bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Super-exponential distinguishability of correlated quantum states
Authors: Bunth Gergely , Maróti Gábor , Mosonyi Milán , Zimborás Zoltán
Published: January 2023

In the problem of asymptotic binary i.i.d. state discrimination, the optimal asymptotics of the type I and the type II error probabilities is in general an exponential decrease to zero as a function of the number of samples; the set of achievable exponent pairs is characterized by the quantum Hoeffding bound theorem. A super-exponential decrease for both types of error probabilities is only possible in the trivial case when the two states are orthogonal and hence can be perfectly distinguished using only a single copy of the system. In this paper, we show that a qualitatively different behavior can occur when there is correlation between the samples. Namely, we use gauge-invariant and translation-invariant quasi-free states on the algebra of the canonical anti-commutation relations to exhibit pairs of states on an infinite spin chain with the properties that (a) all finite-size restrictions of the states have invertible density operators and (b) the type I and the type II error probabilities both decrease to zero at least with the speed $$e^{-nc\log n}$$

e

-
n
c
log
n

with some positive constant c, i.e., with a super-exponential speed in the sample size n. Particular examples of such states include the ground states of the XX model corresponding to different transverse magnetic fields. In fact, we prove our result in the setting of binary composite hypothesis testing, and hence, it can be applied to prove super-exponential distinguishability of the hypotheses that the transverse magnetic field is above a certain threshold vs. that it is below a strictly lower value.
Trajectory-tracking control from a multibody system dynamics perspective
Authors: Drücker Svenja , Seifried Robert
Published: January 2023

The development of modern mechatronic systems is often driven by the desire for more efficiency and accuracy. These requirements not only result in more complex system designs, but also in the simultaneous development of improved control strategies. Therefore, control of multibody systems is an active field of research. This contribution gives an overview of recent control-related research from the perspective of the multibody dynamics community. A literature review of the research activity in the journal Multibody System Dynamics is given. Afterwards, the framework of servo-constraints is reviewed, since it is a powerful tool for the computation of a feedforward controller and it is directly developed in the multibody system dynamics community. Thereby, solution strategies for all possible system types, such as differentially flat systems, minimum phase and non-minimum phase systems are discussed. Selected experimental and simulation results are shown to support the theoretical results.
When the United States and the People’s Republic of China Sneeze: Monetary Policy Spillovers to Asian Economies
Authors: Beirne John , Renzhi Nuobu , Volz Ulrich
Published: January 2023

This paper examines monetary policy spillovers from the US and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to real and financial sectors in advanced and emerging Asian economies over the period 2000 to 2020. Using a structural vector autoregression (SVAR) approach, we find that Asian economies overall are more susceptible to spillovers to GDP, inflation, and the current account emanating from monetary policy shocks in the PRC than to those from the US. This is related to high inter-regional trade integration in Asia and is in line with previous research findings. However, while the prevailing literature has highlighted the dominant role of US monetary policy as a transmitter of shocks to global and Asian financial markets, we find more persistence in the response of advanced Asian interest rates to PRC monetary policy shocks. In addition, emerging Asian economies are found to be more susceptible to shocks emanating from the PRC in respect of equity markets and exchange rates. The rising synchronization of Asian financial markets in relation to the PRC as the financial account in the PRC has gradually opened as well as indirect effects via trade and regional value chains help to rationalize our findings.
Joint book reading, library visits and letter teaching in families: relations to parent education and children’s reading behavior
Authors: Pfost Maximilian , Heyne Nora
Published: January 2023

In line with the Matthew-effect in reading, reading comprehension and leisure time reading tend to be reciprocally related. Whereas prior research invested much efforts in the identification and description of variables explaining individual differences in reading comprehension, less efforts were spend on the exploration of variables important for the development of leisure time reading. This study focuses on family literacy activities in preschool age – joint book reading, joint library visits, and the teaching of letters – and how these relate to the children’ s later leisure time reading and reading comprehension. Furthermore, the role of parents’ education is considered. Empirical findings are based on a sample of N = 1.242 children from the National Education Panel Study (NEPS). Joint book reading and joint library visits in families, both aspects of informal literacy activities, predicted leisure time reading of children in Grade 4, which was related to their reading comprehension. In addition, disparities with regard to parents’ education were found. The results are discussed against the background of ways to promote children’s leisure time reading and practical implications are derived.
Ground first: against the proof-theoretic definition of ground
Authors: Litland Jon Erling
Published: January 2023

This paper evaluates the proof-theoretic definition of ground developed by Poggiolesi in a range of recent publications and argues that her proposed definition fails. The paper then outlines an alternative approach where logical consequence relations and the logical operations are defined in terms of ground.
Comparison of short-term efficacy and safety between total robotic and total 3D laparoscopic distal radical gastrectomy for gastric cancer in Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocol: a propensity score matching study
Authors: Tian Yuan , Lin Yecheng , Sun Chenyu , Lowe Scott , Bentley Rachel , Yang Peigang , Guo Honghai , Ding Pingan , Zhang Zhidong , Wang Dong , Zhao Xuefeng , Li Yong , Zhao Qun
Published: January 2023

Background

The application of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocol in gastrointestinal surgery has been widely accepted. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of ERAS in total robotic distal gastrectomy (TRDG) versus 3D total laparoscopic distal gastrectomy (3D-TLDG) for gastric cancer.

