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Appropriate response to companions' emotional signals is important for all social creatures. The emotional expressions of humans and non-human animals have analogies in their form and function, suggesting shared evolutionary roots, but very little is known about how animals other than primates view and process facial expressions. In primates, threat-related facial expressions evoke exceptional viewing patterns compared with neutral or positive stimuli. Here, we explore if domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) have such an attentional bias toward threatening social stimuli and whether observed emotional expressions affect dogs' gaze fixation distribution among the facial features (eyes, midface and mouth). We recorded the voluntary eye gaze of 31 domestic dogs during viewing of facial photographs of humans and dogs with three emotional expressions (threatening, pleasant and neutral). We found that dogs' gaze fixations spread systematically among facial features. The distribution of fixations was altered by the seen expression, but eyes were the most probable targets of the first fixations and gathered longer looking durations than mouth regardless of the viewed expression. The examination of the inner facial features as a whole revealed more pronounced scanning differences among expressions. This suggests that dogs do not base their perception of facial expressions on the viewing of single structures, but the interpretation of the composition formed by eyes, midface and mouth. Dogs evaluated social threat rapidly and this evaluation led to attentional bias, which was dependent on the depicted species: threatening conspecifics' faces evoked heightened attention but threatening human faces instead an avoidance response. We propose that threatening signals carrying differential biological validity are processed via distinctive neurocognitive pathways. Both of these mechanisms may have an adaptive significance for domestic dogs. The findings provide a novel perspective on understanding the processing of emotional expressions and sensitivity to social threat in non-primates.
Citation: Somppi S, Törnqvist H, Kujala MV, Hänninen L, Krause CM, Vainio O (2016) Dogs Evaluate Threatening Facial Expressions by Their Biological Validity – Evidence from Gazing Patterns. PLoS ONE 11(1): e0143047. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0143047
Editor: Kun Guo, University of Lincoln, UNITED KINGDOM
Received: December 17, 2014; Accepted: October 30, 2015; Published: January 13, 2016
Copyright: © 2016 Somppi et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
Data Availability: All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files.
Funding: Academy of Finland (http://www.aka.fi) project #137931 to OV; Emil Aaltonen Foundation (http://www.emilaaltonen.fi/) to SS; The Brain Research at Aalto University and University of Helsinki BRAHE consortium (http://www.brain-mind.fi) to MVK. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Appropriate reading and responding to companions' emotional signals is important to social creatures. For humans, facial expressions are the main channel for communicating emotional states and have thus been at the center of scientific interest for decades [1,2]. Most mammalian species have musculature for producing facial movements that resemble human expressions [3,4]. The analogies in the form and function of human and non-human animal emotional expressions suggest shared evolutionary roots [2,4,5]. Nevertheless, little is known about how non-primates view and process facial expressions. Full understanding of the complexity and cognitive mechanisms of facial expressions requires a wider approach, taking into account various examples from the animal kingdom (for reviews, see [4,6,7]).
Humans, chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and macaques (Macaca mulatta) exhibit exceptional viewing behavior toward threat-related expressions compared with neutral or positive stimuli. Typically the threatening stimuli accelerate detection [8,9] or prolong attention [9–16], but sometimes they evoke aversive reactions [9,17–19]. The phenomenon has been extensively studied because it is particularly evident in anxiety and mood disorders [20–22]. The attentional bias toward threat is considered to originate from a phylogenetically old adaptive mechanism: the sensitivity to detect and avoid threats represents a survival advantage [21]. Studying sensitivity to social threat in animals other than humans can promote understanding of the origins of phenomenon [15].
During viewing of emotional faces different facial features attract attention differently [23,24]. In humans and other primates the viewed emotional expression alter the distribution of gaze fixations among inner key structures, i.e. eyes, nose and mouth [10,25–31], probably because these features convey different emotional information for a viewer [24,27–29]. It is not known how other animals than primates scan facial expressions and what facial features are relevant for them.
Here, we chose domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) as study subjects because canids use facial cues richly in social interactions and their facial expressions share similarities with primates [5,32,33]. In addition, domestic dogs are known for their well-developed social communication skills (for reviews, see [34,35]) and they respond flexibly to human emotional signals [36–39]. The facial expressions of dogs can be linked to affective situations (e.g. anticipation of the reward, social isolation or reunion with the owner) [40–43] and categorized according to basic emotion classification used for humans [41]. Certain characteristics of facial communication may have contributed to the relation between dogs and humans, and even given a selective advantage to dogs during domestication [43]. However, only scarce information exists considering how dogs process facial expressions of conspecifics' and humans. To date we know that dogs can distinguish human facial expressions from images after discrimination training [44,45] and their viewing behavior is sensitive to the facial expressions of both conspecifics and humans [46].
The approaches in which human and non-human emotional perception have been studied have differed greatly both in methodological constraints and theoretical aspects [4]. In humans and other primates, eye gaze tracking has been a widely used method for assessing affective responses. To narrow the methodological gap between the studies of primates and non-primates, we employed the rapidly advanced eye tracking methodology [47–50] to measure the voluntary eye gaze of domestic dogs during viewing of emotional expressions of dogs and humans. Eye tracking findings to date show that the gazing behavior of dogs has analogies with that of primates: dogs spontaneously focus attention on informative objects, like faces [49] and eyes [50]; they prefer images representing conspecifics over images of human or inanimate objects [49], upright faces over inverted ones [50] and familiar faces over strange ones [50]. While watching dynamic social stimuli, dogs gazing behavior also resembles their behavior in real communicative situations [48]. Together these findings suggest that dogs comprehend two-dimensional representations and their gaze targets are altered by the seen contextual information.
The aim of the present study was to explore how dogs scan facial expressions of conspecifics (social and phylogenetic stimuli) compared with the species that is most likely emotionally relevant for them, humans (social, but non-phylogenetic stimuli). We were particularly interested to discover whether dogs exhibit specific attentional biases toward potentially threatening social stimuli versus non-threatening social stimuli, and whether their gaze distribution among the inner facial features is dependent on the seen emotional content.
Materials and Methods
Ethical statement
This study was performed in strict accordance with the Finnish Act of Animal Experimentation (62/2006) in which the European convention for the protection of vertebrate animals used for experimental and other scientific purposes (Directive 86/609/EEC) is fully implemented. All protocols were approved by the Ethical Committee for the Use of Animals in Experiments at the University of Helsinki (2/2010) and the Finnish national Animal Experiment Board (approval#STH367A/ESLH-2008-04236/Ym-23). Animals were not harmed in any way during the experiments and neither mechanical nor manual restraint was applied. Only non-invasive and reward-based methods were used during training and measurement.
Animals and pre-training
All experiments were conducted at the Veterinary Faculty of the University of Helsinki. Participant dogs (25 privately owned pet dogs and 8 kennel-housed beagles) were on average 4.6 years old (SD 2.2), and represented 13 different breeds and mongrels (8 beagles, 6 border collies, 3 hovawarts, 3 beauce shepherds, 2 rough collies, 2 smooth collies, 1 great Pyrenees, 1 Welsh corgi, 1 Australian kelpie, 1 lagotto romagnolo, 1 Manchester terrier, 1 Swedish vallhund, 1 Finnish lapphund, 2 mongrels). The daily routines of the dogs were kept similar to those in their regular life. Pet dogs (14 intact females, 4 sterilized females, 5 intact males and 2 castrated males) lived in their home environment, were fed once or twice a day and taken outdoors three to five times for 0.5–2 hours at a time. Kennel dogs (2 sterilized females and 6 castrated males) lived in the kennel facilities of the University of Helsinki. They were fed twice a day and released into an exercise enclosure once a day for two hours.
All the dogs had previously participated in an eye-tracking experiment [50] but were naïve regarding images used in the present study. Prior the previous eye-tracking experiment, all subjects were clicker-trained to lie still in front of a monitor and lean their jaw on a specially designed chin rest [49]. The criterion for passing the training period was that the dog took the pre-trained position without being commanded to do so and remained in that position for at least 30 seconds while the owner and experimenters were positioned behind an opaque barrier. During the training, the dogs were not encouraged to fix their eyes on a monitor or images and they were not restrained or forced to perform the task.
Digital color photographs of unfamiliar dog and human faces with direct gaze and three emotional expressions were used as stimulus images (Fig 1). Expressions were Threatening (10 aggressive dog faces; 10 angry human faces), Pleasant (10 positively valenced dog faces; 10 smiling human faces) and Neutral (10 expressionless dogs; 10 expressionless humans) (Table 1). The dog faces represented a total of 25 different breeds. Half of the human faces were images of women, half of men, balanced over expressions. Human portraits were acquired from royalty-free online stocks (e.g. MS ClipArt, 123RF®, BigStock). Canine photographs were acquired from authors' and photographer Aino Pikkusaari's collections, online image services (Google, Wikimedia Commons, Flickr) and royalty-free online stocks (123RF®, BigStock).
