An evolutionary explanation of female‐biased sexual size dimorphism in North Sea plaice, Pleuronectes platessa L.

Sexual size dimorphism (SSD) is caused by differences in selection pressures and life-history trade-offs faced by males and females. Proximate causes of SSD may involve sex-specific mortality, energy acquisition, and energy expenditure for maintenance, reproductive tissues, and reproductive behavior. Using a quantitative, individual-based, eco-genetic model parameterized for North Sea plaice, we explore the importance of these mechanisms for female-biased SSD, under which males are smaller and reach sexual maturity earlier than females (common among fish, but also arising in arthropods and mammals). We consider two mechanisms potentially serving as ultimate causes: (a) Male investments in male reproductive behavior might evolve to detract energy resources that would otherwise be available for somatic growth, and (b) diminishing returns on male reproductive investments might evolve to reduce energy acquisition. In general, both of these can bring about smaller male body sizes. We report the following findings. First, higher investments in male reproductive behavior alone cannot explain the North Sea plaice SSD. This is because such higher reproductive investments require increased energy acquisition, which would cause a delay in maturation, leading to male-biased SSD contrary to observations. When accounting for the observed differential (lower) male mortality, maturation is postponed even further, leading to even larger males. Second, diminishing returns on male reproductive investments alone can qualitatively account for the North Sea plaice SSD, even though the quantitative match is imperfect. Third, both mechanisms can be reconciled with, and thus provide a mechanistic basis for, the previously advanced Ghiselin-Reiss hypothesis, according to which smaller males will evolve if their reproductive success is dominated by scramble competition for fertilizing females, as males would consequently invest more in reproduction than growth, potentially implying lower survival rates, and thus relaxing male-male competition. Fourth, a good quantitative fit with the North Sea plaice SSD is achieved by combining both mechanisms while accounting for sex-specific costs males incur during their spawning season. Fifth, evolution caused by fishing is likely to have modified the North Sea plaice SSD

2007 Report of the ICES Study Group on Fisheries-Induced Adaptive Change (SGFIAC)

There is a growing body of scientific evidence indicating that fisheries can cause evolutionary responses over time periods as short as 1020 years, in particular in traits such as the onset of maturation. As these changes will most likely result in a reduction of the productivity of a fish stock, management objectives and (precautionary) reference points for sustainable exploitation need to be re-defined, and new objectives and reference points for managing fisheries-induced evolution need to be developed. Current knowledge allows for two generalisations. First, reducing harvest rates will almost always slow the rate and extent of fisheries-induced evolution in most life-history traits. Second, raising a stock's minimum size limit for exploitation well above the size range over which maturation occurs will slow down the rate of evolution in its maturation schedule. To go beyond these generic insights, "Evolutionary Impact Assessments" (EvoIAs) are proposed to quantify the effects of management measures, through the evolutionary response of specific stocks, on the utility functions defined by managers. The Study Group on Fisheries Induced Adaptive Change [SGFIAC] proposes to further develop this framework in dialogue with fisheries scientists and managers, with the aim of integrating the effects of fisheries-induced evolution into fisheries management advice. Developing EvoIAs in the context of suitable case studies is considered to be the most efficient way for making progress

Evolutionary impact assessment: accounting for evolutionary consequences of fishing in an ecosystem approach to fisheries management

Managing fisheries resources to maintain healthy ecosystems is one of the main goals of the ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF). while the number of international treaties call for the implementation of EAF, there are still gaps in the underlying methodology. One aspect that has received substantial scientific attention recently in fisheries-induced evolution (FIE). Increasing evidence indicates that intensive fishing has the potential to exert strong directional selection on life-history traits, behavior, physiology, and morphology of exploited fish. Of particular concern is that reversing evolutionary responses to fishing can be much more difficult than reversing demographic or phenotypically plastic responses. Furthermore, like climate change, multiple agents cause fisheries-induced evolution with effects accumulating over time. Consequently, FIE may alter then utility derived from fish stocks, which in turn can modify the monetary value living aquatic resources provide to society. Quantifying and predicting the evolutionary effects of fishing is therefore important for both ecological and economic reasons, An important reason this is not happening is the lack of an appropriate assessment framework. We therefor describe the evolutionary impact assessment (EvoIA) as a structured approach for assessing the evolutionary outcomes of alternative management options. EvoIA can contribute to the ecosystem approach to fisheries management by clarifying how evolution may alter stock properties and ecological relations, support the precautionary approach to fisheries management by addressing a previously overlooked source of uncertainty and risk, and thus contribute to sustainable fisheries

A Large Hadron Electron Collider at CERN

This document provides a brief overview of the recently published report on the design of the Large Hadron Electron Collider (LHeC), which comprises its physics programme, accelerator physics, technology and main detector concepts. The LHeC exploits and develops challenging, though principally existing, accelerator and detector technologies. This summary is complemented by brief illustrations of some of the highlights of the physics programme, which relies on a vastly extended kinematic range, luminosity and unprecedented precision in deep inelastic scattering. Illustrations are provided regarding high precision QCD, new physics (Higgs, SUSY) and electron-ion physics. The LHeC is designed to run synchronously with the LHC in the twenties and to achieve an integrated luminosity of O(100) fb$^{-1}$. It will become the cleanest high resolution microscope of mankind and will substantially extend as well as complement the investigation of the physics of the TeV energy scale, which has been enabled by the LHC

