Physical Health Problems and Environmental Challenges Influence Balancing Behaviour in Laying Hens

With rising public concern for animal welfare, many major food chains and restaurants are changing their policies, strictly buying their eggs from non-cage producers. However, with the additional space in these cage-free systems to perform natural behaviours and movements comes the risk of injury. We evaluated the ability to maintain balance in adult laying hens with health problems (footpad dermatitis, keel damage, poor wing feather cover; n = 15) using a series of environmental challenges and compared such abilities with those of healthy birds (n = 5). Environmental challenges consisted of visual and spatial constraints, created using a head mask, perch obstacles, and static and swaying perch states. We hypothesized that perch movement, environmental challenges, and diminished physical health would negatively impact perching performance demonstrated as balance (as measured by time spent on perch and by number of falls of the perch) and would require more exaggerated correctional movements.We measured perching stability whereby each bird underwent eight 30-second trials on a static and swaying perch: with and without disrupted vision (head mask), with and without space limitations (obstacles) and combinations thereof. Video recordings (600 Hz) and a three-axis accelerometer/gyroscope (100 Hz) were used to measure the number of jumps/falls, latencies to leave the perch, as well as magnitude and direction of both linear and rotational balance-correcting movements. Laying hens with and without physical health problems, in both challenged and unchallenged environments, managed to perch and remain off the ground. We attribute this capacity to our training of the birds. Environmental challenges and physical state had an effect on the use of accelerations and rotations to stabilize themselves on a perch. Birds with physical health problems performed a higher frequency of rotational corrections to keep the body centered over the perch, whereas, for both health categories, environmental challenges required more intense and variable movement corrections. Collectively, these results provide novel empirical support for the effectiveness of training, and highlight that overcrowding, visual constraints, and poor physical health all reduce perching performance.

Down-regulation of porin M35 in Moraxella catarrhalis by aminopenicillins and environmental factors and its potential contribution to the mechanism of resistance to aminopenicillins

The outer membrane protein M35 of Moraxella catarrhalis is an antigenically conserved porin. Knocking out M35 significantly increases the MICs of aminopenicillins. The aim of this study was to determine the biological mechanism of this potentially new antimicrobial resistance mechanism of M. catarrhalis and the behaviour of M35 in general stress situations.

Simply a nest? Effects of different enrichments on stereotypic and anxiety-related behaviour in mice

Improving the home cages of laboratory mice by environmental enrichment has been widely used to reduce cage stereotypies and anxiety-related behaviour in behavioural tests. However, enrichment studies differ substantially in type, complexity and variation of enrichments. Therefore, it is unclear whether success depends on specific enrichment items, environmental complexity, or novelty associated with enrichment. The aim of this study was therefore to dissociate the effects of environmental complexity and novelty on stereotypy development and compare these effects with the provision of nesting material alone. Thus, 54 freshly weaned male ICR (CD-1) mice were pairwise allocated to standard laboratory cages enriched in three different ways (n = 18 per group). Treatment 1 consisted of cotton wool as nesting material. Treatments 2 and 3 were structurally more complex, including a shelter and a climbing structure as additional resources. To render complexity and novelty independent of the specific enrichment items, three shelters (cardboard house, plastic tunnel, red plastic house) and three climbing structures (ladder, rope, wooden bars) were used to create nine different combinations of enrichment. In treatment 2 (complexity), each pair of mice was assigned to a different combination that remained constant throughout 9 weeks, whereas in treatment 3 (novelty), each pair of mice was exposed to all 9 combinations in turn by changing them weekly in a pseudorandom order. After 9 weeks, stereotypic behaviour in the home cage was assessed from video recordings, and anxiety-related behaviour was assessed in two behavioural tests (elevated zero-maze, open-field). However, no significant differences in stereotypy scores and no consistent differences in anxiety-related behaviours were found between the three groups. These findings indicate that within standard laboratory cages neither complexity nor novelty of simple enrichments have additional effects on stereotypic and anxiety-related behaviour beyond those of adequate nesting material. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Coping personality type and environmental enrichment affect aggression at weaning in pigs