Methods

We retrospectively evaluated 73 patients underwent TRDG and 163 patients who received 3D-TLDG. The propensity score was used for matching analysis according to a 1:1 ratio, so that there was no significant difference in the baseline data between the two groups. The short-term effect and safety of the two groups were compared.

Results

The TRDG group had a less intraoperative bleeding (30.21 ± 13.78 vs. 41.44 ± 17.41 ml, P < 0.001), longer intraoperative preparation time (31.05 ± 4.93 vs. 15.48 ± 2.43 min, P < 0.001), shorter digestive tract reconstruction time (32.67 ± 4.41 vs. 39.78 ± 4.95 min, P < 0.001), shorter postoperative ambulation time (14.07 ± 8.97 vs. 17.49 ± 5.98 h, P = 0.007), shorter postoperative anal exhaust time (1.78 ± 0.79 vs. 2.18 ± 0.79 days, P = 0.003), shorter postoperative hospital stay (7.74 ± 3.15 vs. 9.97 ± 3.23 days, P < 0.001), lower postoperative pain score (P = 0.006) and higher hospitalization cost (89,907.15 ± 17,147.19 vs. 125,615.82 ± 11,900.80 RMB, P < 0.001) than the 3D-TLDG group.

Conclusion

TRDG and 3D-TLDG under ERAS protocol are safe and feasible. Compared with 3D-TLDG, the TRDG has better intraoperative bleeding control effect and greater advantages in digestive tract reconstruction. After the combination of ERAS protocol, TRDG also has certain advantages in the recovery process of patients after surgery.
Ferroptosis-related NFE2L2 and NOX4 Genes are Potential Risk Prognostic Biomarkers and Correlated with Immunogenic Features in Glioma
Authors: Lin Li , Li Xiaona , Zhu Shunda , Long Qingshan , Hu Yongzhen , Zhang Liyang , Liu Zexin , Li Bo , Li Xuesong
Published: January 2023

Ferroptosis is a newfound mode of regulated cell death that may have potential to associate with prognostic or diagnostic factors in glioma. In this research, 5 genes related to glioma were screened through the FerrDb database, and we analyzed the combination between genes and glioma of survival and prognosis via TCGA, GEPIA, TIMER, and other databases. Survival curve and prognostic analysis showed that the overexpression of NFE2L2 and NOX4, respectively, has a remarkable link with a worse prognosis in glioma. Then, the association between the expression of the two genes and tumor-infiltrating immune cells level was explored based on the GSCA, and the immunity of NFE2L2 and NOX4 based on the TISIDB database was also investigated. In glioma, especially GBM, there is a strong association between gene expression and immune infiltration, even in macrophages, nTreg, and Th2 cells, which play immunosuppressive functions in TME. In conclusion, these results indicate that NFE2L2 and NOX4 could be risk prognosis biomarkers in glioma, and they bound up with immune infiltration and tumor immunity in tumorigenesis.
What to offer if consumers do not want what they need? A simultaneous evaluation approach with an application to retirement savings products
Authors: Ruß Jochen , Schelling Stefan , Schultze Mark B.
Published: January 2023

Standard economic models of rational decision making provide information on how people should decide. In practice, human decisions are influenced by numerous behavioral patterns that lead to systematic deviations from rationally optimal behavior. In the context of retirement savings, this can result in substantial pension gaps, and hence in a reduction of the standard of living in the retirement phase. The aim of this work is to introduce a general framework to (simultaneously) assess and evaluate the objectively rational utility and the subjectively perceived attractiveness. We illustrate the approach by means of an application to retirement savings products. Such a combined approach can help to identify or design retirement savings products that create a high (albeit not the maximum possible) objective utility while at the same time being subjectively of high (albeit not maximum possible) attractiveness. We argue that a focus on such products might lead to improved consumer decisions compared to observed decisions that are often driven by subjective attractiveness (resulting in rather low objective utility).
Toeplitz density operators and their separability properties
Authors: de Gosson Maurice
Published: January 2023

Toeplitz operators (also called localization operators) are a generalization of the well-known anti-Wick pseudodifferential operators studied by Berezin and Shubin. When a Toeplitz operator is positive semi-definite and has trace one we call it a density Toeplitz operator. Such operators represent physical states in quantum mechanics. In the present paper we study several aspects of Toeplitz operators when their symbols belong to some well-known functional spaces (e.g. the Feichtinger algebra) and discuss (tentatively) their separability properties with an emphasis on the Gaussian case.
Bioresource Upgrade for Sustainable Energy, Environment, and Biomedicine
Authors: Li Fanghua , Li Yiwei , Novoselov K. S. , Liang Feng , Meng Jiashen , Ho Shih-Hsin , Zhao Tong , Zhou Hui , Ahmad Awais , Zhu Yinlong , Hu Liangxing , Ji Dongxiao , Jia Litao , Liu Rui , Ramakrishna Seeram , Zhang Xingcai
Published: January 2023

