The collection of paintings and drawings constituting the thesis exhibition The Anxious Actor are rooted within the visual language of contemporary realist figurative painting and drawing, with a focus on the male body. Traditionally in western culture, the depiction of the human form, both male and female, has sought to reinforce hierarchical constructions and meta-narratives implicit in religious and imperialistic structures. I paint and draw my own body as subject, exploring personal narratives that contradict these pre-existing notions. As a queer man interested in the vocabulary of realist figurative painting, my body is a catalyst for my fascination with stereotypic masculine portrayals.<p> Utilizing historic themes of male bravado, heroism and narcissism I juxtapose the mundane realities of everyday contemporary life. My narratives are situated within the complex visual languages of Neo-classical, Baroque, Rococo and Renaissance style painting. These specific pictorial vocabularies add both psychological and metaphoric weight to my conceptual process; locating my marginalized identity within historic and contemporary archetypes.

Stereotypic behaviors in all animals are more often than not associated with poor welfare. Limited access to perform species specific behaviors is often a reason for the development of stereotypies. Elephants with their great intelligence and need of social contact, coupled with a destructive a behavior are especially difficult to house in captivity. To decrease the occurrence of stereotypic behaviors in elephants, environmental enrichment in form of food enrichment is a good option, since elephants have a great need of foraging. The aim of this study was to investigate if an extra supply of food enrichment could decrease the presence of stereotypic behaviors at night in three Asian elephants at Kolmården zoo. Already existing hay nets attached to wires in the roof were used and connected to a timer. The hay nets were lowered to vision trunk reach between 6:00 am and 6:30 am during five days and the frequencies of selected behaviors were compared with the frequencies of the same behaviors during five preceding baseline nights. The animals were filmed using mounted cameras with IR lights. There was a significant decrease of stereotypic behavior for one of the elephants, but all three showed an increase in foraging whereof the increases were significant for two of them. One of the elephants showed no stereotypic behaviors at all during the study. To keep in mind is that the elephants have different backgrounds and experiences which might have influenced the results.

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Salivary cortisol is becoming an effective method with which to quantify cortisol levels, including the ability to track diurnal patterns and acute stress fluctuations. The purpose of this study was to validate salivary cortisol for use in African elephants (Loxodonta Africana), establish baseline cortisol values in three African elephants at Zoo Atlanta and explore the relationship between cortisol and various behaviors and husbandry events. Elephant salivary cortisol was found to be a valid measure based on correlations with serum cortisol and serial dilution results. Salivary cortisol also decreased across the day, but no definitive patterns were revealed. Using baseline values, salivary cortisol was used to examine the effects of enrichment, maintenance and novel training, and a mild stressor. Maintenance training was found to lead to lower cortisol values than novel training. Salivary cortisol after enrichment did not differ from individual overall means. The mild stressor initiated a rise in salivary cortisol. The final focus of this study was to investigate the link between salivary cortisol and stereotypic behavior. Stereotypies are described as repetitive behaviors with little variance and no discernible function or goal. There is not a straightforward relationship between stereotypies and welfare. Analysis of salivary cortisol at various durations into swaying bouts established that swaying appears to decrease cortisol levels. Additionally, behavioral data were collected. Behavioral data confirmed anecdotal reports of circular dominance in these animals. Behavioral data also revealed that although these individuals spend the majority of their time consuming food, one individual in particular devotes a significant amount of her time to swaying, a percentage much higher than that found when Wilson, Bloomsmith, and Maple (2004) examined stereotypic swaying rates in these same animals. Results of this study have direct ramifications for the current management requirements for captive elephants around the world. It helps tap into aspects of psychological well being of captive elephants to elucidate factors influencing welfare and stereotypic behavior. Research of this nature is a critical endeavor if we are to appropriately manage these magnificent animals in captivity.

