Align-ju SCIENCE SHORTS
Assessing the ability of humans to interpret the emotional state of horses
USER-ALT Moritz Braun and others , Saarland University , Saarbrücken , Germany
Effective communication and bonding between members of different species requires both sides to have some appreciation of the other ' s emotional state and behaviour . This is particularly important in the relationship between humans and horses because of the risk of injuries if key signals are ignored or misunderstood . The authors examined the ability of people with and without experience of dealing with horses to interpret the body language of horses in a series of photographs . Their findings show that those people with substantial experience of working with horses were much better at interpreting the animal ' s affective state . However , even those individuals who were reasonably skilled at recognising the clues in these photographs were correct only around 50 % of the time .
Applied Animal Behaviour Science https :// doi . org / 10.1016 / j . applanim . 2024.106171
Accuracy of a wearable health monitor in measuring energy intake and activity in dogs
USER-ALT Maya Sekhar and others , Ohio State University , Columbus , USA
Activity tracking devices , or accelerometers , have become increasingly popular among people wanting to measure their energy expenditure for fitness or weightcontrol purposes . Several commercial devices are now available for pet owners wanting to monitor the activity of their dogs . The authors report a study evaluating one such device ( FitBark 2 , FitBark Inc .) in 23 healthy clientowned dogs over a 28-day period . On the basis of the accelerometer readings , they measured the predicted daily energy requirement ( pDER ) and the observed daily energy requirement ( oDER ) in these dogs . Their results suggest that the activity monitors consistently reported inaccurate pDERs compared with oDERs , and that these inaccuracies meant the devices would be of limited value in both a clinical and a research setting .
American Journal of Veterinary Research https :// doi . org / 10.2460 / ajvr . 23.10.0242
Evaluation of a point-of-care test for the diagnosis of septic effusions in dogs and cats
USER-ALT Noël Vezzi and others , University of Georgia , Athens , USA
Sepsis is a life-threatening condition in which multiorgan dysfunction can result from an abnormal host response to infection . Survival is dependent on the rapid administration of antibacterial agents , but accurate diagnosis may be difficult due to the range of clinical presentations . Often , a diagnosis can be made by bacterial culture of septic effusions in the thorax or abdomen , but this can take up to 3 days . The authors describe a study assessing the clinical use of a rapid point-of-care test using bioluminescence that can provide results within about 30 minutes . Used on 21 samples from septic patients , the technology appears to be a viable screening tool for the analysis of septic cavity effusions , and could be used in conjunction with other methods to support rapid diagnosis of infection .
Journal of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care https :// doi . org / 10.1111 / vec . 13372
Volume 39 ( 3 ) • June 2024
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