The gaze data were collected from five areas of interest (AOIs) of three facial expressions (Threatening, Pleasant and Neutral) of dogs and humans. The AOIs are drawn in the left panel: eyes, midface, mouth, inner face (eyes, midface and mouth combined) and the whole face. In the right panel, the averaged gaze fixation distributions of 12 dogs during 1500 ms presentations are given with color coding: the minimum fixation duration (≤ 5 ms) is indicated by light blue and maximum (≥ 100 ms) by bright red. See also S2 Movie for examples of scanning patterns. The original photos by S. Somppi and 123rf®. The images were purchased with a license to publish these images in electronic and printed documents and reports.
The low-level image properties (luminance, kurtosis, skewness, standard deviation and root mean square contrast) were assessed using MatLab 7.12 (MathWorksInc, USA). In addition, arousal and valence of the stimuli were independently ranked afterwards by 22 adult humans (with varying expertise and experience about dogs), naïve regarding the study protocol (11 females, 11 males, aged 25–46). Mean valence ratings with 7-point scales (1 = negative, 4 = neutral, 7 = positive) were as follows (mean ± SD): Threatening dog 1.79 ± 0.5, Threatening human2.47 ± 0.6, Pleasant dog 4.99 ± 0.6, Pleasant human 5.57 ± 0.4, Neutral dog 3.82 ± 0.5, Neutral human 3.61 ± 0.2. Arousal ratings (1 = not arousing, 7 = highly arousing) for each stimulus category were the following: Threatening dog 5.65 ± 0.6, Threatening human 5.02 ± 0.7, Pleasant dog 3.25 ± 0.9, Pleasant human 4.25 ± 0.7, Neutral dog 2.78 ± 1.0, Neutral human 2.48 ± 0.8.
The binocular eye movements of dogs were recorded with an infrared-based contact-free eye-tracker (iView X™ RED250, SensoMotoric Instruments GmbH, Germany), which was integrated below a 22" LCD monitor placed at an average distance of 0.70 m from the dogs' eyes (SD 0.03 m, ranging between 0.61 and 0.73 m). The distance was adjusted individually for each dog for optimal detection of the eyes with the eye tracker. The monitor, the eye tracker and the chin rest were placed in a cardboard cabin (h = 1.5 m, w = 0.9 m, d = 0.9 m) with three walls and a roof.
The eye tracker was calibrated for each dog's eyes using a five-point procedure (for details, see [49,50]. The calibrated area was the whole monitor, equal to a visual field of 40.5° x 24.4° from the average distance of 0.70 m. After a successful calibration, the calibration was saved and the accuracy of the calibration was checked twice. Dogs were free to change their position between the calibration and calibration check runs. The average calibration accuracy was 97% (SD 7%, ranging between 80 and 100%), scored as a proportion of fixated points out of five calibration points within 1° margin. Two of the 25 pet dogs were excluded from the experiment because of inadequate calibration accuracy (under 80%). To maximize the attentiveness and motivation of the dogs, the calibration and image viewing sessions were run on separate days. Illumination and the position of the chin rest, monitor, and eye tracker were kept the same during the calibration and the image viewing, and the accuracy of the central point fixations was re-assessed visually immediately before the image viewing. In our previous experiment, the calibrations of six dogs were tested four to six times, resulting in an average accuracy of 84% [49]. Thus, according to our previous findings, the stored calibration can be used repeatedly during separate days.
The stimulus presentation and the eye gaze tracking were conducted using a similar protocol as described in [50]. Dogs viewed a block of 8–12 images (1500 ms per image with 500 ms inter-stimulus-interval) independently while the experimenters and the owners waited behind the opaque barrier (S1 Movie). The stimulus block was followed by a break when the dog was rewarded; in total, six stimulus blocks were recorded per single measurement session. The length of a stimulus block and the order of the stimuli were randomized in order to prevent anticipatory behavior. Two measurement sessions were carried out on separate testing days. The time delays between the testing days were 3–12 days (average 5.2 days, SD 2.2).
Data processing
A total of 3,479 stimulus images yielded sufficient gaze data (Threatening dog N = 583; Threatening human N = 575; Pleasant dog N = 574; Pleasant human N = 589; Neutral dog N = 592; Neutral human N = 566; S1 Dataset). A total of 241 images were excluded from analysis because of missing data lasting over 750 ms during a single stimulus presentation (interrupted eye tracking due to technical problems or a dog's behavior). The raw gaze data were further processed using BeGaze 2.4™ software (SensoMotoric Instruments GmbH, Berlin, Germany) for defining of gaze fixations. The fixation was encoded if the minimum gaze duration was 75 ms and the maximum dispersion value D = 250 px [49].
Fixations were collected from five areas of interest (AOIs): eyes, midface (i.e. nose / muzzle), mouth (applied from [25,31]) and inner face (covering the combination of eyes, midface and mouth; applied from [11,18]) and the whole face (Fig 1). As the total viewing times vary for different pictures, and the size of the facial features varies for different depicted species, the looking duration was measured as a fixation score, which was normalized by taking into account both the relative size of the facial feature and the total face viewing duration (applied from [31,51,52]). For example, fixation score for the eye area was normalized by subtracting the relative AOI size (e.g. the size of the eyes divided by the size of the whole face) from the relative fixation duration (e.g. the total fixation time targeted to the eyes divided by the total fixation time targeted to the whole face area). Thus, if the value of fixation score is zero, fixations are distributed randomly. Positive fixation scores indicate that the AOI receives longer looking duration than would be expected according to the relative size of the area, and negative fixation scores indicate the opposite [51].
As a measure of speed of the attention, the entry time (i.e. the duration from stimulus onset to the first fixation targeted at certain AOI, ms) was calculated for all AOIs. In addition, the orientation of initial attention (i.e. the spatial distribution of the first fixations) was measured as the 1st fixation probability (%) (applied from [25,31]), which was calculated by counting the number of images where the first fixations hit the particular AOI (inner face, eyes, midface or mouth) and then dividing this value by the number of images where the first fixations hit the whole face area. Further, this proportion was normalized by subtracting the relative AOI size from it.
Statistical analysis
The statistical analysis was performed on the stimulus category means (S2 Dataset). Comparisons among expression conditions, depicted species and target facial features were conducted with a repeated measures linear mixed-effects model (MIXED) using a first order autoregressive (AR1) covariance structure. In the final model for analyzing the gazing behavior toward the inner face, the fixed effects were depicted species (dog or human), expression (Threatening, Pleasant or Neutral) and an interaction between depicted species and expression. In the final model for analyzing the fixation distribution among the facial features, the fixed effects were depicted species, expression, target facial feature (eyes, midface or mouth) and an interaction between species and facial feature. Other interactions were omitted as being statistically non-significant. The subject (i.e. the tested dog) and the testing day were included as random effects. The group (kennel dog or pet dog) and the gender of the subject were tested as random effects and omitted as being redundant for the models. In addition, the age of the subject, the calibration accuracy, low-level image properties and in the case of entry times, the actual AOI size and the AOI size in relation to the size of the whole face were tested as covariates, but omitted as being not statistically significant. The normality and homogeneity assumptions of the models were checked with normal probability plots of residuals against fitted values. The natural logarithm transformation was used for variables in which the residuals were not normally distributed and the values were back-converted for reporting. The covariance type of the linear mixed-effects models was selected by using the Akaike Information Criteria. Post hoc analyses with Bonferroni test, based on Student's t statistic, were included in the MIXED procedure. The alpha-level was set at 0.05, and the p-values are reported as adjusted values, considering values p < 0.05 as statistically significant (*) and p < 0.08 be a tendency (#). All the results are reported as estimated means with standard errors or means (Mean ± SD). All the statistical analyses were conducted with SPSS statistics 22.0 (IBM, New York, USA).
Gazing behavior toward inner face area
Fixation score.
The fixation scores toward the inner face area (i.e. the eyes, midface and mouth combined) did not differ significantly among the different facial expressions (main effect of the MIXED, p = 0.994). However, the interaction between the depicted species and expressions was statistically significant (p < 0.001). The post hoc tests revealed that dogs looked longer at the inner face of Threatening dogs compared with the inner face of Pleasant or Neutral dogs (Fig 2A), suggesting heightened attention toward the threatening signals of conspecifics. In contrast, when human faces were presented, the response was reversed (Fig 2A). Examples of the looking patterns of dogs are shown in Fig 1 and S2 Movie.
A) Fixation score B) 1st fixation probability for inner face area (eyes, midface and mouth combined) during viewing different facial expressions (Threatening, Pleasant and Neutral) of dogs and humans. The brackets with asterisks indicate statistically significant differences among the expressions within the depicted species (** p ≤ 0.01, * p < 0.05).
The fixation scores toward the inner face area differed significantly between the depicted species (main effect, p < 0.001; dog 0.124 ± 0.017, human 0.063 ± 0.017). Considering the significant interaction between the depicted species and expressions (p < 0.001), the post hoc tests revealed that dogs looked at inner faces of dogs longer compared with the inner faces of humans only in the Threatening expression (p < 0.001, Fig 2A).
1st fixation probability.
The probability of the 1st fixation to land on the inner face area did not differ significantly among the facial expressions (main effect, p = 0.173). However, the interaction between the depicted species and expressions was statistically significant (p = 0.003). The post hoc tests revealed that the inner faces of Threatening humans received lower likelihood to be the targets of the first fixations compared with the inner faces of Pleasant or Neutral humans (Fig 2B).
