature of the data and find between group differences. Applied to binary response data from groups of individuals performing multi-day behavioral experiments, the model discriminates between-group differences and identifies subgroups. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  10. 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.

  11. Photo-response behavior of organic transistors based on thermally annealed semiconducting diketopyrrolopyrrole core

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tarsoly, Gergely; Pyo, Seungmoon

    2018-06-01

    We report the opto-electrical response of organic field-effect transistors based on a thin-film of a semiconducting diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) core, a popular building block for molecular semiconductors, and a polymeric gate dielectric. The thin-film of the DPP core was thermally annealed at different temperatures under N2 atmosphere to investigate the relationship between the annealing temperature and the electrical properties of the device. The results showed that the annealing process induces morphological changes in the thin film, and properly controlling the thermal annealing conditions can enhance the device performance. In addition, we also investigated in detail the photo-response behaviors by analyzing the responsivity (R) of the device with the optimally annealed DPP-core thin film under two light illumination conditions by considering the irradiance absorbed by the thin film instead of the total irradiance of the light source. We found that the proposed model could lead to a light-source-independent description of the photo-response behavior of the device, and which can be used for other applications.

  12. Self-reported impulsivity, but not behavioral choice or response impulsivity, partially mediates the effect of stress on drinking behavior.

    PubMed

    Hamilton, Kristen R; Ansell, Emily B; Reynolds, Brady; Potenza, Marc N; Sinha, Rajita

    2013-01-01

    Stress and impulsivity contribute to alcohol use, and stress may also act via impulsivity to increase drinking behavior. Impulsivity represents a multi-faceted construct and self-report and behavioral assessments may effectively capture distinct clinically relevant factors. The present research investigated whether aspects of impulsivity mediate the effect of stress on alcohol use. A community-based sample of 192 men and women was assessed on measures of cumulative stress, alcohol use, self-reported impulsivity, and behavioral choice and response impulsivity. Data were analyzed using regression and bootstrapping techniques to estimate indirect effects of stress on drinking via impulsivity. Cumulative adversity exhibited both direct effects and indirect effects (via self-reported impulsivity) on drinking behavior. Additional models examining specific types of stress indicated direct and indirect effects of trauma and recent life events, and indirect effects of major life events and chronic stressors on drinking behavior. Overall, cumulative stress was associated with increased drinking behavior, and this effect was partially mediated by self-reported impulsivity. Self-reported impulsivity also mediated the effects of different types of stress on drinking behavior. These findings highlight the value of mediation models to examine the pathways through which different types of stress increase drinking behavior. Treatment and prevention strategies should focus on enhancing stress management and self-control.

  13. Self-reported impulsivity, but not behavioral choice or response impulsivity, partially mediates the effect of stress on drinking behavior

    PubMed Central

    HAMILTON, KRISTEN R.; ANSELL, EMILY B.; REYNOLDS, BRADY; POTENZA, MARC N.; SINHA, RAJITA

    2013-01-01

    Stress and impulsivity contribute to alcohol use, and stress may also act via impulsivity to increase drinking behavior. Impulsivity represents a multi-faceted construct and self-report and behavioral assessments may effectively capture distinct clinically relevant factors. The present research investigated whether aspects of impulsivity mediate the effect of stress on alcohol use. A community-based sample of 192 men and women was assessed on measures of cumulative stress, alcohol use, self-reported impulsivity, and behavioral choice and response impulsivity. Data were analyzed using regression and bootstrapping techniques to estimate indirect effects of stress on drinking via impulsivity. Cumulative adversity exhibited both direct effects and indirect effects (via self-reported impulsivity) on drinking behavior. Additional models examining specific types of stress indicated direct and indirect effects of trauma and recent life events, and indirect effects of major life events and chronic stressors on drinking behavior. Overall, cumulative stress was associated with increased drinking behavior, and this effect was partially mediated by self-reported impulsivity. Self-reported impulsivity also mediated the effects of different types of stress on drinking behavior. These findings highlight the value of mediation models to examine the pathways through which different types of stress increase drinking behavior. Treatment and prevention strategies should focus on enhancing stress management and self-control. PMID:22376044

  14. Memantine reduces stealing behavior and impulsivity in kleptomania: a pilot study.

    PubMed

    Grant, Jon E; Odlaug, Brian L; Schreiber, Liana R N; Chamberlain, Samuel R; Won Kim, Suck

    2013-03-01

    Kleptomania is characterized by repetitive stealing behavior and has been associated with deleterious unwanted outcomes including forensic contact and increased rates of suicidal behavior. Very few trials have been conducted to investigate pharmacological treatment options for this neglected condition. Memantine is an NMDA-receptor antagonist that has shown promising results in the treatment of other behavioral addictions and substance addictions. Twelve individuals with kleptomania received memantine (10 mg/day, titrated to 30 mg/day maximum depending on clinical response and tolerability) over the course of 8 weeks, in an open-label trial. The effects of treatment were quantified using well-validated measures and select neurocognitive tests (last observation carried forward analyses). Kleptomania disease severity scores decreased across all measures considered, and 11 (91.7%) of the participants met the responder criteria (35% improvement on the primary effectiveness measure plus CGI improved/very much improved; significant improvements were also observed in terms of mood, anxiety, and disability scores along with a significant improvement in stop-signal response inhibition. Memantine was generally well tolerated. This study shows the effectiveness of memantine in reducing urges to shoplift and shoplifting behavior along with improving impulsivity, mood, anxiety, and psychosocial functioning.

  15. Behavior responses of Drunella coloradensis (Ephemeroptera) nymphs to short-term pH reductions

    Treesearch

    Christopher M. Pennuto; Frank deNoyelles

    1993-01-01

    Behavioral responses of Drunella coloradensis nymphs were examined in outdoor experimental stream channels after pH reductions of 7 and 2 pH units below ambient. The severity of pH decline below the ambient of 7.8 influenced the behavior patterns displayed by nymphs. At pH 7.01 (an intermediate pH decline) nymphs sat less frequently and burrowed more than controls....

  16. The Effects of Recreation Experience, Environmental Attitude, and Biospheric Value on the Environmentally Responsible Behavior of Nature-Based Tourists

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lee, Tsung Hung; Jan, Fen-Hauh

    2015-07-01

    The scientific understanding of the recreation experience and the environmentally responsible behavior of nature-based tourists is limited. This study examines the relationship among the recreation experience, environmental attitude, biospheric value, and the general and site-specific environmentally responsible behavior of nature-based tourists in Taomi, Liuqiu Island, and Aowanda and Najenshan in Taiwan. A total of 1342 usable questionnaires were collected for this study. The empirical results indicate that the recreation experience influences biospheric value and environmental attitude; subsequently, it then indirectly influences the general and site-specific environmentally responsible behavior of nature-based tourists. Our theoretical behavioral model elucidates previously proposed but unexamined behavioral models among nature-based tourists, and it offers a theoretical framework for researchers, decision makers, managers, and tourists in the field of nature-based tourism. We conclude that when an individual participates in nature-based tourism as described here, these recreation experiences strengthen their environmental attitude and biospheric value, and consequently increase their engagement in both general and site-specific environmentally responsible behaviors.

  17. The effects of recreation experience, environmental attitude, and biospheric value on the environmentally responsible behavior of nature-based tourists.

    PubMed

    Lee, Tsung Hung; Jan, Fen-Hauh

    2015-07-01

    The scientific understanding of the recreation experience and the environmentally responsible behavior of nature-based tourists is limited. This study examines the relationship among the recreation experience, environmental attitude, biospheric value, and the general and site-specific environmentally responsible behavior of nature-based tourists in Taomi, Liuqiu Island, and Aowanda and Najenshan in Taiwan. A total of 1342 usable questionnaires were collected for this study. The empirical results indicate that the recreation experience influences biospheric value and environmental attitude; subsequently, it then indirectly influences the general and site-specific environmentally responsible behavior of nature-based tourists. Our theoretical behavioral model elucidates previously proposed but unexamined behavioral models among nature-based tourists, and it offers a theoretical framework for researchers, decision makers, managers, and tourists in the field of nature-based tourism. We conclude that when an individual participates in nature-based tourism as described here, these recreation experiences strengthen their environmental attitude and biospheric value, and consequently increase their engagement in both general and site-specific environmentally responsible behaviors.

  18. Behavior States and a Half-Full Glass: A Response to Mudford, Hogg, and Roberts.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Arthur, Michael

    2000-01-01

    In this response to critiques (Mudford, Hogg and Roberts 1997, 1999) of the use of behavior states in research involving individuals with mental retardation, it is argued that the work on behavioral state analysis by Robert D. Guess has contributed to the field at the practical, empirical, and theoretical levels. (Contains references.) (CR)

  19. An assay of behavioral plasticity in Drosophila larvae

    PubMed Central

    Min, Virginia A.; Condron, Barry G.

    2010-01-01

    Stress, or threats to homeostasis, is a universal part of life. Organisms face changing and challenging situations everyday, and the ability to respond to such stress is essential for survival. When subjected to acute stress, the body responds molecularly and behaviorally in order to recover a steady state. We developed a simple and robust assay of behavioral plasticity for Drosophila larvae in which well-defined behavioral responses and recovery can be observed and quantified. After experiencing different control and bright light treatments, populations of photophobic fly larvae were placed a defined distance from a food source to which they crawled. Half-times (t½), or times at which half the total number of larvae reached the food, were used to compare different treatments and larval populations. Repeated control treatments with a main experimental strain gave tight, reproducible t½ ranges. Control treatments with the wild type strains Oregon R and Canton S, the “rover” and “sitter” alleles of the forager locus, and eyeless mutants gave comparable results to those of the experimental strain. Exposure to bright light for a defined time period resulted in a reproducible slowing of locomotion. However, given a defined recovery period, the larvae recover full, normal locomotion. In addition, bright light treatments with Canton S gave comparable results to those of the experimental strain. Eyeless mutants, which are partially blind, do not show a response to bright light treatment. Thus, our assay measures the behavioral responses to bright light in Drosophila larvae and therefore might be useful as a general assay for studying behavioral plasticity and, potentially, adaptation to a stressful stimulus. PMID:15922026

  20. A meta-analysis of the association between gender and protective behaviors in response to respiratory epidemics

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

    Moran, Kelly Renee; Del Valle, Sara Yermimah

    Respiratory infectious disease epidemics and pandemics are recurring events that levy a high cost on individuals and society. The health-protective behavioral response of the public plays an important role in limiting respiratory infectious disease spread. Health-protective behaviors take several forms. Behaviors can be categorized as pharmaceutical (e.g., vaccination uptake, antiviral use) or non-pharmaceutical (e.g., hand washing, face mask use, avoidance of public transport). Due to the limitations of pharmaceutical interventions during respiratory epidemics and pandemics, public health campaigns aimed at limiting disease spread often emphasize both non-pharmaceutical and pharmaceutical behavioral interventions. Understanding the determinants of the public’s behavioral response ismore » crucial for devising public health campaigns, providing information to parametrize mathematical models, and ultimately limiting disease spread. While other reviews have qualitatively analyzed the body of work on demographic determinants of health-protective behavior, this meta-analysis quantitatively combines the results from 85 publications to determine the global relationship between gender and health-protective behavioral response. The results show that women in the general population are about 50% more likely than men to adopt/practice non-pharmaceutical behaviors. Conversely, men in the general population are marginally (about 12%) more likely than women to adopt/practice pharmaceutical behaviors. It is possible that factors other than pharmaceutical/non-pharmaceutical status not included in this analysis act as moderators of this relationship. We find these results suggest an inherent difference in how men and women respond to epidemic and pandemic respiratory infectious diseases. In conclusion, this information can be used to target specific groups when developing non-pharmaceutical public health campaigns and to parameterize epidemic models incorporating demographic

  1. A meta-analysis of the association between gender and protective behaviors in response to respiratory epidemics

    DOE PAGES

    Moran, Kelly Renee; Del Valle, Sara Yermimah

    2016-10-21

    Respiratory infectious disease epidemics and pandemics are recurring events that levy a high cost on individuals and society. The health-protective behavioral response of the public plays an important role in limiting respiratory infectious disease spread. Health-protective behaviors take several forms. Behaviors can be categorized as pharmaceutical (e.g., vaccination uptake, antiviral use) or non-pharmaceutical (e.g., hand washing, face mask use, avoidance of public transport). Due to the limitations of pharmaceutical interventions during respiratory epidemics and pandemics, public health campaigns aimed at limiting disease spread often emphasize both non-pharmaceutical and pharmaceutical behavioral interventions. Understanding the determinants of the public’s behavioral response ismore » crucial for devising public health campaigns, providing information to parametrize mathematical models, and ultimately limiting disease spread. While other reviews have qualitatively analyzed the body of work on demographic determinants of health-protective behavior, this meta-analysis quantitatively combines the results from 85 publications to determine the global relationship between gender and health-protective behavioral response. The results show that women in the general population are about 50% more likely than men to adopt/practice non-pharmaceutical behaviors. Conversely, men in the general population are marginally (about 12%) more likely than women to adopt/practice pharmaceutical behaviors. It is possible that factors other than pharmaceutical/non-pharmaceutical status not included in this analysis act as moderators of this relationship. We find these results suggest an inherent difference in how men and women respond to epidemic and pandemic respiratory infectious diseases. In conclusion, this information can be used to target specific groups when developing non-pharmaceutical public health campaigns and to parameterize epidemic models incorporating demographic

  2. The effects of morphine on the temporal structure of Wistar rat behavioral response to pain in hot-plate.

    PubMed

    Casarrubea, Maurizio; Faulisi, Fabiana; Magnusson, Magnus S; Crescimanno, Giuseppe

    2016-08-01

    The largest amount of researches on the hot-plate test was carried out using quantitative assessments. However, the evaluation of the relationships among the different elements that compose the behavioral response to pain requires different approaches. Although previous studies have provided clear information on the behavioral structure of the response, no data are available on its temporal structure. The objective of this study was to investigate the temporal structure of the behavioral response to pain in Wistar rat tested in hot-plate and how this structure was influenced by morphine-induced analgesia. The behavior of four groups of subjects tested in hot-plate, one administered saline and three with different doses (3, 6, 12 mg/kg) of morphine IP, was analyzed by means of quantitative and t-pattern analyses. The latter is a multivariate technique able to detect the existence of statistically significant temporal relationships among the behavioral events in time. A clear-cut influence of morphine on quantitative parameters of the response to the noxious stimulation was observed. T-pattern analysis evidenced profound structural changes of behavior. Twenty-four different t-patterns were identified following saline, whereas a dose-dependent reduction was observed following morphine. Such a reduction was accompanied by a decrease of the total amount of t-patterns detected. Morphine, by reducing the effects of the noxious stimulation, orients animal behavior prevalently toward exploratory t-patterns. In addition, it is suggested that the temporal structure of the response is very quickly organized and adapted to environmental noxious cues.

  3. Social context rather than behavioral output or winning modulates post-conflict testosterone responses in Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica).

    PubMed

    Hirschenhauser, K; Wittek, M; Johnston, P; Möstl, E

    2008-10-20

    Testosterone regulates the expression of sexual and aggressive behavior in male vertebrates and treatments with testosterone may promote territorial aggression and winning in dyadic contests. Conversely, individual testosterone levels respond to sexual or aggressive interactions and the social environment. Post-conflict testosterone in winner males though appears to be more complex than simply reflecting conflict outcome. Expression and degree of post-conflict testosterone responses may adapt to additional modulators such as repeated winning experience, audience presence, opponent's fighting ability, and self-assessment. We present simulated intrusion experiments with male Japanese quail using mirror-elicited aggression and fights with real opponents ('direct challenge'). We recorded agonistic behavior and measured immunoreactive testosterone metabolites (TM) non-invasively from individual droppings. Frequencies of initiated agonistic behavior were similar whether towards the mirror or in direct challenge tests, although some of the males were behaviorally non-responsive to the mirror ('mirror submissives'). However, there was no TM response to the mirror test in both, mirror fighters and mirror submissives, thus independently of behavioral output. After direct challenges TM levels were elevated in all males (focal males winning or conflict unresolved after 30 min), hence independently of conflict outcome. Thus, in male quail a combination of physical stimuli and the individual perception of own and opponent's fighting ability explained the expression of post-conflict TM responses rather than behavioral performance, conflict outcome, or any of these factors alone. In sum, our results emphasize that the degree of androgen responsiveness to agonistic behavior is fine-tuned by components related with social context and environment.

  4. Modeling Answer Change Behavior: An Application of a Generalized Item Response Tree Model

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jeon, Minjeong; De Boeck, Paul; van der Linden, Wim

    2017-01-01

    We present a novel application of a generalized item response tree model to investigate test takers' answer change behavior. The model allows us to simultaneously model the observed patterns of the initial and final responses after an answer change as a function of a set of latent traits and item parameters. The proposed application is illustrated…

  5. Study of physiological and behavioral response to transitions between rotating and nonrotating environments

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Brady, J. F.

    1972-01-01

    Future manned space missions may require transition between artificial gravity and weightlessness environments. The frequency and rate of such transition will influence the psychophysiological responses of man. Abrupt transfers are examined between such rotating and nonrotating environments to determine the physiological and behavioral responses of man. Five subjects were tested using rates of rotation up to 5 rpm.

  6. Assessing Adolescents' Anticipated Behavioral and Emotional Responses to Offers of Alcohol and Marijuana

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pristas, Erica V.; Rosenberg, Harold

    2010-01-01

    The Adolescent Responses to Alcohol and Drug Offers Scale (ARADOS) is a self-report questionnaire designed to assess a respondent's anticipated emotional reactions and intended use of cognitive-behavioral refusal skills in response to an offer of alcohol or other drug. A sample of 267 students enrolled in the 11th and 12th grades of four public…

  7. Behavioral responses of native prey to disparate predators: naiveté and predator recognition.

    PubMed

    Anson, Jennifer R; Dickman, Chris R

    2013-02-01

    It is widely accepted that predator recognition and avoidance are important behaviors in allowing prey to mitigate the impacts of their predators. However, while prey species generally develop anti-predator behaviors through coevolution with predators, they sometimes show accelerated adoption of these behaviors under strong selection pressure from novel species. We used a field manipulation experiment to gauge the ability of the common ringtail possum (Pseudocheirus peregrinus), a semi-arboreal Australian marsupial, to recognize and respond to olfactory cues of different predator archetypes. We predicted that ringtails would display stronger anti-predator behaviors to cues of the invasive European red fox (Vulpes vulpes) in areas where fox impacts had been greatest, and to cues of the native lace monitor (Varanus varius) in areas of sympatry compared with allopatry. We found that ringtails fled quickly and were more alert when exposed to the fecal odors of both predators compared to neutral and pungent control odors, confirming that predator odors are recognized and avoided. However, these aversive responses were similar irrespective of predator presence or level of impact. These results suggest that selection pressure from the fox has been sufficient for ringtails to develop anti-predator behaviors over the few generations since foxes have become established. In contrast, we speculate that aversive responses by ringtails to the lace monitor in areas where this predator is absent reflect recent coexistence of the two species. We conclude that rapid evolution of anti-predator behaviors may occur when selection is strong. The maintenance of these behaviors should allow re-establishment of predator-prey relationships if the interactants regain sympatry via range shifts or management actions to reintroduce them to their former ranges.

  8. Quantifying resilience

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Allen, Craig R.; Angeler, David G.

    2016-01-01

    Several frameworks to operationalize resilience have been proposed. A decade ago, a special feature focused on quantifying resilience was published in the journal Ecosystems (Carpenter, Westley & Turner 2005). The approach there was towards identifying surrogates of resilience, but few of the papers proposed quantifiable metrics. Consequently, many ecological resilience frameworks remain vague and difficult to quantify, a problem that this special feature aims to address. However, considerable progress has been made during the last decade (e.g. Pope, Allen & Angeler 2014). Although some argue that resilience is best kept as an unquantifiable, vague concept (Quinlan et al. 2016), to be useful for managers, there must be concrete guidance regarding how and what to manage and how to measure success (Garmestani, Allen & Benson 2013; Spears et al. 2015). Ideas such as ‘resilience thinking’ have utility in helping stakeholders conceptualize their systems, but provide little guidance on how to make resilience useful for ecosystem management, other than suggesting an ambiguous, Goldilocks approach of being just right (e.g. diverse, but not too diverse; connected, but not too connected). Here, we clarify some prominent resilience terms and concepts, introduce and synthesize the papers in this special feature on quantifying resilience and identify core unanswered questions related to resilience.

  9. Neurophysiological and Behavioral Responses of Mandarin Lexical Tone Processing

    PubMed Central

    Yu, Yan H.; Shafer, Valerie L.; Sussman, Elyse S.

    2017-01-01

    Language experience enhances discrimination of speech contrasts at a behavioral- perceptual level, as well as at a pre-attentive level, as indexed by event-related potential (ERP) mismatch negativity (MMN) responses. The enhanced sensitivity could be the result of changes in acoustic resolution and/or long-term memory representations of the relevant information in the auditory cortex. To examine these possibilities, we used a short (ca. 600 ms) vs. long (ca. 2,600 ms) interstimulus interval (ISI) in a passive, oddball discrimination task while obtaining ERPs. These ISI differences were used to test whether cross-linguistic differences in processing Mandarin lexical tone are a function of differences in acoustic resolution and/or differences in long-term memory representations. Bisyllabic nonword tokens that differed in lexical tone categories were presented using a passive listening multiple oddball paradigm. Behavioral discrimination and identification data were also collected. The ERP results revealed robust MMNs to both easy and difficult lexical tone differences for both groups at short ISIs. At long ISIs, there was either no change or an enhanced MMN amplitude for the Mandarin group, but reduced MMN amplitude for the English group. In addition, the Mandarin listeners showed a larger late negativity (LN) discriminative response than the English listeners for lexical tone contrasts in the long ISI condition. Mandarin speakers outperformed English speakers in the behavioral tasks, especially under the long ISI conditions with the more similar lexical tone pair. These results suggest that the acoustic correlates of lexical tone are fairly robust and easily discriminated at short ISIs, when the auditory sensory memory trace is strong. At longer ISIs beyond 2.5 s language-specific experience is necessary for robust discrimination. PMID:28321179

  10. Behavioral characteristics of Internet gamblers who trigger corporate responsible gambling interventions.

    PubMed

    Gray, Heather M; LaPlante, Debi A; Shaffer, Howard J

    2012-09-01

    As the worldwide popularity of Internet gambling increases, concerns about the potential for gambling-related harm also increase. This paper reports the results of a study examining actual Internet gambling behavior during 10 years of play. We examined the electronic gambling records of subscribers (N=2,066) who triggered a responsible gaming alert system at a large international online gaming company. We compared these cases with control subscribers (N=2,066) who had the same amount of exposure to the Internet gambling service provider. We used discriminant function analysis to explore what aspects of gambling behavior distinguish cases from controls. Indices of the intensity of gambling activity (e.g., total number of bets made, number of bets per betting day) best distinguished cases from controls, particularly in the case of live-action sports betting. Control group players evidenced behavior similar to the population of players using this service. These results add to our understanding of behavioral markers for disordered Internet gambling and will aid in the development of behavior-based algorithms capable of predicting the presence and/or the onset of disordered Internet gambling. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved.

  11. Carbachol-induced agonistic behavior in cats: aggressive or defensive response.

    PubMed

    Brudzyński, S M

    1981-01-01

    The effects of intrahypothalamic carbachol microinjections were investigated in unprovoked cats. The carbachol evoked mydriasis, attention, vocalization, and piloerection, i.e. features of a typical defense were usually concomitant in evoked response, while the clear-cut aggressive or escape patterns appeared only once. No basic differences were observed in the set of manifestations induced by low (1-2.5 micrograms) and high (20-40 micrograms) doses of carbachol, and from left and right hypothalamus as well as from medial and lateral portion of the hypothalamus. It is concluded that carbachol-induced response does not represent an aggressive pattern but corresponds to the cat’s defense and threat behavior.

