Sensory collectives in natural systems.

Groups of animals inhabit vastly different sensory worlds, or umwelten, which shape fundamental aspects of their behaviour. Yet the sensory ecology of species is rarely incorporated into the emerging field of collective behaviour, which studies the movements, population-level behaviours, and emergent properties of animal groups. Here, we review the contributions of sensory ecology and collective behaviour to understanding how animals move and interact within the context of their social and physical environments. Our goal is to advance and bridge these two areas of inquiry and highlight the potential for their creative integration. To achieve this goal, we organise our review around the following themes: (1) identifying the promise of integrating collective behaviour and sensory ecology; (2) defining and exploring the concept of a 'sensory collective'; (3) considering the potential for sensory collectives to shape the evolution of sensory systems; (4) exploring examples from diverse taxa to illustrate neural circuits involved in sensing and collective behaviour; and (5) suggesting the need for creative conceptual and methodological advances to quantify 'sensescapes'. In the final section, (6) applications to biological conservation, we argue that these topics are timely, given the ongoing anthropogenic changes to sensory stimuli (e.g. via light, sound, and chemical pollution) which are anticipated to impact animal collectives and group-level behaviour and, in turn, ecosystem composition and function. Our synthesis seeks to provide a forward-looking perspective on how sensory ecologists and collective behaviourists can both learn from and inspire one another to advance our understanding of animal behaviour, ecology, adaptation, and evolution.

Midwives' experiences of encountering immigrant women during labour and birth who do not master the host country's language. A lifeworld hermeneutic study.

BACKGROUND: Immigrant women are in a vulnerable position during labour and birth due to language barriers. Communication with women who do not master the host country's language is difficult for midwives, but there are few studies about midwives' experiences. AIM: To explore Norwegian midwives' experiences of encountering immigrant women during labour and birth who do not master the native language. METHOD: A hermeneutic lifeworld approach. Interviews with eight midwives working at specialist clinics and hospital maternity wards in Norway. RESULTS: The findings were interpreted based on four concepts in the theory "Birth territory: A theory for midwifery practice" by Fahy and Parrat presented in five themes: language barriers can cause disharmony and prevent participation, language barriers can lead to midwifery domination and poorer care, midwives strive for harmony and to be a guardian, medicalisd birth due to language barriers, and disharmony can lead to crossing boundaries. The main interpretation shows that it is midwifery domination and disintegrative power that are prominent. However, the midwives strived to use their integrative power and be guardians, but in doing so they encountered challenges. CONCLUSION: Midwives need strategies for better communication with immigrant women involving the women and for avoiding a medicalised birth. To be able to meet immigrant women's needs and to establish a good relationship with them, challenges in maternity care need to be addressed. There are needs of care that focus on cultural aspects, leadership teams that support midwives, and both theoretical and organisational care models that support immigrant women.

Oxytocin promotes social proximity and decreases vigilance in groups of African lions.

Oxytocin modulates mammalian social behavior; however, behavioral responses to intranasal oxytocin can vary across species and contexts. The complexity of social interactions increases with group dynamics, and the impacts of oxytocin on both within- and between-group contexts are unknown. We tested the effects of intranasal administration of oxytocin on social and non-social behaviors within in-group and out-group contexts in African lions. We hypothesized that, post intranasal oxytocin administration, lions would be in closer proximity with fellow group members, whereas out-group stimuli could either produce a heightened vigilance response or an attenuated one. Compared to control trials, post oxytocin administration, lions increased their time spent in close proximity (reducing their distance to the nearest neighbor) and decreased vigilance toward out-group intruders (reducing their vocalizations following a roar-playback). These results not only have important implications for understanding the evolution of social circuitry but may also have practical applications for conservation efforts.

Exploring innovative problem-solving in African lions (Panthera leo) and snow leopards (Panthera uncia).

