Affiliative Relationships Research Articles

Integration of Hospitals and Post-Acute Care Providers and the Cost of Care

Hospitals are facing incentives to manage the total cost of care for episodes of illness including the costs of inpatient care as well as the cost of care provided by physicians and post-acute care (PAC) providers. PAC is an especially important component of the overall cost of care. One strategy hospitals may employ in managing this cost is vertically integrating with PAC providers. Prior work has isolated the effects of particular combinations of these strategies, primarily the effects of SNF ownership on cost and quality outcomes. In contrast, relatively little research has compared different forms of integration. We examine data from the American Hospital Association for 2013-2014 and find that a majority of hospitals are engaging in some form of vertical integration and many hospitals maintain both ownership and network affiliation relationships with multiple types of PAC providers. Next, we use data from CMS’ Value Based Purchasing Program to examine the relationship between a hospital’s vertical integration choices and the average cost of an acute and post-acute episode of care for a hospital’s patients. We find that costs do not vary consistently by type of vertical integration (network affiliation vs. ownership) or by PAC provider type, but particular combinations of these characteristics are associated with a lower episodic cost of care.

Why help? Relationship quality, not strategic grooming predicts infant-care in group-living marmosets

Cooperatively breeding common marmosets raise their infants with the help of other adult group members, but individual care-taking contribution can vary considerably. We tested four hypotheses that may explain this variation within marmoset family groups. The pay-for-help hypothesis argues that allogrooming is used strategically by parents to pay helpers for helping. The pay-for-infant-access hypothesis claims that helpers use allogrooming as payment for infant-access. The intrinsic predisposition hypothesis suggests that more affiliative individuals are also more motivated for infant-care, and the relationship quality hypothesis that individuals involved in highly affiliative relationships with main caregivers contribute more to infant-care. To test these hypotheses, we followed five marmoset family groups over a total of eight reproductive cycles, and quantified affiliative behavior, infant-carrying, and food sharing over six to 12 weeks around infant-birth. We found no evidence for either the pay-for-help or pay-for-infant-access hypotheses nor did intrinsic prosocial predisposition determine individual infant-care. Mutual dyadic affiliation, however, was positively linked to infant-carrying and food sharing in female and male breeders and in male helpers. This suggests that cooperation during infant-care is mediated by relationship quality rather than strategic grooming in marmosets. Overall, these results may also contribute to a better understanding of cooperation in humans.

Variation in social systems within Chaetodon butterflyfishes, with special reference to pair bonding.

For many animals, affiliative relationships such as pair bonds form the foundation of society and are highly adaptive. Animal systems amenable for comparatively studying pair bonding are important for identifying underlying biological mechanisms, but mostly exist in mammals. Better establishing fish systems will enable comparison of pair bonding mechanisms across taxonomically distant lineages that may reveal general underlying mechanistic principles. We examined the utility of wild butterflyfishes (f: Chaetodontidae; g: Chaetodon) for comparatively studying pair bonding. Using stochastic character mapping, we provide the first analysis of the evolutionary history of butterflyfish sociality, revealing that pairing is ancestral, with at least seven independent transitions to gregarious grouping and solitary behavior since the late Miocene. We then formally verified social systems in six sympatric and wide-spread species representing a clade with one ancestrally reconstructed transition from paired to solitary grouping at Lizard Island, Australia. In situ observations of the size, selective affiliation and aggression, fidelity, and sex composition of social groups confirmed that Chaetodon baronessa, C. lunulatus, and C. vagabundus are predominantly pair bonding, whereas C. rainfordi, C. plebeius, and C. trifascialis are predominantly solitary. Even in the predominantly pair bonding species, C. lunulatus, a proportion of adults (15%) are solitary. Importantly, inter- and intra-specific differences in social systems do not co-vary with other previously established attributes, including parental care. Hence, the proposed butterflyfish populations are promising for inter- and intra-species comparative analyses of pair bonding and its mechanistic underpinnings. Avenues for further developing the system are proposed, including determining whether the aforementioned utility of these species applies across their geographic disruptions.