  12. Chronic Inhibition of Dopamine β-Hydroxylase Facilitates Behavioral Responses to Cocaine in Mice

    PubMed Central

    Gaval-Cruz, Meriem; Liles, Larry Cameron; Iuvone, Paul Michael; Weinshenker, David

    2012-01-01

    The anti-alcoholism medication, disulfiram (Antabuse), decreases cocaine use in humans regardless of concurrent alcohol consumption and facilitates cocaine sensitization in rats, but the functional targets are unknown. Disulfiram inhibits dopamine β-hydroxylase (DBH), the enzyme that converts dopamine (DA) to norepinephrine (NE) in noradrenergic neurons. The goal of this study was to test the effects of chronic genetic or pharmacological DBH inhibition on behavioral responses to cocaine using DBH knockout (Dbh −/−) mice, disulfiram, and the selective DBH inhibitor, nepicastat. Locomotor activity was measured in control (Dbh +/−) and Dbh −/− mice during a 5 day regimen of saline+saline, disulfiram+saline, nepicastat+saline, saline+cocaine, disulfiram+cocaine, or nepicastat+cocaine. After a 10 day withdrawal period, all groups were administered cocaine, and locomotor activity and stereotypy were measured. Drug-naïve Dbh −/− mice were hypersensitive to cocaine-induced locomotion and resembled cocaine-sensitized Dbh +/− mice. Chronic disulfiram administration facilitated cocaine-induced locomotion in some mice and induced stereotypy in others during the development of sensitization, while cocaine-induced stereotypy was evident in all nepicastat-treated mice. Cocaine-induced stereotypy was profoundly increased in the disulfiram+cocaine, nepicastat+cocaine, and nepicastat+saline groups upon cocaine challenge after withdrawal in Dbh +/− mice. Disulfiram or nepicastat treatment had no effect on behavioral responses to cocaine in Dbh −/− mice. These results demonstrate that chronic DBH inhibition facilitates behavioral responses to cocaine, although different methods of inhibition (genetic vs. non-selective inhibitor vs. selective inhibitor) enhance qualitatively different cocaine-induced behaviors. PMID:23209785

  13. Behavioral, Ventilatory and Thermoregulatory Responses to Hypercapnia and Hypoxia in the Wistar Audiogenic Rat (WAR) Strain

    PubMed Central

    Giusti, Humberto; Oliveira, José Antonio; Glass, Mogens Lesner; Garcia-Cairasco, Norberto

    2016-01-01

    Introduction We investigated the behavioral, respiratory, and thermoregulatory responses elicited by acute exposure to both hypercapnic and hypoxic environments in Wistar audiogenic rats (WARs). The WAR strain represents a genetic animal model of epilepsy. Methods Behavioral analyses were performed using neuroethological methods, and flowcharts were constructed to illustrate behavioral findings. The body plethysmography method was used to obtain pulmonary ventilation (VE) measurements, and body temperature (Tb) measurements were taken via temperature sensors implanted in the abdominal cavities of the animals. Results No significant difference was observed between the WAR and Wistar control group with respect to the thermoregulatory response elicited by exposure to both acute hypercapnia and acute hypoxia (p>0.05). However, we found that the VE of WARs was attenuated relative to that of Wistar control animals during exposure to both hypercapnic (WAR: 133 ± 11% vs. Wistar: 243 ± 23%, p<0.01) and hypoxic conditions (WAR: 138 ± 8% vs. Wistar: 177 ± 8%; p<0.01). In addition, we noted that this ventilatory attenuation was followed by alterations in the behavioral responses of these animals. Conclusions Our results indicate that WARs, a genetic model of epilepsy, have important alterations in their ability to compensate for changes in levels of various arterial blood gasses. WARs present an attenuated ventilatory response to an increased PaCO2 or decreased PaO2, coupled to behavioral changes, which make them a suitable model to further study respiratory risks associated to epilepsy. PMID:27149672

  14. Regional entropy of functional imaging signals varies differently in sensory and cognitive systems during propofol-modulated loss and return of behavioral responsiveness.

    PubMed

    Liu, Xiaolin; Lauer, Kathryn K; Ward, B Douglas; Roberts, Christopher J; Liu, Suyan; Gollapudy, Suneeta; Rohloff, Robert; Gross, William; Xu, Zhan; Chen, Shanshan; Wang, Lubin; Yang, Zheng; Li, Shi-Jiang; Binder, Jeffrey R; Hudetz, Anthony G

    2018-05-08

    The level and richness of consciousness depend on information integration in the brain. Altered interregional functional interactions may indicate disrupted information integration during anesthetic-induced unconsciousness. How anesthetics modulate the amount of information in various brain regions has received less attention. Here, we propose a novel approach to quantify regional information content in the brain by the entropy of the principal components of regional blood oxygen-dependent imaging signals during graded propofol sedation. Fifteen healthy individuals underwent resting-state scans in wakeful baseline, light sedation (conscious), deep sedation (unconscious), and recovery (conscious). Light sedation characterized by lethargic behavioral responses was associated with global reduction of entropy in the brain. Deep sedation with completely suppressed overt responsiveness was associated with further reductions of entropy in sensory (primary and higher sensory plus orbital prefrontal cortices) but not high-order cognitive (dorsal and medial prefrontal, cingulate, parietotemporal cortices and hippocampal areas) systems. Upon recovery of responsiveness, entropy was restored in the sensory but not in high-order cognitive systems. These findings provide novel evidence for a reduction of information content of the brain as a potential systems-level mechanism of reduced consciousness during propofol anesthesia. The differential changes of entropy in the sensory and high-order cognitive systems associated with losing and regaining overt responsiveness are consistent with the notion of "disconnected consciousness", in which a complete sensory-motor disconnection from the environment occurs with preserved internal mentation.

  15. Brief Report: Reduced Restricted and Repetitive Behaviors after Pivotal Response Treatment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ventola, Pamela E.; Yang, Daniel; Abdullahi, Sebiha M.; Paisley, Courtney A.; Braconnier, Megan L.; Sukhodolsky, Denis G.

    2016-01-01

    Children with ASD show high frequency of restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRBs); however, higher-order RRBs, such as restricted interests, have remained largely resistant to treatment. This study evaluated change in severity of RRBs following a 16-weeks open trial of Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT). Participants included 15 children with ASD…

  16. The Relationship of Parental Warm Responsiveness and Negativity to Emerging Behavior Problems Following Traumatic Brain Injury in Young Children

    PubMed Central

    Wade, Shari L.; Cassedy, Amy; Walz, Nicolay C.; Taylor, H. Gerry; Stancin, Terry; Yeates, Keith Owen

    2013-01-01

    Parenting behaviors play a critical role in the child's behavioral development, particularly for children with neurological deficits. This study examined the relationship of parental warm responsiveness and negativity to changes in behavior following traumatic brain injury (TBI) in young children relative to an age-matched cohort of children with orthopedic injuries (OI). It was hypothesized that responsive parenting would buffer the adverse effects of TBI on child behavior, whereas parental negativity would exacerbate these effects. Children, ages 3–7 years, hospitalized for TBI (n = 80) or OI (n = 113), were seen acutely and again 6 months later. Parent–child dyads were videotaped during free play. Parents completed behavior ratings (Child Behavior Checklist; T. M. Achenbach & L. A. Rescorla, 2001) at both visits, with baseline ratings reflecting preinjury behavior. Hypotheses were tested using multiple regression, with preinjury behavior ratings, race, income, child IQ, family functioning, and acute parental distress serving as covariates. Parental responsiveness and negativity had stronger associations with emerging externalizing behaviors and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms among children with severe TBI. Findings suggest that parenting quality may facilitate or impede behavioral recovery following early TBI. Interventions that increase positive parenting may partially ameliorate emerging behavior problems. PMID:21244154

  17. Addressing Challenges in Studies of Behavioral Responses of Whales to Noise.

    PubMed

    Cato, Douglas H; Dunlop, Rebecca A; Noad, Michael J; McCauley, Robert D; Kniest, Eric; Paton, David; Kavanagh, Ailbhe S

    2016-01-01

    Studying the behavioral response of whales to noise presents numerous challenges. In addition to the characteristics of the noise exposure, many factors may affect the response and these must be measured and accounted for in the analysis. An adequate sample size that includes matching controls is crucial if meaningful results are to be obtained. Field work is thus complicated, logistically difficult, and expensive. This paper discusses some of the challenges and how they are being met in a large-scale multiplatform project in which humpback whales are exposed to the noise of seismic air guns.

  18. Quantifying phalangeal curvature: an empirical comparison of alternative methods.

    PubMed

    Stern, J T; Jungers, W L; Susman, R L

    1995-05-01

    It has been generally assumed and theoretically argued that the curvature of finger and toe bones seen in some nonhuman primates is associated with cheiridial use in an arboreal setting. Assessment of such curvature in fossil primates has been used to infer the positional behavior of these animals. Several methods of quantifying curvature of bones have been proposed. The measure most commonly applied to phalanges is that of included angle, but this has come under some criticism. We consider various other approaches for quantifying phalangeal curvature, demonstrating that some are equivalent to use of included angle, but that one--normalized curvature moment arm (NCMA)--represents a true alternative. A comparison of NCMA to included angle, both calculated on manual and pedal proximal phalanges of humans, apes, some monkeys, and the Hadar fossils, revealed that these two different measures of curvature are highly correlated and result in very similar distributional patterns.

  19. Killer whale (Orcinus orca) hearing: auditory brainstem response and behavioral audiograms.

    PubMed

    Szymanski, M D; Bain, D E; Kiehl, K; Pennington, S; Wong, S; Henry, K R

    1999-08-01

    Killer whale (Orcinus orca) audiograms were measured using behavioral responses and auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) from two trained adult females. The mean auditory brainstem response (ABR) audiogram to tones between 1 and 100 kHz was 12 dB (re 1 mu Pa) less sensitive than behavioral audiograms from the same individuals (+/- 8 dB). The ABR and behavioral audiogram curves had shapes that were generally consistent and had the best threshold agreement (5 dB) in the most sensitive range 18-42 kHz, and the least (22 dB) at higher frequencies 60-100 kHz. The most sensitive frequency in the mean Orcinus audiogram was 20 kHz (36 dB), a frequency lower than many other odontocetes, but one that matches peak spectral energy reported for wild killer whale echolocation clicks. A previously reported audiogram of a male Orcinus had greatest sensitivity in this range (15 kHz, approximately 35 dB). Both whales reliably responded to 100-kHz tones (95 dB), and one whale to a 120-kHz tone, a variation from an earlier reported high-frequency limit of 32 kHz for a male Orcinus. Despite smaller amplitude ABRs than smaller delphinids, the results demonstrated that ABR audiometry can provide a useful suprathreshold estimate of hearing range in toothed whales.

  20. Change in Frictional Behavior during Olivine Serpentinization

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Xing, T.; Zhu, W.; French, M. E.; Belzer, B.

    2017-12-01

    Hydration of mantle peridotites (serpentinization) is pervasive at plate boundaries. It is widely accepted that serpentinization is intrinsically linked to hydromechanical processes within the sub-seafloor, where the interplay between cracking, fluid supply and chemical reactions is responsible for a spectrum of fault slip, from earthquake swarms at the transform faults, to slow slip events at the subduction zone. Previous studies demonstrate that serpentine minerals can either promote slip or creep depend on many factors that include sliding velocity, temperature, pressure, interstitial fluids, etc. One missing link from the experimental investigation of serpentine to observations of tectonic faults is the extent of alteration necessary for changing the frictional behaviors. We quantify changes in frictional behavior due to serpentinization by conducting experiments after in-situ serpentinization of olivine gouge. In the sample configuration a layer of powder is sandwiched between porous sandstone blocks with 35° saw-cut surface. The starting material of fine-grained (63 120 µm) olivine powder is reacted with deionized water for 72 hours at 150°C before loading starts. Under the conventional triaxial configuration, the sample is stressed until sliding occurs within the gouge. A series of velocity-steps is then performed to measure the response of friction coefficient to variations of sliding velocity from which the rate-and-state parameters are deduced. For comparison, we measured the frictional behavior of unaltered olivine and pure serpentine gouges.Our results confirm that serpentinization causes reduced frictional strength and velocity weakening. In unaltered olivine gouge, an increase in frictional resistance with increasing sliding velocity is observed, whereas the serpentinized olivine and serpentine gouges favor velocity weakening behaviors at the same conditions. Furthermore, we observed that high pore pressures cause velocity weakening in olivine but

  1. An Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Exposure and Response Prevention on Repetitive Behaviors Associated with Tourette's Syndrome

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wetterneck, Chad T.; Woods, Douglas W.

    2006-01-01

    Exposure and response prevention (ERP) was evaluated as treatment for three repetitive behaviors in an 11-year-old boy using a multiple baseline across behaviors design. The repetitive behaviors and associated self-reported distress were eliminated. At 3-month follow-up, the frequency for two of the three behaviors returned to baseline levels.…

  2. Intergenerational Transmission of Internalizing Behavior: The Role of Maternal Psychopathology, Child Responsiveness and Maternal Attachment Style Insecurity.

    PubMed

    Reck, Corinna; Nonnenmacher, Nora; Zietlow, Anna-Lena

    Maternal depression and anxiety disorders are risk factors for the development of internalizing disorders in offspring. Maternal attachment has been discussed as one factor accounting for transmission. The aim of this study was to investigate child internalizing behavior at preschool age on a symptomatic and behavioral level and possible links to maternal mental health over time and maternal attachment style insecurity in a sample of postpartum depressed and anxious mothers. Child internalizing behavior at preschool age was rated by the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), the Caregiver-Teacher Report Form (C-TRF), and during a mother-child free-play situation. We focused on child responsiveness as it has been linked to child internalizing behavior. Maternal attachment style insecurity was tested to mediate the link between maternal mental health (assessed postpartum and at preschool age with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis-I Disorders, SCID-I) and child internalizing behavior/child responsiveness. Of the overall sample (n = 58), 28 women were diagnosed with postpartum depression and/or anxiety disorders according to DSM-IV, and 30 were healthy controls. Data were collected 3-9 months after delivery and at preschool age (mean = 4.6 years). At preschool age, children of postpartum depressed and anxious mothers were rated significantly higher on child internalizing behavior by mothers, fathers, and additional caregivers compared to the control group. Child internalizing behavior rated by mothers was influenced by current psychiatric symptoms; maternal attachment style insecurity did not mediate this link. During interaction, children in the clinical group displayed significantly less child responsiveness compared to the control group. Maternal attachment style insecurity mediated the relationship between maternal mental health over time and child responsiveness. The results emphasize the need for interventions focusing on mother-child interaction and

  3. Heavy particle irradiation, neurochemistry and behavior: thresholds, dose-response curves and recovery of function

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rabin, B. M.; Joseph, J. A.; Shukitt-Hale, B.

    2004-01-01

    Exposure to heavy particles can affect the functioning of the central nervous system (CNS), particularly the dopaminergic system. In turn, the radiation-induced disruption of dopaminergic function affects a variety of behaviors that are dependent upon the integrity of this system, including motor behavior (upper body strength), amphetamine (dopamine)-mediated taste aversion learning, and operant conditioning (fixed-ratio bar pressing). Although the relationships between heavy particle irradiation and the effects of exposure depend, to some extent, upon the specific behavioral or neurochemical endpoint under consideration, a review of the available research leads to the hypothesis that the endpoints mediated by the CNS have certain characteristics in common. These include: (1) a threshold, below which there is no apparent effect; (2) the lack of a dose-response relationship, or an extremely steep dose-response curve, depending on the particular endpoint; and (3) the absence of recovery of function, such that the heavy particle-induced behavioral and neural changes are present when tested up to one year following exposure. The current report reviews the data relevant to the degree to which these characteristics are common to neurochemical and behavioral endpoints that are mediated by the effects of exposure to heavy particles on CNS activity.

  4. Heavy particle irradiation, neurochemistry and behavior: thresholds, dose-response curves and recovery of function

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rabin, B. M.; Joseph, J. A.; Shukitt-Hale, B.

    2004-01-01

    Exposure to heavy particles can affect the functioning of the central nervous system (CNS), particularly the dopaminergic system. In turn, the radiation-induced disruption of dopaminergic function affects a variety of behaviors that are dependent upon the integrity of this system, including motor behavior (upper body strength), amphetamine (dopamine)-mediated taste aversion learning, and operant conditioning (fixed-ratio bar pressing). Although the relationships between heavy particle irradiation and the effects of exposure depend, to some extent, upon the specific behavioral or neurochemical endpoint under consideration, a review of the available research leads to the hypothesis that the endpoints mediated by the CNS have certain characteristics in common. These include: (1) a threshold, below which there is no apparent effect; (2) the lack of a dose-response relationship, or an extremely steep dose-response curve, depending on the particular endpoint; and (3) the absence of recovery of function, such that the heavy particle-induced behavioral and neural changes are present when tested up to one year following exposure. The current report reviews the data relevant to the degree to which these characteristics are common to neurochemical and behavioral endpoints that are mediated by the effects of exposure to heavy particles on CNS activity. c2004 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Hoarding in Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Anxiety: Incidence, Clinical Correlates, and Behavioral Treatment Response.

    PubMed

    Storch, Eric A; Nadeau, Joshua M; Johnco, Carly; Timpano, Kiara; McBride, Nicole; Jane Mutch, P; Lewin, Adam B; Murphy, Tanya K

    2016-05-01

    This study examined the nature and correlates of hoarding among youth with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Forty children with ASD and a comorbid anxiety disorder were administered a battery of clinician-administered measures assessing presence of psychiatric disorders and anxiety severity. Parents completed questionnaires related to child hoarding behaviors, social responsiveness, internalizing and externalizing behaviors, and functional impairment. We examined the impact of hoarding behaviors on treatment response in a subsample of twenty-six youth who completed a course of personalized cognitive-behavioral therapy targeting anxiety symptoms. Hoarding symptoms were common and occurred in a clinically significant manner in approximately 25 % of cases. Overall hoarding severity was associated with increased internalizing and anxiety/depressive symptoms, externalizing behavior, and attention problems. Discarding items was associated with internalizing and anxious/depressive symptoms, but acquisition was not. Hoarding decreased following cognitive-behavioral therapy but did not differ between treatment responders and non-responders. These data are among the first to examine hoarding among youth with ASD; implications of study findings and future directions are highlighted.

  6. Atg5- and Atg7-dependent autophagy in dopaminergic neurons regulates cellular and behavioral responses to morphine.

    PubMed

    Su, Ling-Yan; Luo, Rongcan; Liu, Qianjin; Su, Jing-Ran; Yang, Lu-Xiu; Ding, Yu-Qiang; Xu, Lin; Yao, Yong-Gang

    2017-09-02

    The molecular basis of chronic morphine exposure remains unknown. In this study, we hypothesized that macroautophagy/autophagy of dopaminergic neurons would mediate the alterations of neuronal dendritic morphology and behavioral responses induced by morphine. Chronic morphine exposure caused Atg5 (autophagy-related 5)- and Atg7 (autophagy-related 7)-dependent and dopaminergic neuron-specific autophagy resulting in decreased neuron dendritic spines and the onset of addictive behaviors. In cultured primary midbrain neurons, morphine treatment significantly reduced total dendritic length and complexity, and this effect could be reversed by knockdown of Atg5 or Atg7. Mice deficient for Atg5 or Atg7 specifically in the dopaminergic neurons were less sensitive to developing a morphine reward response, behavioral sensitization, analgesic tolerance and physical dependence compared to wild-type mice. Taken together, our findings suggested that the Atg5- and Atg7-dependent autophagy of dopaminergic neurons contributed to cellular and behavioral responses to morphine and may have implications for the future treatment of drug addiction.

  7. Cold stimulates the behavioral response to hypoxia in newborn mice.

    PubMed

    Bollen, Bieke; Bouslama, Myriam; Matrot, Boris; Rotrou, Yann; Vardon, Guy; Lofaso, Frédéric; Van den Bergh, Omer; D'Hooge, Rudi; Gallego, Jorge

    2009-05-01

    In newborns, hypoxia elicits increased ventilation, arousal followed by defensive movements, and cries. Cold is known to affect the ventilatory response to hypoxia, but whether it affects the arousal response remains unknown. The aim of the present study was to assess the effects of cold on the ventilatory and arousal responses to hypoxia in newborn mice. We designed an original platform measuring noninvasively and simultaneously the breathing pattern by whole body plethysmography, body temperature by infrared thermography, as well as motor and ultrasonic vocal (USV) responses. Six-day-old mice were exposed twice to 10% O(2) for 3 min at either cold temperature (26 degrees C) or thermoneutrality (33 degrees C). At 33 degrees C, hypoxia elicited a marked increase in ventilation followed by a small ventilatory decline, small motor response, and almost no USVs. Body temperature was not influenced by hypoxia, and oxygen consumption (Vo(2)) displayed minimal changes. At 26 degrees C, hypoxia elicited a slight increase in ventilation with a large ventilatory decline and a large drop of Vo(2). This response was accompanied by marked USV and motor responses. Hypoxia elicited a small decrease in temperature after the return to normoxia, thus precluding any causal influence on the motor and USV responses to hypoxia. In conclusion, cold stimulated arousal and stress responses to hypoxia, while depressing hypoxic hyperpnea. Arousal is an important defense mechanism against sleep-disordered breathing. The dissociation between ventilatory and behavioral responses to hypoxia suggests that deficits in the arousal response associated with sleep breathing disorders cannot be attributed to a depressed hypoxic response.

  8. Assessment of Flooring Renovations on African Elephant (Loxodonta africana) Behavior and Glucocorticoid Response

    PubMed Central

    Boyle, Sarah A.; Roberts, Beth; Pope, Brittany M.; Blake, Margaret R.; Leavelle, Stephen E.; Marshall, Jennifer J.; Smith, Andrew; Hadicke, Amanda; Falcone, Josephine F.; Knott, Katrina; Kouba, Andrew J.

    2015-01-01

    Captive African (Loxodonta africana) and Asian (Elephas maximus) elephants can experience foot pathologies and arthritis. As a preventative measure against these pathologies and to alleviate the potential discomfort due to concrete substrates, some zoological institutions have renovated elephant housing to increase the amount of natural or shock-absorbent substrates. The objective of this study was to compare behavioral (diurnal and nocturnal) and glucorticoid (e.g., serum cortisol) responses of three female African elephants before, during, and after renovation to their indoor housing floor to assess whether renovations had short-term effects on the elephants’ behavior and stress physiology. Behavioral data were collected using scan-sampling methods, and activity budgets were constructed for each of the three elephants. In addition, the duration of all lying rest activities were recorded. Weekly serum cortisol concentrations were determined with enzyme immunoassay (EIA). Overall, eating was the most prevalent behavior exhibited outdoors during the day, while resting (either in a lying or standing position) were most common during the indoor, nocturnal periods. Although variation existed among the three elephants, all three females spent significantly more time walking and less time eating during the day after the completion of the renovations. The extent to which the three elephants exhibited nocturnal lying rest behavior varied among the elephants, with the oldest elephant exhibiting the least amount (an average of 13.2 ± 2.8% of the nightly behavioral scans) compared to the two younger elephants (an average of 34.5 ± 2.1% and 56.6 ± 2.8% of the nightly behavioral scans). There was a significant increase in lying rest behavior for one elephant and standing rest for a second elephant following renovations. Baseline cortisol concentrations prior to renovations were 3.0 ± 0.4 ng/ml, 4.5 ± 0.5 ng/ml, and 4.9 ± 0.5 ng/ml for the three elephants. Cortisol

  9. Measuring drug absorption improves interpretation of behavioral responses in a larval zebrafish locomotor assay for predicting seizure liability.

