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Background Standard turnaround times for Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (GC) testing result in unnecessary antibiotic use for patients without infection and undertreatment of patients with infection(s). We aimed to determine the impact of rapid CT/GC testing on reducing unnecessary antibiotic use, undertreatment of CT and/or GC, and length of stay in an urban safety-net pediatric emergency department (PED). Methods Before 2020, testing for CT/GC was performed using a batched nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT; Hologic Aptima Combo2) with results available the following day. Starting January 2020, the GeneXpert rapid NAAT (Cepheid Xpert CT/NG) with turnaround time between 90-120 minutes was available. Our primary outcome variables were under- and over-treatment. Undertreatment was defined as GC and/or CT positive patients who did not receive appropriate antibiotic treatment in the PED. Overtreatment was defined as GC or CT negative patients who received antibiotic treatment in the PED. Under- and over-treatment percentages were plotted on Statistical Process Control p charts. The balancing measure was length of stay (LOS). Results There were 739 patients evaluated in the baseline period (2019), 631 in the intervention period (2020) and 626 in the post-intervention period (2021). There were no differences in gender, race, ethnicity, and insurance across the 3 time periods. After introduction of the GeneXpert, over-treatment decreased from 18.4% to 8.1% (Figure). Under-treatment did not differ. Median turnaround for the GeneXpert was 119 minutes. Median LOS in minutes increased from 165 minutes (baseline) to 182 minutes (intervention) and 202 minutes (post-intervention; p< .001). Percentage of patients over-treated for chlamydia and gonorrhea. Conclusion Rapid CT/GC testing substantially reduced unnecessary antibiotic use but increased LOS. Given the rapid increases in CT/GC rates and antimicrobial resistance health systems should consider implementation of rapid testing to appropriately direct antimicrobials to patients most likely to benefit. A more rapid test would likely increase appropriate antibiotic use and limit impact on LOS. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures.

Food-associated calls have received much research attention due to their potential to refer to discovered food in a word-like manner. Studies have found that in many species, food-associated calls attract receivers to the food patch, suggesting these calls play roles in food sharing, cooperation and competition. Additionally, in various species, these calls play a role that has received much less attention: mediating social interactions among foragers that are already nearby or within the food patch, independently of whether they attract outside foragers. In order to increase understanding of the function of the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) food-associated rough grunt, we conducted captive playback studies testing whether rough grunt playbacks attract, repel or have no effect on the proximity of foragers already familiarized with the presence of food. We tested how acoustic playbacks of rough grunts (or control calls) from one of two known, identical feeding sites affected receivers’ approach and feeding behaviors. More often than expected, participants first approached the feeding site from which rough grunts, but not control calls, were broadcast. However, neither condition increased the likelihood that participants fed first from a given site. Our results support the hypothesis that rough grunts elicit an approach response in receivers, while providing no evidence that they repel. In addition, our study provides evidence that receivers may approach rough grunts even if they do not intend to feed. We discuss the information rough grunts may convey to receivers beyond information about discovered food and the potential benefits signalers may gain from this calling behavior.

Decades of research have led to a solid understanding of the social systems of gregarious apes: chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and gibbons. As field studies have increasingly collected data from multiple neighboring habituated groups, genetic and social interconnections have been revealed. These findings provide a more nuanced picture of intergroup relations in apes, and have led to claims in the literature that some ape taxa have multilevel societies. A multilevel society is defined as a nested collection of social entities comprising at least two discernible levels of social integration between the individual and the population. We argue that the evidence for multilevel sociality sensu stricto in apes is currently inconclusive and that it is premature to abandon the traditional classification of ape social systems. However, available findings appear to be consistent with the existence of some degree of higher social grouping patterns. We propose the term supra-group organization which may adequately capture ape social systems when viewed from a top-down perspective.