We conceptualize bioresource upgrade for sustainable energy, environment, and biomedicine with a focus on circular economy, sustainability, and carbon neutrality using high availability and low utilization biomass (HALUB). We acme energy-efficient technologies for sustainable energy and material recovery and applications. The technologies of thermochemical conversion (TC), biochemical conversion (BC), electrochemical conversion (EC), and photochemical conversion (PTC) are summarized for HALUB. Microalgal biomass could contribute to a biofuel HHV of 35.72 MJ Kg−1 and total benefit of 749 $/ton biomass via TC. Specific surface area of biochar reached 3000 m2 g−1 via pyrolytic carbonization of waste bean dregs. Lignocellulosic biomass can be effectively converted into bio-stimulants and biofertilizers via BC with a high conversion efficiency of more than 90%. Besides, lignocellulosic biomass can contribute to a current density of 672 mA m−2 via EC. Bioresource can be 100% selectively synthesized via electrocatalysis through EC and PTC. Machine learning, techno-economic analysis, and life cycle analysis are essential to various upgrading approaches of HALUB. Sustainable biomaterials, sustainable living materials and technologies for biomedical and multifunctional applications like nano-catalysis, microfluidic and micro/nanomotors beyond are also highlighted. New techniques and systems for the complete conversion and utilization of HALUB for new energy and materials are further discussed.
Global consequences of the war in Ukraine: the last straw for (liberal) interventionism?
Authors: Geis Anna , Schröder Ursula
Published: January 2023

The interpretation of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine as a “turning point” indicates that long-established parameters of securing peace in international politics will change. This article tentatively assesses consequences of this war for the agenda of international peacebuilding and for wider interventionist practices in contemporary violent conflict settings. It is argued that the ongoing war speeds up a preexisting phase of profound order transformation that will considerably change the ways in which states manage conflicts and attempt to secure lasting peace in the international system. The article outlines how ongoing transformations already affect—and will further affect—(liberal) interventionism at different entangled scales, ranging from the global to the local. The contribution draws on recent studies of the rise and decline of global orders and interweaves them with insights from empirical peace and conflict research and critical studies of peacebuilding and interventions. It discusses the further decline of global cooperation in the wake of the Russian war against Ukraine, outlines the consequences of the rivalry between United Nations Security Council veto powers for the global agenda of peacebuilding and the conduct of peace operations, and illustrates the local consequences for specific intervention sites, in particular the negative impact of the employment of the Russian Wagner Group in Mali.
Barriers and Enablers to COVID-19 Vaccination in San Francisco's Spanish-Speaking Population
Authors: Abascal Miguel Lucía , Christian Canice , Accurso Erin C. , Najmabadi Adriana , Athavale Priyanka , Diala Jody A. , Sachdev Darpun , Philip Susan , Reid Michael J. , Handley Margaret A.
Published: January 2023

Populations at high risk for COVID-19- including Spanish speakers—may face additional barriers to obtaining COVID-19 vaccinations; by understanding their challenges, we can create more equitable vaccine interventions. In this study, we used interviews to identify barriers and enablers to COVID-19 vaccine uptake among participants in the San Francisco Department of Public Health contact tracing program. Data analysis employed Capability, Opportunity, Motivation Behavior model (COM-B) and the Behavior Change Wheel framework as guides to target barriers with interventions and supporting policies. This paper presents data from interviews focused on COVID-19 vaccine uptake that was part of a project to improve COVID-19 preventive behaviors in San Francisco. We completed seventeen interviews between February and May 2021; six (35%) were completed in English and 11 (65%) in Spanish. Barriers to vaccine uptake included an unprepared health system, fear of side effects, limited knowledge, and conflicting information. Behavioral factors influencing vaccine uptake were mainly related to physical opportunity, automatic motivation, and psychological capability. Interventions that could address the most significant number of barriers included education, enablement, and environmental restructuring. Finally, communication and marketing policies that use diverse multi-lingual social media and environmental planning that includes accessible vaccine sites for people with disabilities, literacy barriers, and limited English proficiency could significantly increase vaccination. Public health departments should tailor interventions to high-risk populations by understanding the specific barriers they face. This exploratory study suggests how implementation science can provide frameworks to achieve this.
Reducing Overuse
Authors: Cupit Caroline , Tarrant Carolyn , Armstrong Natalie
Published: January 2023

