Effect of previous handling experiences on responses of dairy calves to routine husbandry procedures

The nature of human–animal interactions is an important factor contributing to animal welfare and productivity. Reducing stress during routine husbandry procedures is likely to improve animal welfare. We examined how the type of early handling of calves affected responses to two common husbandry procedures, ear-tagging and disbudding. Forty Holstein–Friesian calves (n = 20/treatment) were exposed to one of two handling treatments daily from 1 to 5 weeks of age: (1) positive (n = 20), involving gentle handling (soft voices, slow movements, patting), and (2) negative (n = 20), involving rough handling (rough voices, rapid movements, pushing). Heart rate (HR), respiration rate (RR) and behaviour (activity, tail flicking) were measured before and after ear-tagging and disbudding (2 days apart). Cortisol was measured at −20 (baseline), 20 and 40 min relative to disbudding time. There were no significant treatment differences in HR, RR or behaviour in response to either procedure. However, the following changes occurred across both treatment groups. HR increased after disbudding (by 14.7 ± 4.0 and 18.6 ± 3.8 bpm, positive and negative, respectively; mean ± s.e.m.) and ear-tagging (by 8.7 ± 3.1 and 10.3 ± 3.0 bpm, positive and negative, respectively). After disbudding, there was an increase in RR (by 8.2 ± 3.4 and 9.3 ± 3.4 breaths/min, positive and negative, respectively), overall activity (by 9.4 ± 1.2 and 9.9 ± 1.3 frequency/min, positive and negative, respectively) and tail flicking (by 13.2 ± 2.8 and 11.2 ± 3.0 frequency/min, positive and negative, respectively), and cortisol increased from baseline at 20 min post procedure (by 10.3 ± 1.1 and 12.3 ± 1.1 nmol/l positive and negative, respectively). Although we recorded significant changes in calf responses during ear-tagging and disbudding, the type of prior handling had no effect on responses. The effects of handling may have been overridden by the degree of pain and/or stress associated with the procedures. Further research is warranted to understand the welfare impact and interaction between previous handling and responses to husbandry procedures

Nanoelectronic thermometers optimised for sub-10 millikelvin operation

We report the cooling of electrons in nanoelectronic Coulomb blockade thermometers below 4 mK. Above 7 mK the devices are in good thermal contact with the environment, well isolated from electrical noise, and not susceptible to self-heating. This is attributed to an optimised design that incorporates cooling fins with a high electron-phonon coupling and on-chip electronic filters, combined with a low-noise electronic measurement setup. Below 7 mK the electron temperature is seen to diverge from the ambient temperature. By immersing a Coulomb Blockade Thermometer in the 3He/4He refrigerant of a dilution refrigerator, we measure a lowest electron temperature of 3.7 mK.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures. (Fixed fitted saturation T_e on p9

Orbital damping of the oscillating superfluid He A-B interface at low temperatures

We present a model for the friction and effective mass of an oscillating superfluid He A-B interface due to orbital viscosity in the B-phase texture close to the interface. The model is applied to an experiment in which the A-B interface was stabilised in a magnetic field gradient at the transition field mT at 0 bar pressure and at a very low temperature mK. The interface was then oscillated by applying a small additional field at frequencies in the range 0.1-100 Hz. The response of the interface is governed by friction and by its effective mass. The measured dissipation does not fit theoretical predictions based either on the Andreev scattering of thermal quasiparticles or by pair-breaking from the moving interface. We describe a new mechanism based on the redistribution of thermal quasiparticle excitations in the B-phase texture engendered by the moving interface. This gives rise to friction via orbital viscosity and generates a significant effective mass of the interface. We have incorporated this mechanism into a simple preliminary model which provides reasonable agreement with the measured behaviour

Taking the bait: Species taking oral rabies vaccine baits intended for raccoons

Raccoon rabies in eastern USA is managed by strategically distributing oral rabies vaccine (ORV) baits. The attractiveness, palativity, density, and non-target species bait take affect ORV effectiveness. We examined raccoon and non-target species differences in investigating/removing fish-meal polymer and coated sachet baits applied to simulate two aerial bait distribution densities. Bait densities of 150 baits/km2 and 75 baits/km2 were evaluated, respectively, in zones expected to have high and low Racc oon densities. Three primary non-target species visited baits: coyotes, white-tailed deer, and feral swine. The proportion of bait stations visited by raccoons during 1 week observation periods ranged from 50 to 70%, exceeding non-target species visitation. Raccoon take rates for visited baits averaged from 59 to 100%. Raccoon visitation was similar for both bait densities, indicating a proportionally greater quantity of baits were taken in the higher bait density zone. Coyote visitation rates ranged from 16 to 26%, with take rates for visited baits between 46 and 100%. Coyotes were expected to take baits intended for raccoons, because similar baits are applied to vaccinate coyotes. Deer regularly investigated but rarely took baits. Feral swine were in low abundance in the high bait density zone (higher human density) and visited ≤ 1% of baits there but visited baits at frequencies similar to coyotes and deer in the low-density zone and were likely to take encountered baits (63–100%). Non-target bait consumption could be a concern in some circumstances for achieving sufficient raccoon sero-conversion rates