This study investigated the effects of different environmental treatments and personality types on aggression at mixing of newly weaned domestic piglets. From birth to weaning, 16 litters were housed with their dams in either barren (B) or larger, substrate-enriched (E) environments. At 15 days old, piglets were classified as 'high' (HR) or low resistant' (LR) in a manual restraint test (backtest), which is thought to identify proactive (HR) and reactive (LR) stress coping strategies that may reflect different personality types. At 30 days old, 128 piglets were weaned, relocated and mixed into 32 pens comprising two HR and two LR unfamiliar pigs, balanced for sex and weaning weight. Eight B and eight E groups changed environmental condition whereas the others remained in the same type of environment. Number and duration of fights. fight outcomes and unilateral fighting were scored for 5 h post-mixing and skin lesions were counted before and 5 h, 1 day and 2 days after mixing. On the day following weaning, fighting and also exploratory and oral manipulative behaviours were measured for 6 h. Generalized Linear Mixed Model analyses suggested interactions between pre-weaning environment, post-weaning environment and personality type. Overall, pre-weaning E pigs had longer fights at weaning and mixing (P=0.01) and fought for longer on the next day (P=0.02) than pre-weaning B pigs, and inflicted more skin lesions (P=0.02). Post-weaning enrichment did not affect fighting at mixing but reduced the time spent fighting the next day (P=0.03). Personality had subtle and environment-dependent effects on fighting, and influenced the "structure" rather than the amount of aggressive behaviour. HR pigs, for instance, bullied (i.e. chased surrendering pigs) more often (P=0.009) and their fighting behaviour was less affected by their relative body weight than that of LR pigs. Post-weaning E pigs showed relatively higher levels of exploratory behaviour (P=0.02) and less oral manipulative behaviour (P=0.04) than post-weaning B pigs. In particular, switching from a good quality environment (E) to a worse quality one (B) at weaning decreased exploratory behaviour on the next day, especially for LR pigs, who also tended to fight with and orally manipulate their pen mates more in that condition, and seemed to be more affected by a deterioration of the environment. Overall, pre-weaning enrichment increased aggression after weaning whereas post-weaning enrichment reduced it, and personality type related to some aspects of fighting behaviour. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Interactional behaviour as a marker for screening patients with environment-related complaints

BACKGROUND: Adequate assessment of symptoms of patients suffering from environmental illnesses requires appropriate procedures such as psychological and psychiatric diagnostics, medical screening and a thorough analysis of noxious environmental factors. The Basel pilot research project established a multi-methodological assessment procedure that meets these criteria. However, an exhaustive three-fold analysis is very costly in terms of both equipment and personnel, and hence the need for a heuristic approach and pre-screening persists. METHOD: The three-fold diagnostic approach was preceded by a structured psychodynamic interview; the findings were used to construct a new profile of the patient's interactional behaviour (IB) in conjunction with the interviewer's countertransference. The extent to which this new profile could predict the results of the multi-method assessment was then assessed. RESULTS: A low level of IB on the part of the patient significantly predicted the degree of stress and the extent of the psychiatric diagnosis, including personality disorders. A negative IB was associated with negative personality traits. Furthermore, a high level of IB implied more medical, but not more environmental, findings which could plausibly be related to the patient's complaints. CONCLUSIONS: Assessment of patients' IB in conjunction with one's own countertransference is very helpful as a preliminary heuristic approach and may lead to consequences for treatment and therapy. Therefore, the training provided for experts who deal with patients suffering from environment-related complaints should place more specific emphasis on assessing patients' behaviour and on incorporating information gathered from countertransference. Nevertheless, an interdisciplinary assessment including medical, psychological/psychiatric, and environmental expertise remains mandatory for adequate and satisfactory diagnosis of patients with environment-related complaints.

