Sources of individual variation in plasma testosterone levels

The steroid hormone testosterone (T) plays a central role in the regulation of breeding in males, because many physiological, morphological and behavioural traits related to reproduction are T dependent. Moreover, in many seasonally breeding vertebrates, male plasma T levels typically show a pronounced peak during the breeding season. While such population-level patterns are fairly well worked out, the sources and the implications of the large variability in individual T levels within the seasonal cycle remain surprisingly little understood. Understanding the potential sources of individual variation in T levels is important for behavioural and evolutionary ecologists, for at least two reasons. First, in ‘honest signalling’ theory, T is hypothesized to play a critical role as the assumed factor that enforces honesty of the expression of sexually selected quality indicators. Second, T is often considered a key mediator of central life-history trade-offs, such as investment in survival versus reproduction or in mating versus parental care. Here, we discuss the patterns of within- and between-individual variation in male plasma T levels in free-living populations of birds. We argue that it is unclear whether this variability mainly reflects differences in underlying individual quality (intrinsic factors such as genetic or maternal effects) or in the environment (extrinsic factors including time of day, individual territorial status and past experience). Research in avian behavioural endocrinology has mainly focused on the effects of extrinsic factors, while other sources of variance are often ignored. We suggest that studies that use an integrative approach and investigate the relative importance of all potential sources of variation are essential for the interpretation of data on individual plasma T levels

A dimensionally continued Poisson summation formula

We generalize the standard Poisson summation formula for lattices so that it operates on the level of theta series, allowing us to introduce noninteger dimension parameters (using the dimensionally continued Fourier transform). When combined with one of the proofs of the Jacobi imaginary transformation of theta functions that does not use the Poisson summation formula, our proof of this generalized Poisson summation formula also provides a new proof of the standard Poisson summation formula for dimensions greater than 2 (with appropriate hypotheses on the function being summed). In general, our methods work to establish the (Voronoi) summation formulae associated with functions satisfying (modular) transformations of the Jacobi imaginary type by means of a density argument (as opposed to the usual Mellin transform approach). In particular, we construct a family of generalized theta series from Jacobi theta functions from which these summation formulae can be obtained. This family contains several families of modular forms, but is significantly more general than any of them. Our result also relaxes several of the hypotheses in the standard statements of these summation formulae. The density result we prove for Gaussians in the Schwartz space may be of independent interest.Comment: 12 pages, version accepted by JFAA, with various additions and improvement

Resummation of the Divergent Perturbation Series for a Hydrogen Atom in an Electric Field

We consider the resummation of the perturbation series describing the energy displacement of a hydrogenic bound state in an electric field (known as the Stark effect or the LoSurdo-Stark effect), which constitutes a divergent formal power series in the electric field strength. The perturbation series exhibits a rich singularity structure in the Borel plane. Resummation methods are presented which appear to lead to consistent results even in problematic cases where isolated singularities or branch cuts are present on the positive and negative real axis in the Borel plane. Two resummation prescriptions are compared: (i) a variant of the Borel-Pade resummation method, with an additional improvement due to utilization of the leading renormalon poles (for a comprehensive discussion of renormalons see [M. Beneke, Phys. Rep. vol. 317, p. 1 (1999)]), and (ii) a contour-improved combination of the Borel method with an analytic continuation by conformal mapping, and Pade approximations in the conformal variable. The singularity structure in the case of the LoSurdo-Stark effect in the complex Borel plane is shown to be similar to (divergent) perturbative expansions in quantum chromodynamics.Comment: 14 pages, RevTeX, 3 tables, 1 figure; numerical accuracy of results enhanced; one section and one appendix added and some minor changes and additions; to appear in phys. rev.

