Attitudes toward Animals of Students at Three European Veterinary Medicine Schools in Italy and Spain

The European Veterinary Code of Conduct recognizes the crucial role of veterinarians in improving animal welfare and maintaining its standards. However, several studies have claimed that veterinary students’ attitudes toward animals may worsen as they progress through their academic training. This study aimed to investigate students’ attitudes toward nonhuman animal use in three European veterinary medicine schools (Italy and Spain). For this purpose, 565 veterinary students completed a questionnaire consisting of a range of items grouped into four animal-use categories: “Research,” “Entertainment,” “Utilitarianism,” and “Veterinary Issues.” Items were scored on a 5-point Likert-type scale, with higher scores indicative of higher concern regarding animal welfare. Results showed that the use of animals for “Entertainment” and questions related to “Veterinary Issues” raised the most concern among the veterinary students, while the use of animals for “Research” was of least concern. Moreover, we also examined some potentially confounding factors: age, academic year (first to fifth), gender, previous experience with pets, and university. Female students had a higher concern for animal welfare compared with their male counterparts. Students in their earlier stages of training as veterinarians also exhibited a greater concern for animal welfare compared with those of later academic years. Other factors affecting students’ attitudes toward animal use were the age of the students and the university they were enrolled at. The findings of this study confirm that attitudes toward animal use are not homogeneous and are associated with students’ demographic, educational, and personal characteristics.     

Autism Crises: Music Therapeutic Practice & Research at the Social Care Centre Tloskov,Czech Republic. A Short Report

CSS Tloskov is a social pediatric care center and a leading institution in the Czech Republic. Sixty-five percent of its clients are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and receive usually music therapy as a main constituent of individually designed pedagogical and therapeutic programs. In contrast to numerous music therapeutic concepts that are based on musical improvisation, the Tloskov model advocates a complex approach involving favorite songs, instrumental improvisation, and body-oriented modalities such as muscle relaxation and breathing techniques.

Clinical analyses allow us to distinguish typical psychiatric exacerbations in our ASD-clients. These “autistic crises” comprise an “onset phase,” a “gradation phase,” a “culmination phase,” and a “subsiding phase,” which can be partly controlled by music therapeutic interventions. On the basis of Grounded Theory we used qualitative methods to examine system compatibility between clinical data and the 4-phase autism crisis theory and to generate hypotheses about mechanisms of successful music therapy.

Outcomes involve five main principles: identification and avoidance of specific stimuli and cues that trigger autism crises; direct musical “sedation”; acquisition of music-behavioral skills to “auto-regulate” pathological developments; and a sort of music therapeutic emotional re-balancing and consolidation of an inner equilibrium. The “right moment” of intervention and adjustment of musical experiences within a narrow range of the client’s aesthetic-emotional intensity tolerance are critical to therapeutic outcomes. Possible music therapeutic contra-indications have to be taken into consideration.     

“It could just be an additional test couldn't it?” 1 Genetic testing for susceptibility to aggression and violence

Much of the current genetic research into aggressive and violent behavior focuses on young people and might appear to offer the hope of targeted prediction and intervention. In the UK data are collected on children from various agencies and collated to produce “at risk of offending” identities used to justify intervention. Information from behavioral genetic tests could conceivably be included. Regulatory frameworks for collecting, storing and using information from DNA samples differ between the health service and the police particularly in the need for consent and the treatment of children. This paper draws on discussions with professionals involved with “problem” young people to consider their views on the utility of genetic research for tackling violent/aggressive behavior and the impact an identification of genetic susceptibility might have on their clients.     

Simultaneous Discrimination Learning in Chicks: Spatial Representations and Object Characteristics

Chicks were trained to discriminate (1) between two boxes of the same colour on the basis of their positions; (2) between two boxes of different colours on the basis of their positions or on the basis of their colours. No significant differences between these tasks appeared. Addition of colour and position improved learning when the boxes were entirely coloured but not when differently coloured discs were placed over the lids of two identical boxes. It is argued that in simultaneous discrimination learning chicks rely primarily on the “relative” position of the goal objects (i. e. in relation to each other) and utilize featural information (colour) to segregate the goal objects as distinct perceptual units. Results also stressed the role of “object characteristics” as opposed to the traditional notion of “cues”.     

