1,720,970 research outputs found
The dark side of beauty in companion animals: can we speak about genetic abuse?
Full text linkthe role of companion animals, especially dogs and cats, in human
society, has changed in the last century and nowadays they are considered
not only moral subjects, but even family members with a deep affective bond
with their human partners. Many ethical principles support the needs to face
the companion animals’ welfare issues in all their facets included the selective
breeding. Scientific evidences highlight the impact of unethical breeding
practices for the health and welfare of pedigree cats and dogs both at individual
and population level. Over-type, inbreeding depression and reduction of genetic
variability have caused the spread of inherited diseases with detrimental
consequences for animals and negative impacts on their owners. Therefore,
unhealthy and unethical breeding practices can be considered a genetic
abuse and they can’t be justify anymore thanks to the development of DNA
technologies, new diagnostic instruments and the preventive actions that can
be applied through suitable breeding programs. Nowadays cattery clubs, kennel
clubs and veterinary associations should act to increase breeders’ awareness
about health and welfare concerns in pedigree dogs and cats and to support
them in their breeding choices. Moreover education programs and welfare
certification systems could be possible tools to improve the sector
Can environmental temperature influence shelter dogs’ behavior? A pilot study|La temperatura ambientale può influenzare il comportamento dei cani da rifugio? Uno studio pilota
No full textMany dogs world-wide spend a large part of their lives in rescue shelters, and many studies have investigated their behavior, with the primary aim of improving their quality of life. There are many factors which can affect or influence, the results of these studies. Some of these may be controlled by human intervention such as: environmental enrichment, feeding procedures, and shelter management. Others are independent from human influence such as environmental temperature, humidity, or meteorological phenomena. Therefore, in the present pilot study, we investigated whether ambient temperature and relative humidity could affect the behavior of shelter dogs. Twenty-one dogs housed in a North Italian rescue shelter were observed using an instantaneous focal animal rule every 15 seconds for 15 minutes, repeated on four days at intervals of at least 5 days. Official data regarding temperature and humidity were obtained from the Veneto Regional Agency for Environmental Prevention and Protection. Generalised Estimated Equations were run for inactivity, locomotion, vocalisation, exploration, maintenance behaviors, and resting. The dogs’ gender, (estimated) age, duration at the shelter, temperature, and relative humidity were included in the model as possible predictive factors. Male dogs were recorded as vocalising more often than female dogs (p=0.011). Dogs who had been longer than 5 years in the shelter were recorded exploring more often than dogs who had been in the shelter less than 5 years (p=0.004), and dogs were recorded exploring less often in higher environmental temperatures (p=0.004). No other significant effects were found. Given the importance of exploratory behavior in monitoring the effects of environmental enrichment programs, the results of the present study suggest the importance of controlling for environmental temperature when studying environmental exploration in shelter dogs
The successful therapy dog: An insight through a Delphi consultation survey among Italian experts
Full text linkAnimal assisted interventions (AAI) refer to planned and structured interactions between humans and animals managed by a multidisciplinary team. The domestic dog (Canis familiaris) is the most involved species in this kind of programs. Even though, it is agreed worldwide that these animals should fulfil some requirements, their selection is still based on general principles and each organization gives its own interpretation. Some selection protocols were set up in the past, but they found little application in practice among professionals. Therefore, a deeper understanding of the phenomenon is needed. Our study aims to build consensus about features that make a therapy dog successful in AAI settings among Italian professionals that work in the AAI field. A three-round Delphi process was set up to get closer to this goal. All Delphi exercises were conducted using online questionnaires distributed to professionals. As a first step, respondents were asked to answer an open-ended question, asking what defining features a therapy dog should have to be eligible in most dog-assisted intervention programs, while in subsequent rounds participants rated to what extent characteristics resulting from round 1 are desirable/undesirable for a therapy dog. Thirty-three professionals responded to all rounds. The Delphi study allowed us to identify 55 defining features of a therapy dog. Among them, 16 features resulted “very desirable” with expert consensus and they all relate to dog resilience, dog emotional balance, dog willingness to collaborate with both handler and users/patients and dog communication skills. Moreover, we noticed that respondents often assign human qualities onto the animal showing anthropomorphism attitude. We concluded that a selection of therapy dog should not consider only exclusion criteria and role-playing, but their communication skills, willingness to engage, resilience and emotional balance should also be assessed. Further studies are needed to investigate the link between our results and the successful and reliable involvement of dogs in most settings of animal assisted interventions. However, our findings provided a baseline for future research that started from the professionals’ point of view with a participatory approach
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Donkey assisted interventions: A pilot survey on service providers in North-Eastern Italy
No full textContext: Animal Assisted Interventions (AAI), which are generally defined as ‘pet therapy’, focus on the improvement of human health and wellbeing through a multidisciplinary approach and the involvement of domestic animals. An Italian survey conducted in 2017 revealed that donkeys were the third most involved species in AAI. Nevertheless, data on the main features of the providers of Donkey Assisted Interventions (DAI), especially in Italy, and their organisational models are scarce. Objective: This questionnaire-based pilot study aimed to collect information about the features of DAI providers in the Veneto Region to have a general framework about the field. Study method: In this descriptive mixed-method pilot study, we interviewed DAI providers through a computer assisted telephone interview. Respondents were selected by integrating data from the Veneto Region Livestock Database and from the Italian official register of AAI professionals. The questionnaire was designed following the advice from Equator Network. Main outcome measures: Our outcome measures included the prevalent organisational system adopted by our respondents, main type of AAI programs, and users. Furthermore, we collected qualitative data about economic and income and respondents’ personal opinions about DAI (strengths and weaknesses). Main results: Data analysis revealed a heterogeneous picture of the DAI field with a prevalence of non-profit organisations providing mainly Donkey Assisted Activities to a large range of user categories. Despite the poor economic framework and low income from DAI, DAI providers were strongly motivated and spent more time and efforts in delivering this service
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