It's not just the animals that are STRANGE.

A "STRANGE" framework has been proposed to mitigate the effects of sampling biases in animal experiments (Webster & Rutz, Nature, 582, 337-340, 2020). While sampling biases are likely a major cause of poor replicability and generalizability in animal behavior research, a more comprehensive and cautious approach is needed to effectively guide decision-making in animal research

The hidden side of animal cognition research: Scientists' attitudes toward bias, replicability and scientific practice.

Animal cognition research aims to understand animal minds by using a diverse range of methods across an equally diverse range of species. Throughout its history, the field has sought to mitigate various biases that occur when studying animal minds, from experimenter effects to anthropomorphism. Recently, there has also been a focus on how common scientific practices might affect the reliability and validity of published research. Usually, these issues are discussed in the literature by a small group of scholars with a specific interest in the topics. This study aimed to survey a wider range of animal cognition researchers to ask about their attitudes towards classic and contemporary issues facing the field. Two-hundred and ten active animal cognition researchers completed our survey, and provided answers on questions relating to bias, replicability, statistics, publication, and belief in animal cognition. Collectively, researchers were wary of bias in the research field, but less so in their own work. Over 70% of researchers endorsed Morgan's canon as a useful principle but many caveated this in their free-text responses. Researchers self-reported that most of their studies had been published, however they often reported that studies went unpublished because they had negative or inconclusive results, or results that questioned "preferred" theories. Researchers rarely reported having performed questionable research practices themselves-however they thought that other researchers sometimes (52.7% of responses) or often (27.9% of responses) perform them. Researchers near unanimously agreed that replication studies are important but too infrequently performed in animal cognition research, 73.0% of respondents suggested areas of animal cognition research could experience a 'replication crisis' if replication studies were performed. Consistently, participants' free-text responses provided a nuanced picture of the challenges animal cognition research faces, which are available as part of an open dataset. However, many researchers appeared concerned with how to interpret negative results, publication bias, theoretical bias and reliability in areas of animal cognition research. Collectively, these data provide a candid overview of barriers to progress in animal cognition and can inform debates on how individual researchers, as well as organizations and journals, can facilitate robust scientific research in animal cognition

Little evidence that Eurasian jays protect their caches by responding to cues about a conspecific’s desire and visual perspective

Eurasian jays have been reported to protect their caches by responding to cues about either the visual perspective or current desire of an observing conspecific, similarly to other corvids. Here, we used established paradigms to test whether these birds can – like humans – integrate multiple cues about different mental states and perform an optimal response accordingly. Across five experiments, which also include replications of previous work, we found little evidence that our jays adjusted their caching behaviour in line with the visual perspective and current desire of another agent, neither by integrating these social cues nor by responding to only one type of cue independently. These results raise questions about the reliability of the previously reported effects and highlight several key issues affecting reliability in comparative cognition research