The probability of the 1st fixation to land on the inner face area differed significantly between the depicted species (main effect, p = 0.008; dog 0.213 ± 0.023, human 0.149 ± 0.023). Considering the significant interaction between the depicted species and expressions (p = 0.003), the post hoc tests revealed that the inner faces of Threatening dogs received higher likelihood to be the targets of the first fixations compared with the inner faces of Threatening humans (p < 0.001, Fig 2B).
Entry time.
The average entry time toward the inner face was 435.2 ms ± 22.0 ms with no statistically significant main effects for the expressions (p = 0.845) or the depicted species (p = 0.598). The interaction between the depicted species and expressions was not statistically significant (p = 0.893).
Gazing behavior toward eyes, midface and mouth
Fixation score.
The fixation scores toward different target facial features differed significantly from each other (main effect, p < 0.001; eyes 0.069 ± 0.007, midface 0.031 ± 0.007 mouth -0.031 ± 0.007). In addition, the interaction among the depicted species, expressions and target facial features was statistically significant (p < 0.001). The post hoc tests revealed that dogs looked longer at the eye area compared with the mouth area irrespective of the depicted species or expression (Fig 3).
The fixation scores for target facial features (eyes, midface and mouth) of the three facial expressions (Threatening, Pleasant and Neutral) of dogs and humans. The brackets above the bars indicate statistically significant differences among the target facial features within the species and the brackets below the bars differences among the expressions within the species (*** p ≤ 0.001, ** p ≤ 0.01, * p < 0.05, # p < 0.08).
The fixation scores toward the target facial features did not differ significantly among the expressions (main effect, p = 0.940). However, the interaction among the depicted species, expressions and target facial features was statistically significant (p < 0.001). The post hoc tests revealed that dogs looked longer at the mouths of Threatening and Neutral dogs compared with the mouths of Pleasant dogs (Fig 3). In addition, dogs looked longer at the midfaces of Threatening dogs compared with the midfaces of Pleasant dogs (Fig 3).
The fixation scores toward the target facial features differed significantly between the depicted species (main effect, p = 0.003; dog 0.032 ± 0.006, human 0.014 ± 0.006). In addition, the interaction among the depicted species, expressions and target facial features was statistically significant (p < 0.001). The post hoc tests revealed that dogs looked longer at threatening dogs compared with threatening humans within all facial feature areas (within the eyes p < 0.001; midface p = 0.019; mouth p = 0.027, Fig 3). Further, dogs looked at the eyes of Pleasant dogs longer than at the eyes of Pleasant humans (p = 0.032, Fig 3) and the mouths of Pleasant dogs shorter than the mouths of Pleasant humans (p = 0.030, Fig 3).
1st fixation probability.
The 1st fixation probabilities differed significantly among the target facial features (main effect, p < 0.001; eyes 0.092 ± 0.009, midface 0.056 ± 0.009, mouth -0.023 ± 0.009). The post hoc test revealed that eyes received higher likelihood to be targets of the first fixations compared with the midface (p = 0.016) or the mouth areas (p < 0.001) and the midface received higher likelihood compared with the mouth (p < 0.001). Furthermore, the depicted species differed significantly from each other in the 1st fixation probabilities (main effect, p = 0.017; dog 0.051 ± 0.007, human 0.030 ± 0.008). The main effect for the expressions was not statistically significant (p = 0.312), neither was the interaction among the depicted species, expressions and target facial features (p = 0.069). Examples of the first fixation targets are shown in Fig 4.
Fixations (circles) and scanning paths (lines between the circles) of two dogs during the 1500 ms presentations of three facial expressions (Threatening, Pleasant and Neutral) of dogs and humans faces. Different dogs are marked with different colors. White circles represent the targets of the first fixations. The original photos by S. Somppi and 123rf®. The images were purchased with a license to publish these images in electronic and printed documents and reports.
Entry time.
The gaze entry times to the different target facial features differed significantly (main effect, p = 0.002; eyes 503.4 ms ± 19.3 ms, midface 501.0 ms ± 20.3 ms, mouth 583.9 ms ± 24.2 ms). The post hoc test revealed that dogs fixated at the eyes and the midface areas faster than the mouth area (eyes vs. mouth p = 0.005 and midface vs. mouth p = 0.005). The main effects for the expression or the depicted species were not statistically significant (p = 0.576 and p = 0.628, respectively), neither was the interaction among the depicted species, expressions and target facial features (p = 0.966).
In this study, we broadened the scope of facial expression research to include the gazing behavior of domestic dogs (Canis familiaris). The present evidence confirms previous behavioral observations suggesting that dogs differentiate among depicted facial expressions [44–46] and adjust their viewing behavior spontaneously according to the observed emotion [46]. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence of emotion-related gaze patterns in non-primates. Despite primates and canids being distant in the phylogenetic tree, and their facial expressions having species-specific characteristics, the gazing behavior of dogs resembles the visual strategies of humans: their fixations are distributed among facial features systematically and their scanning behavior is modulated by facial expressions, especially that of threat. These phenomena may be based on phylogenetically old mechanisms.
Dogs scanned the facial features of conspecifics and humans in a similar manner from the initial attention: they fixated faster the eyes and midface areas than the mouth areas, and eyes received the higher probability to be the targets of the first fixations than the midfaces and the mouths. Likewise, humans, chimpanzees and macaque monkeys typically direct their first gaze preferentially on eyes [25,26,28,31,53,54] or just below them [23,31,55,56]. The initial focus is probably guided by a pre-attentive mechanism, which maximizes perceptual encoding performance [28,56].
Generally, dogs gazed at eyes overall longer than mouth areas regardless of the depicted species. Correspondingly, humans [24,26,28–31,57], chimpanzees [25,52,57], gorillas (Gorilla gorilla), orangutans (Pongo abelii) [57] and macaques [10,27,51,53,54] exhibit such fixation distribution among facial features (eyes > midface > mouth), even during viewing other species' faces [10,25,31,53,57], suggesting that face-like configurations trigger systematic scanning behavior automatically [31]. The present results confirm the previous assumption that eyes play a significant role in the face perception of dogs [50]. In humans the intenseness to look at eyes may have developed to serve language-like functions, as joint attentional and communicative interactions, which requires collecting eye information actively [25]. Taking into account that domestic dogs resemble humans in their gaze communication (for reviews, see [34,35]), the analogous explanation may also apply to dogs.
Dogs' gaze fixation distribution among the facial features was altered by the facial expression. In humans, expression-specific conspicuous visual properties (i.e. contrast, luminance, shape etc.) facilitate orienting toward particular facial structures [23]. However, physical saliency does not solely explain the locations of fixations [24], but attention is rather focused on the cues that are most relevant for encoding the certain emotion [24,26,28,29]. For example, humans view the mouths of pleasant faces most, probably because the mouth area is a key element for the detection and recognition of the human smile [23,24,29]. Dogs instead looked longer at the mouths of threatening and neutral dogs compared with the mouths of pleasant dogs. Likewise, chimpanzees [25] and rhesus monkeys [27] show heightened attention toward threatening mouths compared to pleasant mouths. For these animals the mouth area may be highly important for the interpretation of threatening expressions. Also the midface of threatening conspecifics' seems to be salient for dogs. Instead macaques attend the midface area most in pleasant (lipsmack) monkey faces [27], and humans in disgust and sad human faces [29]. Although these expressions represent different emotions, they all include distinctive wrinkled muzzle/nose gestures, which may attract attention. The fixations of dogs could accumulate in midface area also because dogs might covertly observe the eyes of potentially threatening individuals by fixating near to eyes, but not directly on them. However, dogs did not actually avoid the eyes of threatening conspecifics. Instead, during exposure to human faces dogs tended to look at angry eyes less than neutral eyes, which could be due to the eye contact aversion, as in humans [18]. Overall, the features which are characteristic of species specific expressions appear to attract attention. Despite the variation in fixation distributions among the expressions, dogs keep the main focus on the eyes irrespective of the seen expression, corresponding to gazing behavior of humans [24,26,28–30].
The examination of the inner facial features as a whole revealed that the threatening faces evoked unique gazing patterns compared with the pleasant or neutral faces, referring to distinct visuo-cognitive processing strategies for threat-related facial expressions [11]. The result suggests that dogs do not base their perception of facial expressions on viewing of single structures, but the interpretation of the composition formed by eyes, midface and mouth. Dogs may process facial expressions holistically, at least threatening expressions. Further research is needed to clarify what perceptional strategy (purely visual saliency, featural or holistic [23,24,28,29]) dogs use in the recognition of facial expressions.
