Theory-Based Problem Formulation and Ideation in mHealth Analysis and Recommendations

This article reports on an investigation into how to improve problem formulation and ideation in Design Science Research (DSR) within the mHealth domain. A Systematic Literature Review of problem formulation in published mHealth DSR papers found that problem formulation is often only weakly performed, with shortcomings in stakeholder analysis, patient-centricity, clinical input, use of kernel theory, and problem analysis. The study proposes using Coloured Cognitive Mapping for DSR (CCM4DSR) as a tool to improve problem formulation in mHealth DSR. A case study using CCM4DSR found that using CCM4DSR provided a more comprehensive problem formulation and analysis, highlighting aspects that, until CCM4DSR was used, weren’t apparent to the research team and which served as a better basis for mHealth feature ideation.

Exploring the Causal Relationship between Factors Affecting US Army Recruitment

Every year, United States Army Recruiting Command (USAREC) dedicates considerable resources to recruiting and accessing soldiers. As the largest branch of the United States Armed Forces, the Army must meet a high recruiting quota while competing in the free-labor market for quality recruits. Over the past two decades, the Army’s success in recruiting ebbed and flowed within the broader context of society and global events. While numerous studies have examined the statistical relationship between factors associated with recruitment, these studies are observational and definitively ascribing causality in retrospect is difficult. With this in mind, we apply fuzzy cognitive mapping (FCM), a graphical method of representing uncertainty in a dynamic system, to model and explore the complex causal relationships between factors. We conclude our paper with implications for USAREC’s efforts, as well as our model’s limitations and opportunities for future work.

What Is Safe and How Much Does It Matter? Food Vendors’ and Consumers’ Views on Food Safety in Urban Nigeria

This study examines the food safety beliefs of vendors and consumers in a mid-sized Nigerian city using data from in-depth interviews and cognitive mapping techniques drawn from ethnography. We examine vendors’ and consumers’ perspectives on which foods are safe, which are not, and why; the place of foodborne illness among other health concerns and motivators of food choice; and how salient food safety is as a concern for vendors. The main perceived causes of unsafe food were found to be chemicals and insects; while bacterial illnesses were widely mentioned as a cause of gastrointestinal symptoms, these were not necessarily linked to food in consumers’ minds. Respondents agreed strongly that certain foods (e.g., cowpea, beef, green leafy vegetables, and local rice) were less safe than others. The importance of food safety as a choice motivator among consumers varies depending on framing: when asked directly, it was prominent and closely related to visible cleanliness, but concerns about food safety competed in consumers’ minds against other salient motivators of food and vendor choice, such as price. Most vendors did not see food safety, cleanliness, or hygiene as a key trait of a successful vendor, and just over half of vendors had any concern about the safety of their food. In conclusion, we note the implications for intervention designs, particularly the need to build upon consumers’ and vendors’ current beliefs and practices related to food safety in order to make foodborne disease prevention a more salient concern in food choice.

Ecosystem Services Assessment for the Conservation of Mangroves in French Guiana Using Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping

In 2016, the French government adopted a law for biodiversity, setting an objective of protecting 55,000 hectares of mangroves. This objective is particularly important to French Guiana, which shelters almost 60% of French mangrove ecosystems, and where mangroves occupy three quarters of the coastline. The coast of French Guiana is also where issues associated with demographic and economic dynamics concentrate. There is thus a need to plan for an economic development that is compatible with the objective of protecting mangrove ecosystems. Ecosystem services (ES) assessment can support such decision-making, informing on the costs and benefits associated with alternative mangrove conservation strategies. While the many services provided by mangrove ecosystems are well documented worldwide, the extent to which these can be encountered in the specific case of French Guiana is currently only very partially known. Relying on the Fuzzy cognitive mapping (FCM) approach, we collected and compared the perception of multiple and heterogeneous groups of stakeholders, of the functioning of the mangrove social-ecological system at the scale of French Guiana. Results, allow to identify mangroves ES and threats particularly influenced by the high sedimentary dynamism of the shoreline. This generates two distinct components of the mangrove social-ecological system: mud banks where ecosystem services are spatially and temporally unstable, and associated with perceived constraints for key coastal activities, and estuarine mangroves where the ecosystem services usually described in the literature on mangroves can be found. Disservices associated with mangrove ecosystems were also identified as a key interaction. This can inform the research needs that should support sustainable development trajectories, fully accounting for the protection of French Guianese mangrove ecosystems.

