Coordination during group departures and progressions in the tolerant multi-level society of wild Guinea baboons (Papio papio)

Collective movement of social groups requires coordination between individuals. When cohesion is imperative, consensus must be reached, and specific individuals may exert disproportionate influence during decision-making. Animals living in multi-level societies, however, often split into consistent social subunits during travel, which may impact group coordination processes. We studied collective movement in the socially tolerant multi-level society of Guinea baboons (Papio papio). Using 146 group departures and 100 group progressions from 131 Guinea baboons ranging in Senegal’s Niokolo-Koba National Park, we examined individual success at initiating group departures and position within progressions. Two-thirds of attempted departures were initiated by adult males and one third by adult females. Both sexes were equally successful at initiating departures (> 80% of initiations). During group progressions, bachelor males were predominantly found in front, while reproductively active ‘primary’ males and females were observed with similar frequency across the whole group. The pattern of collective movement in Guinea baboons was more similar to those described for baboons living in uni-level societies than to hamadryas baboons, the only other multi-level baboon species, where males initiate and decide almost all group departures. Social organization alone therefore does not determine which category of individuals influence group coordination.

Limited Scope for Group Coordination in Stylistic Variations of Kolam Art

In large, complex societies, assorting with others with similar social norms or behaviors can facilitate successful coordination and cooperation. The ability to recognize others with shared norms or behaviors is thus assumed to be under selection. As a medium of communication, human art might reflect fitness-relevant information on shared norms and behaviors of other individuals thus facilitating successful coordination and cooperation. Distinctive styles or patterns of artistic design could signify migration history, different groups with a shared interaction history due to spatial proximity, as well as individual-level expertise and preferences. In addition, cultural boundaries may be even more pronounced in a highly diverse and socially stratified society. In the current study, we focus on a large corpus of an artistic tradition called kolam that is produced by women from Tamil Nadu in South India (N = 3, 139 kolam drawings from 192 women) to test whether stylistic variations in art can be mapped onto caste boundaries, migration and neighborhoods. Since the kolam art system with its sequential drawing decisions can be described by a Markov process, we characterize variation in styles of art due to different facets of an artist's identity and the group affiliations, via hierarchical Bayesian statistical models. Our results reveal that stylistic variations in kolam art only weakly map onto caste boundaries, neighborhoods, and regional origin. In fact, stylistic variations or patterns in art are dominated by artist-level variation and artist expertise. Our results illustrate that although art can be a medium of communication, it is not necessarily marked by group affiliation. Rather, artistic behavior in this context seems to be primarily a behavioral domain within which individuals carve out a unique niche for themselves to differentiate themselves from others. Our findings inform discussions on the evolutionary role of art for group coordination by encouraging researchers to use systematic methods to measure the mapping between specific objects or styles onto groups.

First evidence of yawn contagion in a wild monkey species

Yawn contagion occurs when individuals yawn in response to the yawn of others (triggers). This is the first account of yawn contagion in wild geladas (Theropithecus gelada), a monkey species that shows yawn contagion in captivity and is organized in core units (one-male/bachelor groups) forming multilevel associations. In a population of geladas from the Kundi plateau (Ethiopia) we found that the yawning response was highest when geladas could perceive a triggering yawn, which confirms that yawn contagion is present in the wild. Yawn duration, mouth-opening degree and presence/absence of vocalisation (possibly modulating yawn detectability) did not affect the likelihood of contagion. Males and females, known to be both implicated in movement initiation within groups, were similarly powerful as yawn triggers. Instead, group membership and responder sex had a significant role in shaping the phenomenon. Yawn contagion was highest between individuals belonging to different core units and males were most likely to respond to others’ yawns. Because males have a non-negligible role in inter-group coordination, our results suggest that yawn contagion may have a communicative function that goes beyond the basic unit level.

