Factors Affecting Persistence of Canines at an Independent Task

The development of problem-solving behaviors in canines, including persistence, has implications for canine training, welfare, and the human-dog bond. Past research has shown that a variety of factors, including genetics (domestication) and training experience, play a role in a how a canine might behave during a problem-solving task. Less well understood is how certain populations of dogs may behave differently during a problem-solving task or how the actions of the human during the test and the dog's relationship with or perception of humans may affect a dog's behavior during a problem-solving task; in particular, one that the dog must solve independently of a human. To evaluate these questions, three experiments were conducted utilizing an independent task to compare the performance and persistence of wolves and domestic dogs from different populations, and under different environmental and testing contexts. Experiment one compared the problem-solving behavior of socialized wolves, pet dogs and free-ranging dogs from India. In experiment two, trained search and rescue dogs and untrained pet dogs were compared performing the same independent task under three conditions: a neutral, human-present condition; an alone condition; and an encouragement condition. In experiment three, pet dogs were compared for their ability to solve the task when they were presented with the testing apparatus in one of three conditions: a neutral condition, followed by encouragement; an encouragement condition followed by a neutral condition; and a neutral condition followed by a neutral condition. Results demonstrated that factors such as lifetime experience, relationship with humans, testing environment, and actions of the human during testing all influence a canine's behavior during an independent task. Further research is needed to better understand the impact of genetic and lifetime factors that affect persistence in canines and to identify ways that this information can be used to increase the persistence of dogs in working and training contexts. Promising areas of future research include investigations into possible breed differences and the influence of the human-canine relationship on problem solving behavior

The Effects of Pet Parenting Styles on Owner and Dog Behavior

The domestic dog is one of the most popular pets in the world, and many pet owners consider their pets to be members of their family. Studies have suggested that dogs behave like pseudo-children in many contexts. Despite this, there is very little research on how dog owners may behave like parents towards their dogs; in particular, there are no studies examining how parenting styles may influence a pet’s behavior. To examine how dog owners behave like parents and how “pet parenting” may influence a dog’s behavior, two studies were undertaken. In the first, a pet parenting survey was developed using existing studies on parenting styles and the human-dog bond. A final survey of 36 items was validated based on responses from over 1000 dog owners. Results from this survey revealed that these owners fell into three parenting styles (authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive). Pet owners participated in behavior tests with their dogs and, as expected, authoritative pet parents laughed significantly more during an attachment test compared to authoritarian or permissive pet parents and were more active when encouraging their dog to solve a task. Authoritative pet parents also talked to their dog using long, consistent encouragement when their dog was attempting to solve the task; in contrast, authoritarian pet parents spoke using short, quick commands. Permissive pet parents talked to their dog less than authoritative pet parents and spoke less often than authoritarian pet parents. This suggested that parenting styles exist among dog owners and the Pet Parenting Survey can be used to detect these parenting styles. In study two, pet parents and their dogs participated in three behavior tests: an attachment test, a sociability test, and a solvable task test. Dogs with authoritative pet parents were significantly more likely to have secure attachment styles compared to dogs with authoritarian or permissive pet parents. Dogs with authoritative and authoritarian pet parents appeared to have a preference for their owner compared to a stranger, whereas dogs from permissive pet parents showed no such preference. Dogs with authoritative pet parents were responsive to social cues from their owner and a stranger; in contrast, dogs with authoritarian pet parents remained relatively unresponsive to the social cues from an unfamiliar person and spent very little time with the stranger overall, whereas dogs with permissive pet parents were relatively unresponsive to the social cues from their owner and spent a large amount of time with their owner, regardless of what the owner was doing. During the solvable task, dogs from authoritative pet parents were generally more persistent than dogs from authoritarian or permissive pet parents. Dogs from authoritarian and permissive pet parents spent more time gazing at their owners compared to authoritative pet parents when the person was standing in the room but providing no encouragement. When the owners were allowed to encourage their dog, dogs with authoritative pet parents were more engaged with the task compared to dogs from authoritarian or permissive pet parents. Dogs with authoritarian pet parents seemed unresponsive to encouragement from their owner and dogs with permissive pet parents spent more time looking at the puzzle box but did not touch the puzzle box more when encouraged. Overall these results indicate that parenting styles exist among pet owners and these parenting styles are related to a dog’s attachment, social behavior, and problem-solving ability. More research is needed to establish the full extent of how pet parenting styles influence a pet’s behavior in a variety of contexts

Magnetic Resonance Angiography Visualization of Abnormal Tumor Vasculature in Genetically Engineered Mice

