Article
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Eeva A. Ojala, Mika Kurkilahti, Anne Lene Hovland, Rupert Palme, Jaakko Mononen
Summary: The study validated the use of a 5 alpha-pregnane-3ss,11ss,21-triol-20-one enzyme immunoassay in measuring faecal cortisol metabolites (FCMs) in farmed blue foxes, indicating FCMs as a valid indicator of stress in the species.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Takumi Tsutaya, Meaghan Mackie, Rikai Sawafuji, Takako Miyabe-Nishiwaki, Jesper Olsen, Enrico Cappellini
Summary: By utilizing mass spectrometry-based proteomics, this study analyzed fecal samples from captive Japanese macaques of different age groups, demonstrating the potential applications of fecal proteomics in investigating dietary changes, food sources, and intestinal microbes. This provides a novel method and insights for understanding the behavior and physiology of mammals.
MOLECULAR ECOLOGY RESOURCES
(2021)
Article
Biology
Mourad Boumenir, Jean-Luc Hornick, Bernard Taminiau, Georges Daube, Fany Brotcorne, Mokrane Iguer-Ouada, Nassim Moula
Summary: The study characterized the faecal microbiota of Barbary macaques, revealing the presence of 209 bacterial genera from 17 phyla. The impact of tourist food provisioning was significant, altering the microbiota profile and potentially increasing the risks of obesity and illness.
Article
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Flavia Santamaria, Rolf Schlagloth, Rupert Palme, Joerg Henning
Summary: This study highlights the importance of considering the suitability of faecal field samples for FCM analysis, with water loss being the main driver of FCM changes. Freshly defecated koala pellets are recommended for collection despite potential challenges in obtaining them, as environmental conditions can impact FCM stability.
Article
Immunology
Joana S. Cruz-Pereira, Gerard M. Moloney, Thomaz F. S. Bastiaanssen, Serena Boscaini, Patrick Fitzgerald, Gerard Clarke, John F. Cryan
Summary: Aging leads to behavioral impairments, including social deficits, due to remodeling of immune and central nervous system responses. Recent studies suggest that aging also affects the gut microbiome. In this study, the impact of gut microbiota depletion on aging and its effects on social behavior and the immune system were assessed. It was found that microbiota depletion in aged mice eliminated age-dependent deficits in social recognition. Further analysis revealed that aging induces an accumulation of T cells in the choroid plexus, which is partially reduced following microbiota depletion. Additionally, an untargeted metabolomic analysis showed age-related alterations of cecal metabolites that can be reshaped by gut microbiota depletion. These findings highlight the potential of targeting the aged gut microbiota to improve age-related social deficits and call for further investigations in animal models and humans.
BRAIN BEHAVIOR AND IMMUNITY
(2023)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Viktoria Krakenberg, Maximilian Wewer, Rupert Palme, Sylvia Kaiser, Norbert Sachser, S. Helene Richter
Summary: Research has shown that regular touchscreen training in mice can have long-term effects on hormone levels and behavior, potentially increasing anxiety-like behavior. This training is believed to influence the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis activity, while also possibly having enriching properties.
BEHAVIOURAL BRAIN RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Flavia Santamaria, Christopher K. Barlow, Rolf Schlagloth, Ralf B. Schittenhelm, Rupert Palme, Joerg Henning
Summary: The koala is an arboreal folivorous marsupial endemic to Australia. Due to threats from anthropogenic activities and climate change, a non-invasive method was used in this study to objectively measure stress in koalas, revealing tetrahydrocortisol as the main faecal cortisol metabolite.
Article
Veterinary Sciences
Bonnie T. T. Mayes, L. Amy Tait, Frances C. C. Cowley, John M. M. Morton, Brendan P. P. Doyle, Muhammad A. A. Arslan, Peta S. S. Taylor
Summary: Stocking density and trough space allowance have impacts on sheep welfare during live export voyages, but do not significantly affect biological fitness traits. Providing additional space can help reduce the time required for animals to adapt to their environment.
