The Effect of Behind-The-Scenes Encounters and Interactive Presentations on the Welfare of Captive Servals (Leptailurus serval)

The serval (Leptailurus serval) is a small African felid that is well represented in zoos and often serves as an animal ambassador in encounter programs with zoo visitors. The impact on serval welfare in relation to such programs has not been investigated to date, and the aim of this study was to assess short-term welfare effects of varying levels of visitor interaction in two captive servals. Weekly blocks of four different treatments were imposed three times on each animal over 12 weeks, and the treatments involved (1) Presentations (serval undertaking a routine training session in a designated presentation space, typically attracting high visitor numbers), (2) Behind-the-scenes (BTS, a close encounter allowing a small group of visitors to interact closely with the cat in its enclosure), (3) Presentations and BTS combined, and (4) No visitor interaction. Serval activity budgets as well as behavioural diversity were created from behaviours observed from Close Circuit Television (CCTV) footage during four daily recording sessions per animal over three consecutive days per treatment, using instantaneous scan sampling every 60 s. Individual faecal samples were collected daily to monitor changes in faecal glucocorticoid metabolite (FGM) concentration. Results indicate that the mean number of scans with stereotypic pacing was significantly reduced (p = 0.01) during Treatments 1 and 3, when cats participated in presentations only, or the two activities combined. Conversely, a significant reduction in behavioural diversity (p < 0.001) was observed when cats participated in Treatment 3, i.e., cats expressed fewer behaviours when interaction with visitors was more frequent. FGM concentrations did not vary significantly with treatment (p > 0.05). Given the reduction in stereotypic pacing, these findings suggest that involvement in an encounter program appears to exert an overall positive short-term welfare effect on the individual servals in this study. Although a reduction in behavioural diversity was not considered a negative welfare effect in the short term, potential long-term negative welfare effects resulting from a more frequent encounter program could not be ruled out in the present study.

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Containing Transaction Costs in ERP Implementation through Identification of Strategic Learning Projects

Project Management Journal ◽

10.1177/875697280703800209 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 38 (2) ◽

pp. 84-92 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Annika Andersson ◽

Ralf Müller

Keyword(s):

Transaction Costs ◽

Enterprise Resource Planning ◽

Resource Planning ◽

Strategic Learning ◽

Short Term ◽

Project Costs ◽

The Individual ◽

The Impact ◽

Learning Projects

Implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems requires in-depth understanding of the idiosyncrasies of the receiving organization, thus implying specific learning costs. ERP projects delivered in form of contracted projects in a competitive market environment often ignore costs for competitive reasons (Linderoth & Lundqvist, 2004). However, these learning costs add to the overall transaction costs of a project. If not budgeted into the individual projects, these costs accumulate at the project portfolio level of project delivery organizations (sellers) and must be managed adequately. One way of minimizing learning costs at the portfolio level is to identify strategic learning projects, which accrue higher than planned (competitive) costs, but lower the costs of future projects and thereby the overall learning costs at the portfolio level. The present study investigated the practices of dealing with costs of learning projects at a Swedish ERP consultancy over a period of six months. The results show how to lower portfolio-level project costs in the long-term through identification of strategic learning projects, with expected budget overruns in the short-term. The study takes a transaction-costs-economic (TCE) perspective. A model shows the impact of short-term learning investments on the lowering of implementation risks in future projects. The model can be used by managers for understanding long-term profitability by exceeding time and budget objectives in the short term.

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The Impact of Context on EEG Motor Imagery Neurofeedback and Related Motor Domains

Current Behavioral Neuroscience Reports ◽

10.1007/s40473-021-00233-w ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Mareike Daeglau ◽

Catharina Zich ◽

Cornelia Kranczioch

Keyword(s):

Motor Imagery ◽

Motor Performance ◽

Motor Rehabilitation ◽

Motor Tasks ◽

Short Term ◽

Non Invasive ◽

The Individual ◽

The Impact ◽

Review Current

Abstract Neurofeedback (NF) is a versatile non-invasive neuromodulation technique. In combination with motor imagery (MI), NF has considerable potential for enhancing motor performance or supplementing motor rehabilitation. However, not all users achieve reliable NF control. While research has focused on various brain signal properties and the optimisation of signal processing to solve this issue, the impact of context, i.e. the conditions in which NF motor tasks occur, is comparatively unknown. We review current research on the impact of context on MI NF and related motor domains. We identify long-term factors that act at the level of the individual or of the intervention, and short-term factors, with levels before/after and during a session. The reviewed literature indicates that context plays a significant role. We propose considering context factors as well as within-level and across-level interactions when studying MI NF.