    PubMed

    Cassar, Steven; Breidenbach, Laura; Olson, Amanda; Huang, Xin; Britton, Heather; Woody, Clarissa; Sancheti, Pankajkumar; Stolarik, DeAnne; Wicke, Karsten; Hempel, Katja; LeRoy, Bruce

    2017-11-01

    Unanticipated effects on the central nervous system are a concern during new drug development. A larval zebrafish locomotor assay can reveal seizure liability of experimental molecules before testing in mammals. Relative absorption of compounds by larvae is lacking in prior reports of such assays; having those data may be valuable for interpreting seizure liability assay performance. Twenty-eight reference drugs were tested at multiple dose levels in fish water and analyzed by a blinded investigator. Responses of larval zebrafish were quantified during a 30min dosing period. Predictive metrics were calculated by comparing fish activity to mammalian seizure liability for each drug. Drug level analysis was performed to calculate concentrations in dose solutions and larvae. Fifteen drug candidates with neuronal targets, some having preclinical convulsion findings in mammals, were tested similarly. The assay has good predictive value of established mammalian responses for reference drugs. Analysis of drug absorption by larval fish revealed a positive correlation between hyperactive behavior and pro-convulsive drug absorption. False negative results were associated with significantly lower compound absorption compared to true negative, or true positive results. The predictive value for preclinical toxicology findings was inferior to that suggested by reference drugs. Disproportionately low exposures in larvae giving false negative results demonstrate that drug exposure analysis can help interpret results. Due to the rigorous testing commonly performed in preclinical toxicology, predicting convulsions in those studies may be more difficult than predicting effects from marketed drugs. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Engineering Students Designing a Statistical Procedure for Quantifying Variability

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hjalmarson, Margret A.

    2007-01-01

    The study examined first-year engineering students' responses to a statistics task that asked them to generate a procedure for quantifying variability in a data set from an engineering context. Teams used technological tools to perform computations, and their final product was a ranking procedure. The students could use any statistical measures,…

  11. Prenatal low-dose bisphenol A enhances behavioral responses induced by a predator odor.

    PubMed

    Fujimoto, Tetsuya; Kubo, Kazuhiko; Nishikawa, Yasuo; Aou, Shuji

    2015-01-01

    Bisphenol A (BPA) is an environmental endocrine disrupter (EED). Previous studies by our group showed that pre- and postnatal administration of low-level BPA induced depression-like behavior in rats. In this study, we evaluated the effects of prenatal BPA on behavioral responses to a predator odor by using a novel cross-form apparatus consisting of 4 plastic chambers. On the first day, nothing was placed into the chambers (Session 1). On the second day, a predator odor (fox odor) was located in separate chambers at 2 opposite corners of the apparatus (Session 2). Pregnant Wistar rats were exposed to low-dose BPA (less than the reference dose) during the 7 days just before birth, and the offspring of the treated rats were evaluated as adults. The locomotor activity and avoidance response of each rat on both test days were compared. The control and BPA groups showed reduced locomotor activity in the presence of the predator odor, but the odor-avoidance response was significant only in the BPA rats. The BPA-exposed rats were obviously sensitive to the predator odor. These results suggest that prenatal BPA exposure has an amplifying effect on avoidance responses to predator odor stress.

  12. Professors' Irritating Behavior Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Malikow, Max

    2007-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to quantify the irritating behaviors of professors as experienced and reported by 232 Le Moyne College students. In this study, "irritating behavior" was understood as "actions that vex, annoy, bother, pester, frustrate, or provoke anger." The survey used in this study was developed by Larry M. Ludewig, Ph.D.,…

  13. Quantifying the bending of bilayer temperature-sensitive hydrogels

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dong, Chenling; Chen, Bin

    2017-04-01

    Stimuli-responsive hydrogels can serve as manipulators, including grippers, sensors, etc., where structures can undergo significant bending. Here, a finite-deformation theory is developed to quantify the evolution of the curvature of bilayer temperature-sensitive hydrogels when subjected to a temperature change. Analysis of the theory indicates that there is an optimal thickness ratio to acquire the largest curvature in the bilayer and also suggests that the sign or the magnitude of the curvature can be significantly affected by pre-stretches or small pores in the bilayer. This study may provide important guidelines in fabricating temperature-responsive bilayers with desirable mechanical performance.

  14. Planarian shows decision-making behavior in response to multiple stimuli by integrative brain function.

    PubMed

    Inoue, Takeshi; Hoshino, Hajime; Yamashita, Taiga; Shimoyama, Seira; Agata, Kiyokazu

    2015-01-01

    Planarians belong to an evolutionarily early group of organisms that possess a central nervous system including a well-organized brain with a simple architecture but many types of neurons. Planarians display a number of behaviors, such as phototaxis and thermotaxis, in response to external stimuli, and it has been shown that various molecules and neural pathways in the brain are involved in controlling these behaviors. However, due to the lack of combinatorial assay methods, it remains obscure whether planarians possess higher brain functions, including integration in the brain, in which multiple signals coming from outside are coordinated and used in determining behavioral strategies. In the present study, we designed chemotaxis and thigmotaxis/kinesis tracking assays to measure several planarian behaviors in addition to those measured by phototaxis and thermotaxis assays previously established by our group, and used these tests to analyze planarian chemotactic and thigmotactic/kinetic behaviors. We found that headless planarian body fragments and planarians that had specifically lost neural activity following regeneration-dependent conditional gene knockdown (Readyknock) of synaptotagmin in the brain lost both chemotactic and thigmotactic behaviors, suggesting that neural activity in the brain is required for the planarian's chemotactic and thigmotactic behaviors. Furthermore, we compared the strength of phototaxis, chemotaxis, thigmotaxis/kinesis, and thermotaxis by presenting simultaneous binary stimuli to planarians. We found that planarians showed a clear order of predominance of these behaviors. For example, when planarians were simultaneously exposed to 400 lux of light and a chemoattractant, they showed chemoattractive behavior irrespective of the direction of the light source, although exposure to light of this intensity alone induces evasive behavior away from the light source. In contrast, when the light intensity was increased to 800 or 1600 lux and

  15. Quantifying in situ Zooplankton Movement and Trophic Impacts on Thin Layers in East Sound, Washington

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2006-09-30

    strength of the combination is that the tracking system quantifies swimming behaviors of protists in natural seawater samples with large numbers of motile...Sound was to link observations of thin layers to behavioral analysis of protists resident above, within, and below these features. Analysis of our...cells and diatom chains. We are not yet able to make statistical statements about swimming characteristics of the motile protists in our video samples

  16. Gender Differences in the Maintenance of Response to Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Felmingham, Kim L.; Bryant, Richard A.

    2012-01-01

    Objective: To examine potential differential responses in men and women to cognitive behavior therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Method: Fifty-two men and 56 women diagnosed with PTSD participated in randomized controlled trials of cognitive behavior therapy for PTSD. Participants were randomly allocated to either (a) exposure-only…

  17. Ground-based LIDAR: a novel approach to quantify fine-scale fuelbed characteristics

    Treesearch

    E.L. Loudermilk; J.K. Hiers; J.J. O’Brien; R.J. Mitchell; A. Singhania; J.C. Fernandez; W.P. Cropper; K.C. Slatton

    2009-01-01

    Ground-based LIDAR (also known as laser ranging) is a novel technique that may precisely quantify fuelbed characteristics important in determining fire behavior. We measured fuel properties within a south-eastern US longleaf pine woodland at the individual plant and fuelbed scale. Data were collected using a mobile terrestrial LIDAR unit at sub-cm scale for individual...

  18. The impact of caregiver-mediated JASPER on child restricted and repetitive behaviors and caregiver responses.

    PubMed

    Harrop, Clare; Gulsrud, Amanda; Shih, Wendy; Hovsepyan, Lilit; Kasari, Connie

    2017-05-01

    Restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRBs) are a core feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Compared to the social-communication impairments, we know considerably less about why children engage in RRBs and if and how to intervene with these behaviors. As a result, early intervention has typically focused on social-communication. In this study, we were interested in understanding how child RRBs changed following an intervention targeting social-communication behaviors and if caregiver training changed how they responded to their child's RRBs. Eighty-six toddlers with ASD and their caregivers received one of two interventions: caregivers were either actively coached while playing with their child (JASPER) or attended information sessions about ASD. On three different occasions (when they entered the study, following 10 weeks of intervention and 6-months after) caregivers were filmed playing with their child. From these recordings, we coded child RRBs and caregiver responses to these behaviors. Child RRBs remained relatively stable following intervention in both groups, but increased when the children returned at 6-months. Caregivers who received one-on-one coaching (JASPER) responded to a greater number of their child's RRBs and their responses were rated as more successful. Our study showed that a short-term social-communication intervention delivered through caregivers had "spillover effects" on how they also responded to their child's RRBs. Interventions targeting social-communication behaviors should also examine how these treatments affect child RRBs and how caregiver responses to these behaviors may change following training. Autism Res 2017, 10: 983-992. © 2016 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  19. Satiety responsiveness and eating behavior among Chilean adolescents and the role of breastfeeding.

    PubMed

    Reyes, M; Hoyos, V; Martinez, S M; Lozoff, B; Castillo, M; Burrows, R; Blanco, E; Gahagan, S

    2014-04-01

    To determine patterns of satiety responsiveness and its relationship to eating in the absence of hunger (EAH), in a cohort of adolescents. We also assessed whether sex, body mass index and duration of breastfeeding, during infancy, predicted satiety responsiveness and eating behavior at 16 years. Adolescents (n=576) from a longitudinal cohort, which began as an iron deficiency anemia preventive trial, participated in an unlimited breakfast after an overnight fast, and reported satiety response on a visual analog scale after the meal, followed by an EAH procedure. Height, weight and body composition were measured before breakfast. Latent profile analysis generated profiles that captured individual differences in satiety responsiveness. Multivariable regressions, adjusted for potential confounders, evaluated the association between: (1) satiety responsiveness and EAH, and (2) breastfeeding in infancy, satiety responsiveness and EAH in adolescence. Participants were on average 16.7-year old, 48% female, 37% overweight/obese and 76% were breastfed as the sole source of milk for <6 months. We found three latent profiles of satiety responsiveness: 1: 'responsive' (49%); 2: 'not responsive' (41%); 3: 'still hungry' (10%). Participants in the 'not responsive' or 'still hungry' profile were more likely to eat during the EAH procedure (odds ratio (OR)=2.5, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.8-3.6). Being breastfed for <6 months was related to higher odds of being in the 'not responsive' or 'still hungry' profile (OR=1.8, 95% CI=1.2-2.6) and EAH (OR=2.2, 95% CI=1.4-3.3). Satiety responsiveness was not influenced by sex and overweight/obesity. After an ad libitum meal, we found varied satiety responses, which related to EAH. Furthermore, shorter breastfeeding duration was associated with poorer satiety response and higher consumption during an EAH procedure. Understanding if breastfeeding influences the development of satiety responsiveness and eating behavior may be important in

  20. Dominance relationships in Syrian hamsters modulate neuroendocrine and behavioral responses to social stress.

    PubMed

    Dulka, Brooke N; Koul-Tiwari, Richa; Grizzell, J Alex; Harvey, Marquinta L; Datta, Subimal; Cooper, Matthew A

    2018-06-22

    Stress is a well-known risk factor for psychopathology and rodent models of social defeat have strong face, etiological, construct and predictive validity for these conditions. Syrian hamsters are highly aggressive and territorial, but after an acute social defeat experience they become submissive and no longer defend their home territory, even from a smaller, non-aggressive intruder. This defeat-induced change in social behavior is called conditioned defeat (CD). We have shown that dominant hamsters show increased neural activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) following social defeat stress and exhibit a reduced CD response at social interaction testing compared to subordinates. Although the vmPFC can inhibit the neuroendocrine stress response, it is unknown whether dominants and subordinates differ in stress-induced activity of the extended hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Here, we show that, following acute social defeat, dominants exhibit decreased submissive and defensive behavior compared to subordinates but do not differ from subordinates or social status controls (SSCs) in defeat-induced cortisol concentrations. Furthermore, both dominants and SSCs show greater corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) mRNA expression in the basolateral/central amygdala compared to subordinates, while there was no effect of social status on CRH mRNA expression in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus or bed nucleus of the stria terminalis. Overall, status-dependent differences in the CD response do not appear linked to changes in stress-induced cortisol concentrations or CRH gene expression, which is consistent with the view that stress resilience is not a lack of a physiological stress response but the addition of stress coping mechanisms. Lay summary Dominant hamsters show resistance to the behavioral effects of acute social defeat compared to subordinates, but it is unclear whether social status modulates the neuroendocrine stress response

  1. When Legitimacy Shapes Environmentally Responsible Behaviors: Considering Exposure to University Sustainability Initiatives

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Watson, Lesley; Hegtvedt, Karen A.; Johnson, Cathryn; Parris, Christie L.; Subramanyam, Shruthi

    2017-01-01

    This study examines how perceptions of the legitimacy of university sustainability efforts--support by the administration (authorization) or from students' peers (endorsement)--as well as the physical context in which students live, matter in shaping students' environmentally responsible behaviors (ERBs). Using survey data collected from…

  2. Heart rate during conflicts predicts post-conflict stress-related behavior in greylag geese.

    PubMed

    Wascher, Claudia A F; Fraser, Orlaith N; Kotrschal, Kurt

    2010-12-20

    Social stressors are known to be among the most potent stressors in group-living animals. This is not only manifested in individual physiology (heart rate, glucocorticoids), but also in how individuals behave directly after a conflict. Certain 'stress-related behaviors' such as autopreening, body shaking, scratching and vigilance have been suggested to indicate an individual's emotional state. Such behaviors may also alleviate stress, but the behavioral context and physiological basis of those behaviors is still poorly understood. We recorded beat-to-beat heart rates (HR) of 22 greylag geese in response to agonistic encounters using fully implanted sensor-transmitter packages. Additionally, for 143 major events we analyzed the behavior shown by our focal animals in the first two minutes after an interaction. Our results show that the HR during encounters and characteristics of the interaction predicted the frequency and duration of behaviors shown after a conflict. To our knowledge this is the first study to quantify the physiological and behavioral responses to single agonistic encounters and to link this to post conflict behavior. Our results demonstrate that 'stress-related behaviors' are flexibly modulated by the characteristics of the preceding aggressive interaction and reflect the individual's emotional strain, which is linked to autonomic arousal. We found no support for the stress-alleviating hypothesis, but we propose that stress-related behaviors may play a role in communication with other group members, particularly with pair-partners.

  3. Treatment With CRH-1 Antagonist Antalarmin Reduces Behavioral and Endocrine Responses to Social Stressors in Marmosets (Callithrix kuhlii)

    PubMed Central

    FRENCH, JEFFREY A.; FITE, JEFFREY E.; JENSEN, HEATHER; OPAROWSKI, KATIE; RUKSTALIS, MICHAEL R.; FIX, HOLLY; JONES, BRENDA; MAXWELL, HEATHER; PACER, MOLLY; POWER, MICHAEL L.; SCHULKIN, JAY

    2010-01-01

    Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) has multiple roles in coordinating the behavioral and endocrine responses to a host of environmental challenges, including social stressors. In the present study we evaluated the role of CRH in mediating responses to a moderate social stressor in Wied’s black tufted-eared marmosets (Callithrix kuhlii). Male and female marmosets (n = 14) were administered antalarmin (a selective CRH-1 receptor antagonist; 50μg/kg, p.o.) or vehicle in a blind, counterbalanced, crossover design. One hr after treatment, marmosets were separated from long-term pairmates and then housed alone in a novel enclosure for 7 hr. Behavior was recorded during separation and upon reunion with the partner, and urine samples for cortisol assay collected before, during, and after the intervention. Separation from partners elevated urinary cortisol concentrations over baseline for both conditions, but antalarmin treatment reduced the magnitude of the elevation. Antalarmin also lowered rates of behavioral patterns associated with arousal (alarm and ‘‘e-e’’ vocalizations, object manipulate/chew), but had no effect on contact calls, locomotory activity or alertness. Although most patterns of social behavior upon reunion with the partner were not affected by antalarmin, antalarmin-treated marmosets displayed more sexual behavior (mounts and copulations) upon reunion. These data indicate that antagonism of the CRH-1 receptor acts to reduce the magnitude of both endocrine and behavioral responses to a moderate social stressor without causing any overall reduction in alertness or general activity. This supports the hypothesis that CRH, acting through its type 1 receptor, is involved in coordinating the responses to anxiety-producing events. These results further suggest that the marmoset is a useful model for exploration of the role of CRH in mediating the behavioral and neuroendocrine responses to psychosocial stressors, particularly in the context of

  4. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Behavioral Health Disaster Response App.

    PubMed

    Seligman, Jamie; Felder, Stephanie S; Robinson, Maryann E

    2015-10-01

    The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in the Department of Health and Human Services offers extensive disaster behavior health resources to assist disaster survivors in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from natural and manmade disasters. One of SAMHSA's most innovative resources is the SAMHSA Behavioral Health Disaster Response App (SAMHSA Disaster App). The SAMHSA Disaster App prepares behavioral health responders for any type of traumatic event by allowing them to access disaster-related materials and other key resources right on their phone, at the touch of a button. The SAMHSA Disaster App is available on iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry devices.

  5. Quantifying cardiorespiratory responses resulting from speed and slope increments during motorized treadmill propulsion among manual wheelchair users.

    PubMed

    Gauthier, Cindy; Grangeon, Murielle; Ananos, Ludivine; Brosseau, Rachel; Gagnon, Dany H

    2017-09-01

    Cardiorespiratory fitness assessment and training among manual wheelchair (MW) users are predominantly done with an arm-crank ergometer. However, arm-crank ergometer biomechanics differ substantially from MW propulsion biomechanics. This study aimed to quantify cardiorespiratory responses resulting from speed and slope increments during MW propulsion on a motorized treadmill and to calculate a predictive equation based on speed and slope for estimating peak oxygen uptake (VO 2peak ) in MW users. In total, 17 long-term MW users completed 12 MW propulsion periods (PP), each lasting 2min, on a motorized treadmill, in a random order. Each PP was separated by a 2-min rest. PPs were characterized by a combination of 3 speeds (0.6, 0.8 and 1.0m/s) and 4 slopes (0°, 2.7°, 3.6° and 4.8°). Six key cardiorespiratory outcome measures (VO 2 , heart rate, respiratory rate, minute ventilation and tidal volume) were recorded by using a gas-exchange analysis system. Rate of perceived exertion (RPE) was measured by using the modified 10-point Borg scale after each PP. For the 14 participants who completed the test, cardiorespiratory responses increased in response to speed and/or slope increments, except those recorded between the 3.6 o and 4.8 o slope, for which most outcome measures were comparable. The RPE was positively associated with cardiorespiratory response (r s ≥0.85). A VO 2 predictive equation (R 2 =99.7%) based on speed and slope for each PP was computed. This equation informed the development of a future testing protocol to linearly increase VO 2 via 1-min stages during treadmill MW propulsion. Increasing speed and slope while propelling a MW on a motorized treadmill increases cardiorespiratory response along with RPE. RPE can be used to easily and accurately monitor cardiorespiratory responses during MW exercise. The VO 2 can be predicted to some extent by speed and slope during MW propulsion. A testing protocol is proposed to assess cardiorespiratory fitness

  6. Female Fear: Influence of Estrus Cycle on Behavioral Response and Neuronal Activation

    PubMed Central

    Chen, Wei; Shields, Jessica; Huang, Wei; King, Jean A

    2009-01-01

    Our observation that male rats innate fear response differed with hormonal status, as well as the higher prevalence of fear and anxiety disorders in human females led to the current investigation of the impact of phases of the estrous cycle on innate fear responding. Female rats in different phases of the cycle were exposed to an innate fear-inducing stimulus (2,5-dihydro- 2,4,5-trimethylthiazoline, TMT odor) and monitored for changes in behavior and brain activation. Behavioral data showed freezing responses to TMT were significantly enhanced during estrus as compared to other phases of the cycle. This data was supported by significant increases in pixel intensity in cortical and sub-cortical regions in estrus compared to proestrus and diestrus. Imaging results demonstrated significant increases in brain activation in the somatosensory and insular cortices when comparing estrus to diestrus. There were significant increases in neural activity in the BNST and septum in estrus as compared to proestrus. Additionally, the hippocampus, hypothalamus, olfactory system, and cingulate cortex show significant increases in the estrus phase when compared to both diestrus and proestrus. Taken together, these results suggest that the female's hormonal status may be correlated with alterations in both neuronal and behavioral indices of fear. PMID:19428610

  7. The functional neuroanatomy of maternal love: mother's response to infant's attachment behaviors.

    PubMed

    Noriuchi, Madoka; Kikuchi, Yoshiaki; Senoo, Atsushi

    2008-02-15

    Maternal love, which may be the core of maternal behavior, is essential for the mother-infant attachment relationship and is important for the infant's development and mental health. However, little has been known about these neural mechanisms in human mothers. We examined patterns of maternal brain activation in response to infant cues using video clips. We performed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) measurements while 13 mothers viewed video clips, with no sound, of their own infant and other infants of approximately 16 months of age who demonstrated two different attachment behaviors (smiling at the infant's mother and crying for her). We found that a limited number of the mother's brain areas were specifically involved in recognition of the mother's own infant, namely orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), periaqueductal gray, anterior insula, and dorsal and ventrolateral parts of putamen. Additionally, we found the strong and specific mother's brain response for the mother's own infant's distress. The differential neural activation pattern was found in the dorsal region of OFC, caudate nucleus, right inferior frontal gyrus, dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (PFC), anterior cingulate, posterior cingulate, thalamus, substantia nigra, posterior superior temporal sulcus, and PFC. Our results showed the highly elaborate neural mechanism mediating maternal love and diverse and complex maternal behaviors for vigilant protectiveness.

  8. The relationship between behavioral states and pain responses to various NICU procedures in premature infants.

    PubMed

    Ahn, Youngmee

    2006-06-01

    An explanatory observational study was conducted to assess the behavioral state before and during various procedures in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and to investigate the relationship between the behavioral state measured by Anderson Behavioral State Scoring System (ABSS) and the degree of pain responses as measured using CRIES (Crying, Requires O(2) for oxygen saturation above 95, Increased vital signs, Expression, and Sleeplessness.) and PIPP (Premature Infants' Pain Profile). Ninety-one observations in 6 NICU procedures were made from 54 infants with a mean gestational age (GA) of 30(+4) weeks and a mean body weight (BW) of 1484.87 g. A positive relationship was identified between ABSS and CRIES, both before (r=0.244, p=0.020) and during (r=0.745, p=0.000) the procedures, and between CRIES and PIPP (r=0.447, p=0.000) during the procedures. However, no correlation was identified between PIPP and ABSS before (r=-0.055, p=0.651) and during (r=0.214, p=0.074) the procedures. This study concluded that relatively healthy, premature infants are in a state of quiet or active sleep and can adequately express pain-related responses to the NICU procedures that are appropriate with the nature of stimulation. However, it was observed that clinicians tend to pay little attention to the state of premature infants before performing the procedures, regardless of their invasive and stimulatory nature. Further research needs to be conducted on the pain responses in physiologic and behavioral expression of critically ill infants who possibly have alteration and developmental limitations in response.

  9. Reduced amygdala response in youths with disruptive behavior disorders and psychopathic traits: decreased emotional response versus increased top-down attention to nonemotional features.

