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Timing of breeding, an important driver of fitness in many populations, is widely studied in the context of global change, yet despite considerable efforts to identify environmental drivers of seabird nesting phenology, for most populations we lack evidence of strong drivers. Here we adopt an alternative approach, examining the degree to which different populations positively covary in their annual phenology to infer whether phenological responses to environmental drivers are likely to be (a) shared across species at a range of spatial scales, (b) shared across populations of a species or (c) idiosyncratic to populations. We combined 51 long-term datasets on breeding phenology spanning 50 years from nine seabird species across 29 North Atlantic sites and examined the extent to which different populations share early versus late breeding seasons depending on a hierarchy of spatial scales comprising breeding site, small-scale region, large-scale region and the whole North Atlantic. In about a third of cases, we found laying dates of populations of different species sharing the same breeding site or small-scale breeding region were positively correlated, which is consistent with the hypothesis that they share phenological responses to the same environmental conditions. In comparison, we found no evidence for positive phenological covariation among populations across species aggregated at larger spatial scales. In general, we found little evidence for positive phenological covariation between populations of a single species, and in many instances the inter-year variation specific to a population was substantial, consistent with each population responding idiosyncratically to local environmental conditions. Black-legged kittiwake Rissa tridactyla was the exception, with populations exhibiting positive covariation in laying dates that decayed with the distance between breeding sites, suggesting that populations may be responding to a similar driver. Our approach sheds light on the potential factors that may drive phenology in our study species, thus furthering our understanding of the scales at which different seabirds interact with interannual variation in their environment. We also identify additional systems and phenological questions to which our inferential approach could be applied., (© 2022 The Authors. Journal of Animal Ecology © 2022 British Ecological Society.)

Background: Behavioural Activation (BA) treatment effectively reduces symptoms of depression in adults and is more cost-effective than more complex therapies. Two recent systematic reviews of BA for depression in young people highlighted the need for more studies in this area., Methods: In order to evaluate the acceptability of BA treatment for adolescents with depression and the feasibility of conducting a trial of this intervention in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), 22 patients from across three sites were randomised to BA or usual CAMHS care. Existing CAMHS staff were trained to deliver the manualised intervention via a brief course. Following treatment, young people and their parents/carers were asked to complete a feedback survey. Symptoms and functioning were assessed at 3- and 6-month follow-up. The trial was registered with the ISRCTN Registry (ref: ISRCTN52147450; https://www.isrctn.com/)., Results: Recruitment targets were achieved through screening large numbers of CAMHS service users. Intervention adherence by the participating adolescents was high (median number of completed BA sessions was seven out of a total of eight). There were tentative suggestions of improvements following treatment; a large change in a positive direction for the BA group, but not for usual care, was observed by visual comparisons of mean scores on measures of depression, self-esteem and functioning. No adverse events were reported., Conclusions: The findings suggest that BA in this setting is acceptable and warrants evaluation via a fully powered randomised controlled trial., (© 2020 The Authors. Child and Adolescent Mental Health published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.)

As temperatures rise, timing of reproduction is changing at different rates across trophic levels, potentially resulting in asynchrony between consumers and their resources. The match-mismatch hypothesis (MMH) suggests that trophic asynchrony will have negative impacts on average productivity of consumers. It is also thought to lead to selection on timing of breeding, as the most asynchronous individuals will show the greatest reductions in fitness. Using a 30-year individual-level dataset of breeding phenology and success from a population of European shags on the Isle of May, Scotland, we tested a series of predictions consistent with the hypothesis that fitness impacts of trophic asynchrony are increasing. These predictions quantified changes in average annual breeding success and strength of selection on timing of breeding, over time and in relation to rising sea surface temperature (SST) and diet composition. Annual average (population) breeding success was negatively correlated with average lay date yet showed no trend over time, or in relation to increasing SST or the proportion of principal prey in the diet, as would be expected if trophic mismatch was increasing. At the individual level, we found evidence for stabilising selection and directional selection for earlier breeding, although the earliest birds were not the most productive. However, selection for earlier laying did not strengthen over time, or in relation to SST or slope of the seasonal shift in diet from principal to secondary prey. We found that the optimum lay date advanced by almost 4 weeks during the study, and that the population mean lay date tracked this shift. Our results indicate that average performance correlates with absolute timing of breeding of the population, and there is selection for earlier laying at the individual level. However, we found no fitness signatures of a change in the impact of climate-induced trophic mismatch, and evidence that shags are tracking long-term shifts in optimum timing. This suggests that if asynchrony is present in this system, breeding success is not impacted. Our approach highlights the advantages of examining variation at both population and individual levels when assessing evidence for fitness impacts of trophic asynchrony., (© 2020 The Authors. Journal of Animal Ecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological Society.)

