This study introduces the concept of the "Goldilocks Day" - the optimal 24-hour time-use of intensity- or posture-specific composition specifically tailored for young-old (65-70 years) and old-old (> 70 years) adults. We aimed (1) to describe optimal 24-hour time-use of compositions for each health outcome, and (2) identify the 'Goldilock Day' for all outcomes together. This approach, involving backwards pivot coordinates (bpcs), we provide a clearer interpretation of physical behavior data, offering practical insights for healthy aging. Data were collected from 309 older adults (65 + years) in Czechia, using accelerometers worn on the non-dominant wrist to assess intensity-specific behaviors (sedentary behavior - SB, light physical activity - LPA, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity - MVPA, and sleep) and on the right thigh and waist to assess posture-specific behaviors (lying, sitting, standing, moving, and walking). Health outcomes included body mass index (BMI), fall risk, fear of falling, and overall physical performance as assessed by the Short Physical Performance Battery. Compositional regression models, based on the bpcs, were used to assess the relationships between time-use and these outcomes. In young-old adults, the time-use composition for optimal BMI included 7.5 h of sleep, 12.0 h of SB, 3.2 h of LPA, and 1.4 h of MVPA. Old-old adults displayed slightly lower MVPA (1.0 h) and increased SB (12.8 h). Generally, higher MVPA and lower SB were associated with better physical performance and reduced fear of falling. The optimal "Goldilocks Day" for both age groups highlighted the benefits of higher physical activity and reduced sedentary time, with significant implications for personalized health recommendations and improved health outcomes in Czech older adults.

• Klíčová slova
• Accelerometry, Compositional data analysis, Physical behavior, Posture-specific behavior,
• MeSH
• akcelerometrie MeSH
• cvičení fyziologie   MeSH
• index tělesné hmotnosti MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• obezita * prevence a kontrola   MeSH
• postura těla MeSH
• sedavý životní styl MeSH
• senioři nad 80 let MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• strach * psychologie   MeSH
• tělesná a funkční výkonnost * MeSH
• úrazy pádem * prevence a kontrola   MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• senioři nad 80 let MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Česká republika MeSH

Free farrowing pens (pens) improve the welfare of sows but may increase sow activity and negatively influence piglet production. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of pens and crates on sow postural changes, piglet trapping, sow responses to piglet screams, piglet mortality, and piglet BW gain. It was predicted that provision of greater space (in pens) would increase not only the frequency of sow postural changes and the probability of trappisng but also sow responses to the screams of piglets; thus, the outcome would be no differences in fatal piglet crushing or overall mortality between the housing systems. Sows were randomly moved to either a farrowing pen (n = 20) or farrowing crate (n = 18). Sow behavior was recorded and analyzed for 72 h from the birth of the first piglet (BFP). Sow postural changes included rolling from a ventral to lateral position and vice versa and going from standing to sitting, standing to lying, and sitting to lying. Occurrences of piglet trapping and sow responsiveness to real crushing situations were analyzed. Sow responsiveness was assessed in response to audio playbacks (PB) of piglet screams on d 3 postpartum (48 to 72 h after BFP; PB crush calls) and real piglet crushing during the first 72 h after BFP (real crush calls). Piglet BW gain was estimated 24 h after BFP, piglet BW was recorded at weaning, and piglet crushing and piglet mortality were recorded during the 72 h after BFP. Data were analyzed using PROC MIXED and PROC GENMOD of SAS. Sows in pens showed more postural changes (P = 0.04) and tended to have greater incidences of piglet trapping (P = 0.07) than those in crates. Sow response to PB crush calls was greater in pens (P = 0.04) but did not differ for real crush calls between pens and crates (P = 0.62). There was no effect on the probability of piglet crushing (P = 0.38) and mortality (P = 0.41) during the 72 h after BFP nor in piglet mortality at weaning (P = 0.81) between pens and crates. Piglet BW gain at 24 h after BFP (P = 0.01) and piglet BW at weaning (P = 0.02) were greater in pens. Sows in pens showed more postural changes and tended to trap more piglets; however, the response to real crush calls did not differ between the two housing systems. Despite this, there was no increase in piglet crushing or mortality in pens, which might be influenced by the better piglet body condition observed in pens, which in turn could influence their ability to avoid crushing by the sow.

• Klíčová slova
• housing, maternal behavior, mortality, pig, postural changes, responsiveness,
• MeSH
• bydlení zvířat MeSH
• chování zvířat MeSH
• mortalita MeSH
• novorozená zvířata růst a vývoj   psychologie   MeSH
• postura těla MeSH
• prasata růst a vývoj   fyziologie   psychologie   MeSH
• vokalizace zvířat * MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH

Play behavior has been viewed as a mixture of elements drawn from "serious" behavior, interspersed by ritualized play signals. Two other types of play behaviors have been overlooked: patterns that are dissimilar from any serious behavior and patterns with self-handicapping character, that is, those that put the animal into unnecessary disadvantageous positions or situations. Here the authors show that these 2 types of patterns can constitute a major part of play repertoire. From our own videorecordings and observations, we constructed play ethograms of 5 monkey species (Semnopithecus entellus, Erythrocebus patas, Chlorocebus pygerythrus, Cercopithecus neglectus, and Cercopithecus diana). The authors evaluated the self-handicapping character of each pattern and in Hanuman langurs also the (dis)similarity to serious behavior. Of the 74 patterns in the 5 species, 33 (45%) were judged to have a self-handicapping character. Of 48 patterns observed in langurs, 16 (33%) were totally dissimilar to any serious langur behavior known to us. The authors discuss the possibility that the different types of play elements may have different functions in play.

