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News about innovative solutions for Animal Behavior Research |
Volume 12 - Issue 1 (26 January 2012) |
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Announcing Media Recorder 2.0
New and amazingly simple to use - the Media Recorder 2.0 from Noldus is a software tool that enables synchronous video recordings from up to four different sources. Compatible with The Observer XT, EthoVision XT, and a broad range of cameras, it is the ideal recording tool. Media Recorder can be started and stopped automatically. This way recording is a one-touch process.
What’s new in 2.0?
 Picture in picture has been improved. You can now choose the position of the second, third, and fourth video. And, you can determine the size of these windows so they won’t block anything important in the main video.- You can now make video recordings with the MS Lifecam studio - "The Closest to Being There". Enjoy a superior HD video quality with this camera and keep your subject crisp with autofocus.
- GigE camera recordings are possible in version 2.0. With a specific type of camera you can benefit from high bandwidth of data transfer providing you with accurate data and better synchronization.
Check out the Media Recorder website. Media Recorder 2.0 is also one of the core components of our portable labs. See for yourself which solution fits your needs!
Editorial: An exciting new year ahead of us
I know I'm a bit late, but... Happy new year everybody!
Okay, still more than half a year to go, but that doesn’t mean that Measuring Behavior 2012 is not on our minds yet! And it should be on yours too, that is if you want to submit your extended abstract for a presentation or poster.
Of course, Measuring Behavior is the highlight of our year, but we have more in store for you. A batch of our new catalogs will be coming from the printers soon and we are working hard on getting several product releases out too.
I will personally make sure that you'll get to read all about it in the upcoming Noldus Newslines, on our website, on our blog and in all the different social media sites we are actively involved in now.
All in all a busy year ahead of us, and we are excited about it!
Enjoy this NNL!
Gonny Smit
Editor |
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| Product News |
 How to set up an ethogram - 7 tips
In a behavioral study, the ethogram (coding scheme) determines what data you collect, making it an essential part of your study. So how can you develop a coding scheme that will provide the information you need? You can set it up on paper, but doesn’t that sound horribly old-fashioned with all the new technology we have these days? Use The Observer XT software instead – professional coding and analysis software which assists you during the entire workflow of an observational research project. Visit the Behavioral Research Blog to read the 7 tips.
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 Zebrafish assays to discover drug targets for anxiety
Collwill and Creton (2011) recently reviewed zebrafish behavioral assays and highlight how these can help in discovering new drug targets for anxiety. Systems like DanioVision and EthoVision XT have made it possible to track and analyze behavioral traits automatically. This removes the need for time consuming manual scoring, and provides high resolution data gathered in real time.
Because zebrafish larvae are small, they are well suited for large-scale analysis: one 96 well-plate accommodates an equal number of subjects. Using automated imaging, the average lab can process hundreds of zebrafish a day. Combining behavioral assays with physiological measures provides an even more powerful avenue for analysis. Examples include measuring stress hormone levels and new options such as heart rate and skin color monitoring.
Read more:
- on the Behavioral Research Blog
- about EthoVision XT
- in the publication: Colwill, RM and Creton, R. (2011). Imaging escape and avoidance behavior in zebrafish larvae. Reviews in Neuroscience, 22 (1), 63-73.
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| Community News |
 Conference of equitation sciences
This year the 7th international conference of the ISES (International Society of Equitation Sciences) was held in The Netherlands. This conference is unique in that it combines the theoretical with the practical. Research presented varied from learning and stress tests in horses, to physiological measurements on horse-rider interactions, to eye-tracking measurements of judges in the dressage discipline.
Current research can be summarized in three aspects: behavior, biomechanics, and physiology. While more and more studies combine these aspects, the need for integration systems to perform this multimodal research is carefully increasing. That is where The Observer XT can function as an interesting platform. Read more on the Behavioral Research Blog or find out what The Observer XT can do for your multimodal study here.
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Another successful Neuroscience conference for Noldus
This year, Society of Neuroscience was kind enough to bring Neuroscience 2011 to our back yard – just 45 minutes from our US headquarters in Leesburg, Virginia. 30,000 neuroscientists descended upon the DC convention center for this exciting 5 day scientific event featuring the newest breakthroughs and innovations in Neuroscience Research. For Noldus, this meant an opportunity to showcase our tools and solutions as well as participate in several scientific programs throughout the week. Product Manager Reinko Roelofs said: “This is always such a great opportunity for us to meet our users from all over the world and get excellent feedback on our products and services.”
