Preference and Motivation Testing

Since the early 1970s, scientists have used preference tests (tests that require animals to choose between two or more different options or environments) as a means of answering questions about animal welfare. Preference tests have been used to establish animals\u27 preferences for common housing options such as ambient temperature, illumination and preferred types of bedding and flooring; to improve the effectiveness of devices such as loading ramps and nest boxes; and to clarify how strongly animals avoid various aspects of confinement and methods of restraint. To use preference research to answer questions about animal welfare, three issues need to be addressed. First, we must ensure that experiments do adequately reflect the animals\u27 preferences. The preferences of an animal are likely to vary with the animal\u27s age and experience, the time of day, environmental conditions, and the animal\u27s on-going behaviour; therefore, preference experiments must be comprehensive enough to identify the relevant sources of variation. Experiments must also avoid confounding preference with familiarity, and avoid spurious results arising from the use of particular testing procedures and response measures. Second, to draw inferences about animal welfare from preference research requires that we establish how strongly an animal prefers a chosen option, avoids an unpref erred one, or is motivated to perform a certain behaviour (nest-building, exploration) that is prevented in some environments. Various methods to assess preference and motivation strength have been proposed. Third, the environments preferred by an animal will often, but not always, promote its welfare in the sense of health and psychological well-being. However, preferences may not correspond to welfare if the choices fall outside the animals\u27 sensory, cognitive and affective capacities, or if animals are required to choose between short- and long-term benefits. Future priorities for preference testing include more emphasis on identifying the factors underlying animals\u27 preferences, greater integration of preference research with other indicators of animal well-being, more reliance on the natural history of the species as a source of hypotheses about environmental preferences, and greater use of preference research in the design of animal environments

Investigating the Dynamics and Density Evolution of Returning Plasma Blobs from the 2011 June 7 Eruption

This work examines infalling matter following an enormous Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) on 2011 June 7. The material formed discrete concentrations, or blobs, in the corona and fell back to the surface, appearing as dark clouds against the bright corona. In this work we examined the density and dynamic evolution of these blobs in order to formally assess the intriguing morphology displayed throughout their descent. The blobs were studied in five wavelengths (94, 131, 171, 193 and 211 \AA) using the Solar Dynamics Observatory Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (SDO/AIA), comparing background emission to attenuated emission as a function of wavelength to calculate column densities across the descent of four separate blobs. We found the material to have a column density of hydrogen of approximately 2 $\times$ 10$^{19}$ cm$^{-2}$, which is comparable with typical pre-eruption filament column densities. Repeated splitting of the returning material is seen in a manner consistent with the Rayleigh-Taylor instability. Furthermore, the observed distribution of density and its evolution are also a signature of this instability. By approximating the three-dimensional geometry (with data from STEREO-A), volumetric densities were found to be approximately 2 $\times$ 10$^{-14}$ g cm$^{-3}$, and this, along with observed dominant length-scales of the instability, was used to infer a magnetic field of the order 1 G associated with the descending blobs.Comment: 9 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Static Socio-Ecological COVID-19 Vulnerability Index and Vaccine Hesitancy Index for England

