Direct Observation Of Behavior Research Articles

Solid–Liquid Equilibria Measurements of Mixtures of Lithium Bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide with Varying Alkyl Chain Length Ammonium Bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide Ionic Liquids

Ionic liquid (IL)–metal mixtures are potential solvents for a variety of applications, including metal electrodeposition, electrolytes for batteries, catalysis, and for separations processes involving liquid–liquid extraction. The solubility of a metal in an IL is fundamentally important to selecting an appropriate IL for a potential process; however, relatively few measurements have been reported in the literature. The solid–liquid equilibria of binary mixtures of lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide and three ammonium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide ILs are investigated. Measurements are made through two different methods. A visual method allows direct observation of the phase behavior between room temperature and 373 K and a differential calorimetry method provides solid–liquid equilibria information up to 623 K. The activity coefficients of the solid in the liquid are calculated from the measured phase equilibria and the pure component physical properties. The mutual solubilities of lithium b...

Consideration on Na diffusion and recovery phenomena in potential-induced degradation for crystalline Si photovoltaic modules

Potential-induced degradation (PID), which brings about a large rapid decrease in output power has been observed in megawatt-scale photovoltaic power plants. Na diffusion from a cover glass to a cell through an encapsulant is possibly the direct origin of PID for p-type crystalline Si photovoltaic modules. On the other hand, PID is suppressed when using an ionomer encapsulant instead of a conventional ethylene vinyl acetate encapsulant. Some researchers consider that the reason is the suppression of Na diffusion when using an ionomer encapsulant. However, there has been no direct observation of Na diffusion behavior to the best of our knowledge for the modules prepared using an ionomer encapsulant. In this study it was found for the first time that Na diffuses in p-type multicrystalline Si photovoltaic modules prepared using an ionomer encapsulant without PID, suggesting that Na diffusion is not a sufficient condition for PID to occur. Another feature of PID is the recovery phenomenon induced by applying reverse voltage after PID occurs. In this study it was also found that reverse voltage application in the initial stage is effective for suppressing PID.

Long-term effects of straw blocks in pens with finishing pigs and the interaction with boar type

This study verified the effect of straw blocks on the behavior and growth of finishing pigs and possible interactions with the genetic background (boar type). A total of 359 finishing pigs, which were offspring from different boar types, were housed in gender-mixed pens with slatted floors. Half of these pigs descended from sires selected for better carcass traits and lower growth rates (type C) and the other half from sires selected for better growth and poorer carcass traits (type G). The offspring of these two boar types were spread equally over control (only a chain) and treatment groups (chain and straw blocks in a dispenser). Direct individual behavioral observations were carried out once a week and the presence of lesions on the body was verified every two weeks. Individual weights were recorded at different weighing moments. Lesions on organs and carcass traits were obtained after slaughter.A lower frequency of pen mate manipulation was observed in pens with access to straw blocks in type G pigs. For type C pigs however, no significant difference was present in pen mate manipulation between groups with or without straw. It has been shown that pigs selected for high lean tissue growth rate show higher frequencies of tail biting behavior and in this study, providing straw blocks does not seem to be sufficient to decrease this behavior. These pigs also showed more pen manipulation, which might reflect an increased foraging motivation or motivation to explore. Mounting and fighting were recorded more frequently at the start of the finishing phase and in this period significantly more in pens with straw blocks, which might be related to both competition for straw and introduction in a new environment. Growth was not significantly affected by the presence of straw blocks. Type G pigs however reached higher slaughter weights compared to type C pigs, but no interaction with the presence of straw was seen.It can be concluded that in general, straw blocks decreased the manipulation of pen mates in finishing pigs, but this effect was only seen in pigs selected for better growth. Pigs predisposed to a higher lean meat percentage showed in general higher frequencies of this behavior and in these pigs, straw blocks did not reduce pen mate manipulation compared to more barren environments. In general, the presence of the straw blocks seemed to be associated with more competition related behavior in the beginning of the fattening period. The presence of straw did not affect growth or carcass traits.

The critical incident technique in dental research: A review

Research is a scientific quest to find answers to certain questions. It makes us think with curiosity and wonderment about how to make something better. Research contributes in a major way to the development and maintenance of health and health care systems. Qualitative research is concerned with qualitative phenomena and includes subjective assessment of attitudes, opinions, and behavior. It is especially important in the behavioral sciences where the aim is to discover the underlying motives of human behavior. The critical incident technique (CIT) is a well-established qualitative research tool used in many areas of health sciences including nursing, medicine, dentistry, and their respective education systems. This technique is described as consisting of “a set of procedures for collecting direct observations of human behavior in such a way as to facilitate their potential usefulness in solving practical problems.” This review gives a gist of CIT and its application in different aspects of dental research.

