Schultz, P. N., Remick-Barlow, G. A., & Robbins, L. (2007). Equine-assisted psychotherapy: a mental health promotion/intervention modality for children who have experienced intra-family violence. Health & Social Care in the Community, 15(3), 265–271.
Abstract: Equine-assisted psychotherapy (EAP) is a specialized form of psychotherapy using the horse as a therapeutic tool. This modality is designed to address self-esteem and personal confidence, communication and interpersonal effectiveness, trust, boundaries and limit-setting, and group cohesion. Substantial numbers of children witness family violence. There is evidence that violence between parents has adverse effects on the children in the family. These children are at greater risk of behavioural problems and mental health disorders, including anxiety, anger, depression and suicidal ideations, withdrawal, low self-esteem, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The purpose of the present pilot study was to test the efficacy of EAP in a cross-sectional group of children referred to a psychotherapist for various childhood behavioural and mental health issues over an 18-month period (June 2003–January 2005). Sixty-three children received a mean number of 19 EAP sessions. Scores on the Children's Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) Scale were determined pre- and post-treatment. The mean (± standard deviation, SD) pretreatment score was 54.1 (SD 3.2) and post treatment mean score was 61.7 ± 5.0 (t = 9.06, d.f. = 96, P < 0.001). All children showed improvement in GAF scores, and there was a statistically significant correlation between the percentage improvement in the GAF scores and the number of sessions given (r = 0.73, P = 0.001). Univariate analysis showed that the greatest improvement in the GAF scores occurred in the youngest of the subjects. Children in the group who had a history of physical abuse and neglect had a statistically significant greater percentage improvement in GAF scores after treatment than those who did not have a history of abuse and neglect. This study has demonstrated a quick response to EAP, especially in younger children, but it remains to be determined what kind of long-term effects this type of intervention may provide.
|
|
Pérez-Barbería, F. J., Shultz, S., & Dunbar, R. I. (2007). Evidence for coevolution of sociality and relative brain size in three orders of mammals. Evolution, 61.
|
|
Wotschikowsky, U. (2007). Wölfe und Jäger in der Oberlausitz. Broschüre, Freundeskreis freilebender Wölfe, .
|
Gabris, G. T., & Ihrke, D. M. (2007). No End to Hierarchy: Does Rank Make a Difference in Perceptions of Leadership Credibility? Admin. Soc., 39(1), 107–123.
Abstract: This article investigates whether authority hierarchy still serves as an important factor influencing employee perceptions toward organizational roles and expected behavior. Results of a study in a federal agency suggest that hierarchy does serve as a significant force influencing employee attitudes toward leadership roles, contrary to the notion that hierarchy will diminish in importance over time. Hierarchy remains a crucial structural force in public organizations and is unlikely to wither away.
|
Rietbroek, N. J., Dingboom, E. G., Joosten, B. J. L. J., Eizema, K., & Everts, M. E. (2007). Effect of show jumping training on the development of locomotory muscle in young horses. Am J Vet Res, 68(11), 1232–1238.
Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether training for show jumping that is commenced early after birth affects the characteristics of equine locomotory muscle. ANIMALS: 19 Dutch Warmblood horses. PROCEDURES: Horses were assigned to a trained or not trained (control) group. After weaning, training (free jumping [2 d/wk] that was alternated with a 20-minute period of exercise in a mechanical rotating walker [3 d/wk]) was started and continued until horses were 3 years old. Fiber type composition (determined from myosin heavy chain [MyHC] content), fiber area, diffusion index (area supplied by 1 capillary), citrate synthase activity, and Na(+),K(+)-ATPase content were assessed in gluteus medius muscle specimens collected at 0.5, 1, 2, and 3 years. RESULTS: Developmental changes included an increase in MyHC fiber type IIa and a decrease in type IIad; increases in fiber area, diffusion index, and citrate synthase activity; and a decrease in Na(+),K(+)-ATPase content. The MyHC fiber type I and type IId were detected in high and low proportions, respectively. Training increased Na(+),K(+)-ATPase content, but did not affect other variables. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: In horses, show jumping training at an early age resulted in increased Na(+),K(+)-ATPase content of the deep portions of the gluteus medius muscle. The lack of training effects on the other muscle characteristics can partly be explained by the fact that an appropriate (aerobic) fiber type composition was already established at training commencement. These data also suggested that the developmental changes in equine muscle represent sufficient adaptation to meet the demands of this specific training.
|
Cameron, E. Z., & du Toit, J. T. (2007). Winning by a neck: tall giraffes avoid competing with shorter browsers. Am Nat, 169(1), 130–135.