Writing conference feedback as moment-to-moment affiliative relationship building

Over the last two decades, a substantial amount of research has been done on interaction in writing conferences. However, most previous studies have focused on the cognitive aspects of conference discourse, neglecting its affective components. Yet conferences are by no means emotionally neutral, as they inherently involve evaluation of student work, correction, directions for improvement, and even criticism--that is, they involve potentially face-threatening acts. Therefore, it is important for teachers to know how to conference with students in non-threatening and affiliative ways. The study presented here examines on a turn-by-turn basis how a writing instructor used a wide range of affiliative interactional resources, including talk and embodied behavior, in two potentially face-threatening moments in writing conferences: providing critical feedback and uttering a directive. The analysis suggests that the use of affiliative interactional resources during feedback activities allows writing teachers to maintain positive relationships with students without deviating from their instructional objectives. Drawing on these findings, the article discusses the implications of this study for second language (L2) writing pedagogy.

Strong social relationships are associated with decreased longevity in a facultatively social mammal.

Humans in strong social relationships are more likely to live longer because social relationships may buffer stressors and thus have protective effects. However, a shortcoming of human studies is that they often rely on self-reporting of these relationships. By contrast, observational studies of non-human animals permit detailed analyses of the specific nature of social relationships. Thus, discoveries that some social animals live longer and healthier lives if they are involved in social grooming, forage together or have more affiliative associates emphasizes the potential importance of social relationships on health and longevity. Previous studies have focused on the impact of social metrics on longevity in obligately social species. However, if sociality indeed has a key role in longevity, we might expect that affiliative relationships should also influence longevity in less social species. We focused on socially flexible yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventer) and asked whether female longevity covaries with the specific nature of social relationships. We quantified social relationships with social network statistics that were based on affiliative interactions, and then estimated the correlation between longevity and sociality using bivariate models. We found a significant negative phenotypic correlation between affiliative social relationship strength and longevity; marmots with greater degree, closeness and those with a greater negative average shortest path length died at younger ages. We conclude that sociality plays an important role in longevity, but how it does so may depend on whether a species is obligately or facultatively social.

Social play among juvenile wild Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) strengthens their social bonds.

Social play and grooming are typical affiliative interactions for many primate species, and are thought to have similar biological functions. However, grooming increases with age, whereas social play decreases. We proposed the hypothesis that both social grooming and social play in juveniles strengthen their social bonds in daily activities. We carried out field research on the social relationships among juvenile wild Japanese macaques in a troop in Kinkazan, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, from fall 2007 to spring 2008 to investigate this hypothesis. We evaluated three relationships among juveniles, play indices (PI), grooming indices (GI), and 3-m-proximity indices (3mI) of each dyad (i.e., interacting pair), and compared these social networks based on the matrices of the indices. The play and grooming networks were correlated with the association network throughout the two research periods. The multiple network level measurements of the play network, but not the grooming network, resembled those of the association network. Using a causal step approach, we showed that social play and grooming interactions in fall seem to predict associations in the following spring, controlling for the PI and GI matrix in spring, respectively. Social play and grooming for each juvenile were negatively correlated. The results partially support our predictions; therefore, the hypothesis that the biological function of social play among immature Japanese macaques is to strengthen their social bonds in the near future and develop their social life appears to be correct. For juvenile macaques, social play, rather than grooming, functions as an important social mechanism to strengthen affiliative relationships.

Perception Accuracy of Affiliative Relationships in Elementary School Children and Young Adolescents.

There has been a rapid growth of studies focused on selection and socialization processes of peer groups, mostly due to the development of stochastic actor-based models to analyze longitudinal social network data. One of the core assumptions of these models is that individuals have an accurate knowledge of the dyadic relationships within their network (i.e., who is and is not connected to whom). Recent cross-sectional findings suggest that elementary school children are very inaccurate in perceiving their classmates’ dyadic relationships. These findings question the validity of stochastic actor-based models to study the developmental dynamics of children and carry implications for future research as well as for the interpretation of past findings. The goal of the present study was thus to further explore the adequacy of the accuracy assumption, analysing data from three longitudinal samples of different age groups (elementary school children and adolescents). Our results support the validity of stochastic actor-based models to study the network of adolescents and suggest that the violation of the accuracy assumption for elementary school children is not as severe as previously thought.

