The paper presents results from a validation process of OpenStreetMap (OSM) rapid mapping activities using crowdsourcing technology in the aftermath of the Gorkha earthquake 2015 in Nepal. We present a framework and tool to iteratively validate and update OSM objects. Two main objectives are addressed: first, analyzing the accuracy of the volunteered geographic information (VGI) generated by th...

Practical relevance: Dermatophytosis (ringworm) is the most important infectious and contagious skin disease of cats in shelters. Its importance relates to the fact that it can affect all cats, but tends to affect those which would otherwise have good chances for adoption. Although many diseases in shelters fit this description, dermatophytosis is of particular significance because of associate...

Experiments have demonstrated that socially acquired information influences both where Norway rats, Rattus norvegicuslook for food and what foods they eat. The present studies were undertaken to determine whether rats could also use information acquired from conspecifics to determine when food had become available. Naive rats introduced either into colonies that had been trained to come to a fe...

This study investigated whether spatial learning ability and cue use of gobies (Gobiidae) from two contrasting habitats differed in a spatial task. Gobies were collected from the spatially complex rock pools and dynamic, homogenous sandy shores. Fishes were trained to locate a shelter under the simulated threat of predation and it was determined whether they used local or extra-maze (global) an...

This qualitative study identified a study area by visualizing one year of animal intake from a municipal animal shelter on geographic information systems (GIS) maps to select an area of high stray-dog intake to investigate. Researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with residents of the selected study area to elucidate why there were high numbers of stray dogs coming from this location. ...

Wind-flow pattern over embankments involves an overexposure of the rolling stock travelling on them to wind loads. Windbreaks are a common solution for changing the flow characteristic in order to decrease unwanted effects induced by the presence of cross-wind. The shelter effectiveness of a set of windbreaks placed over a railway twin-track embankment is experimentally analysed. A set of two-d...

The surrender of cats to animal shelters results in financial, social and moral burdens for the community. Correlations of caretaking and interactions with surrendered cats were calculated, to understand more about humans' relationships with surrendered cats and the contribution of semi-owned cats to shelter intakes. A questionnaire was used to collect detailed information about 100 surrenderer...

How wolves were first domesticated is unknown. One hypothesis suggests that wolves underwent a process of self-domestication by tolerating human presence and taking advantage of scavenging possibilities. The puppy-like physical and behavioural traits seen in dogs are thought to have evolved later, as a byproduct of selection against aggression. Using speed of selection from rehoming shelters as...

The Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 left many evacuees with insufficient food and emergency shelter. However, there is no evidence concerning the factors affecting dietary circumstances in emergency shelters after disasters. To clarify the factors that influenced the provision of meals, we reanalyzed a data set from a dietary survey conducted in emergency shelters one month after the Great ...

OBJECTIVE This study examined the potential impact of a proposed change to the official federal definition of chronic homelessness. METHODS Using administrative data from the emergency shelters in a large U.S. city, this study estimated the number of persons identified as chronically homeless under the current definition of chronic homelessness, a proposed new federal definition, and two alte...