Verification of the Detection Performance of Drone Radio Telemetry for Tracking the Movement of Frogs

Elucidating the various behavioral and ecological uses of animal habitats is the basis for the conservation and management of animal species. Therefore, tracking the movement of animals is necessary. Biotelemetry is used for tracking the movement of animals. By mounting a radio telemetry receiver and antenna on a drone, the time and labor required for surveying animals can be reduced. In addition, it is easy to track difficult-to-reach areas such as rice paddies and forests, and the environment is not invaded by the survey. We think that this drone radio telemetry will be the best method for tracking the movement of small amphibians, such as frogs. However, in order to put the method to practical use, the accuracy of the system needs to be verified. Approximately 26 ha of area in Sogabe, Kameoka City, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan was investigated in this study. We selected and validated the location where frogs are likely to enter farmlands. The location where the detection of movement is expected to be stable are 5 cm deep areas in the soil, gaps in masonry, and under plastic bags, whereas areas in which the detection is likely to be unstable are areas deeper than 5 cm in the soil, covered concrete channels, and grass. By calculating the geographic center, the location of the nanotag could be estimated with an accuracy of less than 16 m. We successfully showed that the drone radio telemetry system used in this study is capable of detecting and tracking the movement of animals with high spatial and temporal resolutions. However, we suggest that the detection of movement may be interrupted depending on the location of the target animal and more than three detections are needed to guarantee the accuracy of the estimation.

Tolerability Profile of Antiparasitic Drug «Gelmintal Mini Syrup» Administered as a Single and Repeated Dose to Target Animal Species

The purpose of the research is studying the tolerability profile of drug» Gelmintal Mini Syrup» based on toltrazuril and moxidectin in therapeutic and increased doses administered once and repeatedly to target animal species. Materials and methods. The experiments were carried out on 45 cats and kittens, and 45 dogs and puppies. In each experiment, the animals were divided according to the principle of analogy into three groups of 5 animals each. In the first experiment, the drug was administered once in two- and 5-fold increased doses; and the animals were followed-up for 30 days. In the second experiment, the drug was used daily for 7 days in therapeutic and 3-fold increased therapeutic doses; and the animals were followed-up for 15 days. During the experiments, we recorded the animals’ general condition, behavior and appetite, monitored their body weight and temperature, and collected blood and urine to study a number of parameters that characterize the physiological state of experimental animals. Results and discussion. «Gelmintal Mini Syrup» in therapeutic and increased doses administered once and repeatedly does not adversely affect the general condition of cats and dogs. Hematological, biochemical and urological values were within the physiological range.

Erratum: N.P. Neugodova et al., Current approaches to the abnormal toxicity test

Neugodova N.P., Stepanyuk E.O., Sapozhnikova G.A., Sakanyan E.I., Ryabtseva M.S. Current approaches to the abnormal toxicity test. Vedomosti Nauchnogo tsentra ekspertizy sredstv meditsinskogo primeneniya = The Bulletin of the Scientific Centre for Expert Evaluation of Medicinal Products. 2020;10(2):82–88. https://doi.org/10.30895/1991-2919-2020-10-2-82-88Dear readers, on page 84 (second paragraph from the bottom, left column) in issue 2 of The Bulletin of the Scientific Centre for Expert Evaluation of Medicinal Products, 2020 (2020;10(2):82–88) the following statement: “The discussions centered around suppression of the abnormal toxicity test and target animal batch safety test for vaccines for human use, and the possibility of suppression of the laboratory animal batch safety test for veterinary vaccines” should read: “The discussions centered around suppression of the abnormal toxicity test for vaccines for human use, and the possibility of suppression of the laboratory animal batch safety test and target animal batch safety test for veterinary vaccines”.

The Presence of Rabies Virus-Neutralizing Antibody in Wild Boars (Sus scrofa), a Non-Target Bait Vaccine Animal in Korea

Oral vaccination with bait is an effective method to prevent rabies in wildlife, but non-target wild animals may also ingest the bait vaccine. In Korea, the target animal of the rabies bait vaccine is the raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides). Bait vaccines have been distributed in Korea for 20 years; although wild raccoon dogs have been tested for antibodies, rabies antibodies have never been investigated in non-target wild animals. Therefore, this study investigated rabies antibody formation in wild boars (Sus scrofa), which is likely the main competitor for the bait vaccine in Korea. In bait areas, 20 of 109 wild boars (18.3%) were seropositive, and 39 of 470 wild boars (8.3%) in non-bait areas were also seropositive. These results provide insights regarding bait uptake or vaccination in non-target wild boars.

Parents fine-tune their speech to children’s vocabulary knowledge

Young children learn language at an incredible rate. While children come prepared with powerful statistical learning mechanisms, the statistics they encounter are also prepared for them: Children learn from caregivers motivated to communicate with them. How precisely do parents tune their speech to their children's individual language knowledge? To answer this question, we asked parent-child pairs (n=41) to play a reference game in which the parent's goal was to guide their child to select a target animal from a set of three. Parents fine-tuned their referring expressions to their children's knowledge at the lexical level, producing more informative references for animals they thought their children did not know. Further, parents learned about their children's knowledge over the course of the game, and tuned their referring expressions accordingly. Child-directed speech may thus support children's learning not because it is uniformly simplified, but because it is tuned to individual children's language development.

Pest control in German forests: General patterns of biodiversity and possible impacts of Btk, diflubenzuron and lambda-Cyhalothrin on non-target arthropods, birds and bats – a literature review

This review focuses on direct and indirect impacts of three insecticides (Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki, Diflubenzuron, lambda-Cyhalothrin) on arthropods, bats and birds. General patterns of ecology, diversity, distribution and aspects of nature conservation of these three non-target animal taxa in Germany were examined, as well as their specific exposure and possible direct and indirect effects of the insecticides after application. We conclude, that a) the knowledge of direct and indirect effects of the above mentioned insecticides is still very scarce, b) there is an urgent need for more in detail studies in field in general, especially on indirect effects on vertebrates (including amphibians and reptilians), and for further ecotoxicological laboratory studies especially on sublethal effects on vertebrates.

Children struggle beyond preschool-age in a continuous version of the ambiguous figures task

Children until the age of five are only able to reverse an ambiguous figure when they are informed about the second interpretation. In two experiments, we examined whether children’s difficulties would extend to a continuous version of the ambiguous figures task. Children (Experiment 1: 66 3- to 5-year olds; Experiment 2: 54 4- to 9-year olds) and adult controls saw line drawings of animals gradually morph—through well-known ambiguous figures—into other animals. Results show a relatively late developing ability to recognize the target animal, with difficulties extending beyond preschool-age. This delay can neither be explained with improvements in theory of mind, inhibitory control, nor individual differences in eye movements. Even the best achieving children only started to approach adult level performance at the age of 9, suggesting a fundamentally different processing style in children and adults.