Direct observation of magnetic vortex behavior in an ordered La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 dot arrays.

Directly observing the magnetic domain behavior in patterned nanostructures is crucial to the investigation into advanced spin-based devices. Herein, we show that the magnetic vortex behavior can be deterministically observed and controlled in highly spin polarized La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 (LSMO) triangular dots by successive in-field magnetic force microscopy (MFM). Imaging the magnetic domains with MFM shows that most of the LSMO dots exhibit magnetic vortex states with a clockwise or anticlockwise "pinwheel" structure for decreasing the demagnetization energy. Probing the vortex chirality using in-field MFM indicates that the selective spin circulation of the triangular dots depends on the magnetic orientation of the bias nanomagnet with specially designed geometries. Comparison between measurement and simulation reveals that the vortex behavior should be governed by an interface involved pinning strength at the boundaries, as well as a geometrically induced shape anisotropy of the triangular dot, both of which result in shape-dominated magnetic domain reversals.

Behavior Change without Behavior Change Communication: Nudging Handwashing among Primary School Students in Bangladesh.

Behavior change communication for improving handwashing with soap can be labor and resource intensive, yet quality results are difficult to achieve. Nudges are environmental cues engaging unconscious decision-making processes to prompt behavior change. In this proof-of-concept study, we developed an inexpensive set of nudges to encourage handwashing with soap after toilet use in two primary schools in rural Bangladesh. We completed direct observation of behaviors at baseline, after providing traditional handwashing infrastructure, and at multiple time periods following targeted handwashing nudges (1 day, 2 weeks, and 6 weeks). No additional handwashing education or motivational messages were completed. Handwashing with soap among school children was low at baseline (4%), increasing to 68% the day after nudges were completed and 74% at both 2 weeks and 6 weeks post intervention. Results indicate that nudge-based interventions have the potential to improve handwashing with soap among school-aged children in Bangladesh and specific areas of further inquiry are discussed.

“Can I Believe My Eyes?” Three- to Six-Year-Olds’ Willingness to Accept Contradictory Trait Labels

Children base trait inferences about people on direct observations of behavior. In some situations, these inferences might conflict with information supplied by others. This study examined 3- to 6-year-olds’ willingness to change their own trait attributions about an actor after receiving a consistent or inconsistent trait label from an authority figure (i.e., a teacher). Participants were more likely to change their attributions when the teacher’s trait label was inconsistent with their own and when it was positive rather than negative. In response to inconsistent trait labels, 3- to 4-year-olds changed their trait labels more often than did 5- to 6-year-olds. The results indicate that children do not defer to a teacher’s trait testimony indiscriminately but take opportunities to view others positively. Findings are interpreted with reference to children’s perceptions of teacher knowledge and trait attribution biases.

Use of tri‐axial accelerometers to assess terrestrial mammal behaviour in the wild

AbstractTri‐axial accelerometer tags provide quantitative data on body movement that can be used to characterize behaviour and understand species ecology in ways that would otherwise be impossible. Using tags on wild terrestrial mammals, especially smaller species, in natural settings has been limited. Poor battery power also reduced the amount of data collected, which limits what can be derived about animal behaviour. Another challenge using wild animals, is acquiring observations of actual behaviours with which to compare tag data and create an adequate training set to reliably identify behavioural states. Brown hares were fitted with accelerometers for 5 weeks to evaluate their use in collecting detailed behaviour data and activity levels. Collared hares were filmed to associate actual behaviours with tag data. Observed behaviours were classified using Random Forests (ensemble learning method) to create a supervised model and then used to classify hare behaviour from the tags. Increased tag longevity allowed acquisition of large quantities of data from each individual and direct observation of tagged hare's behaviour. Random Forests accurately classified observed behaviours from tag data with an 11% error rate. Individual accuracy of behaviours varied with running (100% accuracy), feeding (94.7%) and vigilance (98.3%) having the highest classification accuracy. Hares spent 46% of their time being vigilant and 25% feeding when active. The combination of our tags and Random Forests facilitated large amounts of behavioural data to be collected on animals where observational studies could be limited, or impossible. The same method could be used on a range of terrestrial mammals to create models to investigate behaviour from tag data, to learn more about their behaviour and be used to answer many ecological questions. However, further development of methods for analysing tag data is needed to make the process quicker, simpler and more accurate.

