Response Calls Evoked by Playback of Natural 50-kHz Ultrasonic Vocalizations in Rats

Rats are highly social animals known to communicate with ultrasonic vocalizations (USV) of different frequencies. Calls around 50 kHz are thought to represent a positive affective state, whereas calls around 22 kHz are believed to serve as alarm or distress calls. During playback of natural 50-kHz USV, rats show a reliable and strong social approach response toward the sound source. While this response has been studied in great detail in numerous publications, little is known about the emission of USV in response to natural 50-kHz USV playback. To close this gap, we capitalized on three data sets previously obtained and analyzed USV evoked by natural 50-kHz USV playback in male juvenile rats. We compared different rat stocks, namely Wistar (WI) and Sprague-Dawley (SD) and investigated the pharmacological treatment with the dopaminergic D2 receptor antagonist haloperidol. These response calls were found to vary broadly inter-individually in numbers, mean peak frequencies, durations and frequency modulations. Despite the large variability, the results showed no major differences between experimental conditions regarding call likelihood or call parameters, representing a robust phenomenon. However, most response calls had clearly lower frequencies and were longer than typical 50-kHz calls, i.e., around 30 kHz and lasting generally around 0.3 s. These calls resemble aversive 22-kHz USV of adult rats but were of higher frequencies and shorter durations. Moreover, blockade of dopamine D2 receptors did not substantially affect the emission of response calls suggesting that they are not dependent on the D2 receptor function. Taken together, this study provides a detailed analysis of response calls toward playback of 50-kHz USV in juvenile WI and SD rats. This includes calls representing 50-kHz USV, but mostly calls with lower frequencies that are not clearly categorizable within the so far known two main groups of USV in adult rats. We discuss the possible functions of these response calls addressing their communicative functions like contact or appeasing calls, and whether they may reflect a state of frustration. In future studies, response calls might also serve as a new read-out in rat models for neuropsychiatric disorders, where acoustic communication is impaired, such as autism spectrum disorder.

The use of ball pits and playpens in laboratory Lister Hooded male rats induces ultrasonic vocalisations indicating a more positive affective state and can reduce the welfare impacts of aversive procedures

The advancement and quality of science rely on research that is robust and unbiased in its experimental design, execution, analysis, and reproducibility. In preclinical research, a better understanding of animal emotions and refinement of their husbandry, housing, and handling are important goals in providing good animal welfare in a laboratory setting which underpins rigorous research quality. Induction of positive emotional state in animals is a key component of their well-being, and one approach is to increase their environmental complexity using, for example, ball pits or playpens in rats. In this study, we recorded 50 kHz ultrasonic vocalisations (USVs) during animals’ exposure to the ball pit and playpen. We have previously shown that 50 kHz USVs provide a graded and quantifiable measure of an animal’s emotional state, and here find that access to the ball pit and playpen increases 50 kHz USVs, indicative of a more positive affective state. Using our affective bias test (ABT) we next quantified the animals’ emotional response to an aversive intervention and whether this could be attenuated by access to a playpen. The playpen exposure completely mitigated the negative affective state induced by an anxiogenic drug when compared with animals who experienced the drug in the home cage. Together, these findings suggest ball pits and playpens provide a simple and effective method to improve the welfare of laboratory rats and reduce the cumulative suffering they experience from their housing conditions and minor, aversive procedures.

THE EFFECTS OF CREATIVE MEDITATION ON PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS AND AWARENESS CAPACITY DURING COVID 19 PANDEMIC

Creative meditation is an effective, innovative and safe psychotherapeutic intervention that may improve psychological health and well-being during the Covid 19 pandemic. Creative meditation creates a safe place for self-awareness and self-expression, allowing the discovery and development of personal resources, converting vulnerabilities into resources and facilitating personal development. The aim of the present study is to investigate the immediate effect of creative meditation on emotional distress and awareness capacity (acceptance and mindfulness). 22 students participated in a short experiment of a single online creative meditation session with pre and post surveys. An immediate significant variation in the participants’ emotional experience was observed. Creative meditation helped participants to feel a positive affective state which facilitated awareness and creative emotional and cognitive expression. Statistical results revealed a decrease of general affective distress, and a lower level of negative emotions (sadness, anxiety, frightened, concerned). The personal resources could be first actualized through this emotional experience and then it could be invested into meaningful actions.