Ocena telesne kondicije visokomlečnih krava

Problems which relate to production, health and reproduction in herds of high yielding cows very often occur due to insufficient knowledge and monitoring of energy reserves in cow organisms. Many researches and practical experiences in this field indicate significant relation between body condition and achieved results in production. Body condition of heads of cattle in certain stages of production cycle is important parameter of applied nutrition, but also entire technological procedure. In countries with developed cattle production, evaluation of body condition has for several years been main component of production practice on farms. It is considered that condition is very reliable indicator of the nutrition status and energy balance in the organism. Body condition score is subjective and practical method which enables precise assessment of deposited fat in the cow organism by observing and touching previously determined body regions and fields. There is considerable variability of the condition of cows in different stages of production cycle. Body condition of high yielding cows often comes out of the frame of optimal values for certain stage of production cycle. Decrease of production, disorders in health condition and fertility of cows indicate the nature of relation between inadequate body condition and stated problems. Shape and strength of the relation between production results and body condition score confirms its reliability. This is all indication of the need for wider application of this evaluation system. Based on body condition score, beside other important factors in the production cycle, there is realistic possibility to achieve more efficient production of milk from the aspect of energy. Main purpose of this paper was to present how the application of methods for body condition score and its significance for production practice can be functional.Postojeći problemi u proizvodnji mleka, rezultatima reprodukcije i zdravstvenom stanju visokoproizvodnih krava mogu da se dovedu u vezu sa primenjenom tehnologijom ishrane. Važno pitanje u tehnologiji ishrane visokomlečnih krava predstavlja količina raspoložive energije (hrana, depoi masti, mišići) u ključnim fazama proizvodnog ciklusa (period zasušenja i rane laktacije). Deficit energije u kritičnim periodima proizvodnog procesa može da dovede do ozbiljnih poremećaja u proizvodnji, zdravlju i reprodukciji U početnoj fazi proizvodnje mleka najkritičniji je period maksimalne dnevne proizvodnje. Negativan bilans energije najizraženiji je u vrhu laktacije. Visok gubitak energije na račun telesnih rezervi predstavlja veliko opterećenje za metabolizam krava. Obezbeđenje adekvatne količine energije je složen uslov za svaku fazu proizvodnog ciklusa. OTK je subjektivan metod koji vizuelno i opipavanjem vrednuje količinu potkožne telesne masti. OTK je koristan alat za upravljanje mlečnim stadom. Idealna telesna kondicija je rang koji je u funkciji toka i faze laktacije. Procena rezervi energije u organizmu utvrđena preko OTK u osnovi predstavlja hranidbeni status grla vrednovan preko deponovanog masnog tkiva, pri čemu telesni okvir i masa grla imaju sekundaran značaj. Jedan od sistema za OTK krava koji je značajan za praksu je američki Virdžinija sistem modifikovan po Edmodsonu. Sistem za OTK kreiran je u obliku mape (karte) za ocenu visokomlečnih krava. Mapa je precizno pripremljena za svaki telesni region i polje koji se može smatrati važnim u dodeli ukupne OTK krave. Tri velika telesna regiona (slabine, karlica i koren repa) podeljena su osam polja na telu krave (slabine imaju četiri polja; karlica ima tri polja; koren repa ima jedno polje). Svako telesno polje se posebno ocenjuje i koristi kao pokazatelj telesne kondicije. Svako grlo ocenjeno je individualno za promene nivoa ocene duž skale od 1 do 5. Kontinuirano se koristi povećanje od 0,25 delova poena. Ceo sistem OTK funkcioniše sa 17 nivoa u okviru ukupne skale ocena posmatrane u intervalu od minimalne ocene u iznosu 1 i maksimalne u iznosu 5. Ocena 1 pokazuje mršavu kondiciju. Ocena 5 pokazuje izrazito tovnu kondiciju. Svaka faza proizvodnog ciklusa ima svoju optimalnu ocenu. Pod normalnim uslovima krave treba da gube telesnu kondiciju najviše od 4 do 6 nedelja. U skromnim vrednostima telesna kondicija postepeno se vraća u periodu od 7 do 12 nedelje. Krave u prvih od 100 do 120 dana laktacije treba da imaju ocenu između od 2,50 do 3,25. Ocena telesne kondicije od 200 dana laktacije do perioda zasušenja treba da je između 2,75 i 3,50. Ishrana u periodu zasušenja treba da osigura ocenu između 3,25 i 3,50. Mogućnost vrednovanja energetskog (hranidbenog) statusa i efikasnosti ishrane visokomlečnih krava pomoću OTK preporučuje ovaj sistem za praktičnu primenu u tehnološkim programima na govedarskim farmama

Desire-state attribution: Benefits of a novel paradigm using the food-sharing behavior of Eurasian jays (Garrulus glandarius).

In recent years, we have investigated the possibility that Eurasian jay food sharing might rely on desire-state attribution. The female's desire for a particular type of food can be decreased by sating her on it (specific satiety) and the food sharing paradigm can be used to test whether the male's sharing pattern reflects the female's current desire. Our previous findings show that the male shares the food that the female currently wants. Here, we consider 3 simpler mechanisms that might explain the male's behavior: behavior reading, lack of self-other differentiation and behavioral rules. We illustrate how we have already addressed these issues and how our food sharing paradigm can be further adapted to answer outstanding questions. The flexibility with which the food sharing paradigm can be applied to rule out alternative mechanisms makes it a useful tool to study desire-state attribution in jays and other species that share food

Can male Eurasian jays disengage from their own current desire to feed the female what she wants?

