Quels sont les facteurs qui peuvent retarder ou accélérer la sénescence? Les chercheurs tentent d'y apporter des réponses à différents niveaux moléculaires, cellulaires et également au niveau des traits d'histoire de vie. Tl est établi que différents facteurs ont un impact significatif sur les patrons de sénescence tels que le continuum lent-rapide, la sélection sexuelle, ou encore la disponibilité en ressources. De façon surprenante, peu d'intérêt a été porté sur l'influence de la socialité sur les patrons de sénescence. L'objet de cette thèse est de combler cette lacune et d'étudier l'influence de la socialité sur la sénescence grâce à un suivi exceptionnel d'une population de marmottes alpines (Marmota Marmota), mammifère hautement social et longévif. En effet, cette espèce est organisée en groupes familiaux, composés d'un couple dominant reproducteur socialement monogame despotique, et de subordonnés des deux sexes. La marmotte alpine pratique l'élevage coopératif. En effet, les subordonnés mâles participent à l'élevage des jeunes, ils sont aussi appelés helpers. Nous avons mis en évidence une sénescence de la taille de portée à partir de 10 ans et du succès reproducteur vers 8 ans chez les femelles dominantes et une sénescence de survie à partir de 6 ans chez les dominants mâles et femelles. Nous avons montré que le nombre de helpers durant l'année de naissance et durant la vie adulte étaient indépendants et augmentaient additivement le succès reproducteur sur toute la vie et la longévité des femelles dominantes. Nous avons apporté la preuve que les helpers présents l'année de naissance avaient une influence sexe-spécifique sur les patrons de sénescence de survie des dominants. En effet, les mâles nés avec des helpers vieillissaient plus vite et plus tôt que ceux nés sans helpers. Les femelles ayant bénéficié de helpers l'année de naissance présentaient une sénescence tardive et moins intense que celles sans helpers. Également, les helpers présents durant la vie adulte retardait la sénescence des dominants des deux sexes et diminuaient son intensité. Les coûts et bénéfices liés à l'élevage coopératif expliquent en partie la variabilité de la sénescence de survie chez la marmotte alpine. Pour finir, nous nous sommes placés à l'échelle interspécifique et nous avons montré que la socialité chez les mammifères retardait l'âge de début de sénescence / What are factors that can delay or accelerate senescence? Researchers are seeking these factors at molecular, cellular and life history traits level. Recent studies have firmly showed that the slow-fast continuum, sexual selection and food availability are factors shaping variability in senescence patterns. Surprisingly, the influence of sociality on senescence has been less investigated. The aim of this thesis is to fill this gap and to study the influence of sociality on senescence thanks to an extensive dataset spanning 25 years of study on free-ranging Alpine marmots (Marmota Marmota), a long-lived and highly social mammal. Alpine marmots live in family groups typically composed of a dominant pair, of sexually mature and immature (yearling) subordinates, and of pups of the year. Male subordinates help to raise pups, they are also called helpers. We showed in dominant females that litter size declined at 10 years of age and reproductive success at 8 years of age. In both sexes, survival was constant with age until dominants were between 6 and 8 years of age and declined markedly thereafter. We also showed that the number of helpers at birth and during adult life were independent and additively increased female dominant longevity and lifetime reproductive success. Moreover, we provided evidence that the presence of helpers at birth and during adult life strongly influenced survival senescence and that this influence was sex-specific. Indeed, females benefiting from the presence of helpers at birth showed a delayed and less intense senescence while males born with helpers showed a earlier and faster senescence. The presence of helpers during adult life was beneficial for both sexes by delaying senescence and decreasing its intensity. Sociality, more specifically cooperative breeding and its benefits and costs associated, is an important predictor of the diversity of survival senescence in Alpine marmot. Finally, we worked at the interspecific level and showed that sociality in mammals delayed the onset of senescence

