# rmx-n-it-s-behav: vacanze di Natale (!)

<< Dopo un ponte dell’Immacolata lungo 10 giorni, gli onorevoli sono pronti a concedersi altri venti giorni di vacanza. In totale quasi un mese di ferie >>

http://m.huffpost.com/it/entry/8862312

<< 582 deputati su 630 in settimana bianca o in vacanza al mare >>

http://m.huffpost.com/it/entry/8738376

# behav: compassionate ants

<< Open wounds are a major health risk in animals, with species prone to injuries likely developing means to reduce these risks. >>

AA << analysed the behavioural response towards open wounds on the social and individual level in the termite group-hunting ant Megaponera analis.  During termite raids, some ants get injured by termite soldiers (biting off extremities), after the fight injured ants get carried back to the nest by nest-mates. [AA] observed treatment of the injury by nest-mates inside the nest through intense allogrooming at the wound. Lack of treatment increased mortality from 10% to 80% within 24 h, most likely due to infections. >>

Erik T. Frank, Marten Wehrhahn, K. Eduard Linsenmair. Wound treatment and selective help in a termite- hunting ant. Proc Royal Soc B - Biol Sci. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2017.2457. Feb 14,  2018.

http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/285/1872/20172457

Mike Jeffries. These ants have evolved a complex system of battlefield triage and rescue. The Conversation. Apr 17, 2018.

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-04-ants-evolved-complex-battlefield-triage.html

# rmx-s-gst-behav: biting, policing and dueling in H. saltator

<< The  researchers  identified  three  behaviors  related  to  establishing  a  hierarchy  in H.  saltator [Indian jumping ant  "Harpegnathos saltator"] : biting,  in  which  one  ant  bites  another’s  head,  has  a  clear  winner  and  loser,  with  the  winner establishing  dominance;  policing,  in  which  subordinate  workers  restrain  challengers  to  a dominant  individual;  and  dueling,  in  which  two  individuals  engage  in  a  martial  display  with  their antennae,  but  which  has  no  clear  loser. >>

<< The  researchers  created  a  computer  model  that  allowed  them  to manipulate  all  three  behaviors  in  order  to  see  how  the  behaviors  affected  the  social  structure  of a  colony. When  biting  was  present,  but  policing  and  dueling  were  absent,  the  model  resulted  in  a  linear hierarchy.  When  biting  and  strong  policing  were  present,  the  model  resulted  in  a  despotic hierarchy  with  a  single  dominant  individual.  It  was  only  when  biting,  policing  and  winner-winner dueling  were  all  present  that  the  model  resulted  in  a  shared  dominance  hierarchy.>>

<< shared  dominance  hierarchies  can  be found  in  animal  societies  from  lions  to  dolphins. (..) Higher  cognition  certainly  plays  a role  in  shaping  the  societies  of  many  vertebrates,  but  we  think  the  presence  or  absence  of winner-winner  behaviors  may  be  an  important  factor  in  determining  the  nature  of  dominance hierarchies  for  a  wide  variety  of  species >>

'Winner-winner' behavior may shape animal hierarchies, study argues. April 14, 2016

https://news.ncsu.edu/2016/04/penick-win-2016/

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160414145221.htm

Takao  Sasaki, Clint  A.  Penick, et al. A Simple  Behavioral  Model  Predicts  the Emergence  of  Complex  Animal  Hierarchies. The  American  Naturalist, 2016; DOI: 10.1086/686259

http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/686259

F.on.T:  un paper a risvolto poetico, questo ... sono 'aSSi, non e' vero?

# s-phyto-behav: Pea (Pisum sativum), a gambler plant

<< pea plants can demonstrate sensitivity to risk - namely, that they can make adaptive choices that take into account environmental variance, an ability previously unknown outside the animal kingdom >>

<< Alex Kacelnik (..) said: "To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of an adaptive response to risk in an organism without a nervous system. We do not conclude that plants are intelligent in the sense used for humans or other animals, but rather that complex and interesting behaviours can theoretically be predicted as biological adaptations - and executed by organisms - on the basis of processes evolved to exploit natural opportunities efficiently >>

Pea  plants  demonstrate  ability  to  'gamble'—a  first in  plants. June  30,  2016

http://m.phys.org/news/2016-06-pea-ability-gamblea.html

Efrat Dener, Alex Kacelnik, Hagai Shemesh. Pea Plants Show Risk Sensitivity. In Press. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2016.05.008

http://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(16)30459-6

# behav: 'run and tumble' behavior (among bacteria)

<< Bacteria in groundwater move in surprising ways. They can passively ride flowing groundwater, or they can actively move on their own in what scientists call "run and tumble" behavior.  >>

