Factors affecting response of dogs to obedience instruction: a field and experimental study

Communication is an essential component of the translation of learning theory into the practical control of the behaviour of dogs. A handler sends a signal (e.g. a command), to which their dog responds. This response is dependent on the dog’s perception of the signal rather than the intention of the sender. Previous research has shown that a dog’s response can be influenced by specific changes in the verbal and non-verbal qualities of signals (i.e. the commands) used, but there has been little scientific evaluation of what happens in practice. Therefore in a first study, 56 dog handlers were videotaped giving their dogs a “sit” command and the significance of verbal and non-verbal factors on response was analyzed. Two factors were associated with a significant decrease in obedience: the dog’s attention to its handler and the handler giving additional verbal information preceding the actual verbal command. Based on these results, a second more controlled study was run with 12 dogs that were trained to a new (“uff”, i.e. jumping onto a raised surface) and a known (“sit”, “down” or “paw”) command. Once trained to predefined criteria, dogs were tested for their responsiveness with each of three additional types of verbal information preceding the command: the dog’s name, the dog’s name followed by a pause of 2 seconds and a “novel word”, i.e. a word with no established relationships in this context (“Banane”). The results suggest that the addition of the novel word significantly reduced response to both the known (p = 0.014) and the new (p = 0.014) commands. The name plus a pause preceding the command significantly reduced the response to the new command (p = 0.043), but not the known one. The use of the name before the command without a pause had no significant effect on performance. The dogs’ ability to generalize learned commands from the training context to a new context was tested by going through the same procedure in an unfamiliar environment. There was a significant reduction in correct responses only to the new command independent of the preceding verbal information (name (p = 0.028), name plus pause (p = 0.022) and novel word (p = 0.011)). This suggests that dogs may have more difficulties generalizing a less well-established command than an already known command

"The Division of Jurisdiction Over Concentrations in the EEC"

[From the Introduction]. The EEC Merger Control Regulation divides jurisdiction over concentrations in a fashion that may appear straight forward but is actually quite complex. The basic outline is clear: concentrations that have a "Community dimension" fall within the Commission's jurisdiction, whereas those that lack a "Community dimension" do not. For the moment the "Community dimension" is measured by a three-part test: (1) Each of at least two undertakings must have an "aggregate worldwide turnover" exceeding ECU 5 billion;(2) each must have an "aggregate Community-wide turnover" of ECU 250 million; and (3) at least one of the undertakings must achieve more than one-third of its aggregate Community-wide turnover outside of a single EC member state. The Commission would have preferred lower thresholds (of ECU 2 billion and 100 million), respectively), and may get them when the matter is reviewed by the Council in 1993

Analysis of acoustic communication channel characterization data in the surf zone

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution September 2000A channel characterization experiment for the underwater acoustic communication channel was carried out at Scripps Pier in May 1999. The experiment investigated acoustic transmission in very shallow water and breaking waves. In analyzing the data, several questions arose. The majority of the acoustic channel probe data was corrupted by crosstalk in the receiver array cable. This thesis investigates methods to correct for the effects of the crosstalk, to attempt to recover the channel probe data. In selected regions, the crosstalk could be removed quite effectively using a linear least-squares method to estimate the crosstalk coefficients. The bulk of the data could not be corrected, however, primarily due to crosstalk from a receiver channel which was not recorded, and hence could not be well estimated. A second question addressed by this thesis is concerned with acoustic propagation in shallow water under bubble clouds. The breaking waves injected air deep into the water column. The resulting bubble clouds heavily attenuated acoustic signals, effectively causing total dropouts of the acoustic communication channel. Due to buoyancy, the bubbles gradually rise, and the communication channel clears. The channel clearing was significantly slower than predicted by geometric ray acoustic propagation models, however. Proposed explanations included secondary, unobserved, breaking events causing additional bubble injection; delayed rising of bubbles due to turbulent currents; or failure of the geometric ray model due to suppression by bubble clouds of acoustic signals which are not along the geometric ray paths. This thesis investigated the final hypothesis, modeling the acoustic propagation in Scripps Pier environment, using the full wave equation modeling package OASES. It was determined that the attenuation of the propagating acoustic signal is not accurately predicted by the bubble-induced attenuation along the geometric ray path.For financial support, thanks to the National Science Foundation for funding me on a Graduate Research Fellowship, and thanks to the WHOI Education Office for supplementing that fellowship