Abstract: With their vertically elongated body form, giraffes generally feed above the level of other browsers within the savanna browsing guild, despite having access to foliage at lower levels. They ingest more leaf mass per bite when foraging high in the tree, perhaps because smaller, more selective browsers deplete shoots at lower levels or because trees differentially allocate resources to promote shoot growth in the upper canopy. We erected exclosures around individual Acacia nigrescens trees in the greater Kruger ecosystem, South Africa. After a complete growing season, we found no differences in leaf biomass per shoot across height zones in excluded trees but significant differences in control trees. We conclude that giraffes preferentially browse at high levels in the canopy to avoid competition with smaller browsers. Our findings are analogous with those from studies of grazing guilds and demonstrate that resource partitioning can be driven by competition when smaller foragers displace larger foragers from shared resources. This provides the first experimental support for the classic evolutionary hypothesis that vertical elongation of the giraffe body is an outcome of competition within the browsing ungulate guild.
|
Dindo, M., & De Waal, F. B. M. (2007). Partner effects on food consumption in brown capuchin monkeys. Am. J. Primatol., 69(4), 448–456.
Abstract: It has been claimed that capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) show inequity aversion in relation to food rewards for a simple exchange task. However, other factors may affect the willingness of a monkey to consume foods of high or low value in the presence of a conspecific. In this study, pairs of monkeys were presented with unequally valued foods, but without any task-performance: they simply received the food under four experimental conditions. By looking at the rate of collection and consumption of low-valued cucumber slices we expected to see variation dependent on whether the partner either had 1) cucumber (equity), 2) grape (inequity), 3) inaccessible cucumber or 4) inaccessible grape. Testing 12 adult capuchin monkeys, our findings differed from those of other authors in that the monkeys failed to show negative reactions to inequity, but rather responded with scramble competition (i.e., fast food collection) in the presence of a conspecific without access to food. They also showed facilitated consumption in the presence of a conspecific consuming high-valued food. Possibly, (in)equity plays a different role if food serves as a reward for a task rather than if it is simply made available for consumption. Am. J. Primatol. 69:1-9, 2007. (c) 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
|
Koski, S. E., Koops, K., & Sterck, E. H. M. (2007). Reconciliation, relationship quality, and postconflict anxiety: testing the integrated hypothesis in captive chimpanzees. Am. J. Primatol., 69(2), 158–172.
Abstract: Reconciliation is a conflict resolution mechanism that is common to many gregarious species with individualized societies. Reconciliation repairs the damaged relationship between the opponents and decreases postconflict (PC) anxiety. The “integrated hypothesis” links the quality of the opponents' relationship to PC anxiety, since it proposes that conflicts among partners with high relationship quality will yield high levels of PC anxiety, which in turn will lead to an increased likelihood of reconciliation. We tested the integrated hypothesis in captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in the Arnhem Zoo, The Netherlands. We applied the standard PC/matched control (MC) method. Our results mostly support the integrated hypothesis, in that more valuable and compatible partners (i.e., males and frequent groomers) reconciled more often than less valuable and weakly compatible partners (i.e., females and infrequent groomers). In addition, PC anxiety was higher after conflicts among males than among females. Emotional arousal thus appears to be a mediator facilitating reconciliation. However, in contrast to the predictions derived from the integrated hypothesis, PC anxiety appeared only in aggressees, and not in aggressors, of conflicts. This suggests that while relationship quality determines PC anxiety, it is dependent on the role of the participants in the conflict.
|
|
Momozawa, Y., Takeuchi, Y., Tozaki, T., Kikusui, T., Hasegawa, T., Raudsepp, T., et al. (2007). SNP detection and radiation hybrid mapping in horses of nine candidate genes for temperament. Anim Genet, 38(1), 81–83.
|
Koski, S. E., & Sterck, E. H. M. (2007). Triadic postconflict affiliation in captive chimpanzees: does consolation console? Anim. Behav., 73(1), 133–142.
Abstract: Consolation is a triadic postconflict interaction between a conflict participant and an uninvolved third party. The term consolation implies stress alleviation. Consequently, consolation may be an effective mechanism to alleviate postconflict stress. However, this assumption has not been tested. We tested whether consolation alleviates postconflict stress in captive chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes. In addition, we examined whether consolation is a substitute postconflict interaction for reconciliation. We collected 643 postconflict-matched control pairs on aggressees and 576 on aggressors. Consolation occurred equally frequently with aggressees and aggressors. However, we found no evidence that consolation alleviated stress, regardless of the identity of the consoler. In addition, consolation was also directed to conflict participants with no evident postconflict stress. Furthermore, we found no evidence for consolation being a substitute for reconciliation. The occurrence of consolation did not depend on the occurrence of reconciliation and consolation was not more prevalent with the sex class that reconciled less often or had the highest postconflict stress levels. We conclude that consolation is a postconflict interaction in its own right, the function of which is not likely to be connected to stress alleviation of the consoled individual. We propose that the function of triadic postconflict affiliation, previously labelled as consolation, should be reassessed with regard to the third parties' reasons to affiliate with conflict opponents.
|
