Digital Commons Network^™

Animal Minds And Animal Emotions, Marian Stamp Dawkins

Emotion Collection

The possibility of conscious experiences of emotions in non-human animals has been much less explored than that of conscious experiences associated with carrying out complex cognitive tasks. However, no great cognitive powers are needed to feel hunger or pain and it may be that the capacity to feel emotions is widespread in the animal kingdom. Since plants can show surprisingly sophisticated ‘‘choice’’ and ‘‘decision-making’’ mechanisms and yet we would not wish to imply that they are conscious, attribution of emotions to animals has to be done with care. Whether or not an animal possesses anticipatory mechanisms associated with positive and …

An Account Of Novice Phylogenetic Tree Construction From The Problem-Solving Research Tradition, Terrance E. Brisbin

Dissertations

Both the content and strategic knowledge used in phylogenetic tree construction are described to account for novice performance. A review of the literature is used to place this research with respect to studies in: problem solving studies (both expert, and novice), the history and practice of evolutionary systematics, and the teaching of evolution. The computer-based problem-solving environment is discussed along with model problems used for the research.

Each of the five research problems consists of an encoded matrix containing phylogenetic data organized by taxa and characters. Twelve participants (high school students) volunteered to solve the research problems, on their own …

Aversive And Disruptive Stimulus Applications For Managing Predation, John A. Shivik, Daniel J. Martin

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

The range expansion and reintroduction of mammalian predators (e.g., wolves , coyotes and bears) coupled with growing disfavor for traditional tools of wildlife management creates an immediate need for alternative, non-lethal, but effective techniques for managing predation on livestock. Scientists at the National Wildlife Research Center are using advanced technology and animal behavior concepts (e.g., aversive and disruptive stimuli) to develop new tools for the prevention of damage by large mammalian predators, and this paper is a review of our pilot studies investigating these techniques. Recently tested tools include behavior contingent disruptive stimulus devices for wolves and coyotes. Experiments indicate …

Capsaicin-Treated Seed As A Squirrel Deterrent At Birdfeeders, Paul D. Curtis, Elizabeth D. Rowland, Gwen B. Curtis, Joseph A. Dunn

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Eastern gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) are considered to be a pest by many bird-lovers because they take significant quantities of seed from birdfeeders. None of the available methods of protecting birdseed against squirrels is completely effective. We assessed the efficacy of treating birdseed with capsaicin oleoresin as a means of deterring squirrels. Consumption of treated and untreated whole, black-oil sunflower seed was compared by carrying out one-choice feeding trials at 3 sites near Ithaca, New York, from 11 May to 24 June 1999. The heat strength of the treated seed was 40,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHUs) (2,424 ppm) on the …

Comprehensive Management Of Commensal Bats, Stephen C. Frantz, Brian R. Laniewicz

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

This paper reviews the basic concepts behind a comprehensive management approach to managing commensal species, and then considers how this approach is applied to bats that live within and about the built environment. Management activities should take into consideration the whole environment in which the target species is active, including the periodic changes that occur within that environment. Comprehensive management includes a clear understanding of: the biology, behavior and ecology of the species to be managed; the environment in which that species is active (especially harborage location); and the appropriate intervention methods used to manage such species. Interventions fall under …

Animal Emotions: Exploring Passionate Natures, Marc Bekoff

Sentience Collection

No abstract provided.

Determination Of Wax Concentration In Sunflower-Seed Oil, Silvana Martini, M.C. Anon

Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Sciences Faculty Publications

Isothermal crystallization of waxes was studied by using an optical setup. The induction time of crystallization was assessed as a function of wax concentration. The relationship was found to be a decreasing exponential curve. The wax content of some of the solutions prepared in the laboratory was determined by calculating the crystallization induction time. The values obtained were compared to those from different methods (cold test, microscopic, and turbidimetric methods). The results obtained with the optical setup method are similar to those obtained with other methods for concentrations greater than 100 ppm. An analysis of variance test was used to …

A Review Of "Vanishing Borders: Protecting The Planet In The Age Of Globalization" By Hilary French: Implications For Peace, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article reviews a recent book by Hilary French, vice president for research at the Worldwatch Institute.

