Comparative approaches in social network ecology

Abstract Social systems vary enormously across the animal kingdom, with important implications for ecological and evolutionary processes such as infectious disease dynamics, anti-predator defence, and the evolution of cooperation. Comparing social network structures between species offers a promising route to help disentangle the ecological and evolutionary processes that shape this diversity. Comparative analyses of networks like these are challenging and have been used relatively little in ecology, but are becoming increasingly feasible as the number of empirical datasets expands. Here, we provide an overview of multispecies comparative social network studies in ecology and evolution. We identify a range of advancements that these studies have made and key challenges that they face, and we use these to guide methodological and empirical suggestions for future research. Overall, we hope to motivate wider publication and analysis of open social network datasets in animal ecology

Novel pathogen introduction rapidly alters the evolution of movement, restructuring animal societies

Animal social interactions are the outcomes of evolved strategies that integrate the costs and benefits of being sociable. Using a novel mechanistic, evolutionary, individual-based simulation model, we examine how animals balance the risk of pathogen transmission against the benefits of social information about resource patches, and how this determines the emergent structure of spatial social networks. We study a scenario in which a fitness-reducing infectious pathogen is introduced into a population which has initially evolved movement rules in its absence. Pathogen introduction leads to a rapid evolutionary shift, within only a few generations, in animal social-movement strategies. Generally, animals adopt a dynamic social distancing behaviour, trading more movement away from individuals (and less intake) for lower infection risk, but there is considerable individual variation in these social movement strategies. Pathogen-adapted populations are more widely dispersed over the landscape, and thus have lessclustered social networks than their pre-introduction, pathogen-naive ancestors. Running simple epidemiological models on these emergent social networks, we show that diseases do indeed spread more slowly through pathogen-adapted animal societies. The post-introduction, pathogen-adapted movement strategy mix is stongly influenced by a combination of landscape productivity and diseasecost. Our model suggests how the introduction of an infectious pathogen to a population rapidly changes social structure. While such events might make populations more resilient to future disease outbreaks, this is at the cost of social information benefits. Overall, we offer both a general modelling framework and initial predictions for the evolutionary consequences of wildlife pathogen spillovers

Lactoferrin quantification in cattle faeces by ELISA

Background: Promoting and maintaining health is critical to ruminant welfare and productivity. Within human medicine, faecal lactoferrin is quantified for routine assessment of various gastrointestinal illnesses avoiding the need for blood sampling. This approach might also be adapted and applied for non-invasive health assessments in animals. Methods: In this proof-of-concept study, a bovine lactoferrin enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA), designed for serum and milk, was applied to a faecal supernatant to assess its potential for quantifying lactoferrin in the faeces of cattle. Faecal lactoferrin concentrations were compared to background levels to assess the viability of the technique. A comparison was then made against serum lactoferrin levels to determine if they were or were not reflective of one another. Results: The optical densities of faecal samples were significantly greater than background readings, supporting the hypothesis that the assay was effective in quantifying faecal lactoferrin (T13, 115 = 11.99, p < 0.0005). The mean faecal lactoferrin concentration was 0.269 µg mL−1 (S.E. 0.031) and the mean serum concentration 0.074 µg mL−1 (S.E. 0.005). Lactoferrin concentrations of faecal and serum samples, taken from the same animals on the same day, were significantly different (T21 = 2.20, p = 0.039) and did not correlate (r = 0.2699, p = 0.238). Conclusion: Results support the hypothesis that lactoferrin can be quantified in cattle faeces by ELISA. Whilst further research is required to determine the physiological source of the lactoferrin, this highlights the potential of the method for non-invasive assessment of cattle immunology and pathology

The Cleft Care UK study. Part 4:perceptual speech outcomes

OBJECTIVES: To describe the perceptual speech outcomes from the Cleft Care UK (CCUK) study and compare them to the 1998 Clinical Standards Advisory Group (CSAG) audit. SETTING AND SAMPLE POPULATION: A cross-sectional study of 248 children born with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate, between 1 April 2005 and 31 March 2007 who underwent speech assessment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Centre-based specialist speech and language therapists (SLT) took speech audio–video recordings according to nationally agreed guidelines. Two independent listeners undertook the perceptual analysis using the CAPS-A Audit tool. Intra- and inter-rater reliability were tested. RESULTS: For each speech parameter of intelligibility/distinctiveness, hypernasality, palatal/palatalization, backed to velar/uvular, glottal, weak and nasalized consonants, and nasal realizations, there was strong evidence that speech outcomes were better in the CCUK children compared to CSAG children. The parameters which did not show improvement were nasal emission, nasal turbulence, hyponasality and lateral/lateralization. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that centralization of cleft care into high volume centres has resulted in improvements in UK speech outcomes in five-year-olds with unilateral cleft lip and palate. This may be associated with the development of a specialized workforce. Nevertheless, there still remains a group of children with significant difficulties at school entry