Vocal learning, the ability to modify the acoustic structure of vocalizations based on social experience, is a fundamental feature of speech in humans (Homo sapiens). While vocal learning is common in taxa such as songbirds and whales, the vocal learning capacities of nonhuman primates appear more limited. Intriguingly, evidence for vocal learning has been reported in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), for example, in the form of regional variation ("dialects") in the "pant-hoot" calls. This suggests that some capacity for vocal learning may be an ancient feature of the Pan-Homo clade. Nonetheless, reported differences have been subtle, with intercommunity variation representing only a small portion of the total acoustic variation. To gain further insights into the extent of regional variation in chimpanzee vocalizations, we performed an analysis of pant-hoots from chimpanzees in the neighboring Kasekela and Mitumba communities at Gombe National Park, Tanzania, and the geographically distant Kanyawara community at Kibale National Park, Uganda. We did not find any statistically significant differences between the neighboring communities at Gombe or among geographically distant communities. Furthermore, we found differences among individuals in all communities. Hence, the variation in chimpanzee pant-hoots reflected individual differences, rather than group differences. Thus, we did not find evidence of dialects in this population, suggesting that extensive vocal learning emerged only after the lineages of Homo and Pan diverged.

Following the introduction of DNA fingerprinting in the 1980s, studies have repeatedly revealed mismatches between the mating system inferred from social behaviour and the mating system revealed through genetic relationships. In this study, we examined the occurrence of extragroup paternities (EGPs) in gelada monkeys at Guassa, Ethiopia and explored how EGPs may be acquired in this species, which is conventionally considered to have a single breeding male (‘leader’) per social group (‘unit’). We found that while leaders sired most offspring, a substantial proportion (17 of 88 offspring, 19%) were sired by extra-unit males. Offspring were more likely to be sired by extra-unit males when they were: (1) conceived in the 6 months following the start of peak rainfall (July–December) and (2) the first successful conception for a mother. Furthermore, eight of the 17 extra-unit paternities were directly or indirectly the result of a single infertile leader, indicating that infertility plays an important role in the occurrence of EGPs. Compiling published data revealed that the 19% EGP rate observed among Guassa geladas was also the median for polygynous nonhuman primates (range 0–57%, N = 5 populations), in contrast to geladas in the Simien Mountains, where EGPs are absent or rare. Thus, intraspecific variation in EGP rates in geladas encompasses much of the range described across polygynous primates more broadly. The Guassa gelada EGP rate was similar to the median rate reported for mammals. Primates generally had a lower median rate of EGPs, more similar to the median rate reported for birds. Understanding variation in EGP rates requires understanding the outcomes of competing interests of males and females within the same species, as well as how these features contribute to the evolution of social systems and influence variation in EGP rates at higher taxonomic levels.

Introduction Postoperative infections represent a substantial burden to patients and healthcare systems. To improve patient care and reduce healthcare expenditures, interventions to reduce surgical infections must be employed. The crystalline C-band ultraviolet (UV-C) air filtration technology (Aerobiotix Inc., Miamisburg, OH, USA) has been designed to reduce airborne bioburden through high-quality filtration and germicidal irradiation. The purpose of this study was to assess the ability of a novel UV-C air filtration device to reduce airborne particle counts and contamination of surgical instrument trays in an operating room (OR) setting. Materials and methods Thirty sterile instrument trays were opened in a positive-air-flow OR. The trays were randomly assigned to one of two groups (UV-C or control, n=15 per group). In the UV-C group, the UV-C filtration device was used and in the control, it was not. All trays were opened with the use of a sterile technique and left exposed in the OR for four hours. Air was sampled by a particle counter to measure the numbers of 5µm and 10µm particles. Culture specimens were obtained from the trays to assess for bacterial contamination. Outcome data were collected at 30-minute intervals for the duration of the four-hour study period. Results Use of the UV-C device resulted in statistically significant reductions in the numbers of 5µm (average of 64.9% reduction when compared with the control, p0.001) and 10µm (average of 65.7% reduction when compared with the control, p0.001)-sized particles detectable in the OR. There was no significant difference in the overall rates of contamination (33.3% in the control group vs. 26.7% in the UV-C group, p=1.0) or the time to contamination (mean survival of 114 minutes in the control group vs. 105 minutes in the UV-C group, p=0.72) of surgical instrument trays with the use of the UV-C device. Conclusions The results demonstrate that the UV-C filtration device can successfully reduce airborne bioburden in standard ORs, suggesting that it may have the potential to reduce the risk for wound and hardware infections. Further clinical trials are necessary to better determine the effect of this air filtration system on postoperative infection rates.