Background: Population characteristics can be used to infer vulnerability of communities to COVID-19, or to the likelihood of high levels of vaccine hesitancy. Communities harder hit by the virus, or at risk of being so, stand to benefit from greater resource allocation than their population size alone would suggest. This study reports a simple but efficacious method of ranking small areas of England by relative characteristics that are linked with COVID-19 vulnerability and vaccine hesitancy. Methods: Publicly available data on a range of characteristics previously linked with either poor COVID-19 outcomes or vaccine hesitancy were collated for all Middle Super Output Areas of England (MSOA, n=6790, excluding Isles of Scilly), scaled and combined into two numeric indices. Multivariable linear regression was used to build a parsimonious model of vulnerability (static socio-ecological vulnerability index, SEVI) in 60% of MSOAs, and retained variables were used to construct two simple indices. Assuming a monotonic relationship between indices and outcomes, Spearman correlation coefficients were calculated between the SEVI and cumulative COVID-19 case rates at MSOA level in the remaining 40% of MSOAs over periods both during and out with national lockdowns. Similarly, a novel vaccine hesitancy index (VHI) was constructed using population characteristics aligned with factors identified by an Office for National Statistics (ONS) survey analysis. The relationship between the VHI and vaccine coverage in people aged 12+years (as of 2021-06-24) was determined using Spearman correlation. The indices were split into quintiles, and MSOAs within the highest vulnerability and vaccine hesitancy quintiles were mapped. Findings: The SEVI showed a moderate to strong relationship with case rates in the validation dataset across the whole study period, and for every intervening period studied except early in the pandemic when testing was highly selective. The SEVI was more strongly correlated with case rates than any of its domains (rs 0·59 95% CI 0.57-0.62) and outperformed an existing MSOA-level vulnerability index. The VHI was significantly negatively correlated with COVID-19 vaccine coverage in the validation data at the time of writing (rs -0·43 95% CI -0·46 to -0·41). London had the largest number and proportion of MSOAs in quintile 5 (most vulnerable/hesitant) of SEVI and VHI concurrently. Interpretation: The indices presented offer an efficacious way of identifying geographical disparities in COVID-19 risk, thus helping focus resources according to need. Funding: Funder: Integrated Covid Hub North East Award number: n/a Grant recipient: Fiona Matthew

Genome-wide RNAi selection identifies a regulator of transmission stage-enriched gene families and cell-type differentiation in <i>Trypanosoma brucei</i>

<div><p><i>Trypanosoma brucei</i>, causing African sleeping-sickness, exploits quorum-sensing (QS) to generate the ‘stumpy forms’ necessary for the parasite’s transmission to tsetse-flies. These quiescent cells are generated by differentiation in the bloodstream from proliferative slender forms. Using genome-wide RNAi selection we screened for repressors of transmission stage-enriched mRNAs in slender forms, using the stumpy-elevated ESAG9 transcript as a model. This identified <i>REG9</i>.<i>1</i>, whose RNAi-silencing alleviated <i>ESAG9</i> repression in slender forms and tsetse-midgut procyclic forms. Interestingly, trypanosome surface protein Family 5 and Family 7 mRNAs were also elevated, which, like <i>ESAG9</i>, are <i>T</i>. <i>brucei</i> specific and stumpy-enriched. We suggest these contribute to the distinct transmission biology and vector tropism of <i>T</i>. <i>brucei</i> from other African trypanosome species. As well as surface family regulation, <i>REG9</i>.<i>1</i>-depletion generated QS-independent development to stumpy forms <i>in vivo</i>, whereas <i>REG9</i>.<i>1</i> overexpression in bloodstream forms potentiated spontaneous differentiation to procyclic forms in the absence of an external signal. Combined, this identifies <i>REG9</i>.<i>1</i> as a regulator of developmental cell fate, controlling the expression of <i>Trypanosoma brucei</i>-specific molecules elevated during transmission.</p></div

Orientation-dependent pinning and homoclinic snaking on a planar lattice

We study homoclinic snaking of one-dimensional, localized states on two-dimensional, bistable lattices via the method of exponential asymptotics. Within a narrow region of parameter space, fronts connecting the two stable states are pinned to the underlying lattice. Localized solutions are formed by matching two such stationary fronts back-to-back; depending on the orientation relative to the lattice, the solution branch may “snake” back and forth within the pinning region via successive saddle-node bifurcations. Standard continuum approximations in the weakly nonlinear limit (equivalently, the limit of small mesh size) do not exhibit this behavior, due to the resultant leading-order reaction-diffusion equation lacking a periodic spatial structure. By including exponentially small effects hidden beyond all algebraic orders in the asymptotic expansion, we find that exponentially small but exponentially growing terms are switched on via error function smoothing near Stokes lines. Eliminating these otherwise unbounded beyond-all-orders terms selects the origin (modulo the mesh size) of the front, and matching two fronts together yields a set of equations describing the snaking bifurcation diagram. This is possible only within an exponentially small region of parameter space—the pinning region. Moreover, by considering fronts orientated at an arbitrary angle ψ to the x-axis, we show that the width of the pinning region is nonzero only if tan ψ is rational or infinite. The asymptotic results are compared with numerical calculations, with good agreement

Evaluation of variables for the communication of uncertainties using peripheral awareness displays