• MeSH
• Cercopithecidae psychologie   MeSH
• Cercopithecus aethiops psychologie   MeSH
• Cercopithecus MeSH
• druhová specificita MeSH
• Erythrocebus patas psychologie   MeSH
• hra a hračky * MeSH
• komunikace zvířat * MeSH
• motivace * MeSH
• motorické dovednosti MeSH
• pohybová aktivita MeSH
• postura těla MeSH
• sociální chování * MeSH
• sociální dominance * MeSH
• sociální prostředí MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH

Prey-specialised spiders often do not have brood care and may not deposit eggs in the proximity of the preferred prey. Thus, naïve spiderlings are left to their own to find their focal prey. Our aim was to reveal whether the choice of a specific prey is innate and whether familiarisation with a certain prey will condition prey choice. We used the myrmecophagous spider Euryopis episinoides, which specialises on Messor ants. It finds ants using chemical cues deposited on the substrate. Naïve spiderlings were offered chemical cues from Messor and Myrmica ants and Drosophila flies. They chose significantly more chemical cues from Messor ants than those from Drosophila flies. Then spiderlings were assigned to three prey treatments: fed with Messor ants only (optimal prey), fed with Myrmica ants only (suboptimal prey) or fed with Drosophila flies only (detrimental prey) until adulthood. Every 2 weeks, all spiders from all treatments were offered chemical cues from the three prey types and the frequency of choice and latency to assuming a posture were recorded. Experienced spiderlings preferred chemical cues from the prey in which they were raised. They suffered high mortality on Drosophila flies and attained largest size on the optimal prey. We show here that majority of spiderlings are born with an innate preference to their focal prey, which can be altered by familiarisation with alternative prey, irrespective of whether such a prey is beneficial.

• MeSH
• chemická stimulace MeSH
• pavouci fyziologie   MeSH
• predátorské chování fyziologie   MeSH
• preference v jídle fyziologie   MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH

A method of electromyography (EMG) recording is described which makes it possible to follow simultaneously the activity of 4 muscles in awake, unrestrained rats and cats for 3-5 months. The implantable recording array consists of a percutaneous connector, steel wire spiral leads contained in silicone tubing and bipolar platinum electrodes embedded in silicone platelets. These electrode probes can be fixed onto the surface of various muscles without direct injury to the muscle and, at the same time, without electrical interference from neighbouring muscles. In most rats, EMG activity was recorded bilaterally from the soleus and tibialis anterior muscles. This method has so far been employed for assessing the muscle activity in experiments on reflex muscle atrophy, unilateral hindlimb deafferentation, disuse muscle atrophy induced by limb immobilization and compensatory muscle hypertrophy. A simple computer program has been used to evaluate the resting, postural activity. Objective information about muscle coordination, patterns of locomotor and reflex activity, muscle use and disuse under specific experimental conditions can only be obtained in awake, unrestrained laboratory animals by recording electromyographic (EMG) activity in chronic experiments. For this purpose we developed a method of chronic polyelectromyography allowing recording from 4 muscles in rats and cats (Hník et al. 1978) for several months. The method is briefly reviewed here, together with some applications to animal experiments.

• MeSH
• chování zvířat fyziologie   MeSH
• denervace svalu MeSH
• elektromyografie přístrojové vybavení   metody   MeSH
• implantované elektrody MeSH
• kočky MeSH
• krysa rodu Rattus MeSH
• neurofyziologie MeSH
• svalová atrofie etiologie   patofyziologie   MeSH
• svaly fyziologie   MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• kočky MeSH
• krysa rodu Rattus MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

Ballet training has been reported to positively influence balance ability. It is not entirely clear how improved balance ability manifests under standing conditions with different demands on postural control. The aim of the study was to compare balance of ballet dancers and non-dancers in a unipedal stance under different conditions. Twenty-five professional ballet dancers and twenty-five controls completed four unipedal standing balance tests: firm surface with eyes open and closed; foam mat surface with eyes open; and firm surface with eyes open immediately after performing ten 360° whole-body turns. The centre of pressure (COP) data were obtained with a force platform and the direction-specific standard deviations, velocities, and sample entropy of the COP displacement were computed. A three-way analysis of variance was used to compare groups, genders, and conditions. For standing immediately after performing ten turns, the postural sway parameters were significantly larger in the control group compared to the ballet dancers in both men and women. In this stance condition the values of postural sway and COP velocities in the control group were larger in the men compared to the women. For both genders in the control group all postural sway and COP velocity parameters were larger in standing with eyes closed and standing after performing 10 turns compared to standing with eyes open on both firm and foam surface. In the ballet dancers all COP velocity parameters were larger in standing with eyes closed compared to all other conditions. The results from the present study indicate that professional ballet dancers do not have a better general balance ability than untrained subjects.

• MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• funkční lateralita fyziologie   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mladý dospělý MeSH
• postura těla fyziologie   MeSH
• posturální rovnováha fyziologie   MeSH
• tanec fyziologie   MeSH
• Check Tag
• dospělí MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mladý dospělý MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• srovnávací studie MeSH

Ability to recognize a risk of predation and react with adaptive antipredatory behavior can enhance fitness, but has some costs as well. Animals can either specifically react on the most dangerous predators (threat-sensitive avoidance) or they have safe but costly general wariness avoiding all potential predators. The level of threat may depend on the predator's foraging ecology and distribution with the prey with sympatric and specialist species being the most dangerous. We used 2 choice trials to investigate antipredatory behavior of captive born and wild-caught leopard geckos confronted with different snake predators from 2 families (Colubridae, Boidae) varying in foraging ecology and sympatric/allopatric distribution with the geckos. Predator-naïve subadult individuals have general wariness, explore both chemically and visually, and perform antipredatory postures toward a majority of snake predators regardless of their sympatry/allopatry or food specialization. The most exaggerated antipredatory postures in both subadult and adult geckos were toward 2 sympatric snake species, the spotted whip snake Hemorrhois ravergieri, an active forager, and the red sand boa Eryx johnii, a subterranean snake with a sit-and-wait strategy. In contrast, also subterranean but allopatric the Kenyan sand boa Eryx colubrinus did not elicit any antipredatory reaction. We conclude that the leopard gecko possesses an innate general antipredatory reaction to different species of snake predators, while a specific reaction to 2 particular sympatric species can be observed. Moreover, adult wild caught geckos show lower reactivity compared with the captive born ones, presumably due to an experience of a real predation event that can hardly be simulated under laboratory conditions.

• Klíčová slova
• 2 choice trial., allopatric, antipredation, lizard, posture, sympatric,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Functional disturbances developed early in life include balance deficits which are linked to dysfunctions of higher levels of cognitive and motor integration. According to our knowledge, there are only a few studies suggesting that balance deficits are related to behavioral disturbances in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). METHODS: We tested the extent to which balance deficits were related to ADHD symptoms in 35 medication-naïve boys of school age (8-11 years) and compared the results with a control group of 30 boys of the same age. RESULTS: ADHD symptoms in medication-naïve boys had specific relationships to disturbances of postural and gait balance. CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, this study provides the first evidence in the medical literature for a direct relationship between ADHD symptoms and balance deficits, that cannot be attributed to medication and the presence of any neurological disease.

• Klíčová slova
• ADHD, balance deficits, conduct problems, developmental disorders, impulsivity, inhibitory deficits,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

BACKGROUND: Despite the increasing number of research studies examining the effects of age on the control of posture, the number of annual fall-related injuries and deaths continues to increase. A better understanding of how old age affects the neural mechanisms of postural control and how countermeasures such as balance training could improve the neural control of posture to reduce falls in older individuals is therefore necessary. The aim of this review is to determine the effects of age on the neural correlates of balance skill learning measured during static (standing) and dynamic (walking) balance tasks in healthy individuals. METHODS: We determined the effects of acute (1-3 sessions) and chronic (> 3 sessions) balance skill training on balance in the trained and in untrained, transfer balance tasks through a systematic review and quantified these effects by robust variance estimation meta-analysis in combination with meta-regression. We systematically searched PubMed, Web of Science, and Cochrane databases. Balance performance and neural plasticity outcomes were extracted and included in the systematic synthesis and meta-analysis. RESULTS: Forty-two studies (n = 622 young, n = 699 older individuals) were included in the systematic synthesis. Seventeen studies with 508 in-analysis participants were eligible for a meta-analysis. The overall analysis revealed that acute and chronic balance training had a large effect on the neural correlates of balance skill learning in the two age groups combined (g = 0.79, p < 0.01). Both age groups similarly improved balance skill performance in 1-3 training sessions and showed little further improvements with additional sessions. Improvements in balance performance mainly occurred in the trained and less so in the non-trained (i.e., transfer) balance tasks. The systematic synthesis and meta-analysis suggested little correspondence between improved balance skills and changes in spinal, cortical, and corticospinal excitability measures in the two age groups and between the time courses of changes in balance skills and neural correlates. CONCLUSIONS: Balance skill learning and the accompanying neural adaptations occur rapidly and independently of age with little to no training dose-dependence or correspondence between behavioral and neural adaptations. Of the five types of neural correlates examined, changes in only spinal excitability seemed to differ between age groups. However, age or training dose in terms of duration did not moderate the effects of balance training on the changes in any of the neural correlates. The behavioral and neural mechanisms of strong task-specificity and the time course of skill retention remain unclear and require further studies in young and older individuals. REGISTRATION: PROSPERO registration number: CRD42022349573.

• Klíčová slova
• Balance training, Healthy aging, Neural adaptation, Postural balance,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• systematický přehled MeSH