The effects of family, culture and sex on linguistic development across 20 languages.

Languages vary in their complexity; caregivers vary in the way they structure their communicative interactions with children; and boys and girls can differ in their language skills. Using a multilevel modelling approach, we explored how these factors influence the path of language acquisition for young children growing up around the world (mean age 2-years 9-months; 56 girls). Across 43 different sites, we analysed 103 mother-child pairs who spoke 3,170,633 utterances, 16,209,659 morphemes, divided across 20 different languages: Afrikaans, Catalan, Cantonese, Danish, Dutch, English, Farsi, French, German, Hebrew, Icelandic, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish. Using mean length of utterance (MLU) as a measure of language complexity and developmental skill, we found that variation in children's MLU was significantly explained by (a) between-language differences; namely the rate of child MLU growth was attuned to the complexity of their mother tongue, and (b) between-mother differences; namely mothers who used higher MLUs tended to have children with higher MLUs, regardless of which language they were learning and especially in the very young (<2.5 years-old). Controlling for family and language environment, we found no evidence of MLU sex differences in child speech nor in the speech addressed to boys and girls. By modelling language as a multilevel structure with cross-cultural variation, we were able to disentangle those factors that make children's pathway to language different and those that make it alike. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: The speech of 103 mother-child pairs from 20 different languages showed large variation in the path of early language development. Language, family, but not the sex of the child, accounted for a significant proportion of individual differences in child speech, especially in the very young. The rate at which children learned language was attuned to the complexity of their mother tongue, with steeper trajectories for more complex language. Results demonstrate the relative influence of culture, family, and sex in shaping the path of language acquisition for different children.

The ARRIVE guidelines 2.0: Updated guidelines for reporting animal research.

Reproducible science requires transparent reporting. The ARRIVE guidelines (Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments) were originally developed in 2010 to improve the reporting of animal research. They consist of a checklist of information to include in publications describing in vivo experiments to enable others to scrutinise the work adequately, evaluate its methodological rigour, and reproduce the methods and results. Despite considerable levels of endorsement by funders and journals over the years, adherence to the guidelines has been inconsistent, and the anticipated improvements in the quality of reporting in animal research publications have not been achieved. Here, we introduce ARRIVE 2.0. The guidelines have been updated and information reorganised to facilitate their use in practice. We used a Delphi exercise to prioritise and divide the items of the guidelines into 2 sets, the "ARRIVE Essential 10," which constitutes the minimum requirement, and the "Recommended Set," which describes the research context. This division facilitates improved reporting of animal research by supporting a stepwise approach to implementation. This helps journal editors and reviewers verify that the most important items are being reported in manuscripts. We have also developed the accompanying Explanation and Elaboration (E&E) document, which serves (1) to explain the rationale behind each item in the guidelines, (2) to clarify key concepts, and (3) to provide illustrative examples. We aim, through these changes, to help ensure that researchers, reviewers, and journal editors are better equipped to improve the rigour and transparency of the scientific process and thus reproducibility.

Reporting animal research: Explanation and elaboration for the ARRIVE guidelines 2.0.

Improving the reproducibility of biomedical research is a major challenge. Transparent and accurate reporting is vital to this process; it allows readers to assess the reliability of the findings and repeat or build upon the work of other researchers. The ARRIVE guidelines (Animal Research: Reporting In Vivo Experiments) were developed in 2010 to help authors and journals identify the minimum information necessary to report in publications describing in vivo experiments. Despite widespread endorsement by the scientific community, the impact of ARRIVE on the transparency of reporting in animal research publications has been limited. We have revised the ARRIVE guidelines to update them and facilitate their use in practice. The revised guidelines are published alongside this paper. This explanation and elaboration document was developed as part of the revision. It provides further information about each of the 21 items in ARRIVE 2.0, including the rationale and supporting evidence for their inclusion in the guidelines, elaboration of details to report, and examples of good reporting from the published literature. This document also covers advice and best practice in the design and conduct of animal studies to support researchers in improving standards from the start of the experimental design process through to publication.

