Functional relations between locomotor performance traits in spiders and implications for evolutionary hypotheses

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Locomotor performance in ecologically relevant activities is often linked to individual fitness. Recent controversy over evolution of extreme sexual size dimorphism (SSD) in spiders centres on the relationship between size and locomotor capacity in males. Advantages for large males running over horizontal surfaces and small males climbing vertically have been proposed. Models have implicitly treated running and climbing as functionally distinct activities and failed to consider the possibility that they reflect common underlying capacities.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>We examine the relationship between maximum climbing and running performance in males of three spider species. Maximum running and climbing speeds were positively related in two orb-web spiders with high SSD (<it>Argiope keyserlingi </it>and <it>Nephila plumipes</it>), indicating that for these species assays of running and climbing largely reveal the same underlying capacities. Running and climbing speeds were not related in a jumping spider with low SSD (<it>Jacksonoides queenslandica</it>). We found no evidence of a performance trade-off between these activities.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In the web-spiders <it>A. keyserlingi </it>and <it>N. plumipes </it>good runners were also good climbers. This indicates that climbing and running largely represent a single locomotor performance characteristic in these spiders, but this was not the case for the jumping spider <it>J. queenslandica</it>. There was no evidence of a trade-off between maximum running and climbing speeds in these spiders. We highlight the need to establish the relationship between apparently disparate locomotor activities when testing alternative hypotheses that yield predictions about different locomotor activities. Analysis of slopes suggests greater potential for an evolutionary response on performance in the horizontal compared to vertical context in these spiders.</p

“I don’t want to look sick skinny”: Perceptions of body image and weight loss in Hispanics living with HIV in South Texas

Objective: Obesity is rising in people with HIV (PLWH) and Hispanics. Both HIV and obesity are associated with cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality. Our goal is to understand perceptions of body image and lifestyle in Hispanics with HIV to adapt interventions appropriately. Methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews with 22 Hispanic PLWH and 6 providers. Purposive sampling selected patient participants across weights and genders. Interviews were coded and analyzed using grounded theory, comparing perspectives between patients with and without obesity, and patients and providers. Results: Participants felt obesity and diabetes were “normal” in the community. Patients exhibited understanding of healthy diet and lifestyle but felt incapable of maintaining either. Traditionally Hispanic foods were blamed for local obesity prevalence. Five patients equated weight with health and weight loss with illness, and four expressed concerns that weight loss could lead to unintentional disclosure of HIV status. Participants with overweight or obesity expressed awareness of their weight and felt shamed by providers. Providers found weight loss interventions to be ineffective. Conclusion: Interventions in this population must address identified barriers: overweight/obesity as a normative value, lack of self-efficacy, cultural beliefs surrounding food, fear of HIV-associated weight loss and stigma, and provider perspectives on intervention futility

Overlooked Scents: Chemical Profile of Soma, Volatile Emissions and Trails of the Green Tree Ant, Oecophylla smaragdina

The green tree ant, Oecophylla smaragdina, is one of only two recognized species of weaver ants. While the identity and functions of chemicals produced and emitted by its congener O. longinoda have been studied quite extensively and serve as a valuable model in chemical ecology research, little comparable information is available about O. smaragdina. Although some analyses of chemicals produced and emitted by O. smaragdina have been reported, the literature is fragmentary and incomplete for this species. To address this knowledge gap, and to enable comparisons in the chemical ecology of the two weaver ant species, we here describe diverse chemicals from the cuticle, Dufour’s glands, poison glands, head, headspace volatiles, and trails of O. smaragdina

Interactions between ecological factors in the developmental environment modulate pupal and adult traits in a polyphagous fly

Funding Information Macquarie University. Grant Number: 40310006 Horticulture Innovation Australia. Grant Number: HG14033Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Larval foraging decisions in competitive heterogeneous environments accommodate diets that support egg-to-adult development in a polyphagous fly

This research was conducted as part of the SITplus collaborative fruit fly programme. Project Raising Q-fly Sterile Insect Technique to World Standard (HG14033) is funded by the Hort Frontiers Fruit Fly Fund, part of the Hort Frontiers strategic partnership initiative developed by Hort Innovation, with co-investment from Macquarie University and contributions from the Australian Government.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Commensal microbiota modulates larval foraging behaviour, development rate and pupal production in Bactrocera tryoni

Project Raising Q-fly Sterile Insect Technique to World Standard (HG14033) is funded by the Hort Frontiers Fruit Fly Fund, part of the Hort Frontiers strategic partnership initiative developed by Hort Innovation, with co-investment from Macquarie University and contributions from the Australian Government. BN is supported by an international Research Training Program (iRTP) scholarship from Macquarie University (NSW, Australia).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Systematic Modification of Zingerone Reveals Structural Requirements for Attraction of Jarvis’s Fruit Fly

