How Housing Conditions Determine the Welfare of Pigs

Humans who care for pigs prefer an environment that not only allows the pigs to express their natural behaviors but also limits the development of aggression and stereotypes. Most of the behavioral and health problems encountered by pigs in barren, conventional conditions are solved by alternative housing systems. However, it is not known whether these systems are advantageous in terms of the performance of pigs. In this work, we review the effects of housing systems on pigs’ behaviors and performance, which are among the major indicators of the welfare of these animals. Research results point out that outdoor systems are more ideal for sows and fatteners than buildings. Nonetheless, outdoor housing is associated with two major effects in both groups: increased activity due to environmental exploration and higher space allowance, and increased incidence of injuries compared to indoor systems. Sows are more active when housed in groups, but they experience an increased frequency of injuries. According to the literature, group-housed sows give birth to healthy piglets with good daily weight gains. The difference in the fattening and slaughter performance of pigs raised indoors vs. outdoors remains unclear, and the results reported so far are inconsistent. Outdoor systems seem to be associated with a higher incidence of osteochondrosis and lesions of elbow and hock joints, whereas indoor systems cause a greater degree of body soiling in pigs. Based on the reviewed literature, it may be concluded that outdoor housing helps to solve behavioral issues in pigs but leads to other problems in pig production.

How Do Nature-Based Solutions’ Color Tones Influence People’s Emotional Reaction? An Assessment via Virtual and Augmented Reality in a Participatory Process

Simulations of urban transformations are an effective tool for engaging citizens and enhancing their understanding of urban design outcomes. Citizens’ involvement can positively contribute to foster resilience for mitigating the impact of climate change. Successful integration of Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) into the urban fabric enables both the mitigation of climate hazards and positive reactions of citizens. This paper presents two case studies in a southern district of Milan (Italy), investigating the emotional reaction of citizens to existing urban greenery and designed NBS. During the events, the participants explored in Virtual Reality (VR) (n = 48) and Augmented Reality (AR) (n = 63) (i) the district in its current condition and (ii) the design project of a future transformation including NBS. The environmental exploration and the data collection took place through the exp-EIA© method, integrated into the mobile app City Sense. The correlations between the color features of the viewed landscape and the emotional reaction of participants showed that weighted saturation of green and lime colors reduced the unpleasantness both in VR and AR, while the lime pixel area (%) reduced the unpleasantness only in VR. No effects were observed on the Arousal and Sleepiness factors. The effects show high reliability between VR and AR for some of the variables. Implications of the method and the benefits for urban simulation and participatory processes are discussed.

The orbitofrontal cortex maps future navigational goals

Accurate navigation to a desired goal requires consecutive estimates of spatial relationships between the current position and future destination throughout the journey. Although neurons in the hippocampal formation can represent the position of an animal as well as its nearby trajectories1–7, their role in determining the destination of the animal has been questioned8,9. It is, thus, unclear whether the brain can possess a precise estimate of target location during active environmental exploration. Here we describe neurons in the rat orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) that form spatial representations persistently pointing to the subsequent goal destination of an animal throughout navigation. This destination coding emerges before the onset of navigation, without direct sensory access to a distal goal, and even predicts the incorrect destination of an animal at the beginning of an error trial. Goal representations in the OFC are maintained by destination-specific neural ensemble dynamics, and their brief perturbation at the onset of a journey led to a navigational error. These findings suggest that the OFC is part of the internal goal map of the brain, enabling animals to navigate precisely to a chosen destination that is beyond the range of sensory perception.

Dynamics of the two stator systems in the flagellar motor of Pseudomonas aeruginosa studied by a bead assay

We developed a robust bead assay for studying flagellar motor behavior of Pseudomonas aeruginosa . Using this assay, we studied the dynamics of the two stator systems in the flagellar motor. We found that the two sets of stators function differently, with MotAB stators providing higher total torque, and MotCD stators ensuring more stable motor speed. The motors in wild-type cells adjust the stator compositions according to the environment, resulting in an optimal performance in environmental exploration compared to mutants with one set of stators. The bead assay we developed here can be further used to study P. aeruginosa chemotaxis at the level of single cell using the motor behavior as the chemotaxis output. Importance Cells of Pseudomonas aeruginosa possess a single polar flagellum, driven by a rotatory motor powered by two sets of torque-generating units (stators). We developed a robust bead assay for studying the behavior of the flagellar motor in P. aeruginosa , by attaching a microsphere to shortened flagellar filament and using it as an indicator of motor rotation. Using this assay, we revealed the dynamics of the two stator systems in the flagellar motor, and found that the motors in wild-type cells adjust the stator compositions according to the environment, resulting in an optimal performance in environmental exploration compared to mutants with one set of stators.