The Effect of Human–Horse Interactions on Equine Behaviour, Physiology, and Welfare: A Scoping Review

Human–horse interactions (HHIs) are diverse and prominent in the equine industry. Stakeholders have an invested interest in making sure that HHIs are humane. Assessment of equine welfare goes beyond physical health and includes assessment of the emotional state of the animal. HHIs can have a permanent effect on human–horse relationships, thereby influencing welfare. Therefore, an understanding of the horse’s affective state during HHIs is necessary. A scoping review was conducted to: (1) map current practices related to the measurement of HHIs; (2) explore the known effects of HHIs on horse behaviour and physiology; and (3) clarify the connection between HHIs and equine welfare. A total of 45 articles were included in this review. Studies that used both physiological and behavioural measures of equine response to human interactions accounted for 42% of the included studies. A further 31% exclusively used physiological measures and 27% used behavioural observation. Current evidence of equine welfare during HHIs is minimal and largely based on the absence of a negative affective state during imposed interactions. Broadening the scope of methods to evaluate a positive affective state and standardization of methodology to assess these states would improve the overall understanding of the horse’s welfare during HHIs.

Behavior and Welfare of Undocked Heavy Pigs Raised in Buildings with Different Ventilation Systems

The present study aimed to evaluate animal welfare of pigs from the same farm, raised with two ventilation systems. The study involved 60 pens of fattening pigs, raised in two buildings: one naturally ventilated (NV) and the other mechanically ventilated (MV). Pigs were assessed on three observation days: at 40 kg (T1), 100 kg (T2), and 160 kg (T3) of live weight. Animal-based measures were used such as qualitative behavioral analysis (QBA), behavioral measures (BMs), and lesion and health measures (LHMs). Housing conditions (HCs) measured at each observation day were the number of pigs per pen, space allowance, temperature, light, and CO2. The association study was performed using a general linear model and analysis of variance. Ventilation effect was analyzed by performing computational fluid dynamics. Results showed that overall pigs raised in the MV were in a more positive affective state. Despite that, with hot temperatures, the higher occurrence of pig soiling indicated heat stress in pigs and consequent welfare impairment. The higher frequency of pigs showing dog sitting behavior at T2 and T3 suggest welfare worsening in the last phases of fattening. The study concludes that ventilation system influences animal behavior and overall animal welfare, especially during the warmer season.

EXPRESS: Leveraging Creativity in Charity Marketing: The Impact of Engaging in Creative Activities on Subsequent Donation Behavior

Charities are constantly looking for new and more effective ways to engage potential donors in order to secure the resources needed to deliver their services. The current work demonstrates that creative activities are one way for marketers to meet this challenge. A set of field and lab studies show that engaging potential donors in creative activities positively influences their donation behaviors (i.e., the likelihood of donation and the monetary amount donated). Importantly, the observed effects are shown to be context independent: they hold even when potential donors engage in creative activities unrelated to the focal cause of the charity (or the charitable organization itself). The findings suggest that engaging in a creative activity enhances the felt autonomy of the participant, thus inducing a positive affective state, which in turn leads to higher donation behaviors. Positive affect is shown to enhance donation behaviors due to perceptions of donation impact and a desire for mood maintenance. However, the identified effects emerge only when one engages in a creative activity—not when the activity is non-creative, or when only the concept of creativity itself is made salient.

Evaluation of miRNA as Biomarkers of Emotional Valence in Pigs

The ability to assess the welfare of animals is dependent on our ability to accurately determine their emotional (affective) state, with particular emphasis being placed on the identification of positive emotions. The challenge remains that current physiological and behavioral indices are either unable to distinguish between positive and negative emotional states, or they are simply not suitable for a production environment. Therefore, the development of novel measures of animal emotion is a necessity. Here we investigated the efficacy of microRNA (miRNA) in the brain and blood as biomarkers of emotional state in the pig. Female Large White × Landrace pigs (n = 24) were selected at weaning and trained to perform a judgment bias test (JBT), before being exposed for 5 weeks to either enriched (n = 12) or barren housing (n = 12) conditions. Pigs were tested on the JBT once prior to treatment, and immediately following treatment. MiRNA and neurotransmitters were analyzed in blood and brain tissue after euthanasia. Treatment had no effect on the outcomes of the JBT. There was also no effect of treatment on miRNA expression in blood or the brain (FDR p > 0.05). However, pigs exposed to enriched housing had elevated dopamine within the striatum compared to pigs in barren housing (p = 0.02). The results imply that either (a) miRNAs are not likely to be valid biomarkers of a positive affective state, at least under the type of conditions employed in this study, or (b) that the study design used to modify affective state was not able to create differential affective states, and therefore establish the validity of miRNA as biomarkers.