AA << noted a distinct run (movement in one direction) followed by a tumble (a sudden, random change in direction). By calculating the length and timing of these movements, they could develop a simple Continuous Time Random Walk (CTRW) model to predict how the bacteria would move. When compared to current models for bacterial remediation, the CTRW model was better at predicting bacterial transport in many circumstances. The CTRW model is the first step in developing and testing new reactive transport models that incorporate bacterial transport behavior.  >>

Rishi Parashar. Calculating 'run and tumble' behavior of bacteria in groundwater. Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory. Oct 31, 2019. 

https://m.phys.org/news/2019-10-behavior-bacteria-groundwater.html  

Xueke Yang, Rishi Parashar, et al. On Modeling Ensemble Transport of Metal Reducing Motile Bacteria. Scientific Reports volume 9, Article number: 14638. Oct 10, 2019. 

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-51271-0

# behav: scratch, also to socialize

<< Primates (including humans) scratch when stressed >>

<< scratching could potentially have social function >>

Jamie Whitehouse, Jerome Micheletta, Bridget M. Waller. Stress behaviours buffer macaques from aggression. SciRep  2017; 7(11083) doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-10754-8 Sept 11, 2017

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-10754-8

# s-behav: individuality among Amazon mollies

<< Genetically identical Amazon mollies raised individually and under identical environmental conditions, nevertheless develop different personality types. Additionally, increasing the opportunity for social interactions early in life appears to have no influence of the magnitude of personality variation. >>

AA << team used the Amazon molly, a livebearing Poecilid species. These animals are natural clones, meaning all the offspring of one mother have exactly the same genetic material. >>

Same genes, same environment, different personality: Is  individuality unavoidable? May  17,  2017

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/05/170517132941.htm

David Bierbach, Kate  L.  Laskowski, Max  Wolf. Behavioural  individuality  in  clonal  fish arises  despite  near-identical  rearing conditions. Nature Comm. 8, Article  number:  15361  (2017)  doi :10.1038/ncomms15361 Publ. 17  May  2017

https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms15361

# behav: chaotic (jazz) music generated by songbirds during non-mating seasons for opioid reward

<< when songbirds sing during non-mating seasons, it's because singing releases an opioid naturally produced in their brain —that's right, a compound with the same biological makeup of the highly addictive painkillers. >> 

<< Animals—including birds, including humans—we produce our own endogenous opioids, and they reward behaviors naturally, like sexual behavior or feeding behavior, (..) Studies show that endogenous opioids also make play rewarding. Songbirds learn their songs, and must practice. When we listened to birds practicing in flocks, it almost sounded as if they were playing around with the notes. Darwin even suggested that birds in flocks may be singing for 'their own amusement.' So, we thought if singing is a playful behavior, it should involve opioids. >> Lauren Riters. 

<< in starlings, endogenous opioid-prompted song is evolutionarily advantageous, because singing in flocks allows them an opportunity to practice their song to prepare for the mating season. It might not be the most beautiful to listen to—Riters likened their chaotic song to freeform jazz—but that's okay. To them, it's just a warm-up for when they start looking for a mate. >> 

Songbirds sing, like humans flock, for opioid reward. University of Wisconsin-Madison. Oct 02, 2020. 

https://phys.org/news/2020-10-songbirds-humans-flock-opioid-reward.html

Stevenson, S.A., Piepenburg, A., et al. Endogenous opioids facilitate intrinsically-rewarded birdsong. Sci Rep 10, 11083. doi: 10.1038/ s41598-020-67684-1. Jul 6, 2020.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-67684-1

# rmx-s-behav: a bizarre paddle game (about safety waves ...)

<< Males of a newly discovered species of jumping spider [Jotus remus] spend hours waving special paddle-shaped legs at prospective mates, in an effort to copulate without being attacked – or even eaten.