Communication signals are shaped by the opposing selection pressures imposed by predators and mates. A dynamic signal might serve as an adaptive compromise between an inconspicuous signal that evades predators and an extravagant signal preferred by females. Such a signal has been described in the gymnotiform electric fish, Brachyhypopomus gauderio, which produces a sexually dimorphic electric organ discharge (EOD). The EOD varies on a circadian rhythm and in response to social cues. This signal plasticity is mediated by the slow action of androgens and rapid action of melanocortins. My dissertation research tested the hypotheses that (1) signal plasticity is related to sociality levels in gymnotiform species, and (2) differences in signal plasticity are regulated by differential sensitivity to androgen and melanocortin hormones. To assess the breadth of dynamic signaling within the order Gymnotiformes, I sampled 13 species from the five gymnotiform families. I recorded EODs to observe spontaneous signal oscillations after which I injected melanocortin hormones, saline control, or presented the fish with a conspecific. I showed that through the co-option of the ancient melanocortin pathway, gymnotiforms dynamically regulate EOD amplitude, spectral frequency, both, or neither. To investigate whether observed EOD plasticities are related to species-specific sociality I tested four species; two territorial, highly aggressive species, Gymnotus carapo and Apteronotus leptorhynchus, a highly gregarious species, Eigenmannia cf. virescens, and an intermediate short-lived species with a fluid social system, Brachyhypopomus gauderio. I examined the relationship between the androgens testosterone and 11-ketotestosterone, the melanocortin a-MSH, and their roles in regulating EOD waveform. I implanted all fish with androgen and blank silicone implants, and injected with a-MSH before and at the peak of implant effect. I found that waveforms of the most territorial and aggressive species were insensitive to hormone treatments; maintaining a static, stereotyped signal that preserves encoding of individual identity. Species with a fluid social system were most responsive to hormone treatments, exhibiting signals that reflect immediate condition and reproductive state. In conclusion, variation in gymnotiform signal plasticity is hormonally regulated and seems to reflect species-specific sociality.

Social intelligence is thought to have evolved as an adaptation to the complex situations group-living animals encounter in their daily lives. High levels of sociality provide individuals with opportunities to learn from one another. Social learning provides individuals with a relatively cheap and quick alternative to individual learning. This thesis investigated social learning in three corvid species: gregarious rooks (Corvus frugilegus) and jackdaws (Corvus monedula) and nongregarious, territorial Eurasian jays (Garrulus glandarius). In addition to that, the species' social structure was analysed and individual differences between members of each species were determined. Introducing the field of social learning research, I presented a new framework for investigating social learning, combining ecology, ethology and evolution. Experiments were conducted within that framework. I found that rooks and jackdaws develop social bonds and dominance hierarchies, whereas Eurasian jays do not. This is most likely related to their territoriality. In two experiments using two-action tasks, jackdaws learned socially. The underlying social learning mechanism was enhancement, which fits in with their feeding ecology. Rooks did not show social learning when presented with videos of conspecifics opening an apparatus. This might have been due to the difficulty of transferring information from videos or due to an ingrained 'affinity' to innovation and/or rapid trial-and-error learning overriding social learning processes. Individual differences along the bold/shy axis existed in all three species, but they were not stable across contexts. Thus, it seemed that the individuals perceived the two seemingly similar contexts that were designed to investigate neophobia and exploration (novel object in familiar environment; novel environment) as two different situations. The information may therefore have been processed by two distinct underlying mechanisms, which elicited different responses in each of the contexts. The implications of the findings of this thesis are discussed with regard to the new framework, integrating sociality, social learning and individual differences with the species' ecology.