Humans' predictions of another person's behaviour are regularly influenced by what they themselves might know or want. In a previous study, we found that male Eurasian jays (Garrulus glandarius) could cater for their female partner's current desire when sharing food with her. Here, we tested the extent to which the males' decisions are influenced by their own current desire. When the males' and female's desires matched, males correctly shared the food that was desired by both. When the female's desire differed from their own, the males' decisions were not entirely driven by their own desires, suggesting that males also took the female's desire into account. Thus, the male jays' decisions about their mates' desires are partially biased by their own desire and might be based upon similar processes as those found in humans

QUALITY ANALYSIS OF BASIC RESOURCES FROM THE ASPECT OF FEASIBLITY OF ALUMINA CEMENT PRODUCTION

Main objective of this paper is feasibility of alumina cement production on the Republic of Srpska resources basis. As is known calcium-alumina cement is type of mineral hydraulic binder. As basic resources of CAC production are used bauxite and calcite. There are two main production processes: the fusion, Al2O3 less than 50% and the sintering process, Al2O3 higher than 50%. Republic of Srpska has two main bauxite deposits: Milici and Srebrenice mines and alumina factory in Zvornik. There are a couple calcite deposits with possible CAC technology requirements. Also the nearest CAC factory is in Istria, Republic of Croatia

Testing two competing hypotheses for Eurasian jays’ caching for the future

Abstract: Previous research reported that corvids preferentially cache food in a location where no food will be available or cache more of a specific food in a location where this food will not be available. Here, we consider possible explanations for these prospective caching behaviours and directly compare two competing hypotheses. The Compensatory Caching Hypothesis suggests that birds learn to cache more of a particular food in places where that food was less frequently available in the past. In contrast, the Future Planning Hypothesis suggests that birds recall the ‘what–when–where’ features of specific past events to predict the future availability of food. We designed a protocol in which the two hypotheses predict different caching patterns across different caching locations such that the two explanations can be disambiguated. We formalised the hypotheses in a Bayesian model comparison and tested this protocol in two experiments with one of the previously tested species, namely Eurasian jays. Consistently across the two experiments, the observed caching pattern did not support either hypothesis; rather it was best explained by a uniform distribution of caches over the different caching locations. Future research is needed to gain more insight into the cognitive mechanism underpinning corvids’ caching for the future

Testing two competing hypotheses for Eurasian jays’ caching for the future

Abstract: Previous research reported that corvids preferentially cache food in a location where no food will be available or cache more of a specific food in a location where this food will not be available. Here, we consider possible explanations for these prospective caching behaviours and directly compare two competing hypotheses. The Compensatory Caching Hypothesis suggests that birds learn to cache more of a particular food in places where that food was less frequently available in the past. In contrast, the Future Planning Hypothesis suggests that birds recall the ‘what–when–where’ features of specific past events to predict the future availability of food. We designed a protocol in which the two hypotheses predict different caching patterns across different caching locations such that the two explanations can be disambiguated. We formalised the hypotheses in a Bayesian model comparison and tested this protocol in two experiments with one of the previously tested species, namely Eurasian jays. Consistently across the two experiments, the observed caching pattern did not support either hypothesis; rather it was best explained by a uniform distribution of caches over the different caching locations. Future research is needed to gain more insight into the cognitive mechanism underpinning corvids’ caching for the future

DIFFERENCES IN QUALITY OF LIFE AFTER STROKE AND MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION

Introduction: There is obvious decline in quality of life after MI and stroke. The main factors that reduce quality of life in these patients were the inability of returning to normal activities, pain and the development of depression / anxiety. We wanted to know what has the biggest influence on recovery and differences in quality of life in patients after stroke and heart attack. Subjects and Methods: Cross-sectional study was conducted using HADS and WHOQOL-Bref questionnaire. Criteria for exclusion were diabetes, previous depression, cancer or other co morbidities that influenced the quality of life. It has been surveyed total of 396 patients, of whom 378 patients satisfied the criteria of inclusion in the study. Based on the personal data of patients, they were divided according to gender, age, educational level, and social support expressed by number of members with whom patient lives. Results: In all the observed parameters of the SU group had better results than the stroke group. The recovery after a stroke affected age, length of education and depression. Age, gender and length of education influence on a heart attack recovery. Disease duration did not affect the quality of life in either group. Significantly more patients after a stroke had depression compared to MI (p<0.001). Anxiety was not found significant in differences between groups (p=0.051). Metabolic syndrome was more frequent in the stroke group, but the difference between groups was not significant (stroke/MI) (p=0.098). In the group of stroke patients who had MS patients more often had depression (p=0.003) for different of respondents from the group with MI. Conclusion: Quality of life was significantly worse in patients after stroke compared to those with MI. The recovery from stroke was most significantly impacted by depression and age and level of education, while the recovery from heart attack was at most affected by gender, age and level of education