scholarly journals The Effects of Dairy Heifer Age at Training on Rate of Learning and Retention of Learning in a Virtual Fencing Feed Attractant Trial

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Verdon ◽  
Richard Rawnsley
Keyword(s):  
Best Practice ◽  
Extended Period ◽  
Electrical Stimulus ◽  
Dairy Heifers ◽  
Audio Cues ◽  
Rate Of Learning ◽  
Audio Stimulus ◽  
Electrical Stimuli ◽  
Previous Training ◽  
Effect Of Age

A better understanding of factors that influence learning of cattle with respect to new virtual fencing technology is required to inform the development of best practice training protocols and guide the introduction of the technology to naïve dairy cattle. This experiment examined the effect of age on (1) the efficiency of associative pairing of audio and electrical stimuli in dairy heifers and (2) the retention of this associative pairing over a long period of time without use. Fifty-nine Holstein dairy heifers were used in feed attractant trials where audio cues and electrical stimuli were delivered through manually controlled training collars. Heifers were allocated to four treatments that differed in the age at which naïve animals underwent training; these were 6-months (“6M”; n = 15), 9-months (“9M”; n = 15), 12-months (“12M”; n = 15), or 22-months of age (“22M”; n = 14). Animals in the 6, 9, and 12M treatments underwent a second round of training at 22-months of age (i.e., at the same time as naïve 22M heifers). Heifers received an audio stimulus (2 s; 84 dB) when they breached a virtual fence after which a short electrical stimulus (0.5 s; 3 V, 120 mW) was administered if they continued to move forward. If the animal stopped moving forward no further stimuli were applied. There were no effects of age treatment on the total number of interactions with the virtual fence (P > 0.05). During initial training, 22M heifers received a lower proportion of electrical stimuli (i.e., responded to audio without requiring the electrical stimulus; P < 0.001) and more frequently stopped walking (P = 0.01) and turned back (P = 0.008) following administration of the audio cue compared to younger heifers. Previous training at an early age did not improve the responsiveness of heifers to virtual fencing when re-trained at 22-months of age (P > 0.05). We conclude that dairy heifers should be trained to virtual fencing technology close to calving age rather than earlier in their ontogeny and that stock be re-trained following an extended period without virtual fencing technology.

scholarly journals Pre-Exposure to an Electrical Stimulus Primes Associative Pairing of Audio and Electrical Stimuli for Dairy Heifers in a Virtual Fencing Feed Attractant Trial

Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Verdon ◽  
Caroline Lee ◽  
Danila Marini ◽  
Richard Rawnsley
Keyword(s):  
Training Session ◽  
Electrical Stimulus ◽  
Lower Proportion ◽  
Dairy Heifers ◽  
The Third ◽  
Electric Fence ◽  
Electric Fencing ◽  
Audio Stimulus ◽  
Electrical Stimuli ◽  
Strip Grazing

This experiment examined whether pre-exposure to an electrical stimulus from electric fencing attenuates associative pairing of audio and electrical stimuli in dairy heifers. Two treatments were applied to 30 weaned heifers naive to electric fencing. Heifers in the ‘electric-fence’ treatment were exposed to an electrified perimeter fence and two periods of strip-grazing using electrified poly-wire. Control heifers remained naïve to electric fencing. The pairing of audio and electrical stimuli was assessed in a feed attractant trial using manually controlled training collars. Heifers received an audio stimulus (2 s; 84 dB) when they breached a virtual fence after which a short electrical stimulus (0.5 s; 120 mW) was administered if they continued to move forward. If the animal stopped moving forward no further stimuli were applied. By the third training session, electric-fence heifers received a lower proportion of electrical stimuli than control heifers (p = 0.03). The more exploratory interactions a heifer had with the electric fence, the lower the proportion of electrical stimuli she received during training (rs = −0.77, p = 0.002). We conclude that experience with electrical fencing enhanced the salience of the electrical stimulus delivered by manual collars used for virtual fence training.

scholarly journals Temporary Exclusion of Cattle from a Riparian Zone Using Virtual Fencing Technology

Animals ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana Campbell ◽  
Sally Haynes ◽  
Jim Lea ◽  
William Farrer ◽  
Caroline Lee
Keyword(s):  
Individual Variation ◽  
Riparian Zone ◽  
Electrical Stimulus ◽  
Grazing Management ◽  
Riparian Zones ◽  
Free Access ◽  
Audio Cues ◽  
Grazing Cattle ◽  
Electrical Stimuli ◽  
Inclusion Zone

