Natural Selection And The Reinforcement Of Mate Recognition

Natural selection on mate recognition may often contribute to speciation, resulting in reproductive character displacement. Field populations of Drosophila serrata display reproductive character displacement in cuticular hydrocarbons when sympatric with Drosophila birchii. We exposed field sympatric and allopatric populations of D. serrata to experimental sympatry with D. birchii for nine generations. Cuticular hydrocarbons of field allopatric D. serrata populations evolved to resemble the field sympatric populations, whereas field sympatric D. serrata populations remained unchanged. Our experiment indicates that natural selection on mate recognition resulted in the field pattern of reproductive character displacement

A Singularity-Avoiding Moving Least Squares Scheme for Two Dimensional Unstructured Meshes

Moving least squares interpolation schemes are in widespread use as a tool for numerical analysis on scattered data. In particular, they are often employed when solving partial differential equations on unstructured meshes, which are typically needed when the geometry defining the domain is complex. It is known that such schemes can be singular if the data points in the stencil happen to be in certain special geometric arrangements, however little research has addressed this issue specifically. In this paper, a moving least squares scheme is presented which is an appropriate tool for use when solving partial differential equations in two dimensions, and the precise conditions under which singularities occur are identified. The theory is then applied in the form of a stencil building algorithm which automatically detects singular stencils and corrects them in an efficient manner, while attempting to maintain stencil symmetry as closely as possible. Finally, the scheme is used in a convection-diffusion equation solver, and the results of a number of simulations are presented

Infrastructure Hydromentalities:Water Sharing, Water Control and Water (In)Security

The purpose of this book is to present an overview of the latest research, policy, practitioner, academic and international thinking on water security—an issue that, like water governance a few years ago, has developed much policy awareness and momentum with a wide range of stakeholders. As a concept it is open to multiple interpretations, and the authors here set out the various approaches to the topic from different perspectives. Key themes addressed include: Water security as a foreign policy issue The interconnected variables of water, food, and human security Dimensions other than military and international relations concerns around water security Water security theory and methods, tools and audits. The book is loosely based on a masters level degree plus a short professional course on water security both given at the University of East Anglia, delivered by international authorities on their subjects. It should serve as an introductory textbook as well as be of value to professionals, NGOs, and policy-makers

Phenotypic divergence along lines of genetic variance

Natural populations inhabiting the same environment often independently evolve the same phenotype. Is this replicated evolution a result of genetic constraints imposed by patterns of genetic covariation? We looked for associations between directions of morphological divergence and the orientation of the genetic variance-covariance matrix (G) by using an experimental system of morphological evolution in two allopatric nonsister species of rainbow fish. Replicate populations of both Melanotaenia eachamensis and Melanotaenia duboulayi have independently adapted to lake versus stream hydrodynamic environments. The major axis of divergence (z) among all eight study populations was closely associated with the direction of greatest genetic variance (g(max)), suggesting directional genetic constraint on evolution. However, the direction of hydrodynamic adaptation was strongly associated with vectors of G describing relatively small proportions of the total genetic variance, and was only weakly associated with g(max). In contrast, divergence between replicate populations within each habitat was approximately proportional to the level of genetic variance, a result consistent with theoretical predictions for neutral phenotypic divergence. Divergence between the two species was also primarily along major eigenvectors of G. Our results therefore suggest that hydrodynamic adaptation in rainbow fish was not directionally constrained by the dominant eigenvector of G. Without partitioning divergence as a consequence of the adaptation of interest (here, hydrodynamic adaptation) from divergence due to other processes, empirical studies are likely to overestimate the potential for the major eigenvectors of G to directionally constrain adaptive evolution

Comparing Complex Fitness Surfaces: Among-Population Variation in Mutual Sexual Selection in Drosophila serrata

The problem of synchronization of metacommunities is investigated in this article with reference to a rather general model composed of a chaotic environmental compartment driving a biological compartment. Synchronization in the absence of dispersal (i.e., the so-called Moran effect) is first discussed and shown to occur only when there is no biochaos. In other words, if the biological compartment is reinforcing environmental chaos, dispersal must be strictly above a specified threshold in order to synchronize population dynamics. Moreover, this threshold can be easily determined from the model by computing a special Lyapunov exponent. The application to prey-predator metacommunities points out the influence of frequency and coherence of the environmental noise on synchronization and agrees with all experimental studies performed on the subject