Environmental justice and health practices: understanding how health inequities arise at the local level

While empirical evidence continues to show that people living in low socio-economic status neighbourhoods are less likely to engage in health-enhancing behaviour, our understanding of why this is so remains less than clear. We suggest that two changes could take place to move from description to understanding in this field; (i) a move away from the established concept of individual health behaviour to a contextualised understanding of health practices; and (ii) a switch from focusing on health inequalities in outcomes to health inequities in conditions. We apply Pierre Bourdieu's theory on capital interaction but find it insufficient with regard to the role of agency for structural change. We therefore introduce Amartya Sen's capability approach as a useful link between capital interaction theory and action to reduce social inequities in health-related practices. Sen's capability theory also elucidates the importance of discussing unequal chances in terms of inequity, rather than inequality, in order to underscore the moral nature of inequalities. We draw on the discussion in social geography on environmental injustice, which also underscores the moral nature of the spatial distribution of opportunities. The article ends by applying this approach to the 'Interdisciplinary study of inequalities in smoking' framework.

Regional differences of physical activity and sedentary behaviour in Swiss children are not explained by socio-demographics or the built environment

Objective We evaluated whether regional differences in physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour (SB) existed along language boundaries within Switzerland and whether potential differences would be explained by socio-demographics or environmental characteristics. Methods We combined data of 611 children aged 4 to 7 years from four regional studies. PA and SB were assessed by accelerometers. Information about the socio-demographic background was obtained by questionnaires. Objective neighbourhood attributes could be linked to home addresses. Multivariate regression models were used to test associations between PA and SB and socio-demographic characteristics and neighbourhood attributes. Results Children from the German compared to the French-speaking region were more physically active and less sedentary (by 10–15 %, p < 0.01). Although German-speaking children lived in a more favourable environment and a higher socioeconomic neighbourhood (differences p < 0.001), these characteristics did not explain the differences in PA behaviour between French and German speaking. Conclusions Factors related to the language region, which might be culturally rooted were among the strongest correlates of PA and SB among Swiss children, independent of individual, social and environmental factors.

The impact of environmental enrichment on the outcome variability and scientific validity of laboratory animal studies.

It has been widely accepted for some time that species-appropriate environmental enrichment is important for the welfare of research animals, but its impact on research data initially received little attention. This has now changed, as the use of enrichment as one element of routine husbandry has expanded. In addition to its use in the care of larger research animals, such as nonhuman primates, it is now being used to improve the environments of small research animals, such as rodents, which are used in significantly greater numbers and in a wide variety of studies. Concern has been expressed that enrichment negatively affects both experimental validity and reproducibility. However, when a concise definition of enrichment is used, with a sound understanding of the biology and behaviour of the animal as well as the research constraints, it becomes clear that the welfare of research animals can be enhanced through environmental enrichment without compromising their purpose. Indeed, it is shown that the converse is true: the provision of suitable enrichment enhances the well-being of the animal, thereby refining the animal model and improving the research data. Thus, the argument is made that both the validity and reproducibility of the research are enhanced when proper consideration is given to the research animal's living environment and the animal's opportunities to express species-typical behaviours.

Cage-induced stereotypies, perseveration and the effects of environmental enrichment in laboratory mice.

When kept in barren and restrictive cages, animals frequently develop stereotypic behaviour patterns that are characterized by high repetition rates, conspicuous invariance and an apparent lack of function. Although millions of animals are affected, the underlying causes and mechanisms are still unclear. Growing evidence suggests that cage-induced stereotypies may reflect pathological dysfunction within basal ganglia circuitry expressed by perseverative behaviour. In order to assess whether variation in stereotypy performance and variation in perseverative behaviour may have a common cause in ICR CD-1 mice, we assessed the effects of environmental enrichment on both phenomena. We raised 48 female ICR CD-1 mice in standard or enriched cages from three weeks to either 6 or 11 months of age and measured stereotypy level in the home cage and perseveration on an extinction task. We further examined whether enriched rearing conditions (early enrichment) protect mice from the developing stereotypies later in life and whether stereotypies developed in barren cages would persist in an enriched environment (late enrichment) by transferring standard mice to enriched cages and vice versa for 14 weeks after completion of the extinction task. We found no evidence for a causal relation between stereotypy and perseveration in mice. However, transfer to enriched cages reduced stereotypy levels significantly both at 6 and 11 months of age indicating that stereotypies had not become established yet. Finally, we found that removing enrichments at both ages did not induce higher stereotypy levels, thereby confirming earlier reports of a neuroprotective effect of early enrichment.