A decrease in the abundance and strategic sophistication of cleaner fish after environmental perturbations

Coral reef ecosystems are declining worldwide and under foreseeable threat due to climate change, resulting in significant changes in reef communities. It is unknown, however, how such community changes impact interspecific interactions. Recent extreme weather events affecting the Great Barrier Reef, that is, consecutive cyclones and the 2016 El Niño event, allowed us to explore potential consequences in the mutualistic interactions involving cleaner fish Labroides dimidiatus (hereafter “cleaner”). After the perturbations, cleaner densities were reduced by 80%, disproportionally compared to the variety of reef fish clients from which cleaners remove ectoparasites. Consequently, shifts in supply and demand yielded an increase in the clients’ demand for cleaning. Therefore, clients became less selective toward cleaners, whereas cleaners were able to choose from a multitude of partners. In parallel, we found a significant decline in the ability of cleaners to manage their reputation and to learn to prioritize ephemeral food sources to maximize food intake in laboratory experiments. In other words, cleaners failed to display the previously documented strategic sophistication that made this species a prime example for fish intelligence. In conclusion, low population densities may cause various effects on individual behavior, and as a consequence, interspecific interactions. At the same time, our data suggest that a recovery of population densities would cause a recovery of previously described interaction patterns and cleaner strategic sophistication within the lifetime of individuals.     

Enveloping Mothers,Enveloped Sons: Positions in Chinese Family Therapy

The increasing acceptance and use of psychotherapy in contemporary China powerfully attests to the “psychologization” of Chinese society. Yet attending therapy is only one aspect of psychologization. Analyzing the practice of therapy through case examples illuminates the broader sociocultural context of China’s “psycho-boom.” This includes insight into what I term an expansive-I notion of personhood. This non-singular notion of personhood is a major challenge for Chinese therapists. Therapists’ attempts to resolve clients’ problems by reorienting them according to psychological ideals highlight the multiple, at times contradictory relationships between psychotherapy, the state and families.     

Face your fears: cleaning gobies inspect predators despite being stressed by them

social stressors typically elicit two distinct behavioural responses in vertebrates: an active response (i.e., "fight or flight") or behavioural inhibition (i.e., freezing). Here, we report an interesting exception to this dichotomy in a Caribbean cleaner fish, which interacts with a wide variety of reef fish clients, including predatory species. Cleaning gobies appraise predatory clients as potential threat and become stressed in their presence, as evidenced by their higher cortisol levels when exposed to predatory rather than to non-predatory clients. Nevertheless, cleaning gobies neither flee nor freeze in response to dangerous clients but instead approach predators faster (both in captivity and in the wild), and interact longer with these clients than with non-predatory clients (in the wild). We hypothesise that cleaners interrupt the potentially harmful physiological consequences elicited by predatory clients by becoming increasingly proactive and by reducing the time elapsed between client approach and the start of the interaction process. The activation of a stress response may therefore also be responsible for the longer cleaning service provided by these cleaners to predatory clients in the wild. Future experimental studies may reveal similar patterns in other social vertebrate species when, for instance, individuals approach an opponent for reconciliation after a conflict.     

气候变化对植物-传粉昆虫的分布区和物候及其互作关系的影响

全球气候变化对生态系统的影响是人类社会面临的紧迫而又严峻的挑战。气候变化带来的极端气候事件的增多, 直接影响到生态系统生产力和服务功能。本文总结了气候变化对植物-传粉昆虫互作的研究进展, 强调植物-传粉昆虫互作网络结构和其时空演变的解析, 以及互作关系和功能性状重组研究的重要性。近年来在气温持续上升背景下对植物-传粉昆虫互作关系影响的研究也受到了更多关注, 这些研究主要集中在两方面: 一是植物和传粉昆虫分布区的变化, 包括部分种群可能灭绝; 二是物候的变化, 即植物花期和传粉昆虫活动期的改变。植物与传粉昆虫任何一方在空间或时间上的改变, 都会导致传粉关系的错配或丢失。此外, 也可能导致植物-传粉昆虫双方的功能性状及其耦合的改变, 从而影响其互作关系的稳定。建议在今后的研究中关注: (1)覆盖生物多样性的多个尺度的研究; (2)对植物-传粉者互作网络的长期监测; (3)重要指示物种繁殖适合度评价; (4)植物-传粉昆虫互作双方功能性状在时间和空间尺度上的变化, 及其互作关系的重组; (5)关键植物和传粉昆虫类群的评估和保护。     

