Sexual differences in phenotypical predictors of floating status: body condition influences male but not female reproductive status in a wild passerine

Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUECSIC agreement with Springer Nature. This work was financed by a grant from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Universities to DG (CGL2017-83843-C2-1-P), and draws on data collected during previous projects of DG (refs.: CGL2008-03501/BOS, CGL2011-26318 and CGL2017-83843-C2-1-P) and LP-R (ref.: PGC2018-099596-B-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and ERDF A way of making Europe).Floaters constitute the sexually mature but non-breeding part of populations. Despite being ubiquitous in most species, knowledge about floaters is scarce. Ignoring this significant number of individuals may strongly bias our understanding of population dynamics and sexual selection processes. We used the spotless starling (Sturnus unicolor) to examine whether phenotypical and non-phenotypical variables from early and adult life predict reproductive status, focusing on the earliest age at which most individuals start to breed, when the percentage of floaters is the highest. We compiled data from a longterm study involving eight female and seven male cohorts of individuals PIT-tagged at birth. We compared a suite of nestling (condition, hatching date and brood size) and adult variables (condition, size and ornamentation) between floaters and breeders. We found that adult and nestling body condition strongly and positively influenced the likelihood of breeding in males. Path analysis revealed that male reproductive status could only be predicted by considering nestling body condition—the influence of this variable superseded adult body condition. Female reproductive status was only negatively associated with hatching date. Ornamentation was not associated with reproductive status in any of the sexes, although path analyses revealed that body condition was positively associated with throat feather length. We conclude that predictors of reproductive status are sex-specific in the spotless starling, suggesting an important role of body condition in access to breeding resources in males. Our results also highlight the long-term influence of early life on life trajectories and their potential implications on floating status.CRUECSIC agreementSpringer NatureSpanish Government CGL2017-83843-C2-1-P CGL2008-03501/BOS CGL2011-26318Spanish Ministry of Science and Universities (MCIN/AEI) PGC2018-099596-B-I00Spanish Ministry of Science and Universities (ERDF A way of making Europe) PGC2018-099596-B-I0

Nest Association between Camponotus fallax (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and Vespa crabro (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) in Central Iberian Peninsula

Because social wasps often defend their nests by inflicting painful stings or bites, some animals associate with them looking for protection against potential predators. Some neotropical vespids are known to maintain associations with other insect and vertebrate taxa, such as birds and bats, however there are not previous records about associations between ants and hornets in Europe. In this study, we reported the first case of association between the arboreal ant Camponotus fallax and the European hornet Vespa crabro in Europe. The observations were made in Central Spain, where two colonies of C. fallax were found in two different avian nest-boxes inhabited by V. crabro when spotless starlings finished their breeding season. The reasons of this possible association are also discussed

JTEC panel report on machine translation in Japan

The goal of this report is to provide an overview of the state of the art of machine translation (MT) in Japan and to provide a comparison between Japanese and Western technology in this area. The term 'machine translation' as used here, includes both the science and technology required for automating the translation of text from one human language to another. Machine translation is viewed in Japan as an important strategic technology that is expected to play a key role in Japan's increasing participation in the world economy. MT is seen in Japan as important both for assimilating information into Japanese as well as for disseminating Japanese information throughout the world. Most of the MT systems now available in Japan are transfer-based systems. The majority of them exploit a case-frame representation of the source text as the basis of the transfer process. There is a gradual movement toward the use of deeper semantic representations, and some groups are beginning to look at interlingua-based systems

Sex-Specific Effects of High Yolk Androgen Levels on Constitutive and Cell-Mediated Immune Responses in Nestlings of an Altricial Passerine

Avian embryos are exposed to yolk androgens that are incorporated into the egg by the ovulating female. These steroids can affect several aspects of embryo development, often resulting in increases in overall size or the speed of growth of different traits. However, several studies suggest that they also entail immune costs to the offspring. In this study, we explored whether variation in yolk androgen concentration affected several measures of the constitutive and cell-mediated immune axes in the spotless starling (Sturnus unicolor). Using a within-brood design, we injected different doses of androgens (testosterone and androstenedione) into the eggs. Our study showed that experimentally increased yolk androgens led to sex-specific immunosuppression in both the innate and adaptive axes of the immune system. Both cell-mediated immune response (CMI) and lysozyme activity decreased with increasing androgen levels injected into the egg in the case of male nestlings, whereas there were no effects on females. The effects that we found were always linear: no quadratic or threshold patterns were detected. We found no effects of the experimental treatment in hemolysis or agglutination capacity, but these measures were negatively correlated with CMI, suggesting negative correlation among different branches of the immune system. Blood (trypanosomes and hemosporidians) and intestinal (coccidia) parasites were not affected by the experimental increase of yolk androgen levels. Our results show that in our study species yolk androgens induce immunosuppression in some axes of the male nestling immune system. Further studies should analyze the proximate causes for these contrasting effects in different axes of the immune system and the reason for the differential impact on males and females

