What Are They Thinking? Scientific Horsemanship and the Mind of the Horse

Horse behavior in an arena is examined to determine their Umwelt, or point of view. When in an arena singly, horses displayed home base behavior, spending their time near the entrance, and excursion behavior, trips into the arena. At home bases, horses paced against the wall, pushed against the gate, looked out, and rolled. On excursions, they displayed a “sniff, look, and loop” pattern; sniffing the ground on the outward leg, looking with ears forward down the arena at the apex, making a faster return with ears back. When free with a pair mate, the area of its excursions expanded and if a pair mate was tethered at the far end of the arena, a horse shifted its home base to that location. When ridden, horses displayed similar sniff, look, and loop behavior centered toward the entrance. Experiments on memory for the arena showed it was good but was reset each day. A model suggests that behavior is shaped by a spatial gradient, in which stress expands in proportion to distance from home, and an exploratory gradient, in which patrolling is a part of each day’s outing. Science-based horsemanship can provide insight into a horse’s view of its world and is relevant to safe horse handling

What are they good for?: Ultrasonic vocalizations as social communication signals in rats

Rats emit ultrasonic vocalizations in a variety of appetitive and aversive contexts. Although the reason why these calls are emitted is yet unknown, two prominent theories exist, the affective state theory and the social communication theory. This thesis will provide evidence to support the theory that these calls are emitted as a form of social communication. Four experiments will be presented, each testing a facet of the social communication theory. These experiments provide evidence that the calls are linked to social stimuli over non-social reward, and are emitted in divergent patterns depending on strain, regardless of depressive state. Further, they demonstrate that not all appetitive rewards elicit the same calling response, and that the calls emitted have a direct impact on conspecific behaviour. Overall, it is concluded that, although some vocalizations may be an indicator of the rat’s affective state, they are also used as a form of social communication.Canadian Institutes of Health Research (PJT-156302) NWO-ENW Veni grant (016.Veni.181.039) NSERC PG

Unleashing the potential of studying the correlations between ultrasonic vocalizations and behaviour in rats

This thesis explores how rats use various categories of ultrasonic vocalizations in social contexts. In the first study male juvenile rats were socially isolated and trained to anticipate play with a conspecific. During the anticipatory period the rats emitted a high frequency of 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations. Further, the 50-kHz vocalizations emitted were tightly linked to active behaviours while the rats anticipated conspecifics. The next two studies focused on social interaction between devocalized and vocal animals paired with intact animals in both juveniles and adults. These studies demonstrated a close linkage between active social behaviours and specific categories of vocalizations at both ages. Among juveniles trills seem important for soliciting playful interactions and in adulthood, flat type calls appear to be especially critical for preventing playful interactions from escalating to serious fighting. Thus, different categories of calls may have different communicatory functions. These novel findings provide new insights into the social interactions of rats, which may be applied to developing more sensitive rodent models for studying depression, autism and other pathologies that affect social behaviour.The work was supported by grants from the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada to DRE and SMP and by a grant from Alberta Innovates Health Solutions to DRE

Specific 50-kHv vocalizations are tightly linked to particular types of behavior in juvenile rats anticipating play

Sherpa Romeo green journal. Open access article. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0) appliesRat ultrasonic vocalizations have been suggested to be either a byproduct of physical movement or, in the case of 50-kHz calls, a means to communicate positive affect. Yet there are up to 14 distinct types of 50-kHz calls, raising issues for both explanations. To discriminate between these theories and address the purpose for the numerous 50-kHz call types, we studied single juvenile rats that were waiting to play with a partner, a situation associated with a high number of 50-kHz calls. We used a Monte-Carlo shuffling procedure to identify vocalization-behavior correlations that were statistically different from chance. We found that certain call types (“split”, “composite” and “multi-step”) were strongly associated with running and jumping while other call types (those involving “trills”) were more common during slower movements. Further, non-locomotor states such as resting and rearing were strongly predictive of a lack of vocalizations. We also found that the various sub-types of USVs can be clustered into 3–4 categories based on similarities in the way they are used. We did not find a one-to-one relationship between any movements and specific vocalizations, casting doubt on the motion byproduct theory. On the other hand, the use of specific calls during specific behaviors is problematic for the affect communication hypothesis. Based on our results, we suggest that ultrasonic calls may serve to coordinate moment-to-moment social interactionsYe

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

Rat 50 kHz Trill Calls Are Tied to the Expectation of Social Interaction

Rats emit a variety of calls in the 40–80 kHz range (50 kHz calls). While these calls are generally associated with positive affect, it is unclear whether certain calls might be used selectively in certain contexts. To examine this, we looked at ultrasonic calls in 30–40 day old male rats during the expectation of either play or food, both of which are reinforcing. Behavior and vocalizations were recorded while rats were in a test chamber awaiting the arrival of a play partner or food over seven days of testing. Control groups were included for the non-specific effects of food deprivation and social isolation. Play reward led to an increase in 50 kHz vocalizations, generally, with specific increases in trill and “trill with jump” calls not seen in other groups. Expectation of food reward did not lead to a significant increase in vocalizations of any type, perhaps due to the young age of our study group. Further, rats that were food deprived for the food expectation study showed markedly lower calls overall and had a different profile of call types compared to rats that were socially isolated. Taken together, the results suggest that trill-associated calls may be used selectively when rats are socially isolated and/or expecting a social encounter

Data from: Specific 50-kHz vocalizations are tightly linked to particular types of behavior in juvenile rats anticipating play

Rat ultrasonic vocalizations have been suggested to be either a byproduct of physical movement or, in the case of 50-kHz calls, a means to communicate positive affect. Yet there are up to 14 distinct types of 50-kHz calls, raising issues for both explanations. To discriminate between these theories and address the purpose for the numerous 50-kHz call types, we studied single juvenile rats that were waiting to play with a partner, a situation associated with a high number of 50-kHz calls. We used a Monte-Carlo shuffling procedure to identify vocalization-behavior correlations that were statistically different from chance. We found that certain call types (“split”, “composite” and “multi-step”) were strongly associated with running and jumping while other call types (those involving “trills”) were more common during slower movements. Further, non-locomotor states such as resting and rearing were strongly predictive of a lack of vocalizations. We also found that the various sub-types of USVs can be clustered into 3–4 categories based on similarities in the way they are used. We did not find a one-to-one relationship between any movements and specific vocalizations, casting doubt on the motion byproduct theory. On the other hand, the use of specific calls during specific behaviors is problematic for the affect communication hypothesis. Based on our results, we suggest that ultrasonic calls may serve to coordinate moment-to-moment social interactions

Behavioural Data -Day 7 Only

These video files are from the second set of data analysis where all data of anticipation of play was taken from the last day (day 7) for data analysis. The files are named R_D_C. R for rat number, D for day of testing and C for the cohort the animal belonged to. These files match the video files uploaded

Vocalization Data - Testing Day 7 Only

These vocalization files are from the second set of data analysis where all data was taken from the last day (day 7) of data analysis. The files are named R_D_C. R for rat number, D for day of testing and C for the cohort the animal belonged to. These files match the videos uploaded