Triadic male-infant-male interaction serves in bond maintenance in male Assamese macaques.

While the ultimate consequences of social bonds start to be better understood, the proximate behavioural mechanisms underlying the formation and maintenance of these close affiliative relationships have received less attention. We investigated the possible function of male-infant-male interactions (MIMIs) in male-male social bonding processes by analysing about 9000h of focal animal observations collected on two groups of wild Assamese macaques. In support of an agonistic buffering function of MIMIs, after engaging in a MIMI upon approach, subordinates stayed longer in close proximity of a dominant male. Overall, the frequency of MIMIs increased the stronger the affiliative relationship between two males, suggesting that MIMIs like grooming function in relationship maintenance. We did not find support for a role of MIMIs in bond formation as the frequency of MIMIs did not affect the time a male dyad spent in proximity in the consecutive year. Our results contribute to the general debate on behaviours influencing social dynamics in group living mammals.

Performance and business relatedness as drivers of exit decision: A study of MNCs from an emerging country

Research SummaryThis study examines the exit behavior of emerging market MNCs in the context of the parent company (PC)‐foreign affiliate (FA) relationship. Specifically, we consider business relatedness as a moderating variable and examine its impact on the relationship between an FA’s international performance and its exit decision from a foreign market. Our results, based on data collected from multiple informants in 180 Chinese firms, indicate that product relatedness and intangible resource relatedness have different moderating impacts on the FA performance‐FA exit decision relationship. Implications of these findings, along with the limitations of the study, are discussed.Managerial SummaryAlthough the research on international entry and expansion is particularly important, an aspect that has been largely ignored in the literature is the exit behavior of firms. This study examines whether the extent to which a foreign subsidiary is similar to its parent's core business may influence the firm's exit decision. The findings indicate that managers are more likely to exit a poorly performing FA if there is a high (vs. low) level of product relatedness between the FA and its PC's core business. The results also suggest that intangible resource relatedness exerts a different contingent effect on the FA performance‐FA exit relationship than does product relatedness.

Social security: social relationship strength and connectedness influence how marmots respond to alarm calls

Individuals vary in the number and types of social relationships they maintain. If beneficial, social relationships may reduce predation risk and thus increase an individual’s sense of security. We tested this hypothesis by studying the responses of female yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventer) to broadcast alarm calls from unfamiliar individuals. First, we quantified affiliative interactions of animals in the field to calculate a set of social network measures. Because attributes of sociality are often correlated, we used principal component analysis to reduce our social network metrics to two unrelated factors and used the social network measure that accounted for the most variance for each principal component in further analyses. We then quantified the change in time allocated to vigilance and foraging following alarm call playback from baseline levels to the first 30 s and the second 30 s period (i.e., 31–60 s) following playback. We expected that if marmots with strong affiliative relationships felt more secure, they would forage more and allocate less time to vigilance after their immediate vigilance response to the broadcast alarm calls. Using mixed effects models that controlled for variation explained by a number of biologically important covariates and permutation tests to test the significance of social network variables, we found that marmots with a higher incloseness allocated significantly more time to vigilance in both the first and second 30 s after hearing a novel alarm call. Additionally, and while not significant (the observed parameter estimate fell between the 90 and 95% CI), marmots with a higher outstrength increased foraging in the second 30 s after hearing a novel alarm call. If we assume that time allocated to foraging is a measure of security, then marmots with strong affiliative relationships reacted more to an alarm call from a novel individual and seemingly felt more secure than their counterparts. Our results, therefore, suggest that strong social relationships increase perceptions of security and illustrate an effect of social relationships on predation risk assessment. In many species, including humans, there are benefits from maintaining good social relationships. These benefits include better health and greater longevity. We studied yellow-bellied marmots, a ground-dwelling squirrel that is notable because it has variable social relationships. Capitalizing on this social variation, we found that marmots that maintain strong affiliative relationships with other marmots may indeed forage more after hearing an artificially broadcast alarm call than marmots with weaker affiliative relationships. This result suggests that marmots that are more socially connected with others in their group may feel relatively more secure, possibly because they have others that can help them assess risk, and that a benefit of maintaining strong friendly social ties is that it permits animals to forage more. Thus, we suggest a new way that social relationships can be beneficial: they increase perceptions of security and this ultimately may facilitate foraging.