The Early Humor Survey (EHS): A reliable parent-report measure of humor development for 1- to 47-month-olds.

We created a 20-item parent-report measure of humor development from 1 to 47 months: the Early Humor Survey (EHS). We developed the EHS with Study 1 (N = 219) using exploratory factor analysis, demonstrating the EHS works with 1- to 47-month-olds with excellent reliability and a strong correlation with age, showing its developmental trajectory. We replicated the EHS with Study 2 (N = 587), revealing a one-factor structure, showing excellent reliability, and replicating a strong correlation with age. Study 3 (N = 84) found the EHS correlated with a humor experiment, however it no longer correlated once age was accounted for, suggesting low convergent validity. Subsamples of parents from Studies 2 and 3 showed excellent inter-observer reliability between both parents, and good longitudinal stability after 6 months. Combining participants from all studies, we found the EHS is reliable across countries (Australia, United Kingdom, United States), parent education levels, and children's age groups. We charted expected humor development by age (in months), and the expected proportion of children who would appreciate each humor type by age (in months). Finally, we found no demographic differences (e.g., country: Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, United States; parents' education) in humor when pooling all data. The EHS is a valuable tool that will allow researchers to understand how humor: (1) emerges; and (2) affects other aspects of life, e.g., making friends, coping with stress, and creativity. The EHS is helpful for parents, early years educators, and children's media, as it systematically charts early humor development.

The Early Social Cognition Inventory (ESCI): An examination of its psychometric properties from birth to 47 months.

Social cognition refers to a broad range of cognitive processes and skills that allow individuals to interact with and understand others, including a variety of skills from infancy through preschool and beyond, e.g., joint attention, imitation, and belief understanding. However, no measures examine socio-cognitive development from birth through preschool. Current test batteries and parent-report measures focus either on infancy, or toddlerhood through preschool (and beyond). We report six studies in which we developed and tested a new 21-item parent-report measure of social cognition targeting 0-47 months: the Early Social Cognition Inventory (ESCI). Study 1 (N = 295) revealed the ESCI has excellent internal reliability, and a two-factor structure capturing social cognition and age. Study 2 (N = 605) also showed excellent internal reliability and confirmed the two-factor structure. Study 3 (N = 84) found a medium correlation between the ESCI and a researcher-administered social cognition task battery. Study 4 (N = 46) found strong 1-month test-retest reliability. Study 5 found longitudinal stability (6 months: N = 140; 12 months: N = 39), and inter-observer reliability between parents (N = 36) was good, and children's scores increased significantly over 6 and 12 months. Study 6 showed the ESCI was internally reliable within countries (Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Trinidad and Tobago); parent ethnicity; parent education; and age groups from 4-39 months. ESCI scores positively correlated with household income (UK); children with siblings had higher scores; and Australian parents reported lower scores than American, British, and Canadian parents.

The ARRIVE guidelines 2.0: updated guidelines for reporting animal research.

Reproducible science requires transparent reporting. The ARRIVE guidelines (Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments) were originally developed in 2010 to improve the reporting of animal research. They consist of a checklist of information to include in publications describing in vivo experiments to enable others to scrutinise the work adequately, evaluate its methodological rigour, and reproduce the methods and results. Despite considerable levels of endorsement by funders and journals over the years, adherence to the guidelines has been inconsistent, and the anticipated improvements in the quality of reporting in animal research publications have not been achieved. Here, we introduce ARRIVE 2.0. The guidelines have been updated and information reorganised to facilitate their use in practice. We used a Delphi exercise to prioritise and divide the items of the guidelines into 2 sets, the 'ARRIVE Essential 10,' which constitutes the minimum requirement, and the 'Recommended Set,' which describes the research context. This division facilitates improved reporting of animal research by supporting a stepwise approach to implementation. This helps journal editors and reviewers verify that the most important items are being reported in manuscripts. We have also developed the accompanying Explanation and Elaboration document, which serves (1) to explain the rationale behind each item in the guidelines, (2) to clarify key concepts, and (3) to provide illustrative examples. We aim, through these changes, to help ensure that researchers, reviewers, and journal editors are better equipped to improve the rigour and transparency of the scientific process and thus reproducibility.