Primate Numerical Competence: Contributions Toward Understanding Nonhuman Cognition, Sarah T. Boysen, Karen I. Hallberg

Sentience Collection

Nonhuman primates represent the most significant extant species for comparative studies of cognition, including such complex phenomena as numerical competence, among others. Studies of numerical skills in monkeys and apes have a long, though somewhat sparse history, although questions for current empirical studies remain of great interest to several fields, including comparative, developmental, and cognitive psychology; anthropology; ethology; and philosophy, to name a few. In addition to demonstrated similarities in complex information processing, empirical studies of a variety of potential cognitive limitations or constraints have provided insights into similarities and differences across the primate order, and continue to offer theoretical …

Primate Numerical Competence: Contributions Toward Understanding Nonhuman Cognition, Sarah T. Boysen, Karen I. Hallberg

Sentience Collection

Nonhuman primates represent the most significant extant species for comparative studies of cognition, including such complex phenomena as numerical competence, among others. Studies of numerical skills in monkeys and apes have a long, though somewhat sparse history, although questions for current empirical studies remain of great interest to several fields, including comparative, developmental, and cognitive psychology; anthropology; ethology; and philosophy, to name a few. In addition to demonstrated similarities in complex information processing, empirical studies of a variety of potential cognitive limitations or constraints have provided insights into similarities and differences across the primate order, and continue to offer theoretical …

Law And The Biology Of Rape: Reflections On Transitions, Owen D. Jones

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This Article serves is a sequel to a previous Article: Sex, Culture, and the Biology of Rape: Toward Explanation and Prevention, 87 Cal. L. Rev. 827 (1999). Part I briefly considers the threshold question: why consider the behavioral biology of sexual aggression at all? Part II proposes that the first step in transitioning to a more accurate and more useful model of rape behavior is to avoid a number of common definitional ambiguities that plague most rape discussions. Because those ambiguities are particularly likely to foster misunderstandings about biobehavioral perspectives, Part II also clarifies the scope of what biobehavioral theories …

Mixing At Young Ages Reduces Fighting In Unacquainted Domestic Pigs, Anton D. Pitts, Daniel M. Weary, Edmond A. Pajor, David Fraser

Agonistic Behavior Collection

Under normal farming practices, piglets from different litters are often mixed around the time of weaning, and a high incidence of fighting and minor injuries often occur. The aim of this experiment was to determine the effect of age on the incidence of fighting in piglets mixed before weaning, at different ages between 5 and 26 days. We found no significant relationship between age and the likelihood that a pair of piglets would fight during the first 75 min after mixing. However, the duration of the first fight observed increased from 101±38 s at 5 days to 621±278 s at …

The Import Of Importing And Unnatural Acts: The Political Psychology Of Bioengineered Plants, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes political psychological aspects of opposition to the importing of bioengineered plants.

Development Of An Interpretive Trail For Ricks College Outdoor Learning Center At Badger Creek, Whitney Carr Ward

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The Ricks College Outdoor Learning Center at Badger Creek provides outdoor experiences to hundreds of visitors each year. Several of these activities provide extraordinary, experiential learning and interpretational experiences. Though some of the activities are used merely as recreational experiences for participants, they have the potential to be used as powerful, educational tools. These activities include horse riding and cross country skiing. An interpretive trail transforms an ordinary outdoor recreational experience into a great resource with significant interpretive potential. Educational panels along the horse and cross country skiing trails provide visitors an interpretive experience by relating the rich history of …

Nebline, May 2000

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

Pesticide Myths Can Harm Water Quality
2000 Rose Winners for The New Millennium
Night Blooming Flowers Offer Evening Enjoyment
Goldenrod, Our Nebraska State Flower
Prevent Fleas Now!
Warm Weather is Here!
Water for the birds
It’s Tick Season
Diagnostic Help Available
Designing a Bt Refuge for Your Field
Corn Flea Beetle Survival Expected to be Above Average
Weather and Climate Information on the Web
U.S. Drought Monitor
Product or Service
Tuesday Farmers’ Market in Lincoln
Spring Iris Shows
Protective Covenants
May — Time to Control Leafy Spurge
Lincoln Housing Authority Seniors Experiment With New Foods
Healthy Eating: Quick Mini-Quiche
An …

On The Nature Of Norms: Biology, Morality, And The Disruption Of Order, Owen D. Jones

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This essay discusses the legal implications of bio-behavioral underpinnings to norms, morality, and economic order. It first discusses the recent book "The Great Disruption: Human Nature and the Reconstitution of Social Order," in which Francis Fukuyama explores the importance of evolved human nature to the reconstruction of social order and a thriving economy. It then addresses the extent to which we can usefully view law-relevant norms as products of evolutionary - as well as economic - processes.