Mating can potentially cost you your life if you are a male spider. To avoid becoming lunch, Jotus remus plays a game first to tire out hungry females >>

https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn28756-male-spiders-lure-aggressive-females-with-peek-a-boo-paddle-game/

Jürgen  C.  Otto, David  E.  Hill. Males  of  a  new  species  of  Jotus  from  Australia  wave  a  paddle-shaped lure  to  solicit  nearby  females  (Araneae:  Salticidae:  Euophryini). PECKHAMIA 133.1, 7 January 2016,  1―39 urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:12A6DBBE-11EC-4DEB-9387-83F1AD727E6F    (registered  6  JAN  2016) 1 ISSN  2161―8526 (print) ISSN  1944―8120 (online)

http://peckhamia.com/peckhamia/PECKHAMIA_133.1.pdf

# behav: to change moral decisions (between 'guilt aversion’ and 'inequity aversion) depending on the context.

AA << find markedly different neural substrates for the strategies of "guilt aversion’ and 'inequity aversion", even under conditions where the two strategies produce the same choices.  >>

AA << also identify a new strategy, 'moral opportunism', in which participants adaptively switch between guilt and inequity aversion, with a corresponding switch observed in their neural activation patterns. These findings provide a valuable view into understanding how different individuals may utilize different moral principles. >>

Jeroen M. van Baar, Luke J. Chang,  Alan G. Sanfey. The computational and neural substrates of moral strategies in social decision-making.  Nature Communications. volume 10, Article number: 1483 (2019)

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-09161-6

How do we make moral decisions?
New study shows how your moral behavior may change depending on the context. Dartmouth College. Apr 18, 2019.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-04/dc-hdw041819.php

# e-behav: smart obsessions ...

<< On the crowded morning metro in Helsinki, silence prevails >>

<<  A loud "yeah!" breaks the quiet, along with delighted screech from a toddler whose mother has just handed him her smartphone to calm him down with a video >>

Anne Kauranen. Smartphone-obsessed Finns rank tops in screen time. Dec. 27, 2016.

http://m.phys.org/news/2016-12-smartphone-obsessed-finns-tops-screen.html

<< tefficient’s  14th  public  analysis  on  the  development and  drivers  of  mobile  data  usage >>

http://tefficient.com/unlimited-pushes-data-usage-to-new-heights/

doc:   http://media.tefficient.com/2016/12/tefficient-industry-analysis-5-2016-mobile-data-usage-and-pricing-1H-2016-1.pdf

# s-psych-behav: institutions (lobbies, clan, etc) vs individuals, by Noam Chomsky

<<  It’s very important for institutions of concentrated power to keep people alone and isolated: that way they’re ineffective, they can’t defend themselves against indoctrination, they can’t even figure out what they think. >>

Noam Chomsky, Nov 12th, 2015

http://noam-chomsky.tumblr.com/post/133060133977/its-very-important-for-institutions-of

intrigante quaestio ... mi ricorda qualcosa, qualcosa di peggio perfino, eheheh ...

# behav: backward walking, navigational uncertainties (among Cataglyphis velox)

<< Current opinion in insect navigation assumes that animals need to align with the goal direction to recognise familiar views and approach it. Yet, ants sometimes drag heavy food items backward to the nest and it is still unclear to what extent they rely on visual memories while doing so. >>

<< ants do indeed recognise and use the learnt visual scenery to guide their path while walking backward. In addition, the results show that backward homing ants estimate their directional certainty by combining visual familiarity with other cues such as their path integrator and the time spent backward. >>

Sebastian Schwarz, Leo Clement, et al.  How do backward walking ants (Cataglyphis velox) cope with navigational uncertainty? doi: 10.1101/2019.12.16.877704. Dec 17, 2019.

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2019.12.16.877704v1

# behav: familiarity vs. aggression (among the fish Poecilia formosa)

<< Contrary to our predictions, fish that were the most familiar with each other showed the highest levels of aggression. Additionally, fish that were less familiar with each other exhibited the highest group cohesion and took the longest to begin feeding, compared to the more familiar fish. >>

Carolina Doran, David Bierbach, Kate L. Laskowski.  Familiarity increases aggressiveness among clonal fish. Animal Behaviour. Volume 148, February 2019, Pages 153-159. doi: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2018.12.013

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003347218303725?via%3Dihub

Fish with a high level of familiarity are more aggressive towards each other. Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V. (FVB). Feb 19, 2019

https://m.phys.org/news/2019-02-fish-high-familiarity-aggressive.html

# behav: persistent neuronal firing during flight in flies, like a pulsating gambler who has to decide quickly

<< A general principle of sensory systems is that they adapt to prolonged stimulation by reducing their response over time. >>

<< as opposed to most sensory and visual neurons, and in particular to the motion vision sensitive neurons in the brains of both flies and mammals, the descending neurons show little adaption during stimulus motion. (..) the optic-flow-sensitive descending neurons display persistent firing, or an after-effect, following the cessation of visual stimulation, consistent with the lingering calcium signal hypothesis. >>

AA results << show a combination of adaptation and persistent firing in the neurons that project to the thoracic ganglia and thereby control behavioral output. >>

Sarah Nicholas, Karin Nordstrom. Persistent Firing and Adaptation in Optic-Flow-Sensitive Descending Neurons. Curr Biol. doi: 10.1016/ j.cub.2020.05.019. May 28, 2020.

https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(20)30658-8

Revealing how flies make decisions on the fly to survive. Flinders University. May 28, 2020

https://phys.org/news/2020-05-revealing-flies-decisions-survive.html

Also

the flexible mental maps of flies. FonT. Nov 21, 2019. 