Notably, the attentional bias was dependent on the depicted species: dogs looked at the threatening dog faces for longer than at the other expressions of conspecifics, but scanned the threatening human faces in a contrary way, apparently avoiding looking at them. In primates including humans, threatening stimuli commonly enhance attention toward threatening conspecifics, which has been documented as accelerated initial orientation toward threat [8,9] or overall prolonged attention [9,11,12,16] which is the consequence of delay in disengaging the attention away from threat [13–15,58]. In dogs, we did not find evidence of faster orientation toward threatening faces: in terms of the entry time, dogs fixated on all expressions equally quickly. Instead, the sustained attention may arise from great interest toward threatening conspecific faces (interest guides dogs' gaze fixations; [49,50]), or difficulties in disengaging the attention away from threat [13,58]. Such "stuck attention" has been suggested to be linked to a fear-induced freezing behavior, an evolutionarily important mechanism controlled by the amygdala [21,59]. The amygdala guides attention to emotionally significant stimuli, such as potentially harmful external events. The emotional response is further modulated by the prefrontal cortex, which enables more flexible behavioral outcomes. In arousing situations, the amygdala overrides prefrontal modulation and leads to failure to disengage attention away from the threatening stimuli (for reviews, see [21,22,59]). Arousal and fear relevance tend to be positively correlated with heightened attention [16,20,27,58]. Thus, it is possible that the images of aggressive dogs held attention because dogs find them more arousing than the images of angry humans. However, without physiological measurements we are not able to draw any conclusions about the subjective emotional state of dogs.
Dogs appeared to deem depicted angry human faces aversive, as has been proposed by the behavioral observations [45]. The avoidance of threatening stimuli is typical of anxious humans (for reviews, see [20,22]) but has also been observed in healthy humans [17,18] and monkeys during stressful emotional states [9]. Dogs avert their gaze from threatening human faces as early as the first fixations, which suggests that dogs can recognize the valence of the expression by their covert attention [60] even before the first fixations. Rapid gaze avoidance has been linked to submissive behavior [19]. Considering dogs' flexible inter-species social communication [34,35] and their sensitivity to human threat signals [36,61], the gaze aversion from the threatening human faces could be a manifestation of appeasing behavior. This may be a learned mannerism, as in humans [18], or domestication may have equipped dogs with a propensity to display conflict-avoiding signals toward humans. In general, dogs show more common and severe aggressive reactions toward other dogs than people [62–63]. Selection for reduced human-directed aggression has likely shaped dogs to be highly tolerant to humans [64]. Flexible utilization of conflict-resolving behaviors may be a prominent element of domestic dogs' social competence, which has enabled them to form peaceful mixed-species groups with humans [61,64].
Differential scanning of own-species' and other-species' threat signals may arise also from biological relevance of the stimuli [15,65,66]. Dog and human faces are both social and likely also emotional stimuli for dogs, but faces of conspecifics may carry more biological significance for them. Biological emotional stimuli (e.g. object relevant to survival or reproduction) and social emotional stimuli (e.g. object relevant to social life) are perhaps processed in different pathways and thus they alter attention contrarily [65–67]. In humans, biologically relevant images are detected rapidly and they facilitate attention engagement because of the strong amygdala activity and interconnection between the amygdala and the visual cortex. Instead, socially emotional images evoke greater activity in the prefrontal cortex-based circuit [59,65,67]. We propose that in the present study the initial attention was driven by the earlier limbic pathways during the viewing of both canine and human faces. Further, the biologically more relevant threatening conspecific faces were mainly processed via this route, which led to heightened attention. Threatening human faces received more complex prefrontal processing instead, which led to the avoidance response. The enhanced prefrontal modulation could be linked to submissive behavior [19] and/or memory-based social evaluations [66].
The subjects' current emotional state (e.g. stress) and personality (e.g. anxiousness and neuroticism) [9,20,22,59], and also the stimulus types and paradigm may have affected the results in our study. In future studies the interaction among phylogenetic, biological and personal validity of the stimuli should be taken into account. For example, do dogs exhibit attentional bias toward biological stimuli that evoke a phylogenetic fear response (e.g. snakes) versus non-biological stimuli, which evoke an ontogenetic fear response (e.g. nail clippers; for examples of paradigms, see [15,58,65–67])? The physical saliency of the stimuli should be controlled by using saliency models [68] and stimuli that are not socially relevant, but morphologically similar to the dog faces (e.g. other animal faces or artificial stimuli). In addition, the investigation should be broadened to other emotionally informative facial structures, including their movements, for example ears [27,42].
In conclusion, during viewing emotional faces of conspecifics and humans, domestic dogs' gaze fixations spread systematically among facial features: regardless of the viewed expression, eyes were the most probable targets of the first fixations and gathered overall more attention than mouth area. The primacy of eyes suggests that eyes are physically salient and/or highly informative facial feature for dogs. However, dogs did not base their perception of facial expressions on viewing single facial structures, but the interpretation of the composition formed by eyes, midface and mouth. They evaluated social threat signals rapidly, and this evaluation led to attentional bias, which emerged as enhanced attention or avoidance, depending on the biological validity of the stimuli. We propose that the biologically more relevant threatening conspecific faces are processed mainly by the earlier limbic pathways, which results in enhanced attention. In contrast, the avoidance response induced by the threatening signals of humans may be more modulated by the prefrontal cortex. These two mechanisms may both have an adaptive significance for domestic dogs. The tolerant behavior strategy of domestic dogs toward humans may partially explain the results. The present findings bring a new perspective to understanding the processing of emotional expressions in non-primate animals. Exploring further the sensitivity to social threat in canids provides a novel comparative approach to unravel the etiology of neurocognitive-affective disorders that exist in both humans and dogs, such as social phobias and anxiety.
Supporting Information
S1 Dataset. The data file including raw gaze variables.
One sample represents the gazing behavior during one stimulus image presentation.
S2 Dataset. The data file including the averaged gaze variables.
One sample represents the mean gazing behavior averaged over all image presentations of one stimulus category (per a dog, per a day).
S1 Movie. An example of a measurement session demonstrating how dogs settled down in the pre-trained position and viewed a block of stimuli while their eye gaze was recorded with a contact-free eye-tracker.
The original photos used as stimuli images by A. Pikkusaari, MS ClipArt, 123rf® and BigStock. The images were purchased with a license to publish these images in electronic and printed documents and reports.
S2 Movie. An example of a stimulus block with the visualized scanning patterns of dogs.
The original photos by S. Somppi and 123rf®. The images were purchased with a license to publish these images in electronic and printed documents and reports.
We thank Aino Pikkusaari for wonderful dog photographs, Reeta Törne for assisting in the experiments and Aija Koskela for the data preparation. Special thanks go to all pet dog owners for dedication to the training of their dogs.
Author Contributions
Conceived and designed the experiments: SS HT LH CMK OV. Performed the experiments: SS HT. Analyzed the data: SS LH. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: OV CMK MVK. Wrote the paper: SS MVK LH OV CMK HT.
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text:
After the Bitcoin price slipped below $28,500 late Sunday night (EST), the hoped-for bounce in response to the seizure of First Republic Bank (FRC) has failed to materialize. While recent bank failures have sparked an upward momentum for Bitcoin, the price is currently hovering around $28,600.
First Republic Sold To JP Morgan
Over the weekend, attempts were made to prevent a collapse of First Republic Bank. A few hours ago, the U.S. Deposit Insurance Corporation found a solution: JP Morgan Chase will buy FRC. The banking giant will take over the assets of First Republic Bank.
The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) announced that the US deposit insurer Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has accepted JPMorgan's offer to take over the financially distressed regional bank. First Republic's branches will reopen as JPMorgan Chase.
Remarkably, even U.S. law was set aside for this, as U.S. banks are not allowed to make acquisitions that would give them more than 10% of U.S. deposits. As The Kobeissi Letter wrote, JP Morgan already owned 16.1% of all U.S. bank deposits prior to the deal. Thus, the largest bank in the U.S. becomes even larger.
Percentage of Deposits Controlled by US Banks:
1. JP Morgan: 16.1%
2. Bank of America: 14.8%
3. Wells Fargo: 10.9%
4. Citibank: 5.8%
5. US Bank: 3.4%
6. Truist: 3.4%
7. PNC Bank: 3.3%
8. TD Bank: 2.9%
9. Charles Schwab: 2.7%
10. Capital One: 2.6%The top 15 banks control 75% of…
— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) April 30, 2023
According to insiders, half a dozen banks participated in the bidding process for First Republic Bank, including Citizens Financial and PNC Financial Services. JPMorgan will assume all of First Republic's remaining $103.9 billion in deposits and buy most of its $229.1 billion in assets, the FDIC announced.
Under the agreement, the FDIC will share losses with the bank. The agency estimated that its insurance fund would take a $13 billion hit in the deal.
Bitcoin Price Remains Sub $29,000
In the Bitcoin and crypto community, the collapse of First Republic Bank caused not only schadenfreude, but also hope for a rise in the price. As with the first wave of bank failures in the U.S., there was hope that the bailout would increase liquidity in the financial system.
BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes wrote in advance that the problem with FRC is that its balance sheet contains few government bonds and a lot of other assets like commercial real estate loans that were not suitable collateral for the Bank Term Funding program.
Therefore unless some muppet bank decides to bail out FRC, expect over the weekend the Bank Term Funding Program is expanded to allow other types of loans to be eligible to be swapped for freshly printed dollaz.
And then $BTC will take another leg up as another few trillion $ are added to the tab. Money Printer go Brrr!!!
Unfortunately for Bitcoin investors, this did not happen as JP Morgan was given special permission to take over FRC. At press time, the Bitcoin price was at $28,574, stabilizing after Sunday's drop.
Featured image from iStock, chart from TradingView.com