Orientador: Alberto Cliquet Júnior / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-18T12:33:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Medeiros_RodrigoCastrode_M.pdf: 1107012 bytes, checksum: 8c4a2b98916bf061db40e20d0c7d01a6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011 / Resumo: Nas últimas décadas, a reabilitação nos lesado-medulares vem evoluindo através do uso da estimulação elétrica funcional (EEF). Apesar dos inegáveis ganhos cardiovasculares, psicológicos e na densidade mineral óssea advindos desta técnica, o ortostatismo e a deambulação destes pacientes sob estímulo elétrico ainda dependem do suporte fornecido pelos membros superiores. A literatura pertinente aos estudos biomecânicos sobre EEF para ortostatismo em paraplégicos está baseada em teoremas matemáticos fundamentados na física mecânica referente aos braços de alavanca musculoesqueléticos. Contudo, percebe-se uma falha conceitual nestes teoremas a medida que desconsideram os princípios de regulação do reflexo postural observados nos indivíduos sem alterações neurológicas. Nos indivíduos saudáveis, o princípio da conservação de energia exige que, na posição ortostática, a cabeça e tronco estejam alinhados sobre a pelve e centrados em relação aos pés. Para obtenção de uma postura adequada, o organismo utiliza primariamente o reflexo postural espinopélvico, através do qual as curvaturas sagitais da coluna são adaptadas à posição da pelve e dos quadris. O objetivo deste estudo é descrever os aspectos radiográficos do perfil sagital obtidos em pacientes paraplégicos em postura bipedal através da estimulação elétrica funcional dos quadríceps complementados com apoio bimanual. Dez pacientes paraplégicos que participam do ambulatório de reabilitação foram selecionados. Após serem submetidos a radiografias panorâmicas em perfil, foram analisados as médias e os desvios-padrão dos vários parâmetros geométricos descritos na literatura referentes ao equilíbrio sagital em indivíduos saudáveis. Os valores obtidos para cifose torácica e lordose lombar foram semelhantes a dos pacientes saudáveis descritos na literatura. Os parâmetros pélvicos revelaram inversão do tilt pélvico, aumento do slop sacral e diminuição do ângulo sacrofemoral. Nos parâmetros espinopélvicos, foram observados aumentos nas distâncias horizontais entre as vértebras e a bacia e/ou quadris. Estes aspectos traduzem a presença de uma importante anteversão da bacia associada à flexão dos quadris com consequente translação anterior da linha de prumo da coluna expressada através de um intenso desequilíbrio sagital anterior. Para quem deseja optimizara postura bipedal dos paraplégicos sob EEF, este estudo inédito lança uma nova e importante visão sobre a compreensão das alterações ergonômicas presentes no balanço sagital. Tal fato possivelmente servirá de base para o desenvolvimento de novas configurações de EEF / Abstract: In recent decades, the rehabilitation of injured spinal cord-has been evolving through the use of functional electrical stimulation (FES). Despite the undeniable gains cardiovascular, psychological and bone mineral density resulting from this technique, the standing and ambulation of these patients still depend on electrical stimulation of the support provided by the upper limbs. The literature pertaining to the biomechanical studies on FES for standing in paraplegics is based on mathematical theorems based on the physical mechanics related to musculoskeletal lever arms. However, we find a conceptual flaw in these theorems as they disregard the principles of regulation of postural reflex observed in subjects without neurological damage. In healthy subjects, the principle of conservation of energy requires that, in standing position, head and torso are aligned in the pelvis and centered over the feet. To obtain a proper posture, the body uses primarily espinopélvico postural reflex, whereby the sagittal curvatures of the spine are adapted to the position of the pelvis and hips. The aim of this study is to describe the radiographic features of the sagittal profile obtained in bipedal posture in paraplegic patients by functional electrical stimulation of the quadriceps supplemented with bimanual support. Ten paraplegic patients participating in outpatient rehabilitation were selected. After being subjected to panoramic radiography in profile, we analyzed the means and standard deviations of various geometrical parameters described in the literature for the sagittal balance in healthy subjects. The values obtained for thoracic kyphosis and lumbar lordosis were similar to healthy patients in the literature. The parameters revealed pelvic tilt reversal of pelvic, sacral and increase the slop angle reduction sacrofemoral. The spinopelic parameters increases were observed in the horizontal distances in relation to vertebrae and pelvis and/or hips. These aspects reflect the presence of a significant anteversion of the pelvis associated with hip flexion with subsequent anterior translation of the plumb line of the column expressed through an intense anterior sagittal imbalance. For those who want to optimize the bipedal posture of paraplegic patients under FES, this new study sheds new and important insight into the understanding of these ergonomic changes in sagittal balance. This fact possibly serve as the basis for the development of new configurations of FES / Mestrado / Fisiopatologia Cirúrgica / Mestre em Cirurgia

Large carnivores in human care have been reported to engage in stereotypic behaviors. Such behavior is thought to be correlated with high stress levels, in part, due to captive environments limiting opportunities for functional consequences and environmental stimuli. Moreover, there are several arguments stating that stereotypic behaviors can be indicative of poor welfare, as they can often have severe negative emotional and physical effects on the animal. The first portion of this study included a five-phase treatment analysis which evaluated whether environmental manipulations decrease the frequency of stereotypic behaviors including pacing, over-grooming and tail-sucking exhibited by a single male jaguar housed at Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens. The aim of the present study was to evaluate possible environmental variables that were reported by staff as likely variables maintaining or promoting stereotypic behavior. Data collection occurred during a 10-week evaluation and followed an ABCAD reversal design. Both behavioral data and fecal glucocorticoid metabolite levels were analyzed. The second portion of this analysis included a multi-institutional survey to assess the prevalence of the stereotypic behaviors exhibited by zoo-housed jaguars in North American AZA-accredited institutions. Results from the behavioral assessment revealed a decrease in stereotypic behaviors with the implementation of treatment conditions. Hormone analyses revealed that stereotypic pacing is not presently correlated with higher stress levels for this animal. Finally, survey results revealed that a significant portion of the North American jaguar population engages in stereotypic behaviors. Further analyses are necessary to identify potential patterns or environmental predictors for the development of stereotypic behaviors.