Group territory defence poses a collective action problem: individuals can free-ride, benefiting without paying the costs. Individual heterogeneity has been proposed to solve such problems, as individuals high in reproductive success, rank, fighting ability or motivation may benefit from defending territories even if others free-ride. To test this hypothesis, we analysed 30 years of data from chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes ) in the Kasekela community, Gombe National Park, Tanzania (1978–2007). We examined the extent to which individual participation in patrols varied according to correlates of reproductive success (mating rate, rank, age), fighting ability (hunting), motivation (scores from personality ratings), costs of defecting (the number of adult males in the community) and gregariousness (sighting frequency). By contrast to expectations from collective action theory, males participated in patrols at consistently high rates (mean ± s.d. = 74.5 ± 11.1% of patrols, n = 23 males). The best predictors of patrol participation were sighting frequency, age and hunting participation. Current and former alpha males did not participate at a higher rate than males that never achieved alpha status. These findings suggest that the temptation to free-ride is low, and that a mutualistic mechanism such as group augmentation may better explain individual participation in group territorial behaviour. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Intergroup conflict across taxa’.

BACKGROUND: Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and Neisseria gonorrhea (GC) infection rates continue to rise. Screening guidelines have largely focused on sexually active females and men who have sex with men (MSM) populations. Healthcare-system testing and infection rates, particularly among heterosexual males, are poorly understood. Our aim was to evaluate CT and GC testing and prevalence among 12–24 year-old patients in an urban Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) system. METHODS: This retrospective study analyzed electronic health record data from 2017–2019 in a large system of FQHCs in Denver, CO. Abstracted data included demographics, sexual activity, sexual orientation, and laboratory results. Chi square tests were used to evaluate differences between groups. RESULTS: Of the 44,021 patients included, 37.6% were tested, 15.0% were positive for CT, and 3.4% were positive for GC. Heterosexual males had a testing rate of 22.8%, and positivity rates of CT and GC at 13.1% and 3.0% respectively. Among tested patients documented as not sexually active, 7.5% were positive for CT. Multiple or re-infections were detected in 29% of patients. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows low testing rates and high rates of CT and GC infections among all patients, including heterosexual males and those documented as not sexually active. Improved screening of these populations in the primary care setting may be key to combating the sexually transmitted disease epidemic. SUMMARY: A study of 12–24-year-old patients in a system of FQHCs found low STI testing rates and high rates of positivity, including among heterosexual males and those who reported no sexual activity.

Food-associated calls have received much research attention due to their potential to refer to discovered food in a word-like manner. Studies have found that in many species, food-associated calls attract receivers to the food patch, suggesting these calls play roles in food sharing, cooperation and competition. Additionally, in various species, these calls play a role that has received much less attention: mediating social interactions among foragers that are already nearby or within the food patch, independently of whether they attract outside foragers. In order to increase understanding of the function of the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) food-associated rough grunt, we conducted captive playback studies testing whether rough grunt playbacks attract, repel or have no effect on the proximity of foragers already familiarized with the presence of food. We tested how acoustic playbacks of rough grunts (or control calls) from one of two known, identical feeding sites affected receivers' approach and feeding behaviors. More often than expected, participants first approached the feeding site from which rough grunts, but not control calls, were broadcast. However, neither condition increased the likelihood that participants fed first from a given site. Our results support the hypothesis that rough grunts elicit an approach response in receivers, while providing no evidence that they repel. In addition, our study provides evidence that receivers may approach rough grunts even if they do not intend to feed. We discuss the information rough grunts may convey to receivers beyond information about discovered food and the potential benefits signalers may gain from this calling behavior.

OBJECTIVES To compare the most common diagnostic/laboratory tests across five different referral hospitals by volume and revenue. METHODS The authors obtained data on volumes and reimbursement rates for the most common 25 tests at the five hospitals with which they are affiliated and organized them to be as comparable as possible. Simple descriptive statistics were used to make cross-country comparisons. RESULTS There are strong similarities across all five hospitals in the top five tests by both volume and revenue. However, the top five by volume differ from the top five by revenue. Reimbursement rates also follow common patterns, being lowest for the most common biochemical test; intermediate for the most common hematology and microbiology tests, respectively; and highest for the most common pathology test. CONCLUSIONS Most of the most common tests also appear in the new Essential Diagnostics List. This may inform plans for universal health coverage.