    PubMed

    White, Stuart F; Marsh, Abigail A; Fowler, Katherine A; Schechter, Julia C; Adalio, Christopher; Pope, Kayla; Sinclair, Stephen; Pine, Daniel S; Blair, R James R

    2012-07-01

    Amygdala dysfunction has been reported to exist in youths and adults with psychopathic traits. However, there has been disagreement as to whether this dysfunction reflects a primary emotional deficit or is secondary to atypical attentional control. The authors examined the validity of the contrasting predictions. Participants were 15 children and adolescents (ages 10–17 years) with both disruptive behavior disorders and psychopathic traits and 17 healthy comparison youths. Functional MRI was used to assess the response of the amygdala and regions implicated in top-down attentional control (the dorsomedial and lateral frontal cortices) to emotional expression under conditions of high and low attentional load. Relative to youths with disruptive behavior disorders and psychopathic traits, healthy comparison subjects showed a significantly greater increase in the typical amygdala response to fearful expressions under low relative to high attentional load conditions. There was also a selective inverse relationship between the response to fearful expressions under low attentional load and the callous-unemotional component (but not the narcissism or impulsivity component) of psychopathic traits. In contrast, the two groups did not differ in the significant recruitment of the dorsomedial and lateral frontal cortices as a function of attentional load. Youths with disruptive behavior disorders and psychopathic traits showed reduced amygdala responses to fearful expressions under low attentional load but no indications of increased recruitment of regions implicated in top-down attentional control. These findings suggest that the emotional deficit observed in youths with disruptive behavior disorders and psychopathic traits is primary and not secondary to increased top-down attention to nonemotional stimulus features.

  10. C-fos down-regulation inhibits testosterone-dependent male sexual behavior and the associated learning

    PubMed Central

    Niessen, Neville-Andrew; Balthazart, Jacques; Ball, Gregory F.; Charlier, Thierry D.

    2013-01-01

    Environmental stimulation results in an increased expression of transcription factors called immediate early genes (IEG) in specific neuronal populations. In male Japanese quail, copulation with a female increases the expression of the IEGs zenk and c-fos in the medial preoptic nucleus (POM), a key nucleus controlling male sexual behavior. The functional significance of this increased IEG expression that follows performance of copulatory behavior is unknown. We addressed this question by repeatedly quantifying the performance of appetitive (learned social proximity response) and consummatory (actual copulation) sexual behavior in castrated, testosterone-treated males that received daily intracerebroventricular injection of an antisense oligodeoxynucleotide targeting c-fos or control vehicle. Daily antisense injections significantly inhibited expression of copulatory behavior as well as acquisition of the learned social proximity response. A strong reduction of the proximity response was still observed in antisense-treated birds that copulated with a female, ruling out the indirect effect of the absence of interactions with females on the learning process. After a two-day interruption of behavioral testing but not of antisense injections, birds were submitted to a final copulatory test that confirmed the behavioral inhibition in antisense-injected birds. Brains were collected 90 min after the behavioral testing for quantification of c-fos immunoreactive cells. A significant reduction of the number of c-fos-positive cells in POM but not in other brain regions was observed following antisense injection. Together, data suggest that c-fos expression in POM modulates copulatory behavior and sexual learning in male quail. PMID:23895306

  11. Human place and response learning: navigation strategy selection, pupil size and gaze behavior.

    PubMed

    de Condappa, Olivier; Wiener, Jan M

    2016-01-01

    In this study, we examined the cognitive processes and ocular behavior associated with on-going navigation strategy choice using a route learning paradigm that distinguishes between three different wayfinding strategies: an allocentric place strategy, and the egocentric associative cue and beacon response strategies. Participants approached intersections of a known route from a variety of directions, and were asked to indicate the direction in which the original route continued. Their responses in a subset of these test trials allowed the assessment of strategy choice over the course of six experimental blocks. The behavioral data revealed an initial maladaptive bias for a beacon response strategy, with shifts in favor of the optimal configuration place strategy occurring over the course of the experiment. Response time analysis suggests that the configuration strategy relied on spatial transformations applied to a viewpoint-dependent spatial representation, rather than direct access to an allocentric representation. Furthermore, pupillary measures reflected the employment of place and response strategies throughout the experiment, with increasing use of the more cognitively demanding configuration strategy associated with increases in pupil dilation. During test trials in which known intersections were approached from different directions, visual attention was directed to the landmark encoded during learning as well as the intended movement direction. Interestingly, the encoded landmark did not differ between the three navigation strategies, which is discussed in the context of initial strategy choice and the parallel acquisition of place and response knowledge.

  12. Behavioral and genetic correlates of the neural response to infant crying among human fathers

    PubMed Central

    Mascaro, Jennifer S.; Hackett, Patrick D.; Gouzoules, Harold; Lori, Adriana

    2014-01-01

    Although evolution has shaped human infant crying and the corresponding response from caregivers, there is marked variation in paternal involvement and caretaking behavior, highlighting the importance of understanding the neurobiology supporting optimal paternal responses to cries. We explored the neural response to infant cries in fathers of children aged 1–2, and its relationship with hormone levels, variation in the androgen receptor (AR) gene, parental attitudes and parental behavior. Although number of AR CAG trinucleotide repeats was positively correlated with neural activity in brain regions important for empathy (anterior insula and inferior frontal gyrus), restrictive attitudes were inversely correlated with neural activity in these regions and with regions involved with emotion regulation (orbitofrontal cortex). Anterior insula activity had a non-linear relationship with paternal caregiving, such that fathers with intermediate activation were most involved. These results suggest that restrictive attitudes may be associated with decreased empathy and emotion regulation in response to a child in distress, and that moderate anterior insula activity reflects an optimal level of arousal that supports engaged fathering. PMID:24336349

  13. Hygienic behavior of the honey bee (Apis mellifera) is independent of sucrose responsiveness and foraging ontogeny.

    PubMed

    Goode, Katarzyna; Huber, Zachary; Mesce, Karen A; Spivak, Marla

    2006-03-01

    Hygienic behavior in honey bees is a behavioral mechanism of disease resistance. Bees bred for hygienic behavior exhibit an increased olfactory sensitivity to odors of diseased brood, which is most likely differentially enhanced in the hygienic line by the modulatory effects of octopamine (OA), a noradrenaline-like neuromodulator. Here, we addressed whether the hygienic behavioral state is linked to other behavioral activities known to be modulated by OA. We specifically asked if, during learning trials, bees from hygienic colonies discriminate better between odors of diseased and healthy brood because of differences in sucrose (reward) response thresholds. This determination had to be tested because sucrose response thresholds are susceptible to OA modulation and may have influenced the honey bee's association of the conditioned stimulus (odor) with the unconditioned stimulus (i.e., the sucrose reward). Because the onset of first foraging is also modulated by OA, we also examined whether bees from hygienic colonies differentially forage at an earlier age compared to bees from non-hygienic colonies. Our study revealed that 1-day- and 15- to 20-day-old bees from the hygienic line do not have lower sucrose response thresholds compared to bees from the non-hygienic lines. In addition, hygienic bees did not forage at an earlier age or forage preferentially for pollen as compared to non-hygienic bees. These results support the idea that OA does not function in honey bees simply to enhance the detection of all chemical cues non-selectively or control related behaviors regardless of their environmental milieu. Our results indicate that the behavioral profile of the hygienic bee is sculpted by multiple factors including genetic, neural, social and environmental systems.

  14. Studying Behavioral Ecology on High School & College Campuses: A Practical Guide to Measuring Foraging Behavior Using Urban Wildlife

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Baker, Mohammad A. Abu; Emerson, Sara E.; Brown, Joel S.

    2015-01-01

    We present a practical field exercise for ecology and animal behavior classes that can be carried out on campus, using urban wildlife. Students document an animal's feeding behavior to study its interactions with the surrounding environment. In this approach, an animal's feeding behavior is quantified at experimental food patches placed within its…

  15. Chemical induced behavioral responses in anopheles minimus and Anopheles harrisoni in Thailand

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Behavioral responses of female mosquitoes representing two species in the Minimus Complex exposed to an operational field dose of bifenthrin or DEET (N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide) were described using an excito-repellency test system. Two test populations of An. minimus, one from the field (Tak Provinc...

  16. Effects of pesticides and antibiotics on penaeid shrimp with special emphases on behavioral and biomarker responses.

    PubMed

    Tu, Huynh Thi; Silvestre, Frederic; Phuong, Nguyen Thanh; Kestemont, Patrick

    2010-04-01

    The purpose of the present study is to provide information on the current state of knowledge regarding the effects of pesticides and antibiotics used in aquaculture on penaeid shrimp, one of the most common aquatic products for human consumption, with a special emphasis on the use of behavioral, physiological, and biochemical response. These include behavior; feeding rate changes; respiration rate, oxygen consumption, and osmoregulation alterations; nucleic acids, protein, and glycogen synthesis; cholinesterase activity inhibition; ATPase activity; and oxidative stress responses. This paper also deals with residues of antibiotics and pesticides in penaeid shrimp. Antibiotics and pesticides used in aquaculture may have adverse effects on treated animals and human consumers health if they are not correctly used. As a complement to the measurement of antibiotic and pesticide residues in tissues, the use of behavioral and biomarker responses can provide more relevant biological information on the potential adverse effects of antibiotics and pesticides on penaeid shrimp health. (c) 2009 SETAC.

  17. Behavioral Response Generation and Selection of Rejected-Reactive Aggressive, Rejected-Nonaggressive, and Average Status Children.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wood, C. Nannette; Gross, Alan M.

    2002-01-01

    Examines response decision processes of rejected-reactive aggressive, rejected-nonaggressive and average children in terms of the presence or absence of behavioral response alternatives. Congruent with previous research, rejected-reactive aggressive children made significantly more hostile attributions and generated a higher number of aggressive…

  18. Heavy particle irradiation, neurochemistry and behavior: thresholds, dose- response curves and recovery of function

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rabin, B.; Joseph, J.; Shukitt-Hale, B.

    Exposure to heavy particles can affect the functioning of the central nervous system (CNS), particularly the dopaminergic system. In turn, the radiation- induced disruption of dopaminergic function disrupts a variety of behaviors that are dependent upon the integrity of the dopaminergic system, including motor behavior (upper body strength), amphetamine (dopamine)-mediated taste aversion learning, spatial learning and memory (Morris water maze), and operant conditioning (fixed-ratio bar pressing). Although the relationships between heavy particle irradiation and the effects of exposure depend, to some extent, upon the specific behavioral or neurochemical endpoint under consideration, a review of the available research leads to the hypothesis that the endpoints mediated by the CNS have certain characteristics in common. These include: (1) a threshold, below which there is no apparent effect; (2) the lack of a dose-response relationship, or an extremely steep dose-response curve, depending on the particular endpoint; and (3) the absence of recovery of function, such that the heavy particle-induced behavioral and neural changes are present when tested up to one year following exposure. The current presentation will review the data relevant to the degree to which these characteristics are in fact common to neurochemical and behavioral endpoints that are mediated by the effects of exposure to heavy particles on CNS activity. Supported by N.A.S.A. Grant NAG9-1190.

  19. Early response in cognitive-behavior therapy for syndromes of medically unexplained symptoms.

    PubMed

    Kleinstäuber, Maria; Lambert, Michael J; Hiller, Wolfgang

    2017-05-25

    Early dramatic treatment response suggests a subset of patients who respond to treatment before most of it has been offered. These early responders tend to be over represented among those who are well at termination and at follow-up. Early response patterns in psychotherapy have been investigated only for a few of mental disorders so far. The main aim of the current study was to examine early response after five therapy-preparing sessions of a cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) for syndromes of medically unexplained symptoms (MUS). In the context of a randomized, waiting-list controlled trial 48 patients who suffered from ≥3 MUS over ≥6 months received 5 therapy-preparing sessions and 20 sessions of CBT for somatoform disorders. They completed self-report scales of somatic symptom severity (SOMS-7 T), depression (BDI-II), anxiety (BSI), illness anxiety and behavior (IAS) at pre-treatment, after 5 therapy-preparing sessions (FU-5P) and at therapy termination (FU-20 T). The current analyses are based on data from the treatment arm only. Repeated measure ANOVAs revealed a significant decrease of depression (d = 0.34), anxiety (d = 0.60), illness anxiety (d = 0.38) and illness behavior (d = 0.42), but no change of somatic symptom severity (d = -0.03) between pre-treatment and FU-5P. Hierarchical linear multiple regression analyses showed that symptom improvements between pre-treatment and FU-5P predict a better outcome at therapy termination for depression and illness anxiety, after controlling for pre-treatment scores. Mixed-effect ANOVAs revealed significant group*time interaction effects indicating differences in the course of symptom improvement over the therapy between patients who fulfilled a reliable change (i.e., early response) during the 5 therapy-preparing sessions and patients who did not reach an early reliable change. Demographic or clinical variables at pre-treatment were not significantly correlated with differential scores between pre

  20. Quantifying the dose-response of walking in reducing coronary heart disease risk: meta-analysis.

    PubMed

    Zheng, Henry; Orsini, Nicola; Amin, Janaki; Wolk, Alicja; Nguyen, Van Thi Thuy; Ehrlich, Fred

    2009-01-01

    The evidence for the efficacy of walking in reducing the risk of and preventing coronary heart disease (CHD) is not completely understood. This meta-analysis aimed to quantify the dose-response relationship between walking and CHD risk reduction for both men and women in the general population. Studies on walking and CHD primary prevention between 1954 and 2007 were identified through Medline, SportDiscus and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Random-effect meta-regression models were used to pool the relative risks from individual studies. A total of 11 prospective cohort studies and one randomized control trial study met the inclusion criteria, with 295,177 participants free of CHD at baseline and 7,094 cases at follow-up. The meta-analysis indicated that an increment of approximately 30 min of normal walking a day for 5 days a week was associated with 19% CHD risk reduction (95% CI = 14-23%; P-heterogeneity = 0.56; I (2) = 0%). We found no evidence of heterogeneity between subgroups of studies defined by gender (P = 0.67); age of the study population (P = 0.52); or follow-up duration (P = 0.77). The meta-analysis showed that the risk for developing CHD decreases as walking dose increases. Walking should be prescribed as an evidence-based effective exercise modality for CHD prevention in the general population.

  1. Low latitude ionospheric TEC responses to dynamical complexity quantifiers during transient events over Nigeria

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ogunsua, Babalola

    2018-04-01

    In this study, the values of chaoticity and dynamical complexity parameters for some selected storm periods in the year 2011 and 2012 have been computed. This was done using detrended TEC data sets measured from Birnin-Kebbi, Torro and Enugu global positioning system (GPS) receiver stations in Nigeria. It was observed that the significance of difference (SD) values were mostly greater than 1.96 but surprisingly lower than 1.96 in September 29, 2011. The values of the computed SD were also found to be reduced in most cases just after the geomagnetic storm with immediate recovery a day after the main phase of the storm while the values of Lyapunov exponent and Tsallis entropy remains reduced due to the influence of geomagnetic storms. It was also observed that the value of Lyapunov exponent and Tsallis entropy reveals similar variation pattern during storm period in most cases. Also recorded surprisingly were lower values of these dynamical quantifiers during the solar flare event of August 8th and 9th of the year 2011. The possible mechanisms responsible for these observations were further discussed in this work. However, our observations show that the ionospheric effects of some other possible transient events other than geomagnetic storms can also be revealed by the variation of chaoticity and dynamical complexity.

  2. Effect of acute low body temperature on predatory behavior and prey-capture efficiency in a plethodontid salamander.

    PubMed

    Marvin, Glenn A; Davis, Kayla; Dawson, Jacob

    2016-05-01

    The low-temperature limit for feeding in some salamander species (Desmognathus, Plethodontidae) has been inferred from field studies of seasonal variation in salamander activity and gut contents, which could not determine whether feeding is more dependent on environmental conditions influencing salamander foraging behavior or prey availability and movement. We performed two controlled laboratory experiments to examine the effect of short-term (acute) low body temperature on predatory behavior and prey-capture efficiency in a semiaquatic plethodontid salamander (Desmognathus conanti). In the first experiment, we quantified variation in the feeding responses of cold salamanders (at 1, 3, 5 and 7°C) to a video recording of a walking, warm (15°C) cricket to determine the lower thermal limit for predatory behavior, independent of any temperature effect on movement of prey. Experimental-group salamanders exhibited vigorous feeding responses at 5 and 7°C, large variation in feeding responses both among and within individuals (over time) at 3°C, and little to no feeding response at 1°C. Feeding responses at both 1 and 3°C were significantly less than at each higher temperature, whereas responses of control-group individuals at 15°C did not vary over time. In the second experiment, we quantified feeding by cold salamanders (at 3, 5, 7 and 11°C) on live, warm crickets to examine thermal effects on prey-capture ability. The mean feeding response to live crickets was significantly less at 3°C than at higher temperatures; however, 50% of salamanders captured and ingested prey with high efficiency at this temperature. We conclude that many individuals stalk and capture prey at very low temperatures (down to 3°C). Our results support a growing body of data that indicate many plethodontid salamanders feed at temperatures only a few degrees above freezing. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Behavioral responses to odors from other species: introducing a complementary model of allelochemics involving vertebrates

    PubMed Central

    Nielsen, Birte L.; Rampin, Olivier; Meunier, Nicolas; Bombail, Vincent

    2015-01-01

    It has long been known that the behavior of an animal can be affected by odors from another species. Such interspecific effects of odorous compounds (allelochemics) are usually characterized according to who benefits (emitter, receiver, or both) and the odors categorized accordingly (allomones, kairomones, and synomones, respectively), which has its origin in the definition of pheromones, i.e., intraspecific communication via volatile compounds. When considering vertebrates, however, interspecific odor-based effects exist which do not fit well in this paradigm. Three aspects in particular do not encompass all interspecific semiochemical effects: one relates to the innateness of the behavioral response, another to the origin of the odor, and the third to the intent of the message. In this review we focus on vertebrates, and present examples of behavioral responses of animals to odors from other species with specific reference to these three aspects. Searching for a more useful classification of allelochemical effects we examine the relationship between the valence of odors (attractive through to aversive), and the relative contributions of learned and unconditioned (innate) behavioral responses to odors from other species. We propose that these two factors (odor valence and learning) may offer an alternative way to describe the nature of interspecific olfactory effects involving vertebrates compared to the current focus on who benefits. PMID:26161069

  4. Children's aggressive responses to neutral peer behavior: a form of unprovoked reactive aggression.

    PubMed

    Kempes, Maaike; Matthys, Walter; de Vries, Han; van Engeland, Herman

    2010-04-30

    Previous studies that operationalized reactive aggression using behavioral observations in general populations have not taken into account the type of stimulus that elicits reactive aggression. In the present study we define a specific form of reactive aggression, i.e., reactive aggression in response to neutral behavior of a peer, which we will call unprovoked reactive aggression. We were specifically interested in children with severe aggressive behavior problems, since they may respond with reactive aggression even though the opponent did not clearly provoke them, but instead showed neutral behavior. Children with a disruptive behavior disorder (DBD) and normal control (NC) children participated in separate play sessions in which they played with a normal peer (NP). Children with DBD showed more unprovoked reactive aggression than NC children, during a cooperative game. Moreover, for children with DBD, unprovoked reactive aggressive behavior in this game correlated with parent-rated reactive aggression. Results of this study suggest that an unprovoked reactive form of aggression can be identified in children with DBD. Copyright (c) 2008. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

  5. Quantifying Fast and Slow Responses of Terrestrial Carbon Exchange across a Water Availability Gradient in North American Flux Sites

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Biederman, J. A.; Scott, R. L.; Goulden, M.

    2014-12-01

    Climate change is predicted to increase the frequency and severity of water limitation, altering terrestrial ecosystems and their carbon exchange with the atmosphere. Here we compare site-level temporal sensitivity of annual carbon fluxes to interannual variations in water availability against cross-site spatial patterns over a network of 19 eddy covariance flux sites. This network represents one order of magnitude in mean annual productivity and includes western North American desert shrublands and grasslands, savannahs, woodlands, and forests with continuous records of 4 to 12 years. Our analysis reveals site-specific patterns not identifiable in prior syntheses that pooled sites. We interpret temporal variability as an indicator of ecosystem response to annual water availability due to fast-changing factors such as leaf stomatal response and microbial activity, while cross-site spatial patterns are used to infer ecosystem adjustment to climatic water availability through slow-changing factors such as plant community and organic carbon pools. Using variance decomposition, we directly quantify how terrestrial carbon balance depends on slow- and fast-changing components of gross ecosystem production (GEP) and total ecosystem respiration (TER). Slow factors explain the majority of variance in annual net ecosystem production (NEP) across the dataset, and their relative importance is greater at wetter, forest sites than desert ecosystems. Site-specific offsets from spatial patterns of GEP and TER explain one third of NEP variance, likely due to slow-changing factors not directly linked to water, such as disturbance. TER and GEP are correlated across sites as previously shown, but our site-level analysis reveals surprisingly consistent linear relationships between these fluxes in deserts and savannahs, indicating fast coupling of TER and GEP in more arid ecosystems. Based on the uncertainty associated with slow and fast factors, we suggest a framework for improved

  6. [Role of oxotremorine in arginine vasopressin-induced hypothermia and its effects on behavioral thermoregulatory response in rats].

    PubMed

    Shen, Zi-Ling; Yang, Yong-Lu; Sun, Bing; Tang, Yu; Wang, Nian

    2012-03-01

    To investigate the role of oxotremorine in arginine vasopressin (AVP)-induced hypothermia and its effects on the behavioral thermoregulatory response. Core temperature (Tc), brown adipose tissue (BAT) temperature and motor activities were monitored in undisturbed female SD rats using radiotelemetry. The behavioral thermoregulatory response was monitored in rats using radiotelemetric temperature gradient apparatus. Effect of AVP (10 microg/kg) and oxotremorine (0.25 mg/kg) on Tc, motor activities, BAT temperature (T(BAT)), grooming activities and the behavioral thermoregulatory response were observed in rats. Administration of AVP and oxotremorine caused a significant drop in Tc, T(BAT), and an increases in grooming activities, respectively. The hypothermic responses were accompanied with a preference for cooler ambient temperature. Oxotremorine augmented the reduction of Tc, T(BAT), and the elevation of grooming activities resulting from AVP, and lasting a longer time. Administration of oxotremorine followed immediately by AVP injection in rats was also shown to induce a preference for cooler ambient temperature, but there was no significant difference compared with AVP. AVP-induced hypothermia was related with the set point temperature reduction, inhibiton of BAT thermogenesis and an increases in grooming activities. Oxotremorine could participate in peripheral AVP-induced hypothermia by affecting BAT thermogenesis and behavioral thermoregulation.

  7. Infant behavioral responses to infant-directed singing and other maternal interactions.

    PubMed

    de l'Etoile, Shannon K

    2006-07-01

    Seventy, 6-9-month-old infants were videotaped during six interactions: mother sings assigned song, "stranger" sings assigned song, mother sings song of choice, mother reads book, mother plays with toy, and mother and infant listen to recorded music. Infant-directed (ID) singing conditions elicited moderately positive cognitive behavior, low levels of positive physical behavior and minimal amounts of vocal behaviors, mostly negative. Across all conditions, cognitive scores remained positive at low to moderate levels. Physical responses were most positive during book and toy, most negative during recorded music, and differed by gender, especially during ID singing. Vocally, infants responded positively to toy, and 8-month-old infants vocalized more than younger infants, particularly during ID singing conditions. ID singing appears just as effective as book reading or toy play in sustaining infant attention and far more effective than listening to recorded music, while interactions involving objects may provide opportunity for shared attention.

  8. Behavioral responses of freshwater mussels to experimental dewatering

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Galbraith, Heather S.; Blakeslee, Carrie J.; Lellis, William A.