Socio-genetic correlates of unbiased sex dispersal in a population of black capuchin monkeys (Sapajus nigritus)

Most social mammal species exhibit male-biased dispersal. Sex bias in dispersal leads to a higher degree of relatedness among individuals of the philopatric sex, thus an atypical dispersal pattern might lead to deviations in the typical within-group kinship structure. Kinship, in turn, influences patterns of social interactions, as widely evident by kin-biased behaviors. We investigated the link between dispersal, relatedness structure, and sociopositive interactions established by adult females of black capuchin monkeys (Sapajus nigritus) living in a population that experiences female dispersal, an unusual pattern for capuchin monkeys. The study was conducted in Parque Estadual Carlos Botelho (PECB), within the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. We addressed dispersal and relatedness patterns by genotyping 20 adults of 3 groups across 9 microsatellite loci. We also sampled the monkeys’ behavior and compared spatial association frequencies and rates of grooming among same- and opposite-sex dyads. There was no difference between males and females in genetic parameters; both males and females show low coefficients of relatedness indicating that neither sex is consistently philopatric. The mean pairwise coefficient of relatedness for co-resident females was not higher than that for co-resident males. Compared to other populations of capuchin monkeys, female bond was weak, as evident by lower spatial association frequencies, reduced rates of grooming and lack of correlation between coefficients of relatedness and measures of dyadic sociopositive interactions. Our findings thus confirm that female dispersal is a habitual process in the capuchin population of PECB, and that, as expected, dispersal by females strongly influences the relatedness structure of the population as well as the affiliative relationships among female groupmates.

The influence of social relationship on food tolerance in wolves and dogs

Food sharing is relatively widespread across the animal kingdom, but research into the socio-ecological factors affecting this activity has predominantly focused on primates. These studies do suggest though that food tolerance is linked to the social relationship with potential partners. Therefore, the current study aimed to assess the social factors which influence food tolerance in two canids: wolves and dogs. We presented wolves and dogs with two paradigms: dyadic tolerance tests and group carcass feedings. In the dyadic setting, the affiliative relationship with a partner was the most important factor, with a strong bond promoting more sharing in both species. In the group setting, however, rank was the primary factor determining feeding behavior. Although the dominant individuals of both species defended the carcass more than subordinates, in the dogs, the subordinates mostly stayed away from the resource and the most dominant individual monopolized the food. In the wolves, the subordinates spent as much time as dominant individuals in proximity to, and feeding from, the carcass. Furthermore, subordinate wolves were more able to use persistence strategies than the dogs were. Feeding interactions in the wolves, but not dogs, were also modulated by whether the carcass was on the ground or hanging from a tree. Overall, the social relationship with a partner is important in food distribution in wolves and dogs, but the precise effects are dependent on species and feeding context. We consider how the different socio-ecologies of the two species may be linked to these findings.Significance statementDespite the fact that food sharing is relatively widespread in the animal kingdom, the specific factors underlying whether an animal will share with a specific individual are little understood. When it comes to decisions about food sharing in wolves and dogs, friendship is the deciding factor if it is just two of you, but in a bigger group rank position decides your access to the spoils. What is more, it seems that rank positioning is even more important in dogs than wolves as dominant dogs keep the food for themselves while each wolf pack member has a chance to eat. This is the first evidence that the importance of the social relationship in food sharing is dependent on the feeding context in canids.

