Modes, mechanisms and evidence of bet hedging in rotifer diapause traits

In this contribution, we review our knowledge on bet-hedging strategies associated with rotifer diapause. First, we describe the ecological scenario under which bet hedging is likely to have evolved in three diapause-related traits in monogonont rotifer populations: (1) the timing of sex (because diapausing eggs are produced via sexual reproduction), (2) the sexual reproduction ratio (i.e. the fraction of sexually reproducing females) and (3) the timing of diapausing egg hatching. Then, we describe how to discriminate among bet-hedging modes and discuss which modes and mechanisms better fit the variability observed in these traits in rotifers. Finally, we evaluate the strength of the empirical evidence for bet hedging in the scarce studies available, and we call for the need of research at different levels of biological complexity to fully understand bet hedging in rotifer diapause

Are Females More Responsive to Emotional Stimuli? A Neurophysiological Study Across Arousal and Valence Dimensions

Men and women seem to process emotions and react to them differently. Yet, few neurophysiological studies have systematically investigated gender differences in emotional processing. Here, we studied gender differences using Event Related Potentials (ERPs) and Skin Conductance Responses (SCR) recorded from participants who passively viewed emotional pictures selected from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS). The arousal and valence dimension of the stimuli were manipulated orthogonally. The peak amplitude and peak latency of ERP components and SCR were analyzed separately, and the scalp topographies of significant ERP differences were documented. Females responded with enhanced negative components (N100 and N200), in comparison to males, especially to the unpleasant visual stimuli, whereas both genders responded faster to high arousing or unpleasant stimuli. Scalp topographies revealed more pronounced gender differences on central and left hemisphere areas. Our results suggest a difference in the way emotional stimuli are processed by genders: unpleasant and high arousing stimuli evoke greater ERP amplitudes in women relatively to men. It also seems that unpleasant or high arousing stimuli are temporally prioritized during visual processing by both genders

Resolved stellar populations: The outlook for JWST and ELT

The study of the resolved stellar populations in nearby galaxies and star clusters through the analysis of colour-magnitude diagrams provides the most detailed and quantitative determination of the star formation histories of these systems. The properties of different age populations provide an insight into distinct physical processes taking place during the entire history of the stellar system. The detection of the oldest main sequence turn-offs is currently restricted to stellar systems within the Local Group due to the limitations in spatial resolution and flux sensitivity of available telescopes. Individual stars need to be detected and accurately distinguished from their neighbours. To improve this situation we need to build new telescopes with larger primary mirrors that can deliver a very stable image quality at the diffraction limit. Over the next decade we can look forward to new larger telescope in space: the James Webb Space Telescope, currently scheduled to be launched in 2021; and several large telescope projects, the largest of which is the 39m ESO extremely large telescope on Cerro Armazones in Chile, currently scheduled to start operations in 2024

Oxygen-rich Long Period Variables in the X-shooter Spectral Library

(4 pages, 2 figures, in press in the proceedings of IAU Symp. 343, Why Galaxies Care about AGB Stars (Aug. 2018). Ed. F. Kerschbaum, M. Groenewegen, H. Olofsson.)The X-Shooter Spectral Library (XSL) contains more than 800 spectra of stars across the color-magnitude diagram, that extend from near-UV to near-IR wavelengths (320-2450 nm). We summarize properties of the spectra of O-rich Long Period Variables in XSL, such as phase-related features, and we confront the data with synthetic spectra based on static and dynamical stellar atmosphere models. We discuss successes and remaining discrepancies, keeping in mind the applications to population synthesis modeling that XSL is designed for