Overuse has become a major issue of healthcare quality, safety, and sustainability around the world. In this Element, the authors discuss concepts, terminology, and the history of concerns. They show how interventions to address overuse target multiple drivers. They highlight successes and promising approaches, but also challenges in generating and using evidence about overuse. They emphasise that different stakeholder perceptions of value must be recognised. System-level efforts to restrict access to services have created tensions between stakeholder groups and stimulated politicised debates about rationing. They argue for clear articulation of priorities, problem definition, mechanisms for interventions, and areas of uncertainty. Policy-makers should prioritise transparency, be alert to inequalities as they seek to reduce overuse, and consider how to balance controlling use with enabling clinicians to respond to individual circumstances. The complexity of the drivers and possible solutions to overuse require the use of multiple research methods, including social science studies. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
Animal-Human Relationships in Medieval Iceland
Authors: Evans Tang Harriet Jean
Published: January 2023

A multi-disciplinary investigation of the links between people and animals, in reality and representation.
Deep prior in variational assimilation to estimate an ocean circulation without explicit regularization
Authors: Filoche Arthur , Béréziat Dominique , Charantonis Anastase
Published: January 2023

Many applications in geosciences require solving inverse problems to estimate the state of a physical system. Data assimilation provides a strong framework to do so when the system is partially observed and its underlying dynamics are known to some extent. In the variational flavor, it can be seen as an optimal control problem where initial conditions are the control parameters. Such problems are often ill-posed, regularization may be needed using explicit prior knowledge to enforce a satisfying solution. In this work, we propose to use a deep prior, a neural architecture that generates potential solutions and acts as implicit regularization. The architecture is trained in a fully-unsupervised manner using the variational data assimilation cost so that gradients are backpropagated through the dynamical model and then through the neural network. To demonstrate its use, we set a twin experiment using a shallow-water toy model, where we test various variational assimilation algorithms on an ocean-like circulation estimation.
STRESS TESTING THE FISCAL FRAMEWORK
Authors: Bell David , Eiser David , Phillips David
Published: January 2023

The part of the UK fiscal framework which determines how UK government funding is allocated across the four home nations has undergone profound change since 2012, given tax and social security devolution. The UK government’s post-Brexit plans for regional development funding, state aid, regulation and trade negotiations have led to significant disagreements about the nature of the devolved fiscal and constitutional settlement. And the COVID-19 pandemic provided a major shock to a fiscal system with limited flexibility for the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish devolved governments. This paper reviews the changes and challenges faced during these reforms and policy shocks. We find that: tensions about reforms to funding arrangements reflect the inconsistency of principles guiding the reforms; that the UK government’s post-Brexit plans do reduce the policy autonomy of the devolved governments, but reflect powers central governments often have in even highly decentralised countries; and that temporary changes to rules and the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic prevented a subnational fiscal crisis, but that more systematic change may make the system more robust to future shocks. This suggests that a review of the principles underpinning the UK’s subnational fiscal and economic policies would be highly worthwhile.
INTRODUCTION: DEVOLUTION AND SECESSION IN QUESTION
Authors: Jennings Colin , Pabst Adrian
Published: January 2023

This special issue of the National Institute Economic Review is being published at an unsettled and uncertain time for the United Kingdom. In June 2022, the First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon called for a second referendum on Scottish independence to be held in October 2023. While it is unlikely that the referendum will be granted by the UK government, current polling suggests the outcome of such a referendum would be too close to call. Eight years after Scotland voted 55%–45% to stay in the Union, independence remains a live issue, which raises fundamental questions about economic and governance arrangements between Westminster and the UK’s constituent parts.
TRADE-OFFS: UNDERSTANDING FUTURE TRADE OPTIONS FOR SCOTLAND
Authors: Figus Gioele , McGregor Peter , McIntyre Stuart , Roy Graeme
Published: January 2023

Trade issues lie at the heart of the two biggest constitutional challenges the UK has faced in decades: Brexit and Scottish independence. Brexit has demonstrated the economic importance of borders and led to renewed calls for Scottish independence. While there are a range of possible trading arrangements an independent Scotland could pursue, all of them involve economically significant change. In this paper, we describe Scottish trade patterns and review the range of options that a newly independent Scotland might have for its trading arrangements. We then model the relative economic importance of these different potential trading arrangements.
SECURING COMPATIBILITY OF CARBON BORDER ADJUSTMENTS WITH THE MULTILATERAL CLIMATE AND TRADE REGIMES
Authors: Marín Durán Gracia
Published: January 2023

The European Union (EU) is contemplating the adoption of a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), which would extend its domestic carbon price to emissions that are produced outside its borders but are embodied into its imports of carbon-intensive commodities. In doing so, the EU is testing the boundaries of permissible unilateral action at the interface of international climate and trade law. However, the question of whether the proposed CBAM is compatible with these two multilateral legal regimes is yet to be addressed in an integrated manner. This article seeks to fill this gap in the scholarship and makes two main arguments. First, the CBAM as presently designed does not respect the principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDRRC) and needs to be adjusted through two forms of differential treatment: a full exemption for least-developed countries and Small Island Developing States and the use of CBAM-generated revenue to support decarbonisation efforts in other affected developing countries. Secondly, this CBDRRC-based differentiation should be permissible under WTO law on the grounds that it does not amount to discrimination between countries where the same conditions prevail.
Influence of Cassia fistula leaf powder on in vitro ruminal fermentation, gas production and degradability of diets for ruminants
Authors: Akinbode R. M. , Osinuga A. A. , Oladele S. M. , Adebayo K. O. , Isah O. A.
Published: January 2023