Effects, but no interactions, of ubiquitous pesticide and parasite stressors on honey bee (Apis mellifera) lifespan and behaviour in a colony environment

Interactions between pesticides and parasites are believed to be responsible for increased mortality of honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies in the northern hemisphere. Previous efforts have employed experimental approaches using small groups under laboratory conditions to investigate influence of these stressors on honey bee physiology and behaviour, although both the colony level and field conditions play a key role for eusocial honey bees. Here, we challenged honey bee workers under in vivo colony conditions with sublethal doses of the neonicotinoid thiacloprid, the miticide tau-fluvalinate and the endoparasite Nosema ceranae, to investigate potential effects on longevity and behaviour using observation hives. In contrast to previous laboratory studies, our results do not suggest interactions among stressors, but rather lone effects of pesticides and the parasite on mortality and behaviour, respectively. These effects appear to be weak due to different outcomes at the two study sites, thereby suggesting that the role of thiacloprid, tau-fluvalinate and N. ceranae and interactions among them may have been overemphasized. In the future, investigations into the effects of honey bee stressors should prioritize the use of colonies maintained under a variety of environmental conditions in order to obtain more biologically relevant data.

Long-term Responses of Mountain Ecosystems to Environmental Changes: Resilience, Adjustment, and Vulnerability

The steep environmental gradients of mountain ecosystems over short distances reflect large gradients of several climatic parameters and hence provide excellent possibilities for ecological research on the effects of environmental change. To gain a better understanding of the dynamics of abiotic and biotic parameters of mountain ecosystems, long-term records are required since permanent plots in mountain regions cover in the best case about 50 - 70 years. In order to extend investigations of ecological dynamics beyond these temporal limitations of permanent plots, paleoecological approaches can be used if the sampling resolution can be adapted to ecological research questions, e.g. a sample every 10 years. Paleoecological studies in mountain ecosystems can provide new ecological insights through the combination of different spatial and temporal scales. [f we thus improve our understanding of processes across both steep environmental gradients and different time scales, we may be able to better estimate ecosystem responses to current and future environmental change (Ammann et al. 1993; Lotter et al. 1997). The complexity of ecological interactions in mountain regions forces us to concentrate on a number of sub-systems - without losing sight of the wider context. Here, we summarize a few case studies on the effects of Holocene climate change and disturbance on the vegetation of the Western Alps. To categorize the main response modes of vegetation to climatic change and disturbance in the Alps we use three classes of ecological behaviour: "resilience", "adjustment", and "vulnerability", We assume a resilient (or elastic) behaviour if vegetation is able to recover to its former state, regaining important ecosystem characteristics, such as floristic composition, biodiversity, species abundances, and biomass (e.g. Küttel 1990; Aber and Melillo 199 1). Conversely, vegetation displacements may occur in response to climatic change and/or disturbance. In some cases, this may culminate in irreversible large-scale processes such as species and/or community extinctions. Such drastic developments indicate high ecosystem vulnerability (or inelasticity or instability, for detailed definitions see Küttel 1990; Aber and Melillo 199 1) to climatic change and/or disturbance. In this sense, the "vulnerability" (or instability) of an ecosystem is expressed by the degree of failure to recover to the original state before disturbance and/or climatic change. Between these two extremes (resilience vs. vulnerability), ecosystem adjustments to climatic change and/or disturbance may occur, including the appearance of new and/or the disappearance of old species. The term "adjustment" is hence used to indicate the response of vegetational communities, which adapted to new environmental conditions without losing their main character. For forest ecosystems, we assume vegetational adjustments (rather than vulnerability) if the dominant (or co-dominant) tree species are not outnumbered or replaced by formerly unimportant plant species or new invaders. Adaptation as a genetic process is not discussed here and will require additional pbylogeographical studies (that incorporate the analysis of ancient DNA) in order to fully understand the distributions of ecotypes.