On the lack of evidence that non-human animals possess anything remotely resembling a 'theory of mind'

After decades of effort by some of our brightest human and non-human minds, there is still little consensus on whether or not non-human animals understand anything about the unobservable mental states of other animals or even what it would mean for a non-verbal animal to understand the concept of a ‘mental state’. In the present paper, we confront four related and contentious questions head-on: (i) What exactly would it mean for a non-verbal organism to have an ‘understanding’ or a ‘representation’ of another animal''s mental state? (ii) What should (and should not) count as compelling empirical evidence that a non-verbal cognitive agent has a system for understanding or forming representations about mental states in a functionally adaptive manner? (iii) Why have the kind of experimental protocols that are currently in vogue failed to produce compelling evidence that non-human animals possess anything even remotely resembling a theory of mind? (iv) What kind of experiments could, at least in principle, provide compelling evidence for such a system in a non-verbal organism?     

Wild justice and fair play: cooperation,forgiveness, and morality in animals

In this paper I argue that we can learn much about ‘wild justice’ and the evolutionary origins of social morality – behaving fairly – by studying social play behavior in group-living animals, and that interdisciplinary cooperation will help immensely. In our efforts to learn more about the evolution of morality we need to broaden our comparative research to include animals other than non-human primates. If one is a good Darwinian, it is premature to claim that only humans can be empathic and moral beings. By asking the question ‘What is it like to be another animal?’ we can discover rules of engagement that guide animals in their social encounters. When I study dogs, for example, I try to be a ‘dogocentrist’ and practice ‘dogomorphism.’ My major arguments center on the following ‘big’ questions: Can animals be moral beings or do they merely act as if they are? What are the evolutionary roots of cooperation, fairness, trust, forgiveness, and morality? What do animals do when they engage in social play? How do animals negotiate agreements to cooperate, to forgive, to behave fairly, to develop trust? Can animals forgive? Why cooperate and play fairly? Why did play evolve as it has? Does ‘being fair’ mean being more fit – do individual variations in play influence an individual's reproductive fitness, are more virtuous individuals more fit than less virtuous individuals? What is the taxonomic distribution of cognitive skills and emotional capacities necessary for individuals to be able to behave fairly, to empathize, to behave morally? Can we use information about moral behavior in animals to help us understand ourselves? I conclude that there is strong selection for cooperative fair play in which individuals establish and maintain a social contract to play because there are mutual benefits when individuals adopt this strategy and group stability may be also be fostered. Numerous mechanisms have evolved to facilitate the initiation and maintenance of social play to keep others engaged, so that agreeing to play fairly and the resulting benefits of doing so can be readily achieved. I also claim that the ability to make accurate predictions about what an individual is likely to do in a given social situation is a useful litmus test for explaining what might be happening in an individual's brain during social encounters, and that intentional or representational explanations are often important for making these predictions.     

Controversial aspects of oncogene-induced senescence

Oncogene-induced senescence (OIS) is a fail-safe mechanism that is developed to suppress cell proliferation caused by aberrant activation of oncoproteins in normal cells. Most of the available literature considers senescence to be caused by activated RAS or RAF proteins. In the current review, we will discuss some of the controversial aspects of RAS- or RAF-induced senescence in different types of normal cells: are tumor suppressors important for OIS? What is the role of DNA damage in OIS? Are there different types of OIS?     

Controversial aspects of oncogene-induced senescence

Oncogene-induced senescence (OIS) is a fail-safe mechanism that is developed to suppress cell proliferation caused by aberrant activation of oncoproteins in normal cells. Most of the available literature considers senescence to be caused by activated RAS or RAF proteins. In the current review, we will discuss some of the controversial aspects of RAS- or RAF-induced senescence in different types of normal cells: are tumor suppressors important for OIS? What is the role of DNA damage in OIS? Are there different types of OIS?     