Medicinal plants with high phytochemical values are critical for enhancing the productivity of livestock systems, while reducing their environmental impact. This study investigated the influence of graded levels of Cassia fistula leaf powder (CFLP) on in vitro ruminal fermentation parameters, gas production and degradability of diets for ruminants. Five concentrate diets were formulated to contain varying levels of CFLP (0, 15, 30, 45 and 60 mg/g dry matter (DM), denoted CF0, CF15, CF30, CF45 and CF60, respectively). The concentrate diets combined with guinea grass hay at the ratio of 4 : 6 (concentrate : forage) served as a substrate for the study. In vitro gas production test was performed by incubating 200 mg DM of the substrate for 48 h. At the end of the incubation period, the total gas and methane production, nutrient digestibility, in vitro fermentation and post-incubation parameters were evaluated. Results revealed a linear decrease (P < 0.001) in gas and methane production across the treatment groups with an increase in CFLP levels. The amount of methane produced varied from 9.3 ml/200 mg DM in the CF60 diet to 20 ml/200 mg DM in the control diet. Nutrient digestibility was highest in the control diet and lowest in the CF60 diet. There was a linear decrease in ammonia-nitrogen and total volatile fatty acid (TVFA) concentration with an increase in the CFLP level. Inclusion of CFLP up to 30 mg/g DM ruminant diet was found to reduce methane production and ammonia-nitrogen concentration with minimal effects on nutrient degradation and TVFA concentration.
THE DEMOCRATIC EXPERIENCE OF TIMBRE IN TYSHAWN SOREY'S AUTOSCHEDIASMS
Authors: Aschheim Victoria
Published: January 2023

Autoschediasms, the American composer and multi-instrumentalist Tyshawn Sorey's conception of spontaneous composition, casts the participants as equals. The decision-making power is balanced between Sorey and the instrumentalists. Focusing on the 2020 performance of Autoschediasms by Sorey and the contemporary-music ensemble Alarm Will Sound, presented as part of the ensemble's Video Chat Variations series, this article limns the experience of Autoschediasms and asks: what is the sensory counterpart to Sorey's democratic ethos? In Autoschediasms, I argue, it is timbre that synchronises the performers’ interactions, in all their care and openness, with the pressures and freedoms of listening. Timbre activates absorbing, unforeseen, manifold variation in the composition. This sonic impression of democratic music-making around and across difference comes to reflect the conditions of radical humanity and vulnerability inherent in spontaneity. Through close listening, and in dialogue with critical improvisation studies and timbre theory, I suggest that Autoschediasms illuminates the ethical dimension of timbre: what timbre can do for the aspiration towards musical inclusivity.
TWO HATS OR ONE: THE CO-DEPENDENT WORLDS OF JONATHAN HARVEY'S CHURCH AND CONCERT MUSIC
Authors: Hughes Ed
Published: January 2023

This article scrutinises the composer Jonathan Harvey's remark that ‘most of my colleagues see me as wearing two hats: one a church music composer's, the other an avant-garde instrumental/electronic composer's. I wish I could say it was one hat. I think of all my music as sacred in a sense.’ The article considers Harvey's church and concert works as linked worlds in order to propose a more holistic appreciation of his stylistic and technical innovations and that, far from being occasional pieces, his music for the church played an active role in the development of the composer's language, in part because singing was a formative experience for Harvey, and in part because collaborative work with choirs, church musicians and associated artists and thinkers was so frequently fertile. Based on the composer's own notes to the author, the article concludes with an account of the composition process involved in the creation of Plainsongs for Peace and Light (2012), a work for unaccompanied mixed choir or 16 solo voices, which the composer described as ‘elaborations’ of chant.
Pacing polar bears and stoical sheep: testing ecological and evolutionary hypotheses about animal welfare
Authors: Clubb R , Mason G
Published: January 2023

Responses to potential threats to welfare vary greatly between species. Even closely related animals often differ in their fear of humans and/or novelty; their behavioural responses to pain; and when captive, their overall welfare and the form and frequency of their stereotypies. Such species differences stimulate hypotheses about I) the way that responses to challenge co-vary with other biological traits; 2) the adaptive value of particular responses; and 3) the factors predicting responses to evolutionarily new scenarios, such as captivity. We illustrate how these ideas can be statistically tested with multi-species comparisons, and show how techniques such as the Comparative Analysis of Independent Contrasts can be used to control for any non-independence of data points caused by species’ relatedness. For each of the three types of hypothesis, we then provide several welfare-relevant examples including one that has been fully tested (respectively, the relationships between sociality and anti-predator behaviour in antelopes; predation pressure, foraging niche and neophobia in parrots; and home range size and stereotypy in carnivores). Ultimate explanations such as these, based on species’ ecology and evolutionary history, have great explanatory appeal. Species comparisons can also have great practical value, allowing the test of hypotheses that would be almost impossible to investigate experimentally, and generating principles that allow predictions about the welfare of similar unstudied species. Multi-species data, for example from the many taxa held in zoos, thus hold enormous potential for increasing the fundamental understanding of animal welfare.
Brain measures which tell us about animal welfare
Authors: Broom DM , Zanella AJ
Published: January 2023

