Elliot Howard-Spink Charles
ID:
|
Do cultural evolutionary processes shape the long-distance vocalisations of wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)?
REFNo: NS97ES
Overall Objective: To determine the extent to which populations of chimpanzees show differences in their long-distance communication behaviours, and what factors may drive differences in these behaviours between populations. I will do this by completing the following four sub-objectives.
Objective 1 – Create an ethnography for behavioural features of chimpanzee pant-hoot displays. I intend to collect video and audio footage of the pant-hoot displays of chimpanzees in the Bugoma rainforest, which I can then compare to pre-existing video and audio footage of pant-hoots by chimpanzees in other populations across Africa. I will use collected data, and pre-existing data, to create an ethnography of pant-hoot displays in different chimpanzee populations (Whiten et al., 1999). Once a working ethnography of the behavioural features of these displays has been established, I will investigate the biological forces that may be driving inter-population variation in pant-hoot displays.
Objective 2 – Determine the extent to which genetics determines the behavioural features of pant-hoot displays. I will do this by following a method outlined by Lycett et al, 2007, who investigated the genetic influences of chimpanzee tool use behaviours. The ethnography generated in objective 1 will be used to create a maximum-likelihood phylogenetic tree based on the traits of pant-hoot displays. This will then be compared with well-established genetic phylogenies of chimpanzee populations. Increasing similarities between these evolutionary trees would suggest that genetics is increasingly more likely in explaining behavioural differences in pant-hoot calls between chimpanzee populations.
Objective 3 - Determine the extent to which environmental variables determine the behavioural features of pant-hoot displays. This will be done by creating mathematical models which try to explain variation in pant-hoot displays using physical and social environmental variables of the caller’s environment. Physical variables include weather patterns and vegetation density. Social variables include the immediate social party, caller identity, and caller status at the time of vocalization. These models will assess the variation in pant-hooting which can be explained by the caller’s environment, as well as the variation which remains unexplained.
Objective 4 – Assess the likelihood of cultural evolutionary forces driving pant-hoot variation between chimpanzee populations. This will be done by method of exclusion. This would involve taking variation in pant-hooting behaviour which cannot be explained by genetics or the environment and discussing the likelihood of its formation due to vocal learning behaviours in chimpanzees. The existence of these behaviours in chimpanzee populations remains inconclusive, and this project aims to begin to elucidate the extent to which chimpanzees show cultural differences in their communicative behaviours.
Lycett, S. J., Collard, M. and McGrew, W. C. (2007) ‘Phylogenetic analyses of behavior support existence of culture among wild chimpanzees’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104(45), pp. 17588–17592.
Whiten, A. et al. (1999) ‘Cultures in chimpanzees’, Nature, 399(6737), pp. 682–685. doi: 10.1038/21415.
|
UK |
2019-07-10 |
2022-07-10 |
Natural Sciences |
|
Degree Award |
|
Johnblack Kabukye Kabaalu
ID: UNCST-2019-R001109
|
Requirements for an Interactive Voice Response system for provision of cancer information to patients and general public in Uganda
REFNo: HS418ES
To co-create a program theory for development, implementation and evaluation of IVR system for provision of cancer information to patients and general public in Uganda
|
Uganda |
2019-07-10 |
2022-07-10 |
Medical and Health Sciences |
|
Degree Award |
|
Samuel Maling
ID: UNCST-2023-R008367
|
Quality of Life and Aging with HIV in Rural Uganda
REFNo: HS419ES
Aim 1: Use qualitative methods to develop a conceptual framework explaining how HIV influences quality of life among older-aged people in Uganda.
We will conduct semi-structured interviews among 60 study participants stratified by sex and HIV serostatus to explore conceptualizations of and domains that meaningfully impact quality of life. We will use an inductive analytic approach to identify locally relevant domains that determine health and quality of life for older people in our study population. The over-arching goal of Aim 1 is to develop a conceptual framework and optimize selection of measures related to quality of life to be used in study Aims 2 and 3.
Aim 2: Compare trajectories of social, cognitive, and physical functioning, and global quality of life by HIV serostatus in Uganda.
We will use the Aim 1 findings to inform appropriate selection of measures. We will observe 600 participants annually for four years to collect outcome measures of physical, cognitive, and social functioning, and quality of life. We hypothesize that PLWH will exhibit steeper declines in physical, cognitive, and social functioning, and quality of life compared to HIV-negative individuals.
Aim 3: Identify intervention targets, and assess the acceptability and feasibility of promising interventions, to improve functioning and quality of life among older PLWH in Uganda.
We will fit mixed effects regression models with data from the Aim 2 cohort to identify determinants of quality of life among PLWH, including social (e.g. stigma, depression, familial deaths), biomedical (e.g. comorbidities, opportunistic infections), and HIV-specific factors (e.g. viral load, nadir CD4, sCD14). We hypothesize that HIV-associated stigma and familial deaths due to HIV will predict faster decline in functional domains and quality of life among older PLWH. We will supplement these analyses with participant and stakeholder workshops to assess the preliminary acceptability and feasibility of potential interventions to improve quality of life in this population.
|
Uganda |
2019-07-10 |
2022-07-10 |
Medical and Health Sciences |
|
Non-degree Award |
|
Samuel Kyobe
ID: UNCST-2019-R000108
|
Role of Class I HLA Alleles in HIV Disease Progression in Botswana and Uganda
REFNo: HS421ES
1) To describe the baseline characteristics of the pediatric HIV cohort in Uganda and Botswana.
