Same-sex sociosexual behaviour is widespread and heritable in male rhesus macaques

Numerous reports have documented the occurrence of same-sex sociosexual behaviour (SSB) across animal species. However, the distribution of the behaviour within a species is needed to test the theories describing its evolution and maintenance, in particular whether the behaviour is heritable and can therefore evolve by natural selection. Here, we collected detailed observations across three years of social and mounting behaviour of 236 male semi-wild rhesus macaques, which we combined with a pedigree dating back to 1938, to show that SSB was both repeatable (19.35%) and heritable (6.4%). Demographic factors (age and group structure) explained SSB variation only marginally. Furthermore, we found a positive genetic correlation between same-sex mounter and mountee activities, indicating a common basis to different forms of SSB. Finally, we found no evidence of fitness costs to SSB, but show instead that the behaviour mediated coalitionary partnerships that have been linked with improved reproductive success. Together, our results demonstrate that SSB is frequent in rhesus macaques, can evolve, and is not costly, indicating that SSB may be a common feature of primate reproductive ecology

The Malthusian Paradox: performance in an alternate reality game

The Malthusian Paradox is a transmedia alternate reality game (ARG) created by artists Dominic Shaw and Adam Sporne played by 300 participants over three months. We explore the design of the game, which cast players as agents of a radical organisation attempting to uncover the truth behind a kidnapping and a sinister biotech corporation, and highlight how it redefined performative frames by blurring conventional performer and spectator roles in sometimes discomforting ways. Players participated in the game via a broad spectrum of interaction channels, including performative group spectacles and 1-to-1 engagements with game characters in public settings, making use of low- and high-tech physical and online artefacts including bespoke and third party websites. Players and game characters communicated via telephony and social media in both a designed and an ad-hoc manner. We reflect on the production and orchestration of the game, including the dynamic nature of the strong episodic narrative driven by professionally produced short films that attempted to respond to the actions of players; and the difficulty of designing for engagement across hybrid and temporally expansive performance space. We suggest that an ARG whose boundaries are necessarily unclear affords rich and emergent, but potentially unsanctioned and uncontrolled, opportunities for interactive performance, which raises significant challenges for design

Dual-5α-Reductase Inhibition Promotes Hepatic Lipid Accumulation in Man

Context: 5α-Reductase 1 and 2 (SRD5A1, SRD5A2) inactivate cortisol to 5α-dihydrocortisol in addition to their role in the generation of DHT. Dutasteride (dual SRD5A1 and SRD5A2 inhibitor) and finasteride (selective SRD5A2 inhibitor) are commonly prescribed, but their potential metabolic effects have only recently been identified. Objective: Our objective was to provide a detailed assessment of the metabolic effects of SRD5A inhibition and in particular the impact on hepatic lipid metabolism. Design: We conducted a randomized study in 12 healthy male volunteers with detailed metabolic phenotyping performed before and after a 3-week treatment with finasteride (5 mg od) or dutasteride (0.5 mg od). Hepatic magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and two-step hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamps incorporating stable isotopes with concomitant adipose tissue microdialysis were used to evaluate carbohydrate and lipid flux. Analysis of the serum metabolome was performed using ultra-HPLC-mass spectrometry. Setting: The study was performed in the Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, United Kingdom. Main Outcome Measure: Incorporation of hepatic lipid was measured with MRS. Results: Dutasteride, not finasteride, increased hepatic insulin resistance. Intrahepatic lipid increased on MRS after dutasteride treatment and was associated with increased rates of de novo lipogenesis. Adipose tissue lipid mobilization was decreased by dutasteride. Analysis of the serum metabolome demonstrated that in the fasted state, dutasteride had a significant effect on lipid metabolism. Conclusions: Dual-SRD5A inhibition with dutasteride is associated with increased intrahepatic lipid accumulation. - See more at: http://press.endocrine.org/doi/10.1210/jc.2015-2928#sthash.KmmY91Iw.dpu

Cinema-going trajectories in the digital age

The activity of cinema-going constantly evolves and gradually integrates the use of digital data and platforms to become more engaging for the audiences. Combining methods from the fields of Human Computer Interaction and Film Studies, we conducted two workshops seeking to understand cinema audiences’ digital practices and explore how the contemporary cinema-going experience is shaped in the digital age. Our findings suggest that going to the movies constitutes a trajectory during which cinemagoers interact with multiple digital platforms. At the same time, depending on their choices, they construct unique digital identities that represent a set of online behaviours and rituals that cinemagoers adopt before, while and after cinema-going. To inform the design of new, engaging cinemagoing experiences, this research establishes a preliminary map of contemporary cinema-going including digital data and platforms. We then discuss how audiences perceive the potential improvement of the experience and how that would lead to the construction of digital identities

Plant height and yield components of inbred isogenic and F1 hybrid Rht dwarf wheats

Single and double-gene Rhtl, Rht2, Rht3, Rht1 + Rht2 and Rht3 + Rht2 isogenic lines of wheat in four parental rht varieties were grown in drilled yield trials at four sites in 1989. The same lines were also grown in 1988 together with hybrid genotypes from CHA (chemical hybridising agent) F₁ production plots. In the inbred lines shorter than one metre, Rht alleles reduced total shoot biomass by shortening the straw; mass of straw per unit plant height was unaffected. Highest grain yield was obtained from plant heights between 70 and 100 cm. The Rht genotype achieving this stature varied according to parent varietal height. The hybrids grown allowed comparisons between intra- and inter-varietal crosses over a range of Rht genotypes. In F₁ hybrids positive heterosis was observed for plant height, grain yield and mean grain weight. Highest yields were obtained from inter-varietal hybrids carrying one, two or three doses of Rht1 or Rht2 or one dose of Rht3. An Rht3lrht hybrid showed resistance to premature α-amylase production during grain ripening