Mice identify subgoal locations through an action-driven mapping process

Mammals instinctively explore and form mental maps of their spatial environments. Models of cognitive mapping in neuroscience mostly depict map-learning as a process of random or biased diffusion. In practice, however, animals explore spaces using structured, purposeful, sensory-guided actions. Here we test the hypothesis that executing specific exploratory actions is a key strategy for building a cognitive map. Previous work has shown that in arenas with obstacles and a shelter, mice spontaneously learn efficient multi-step escape routes by memorizing allocentric subgoal locations. We thus used threat-evoked escape to probe the relationship between ethological exploratory behavior and allocentric spatial memory. Using closed-loop neural manipulations to interrupt running movements during exploration, we found that blocking runs targeting an obstacle edge abolished subgoal learning. In contrast, blocking other movements while sparing edge-directed runs had no effect on memorizing subgoals. Finally, spatial analyses suggest that the decision to use a subgoal during escape takes into account the mouse's starting position relative to the layout of the environment. We conclude that mice use an action-driven learning process to identify subgoals and that these subgoals are then integrated into a map-based planning process. We suggest a conceptual framework for spatial learning that is compatible with the successor representation from reinforcement learning and sensorimotor enactivism from cognitive science.

Behavioural mechanisms affecting the success of translocations. An investigation using New Zealand’s rarest ratite, the rowi

<p>Translocations are increasingly being used for conservation management of threatened species (Sarrazin & Legendre, 2000). Outcomes are influenced by a range of factors including effects of early rearing experience, conspecific familiarity, density of resident conspecifics, and habitat quality at the release site, all of which may impact on the behaviour of released individuals and subsequent survival and fitness (Law & Linklater, 2007; Linklater & Swaisgood, 2008; Sarrazin & Legendre, 2000). Conservation success, defined as the realisation of goals set out at the start of a project, can be improved by detecting factors causing suboptimal outcomes and identifying potential solutions (Buner et al., 2011; Green et al., 2005; Mihoub et al., 2011). I aimed to expand current knowledge on factors influencing translocation outcomes by investigating the conservation management of the rowi (Apteryx rowi), the rarest species of kiwi. Current rowi conservation practices provide an opportunity to investigate this type of translocation management model. I provide new evidence and knowledge of behavioural mechanisms driving translocation success, include an expansion of current home range cognitive mapping theory relevant to conservation translocations, and present the first study of rowi home range behaviour (defined as the pattern of space use which leads to the emergence of a stable home range). Rowi conservation management involves removing eggs from the wild, hatching chicks in captivity, rearing on a predator free island until they are large enough to no longer be at risk of predation by stoats (Mustela erminae), then translocation back into the single remaining mainland population at Ōkārito forest. Over three years, experimental releases (n=66) were undertaken into both the existing population of rowi at South Ōkārito, and into an adjacent but unoccupied area of their former range at North Ōkārito. After intensive post-release monitoring, the effects of various elements of the translocation process on post-release survival, dispersal, conspecific association, habitat selection and home range behaviour were examined. An investigation into the effects of season of release, conspecific density, sex, and release group size on survival during the 90 day critical period following release, found release season and release group size are the most likely factors to influence post-release survival, with highest survival in spring, and for large release groups of four or more birds per release site. Habitat quality throughout the Ōkārito forest was estimated using invertebrate biomass as a proxy. A Geographic Information Systems (GIS) layer showing relative estimated invertebrate biomass was created and used to provide values of habitat quality at release locations and within home ranges. An investigation of the influence of habitat quality on post-release dispersal, conspecific association and home range behaviour found maximum dispersal distance was affected by the release site (North or South Ōkārito), and the interaction of release site and the estimated invertebrate biomass at the release location. Mean home ranges (± SE) of translocated rowi (3.35 ± 0.37 km²), were larger and of lower habitat quality than those of wild rowi (1.06 ± 0.09 km²). No effects of release group size on dispersal distance or conspecific association rates post-release were found. The effects of early rearing experience are proposed as a key factor influencing translocated rowi behaviour. By monitoring the survival, dispersal, conspecific association and home range behaviour resulting from the translocation of rowi reared in a non-natural social situation, I highlight the potential impact of prior social experience and social memory on cognitive mapping and home range establishment. This innovative approach has the potential to be a valuable expansion to current home range cognitive mapping theory, and warrants further study. Translocation is a vital tool in conservation, and has undoubtedly been instrumental in improving the situation of rowi since the first application to rowi conservation in the 1990s. This study has demonstrated that further improvements in the effectiveness and efficiency of translocations for conservation can be gained through sound scientific analysis of factors affecting the mechanisms leading to translocation success. Ongoing monitoring, analysis and reassessment of translocation management practices are recommended to ensure optimal conservation outcomes.</p>