2) To describe the distribution of class I HLA alleles in pediatric HIV in Botswana and Uganda.
3) To determine the HLA Class I alleles that are associated with HIV disease progression in Botswana and Ugandan African paediatric populations.
4) To determine the structural and functional (binding) characteristics of those class I HLA alleles associated with HIV disease progression.
|
Uganda |
2019-07-10 |
2022-07-10 |
Medical and Health Sciences |
|
Degree Award |
|
Roy Carr-Hill Ngugi
ID:
|
Impact Evaluation of interventions to prevent Violence Against Children in Schools (VACiS) in Uganda
REFNo: SS322ES
1. Assess the extent to which the objectives of the teacher training and life skills education through school clubs are consistent with beneficiaries’ needs as far as creating a safe learning environment
2. Determine the impact (positive, negative, intended and unintended) of teacher training and learners’ life skills education through school clubs on reducing violence against children in schools.
3. Assess the likelihood of continuation of benefits from the VACiS interventions after UNICEF assistance to supported schools has ceased
4. Provide recommendations on how to strengthen teacher
|
UK |
2019-07-04 |
2022-07-04 |
Social Science and Humanities |
|
Non-degree Award |
|
Hailey Tiarks Jo
ID:
|
Testing the role of turbidity on the visual sensitivity of an African cichlid fish (Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor victoriae)
REFNo: NS90ES
The goal of the proposed research is to better understand the influence of turbidity and other environmental stressors on behavior and development of visual and behavioural traits in an African cichlid fish (Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor victoriae). Environmental degradation can introduce persistent environmental stressors that impair many behaviors in fishes that could influence their ability see their environment, which can obscure reproduction, predation, and other inter/intra species visual cues. It is important to understand how species continue to persist in degraded tropical aquatic habitats to help conserve essential biodiversity for the health of aquatic ecosystems. We will investigate how important stressors, such as turbidity, influence the behavior and development of visual traits in a widespread African cichlid in the lakes, rivers, and swamps near Lake Nabugabo, western Uganda.
|
USA |
2019-07-01 |
2022-07-01 |
Natural Sciences |
|
Degree Award |
|
Caitlin Monroe Cooke
ID:
|
Defining History: Education, expertise, and women's knowledge in Western Uganda, 1800-1980
REFNo: SS269ES
This project has four objectives:
1.) Identify early systems of indigenous education in Western Uganda
2.) Explore the role of women and women's knowledge in those indigenous education initiatives
3.) Explore how education initiatives – from indigenous ones to colonial schools – separated the discipline of "history" from other kinds of knowledge about the past
4.) Ask how this neglected women's knowledge changes our contemporary understandings of intellectual history
|
USA |
2019-07-01 |
2022-07-01 |
Social Science and Humanities |
|
Degree Award |
|
Eva Wanyenze Wodeya wodeya
ID:
|
CONTINUOUS LABOR SUPPORT: EXPLORATION OF PRACTICES, EVALUATION OF THE EFFECT OF TRAINING A BIRTH COMPANION ON BIRTH OUTCOMES AND WOMEN’S EXPERENCES IN THE BUGISU SUB-REGION
REFNo: HS377ES
1. To explore support practices provided by birth companions in relation to women’s needs during labour and birth
2. To assess the effectiveness of continuous labour support by a trained companion of choice on anxiety and coping during active labour.
3. To determine the effect of continuous labour support provided by a trained companion of choice on labour outcomes and maternal satisfaction.
4. To describe birthing experiences of women continuously supported during labour by a trained companion.
|
Uganda |
2019-07-01 |
2022-07-01 |
Medical and Health Sciences |
|
Degree Award |
|
Herbert Muyinda
ID: UNCST-2019-R000373
|
Cango Lyec Study: Developing and Testing Interventions to Reduce HIV risk, increase access to treatment and promote resilience in war affected populations in Northern Uganda – Baseline Study
REFNo: HS328ES
1) Estimate prevalence and incidence of HIV / syphilis/Hepatis B, and identify risk factors among conflict-affected populations in Northern Uganda
2) Investigate associations between posttraumatic stress, resilience, and depression, with HIV/Hep. B incidence among conflict-affected populations in Northern Uganda
|
Uganda |
2019-07-01 |
2022-07-01 |
Medical and Health Sciences |
|
Non-degree Award |
|
HILLARY AHEISIBWE
ID:
|
PREVALENCE AND FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH HEPATITIS B SURFACE ANTIGEN POSITIVITY AMONG WOMEN RECEIVING ANTENATAL CARE AT MBARARA REGIONAL REFERRAL HOSPITAL.
REFNo: HS342ES
General objective
To determine the prevalence and factors associated with hepatitis B surface antigen positivity among women attending Antenatal care at Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital
b) Specific Objectives
1. To determine the Prevalence of hepatitis B infection among mothers attending Antenatal Care at Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital.
2. To determine the socio-demographic characteristics of the pregnant women with a positive hepatitis B surface antigen attending ANC clinic at MRRH.
3. To describe the factors associated with Hepatitis B surface antigen positivity among pregnant women attending antenatal care.
|
Uganda |
2019-07-01 |
2022-07-01 |
Medical and Health Sciences |
|
Degree Award |
|
| View |
|
Sort By: |
|
|
|
| |
|