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Investigating Greenland's glaciers

Rapport Grønlands Geologiske Undersøgelse ◽

10.34194/rapggu.v148.8119 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 148 ◽

pp. 46-51

Author(s):

A Weidick

Keyword(s):

Point Of View ◽

Short Term ◽

Glacier Fluctuations ◽

Glacier Changes ◽

Future Events ◽

Global Sea Level ◽

The Individual ◽

The Impact

Investigations of Greenland's glaciers undertaken by GGU are primarily related to the exploitation of meltwater from the Inland lce and local glaciers in western Greenland, i.e. they are essentially related to glacier hydrology (Olesen & Braithwaite, 1989). The studies are therefore based on mass balance data combined with investigations of superglacial melt/refreezing and the determination of the internal mode of drainage. Related to this work is the documentation of short-term glacier changes at specific localities identified as being of special interest for hydropower from the point of view of glacier hazards, i.e. for example damage caused by tapping of ice dammed lakes or change of proglacial draining caused by change in the glacier's thickness and extent. Similar documentation of long-term glacier fluctuations provides a background for control and modelling of past glacier fluctuations. The procedures have a direct bearing on the calculation of scenarios for future events related to the individual localities or, in a regional sense, to the impact of changes in Greenland glaciers on global sea level (the 'greenhouse effect’).

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SUMBER-SUMBER RESILIENSI PADA REMAJA AKHIR YANG MENGALAMI KEKERASAN DARI ORANGTUA PADA MASA KANAK-KANAK

Psibernetika ◽

10.30813/psibernetika.v11i1.1161 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Devina Calista ◽

Garvin Garvin

Keyword(s):

Late Adolescents ◽

Long Term Effects ◽

Short Term ◽

Parental Affection ◽

Resilience Factors ◽

Childhood Violence ◽

Past Experiences ◽

The Impact ◽

Depth Interviews

Child abuse by parents is common in households. The impact of violence on children will bring short-term effects and long-term effects that can be attributed to their various emotional, behavioral and social problems in the future; especially in late adolescence that will enter adulthood. Resilience factors increase the likelihood that adolescents who are victims of childhood violence recover from their past experiences, become more powerful individuals and have a better life. The purpose of this study was to determine the source of resilience in late adolescents who experienced violence from parents in their childhood. This research uses qualitative research methods with in-depth interviews as a method of data collection. The result shows that the three research participants have the aspects of "I Have", "I Am", and "I Can"; a participant has "I Can" aspects as a source of resilience, and one other subject has no source of resilience. The study concluded that parental affection and acceptance of the past experience have role to the three sources of resilience (I Have, I Am, and I Can) Keyword : Resilience, adolescence, violence, parents

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Forecasting Revenue Impacts from COVID-19: The Case of Florida Municipalities

State and Local Government Review ◽

10.1177/0160323x211012056 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 0160323X2110120

Author(s):

Hai (David) Guo ◽

Can Chen

Keyword(s):

Local Government ◽

Short Term ◽

Fiscal Planning ◽

Revenue Structure ◽

Municipal Managers ◽

The Impact

Early in the pandemic, Florida municipal managers indicated that forecasting the impact on local revenues was one of their top priorities in responding to the pandemic, yet such a tool has not been widely available. This study offers simple and straightforward fiscal planning guides for assessing the short-term and long-term impacts of the COVID 19 recession on local government revenues by estimating the revenue declines among 411 Florida municipalities from FY 2021 to FY 2023. The forecast results predict revenues will be reduced by $5.11 billion from 2019 pre-pandemic levels for Florida cities in fiscal years 2021 through 2023. The decline is forecast to be 3.54 percent in FY 2021, 4.02 percent in FY 2022, and 3.29 percent in FY 2023. The revenue structure matters for estimating the revenue decline.