朊病毒对中枢神经系统的影响及其作用机制

本文着重叙述了以几个问题：（１）朊病毒能否从牛转移感染到人;（２）朊病毒的感感染途径是怎样的;（３）朊病毒感染有何条件;（４）正常的朊病毒蛋白在神经元和胶质细胞表面表达有何重要功能;（５）朊病毒蛋白功能的结构基因;（６）朊病毒的可能作用机制。最后,分析了朊病毒影响中枢神经系统的两条可能途径,即破坏正常朊病毒蛋白的功能和与小神经胶质细胞共同作用提高神经元对自由基的敏感性及增加氧化自由基的含量。     

Understandings of climate change articulated by Swedish secondary school students

This study investigated beliefs about climate change among Swedish secondary school students at the end of their K-12 education. An embedded mixed method approach was used to analyse 51 secondary school students’ written responses to two questions: (1) What implies climate change? (2) What affects climate? A quantitative analysis of the responses revealed that ‘Earth’, ‘human’ and ‘greenhouse effect’ were frequent topics regarding the first question, and ‘pollution’, ‘atmosphere’ and ‘Earth’ were frequent regarding the second. A qualitative analysis, based on a ‘conceptual elements’ framework, focused on three elements within responses: atmosphere (causes and/or consequences), Earth (causes and consequences) and living beings (humans and/or animals and their impacts on climate change). It revealed a predominantly general or societal, rather than individual, perspective underlying students’ responses to the second question. The ability to connect general/societal issues with individual issues relating to climate change could prompt students to reflect on the contributions of individuals towards climate change mitigation, thereby constituting a basis for decision-making to promote a sustainable environment. Although the students did not discuss climate changes from an individual perspective, their statements revealed their understanding of climate change as a system comprising various components affecting the overall situation. They also revealed an understanding of the difference between weather and climate.     

History and Future of Animal Welfare Science

It is suggested that Mench give credit to the books that started the farm animal welfare movement--Harrison's (1964) Animal Machines and, arriving 1 year later, Huxley's (1965) Brave New Victuals. Huxley covered the use of chemicals on the land and "factory fanning," a phrase coined by Harrison. They both discussed the rearing of animals indoors in huge numbers, closely confined, artificially lit, mechanically supplied with food, and treated with drugs and hormones to prevent disease and to speed growth. Are intensive methods necessarily cruel to animals? Are agricultural and industrial chemical residues contaminating the environment? What is the influence of new methods on the quality of food and what are the effects on the human organism? These were relevant questions back then, and almost 30 years later Harrison (1988, 1993) wondered how much real progress has been made in answering them.     

History and future of animal welfare science

It is suggested that Mench give credit to the books that started the farm animal welfare movement--Harrison's (1964) Animal Machines and, arriving 1 year later, Huxley's (1965) Brave New Victuals. Huxley covered the use of chemicals on the land and “factory fanning, ”a phrase coined by Harrison. They both discussed the rearing of animals indoors in huge numbers, closely confined, artificially lit, mechanically supplied with food, and treated with drugs and hormones to prevent disease and to speed growth. Are intensive methods necessarily cruel to animals? Are agricultural and industrial chemical residues contaminating the environment? What is the influence of new methods on the quality of food and what are the effects on the human organism? These were relevant questions back then, and almost 30 years later Harrison (1988, 1993) wondered how much real progress has been made in answering them.     

Stable isotope ecology in the Omo-Turkana Basin

Stable isotopes provide an independent assessment of paleoenvironments in the Omo-Turkana Basin. Stable isotopes track the flow of oxygen and carbon through ecosystems and accordingly are not directly related to changes in mammalian faunal composition or sedimentology. Therefore, isotope studies give insight into the paleoenvironmental conditions in which human evolutionary trends have been recorded. The development of stable isotopes as indicators of continental environmental conditions has proceeded in parallel with questions about the conditions of human environment. What was the vegetation? How hot was it? How dry? What were the diets of animals living among early humans? And most persistently, how important were "savannas" to early hominids? In this review, we take the opportunity to provide extensive background on the use of isotopes in anthropological sites. The application of stable isotope ecology to anthropological sites in the Turkana Basin has a long history, but in many ways the Omo-Turkana Basin has been a proving ground for the development of new proxy methods for understanding tropical terrestrial environments in the Neogene and Quaternary. For that reason, we also describe some of the fundamental aspects of isotope ecology that developed outside the field of paleoanthropology.     

