The potential of virtual fencing technology to facilitate sustainable livestock grazing management.

Virtual fencing (VF) technology is gaining interest due to its potential to facilitate sustainable grazing management. It allows farmers to contain grazing livestock without physical fences, thereby reducing the time and labour associated with the implementation of conventional fences. From a conservation perspective, some sensitive areas within uplands should not be grazed during certain periods of the year, and VF provides an invisible and moveable fence line that can exclude livestock from these areas.

Hermit crabs as model species for investigating the behavioural responses to pollution.

Human impacts on the environment affect organisms at all levels of biological organisation and ultimately can change their phenotype. Over time, phenotypic change may arise due to selection but individual phenotypes are also subject to change via genotype × environment interactions. In animals, behaviour is the most flexible aspect of phenotype, and hence the most liable to change across environmental gradients including exposure to pollution.

Third-party intervention and post-conflict behaviour in agonistic encounters of pigs (Sus scrofa).

Background: Third-party interference in agonistic contests entails a deliberate intervention in an ongoing fight by a bystanding individual (third party) and may be followed by post-conflict social behaviour to provide support to a specific individual. The mechanisms behind third-party intervention are, however, still largely understudied. The aim of this study was to investigate third-party interference, with the predictions that (1) the interferer derives benefits from its action by winning a fight, (2) that patterns of intervention depend on familiarity, (3) that dyadic fights last longer than triadic fights, and (4) that interferers engage in non-agonistic social behaviours afterwards.

Complex strategies: an integrative analysis of contests in Siamese fighting fish.

Background: Animals use contests to attain resources and employ strategic decisions to minimise contest costs. These decisions are defined by behavioural response to resource value and competitive ability, but remain poorly understood. This is because the two factors are typically studied separately.

Short-Term Microplastic Exposure Impairs Cognition in Hermit Crabs.

We tested whether acute microplastic exposure impacts information gathering and processing (cognition) in hermit crabs (). For five days, we kept 51 hermit crabs in tanks containing either polyethylene microspheres ( = 27) or no plastic ( = 24). We then transferred individuals into an intermediate-quality shell and presented them with two vials containing either a better or worse shell.

Human rights-based accountability for sexual and reproductive health and rights in humanitarian settings: Findings from a pilot study in northern Uganda.

Ensuring accountability for the realization of sexual and reproductive health and rights is a human rights obligation and central tenet of strategies to improve health systems and outcomes in humanitarian settings. This pilot study explored the feasibility and acceptability of deploying human rights strategies, specifically through a participatory community-led complaints mechanism, to hold humanitarian health systems to account for the sexual and reproductive health and rights of refugee and host community women and girls in northern Uganda. Over a fifteen-month period we conducted a multi-methods exploratory study with refugee and host community rights-holders and duty-bearers using longitudinal in-depth interviews, focus groups, and secondary data document review.

Correction: McEvoy et al. Canine Socialisation: A Narrative Systematic Review. 2022, , 2895.

The authors wish to make the following corrections to this paper [...

The Effect of Transportation on Puppy Welfare from Commercial Breeding Kennels to a Distributor.

Many puppies from commercial breeding kennels (CBKs) are transported by ground from their kennels of origin to a distributor. This experience may elicit fear and stress during a sensitive developmental period, which may in turn negatively impact the puppies’ short- and long-term welfare. This study aimed to measure short-term effects of transportation on puppy welfare metrics.

Canine Socialisation: A Narrative Systematic Review.

There are over 10 million pet dogs in the UK alone, and they have become a member of modern human families. If not properly socialised as puppies, dogs have a higher risk of problematic behaviours during adulthood, yet socialisation studies are lacking. Much of the experimental research was carried out at least 50 years ago, and the importance of socialisation was demonstrated so clearly that further studies with unsocialised controls would be deemed unethical.

The effects of noncontingent reinforcement on an arbitrary response in domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris).

Noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) procedures entail the response-independent, time-based delivery of a reinforcer (e.g., delivery of a reinforcer on a fixed-time 15 s schedule - FT 15 s).

The effect of repeated testing on judgement bias in domestic dogs (Canis familiaris).

Judgement bias paradigms are increasingly being used as a measure of affective state in dogs. Approach to an ambiguous stimulus is commonly used as a measure of affect, however, this may also be influenced by learning. This study directly measured the impact of learning on a commonly used judgement bias paradigm in the absence of an affective state manipulation.

Does microplastic exposure and sex influence shell selection and motivation in the common European hermit crab, Pagurus bernhardus?

Microplastics (<5 mm) are a threat to marine biodiversity however their effects on animal cognition and behaviour are unclear. We investigated whether microplastic exposure affects shell selection behaviour and motivation in the common European hermit crab, Pagurus bernhardus. Subjects were maintained for 5 days in tanks containing either: polyethylene microplastic spheres (n = 40), or no plastic (n = 40).