Grazing cattle can both negatively and positively impact riparian zones, dependent on controlled grazing management. Virtual fencing technology, using collar devices that operate via GPS can provide audio cues and electrical stimuli to temporarily exclude cattle from specified areas as desired. An early experimental prototype automated virtual fencing system was tested in excluding ten cattle from a riparian zone in Australia. Animals were given free access to an 11.33-hectare area for three weeks, excluded from river access by a virtual fence for ten days (2.86-hectare inclusion zone), followed by free access again for six days. Animals were almost exclusively contained by the virtual fence. All animals received audio cues and electrical stimuli with daily fence interactions, but there was high individual variation with some animals first approaching the fence more often than others. Overall, there was an approximately 25% probability that animals would receive an electrical stimulus following an audio cue. Individual associative learning may have been socially-facilitated by the group’s behaviour. Following fence deactivation, all animals re-entered the previously excluded area. Further research with more groups and longer periods of exclusion using updated collar devices would determine the scope of virtual fencing technology for cattle grazing control.

Motor Skill Acquisition in Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder

1994 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 214-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheryl Missiuna
Keyword(s):  
Motor Skills ◽  
Skill Acquisition ◽  
Motor Skill ◽  
Developmental Coordination Disorder ◽  
Matched Control ◽  
Motor Skill Acquisition ◽  
Rate Of Learning ◽  
Stages Of Learning ◽  
Coordination Disorder ◽  
Effect Of Age

Children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) demonstrate coordination difficulties during the learning of novel motor skills; no previous studies, however, have investigated their ability to learn and then generalize a new movement. This study compared 24 young children with DCD with 24 age-matched control children (AMC) during the early stages of learning a simple aiming task. Children with DCD were found to perform more poorly than their peers on measures of acquired motor skill, and to react and move more slowly at every level of task performance. The effect of age and its relationship to practice of the task was also different within each group. The groups did not differ, however, in their rate of learning, or in the extent to which they were able to generalize the learned movement. Children with DCD sacrificed more speed than the AMC group when aiming at a small target, but the effects of amplitude and directional changes were quite similar for each group. The implications of these findings are discussed.

The size of dairy heifers

1960 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Hodges ◽  
L. K. O'Connor ◽  
W. M. Clark
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Field Data ◽  
Field Investigation ◽  
Covariance Analysis ◽  
Linear Effect ◽  
Dairy Heifers ◽  
The North ◽  
Chest Girth ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Effect Of Age

1. A field investigation to estimate the mean weight and chest girth of unserved Friesian, Ayrshire and Dairy Shorthorn heifers of between 3 and 24 months of age was carried out.2. Data from 1,620 Friesians, 725 Ayrshires and 455 Dairy Shorthorns in the North of England were obtained, with a mobile weighbridge and a. spring-loaded steel tape in the winter 1958–59.3. It was found that on average the Friesians were heavier and had a greater chest girth than the Ayrshires and Dairy Shorthorns, which did not differ significantly.4. These heifers were apparently reared on planes of nutrition which, judged by conventional feeding standards, may be described as ‘low’.5. After eliminating the linear effect of age by covariance analysis, highly significant differences between herds and between sires in weight and chest girth were found.6. The investigation demonstrated the feasibility and value of collecting field data on body size.

Nociceptive Temporalis Inhibitory Reflexes Evoked by Co2-Laser Stimulation in Tension-Type Headache

Cephalalgia ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 361-366 ◽  
Author(s):  
M de Tommaso ◽  
M Guido ◽  
G Libro ◽  
L Losito ◽  
V Sciruicchio ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Co2 Laser ◽  
Electrical Stimulus ◽  
Tension Type Headache ◽  
Nociceptive Response ◽  
Temporalis Muscle ◽  
Laser Stimulation ◽  
Type Headache ◽  
Tension Type Headaches ◽  
Electrical Stimuli ◽  
Second Period

The aim of the study was to evaluate the laser-induced suppression periods of the temporalis muscle in patients with tension-type headache, compared with the pattern of temporalis activity suppression induced by electrical stimulation. Fifteen patients with chronic and 10 with episodic tension-type headaches were selected. Suppression periods were recorded simultaneously from both temporalis muscles using both electrical stimuli and CO2-laser stimuli. A significant reduction in the later electrically induced suppression period was found in both tension-type headache groups. Laser stimulation induced a first suppression period (LSP1) with a latency of about 50 ms in all patients. The features of LSP1 were similar across groups. The LSP1 should correspond to the first suppression period induced by electrical stimulus, which is partly a nociceptive response, whereas the second period seemed negligibly linked with the activation of pain-related afferents, though probably their activation may contribute to increase the reflex duration and to emphasize abnormalities in tension-type headache.

scholarly journals Probing and predicting ganglion cell responses to smooth electrical stimulation in healthy and blind mouse retina