Neuroimaging and neuroscience of emotional processes

In neurosciences, there is increasing interest in studying affective, emotional and social processes in humans and animals. What are the conceptual framework identified for these studies and the technical approaches undertaken? What information has already emerged from these studies? Which results have already been obtained and what are the researchers' goals? Can these neuroimaging analyses provide novel insights to improve our understanding of psychiatric disorders? These are some of the questions addressed in this concise overview of our knowledge in this domain.     

Animal psychology and ethology in Britain and the emergence of professional concern for the concept of ethical cost

It has been argued that if an animal is psychologically like us, there may be more scientific reason to experiment upon it, but less moral justification to do so. Some scientists deny the existence of this dilemma, claiming that although there are scientifically valuable similarities between humans and animals that make experimentation worthwhile, humans are at the same time unique and fundamentally different. This latter response is, ironically, typical of pre-Darwinian beliefs in the relationship between human and non-human animals. Another irony is that debate about such issues has facilitated the participation once more of philosophers in questions concerning experimental psychology: ironic because laboratory-oriented psychologists, especially since the turn of the last century, had been eager to establish the independence of their subject from any influence of philosophy and its investigative methods, as well as from any kind of anthropomorphism.In Britain, certainly more so than in the United States, ethical constraints have prevented the development of psychological research with animals along certain routes. By the 1980s British professional and academic societies had published codes of conduct and guidelines for their members, in part responding to public concern about the welfare of animals in the psychological laboratory. What led to the establishment of these codes and guidelines? This paper analyses the historical background against which professional concern for ethical cost in experimental animal psychology began to take shape, leading to the societies’ open pronouncements of the 1980s.     

Companion-Animal Caregiver Knowledge,Attitudes, and Beliefs Regarding End-of-Life Care

Although awareness of end-of-life care is growing within the veterinary field and there appears to be consumer demand for these services, it is unclear exactly what caregivers know about end-of-life options for their companion animals. Are companion-animal caregivers aware of the range of options for their nonhuman animals? What do they value most highly for their nonhuman animals at the end of life? Answers to these and other related questions about caregiver perceptions are important because what they know about end-of-life care and how they approach decision-making for their companion animals will shape the kind of care an animal receives. This article presents the results of a large survey exploring companion-animal caregivers’ knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about end-of-life care, including in-home euthanasia, hospice and palliative care, financial commitment to end-of-life care, insurance usage, and level of comfort in providing care (e.g., subcutaneous fluids) in the home.     

Gazing at a giraffe gyroscope: where are we going?

Giraffe are popular animals to watch while on wildlife safaris, and feature prominently in zoos, advertisements, toys and cartoons. Yet, until recently, few field studies have focused on giraffe. We introduce this giraffe topic issue with a review essay that explores five primary questions: How many (sub) species of giraffe exist? What are the dynamics of giraffe herds? How do giraffe communicate? What is the role of sexual selection in giraffe reproduction? How many giraffe reside in Africa? A confluence of causes has produced drastic declines in giraffe population numbers in Africa, and we conclude that guiding giraffe conservation plans depends upon evaluation of the five key quandaries that we pose.     

Laboratory environments are not conducive for allopatric speciation

We review published records of laboratory experiments on peripatric and vicariance allopatric speciation to address the following three questions: (1) What was the true effect size of reproductive isolation? (2) Was the reproductive isolation persistent? (3) What influenced the development of isolation? Contrary to popular belief, laboratory evidence for allopatric speciation is quite weak. Assortative mating was only found among derived populations in vicariance experiments. Reproductive isolation against control populations was only intermittent, so there is reason to doubt if some cases showing significant reproductive isolation really should be attributed to speciation. The method of testing was at least as important as the speciation model. Experimental populations tested against each other were the most likely to demonstrate reproductive isolation. This study suggests that allopatric speciation experiments are more likely to yield conclusive results under divergent selection than under drift, and points to the benefits of large populations and many generations.     

