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Palladium-catalyzed carbonylation reactions of ortho-phenylene dihalides were studied using aminoethanols as heterobifunctional N,O-nucleophiles. The activity of aryl-iodide and -bromide as well as the chemoselective transformation of amine and hydroxyl functionalities were studied systematically under carbonylation conditions. Aminocarbonylation can be selectively realized under optimized conditions, enabling the formation of amide alcohols, and the challenging alkoxycarbonylation can also be proved feasible, enabling amide-ester production. Intramolecular double carbonylation reaction can be achieved using 1,2-diiodobenzene and amino alcohols featuring secondary amine groups, giving oxazocine derivatives. Useful reaction scope with various amino alcohols was performed with good isolated yields of the targeted compounds. Intramolecular C-O coupling of amide alcohols possessing bromo substituent in adjacent ortho position is also demonstrated as a potential next step in benzoxazepine heterocycle formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Frustration is a negative emotion elicited by situations when a positive expectation of an individual is violated, for example, when an anticipated reward is delayed or withheld, or a previously accessible resource becomes inaccessible. We investigated whether social rank can be a factor in the individual variability among dogs' tolerance to frustrating situations. We used a validated questionnaire to assess the ranks of dogs from multi-dog households and measured their behaviour in a social and a non-social frustration test, where a previously accessible treat became inaccessible either because the experimenter withheld it, or it was in a closed cage. All dogs' behaviours changed between the two tests; however, dominant dogs showed more dependence on their owner in the non-social test than in the social one, while subordinate dogs' owner-directed behaviours did not change. More agonistic dogs were more persistent in the non-social test, while dogs that tend to be the 'leaders' in everyday contexts acted more demanding towards the experimenter when she kept the reward away from the dog. Our results show that the social rank of dogs affects their resource-related behaviours in frustrating situations, although the relevance of different aspects of rank depends on the social context. Dogs are strongly dependent on humans, not only for sustenance, but they also form asymmetrical bonds with us where they rely on assistance from the human partner in the case of difficult situations. At the same time, cohabiting dogs form hierarchies, and their rank strongly influences their behaviour in various social interactions. In this study, we investigated whether high- and low-ranking dogs would behave differently in non-social and social contexts where a formerly available reward suddenly becomes inaccessible. We hypothesised that dominant and subordinate dogs would show different levels of human dependence; thus, they will show different levels and different signs of frustration depending on the social nature of the context, where the reward was locked either in a closed cage or withheld in the hand of the experimenter. The results showed that while the holistic rank ('dominant' vs. 'subordinate') of the dogs did not show a significant association with their reactions to frustrating situations, the rank components ('agonistic' and 'leadership' ranks) were better predictors of the dogs' behaviour. In the non-social context, the highly resource-oriented 'agonistic-dominant' dogs were more persistent with their attempts of getting to the reward. However, in the social context, the dogs with high 'leadership scores' behaved more demandingly with the non-complying experimenter. This study provides a first-time indication that the various aspects of dominance in dogs can affect their adaptive reward-oriented behaviours differently, depending on the potentially available human assistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The common hamster (Cricetus cricetus) occupies a controversial position among mammals inhabiting agricultural areas, as it is possibly the only critically endangered species that is legally targeted by lethal control methods, making it a conflict‐generating pest. We surveyed various stakeholders, agrarian consultants, wildlife rangers, and residents for the first time in Hungary, with two interrelated questionnaires to obtain accurate information about hamster populations, and to learn about the participants knowledge of, and attitude toward hamsters in order to provide fundamental information for planning and strengthening social embeddedness. Additionally, we prepared the current distribution map of the hamster. Based on the relatively wide distribution and locally high abundance of the species, Hungary has a key role in hamster conservation. We identified several factors, which can contribute to successful species protection. The results indicated that more than 60% of the respondent's liked hamsters. In contrast, only a few residents considered hamsters in their settlement to be beneficial. Our results suggest that the hamster's reputation is disproportionately negative due to vaguely known perceptions of harm as compared with actual reported damage. This imbalance could be rectified through enhanced communication efforts. Improving the species' reputation is integral to effective species conservation initiatives. Current pest control practices (poisons and snap traps) kill the