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larissa Höfling ◽  
Philipp Berens ◽  
Günther Zeck
Keyword(s):  
Microelectrode Array ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Gaussian White Noise ◽  
Electrical Stimulus ◽  
Mouse Retina ◽  
Linear Filters ◽  
Large Space ◽  
Retinal Pathways ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Electrical Stimuli

ABSTRACTRetinal implants are used to replace lost photoreceptors in blind patients suffering from retinopathies such as retinitis pigmentosa. Patients wearing implants regain some rudimentary visual function. However, it is severely limited compared to normal vision because non-physiological stimulation strategies fail to selectively activate different retinal pathways at sufficient spatial and temporal resolution. The development of improved stimulation strategies is rendered difficult by the large space of potential stimuli. Here we systematically explore a subspace of potential stimuli by electrically stimulating healthy and blind mouse retina in epiretinal configuration using smooth Gaussian white noise delivered by a high-density CMOS-based microelectrode array. We identify linear filters of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) by fitting a linear-nonlinear-Poisson (LNP) model. Our stimulus evokes fast, reliable, and spatially confined spiking responses in RGC which are accurately predicted by the LNP model. Furthermore, we find diverse shapes of linear filters in the linear stage of the model, suggesting diverse preferred electrical stimuli of RGCs. Our smooth electrical stimulus could provide a starting point of a model-guided search for improved stimuli for retinal prosthetics.

scholarly journals The Nerve Net of the Actinozoa

1935 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. F. A. PANTIN
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Stimulus ◽  
Electrical Stimulus ◽  
Conducting Layer ◽  
Electrical Excitation ◽  
Sense Organs ◽  
Nerve Net ◽  
Duration Relationship ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Electrical Stimuli ◽  
Stimulation Of

1. Certain features have been supposed to characterise the nerve net. Response is said to vary with the strength of stimulus: and while conduction may occasionally take place in an all or nothing manner, yet in general conduction is supposed to take place with a decrement. To investigate these points, the responses of Calliactis parasitica to mechanical and electrical stimuli have been investigated. 2. Electrical excitation of the column of the anemone shows that a response results from a succession of stimuli and not from a single stimulus. The character of the response is independent of the strength of the individual stimuli. It depends solely upon the number of stimuli and upon the interval of time between them. All responses are highly developed facilitation phenomena. Each electrical stimulus induces a single excitation impulse in the nerve net. 3. But a mechanical stimulus is followed by the discharge of a battery of impulses from the sense organs. These increase in number and frequency with the intensity of the mechanical stimulus. A response may therefore vary with the strength of a mechanical stimulus, but only in relation to the number and frequency of impulses discharged by the sense-organs. 4. Stimulation of the intact column of the anemone shows complete conduction over its whole nerve net. Mechanical stimulation of the disc appears to show conduction with a decrement. Such a stimulus excites a battery of impulses. Each impulse is conducted without decrement, but it facilitates the entrance of succeeding impulses into adjoining sections of the disc nerve net. There is no decrement of excitation strength under any conditions in the nerve net. But there may be a numerical decrement as a battery of impulses spreads from a stimulus. 5. The nerve net is physiologically similar to ordinary nerve. A method is described for determining the strength duration relationship for the threshold of electrical excitation of the nerve net. The relation is of the usual form with a chronaxie of about 2-4σ. The nerve net has well-defined relative and absolute refractory periods: the latter is about 40-65σ. The relation of facilitation to refractory period is considered. 6. The whole nerve net of the column of the anemone acts as a conducting layer in its most simple form, directly transmitting excitation from the stimulus to the muscle. Facilitation takes place between the nerve net and its appropriate muscles. Conduction in the disc nerve net involves facilitation between parts of the nerve net in addition. 7. The true characteristics of the nerve net are diffuse conduction and the extreme development of facilitation. Diffuse conduction may be total, as in the column, or restricted, as in the disc of Calliactis. Facilitation may be between the nerve net and the muscles, or between parts of the nerve net.

scholarly journals The Effect of Virtual Fencing Stimuli on Stress Responses and Behavior in Sheep

Animals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tellisa Kearton ◽  
Danila Marini ◽  
Frances Cowley ◽  
Susan Belson ◽  
Caroline Lee
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Electrical Stimulus ◽  
The Other ◽  
Cortisol Response ◽  
Treatment Control ◽  
Welfare Impact ◽  
Electrical Stimuli ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Vaginal Temperature