Methamphetamine mortality to emotional stimuli administered in the form of affective communication

Methamphetamine induced mortality in physically stressed and non-physically stressed mice was investigated by employing a communication box in which shocked mice communicated their distress to unshocked mice in neighboring boxes. Intraperitoneal administration of methamphetamine 30 mg/kg caused greater mortality in both the shocked “sender” mice and the unshocked “responder” mice than in control when maintained at 27 ± 1 °C. Forty-eight hours after injection, the “sender”, “responder” and control mice showed mortality of 80, 60 and 10 %, respectively. This result indicates that the mortality of methamphetamine may be potentiated not only by physical stress but also by non-physical stress.     

Le bilan de compétences: une pratique de conseil en orientation professionnelle pour adultes

The “bilan de compétences” is a career counseling practice which enables people to recognize and utilise their resources to make career-related decisions and manage career-related problems, all along their life-career. This practice lasts 24 hours and is composed of 5 interviews. Within the context of a “modern” conception of the person, the coccupational choice is considered as self enhancement. It is the reason why, during the counseling process — whose main characteristics are presented — the person has to focus on his self concept, values and interests. The results of surveys show that the process of “bilan de compétences” helps the clients to enhance personal self efficacy and to make plans. Throughout the career counseling process, the counsellor uses career guidance tools and techniques which are not only chosen according to theoretical aspects, but also according to professional codes of ethics and philosophical principles.     

Students use of the PSOE model to understand weather and climate

One tried-and-true way to hook students' attention and promote long-lasting understanding is to sequence science instruction in an explore-before-explain instructional sequence. In these lessons for the second through sixth grade band, elementary students investigate the interaction between “cold” and “hot” substances and density to understand how fluids interact in air (some weather phenomenon) and water (ocean currents). The student-based activities are suited to a research-based strategy called the PSOE (predict, share, observe, and explain) sequence of instruction.     

鸡快慢羽性状遗传学基础分析综合实验探索与实践

随着全国“卓越农林人才教育培养计划”的开展,我校动物科学专业设置了“卓越班”,以突出培养学生的系统思维和创新创业能力为目标开展了系列教育教学管理和课程改革。为此,我们以“鸡快、慢羽性状”为实验对象,设计了“鸡快慢羽性状遗传学基础分析”综合实验,突出培养学生用理论知识解决生产实践问题的思维和能力。本文重点介绍了该实验作为动物遗传学实验教学案例的实施过程及效果,首先从鸡的表型观察逐步深入到遗传学基础分析,利用遗传学理论指导鸡快、慢羽品系培育的育种实践。实验内容涉及伴性遗传规律和性别决定机制等遗传学理论知识,同时还涉及基因组DNA提取、基因扩增、酶切及电泳分析等一系列分子遗传学的技术方法。不仅有利于学生综合分析能力和专业技能的掌握,还有助于培养学生对动物科学专业的科研兴趣和创新意识。此综合性实验还展现了用遗传学理论指导动物品种培育实践过程,符合动物科学专业复合应用型人才培养目标的要求,其中的教学理念和方法可推广应用于其他生物学实验教学。     

Ecological footprint study on tourism itinerary products in Shangri-La, Yunnan Province, China

The eco-footprint analysis of tourism is one of the most up-to-date and effective methods used to analyze the environmental effects of tourism. This study constructs a model to calculate the ecological footprint (EF) of tourism itinerary products by using a component approach, rudimentarily exploring the calculation methods for EF which target necklace-like tourism itinerary products and base tourist trips. By applying the model to calculate and analyze an “8-day tour of Shangri-La”, a typical tourism itinerary product, results of this study suggest that: (a) Tourism is a kind of life style with tremendous ecological consumption, that is, per capita EF that tourists produce in the course of travel is more than the one that local people produce in their daily life in tourist source areas, and it also exceeds the per capita EF that local people produce in their daily life in tourist destination; (b) According to the component approach, EF of tourism itinerary products is broken down into 7 components, among which “Transport”, “Food”, “Waste” and “Accommodation” play important roles; (c) There exist significant differences in ecological efficiency between different departments of tourism; the travel and entertainment sectors maintain a relatively high ecological efficiency, while the food and lodging departments have relatively low ecological efficiency.     