Want to find out about the “Noldus Neuroscience Roadshow” and the Noldus sponsored Satellite Symposium; “Standardization of Behavioral Tests in Mouse Phenotyping – Variety, Methodology, and Other Important Considerations”? Click here!
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 Measuring Behavior 2012: Call for papers
The Scientific Program Committee now invites you to submit extended abstracts for Measuring Behavior 2012. These can be for oral presentations for special or general sessions, posters, demonstrations or tutorials.
Take this opportunity to present new methods, techniques, and tools to an interdisciplinary scientific community or discuss how to standardize and optimize existing practices.
Full details on submission are available on http://www.measuringbehavior.org/mb2012/call-papers.
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| Publications |
Functional recovery after spinal cord injury
Well over one million people in the USA alone suffer from spinal cord injury. Stem cell therapy is a promising area of research – replacing lost neurons and recovering motor functioning. However, outcomes of research on different therapeutic strategies are inconsistent, which might be due to the differences in tests that are being used to assess functional recovery.
While most studies focus on one behavioral assay, Shira et al.(2011) uses three tests. With CatWalk™ XT they measured a number of dynamic and static gait parameters simultaneously. Stem cells transplanted into the area of injury accumulated and reduced the size of the lesion. More importantly, behavioral tasks showed improved locomotor function.
Tools like CatWalk XT measure the functional outcome of a therapy, which is ultimately what matters. We can assess if neurons are growing, but in the end, behavioral assessment provides the most illuminating insights.
Read more here.
References:
Schira, J.; Gasis, M.; Estrada, V.; Hendricks, M.; Schmitz, C.; Trapp, T.; Kruse, F. et al. (2011). Significant clinical, neuropathological and behavioural recovery from acute spinal cord trauma by transplantation of a well-defined somatic stem cell from human umbilical cord blood, Brain: a journal of neurology. doi:10.1093/brain/awr222
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 New case study on CatWalk XT
Sabien van Neerven wrote a report on the use of CatWalk XT in a study on spinal cord injury recovery and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Rats were subjected to a moderate contusion injury at the low thoracic level (T9) and subsequently treated with VEGF. After recovery and regained weight supported stepping of the hind paws, they were tested on CatWalk XT. Four parameters that were focussed on in this study were stride length, base-of-support, print area, and mean intensity. They also used the conventional BBB scoring in parallel. Want to find out what the results were? You can find the case study here.
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The Morris water maze – EthoVision XT combination used in brain injury models
The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Silver Spring (Maryland, USA) performs research on traumatic brain injury (TBI), a leading cause of death and disability in the USA. In the study of Shear et al. (2010) the focus is on advancing the test platform for longitudinal research on the PBBI (penetrating ballistic-like brain injury) model. Motor, sensory, and cognitive deficits are investigated. Using a Morris water maze test automated by EthoVision XT, authors found that PBBI rats have a similar memory retention to the control animal, but do show impaired spatial learning. In 2011 Shear et al. used the same PBBI model to assess the sensitivity of the testing platform across a range of severity levels, ranging from 5% to 12.5% of the rat brain volume. Again, the water maze - EthoVision XT combination was used to determine cognitive impairment. The results were directly ranked by the degree of injury severity.
In 2011, the same research group proposed a new animal model of mild TBI, which is induced by closed-head concussion. This model is called the projectile concussive impact (PCI) model. Again, rat spatial learning and memory were tested with a water maze and EthoVision XT. No differences were found between the PCI group and the control group. Sensorimotor performance was tested using CatWalk, and here PCI induced gait abnormalities at 1 to 4 hours after PCI, some of which were still detectable a day later.
References:
- Shear, D.A.; Lu, X.-C.M.; Bombard, M.C.; Pederson, R.; Chen, Z.; Davis, A.; Tortella, F.C. (2010). Longitudinal characterization of motor and cognitive deficits in a model of penetrating ballistic-like brain injury. Journal of Neurotrauma, 27, 1911-1923.
- Shear, D.A.; Lu, X.-C.M.; Pederson, R.; Wei, G.; Chen, Z.; Davis, A.; Yao, C.; Dave, J.; Tortella, F.C. (2011). Severity profile of penetrating ballistic-like brain injury on neurofunctional outcome, blood-brain barrier permeability, and brain edema formation. Journal of Neurotrauma, 28, 2185-2195.
