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Human evolutionary ecology stands to benefit by integrating theory and methods developed in movement ecology, and in turn, to make contributions to the broader field of movement ecology by leveraging our species' distinct attributes. In this paper, we review data and evolutionary models suggesting that major changes in socio-spatial behaviour accompanied the evolution of language. To illustrate and explore these issues, we present a comparison of GPS measures of the socio-spatial behaviour of Hadza hunter-gatherers of northern Tanzania to those of olive baboons (Papio anubis), a comparatively small-brained primate that is also savanna-adapted. While standard spatial metrics show modest differences, measures of spatial diversity, landscape exploration and spatiotemporal displacement between individuals differ markedly. Groups of Hadza foragers rapidly accumulate a vast, diverse knowledge pool about places and things over the horizon, contrasting with the baboon's narrower and more homogeneous pool of ecological information. The larger and more complex socio-spatial world illustrated by the Hadza is one where heightened cognitive abilities for spatial and episodic memory, navigation, perspective taking and communication about things beyond the here and now all have clear value.This article is part of the theme issue 'The spatial-social interface: a theoretical and empirical integration'.

Understanding how gendered economic roles structure space use is critical to evolutionary models of foraging behaviour, social organization and cognition. Here, we examine hunter-gatherer spatial behaviour on a very large scale, using GPS devices worn by Hadza foragers to record 2,078 person-days of movement. Theory in movement ecology suggests that the density and mobility of targeted foods should predict spatial behaviour and that strong gender differences should arise in a hunter-gatherer context. As predicted, we find that men walked further per day, explored more land, followed more sinuous paths and were more likely to be alone. These data are consistent with the ecology of male- and female-targeted foods and suggest that male landscape use is more navigationally challenging in this hunter-gatherer context. Comparisons of Hadza space use with space use data available for non-human primates suggest that the sexual division of labour likely co-evolved with increased sex differences in spatial behaviour and landscape use.

Recent work suggests human physiology is not well adapted to prolonged periods of inactivity, with time spent sitting increasing cardiovascular disease and mortality risk. Health risks from sitting are generally linked with reduced levels of muscle contractions in chair-sitting postures and associated reductions in muscle metabolism. These inactivity-associated health risks are somewhat paradoxical, since evolutionary pressures tend to favor energy-minimizing strategies, including rest. Here, we examined inactivity in a hunter-gatherer population (the Hadza of Tanzania) to understand how sedentary behaviors occur in a nonindustrial economic context more typical of humans' evolutionary history. We tested the hypothesis that nonambulatory rest in hunter-gatherers involves increased muscle activity that is different from chair-sitting sedentary postures used in industrialized populations. Using a combination of objectively measured inactivity from thigh-worn accelerometers, observational data, and electromygraphic data, we show that hunter-gatherers have high levels of total nonambulatory time (mean ± SD = 9.90 ± 2.36 h/d), similar to those found in industrialized populations. However, nonambulatory time in Hadza adults often occurs in postures like squatting, and we show that these "active rest" postures require higher levels of lower limb muscle activity than chair sitting. Based on our results, we introduce the Inactivity Mismatch Hypothesis and propose that human physiology is likely adapted to more consistently active muscles derived from both physical activity and from nonambulatory postures with higher levels of muscle contraction. Interventions built on this model may help reduce the negative health impacts of inactivity in industrialized populations.