The ARRIVE guidelines 2.0: Updated guidelines for reporting animal research.

Reproducible science requires transparent reporting. The ARRIVE guidelines (Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments) were originally developed in 2010 to improve the reporting of animal research. They consist of a checklist of information to include in publications describing in vivo experiments to enable others to scrutinise the work adequately, evaluate its methodological rigour, and reproduce the methods and results. Despite considerable levels of endorsement by funders and journals over the years, adherence to the guidelines has been inconsistent, and the anticipated improvements in the quality of reporting in animal research publications have not been achieved. Here, we introduce ARRIVE 2.0. The guidelines have been updated and information reorganised to facilitate their use in practice. We used a Delphi exercise to prioritise and divide the items of the guidelines into 2 sets, the "ARRIVE Essential 10," which constitutes the minimum requirement, and the "Recommended Set," which describes the research context. This division facilitates improved reporting of animal research by supporting a stepwise approach to implementation. This helps journal editors and reviewers verify that the most important items are being reported in manuscripts. We have also developed the accompanying Explanation and Elaboration document, which serves (1) to explain the rationale behind each item in the guidelines, (2) to clarify key concepts, and (3) to provide illustrative examples. We aim, through these changes, to help ensure that researchers, reviewers, and journal editors are better equipped to improve the rigour and transparency of the scientific process and thus reproducibility.

The ARRIVE guidelines 2.0: Updated guidelines for reporting animal research.

Reproducible science requires transparent reporting. The ARRIVE guidelines (Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments) were originally developed in 2010 to improve the reporting of animal research. They consist of a checklist of information to include in publications describing in vivo experiments to enable others to scrutinise the work adequately, evaluate its methodological rigour, and reproduce the methods and results. Despite considerable levels of endorsement by funders and journals over the years, adherence to the guidelines has been inconsistent, and the anticipated improvements in the quality of reporting in animal research publications have not been achieved. Here, we introduce ARRIVE 2.0. The guidelines have been updated and information reorganised to facilitate their use in practice. We used a Delphi exercise to prioritise and divide the items of the guidelines into 2 sets, the "ARRIVE Essential 10," which constitutes the minimum requirement, and the "Recommended Set," which describes the research context. This division facilitates improved reporting of animal research by supporting a stepwise approach to implementation. This helps journal editors and reviewers verify that the most important items are being reported in manuscripts. We have also developed the accompanying Explanation and Elaboration document, which serves (1) to explain the rationale behind each item in the guidelines, (2) to clarify key concepts, and (3) to provide illustrative examples. We aim, through these changes, to help ensure that researchers, reviewers, and journal editors are better equipped to improve the rigour and transparency of the scientific process and thus reproducibility.

Experimentally manipulating light spectra reveals the importance of dark corridors for commuting bats.

The rapid global spread of artificial light at night is causing unprecedented disruption to ecosystems. In otherwise dark environments, street lights restrict the use of major flight routes by some bats, including the threatened lesser horseshoe bat Rhinolophus hipposideros, and may disrupt foraging. Using radio tracking, we examined the response of individual female R. hipposideros to experimental street lights placed on hedgerows used as major flight routes. Hedgerows were illuminated on one side over four nights using lights with different emission spectra, while the opposite side of the hedge was not illuminated. Automated bat detectors were used to examine changes in overall bat activity by R. hipposideros and other bat species present. R. hipposideros activity reduced significantly under all light types, including red light, challenging a previously held assumption that red light is safe for bats. Despite this, R. hipposideros rapidly adapted to the presence of lights by switching their flight paths to the dark side of the hedgerow, enabling them to reach foraging sites without restriction. Red light had no effect on the activity of the other species present. Slow-flying Myotis spp. avoided orange, white and green light, while more agile Pipistrellus spp. were significantly more active at these light types compared to dark controls, most probably in response to accumulations of insect prey. No effect of any light type was found for Nyctalus or Eptesicus spp. Our findings demonstrate that caution must be used when promoting forms of lighting that are thought to be safe for wildlife before they are tested more widely. We argue that it is essential to preserve dark corridors to mitigate the impacts of artificial light at night on bat activity and movements.