Comprensión medular como debut de sarcoma mieloide con amplia afectación ósea

Myeloid sarcoma is an extramedullary tumor usually found in patients with previous hematological neoplasms, with symptoms depending on the location of the lesions due to their mass effect. The main locations are lymph nodes and the skin. It requires a high clinical suspicion for its diagnosis and has a poor prognosis in the short-medium term. We present a clinical case of a 64-year-old man with no hematological history who consulted for bone pain and spinal cord compression, observing extensive bone involvement on MRI and PET-TC. He suffered a nosocomial infectious complication and died in the ICU awaiting histological diagnostic confirmation.El sarcoma mieloide es un tumor extramedular que suele encontrarse en pacientes con neoplasias hematológicas previas, con síntomas en función de la localización de las lesiones, debido al efecto masa que producen. Las principales localizaciones son ganglionares y cutáneas. Precisa una alta sospecha clínica para su diagnóstico, y presenta un mal pronóstico a corto y a medio plazo. Se presenta un caso clínico de un varón de 64 años sin antecedentes hematológicos que debuta con dolores óseos y compresión medular, observando amplia afectación ósea en una resonancia magnética nuclear (RMN) y una tomografía por emisión de positrones (PET-TAC). Sufre complicación infecciosa nosocomial y fallece en la UCI en esperas de confirmación diagnóstica histológica.

Sarcoidosis esplénica simulando metástasis

Sarcoidosis is a multisystemic granulomatous disease of unknown etiology. We present the case of a middle aged patient, diagnosed with sarcoidosis with lymph node involvement, pulmonary and probably central nervous system, which begins with a non-specific constitutional and clinical picture. Two radiological tests, PET-CT and splenic MRI, are performed, showing lesions compatible with the neoplastic process as the first diagnostic possibility. In spite of the firm clinical suspicion of splenic sarcoidosis, finally the diagnosis and therapeutic splenectomy is performed in the face of the contradiction of radiological reports. The result of the pathological anatomy was compatible with sarcoid granulomas.La sarcoidosis es una enfermedad granulomatosa multisistémica de etiología desconocida. Se presenta el caso de una paciente de mediana edad, diagnosticada de sarcoidosis con afectación ganglionar, pulmonar y probablemente del sistema nervioso central, que comienza con cuadro constitucional y clínica inespecífica. Se realizan dos pruebas radiológicas, PET-TC y RM esplénica, objetivando lesiones compatibles con proceso neoplásico como primera posibilidad diagnóstica. A pesar de la firme sospecha clínica de sarcoidosis esplénica, finalmente se decide la realización de esplenectomía diagnóstica y terapéutica ante la contradicción de los informes radiológicos. El resultado de la anatomía patológica fue compatible con granulomas de tipo sarcoideo

Variation in plasma oxidative status and testosterone level in relation to egg-eviction effort and age of brood-parasitic common cuckoo nestlings