Cognitive ability is likely linked to adaptive ability; animals use cognition to innovate and problem-solve in their physical and social environments. We investigated innovative problem-solving in two species of high conservation importance: African lions (Panthera leo; n = 6) and snow leopards (Panthera uncia; n = 9). We designed a custom multi-access puzzle box (MAB) to present a simple and effective behavioral test for the cats to explore. We measured Repeated Innovation, Persistence, Success, Contact Latency, and the Exploration Diversity of individuals interacting with the MAB. Of the six African lions, three (50%) solved one door to the box, one solved two doors (16.67%), and one solved three doors (16.67%). Of the nine snow leopards, one solved one door (11.11%), three solved two doors (33.33%), and none solved all three doors (0%). Persistence was a significant predictor of Success in African lions and snow leopards; more Persistent individuals were more likely to open a door. We also observed significant individual variation in Persistence for both species, but only snow leopards also exhibited differences in Contact Latency and Exploration Diversity. These results suggest individuals vary in their problem-solving approaches. Our findings support both species as successful, repeated innovators. Carnivores face ecological and social challenges and, presumably, benefit from cognitive abilities facilitating the successful navigation of these challenges in captivity and the wild.

Socially tolerant lions (Panthera leo) solve a novel cooperative problem.

Cooperative interactions vary in complexity. The emotional reactivity hypothesis posits that cooperative complexity is constrained by social intolerance. Relaxed social constraints should thereby increase cooperative flexibility and have been proposed as a key step in cognitive evolution. Lions (Panthera leo) are an ideal candidate for investigating cooperative complexity and tolerance. Lions regularly cooperate and their egalitarian social structure predicts high social tolerance. I used a food-sharing task and cooperative problem-solving task to investigate tolerance and cooperation in lions. The majority of pairs (N = 5/7 dyads) solved the cooperative task, repeated success in consecutive trials, and demonstrated cooperative complexity at the levels of similarity and synchrony. Surprisingly, lions showed no evidence of coordination. If coordination occurred, then after gaining experience and when no longer naïve to the need for a partner, lions should increase the proportion of time spent together and preferentially attended to the task in the presence of a partner. However, naïve and experienced pairs did not differ (Wilcoxon matched-pair signed-rank test: both present at apparatus: S4 = - 4.5, N = 5, p = 0.50 |both touching the rope: S4 = - 3.5, N = 5, p = 0.43| simultaneous action: S4 = 2.5, N = 5, p = 0.63). As predicted, lions displayed high tolerance and cooperative success was positively correlated with tolerance (Spearman's correlation test: ρ = 0.83, N = 7, p = 0.02*). To date, this is the first experimental test of and support for cooperative problem solving in lions.

Big cats as a model system for the study of the evolution of intelligence.

Currently, carnivores, and felids in particular, are vastly underrepresented in cognitive literature, despite being an ideal model system for tests of social and ecological intelligence hypotheses. Within Felidae, big cats (Panthera) are uniquely suited to studies investigating the evolutionary links between social, ecological, and cognitive complexity. Intelligence likely did not evolve in a unitary way but instead evolved as the result of mutually reinforcing feedback loops within the physical and social environments. The domain-specific social intelligence hypothesis proposes that social complexity drives only the evolution of cognitive abilities adapted only to social domains. The domain-general hypothesis proposes that the unique demands of social life serve as a bootstrap for the evolution of superior general cognition. Big cats are one of the few systems in which we can directly address conflicting predictions of the domain-general and domain-specific hypothesis by comparing cognition among closely related species that face roughly equivalent ecological complexity but vary considerably in social complexity.

Evaluación estética de seis tipos de coronas para dientes primarios / Avaliação estética de seis tipos de coroas para dentes decíduos / Aesthetic evaluation of six types of crowns for primary teeth

Objetivo: Evaluar las preferencias estéticas en relación con el color y la forma de coronas primarias utilizadas para dientes incisivos superiores primarios, mediante la realización de una encuesta a miembros de la Academia Mexicana de Odontología Pediatrica (AMOP). Material y Métodos: Se establecieron seis grupos de estudio con seis coronas diferentes: grupo 1, coronas de zirconia EZ-Pedo; grupo 2, coronas de zirconia NuSmile Zr; grupo 3, coronas estéticas hechas en el consultorio; grupo 4, coronas de fundas de celuloide; grupo 5, coronas estéticas prefabricadas NuSmile signature; y grupo 6, coronas estéticas fenestradas. Se llevaron a cabo encuestas con la finalidad de conocer las preferencias estéticas de estas diferentes coronas, con la finalidad de conocer cuál es la mejor opción para su uso en el consultorio dental. Resultados: Noventa miembros de la AMOP realizaron una encuesta válida, y se determinó que el grupo 4 fue el mejor evaluado, seguido de los grupos 2, 5, 1, 6 y 3. Se identificaron diferencias significativas entre los diferentes grupos. Conclusiones: Las coronas de fundas de celuloide fueron seleccionadas como mejor alternativa de uso en los dientes primarios anteriores, por parte de los miembros de la AMOP; asimismo, se consideró a las coronas de zirconia como una buena opción terapéutica. Es recomendable que se implemente el tratamiento estético en dientes primarios, para realizar un tratamiento integral.