FRONTIERS IN VETERINARY SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Julie Kristine Knudsen, Thomas Yssing Michaelsen, Caspar Bundgaard-Nielsen, Rene Ernst Nielsen, Simon Hjerrild, Peter Leutscher, Gregers Wegener, Suzette Sorensen
Summary: Differences in gut microbiota composition have been observed in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) compared to healthy individuals. Faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) from patients with MDD into rats induced a depressive-like phenotype, with FMT-Healthy rats displaying less depressive-like behavior. Different taxa were found between the FMT-MDD and FMT-Healthy rats, suggesting behavioral and intestinal differences between the two groups.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Biology
Noah D. Simons, Vasiliki Michopoulos, Mark Wilson, Luis B. Barreiro, Jenny Tung
Summary: Variation in social status can impact gene regulation, glucocorticoid physiology, and mitochondrial DNA phenotypes in animals. Behavioral interactions associated with dominance rank play a significant role in these effects, often serving as better predictors of molecular and physiological outcomes than dominance rank itself.
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Psychology, Applied
Jacob J. Keech, Kyra Hamilton
Summary: This study tested an integrated dual-process model for predicting problem-focused coping behavior. The results suggest that problem-focused coping behavior tends to be regulated by reasoned psychological processes, and more strongly by automatic psychological processes.
Article
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Primrose Manning, Lindsey Hauff, Clare Padfield, Lisa Olivier, Andre Ganswindt, Debbie Young
Summary: Captive African elephants in the tourism industry often face welfare issues related to stress. This study examined the usage of self-directed behaviors (SDBs) as a potential indicator of stress in semi-captive elephants. The results showed that SDB rates significantly increased during walks and rides, while the touch interaction decreased SDB rates. Interestingly, higher numbers of tourists led to a decrease in SDB rates. These findings suggest that SDBs may be a useful behavioral marker for identifying stress in elephants.
APPLIED ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
Zarina Akbar, Maratini Shaliha Aisyawati
Summary: The COVID-19 pandemic has increased psychological distress among university students, where effective coping and social support can reduce mental stress. Therefore, studying the psychological distress, coping strategies, and social support among university students in Jakarta is crucial for psychological interventions.
FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Nursing
Monica Ruckholdt, Geoffrey H. Tofler, Sue Randall, Victoria Whitfield, Kristy Washington, Judith Fethney, Thomas Buckley
Summary: The study found that family members visiting hospitalized relatives experience psychological symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and anger, which decrease over time. Early use of active coping and religion may lead to higher anxiety and depression levels post-discharge, while instrumental support, planning, and venting during hospitalization could help reduce depression symptoms later on.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING
(2021)
Article
Ornithology
Celiwe A. A. Ngcamphalala, Susan W. W. Nicolson, Andre Ganswindt, Andrew E. E. McKechnie
Summary: Faecal glucocorticoid metabolite (fGCM) analysis is a non-invasive method for monitoring adrenocortical responses to stress. This study validates the use of enzyme-immunoassays (EIAs) to quantify fGCMs in two bird species. Results show species-specific suitability of EIAs and the time lag between stress initiation and peak fGCM concentration.