The Annual Meeting Of The Iowa Academy Of Science April 21-22, 2000 [Program, 112th Meeting], Iowa Academy Of Science

Iowa Academy of Science Documents

Contents:

Program Summary --- 1
General Session Speakers --- 4
Awards --- 7
Symposia Programs --- 8
Special Events --- 8
Poster Sessions --- 9
Section Programs/Special Sessions --- 9
Agricultural Sciences --- 9
Anthropology --- 10, 16
Botany --- 11
Cellular, Molecular & Microbiology --- 17
Chemical Education --- 14
Chemistry: Inorganic, Analytical & Physical --- 18
Chemistry: Organic & Biological --- 18
Conservation --- 19
Earth Science Teaching --- 14
Elementary Science Teaching --- 14
Engineering --- 12
Geology --- 22
Physics --- 23
Physiology --- 23
Psychology & Linguistics --- 25
Science Teaching --- 14, 25
Zoology …

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 41 Number 4, Spring 2000, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

10 - THE IMPORTANCE OF REMEMBERING By Tamara Straus. On the I0-year anniversary, Santa Clara looks back at the Jesuit murders in El Salvador and finds a lasting legacy for the campus community.

16 - 64 MILLIONAIRES A DAY By Susan Vogel. Are they savvy or stingy? The wealthy in Silicon Valley are taking a new approach to philanthropy, but are they giving their fair share?

20 - EDUCATING FOR LIFE AND LEADERSHIP Santa Clara University is just months away from launching its year-long 150th anniversary celebration. Here's a preview of the five major sesquicentennial events.

Taking Animal Welfare Seriously: Minimizing Pain And Distress In Research Animals, The Humane Society Of The United States

ANIMAL RESEARCH

Pain and distress caused by specific research models and techniques raise serious concerns for those in the animal welfare community as well as in the scientific community. Yet good estimates of how much animal pain and/or animal distress is caused by particular techniques or methods are not yet available. The HSUS has compiled a preliminary list of research models and techniques that cause pain and distress. Analyses by the USDA and HSUS indicate that the majority of the animals reported in Column E are used in various testing procedures, with vaccine testing prominent among them. More data are needed to …

Relationship Between Reported Childhood And Adult Physical Activity, Kipp Ryan Kissinger

Student Work

It was the purpose of this research to examine the relationship between reported childhood and adult physical activity (PA), with special regards to the types of activities that correlate with habitual activity. Subjects were 249 male and female students age 19 to 30 years (M = 21.9 years) enrolled at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Subjects were surveyed from all departments on campus. Subjects were asked to complete a survey instrument that assessed past and present PA. The results o f the current study reported that there is a significant positive correlation (r = 0.284, p < 0.05) between the total score of past childhood PA and present adult PA. When past PA was divided into preteen and adolescent periods, there were also significant relationships (p < 0.05) with all of the four indices of present PA (work, sport, leisure and total). Regression analysis explained 17.6 % of the variance in exercise when predicting adult PA from the total score of past PA. The prediction equation is as follows: Y ' = 27.761 + 0.775 (Xi) + 0.276 ( X 2 ) + 0.945 ( X 3 ) + 1.787 (3Ct) - 1.254 ( X 5 ) ; where Xi = number o f varsity athletic letters received as an adolescent, X 2 = informal activities as a preteen, X 3 = level of athletic ability or coordination in favorite sport as an adolescent, X4 = P.F.. classes as an adolescent, and X5 = activity level compared to peers as a preteen. It was concluded that there was a significant positive correlation (p < 0.05) between the total score of past PA and each of the four indices of present PA.

A Longitudinal Assessment Of Temperament In Octopus Bimaculoides, David Loyd Sinn

Dissertations and Theses

Cephalopods, including Octopus spp., are highly intelligent molluscs that play major roles in many marine food webs, both as top-level feeders (Ambrose, 1984) as well as by constituting a major source of protein for the animals above them (Lang, Hochberg, Ambrose, & Engle, 1997). They also are fascinating organisms for behavioral studies, with elaborate repertoires of behavior based on plasticity and learning (Wells, 1962a; 1962b; 1978) which in complexity rivals that of the vertebrates. The study of individual differences in behavior is a facet of behavioral research that has recently gained attention in the literature (Gosling & John, 1999). Traditionally, …

Food For Thought On Cognitive Scripts And Genetically Engineered Food, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article identifies some of the common thought sequences seemingly harbored by members of the sociopolitical opposition to the production and sale of genetically engineered food.