    2015-01-01

    Understanding the effects of flow alteration on freshwater ecosystems is critical for predicting species responses and restoring appropriate flow regimes. We experimentally evaluated the effects of 3 dewatering rates on behavior of 6 freshwater mussel species in the context of water-removal rates observed in 21 Atlantic Coast rivers. Horizontal movement differed significantly among species and dewatering rates, but a significant species × dewatering interaction suggested that these factors influence movement in complex ways. Species differences in movement were evident only in controls and under slow dewatering rates, but these differences disappeared at moderate and fast dewatering rates. Burrowing behavior did not differ with respect to species identity or dewatering rate. The proportion of individuals that became stranded did not differ among species, but most individuals became stranded under low and moderate dewatering, and all individuals became stranded under fast dewatering. Mortality after stranding differed strongly among species along a gradient from 25% inPyganodon cataracta to 92% in Alasmidonta marginata. Together, these results suggest that species behavior may differ under gradual dewatering, but all species in our study are poorly adapted for rapid dewatering. Most of the 21 rivers we assessed experienced dewatering events comparable to our moderate rate, and several experienced events comparable to our fast rate. Dewatering events that exceed the movement or survival capability of most mussel species can be expected to result in assemblage-wide impacts. Consequently, the rate of water level change may be important in refining target flow conditions for restoration.

  9. Belukha whale (delphinapterus leucas) responses to industrial noise in Nushagak Bay, Alaska: 1983

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

    Stewart, B.S.; Awbrey, F.T.; Evans, W.E.

    1983-01-01

    Between 15 June and 14 July 1983 the authors conducted playback experiments with belukha whales in the Snake River, Alaska, using sounds recorded near an operating oil-drilling rig. The objectives of these experiments were to quantify behavioral responses of belukha whales to oil drilling noise in an area where foreign acoustic stimuli were absent, and to test the hypothesis that beluhka whales would not approach a source of loud sound.

  10. Quantifying Direct and Indirect Effects of Elevated CO2 on Ecosystem Response

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fatichi, S.; Leuzinger, S.; Paschalis, A.; Donnellan-Barraclough, A.; Hovenden, M. J.; Langley, J. A.

    2015-12-01

    Increasing concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide are expected to affect carbon assimilation, evapotranspiration (ET) and ultimately plant growth. Direct leaf biochemical effects have been widely investigated, while indirect effects, although documented, are very difficult to quantify in experiments. We hypothesize that the interaction of direct and indirect effects is a possible reason for conflicting results concerning the magnitude of CO2 fertilization effects across different climates and ecosystems. A mechanistic ecohydrological model (Tethys-Chloris) is used to investigate the relative contribution of direct (through plant physiology) and indirect (via stomatal closure and thus soil moisture, and changes in Leaf Area Index, LAI) effects of elevated CO2 across a number of ecosystems. We specifically ask in which ecosystems and climate indirect effects are expected to be largest. Data and boundary conditions from flux-towers and free air CO2 enrichment (FACE) experiments are used to force the model and evaluate its performance. Numerical results suggest that indirect effects of elevated CO2, through water savings and increased LAI, are very significant and sometimes larger than direct effects. Indirect effects tend to be considerably larger in water-limited ecosystems, while direct effects correlate positively with mean air temperature. Increasing CO2 from 375 to 550 ppm causes a total effect on Net Primary Production in the order of 15 to 40% and on ET from 0 to -8%, depending on climate and ecosystem type. The total CO2 effect has a significant negative correlation with the wetness index and positive correlation with vapor pressure deficit. These results provide a more general mechanistic understanding of relatively short-term (less than 20 years) implications of elevated CO2 on ecosystem response and suggest plausible magnitudes for the expected changes.

  11. Toward Quantifying the Mass-Based Hygroscopicity of Individual Submicron Atmospheric Aerosol Particles with STXM/NEXAFS and SEM/EDX

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yancey Piens, D.; Kelly, S. T.; OBrien, R. E.; Wang, B.; Petters, M. D.; Laskin, A.; Gilles, M. K.

    2014-12-01

    The hygroscopic behavior of atmospheric aerosols influences their optical and cloud-nucleation properties, and therefore affects climate. Although changes in particle size as a function of relative humidity have often been used to quantify the hygroscopic behavior of submicron aerosol particles, it has been noted that calculations of hygroscopicity based on size contain error due to particle porosity, non-ideal volume additivity and changes in surface tension. We will present a method to quantify the hygroscopic behavior of submicron aerosol particles based on changes in mass, rather than size, as a function of relative humidity. This method results from a novel experimental approach combining scanning transmission x-ray microscopy with near-edge x-ray absorption fine spectroscopy (STXM/NEXAFS), as well as scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDX) on the same individual particles. First, using STXM/NEXAFS, our methods are applied to aerosol particles of known composition ‒ for instance ammonium sulfate, sodium bromide and levoglucosan ‒ and validated by theory. Then, using STXM/NEXAFS and SEM/EDX, these methods are extended to mixed atmospheric aerosol particles collected in the field at the DOE Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility at the Southern Great Planes sampling site in Oklahoma, USA. We have observed and quantified a range of hygroscopic behaviors which are correlated to the composition and morphology of individual aerosol particles. These methods will have implications for parameterizing aerosol mixing state and cloud-nucleation activity in atmospheric models.

  12. Behavioral Responses Of Fish To A Current-Based Hydrokinetic Turbine Under Mutlipe Operational Conditions: Final Report

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

    Grippo, Mark A.; Shen, Haixue; Zydlewski, Gayle

    There is significant interest in the interaction of aquatic organisms with current-based marine and hydrokinetic (MHK) technologies. Determining the potential impacts of MHK devices on fish behavior is critical to addressing the environmental concerns that could act as barriers to the permitting and deployment of MHK devices. To address these concerns, we use field monitoring and fish behavior models to characterize the behavioral responses of fish to MHK turbines and infer potential stimuli that may have elicited the observed behavioral changes.

  13. Modeling and regression analysis of semiochemical dose-response curves of insect antennal reception and behavior

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Dose-response curves with semiochemicals are reported in many articles in insect chemical ecology regarding neurophysiology and behavioral bioassays. Most such curves are shown in figures where the x-axis has order of magnitude increases in dosages versus responses on the y-axis represented by point...

  14. Dying online: live broadcasts of Chinese emerging adult suicides and crisis response behaviors.

    PubMed

    Ma, Jing; Zhang, Wei; Harris, Keith; Chen, Qiang; Xu, Xiaolin

    2016-08-11

    Social media and online environments are becoming increasingly popular and integral to modern lives. The online presentation of suicidal behaviors is an example of the importance of communication technologies, and the need for professionals to respond to a changing world. These types of behaviors, however, have rarely been scientifically analyzed. This study aimed to examine the behaviors of both suicide broadcasters and their audience, with attention on prevention/crisis opportunities. Multiple case studies were employed to explore live-broadcast suicide by Chinese emerging adults (aged 18-25 years). Six cases were selected (four males, two females; aged 19-24, M = 21.60, SD = 2.25), retrieved from 190 public documents (case range = 5 to 32; M = 11.50, SD = 10.37). A qualitative study based on grounded theory was adopted. Information on case background, stages, participants and their behaviors were collected. (1) Five stages of blogcast suicide incidents were revealed, including: Signaling, Initial reactions, Live blogcast of suicide attempts, Crisis responses, and Final outcomes. (2) Common behavioral trends (e.g., comforting, verbal abuse) were identified from the blogcast participants (e.g., active audience, peers, parents and police). (3) Suicide blogcasters exhibited tendencies to communicated signs of pain and cries for help. This multi-case study found live presentations of suicidal behaviors offered unique opportunities to respond to suicidal crises, and also to learn more about the relationships between suicidal people and potential help sources. Findings showed many audience members wanted to be helpful but lacked appropriate skills or knowledge. Others engaged in suicide cyberbullying. The social media is an environment in the making. This study revealed that increasing knowledge and skills for crisis response and suicide prevention is needed. Such efforts could lead to empowered netizens and a more hospitable online world.

  15. Neural basis for generalized quantifier comprehension.

    PubMed

    McMillan, Corey T; Clark, Robin; Moore, Peachie; Devita, Christian; Grossman, Murray

    2005-01-01

    Generalized quantifiers like "all cars" are semantically well understood, yet we know little about their neural representation. Our model of quantifier processing includes a numerosity device, operations that combine number elements and working memory. Semantic theory posits two types of quantifiers: first-order quantifiers identify a number state (e.g. "at least 3") and higher-order quantifiers additionally require maintaining a number state actively in working memory for comparison with another state (e.g. "less than half"). We used BOLD fMRI to test the hypothesis that all quantifiers recruit inferior parietal cortex associated with numerosity, while only higher-order quantifiers recruit prefrontal cortex associated with executive resources like working memory. Our findings showed that first-order and higher-order quantifiers both recruit right inferior parietal cortex, suggesting that a numerosity component contributes to quantifier comprehension. Moreover, only probes of higher-order quantifiers recruited right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, suggesting involvement of executive resources like working memory. We also observed activation of thalamus and anterior cingulate that may be associated with selective attention. Our findings are consistent with a large-scale neural network centered in frontal and parietal cortex that supports comprehension of generalized quantifiers.

  16. Cross-species assessments of Motor and Exploratory Behavior related to Bipolar Disorder

    PubMed Central

    Henry, Brook L.; Minassian, Arpi; Young, Jared W.; Paulus, Martin P.; Geyer, Mark A.; Perry, William

    2010-01-01

    Alterations in exploratory behavior are a fundamental feature of bipolar mania, typically characterized as motor hyperactivity and increased goal-directed behavior in response to environmental cues. In contrast, abnormal exploration associated with schizophrenia and depression can manifest as prominent withdrawal, limited motor activity, and inattention to the environment. While motor abnormalities are cited frequently as clinical manifestations of these disorders, relatively few empirical studies have quantified human exploratory behavior. This article reviews the literature characterizing motor and exploratory behavior associated with bipolar disorder and genetic and pharmacological animal models of the illness. Despite sophisticated assessment of exploratory behavior in rodents, objective quantification of human motor activity has been limited primarily to actigraphy studies with poor cross-species translational value. Furthermore, symptoms that reflect the cardinal features of bipolar disorder have proven difficult to establish in putative animal models of this illness. Recently, however, novel tools such as the Human Behavioral Pattern Monitor provide multivariate translational measures of motor and exploratory activity, enabling improved understanding of the neurobiology underlying psychiatric disorders. PMID:20398694

  17. Cross-species assessments of motor and exploratory behavior related to bipolar disorder.

    PubMed

    Henry, Brook L; Minassian, Arpi; Young, Jared W; Paulus, Martin P; Geyer, Mark A; Perry, William

    2010-07-01

    Alterations in exploratory behavior are a fundamental feature of bipolar mania, typically characterized as motor hyperactivity and increased goal-directed behavior in response to environmental cues. In contrast, abnormal exploration associated with schizophrenia and depression can manifest as prominent withdrawal, limited motor activity, and inattention to the environment. While motor abnormalities are cited frequently as clinical manifestations of these disorders, relatively few empirical studies have quantified human exploratory behavior. This article reviews the literature characterizing motor and exploratory behavior associated with bipolar disorder and genetic and pharmacological animal models of the illness. Despite sophisticated assessment of exploratory behavior in rodents, objective quantification of human motor activity has been limited primarily to actigraphy studies with poor cross-species translational value. Furthermore, symptoms that reflect the cardinal features of bipolar disorder have proven difficult to establish in putative animal models of this illness. Recently, however, novel tools such as the human behavioral pattern monitor provide multivariate translational measures of motor and exploratory activity, enabling improved understanding of the neurobiology underlying psychiatric disorders.

  18. Within-individual correlations reveal link between a behavioral syndrome, condition and cortisol in free-ranging Belding's ground squirrels

    PubMed Central

    Brooks, Katherine C.; Mateo, Jill. M.

    2014-01-01

    Animals often exhibit consistent individual differences in behavior (i.e. animal personality) and correlations between behaviors (i.e. behavioral syndromes), yet the causes of those patterns of behavioral variation remain insufficiently understood. Many authors hypothesize that state-dependent behavior produces animal personality and behavioral syndromes. However, empirical studies assessing patterns of covariation among behavioral traits and state variables have produced mixed results. New statistical methods that partition correlations into between-individual and residual within-individual correlations offer an opportunity to more sufficiently quantify relationships among behaviors and state variables to assess hypotheses of animal personality and behavioral syndromes. In a population of wild Belding's ground squirrels (Urocitellus beldingi) we repeatedly measured activity, exploration, and response to restraint behaviors alongside glucocorticoids and nutritional condition. We used multivariate mixed models to determine whether between-individual or within-individual correlations drive phenotypic relationships among traits. Squirrels had consistent individual differences for all five traits. At the between-individual level, activity and exploration were positively correlated whereas both traits negatively correlated with response to restraint, demonstrating a behavioral syndrome. At the within-individual level, condition negatively correlated with cortisol, activity and exploration. Importantly, this indicates that although behavior is state-dependent, which may play a role in animal personality and behavioral syndromes, feedback mechanisms between condition and behavior appear not to produce consistent individual differences in behavior and correlations between them. PMID:25598565

  19. Focused Observation and Feedback of Nonverbal Behavior.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Field, Judd F.; Bradley, Banks T.

    A feedback and analysis instrument measuring nonverbal teacher behavior is presented which focuses on fourteen specific behaviors. Data obtained from the instrument may be analyzed for each of the behaviors and developed into a quantified ratio of those categories tending to signal positive influence by the teacher toward the pupil and those…

  20. Caudate responses to reward anticipation associated with delay discounting behavior in healthy youth

    PubMed Central

    Benningfield, Margaret M.; Blackford, Jennifer U.; Ellsworth, Melissa E.; Samanez-Larkin, Gregory R.; Martin, Peter R.; Cowan, Ronald L.; Zald, David H.

    2014-01-01

    Background Choices requiring delay of gratification made during adolescence can have significant impact on life trajectory. Willingness to delay gratification can be measured using delay discounting tasks that require a choice between a smaller immediate reward and a larger delayed reward. Individual differences in the subjective value of delayed rewards are associated with risk for development of psychopathology including substance abuse. The neurobiological underpinnings related to these individual differences early in life are not fully understood. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we tested the hypothesis that individual differences in delay discounting behavior in healthy youth are related to differences in responsiveness to potential reward. Method Nineteen 10 to 14 year-olds performed a monetary incentive delay task to assess neural sensitivity to potential reward and a questionnaire to measure discounting of future monetary rewards. Results Left ventromedial caudate activation during anticipation of potential reward was negatively correlated with delay discounting behavior. There were no regions where brain responses during notification of reward outcome were associated with discounting behavior. Conclusions Brain activation during anticipation of potential reward may serve as a marker for individual differences in ability or willingness to delay gratification in healthy youth. PMID:24309299

  1. Sparrowhawk movement, calling, and presence of dead conspecifics differentially impact blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) vocal and behavioral mobbing responses.

    PubMed

    Carlson, Nora V; Pargeter, Helen M; Templeton, Christopher N

    2017-01-01

    Many animals alter their anti-predator behavior in accordance to the threat level of a predator. While much research has examined variation in mobbing responses to different predators, few studies have investigated how anti-predator behavior is affected by changes in a predator's own state or behavior. We examined the effect of sparrowhawk ( Accipiter nisus ) behavior on the mobbing response of wild blue tits ( Cyanistes caeruleus ) using robotic taxidermy sparrowhawks. We manipulated whether the simulated predator moved its head, produced vocalizations, or held a taxidermy blue tit in its talons. When any sparrowhawk model was present, blue tits decreased foraging and increased anti-predator behavior and vocalizations. Additionally, each manipulation of the model predator's state (moving, vocalizing, or the presence of a dead conspecific) impacted different types of blue tit anti-predator behavior and vocalizations. These results indicate that different components of mobbing vary according to the specific state of a given predator-beyond its presence or absence-and suggest that each might play a different role in the overall mobbing response. Last, our results indicate that using more life-like predator stimuli-those featuring simple head movements and audio playback of vocalizations-changes how prey respond to the predator; these 'robo-raptor' models provide a powerful tool to provide increased realism in simulated predator encounters without sacrificing experimental control. Anti-predatory behavior is often modulated by the threat level posed by a particular predator. While much research has tested how different types of predators change prey behavior, few experiments have examined how predator behavior affects anti-predatory responses of prey. By experimentally manipulating robotic predators, we show that blue tits not only respond to the presence of a sparrowhawk, by decreasing feeding and increasing anti-predator behavior and vocalizations, but that they vary

  2. Birth timing and behavioral responsiveness predict individual differences in the mother-infant relationship and infant behavior during weaning and maternal breeding

    PubMed Central

    Vandeleest, Jessica J.; Capitanio, John P.

    2012-01-01

    There is a great deal of variability in mother-infant interactions and infant behavior across the first year of life in rhesus monkeys. The current paper has two specific aims: 1) to determine if birth timing predicts variability in the mother-infant relationship and infant behavior during weaning and maternal breeding, and 2) to identify predictors of infant behavior during a period of acute challenge, maternal breeding. Forty-one mother-infant pairs were observed during weaning when infants were 4.5 months old, and 33 were followed through maternal breeding. Subjective ratings of 16 adjectives reflecting qualities of maternal attitude, mother-infant interactions, and infant attitude were factor analyzed to construct factors relating to the mother-infant relationship (Relaxed and Aggressive), and infant behavior (Positive Engagement and Distress). During weaning, late born infants were more Positively Engaged than peak born infants (ANOVA, P < 0.05); however, birth timing did not affect the mother-infant relationship factors Relaxed and Aggressive or the infant attitude factor Distress. During maternal breeding early born infants had less Relaxed relationships with their mothers than peak or late born infants, higher Positive Engagement scores than peak or late born infants, and tended to have higher Distress scores than peak born infants (Repeated-measures ANOVA, P < 0.05). In addition, Distress scores were higher during maternal breeding than during the pre- and post-breeding phases. Finally, multiple regression (P < 0.05) indicated that while infant behavioral responsiveness predicted infant Positive Engagement during the acute challenge of maternal breeding, qualities of the mother-infant relationship predicted infant Distress. These data suggest that birth timing influences the patterns of mother-infant interactions during weaning and maternal breeding. Additionally, infant behavioral responsiveness and mother-infant relationship quality impact infant social

  3. Video chat technology to remotely quantify dietary, supplement, and medication adherence in clinical trials

    PubMed Central

    Peterson, Courtney M.; Apolzan, John W.; Wright, Courtney; Martin, Corby K.

    2017-01-01

    We conducted a pair of studies to test the validity, reliability, feasibility, and acceptability of using video chat technology as a novel method to quantify dietary and pill-taking (i.e., supplement and medication) adherence. In the first study, we investigated whether video chat technology can accurately quantify adherence to dietary and pill-taking interventions. Mock study participants ate food items and swallowed pills while performing randomized scripted “cheating” behaviors design to mimic non-adherence. Monitoring was conducted in a crossover design, with two monitors watching in-person and two watching remotely by Skype on a smartphone. For the second study, a 22-question online survey was sent to an email listserv with more than 20,000 unique email addresses of past and present study participants to assess the feasibility and acceptability of the technology. For the dietary adherence tests, monitors detected 86% of non-adherent events (sensitivity) in-person versus 78% of events via video chat monitoring (p=0.12), with comparable inter-rater agreement (0.88 vs. 0.85; p=0.62). However, for pill-taking, non-adherence trended towards being more easily detected in-person than by video chat (77% vs. 60%; p=0.08), with non-significantly higher inter-rater agreement (0.85 vs. 0.69; p=0.21). Survey results from the second study (N=1,076 respondents; at least a 5% response rate) indicated that 86.4% of study participants had video chatting hardware, 73.3% were comfortable using the technology; and 79.8% were willing to use it for clinical research. Given the capability of video chat technology to reduce participant burden and to outperform other adherence monitoring methods such as dietary self-report and pill counts, video chatting is a novel and highly promising platform to quantify dietary and pill-taking adherence. PMID:27753427

  4. Mesopredator behavioral response to olfactory signals of an apex predator.

    PubMed

    Wikenros, Camilla; Jarnemo, Anders; Frisén, Marielle; Kuijper, Dries P J; Schmidt, Krzysztof

    2017-01-01

    Olfactory signals constitute an important mechanism in interspecific interactions, but little is known regarding their role in communication between predator species. We analyzed the behavioral responses of a mesopredator, the red fox ( Vulpes vulpes ), to an olfactory cue (scat) of an apex predator, the lynx ( Lynx lynx ) in Białowieża Primeval Forest, Poland, using video camera traps. Red fox visited sites with scats more often than expected and the duration of their visits was longer at scat sites than at control sites (no scat added). Vigilant behavior, sniffing and scent marking (including over-marking) occurred more often at scat sites compared to control sites, where foxes mainly passed by. Vigilance was most pronounced during the first days of the recordings. Red fox behavior was also influenced by foxes previously visiting scat sites. They sniffed and scent marked (multiple over-marking) more frequently when the lynx scat had been over-marked previously by red fox. Fox visits to lynx scats may be seen as a trade-off between obtaining information on a potential food source (prey killed by lynx) and the potential risk of predation by an apex predator.

  5. Success importance and urge magnitude as determinants of cardiovascular response to a behavioral restraint challenge.

    PubMed

    Agtarap, Stephanie D; Wright, Rex A; Mlynski, Christopher; Hammad, Rawan; Blackledge, Sabrina

    2016-04-01

    Decades of research have investigated a conceptual analysis concerned with determinants and cardiovascular correlates of effort in people confronted with performance challenges, that is, opportunities to alter some course of events by acting. One suggestion is that effort and associated cardiovascular responses should be determined jointly by the difficulty of meeting a challenge and the importance of doing so. The present experiment tested this in a context involving behavioral restraint, that is, effortful resistance against a behavioral impulse or urge. Participants were presented a mildly evocative violent film clip (restraint difficulty low) or a strongly evocative violent film clip (restraint difficulty high) with instructions to refrain from showing any facial response. Success was made more or less important through coordinated manipulations of outcome expectancy, ego-involvement and social evaluation. As expected, SBP responses assessed during the work period were proportional to clip evocativeness - i.e., the difficulty of the restraint challenge - when importance was high, but low regardless of clip evocativeness when importance was low. Findings conceptually replicate previous cardiovascular results and support extension of the guiding analysis to the behavioral restraint realm. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. Methods for quantifying simple gravity sensing in Drosophila melanogaster.

    PubMed

    Inagaki, Hidehiko K; Kamikouchi, Azusa; Ito, Kei

    2010-01-01

    Perception of gravity is essential for animals: most animals possess specific sense organs to detect the direction of the gravitational force. Little is known, however, about the molecular and neural mechanisms underlying their behavioral responses to gravity. Drosophila melanogaster, having a rather simple nervous system and a large variety of molecular genetic tools available, serves as an ideal model for analyzing the mechanisms underlying gravity sensing. Here we describe an assay to measure simple gravity responses of flies behaviorally. This method can be applied for screening genetic mutants of gravity perception. Furthermore, in combination with recent genetic techniques to silence or activate selective sets of neurons, it serves as a powerful tool to systematically identify neural substrates required for the proper behavioral responses to gravity. The assay requires 10 min to perform, and two experiments can be performed simultaneously, enabling 12 experiments per hour.

  7. Significance of beating observed in earthquake responses of buildings

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Çelebi, Mehmet; Ghahari, S. F.; Taciroglu, E.

    2016-01-01

    The beating phenomenon observed in the recorded responses of a tall building in Japan and another in the U.S. are examined in this paper. Beating is a periodic vibrational behavior caused by distinctive coupling between translational and torsional modes that typically have close frequencies. Beating is prominent in the prolonged resonant responses of lightly damped structures. Resonances caused by site effects also contribute to accentuating the beating effect. Spectral analyses and system identification techniques are used herein to quantify the periods and amplitudes of the beating effects from the strong motion recordings of the two buildings. Quantification of beating effects is a first step towards determining remedial actions to improve resilient building performance to strong earthquake induced shaking.