Social behavior in farm animals: Applying fundamental theory to improve animal welfare.

A fundamental understanding of behavior is essential to improving the welfare of billions of farm animals around the world. Despite living in an environment managed by humans, farm animals are still capable of making important behavioral decisions that influence welfare. In this review, we focus on social interactions as perhaps the most dynamic and challenging aspects of the lives of farm animals.

Factors influencing ease of whelping and its relationship with maternal behaviour and puppy perinatal mortality in commercially bred dogs.

For dog breeders, parturition is a critical stage in the reproductive cycle of the dam. Evidence in other mammals suggests that a difficult labour can influence maternal behaviour and offspring viability during the first hours postpartum. However, the effect of whelping difficulty on the onset of maternal behaviour has not yet been investigated in domestic dogs.

Pasture access and eye temperature in dairy cows.

Pasture access can benefit dairy cows' behavior, health, and welfare, but herds are increasingly housed indoors full-time. Recent infrared thermal-imaging (thermography) studies suggest that higher eye temperatures may be a physiological indicator of chronic stress. We, therefore, hypothesized that, compared to cows with pasture access, cows housed indoors full-time would have higher eye temperatures.

Microplastics and Their Impact on Reproduction-Can we Learn From the Model?

Biologically active environmental pollutants have significant impact on ecosystems, wildlife, and human health. Microplastic (MP) and nanoplastic (NP) particles are pollutants that are present in the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems at virtually every level of the food chain. Moreover, recently, airborne microplastic particles have been shown to reach and potentially damage respiratory systems.

Adsorption to the Surface of Hemozoin Crystals: Structure-Based Design and Synthesis of Amino-Phenoxazine β-Hematin Inhibitors.

In silico adsorption of eight antimalarials that inhibit β-hematin (synthetic hemozoin) formation identified a primary binding site on the (001) face, which accommodates inhibitors via formation of predominantly π-π interactions. A good correlation (r =0.64, P=0.

Sexual dimorphism in ritualized agonistic behaviour, fighting ability and contest costs of Sus scrofa.

Background: Sexual selection has driven sexual dimorphism in agonistic behaviour in many species. Agonistic behaviour is fundamentally altered by domestication and captivity, but it is unclear whether ancestral sex differences remain. We aimed to evaluate the effect of sex on agonistic behaviour, fighting ability and contest costs.

Social accountability as a strategy to promote sexual and reproductive health entitlements for stigmatized issues and populations.

Social accountability is often put forward as a strategy to promote health rights, but we lack a programmatic evidence base on if, when, and how social accountability strategies can be used to promote access to quality Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) care for stigmatized populations and/or stigmatized issues. In this Commentary, we discuss the potential advantages and disadvantages of social accountability strategies in promoting the availability of a full range of SRH services for excluded and historically oppressed populations. We accomplish this by describing four programs that sought to promote access to quality SRH care for stigmatized populations and/or stigmatized services.

Behavioural traits of rainbow trout and brown trout may help explain their differing invasion success and impacts.

Animal behaviour is increasingly recognised as critical to the prediction of non-native species success and impacts. Rainbow trout and brown trout have been introduced globally, but there appear to be differences in their patterns of invasiveness and ecological impact. Here, we investigated whether diploid rainbow trout and diploid and triploid brown trout differ among several key behavioural measures linked to invasiveness and impact.

Once bitten, twice shy: Aggressive and defeated pigs begin agonistic encounters with more negative emotions.

Aggression between unfamiliar commercial pigs is common and likely invokes strong emotions in contestants. Furthermore, contest outcomes affect subsequent aggressive behaviour, suggesting a potential lasting influence on affective state. Here we used a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods to assess the emotional expression of pigs in agonistic encounters.

Animal contests and microplastics: evidence of disrupted behaviour in hermit crabs .

Microplastics are ubiquitous in global marine systems and may have negative impacts on a vast range of species. Recently, microplastics were shown to impair shell selection assessments in hermit crabs, an essential behaviour for their survival. Hermit crabs also engage in 'rapping' contests over shells, based on cognitive assessments of shell quality and opponent fighting ability and, hence, are a useful model species for examining the effects of microplastics on fitness-relevant behaviour in marine systems.

Facile synthesis of a -symmetrical inherently chiral calix[4]arene.

Inherently chiral calix[4]arenes with -symmetry are extremely rare and difficult to synthesise, severely hampering any effort to expand on their potential as chiral supramolecular catalysts and building blocks. Herein we report a reaction of a tetracarbamate calix[4]arene with NBS which results in a high yield of an inherently chiral calix[4]arenes with -symmetry. Furthermore, employing a chiral -Boc proline moiety allows for separation of the diastereomers formed, thus obtaining the pure enantiomers after hydrolysis.