Mechanism for Conducting Filament Growth in Self‐Assembled Polymer Thin Films for Redox‐Based Atomic Switches

The switching mechanisms of atomic switches based on poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) are systematically investigated. By using self-assembled PEO and Ag-PEO thin films, stack-structured devices exhibit stable bipolar switching behavior over 10(3) cycles. Direct observation of filament growth behavior in planar-structured devices reveals the effects of the polymer thin-film morphology, and the presence of electrochemically active electrodes, on the switching characteristics.

Housing system may affect behavior and growth performance of Jersey heifer calves

Social pressure is increasing to adopt alternative housing and management practices that allow farm animals more opportunity to exercise and demonstrate social behavior. The present study investigated the effect of pair housing on the behavior and growth performance of Jersey heifer calves. Forty female Jersey calves were allocated to individual or pair housing at birth and monitored for 9 wk. Calves were provided with a single hutch, and those allocated to the pair housing treatment were provided a pen enclosure twice the size of individually housed calves and only one hutch was provided per pair. All calves were fed milk replacer via bucket twice per day (1.89 L/feeding first 7 d; 2.27 L/feeding until weaned) and had ad libitum access to grain and water. Gradual weaning commenced on d 49 by reducing the calves’ milk allowance to one feeding per day, and weaning occurred on d 56. Grain consumption was monitored daily and calves were weighed weekly. Direct behavioral observations were conducted twice per week. Calves housed in pairs tended to have greater average daily gain compared with calves housed individually (0.63 vs. 0.59±0.02kg/d, respectively). Pair housing also increased final body weight compared with individual housing (64.9 vs. 61.7±0.59kg, respectively). During observation periods, calves housed individually spent more time engaging in nonnutritive sucking than calves housed in pairs (21.5 vs. 8.15±0.03% of total observations). Calves housed in pairs were observed cross sucking 13.5% of the time during observational periods. Although housing Jersey calves in pairs may increase measures of growth performance, future research should aim to reduce cross-sucking behavior within the Jersey breed through alternative feeding systems or environmental enrichment.

Direct optical observation of coal particle fragmentation behavior in a drop-tube reactor

An experimental plant – called Single Particle Disintegrator (SPaltor) – is presented that allows an observation of coal particle fragmentation during the thermochemical conversion process. The SPaltor is a lab-scale drop-tube reactor which runs at atmospheric pressure and temperatures up to 1600°C. A high-speed camera, a long-distance microscope, and a high-power LED outside the reactor in combination with two mirrors arranged inside the reactor in a 45°-position are used to monitor the inside of the reactor. In this setup, the particle behavior of three different feedstocks were recorded at nitrogen atmosphere. Two recordings are presented in this paper for a reactor temperature of 1400°C. While a brown coal particle shows no fragmentation, but a bright gas tail due to devolatilisation, an anthracite particle disintegrates into smaller fragments in the first third of the heated zone. For detailed investigation of primary fragmentation, three non-swelling feedstocks were used: A brown coal from Germany, a high-volatile bituminous coal from South Africa, and an anthracite from Germany. Two key figures were used for the description of fragmentation behavior: Fragmentation probability and fragmentation number. The influences of temperature (800–1400°C), particle size (0.8–3.15mm), reactor height (0–90cm), and calculated residence time (0.25–0.5s) were investigated. Increasing these parameters led to an increase of fragmentation of the anthracite and the high-volatile bituminous coal. In contrast, fragmentation was never observed for the brown coal in any experiment. For the chosen particle sizes, the residence time in the heated zone is smaller than 0.5s and comparable to free-fall conditions. The heating rate referring to the particle center varies heavily with particle size and coal type.

The Impact of a Signalized Crosswalk on Traffic Speed and Street-Crossing Behaviors of Residents in an Underserved Neighborhood.

Infrastructure improvements such as pedestrian crosswalks that calm traffic and increase access to physical activity opportunities could alleviate important barriers to active living in underserved communities with outdated built environments. The purpose of this study was to explore how the built environment influences street-crossing behaviors and traffic speeds in a low-income neighborhood with barriers to active living in Columbia, Missouri. In 2013, a signalized pedestrian crosswalk and 400-ft-long median was constructed along a busy 5-lane, high-speed arterial highway linking low-income housing with a park and downtown areas. Data collection occurred prior to June 2012, and after June 2013, completion of the project at the intervention site and control site. Direct observation of street-crossing behaviors was performed at designated intersections/crosswalks or non-designated crossing points. Traffic volume and speed were captured using embedded magnetic traffic detectors. At the intervention site, designated crossings increased at the new crosswalk (p < 0.001), but not at non-designated crossings (p = 0.52) or designated crossings at intersections (p = 0.41). At the control site, there was no change in designated crossings (p = 0.94) or non-designated crossings (p = 0.79). Motor vehicles traveling above the speed limit of 35 mph decreased from 62,056 (46 %) to 46,256 (35 %) (p < 0.001) at the intervention site and increased from 57,891 (49 %) to 65,725 (59 %) (p < 0.001) at the control site. The installation of a signalized crosswalk facilitated an increase in safe street crossings and calmed traffic volume and speed in an underserved neighborhood. We believe these findings have significant public health implications that could be critical to advocacy efforts to improve infrastructure projects in similar communities.