  8. Born Knowing: Tentacled Snakes Innately Predict Future Prey Behavior

    PubMed Central

    Catania, Kenneth C.

    2010-01-01

    Background Aquatic tentacled snakes (Erpeton tentaculatus) can take advantage of their prey's escape response by startling fish with their body before striking. The feint usually startles fish toward the snake's approaching jaws. But when fish are oriented at a right angle to the jaws, the C-start escape response translates fish parallel to the snake's head. To exploit this latter response, snakes must predict the future location of the fish. Adult snakes can make this prediction. Is it learned, or are tentacled snakes born able to predict future fish behavior? Methods and Findings Laboratory-born, naïve snakes were investigated as they struck at fish. Trials were recorded at 250 or 500 frames per second. To prevent learning, snakes were placed in a water container with a clear transparency sheet or glass bottom. The chamber was placed over a channel in a separate aquarium with fish below. Thus snakes could see and strike at fish, without contact. The snake's body feint elicited C-starts in the fish below the transparency sheet, allowing strike accuracy to be quantified in relationship to the C-starts. When fish were oriented at a right angle to the jaws, naïve snakes biased their strikes to the future location of the escaping fish's head, such that the snake's jaws and the fish's translating head usually converged. Several different types of predictive strikes were observed. Conclusions The results show that some predators have adapted their nervous systems to directly compensate for the future behavior of prey in a sensory realm that usually requires learning. Instead of behavior selected during their lifetime, newborn tentacled snakes exhibit behavior that has been selected on a different scale—over many generations. Counter adaptations in fish are not expected, as tentacled snakes are rare predators exploiting fish responses that are usually adaptive. PMID:20585384

  9. Quantifying historical carbon and climate debts among nations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Matthews, H. Damon

    2016-01-01

    Contributions to historical climate change have varied substantially among nations. These differences reflect underlying inequalities in wealth and development, and pose a fundamental challenge to the implementation of a globally equitable climate mitigation strategy. This Letter presents a new way to quantify historical inequalities among nations using carbon and climate debts, defined as the amount by which national climate contributions have exceeded a hypothetical equal per-capita share over time. Considering only national CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion, accumulated carbon debts across all nations from 1990 to 2013 total 250 billion tonnes of CO2, representing 40% of cumulative world emissions since 1990. Expanding this to reflect the temperature response to a range of emissions, historical climate debts accrued between 1990 and 2010 total 0.11 °C, close to a third of observed warming over that period. Large fractions of this debt are carried by industrialized countries, but also by countries with high levels of deforestation and agriculture. These calculations could contribute to discussions of climate responsibility by providing a tangible way to quantify historical inequalities, which could then inform the funding of mitigation, adaptation and the costs of loss and damages in those countries that have contributed less to historical warming.

  10. The effects of response cost and species-typical behaviors on a daily time-place learning task.

    PubMed

    Deibel, Scott H; Thorpe, Christina M

    2013-03-01

    Two theories that have been hypothesized to mediate acquisition in daily time-place learning (TPL) tasks were investigated in a free operant daily TPL task: the response cost hypothesis and the species-typical behavior hypothesis. One lever at the end of one of the choice arms of a T-maze provided food in the morning, and 6 h later, a lever in the other choice arm provided food. Four groups were used to assess the effect of two possible sources of response cost: physical effort of the task and costs associated with foraging ecology. One group was used to assess the effect of explicitly allowing for species-typical behaviors. If only first arm choice data were considered, there was little evidence of learning. However, both first press and percentage of presses on the correct lever prior to the first reinforcement revealed evidence of TPL in most rats tested. Unexpectedly, the high response cost groups for both of the proposed sources did not perform better than the low response cost groups. The groups that allowed animals to display species-typical behaviors performed the worst. Skip session probe trials confirmed that the majority of the rats that acquired the task were using a circadian timing strategy. The results from the present study suggest that learning in free operant daily TPL tasks might not be dependent on response cost.

  11. Inhibition to excitation ratio regulates visual system responses and behavior in vivo.

    PubMed

    Shen, Wanhua; McKeown, Caroline R; Demas, James A; Cline, Hollis T

    2011-11-01

    The balance of inhibitory to excitatory (I/E) synaptic inputs is thought to control information processing and behavioral output of the central nervous system. We sought to test the effects of the decreased or increased I/E ratio on visual circuit function and visually guided behavior in Xenopus tadpoles. We selectively decreased inhibitory synaptic transmission in optic tectal neurons by knocking down the γ2 subunit of the GABA(A) receptors (GABA(A)R) using antisense morpholino oligonucleotides or by expressing a peptide corresponding to an intracellular loop of the γ2 subunit, called ICL, which interferes with anchoring GABA(A)R at synapses. Recordings of miniature inhibitory postsynaptic currents (mIPSCs) and miniature excitatory PSCs (mEPSCs) showed that these treatments decreased the frequency of mIPSCs compared with control tectal neurons without affecting mEPSC frequency, resulting in an ∼50% decrease in the ratio of I/E synaptic input. ICL expression and γ2-subunit knockdown also decreased the ratio of optic nerve-evoked synaptic I/E responses. We recorded visually evoked responses from optic tectal neurons, in which the synaptic I/E ratio was decreased. Decreasing the synaptic I/E ratio in tectal neurons increased the variance of first spike latency in response to full-field visual stimulation, increased recurrent activity in the tectal circuit, enlarged spatial receptive fields, and lengthened the temporal integration window. We used the benzodiazepine, diazepam (DZ), to increase inhibitory synaptic activity. DZ increased optic nerve-evoked inhibitory transmission but did not affect evoked excitatory currents, resulting in an increase in the I/E ratio of ∼30%. Increasing the I/E ratio with DZ decreased the variance of first spike latency, decreased spatial receptive field size, and lengthened temporal receptive fields. Sequential recordings of spikes and excitatory and inhibitory synaptic inputs to the same visual stimuli demonstrated that

  12. Behavioral Responses Associated with a Human-Mediated Predator Shelter

    PubMed Central

    Shannon, Graeme; Cordes, Line S.; Hardy, Amanda R.; Angeloni, Lisa M.; Crooks, Kevin R.

    2014-01-01

    Human activities in protected areas can affect wildlife populations in a similar manner to predation risk, causing increases in movement and vigilance, shifts in habitat use and changes in group size. Nevertheless, recent evidence indicates that in certain situations ungulate species may actually utilize areas associated with higher levels of human presence as a potential refuge from disturbance-sensitive predators. We now use four-years of behavioral activity budget data collected from pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) and elk (Cervus elephus) in Grand Teton National Park, USA to test whether predictable patterns of human presence can provide a shelter from predatory risk. Daily behavioral scans were conducted along two parallel sections of road that differed in traffic volume - with the main Teton Park Road experiencing vehicle use that was approximately thirty-fold greater than the River Road. At the busier Teton Park Road, both species of ungulate engaged in higher levels of feeding (27% increase in the proportion of pronghorn feeding and 21% increase for elk), lower levels of alert behavior (18% decrease for pronghorn and 9% decrease for elk) and formed smaller groups. These responses are commonly associated with reduced predatory threat. Pronghorn also exhibited a 30% increase in the proportion of individuals moving at the River Road as would be expected under greater exposure to predation risk. Our findings concur with the ‘predator shelter hypothesis’, suggesting that ungulates in GTNP use human presence as a potential refuge from predation risk, adjusting their behavior accordingly. Human activity has the potential to alter predator-prey interactions and drive trophic-mediated effects that could ultimately impact ecosystem function and biodiversity. PMID:24718624

  13. Responses to central oxotremorine and scopolamine support the cholinergic control of male mating behavior in hamsters.

    PubMed

    Floody, Owen R; Lusk, Laina G

    2013-04-01

    The responses of hamsters to intracranial injections of the cholinergic agonist oxotremorine (OXO) implicate cholinergic mechanisms in the medial preoptic area (MPOA) in the control of male mating behavior. To extend these observations, we ran three studies of responses to cholinergic drugs delivered singly or in combination to the vicinity of the MPOA. The first tested responses to OXO, confirming its ability to reduce the postejaculatory interval. The second complemented the first by examining responses to MPOA microinjections of the cholinergic antagonist scopolamine (SCO). These caused several changes revolving around intromission. These included increases in intromission frequency and ejaculation latency. They also included a change in the patterning of intromissions, marked by continuous strings without the usual separation by dismounts. The final study resembled the others in examining the effects of MPOA injections of OXO and SCO but focused on the ability of each drug to antagonize responses to the other. Most of the responses to OXO and SCO individually replicated earlier findings, though the measures examined here also permitted the description of effects on some noncopulatory sexual behaviors, specifically the male's inspection of the female. However, the most interesting results may be those suggesting asymmetry in the responses to the addition of the second drug: Whereas responses to OXO tended to be antagonized by SCO, OXO was less effective at counteracting responses to SCO. Though the explanation of this asymmetry is not completely clear, it is consistent with previous suggestions of differences in the affinities of these drugs for subtypes of muscarinic receptors. Therefore, it suggests that the cholinergic synapses and circuits controlling distinct elements of male behavior could differ in their dependence on these receptors. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. Behavioral responses and fluid regulation in male rats after combined dietary sodium deficiency and water deprivation.

    PubMed

    Lucia, Kimberly J; Curtis, Kathleen S

    2018-02-01

    Most investigators use a single treatment such as water deprivation or dietary sodium deficiency to evaluate thirst or sodium appetite, which underlie behavioral responses to body fluid challenges. The goal of the present experiments was to assess the effects of combined treatments in driving behaviors. Therefore, we evaluated the effect of combined overnight water deprivation and dietary sodium deficiency on water intake and salt intake by adult male rats in 2-bottle (0.5M NaCl and water) tests. Overnight water deprivation alone increased water intake, and 10days of dietary sodium deficiency increased 0.5M NaCl intake, with a secondary increase in water intake. During combined water deprivation and dietary sodium deficiency, water intake was enhanced and 0.5M NaCl was reduced, but not eliminated, suggesting that physiologically relevant behavioral responses persist. Nonetheless, the pattern of fluid intake was altered by the combined treatments. We also assessed the effect of these behaviors on induced deficits in body sodium and fluid volume during combined treatments and found that, regardless of treatment, fluid ingestion partially repleted the induced deficits. Finally, we examined urine volume and sodium excretion during dietary sodium deficiency with or without overnight water deprivation and found that, whether or not rats were water deprived, and regardless of water consumption, sodium excretion was minimal. Thus, the combination of water deprivation and dietary sodium deficiency appears to arouse drives that stimulate compensatory behavioral responses. These behaviors, in conjunction with physiological adaptations to the treatments, underlie body sodium and volume repletion in the face of combined water deprivation and dietary sodium deficiency. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Methods Used to Evaluate Pain Behaviors in Rodents

    PubMed Central

    Deuis, Jennifer R.; Dvorakova, Lucie S.; Vetter, Irina

    2017-01-01

    Rodents are commonly used to study the pathophysiological mechanisms of pain as studies in humans may be difficult to perform and ethically limited. As pain cannot be directly measured in rodents, many methods that quantify “pain-like” behaviors or nociception have been developed. These behavioral methods can be divided into stimulus-evoked or non-stimulus evoked (spontaneous) nociception, based on whether or not application of an external stimulus is used to elicit a withdrawal response. Stimulus-evoked methods, which include manual and electronic von Frey, Randall-Selitto and the Hargreaves test, were the first to be developed and continue to be in widespread use. However, concerns over the clinical translatability of stimulus-evoked nociception in recent years has led to the development and increasing implementation of non-stimulus evoked methods, such as grimace scales, burrowing, weight bearing and gait analysis. This review article provides an overview, as well as discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of the most commonly used behavioral methods of stimulus-evoked and non-stimulus-evoked nociception used in rodents. PMID:28932184

  16. Behavioral and genetic correlates of the neural response to infant crying among human fathers.

    PubMed

    Mascaro, Jennifer S; Hackett, Patrick D; Gouzoules, Harold; Lori, Adriana; Rilling, James K

    2014-11-01

    Although evolution has shaped human infant crying and the corresponding response from caregivers, there is marked variation in paternal involvement and caretaking behavior, highlighting the importance of understanding the neurobiology supporting optimal paternal responses to cries. We explored the neural response to infant cries in fathers of children aged 1-2, and its relationship with hormone levels, variation in the androgen receptor (AR) gene, parental attitudes and parental behavior. Although number of AR CAG trinucleotide repeats was positively correlated with neural activity in brain regions important for empathy (anterior insula and inferior frontal gyrus), restrictive attitudes were inversely correlated with neural activity in these regions and with regions involved with emotion regulation (orbitofrontal cortex). Anterior insula activity had a non-linear relationship with paternal caregiving, such that fathers with intermediate activation were most involved. These results suggest that restrictive attitudes may be associated with decreased empathy and emotion regulation in response to a child in distress, and that moderate anterior insula activity reflects an optimal level of arousal that supports engaged fathering. © The Author (2013). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  17. Combining the test of memory malingering trial 1 with behavioral responses improves the detection of effort test failure.

    PubMed

    Denning, John Henry

    2014-01-01

    Validity measures derived from the Test of Memory Malingering Trial 1 (TOMM1) and errors across the first 10 items of TOMM1 (TOMMe10) may be further enhanced by combining these scores with "embedded" behavioral responses while patients complete these measures. In a sample of nondemented veterans (n = 151), five possible behavioral responses observed during completion of the first 10 items of the TOMM were combined with TOMM1 and TOMMe10 to assess any increased sensitivity in predicting Medical Symptom Validity Test (MSVT) performance. Both TOMM1 and TOMMe10 alone were highly accurate overall in predicting MSVT performance (TOMM1 [area under the curve (AUC)] = .95, TOMMe10 [AUC] = .92). The combination of TOMM measures and behavioral responses did not increase overall accuracy rates; however, when specificity was held at approximately 90%, there was a slight increase in sensitivity (+7%) for both TOMM measures when combined with the number of "point and name" responses. Examples are provided demonstrating that at a given TOMM score (TOMM1 or TOMMe10), with an increase in "point and name" responses, there is an incremental increase in the probability of failing the MSVT. Exploring the utility of combining freestanding or embedded validity measures with behavioral features during test administration should be encouraged.

  18. Figure–ground discrimination behavior in Drosophila. I. Spatial organization of wing-steering responses

    PubMed Central

    Fox, Jessica L.; Aptekar, Jacob W.; Zolotova, Nadezhda M.; Shoemaker, Patrick A.; Frye, Mark A.

    2014-01-01

    The behavioral algorithms and neural subsystems for visual figure–ground discrimination are not sufficiently described in any model system. The fly visual system shares structural and functional similarity with that of vertebrates and, like vertebrates, flies robustly track visual figures in the face of ground motion. This computation is crucial for animals that pursue salient objects under the high performance requirements imposed by flight behavior. Flies smoothly track small objects and use wide-field optic flow to maintain flight-stabilizing optomotor reflexes. The spatial and temporal properties of visual figure tracking and wide-field stabilization have been characterized in flies, but how the two systems interact spatially to allow flies to actively track figures against a moving ground has not. We took a systems identification approach in flying Drosophila and measured wing-steering responses to velocity impulses of figure and ground motion independently. We constructed a spatiotemporal action field (STAF) – the behavioral analog of a spatiotemporal receptive field – revealing how the behavioral impulse responses to figure tracking and concurrent ground stabilization vary for figure motion centered at each location across the visual azimuth. The figure tracking and ground stabilization STAFs show distinct spatial tuning and temporal dynamics, confirming the independence of the two systems. When the figure tracking system is activated by a narrow vertical bar moving within the frontal field of view, ground motion is essentially ignored despite comprising over 90% of the total visual input. PMID:24198267

  19. Behavioral responses of Magellanic Penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) (Foster) to saltwater versus freshwater.

    PubMed

    Reisfeld, Laura; Moraes, Kaue; Spaulussi, Lygia; Cardoso, Ricardo Cesar; Ippolito, Laura; Gutierrez, Rafael; Silvatti, Bruna; Pizzutto, Cristiane Schilbach

    2013-01-01

    The most common penguin species found along the coast of Brazil is the Magellanic Penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus). These penguins spend most of their time foraging for food in the oceans. This information is vital to the maintenance of this species in captivity. The goal of this study was to evaluate the behavioral response of a group of Magellanic Penguins (S. magellanicus) in two different conditions of water--fresh and salt. The work was divided into two phases. First, animals were kept in enclosures with access to freshwater. Then they were housed with access to saltwater. Behaviors were recorded by scan sampling per interval of time, totaling 7,200 records for each animal. The results show that the use of saltwater for this group of animals kept in captivity was more effective for increasing the time the animals spent in the water, increasing foraging behavior, stimulating swimming, and providing display of typical behaviors of the species, showing that access to a saltwater environment is an important tool in trying to provide well-being for this species in captivity. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  20. Techniques for measuring animal physiological and behavioral responses with respect to the environment

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Environmental effects cause animal production inefficiencies and animal well-being issues. Thus, many experiments have been designed to understand thermal stress and to test different means to relieve it. There are multiple physiological responses and behavior/activities that can be measured to di...

  1. The Quantified Self: Fundamental Disruption in Big Data Science and Biological Discovery.

    PubMed

    Swan, Melanie

    2013-06-01

    A key contemporary trend emerging in big data science is the quantified self (QS)-individuals engaged in the self-tracking of any kind of biological, physical, behavioral, or environmental information as n=1 individuals or in groups. There are opportunities for big data scientists to develop new models to support QS data collection, integration, and analysis, and also to lead in defining open-access database resources and privacy standards for how personal data is used. Next-generation QS applications could include tools for rendering QS data meaningful in behavior change, establishing baselines and variability in objective metrics, applying new kinds of pattern recognition techniques, and aggregating multiple self-tracking data streams from wearable electronics, biosensors, mobile phones, genomic data, and cloud-based services. The long-term vision of QS activity is that of a systemic monitoring approach where an individual's continuous personal information climate provides real-time performance optimization suggestions. There are some potential limitations related to QS activity-barriers to widespread adoption and a critique regarding scientific soundness-but these may be overcome. One interesting aspect of QS activity is that it is fundamentally a quantitative and qualitative phenomenon since it includes both the collection of objective metrics data and the subjective experience of the impact of these data. Some of this dynamic is being explored as the quantified self is becoming the qualified self in two new ways: by applying QS methods to the tracking of qualitative phenomena such as mood, and by understanding that QS data collection is just the first step in creating qualitative feedback loops for behavior change. In the long-term future, the quantified self may become additionally transformed into the extended exoself as data quantification and self-tracking enable the development of new sense capabilities that are not possible with ordinary senses. The

  2. Probability distributions of whisker-surface contact: quantifying elements of the rat vibrissotactile natural scene.

    PubMed

    Hobbs, Jennifer A; Towal, R Blythe; Hartmann, Mitra J Z

    2015-08-01

    Analysis of natural scene statistics has been a powerful approach for understanding neural coding in the auditory and visual systems. In the field of somatosensation, it has been more challenging to quantify the natural tactile scene, in part because somatosensory signals are so tightly linked to the animal's movements. The present work takes a step towards quantifying the natural tactile scene for the rat vibrissal system by simulating rat whisking motions to systematically investigate the probabilities of whisker-object contact in naturalistic environments. The simulations permit an exhaustive search through the complete space of possible contact patterns, thereby allowing for the characterization of the patterns that would most likely occur during long sequences of natural exploratory behavior. We specifically quantified the probabilities of 'concomitant contact', that is, given that a particular whisker makes contact with a surface during a whisk, what is the probability that each of the other whiskers will also make contact with the surface during that whisk? Probabilities of concomitant contact were quantified in simulations that assumed increasingly naturalistic conditions: first, the space of all possible head poses; second, the space of behaviorally preferred head poses as measured experimentally; and third, common head poses in environments such as cages and burrows. As environments became more naturalistic, the probability distributions shifted from exhibiting a 'row-wise' structure to a more diagonal structure. Results also reveal that the rat appears to use motor strategies (e.g. head pitches) that generate contact patterns that are particularly well suited to extract information in the presence of uncertainty. © 2015. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

  3. Preterm infants' sympathetic arousal and associated behavioral responses to sound stimuli in the neonatal intensive care unit.

    PubMed

    Salavitabar, Arash; Haidet, Kim Kopenhaver; Adkins, Cherie S; Susman, Elizabeth J; Palmer, Charles; Storm, Hanne

    2010-06-01

    To evaluate the utility of skin conductance (SC) as a measure of autonomic arousal to sound stimuli in preterm infants. A pilot cross-sectional, correlations study. Eleven preterm infants with a mean gestational age of 31.6 weeks without anomalies or conditions associated with neurodevelopmental delay composed the sample. On days 5-7 of life, the following infant responses were simultaneously recorded in response to naturally occurring sound stimuli in the NICU: real-time measurements of heart rate, respiratory rate, and oxygen saturations; sympathetic-mediated sweating via SC; and behavioral responses using the Newborn Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Program naturalistic observation. Baseline sound levels (BSL, <55 dBA) and high sound levels (HSL, >65 dBA) were measured to index patterns of response during a nonhandling period preceding care. Mean heart rate during precare was directly associated with higher SC increases to sound stimuli (r[10] = 0.697, P = .017). The SC during HSL was significantly higher than that during BSL (P < .0001). Males demonstrated higher SC increases to sound stimuli than females (P = .030). Changes in SC induced by increases in sound intensity were associated with lower attention responses (r[10] = -0.92, P < .0001) and lower summated behavioral responses (r[10] = -0.59, P = .054). SC provides a noninvasive, sensitive measure of sympathetic arousal that may not be apparent in behavioral cues or states, or determined by standard physiological responses alone.

  4. A new paradigm of quantifying ecosystem stress through chemical signatures

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

    Kravitz, Ben; Guenther, Alex B.; Gu, Lianhong

    Stress-induced emissions of biogenic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from terrestrial ecosystems may be one of the dominant sources of VOC emissions world-wide. Understanding the ecosystem stress response could reveal how ecosystems will respond and adapt to climate change and, in turn, quantify changes in the atmospheric burden of VOC oxidants and secondary organic aerosols. Here we argue, based on preliminary evidence from several opportunistic measurement sources, that chemical signatures of stress can be identified and quantified at the ecosystem scale. We also outline future endeavors that we see as next steps toward uncovering quantitative signatures of stress, including new advancesmore » in both VOC data collection and analysis of "big data."« less

  5. Quantifier Comprehension in Corticobasal Degeneration

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McMillan, Corey T.; Clark, Robin; Moore, Peachie; Grossman, Murray

    2006-01-01

    In this study, we investigated patients with focal neurodegenerative diseases to examine a formal linguistic distinction between classes of generalized quantifiers, like "some X" and "less than half of X." Our model of quantifier comprehension proposes that number knowledge is required to understand both first-order and higher-order quantifiers.…

  6. Dabbling duck behavior and aircraft activity in coastal North Carolina

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Conomy, J.T.; Collazo, J.A.; Dubovsky, J.A.; Fleming, W.J.

    1998-01-01

    Requests to increase military aircraft activity in some training facilities in the United States have prompted the need to determine if waterfowl and other wildlife are adversely affected by aircraft disturbance. We quantified behavioral responses of wintering American black ducks (Anas rubripes), American wigeon (A. americana), gadwall (A. strepera), and American green-winged teal (A. crecca carolinensis) exposed to low-level flying military aircrafts at Piney and Cedar islands, North Carolina, in 1991 and 1992. Waterfowl spent ???1.4% of their time responding to aircraft, which included flying, swimming, and alert behaviors. Mean duration of responses by species ranged from 10 to 40 sec. Costs to each species were deemed low because disruptions represented a low percentage of their time-activity budgets only a small proportion of birds reacted to disturbance (13/672; 2%); and the likelihood of resuming the activity disrupted by an aircraft disturbance event was high (64%). Recorded levels of aircraft disturbance (i.e., x?? = 85.1 dBA) were not adversely affecting the time-activity budgets of selected waterfowl species wintering at Piney and Cedar islands.

