New insights into perinatal testicular torsion

Perinatal testicular torsion is a relatively rare event that remains unrecognized in many patients or is suspected and treated accordingly only after an avoidable loss of time. The authors report their own experience with several patients, some of them quite atypical but instructive. Missed bilateral torsion is an issue, as are partial torsion, possible antenatal signs, and late presentation. These data are discussed together with the existing literature and may help shed new light on the natural course of testicular torsion and its treatment. The most important conclusion is that a much higher index of suspicion based on clinical findings is needed for timely detection of perinatal torsion. It is the authors’ opinion that immediate surgery is mandatory not only in suspected bilateral torsions but also in cases of possible unilateral torsions. There is no place for a more fatalistic “wait-and-see” approach. Whenever possible, even necrotic testes should not be removed during surgery because some endocrine function may be retained

Empathic-like responding by domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) to distress in humans: An exploratory study

Empathy covers a range of phenomena from cognitive empathy involving metarepresentation to emotional contagion stemming from automatically triggered reflexes. An experimental protocol first used with human infants was adapted to investigate empathy in domestic dogs. Dogs oriented toward their owner or a stranger more often when the person was pretending to cry than when they were talking or humming. Observers, unaware of experimental hypotheses and the condition under which dogs were responding, more often categorized dogs’ approaches as submissive as opposed to alert, playful or calm during the crying condition. When the stranger pretended to cry, rather than approaching their usual source of comfort, their owner, dogs sniffed, nuzzled and licked the stranger instead. The dogs’ pattern of response was behaviorally consistent with an expression of empathic concern, but is most parsimoniously interpreted as emotional contagion coupled with a previous learning history in which they have been rewarded for approaching distressed human companions

Third-party grooming in a captive chimpanzee group

Social grooming is ubiquitous among the captive chimpanzees at Chester Zoo. Seven individuals were chosen here for a study of third-party social dynamics. The grooming decisions of five adult males were analysed, but only insofar as they directed attention to a mother–daughter pair. Uniquely, the daughter was an unpopular and physically disabled subadult whose congenital motor impairments prevented her from grooming others effectively. The impetus for this study was the observation that some males increased their grooming towards the disabled daughter during days when the mother had a tumescent anogenital swelling (sexually attractive to males) compared to days when the mother was not tumescent (less attractive). Apparently, males were grooming the daughter with no possibility of payback (because the daughter could never “return the favour”). A “grooming rate” (avg. grooming time/hour) was calculated that showed the grooming efforts of all five males towards both mother and daughter. These rates were compared on days when (1) the mother’s anogenital swelling was tumescent, and (2) days when the swelling was not tumescent. Each male showed a different pattern of behaviour. Two males groomed the daughter significantly more when the mother was tumescent. Results for all males were graphed against the quality of the social relationship between each male and the mother. Apparently, only males that had a weaker relationship to the mother groomed the daughter more when the mother was tumescent. This pattern did not exist for males with a stronger relationship to the mother. Possibly, the insecure males were using the disabled daughter as a way to curry favour with the attractive mother. If this is confirmed, then this type of triadic situation is a possible setting for indirect reciprocity to occur