Studies of the brain inform us about the cognitive abilities of animals and hence affect the extent to which animals of that species are respected. However, they can also tell us how an individual is likely to be perceiving, attending to, evaluating, coping with, enjoying, or disturbed by its environment, and so can give direct information about welfare. In studies of welfare, we are especially interested in how an individual feels. Since this depends upon high-level brain processing, we have to investigate brain function. Brain correlates of preferred social, sexual and parental situations include elevated oxytocin in the para-ventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus. Abnormal behaviour may have brain correlates, for example, high frequencies of stereotypy are associated with down-regulated μ and κ receptors and dopamine depletion in the frontal cortex. Such results help in evaluating the effects of treatment on welfare. Some brain changes, such as increased glucocorticoid receptors in the frontal lobes or increased activity in the amygdala, may be a sensitive indicator of perceived emergency. Active immunological defences lead to cytokine production in the brain, vagal nerve activity and sickness effects. Some aspects of brain function can be temporarily suppressed, for example, by opioids when there is severe pain, or permanently impaired, for example, in severely impoverished environments or during depression. Coping attempts or environmental impact can lead to injury to the brain, damage to hippocampal neurons, remodelling of dendrites in the hippocampus, or to other brain disorganisation. Brain measures can explain the nature and magnitude of many effects on welfare.
Fish and welfare: do fish have the capacity for pain perception and suffering?
Authors: Braithwaite VA , Huntingford FA
Published: January 2023

Humans interact with fish in a number of ways and the question of whether fish have the capacity to perceive pain and to suffer has recently attracted considerable attention in both scientific and public fora. Only very recently have neuroanatomical studies revealed that teleost fish possess similar pain-processing receptors to higher vertebrates. Research has also shown that fish neurophysiology and behaviour are altered in response to noxious stimulation. In the light of this evidence, and in combination with work illustrating the cognitive capacities of fish, it seems appropriate to respond to a recently published critique (Rose 2002) in which it is argued that it is not possible for fish to experience fear or pain and that, therefore, they cannot suffer. Whilst we agree with the author that fish are unlikely to perceive pain in the same way that humans do, we believe that currently available evidence indicates that fish have the capacity for pain perception and suffering. As such, it would seem timely to reflect on the implications of fish pain and suffering, and to consider what steps can be taken to ensure the welfare of the fish that we exploit.
Fractal analysis of animal behaviour as an indicator of animal welfare
Authors: Rutherford KMD , Haskell MJ , Glasbey C , Jones RB , Lawrence AB
Published: January 2023

Animal welfare assessment commonly involves behavioural and physiological measurements. Physiological measures have become increasingly sophisticated over the years, while behavioural measurements, for example duration or frequency, have changed little. Although these measures can undoubtedly contribute to our assessment of an animal's welfare status, a more complex analysis of behavioural sequences could potentially reveal additional and valuable information. One emerging methodology that could provide such information is fractal analysis, which calculates measures of complexity in continuous time series. Its previous application in medical physiology suggested that it could reveal ‘hidden’ information in a dataset beyond that identified by traditional analyses. Consequently, we asked if fractal analysis of behaviour might be a useful non-invasive measure of acute and chronic stress in laying hens and in pigs. Herein, we outline our work and briefly review some previous applications of fractal analysis to animal behaviour patterns. We successfully measured novel aspects of complexity in the behavioural organisation of hens and pigs and found that these were stress-sensitive in some circumstances. Although data collection is time consuming, the benefit of fractal analysis is that it can be applied to simple behavioural transitions, thereby reducing subjective interpretation to a minimum. Collectively, the work to date suggests that fractal analysis — by providing a novel measure of behavioural organisation — could have a role in animal welfare assessment. As a method for extracting extra information from behavioural data, fractal analysis should be more widely examined in animal welfare science.
Factors influencing human attitudes to animals and their welfare
Authors: Serpell JA
Published: January 2023

This paper reviews the literature on human attitudes to animals, and postulates the existence of two primary motivational determinants of attitudes labelled ‘affect’ and ‘utility’. It also proposes that the relative strengths of these key attitude dimensions are affected by various modifying variables including the specific attributes of the animal, the individual characteristics and experience of the person evaluating the animal, and a range of cultural factors. The role of science as a cultural modifier of human attitudes to animals is also discussed.
United States Department of Agriculture: building bridges through innovative animal well-being initiatives
Authors: Reynnells RD
Published: January 2023