  7. Interplay between the local information based behavioral responses and the epidemic spreading in complex networks.

    PubMed

    Liu, Can; Xie, Jia-Rong; Chen, Han-Shuang; Zhang, Hai-Feng; Tang, Ming

    2015-10-01

    The spreading of an infectious disease can trigger human behavior responses to the disease, which in turn plays a crucial role on the spreading of epidemic. In this study, to illustrate the impacts of the human behavioral responses, a new class of individuals, S(F), is introduced to the classical susceptible-infected-recovered model. In the model, S(F) state represents that susceptible individuals who take self-initiate protective measures to lower the probability of being infected, and a susceptible individual may go to S(F) state with a response rate when contacting an infectious neighbor. Via the percolation method, the theoretical formulas for the epidemic threshold as well as the prevalence of epidemic are derived. Our finding indicates that, with the increasing of the response rate, the epidemic threshold is enhanced and the prevalence of epidemic is reduced. The analytical results are also verified by the numerical simulations. In addition, we demonstrate that, because the mean field method neglects the dynamic correlations, a wrong result based on the mean field method is obtained-the epidemic threshold is not related to the response rate, i.e., the additional S(F) state has no impact on the epidemic threshold.

  8. On the existence of a threshold for preventive behavioral responses to suppress epidemic spreading.

    PubMed

    Sahneh, Faryad Darabi; Chowdhury, Fahmida N; Scoglio, Caterina M

    2012-01-01

    The spontaneous behavioral responses of individuals to the progress of an epidemic are recognized to have a significant impact on how the infection spreads. One observation is that, even if the infection strength is larger than the classical epidemic threshold, the initially growing infection can diminish as the result of preventive behavioral patterns adopted by the individuals. In order to investigate such dynamics of the epidemic spreading, we use a simple behavioral model coupled with the individual-based SIS epidemic model where susceptible individuals adopt a preventive behavior when sensing infection. We show that, given any infection strength and contact topology, there exists a region in the behavior-related parameter space such that infection cannot survive in long run and is completely contained. Several simulation results, including a spreading scenario in a realistic contact network from a rural district in the State of Kansas, are presented to support our analytical arguments.

  9. Visual processing during recovery from vegetative state to consciousness: comparing behavioral indices to brain responses.

    PubMed

    Wijnen, V J M; Eilander, H J; de Gelder, B; van Boxtel, G J M

    2014-11-01

    Auditory stimulation is often used to evoke responses in unresponsive patients who have suffered severe brain injury. In order to investigate visual responses, we examined visual evoked potentials (VEPs) and behavioral responses to visual stimuli in vegetative patients during recovery to consciousness. Behavioral responses to visual stimuli (visual localization, comprehension of written commands, and object manipulation) and flash VEPs were repeatedly examined in eleven vegetative patients every two weeks for an average period of 2.6months, and patients' VEPs were compared to a healthy control group. Long-term outcome of the patients was assessed 2-3years later. Visual response scores increased during recovery to consciousness for all scales: visual localization, comprehension of written commands, and object manipulation. VEP amplitudes were smaller, and latencies were longer in the patient group relative to the controls. VEPs characteristics at first measurement were related to long-term outcome up to three years after injury. Our findings show the improvement of visual responding with recovery from the vegetative state to consciousness. Elementary visual processing is present, yet according to VEP responses, poorer in vegetative and minimally conscious state than in healthy controls, and remains poorer when patients recovered to consciousness. However, initial VEPs are related to long-term outcome. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  10. A Novel Ex Vivo Method for Visualizing Live-Cell Calcium Response Behavior in Intact Human Tumors.

    PubMed

    Koh, James; Hogue, Joyce A; Sosa, Julie A

    2016-01-01

    The functional impact of intratumoral heterogeneity has been difficult to assess in the absence of a means to interrogate dynamic, live-cell biochemical events in the native tissue context of a human tumor. Conventional histological methods can reveal morphology and static biomarker expression patterns but do not provide a means to probe and evaluate tumor functional behavior and live-cell responsiveness to experimentally controlled stimuli. Here, we describe an approach that couples vibratome-mediated viable tissue sectioning with live-cell confocal microscopy imaging to visualize human parathyroid adenoma tumor cell responsiveness to extracellular calcium challenge. Tumor sections prepared as 300 micron-thick tissue slices retain viability throughout a >24 hour observation period and retain the native architecture of the parental tumor. Live-cell observation of biochemical signaling in response to extracellular calcium challenge in the intact tissue slices reveals discrete, heterogeneous kinetic waveform categories of calcium agonist reactivity within each tumor. Plotting the proportion of maximally responsive tumor cells as a function of calcium concentration yields a sigmoid dose-response curve with a calculated calcium EC50 value significantly elevated above published reference values for wild-type calcium-sensing receptor (CASR) sensitivity. Subsequent fixation and immunofluorescence analysis of the functionally evaluated tissue specimens allows alignment and mapping of the physical characteristics of individual cells within the tumor to specific calcium response behaviors. Evaluation of the relative abundance of intracellular PTH in tissue slices challenged with variable calcium concentrations demonstrates that production of the hormone can be dynamically manipulated ex vivo. The capability of visualizing live human tumor tissue behavior in response to experimentally controlled conditions opens a wide range of possibilities for personalized ex vivo

  11. Behavioral responses of maned wolves (Chrysocyon brachyurus, Canidae) to different categories of environmental enrichment stimuli and their implications for successful reintroduction.

    PubMed

    Coelho, Carlyle Mendes; de Azevedo, Cristiano Schetini; Young, Robert John

    2012-01-01

    The maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus, Illiger, 1815, Canidae) is a threatened species that inhabits the cerrados of Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Captive maned wolves could be potentially used in reintroduction programs for species conservation; however, it is necessary that their behavior and cognitive abilities are conserved. Environmental enrichment is a tool used to stimulate captive animals and maintain a natural behavioral repertoire. To compare the variation of captive maned wolves' behavioral responses to environmental enrichment, we studied three maned wolves held by Belo Horizonte Zoo, Brazil. Foraging, interspecific, and intraspecific stimuli were offered to the animals and their responses were compared with a baseline and postenrichment treatments. The test was used to help in choosing which one of the three individuals would participate in a reintroduction project. The results showed that stimuli type did influence the animal's responses, and that individually wolves responded differently to foraging, interspecific, and intraspecific enrichment items (P80.05 for some behaviors in each enrichment category). The individual's personality seemed to influence their behavioral responses, with animals showing bold and shy responses, and this trait should be considered during decision makings for reintroduction. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  12. A behavioral economic analysis of the effect of next-day responsibilities on drinking.

    PubMed

    Gilbert, Lindsey J; Murphy, James G; Dennhardt, Ashley A

    2014-12-01

    Approximately 37% of college students report heavy episodic drinking (5 or more drinks in an occasion for men and 4 or more for women) in the past month. This pattern of drinking is often associated with high blood alcohol levels, accidents, injuries, and negative social and academic outcomes. There is a need for novel theoretical approaches to guide prevention efforts. Behavioral economics emphasizes the role of contextual determinants, such as drink price and the presence and amount of alternative reinforcement as determinants of drinking levels and has received strong empirical support in basic laboratory research. This translational research study used a hypothetical behavioral economic measure to investigate the impact of a variety of next-day responsibilities on night-before drinking intentions in a sample of first-year college students (N = 80; 50% female) who reported recent heavy episodic drinking. Drinking estimates were significantly lower in all of the responsibility conditions relative to the no-responsibility condition; internships were associated with the greatest reduction (d(rm) = 1.72), and earlier class times were associated with greater reductions in drinking intentions (d(rm) range = 1.22-1.35) than later class times (d(rm) range = 0.83-1.00). These results suggest that increasing morning responsibilities should be further investigated as a potential strategy to reduce drinking in college students.

  13. Appropriating Quantified Self Technologies to Support Elementary Statistical Teaching and Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lee, Victor R.; Drake, Joel R.; Thayne, Jeffrey L.

    2016-01-01

    Wearable activity tracking devices associated with the Quantified Self movement have potential benefit for educational settings because they produce authentic and granular data about activities and experiences already familiar to youth. This article explores how that potential could be realized through explicit acknowledgment of and response to…

  14. Quantifying the Interannual Variability in Global Carbon Fluxes from Heterotrophic Respiration using a Testbed and Pulse Response Modeling Approach.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Basile, S.; Wieder, W. R.; Hartman, M. D.; Keppel-Aleks, G.

    2017-12-01

    The atmospheric growth rate of carbon dioxide (CO2) varies interannually and is strongly correlated with climate factors, including temperature and drought. These climate drivers affect vegetation productivity and the rate of respiration of organic matter to CO2 (heterotrophic respiration). Here we quantified the interannual variability in global carbon fluxes from heterotrophic respiration and their relationship to climate drivers. We used a novel testbed approach to simulate respiration, then simulated the imprint that these modeled heterotrophic fluxes have on atmospheric CO2 using an idealized pulse response model. Two of the testbed formulations (MIMICS and CORPSE) are microbially explicit by incorporation of microbial physiological tradeoffs and microbial activity in soil near fine roots (rhizosphere soils), respectively, while the third model (CASA) uses a CENTURY-like microbially implicit framework. Modeled respiration exhibited subtle differences, with MIMICS showing the largest seasonal amplitude in the Northern Hemisphere and the strongest correlation with global temperature variations. At Mauna Loa (MLO) the simulated seasonal CO2 amplitude in response to global heterotrophic respiration ranged by a factor of 1.5 across the models with the MIMICS and CASA models producing the higher amplitude responses between 1987 and 2006. The seasonal CO2 amplitude at MLO varied by about 5% interannually, with the largest variation in the MIMICS model. In the Northern Hemisphere there was a similar response range in average peak-to-trough seasonal CO2 but all models showed slightly higher amplitude values. Comparatively in the Northern Hemisphere, the average seasonal CO2 amplitude in response to respiration ranged between 30%-41% of the seasonal CO2 amplitude in response to net primary productivity. We expect that exploring the imprint of heterotrophic respiration on atmospheric CO2 from these three different models will improve our understanding of the imprint that

  15. Toward True Integration of Academic and Behavior Response to Intervention Systems: Part Two--Tier 2 Support

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McIntosh, Kent; Goodman, Steve; Bohanon, Hank

    2010-01-01

    In the previous article in this series, the authors provided a rationale for integrating academic and behavior response to intervention (RTI) systems. Their rationale included: (1) research showing that challenges in academic and social behavior are linked; (2) a description of the common features that both RTI systems share; and (3) the…

  16. Detecting and interpreting conscious experiences in behaviorally non-responsive patients.

    PubMed

    Naci, Lorina; Sinai, Leah; Owen, Adrian M

    2017-01-15

    Decoding the contents of consciousness from brain activity is one of the most challenging frontiers of cognitive neuroscience. The ability to interpret mental content without recourse to behavior is most relevant for understanding patients who may be demonstrably conscious, but entirely unable to speak or move willfully in any way, precluding any systematic investigation of their conscious experience. The lack of consistent behavioral responsivity engenders unique challenges to decoding any conscious experiences these patients may have solely based on their brain activity. For this reason, paradigms that have been successful in healthy individuals cannot serve to interpret conscious mental states in this patient group. Until recently, patient studies have used structured instructions to elicit willful modulation of brain activity according to command, in order to decode the presence of willful brain-based responses in this patient group. In recent work, we have used naturalistic paradigms, such as watching a movie or listening to an audio-story, to demonstrate that a common neural code supports conscious experiences in different individuals. Moreover, we have demonstrated that this code can be used to interpret the conscious experiences of a patient who had remained non-responsive for several years. This approach is easy to administer, brief, and does not require compliance with task instructions. Rather, it engages attention naturally through meaningful stimuli that are similar to the real-world sensory information in a patient's environment. Therefore, it may be particularly suited to probing consciousness and revealing residual brain function in highly impaired, acute, patients in a comatose state, thus helping to improve diagnostication and prognostication for this vulnerable patient group from the critical early stages of severe brain-injury. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Linking Microstructural Changes to Bulk Behavior in Shear Disordered Matter

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Blair, Daniel

    Soft and biological materials often exhibit disordered and heterogeneous microstructure. In most cases, the transmission and distribution of stresses through these complex materials reflects their inherent heterogeneity. Through the combination of rheology and 4D imaging we can directly alter and quantify the connection between microstructure and local stresses. We subject soft and biological materials to precise shear deformations while measuring real space information about the distribution and redistribution of the applied stress.In this talk, I will focus on the flow behavior of two distinct but related disordered materials; a flowing compressed emulsion above its yield stress and a strained collagen network. In the emulsion system, I will present experimental and computational results on the dynamical response, at the level of individual droplets, that directly links the particle motion and deformation to the rheology. I will also present results that utilize boundary stress microscopy to quantify the spatial distribution of surface stresses that arise from sheared in-vitro collagen networks. I will outline our main conclusions which is that the strain stiffening behavior observed in collagen networks can be parameterized by a single characteristic strain and associated stress. This characteristic rheological signature seems to describe both the strain stiffening regime and network yielding. NSF DMR: 0847490.

  18. Costs of mounting an immune response during pregnancy in a lizard.

    PubMed

    Meylan, Sandrine; Richard, Murielle; Bauer, Sophie; Haussy, Claudy; Miles, Donald

    2013-01-01

    Immune defenses are of great benefit to hosts, but reducing the impact of infection by mounting an immune response also entails costs. However, the physiological mechanisms that generate the costs of an immune response remain poorly understood. Moreover, the majority of studies investigating the consequences of an immune challenge in vertebrates have been conducted on mammals and birds. The aim of this study is to investigate the physiological costs of mounting an immune response during gestation in an ectothermic species. Indeed, because ectothermic species are unable to internally regulate their body temperature, the apportionment of resources to homeostatic activities in ectothermic species can differ from that in endothermic species. We conducted this study on the common lizard Zootoca vivipara. We investigated the costs of mounting an immune response by injecting females with sheep red blood cells and quantified the consequences to reproductive performance (litter mass and success) and physiological performance (standard metabolic rate, endurance, and phytohemagglutinin response). In addition, we measured basking behavior. Our analyses revealed that mounting an immune response affected litter mass, physiological performance, and basking behavior. Moreover, we demonstrated that the modulation of an immune challenge is impacted by intrinsic factors, such as body size and condition.

  19. Diesel Emissions Quantifier (DEQ)

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    .The Diesel Emissions Quantifier (Quantifier) is an interactive tool to estimate emission reductions and cost effectiveness. Publications EPA-420-F-13-008a (420f13008a), EPA-420-B-10-035 (420b10023), EPA-420-B-10-034 (420b10034)

  20. Behavioral responses of Atlantic cod to sea temperature changes.

    PubMed

    Freitas, Carla; Olsen, Esben Moland; Moland, Even; Ciannelli, Lorenzo; Knutsen, Halvor

    2015-05-01

    Understanding responses of marine species to temperature variability is essential to predict impacts of future climate change in the oceans. Most ectotherms are expected to adjust their behavior to avoid extreme temperatures and minimize acute changes in body temperature. However, measuring such behavioral plasticity in the wild is challenging. Combining 4 years of telemetry-derived behavioral data on juvenile and adult (30-80 cm) Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), and in situ ocean temperature measurements, we found a significant effect of sea temperature on cod depth use and activity level in coastal Skagerrak. During summer, cod were found in deeper waters when sea surface temperature increased. Further, this effect of temperature was stronger on larger cod. Diel vertical migration, which consists in a nighttime rise to shallow feeding habitats, was stronger among smaller cod. As surface temperature increased beyond ∼15°C, their vertical migration was limited to deeper waters. In addition to larger diel vertical migrations, smaller cod were more active and travelled larger distances compared to larger specimens. Cold temperatures during winter tended, however, to reduce the magnitude of diel vertical migrations, as well as the activity level and distance moved by those smaller individuals. Our findings suggest that future and ongoing rises in sea surface temperature may increasingly deprive cod in this region from shallow feeding areas during summer, which may be detrimental for local populations of the species.

  1. Behavioral responses of Atlantic cod to sea temperature changes

    PubMed Central

    Freitas, Carla; Olsen, Esben Moland; Moland, Even; Ciannelli, Lorenzo; Knutsen, Halvor

    2015-01-01

    Understanding responses of marine species to temperature variability is essential to predict impacts of future climate change in the oceans. Most ectotherms are expected to adjust their behavior to avoid extreme temperatures and minimize acute changes in body temperature. However, measuring such behavioral plasticity in the wild is challenging. Combining 4 years of telemetry-derived behavioral data on juvenile and adult (30–80 cm) Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), and in situ ocean temperature measurements, we found a significant effect of sea temperature on cod depth use and activity level in coastal Skagerrak. During summer, cod were found in deeper waters when sea surface temperature increased. Further, this effect of temperature was stronger on larger cod. Diel vertical migration, which consists in a nighttime rise to shallow feeding habitats, was stronger among smaller cod. As surface temperature increased beyond ∼15°C, their vertical migration was limited to deeper waters. In addition to larger diel vertical migrations, smaller cod were more active and travelled larger distances compared to larger specimens. Cold temperatures during winter tended, however, to reduce the magnitude of diel vertical migrations, as well as the activity level and distance moved by those smaller individuals. Our findings suggest that future and ongoing rises in sea surface temperature may increasingly deprive cod in this region from shallow feeding areas during summer, which may be detrimental for local populations of the species. PMID:26045957

  2. Identification of an immune-responsive mesolimbocortical serotonergic system: Potential role in regulation of emotional behavior

    PubMed Central

    Lowry, C.A.; Hollis, J.H.; de Vries, A.; Pan, B.; Brunet, L.R.; Hunt, J.R.F.; Paton, J.F.R.; van Kampen, E.; Knight, D.M.; Evans, A.K.; Rook, G.A.W.; Lightman, S.L.

    2007-01-01

    Peripheral immune activation can have profound physiological and behavioral effects including induction of fever and sickness behavior. One mechanism through which immune activation or immunomodulation may affect physiology and behavior is via actions on brainstem neuromodulatory systems, such as serotonergic systems. We have found that peripheral immune activation with antigens derived from the nonpathogenic, saprophytic bacterium, Mycobacterium vaccae, activated a specific subset of serotonergic neurons in the interfascicular part of the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRI) of mice, as measured by quantification of c-Fos expression following intratracheal (12 h) or s.c. (6 h) administration of heat-killed, ultrasonically disrupted M. vaccae, or heat-killed, intact M. vaccae, respectively. These effects were apparent after immune activation by M. vaccae or its components but not by ovalbumin, which induces a qualitatively different immune response. The effects of immune activation were associated with increases in serotonin metabolism within the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, consistent with an effect of immune activation on mesolimbocortical serotonergic systems. The effects of M. vaccae administration on serotonergic systems were temporally associated with reductions in immobility in the forced swim test, consistent with the hypothesis that the stimulation of mesolimbocortical serotonergic systems by peripheral immune activation alters stress-related emotional behavior. These findings suggest that the immune-responsive subpopulation of serotonergic neurons in the DRI is likely to play an important role in the neural mechanisms underlying regulation of the physiological and pathophysiological responses to both acute and chronic immune activation, including regulation of mood during health and disease states. Together with previous studies, these findings also raise the possibility that immune stimulation activates a functionally and anatomically distinct subset of

  3. Behavioral and Psychophysiological Responsiveness During Child Feeding in Mothers with Histories of Eating Disorders: A Pilot Study

    PubMed Central

    Hoffman, Elizabeth R.; Hodges, Eric A.; Propper, Cathi; Postage, Pamela L.; Zipkin, Elana C.; Bentley, Margaret E.; Ward, Dianne S.; Hamer, Robert M.; Bulik, Cynthia M.

    2013-01-01

    The aim of this pilot project was to describe maternal responsiveness during child feeding in mothers with eating disorder histories through the combined use of observational, self-report, and physiologic methods. For this non-randomized cohort pilot study, 25 mothers with histories of eating disorders and 25 mothers with no history of an eating disorder with children ages 6–36 months were selected such that the groups were similar based on child age group (within 6 months) and child sex. Maternal behavioral responsiveness to child cues was assessed by video-recording and behavioral coding of both a free-play and feeding episode. Physiologic engagement was assessed through measurement of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) reactivity during free-play and feeding episodes. No differences were detected in observed behavioral responsiveness during feeding or free-play in mothers with eating disorder histories compared with controls. Mothers with eating disorder histories did report more parenting stress, increased anxiety, and exhibited a blunted physiologic stress response (less RSA reactivity) during both feeding and free-play interactions with their children. These results support future larger-scale investigations of RSA reactivity in mothers with eating disorders. PMID:24511180

  4. Effect of Compassion Meditation on Neuroendocrine, Innate Immune and Behavioral Responses to Psychosocial Stress

    PubMed Central

    Pace, Thaddeus W.W.; Negi, Lobsang Tenzin; Adame, Daniel D.; Cole, Steven P.; Sivilli, Teresa I.; Brown, Timothy D.; Issa, Michael J.; Raison, Charles L.

    2009-01-01

    Summary Meditation practices may impact physiological pathways that are modulated by stress and relevant to disease. While much attention has been paid to meditation practices that emphasize calming the mind, improving focused attention, or developing mindfulness, less is known about meditation practices that foster compassion. Accordingly, the current study examined the effect of compassion meditation on innate immune, neuroendocrine and behavioral responses to psychosocial stress and evaluated the degree to which engagement in meditation practice influenced stress-reactivity. Sixty-one healthy adults were randomized to 6 weeks of training in compassion meditation (n=33) or participation in a health discussion control group (n=28) followed by exposure to a standardized laboratory stressor (Trier Social Stress Test [TSST]). Physiologic and behavioral responses to the TSST were determined by repeated assessments of plasma concentrations of interleukin (IL)-6 and cortisol as well as total distress scores on the Profile of Mood States (POMS). No main effect of group assignment on TSST responses was found for IL-6, cortisol or POMS scores. However, within the meditation group, increased meditation practice was correlated with decreased TSST-induced IL-6 (rp =-0.46, p=0.008) and POMS distress scores (rp =-0.43, p=0.014). Moreover, individuals with meditation practice times above the median exhibited lower TSST-induced IL-6 and POMS distress scores compared to individuals below the median, who did not differ from controls. These data suggest that engagement in compassion meditation may reduce stress-induced immune and behavioral responses, although future studies are required to determine whether individuals who engage in compassion meditation techniques are more likely to exhibit reduced stress reactivity. PMID:18835662

  5. Contemplative/emotion training reduces negative emotional behavior and promotes prosocial responses.

    PubMed

    Kemeny, Margaret E; Foltz, Carol; Cavanagh, James F; Cullen, Margaret; Giese-Davis, Janine; Jennings, Patricia; Rosenberg, Erika L; Gillath, Omri; Shaver, Phillip R; Wallace, B Alan; Ekman, Paul

    2012-04-01

    Contemplative practices are believed to alleviate psychological problems, cultivate prosocial behavior and promote self-awareness. In addition, psychological science has developed tools and models for understanding the mind and promoting well-being. Additional effort is needed to combine frameworks and techniques from these traditions to improve emotional experience and socioemotional behavior. An 8-week intensive (42 hr) meditation/emotion regulation training intervention was designed by experts in contemplative traditions and emotion science to reduce "destructive enactment of emotions" and enhance prosocial responses. Participants were 82 healthy female schoolteachers who were randomly assigned to a training group or a wait-list control group, and assessed preassessment, postassessment, and 5 months after training completion. Assessments included self-reports and experimental tasks to capture changes in emotional behavior. The training group reported reduced trait negative affect, rumination, depression, and anxiety, and increased trait positive affect and mindfulness compared to the control group. On a series of behavioral tasks, the training increased recognition of emotions in others (Micro-Expression Training Tool), protected trainees from some of the psychophysiological effects of an experimental threat to self (Trier Social Stress Test; TSST), appeared to activate cognitive networks associated with compassion (lexical decision procedure), and affected hostile behavior in the Marital Interaction Task. Most effects at postassessment that were examined at follow-up were maintained (excluding positive affect, TSST rumination, and respiratory sinus arrhythmia recovery). Findings suggest that increased awareness of mental processes can influence emotional behavior, and they support the benefit of integrating contemplative theories/practices with psychological models and methods of emotion regulation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).

