ManyDogs Project: A Big Team Science Approach to Investigating Canine Behavior and Cognition

Dogs have a special place in human history as the first domesticated species and play important roles in many cultures around the world. However, their role in scientific studies has been relatively recent. With a few notable exceptions (e.g., Darwin, Pavlov, Scott, and Fuller), domestic dogs were not commonly the subject of rigorous scientific investigation of behavior until the late 1990s. Although the number of canine science studies has increased dramatically over the last 20 years, most research groups are limited in the inferences they can draw because of the relatively small sample sizes used, along with the exceptional diversity observed in dogs (e.g., breed, geographic location, experience). To this end, we introduce the ManyDogs Project, an international consortium of researchers interested in taking a big team science approach to understanding canine behavioral science. We begin by discussing why studying dogs provides valuable insights into behavior and cognition, evolutionary processes, human health, and applications for animal welfare. We then highlight other big team science projects that have previously been conducted in canine science and emphasize the benefits of our approach. Finally, we introduce the ManyDogs Project and our mission: (a) replicating important findings, (b) investigating moderators that need a large sample size such as breed differences, (c) reaching methodological consensus, (d) investigating cross-cultural differences, and (e) setting a standard for replication studies in general. In doing so, we hope to address previous limitations in individual lab studies and previous big team science frameworks to deepen our understanding of canine behavior and cognition

Perceptions of eye health in schools in Pakistan

BACKGROUND: Research exploring children's and their teachers' perceptions of eye health is lacking. This paper reports for the first time on perceptions of primary schoolchildren and their teachers of healthy and diseased eyes, things that keep eyes healthy and damage them, and what actions to be taken in case of an eye injury. METHODS: Using draw and write technique, 160 boys and girls (9–12 years old) attending four primary schools in Abbottabad district, northern Pakistan, were invited to draw pictures in response to a set of semi-structured questions and then label them. Sixteen teachers who were currently teaching the selected students were interviewed one-on-one. RESULTS: Analysis of text accompanying 800 drawings and of the interview scripts revealed that most children and teachers perceived healthy eyes to be those which could see well, and diseased eyes to be those which have redness, watering, dirty discharge, pain, and itching; or those which have "weak eyesight" and blindness. Among things that students and teachers thought damage the eyes included sun, television, and sharp pointed objects, particularly pencils. Teachers noted that children with eye problems "have difficulty seeing the blackboard well", "screw up their eyes", and "hold their books too close". CONCLUSION: We conclude that schoolchildren and their teachers had a good knowledge of eye health, but many of them had serious misconceptions e.g., use of kohl, medicines and eye drops keeps eyes healthy. Kohl is an important source of lead and can reduce children's intelligence even at low blood levels. Health education in schools must take into account children's existing knowledge of and misconceptions about various aspects of eye health. Such steps if taken could improve the relevance of eye health education to schoolchildren

Contrafreeloading in the Domestic Dog (Canis lupus familiaris)

Contrafreeloading is the behavior of working for food that requires effort to obtain when also provided with food that does not require effort to obtain. More specifically, contrafreeloading can be defined in multiple ways using various criterion such as 1) an animal’s preference and/or 2) an animal’s willingness to work for food when freely available food is offered. To date, multiple studies have evaluated contrafreeloading in various animal species, identifying that many non-domesticated species (e.g., maned wolves, red jungle fowl) and domesticated species (e.g., pigs, goats) demonstrate a preference and/or a willingness to work for food when readily available food is present. Most recently, Delgado et al., (2021) observed that domestic cats prefer freely available food over food that requires effort. In an adaptation of this research, we assessed whether another domesticated companion animal, dogs, contrafreeload when presented with two feeders simultaneously, a food puzzle (snuffle mat) and a tray. Thirty-eight pet dogs participated in the study in which they were presented with 10 feeding trials where food was distributed equally in both feeders. All dogs wore activity trackers for the duration of the study and feeding trials were video-recorded and behaviorally analyzed for first approaches to each feeder and time spent at each feeder. We also accounted for food eaten at each feeder. Overall, we did not find evidence of preference to contrafreeload behavior in domestic dogs, however we did find evidence of a willingness to contrafreeload. Dogs approached the tray before the snuffle mat most often. Willingness to contrafreeload was significantly correlated with owner reported body condition score (r (36) = 0.337, p = 0.039) but not activity level (r (34) = -0.259, p = 0.051). Our results could inform future recommendations for pet dog enrichment

Genetic Dissection of the Divergent Activities of the Multifunctional Membrane Sensor BglF▿ †

BglF catalyzes β-glucoside phosphotransfer across the cytoplasmic membrane in Escherichia coli. In addition, BglF acts as a sugar sensor that controls expression of β-glucoside utilization genes by reversibly phosphorylating the transcriptional antiterminator BglG. Thus, BglF can exist in two opposed states: a nonstimulated state that inactivates BglG by phosphorylation and a sugar-stimulated state that activates BglG by dephosphorylation and phosphorylates the incoming sugar. Sugar phosphorylation and BglG (de)phosphorylation are both catalyzed by the same residue, Cys24. To investigate the coordination and the structural requirements of the opposing activities of BglF, we conducted a genetic screen that led to the isolation of mutations that shift the balance toward BglG phosphorylation. We show that some of the mutants that are impaired in dephosphorylation of BglG retained the ability to catalyze the concurrent activity of sugar phosphotransfer. These mutations map to two regions in the BglF membrane domain that, based on their predicted topology, were suggested to be implicated in activity. Using in vivo cross-linking, we show that a glycine in the membrane domain, whose substitution impaired the ability of BglF to dephosphorylate BglG, is spatially close to the active-site cysteine located in a hydrophilic domain. This residue is part of a newly identified motif conserved among β-glucoside permeases associated with RNA-binding transcriptional antiterminators. The phenotype of the BglF mutants could be suppressed by BglG mutants that were isolated by a second genetic screen. In summary, we identified distinct sites in BglF that are involved in regulating phosphate flow via the common active-site residue in response to environmental cues