Previous research on the vasculature of tumor-bearing animals has focused upon the microvasculature. Magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) offers a noninvasive, complementary approach that provides information about larger vessels. Quantitative analysis of MRA images of spontaneous preclinical tumor models has not been previously reported. Eleven Tg

Malignancy-Associated Vessel Tortuosity: A Computer-Assisted, MRA Study of Choroid Plexus Carcinoma in Genetically Engineered Mice

Background and Purpose—The ability to assess tumor malignancy and to monitor treatment response non-invasively would be of value to both clinicians and animal investigators. This report describes the MR imaging characteristics of a genetically engineered mouse model of choroid plexus carcinoma (CPC) during tumor growth and progression to malignancy. We assess the ability of vessel tortuosity measurements, as calculated from high-resolution MRA images, to detect emerging CPC cancers. Methods—MR images were analyzed of 9 healthy mice and of 20 CPC mice with precancerous choroid dysplasia or with cancer over a wide range of sizes. Two vessel tortuosity measures and a measure of vessel density (vessel count) were calculated from MRA images. Malignancy assessment was based upon a statistical analysis of vessel tortuosity, using an equation derived from an earlier study of human brain tumor patients. Results—Choroid dysplasia was correctly judged non-malignant. On the basis of vessel count, neoangiogenesis could not be detected until cancers were full-blown and had reached a volume of approximately 80mm3. Vessel tortuosity measurements, however, correctly identified emerging malignancy in lesions larger than 0.3mm3. Conclusion—This report provides the first description of in vivo, MR imaging characteristics of genetically engineered CPC mice during the progression from dysplasia to cancer. Vessel tortuosity measurements offer promise of correctly defining even tiny tumors as malignant

Novel Genetic Tools for Diaminopimelic Acid Selection in Virulence Studies of Yersinia pestis

Molecular studies of bacterial virulence are enhanced by expression of recombinant DNA during infection to allow complementation of mutants and expression of reporter proteins in vivo. For highly pathogenic bacteria, such as Yersinia pestis, these studies are currently limited because deliberate introduction of antibiotic resistance is restricted to those few which are not human treatment options. In this work, we report the development of alternatives to antibiotics as tools for host-pathogen research during Yersinia pestis infections focusing on the diaminopimelic acid (DAP) pathway, a requirement for cell wall synthesis in eubacteria. We generated a mutation in the dapA-nlpB(dapX) operon of Yersinia pestis KIM D27 and CO92 which eliminated the expression of both genes. The resulting strains were auxotrophic for diaminopimelic acid and this phenotype was complemented in trans by expressing dapA in single and multi-copy. In vivo, we found that plasmids derived from the p15a replicon were cured without selection, while selection for DAP enhanced stability without detectable loss of any of the three resident virulence plasmids. The dapAX mutation rendered Y. pestis avirulent in mouse models of bubonic and septicemic plague which could be complemented when dapAX was inserted in single or multi-copy, restoring development of disease that was indistinguishable from the wild type parent strain. We further identified a high level, constitutive promoter in Y. pestis that could be used to drive expression of fluorescent reporters in dapAX strains that had minimal impact to virulence in mouse models while enabling sensitive detection of bacteria during infection. Thus, diaminopimelic acid selection for single or multi-copy genetic systems in Yersinia pestis offers an improved alternative to antibiotics for in vivo studies that causes minimal disruption to virulence

OneButton: A Link Resolving Application to Guide Users to Optimal Fulfillment Options

Like many consortia, institutional members of the Private Academic Library Network of Indiana (PALNI) provide multiple fulfillment options to obtain requested items for their users. Users can place on shelf holds on items, or they can request material that isn’t held by their institution through a group circulation resource sharing network (dubbed PALShare) or through traditional InterLibrary Loan (ILL) (through WorldShare ILL or ILLiad). All of these options can be confusing to users who may not understand the best or fastest way to get access to needed materials. A PHP application, OneButton, was developed that replaces multiple fulfillment buttons in institutional discovery interfaces with a single OpenURL link. OneButton looks up holdings and availability at a user’s home institution and across the consortium and routes the user to the optimal fulfillment option for them. If an item is held by and available at their institution, the user can be shown a stack map to help guide them to the item on the shelf; if an item is held by and available at the consortium, the user is routed to a group circulation request form; otherwise, the user is routed to an ILL request form. All routing and processing are handled by the OneButton application – the user doesn’t need to think about what the ‘best’ fulfillment option is. This article will discuss the experiences of one institution using OneButton in production since fall 2017, analytics data gathered, and how other institutions can adopt the application (freely available on GitHub: https://github.com/PALNI/onebutton)