  6. Behavioral change in response to a statewide tobacco tax increase and differences across socioeconomic status.

    PubMed

    Parks, Michael J; Kingsbury, John H; Boyle, Raymond G; Choi, Kelvin

    2017-10-01

    Tobacco use is a leading behavioral risk factor for morbidity and mortality, and the tobacco epidemic disproportionately affects low-socioeconomic status (SES) populations. Taxation is effective for reducing cigarette use, and it is an effective population-based policy for reducing SES-related tobacco disparities. However, progress in implementing cigarette excise taxes has stalled across the United States, and there is a dearth of research on the full spectrum of behavioral shifts that result from taxes, particularly among low-SES populations. This project documents the impact of Minnesota's $1.75 cigarette tax increase implemented in 2013. Data come from the 2014 Minnesota Adult Tobacco Survey. Descriptive analyses and Latent Class Analysis (LCA) were used to provide a typology of the tax impact. From the LCA, six classes were identified, and 42% of respondents were classified as reporting action-oriented behavioral change related to the tax-8% reported sustained smoking abstinence. We found differential behavior change across levels of SES. Low-SES and medium/high-SES individuals were equally likely to report complete tobacco cessation, but the prevalence of daily smokers who reported action-oriented behavior without sustained cessation was nearly double for low-SES individuals. Smokers report a range of behavioral changes in response to cigarette taxes, with differences across SES. The majority of smokers, and particularly low-SES smokers, report behavioral steps toward quitting or achieving sustained tobacco cessation in response to cigarette taxes. Complementary population-based programs geared toward assisting individuals, especially low-SES individuals, to achieve continuous tobacco cessation could increase the reach and effectiveness of cigarette taxes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Physiological and Behavioral Responses of Dairy Cattle to the Introduction of Robot Scrapers.

    PubMed

    Doerfler, Renate L; Lehermeier, Christina; Kliem, Heike; Möstl, Erich; Bernhardt, Heinz

    2016-01-01

    Autonomous mobile robot scrapers are increasingly used in order to clean the floors on dairy farms. Given the complexity of robot scraper operation, stress may occur in cows due to unpredictability of the situation. Experiencing stress can impair animal welfare and, in the long term, the health and milk production of the cows. Therefore, this study addressed potential stress responses of dairy cattle to the robot scraper after introducing the autonomous mobile machine. Thirty-six cows in total were studied on three different farms to explore possible modifications in cardiac function, behavior, and adrenocortical activity. The research protocol on each farm consisted of four experimental periods including one baseline measurement without robot scraper operation followed by three test measurements, in which cows interacted with the robotic cleaning system. Interbeat intervals were recorded in order to calculate the heart rate variability (HRV) parameter RMSSD; behavior was observed to determine time budgets; and fecal samples were collected for analysis of the cortisol metabolites concentration. A statistical analysis was carried out using linear mixed-effects models. HRV decline immediately after the introduction of the robot scraper and modified behavior in the subsequent experimental periods indicated a stress response. The cortisol metabolites concentration remained constant. It is hypothesized that after the initial phase of decrease, HRV stabilized through the behavioral adjustments of the cows in the second part of the study. Persistent alterations in behavior gave rise to the assumption that the animals' habituation process to the robot scraper was not yet completed. In summary, the present study illustrated that the cows showed minor signs of disturbance toward the robotic cleaning system. Thus, our findings suggest that dairy cattle can largely adjust their behavior to avoid aversive effects on animal welfare. Additional research can provide further

  8. Antipsychotic dose modulates behavioral and neural responses to feedback during reinforcement learning in schizophrenia.

    PubMed

    Insel, Catherine; Reinen, Jenna; Weber, Jochen; Wager, Tor D; Jarskog, L Fredrik; Shohamy, Daphna; Smith, Edward E

    2014-03-01

    Schizophrenia is characterized by an abnormal dopamine system, and dopamine blockade is the primary mechanism of antipsychotic treatment. Consistent with the known role of dopamine in reward processing, prior research has demonstrated that patients with schizophrenia exhibit impairments in reward-based learning. However, it remains unknown how treatment with antipsychotic medication impacts the behavioral and neural signatures of reinforcement learning in schizophrenia. The goal of this study was to examine whether antipsychotic medication modulates behavioral and neural responses to prediction error coding during reinforcement learning. Patients with schizophrenia completed a reinforcement learning task while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging. The task consisted of two separate conditions in which participants accumulated monetary gain or avoided monetary loss. Behavioral results indicated that antipsychotic medication dose was associated with altered behavioral approaches to learning, such that patients taking higher doses of medication showed increased sensitivity to negative reinforcement. Higher doses of antipsychotic medication were also associated with higher learning rates (LRs), suggesting that medication enhanced sensitivity to trial-by-trial feedback. Neuroimaging data demonstrated that antipsychotic dose was related to differences in neural signatures of feedback prediction error during the loss condition. Specifically, patients taking higher doses of medication showed attenuated prediction error responses in the striatum and the medial prefrontal cortex. These findings indicate that antipsychotic medication treatment may influence motivational processes in patients with schizophrenia.

  9. Aquatic Toxic Analysis by Monitoring Fish Behavior Using Computer Vision: A Recent Progress

    PubMed Central

    Fu, Longwen; Liu, Zuoyi

    2018-01-01

    Video tracking based biological early warning system achieved a great progress with advanced computer vision and machine learning methods. Ability of video tracking of multiple biological organisms has been largely improved in recent years. Video based behavioral monitoring has become a common tool for acquiring quantified behavioral data for aquatic risk assessment. Investigation of behavioral responses under chemical and environmental stress has been boosted by rapidly developed machine learning and artificial intelligence. In this paper, we introduce the fundamental of video tracking and present the pioneer works in precise tracking of a group of individuals in 2D and 3D space. Technical and practical issues suffered in video tracking are explained. Subsequently, the toxic analysis based on fish behavioral data is summarized. Frequently used computational methods and machine learning are explained with their applications in aquatic toxicity detection and abnormal pattern analysis. Finally, advantages of recent developed deep learning approach in toxic prediction are presented. PMID:29849612

  10. Introspective responses to cues and motivation to reduce cigarette smoking influence state and behavioral responses to cue exposure.

    PubMed

    Veilleux, Jennifer C; Skinner, Kayla D

    2016-09-01

    In the current study, we aimed to extend smoking cue-reactivity research by evaluating delay discounting as an outcome of cigarette cue exposure. We also separated introspection in response to cues (e.g., self-reporting craving and affect) from cue exposure alone, to determine if introspection changes behavioral responses to cigarette cues. Finally, we included measures of quit motivation and resistance to smoking to assess motivational influences on cue exposure. Smokers were invited to participate in an online cue-reactivity study. Participants were randomly assigned to view smoking images or neutral images, and were randomized to respond to cues with either craving and affect questions (e.g., introspection) or filler questions. Following cue exposure, participants completed a delay discounting task and then reported state affect, craving, and resistance to smoking, as well as an assessment of quit motivation. We found that after controlling for trait impulsivity, participants who introspected on craving and affect showed higher delay discounting, irrespective of cue type, but we found no effect of response condition on subsequent craving (e.g., craving reactivity). We also found that motivation to quit interacted with experimental conditions to predict state craving and state resistance to smoking. Although asking about craving during cue exposure did not increase later craving, it resulted in greater delaying of discounted rewards. Overall, our findings suggest the need to further assess the implications of introspection and motivation on behavioral outcomes of cue exposure. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Using a computational model to quantify the potential impact of changing the placement of healthy beverages in stores as an intervention to "Nudge" adolescent behavior choice.

    PubMed

    Wong, Michelle S; Nau, Claudia; Kharmats, Anna Yevgenyevna; Vedovato, Gabriela Milhassi; Cheskin, Lawrence J; Gittelsohn, Joel; Lee, Bruce Y

    2015-12-23

    Product placement influences consumer choices in retail stores. While sugar sweetened beverage (SSB) manufacturers expend considerable effort and resources to determine how product placement may increase SSB purchases, the information is proprietary and not available to the public health and research community. This study aims to quantify the effect of non-SSB product placement in corner stores on adolescent beverage purchasing behavior. Corner stores are small privately owned retail stores that are important beverage providers in low-income neighborhoods--where adolescents have higher rates of obesity. Using data from a community-based survey in Baltimore and parameters from the marketing literature, we developed a decision-analytic model to simulate and quantify how placement of healthy beverage (placement in beverage cooler closest to entrance, distance from back of the store, and vertical placement within each cooler) affects the probability of adolescents purchasing non-SSBs. In our simulation, non-SSB purchases were 2.8 times higher when placed in the "optimal location"--on the second or third shelves of the front cooler--compared to the worst location on the bottom shelf of the cooler farthest from the entrance. Based on our model results and survey data, we project that moving non-SSBs from the worst to the optional location would result in approximately 5.2 million more non-SSBs purchased by Baltimore adolescents annually. Our study is the first to quantify the potential impact of changing placement of beverages in corner stores. Our findings suggest that this could be a low-cost, yet impactful strategy to nudge this population--highly susceptible to obesity--towards healthier beverage decisions.

  12. Anxiety Adversely Impacts Response to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Children with Chronic Pain.

    PubMed

    Cunningham, Natoshia Raishevich; Jagpal, Anjana; Tran, Susan T; Kashikar-Zuck, Susmita; Goldschneider, Kenneth R; Coghill, Robert C; Lynch-Jordan, Anne M

    2016-04-01

    To evaluate whether clinical anxiety in children presenting to a pediatric pain management center is associated with a poorer treatment response for those who completed pain-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). The total sample consisted of 175 children, 40 of whom completed CBT for chronic pain. The Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders was completed at initial evaluation and outcome measures (average pain intensity and the Functional Disability Inventory) were collected during the initial evaluation and at the end of CBT. Group differences in outcomes were examined following CBT. The role of anxiety in CBT initiation and completion was also explored. Presence of clinical anxiety was associated with greater initiation and/or completion of pain-focused CBT but also a poorer treatment response. Specifically, the group with subclinical anxiety exhibited a substantial reduction in pain intensity, and the group with clinical anxiety exhibited a more limited response to treatment (F [1, 36] = 13.68 P < .01). A similar effect was observed for Functional Disability Inventory, such that the group with clinical anxiety had a significantly smaller response to treatment (F [1, 38] = 4.33 P < .05). The difference in pain and disability between groups following CBT suggest moderate effects (Cohen d = 0.77 and 0.78, respectively). Although youths with clinical anxiety are more likely to start and/or complete pain-focused CBT, anxiety has an adverse impact on CBT treatment response in children with chronic pain. Identification of patients with anxiety and use of tailored behavioral interventions may improve clinical outcomes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Response expectancies, treatment credibility, and hypnotic suggestibility: mediator and moderator effects in hypnotic and cognitive-behavioral pain interventions.

    PubMed

    Milling, Leonard S; Shores, Jessica S; Coursen, Elizabeth L; Menario, Deanna J; Farris, Catherine D

    2007-04-01

    Several studies have shown that response expectancies are an important mechanism of popular psychological interventions for pain. However, there has been no research on whether response expectancies and treatment credibility independently mediate hypnotic and cognitive-behavioral pain interventions and whether the pattern of mediation is affected by experience with the interventions. Also, past research has indicated that hypnotic pain interventions may be moderated by hypnotic suggestibility. However, these studies have typically failed to measure the full range of suggestibility and have assessed pain reduction and suggestibility in the same experimental context, possibly inflating the association between these variables. To clarify the mediator role of response expectancies and treatment credibility, and the moderator role of hypnotic suggestibility in the hypnotic and cognitive-behavioral reduction of pain. Approximately 300 participants were assessed for suggestibility. Then, as part of an apparently unrelated experiment, 124 of these individuals received analogue cognitive-behavioral, hypnotic, or placebo control pain interventions. Response expectancies and credibility independently mediated treatment. The extent of mediation increased as participants gained more experience with the interventions. Suggestibility moderated treatment and was associated with relief only from the hypnotic intervention. Response expectancies and treatment credibility are unique mechanisms of hypnotic and cognitive-behavioral pain interventions. Hypnotic suggestibility predicts relief from hypnotic pain interventions and this association is not simply an artifact of measuring suggestibility and pain reduction in the same experimental context. The relationship between suggestibility and hypnotic pain reduction appears to be linear in nature.

  14. Responsiveness of a simple tool for assessing change in behavioral intention after continuing professional development activities.

    PubMed

    Légaré, France; Freitas, Adriana; Turcotte, Stéphane; Borduas, Francine; Jacques, André; Luconi, Francesca; Godin, Gaston; Boucher, Andrée; Sargeant, Joan; Labrecque, Michel

    2017-01-01

    Continuing professional development (CPD) activities are one way that new knowledge can be translated into changes in practice. However, few tools are available for evaluating the extent to which these activities change health professionals' behavior. We developed a questionnaire called CPD-Reaction for assessing the impact of CPD activities on health professionals' clinical behavioral intentions. We evaluated its responsiveness to change in behavioral intention and verified its acceptability among stakeholders. We enrolled 376 health professionals who completed CPD-Reaction before and immediately after attending a CPD activity. We contacted them three months later and asked them to self-report on any behavior change. We compared the mean rankings on each CPD-Reaction construct before and immediately after CPD activities. To estimate its predictive validity, we compared the median behavioral intention score (post-activity) of health professionals reporting a behavior change three months later with the median behavioral intention score of physicians who reported no change. We explored stakeholders' views on CPD-Reaction in semi-structured interviews. Participants were mostly family physicians (62.2%), with an average of 19 years of clinical practice. Post-activity, we observed an increase in intention-related scores for all constructs (P < 0.001) with the most appreciable for the construct beliefs about capabilities. A total of 313 participants agreed to be contacted at follow up, and of these only 69 (22%) reported back. Of these, 43 (62%) self-reported a behavior change. We observed no statistically significant difference in intention between health professionals who later reported a behavior change and those who reported no change (P = 0.30). Overall, CPD stakeholders found the CPD-Reaction questionnaire of interest and suggested potential solutions to perceived barriers to its implementation. The CPD-Reaction questionnaire seems responsive to change in

  15. Influence of Alcohol Use on Neural Response to Go/No-Go Task in College Drinkers

    PubMed Central

    Ahmadi, Aral; Pearlson, Godfrey D; Meda, Shashwath A; Dager, Alecia; Potenza, Marc N; Rosen, Rivkah; Austad, Carol S; Raskin, Sarah A; Fallahi, Carolyn R; Tennen, Howard; Wood, Rebecca M; Stevens, Michael C

    2013-01-01

    Impaired inhibition of prepotent motor response may represent an important risk factor for alcoholism. Alcohol use may also increase impulsive behavior, including impaired response inhibition. Little is known about the brain function underlying response inhibition among college-age drinkers based on their drinking patterns, despite college-age drinkers demonstrating high rates of alcohol-use disorders. Our major objective was to compare behavior and associated brain activity measured with fMRI during a response-inhibition task in matched heavy- and light-alcohol-drinking college students. Participants were light (N=36) and heavy (N=56) drinkers, aged 18–20 years. We characterized blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) responses, while participants performed an fMRI Go/No-Go task to quantify inhibitory behavior and brain activity. Behaviorally, group performance differences were observed for Go correct-hit and No-Go false-alarm reaction times with increased reaction times in heavy compared with light drinkers. During fMRI No-Go correct rejections, light drinkers exhibited greater BOLD response than did heavy drinkers in left supplementary motor area (SMA), bilateral parietal lobule, right hippocampus, bilateral middle frontal gyrus, left superior temporal gyrus, and cingulate gyrus/anterior cingulate cortex (Brodmann area 24). Group differences in Go/No-Go-related regional activations correlated with alcohol- and impulsivity-related measures. These findings suggest that heavy alcohol drinkers may have dysfunction in brain regions underlying attention and response inhibition, leading to diminished abilities to suppress prepotent responding. The extent to which these tendencies relate to impulsive decision-making and behaviors in real-life settings and may guide intervention development warrants additional investigation. PMID:23670589

  16. Vulnerability and behavioral response to ultraviolet radiation in the components of a foliar mite prey-predator system.

    PubMed

    Tachi, Fuyuki; Osakabe, Masahiro

    2012-12-01

    Ambient ultraviolet-B (UVB) radiation impacts plant-dwelling arthropods including herbivorous and predatory mites. However, the effects of UVB on prey-predator systems, such as that between the herbivorous spider mite and predatory phytoseiid mite, are poorly understood. A comparative study was conducted to determine the vulnerability and behavioral responses of these mites to ultraviolet (UV) radiation. First, we analyzed dose-response (cumulative irradiance-mortality) curves for the eggs of phytoseiid mites (Neoseiulus californicus, Neoseiulus womersleyi, and Phytoseiulus persimilis) and the spider mite (Tetranychus urticae) to UVB radiation from a UV lamp. This indicated that the phytoseiid mites were more vulnerable than the spider mite, although P. persimilis was slightly more tolerant than the other two phytoseiid mites. Second, we compared the avoidance behavior of adult female N. californicus and two spider mite species (T. urticae, a lower leaf surface user; Panonychus citri, an upper leaf surface user) in response to solar UV and visible light. N. californicus actively avoided both types of radiation, whereas P. citri showed only minimal avoidance behavior. T. urticae actively avoided UV as well as N. californicus but exhibited a slow response to visible light as well as P. citri. Such variation in vulnerability and avoidance behavior accounts for differences in the species adaptations to solar UVB radiation. This may be the primary factor determining habitat use among these mites on host plant leaves, subsequently affecting accessibility by predators and also intraguild competition.

  17. Vulnerability and behavioral response to ultraviolet radiation in the components of a foliar mite prey-predator system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tachi, Fuyuki; Osakabe, Masahiro

    2012-12-01

    Ambient ultraviolet-B (UVB) radiation impacts plant-dwelling arthropods including herbivorous and predatory mites. However, the effects of UVB on prey-predator systems, such as that between the herbivorous spider mite and predatory phytoseiid mite, are poorly understood. A comparative study was conducted to determine the vulnerability and behavioral responses of these mites to ultraviolet (UV) radiation. First, we analyzed dose-response (cumulative irradiance-mortality) curves for the eggs of phytoseiid mites ( Neoseiulus californicus, Neoseiulus womersleyi, and Phytoseiulus persimilis) and the spider mite ( Tetranychus urticae) to UVB radiation from a UV lamp. This indicated that the phytoseiid mites were more vulnerable than the spider mite, although P. persimilis was slightly more tolerant than the other two phytoseiid mites. Second, we compared the avoidance behavior of adult female N. californicus and two spider mite species ( T. urticae, a lower leaf surface user; Panonychus citri, an upper leaf surface user) in response to solar UV and visible light. N. californicus actively avoided both types of radiation, whereas P. citri showed only minimal avoidance behavior. T. urticae actively avoided UV as well as N. californicus but exhibited a slow response to visible light as well as P. citri. Such variation in vulnerability and avoidance behavior accounts for differences in the species adaptations to solar UVB radiation. This may be the primary factor determining habitat use among these mites on host plant leaves, subsequently affecting accessibility by predators and also intraguild competition.

  18. Vessel Noise Affects Beaked Whale Behavior: Results of a Dedicated Acoustic Response Study

    PubMed Central

    Pirotta, Enrico; Milor, Rachael; Quick, Nicola; Moretti, David; Di Marzio, Nancy; Tyack, Peter; Boyd, Ian; Hastie, Gordon

    2012-01-01

    Some beaked whale species are susceptible to the detrimental effects of anthropogenic noise. Most studies have concentrated on the effects of military sonar, but other forms of acoustic disturbance (e.g. shipping noise) may disrupt behavior. An experiment involving the exposure of target whale groups to intense vessel-generated noise tested how these exposures influenced the foraging behavior of Blainville’s beaked whales (Mesoplodon densirostris) in the Tongue of the Ocean (Bahamas). A military array of bottom-mounted hydrophones was used to measure the response based upon changes in the spatial and temporal pattern of vocalizations. The archived acoustic data were used to compute metrics of the echolocation-based foraging behavior for 16 targeted groups, 10 groups further away on the range, and 26 non-exposed groups. The duration of foraging bouts was not significantly affected by the exposure. Changes in the hydrophone over which the group was most frequently detected occurred as the animals moved around within a foraging bout, and their number was significantly less the closer the whales were to the sound source. Non-exposed groups also had significantly more changes in the primary hydrophone than exposed groups irrespective of distance. Our results suggested that broadband ship noise caused a significant change in beaked whale behavior up to at least 5.2 kilometers away from the vessel. The observed change could potentially correspond to a restriction in the movement of groups, a period of more directional travel, a reduction in the number of individuals clicking within the group, or a response to changes in prey movement. PMID:22880022

  19. The effect of training first-lactation heifers to the milking parlor on the behavioral reactivity to humans and the physiological and behavioral responses to milking and productivity.

    PubMed

    Sutherland, M A; Huddart, F J

    2012-12-01

    The objectives of this study were (1) to determine whether training heifers before calving would modulate the behavioral reactivity to humans and the behavioral and physiological responses to milking routines after calving, and (2) whether heifer temperament would affect this response. The behavioral reactivity of heifers to humans was assessed prepartum using 4 behavioral tests (restraint, exit speed, avoidance distance in the paddock and arena, and a voluntary approach test). These behavioral tests were repeated immediately after and 12 wk after training. Temperament was defined based on exit time from a restraint device, and heifers were denoted as either low (LR; n=20) or high (HR; n=20) responders. Two weeks before calving, half the LR and HR heifers were selected randomly for training to the milking parlor, whereas the other heifers were left undisturbed in the paddock. Training consisted of 4 sessions conducted over 2 consecutive days and involved introducing the heifers to the milking platform, associated noises, and human contact. During the first 5d of lactation, behavioral and physiological data were collected from all heifers, including behavior during cup attachment, plasma cortisol concentrations, and residual milk volumes. Milk production data were collected over the entire lactation period. Training reduced the avoidance distance of LR but not HR heifers, and trained HR heifers stepped more than trained LR heifers during a restraint test. The behavioral response of heifers to the restraint test was positively correlated with milk yield, milking duration, and residual milk volume. Trained LR heifers flinched, stepped, and kicked more during attachment of milking clusters than did untrained LR heifers. During the first week of lactation, total milk yield was lower in trained than untrained HR heifers, and maximum flow rates were higher and residual milk volumes were lower in trained than untrained heifers, irrespective of heifer temperament. Plasma

  20. Culturally Responsive Pyramid Model Practices: Program-Wide Positive Behavior Support for Young Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Allen, Rosemarie; Steed, Elizabeth A.

    2016-01-01

    This conceptual article reviews current research on racial disparities in disciplinary practices in early childhood education and work to address these issues within a positive behavior support (PBS) framework. Building largely on the Pyramid Model, recommendations and a culturally responsive approach are suggested for use within a program-wide…