African mole-rats (Bathyergidae) exhibit a wide range of social structures ranging from solitary to eusocial. This allows for studies looking at links between sociality and measurable characteristics such as spatial learning and kin-recognition. Furthermore, the existence of species with differing level of sociality allows for comparison between the highly social species and the solitary species. The existence of differences in spatial learning ability and memory between the sexes has long been debated. Eusocial Damaraland mole-rats (Cryptomys damarensis) and solitary Cape mole-rats (Georychus capensis) were tested to see if there were sex or species differences in the ability to locate food in an artificial maze task with the express purpose of investigating spatial learning and memory. Measurements of the time taken to complete the task, the distance travelled, wrong turns taken, and the average velocity at which animals travelled were used to compare performance between animals. Both sexes in each of the species exhibited learning and a decay in memory over time. The Damaraland mole-rat exhibited superior learning and memory retention when compared to the Cape mole-rat. Male Cape mole-rats had superior learning and longer term memory retention when compared to females of the same species. There was no significant difference in learning curves between male and female Damaraland mole-rats, but this species did exhibit a tendency for females to show better medium term memory retention while males performed better on long term memory trials. Species differences are likely to be linked to social organization and possibly the resultant burrow-structure in the natural environment, while sex-differences may be due to differing life histories. Kin-recognition is important in maintaining the social structure and hierarchy in the eusocial species of African mole-rat, Cryptomys damarensis. Opposite sex sibling pairs from reproductively quiescent colonies were tested to see if exposure to colony urine odour would reinforce recognition of opposite sex siblings and the concomitant incest avoidance. Control sibling pairs from the same colonies were exposed to water. Mating, social, and non-social behaviours were measured in all sibling pairs. In addition, urinary levels of cortisol, progesterone and testosterone were measured to examine the interaction between four factors: colony olfactory cues (urinary odour), hormone levels, mating behaviour and relatedness. Exposure to urinary odour reinforced recognition and was correlated to a decrease in mating behaviour. Hormonal assays suggest that female hormone levels are modified based on exposure to colony urine odour, while males are not affected. Olfactory cues such as colony urinary odour is linked to the alteration and correlation of hormone levels and mating behaviour. The Damaraland mole-rat and other species in the family Bathyergidae provide a useful system for investigating aspects of learning and memory, as well as the potential correlation between cognitive processes and sociality. / Dissertation (MSc (Zoology))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Zoology and Entomology / unrestricted

Studiens syfte är att undersöka välbefinnandet bland unga vuxna som bott i Sverige i tio år eller mindre. Studien undersöker bland annat välbefinnandet i relation till arbetslivet och studier. Men även deras upplevelser att etablera sig i ett nytt land, det vill säga vilka hinder de har mött på och vad som har varit drivkraften. Studiens syfte besvarades med kvalitativ metod, semistrukturerade intervjuer utfördes på sex utlandsfödda. Studien använde sig utav snöbollsurval och datamaterialet insamlades. Därefter gjordes en tematisk analys på insamlad datamaterialet. Datamaterialet har analyserats med stöd av socialitet och KASAM som bidrog till djupare förståelse för fenomenet. Resultatet visar att utlandsfödda unga vuxna har mött på motgångar under integrationsprocessen som har påverkat deras välbefinnande. Trots alla motgångar visar resultat på att utlandsfödda unga vuxna har en drivkraft och strävar efter framgång. Resultat visar därmed på att drivkraft är en faktor som främjar deras välbefinnande. Ur den tematiska analysen framkom språkets betydelse och att det anses vara en nyckel till integration i det nya samhället. Språket är en väsentlig faktor för känslan av tillhörighet och delaktighet i samhället. / The purpose of this study is to examine young immigrant adults who’s been living in Sweden for ten years or less. The study examines, among other things, well-being within work and study environment. But also, their experiences of establishing themselves in a new country, what obstacles they encountered and what’s been the driving force. The study used a qualitative method and semi-structured interviews were conducted on six young immigrants’ adults. The study used a snowball sampling to collect the data. Then a thematic analysis was made of the collected data. The data has been analysed with the support of sociality and sense of coherence, which contributed to a deeper understanding of the subject. The results showed that young immigrant adults have encountered misfortunes during their integration process that have affected their well-being. Despite all the misfortunes, the results showed that young immigrant adults have a driving force and strive for success.  The results showed that the driving force is a contributing factor to their well-being. The spoken language in the new country appeared as highly important and considered a key to integration into the new society. Language is an essential factor for the feeling of belonging and participation in society.

This thesis focuses on the interspecies relationships of care in the Hambach Forest, Germany. It covers the caring relations between the human activists protecting the Forest by occupying it and the trees growing there. The text covers the affectionate dimension of the activists’ caring relation towards the trees as well as how the caring manifested in their attentiveness and actions. Apart from the traditional ethnographic methods, the research is rooted in multispecies methodology, particularly plant ethnography. As primary theoretical frameworks, the concepts of more-than human sociality and world-making by Anna Tsing were used, as well as the understanding of the interspecies ethics of care by Puig de la Bellacasa. The analysis shows that the caring relationship of the activists was often rooted in the situated relationality that emerges from particular relations with particular trees or other nonhumans. As a navigating tool, activists sometimes used also the nature-culture dichotomy, and sometimes they, on the contrary, contested it. I show that relationships of care were mutual and occurred in the direction from activists to the trees but also that the trees and Forest took care of many activists’ needs. I also demonstrate how the trees and other nonhumans actively participated in the processes of co-creating the more-than-human sociality in the Forest. The analysis shows that the activists’ behaviour was not always coherent or determined by the same values but was often ambivalent and changing depending on the situation.