Organisational interventions for promoting person-centred care for people with dementia

© 2015 The Cochrane Collaboration. This is the protocol for a review and there is no abstract. The objectives are as follows: Primary objective: To determine the effectiveness of organisation-wide interventions to implement person-centred care for people with dementia, in relation to reduction of behavioural symptoms such as agitation and depression, improvement in quality of life and functional capabilities, alterations in the use of restraint (physical and/or chemical) and reduction in adverse events. Secondary objective: To identify the variety, quality, and feasibility of person-centred care approaches for people with dementia, with specific reference to organisational factors which promote and constrain the implementation of person-centred care

Genetic Constraints and the Evolution of Display Trait Sexual Dimorphism by Natural and Sexual Selection.

The evolution of sexual dimorphism involves an interaction between sex-specific selection and a breakdown of genetic constraints that arise because the two sexes share a genome. We examined genetic constraints and the effect of sex-specific selection on a suite of sexually dimorphic display traits in Drosophila serrata. Sexual dimorphism varied among nine natural populations covering a substantial portion of the species range. Quantitative genetic analyses showed that intersexual genetic correlations were high because of autosomal genetic variance but that the inclusion of X-linked effects reduced genetic correlations substantially, indicating that sex linkage may be an important mechanism by which intersexual genetic constraints are reduced in this species. We then explored the potential for both natural and sexual selection to influence these traits, using a 12-generation laboratory experiment in which we altered the opportunities for each process as flies adapted to a novel environment. Sexual dimorphism evolved, with natural selection reducing sexual dimorphism, whereas sexual selection tended to increase it overall. To this extent, our results are consistent with the hypothesis that sexual selection favors evolutionary divergence of the sexes. However, sex-specific responses to natural and sexual selection contrasted with the classic model because sexual selection affected females rather than males

Microwave Assisted Synthesis of Py-Im Polyamides

Microwave synthesis was utilized to rapidly build Py-Im polyamides in high yields and purity using Boc-protection chemistry on Kaiser oxime resin. A representative polyamide targeting the 5′-WGWWCW-3′ (W = A or T) subset of the consensus Androgen and Glucocorticoid Response Elements was synthesized in 56% yield after 20 linear steps and HPLC purification. It was confirmed by Mosher amide derivatization of the polyamide that a chiral α-amino acid does not racemize after several additional coupling steps

Effects of person-centered care at the organisational-level for people with dementia. A systematic review

© 2019 Chenoweth et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The aim of the systematic review was to determine the effectiveness of organizational-level person-centered care for people living with dementia in relation to their quality of life, mood, neuropsychiatric symptoms and function. ALOIS, the Cochrane Dementia and Cognitive Improvement Group Specialised Register databases, were searched up to June 2018 using the terms dementia OR cognitive impairment OR Alzheimer AND non-pharmacological AND personhood OR person-centered care. Reviewed studies included randomized controlled trials (RCTs), cluster-randomized trials (CRTs) and quasi-experimental studies that compared outcomes of person-centered care and usual (non-person-centered) care, for people with a diagnosis of dementia. The search yielded 12 eligible studies with a total of 2599 people living with dementia in long-term care homes, 600 receiving hospital care and 293 living in extra-care community housing. Random-effects models were used to pool adjusted risk ratios and standard mean differences from all studies; the findings were assessed followed the PRISMA guidelines and GRADE criteria. Statistical heterogeneity was assessed using the I 2 method and Chi 2 P value; studies with low statistical heterogeneity were analyzed using a random-effects model with restricted maximum likelihood estimation in R. Analyses of pre/post data within 12 months identified: a significant effect for quality of life (standardized mean difference (SMD) 0.16 and 95% CI 0.03 to 0.28; studies = 6; I 2 = 22%); non-significant effects for neuropsychiatric symptoms (SMD 0.06, 95% CI -0.08 to 0.19; studies = 4; I 2 = 0%) and well-being (SMD 0.15, 95% CI -0.15 to 0.45; studies = 4; I 2 = 77%); and no effects for agitation (SMD -0.05 (95% CI -0.17 to -0.07; studies 5; I 2 = 0%) and depression (SMD -0.06 and 95% CI -0.27 to 0.15, studies = 5; I 2 = 53%). The evidence from this review recommends implementation of person-centered care at the organizational-level to support the quality of life of people with living with dementia