A Novel System for Supporting Autism Diagnosis Using Home Videos: Iterative Development and Evaluation of System Design.

BackgroundObserving behavior in the natural environment is valuable to obtain an accurate and comprehensive assessment of a child’s behavior, but in practice it is limited to in-clinic observation. Research shows significant time lag between when parents first become concerned and when the child is finally diagnosed with autism. This lag can delay early interventions that have been shown to improve developmental outcomes.ObjectiveTo develop and evaluate the design of an asynchronous system that allows parents to easily collect clinically valid in-home videos of their child’s behavior and supports diagnosticians in completing diagnostic assessment of autism.MethodsFirst, interviews were conducted with 11 clinicians and 6 families to solicit feedback from stakeholders about the system concept. Next, the system was iteratively designed, informed by experiences of families using it in a controlled home-like experimental setting and a participatory design process involving domain experts. Finally, in-field evaluation of the system design was conducted with 5 families of children (4 with previous autism diagnosis and 1 child typically developing) and 3 diagnosticians. For each family, 2 diagnosticians, blind to the child’s previous diagnostic status, independently completed an autism diagnosis via our system. We compared the outcome of the assessment between the 2 diagnosticians, and between each diagnostician and the child’s previous diagnostic status.ResultsThe system that resulted through the iterative design process includes (1) NODA smartCapture, a mobile phone-based application for parents to record prescribed video evidence at home; and (2) NODA Connect, a Web portal for diagnosticians to direct in-home video collection, access developmental history, and conduct an assessment by linking evidence of behaviors tagged in the videos to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders criteria. Applying clinical judgment, the diagnostician concludes a diagnostic outcome. During field evaluation, without prior training, parents easily (average rating of 4 on a 5-point scale) used the system to record video evidence. Across all in-home video evidence recorded during field evaluation, 96% (26/27) were judged as clinically useful, for performing an autism diagnosis. For 4 children (3 with autism and 1 typically developing), both diagnosticians independently arrived at the correct diagnostic status (autism versus typical). Overall, in 91% of assessments (10/11) via NODA Connect, diagnosticians confidently (average rating 4.5 on a 5-point scale) concluded a diagnostic outcome that matched with the child’s previous diagnostic status.ConclusionsThe in-field evaluation demonstrated that the system’s design enabled parents to easily record clinically valid evidence of their child’s behavior, and diagnosticians to complete a diagnostic assessment. These results shed light on the potential for appropriately designed telehealth technology to support clinical assessments using in-home video captured by families. This assessment model can be readily generalized to other conditions where direct observation of behavior plays a central role in the assessment process.

Securing jammed network using reliability behavior value through neuro-fuzzy analysis

Wireless multi-hop networks are often exposed to serious physical layer jamming attack. In this attack, the jammer node corrupts the packet by injecting high level of noise and keeps the channel busy and thus blocks the legitimate communication. If multiple jammers collude together, this attack will become very severe. To prevent this attack, a simple yet effective Reliability Behavior Neuro-Fuzzy system has been proposed and it operates in three modules. In module one, each route node obtains its behavior value from the route path and neighboring paths using direct and indirect behavior observations. In module two, based on the behavior value, three factor identification methods have been presented to identify the reliability value of nodes. In module three, using the reliability value the route nodes are level positioned and classified into groups by a neuro-fuzzy classifier. By simulation studies, it is observed that the proposed scheme significantly not only identifies misbehaving nodes with higher detection rate and lower false positive and but also achieves higher network throughput and lower jamming throughput.