No description available.

In an ever-evolving social media landscape, online communication has become more prone to the revelation of our affective states. In this study, I investigate how iterations of emotional capital, an extension of Pierre Bourdieu’s four forms of capital, shape social interaction in mediated relationships on YouTube, a platform that fosters a participatory culture. Previously, the field of media studies has devoted itself to the cognitive-behavioural effects of media consumption, allowing research on consumers’ emotionality as an influence on virtual sociality to be left behind. I attempt to elucidate the emotional footprint left by the discourse of the user comment by applying Marci D. Cottingham’s theorisation on emotional capital, paired with Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe’s Discourse Theory and by extension Discourse Theoretical Analysis expanded by Nico Carpentier et al on a sample of three sets of thirty most popular user comments, each attributed to a video by UK-based content creators Jade Bowler, Lucy Moon, and Venetia La Manna, to argue that the sociality found within their discourse is formed by the parasocial relationship the user exhibits towards the creator. Depending on the affective distance the user expressed towards the creator or to the other subscribers, different forms of emotional capital emerged - care and vulnerability derived from the address to self; inspiration, communication, encouragement stemming from the address to the community; and empathy and respect originating in the address to the creator. Thus, this study provides a novel outlook on mediated relationships in an online setting, where users actively, and more importantly, emotionally engage with themselves, their community, and the creator, to form affective social networks.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how religious ethics, while retaining its identity, can contribute to political debate and to the understanding of justice. The inquiry addresses these issues by focusing on theological perspectives which challenge the solutions offered to these questions by the liberal paradigm. Three kinds of challenges are studied, each of which is represented by one thinker from the Islamic tradition and one from the Christian tradition, in order to enable a comparative perspective on the contributions of religious traditions. The thinkers studied are: 1) modified liberalism, represented by Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im and Duncan B. Forrester; 2) liberationism, represented by Ali Shariati and Gustavo Gutierrez; and 3) radical traditionalism, as developed by Tariq Ramadan and John Milbank. The study is organized around three main questions. First, how can innovative interpretations of religious tradition be plausibly justified? Second, what role should religious arguments and reasons play in the political sphere? Third, what can religious ethics and theological thought contribute to the understanding of social justice? The questions are engaged by means of a critical and reconstructive engagement with the six thinkers. The suggested solutions are assessed in terms of the criteria of authenticity, communicability, and potential for transformation. It is argued that a religious ethic can rely on a tradition without accepting conservative understandings of that tradition. Furthermore, it is argued that the coherence of religious ethics can be made available for public discourse but that the hospitability of the public forum to such contributions needs to be realized through a deepened democratic culture and a critique of power structures which condition perceptions of rationality. While religious ethics do not articulate complete alternative understandings of justice, they articulate contributions by relating justice to human sociality and to transcendence.

New Caledonian crows (NC crows; Corvus moneduloides) are the most prolific avian tool-users and crafters, using up to three unique tool types derived from numerous plant materials. Since the discovery that wild populations of NC crows use and manufacture different tools in different locations with no measured environmental correlates to these distributions, the process by which NC crows acquire their tool-oriented behavior has been investigated. Two major findings were discovered in 2005: NC crows have a genetic predisposition to manipulate stick like objects, and they increase their rate of manipulation when exposed to social influences. Since then, much of the research into the sociality of wild NC crows has focused on direct social influences, especially the parent-juvenile relationship, yet no social network of wild NC crows has been described. In my thesis, I characterized a new proximity-logging device, Encounternet, and outline a four-step plan to assess error in animal borne devices; uncovered drivers, such as relatedness, space-use, and environmental factors, of wild NC crow sociality, and experimentally manipulated the social network, revealing immediate changes to the number of day-time and roosting partners, the breakdown of first-order relatedness driving sociality, and an increase in the amount of time NC crows associate; and revealed an indirect pathway via tools left behind by conspecifics allowing for the transmission of tool-properties between unrelated NC crows. Altogether, I furthered our understanding of wild NC crow sociality through the use of an animal-borne device, experimental manipulation in the wild measuring the response of the NC crow social network, and demonstrated the utility of animal-borne devices in mapping the network of a population of wild birds.