Animal well-being issues are addressed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) through a variety of agencies and in various formats. Most farmers are good stewards of their animals and will raise them according to societal demands as supported by market choices. Management standards that are perceived to improve upon current practices are being demanded of farmers by buyers of animal products, including corporate restaurant chains and groceries. Professional organisations, USDA, and university representatives, help to address well-being issues and help to create and evaluate standards. The USDA provides leadership in several cooperative programs involving activists and industry, coordinates certification programs, and provides liaisons to multi-state university research committees. A USDA Animal Well-Being Work Group facilitates communications among agency personnel. The USDA developed the Animal Welfare Issues Compendium, a national animal well-being symposium, and cooperates with industry, activists and universities on projects. The USDA provides grant funds for projects that are encouraged to include a component on animal well-being. Special grant funds from Congress have resulted in educational and research projects that complement existing USDA national research and educational initiatives. Regulatory commitments by USDA include the enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act and the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act.
Editorial
Authors: Ewbank Roger
Published: January 2023

This, the second issue of the new UFAW journal continues to extend the range of published material that is intended to have direct benefit on the welfare of animals used or managed by man. Conformity of layout has been maintained apart from the welcome addition of a correspondence page. This sort of positive response is to be encouraged, and should cover informed comment, constructive criticism and, if possible, ideas or suggestions for new material. It is recognized that lively correspondence adds value to the general debate and understanding of animal welfare issues.
Comparing Two Manipulable Objects as Enrichment for Captive Chimpanzees
Authors: Pruetz J D , Bloomsmith M A
Published: January 2023

This study compared the effectiveness of kraft wrapping paper and rubber toys as enrichment for 22 chimpanzees group-housed in conventional indoor/outdoor runs. Objects were tested separately during 67 hours of data collection using a group scan sampling technique. Paper was used a mean 27 per cent of the available time, while the Kong Toys™ were used a mean 10 per cent of the available time. The degree of object manipulation and object contact was higher with the paper, but the level of social play and solitary play with the object was not differentially affected by the two objects. The objects had differing effects on the subjects’ levels of grooming, but affiliation, agonism, inactivity and sexual behaviour did not vary according to the object being used. A gender-by-age interaction was found, with immature males exhibiting the highest levels of solitary play with objects. Object use steadily declined over the first hour of exposure, showing evidence of habituation. Object use when the Kong Toy™ was present declined over the course of the study, but use of the paper remained consistent. Texture, destructibility, portability, complexity and adaptability may be important in determining the object's value as effective enrichment. The destructible wrapping paper was a more worthwhile enrichment object than the indestructible Kong Toy™ for the captive chimpanzees in this study.
Head-restraint and stunning
Authors: Meldrum K C
Published: January 2023

Sir, I write in response to the article in the first issue of your journal. I was pleased to note that the welfare advantages of improved accuracy of shooting that can be expected from the restraint of bovine heads prior to stunning have been recognised. Earlier research work, commissioned by the MAFF, had indicated that deficiencies existed in the accuracy of captive bolt positioning in cattle whose heads had not been restrained. Clearly the distress experienced by an animal that has been mis-stunned would be very considerable, and would outweigh the stress associated with temporary head-restraint.
Woodchip Bedding as Enrichment for Captive Chimpanzees in an Outdoor Enclosure
Authors: Brent L
Published: January 2023

The use of woodchips as bedding for 16 juvenile chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) was evaluated for the effects on behaviour, health and husbandry practices. Woodchip bedding was placed in two outdoor play areas for five consecutive days. Behavioural data were recorded in the morning and afternoon of each day, and compared to pre- and post-test data. A total of 44 hours of observations, made up of 1 hour scan sample sessions, were completed for the study. Behaviours in the following categories were measured: abnormal, affinitive, aggressive, environmental manipulation, inactivity, locomotion, play, self manipulation and woodchip manipulation. The location of each animal was also recorded Analysis of the data indicated that the chimpanzees engaged in woodchip-related behaviours for an average of 20.52 per cent of the data points, and that they spent more time manipulating the substrate in the morning than in the afternoon. In addition, abnormal behaviour, environmental manipulation and affinitive behaviours were significantly lower during the woodchip condition than during pre-test and post-test conditions. The subjects spent the most time on the floor of the enclosure, and this measure did not differ between conditions. The woodchip bedding did not cause any known health problems for the chimpanzees. Although the daily addition and removal of woodchips took more time than did routine cleaning, it kept the play areas cleaner and drier. The evaluation of woodchip bedding as enrichment was favourable and indicated that bedding may be used regularly in the maintenance of captive chimpanzees.
Behavioural Responses of Laying Hens to Carriage on Horizontal and Inclined Conveyors
Authors: Scott G B , Moran P
Published: January 2023