Four Methods for Analyzing Partial Interval Recording Data, with Application to Single-Case Research

Partial interval recording (PIR) is a procedure for collecting measurements during direct observation of behavior. It is used in several areas of educational and psychological research, particularly in connection with single-case research. Measurements collected using partial interval recording suffer from construct invalidity because they are not readily interpretable in terms of the underlying characteristics of the behavior. Using an alternating renewal process model for the behavior under observation, we demonstrate that ignoring the construct invalidity of PIR data can produce misleading inferences, such as inferring that an intervention reduces the prevalence of an undesirable behavior when in fact it has the opposite effect. We then propose four different methods for analyzing PIR summary measurements, each of which can be used to draw inferences about interpretable behavioral parameters. We demonstrate the methods by applying them to data from two single-case studies of problem behavior.

Bifurcation Scenarios of a Modified Mathematical Model for Intracellular Ca2+ Oscillations**Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos 11202083 and 11372017.

The contribution of this work is the modification of a mathematical model for bursting Ca2+ oscillations by introducing the proportion of receptors not inactivated by Ca2+ as a new variable. Generation mechanisms of different oscillatory patterns in this modified model are investigated and classified, based on fast/slow dynamical analysis. It is shown that periodic oscillations appear around the original chaotic regions. Moreover, two new types of oscillatory phenomena are observed at the sustaining region. The results may be instructive for understanding the difference between direct observation of dynamical behavior in real cells and theoretical explanations under a variety of stimulus conditions.

Strain glass behaviour of Ni–Co–Mn–Sn ferromagnetic shape memory alloys

We report the direct experimental observations of the glassy behaviour in Ni–Co–Mn–Sn ferromagnetic shape memory alloys by doping sufficient substitutional point defect Co into the Ni sites (9 at%). The results showed that high level of Co doping had caused the complete suppression of the martensitic transformation and introduction of a strain glass transition in Ni–Co–Mn–Sn alloys. The strain glass transition was definitively characterized by the dynamic mechanical anomalies following the Vogel–Fulcher relationship and the signature nonergodicity of the frozen glass using a zero‐field‐cooled/field‐cooled heating measurement of static strain. The findings clarified the cause of vanishing of the martensitic transformation in Ni–Co–Mn–Sn alloy with high Co doping levels and the generality of glassy state in Ni–Mn based ferromagnetic shape memory alloys with high level of foreign elements doping. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &amp;Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Sex-specific variation in conspecific-acquired marking prevalence among dusky dolphins (Lagenorhynchusobscurus)

Despite logistical challenges that limit direct observations of behavior for some species, physical scars can provide indirect evidence of aggression. Dusky dolphins (Lagenorhynchus obscurus (Gray, 1828)) off Kaikoura, New Zealand, derive most of the notches and scars on their dorsal fins from conspecifics. However, aggressive encounters have rarely been observed in this sexually monomorphic species. If injurious interactions are associated with intrasexual competition among males but not females, we predicted males would have more conspecific-acquired markings than females. High-quality dorsal fin photographs of dolphins of known sex (n = 79) were collected during boat-based surveys off Kaikoura. We measured three quantitative variables (notch height ratio, notch depth ratio, and dorsal fin rake direction) and one qualitative variable that scored the overall prevalence of markings (notches and scars). All four measures yielded consistent results. Males had significantly more conspecific-acquired markings than females. We reject the hypothesis that there is no difference between the sexes in marking prevalence. We propose that brief events of direct competition are missed by observers but recorded in accumulated patterns of conspecific-acquired markings that differ between the sexes.

Social biology of Augochlora (Augochlora) phoemonoe (Hymenoptera, Halictidae) reared in laboratory nests

Fil: Dalmazzo, Maria de Los Milagros. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Oficina de Coordinacion Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias. Departamento de Ciencias Naturales. Catedra de Entomologia; Argentina

Psychological Distress in Chimpanzees Rescued From Laboratories

The United States is one of the last countries allowing invasive research on chimpanzees. Biomedical research on chimpanzees commonly involves maternal deprivation, social isolation, intensive confinement, and repetitive invasive procedures. These physically harmful and psychologically traumatic experiences cause many chimpanzees to develop symptoms of psychopathology that persist even after relocation from laboratories to sanctuaries. Through semistructured interviews with chimpanzee caregivers, direct behavioral observations, and consultation of laboratory records, we were interested in qualitatively analyzing symptoms of psychological distress in a sample of 253 chimpanzees rescued from biomedical research now residing at an accredited chimpanzee sanctuary. We present the results of this analysis and include an illustrative case study of one rescued chimpanzee who engages in self-injurious behaviors and meets modified Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder. We discuss our results in light of recent policy changes regarding the use of chimpanzees in biomedical research in the United States and their implications for those involved in the rescue and rehabilitation of chimpanzees from biomedical research.