To avoid competition for parental care, brood-parasitic Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) nestlings evict all of the host's eggs and nestlings within a few days after hatching. Little is known about the physiological effects of eviction behavior on the cuckoo nestling's oxidative balance or about age-related variation in plasma oxidative status and testosterone level of developing birds. We examined whether the cuckoo nestling's plasma oxidative status was related to prior effort in eviction and quantified variation in the level of reactive oxygen metabolites, of nonenzymatic antioxidant capacity, and of testosterone concentration in plasma at various phases of the cuckoo's development. Levels of both reactive oxygen metabolites and antioxidant capacity were greater in older than in younger nestlings, suggesting that younger nestlings effectively counterbalance their increased production of free radicals, whereas, near fledging, levels of reactive oxygen metabolites increase despite improved antioxidant capacity. Possibly, overall energy expenditure increases with age and elevates the production of reactive oxygen species to a rate higher than what the antioxidant system could eliminate. Plasma testosterone level was the highest at nestlings' intermediate phase of growth. High levels of testosterone may be required during the period of fastest growth, and when the growth rate levels off near fledging, testosterone levels may also decline. Cuckoo chicks that evicted more host eggs from steeper nests had higher plasma levels of reactive oxygen metabolites shortly after the eviction period, suggesting that eviction is costly in terms of an increased level of oxidative stress. Para evitar la competencia por el cuidado parental, los polluelos parásitos de nidada de Cuculus canorus desalojan todos los huevos y los polluelos del hospedador a los pocos días después de la eclosión. Se sabe poco sobre los efectos fisiológicos del comportamiento de desalojo en el balance oxidativo de los polluelos de C. canorus o sobre la variación en el estatus oxidativo del plasma y el nivel de testosterona relacionado con la edad de las aves en desarrollo. Examinamos si el estatus oxidativo del plasma de los polluelos de C. canorus se relacionaba con un esfuerzo previo de desalojo y cuantificamos la variación en el nivel de metabolitos reactivos de oxígeno, la capacidad antioxidante no enzimática y la concentración de testosterona en el plasma en varias fases del desarrollo de C. canorus. Tanto los niveles de metabolitos reactivos de oxígeno como la capacidad antioxidante fueron superiores en los polluelos de mayor edad que en los más jóvenes, lo que sugiere que los polluelos de menor edad contrarrestan eficazmente el aumento de la producción de radicales libres, mientras que, cuando se apróximan al abandono del nido, los niveles de metabolitos reactivos de oxígeno aumentan a pesar de una mejora en la capacidad antioxidante. Posiblemente, el gasto total de energía se incrementa con la edad, elevándose la producción de formas reactivas de oxígeno a una tasa mayor de la que el sistema antioxidante puede eliminar. El nivel de testosterona en el plasma fue máximo en la fase intermedia del crecimiento de los polluelos. Pueden requerirse altos niveles de testosterona durante el período de mayor crecimiento y, cuando la tasa de crecimiento se estabiliza cerca del abandono del nido, los niveles de testosterona también podrián disminuir. Los polluelos de C. canorus que desalojaron más huevos del hospedador en nidos con una estructura más empinada tuvieron niveles de plasma de metabolitos reactivos de oxígeno en plasma más altos poco después del período de desalojo, sugiriendo que el desalojo es costoso en términos de un incremento en el nivel de estrés oxidativo

Species-specific song responses emerge as a by-product of tuning to the local dialect.

Oscine birds preferentially respond to certain sounds over others from an early age, which focuses subsequent learning onto sexually relevant songs.1-3 Songs vary both across species and, due to cultural evolution, among populations of the same species. As a result, early song responses are expected to be shaped by selection both to avoid the fitness costs of cross-species learning4 and to promote learning of population-typical songs.5 These sources of selection are not mutually exclusive but can result in distinct geographic patterns of song responses in juvenile birds: if the risks of interspecific mating are the main driver of early song discrimination, then discrimination should be strongest where closely related species co-occur.4 In contrast, if early discrimination primarily facilitates learning local songs, then it should be tuned to songs typical of the local dialect.5-7 Here, we experimentally assess the drivers of song discrimination in nestling pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca). We first demonstrate that early discrimination against the songs of the closely related collared flycatcher (F.albicollis) is not strongly affected by co-occurrence. Second, across six European populations, we show that nestlings' early song responses are tuned to their local song dialect and that responses to the songs of collared flycatchers are similarly weak as to those of other conspecific dialects. Taken together, these findings provide clear experimental support for the hypothesis that cultural evolution, in conjunction with associated learning predispositions, drives the emergence of pre-mating reproductive barriers.We thank the European Research Council (ERC, grant 851753) and Swedish Research Council (VR, grant 2019-03952) for grants to D.W. We thank the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Agencia Estatal de Investigación (MCIN/AEI//10.13039/501100011033) for grants to J.M. (FJCI-2017–34109), A.C. (IJC2018-035011-I and PID2019-109303GB-I00), and J.M.-P. (PID2019-104835GB-I00). We thank Mario Gallego-Abenza and Joana Fernandes for help with field work and analysis of the acoustic data

A hotspot for posttranslational modifications on the androgen receptor dimer interface drives pathology and anti-androgen resistance

Mutations of the androgen receptor (AR) associated with prostate cancer and androgen insensitivity syndrome may profoundly influence its structure, protein interaction network, and binding to chromatin, resulting in altered transcription signatures and drug responses. Current structural information fails to explain the effect of pathological mutations on AR structure-function relationship. Here, we have thoroughly studied the effects of selected mutations that span the complete dimer interface of AR ligand-binding domain (AR-LBD) using x-ray crystallography in combination with in vitro, in silico, and cell-based assays. We show that these variants alter AR-dependent transcription and responses to anti-androgens by inducing a previously undescribed allosteric switch in the AR-LBD that increases exposure of a major methylation target, Arg761. We also corroborate the relevance of residues Arg761 and Tyr764 for AR dimerization and function. Together, our results reveal allosteric coupling of AR dimerization and posttranslational modifications as a disease mechanism with implications for precision medicine