State-dependent judgement bias in Drosophila: evidence for evolutionarily primitive affective processes.

Affective states influence decision-making under ambiguity in humans and other animals. Individuals in a negative state tend to interpret ambiguous cues more negatively than individuals in a positive state. We demonstrate that the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, also exhibits state-dependent changes in cue interpretation. Drosophila were trained on a Go/Go task to approach a positive (P) odour associated with a sugar reward and actively avoid a negative (N) odour associated with shock. Trained flies were then either shaken to induce a purported negative state or left undisturbed (control), and given a choice between: air or P; air or N; air or ambiguous odour (1 : 1 blend of P : N). Shaken flies were significantly less likely to approach the ambiguous odour than control flies. This 'judgement bias' may be mediated by changes in neural activity that reflect evolutionarily primitive affective states. We cannot say whether such states are consciously experienced, but use of this model organism's versatile experimental tool kit may facilitate elucidation of their neural and genetic basis.

Elastography of the normal canine liver, spleen and kidneys.

Elastography is a simple, expedient and noninvasive technique that may be used to assess the elasticity or stiffness of a tissue, in conjunction with traditional B-mode ultrasonography. Quantitative assessment of tissue stiffness can be made which involves measurement of the shear wave velocity within the tissue of interest. The goal of this study was to assess the feasibility of elastography for clinical use in the abdomen of conscious small animals and to investigate factors that affect shear wave velocity measurement. Elastography was performed on the liver, spleen, and kidneys of 15 dogs at predefined depths within the parenchyma. Breed, age, gender, neuter status, and weight were documented for each animal. Depth at which measurements were taken had a significant negative relationship with the shear wave velocity value obtained. Individual dog effects, such as weight and gender, also appeared to have a significant effect on the shear wave velocity measurement for specific organs; weight had a significant positive effect on the shear wave velocity for each of the organs examined, whereas the effect of gender was inconsistent between organs (having a positive effect for the liver and a negative effect for the spleen). It is hoped that these results may act as a baseline to guide further work into the field of elastography in companion animals.

Outcomes and complications associated with epicardial pacemakers in 28 dogs and 5 cats.

OBJECTIVE: To report signalment, history, indications, complications and outcome for 28 dogs and 5 cats in which 34 permanent epicardial pacing leads were surgically placed by transdiaphragmatic approach (32) or intercostal thoracotomy (2). METHODS: Medical records (2005-2010) were reviewed. Signalment, age, species, gender, clinical signs, presence of structural heart disease and/or congestive heart failure, ECG diagnosis, body weight (<10 or >10 kg), and overall survival rate were recorded. Statistical correlations were made between these variables and major and minor complications rates. RESULTS: Except for body weight, no statistical differences were identified in prevalence of major (life threatening or requiring replacement of the pacemaker system) or minor (self-limiting) complications; dogs weighing >10 kg had significantly more major complications (P = .03). There was a trend (P = .051) for lower survival in animals that had major complications. CONCLUSIONS: Larger dogs (>10 kg) may be predisposed to more major complications with epicardial pacemaker (EP) implantation. Major complication rate and survival time are similar to those reported for transvenous pacing and therefore implantation of EPs remains a suitable alternative.

Quantification of Respirable Aerosol Particles from Speech and Language Therapy Exercises.