Normal human pupil diameter (PD) ranges between about 2 to 8 millimeters (mm) depending on a number of factors. While the inverse relation between PD and luminance is well known, less well known and dramatic is the dependence of PD on mental workload (MWL). The PD response to MWL states are typically of small amplitude and high frequency, reflecting differential sympathetic and parasympathetic enervation. The literature shows that with contemporary objective eye tracking technology, PD behavior may prove to be a practical indication of psychophysiological status, including attention and MWL. Despite the pupil’s limited response repertoire; i.e., diameter, it is capable of potentially encoding a spectrum of information about operator state. The challenge is disambiguating PD response characteristics. A commercial, off-the-shelf eye tracker recorded PD of volunteers performing the N-back task,a standard MWL task involving auditory attention and short term memory with three levels of difficulty (easy, moderate, and difficult). The measurements were made at 3 levels of average luminance selected to assess PD when it is small, medium, and large. Each of these luminance levels fluctuated around its mean level in a sinusoidal fashion (with a ±25% modulation) at one of 4 frequencies: 1.0 hertz (Hz), 0.2 Hz, 0.1 Hz, and 0.0 Hz. The last frequency being the control condition of a 0% light modulation. Multivariate analysis revealed the effects of MWL on PD were detectable across all combinations of luminance and modulation frequency. The next step is to determine whether pupil diameter can predict MWL.

To ensure safe mission completion, Army aviators must be prepared to execute appropriate emergency procedures (EPs) in a range of situations. Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR) technologies provide novel opportunities to enhance the performance of emergency procedures by presenting them in powerful simulations of the operational environment. Currently, USAARL is developing a VR EP research simulator to support systematic, human performance research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) programs to investigate and thereby enhance the effective, safe execution of EPs. Factors to be investigated include workload, flight maneuver, displays, multisensory stimuli, and aircrew coordination, as well psychophysiological and operational stressors known to potentially impact EP execution. The USAARL EP simulator is being developed and operates within the Unity Real-Time Development Platform currently instantiated with HTC Vive Pro hardware. In order to maximize immersion, virtual reality gloves are the user's method of controlling the simulation. Pupil Labs hardware and software has been integrated with the HTC Vive Pro to record, archive, and analyze synchronous, time stamped oculometric data. Engine fire and a single-engine failure are the emergencies that have been implemented to date in the EP simulator. One mode of operation permits the user to passively experience the EP with no required input. Other modes require the participant to execute the EP with predetermined cueing stimuli ranging from substantial step-by-step cueing to no cueing. Future work will incorporate additional EPs into standard maneuvers with defined physiological stressors.

Vocal learning, the ability to voluntarily modify the acoustic structure of vocalizations based on social cues, is a fundamental feature of speech in humans (Homo sapiens). While vocal learning is common in taxa such as songbirds and whales, the vocal learning capacities of nonhuman primates appear more limited. Intriguingly, evidence for vocal learning has been reported in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), for example in the form of regional variation (‘dialects’) in the ‘pant-hoot’ calls. This suggests that some capacity for vocal learning may be an ancient feature of the Pan-Homo clade. Nonetheless, reported differences have been subtle, with inter-community variation representing only a small portion of the total acoustic variation. To gain further insights into the extent of regional variation in chimpanzee vocalizations, we performed an analysis of pant-hoots from chimpanzees in the neighboring Kasekela and Mitumba communities at Gombe National Park, Tanzania, and the geographically distant Kanyawara community at Kibale National Park, Uganda. We observed group differences only among the geographically isolated communities and did not find any differences between the neighboring communities at Gombe. Furthermore, we found differences among individuals in all communities. Hence, the variation in chimpanzee pant-hoots reflected individual differences, rather than group differences. The limited evidences for vocal learning in Pan suggest that extensive vocal learning emerged in the human lineage after the divergence from Pan.

Male chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) defend group territories and sometimes kill members of rival communities — a pattern often compared to human warfare1-3. Male chimpanzees also sometimes kill grown males from their own community4-9. Such within-community killings are puzzling, as they reduce the coalition strength needed to win inter-community contests5,10. Here we examine the contexts of within-community killing using data from two neighboring communities at Gombe National Park, Tanzania, as well as published data from other long-term chimpanzee study sites. At Gombe, more killing occurred within the smaller Mitumba community, where fertile females were more monopolizable. Attackers increased their share of mating and paternity following known and inferred killings. Other factors proposed to explain such killings, including the degree of intercommunity threat, male-biased sex ratios, high population density, or generalized aggression, did not explain the high rates of killing in Mitumba. Comparing across study sites, the best predictor of within-community killing was an index of the degree to which fertile females can be monopolized by the highest ranking male11. Our findings therefore support the hypothesis that within-community killing is a strategy to eliminate reproductive rivals that is more likely to pay off when fertile females are more easily monopolized.