In public health there is increased focus on evaluating 'complex' interventions for health improvement, examining how their multiple components interact dynamically with the contextual system in which they are delivered. Amid this complexity framing are calls for methodologies that can facilitate contextual understanding as part of the evaluation process, including ethnography. However, while ethnography's attention to 'context' has been recognised as valuable for evaluation, few questions have been raised about the possible tensions of aligning what are quite different expectations for knowledge making in evaluation and in ethnography. This paper introduces a special section illustrating empirical examples of conducting ethnography for and with evaluation of 'complex' health interventions. Central to these experiences, this paper argues, are the concepts of time and temporality through which experience, change and knowledge making are invariably structured. It considers the different expectations for time and temporality in ethnographic and evaluation research, and how the 'long conversation' of ethnography aids interpretation of an intervention's interaction with the pasts, presents and possible futures of people's health experiences. Furthermore, in understanding time not as linear and constant but experienced through a series of encounters, ethnography highlights the spaces in between action and change, vital for understanding the complex dynamics of a health intervention in context. Through temporality, this paper and the related empirical papers present an intricate exploration of the challenges and productive opportunities posed by the use of ethnography for and with evaluation.

Age-related variation in reproductive performance is ubiquitous in wild vertebrate populations and has important consequences for population and evolutionary dynamics. The ageing trajectory is shaped by both within-individual processes, such as improvement and senescence, and the among-individual effects of selective appearance and disappearance. To date, few studies have compared the role of these different drivers among species or populations. In this study, we use nearly 40 years of longitudinal monitoring data to contrast the within- and among-individual processes contributing to the reproductive ageing patterns in three albatross species (two biennial and one annual breeder) and test whether these can be explained by differences in life histories. Early-life performance in all species increased with age and was predominantly influenced by within-individual improvements. However, reproductive senescence was detected in only two of the species. In the species exhibiting senescent declines, we also detected a terminal improvement in breeding success. This is suggestive of a trade-off between reproduction and survival, which was supported by evidence of selective disappearance of good breeders. We demonstrate that comparisons of closely related species which differ in specific aspects of their life history can shed light on the ecological and evolutionary forces shaping variation in ageing patterns., (© 2017 The Authors. Journal of Animal Ecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological Society.)

There is growing interest in the effects of wind on wild animals, given evidence that wind speeds are increasing and becoming more variable in some regions, particularly at temperate latitudes. Wind may alter movement patterns or foraging ability, with consequences for energy budgets and, ultimately, demographic rates. These effects are expected to vary among individuals due to intrinsic factors such as sex, age or feeding proficiency. Furthermore, this variation is predicted to become more marked as wind conditions deteriorate, which may have profound consequences for population dynamics as the climate changes. However, the interaction between wind and intrinsic effects has not been comprehensively tested. In many species, in particular those showing sexual size dimorphism, males and females vary in foraging performance. Here, we undertook year-round deployments of data loggers to test for interactions between sex and wind speed and direction on foraging effort in adult European shags Phalacrocorax aristotelis, a pursuit-diving seabird in which males are c. 18% heavier. We found that foraging time was lower at high wind speeds but higher during easterly (onshore) winds. Furthermore, there was an interaction between sex and wind conditions on foraging effort, such that females foraged for longer than males when winds were of greater strength (9% difference at high wind speeds vs. 1% at low wind speeds) and when winds were easterly compared with westerly (7% and 4% difference, respectively). The results supported our prediction that sex-specific differences in foraging effort would become more marked as wind conditions worsen. Since foraging time is linked to demographic rates in this species, our findings are likely to have important consequences for population dynamics by amplifying sex-specific differences in survival rates., (© 2015 The Authors. Journal of Animal Ecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of the British Ecological Society.)

Parasitic infection has a direct physiological cost to hosts but may also alter how hosts interact with other individuals in their environment. Such indirect effects may alter both host fitness and the fitness of other individuals in the host's social network, yet the relative impact of direct and indirect effects of infection are rarely quantified. During reproduction, a host's social environment includes family members who may be in conflict over resource allocation. In such situations, infection may alter how resources are allocated, thereby redistributing the costs of parasitism between individuals. Here, we experimentally reduce parasite burdens of parent and/or nestling European shags (Phalacrocorax aristotelis) infected with Contracaecum nematodes in a factorial design, then simultaneously measure the impact of an individual's infection on all family members. We found no direct effect of infection on parent or offspring traits but indirect effects were detected in all group members, with both immediate effects (mass change and survival) and longer-term effects (timing of parents' subsequent breeding). Our results show that parasite infection can have a major impact on individuals other than the host, suggesting that the effect of parasites on population processes may be greater than previously thought., (© 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.)