subset: commoncrawl


text:
DCAA (Defense Contract Audit Agency) was created by act of Congress in 1965 to perform all necessary contract audits for the Department of Defense (DOD). Their mission also includes providing accounting and financial advisory services to all DOD components in connection with the negotiation, administration and settlement of contracts and subcontracts.
Today DCAA employs more than 3,600 auditors and maintains more than 350 branches and sub-offices around the world. In recent years, DCAA has also provided its services to many other Government agencies on a cost-reimbursement basis.


text: As indicated by its name, this unit is all about fun! Party goers will be entertained for hours by jumping, crawling, climbing, sliding and playing basketball. This Fun House 7 in 1 Combo compliments any event. Ages = Kids To Adults Power Requirement = (1)110 Circuit (20 amps) Size = 22' L x 20' W x 15' H Rental Rate = $305.00


text:
Via Fangraphs (click to embiggen)
- The legend is dead, so print it: Tanner Roark (-23.2%) gives up 4 ER over 6 IP on 2 Ks and a walk.
- Early false hope: Ryan Zimmerman (+9.6%) hits an RBI double in the 2nd for the early lead (+15.8%).
- Later false hope: Adam LaRoche (+15.0%) is 2-4 with a game-tying solo shot to lead off the 4th (+12.9%).
- Failing faily fail: Ian Desmond (-16.9%) is 0-3 with 2 LOB and a GDP.
- FAIL: Jerry Blevins (-9.4%) only gets 2 outs in the 7th before coughing up 3 ER.
Tonight's WPA brought to you by clever people, like me, who speak loudly in restaurants:


text:
Milwaukee health officials explain why city is not allowing in-person learning
MILWAUKEE -- Milwaukee Health Department officials are responding to protests -- and offering an explanation as to why they are prohibiting in-person learning in the city.
The health department said on Friday, the city is currently in phase four of its assessment of COVID's impact on the community, which prohibits schools (public and private) from holding in-person classes.
In a statement released on Monday, July 20 explaining their reasoning, health officials said, "We are waiting for federal and state guidance. And without such, believed it was not appropriate to allow schools to open without these detailed plans."
The statement also says there would be a higher rate of disease transmission at schools compared to bars and restaurants because children are in school eight hours a day where consistent social distancing and good hygiene would be a challenge.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett also released a statement this afternoon echoing the health department's position:
"I would like schools to have the option to open for in-person classes this fall, but only if they meet specific criteria and public health authorities feel it is safe."
Officials with the health department say once updated CDC guidelines are released, they will revisit the Moving Milwaukee Forward Safely Order.


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Roamer Technologies, a Tech Startup at the National Incubation Centre (NIC) in Islamabad has launched ezBike, a city-wide electric bike sharing service.
ezBike, powered by Jazz, has been launched this Wednesday in the capital and aims to revolutionize the eco-friendly transport industry of the country. The Startup has launched an application and has deployed electric bikes around the city. Users can conveniently unlock the bike through the application and ride it till their destination where they can park it at the nearest designated zone, ready to be used by the next user.
The statement issued yesterday says that the service takes 5 rupees to unlock the bike and then an additional 5 rupees for every minute you use it. A total hour nonstop would, this way, amount to 305 rupees. The rider can also pause to run errands or the likes; pausing a ride reduces the minutely rate to a low 2 rupees. Payments can be made through JazzCash – ezBike has partnered up with the cellular company Jazz through Jazz xlr8 to smoothen the payment process for the service.
Roamer Technologies' CEO, Mr Mohammad Hadi pointed out hat only 10 percent of the Pakistani population owns a motor vehicle. "With ezBike we are providing access to shared vehicles to every individual in Pakistan. This is the next wave of disruption in mobility. It will be the most cost-effective, convenient, and environmentally friendly mode of transportation in Pakistan, and in a COVID-impacted world, self-drive provides a safe way for people to move around Islamabad while maintaining social distancing."
The launching ceremony was held at the NIC Islamabad. Many known dignitaries, including IT & Telecom Minister Syed Aminul Haque were present at the event.
"It is a proud moment for Pakistan that innovative companies like ezBike are being launched in Pakistan," said the Minister. "The future of Pakistan lies in Information Technology and without tech innovation we cannot progress. Electric vehicle technology is the biggest game changer for the mobility market and our government will support startups that want to leverage this technology."
He also mentioned that this service could be particularly useful to women all around the city. It can provide them with a safe a fast way of commuting. The Ministry, he mentioned, will continue to support such projects that help better the lives of the common public.
Syed Aminul Haque went on to give a special mention to Jazz and other public and private partner for their valuable contribution to the project: "We would also like to acknowledge the role of Jazz in supporting the Startup ecosystem through our national network of incubators. I would like to congratulate public private partners such as Ignite, Jazz xlr8 and Teamup that are proving to be an effective catalyst in scaling-up the startups."
Bike sharing companies have come to be the next big thing when it comes to public transport. As Mr Hadi mentioned, with the Coronavirus roaming our streets, people feel much safer travelling on their own as opposed to on a public transport with other people in close vicinity. With ezBike, Roamer Technologies aims to deploy over 2,000 vehicles within the next year to make travelling alone a more accessible idea. They also aim to bring millions of dollars in Foreign Direct Investments into Pakistan, which will greatly benefit our economy and our GDP.


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We are delighted to announce new indices and name changes for the HAN-GINS Cloud Technology UCITS ETF (SKYY) and HAN-GINS Indxx Healthcare Innovation UCITS ETF (WELL) as they build to target expanding growth opportunities in the Cloud Technology and Healthcare Innovation sectors. The funds will also be re-named the HANS-GINS Cloud Technology Equal Weight UCITS ETF (SKYY) and the HAN-GINS Indxx Healthcare Megatrend Equal Weight UCITS ETF (WELL) effective 9th April.
For both SKYY and WELL there will be an inclusion of a negative ESG screen including: norms based screening, controversial weapons screening and a simple fossil fuel sector screen.
HAN-GINS Cloud Technology UCITS ETF (SKYY)
The global pandemic has had a monumental impact on many aspects of our day to day lives, not least in how we interact with one another.
Investor demand for solutions in the sectors has seen more than $1 billion [1] in assets invested in Cloud Technology UCITS ETFs since SKYY launched which was the first in the sector in Q4 2018. The pandemic and global lockdowns have transformed the Cloud market in the past year with Cloud spending expected to hit $500 billion within two years.
Changes to SKYY:
Updating the index methodologies positions the funds to benefit from a broader range of stocks – SKYY's index will track 75 constituents and include companies from the three major sub-themes of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS). SaaS will have the larger share of the portfolio.
SKYY will track the Solactive Cloud Technology Equal Weight Index where top 10 holdings include companies such as Teradata Corp, Avaya Holdings, Hewlett Packard, Intel Corp, and Extreme Network. Around three-quarters of the index is US-based, and back-tested performance showed it achieved 56.88% returns last year.
The effective date of the SKYY index change and the new name change to the HANS-GINS Cloud Technology Equal Weight UCITS ETF (SKYY) will be 9th April.
Download the SKYY change information document
HAN-GINS Indxx Healthcare Innovation UCITS ETF (WELL)
The HAN-GINS Indxx Healthcare Innovation UCITS ETF (WELL) has received significant inflows across the past twelve months, with the sector having attracted renewed interest from investors amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Medical innovation is now firmly at the forefront on many investors' minds, with emergent technologies and solutions having been necessitated by the events of 2020 and the emergence of healthcare innovation sectors such as telemedicine is expected to grow at over 30% a year to 2025.
Changes to WELL:
The new methodology enables WELL to add the sub-theme of Telemedicine which has performed strongly during the pandemic as well as expanding healthcare analytics to include bioinformatics and adding information technology services and medical/nursing services as an industry. Sub-themes will be capped to avoid over-reliance.
The methodology switches to equal weighting from market capitalisation ensuring smaller innovative firms can contribute better to performance and an ESG screen is being added so only companies that comply with the UN Global Compact principles, are not involved in controversial weapons, and have low fossil fuel exposure can be included.
WELL will track the Indxx Global NextGen Healthcare Index which focuses on sub-themes including Genome Sequencing, Healthcare Analytics, Robotics, Medical Devices, Biological Engineering, Neuroscience, Telemedicine, Healthcare Trackers, Nanotechnology and Bioinformatics.
Download the WELL change information document
Rebalance for Tech Megatrend (ITEK)
The HAN-GINS Tech Megatrend Equal Weight UCITS ETF (ITEK) is targeting growth in the Blockchain sub-sector after rebalancing to include 11 new Blockchain holdings. One of eight subthemes, Blockchain now represents approximately 13% of ITEK, therefore positioning it to benefit from increasing interest in the sector.
More information about the GinsGlobal ETF funds can be found here