INTRODUCTION: Voice assessment and treatment involve the manipulation of all the subsystems of voice production, and may lead to production of respirable aerosol particles that pose a greater risk of potential viral transmission via inhalation of respirable pathogens (eg, SARS-CoV-2) than quiet breathing or conversational speech. OBJECTIVE: To characterise the production of respirable aerosol particles during a selection of voice assessment therapy tasks. METHODS: We recruited 23 healthy adult participants (12 males, 11 females), 11 of whom were speech-language pathologists specialising in voice disorders. We used an aerodynamic and an optical particle sizer to measure the number concentration and particle size distributions of respirable aerosols generated during a variety of voice assessment and therapy tasks. The measurements were carried out in a laminar flow operating theatre, with a near-zero background aerosol concentration, allowing us to quantify the number concentration and size distributions of respirable aerosol particles produced from assessment/therapy tasks studied. RESULTS: Aerosol number concentrations generated while performing assessment/therapy tasks were log-normally distributed among individuals with no significant differences between professionals (speech-language pathologists) and non-professionals or between males and females. Activities produced up to 32 times the aerosol number concentration of breathing and 24 times that of speech at 70-80 dBA. In terms of aerosol mass, activities produced up to 163 times the mass concentration of breathing and up to 36 times the mass concentration of speech. Voicing was a significant factor in aerosol production; aerosol number/mass concentrations generated during the voiced activities were 1.1-5 times higher than their unvoiced counterpart activities. Additionally, voiced activities produced bigger respirable aerosol particles than their unvoiced variants except the trills. Humming generated higher aerosol concentrations than sustained /a/, fricatives, speaking (70-80 dBA), and breathing. Oscillatory semi-occluded vocal tract exercises (SOVTEs) generated higher aerosol number/mass concentrations than the activities without oscillation. Water resistance therapy (WRT) generated the most aerosol of all activities, ∼10 times higher than speaking at 70-80 dBA and >30 times higher than breathing. CONCLUSIONS: All activities generated more aerosol than breathing, although a sizeable minority were no different to speaking. Larger number concentrations and larger particle sizes appear to be generated by activities with higher suspected airflows, with the greatest involving intraoral pressure oscillation and/or an oscillating oral articulation (WRT or trilling).

Comparing aerosol number and mass exhalation rates from children and adults during breathing, speaking and singing.

Aerosol particles of respirable size are exhaled when individuals breathe, speak and sing and can transmit respiratory pathogens between infected and susceptible individuals. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought into focus the need to improve the quantification of the particle number and mass exhalation rates as one route to provide estimates of viral shedding and the potential risk of transmission of viruses. Most previous studies have reported the number and mass concentrations of aerosol particles in an exhaled plume. We provide a robust assessment of the absolute particle number and mass exhalation rates from measurements of minute ventilation using a non-invasive Vyntus Hans Rudolf mask kit with straps housing a rotating vane spirometer along with measurements of the exhaled particle number concentrations and size distributions. Specifically, we report comparisons of the number and mass exhalation rates for children (12-14 years old) and adults (19-72 years old) when breathing, speaking and singing, which indicate that child and adult cohorts generate similar amounts of aerosol when performing the same activity. Mass exhalation rates are typically 0.002-0.02 ng s-1 from breathing, 0.07-0.2 ng s-1 from speaking (at 70-80 dBA) and 0.1-0.7 ng s-1 from singing (at 70-80 dBA). The aerosol exhalation rate increases with increasing sound volume for both children and adults when both speaking and singing.

A comparison of respiratory particle emission rates at rest and while speaking or exercising.