Water footprint and irrigation use efficiency of important crops in Northern Cyprus from an environmental,economic and dietary perspective

Availability of freshwater is currently one of the most important limiting factors for crop production and food security throughout the world. Northern Cyprus is one of the world’s most important countries that has been facing drought and salinization problems since the 1970 s. The present study aimed to determine the irrigation use efficiency (IUE), irrigation economic productivity (IEP), irrigation economic efficiency (IEE) and irrigation dietary efficiency (IDE) of some major crops in Northern Cyprus to ensure better planning for sustainable water management, not only for Northern Cyprus but also for all countries facing similar problems. The results of the present study showed that both carob and fig crops require the least amount (24 L) of irrigation to produce 1 kg of fruit, and “open field” lettuce and “greenhouse” eggplant require the least amount (10 and 16 L) of irrigation to produce 1 kg of vegetables in Northern Cyprus. The irrigation economic productivity (IEP) and irrigation dietary efficiency (IDE) of crops were also found to be significantly different and meaningful for different crops. Our results showed that reshaping the distribution of crops based on their water consumption would reduce the use of water resources while continuing to feed the population.     

Food Intake in Healthy Young Adults: Effects of Time Pressure and Social Factors

Some factors influencing food intake and subjective responses to meals were assessed in 2 groups (n=40 and n=36) of healthy university students. Both groups were studied for 6 days and included both “structured” and “unstructured” times. A questionnaire was completed by all subjects at 3 h intervals while awake. The questionnaires asked the subjects to state the factors that led them to choose to eat or not to eat a meal in the previous 3 h. If they ate a meal, they were required to describe the type of meal eaten and their responses to it—their hunger before it, their enjoyment of the meal itself, and their degree of satisfaction afterwards. Subjects were also asked to describe the type of meal that they would like to have eaten (the desired meal) in the absence of any restraints due to time pressure, cost, and so on. In the first group, 3 “structured” (working) and 3 “unstructured” (rest) days were chosen. Consistant with our previous studies, structured days, as compared to unstructured days, were associated with smaller meals and less positive subjective responses to them. Also, the meals that were eaten were often smaller than those that were desired, or were even missed altogether, due to time pressure. Not only were the meals eaten on unstructured days larger and rated, to by the subjects more positively, but also there was an additional positive effect if the meal played a social role. In the second group, 6 days were chosen, during which there were structured and unstructured 3 h periods. Many of the findings (with regard to reasons for eating or not eating a meal, and the effect of meal size upon subjective responses to it, for example) were the same as in the first group. However, the effect of structured vs. unstructured 3 h periods was significantly less marked than the effect of structured vs. unstructured days that had been found in the first group, and effects due to social factors and time pressure were less reliably present. The results indicate that food intake is affected by whether the whole or only part of the day is “structured” or “unstructured.” These findings might be relevant to some problems faced by the workforce, in general, and by night workers, in particular.     

Serological Comparison of Antigens Related to Local Virus and Bacterial Infections and Aspecific Stresses in Tobacco Leaves

Two “new” precipitin bands (antigens) detected by the immunodiffusion test were demon strated in leaf extracts of tobacco inoculated with tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), Pseudomonas tabaci or treated with mercuric chloride, sodium azide or sodium hypochlorite. One of the precipitin bands was stronger, than the other, These antigens were also detected in the upper, non-infected leaves of tobacco plants when the lower leaves were locally stressed (necrotized) either by TMV or by chemical injury. The “new” antigens formed in the upper leaves were detected even if the TMV-inoculated lower leaves were removed one day after inoculation. The “new” antigens were identical both in the lower and upper leaves and their induction was independent from the stress whether pathogenic or chemical. A coincidence exists between the appearance of “new” antigens and acquired resistance, but this does not mean necessarily a cause-and-effect relationship between the two phenomena. Our experiments indicate that the induction of the synthesis of “new” stress proteins in tobacco is aspecific and the proteins formed are related to the aspecific stress itself rather than to pathogenesis.     