text:
Whatever the size of your business a business cell phone bundle will demonstrate priceless. The Business world has consistently moved at a high speed and today that speed is much quicker to oblige innovation. Possessing an extraordinarily adjusted and dependable business cell phone is an insightful choice. You can convey, see and send a wide range of media moving. The business cell phone has duties that are extraordinarily for business purposes. It is for the most part perceived that a business versatile will require more expense adequacy, and usefulness than an individual telephone. In case you are ready to go you need a telephone with a long battery life and clear, continuous, inclusion. You might have to settle on extensive decisions to customers, providers, or representatives.
A business portable can work on your organization and carry many advantages to your functioning hours. It very well may be isolated from your loved ones calls and be utilized solely for your business use. A portable intended for business has bunches of additional components included with the standard custom-made estimating plan. You should take as much time as necessary to investigate the various choices accessible and discover one to best suit your prerequisites. As a finance manager, the picture and productivity you task can be improved with the right business versatile. Business telephones arrive in a wide scope of styles and shadings. A few telephones are fundamental yet vigorous, brilliant yet easy to work. Other business mobiles are more specialized, with choices to add helpful applications, peruse the Web, and send and get email.
Contingent upon your inclinations there is a gigantic decision of business cell phones and organizations. These refined business networks likewise cater for all the standard diversion channels. You can stay up with the latest with all the most recent news and business news as it occurs. There is admittance to games, TV, sport results, music and internet buying. Some plans of action will be fit for survey and settling on video decisions; this can be fundamental when managing far off customers. The appropriate response machine and informing administrations can undoubtedly be redone to your named business. By having a business versatile you can guarantee you can generally be reached should you be required. At the point when it rings you will know in a split second that it is a business call.
Assuming you need to travel abroad for your undertakings, you need consolation that the telephone can abundantly deal with abroad interchanges. Your telephone can be your small scale convenient PC office. It can store significant reports, numbers, and your location book for moment access. You can impart and share your thoughts in a moment. Stay in contact with the most recent happenings in your industry through informal communication. Utilize the different texting administrations for visits and limited time techniques.
Whenever you have picked the ideal business telephone for yourself as well as your business, you can discover a valuing plan to commend it. Continuously read the important part of any agreement to ensure you will approach all that you are paying for. You may likewise require some type of protection for your telephone should you lose it or it be taken. Business mobiles will in general have this remembered for their bundles and may incorporate a speedy substitution. There are a few primary producers of solid business correspondence hardware. Investigate and perceive how they can assist with further developing your organization activities.


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In the world of electronics, nothing is created equal. This is also applicable to batteries. A 10AH (ampere-hour) rated battery is not exactly 10AH in actual. This variation on capacity is a big problem when connecting battery in series because the battery with least capacity will be the first to full charge and full discharge. This is where you need a battery balancing circuit.
Battery Balancing Techniques
There are many methods but we will only focus on the 2 most common used for battery balancing.
PASSIVE BALANCING / Resistor loads
The first method is using resistor load also known as passive balancing. On this method we use resistor to discharge the battery with highest charge voltage. Some circuit designs only monitors per cell, the resistor loads will activate when the cell reaches its maximum voltage.
The main problem with this kind of method is that it is wasting power
* Simple
* Cheap
* Wasting power – not efficient
ACTIVE BALANCING / CAPACITOR based balancing
The second most common method is the active balancing using capacitors. In this method, we are using a capacitor to charge on the cell with higher voltage and discharge it to the cell with lower voltage. It is like you are charging the cell with lower voltage using the cell with the higher voltage. This method is vey efficient.
You might also like: https://tataylino.com/automatic-solar-backup-power-system/


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Scott's bagpipes not only play beautiful music, they also double up as a magical jetpack! However, the jetpack only works when someone with the magical powers controls it...that someone is YOU! Activate the jetpack to give wee Scott some height, collecting coins and avoiding dangerous lasers along the way!
Jetpack Adventure is one of my favorites! We clearly have awesome taste! Come and play more of my fave fun games!


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Callcredit Leads Fight To Prevent Fraudsters From "Raising The Dead"
Callcredit is to make it more difficult for fraudsters to obtain credit using dead people's identities by providing lenders with a deceased persons check as part of their standard credit reference reports - the first UK credit reference agency to do so.
Callcredit product director Graham Lund said:
"Currently it is not industry practice to carry out a deceased persons check when someone applies for credit. By making it an integral part of our credit reports we are plugging a gap in the credit industry's defences against fraudsters."
According to CIFAS, the UK's fraud prevention service, impersonation of the dead is Britain's fastest growing form of identity theft. From 15,000 cases in 2001, latest estimates suggest there were over 70,000 cases in 2004 and CIFAS is predicting the problem could soon reach 100,000 cases a year if no action is taken.
Chief executive of CIFAS Peter Hurst said:
"The ability for lenders and insurers to check whether an applicant is dead is a very welcome development. New services like this will help to avoid the unwelcome trauma caused to bereaved partners and families who discover a dead person is being impersonated by criminals."
Callcredit's Graham Lund added:
"Fraudsters who impersonate the dead are not only costing the credit industry millions of pounds each year, they are also causing unimaginable grief and distress to the families of their victims. This is a significant step forward in tackling the problem."
Callcredit's deceased check utilises a variety of industry sources of deceased records, including Halo and The Bereavement Register.
Callcredit is committed to protecting its customers against fraudsters. It was the first credit reference agency to introduce deceased persons checks into its identity verification services and is now the first agency to add deceased persons checks as part of its credit reports.
Callcredit recently demonstrated its forward thinking approach by announcing a partnership with Quova to use its GeoPoint geolocation service. The partnership will allow Callcredit's clients, including online retailers and banks, a critical extra level of authentication by verifying the real-world location of online customers.


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Airbus SE cut its full-year delivery target and said cash flow will be lower than expected as it struggles to capitalize on the grounding of Boeing Co.'s 737 Max.
The company now expects to hand over about 20 fewer jets than it previously forecast as production challenges slow output of A320neo-series aircraft, it said in a statement Wednesday. The free cash flow goal was cut by a quarter.
Airbus has struggled to keep up with demand for the so-called cabin-flex version of the narrow-body's A321 variant. The configuration allows airlines to choose between more seats or longer range by adding a new rear section and changing the door layout. The holdups come at a time when demand for the model is surging and with the rival Max idled after two fatal crashes.
"We are focused on the A320neo ramp-up and improving the industrial flow while managing the higher level of complexity," Chief Executive Officer Guillaume Faury said in the release.
That will be especially vital as the flex layout becomes standard on the A321 next year and Airbus builds more LR or long-range variants of the plane, as well as working toward production of an even further-flying XLR option.
Airbus fell as much as 3.3% and was trading 2.5% lower at 122.62 euros as of 9:04 a.m. in Paris, paring gains this year to 47% and reducing the Toulouse, France-based planemaker's market value to 96 billion euros ($107 billion). Boeing is up 8.2%.
The European manufacturer's assembly lines are being stretched as single-aisle output reaches a record 60 jets a month, rising to 63 by 2021. At the same time, the A321 has become the group's top-seller with 81 orders through September net of cancellations, a third more than for the baseline A320.
A380 Wind-Down
Adjusted profit before interest and tax rose 2% to 1.6 billion euros in the third quarter, more than the 1.36 billion euros estimated by analysts. That was before one-time costs from the A380 superjumbo program, which is being wound down, and Germany's suspension of defense exports to Saudi Arabia.
Airbus stood by guidance for an increase in adjusted full-year Ebit of about 15% despite the scrapping of the 880-to-890-plane delivery goal and the reduced cash flow target of 3 billion euros -- something finance chief Dominik Asam said on a conference call reflects increased per-plane profitability.
The company won orders for 303 commercial jets through September, excluding cancellations, versus 170 at Boeing. Sales efforts have generally taken second place to the production push, with many airlines put off by long delivery times amid record backlogs, or waiting to see when the Max will fly again.
The order picture improved for Airbus Tuesday when Indian budget airline IndiGo announced a 300-plane deal for the A320neo worth $33 billion at list prices and ranking among Airbus's biggest ever contracts. Faury said the blockbuster accord reflects generally healthy levels of industry demand.
At the same time, the imposition of U.S. import duties on foreign-built Airbus jets will become tougher to manage next year, the CEO said, while suggesting that an anticipated World Trade Organization ruling allowing the European Union to impose similar measures on Boeing will help level the playing field.
Faury said Airbus is working on a "corrective solution" for the A220 model -- formerly the Bombardier Inc. C Series -- which is no longer allowed to operate at full power at high altitudes following several incidents with its engines, including one in which pieces came off mid-flight.
Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg was grilled by Congress Tuesday and found himself defending his company's right to approve its own designs, and quizzed on why the Max was allowed to remain in service after the first of two fatal crashes that killed 346 people.
The tab for the Max grounding hit $9.2 billion in the third quarter, with the company burning through more cash in the period than for almost 25 years.