Sixty years of research on chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) at Gombe National Park, Tanzania have revealed many similarities with human behaviour, including hunting, tool use, and coalitionary killing. The close phylogenetic relationship between chimpanzees and humans suggests that these traits were present in the last common ancestor of Pan and Homo (LCA(PH)). However, findings emerging from studies of our other closest living relative, the bonobo (Pan paniscus), indicate that either bonobos are derived in these respects, or the many similarities between chimpanzees and humans evolved convergently. In either case, field studies provide opportunities to test hypotheses for how and why our lineage has followed its peculiar path through the adaptive landscape. Evidence from primate field studies suggests that the hominin path depends on our heritage as apes: inefficient quadrupeds with grasping hands, orthograde posture, and digestive systems that require high quality foods. Key steps along this path include: (1) changes in diet; (2) increased use of tools; (3) bipedal gait; (4) multilevel societies; (5) collective foraging, including a sexual division of labor and extensive food transfers; and (6) language. Here I consider some possible explanations for these transitions, with an emphasis on contributions from Gombe.

Background The Abbott RealTime SARS-CoV-2 assay (Abbott Laboratories, Chicago, Illinois) is an RT-PCR test for qualitative detection of SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid in NP and OP specimens performed on the Abbott m2000 System. Currently, no published data exists on the performance characteristics of the assay. Methods Denver Health Medical Center (DHMC) is a 550-bed hospital that is Denver County’s safety net institution. The Department of Pathology and Laboratory Services at DHMC provides testing for both inpatient and outpatient populations. In March 2020, we validated the Abbott RealTime SARS-CoV-2 assay. Beginning March 19, inpatients and outpatients with SARS-CoV-2 symptoms were tested. On April 22, universal testing began on admitted patients, regardless of symptoms, and on May 2, testing began on asymptomatic outpatients prior to time-sensitive procedures. We evaluated the sensitivity and negative predictive value (NPV) for tests done March 19 through June 16 using a surrogate method. False negative (FN) results: patients with an initial negative test then a positive test within 7 or 14 days. True negative (TN) results: patients with two initial consecutive negative tests within 7 or 14 days. True positive (TP) results: patients with an initial positive test. Results There were 16,152 tests done for 13,673 patients. Test results are shown in Table 1. Sensitivity for 7 and 14 days was 99.1% and 97.6%, respectively. The NPV for 7 and 14 days was 94.7% and 91.4%, respectively. Table 1 Conclusion There are limitations to our analysis. First, our assumption of no false positives may be incorrect. Although PCR assays are known to have a low false positive rate, the rate likely is not zero, but in the absence of a true gold standard comparator, we could not calculate test specificity. Second, testing asymptomatic patients may artificially inflate the TN results and the NPV. Third, results depend on the quality of specimen collection, preservation, transport, and handling. We believe accounting for repeat testing in a short timeframe lends credibility to the sensitivity and NPV results. Without published gold standard data on SARS-CoV-2 testing, infection can be reliably ruled both in and out using this assay. Providers can confidently use the results to make clinical and infection prevention management decisions. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures

The study of chimpanzees in Gombe National Park, Tanzania, started by Jane Goodall in 1960, provided pioneering accounts of chimpanzee behavior and ecology. With funding from multiple sources, including the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) and grants from private foundations and federal programs, the project has continued for sixty years, providing a wealth of information about our evolutionary cousins. These chimpanzees face two main challenges to their survival: infectious disease - including simian immunodeficiency virus (SIVcpz), which can cause Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in chimpanzees - and the deforestation of land outside the park. A health monitoring program has increased understanding of the pathogens affecting chimpanzees and has promoted measures to characterize and reduce disease risk. Deforestation reduces connections between Gombe and other chimpanzee populations, which can cause loss of genetic diversity. To promote habitat restoration, JGI facilitated participatory village land use planning, in which communities voluntarily allocated land to a network of Village Land Forest Reserves. Expected benefits to people include stabilizing watersheds, improving water supplies, and ensuring a supply of forest resources. Surveys and genetic analyses confirm that chimpanzees persist on village lands and remain connected to the Gombe population. Many challenges remain, but the regeneration of natural forest on previously degraded lands provides hope that conservation solutions can be found that benefit both people and wildlife. Conservation work in the Greater Gombe Ecosystem has helped promote broader efforts to plan and work for conservation elsewhere in Tanzania and across Africa.