Experiences,characteristics and treatment of women suffering from dog phobia

Abstract

Dog phobia is a complex psychological phenomenon classified under the anxiety disorders. Twelve female students suffering from dog phobia participated in this qualitative study which included an initial screening, therapeutic intervention and eight-month follow-up. Initial screening was conducted by means of a Fear Survey Schedule and observational assessment of non-verbal behavior during a behavioral approach test (dog stimulus). Therapeutic intervention involved a combination of systematic desensitization and instructional learning. Qualitative data analysis followed a phenomenological approach. The results indicate that the onset age of dog phobia varied from early childhood to late adolescence. Two-thirds of the participants reported a direct traumatic event as the onset context of their dog phobia, while 17% reported vicarious learning contexts and 17% an inability to recall the onset context. The most widely used sensory focal mode of perception during contact with dogs was visual cues, followed by auditory cues. Half of the participants reported “eye” aspects as the fear-evoking stimulus. A wide variety of anxieties and fears were found to co-occur with dog phobia, although some participants were still able to accommodate dogs and other companion animals in their lives. The post-study follow-up indicated that the intervention yielded significant real life improvement in 75% of the cases. The implications of this study for therapeutic situations are discussed.     

Sequential Extraction as Novel Approach to Compare 12 Medicinal Plants From Kenya Regarding Their Potential to Release Chromium,Manganese, Copper,and Zinc

Studies have shown the participation of minerals in mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance. Zinc, in particular, seems to play an important role in the secretion and action of this hormone. Therefore, the aim of this review is to understand the role of zinc in increasing insulin sensitivity. We conducted a search of articles published in the PubMed and ScienceDirect database selected from March 2016 to February 2018, using the keywords “zinc,” “insulin,” “insulin resistance,” “insulin sensitivity,” and “supplementation.” Following the eligibility criteria were selected 53 articles. The scientific evidences presented in this review show the importance of zinc and their carrier proteins in the synthesis and secretion of insulin, as well as in the signaling pathway of action of this hormone. Zinc deficiency is associated with glucose intolerance and insulin resistance; however, the effectiveness of the intervention with the zinc supplementation is still inconclusive.     

The genomic context of retrocopies increases their chance of functional relevancy in mammals

Described as “junk” DNA, pseudogenes are dead structures of previously active genes present in genomes. Pseudogenes are categorized into two main classes: processed pseudogenes, formed through retrotransposition, and non-processed pseudogenes, typically originated from gene decay following duplication events. The term “processed pseudogene” has changed to “retrocopy” since they are likely to evolve new functional roles and became a retrogene. Here, we surveyed 38,080 retrocopies from chimpanzee, dog, human, mouse, and rat genomes to assess their potential adaptive value. The retrocopies inserted in the same chromosome of the parental gene have higher chances of remain potentially “active” (absence of premature stop codons and frameshifts) (~26.1%), while those placed into a different chromosome have a twofold decrease chance of continuing potentially “active” (~7.52%). The genomic context of their placement seems associated with their expression. Retrocopies placed in intragenic regions and the same sense of the “host” gene have higher chances of being expressed relative to other genomic contexts. The proximity of retrocopies to their parental gene is associated with a lower decay rate, and their location likely influence their expression. Thus, despite their unclear role, retrocopies are probably involved in adaptive processes. Our results evidence natural selection acting in retrocopies.     

Sustaining productivity gains in the face of climate change: A research agenda for US wheat

Wheat is a globally important crop and one of the “big three” US field crops. But unlike the other two (maize and soybean), in the United States its development is commercially unattractive, and so its breeding takes place primarily in public universities. Troublingly, the incentive structures within these universities may be hindering genetic improvement just as climate change is complicating breeding efforts. “Business as usual” in the US public wheat-breeding infrastructure may not sustain productivity increases. To address this concern, we held a multidisciplinary conference in which researchers from 12 US (public) universities and one European university shared the current state of knowledge in their disciplines, aired concerns, and proposed initiatives that could facilitate maintaining genetic improvement of wheat in the face of climate change. We discovered that climate-change-oriented breeding efforts are currently considered too risky and/or costly for most university wheat breeders to undertake, leading to a relative lack of breeding efforts that focus on abiotic stressors such as drought and heat. We hypothesize that this risk/cost burden can be reduced through the development of appropriate germplasm, relevant screening mechanisms, consistent germplasm characterization, and innovative models predicting the performance of germplasm under projected future climate conditions. However, doing so will require coordinated, longer-term, inter-regional efforts to generate phenotype data, and the modification of incentive structures to consistently reward such efforts.