IMPROVING CHILDREN'S CREATIVITY THROUGH ENVIRONMENTAL EXPLORATION ACTIVITIES

This study aimed to increase children's creativity by exploring the natural surroundings of group A children at TK Tunas Dansari Dosay, Jayapura Regency. The subjects of this study were 15 children. This research is a classroom action research method using the action model from Kemmis and Mc Taggart. Data collecting was observation and documentation—data analysis using qualitative descriptive analysis. The results showed an increase in the creativity of group A children in TK Tunas Dansari Dosay. The research data showed that before the action, the average group value was 45.55%. After being given action cycle I, the average result was 55.55%; action II amounted to 63.33% and increased in action III 67.22%. In cycle II, an action I increased to 71.67%, action II increased to 75.55%, and action III increased to 81.10%. Based on these data, exploring the surrounding nature can increase the creativity of group A children at TK Tunas Dansari Dosay, Jayapura Regency.

Touch desire, avoidance and awareness: tracking touch attitude changes before and after the COVID-19 outbreak

Touch is essential for social interactions, environmental exploration, and wellbeing. However, human touch behaviour has been greatly restricted by COVID-19 prevention measures, and this is expected to impact people’s attitude toward touch. Here we examined the transition of people’s touch attitudes (touch desire, avoidance, and awareness) before and after the COVID-19 outbreak, using data from millions of public Twitter posts over an eight-year span. We found that people's desire for touching the human body and pet animals increased significantly after the COVID-19 outbreak and remained high afterward. In contrast, the avoidance and the awareness of touching everyday objects increased immediately after the outbreak but gradually returned to the pre-COVID-19 levels. Our findings highlight the sign of “skin hunger”, a public health crisis due to social distancing, and call attention to the trend that people are becoming less aware of infection control as COVID-19 persists.

Learning Approaches in Biology Learning

Biology is a subject that learn topics about morphology, anatomy, and physiology, biodiversity, ecosystem, and the environment. Therefore, an appropriate learning approach is needed for students so that the topics will be received by students well. Learning is not only about a transfer of knowledge but also skills and attitudes. This article describes about learning approaches that can be applied to students in Biology. The research was a literature study method from various literature. There are three kinds of learning approaches that appropriate in Biology. They are Scientific Approach, Environmental Exploration Approach, and Local Wisdom and Cultural Approach. The characteristic of the scientific approach was scientific thinking. The characteristics of the Environmental Exploration Approach was an exploration in the environment, such as natural, social, and technology. The characteristic of the local wisdom and cultural approach was ethnobiology and ethnopedagogy studies in learning through science processes based on the level of knowledge, skills and attitudes of students. These three approaches were expected to be an alternative in learning Biology because they contain the principles of scientific processes and student centered learning in them to accommodate 21^st-century education.

The role of touch in captive and semi-captive Antillean manatees (Trichechus manatus manatus)

Tactile signals have been neglected in aquatic animal studies despite being a major communication modality. We investigated Antillean manatees’ tactile behavioural repertoire and budget in captivity (7-females and 4-males) and semi-captivity (4-males) in Brazil. We detected 17 tactile behaviours (14.03% of the activity budget) with social, self-maintenance, or environmental exploration functions. The observation method influenced the detection of self-maintenance behaviours — focal animal and ad libitum detected more of these behaviours than scan sampling. Age, sex, housing, and centre routines influenced the tactile repertoire. The captive females and semi-captive males tactile patterns differed, suggesting that sex and animal-pool density play a role in tactile patterns. We recommend carefully choosing the observation method when investigating functional categories of manatee tactile behaviours. The monitoring and stimulation of manatee tactile behaviours should integrate rehabilitation and reintroduction practices. Environmental enrichment may stimulate tactile behaviours related to habitat exploration, key behaviours in aiding manatee navigation.