Background: The coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic led to the prohibition of group-based exercise and the cancellation of sporting events. Evaluation of respiratory aerosol emissions is necessary to quantify exercise-related transmission risk and inform mitigation strategies. Methods: Aerosol mass emission rates are calculated from concurrent aerosol and ventilation data, enabling absolute comparison. An aerodynamic particle sizer (0.54-20 µm diameter) samples exhalate from within a cardiopulmonary exercise testing mask, at rest, while speaking and during cycle ergometer-based exercise. Exercise challenge testing is performed to replicate typical gym-based exercise and very vigorous exercise, as determined by a preceding maximally exhaustive exercise test. Results: We present data from 25 healthy participants (13 males, 12 females; 36.4 years). The size of aerosol particles generated at rest and during exercise is similar (unimodal ~0.57-0.71 µm), whereas vocalization also generated aerosol particles of larger size (i.e. was bimodal ~0.69 and ~1.74 µm). The aerosol mass emission rate during speaking (0.092 ng s-1; minute ventilation (VE) 15.1 L min-1) and vigorous exercise (0.207 ng s-1, p = 0.726; VE 62.6 L min-1) is similar, but lower than during very vigorous exercise (0.682 ng s-1, p < 0.001; VE 113.6 L min-1). Conclusions: Vocalisation drives greater aerosol mass emission rates, compared to breathing at rest. Aerosol mass emission rates in exercise rise with intensity. Aerosol mass emission rates during vigorous exercise are no different from speaking at a conversational level. Mitigation strategies for airborne pathogens for non-exercise-based social interactions incorporating vocalisation, may be suitable for the majority of exercise settings. However, the use of facemasks when exercising may be less effective, given the smaller size of particles produced.

Surface shape analysis with an application to brain surface asymmetry in schizophrenia.

Some methods for the statistical analysis of surface shapes and asymmetry are introduced. We focus on a case study where magnetic resonance images of the brain are available from groups of 30 schizophrenia patients and 38 controls, and we investigate large-scale brain surface shape differences. Key aspects of shape analysis are to remove nuisance transformations by registration and to identify which parts of one object correspond with the parts of another object. We introduce maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods for registering brain images and providing large-scale correspondences of the brain surfaces. Brain surface size-and-shape analysis is considered using random field theory, and also dimension reduction is carried out using principal and independent components analysis. Some small but significant differences are observed between the the patient and control groups. We then investigate a particular type of asymmetry called torque. Differences in asymmetry are observed between the control and patient groups, which add strength to other observations in the literature. Further investigations of the midline plane location in the 2 groups and the fitting of nonplanar curved midlines are also considered.

Weekly and Daily Tooth Brushing by Care Staff Reduces Gingivitis and Calculus in Racing Greyhounds.

Periodontal disease is one of the most common conditions affecting dogs worldwide and is reported to be particularly prevalent in racing greyhounds. A range of potential risk factors have been hypothesised. Previous research has suggested that regular tooth brushing can reduce both calculus and gingivitis, but the frequency required is unclear. Here, we report a controlled blinded in situ trial, in which kennel staff brushed 160 racing greyhounds' teeth (living at six kennel establishments), either weekly, daily or never over a two-month period. All of the visible teeth were scored for calculus and gingivitis, using previously validated scales. We calculated average scores for each of the three teeth groups and overall whole mouth scores, averaging the teeth groups. Changes were compared to the baseline. After two months, the total calculus scores (controlling for baseline) were significantly different in the three treatment groups, (F(2,129) = 10.76, p < 0.001) with both weekly and daily brushing resulting in significant reductions. Gingivitis was also significantly different between groups (F(2,128) = 4.57, p = 0.012), but in this case, only daily brushing resulted in a significant reduction. Although the dogs in different kennels varied significantly in their levels of both calculus (F(5,129) = 8.64, p < 0.001) and gingivitis (F(5,128) = 3.51 p = 0.005), the intervention was similarly effective in all of the establishments. The teeth groups varied, and the incisors were not significantly affected by the treatment. Since the trainers implementing the routine, reported a minimal time commitment and positive experiences, we suggest that daily brushing is recommended for racing greyhounds, and that any instructions or demonstrations should include attention to all teeth groups including the incisors. Similar trials need to be conducted with retired greyhounds since these have been shown to present particularly high levels of periodontal disease.