hamsters, even though 82% of the residents would prefer to keep the hamsters alive, conforming to conservation efforts. The results also indicated that the hamster could be a flagship species in Hungary. Knowledge of the protected status of the hamster predicted a positive attitude toward the species and related to nature conservation consciousness. We conclude that requirements of residents should be included in the species action plan along with the experts' knowledge, as this could contribute to successful, long‐term conservation of the hamster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The main components of dogs' species-specific behavior are thought to be mainly influenced by domestication. This implies that these phenotypes are expected to be present almost uniformly across the vast number and variety of dogs. However, the evolution of dogs did not end with domestication, as humans subsequently selected them for distinctly different tasks and levels of interactivity with their handlers. We hypothesized that 'cooperative' dog breeds would also show higher levels of dependency toward humans in a difficult problem-solving task than those dogs that were selected for being independent problem solvers. Our target behavior was 'looking back at the human', which is a typical reaction of socialized dogs to a difficult task. Indeed, cooperative dogs performed more gaze alternations between the reward and the nearby humans, and they looked back more than the independent dog breeds did. Importantly, the results cannot be explained by different levels of persistence between the breed types. Functional selection in the recent past of dogs can be considered as an excellent basis for biologically relevant explanations for the breed-level variability in dog behavior. It is still largely unknown to what extent domestication, ancestry, or recent functional selection are responsible for the behavioral differences in whether dogs look back to a human when presented with a difficult task. Here, we tested whether this ubiquitous human-related response of companion dogs would appear differently in subjects that were selected for either cooperative or independent work tasks. We tested N = 71 dogs from 18 cooperative and 18 independent breeds. Subjects learned in a five-trial warming-up phase that they could easily obtain the reward from a container. In trial six, the reward became impossible to take out from the locked container. When the task was easy, both breed groups behaved similarly, and their readiness to approach the container did not differ between the last 'solvable' and the subsequent 'unsolvable' trial. Task focus, looking at the container, touching the container for the first time, or interacting with the container with a paw or nose did not differ between the breed groups, indicating that their persistence in problem solving was similar. However, in the 'unsolvable' trial, cooperative dogs alternated their gaze more often between the container and the humans than the independent dogs did. The frequency of looking back was also higher in cooperative dogs than in the independent breeds. These are the first empirical results that suggest, in a balanced, representative sample of breeds, that the selection for different levels of cooperativity in working dogs could also affect their human-dependent behavior in a generic problem-solving situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The behaviour of dogs holds great relevance for not only scientists from fundamental and applied research areas, but also due to the widespread roles of dogs in our societies as companions and working animals; their behaviour is also an important factor in animal and human welfare. A large proportion of dogs currently under human supervision belong to one of roughly 400 recognised breeds. Dog breeds can be characterised by distinctive, predictable and reproducible features, including some of their behavioural traits. To the scientist, the comparative analysis of the behaviour of dog breeds provides an opportunity for investigating an array of intriguing phenomena within an easily accessible model organism created from natural and human‐driven evolutionary processes. There are many ways to design and conduct breed‐related behavioural investigations, but such endeavours should always be based around biologically relevant research questions and lead to ecologically valid conclusions. In this review, we surveyed recent research efforts that included dog behaviour‐related comparisons and applied a critical evaluation according to their methods of breed choice and the subsequent research design. Our aim was to assess whether these two fundamentally important components of experimental design provide a solid basis to reach valid conclusions. Based on 97 publications that fulfilled our selection criteria, we identified three primary methods used by researchers to select breeds for their investigations: (i) convenience sampling; (ii) hypothesis‐driven, ancestry‐based sampling; and (iii) hypothesis‐driven, functional sampling. By using the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) evaluation system, we highlight each of these techniques' merits and shortcomings. We identify when particular methods may be inherently unable to produce biologically meaningful results due to a mismatch between breed choice and the initial research goals. We hope that our evaluation will help researchers adopt best practices in experimental design regarding future dog breed comparisons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]