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Paleolithic Diet—Effect on the Health Status and Performance of Athletes?

Nutrients ◽

10.3390/nu13031019 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 1019

Author(s):

Barbara Frączek ◽

Aleksandra Pięta ◽

Adrian Burda ◽

Paulina Mazur-Kurach ◽

Florentyna Tyrała

Keyword(s):

Blood Pressure ◽

Body Mass ◽

Positive Impact ◽

Model Assessment ◽

Paleolithic Diet ◽

Short Term ◽

Positive Effects ◽

Short And Long Term ◽

The Impact

The aim of this meta-analysis was to review the impact of a Paleolithic diet (PD) on selected health indicators (body composition, lipid profile, blood pressure, and carbohydrate metabolism) in the short and long term of nutrition intervention in healthy and unhealthy adults. A systematic review of randomized controlled trials of 21 full-text original human studies was conducted. Both the PD and a variety of healthy diets (control diets (CDs)) caused reduction in anthropometric parameters, both in the short and long term. For many indicators, such as weight (body mass (BM)), body mass index (BMI), and waist circumference (WC), impact was stronger and especially found in the short term. All diets caused a decrease in total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and triglycerides (TG), albeit the impact of PD was stronger. Among long-term studies, only PD cased a decline in TC and LDL-C. Impact on blood pressure was observed mainly in the short term. PD caused a decrease in fasting plasma (fP) glucose, fP insulin, and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) in the short run, contrary to CD. In the long term, only PD caused a decrease in fP glucose and fP insulin. Lower positive impact of PD on performance was observed in the group without exercise. Positive effects of the PD on health and the lack of experiments among professional athletes require longer-term interventions to determine the effect of the Paleo diet on athletic performance.

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Corruption, Taxation and the Impact on the Shadow Economy

Economies ◽

10.3390/economies9010018 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 18 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Daniel Němec ◽

Eva Kotlánová ◽

Igor Kotlán ◽

Zuzana Machová

Keyword(s):

Tax Evasion ◽

Capital Accumulation ◽

Shadow Economy ◽

Labour Force ◽

Destructive Effect ◽

Eu Member States ◽

Initial Assumption ◽

The Individual ◽

The Impact

While assessing the economic impacts of corruption, the corruption-related transmission channels which influence taxation as such have to be duly considered. Taking the example of the Czech Republic, this article aims to evaluate the impacts corruption has on the size of the shadow economy as well as on the individual sources of long-term economic growth, making use of a transmission channel through which corruption affects the tax burden components. Using the method of an extended DSGE model, it confirms the initial assumption that an increase in perceived corruption supports the shadow economy’s growth, but at the same time, it demonstrates that corruption and especially its perception has a significantly different effect on two key areas—the capital accumulation and the labour force size. It further identifies another sector of the economy representing taxes which are prone to tax evasion while asserting that corruption has a much more destructive effect on this sector of the economy, offering generalized implications for other post-communist EU member states in a similar situation.

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Social trust, norms and morality

Human Affairs ◽

10.2478/s13374-013-0140-6 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 23 (3) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Miroslav Popper

Keyword(s):