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/2019/11/brain-flexible-mental-maps-of-flies.html

<< Considerando invece l' immagine classica della "mosca nella bottiglia", >>  in: 2066 - voli a casaccio. Notes. (quasi-stochastic poetry). Oct 01, 2006.

https://inkpi.blogspot.com/2006/10/2066-voli-casaccio.html

# s-behav: mafia-style among Cuckoos (the brown-headed cowbird Molothrus ater)

<< Why do many hosts accept costly avian brood parasitism even when parasitic eggs and nestlings differ dramatically in appearance from their own? Scientists argue that evolutionary lag or equilibrium can explain this evolutionary enigma. Few, however, consider the potential of parasitic birds to enforce acceptance by destroying eggs or nestlings of hosts that eject parasitic eggs and thereby reject parasitism.  This retaliatory “mafia” behavior has been reported in one species of parasitic cuckoo but never in parasitic cowbirds. >>

AA << present experimental evidence of mafia behavior in the brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater ) >>

Jeffrey P. Hoover, Scott K. Robinson. Retaliatory mafia behavior by a parasitic cowbird favors host acceptance of parasitic eggs. PNAS 2007 vol. 104 no. 11: 4479–4483  doi: 10.1073/pnas.0609710104

http://m.pnas.org/content/104/11/4479

Andy Coghlan. Cuckoos use mafia-style tactics to raise young.  March 5, 2007

https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn11314-cuckoos-use-mafia-style-tactics-to-raise-young/

Brown-headed cowbird

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown-headed_cowbird

# s-behav: sophisticated communication

<< Flirting is a full-scale production for torrent frogs >>

https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/science-ticker/torrent-frog-flirting-complicated

Fábio P. de Sá, Juliana Zina, Célio F. B. Haddad. Sophisticated Communication in the Brazilian Torrent Frog Hylodes japi. PLoS ONE 11(1): e0145444. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0145444

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0145444

# n-behav: sometimes, mess is better

<< Sometimes, mess is better than order and precision >>

<< By breaking the rigidity of rules, we expose ourselves to unexpected twists and turns which push us to come up with creative, innovative and improvised ideas and answers >> Tim Harford

Pooja  Singh. The  magic  in  mess.  In this  volatile business world, can a  little messiness help spur creativity? Sun,  Jan  22  2017.  04  15  PM

http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/qo2FKT6SQzkl5onbbtqEML/The-magic-in-mess.html

# behav: a form of modified oxytocin (a molecule of love), with less adverse effects

<< Oxytocin is clinically used to induce labor, and there is interest in using this peptide to treat social disorders. However, oxytocin triggers adverse cardiovascular side effects  >>

AA << generated ligands based on oxytocin with subtle modifications >>

this new molecular form << reduced social fear in mice and induced contractile activity in human myometrial strips without affecting cultured cardiomyocytes >>

Markus Muttenthaler, Asa Andersson, et al.  Subtle modifications to oxytocin produce ligands that retain potency and improved selectivity across species. Sci. Signal.  2017; 10 (508): eaan3398. 10.1126/scisignal.aan3398. Dec 05, 2017.

http://stke.sciencemag.org/content/10/508/eaan3398

Scientists create molecule of love with less complications. Dec 12, 2017.

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-12-scientists-molecule-complications.html

# life: the fate of humans and insects intertwine

<< The fate of humans and insects intertwine, especially through the medium of plants. >>

Michael J.Samways, Philip S.Barton, et al. Solutions for humanity on how to conserve insects. Biological Conservation. Volume 242, 108427,  Review. Feb 9, 2020.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320719317793

Damian Carrington. Fates of humans and insects intertwined, warn scientists. Experts call for solutions to be enforced immediately to halt global population collapses. Feb 20, 2020.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/feb/20/fates-humans-insects-intertwined-scientists-population-collapse

Also

the beetle Carabaeus lamarcki, dancer and sky analyzer.  May 14, 2016.

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/2016/05/s-behav-beetle-carabaeus-lamarcki.html