What have we been looking at? A call for consistency in studies of primate vigilance

Vigilance functions to detect threats. In primates, these threats emerge from both predators and conspecifics, but a host of other social, demographic, and ecological factors have been shown to influence primate vigilance patterns. The primate vigilance literature is thus characterized by considerable variation in findings, with inconsistent or contradictory results reported not only across different species but also within species and populations across studies. Some of this variation could emerge from fundamental differences in the methods employed, making comparisons across species and groups challenging. Furthermore, identifying consistent behavioral markers for the state of vigilance appears to have proved challenging in primates, leading to a range of definitions being developed. Deviation at this level leads directly into concomitant variation at the level of sampling methodologies. As a result, the primate vigilance literature currently presents a diverse series of approaches to exploring subtly different behaviors and phenomena. This review calls for a greater consistency in studying vigilance, with the aim of encouraging future research to follow similar principles leading to more comparable results. Identifying whether an animal is in a vigilant state is challenging for most field researchers; identifying and recording a more general behavior of “looking” should though be more achievable. Experimental approaches could then be employed to understand the compatibility “looking” has with predator detection (and other threats) in individual study systems. The outcome of this approach will allow researchers to understand the key determinants of looking in their study groups and explore threat detection probabilities given an individual or group's relative level of looking

Functionings and Capabilities as Tools for Explaining Differences in Self- Assessed Health: The Case of Women’s Health in Accra, Ghana

We apply the Capability Approach on the data from a survey of women’s health in Accra to illustrate how such a framework can capture health differentials. We identified endowment groups by based on the wealth of the households and the socio-economic status of the neighbourhood of residence and analysed their association with the functionings, measured by summary indicators of physical and mental health. Regression analysis reveals that socio-cultural and household factors do not have a significant association with health status. In turn, education appears to have the predicted association with both physical and mental health. Unemployed women suffer poorer health even when compared with women in informal jobs. Being childless is associated with better health, remembering that this is now a low fertility population. The two dimensions of health measured here – physical and mental – do have different determinants. The socio-economic status of the neighbourhood affects physical health while family wealth affects mental health more strongly

Habituation is not neutral or equal: Individual differences in tolerance suggest an overlooked personality trait

In behavioral studies, observer effects can be substantial, even for habituated animals, but few studies account for potential observer-related phenomenon empirically. We used wild, habituated chacma baboons to explore two key assumptions of behavioral ecology (i) that observers become a “neutral” stimulus and (ii) that habituation is “equal” across group members. Using flight initiation distance (FID) methods within a personality paradigm, the behavioral responses of baboons suggested that observers were not perceived as neutral but instead viewed as a high-ranking social threat. Habituation was also not equal across group members, with repeatable individual differences more important than contextual factors (e.g., habitat) in determining the distance at which baboons visually oriented or displaced from observers. A strong correlation between individual visual tolerance and displacement tolerance (i.e., convergent validity) indicated a personality trait. We offer several suggestions for how to account for these factors and minimize potential bias in future studies

Intolerant baboons avoid observer proximity, creating biased inter-individual association patterns

Social network analysis is an increasingly popular tool for behavioural ecologists exploring the social organisation of animal populations. Such analyses require data on inter-individual association patterns, which in wild populations are often collected using direct observations of habituated animals. This assumes observers have no influence on animal behaviour; however, our previous work showed that individuals in a habituated group of chacma baboons (Papio ursinus griseipes) displayed consistent and individually distinct responses to observer approaches. We explored the implications of our previous findings by measuring the inter-individual association patterns of the same group of chacma baboons at different observer distances. We found a strong positive association between individual tolerance levels (towards observers) and how often an animal appeared as a neighbour to focal animals when observers were nearer, and a neutral relationship between the same variables when the observer was further away. Additionally, association matrices constructed from different observation distances were not comparable within any proximity buffer, and neither were the individual network metrics generated from these matrices. This appears to be the first empirical evidence that observer presence and behaviour can influence the association patterns of habituated animals and thus have potentially significant impacts on measured social networks

The contribution of the Capability Approach to demographic analysis: lessons learned. Tracking Inequalities

