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Weber-Mzell, D., Kotanko, P., Hauer, A. C., Goriup, U., Haas, J., Lanner, N., et al. (2004). Gender, age and seasonal effects on IgA deficiency: a study of 7293 Caucasians. European Journal of Clinical Investigation, 34(3), 224–228.
Abstract: Background The frequency of serum IgA deficiency (SIgAD) differs between populations. We examined the prevalence of SIgAD in healthy Caucasians. Materials and methods Serum immunoglobulin A (SIgA) was measured in 7293 volunteers (2264 women, 5029 men) aged 30 ± 14·2 years (mean ± SD; range: 12–66). Serum immunoglobulin A and subnormal SIgA levels were defined by a SIgA level < 0·07 g L-1, and between 0·07 and 0·7 g L-1, respectively. Means were compared by analysis of variance (anova) and analysis of covariance (ancova); frequencies by the χ2 test. Results Fifteen subjects (0·21%; one woman, 14 men) had SIgAD. Subnormal SIgA levels were found in 155 persons (2·13%): 21 females (0·93% of the females) and 134 males (2·66% of the males; difference: 1·74%; 95% CI: 1·12–2·33%; P < 0·001). Males were more likely to have subnormal SIgA levels or SIgAD (odds ratio 3·09, 95% CI: 1·97–4·85). The prevalence of SIgAD and subnormal SIgA was lowest in winter (χ2 = 14·8; P = 0·002; 3 d.f.; and χ2 = 43·2; P < 0·001; 3 d.f., respectively). Serum immunoglobulin A concentrations were significantly higher during winter. Serum immunoglobulin A levels increased with age on average by 0·2 ± 0·06 g L-1 per decade of life (P < 0·001). Taking into account the influence of age, SIgA concentration was lower in females as compared with males. Conclusion The prevalence of SIgAD and subnormal SIgA levels is increased in males. There exists a significant influence of gender, age and seasons on SIgA levels.
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Keeling, L. J., Jonare, L., & Lanneborn, L. (2009). Investigating horse–human interactions: The effect of a nervous human. Vet J, 181(1), 70–71.
Abstract: The heart rates (HR) of horses and the people leading them (10 horses, 20 people), and riding them (17 horses, 17 people), were recorded in an indoor arena. The horses were Swedish leisure horses of mixed ages, sex and breed. All except two of the people were female and all were of mixed age and riding experience. Each horse–human pair walked or rode between points A and B (30 m) four times on each test occasion. However, just before the fourth pass, participants were told that an umbrella would be opened as they rode, or led, the horse past the assistant. The umbrella was not opened, so this pass was no different to the previous control occasions, but nevertheless there was an increase in HR for both the person (leading, P = 0.06; riding, P < 0.05) and the horse (being led, P < 0.05; being ridden, P < 0.05). The findings indicate that analysis of HR recorded simultaneously from people and horses under different experimental handling or riding conditions presents a useful tool to investigate horse–human interactions.
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Casella, S., Fazio, F., Giannetto, C., Giudice, E., & Piccione, G. (2012). Influence of transportation on serum concentrations of acute phase proteins in horse. Research in Veterinary Science, 93(2), 914–917.
Abstract: The modifications of Haptoglobin (Hp), Serum Amyloid A (SAA), Fibrinogen (Fbg) and White Blood Cells (WBCs) were evaluated in 15 Saddle Italian horses. Ten horses were transported covering a distance of about 320 km within 4 h with an average speed of 80 km/h (experimental group) and five horses were not subject to transportation (control group). Blood was collected via jugular venipuncture before the transportation (T0), immediately after the transportation (T1), 12 (T12), 24 (T24) and 48 (T48) hours after the transportation in experimental group and at the same time point in control group. For each parameter statistical analysis of different groups and sampling time was performed using a two-way analysis of covariance, with the data before the transportation (T0) as the covariate, by the GLM procedure of SAS. For all parameters the interaction (Group × Time) was tested and it was resulted no significant. The application of statistical analysis showed significant differences between the control group and horses subjected to transportation (P < 0.01), and the influence of sampling time (P < 0.05) on Hp, SAA and WBCs. These modifications appeared to be innovative showing that equine Hp, generally considered as moderate acute phase protein, increases more rapidly than the SAA after transportation-induced stress.