Food-associated calls have attracted much research attention due to their potential to refer to discovered food in a word-like manner. Nevertheless, their effect on receiver behavior remains unclear for many species. While some studies suggest that food-associated calls attract other foragers, other studies indicate that they repel others. We conducted playback studies to differentiate between these two hypotheses for the function of the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) food-associated ‘rough grunt’. We tested how acoustic playbacks of rough grunts (or control calls) from one of two known, identical food patches affected receivers’ foraging decisions in a captive setting. We found that participants were more likely than chance to first investigate the patch from which rough-grunts, but not control calls, were broadcast. However, neither condition increased the likelihood that participants fed first from a given patch. Our results support the hypothesis that rough-grunts attract receivers. However, since receivers were already aware of the presence of food, our results question whether rough-grunts attract by conveying information about discovered food, or rather, the signaler’s motivational state.

Significance A classic explanation for the prevalence of complex warfare in human societies is leadership by exploitative individuals who reap the benefits of conflict while avoiding the costs. Here, we extend the classic hawk−dove model to show that leadership of this kind can also explain the evolution of severe collective violence in certain animal societies. We test our model using long-term data from wild banded mongooses, and show that female leaders incite fights with rival groups to gain genetic benefits, while males bear the costs of fighting. The result is unusually severe levels of intergroup violence. Our findings suggest that the decoupling of leaders from the costs that they incite amplifies the destructive nature of intergroup conflict., Collective conflicts among humans are widespread, although often highly destructive. A classic explanation for the prevalence of such warfare in some human societies is leadership by self-serving individuals that reap the benefits of conflict while other members of society pay the costs. Here, we show that leadership of this kind can also explain the evolution of collective violence in certain animal societies. We first extend the classic hawk−dove model of the evolution of animal aggression to consider cases in which a subset of individuals within each group may initiate fights in which all group members become involved. We show that leadership of this kind, when combined with inequalities in the payoffs of fighting, can lead to the evolution of severe intergroup aggression, with negative consequences for population mean fitness. We test our model using long-term data from wild banded mongooses, a species characterized by frequent intergroup conflicts that have very different fitness consequences for male and female group members. The data show that aggressive encounters between groups are initiated by females, who gain fitness benefits from mating with extragroup males in the midst of battle, whereas the costs of fighting are borne chiefly by males. In line with the model predictions, the result is unusually severe levels of intergroup violence. Our findings suggest that the decoupling of leaders from the costs that they incite amplifies the destructive nature of intergroup conflict.

The marginal value theorem is an optimal foraging model that predicts how efficient foragers should respond to both their ecological and social environments when foraging in food patches, and it has strongly influenced hypotheses for primate behavior. Nevertheless, experimental tests of the marginal value theorem have been rare in primates and observational studies have provided conflicting support. As a step towards filling this gap, we test whether the foraging decisions of captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) adhere to the assumptions and qualitative predictions of the marginal value theorem. We presented 12 adult chimpanzees with a two-patch foraging environment consisting of both low-quality (i.e., low-food density) and high-quality (i.e., high-food density) patches and examined the effect of patch quality on their search behavior, foraging duration, marginal capture rate, and its proxy measures: giving-up density and giving-up time. Chimpanzees foraged longer in high-quality patches, as predicted. In contrast to predictions, they did not depress high-quality patches as thoroughly as low-quality patches. Furthermore, since chimpanzees searched in a manner that fell between systematic and random, their intake rates did not decline at a steady rate over time, especially in high-quality patches, violating an assumption of the marginal value theorem. Our study provides evidence that chimpanzees are sensitive to their rate of energy intake and that their foraging durations correlate with patch quality, supporting many assumptions underlying primate foraging and social behavior. However, our results question whether the marginal value theorem is a constructive model of chimpanzee foraging behavior, and we suggest a Bayesian foraging framework (i.e., combining past foraging experiences with current patch sampling information) as a potential alternative. More work is needed to build an understanding of the proximate mechanisms underlying primate foraging decisions, especially in more complex socioecological environments.