IMPLEMENTATION OF GOOD CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AT THE BACKDOOR LISTING PROSEDUR AS MEANS OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT IN INDONESIA STOCK MARKET

<p align="center"><strong><em>Abstract</em></strong><em></em></p><p align="center"><em>Developments in the field of capital markets encourage the emergence of </em><em>various</em><em> corporate actions to obtain benefits such as a public company. One of the emerging corporate actions </em><em>which have been done is</em><em> Backdoor Listing. Regulations in the capital market is generally allow</em><em>ed</em><em> backdoor listing. </em><em>B</em><em>ackdoor</em><em> L</em><em>isting</em><em> p</em><em>rocedure are often executed in Indonesia are as follows: (1) The acquisition of control of a public</em><em> </em><em>company by </em><em>private </em><em>company through the rights issue</em><em> (2) </em><em>the acquisition of </em><em>private</em><em> company </em><em>by </em><em>an </em><em>public</em><em> company that has an affiliate relationship with the </em><em>private</em><em> company into standby purchaser/ new controllers</em><em>. Study fulfillment of the Good Corporate Governance</em><em> </em><em>principles in the backdoor listing procedure is known that this procedure is still not met the Principles of Transparency, Accountability</em><em>, </em><em>as well as fairness and equity. It is need</em><em>ed</em><em> to establish </em><em>the </em><em>rules of providing transparency obligation to assess the feasibility of a new public company controller.</em><em></em></p><p>Keywords: <em>Good Corporate Governance, Stock Market, Backdoor Listing</em></p>

Invasive Chinese pond mussel Sinanodonta woodiana threatens native mussel reproduction by inducing cross‐resistance of host fish

Abstract The effects of invasive alien species (IAS) on host–affiliate relationships are often subtle and remain unnoticed or insufficiently quantified. The global decline of freshwater unionid mussel species has been attributed to many causes, but little is known about the interactions of IAS, with their complex life cycle, which includes an obligatory parasitic stage (the glochidium) that develops on fishes. The capacity of a European freshwater mussel, Anodonta anatina, to develop on its widespread fish host, Squalius cephalus was tested experimentally, after previous infestations by the IAS, Sinanodonta (Anodonta) woodiana. The initial attachment of glochidia, the length of the parasitic period, and the metamorphosis success rate of A. anatina glochidia were compared among treatments of different priming infestation intensities. The metamorphosis success rate of the native A. anatina glochidia was strongly reduced (Wilcoxon Signed‐Rank Test, P < 0.001) and declined by 42.1 and 45.4% on fish hosts that were previously exposed to S. woodiana by single and multiple priming infestations, respectively, in comparison with the control group. Such cross‐resistance is expected to decrease significantly the quality of the host resources available to native mussels. This study provides the first evidence of the host‐mediated adverse impact of invasive S. woodiana on native mussel species. These results also highlight the importance of potential competition for hosts between threatened groups of affiliate species and their invasive counterparts, which should be reflected in conservation strategies.

Making Health Care Markets Work

Many studies have examined trends toward increasing consolidation of physician practices and hospitals in the US health care system and the negative effects of decreased competition on the quality of patient care and health care costs.1 Since 2010, there have been 561 hospital mergers,2 and nearly half of hospital markets are highly concentrated.3 Independent physician practice has declined; 33% of 929 419 active physicians in 2013 were employed by hospitals4 and many more are in affiliate relationships. A recent article acknowledged that there is little evidence of the promised benefits of such consolidation to patients or society, and it called on the presidential administration to “ensure that we have a dynamic health care marketplace.”5

Leadership of old females in collective departures in wild bonobos (Pan paniscus) at Wamba