This research article on youth smoking in disadvantaged communities is the product of a qualitative study to understand the issues faced by young smokers--and those trying not to be smokers--in such communities. Environmental factors and peer influence are widely recognised influences on adolescents' take-up and continuation of smoking but less is known about whether, what, how and why circumstances in disadvantaged communities affect young people's pathways towards and away from smoking. Focusing on a youth club in a disadvantaged neighbourhood in the North East of England, narratives about young people's relationships with tobacco provide an ethnographically rich, thick description of the experiences of a group that is too often easily ignored. We argue that young people are caught between competing domains that together exert a form of structural violence. These are, first, the economic and political structures that have overseen de-industrialisation; second, the media structures that create desire for what they cannot afford; third the structures of international organised crime that conspire to provide them with the means to consume from which 'legitimate' structures effectively exclude them. Rather than expecting young people to comply with the health imperative, interventions need to bridge issues of agency and critical consciousness, which structural violence otherwise insidiously erodes., (© 2013 The Authors. Sociology of Health & Illness © 2013 Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness/John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Patient care improves with shared decision making, a new healthcare model used by health systems across the country. Identified as a national priority for healthcare transformation, the shared-decision-making model requires providers to engage patients in their healthcare.

Background: Patients are surviving longer with cancer due to early detection and improvements in treatment. With longer survival, quality of life becomes very important. While improvements in treatment add years to the life of patients diagnosed with cancer, rehabilitation can add life to those years., Objective: This article highlights the role rehabilitation can play in enhancing the quality of life for patients living with cancer., Discussion: There are an increasing number of cancer survivors, creating the imperative to look beyond just survival. Potentially remediable problems may include pain, deconditioning and functional impairments. Patients with cancers of the breast, head and neck, musculoskeletal, central nervous system and peripheral nervous system, prostate, and metastatic cancer of the spine may particularly benefit from rehabilitation. Active engagement of oncologists, palliative medicine, general practitioners and rehabilitation specialists can be useful to assist in the rehabilitation needs of patients. In appropriate situations, patients with cancer should be offered rehabilitation services if they are likely to benefit.

1. In many animal populations a small proportion of individuals produce the majority of surviving offspring, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Behaviour may be an important determinant of variation in fitness: 'high-quality' individuals may have enhanced abilities in foraging or predator and parasite avoidance. 2. The role of behaviour in determining variation in quality was examined using the common guillemot Uria aalge, a monogamous seabird with biparental care. Using a novel mixed model approach, we analysed binary data on breeding success of each pair attempting to breed in each year with variables critical to breeding success (timing of breeding; inferred age; breeding experience and success; number of nest sites and partners) as fixed effects. Random effects for year, male, female and each distinct pairing of a male and a female were included in the model, allowing a quality estimate to be derived for each individual and pair. A range of behaviours associated with breeding were examined in relation to these quality estimates. 3. Breeding success declined with timing of breeding, and increased initially with age before declining in old age. It increased with previous successful experience, not breeding experience per se, until senescence effects became apparent. For males, breeding success declined with increasing numbers of mates. 4. The most important behavioural determinants of quality operated at the level of the pair, with the time mates spent together at the site and chick feeding rates both positively related to quality. At the individual level, trip durations and feeding rates were associated with female but not male quality, suggesting that pair quality was operating principally through the female. However, removal of laying date, the most important component in the binomial model, confirmed that the pair effect was much larger than the female effect. 5. This study demonstrates the potential of mixed modelling to determine quality estimates based on long-term breeding histories. The probability of a successful reproductive attempt was explained by the timing of breeding, age, successful breeding experience and number of mates. Behaviour was an important proximate mechanism underlying quality, in particular the foraging abilities of the pair, and the female's contribution to offspring provisioning. In species with biparental care, behavioural correlates of quality operate most strongly at the scale of the breeding pair, because contributions from both individuals are required for a successful outcome.

Changes in animal population size are driven by the interactions between intrinsic processes and extrinsic forces, and identifying the proximate mechanisms behind population change remains a fundamental question in ecology. Here we report on how measuring behavioural and state proxies of food availability among populations experiencing different growth rates can be used to rapidly identify proximate drivers of population trends. In recent decades, the Cape gannet Morus capensis has shown a major distributional shift with historically large colonies in Namibia decreasing rapidly, whilst numbers at South African colonies have increased, suggesting contrasting environmental conditions in the two regions. We compared per capita growth rates of five of the six extant colonies with foraging range (using miniaturised Global Positioning System loggers), foraging work rate, food delivery rates and body condition of breeding adults. We found significant associations between the rate of population change, individual behaviour, energetic gain and body condition that indicate that recent population changes are associated with extrinsic effects. This study shows that behavioural and state data can be used to identify important drivers of population change, and their cost-effectiveness ensures that they are an appealing option for measuring the health of animal populations in numerous situations.