Tephritid fruit flies are amongst the most significant horticultural pests globally and male chemical lures are important for monitoring and control. Zingerone has emerged as a unique male fruit fly lure that can attract dacine fruit flies that are weakly or non-responsive to methyl eugenol and cuelure. However, the key features of zingerone that mediate this attraction are unknown. As Jarvis’s fruit fly, Bactrocera jarvisi (Tryon), is strongly attracted to zingerone, we evaluated the response of B. jarvisi to 37 zingerone analogues in a series of field trials to elucidate the functional groups involved in attraction. The most attractive analogues were alkoxy derivatives, with isopropoxy being the most attractive, followed by ethoxy and trifluoromethoxy analogues. All of the phenolic esters tested were also attractive with the response typically decreasing with increasing size of the ester. Results indicate that the carbonyl group, methoxy group, and phenol of zingerone are key sites for the attraction of B. jarvisi and identify some constraints on the range of structural modifications that can be made to zingerone without compromising attraction. These findings are important for future work in developing and optimising novel male chemical lures for fruit flies

Motivação autodeterminada, composição corporal e satisfação com a vida dos idosos, para a prática de atividade física supervisionada: relação e diferenças entre frequência de prática, sexo, composição corporal e contexto institucional

Dissertação apresentada à Escola Superior de Educação do Instituto Politécnico de Castelo Branco para cumprimento dos requisitos necessários à obtenção do grau de Mestre em Atividade Física.É indispensável, para todos, a prática de atividade física e, segundo Fischer (2005), de todos os grupos etários, os idosos são os que mais beneficiam com a prática de exercício. O risco de muitas doenças e problemas de saúde habituais na velhice, diminui com a prática de atividade física regular. Neste sentido, este estudo tem como principal objetivo identificar as motivações, necessidades psicológicas básicas, composição corporal e satisfação com a vida dos idosos para a prática de Atividade Física supervisionada, analisar as relações e comparações entre níveis de prática, sexo e contexto institucional. Estudo transversal com amostra constituída por 62 idosos voluntários, de ambos os sexos (15 do sexo masculino e 47 do sexo feminino), institucionalizados e não institucionalizados, pertencentes ao Concelho de Castelo Branco, com uma média de idades de 79.613±9.34 anos. Após a seleção da amostra os indivíduos foram divididos em dois grupos distintos, o primeiro grupo “Grupo1-2”: constituído por idosos que praticam AF supervisionada, 1 ou 2 vezes por semana; e o segundo grupo “Grupo3+”: constituído por idosos que praticam AF supervisionada, 3 vezes ou mais por semana. Avaliou-se a motivação (versão portuguesa do Behavioral Regulation in Sport Questionnaire (Monteiro, Moutão, Baptista & Cid, 2014)), as Necessidades Psicológicas Básicas (versão Portuguesa da Basic Psychological Needs Exercise Scale (Pires, Cid, Borrego, Alves & Silva, 2010)), a Satisfação com a Vida (versão portuguesa da Escala de Satisfação com a Vida (Neto, 1993)) e os Afetos Positivos e Negativos (versão portuguesa da Escala de Afetos Positivos e Negativos (Simões, 1993)). Foram ainda avaliados os valores de composição corporal (IMC, Perímetro Cintura (PC), Perímetro Anca (PA), Massa Muscular (MM), Mineral Ósseo (MO) e % Massa Gorda (MG)), recorrendo aos respetivos protocolos de avaliação. Os dados obtidos foram tratados no S.P.S.S. 21.0 recorrendo numa primeira fase à estatística descritiva. Posteriormente procedeu-se ao cálculo do alfa de Cronbach’s para avaliar a consistência interna dos questionários. De seguida procedeu-se à verificação do suposto de normalidade dos dados na amostra através do Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Como os dados evidenciaram uma distribuição normal aplicou-se a prova t para amostras independentes e a Anova unifatorial, exceção feita nas variáveis IMC e relação social que evidenciaram uma distribuição não normal, às quais se procedeu à utilização do teste U de Mann-Whitney e Kruskal Wallis. Adotou-se um nível de significância com uma margem de erro de 5% para um grau de probabilidade de pelo menos 95%. Os resultados obtidos demonstram que, aparentemente, a motivação que mantém a prática constante de AF supervisionada por parte dos idosos centra-se na motivação autónoma. Também se pode constatar que, { exceç~o da “Amotivaç~o”, onde as mulheres apresentam maiores níveis de amotivação para a pratica de AF Supervisionada que os homens, ou seja, podendo estar mais expostas a uma ausência de orientação motivacional, não existem diferenças ao nível das restantes variáveis da motivação bem como das necessidades psicológicas básicas e satisfação com a vida entre o sexo masculino e o feminino. Os resultados foram abonatórios de que, nos idosos praticantes de AF supervisionada, a satisfação das necessidades psicológicas básicas leva a comportamentos motivados autonomamente, promovendo estes, níveis elevados de satisfação com a vida. Ao compararmos os sujeitos dos dois grupos de prática não encontrámos diferenças aceitáveis ao nível da composição corporal. Encontrámos correlações aceitáveis (positivas), entre a idade cronológica e a composição corporal (IMC, PC, PA). Podemos concluir que a motivação autónoma e a perceção de satisfação das necessidades psicológicas base são exteriorizadas como fatores de grande importância, pelo facto de aparentarem ser um catalisador para que esta populaç~o se possa manter ativa e, de certo modo, se possa “comprometer” com este estilo de vida.The practice of physical activity is indispensable for all, and according to Fischer (2005), of all age groups, the elderly benefit most from exercise. The risk of many diseases and common health problems in old age decreases with the practice of regular physical activity. In this sense, this study has as main objective to identify the motivations, basic psychological needs, body composition and satisfaction with the life of the elderly for the practice of supervised Physical Activity, to analyze the relations and comparisons between levels of practice, sex and institutional context. A cross-sectional study was carried out with 62 elderly volunteers of both sexes (15 males and 47 females), institutionalized and non-institutionalized, belonging to the Municipality of Castelo Branco, with a mean age of 79,613 ± 9,34 years. After the sample selection the subjects were divided into two distinct groups, the first group "Group 1-2": consisting of elderly people who practice supervised AF, 1 or 2 times a week; And the second group "Group 3+": consisting of seniors who practice supervised AF, 3 times or more per week. The Basic Psychological Needs Exercise (Portuguese version of the Basic Psychological Needs Exercise Scale (Pires, Cid, Borrego, Alves & Silva) was used to evaluate the motivation (Portuguese version of the Behavioral Regulation in Sport Questionnaire (Monteiro, Moutão, Baptista & Cid, 2014)), Satisfaction with Life (Portuguese version of the Life Satisfaction Scale (Neto, 1993)) and Positive and Negative Affects (Portuguese version of the Positive and Negative Factors Scale (Simões, 1993)). The values of body composition (BMI, Waist Perimeter (WP), Perimeter Hip (PH), Muscle Mass (MM), Bone Mineral (MM) and % Fat Mass (FM) were also evaluated, using the respective evaluation protocols. The data obtained were treated in S.P.S.S. 21.0 using descriptive statistics as a first step. Subsequently, the Cronbach's alpha was calculated to evaluate the internal consistency of the questionnaires. Next, we verified the normality of the data in the sample through the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. As the data showed a normal distribution, the t-test for independent samples and the Anova unifatorial were applied, except for the BMI and social variables, which showed a non-normal distribution, using the Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal Wallis. A level of significance was adopted with a margin of error of 5% for a probability of at least 95%. The results show that, apparently, the motivation that maintains the constant practice of PA supervised by the elderly focuses on the autonomous motivation. It can also be observed that, except for the "Amotivation", where women have higher levels of amotivation for the practice of Supervised FH than men, that is, they may be more exposed to an absence of motivational orientation, there are no differences at the level Of the remaining motivational variables as well as the basic psychological needs and life satisfaction between the male and the female. The results showed that, in the supervised elderly, the satisfaction of the basic psychological needs leads to autonomously motivated behaviors, promoting high levels of satisfaction with life. When comparing the subjects of the two practice groups, we did not find acceptable differences in body composition. We found acceptable (positive) correlations between chronological age and body composition (BMI, WP, PH). We can conclude that autonomous motivation and the satisfaction perception of basic psychological needs are externalized as factors of great importance, because they appear to be a catalyst for this population to remain active and, in a way, to "compromise" with This lifestyle