Group-living animals need to coordinate their activity in order to maintain gregariousness. Although individuals have their own nutritional, social, and reproductive needs, they have to reach consensus to decide where and when to travel. Collective movements are the outcome of one individual’s departure, who is then followed by other group members. We investigated departure initiation in a group of bonobos at Wamba, DR Congo, to determine the distribution of leadership among group members. If three or more bonobos started moving more than 30 m, we assigned the individual who moved first as the one who initiated the movement. Two hundred and fifty-four departures were observed. First, we examined whether the frequency of initiation differed according to the following attributes of individuals: sex, age, stage in sexual swelling cycle, dominance, and affiliative relationship. We also examined whether one or more individual(s) initiate departure more or less frequently than expected by chance. A significant interaction between sex and age was found, indicating that the effect of age was greater among females than among males. Individuals who were more central to the grooming network initiated departures more frequently. The three oldest females initiated more often than expected. Old females may be followed because of coalitionary supports they often give to younger females, and of their greater knowledge about ranging area. Leadership in bonobos was not equally shared among group members, and old females were “key individuals” who helped to maintain cohesiveness in their fission-fusion society. When group-living animals travel from one location to another, they must coordinate when and where to travel; otherwise, they might spread apart. Bonobos are one of our closest living relatives and have a fission-fusion social system. We investigated the initiation of group departure in wild bonobos to determine the distribution of leadership among group members. We found that the frequency of initiation was associated with the individual’s age, affiliative relationships, and male dominance rank. The three oldest females initiated departures more frequently than expected, suggesting that these individuals were habitual initiators and took an important role to preserve cohesiveness. We discuss how this “old female leadership” may emerge in a male-philopatric society.

Social bonds with males lower the costs of competition for wild female Assamese macaques

In polygynandrous mammals, females rarely form affiliative relationships with unrelated males outside the mating context. The antiharassment hypothesis provides one explanation for why such relationships have evolved in some gregarious primates: it states that females receive less aggression from group members in the presence of a male partner and gain his support when being harassed by others. This lowers the costs of competition and increases the female's access to resources, as it also reduces interruptions to feeding. Our aim was to test this hypothesis by investigating the benefits that wild female Assamese macaques, Macaca assamensis, in Thailand derive from bonding with particular males. In support of the antiharassment hypothesis, we found that the strength of affiliative relationships lowered the aggressiveness of a male towards a female, and predicted how much support a female received from a particular male in agonistic interactions with other group members. Additionally, relationship strength predicted the time that females spent co-feeding with a particular male as well as her feeding efficiency in the presence of that male. Hence, female Assamese macaques benefit from forming a social bond with a particular male by reducing the costs of competition.

Implementation of Good Corporate Governance at the Backdoor Listing Prosedur as Means of Business Development in Indonesia Stock Market

Developments in the field of capital markets encourage the emergence of various corporate actions to obtain benefits such as a public company. One of the emerging corporate actions which have been done is Backdoor Listing. Regulations in the capital market is generally allowed backdoor listing. Backdoor Listing procedure are often executed in Indonesia are as follows: (1) The acquisition of control of a public company by private company through the rights issue (2) the acquisition of private company by an public company that has an affiliate relationship with the private company into standby purchaser/ new controllers. Study fulfillment of the Good Corporate Governance principles in the backdoor listing procedure is known that this procedure is still not met the Principles of Transparency, Accountability, as well as fairness and equity. It is needed to establish the rules of providing transparency obligation to assess the feasibility of a new public company controller.<br /><br />Keywords: Good Corporate Governance, Stock Market, Backdoor Listing

霊長類における親密な関係の量的記述

霊長類における親密な関係の量的記述

The Roles of Dopamine D1 Receptor on the Social Hierarchy of Rodents and Nonhuman Primates.

Background:Although dopamine has been suggested to play a role in mediating social behaviors of individual animals, it is not clear whether such dopamine signaling contributes to attributes of social groups such as social hierarchy.Methods:In this study, the effects of the pharmacological manipulation of dopamine D1 receptor function on the social hierarchy and behavior of group-housed mice and macaques were investigated using a battery of behavioral tests.Results:D1 receptor blockade facilitated social dominance in mice at the middle, but not high or low, social rank in the groups without altering social preference among mates. In contrast, the administration of a D1 receptor antagonist in a macaque did not affect social dominance of the drug-treated animal; however, relative social dominance relationships between the drug-treated and nontreated subjects were altered indirectly through alterations of social affiliative relationships within the social group.Conclusions:These results suggest that dopamine D1 receptor signaling may be involved in social hierarchy and social relationships within a group, which may differ between rodents and primates.