Network analysis of social changes in a captive chimpanzee community following the successful integration of two adult groups.

Chimpanzees are highly territorial and have the potential to be extremely aggressive toward unfamiliar individuals. In the wild, transfer between groups is almost exclusively completed by nulliparous females, yet in captivity there is often a need to introduce and integrate a range of individuals, including adult males. We describe the process of successfully integrating two groups of chimpanzees, each containing 11 individuals, in the Budongo Trail facility at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland's Edinburgh Zoo. We use social network analysis to document changes in group dynamics within this population over the 16 months following integration. Aggression rates were low overall and members of the two original groups engaged in significantly fewer aggressive interactions over time. Association and grooming data indicate that relationships between members of the original groups became stronger and more affiliative with time. Despite these positive indicators the association data revealed the continued existence of two distinct subgroups, a year after integration. Our data show that when given complex space and freedom to exhibit natural fission–fusion groupings, in which the chimpanzees choose whom they wish to associate and interact with, the building of strong affiliative relationships with unfamiliar individuals is a very gradual process

Network analysis of social changes in a captive chimpanzee community following the successful integration of two adult groups

Chimpanzees are highly territorial and have the potential to be extremely aggressive toward unfamiliar individuals. In the wild, transfer between groups is almost exclusively completed by nulliparous females, yet in captivity there is often a need to introduce and integrate a range of individuals, including adult males. We describe the process of successfully integrating two groups of chimpanzees, each containing 11 individuals, in the Budongo Trail facility at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland's Edinburgh Zoo. We use social network analysis to document changes in group dynamics within this population over the 16 months following integration. Aggression rates were low overall and members of the two original groups engaged in significantly fewer aggressive interactions over time. Association and grooming data indicate that relationships between members of the original groups became stronger and more affiliative with time. Despite these positive indicators the association data revealed the continued existence of two distinct subgroups, a year after integration. Our data show that when given complex space and freedom to exhibit natural fissionfusion groupings, in which the chimpanzees choose whom they wish to associate and interact with, the building of strong affiliative relationships with unfamiliar individuals is a very gradual process.</p

Patient and public involvement in preclinical and medical research: Evaluation of an established programme in a Discovery‐Based Medical Research Institute

Abstract Background and Context Involving people with lived experience of health conditions and the public (consumers) in health research is supported by policy, practice and research funding schemes. However, consumer involvement programmes in discovery‐based preclinical research settings are uncommon. Few formal evaluations of these programmes are reported in the literature. Objective This study aimed to evaluate an established patient and public involvement programme operating in a major Australian Discovery‐Based Medical Research Institute (DBMRI) to inform programme development and the wider field. Design and Participants A multimethods programme evaluation incorporating demographic, descriptive and qualitative data obtained through consumer/researcher co‐developed online surveys and semistructured virtual interviews. Programme participants (n = 111) were invited to complete an online survey seeking feedback on their experience of involvement, programme processes and perceived impacts. A purposive sample of 25 participants was interviewed. Descriptive data were analysed using explanatory statistics and qualitative data from surveys and interviews were thematically analysed. Results This consumer involvement programme was found to be useful and meaningful for most participants, with specific examples of perceived added value. Consumers most commonly engaged with researchers to inform research development, prepare funding applications or strengthen lay communication of science. Genuine consumer–researcher interactions, relationship development and mutual respect were key elements in a positive experience for participants. Opportunities to ‘give back’, to learn and to ground research in lived experience were identified programme strengths and benefits. Developing researcher training in how to work with consumers, increasing the diversity of the consumer group membership and expanding the range of consumer activities were identified opportunities for improvement. Organisational support and adequate programme resourcing were identified as key enablers. Conclusion Discovery‐based preclinical research is often viewed as being distant from clinical application; therefore, consumer involvement may be considered less relevant. However this study identified value in bringing a strong consumer voice to the discovery‐based research process through a coordinated, organisation‐wide approach with the potential for application in similar preclinical research settings. Patient or Public Contribution Four consumer partners from the DBMRI Consumer Advisory Panel were actively engaged in developing this programme evaluation. Specifically, these consumer partners co‐developed and pilot‐tested surveys and interview guides, reviewed and commented on project data analysis and reporting and also contributed as co‐authors by editing the manuscript

Why preen others? Predictors of allopreening in parrots and corvids and comparisons to grooming in great apes