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Anja Schneider is a DJ, producer, radio broadcaster, label boss, tireless creative force and mentor; recognised in 2021 with the award of a Honour Prize by The Berlin Music Commission for having had "an outstanding impact on the music scene." as recognition for her work supporting fellow artists and cultural institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Anja continues to operate as one of electronic music's most vital artists, currently focused on multiple projects including the newly launched 'Berlin Beats' daily drive-time show on national German broadcaster Beats Radio, her Sous Music record label, the main home for Anja's own productions and avant guard artists she admires, plus 'Club Room' an internationally syndicated weekly radio show and 'Club Room: Backstage' - a thriving interview podcast series.
As a broadcaster, Schneider's holds the prime-time Friday night slot at major Berlin broadcaster Radio Eins, with a weekly show 'Club Room' which is syndicated globally to a international network of FM and digital stations. Continuing where her Fritz Radio program 'Dance Under the Blue Moon' left off, Anja Schneider has been responsible for introducing a generation of Berliners to electronic music since 2000. Reinforcing her status as one of the most astute tastemakers in electronic music.
Latest Release
Resident Advisor


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Applied animal behaviourists diagnose and treat behavioural problems in animals. Although this includes working with animals in captivity, such as in zoos, the most common area of work is pet behaviour counselling.
Pet behaviour counsellors work with companion animals, such as dogs, cats, birds, rabbits and horses. The problems they deal with include:
Pet behaviour counsellors have pet owners referred to them by veterinary surgeons. They see owners and their pets at their own clinic, in veterinary surgeons' clinics or at the owner's home. The work involves:
Pet behaviour counsellors are responsible for the health and safety of pets, owners, themselves and other people when handling animals and producing treatment plans. This is important because some animals can be aggressive.
Pet behaviour counsellors may specialise in one or more type of animal. Some also offer animal training.
Most applied animal behaviourists are self-employed and have no set working hours. They may work during evenings and weekends when clients are available. Employed animal behaviourists are likely to work 35 to 40 hours a week within normal office hours.
They spend much of their time in consultations in clinics or at clients' homes. Consultations usually take between 90 minutes and two hours. Observing animals may require some outdoors work, in all weather.
Most animal behaviourists spend some time travelling between clients or clinics. A driving licence may be useful.
Newly-qualified applied animal behaviourists may earn from around £15,000 a year. Earnings vary widely depending on charges, expenses and how much business is generated. Very few people make a full-time living from being a pet behaviour counsellor. Some supplement their income by writing articles, teaching and lecturing.
The animal behaviourist field is small, although the number of pet behaviour counsellors is actually growing and there are now about 100 to 200 in the UK. Although most applied animal behaviourists are self-employed, a few are employed by some of the larger welfare charities, such as Blue Cross and Dogs Trust.
There is no single recognised entry route, but to join the register of Certificated Clinical Animal Behaviourists (CCAB), (which is administered by the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour), applicants need a degree or a postgraduate qualification in a biological or behavioural science.
The Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors (APBC) also requires a degree as the minimum level acceptable for membership. The APBC lists some relevant animal behaviour degree courses on its website.
In addition to relevant qualifications, entry to animal behaviourist work requires practical, hands-on experience of working with animals. Examples include working in kennels, a cattery, stables or a veterinary practice, or for one of the animal welfare societies.
Entry to a degree course is usually with at least two A levels/three H grades (often including biology and/or other science subjects) and five GCSE's/S grades (A-C/1-3), including English and maths, or equivalent qualifications.
Postgraduate courses usually require a first degree in a relevant subject, such as animal science, biology, zoology, veterinary science or psychology.
There are a number of lower-level courses related to animal behaviour that may be useful as a foundation before progressing to a degree qualification, such as Foundation degrees, HNC's/HND's, BTEC/SQA national qualifications, NVQ's/SVQ's and other certificates or diplomas in animal behaviour. The APBC lists some of these courses on its website.
Animal behaviour courses vary considerably in content. Some deal only with companion animals, others also cover farm, laboratory or zoo animals. Courses tend to cover animal science (anatomy and physiology), health, psychology, behaviour, training and welfare.
To become an ASAB certificated clinical animal behaviourist requires at least:
To become a full member of the APBC, applicants need:
Pet behaviour counsellors who are ASAB certificated clinical animal behaviourists may also apply for full membership of the APBC.
Applied animal behaviourists continue learning throughout their career. They read research papers and journals, and attend seminars, workshops and conferences to keep up to date with the latest developments.
Oil Drilling Roustabouts and Roughnecks work as part of a small team on offshore oil or gas drilling rigs or production platforms. Roustabouts do unskilled manual labouring jobs on rigs and platforms, and Roughneck is a promotion from roustabout.
Roustabouts do basic tasks to help keep the rig and platform working efficiently and Roughnecks do practical tasks involved in the drilling operation, under the supervision of the driller.
An applied animal behaviourist should:
Prospects for self-employed applied animal behaviourists depend on their ability to attract business.
Experienced animal behaviourists may move into teaching or lecturing. They may also write articles on animal behaviour.
Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors (APBC),
PO Box 46, Worcester WR8 9YS
Tel: 01386 751151
Website: www.apbc.org.uk
Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour (ASAB),
Membership Secretary, 82A High Street, Sawston, Cambridge CB22 3HJ
Website: www.asab.nottingham.ac.uk
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How to Write a Job Application Letter
Get Help with Workplace Bullying
How to Balance Self-Care with Your Remote Side Job
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Take A Hike With Great Canadian Trails
Active holiday specialists Great Canadian Trails has introduced a no deposit booking offer to give travellers the peace of mind to book their next hiking and cycling trip for 2020 or 2021.
Great Canadian Trails manager Nathalie Gauthier said the offer is designed to remove any financial risk to travellers who are ready to start planning their next trip, and be the first in line when it's possible to explore once again.
Gauthier explained: "We expect a renewed interest in active outdoor experiences, particularly remote and wilderness trips. Canada is the perfect destination for this type of travel, and our experience will serve us well as travellers are likely travel closer to home in the short term."
In addition to the $0 booking offer, Great Canadian Trails have further enhanced their operating procedures and practices, adding new measures around COVID-19 to ensure travellers' safety and minimize the risk of spreading the virus.
The new COVID-19 specific practices include new screening procedures for client's pre-departure, rules to ensure all passengers travelling in group vehicles wear masks, deep cleaning of vehicles and equipment, and new regulations governing food preparation.
Great Canadian Trails supports different networks of trails around the country. Included in all tour packages which use The Great Trail is a $50 donation to support the pan-Canadian project; on the Bruce Trail to the Bruce Trail Conservancy; and on the East Coast Trail to the East Coast Trail Association.
Its supported formula allows travellers to cycle, paddle, or hike without the burden of carrying their luggage, whether on a guided or supported self-guided holiday. Great Canadian Trails' trip ranges from a challenging hike in the Yukon on the Tombstone Range with an expert wilderness guide to more leisurely multi-day bike rides in Quebec's Laurentians on Le P'tit Train du Nord rail trail with luggage transfers from inns to inns.
On the cutting edge of adventure travel, Great Canadian Trails crafts itineraries that cater to the individual needs and styles of its travellers.
Hike on over to https://greatcanadiantrails.com/ for more.