The communication of system uncertainties may be key for overcoming challenges related to overtrust in automated driving. Existing approaches are limited to conveying uncertainties using visual displays in the instrument cluster. This requires operators to regularly monitor the display in order to perceive changes which impedes the execution of nondriving related tasks and thereby degrades the user experience. This study evaluates variables for the communication of uncertainties using peripheral awareness displays, considering changes in brightness, hue, position, size, pulse frequency, and movement speed. All variables were assessed in terms of how well participants can distinguish different instances, how logical they are, and how interrupting to a secondary task. With the exception of changes in position, all variables were ranked highly in terms of logic while changes in pulse frequency were perceived as most interrupting. The results inform the development of unobtrusive interfaces for uncertainty communication

Observations of Rapid Disk-Jet Interaction in the Microquasar GRS 1915+105

We present evidence that ~ 30 minute episodes of jet formation in the Galactic microquasar GRS 1915+105 may sometimes entirely be a superposition of smaller, faster phenomena. We base this conclusion on simultaneous X-ray and infrared observations in July 2002, using the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer and the Palomar 5 meter telescope. On two nights, we observed quasi-periodic infrared flares from GRS 1915+105, each accompanied by a set of fast oscillations in the X-ray light curve (indicating an interaction between the jet and accretion disk). In contrast to similar observations in 1997, we find that the duration of each X-ray cycle matches the duration of its accompanying infrared flare, and we observed one instance in which an isolated X-ray oscillation occurred at the same time as a faint infrared "subflare" (of duration ~ 150 seconds) superimposed on one of the main flares. From these data, we are able to conclude that each X-ray oscillation had an associated faint infrared flare and that these flares blend together to form, and entirely comprise, the ~ 30 minute events we observed. Part of the infrared emission in 1997 also appears to be due to superimposed small flares, but it was overshadowed by infrared-bright ejections associated with the appearance of a sharp "trigger" spike in each X-ray cycle that were not present in 2002. We also study the evolution of the X-ray spectrum and find significant differences in the high energy power law component, which was strongly variable in 1997 but not in 2002. Taken together, these observations reveal the diversity of ways in which the accretion disk and jet in black hole systems are capable of interacting and solidify the importance of the trigger spike for large ejections to occur on ~ 30 minute timescales in GRS 1915+105.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figures; accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa

Visualizing Spacetime Curvature via Frame-Drag Vortexes and Tidal Tendexes III. Quasinormal Pulsations of Schwarzschild and Kerr Black Holes

In recent papers, we and colleagues have introduced a way to visualize the full vacuum Riemann curvature tensor using frame-drag vortex lines and their vorticities, and tidal tendex lines and their tendicities. We have also introduced the concepts of horizon vortexes and tendexes and 3-D vortexes and tendexes (regions where vorticities or tendicities are large). Using these concepts, we discover a number of previously unknown features of quasinormal modes of Schwarzschild and Kerr black holes. These modes can be classified by mode indexes (n,l,m), and parity, which can be electric [(-1)^l] or magnetic [(-1)^(l+1)]. Among our discoveries are these: (i) There is a near duality between modes of the same (n,l,m): a duality in which the tendex and vortex structures of electric-parity modes are interchanged with the vortex and tendex structures (respectively) of magnetic-parity modes. (ii) This near duality is perfect for the modes' complex eigenfrequencies (which are well known to be identical) and perfect on the horizon; it is slightly broken in the equatorial plane of a non-spinning hole, and the breaking becomes greater out of the equatorial plane, and greater as the hole is spun up; but even out of the plane for fast-spinning holes, the duality is surprisingly good. (iii) Electric-parity modes can be regarded as generated by 3-D tendexes that stick radially out of the horizon. As these "longitudinal," near-zone tendexes rotate or oscillate, they generate longitudinal-transverse near-zone vortexes and tendexes, and outgoing and ingoing gravitational waves. The ingoing waves act back on the longitudinal tendexes, driving them to slide off the horizon, which results in decay of the mode's strength. (iv) By duality, magnetic-parity modes are driven in this same manner by longitudinal, near-zone vortexes that stick out of the horizon. [Abstract abridged.]Comment: 53 pages with an overview of major results in the first 11 pages, 26 figures. v2: Very minor changes to reflect published version. v3: Fixed Ref