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Bertolucci, C., Giannetto, C., Fazio, F., & Piccione, G. (2008). Seasonal variations in daily rhythms of activity in athletic horses. Animal, 2(07), 1055–1060.
Abstract: Circadian rhythms reflect extensive programming of biological activity that meets and exploits the challenges and opportunities offered by the periodic nature of the environment. In the present investigation, we recorded the total activity of athletic horses kept at four different times of the year (vernal equinox, summer solstice, autumn equinox and winter solstice), to evaluate the presence of seasonal variations of daily activity rhythms. Athletic Thoroughbred horses were kept in individual boxes with paddock. Digitally integrated measure of total activity of each mare was continuously recorded by actigraphy-based data loggers. Horse total activities were not evenly distributed over the day, but they were mainly diurnal during the year. Daily activity rhythms showed clear seasonal variations, with the highest daily amount of activity during the vernal equinox and the lowest during the winter solstice. Interestingly, the amount of activity during either photophase or scotophase changed significantly throughout the year. Circadian analysis of horse activities showed that the acrophase, the estimated time at which the peak of the rhythm occurs, did not change during the year, it always occurred in the middle of the photoperiod. Analysing the time structure of long-term and continuously measured activity and feeding could be a useful method to critically evaluate athletic horse management systems in which spontaneous locomotor activity and feeding are severely limited. Circadian rhythms are present in several elements of sensory motor and psychomotor functions and these would be taken into consideration to plan the training schedules and competitions in athletic horses.
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Thiruvenkadan, A. K., Kandasamy, N., & Panneerselvam, S. (2008). Coat colour inheritance in horses. Livestock Science, 117(2-3), 109–129.
Abstract: The colours of the horses have long been a subject of interest to owners and breeders of horses as well as to scientists. Though, the colour of horses has little to do with its performance, it is a primary means of identification and also the first indicator of questionable parentage. Probably the ancestral colour of the horse was a black-based pattern that provided camouflage protection against predators. Horse colours are mostly controlled by genes at 12 different loci. The three basic colours of horses are black, bay and chestnut. The genetic control of the basic colours of horses resides at two genetic loci, namely Extension (E) and Agouti (A) loci. Among the basic colours bay is dominant to black and both are epistatic to chestnut. Dilution of basic colours of horses as a result of four colour dilution genes such as cream dilution, dun, silver dapple and champagne resulted in extensive array of possible colours of horses. The most widespread and familiar of the horse colour dilution gene is the one that produces the golden body colour and are called as palomino or buckskin based on the colour of the points. The grey coat colour is due to the presence of dominant gene (G) at the grey locus. Grey is epistatic to all coat colour genes except white and a grey horse must have at least one grey parent. Roan is due to a dominant gene (Rn) at roan locus and this combines with any base colour to produce the various shades of roan pattern. White coat is due to a single dominant gene (W) and it is epistatic to the genes controlling all other colours. White marking in the face and legs are due to genetic and non-genetic factors. Several genes are involved in producing white markings. During recent years, comparative genomics and whole genome scanning have been used to develop DNA tests for different variety of horse colours. Molecular genetic studies on coat colour in horses helped in identification of the genes and mutation responsible for coat colour variants. In future, this will be applied to breeding programmes to reduce the incidence of diseases and to increase the efficiency of race horse population.
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Deutsche Reiterliche Vereinigung e.V.(FN), Miesner, S., Putz, M., & Plewa, M. (2005). Richtlinien für Reiten und Fahren – Band 1. Warendorf: Fn-Verlag.
Abstract: Dieses Standardwerk vermittelt das Grundwissen für die Ausbildung des Reiters und des Pferdes nach den Grundsätzen der klassischen Reitkunst. Die hier beschriebene Grundausbildung dient dabei nicht ausschließlich der Vorbereitung für Turniere und Leistungsprüfungen, sie soll vielmehr die Voraussetzungen für alle pferdesportlichen Betätigungen schaffen.