Aim: Arctic plants survived the Pleistocene glaciations in unglaciated refugia. The number, ages, and locations of these refugia are often unclear. We use high‐resolution genomic data from present‐day and Little‐Ice‐Age populations of Arctic Bell‐Heather to re‐evaluate the biogeography of this species and determine whether it had multiple independent refugia or a single refugium in Beringia. Location: Circumpolar Arctic and Coastal British Columbia (BC) alpine. Taxon: Cassiope tetragona L., subspecies saximontana and tetragona, outgroup C. mertensiana (Ericaceae). Methods: We built genotyping‐by‐sequencing (GBS) libraries using Cassiope tetragona tissue from 36 Arctic locations, including two ~250‐ to 500‐year‐old populations collected under glacial ice on Ellesmere Island, Canada. We assembled a de novo GBS reference to call variants. Population structure, genetic diversity and demography were inferred from PCA, ADMIXTURE, fastsimcoal2, SplitsTree, and several population genomics statistics. Results: Population structure analyses identified 4–5 clusters that align with geographic locations. Nucleotide diversity was highest in Beringia and decreased eastwards across Canada. Demographic coalescent analyses dated the following splits with Alaska: BC subspecies saximontana (5 mya), Russia (~1.4 mya), Europe (>200–600 kya), and Greenland (~60 kya). Northern Canada populations appear to have formed during the current interglacial (7–9 kya). Admixture analyses show genetic variants from Alaska appear more frequently in present‐day than historic plants on Ellesmere Island. Conclusions: Population and demographic analyses support BC, Alaska, Russia, Europe and Greenland as all having had independent Pleistocene refugia. Northern Canadian populations appear to be founded during the current interglacial with genetic contributions from Alaska, Europe and Greenland. We found evidence, on Ellesmere Island, for continued recent gene flow in the last 250–500 years. These results suggest that a re‐analysis of other Arctic species with shallow population structure using higher resolution genomic markers and demographic analyses may help reveal deeper structure and other circumpolar glacial refugia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do racial attitudes affect the relationship between religion and support for capital punishment? Past research has clearly established important links between religion, racial attitudes, and capital punishment. Yet, it remains unclear how racial attitudes affect this relationship. We examine this question using a large sample of respondents from the General Social Survey from 1994 to 2018. We find evidence of a strong moderating effect where the relationship between religion and support for capital punishment varies considerably contingent on racial resentment. At high levels of racial resentment, support for capital punishment is uniformly high across all religious traditions while there are large disparities at low levels of racial resentment. Thus, strongly held, prejudicial racial attitudes overshadow the association between religion and support for capital punishment. Future research should more seriously consider the racial dynamics embedded religion and punishment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The National Surgical Quality Improvement Program surgical risk calculator (SRC) estimates the risk for postoperative complications. This meta‐analysis assesses the efficacy of the SRC in the field of head and neck surgery. Methods: A systematic review identified studies comparing the SRC's predictions to observed outcomes following head and neck surgeries. Predictive accuracy was assessed using receiver operating characteristic curves (AUCs) and Brier scoring. Results: Nine studies totaling 1774 patients were included. The SRC underpredicted the risk of all outcomes (including any complication [observed (ob) = 35.9%, predicted (pr) = 21.8%] and serious complication [ob = 28.7%, pr = 17.0%]) except mortality (ob = 0.37%, pr = 1.55%). The observed length of stay was more than twice the predicted length (p < 0.02). Discrimination was acceptable for postoperative pneumonia (AUC = 0.778) and urinary tract infection (AUC = 0.782) only. Predictive accuracy was low for all outcomes (Brier scores ≥0.01) and comparable for patients with and without free‐flap reconstructions. Conclusion: The SRC is an ineffective instrument for predicting outcomes in head and neck surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Surgical frailty estimates a patient's ability to withstand the physiologic stress of an intervention. There is limited data regarding the impact of frailty on endoscopic cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak repair. Methods: Patients undergoing CSF leak repair at two tertiary academic skull base programs were retrospectively reviewed. Demographic, treatment, and postoperative outcomes data were recorded. Frailty was calculated using validated indices, including the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) classification, Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), and the Modified 5‐Item Frailty Index (mFI‐5). Outcomes included 30‐day medical and surgical complications and readmission. Results: A total of 185 patients were included with 128 (69.2%) female patients and average age of 54 ± 14 years. The average body mass index was 34.6 ± 8.5. The most common identified etiology was idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) in 64 patients (34.6%). A total of 125 patients (68%) underwent perioperative lumbar drain placement (primarily to measure intracranial pressures and diagnose IIH). Most patients were ASA class 3 (48.6%) with mean CCI 2.14 ± 2.23 and mFI‐5 0.97 ± 0.90. Three patients had postoperative CSF leaks, with an overall repair success rate of 98.4%. There was no association between increased frailty and 30‐day medical outcomes, surgical outcomes, or readmission (all p > 0.05). Conclusions: Endoscopic CSF leak repair in a frail population, including lumbar drain placement and bed rest, was not associated with an increased rate of complications. Previous data suggests increased complications in open craniotomy procedures in patients with significant comorbidities. This study suggests that the endoscopic approach to CSF leak repair is well tolerated in the frail population. Level of Evidence: IV Laryngoscope, 134:2713–2717, 2024 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While there is a growing literature investigating the causes and consequences of the US prison boom—the tripling of prison facilities between 1970 and 2000—much less is known about current patterns of prison closures. We use novel data capturing the universe of prison closures (N = 188) from 2000 to 2022 to identify and characterize what we term "the prison bust"—the period since 2000 when prison closures began to climb and eventually eclipse new prison building. We show that the prison bust is, in part, a consequence of development-oriented prison-building policies that aggressively used prisons to stimulate struggling local economies. The bust is primarily concentrated in the counties that pursued prison building most aggressively, reflecting a highly cyclical and reactionary pattern of prison placement and closure. We also show that, relative to counties with at least one prison but no closures, closures are concentrated in metro counties with stronger local economies and multiple prisons. Overall, we highlight the prison bust as an important new era in the history of US punishment and provide a new dataset for investigating its causes and consequences. We conclude by discussing the theoretical and policy implications of these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The fragility index represents the minimum number of patients required to convert an outcome from statistically significant to insignificant. This report assesses the fragility index of head and neck cancer randomised, controlled trials. Methods: Studies were extracted from PubMed/Medline, Scopus, Embase and Cochrane databases. Results: Overall, 123 randomised, controlled trials were included. The sample size and fragility index medians (interquartile ranges) were 103 (56–213) and 2 (0–5), respectively. The fragility index exceeded the number of patients lost to follow up in 42.3 per cent (n = 52) of studies. A higher fragility index correlated with higher sample size (r = 0.514, p < 0.001), number of events (r = 0.449, p < 0.001) and statistical significance via p -value (r = −0.367, p < 0.001). Conclusion: Head and neck cancer randomised, controlled trials demonstrated low fragility index values, in which statistically significant results could be nullified by altering the outcomes of just two patients, on average. Future head and neck oncology randomised, controlled trials should report the fragility index in order to provide insight into statistical robustness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]