Partitioning variation in multilevel models for count data.

A first step when fitting multilevel models to continuous responses is to explore the degree of clustering in the data. Researchers fit variance-component models and then report the proportion of variation in the response that is due to systematic differences between clusters. Equally they report the response correlation between units within a cluster. These statistics are popularly referred to as variance partition coefficients (VPCs) and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs). When fitting multilevel models to categorical (binary, ordinal, or nominal) and count responses, these statistics prove more challenging to calculate. For categorical response models, researchers appeal to their latent response formulations and report VPCs/ICCs in terms of latent continuous responses envisaged to underly the observed categorical responses. For standard count response models, however, there are no corresponding latent response formulations. More generally, there is a paucity of guidance on how to partition the variation. As a result, applied researchers are likely to avoid or inadequately report and discuss the substantive importance of clustering and cluster effects in their studies. A recent article drew attention to a little-known exact algebraic expression for the VPC/ICC for the special case of the two-level random-intercept Poisson model. In this article, we make a substantial new contribution. First, we derive exact VPC/ICC expressions for more flexible negative binomial models that allows for overdispersion, a phenomenon which often occurs in practice. Then we derive exact VPC/ICC expressions for three-level and random-coefficient extensions to these models. We illustrate our work with an application to student absenteeism. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Quantifying defence cascade responses as indicators of pig affect and welfare using computer vision methods.

Affective states are key determinants of animal welfare. Assessing such states under field conditions is thus an important goal in animal welfare science. The rapid Defence Cascade (DC) response (startle, freeze) to sudden unexpected stimuli is a potential indicator of animal affect; humans and rodents in negative affective states often show potentiated startle magnitude and freeze duration. To be a practical field welfare indicator, quick and easy measurement is necessary. Here we evaluate whether DC responses can be quantified in pigs using computer vision. 280 video clips of induced DC responses made by 12 pigs were analysed by eye to provide 'ground truth' measures of startle magnitude and freeze duration which were also estimated by (i) sparse feature tracking computer vision image analysis of 200 Hz video, (ii) load platform, (iii) Kinect depth camera, and (iv) Kinematic data. Image analysis data strongly predicted ground truth measures and were strongly positively correlated with these and all other estimates of DC responses. Characteristics of the DC-inducing stimulus, pig orientation relative to it, and 'relaxed-tense' pig behaviour prior to it moderated DC responses. Computer vision image analysis thus offers a practical approach to measuring pig DC responses, and potentially pig affect and welfare, under field conditions.

The ARRIVE guidelines 2.0: Updated guidelines for reporting animal research.

Reproducible science requires transparent reporting. The ARRIVE guidelines (Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments) were originally developed in 2010 to improve the reporting of animal research. They consist of a checklist of information to include in publications describing in vivo experiments to enable others to scrutinise the work adequately, evaluate its methodological rigour, and reproduce the methods and results. Despite considerable levels of endorsement by funders and journals over the years, adherence to the guidelines has been inconsistent, and the anticipated improvements in the quality of reporting in animal research publications have not been achieved. Here, we introduce ARRIVE 2.0. The guidelines have been updated and information reorganised to facilitate their use in practice. We used a Delphi exercise to prioritise and divide the items of the guidelines into 2 sets, the "ARRIVE Essential 10," which constitutes the minimum requirement, and the "Recommended Set," which describes the research context. This division facilitates improved reporting of animal research by supporting a stepwise approach to implementation. This helps journal editors and reviewers verify that the most important items are being reported in manuscripts. We have also developed the accompanying Explanation and Elaboration (E&E) document, which serves (1) to explain the rationale behind each item in the guidelines, (2) to clarify key concepts, and (3) to provide illustrative examples. We aim, through these changes, to help ensure that researchers, reviewers, and journal editors are better equipped to improve the rigour and transparency of the scientific process and thus reproducibility.