Taking the bait: species taking oral rabies vaccine baits intended for raccoons

Raccoon rabies in eastern USA is managed by strategically distributing oral rabies vaccine (ORV) baits. The attractiveness, palativity, density, and non-target species bait take affect ORV effectiveness. We examined raccoon and non-target species differences in investigating/removing fish-meal polymer and coated sachet baits applied to simulate two aerial bait distribution densities. Bait densities of 150 baits/km2 and 75 baits/km2 were evaluated, respectively, in zones expected to have high and low raccoon densities. Three primary non-target species visited baits: coyotes, white-tailed deer, and feral swine. The proportion of bait stations visited by raccoons during 1 week observation periods ranged from 50 to 70%, exceeding non-target species visitation. Raccoon take rates for visited baits averaged from 59 to 100%. Raccoon visitation was similar for both bait densities, indicating a proportionally greater quantity of baits were taken in the higher bait density zone. Coyote visitation rates ranged from 16 to 26%, with take rates for visited baits between 46 and 100%. Coyotes were expected to take baits intended for raccoons, because similar baits are applied to vaccinate coyotes. Deer regularly investigated but rarely took baits. Feral swine were in low abundance in the high bait density zone (higher human density) and visited ≤ 1% of baits there but visited baits at frequencies similar to coyotes and deer in the low-density zone and were likely to take encountered baits (63–100%). Non-target bait consumption could be a concern in some circumstances for achieving sufficient raccoon sero-conversion rates

Taking the bait: Species taking oral rabies vaccine baits intended for raccoons

Raccoon rabies in eastern USA is managed by strategically distributing oral rabies vaccine (ORV) baits. The attractiveness, palativity, density, and non-target species bait take affect ORV effectiveness. We examined raccoon and non-target species differences in investigating/removing fish-meal polymer and coated sachet baits applied to simulate two aerial bait distribution densities. Bait densities of 150 baits/km2 and 75 baits/km2 were evaluated, respectively, in zones expected to have high and low Racc oon densities. Three primary non-target species visited baits: coyotes, white-tailed deer, and feral swine. The proportion of bait stations visited by raccoons during 1 week observation periods ranged from 50 to 70%, exceeding non-target species visitation. Raccoon take rates for visited baits averaged from 59 to 100%. Raccoon visitation was similar for both bait densities, indicating a proportionally greater quantity of baits were taken in the higher bait density zone. Coyote visitation rates ranged from 16 to 26%, with take rates for visited baits between 46 and 100%. Coyotes were expected to take baits intended for raccoons, because similar baits are applied to vaccinate coyotes. Deer regularly investigated but rarely took baits. Feral swine were in low abundance in the high bait density zone (higher human density) and visited ≤ 1% of baits there but visited baits at frequencies similar to coyotes and deer in the low-density zone and were likely to take encountered baits (63–100%). Non-target bait consumption could be a concern in some circumstances for achieving sufficient raccoon sero-conversion rates

Mindfulness meditation targets transdiagnostic symptoms implicated in stress-related disorders: Understanding relationships between changes in mindfulness, sleep quality, and physical symptoms

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is an 8-week meditation program known to improve anxiety, depression, and psychological well-being. Other health-related effects, such as sleep quality, are less well established, as are the psychological processes associated with therapeutic change. This prospective, observational study (n=213) aimed to determine whether perseverative cognition, indicated by rumination and intrusive thoughts, and emotion regulation, measured by avoidance, thought suppression, emotion suppression, and cognitive reappraisal, partly accounted for the hypothesized relationship between changes in mindfulness and two health-related outcomes: sleep quality and stress-related physical symptoms. As expected, increased mindfulness following the MBSR program was directly correlated with decreased sleep disturbance (r=-0.21, p=0.004) and decreased stress-related physical symptoms (r=-0.38, p<0.001). Partial correlations revealed that pre-post changes in rumination, unwanted intrusive thoughts, thought suppression, experiential avoidance, emotion suppression, and cognitive reappraisal each uniquely accounted for up to 32% of the correlation between the change in mindfulness and change in sleep disturbance and up to 30% of the correlation between the change in mindfulness and change in stress-related physical symptoms. Results suggest that the stress-reducing effects of MBSR are due, in part, to improvements in perseverative cognition and emotion regulation, two “transdiagnostic” mental processes that cut across stress-related disorders

Cognitive bias and depression in psychiatrically disturbed children and adolescents

Developed a cognitive bias questionnaire for children (CBQC) to examine the relation between cognitive distortion and depression in 39 psychiatrically disturbed 8–16 yr olds. Results indicate that the Depressed–Distorted scale from the CBQC was significantly correlated with Ss\u27 psychiatric and self-reported ratings of depression and could significantly discriminate affective from nonaffective disorders