The iNEAR programme: an existential positive psychology intervention for resilience and emotional wellbeing

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a new psychological intervention, the iNEAR, which is a resilience and wellbeing programme consisting of a classroom based set of activities designed to facilitate the formation of positive identities through the acquisition of skills for growth and personal flourishing. 354 young people aged 11 and 12, matched for age and gender, were randomly allocated to the intervention (84 girls; 80 boys) and control conditions (93 girls; 96 boys). Following the intervention, boys, compared to girls, showed higher levels of wellbeing and environmental mastery and higher levels of tolerance to uncertainty. The intervention was effective in increasing appreciation of positive relationships with others, for girls and, although not statistically significant, it generated change in the desired direction for boys. In contrast to boys, girls’ scores on openness to diversity also increased between baseline and post-intervention. Ways in which positive psychology interventions can resource individuals to better respond to adversity, coercion and personal uncertainty and so contribute to safeguarding against the adoption of extreme belief systems are also discussed

Chemotherapy for advanced breast cancer: what influences oncologists' decision-making?

Chemotherapy is widely used in the management of patients with advanced breast cancer. However, a considerable proportion of patients experience toxic side effects without gaining benefit. This study aimed to elicit oncologists' views of the goals of chemotherapy for patients with advanced breast cancer and to elicit which factors are important in decisions to recommend chemotherapy to such patients. 30 oncologists underwent a semi-structured interview to examine their views of 5 goals of chemotherapy and of various disease, treatment and patient-related factors that might influence decisions to offer treatment. The clinicians also made decisions regarding treatment in relation to a hypothetical patient scenario under varying clinical conditions. Relief of symptoms and improvement of activity were rated as the most valuable and achievable goals of treatment. The patient's performance status, frailty and their wishes regarding treatment were the most important patient-related factors in determining decision-making. The most important disease/treatment-related factors were pace of the disease, previous poor response to chemotherapy, co-existing symptoms and concurrent medical conditions. The hypothetical scenario revealed that co-existing medical conditions, adverse previous response, increased age and depression would decrease the likelihood of recommending chemotherapy, whereas key symptoms (e.g. breathlessness) and the patient's goals would increase the likelihood. The findings suggest that British oncologists primarily aim to improve patients' physical function, although subjective factors, such as a patient's desire for anti-cancer treatment and their future goals, also influence decisions to offer treatment. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer.co

Automated psychological therapy using immersive virtual reality for treatment of fear of heights: A single-blind, parallel-group, randomised controlled trial

Background Engaging, interactive, and automated virtual reality (VR) treatments might help solve the unmet needs of individuals with mental health disorders. We tested the efficacy of an automated cognitive intervention for fear of heights guided by an avatar virtual coach (animated using motion and voice capture of an actor) in VR and delivered with the latest consumer equipment. Methods We did a randomised trial of automated VR versus usual care. We recruited adults aged older than 18 years with a fear of heights by radio advertisements in Oxfordshire, UK. We diagnosed fear of heights if participants scored more than 29 on the Heights Interpretation Questionnaire (HIQ). We randomly allocated participants by computer in a 1:1 ratio to either automated VR delivered in roughly six 30-min sessions administered about two to three times a week over a 2-week period (intervention group) or to usual care (control group). Randomisation was stratified by severity of fear of heights. The research team, who were unaware of the random allocation, administered three fear-of-height assessments, at baseline (0 weeks), at the end of treatment (2 weeks), and at follow-up (4 weeks). The primary outcome measure was HIQ score (range 16–80, with higher scores indicating greater severity). This trial is registered with the ISRCTN registry, number ISRCTN11898283. Findings Between Nov 25, 2017, and Feb 27, 2018, 100 individuals were enrolled and underwent randomisation, of whom 49 were assigned to the VR treatment group and 51 to the control group. All participants completed the 4-week follow-up. The mean total treatment time in VR was 124·43 min (SD 34·23). Compared with participants in the control group, the VR treatment reduced fear of heights at the end of treatment (mean change score −24·5 [SD 13·1] in the VR group vs −1·2 [7·3] in the control group; adjusted difference −24·0, 95% CI −27·7 to −20·3; Cohen's d=2·0; p<0·0001). The benefit was maintained at follow-up (mean change score −25·1 [SD 13·9] in the VR group vs −1·5 [7·8] in the control group; adjusted difference −24·3, 95% CI −27·9 to −20·6; Cohen's d=2·0; p<0·0001). The number needed to treat to at least halve the fear of heights was 1·3. No adverse events were reported. Interpretation Psychological therapy delivered automatically by a VR coach can produce large clinical benefits. Evidence-based VR treatments have the potential to greatly increase treatment provision for mental health disorders