Biology of Animal Stress: Implications for Animal Well-Being

What is environmental enrichment? During the last several decades, zoos and aquariums have come to realize (perhaps belatedly) that animals kept in captivity need environmental enrichment for their well-being (Seidensticher &; Forthman, 1998). Early zoos and aquariums tried to show as many animals as possible; hence, their exhibits were frequently small and bare to permit easy viewing, cleaning, and sterilization. Now, all have come to realize that captive animals need environmental enrichment for their health and for the education and increased expectations of visitors to zoos and aquariums.     

Tertian and quartan fevers: temporal regulation in malarial infection.

The periodicity in the development of Plasmodium parasites in infected animals, including man, has been known for almost 100 years. In turn, this periodicity is a consequence of the synchronous maturation of the parasite during its intracellular development. The cyclic fever that characterizes malarial infections is the outward manifestation of the parasite development. Until recently, little was known about the mechanisms by which parasite synchronicity is established and maintained. This review surveys the recent literature bearing on two main questions. (1) What are the mechanisms involved in the process of parasite synchronicity? (2) Do the circadian rhythms of the host interfere with the parasite cycle?     

Review. The incentive sensitization theory of addiction: some current issues

We present a brief overview of the incentive sensitization theory of addiction. This posits that addiction is caused primarily by drug-induced sensitization in the brain mesocorticolimbic systems that attribute incentive salience to reward-associated stimuli. If rendered hypersensitive, these systems cause pathological incentive motivation (‘wanting’) for drugs. We address some current questions including: what is the role of learning in incentive sensitization and addiction? Does incentive sensitization occur in human addicts? Is the development of addiction-like behaviour in animals associated with sensitization? What is the best way to model addiction symptoms using animal models? And, finally, what are the roles of affective pleasure or withdrawal in addiction?     

Molecular biology of prion diseases

What is the nature of the transmissible agent responsible for neurodegenerative diseases such as scrapie and mad-cow disease in animals and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in man? There is now weighty evidence that PrP(Sc), a modified version of the ubiquitously expressed host protein PrP(C), is responsible for pathogenesis of these diseases and that conversion of PrP(C) into PrP(Sc) under the influence of PrP(Sc) is the process leading to the propagation of PrP(Sc) and disease progression.     

Editor's introduction to the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science

Animal welfare names a science in which investigators ask the general question: What are the capacities, sensibilities, needs, and interests of animals as they relate to their welfare? The objects of study in this emerging field are exclusively animals other than humans. Numerous contexts give rise to this interest in nonhuman animal welfare: The intensification of the use of animals since World War II, particularly on the farm and in the laboratory. The development of moral philosophies that establish nonhuman animals as objects of moral consideration. The advances in science in fields that have added to our understanding of animals, such as cognitive ethology. Advances in technology that give us more direct access to human physiology and psychology and undercut the tradition of using animal models. The success of the contemporary animal rights movement in placing the issue of the treatment of animals before the public.     

采用稳定同位素技术判定喀斯特地区植物水分来源的挑战与可能应对方案

占全球陆地面积约15%的喀斯特地区,有着不同于绝大多数非喀斯特地区的水文地质结构,使得许多在非喀斯特地区行之有效的研究方法难以直接用于喀斯特地区,而且这种限制在植物水分来源的研究上体现得尤为明显.本文从为什么要在喀斯特地区开展植物水分来源的研究、为什么一定要用稳定同位素的方法、使用该方法在喀斯特地区有何挑战,以及应对这些挑战的可能解决方案是什么等4个方面,综述了喀斯特地区植物水分来源研究普遍关注问题的由来和可能应对方案.文中重点阐述了与其他方法相比,稳定同位素技术在喀斯特地区植物水分来源研究中的优势以及难以完全满足其前提条件的挑战,结合现有相关研究的有益探索,提出在喀斯特地区的研究不必过分追求对各水源在具体深度上的细致划分,从水源特性的角度进行区分是更为适宜的途径.