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….I dropped my iPhone.
Yup, if I wasn't screwed enough, I just got screweder. Now, how was I supposed to enjoy those job rejection texts?
When I called to cancel my service, I was made aware that I could get an upgraded phone for 30 more bucks a month on my AT&T bill. Why not?
While I'm waiting, I do some research and I'm blown away by the capabilities of these things. They shoot 4K resolution, slow motion, time lapse and you can even make a phone call if you have to.
Plus, they have every kind of accessory you can imagine. I bought a mic and a green screen, moved some chairs in my kitchen and shot my first show. I use a laptop as a teleprompter when I run out of things to say. 🙂
Now, I am a "hard core" video producer. To the bone. I love it. I've been doing this for almost 20 years, mostly successful until the end. I lost some big clients, had some personal problems and had to take a dive.
For the last two years, every time I heard a video production term, I would change the channel. Literally and figuratively. It hurt too much to even discuss it. Such was my loss.
Half of my million or so dollars worth of equipment I had to sell, and the other half is sitting in a PODS container in Nashua, New Hampshire and will probably air on this year's "Container Wars".
Just typing that causes internal bleeding.
In my mind, I needed serious bucks to get back in the game. "Au contraire, monsieur." I realize now I can do serious damage with one of these little gadgets and don't even have to check it at the airport.
Corporate, small business, Youtubing, and vlogging are back in my sights. Video production has no re$trictions on me now. With my sales, marketing, and in house video production skills, I can keep my costs low and my profits high.
I am on it now, people. If I can make me some money, I'll see you on "Container Wars".


text: Home » Pregnant? » Finding a Family » Find a Family by Baby's Race or Ethnicity Find a Family by Baby's Race or Ethnicity How to Find Adoptive Parents for a Black Child, Families Looking to Adopt Hispanic Children and More Your baby's racial and cultural identity may influence the parents you consider because you want to find adoptive parents who will not only love your child unconditionally, but who are prepared to adopt and raise a baby of your child's race. Transracial adoption is very common, and multiracial families are becoming increasingly normalized and embraced. However, regardless of the race of the adoptive parents you choose, it's important for them to be ready to meet all your baby's needs. Be sure to work with an adoption agency that educates all adoptive families about the responsibilities of raising a child of a different race. Talking to the prospective adoptive family about the importance of your baby's racial identity can also be helpful. If you have questions about finding the perfect parents for your baby, get free information and support by contacting us today. There are waiting families of all backgrounds who are ready and exciting to welcome a baby of every race — adoptive parents are simply eager to be parents! These excited parents are hoping to adopt: BLACK CHILDREN "I'm giving my Black child up for adoption, and I want to make sure they will be loved and cared for. Where can I find people (or couples) looking to adopt a newborn African American baby?" There are countless families looking to adopt Black and African American kids throughout the U.S. Whether you're hoping to find families wanting to adopt Black children who are of a specific race, religion, or location, or if you just want to find couples looking to adopt a Black child who will simply be amazing parents, you'll be able to find what you're looking for. "I live in an area that is pretty diverse, so I don't think there's anyone that would think she looks wrong here," Kelli, an adoptive mother, said. "It's about really being aware of her culture and heritage, and making sure she knows her history on top of everything else." We recommend reaching out to an agency to get connected with families looking to adopt a Black newborn. INDIGENOUS CHILDREN "I'm considering giving my Native American child up for adoption, so I need to find couples looking to adopt a Native American child who will be prepared to honor their racial and cultural identity." If your child is of Native heritage, finding families looking to adopt American Indian kids may be a high priority for you. Fortunately, there are plenty of families wanting to adopt Native American children, including parents who themselves are Indigenous. Regardless of the adoptive parents' background, the important thing is that they wish to preserve your child's ties to his or her race and culture. There are additional laws, called the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), that were established for the protection of Indigenous children following the "Sixties Scoop" era. When considering a placement for Native children, priority is given to adoptive parents within the child's nation or tribe. But, you can choose any adoptive family you'd like for your baby, regardless of their race or culture. An attorney will help the adoptive family follow any necessary steps for ICWA. You can learn more here. CAUCASIAN CHILDREN Need to find families wanting to adopt Caucasian children? There are always countless couples looking to adopt a white child throughout the U.S., and there are especially a plethora of families looking to adopt a white newborn. So, if you need help finding families looking to adopt Caucasian kids who meet your personal criteria, reach out to an adoption agency — they'll help you find profiles of parents that match what you're looking for. ASIAN CHILDREN Whether you're hoping to find an Asian couple to raise your Asian child, or you're open to choosing parents of any race, you'll have plenty to choose from — there are always families looking to adopt an Asian newborn. Contact an adoption professional to start viewing profiles of couples looking to adopt an Asian child. They'll help you to get to know families looking to adopt Asian kids who might be the perfect match for you and your child. HISPANIC CHILDREN If your baby is Hispanic, or has Latinx heritage, you won't have to worry about him or her struggling with their racial and cultural identity — there are many families wanting to adopt Hispanic children who are ready to embrace and love your child's ethnic heritage. The couples looking to adopt a Hispanic child are sometimes Lantinx themselves, or they're simply excited to welcome a child of any race into their lives. Because the families looking to adopt a Hispanic newborn are of every race and background, you'll be able to easily find a family you feel is best for your child. Multiracial Children Is your baby biracial or multiracial? There are many adoptive parents who are also multiracial, and couples who are interracial. Regardless of the race of your child's adoptive parents, we understand that you want to find a family who is ready and excited to love your child, and to honor their unique racial heritage. Multiracial adoptive families are common and are continuing to be increase in numbers. Your child will not have to feel like they don't "fit in" with their family! FINDING THE RIGHT FAMILY FOR YOUR CHILD Again, there are adoptive families of every ethnicity. You may decide that you prefer to place your baby with a family of the same race as your child. Or, you may not care about the family's race — just as long as they're welcoming of your child's race. As one brave birth mother, Casey, said best: "It doesn't matter what religion people are in or where they're located. I didn't care whether the family had other children or not. Love is love." Read Casey's adoption story here. There are countless hopeful parents who have been waiting to welcome a child, regardless of his or her ethnicity. Again, parents who are open to adopting transracially have educated themselves on raising a child of another race and are excited to do so. Some parents are excited to raise a child of a specific race because they feel they'd best be able to support and encourage that child's own racial identity. So fortunately, it's easy to find adoptive families that fit whatever you're looking for. While a person's racial and cultural identity is deeply important, the most important thing is finding a family who will love your child unconditionally. If you're ready to find that family, start browsing adoptive parent profiles now. You can use the search function on our site to narrow down prospective adoptive parents who have been screened and specifically approved to adopt a child of your baby's race. Don't be discouraged if you don't find exactly what you're looking for right away — there are more waiting families of every kind out there; they just may not be at the stage in their journey where their profile is listed online yet. Reach out to an adoption professional directly and get started today. They'll help you find the perfect match. Finding a Family Can You Change Adoptive Couples? [3 Reasons Why You Might]If you're unhappy with the adoptive couple you've chosen, or if things are simply not turning out how you thought, it's okay to wonder, "Can I change adoptive families?"Learn More How Many Parents Are Looking to Adopt?How many parents are looking to adopt? If you've found yourself asking this question, then you are in the right place.Learn MoreAdoption Match — With vs. Without an AgencyYou've decided that adoption is the right path for you. You are making a selfless, heroic and beautiful decision that will change your life...Learn MoreFind a Family by LifestyleEvery couple who is looking to adopt a child is going to be unique. But how do you find the waiting adoptive parents you've...Learn MoreFind a Family by AgeIf you're pregnant and placing your baby for adoption, what do you picture when you think of their future parents? Do you envision your...Learn MoreFind a Family by Race or EthnicityRace and ethnicity is an important part of our individual identities. If you're pregnant and placing your child for adoption, you may prefer to...Learn MoreFind an Adoptive Family by ReligionWhen looking for an adoptive family for your child, you can match with prospective parents that have the same religious beliefs. Check out how...Learn MoreFind an Adoptive Family by Type [Choose the Right Adoption Agency]When it comes to finding an adoptive family for your child, you may have specific preferences. Find out how you can find a family...Learn More Get Free Info


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Architects designed a comprehensive renovation to bring new life and light to Boston's 144-year old Cathedral of the Holy Cross. Relying on a 3D digital model and historical photos, they restored/lightened interior finishes, reconfigured the sanctuary platforms to project the altar closer to congregants, redesigned interior/exterior lighting to improve visibility and drama, integrated modern infrastructural and ADA improvements, and created new liturgical appointments to match original reredos. Completed in time for Palm Sunday 2019, the church once again shines as a beacon to the community.
Elkus Manfredi Architects creates dynamic, connected, sustainable places and environments that foster community, from workplace to urban neighborhoods. The firm provides a synergistic combination of services that includes architecture, interior architecture, workplace strategy, employee engagement and change management, master planning, and urban design. With a 35+ year legacy of design distinction, the firm is recognized for its work with corporate, life sciences, workplace, higher education, hospitality, residential, and retail-entertainment clients.