To understand the animal welfare impact of virtual fencing stimuli (audio cue ‘beep’ and electrical stimulus) on naïve sheep, it is necessary to assess stress responses during the animal’s first encounters with these stimuli. Eighty Merino ewes were exposed to one of the following treatments (n = 16 animals per treatment): Control (no stimuli), beep, dog bark, manual restraint, and electrical stimulus. Collars were used to apply the audio and electrical stimuli. The restraint treatment showed an elevated cortisol response compared with the control (p < 0.05), but there were no differences between the other treatments and the control. There were no differences between treatments in vaginal temperature (p > 0.05). For behaviors, the sheep receiving the bark and beep treatments were more vigilant compared to the control (p < 0.05), there were more aversive responses observed in the electrical stimulus treatment compared to the control. Together, the responses showed that the beep stimuli were largely benign, the bark stimuli was minimally aversive, the electrical stimuli was acutely aversive, and the restraint was moderately aversive. These data suggest that, for sheep, their first exposure to the virtual fencing stimuli should be perceived as less aversive than a commonly used restraint procedure.

scholarly journals The Influence of Predictability and Controllability on Stress Responses to the Aversive Component of a Virtual Fence

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tellisa Kearton ◽  
Danila Marini ◽  
Frances Cowley ◽  
Sue Belson ◽  
Hamideh Keshavarzi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Temperature ◽  
Classical Conditioning ◽  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Temperature Response ◽  
Electrical Stimulus ◽  
Control Treatment ◽  
Treatment Groups ◽  
Audio Stimulus ◽  
Minimal Stress

To ensure animal welfare is not compromised, virtual fencing must be predictable and controllable, and this is achieved through associative learning. To assess the influence of predictability and controllability on physiological and behavioral responses to the aversive component of a virtual fence, two methods of training animals were compared. In the first method, positive punishment training involved sheep learning that after an audio stimulus, an electrical stimulus would follow only when they did not respond by stopping or turning at the virtual fence (predictable controllability). In the second method, classical conditioning was used to associate an audio stimulus with an electrical stimulus on all occasions (predictable uncontrollability). Eighty Merino ewes received one of the following treatments: control (no training and no stimuli in testing); positive punishment training with an audio stimulus in testing (PP); classical conditioning training with only an audio stimulus in testing (CC1); and classical conditioning training with an audio stimulus followed by electrical stimulus in testing (CC2). The stimuli were applied manually with an electronic collar. Training occurred on 4 consecutive days with one session per sheep per day. Sheep were then assessed for stress responses to the cues by measuring plasma cortisol, body temperature and behaviors. Predictable controllability (PP) sheep showed no differences in behavioral and physiological responses compared with the control treatment (P &lt; 0.05). Predictable uncontrollability of receiving the aversive stimulus (CC2) induced a higher cortisol and body temperature response compared to the control but was not different to CC1 and PP treatments. CC2 treatment sheep showed a higher number of turning behaviors (P &lt; 0.001), and more time spent running (P &lt; 0.001) than the control and PP treatment groups, indicating that predictability without controllability was stressful. The behavior results also indicate that predicting the event without receiving it (CC1) was less stressful than predicting the event then receiving it (CC2), suggesting that there is a cost to confirmation of uncontrollability. These results demonstrate that a situation of predictability and controllability such as experienced when an animal successfully learns to avoid the aversive component of a virtual fence, induces a comparatively minimal stress response and does not compromise animal welfare.

The effect of herd mentality on dairy heifers conditioned to traffic through audio cues

2017 ◽  
Vol 57 (7) ◽  
pp. 1569
Author(s):  
W. T. Russell ◽  
K. L. Kerrisk ◽  
M. A. Whitty
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Field Trial ◽  
Response Rate ◽  
Dairy Heifers ◽  
Audio Cues ◽  
Data Collection Period ◽  
Feeding Area ◽  
Collection Period ◽  
Present Trial ◽  
To Receive

The objective for the present trial was to understand whether dairy heifers could be trained to respond to an audio cue paired with a feed reward. The use of acoustic conditioning to induce cattle movement has not previously been tested with animal-mounted devices to call cattle both individually and as a group. Five heifers underwent testing for 6 days as part of an 18-day field trial (12 days of conditioning). The 6-day testing and data-collection period involved the heifers being called via a smartphone device mounted on the cheek strap of a halter. Heifers were called either as individuals or as a group. When the audio cue was sent, heifers were expected to traffic from a group-holding area to a feeding area (~80-m distance) to receive an allocation of a grain-based concentrate. Heifers were significantly (P = 0.001) more likely to approach the feeding area when called as a group (91% response rate) than when they were called as individuals (67% response rate). When heifers did respond to being called, their time to traffic to the feed area was quicker (P < 0.001) when they were called as a group (77.9 ± 55.4 s) than when they were called as individuals (139.3 ± 89.2 s). The present trial has shown that animals can be trained to respond to an audio cue paired to a feed reward, highlighting the potential for acoustic conditioning to improve voluntary cow movement with an animal-mounted device. It also highlights the limitations of cattle responding to being called individually compared with being called as a group.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document