The relationship of life stage to daily social patterns of captive African elephants (Loxodonta africana) and the correlation of handler perceptions of elephant personality to demonstrated social behaviors

Elephants typically have very strong social bonds, and social interactions can include affiliative, agonistic, or ambiguous behaviors. The social interactions and dominance hierarchy between individuals of a herd depend upon many factors, including maternal lineage, age, and sex. This study was designed to determine how social behaviors among a herd of captive African elephants varied throughout the day and to establish if the frequency of social interactions and age class were correlated. The study also aimed to determine if handler perceptions of elephant personality were an accurate predictor of the type and frequency of social behaviors observed, in addition to the factors stated above. The research was performed at the African Elephant Research Unit at Knysna Elephant Park (KEP) in South Africa. The herd included 7 elephants in 3 age groups: juvenile (0-10 years), young adult (11-20 years), and adult (20+ years). Continuous, all-occurrence sampling of pre-determined affiliative, agonistic, and ambiguous social behaviors was performed for a total of 90.4 hours within a seven-week period. Results indicated that there was a statistically higher rate of affiliative, agonistic, and total social behaviors initiated during mid-morning than during mid-afternoon, but no statistical difference in ambiguous social behaviors initiated throughout the day. Additionally, elephant handlers were individually surveyed regarding perceptions of each elephant’s personality traits, including qualities of dominance, activity level, boldness, confidence, curiosity, sociability, and aggressiveness. This characterization was compared to the previously recorded elephant social behaviors, and results indicated that there was a strong positive correlation between observed agonistic rate of social behavior and rated activity levels. Results are intended to influence the management of captive elephants at KEP and elsewhere

Predictors of Physical Therapy Non-Treatment Among Patients Scheduled for Treatment Two Times a Day in the Acute Hospital

Background and Purpose: Consistent participation in physical therapy treatment is the key to the success of any physical therapy treatment program. Scheduled therapy sessions that do not result in treatment (non-treatment) may cause longer hospital stays and/or poor outcomes. A better understanding of the factors affecting non-treatment could allow proper adjustments to prevent non-treatment by hospital administration, improve patient-therapist interaction, and may result in improved care, greater patient satisfaction, and lower healthcare costs. The purpose of this study was to investigate characteristics of patients that affect physical therapy non-treatment events for patients scheduled for therapy twice a day (BID) in an inpatient hospital setting. Subjects: The subjects for this study were all patients scheduled to receive physical therapy BID during their hospital stay. Data was collected from a 450 bed hospital located in a metropolitan area of the Southwest United States. Data from 367 patients who were scheduled for physical therapy treatment BID were collected retrospectively from the medical record during the study period. There were 168 males and 199 females. A total of 810 scheduled BID treatment sessions were analyzed. Methods: The dependent variable was a dichotomous Yes or No to indicate if treatment occurred or did not occur giving 4 possible outcomes on a day of BID scheduled therapy: yes/yes, yes/no, no/yes, and no/no. Demographic patient information such as age, gender, diagnosis, and scheduled treatment day was also given to the research team for analysis. Patient diagnoses were grouped into 1 of 13 categories: Cardiovascular, Pulmonary, Neurological, Gastrointestinal, Musculoskeletal, Cancer, Integumentary, Genitourinary/Renal, Infections Disease, Obstetrics and Gynecology (OBGYN), Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), Endocrine, or Other/Unknown. Ages of patients ranged from newborn children seen in the NICU to 97 years of age. Scheduled treatment day included the 7 days of the week. Descriptive and interferential statistics were performed. Chi-square analyses were performed to assess which patient characteristics including treatment day, gender, and diagnosis were associated with a change in BID treatment occurrences. One-way ANOVA and post-hoc paired t-tests were utilized to compare patient age in the 4 outcome groups. Results: Gender, diagnosis, day of the week, and age all influence non-treatment occurrence in the acute care setting for patients scheduled for BID therapy (p=\u3c0.003). Among females, 84% of scheduled sessions resulted in a yes/yes combination while only 64% yes/yes occurred for males (p=\u3c0.000). No/no events are at their highest proportions on Sunday 27.8% (p=\u3c0.000) and Saturday 23.5% (p=\u3c0.002). Tuesday and Thursday had the lowest occurrence of non-treatment at 4.2% of scheduled visits (p=\u3c0.001). Musculoskeletal diagnosis has the highest yes/yes outcome (p=\u3c0.000). The average age of patients that had a no/no outcome is 55.42 years old, and the average age that had a yes/yes outcome is 63.89 years old (p=\u3c0.002). Discussion: Gender, age, diagnosis and day of the week of treatment all appear to play a role in non-treatment in the acute hospital setting. Specifically, females have a lower occurrence of no/no treatment. Patients with musculoskeletal diagnosis has the highest occurrence of yes/yes treatment. Saturday and Sunday have the highest no/no treatment occurrence and Tuesday and Thursday have the lowest occurrence of non-treatment. It may be possible for hospitals to minimize the incidence of non-treatment, allowing patients to receive the physical therapy they need. In the future, other hospitals may use this information to reduce their BID non-treatment rates. Further studies should investigate a more inclusive population of patients in both BID scheduled treatment and those scheduled for one physical therapy treatment in order to explore trends that can potentially lead to missed treatment

Absence and Presence: Top of the Pops and the demand for music videos in the 1960s

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version.Whilst there is a surprising critical consensus underpinning the myth that British music video began in the mid-1970s with Queen’s video for ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, few scholars have pursued Mundy’s (1999) lead in locating its origins a decade earlier. Although the relationship between film and the popular song has a much longer history, this article seeks to establish that the international success of British beat groups in the first half of the 1960s encouraged television broadcasters to target the youth audience with new shows that presented their idols performing their latest hits (which normally meant miming to recorded playback). In the UK, from 1964, the BBC’s Top of the Pops created an enduring format specifically harnessed to popular music chart rankings. The argument follows that this format created a demand for the top British artists’ regular studio presence which their busy touring schedules could seldom accommodate; American artists achieving British pop chart success rarely appeared on the show in person. This frequent absence then, coupled with the desire by broadcasters elsewhere in Europe and America to present popular British acts, created a demand for pre-recorded or filmed inserts to be produced and shown in lieu of artists’ appearance. Drawing on records held at the BBC’s Written Archives and elsewhere, and interviews with a number of 1960s music video directors, this article evidences TV’s demand-driver and illustrates how the ‘pop promo’, in the hands of some, became a creative enterprise which exceeded television’s requirement to cover for an artist’s studio absence

Spartan Daily, April 11, 2019

Volume 152, Issue 31https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/spartan_daily_2019/1030/thumbnail.jp

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