Allogrooming in primates serves not only a hygienic function, but also plays a crucial role in maintaining strong affiliative bonds between group members, which in turn, underpin the emergence of cooperative behavior. In contrast, although allopreening occurs in many avian species, we know little about its social functions. Our study addresses this issue by investigating allopreening in a broad comparative data set including six corvid and nine parrot species. We assessed whether rates of allopreening initiations, proportion of time spent allopreening, and the number of grooming partners in captive group-housed birds were comparable to patterns observed in captive chimpanzees and bonobos. While parrots and corvids were found to have similar rates of social grooming to bonobos and chimpanzees, Pan species dedicated significantly more time to social grooming. Animals in larger groups had more grooming partners, but when controlling for the number of potential partners, birds tended to have fewer grooming interaction partners than Pan species. We then investigated whether allopreening in parrots and corvids was predicted by behavioral markers of affiliative social bonds (close physical proximity, active feeding, and low levels of agonistic behavior). Results revealed that providing allopreening to a partner was significantly predicted by often being in close proximity, but not engagement in active feeding or agonistic behavior. We examined the region allopreened in a subset of species and found that preening a partner's head was predicted by both close physical proximity and active feeding, while body allopreening was only predicted by close physical proximity. Head preening may confer more hygienic benefits to recipients, and thus, may be more selectively provided to valued partners. Results support the hypothesis that allopreening in corvids and parrots helps maintain social bonds with an individual's most important social partners, showing some similarities to allogrooming in primates

Glutathione and glutathione-related enzymes in rats exposed to dimethoate and/or pyrantel

The study was undertaken to examine the effect of single and combined administration of dimethoate (an OP insecticide) and pyrantel embonate (an anthelmintic agent) on the concentration of reduced glutathione (GSH) and the activity of glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and glutathione reductase (GR) in rats. Dimethoate (Group I) was administered to rats at a dose of 1/10 LD₅₀ for 5 consecutive days and pyrantel embonate (Group II) at a dose of 1/5 LD₅₀ for 3 consecutive days. The animals of group III were given both of the mentioned above compounds in the same manner as group I and II, but pyrantel embonate was applied on day 3, 4, and 5 from the beginning of dimethoate intoxication. Material from 6 rats randomly selected from each group was obtained after 3, 6 and 12 hours and 2, 7 and 14 days following the last applied dose of the compounds under study. It was found that application of pyrantel embonate caused only slight changes in the analysed parameters i.e. GSH, GPx and GR. Dimethoate administration caused disturbances in the antioxidative system manifested as a decrease in GSH concentration in the liver (max. - 37.7% after 6 hours) and an increase of GPx and GR activities in erythrocytes (max. - 21.7% and 29.6% after 3 hours, respectively), compared to the control group. The profile of changes after combined intoxication was similar, but their intensity was higher compared to the group of animals exposed to dimethoate only. Based on current studies, it was concluded that both dimethoate and pyrantel embonate at the applied doses showed a pro-oxidative activity

Adaptations to the Arctic: low-temperature development and cold tolerance in the free-living stages of a parasitic nematode from Svalbard

For nematodes with a direct life cycle, transmission is highly dependent on temperature-related development and survival of the free-living stages. Therefore, in the Arctic, where the winter lasts from October to May, nematode transmission is expected to be focused in the short summer season, yet there is strong evidence that as well as focussing egg output during winter months, the nematode parasite, Marshallagia marshalli, infects Svalbard reindeer during the Arctic winter when temperatures are persistently below freezing. To investigate the potential for development and survival of eggs and infective third-stage larvae in winter and therefore the possibility of for winter transmission, we ran a series of low-temperature laboratory experiments. These provide five key insights into the transmission and survival of the free-living stages of M. marshalli: (1) eggs hatched at temperatures as low as 2 degrees C, but not below 0 degrees C, (2) eggs were viable and developed after being exposed to sub-zero temperatures for up to 28 months, (3) infective-stage larvae survived for up to 80 days at 5 degrees C, (4) infective-stage larvae could survive rapid exposure to temperatures below -30 degrees C, and (5) desiccation resistance may be important for long-term larval survival at low temperatures. Together, these results indicate that eggs deposited during the winter are highly tolerant of prevailing environmental conditions and have the potential for rapid development with the onset of spring. It is therefore likely that the parasite remains in the egg stage in the faeces during the winter of deposition, hatch and develop into the infective larval stage in the summer, remaining viable on the tundra until the reindeer host returns to the winter feeding grounds the following winter