A break from the pups: The effects of loft access on the welfare of lactating laboratory rats

Rats (Rattus norvegicus) bred for research are typically confined with their litters until weaning, but will spend time away from pups when given the opportunity. We aimed to assess how dam welfare is affected by the ability to escape from their pups. Rat dams (n = 16) were housed in cages either with or without an elevated loft. We measured time dams spent in lofts, time spent nursing, and affective states using elevated plus maze and anticipatory behavior testing. We predicted that 1) dams housed with lofts would use them increasingly as pups aged, 2) dams without a loft would spend more time passively nursing (i.e. initiated by pups rather than the dam) and more total time nursing as pups aged, and 3) dams housed with lofts would show evidence of a more positive affective state. Dams housed with lofts spent more time in the loft with increasing pup age; dams spent on average (mean ± SE) 27 ± 5% of their time in the loft when pups were 1 wk old, increasing to 52 ± 5% of their time at 3 wks. When pups were 3 wks old, dams with lofts spent less time passively nursing (10 ± 2% of total time, compared to 27 ± 4% for dams without a loft) and less time nursing overall (36 ± 4% of time versus 59 ± 2% for dams without a loft). Rats without loft access showed increased anticipatory behavior potentially indicative of negative affective state (24.5±1.8 behaviors per minute in wk 3 compared to 18.8±1.0 in wk 1). These findings indicate that rat dams in laboratories choose to spend time away from their pups when provided the opportunity, particularly later in lactation; an inability to do so is associated with increased passive nursing and negative affect.

Entrepreneurial Energy in a Far-From-Equilibrium Opportunity Driving Entrepreneurial Actions.

<p>Disequilibrium, and complexity are the distinguishing characteristics of entrepreneurial phenomena. How do the entrepreneurs arbitrage, leverage and benefit in the disequilibria and what spur them to action?</p><p> </p><p>The force that drives entrepreneurial ventures, from creation to sustaining them through to exit, and then through innovation to extend the game or recreate another play, there is an imminent force that holds and sustains entrepreneurial momentum. Entrepreneurial energy, a coined terminology in this paper, is that endogenous force. There are scarce researches on energy relating to entrepreneurship, in particular, there is no specific mention of the “entrepreneurial energy” in the theory of entrepreneurship. The closest proxy is entrepreneurial passions. Passion cannot be held in equal doses throughout the venture pathway. John Maynard Keynes coined the phrase "animal spirits" in his 1936 book “The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money”. (Keynes, 1936) He used the term to describe emotions that influence human economic behaviour. Animal spirits create an ambience of trust and faith and are a necessary prerequisite for human actions, much more than quantitative logic. Keynes felt animal spirits were needed as a goad to economic action rather than inaction. Schumpeter (Schumpeter, 1942) came up with the German word <i>Unternehmergeist,</i> meaning entrepreneur-spirit, adding that these individuals controlled the economy because they are responsible for delivering innovation and technological change. Whether its entrepreneurial energy, animal spirit or entrepreneur-spirit, it is a force that needs reckoning with in entrepreneurship study.</p><p> </p><p>Entrepreneurial energy is the force that sustains the momentum and velocity of progression in the venture. Energy can rise through excitation/ agitation and fall through decay of the energy as a result of predicaments or failures.</p><p> </p><p>Entrepreneurial energy is an endogenous force that fuels motivation and sustains entrepreneurial action and momentum. Encapsulating hope, optimism and obsessiveness, the nature and experience of the entrepreneurial energy provides meaning to the entrepreneurial pursuit and venture. Entrepreneurial energy is a motivational construct characterised by positive intense feeling, emotional arousal and internal drive and engagement in the pursuit that is salient to the self-identify of the entrepreneur. The positive affective state also generates positivity in the cognitive state fostering creativity and recognition of new patterns of information critical to opportunity recognition and exploitation in the external environment.</p><p> </p><p>Entrepreneurship, after all, is a science of turbulence and change, not continuity. Turbulence is caused by certain force. Such is the force in entrepreneurship, like the wind is felt but not seen; or seen through the ruffle of the leaves but not the wind itself.</p><p> </p><p>To address this omission in this area of research, this paper will demonstrate that entrepreneurial energy can be better understood if examined through the lens of complexity and quantum science. The indeterminacy in uncertainties and chaos theories best describe the dynamically complex, fast, volatile, uncertain disrupted, diverse, ambiguous, hyper-turbulent and hyperconnected entrepreneurial ecosystem. This paper contributes to entrepreneurship research by developing a complexity-based and uncertainty-based definition of entrepreneurial energy. This energy will be referred in the context of the entrepreneurial ecosystem (space) where the entrepreneurs (object) exist over time. Building on this definition, this paper connects the research on entrepreneur to venture-level complexity and entrepreneurial multi-finalities/ pathways. This paper will explore how these force originates and is sustained- that will influence entrepreneurial emergence and continuation- from intentionality of entrepreneurs and the coherence of entrepreneurial activities, through to the exploration and exploitation of perceived opportunities within the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Beyond developing the theory, this paper will also explore how scholars can further examine entrepreneurial energy as a complex play of forces through interpretivist methods. The theorizations in this paper also have implications for entrepreneurs and policymakers.</p>