Az ENSZ minősített városi kutató-mentő csapatai elektronikus adatgyűjtési feladatainak végrehajtása kiterjedt katasztrófa kárterületen az INSARAG ICMS használatával

Az ENSZ minősített városi kutató-mentő csapatai elsődlegesen a földrengés-katasztrófák helyszínén végrehajtandó speciális feladatokra készülnek. A katasztrófa típusából és a rengés erősségéből adódóan ez legtöbbször egy kiterjedt kárhelyszínt fog jelenteni. Ezen a romosodott és sokszor életveszélyes színtéren kell eltűnt, beszorult személyeket megtalálni és megmenteni, sokszor kutya, akusztikus kereső vagy mentőkamera segítségével. A helyi erők képességeinek megerősítésére számos nemzetközi mentőcsapat érkezhet, és a beavatkozó nemzeti és nemzetközi állománynak a hatékonyság érdekében együtt kell működnie. A jövőben a világ számos pontján a közös platform erre várhatóan a Nemzetközi Kutatási és Mentési Tanácsadó Csoport (INSARAG) Irányító és Koordinációs Rendszer (International Search and Rescue Advisory Group Coordination and Management System – ICMS) használata lesz, amellyel a koordinációs és irányítási feladatok szakszerűen megvalósíthatók.

Impact of Manual Coordination on Usability of Clothing Fasteners in People With Parkinson’s Disease

People with Parkinson’s disease (PD) manipulate clothing as part of their daily life. To understand how deteriorating motor skills affect the performance of dressing/undressing activities, this study investigated performance in handling clothing fastening. Participants were distributed into two groups: older adults with PD and neurologically matched healthy individuals (control group). Coordination and usability were evaluated. The PD group demonstrated worse performance than the control group in usability for types of buttons, and this was affected more intensely by small compared with large fasteners. This study demonstrated the need for increased awareness by clothing companies to develop products that can promote independence.

Uniting against a common enemy: Perceived outgroup threat elicits ingroup cohesion in chimpanzees

Outgroup threat has been identified as an important driver of ingroup cohesion in humans, but the evolutionary origin of such a relationship is unclear. Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in the wild are notably aggressive towards outgroup members but coordinate complex behaviors with many individuals in group hunting and border patrols. One hypothesis claims that these behaviors evolve alongside one another, where outgroup threat selects for ingroup cohesion and group coordination. To test this hypothesis, 5 groups of chimpanzees (N = 29 individuals) were observed after hearing either pant-hoots of unfamiliar wild chimpanzees or control crow vocalizations both in their typical daily environment and in a context of induced feeding competition. We observed a behavioral pattern that was consistent both with increased stress and vigilance (self-directed behaviors increased, play decreased, rest decreased) and increased ingroup cohesion (interindividual proximity decreased, aggression over food decreased, and play during feeding competition increased). These results support the hypothesis that outgroup threat elicits ingroup tolerance in chimpanzees. This suggests that in chimpanzees, like humans, competition between groups fosters group cohesion.

An approach to modeling the process of agents group coordination

The paper describes the results of creating a model implementing an approach to coordination in multi-agent systems based on use of preference hierarchies. The purpose of that research was to create a proof-of-concept illustrating applicability of the approach. As a result, we created a formal description of a model describing competition between two rival swarms that employs the approach. We implemented the model in the form of a program, and obtained results indicating that the approach provides sustainable desirable outputs across multiple runs of the model.

Azopyridine-based chiral oxazolines with rare-earth metals for photoswitchable catalysis

An azopyridine-based oxazoline was developed for utilizing azo group coordination and isomerization as a photoswitchable ligand. The ligand coordinated to rare-earth metal (RE) catalyst underwent efficient E/Z photoisomerization, suggesting tri-...

Insolvent Groups of Companies in the European Union

Before 26 June 2017, there was no single universal regulation governing the treatment of insolvency cases concerning groups of companies or certain members of a group in the European Union. The Regulation (EU) 2015/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2015 on insolvency proceedings defines the effective execution of insolvency proceedings at the different group members involved as the general objective of the legal source. The aim of my paper is to review the detailed rules of group coordination proceedings, during which I focus on the request for opening group coordination proceedings, on the possibility of defining which court has jurisdiction, on the review of the opt-out and opt-in rights related to group coordination proceedings and on the presentation of the powers assigned to the coordinator.Before 26 June 2017, there was no single universal regulation governing the treatment of insolvency cases concerning groups of companies or certain members of a group in the European Union. The Regulation (EU) 2015/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2015 on insolvency proceedings defines the effective execution of insolvency proceedings at the different group members involved as the general objective of the legal source. The aim of my paper is to review the detailed rules of group coordination proceedings, during which I focus on the request for opening group coordination proceedings, on the possibility of defining which court has jurisdiction, on the review of the opt-out and opt-in rights related to group coordination proceedings and on the presentation of the powers assigned to the coordinator.