Life span and reproductive cost explain interspecific variation in the optimal onset of reproduction.

Fitness can be profoundly influenced by the age at first reproduction (AFR), but to date the AFR-fitness relationship only has been investigated intraspecifically. Here, we investigated the relationship between AFR and average lifetime reproductive success (LRS) across 34 bird species. We assessed differences in the deviation of the Optimal AFR (i.e., the species-specific AFR associated with the highest LRS) from the age at sexual maturity, considering potential effects of life history as well as social and ecological factors. Most individuals adopted the species-specific Optimal AFR and both the mean and Optimal AFR of species correlated positively with life span. Interspecific deviations of the Optimal AFR were associated with indices reflecting a change in LRS or survival as a function of AFR: a delayed AFR was beneficial in species where early AFR was associated with a decrease in subsequent survival or reproductive output. Overall, our results suggest that a delayed onset of reproduction beyond maturity is an optimal strategy explained by a long life span and costs of early reproduction. By providing the first empirical confirmations of key predictions of life-history theory across species, this study contributes to a better understanding of life-history evolution

The Weak Charge of the Proton and New Physics

We address the physics implications of a precision determination of the weak charge of the proton, QWP, from a parity violating elastic electron proton scattering experiment to be performed at the Jefferson Laboratory. We present the Standard Model (SM) expression for QWP including one-loop radiative corrections, and discuss in detail the theoretical uncertainties and missing higher order QCD corrections. Owing to a fortuitous cancellation, the value of QWP is suppressed in the SM, making it a unique place to look for physics beyond the SM. Examples include extra neutral gauge bosons, supersymmetry, and leptoquarks. We argue that a QWP measurement will provide an important complement to both high energy collider experiments and other low energy electroweak measurements. The anticipated experimental precision requires the knowledge of the order alpha_s corrections to the pure electroweak box contributions. We compute these contributions for QWP, as well as for the weak charges of heavy elements as determined from atomic parity violation.Comment: 22 pages of LaTeX, 5 figure

Dapagliflozin: a sodium glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor in development for type 2 diabetes

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a growing worldwide epidemic. Patients face lifelong therapy to control hyperglycemia and prevent the associated complications. There are many medications, with varying mechanisms, available for the treatment of T2DM, but almost all target the declining insulin sensitivity and secretion that are associated with disease progression. Medications with such insulin-dependent mechanisms of action often lose efficacy over time, and there is increasing interest in the development of new antidiabetes medications that are not dependent upon insulin. One such approach is through the inhibition of renal glucose reuptake. Dapagliflozin, the first of a class of selective sodium glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors, reduces renal glucose reabsorption and is currently under development for the treatment of T2DM. Here, we review the literature relating to the preclinical and clinical development of dapagliflozin

The ‘mosaic habitat’ concept in human evolution: past and present

The habitats preferred by hominins and other species are an important theme in palaeoanthropology, and the ‘mosaic habitat’ (also referred to as habitat heterogeneity) has been a central concept in this regard for the last four decades. Here we explore the development of this concept – loosely defined as a range of different habitat types, such as woodlands, riverine forest and savannah within a limited spatial area– in studies of human evolution in the last sixty years or so. We outline the key developments that took place before and around the time when the term ‘mosaic’ came to wider palaeoanthropological attention. To achieve this we used an analysis of the published literature, a study of illustrations of hominin evolution from 1925 onwards and an email survey of senior researchers in palaeoanthropology and related fields. We found that the term mosaic starts to be applied in palaeoanthropological thinking during the 1970’s due to the work of a number of researchers, including Karl Butzer and Glynn Isaac , with the earliest usage we have found of ‘mosaic’ in specific reference to hominin habitats being by Adriaan Kortlandt (1972). While we observe a steady increase in the numbers of publications reporting mosaic palaeohabitats, in keeping with the growing interest and specialisation in various methods of palaeoenvironmental reconstruction, we also note that there is a lack of critical studies that define this habitat, or examine the temporal and spatial scales associated with it. The general consensus within the field is that the concept now requires more detailed definition and study to evaluate its role in human evolution

Astronomical Distance Determination in the Space Age: Secondary Distance Indicators

The formal division of the distance indicators into primary and secondary leads to difficulties in description of methods which can actually be used in two ways: with, and without the support of the other methods for scaling. Thus instead of concentrating on the scaling requirement we concentrate on all methods of distance determination to extragalactic sources which are designated, at least formally, to use for individual sources. Among those, the Supernovae Ia is clearly the leader due to its enormous success in determination of the expansion rate of the Universe. However, new methods are rapidly developing, and there is also a progress in more traditional methods. We give a general overview of the methods but we mostly concentrate on the most recent developments in each field, and future expectations. © 2018, The Author(s)

Measurements of differential production cross sections for a Z boson in association with jets in pp collisions at root s=8 TeV

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Search for leptophobic Z ' bosons decaying into four-lepton final states in proton-proton collisions at root s=8 TeV

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Search for black holes and other new phenomena in high-multiplicity final states in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

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Search for high-mass diphoton resonances in proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV and combination with 8 TeV search

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