Zingerone in the Flower of Passiflora maliformis Attracts an Australian Fruit Fly, Bactrocera jarvisi (Tryon)

Passiflora maliformis is an introduced plant in Australia but its flowers are known to attract the native Jarvis&rsquo;s fruit fly, Bactrocera jarvisi (Tryon). The present study identifies and quantifies likely attractant(s) of male B. jarvisi in P. maliformis flowers. The chemical compositions of the inner and outer coronal filaments, anther, stigma, ovary, sepal, and petal of P. maliformis were separately extracted with ethanol and analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Polyisoprenoid lipid precursors, fatty acids and their derivatives, and phenylpropanoids were detected in P. maliformis flowers. Phenylpropanoids included raspberry ketone, cuelure, zingerone, and zingerol, although compositions varied markedly amongst the flower parts. P. maliformis flowers were open for less than one day, and the amounts of some of the compounds decreased throughout the day. The attraction of male B. jarvisi to P. maliformis flowers is most readily explained by the presence of zingerone in these flowers

Russian-Chinese Interaction in the Sphere of Education at the Beginning of the XXI Century (between the Amur Region and the Heilongjian Province)

The article examines the interaction in the field of education in the Far Eastern border areas between the Amur Region (RF) and Heilongjiang Province (PRC). The educational relations of the Blagoveshchensk State Pedagogical University with the universities of Heilongjiang province are considered, the forms of international cooperation are characterized, the features of interregional interaction in the field of education are analyzed.В статье исследуется взаимодействие в сфере образования на дальневосточных приграничных территориях между Амурской областью (РФ) и провинцией Хэйлунцзян (КНР). Рассматриваются образовательные связи Благовещенского государственного педагогического университета с вузами провинции Хэйлунцзян, освещаются формы международного сотрудничества, анализируются особенности межрегионального взаимодействия в области образования