Objectivo: Avaliar as preferências estéticas sobre cor e forma das coroas primários utilizados para a incisivos superiores primários, através da realização de uma pesquisa com membros da Academia Mexicana de Odontopediatria (Amop). Material e Métodos: Seis grupos de estudo com seis coroas diferentes foram estabelecidas: Grupo 1, coroas de zircônia EZ-Pedo; Grupo 2, coroas de zircônia NuSmile Zr; Grupo 3, coroas estéticas feitas no escritório; Grupo 4 casos coroas celulóide; Grupo 5, coroas estéticas prefabricados assinatura NuSmile; e Grupo 6, fenestrado coroas estéticas. Eles realizaram pesquisas, a fim de satisfazer as preferências estéticas destas coroas estéticas diferentes, a fim de saber qual é a melhor escolha para uso no consultório odontológico. Resultados: Noventa membros AMOP fez um levantamento válido, e determinou-se que o Grupo 4 foi o melhor avaliado, seguido pelos grupos foram identificados 2, 5, 1, 6 e 3. As diferenças significativas entre os grupos. Conclusões. As coroas de tampas de celulóide foram selecionados como o melhor uso alternativo nos dentes primários acima, por membros da Amop; Também as coroas de zircônia foi considerado como uma boa opção terapêutica. Recomenda-se que o tratamento cosmético é implementado em dentes primários, para um tratamento abrangente.

Objective: Evaluate the aesthetic preferences regarding color and shape of primary crowns used for primary upper incisors, by conducting a survey of members of the Mexican Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AMOP). Material and Methods: Six study groups with six different crowns were established: Group 1, zirconia crowns EZ-PEDO; Group 2, zirconia crowns NuSmile Zr; Group 3 aesthetic crowns made in the office; Group 4 cases strip crowns; Group 5, aesthetic crowns prefabricated NuSmile signature; and Group 6, fenestrated esthetic crowns. They conducted surveys in order to meet the esthetic preferences of six different aesthetic crowns, in order to know the best choice for use in the dental office. Results: Ninety AMOP members made a valid survey, and it was determined that Group 4 was the best evaluated, followed by the groups 2, 5, 1, 6 and 3. Significant differences between groups were identified. Conclusions: Members of the AMOP selected strip crowns as the best alternative use in the above primary teeth; furthermore zirconium crowns were considered as a good alternative. It is recommended that the cosmetic treatment should be implemented in primary teeth, for a comprehensive treatment.

Lions (Panthera leo) solve, learn, and remember a novel resource acquisition problem.

The social intelligence hypothesis proposes that the challenges of complex social life bolster the evolution of intelligence, and accordingly, advanced cognition has convergently evolved in several social lineages. Lions (Panthera leo) offer an ideal model system for cognitive research in a highly social species with an egalitarian social structure. We investigated cognition in lions using a novel resource task: the suspended puzzle box. The task required lions (n = 12) to solve a novel problem, learn the techniques used to solve the problem, and remember techniques for use in future trials. The majority of lions demonstrated novel problem-solving and learning; lions (11/12) solved the task, repeated success in multiple trials, and significantly reduced the latency to success across trials. Lions also demonstrated cognitive abilities associated with memory and solved the task after up to a 7-month testing interval. We also observed limited evidence for social facilitation of the task solution. Four of five initially unsuccessful lions achieved success after being partnered with a successful lion. Overall, our results support the presence of cognition associated with novel problem-solving, learning, and memory in lions. To date, our study is only the second experimental investigation of cognition in lions and further supports expanding cognitive research to lions.