Korelasi Jumlah Cairan Sendi dengan Derajat Nyeri pada Pasien Osteoartritis Genu

Latar Belakang: Osteoartritis (OA) adalah penyakit kronik yang ditandai dengan berkurangnya kartilago di sendi yang mengakibatkan tulang-tulang bergesekan. Gejala yang paling sering dirasakan pasien OA adalah nyeri dan kekakuan pada sendi. OA memicu terjadinya penumpukan cairan pada sendi. Cairan sendi secara tidak langsung berperan menimbulkan nyeri pada artritis. Nyeri pada pasien OA dapat diukur menggunakan Visual Analog Scale (VAS). Penelitian ini dilakukan untuk mengetahui korelasi jumlah cairan sendi dengan derajat nyeri pada pasien OA genu.Metode: Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian analitik observasional dengan pendekatan cross sectional. Sampel penelitian ini adalah pasien OA genu yang mengalami effusi sendi serta memenuhi kriteria inklusi dan eksklusi di Klinik Su’adah pada tahun 2018.Hasil: Dari 80 pasien, didapatkan 73,8% pasien OA genu adalah perempuan dan 30% berusia 56-60 tahun, dan 80% memiliki IMT >25 kg/m2. Rata-rata jumlah cairan sendi pasien OA sebanyak 18,59 mL (+ 1,49) dan rata-rata derajat nyeri adalah 6,33 (+ 0,24). Hasil analisis menggunakan uji korelasi Pearson menunjukkan bahwa terdapat korelasi positif lemah yang signifikan (r= 0,327             , p= 0,003).Kesimpulan: Terdapat korelasi positif lemah dan signifikan antara jumlah cairan sendi dengan derajat nyeri pada pasien OA genu

Betok Fish (Anabas testudineus) Oil Decreases Inflammatory Cytokine through Increasing Vitamin D Level in Rats-induced Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

BACKGROUND: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disorder marked by the production of antibodies to the cell’s core components. Vitamin D is a steroid hormone that plays a role in the regulation of cell growth, proliferation, apoptosis, and regulation of the immune system. Vitamin D deficiency is a clinical condition that worsens clinical SLE. Betok fish commonly found in South Sumatra, Indonesia, is rich in vitamin D content AIM: The aim of the study was to explore the utilization of betok fish oil as a natural source of Vitamin D that could reduce inflammation in SLE. METHODS: A total of 30 male Wistar rats (200 ± 20 g) were obtained from Eureka Research Laboratory (Palembang, Indonesia). About 30 kg of betok fish were obtained from the Palembang Fish Auction Center, South Sumatra, Indonesia. Betok fish were extracted to obtain theirs oil by heating and centrifuging processes. Thirty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into the six groups: (1) Betok fish oil Group 1 0.1 mL/kg BW group, (2) Betok fish oil Group 2 0.2 mL/kg BW group, (3) Betok fish oil Group 3 0.4 mL/kgBW group, (4) normal control group, (5) negative control group, and (6) positive control group. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method was used to assess ds-DNA levels and Vitamin D levels. Western blot assay was used to confirm the ELISA examination of pro-inflammatory cytokine (tumor necrosis factor-alpha [TNF-α]). All data were presented as mean ± standard deviation and all statistical analyzes are performed with the SPSS 25 (IBM) program. RESULTS: This study presented that the Vitamin D content in betok fish oil is quite high at 2021.43 IU/mL. That was higher than other Vitamin D regiments on the marketplace. Moreover, this research showed that giving fish oil at a dose of 0.4 mL/kg BW is more effective than the positive control in increasing serum Vitamin D levels. These results indicate the effectiveness of betok fish oil in increasing serum Vitamin D levels in SLE-induced rats. In addition, betok fish oil was able to reduce the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokine, TNF-alpha, in serum of SLE rats. CONCLUSION: Betok fish oil has efficacy in reducing levels of ds-DNA autoantibodies in SLE rats by decreasing the inflammatory response through upregulation of Vitamin D in serum

The Role of Inflammatory Cytokine and Inflammatory Regulator Protein Related to Severity of Joint Effusion in Osteoarthritis

BACKGROUND: Osteoarthritis (OA) is an inflammatory degenerative articular disease characterized by damage narrowing the joint gap, pain, and loss of joint function. Joint effusion is a clinical feature often found in OA patients and believed to be directly proportional to the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokine, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, and interleukin 1B (IL-1B), and various other regulatory proteins such as transcription factor proteins, nuclear factor of activated T-cells 1 (NFATC1), and chromosome 1 open reading frame 38 (C1orf38). AIM: The aim of the study was to explore the role of pro-inflammatory cytokine expression (TNF-alpha and IL-1B) and transcription regulatory proteins (NFATC1 and C1orf38) with the severity of joint effusion in OA patients. METHODS: This study was an observational study with a case series study approach. A total of 80 study subjects with OA joint effusions were included in the study. The diagnosis of OA was based on clinical and radiologic assessment from American College of Rheumatology. Data of clinical severity were assessed with Kellgren-Lawrence criteria, stroke test score, and Tegner Lysholm Knee Scoring Scale. Random blood examination was performed to obtain erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and qualitative C-reactive protein to evaluate the level of inflammation in the body. TNF-alpha, IL-1B, NFATC1, and C1orf38 levels were assessed in joint fluid using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. The correlation was analyzed with the Pearson correlation test (p = 0.05). RESULTS: The severity of OA joint effusion was not correlated to ESR (p adjusted = 0.169; r = 0.078), TNF-alpha (p adjusted = 0.112; r = −0.087), IL-1B (p adjusted = 0.136, r = −0.078), C1orf38 (p adjusted = 0.121; r = −0.088), and NFATC1 (p adjusted = 0.102; r = −0.081). CONCLUSION: Pro-inflammatory cytokines of TNF-alpha and IL-1B, and the transcription factors of pro-inflammatory cytokines gene expression, NFATC1, and C1orf38, did not correlate with the severity of joint effusion in OA