Probing the charged Higgs boson at the LHC in the CP-violating type-II 2HDM

We present a phenomenological study of a CP-violating two-Higgs-doublet Model with type-II Yukawa couplings at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). In the light of recent LHC data, we focus on the parameter space that survives the current and past experimental constraints as well as theoretical bounds on the model. Once the phenomenological scenario is set, we analyse the scope of the LHC in exploring this model through the discovery of a charged Higgs boson produced in association with a W boson, with the former decaying into the lightest neutral Higgs and a second W state, altogether yielding a b\bar b W^+W^- signature, of which we exploit the W^+W^- semileptonic decays.Comment: 37 pages, 16 figures; v2 updated treatment of LHC constraint

Search for transient optical counterparts to high-energy IceCube neutrinos with Pan-STARRS1

In order to identify the sources of the observed diffuse high-energy neutrino flux, it is crucial to discover their electromagnetic counterparts. IceCube began releasing alerts for single high-energy ($E > 60$ TeV) neutrino detections with sky localisation regions of order 1 deg radius in 2016. We used Pan-STARRS1 to follow-up five of these alerts during 2016-2017 to search for any optical transients that may be related to the neutrinos. Typically 10-20 faint ($m < 22.5$ mag) extragalactic transients are found within the Pan-STARRS1 footprints and are generally consistent with being unrelated field supernovae (SNe) and AGN. We looked for unusual properties of the detected transients, such as temporal coincidence of explosion epoch with the IceCube timestamp. We found only one transient that had properties worthy of a specific follow-up. In the Pan-STARRS1 imaging for IceCube-160427A (probability to be of astrophysical origin of $\sim$50 %), we found a SN PS16cgx, located at 10.0' from the nominal IceCube direction. Spectroscopic observations of PS16cgx showed that it was an H-poor SN at z = 0.2895. The spectra and light curve resemble some high-energy Type Ic SNe, raising the possibility of a jet driven SN with an explosion epoch temporally coincident with the neutrino detection. However, distinguishing Type Ia and Type Ic SNe at this redshift is notoriously difficult. Based on all available data we conclude that the transient is more likely to be a Type Ia with relatively weak SiII absorption and a fairly normal rest-frame r-band light curve. If, as predicted, there is no high-energy neutrino emission from Type Ia SNe, then PS16cgx must be a random coincidence, and unrelated to the IceCube-160427A. We find no other plausible optical transient for any of the five IceCube events observed down to a 5$\sigma$ limiting magnitude of $m \sim 22$ mag, between 1 day and 25 days after detection.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figures, accepted to A&

An update on molecular cat allergens: Fel d 1 and what else? Chapter 1: Fel d 1, the major cat allergen

Background: Cats are the major source of indoor inhalant allergens after house dust mites. The global incidence of cat allergies is rising sharply, posing a major public health problem. Ten cat allergens have been identified. The major allergen responsible for symptoms is Fel d 1, a secretoglobin and not a lipocalin, making the cat a special case among mammals. Main body: Given its clinical predominance, it is essential to have a good knowledge of this allergenic fraction, including its basic structure, to understand the new exciting diagnostic and therapeutic applications currently in development. The recent arrival of the component-resolved diagnosis, which uses molecular allergens, represents a unique opportunity to improve our understanding of the disease. Recombinant Fel d 1 is now available for in vitro diagnosis by the anti-Fel d 1 specific IgE assay. The first part of the review will seek to describe the recent advances related to Fel d 1 in terms of positive diagnosis and assessment of disease severity. In daily practice, anti-Fel d 1 IgE tend to replace those directed against the overall extract but is this attitude justified? We will look at the most recent arguments to try to answer this question. In parallel, a second revolution is taking place thanks to molecular engineering, which has allowed the development of various forms of recombinant Fel d 1 and which seeks to modify the immunomodulatory properties of the molecule and thus the clinical history of the disease via various modalities of anti-Fel d 1-specific immunotherapy. We will endeavor to give a clear and practical overview of all these trends

Measurement of dijet photoproduction for events with a leading neutron at HERA

Differential cross sections for dijet photoproduction and this process in association with a leading neutron, e+ + p -> e+ + jet + jet + X (+ n), have been measured with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 40 pb-1. The fraction of dijet events with a leading neutron was studied as a function of different jet and event variables. Single- and double-differential cross sections are presented as a function of the longitudinal fraction of the proton momentum carried by the leading neutron, xL, and of its transverse momentum squared, pT^2. The dijet data are compared to inclusive DIS and photoproduction results; they are all consistent with a simple pion-exchange model. The neutron yield as a function of xL was found to depend only on the fraction of the proton beam energy going into the forward region, independent of the hard process. No firm conclusion can be drawn on the presence of rescattering effects.Comment: 40 pages, 18 figure