Is there an oxidative cost of acute stress? Characterization, implication of glucocorticoids and modulation by prior stress experience

Acute rises in glucocorticoid hormones allow individuals to adaptively respond to environmental challenges but may also have negative consequences, including oxidative stress. While the effects of chronic glucocorticoid exposure on oxidative stress have been well characterized, those of acute stress or glucocorticoid exposure have mostly been overlooked. We examined the relationship between acute stress exposure, glucocorticoids and oxidative stress in Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica). We (i) characterized the pattern of oxidative stress during an acute stressor in two phenotypically distinct breeds; (ii) determined whether corticosterone ingestion, in the absence of acute stress, increased oxidative stress, which we call glucocorticoid-induced oxidative stress (GiOS); and (iii) explored how prior experience to stressful events affected GiOS. Both breeds exhibited an increase in oxidative stress in response to an acute stressor. Importantly, in the absence of acute stress, ingesting corticosterone caused an acute rise in plasma corticosterone and oxidative stress. Lastly, birds exposed to no previous acute stress or numerous stressful events had high levels of GiOS in response to acute stress, while birds with moderate prior exposure did not. Together, these findings suggest that an acute stress response results in GiOS, but prior experience to stressors may modulate that oxidative cost

The genes for the inter-α-inhibitor family share a homologous organization in human and mouse

Inter-α-inhibitor ( IαI ) and related molecules in human are comprised of three evolutionarily related, heavy (H) chains and one light (L) chain, also termed bikunin. The latter originates from a precursor molecule that is cleaved to yield the bikunin and another protein designated α-1-microglobulin (A1m). The four H and L chains are encoded by four distinct genes designated H1, H2, H3 , and L . The L and H2 genes are localized onto human chromosomes (chr) 9 and 10, respectively, whereas the H1 and H3 genes are tandemly arranged on chr 3.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/46989/1/335_2004_Article_BF00355432.pd

Working paper analysing the economic implications of the proposed 30% target for areal protection in the draft post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framewor

58 pages, 5 figures, 3 tables- The World Economic Forum now ranks biodiversity loss as a top-five risk to the global economy, and the draft post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework proposes an expansion of conservation areas to 30% of the earth’s surface by 2030 (hereafter the “30% target”), using protected areas (PAs) and other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs). - Two immediate concerns are how much a 30% target might cost and whether it will cause economic losses to the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sectors. - Conservation areas also generate economic benefits (e.g. revenue from nature tourism and ecosystem services), making PAs/Nature an economic sector in their own right. - If some economic sectors benefit but others experience a loss, high-level policy makers need to know the net impact on the wider economy, as well as on individual sectors. [...]A. Waldron, K. Nakamura, J. Sze, T. Vilela, A. Escobedo, P. Negret Torres, R. Button, K. Swinnerton, A. Toledo, P. Madgwick, N. Mukherjee were supported by National Geographic and the Resources Legacy Fund. V. Christensen was supported by NSERC Discovery Grant RGPIN-2019-04901. M. Coll and J. Steenbeek were supported by EU Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 817578 (TRIATLAS). D. Leclere was supported by TradeHub UKRI CGRF project. R. Heneghan was supported by Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, Acciones de Programacion Conjunta Internacional (PCIN-2017-115). M. di Marco was supported by MIUR Rita Levi Montalcini programme. A. Fernandez-Llamazares was supported by Academy of Finland (grant nr. 311176). S. Fujimori and T. Hawegawa were supported by The Environment Research and Technology Development Fund (2-2002) of the Environmental Restoration and Conservation Agency of Japan and the Sumitomo Foundation. V. Heikinheimo was supported by Kone Foundation, Social Media for Conservation project. K. Scherrer was supported by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 682602. U. Rashid Sumaila acknowledges the OceanCanada Partnership, which funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). T. Toivonen was supported by Osk. Huttunen Foundation & Clare Hall college, Cambridge. W. Wu was supported by The Environment Research and Technology Development Fund (2-2002) of the Environmental Restoration and Conservation Agency of Japan. Z. Yuchen was supported by a Ministry of Education of Singapore Research Scholarship Block (RSB) Research FellowshipPeer reviewe