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Allen, D., & Tanner, K. (2007). Putting the horse back in front of the cart: using visions and decisions about high-quality learning experiences to drive course design. CBE Life Sci Educ, 6(2), 85–89.
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Flannery, B. (1997). Relational discrimination learning in horses. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci., 54(4), 267–280.
Abstract: This series of studies investigated horses' ability to learn the concept of sameness under several different conditions. Before experimentation began, three horses were shaped to touch individually presented stimuli with their muzzles, and then to make two responses to two matching cards from an array of three. A modified version of the identity matching-to-sample (IMTS) procedure was used to present stimuli in a variety of configural arrangements on a barn wall (Experiment 1 and Experiment 2), and on a flat panel mounted to a barn door (Experiment 3). The task in each experiment was to select the two stimulus cards that were the same (either circles or Xs) and to avoid the nonmatching stimulus card (either a star or a square). In Experiment 1, the mean accuracy rate for selecting the matching alternatives was 74%. The horses' accuracy levels reached a mean level of 83% during Experiment 2, in which they received additional trials and an intermittent secondary reinforcement schedule. In Experiment 3, when the stimuli were moved further apart from each other within arrangements and were presented on a novel background, the mean accuracy rate was 73%. These data demonstrate that horses can learn complex discrimination problems involving the concept of sameness, and that they are able to generalize this learning to a novel stimulus presentation situation. These results also suggest that a relational discrimination test may be useful for assessing horses' learning ability and the level of training appropriate for individual horses.
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Savage,, A. O., Kirsten Leong, Laura Graham, & Anne. (2005). Behavioral indices of estrus in a group of captive African elephants (Loxodonta africana). Zoo Biology, 24(4), 311–329.
Abstract: This study investigated behavioral signals of estrus by systematically monitoring the interactions of one male with four female African elephants housed in a naturalistic outdoor enclosure at Disney's Animal Kingdom over a period of 11 months. We measured changes in five spatial behaviors and 22 tactile-contact behaviors, as well as changes in serum progestagen and LH concentrations, across three ovarian cycles for each female. Two females did not cycle during the study. Three different phases of the ovarian cycle were identified: mid luteal, anovulatory follicular, ovulatory follicular. The male followed more and carried out more genital inspections, flehmen, and trunk-to-mouth behaviors toward cycling females during their ovulatory phase. Genital inspections by the male peaked above baseline levels on the day of an LH surge, and up to 9 days before, in both cycling females and, thus, might be a useful behavioral index of estrus. The male also carried out more genital inspections, flehmen, and trunk touches to the back leg toward ovulatory cycling than noncycling females. Overall, our results indicated that: 1) a single subadult African elephant male could discriminate two females in the ovulatory phase of their cycle (i.e., during the 3 weeks preceding ovulation) from the mid luteal phase; 2) the male also discriminated two cycling females in the ovulatory and anovulatory follicular phases from two noncycling females; 3) two females in the ovulatory phase of the cycle displayed a greater variety of tactile-contact behavior toward the male compared to the other cycle phases. Zoo Biol 0:1-19, 2005. – 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
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Westergaard, G. C., Liv, C., Chavanne, T. J., & Suomi, S. J. (1998). Token-mediated tool-use by a tufted capuchin monkey (Cebus apella). Anim. Cogn., 1(2), 101–106.
Abstract: This research examined token-mediated tool-use in a tufted capuchin monkey (Cebus apella). We conducted five experiments. In experiment 1 we examined the use of plastic color-coded chips to request food, and in experiments 2-5 we examined the use of color-coded chips to request tools. Our subject learned to use chips to request tools following the same general pattern seen in great apes performing analogous tasks, that is, initial discrimination followed by an understanding of the relationship among tokens, tools, and their functions. Our findings are consistent with the view that parallel representational processes underlie the tool-related behavior of capuchins and great apes.
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