Social Capital ◽

Political Institutions ◽

Social Trust ◽

Local Level ◽

Dynamic Change ◽

Short Term ◽

Legal Norms ◽

Increased Sensitivity ◽

The Individual

AbstractThe article approaches the topic of social trust from an evolutionary perspective. It begins by summarising the most influential approaches that have defined specific and social trust and ascertains what causes differences in degrees of trust and how the potential risk of deception might be lowered. It then notes that the basis of morality had already been formed during the era of prehistoric man, who was able to create coalitions against aggressors and to socially control the behaviour of deviants. It points out, however, that having a certain predisposition to behaving cooperatively or an increased sensitivity to recognising and not tolerating behaviour aimed at abusing cooperation is not a sufficient guarantee of the fact that people will always (or at least in the majority of situations) favour cooperation over deception. One of the reasons for this is a tendency to favour short-term gains over long-term ones. The article argues that establishing norms (moral, social and legal) produces a higher level of social trust because it not only “encourages” individuals to behave in certain ways in particular situations but also works as a sanction which “discourages” the individual from socially deviant behaviour. The article then focuses on a debate about the causal relationship between social trust and social capital. It discusses the suggestion that political institutions, government and the judiciary may reduce rather than raise levels of social capital and consequently also the level of social trust. This is partly because of their powerful position and the consequent scope for corruption and partly because of the fact that even when attempting to act honestly, representatives of these institutions cannot sufficiently reflect upon dynamic change at the local level. Finally, the article ends by adopting the position that social trust is built primarily from bottom up and so it is risky to continually doubt the very existence and usefulness of social norms and morality and to be governed simply by legal norms.

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Methods to Reduce Traffic Speed in High-Pedestrian Rural Areas

Transportation Research Record Journal of the Transportation Research Board ◽

10.3141/1828-04 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 1828 (1) ◽

pp. 31-37 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Ali Kamyab ◽

Steve Andrle ◽

Dennis Kroeger ◽

David S. Heyer

Keyword(s):

Rural Areas ◽

Speed Limit ◽

Single Word ◽

Short Term ◽

Speed Reduction ◽

Traffic Calming ◽

Reduction Strategies ◽

Long Term Impact ◽

The Impact

Many Minnesota counties are faced with the problem of high vehicle speeds through towns or resort areas that have significant pedestrian traffic. The impact of speed reduction strategies in high-pedestrian areas in rural counties of Minnesota was investigated. Speed data were collected at two selected study sites under their existing conditions ("no-treatment" or "before" condition) and after the proposed speed reduction strategies were installed. Second "after" data conditions were collected to study the short-term and long-term impact of the implemented strategies. The traffic-calming techniques employed at the Twin Lakes site consisted of removable pedestrian islands and pedestrian crossing signs. A dynamic variable message sign that sent a single-word message ("Slow") to motorists traveling over the speed limit was installed at the Bemidji site. The research study shows that the traffic-calming strategy deployed in Twin Lakes was effective in significantly reducing the mean speed and improving speed limit compliance in both the short term and long term. Despite proven effectiveness, the deployed speed reduction treatment in Bemidji Lake failed to lower the speed at the study site. The single-word message on the sign and the location of the sign, as well as a lack of initial enforcement, were the primary reasons for such failure.

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CLINICAL PROFILE OF PATIENTS OF YOUNG STROKE.

10.36106/ijar/3218440 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 68-70

Author(s):

Nitin Hiraman Suryawanshi ◽

Amit Aggarwal ◽

Abhijit Kadam

Keyword(s):

Diabetes Mellitus ◽

Risk Factors ◽

Young Patients ◽

Behavioural Pattern ◽

Long Term Outcomes ◽

Short Term ◽

Traditional Risk Factors ◽

The Individual ◽

Stroke In Young

A study of stroke in young patients has recently become a subject of interest. This is due to a lot of impact on the individual and society. Study of stroke in young patients can lead to therapeutical results affecting both short term and long-term outcomes. Our study is hospital based retrospective study for duration of 1 year. Thi Methods: Results: s study revealed stroke in young in 25.16% of all stroke cases, with cerebral infarction in 56% and followed by intracerebral haemorrhage in 25.64%, and cerebral venous thrombosis in 18%. The most common presenting symptom was hemiparesis. The most prevalent risk factor for stroke in young was hypertension followed by diabetes mellitus, alcohol consumption and smoking. Stroke in young requires a differe Conclusion: nt approach to investigate and treat. This is due to different underlying etilogy as compared to elderly. Although traditional risk factors are associated with stroke, behavioural pattern such as smoking and alcohol may cause and promote development of stroke in young.

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