- Chen, Z.; Leung, L.Y.; Mountney, A.; Liao, Z.; Yang, W.; Lu, X.-C.M.; Dave, J.; Deng-Bryant, Y.; Wei, G.; Schmid, K.; Shear, D.A.; Tortella, F.C. (2011). A novel animal model of closed-head concussive-induced mild traumatic brain injury: development, implementation, and characterization. Journal of Neurotrauma, doi: 10.1089/neu.2011.2057.
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 New case study with EthoVision and The Observer XT
Nikolaos Daskalakis wrote a report on the use of EthoVision and The Observer XT in a study on the impact of maternal separation on juvenile social interactions. After birth, Wistar rats were either kept with their dams, separated from them but kept in their litter for eight hours a day, or separated from both dam and littermates and placed in a novel environment for eight hours a day.
After 21 days pups were weaned and females and males were separated. At day 30, social play was measured in a novel setting. EthoVision was used to measure proximity to each other and duration of interaction, while The Observer XT was used to determine patterns of social play. Behaviors scored were: playful activities, non-playful but social activities, and non-playful non-social activities.
Want to know the results of their study? You can find the case study here.
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 New case study with The Observer
Pieter van Bokhoven investigated whether a depression model of repeated social defeat and subsequent individual housing induces long-lasting changes in hippocampal neurogenesis in rats, and whether these can be normalized by late antidepressant treatment.
Rats were tested for a depression-like phenotype by scoring anticipatory behavior towards a palatable sucrose solution with The Observer, including the behavioral elements locomotion, grooming, exploration, and arousal. The differences in activity were taken as a parameter for anticipatory behavior. You can read the results in his case study.
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| Services News |
 Remote training courses
Not able to attend one of our in-house training courses, or don’t have the time to participate in a one-day training course? We also deliver a majority of our courses remotely, using the latest internet technology.
- Attractively priced
- Available in a wide range of languages
- With room for your specific research questions, for example about the analysis of physiological data
Highly convenient – they can be done anywhere at any time. Typically, the remote session starts with a 2-hour theory session. After this session, you will complete some exercises offline. When you have finished the exercises, you can send them by email to your trainer. It is that easy! The trainer then studies your backup files and sends you his or her comments, before the final session. In the final session you go over the exercises and additional points can be discussed. Please visit our website to read more about remote training courses.
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Even better support!
For years, Noldus has had a technical support database on Noldus.com with questions and answers about its products. That has always been much used and appreciated because it is based on the real questions that come into our helpdesk. We have recently updated and modernized it in a number of ways. Implementation has been changed so that we can now include pictures and attachments (such as technical notes). Moreover, all items have been sorted per product. It is now possible to search within a version of a particular product, rather than just within the entire product’s entries. Furthermore, we have made technical changes so that we can more quickly and easily add new entries, which means there will be more items and they will be more up-to-date.
The web-based knowledgebase is available 24/7, and we are now also able to offer 24 hour telephone support on business days. In recent months we have opened helpdesks in Frankfurt (Germany) and Beijing (China), which together with our helpdesks on the east and west coasts of the USA, and the helpdesk at our headquarters in The Netherlands, means that at virtually any hour of the day and night there will be a helpdesk open. For details of the hours of operation, see http://www.noldus.com/help-desk. There you will find a document which gives an overview of when each helpdesk is open for each time zone, so you can easily see who to contact from where you are working.
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 Upcoming training courses
Whether you are an experienced user or just purchased a solution, our training courses will allow greater return on investment and more efficient use of your Noldus system. Please fill out our registration form if you would like to participate in one of the following trainings.
- The Observer XT training (16 February 2012, Wageningen, The Netherlands)
- The Observer XT training (2 May 2012, Wageningen, The Netherlands)
Of course you can also contact us if you are interested in an on-site or remote training course.
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| Careers and Events |
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Careers |
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Events |
- Software Engineer (Wageningen, The Netherlands)
- Marketing Communication Professional (Wageningen, The Netherlands)
- Regional Sales Account Representative (Leesburg, VA, USA)
- Technical Engineer (Leesburg, VA, USA)
- Regional Sales Account Representative (Ontario, Québec, Canada)
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© Noldus Information Technology 2012 |
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