Groups of end-of-lay (spent) hens were subjected to three different treatments on a short flat-belt conveyor. Observations of bird behaviour indicated that the incidences of wing flapping, loss of balance and alarm calling significantly increased when birds were conveyed up and down slopes in comparison to being conveyed horizontally (P<0.01). Birds were significantly more hesitant when approaching the incline compared to the horizontal (P<0.001). However, differences in behavioural responses were not reflected in times spent in tonic immobility or open-field tests. There were no significant differences for the three treatments. It is possible that human contact, before and after conveying, was a more significant fear stimulus than the treatment itself.
Behavioural needs in birds
Authors: Dawkins Marian Stamp
Published: January 2023

Sir, Poole (Animal Welfare 1992, 1: 203-220) argues that mammals are unique in having behavioural needs, that is, in experiencing a need to carry out behaviour that is not necessary for immediate survival. While I very much welcome the stress his article places on good welfare being much more than just the satisfaction of health and survival needs, I am also concerned that he may have done a disservice to non-mammalian species by implying that none of them have behavioural needs comparable to those of mammals. He acknowledges that birds are intelligent and have considerable learning abilities but then argues that this does not imply the existence of behavioural needs. On what grounds, then, does he attribute such needs to mammals and not to birds?
Author's response
Authors: Poole Trevor B
Published: January 2023

I would like to point out two misunderstandings in the text of Dawkins’ letter. I did not argue ‘that mammals are unique in having behavioural needs’, but that mammals are unique in having ‘psychological needs’ which are ‘needs of the mind’ and relate to the nature of mammalian brains and survival strategies. I did not suggest that birds do not have behavioural needs.
Editorial
Authors: Ewbank Roger
Published: January 2023

With this issue the UFAW journal Animal Welfare enters its second year. It is appropriate here to thank two of the Section Editors, Professor Anton Beynen and Dr James Serpell for the work they did on Volume 1 of the journal; they have now stood down as active members of the editorial team but have joined the group of Editorial Advisers. We welcome the two new Section Editors, Professor Jann Hau and Dr Dennis Turner.
Reasons and Risks Associated with Manipulating Captive primates' Social Environments
Authors: Visalberghi E , Anderson J R
Published: January 2023

Efforts to promote the psychological well-being of captive non-human primates through the application of environmental enrichment techniques are becoming more common. However, from this perspective relatively little empirical work has been done on the effects of manipulation of the social environment. The data currently available indicate that primates kept in solitary confinement are likely to develop a variety of behavioural and physiological disturbances reflecting reduced well-being, whereas most compatibly socially housed primates appear better adapted. There is always some risk associated with manipulating the social environment for experimental or husbandry reasons, but the risk of deleterious consequences can be reduced by a good knowledge of the animals’ normal repertoire and careful monitoring of how the animals adjust to the new conditions. Attending to the social environment of captive primates is fundamental to their welfare.
The ‘needs’ of birds and mammals in the science of animal welfare
Authors: Bradshaw R Harry , Bubier Norma E
Published: January 2023

Sir, Poole (Animal Welfare 1992, 1: 203-220) appears to argue that the welfare of mammals is in some way more important than that of non-mammalian species eg birds, on the grounds that mammals are unique in possessing ‘psychological needs’. We are concerned that an adoption of Poole's basic argument may lead to a ‘two-tier’ approach to the study of vertebrate welfare, where mammals are seen as possessing certain needs that birds do not. We believe any such argument to be flawed and that bird species should be considered no less important when regarding issues of welfare.
Editorial
Authors: Ewbank Roger
Published: January 2023

The contents of this second issue in Volume 2 of the UFAW journal are mainly directed towards three areas of animal welfare concern: commercial poultry production, captive primates and the use of animals in scientific research.
Differences in Fearfulness Indicated by Tonic Immobility Between Laying Hens in Aviaries and in Cages
Authors: Hansen I , Braastad B O , Storbråten J , Tofastrud M
Published: January 2023

The aim of this study was to investigate whether there were differences in fearfulness between laying hens (Gallus gallus domesticus) housed in aviaries and in cages. The tonic immobility (TI) test was used to assess the fearfulness. Norwegian light hybrid White Leghorn hens were housed in battery cages and in three types of aviaries: the Marielund, the Laco-Volétage and the Tiered Wire Floor. Each system housed about 1,500 birds. Tests were performed on 50 birds per housing system at 70 weeks of age in one laying flock and at 30 and 70 weeks of age in the next.

At 30 weeks of age in the second laying flock, the duration of the tonic immobility response was unaffected by type of system. At 70 weeks, however, hens in cages showed tonic immobility of longer duration than hens in aviaries, in the first as well as in the second laying flock No differences in TI between hens from the three types of aviaries were found. The duration of TI did not correlate with plumage condition or body-weight, except for a longer duration of TI with poorer plumage condition in aviaries at 30 weeks. These results indicate that the fearfulness of hens in cages, as measured by the TI test, increased considerably with time. The lower fearfulness shown by hens in aviaries suggests that this important aspect of welfare is more secured in aviaries than in cages.