In this concluding paper, we discuss the contribution of the Capability Approach to the “tracking” of inequalities, i.e. focusing on opportunities rather than outcomes and targeting both resources and the means to use these resources. We return to two central dimensions of our analyses: the  multiple nature of well-being and the different kinds of means that modulate the unequal individual ability to live a life of quality. We summarize our main results regarding the nature of health and its determinants, the function of services and the multiple meanings of occupation, as well as the role of contextual resources, individual endowments and acquired capacities. A third dimension concerns the role of the global context and what can be said in particular about differences between Mali and Ghana. In the last part, we discuss further developments to improve the tracking of inequalities, first through cross-cutting analyses of different sources of vulnerability and secondly, by making allowance for individual agency

Examining causes and outcomes of migration patterns out of Southeast Michigan

This report describes a survey of U-Haul patrons regarding their experiences utilizing U-Haul to move out of the Southeast Michigan region. Executive Summary In the latest U-Haul Growth Index, the state of Michigan moved from ranking 48 out of 50 states up to 46. This represents a relatively small change that doesn’t relate to the documented population loss in the state. The city of Detroit and Michigan are both at critical crossroads. Population declines are pushing local officials to come up with new and unique programs to attract new residents, new business investment, and new tax revenue. The reasons that people leave a location can be many, but it is often a confluence of factors that include better opportunities and better amenities. Michigan is lagging in both categories with median wages stagnant and limited transportation options beyond a personal vehicle

Ohio Utica Shale Gas Monitor

This report analyzes aggregate indicators of economic activity related to the early stages of Utica and Marcellus shale development in the State of Ohio from January through August 2013, reviewing sales receipts as a leading indicator of economic activity, total employment based upon where people live rather than work, well activity, and gas prices

Traditional Owners and Sea Country in the Southern Great Barrier Reef – Which Way Forward?

[Extract] For over 20 years, Traditional Owners (TOs) from across the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) have been coming together to explore and call for a collective approach to achieving their aspirations for ownership, access to, and involvement in the management of sea country. Over these years, people have made real progress in securing improved recognition of their rights and developing local capacities to govern and manage their sea country. Despite these wins, and good engagement by Commonwealth and State governments on occasions, there has been no lasting, continuously improving GBR-wide approach to engaging TOs. With the future health of the GBR under threat, the current Reef 2050 Long Term Sustainability Plan (Reef 2050) recognises the significance of Traditional Owner rights and interests in the management of sea country and the Marine Park. There are considered and significant Indigenous implementation actions embedded right across Reef 2050. Implementation, however, lies ahead. Given the long history of Traditional Owner attempts to influence sea country management across the GBR, they consider that, without strong partnerships, there could be a real risk of implementation failure. At this point, the mechanisms for cohesive and coordinated implementation of the Reef 2050 do not yet fundamentally engage Traditional Owners as real partners in the long-term management of sea country, consistent with international guidelines for their engagement in protected area management, which emphasise the required for prior informed consent and ongoing equity

Service user interview panels for recruitment to UK child and adolescent mental health services: A questionnaire study exploring the experiences of young people, staff and candidates

Service user involvement is increasingly important in health and social care policy, including in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), but evidence evaluating involvement initiatives is lacking. This questionnaire study evaluated the use of young people’s (YP) interview panels in the recruitment of CAMHS staff, from the perspectives of YP, candidates and members of the staff interview panels. Self-report questionnaires were administered to YP, candidates and staff interview panel. This included quantitative and qualitative “free text” responses. YP’s panels were found to be important in hearing the voices of YP; participants all stated they would like YP to take part in future interviews. Qualitative analysis found YP provided added insight into the process, had a professional manner, were valued and important, gave clear feedback, and benefitted the YP involved. A number of changes to the process were identified. This evaluation found YP’s interview panels were feasible, and a valuable addition to the recruitment process, and should be considered in other CAMHS teams. Experience Framework This article is associated with the Patient, Family & Community Engagement lens of The Beryl Institute Experience Framework. (http://bit.ly/ExperienceFramework) Access other PXJ articles related to this lens. Access other resources related to this lens