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Certain Behaviors (certain + behavior)
Selected AbstractsEffects of Ultraviolet Radiation on Locomotion and Orientation in Roughskin Newts (Taricha granulosa)ETHOLOGY, Issue 3 2000Andrew R. Blaustein Environmental changes, including those associated with the atmosphere may significantly affect individual animals and ultimately populations. Ultraviolet (UV) radiation, perhaps increasing due to stratospheric ozone depletion, has been linked to mortality in a number of organisms, including amphibians. The eggs and larvae of certain amphibian species hatch at significantly lower rates when exposed to ambient ultraviolet light. Yet little is known about the sublethal effects of UV radiation. For example, UV radiation may affect specific behaviors of an animal that could alter its ability to survive. To examine if UV radiation affects amphibian behavior, we used roughskin newts (Taricha granulosa) as a model. Newts were exposed to low-level doses of UV in the laboratory and then tested in the field to examine if UV-exposed and control (no UV) newts differed in orientation towards water or in locomotor activity levels. UV-exposed and control newts both exhibited a significant orientation towards water in field tests but there was no significant difference in orientation between treatments. However, UV-exposed newts were significantly more active than control newts. Our results suggest that exposure to short-term low levels of UV radiation alters certain behaviors. Environmentally induced changes in behavior may have significant ecological and evolutionary consequences. [source] Ethanol-induced elevation of 3,-hydroxy-5,-pregnan-20-one does not modulate motor incoordination in ratsALCOHOLISM, Issue 8 2004Rahul T. Khisti Background: Ethanol administration elevates the levels of GABAergic neuroactive steroids in brain and contributes to some of its behavioral actions. In the present study, we investigated whether such elevation of GABAergic neuroactive steroids contributes to the motor incoordinating effects of ethanol. Methods: Sprague-Dawley rats were administered ethanol (2 g/kg intraperitoneally) or saline, and the level of 3,-hydroxy-5,-pregnan-20-one (3,,5,-THP) was measured across time in cerebral cortex and in various brain regions at the peak time by radioimmunoassay. To study whether increases in GABAergic neuroactive steroids are responsible for the motor incoordinating actions of ethanol, rats were subjected to chemical (5,-reductase inhibitor, finasteride) and surgical (adrenalectomy) manipulations before receiving ethanol (2 g/kg intraperitoneally) injections. The rats were then subjected to different paradigms to evaluate motor impairment including the Majchrowicz motor intoxication rating scale, Rotarod test, and aerial righting reflex task at different time points. Results: The radioimmunoassay of 3,,5,-THP in different brain regions showed that ethanol increases 3,,5,-THP levels by 3- and 9-fold in cerebral cortex and hippocampus, respectively. There was no change in 3,,5,-THP levels in cerebellum and midbrain. The time course of 3,,5,-THP elevations in the cerebral cortex showed significant increases 20-min after ethanol injection with a peak at 60 min. In contrast, motor toxicity peaked between 5 and 10 min after ethanol injections and gradually decreased over time. Furthermore, adrenalectomy or pretreatment with finasteride (2 × 50 mg/kg, subcutaneously) did not reduce motor incoordinating effects of ethanol as assessed by the Majchrowicz intoxication rating score, Rotarod test, or aerial righting reflex task. Conclusions: Ethanol increases GABAergic neuroactive steroids in a time- and brain region-selective manner. The role of neuroactive steroids in alcohol action is specific for certain behaviors. Alcohol-induced deficits in motor coordination are not mediated by elevated neuroactive steroid biosynthesis. [source] Reconciliation, consolation and postconflict behavioral specificity in chimpanzeesAMERICAN JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY, Issue 12 2008Orlaith N. Fraser Abstract Conflicts of interest arise regularly in the lives of all group-living animals and may escalate into aggressive conflicts. The costs of aggressive escalation can be reduced through peaceful postconflict interactions. This study investigated the postconflict behavior of 22 adult chimpanzees at Chester Zoo. The occurrence of reconciliation, i.e. the postconflict affiliative reunion between conflict opponents, and consolation, i.e. a postconflict affiliative interaction directed from a third party to the recipient of aggression, were demonstrated. Consolation was more likely to occur in the absence of reconciliation than after reconciliation, and reconciliation was more likely to occur in the absence of consolation than after consolation, supporting the hypothesis that consolation acts as a substitute for reconciliation when the latter fails to occur. Evidence for behavioral specificity, i.e. context-specific use of certain behaviors, was found for both reconciliation and consolation, which, along with high conciliatory tendencies, suggests an explicit style of postconflict behavior in the study subjects. Am. J. Primatol. 70:1114,1123, 2008. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Progress, Public Health, and Power: Foucault and the Homemakers' Clubs of Saskatchewan,CANADIAN REVIEW OF SOCIOLOGY/REVUE CANADIENNE DE SOCIOLOGIE, Issue 3 2008SCOTT McLEAN De 1911 à 1979, les Homemakers' Clubs de la Saskatchewan ont mobilisé et suivi une étude et une action à grande échelle dans le domaine de la santé publique. Cet article examine comment ces clubs ont poussé des femmes à lutter pour avancer et les ont encouragées à considérer de telles luttes comme étant fondamentales pour bâtir leur propre identité. Les techniques utilisées comprenaient des encouragements à partager des buts, à faire leurs de tels buts, à structurer leur démarche, à rendre compte de leurs pensées et de leurs actions, à récompenser certaines conduites et à lier ces dernières à des causes convaincantes sur le plan émotif. En s'insérant dans un cadre conceptuel foucaldien, cet article apporte une contribution à la compréhension sociologique de la gouvernance et de la formation du sujet. From 1911 to 1979, the Homemakers' Clubs of Saskatchewan mobilized and monitored extensive study and action in the field of public health. This article explores how these clubs exhorted women to strive for progress, and encouraged women to internalize such striving as fundamental to their own identities. The techniques used included encouraging commitment to shared goals, making such goals personal, structuring action, requiring women to report their thoughts and actions, rewarding certain behaviors, and linking those behaviors with emotionally compelling causes. Rooted in a Foucauldian conceptual framework, this article contributes to the sociological understanding of subject formation and governance. [source] | ||||||||||