Entrepreneurial Energy in a Far-From-Equilibrium Opportunity Driving Entrepreneurial Actions.

<p>Disequilibrium, and complexity are the distinguishing characteristics of entrepreneurial phenomena. How do the entrepreneurs arbitrage, leverage and benefit in the disequilibria and what spur them to action?</p><p> </p><p>The force that drives entrepreneurial ventures, from creation to sustaining them through to exit, and then through innovation to extend the game or recreate another play, there is an imminent force that holds and sustains entrepreneurial momentum. Entrepreneurial energy, a coined terminology in this paper, is that endogenous force. There are scarce researches on energy relating to entrepreneurship, in particular, there is no specific mention of the “entrepreneurial energy” in the theory of entrepreneurship. The closest proxy is entrepreneurial passions. Passion cannot be held in equal doses throughout the venture pathway. John Maynard Keynes coined the phrase "animal spirits" in his 1936 book “The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money”. (Keynes, 1936) He used the term to describe emotions that influence human economic behaviour. Animal spirits create an ambience of trust and faith and are a necessary prerequisite for human actions, much more than quantitative logic. Keynes felt animal spirits were needed as a goad to economic action rather than inaction. Schumpeter (Schumpeter, 1942) came up with the German word <i>Unternehmergeist,</i> meaning entrepreneur-spirit, adding that these individuals controlled the economy because they are responsible for delivering innovation and technological change. Whether its entrepreneurial energy, animal spirit or entrepreneur-spirit, it is a force that needs reckoning with in entrepreneurship study.</p><p> </p><p>Entrepreneurial energy is the force that sustains the momentum and velocity of progression in the venture. Energy can rise through excitation/ agitation and fall through decay of the energy as a result of predicaments or failures.</p><p> </p><p>Entrepreneurial energy is an endogenous force that fuels motivation and sustains entrepreneurial action and momentum. Encapsulating hope, optimism and obsessiveness, the nature and experience of the entrepreneurial energy provides meaning to the entrepreneurial pursuit and venture. Entrepreneurial energy is a motivational construct characterised by positive intense feeling, emotional arousal and internal drive and engagement in the pursuit that is salient to the self-identify of the entrepreneur. The positive affective state also generates positivity in the cognitive state fostering creativity and recognition of new patterns of information critical to opportunity recognition and exploitation in the external environment.</p><p> </p><p>Entrepreneurship, after all, is a science of turbulence and change, not continuity. Turbulence is caused by certain force. Such is the force in entrepreneurship, like the wind is felt but not seen; or seen through the ruffle of the leaves but not the wind itself.</p><p> </p><p>To address this omission in this area of research, this paper will demonstrate that entrepreneurial energy can be better understood if examined through the lens of complexity and quantum science. The indeterminacy in uncertainties and chaos theories best describe the dynamically complex, fast, volatile, uncertain disrupted, diverse, ambiguous, hyper-turbulent and hyperconnected entrepreneurial ecosystem. This paper contributes to entrepreneurship research by developing a complexity-based and uncertainty-based definition of entrepreneurial energy. This energy will be referred in the context of the entrepreneurial ecosystem (space) where the entrepreneurs (object) exist over time. Building on this definition, this paper connects the research on entrepreneur to venture-level complexity and entrepreneurial multi-finalities/ pathways. This paper will explore how these force originates and is sustained- that will influence entrepreneurial emergence and continuation- from intentionality of entrepreneurs and the coherence of entrepreneurial activities, through to the exploration and exploitation of perceived opportunities within the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Beyond developing the theory, this paper will also explore how scholars can further examine entrepreneurial energy as a complex play of forces through interpretivist methods. The theorizations in this paper also have implications for entrepreneurs and policymakers.</p>