Medical And Social Diseases: Can The Former Moderate The Latter?, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes how medical disease may moderate social disease in an era of globalization.

How Do We Know There Is A Population-Environment Problem?, Peter J. Taylor

Working Papers on Science in a Changing World

Five fictional friends of the author have agreed to meet and talk, hoping that he was right when he claimed that discussion crossing the usual boundaries of their fields would enrich their different inquiries and concerns. Ecolo, a natural and human ecologist, breaks the ice. He wants to marshall scientific knowledge to persuade others of the seriousness of the population problem. He is questioned by Philoso, whose philosophical bent leads her to observe the models that people use and to ask how they support the claims they make. In turn, the other three join in: Activo, an activist who is …

Bubble Ring Play Of Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus): Implications For Cognition, Brenda Mccowan, Lori Marino, Erik Vance, Leah Walke, Diana Reiss

Sentience Collection

Research on the cognitive capacities of dolphins and other cetaceans (whales and porpoises) has importance for the study of comparative cognition, particularly with other large-brained social mammals, such as primates. One of the areas in which cetaceans can be compared with primates is that of object manipulation and physical causality, for which there is an abundant body of literature in primates. The authors supplemented qualitative observations with statistical methods to examine playful bouts of underwater bubble ring production and manipulation in 4 juvenile male captive bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). The results are consistent with the hypothesis that dolphins monitor the …

A Pharmacokinetic Study Of The Effects Of Stress On Chemical Exposure, Sierra H. Suhajda

Theses and Dissertations

Following the Gulf War there were many concerns raised about human exposure to the combination of chemicals and stress. Stress causes several changes in basic functions of a human body, from breathing and blood flow changes to hormonal and enzyme changes, and increased permeability of the blood-brain barrier. Each of these changes can strongly influence chemical uptake, distribution, and accumulation in the body. The purpose of this thesis was to model and predict the changes that will occur when stress is combined with chemical exposure. Physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling is one tool that can be used to visualize, predict, and …

Reflections On Science And Technology, Ursula Goodenough

Biology Faculty Research

Science and technology are frequently confused. This essay points out the bases for this confusion and then focuses on a basic distinction, namely, that whereas science brings us information that we have little choice but to absorb and reflect upon, technology is something that humans elect to do and, hence, can also elect not to do. It is proposed that technological ethics are most cogently undertaken with scientific understanding as the linchpin and religious/artistic sensibilities as the muse.

Final Envrionmental Impact Statement: Iron Point Exploration License -- Iron Point Coal Lease Tract -- Elk Creek Coal Lease Tract, Volume 1, United States Department Of Agriculture -- Forest Service, United States Departement Of The Interior -- Bureau Of Land Management

Environmental Assessments (CO)

The Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) describes the physical, biological, social, and economic resources that would be potentially affected by leasing of the Iron Point and Elk Creek Coal Lease tracts as well as issuing an exploration license for an area within and surrounding the Iron Point Coal Lease Tract. The federal decisions to be made involve the approval or disapproval of coal leasing (the Iron Point and Elk Creek tracts) and of an exploration license. Some of the key issues for these proposed actions include: the potential effects of transporting over 19 million tons of coal per year from …

Ard News February 2000

Agricultural Research Division: News and Annual Reports

CONTENTS:
Comments from the Dean
CSREES Appropriation for FY 2000
Initiative for Future Agricultural and Food Systems
ARD 113th Annual Report
Grants and Contracts Received December 1999 and January 2000
New or Revised Projects
Undergraduate Honors Research Program
Research Support from Commodity Checkoff Programs
Endeavors
Innovative and High Risk Research Program
NABC Bioethics Institute
NABC 12 Annual Meeting
NABC Statement 2000 an Agricultural Biotechnology
Federal R&D Funding for FY 2000

Frequency Of Use And Perceived Credibility Of Information Sources And Variations By Socioeconomic Factors Among Savannah River Stakeholders, Bryan L. Williams, Alex Vallei, Sylvia Brown, Michael Greenberg

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

The authors examine the factors effecting credibility of risk communication in the communities surrounding the Savannah River Nuclear Weapons Site.