Is music enriching for group-housed captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)?

Many facilities that house captive primates play music for animal enrichment or for caregiver enjoyment. However, the impact on primates is unknown as previous studies have been inconclusive. We conducted three studies with zoo-housed chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and one with group-housed chimpanzees at the National Centre for Chimpanzee Care to investigate the effects of classical and pop/rock music on various variables that may be indicative of increased welfare. Study one compared the behaviour and use of space of 18 animals when silence, classical or pop/rock music was played into one of several indoor areas. Overall, chimpanzees did not actively avoid the area when music was playing but were more likely to exit the area when songs with higher beats per minute were broadcast. Chimpanzees showed significantly fewer active social behaviours when music, rather than silence, was playing. They also tended to be more active and engage in less abnormal behaviour during the music but there was no change to either self-grooming or aggression between music and silent conditions. The genre of music had no differential effects on the chimpanzees’ use of space and behaviour. In the second study, continuous focal observations were carried out on three individuals with relatively high levels of abnormal behaviour. No differences in behaviour between music and silence periods were found in any of the individuals. The final two studies used devices that allowed chimpanzees to choose if they wanted to listen to music of various types or silence. Both studies showed that there were no persistent preferences for any type of music or silence. When taken together, our results do not suggest music is enriching for group-housed captive chimpanzees, but they also do not suggest that music has a negative effect on welfare

Disorders of sex development : insights from targeted gene sequencing of a large international patient cohort

Background: Disorders of sex development (DSD) are congenital conditions in which chromosomal, gonadal, or phenotypic sex is atypical. Clinical management of DSD is often difficult and currently only 13% of patients receive an accurate clinical genetic diagnosis. To address this we have developed a massively parallel sequencing targeted DSD gene panel which allows us to sequence all 64 known diagnostic DSD genes and candidate genes simultaneously. Results: We analyzed DNA from the largest reported international cohort of patients with DSD (278 patients with 46, XY DSD and 48 with 46, XX DSD). Our targeted gene panel compares favorably with other sequencing platforms. We found a total of 28 diagnostic genes that are implicated in DSD, highlighting the genetic spectrum of this disorder. Sequencing revealed 93 previously unreported DSD gene variants. Overall, we identified a likely genetic diagnosis in 43% of patients with 46, XY DSD. In patients with 46, XY disorders of androgen synthesis and action the genetic diagnosis rate reached 60%. Surprisingly, little difference in diagnostic rate was observed between singletons and trios. In many cases our findings are informative as to the likely cause of the DSD, which will facilitate clinical management. Conclusions: Our massively parallel sequencing targeted DSD gene panel represents an economical means of improving the genetic diagnostic capability for patients affected by DSD. Implementation of this panel in a large cohort of patients has expanded our understanding of the underlying genetic etiology of DSD. The inclusion of research candidate genes also provides an invaluable resource for future identification of novel genes

Collaborative Haptic Environment Assessment

Collaborative virtual environments (CVE) allow users from different geographical locations to execute a shared task by acting upon the same entities in the virtual world. Most of these environments rely on visual and auditory senses. The advances in haptic technology have opened a path for the sense of touch to be integrated into CVE. The main issue in a haptic CVE is maintaining state consistency despite the existence of network delays. We focus this research on studying the effects of network latency on task performance and we report our preliminary results

The Effects of Network Delay on Task Performance in a Visual-Haptic Collaborative Environment

Computer networks have grown considerably over the past decade. Faster and cheaper Internet connections have brought millions of PCs into a domain where rich content and fast downloads have become a necessity. New technology such as haptics must integrate into the existing infrastructures if it is to be considered a viable resource. As with visual and audio that preceded it, haptics too will find its home on the Internet. This research investigates the problems inherent in networks that haptic technology must overcome to make the step from a fascinating technology to a practical one

Results of tests investigating preferences for Edith, Eva, Pearl, Kilimi, Louis and Frek.

<p>Trends are italicised and significant results are shown in bold and underlined.</p

Behaviours recorded in instantaneous scan samples.

<p>Behaviours recorded in instantaneous scan samples.</p

Results comparing the percentage time spent displaying abnormal behaviours between music and silence.

<p>Paired T-tests were used to compare Music with Silence and “classical difference” with “pop/rock difference” were compared with Independent T-tests for Rene (N = 22), Lianne (N = 36) and Paul (N = 22).</p

Illustration of the first trial in a classical button training session.

<p>This shows the touchscreen images, associated auditory output, actions of the chimpanzees or experimenter, and timings. The downwards arrows indicates a change which is the result of the adjacent action, and is not reflected in an immediate change of visual stimulus. Training continued until the Classical music button had been successfully pressed 10 times, after which the touchscreen was turned off whilst the next training phase was loaded on the computer. If the touchscreen was not interacted with for 30 seconds during a training session, it reverted back to the green circle screen.</p

a and b. Graphs showing a) the choices of the four possible button presses made by group C2 and b)–the percentage of total presses by group C2 per individual.

<p>Pacer, Cordova and Junie are not included in the graphs as they did not contribute any button presses.</p

a, b and c. The number of times a) Edith, b) Pearl and c) Kilimi pressed each type of button during individual testing.

<p>a, b and c. The number of times a) Edith, b) Pearl and c) Kilimi pressed each type of button during individual testing.</p