National audience; Evolutionary anthropologists seek to understand the evolution of warfare across multiple timescales, from the roots of warfare in the intergroup aggression of our primate ancestors, to the causes of warfare among contemporary societies today. While warfare remains a contentious subject, considerable evidence supports the view that warfare is a strategy by which coalitions of males cooperate to acquire and defend resources necessary for reproduction. This strategy is not the result of a single “instinct” for war, but is instead an emergent property resulting from evolved psychological mechanisms (such as xenophobia and parochial altruism). These mechanisms are sensitive to ecological and social conditions, such that the prevalence and patterns of warfare vary according to subsistence strategies, military technology, cultural institutions, and political and economic relations. When economic conditions enable intergroup relations to change from zero-sum to positive-sum games, peaceful intergroup relations can emerge.

The ability to generate genomic data from wild animal populations has the potential to give unprecedented insight into the population history and dynamics of species in their natural habitats. However, in the case of many species, it is impossible legally, ethically, or logistically to obtain tissues samples of high quality necessary for genomic analyses. In this study we evaluate the success of multiple sources of genetic material (feces, urine, dentin, and dental calculus) and several capture methods (shotgun, whole-genome, exome) in generating genome-scale data in wild eastern chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) from Gombe National Park, Tanzania. We found that urine harbors significantly more host DNA than other sources, leading to broader and deeper coverage across the genome. Urine also exhibited a lower rate of allelic dropout. We found exome sequencing to be far more successful than both shotgun sequencing and whole-genome capture at generating usable data from low-quality samples such as feces and dental calculus. These results highlight urine as a promising and untapped source of DNA that can be noninvasively collected from wild populations of many species.

The ability to generate genomic data from wild animal populations has the potential to give unprecedented insight into the population history and dynamics of species in their natural habitats. However, in the case of many species, it is impossible legally, ethically, or logistically to obtain tissues samples of high-quality necessary for genomic analyses. In this study we evaluate the success of multiple sources of genetic material (feces, urine, dentin, and dental calculus) and several capture methods (shotgun, whole-genome, exome) in generating genome-scale data in wild eastern chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) from Gombe National Park, Tanzania. We found that urine harbors significantly more host DNA than other sources, leading to broader and deeper coverage across the genome. Urine also exhibited a lower rate of allelic dropout. We found exome sequencing to be far more successful than both shotgun sequencing and whole-genome capture at generating usable data from low-quality samples such as feces and dental calculus. These results highlight urine as a promising and untapped source of DNA that can be noninvasively collected from wild populations of many species.

Multidisciplinary approaches are critical to address the increasingly complex issues at the intersection of nonhuman primates and neglected infectious diseases. In this chapter, we use the Gombe Ecosystem Health Project in Tanzania to demonstrate how team science can be launched to tackle complexity in health. The diverse interactions among humans, nonhuman primates, and domestic animals within and outside the park highlight the need for collaborative research in order to thoroughly understand the role of monkeys in pathogen transmission. We offer three steps for the creation of a multidisciplinary team that can perform research in the context of ecosystem health: (1) problem formulation and conceptual mapping, (2) stakeholder consideration, and (3) team formulation and practice. This case study illustrates the expansion from a “Chimpanzee Health Project” to an “Ecosystem Health Project” that was only successful through the use of multidisciplinary team science.

The purpose of this paper is to report the comparison of two independent measures of susceptibility to motion sickness, the Motion Sickness History Questionnaire and the Motion Sickness Susceptibility Questionnaire – Short Version. Twenty-nine subjects (15 male) participated in a repeated measures study in which they were exposed to two different latency conditions in a Head-Mounted Display (HMD): constant (70 ms) and varying (70 ms – 270 ms). Sickness levels increased significantly over time in both conditions. Participants began the study with minimal symptoms, progressing to problematic levels by the end of the blocks of trials. Prior to the study all participants completed both the MSHQ and the MSSQ-S. Peak sickness levels were strongly correlated with MSSQ-S, Pearson’s r =.45, p = .01. The MSHQ susceptibility scores did not significantly correlate with peak sickness levels. This indicates for this study the MSSQ-S more accurately predicted a participant’s susceptibility to motion sickness than the MSHQ.