EMU-AUSTRAL ORNITHOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Zoology
Pawel Fedurek, Klaus Zuberbuehler, Stuart Semple
FRONTIERS IN ZOOLOGY
(2017)
Article
Zoology
Darcy L. Hannibal, Lauren C. Cassidy, Jessica Vandeleest, Stuart Semple, Allison Barnard, Katie Chun, Sasha Winkler, Brenda McCowan
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY
(2018)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Patrick J. Tkaczynski, Caroline Ross, Ann MacLarnon, Mohamed Mouna, Bonaventura Majolo, Julia Lehmann
JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE PSYCHOLOGY
(2019)
Article
Biology
Juliette M. Berthier, Stuart Semple
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2018)
Article
Biology
Raphaela Heesen, Catherine Hobaiter, Ramon Ferrer-i-Cancho, Stuart Semple
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2019)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Kevin A. Rosenfield, Stuart Semple, Alexander Georgiev, Dario Maestripieri, James P. Higham, Constance Dubuc
ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE
(2019)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
P. J. Tkaczynski, C. Ross, J. Lehmann, M. Mouna, B. Majolo, A. MacLarnon
ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE
(2019)
Article
Zoology
Lauren C. Cassidy, Darcy L. Hannibal, Stuart Semple, Brenda McCowan
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY
(2020)
Article
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Emmeline R. Howarth, Caralyn Kemp, Harriet R. Thatcher, Isabelle D. Szott, David Farningham, Claire L. Witham, Amanda Holmes, Stuart Semple, Emily J. Bethell
Summary: Attention bias is a new approach to assess animal affect, focusing on the tendency to preferentially attend to emotional stimuli and influenced by underlying affect. By using two attention bias tasks, stable individual differences in baseline social attention were revealed, but sensitivity to brief shifts in emotion state may require further investigation. The tasks showed reproducibility and potential for developing standardized protocols with animals, highlighting the importance of considering various confounding factors and life history factors in future method development.
APPLIED ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Eithne Kavanagh, Sally E. Street, Felix O. Angwela, Thore J. Bergman, Maryjka B. Blaszczyk, Laura M. Bolt, Margarita Briseno-Jaramillo, Michelle Brown, Chloe Chen-Kraus, Zanna Clay, Camille Coye, Melissa Emery Thompson, Alejandro Estrada, Claudia Fichtel, Barbara Fruth, Marco Gamba, Cristina Giacoma, Kirsty E. Graham, Samantha Green, Cyril C. Grueter, Shreejata Gupta, Morgan L. Gustison, Lindsey Hagberg, Daniela Hedwig, Katharine M. Jack, Peter M. Kappeler, Gillian King-Bailey, Barbora Kubenova, Alban Lemasson, David MacGregor Inglis, Zarin Machanda, Andrew MacIntosh, Bonaventura Majolo, Sophie Marshall, Stephanie Mercier, Jerome Micheletta, Martin Muller, Hugh Notman, Karim Ouattara, Julia Ostner, Mary S. M. Pavelka, Louise R. Peckre, Megan Petersdorf, Fredy Quintero, Gabriel Ramos-Fernandez, Martha M. Robbins, Roberta Salmi, Isaac Schamberg, Oliver Schuelke, Stuart Semple, Joan B. Silk, J. Roberto Sosa-Lopez, Valeria Torti, Daria Valente, Raffaella Ventura, Erica van de Waal, Anna H. Weyher, Claudia Wilke, Richard Wrangham, Christopher Young, Anna Zanoli, Klaus Zuberbuehler, Adriano R. Lameira, Katie Slocombe
Summary: This study found that dominant individuals in non-human primate species who were more tolerant tend to vocalize at a higher rate, while despotic species have a larger repertoire of hierarchy-related vocalizations. This suggests that primate signals evolve in relation to the nature of interactions that characterize individuals' social relationships.
ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE
(2021)
Review
Ecology
Stuart Semple, Ramon Ferrer-I-Cancho, Morgan L. Gustison
Summary: Researchers have found that linguistic laws not only exist in language, but also across various levels of biology, proposing a new conceptual framework for studying these laws.
TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Charlotte Carne, Stuart Semple, Ann MacLarnon, Bonaventura Majolo, Laetitia Marechal
Article
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Caralyn Kemp, Harriet Thatcher, David Farningham, Claire Witham, Ann MacLarnon, Amanda Holmes, Stuart Semple, Emily J. Bethell
APPLIED ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR SCIENCE
(2017)
Article
Zoology
Alan V. Rincon, Laetitia Marechal, Stuart Semple, Bonaventura Majolo, Ann MacLarnon
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY
(2017)