Fitness correlates of male coloration in a Lake Victoria cichlid fish

Sexual selection by female choice has contributed to the rapid evolution of phenotypic diversity in the cichlid fish species flocks of East Africa. Yet, very little is known about the ecological mechanisms that drive the evolution of female mating preferences. We studied fitness correlates of male nuptial coloration in a member of a diverse Lake Victoria cichlid lineage, Pundamilia nyererei. In this species, male red coloration is subject to intraspecific sexual selection by female mate choice. Male nuptial coloration plays a critical role also in reproductive isolation between this species and the closely related sympatric species P. pundamilia. Here, we show that P. nyererei male coloration is carotenoid based, illustrating the potential for honest signaling of individual quality. In a wild population, we found that variation in male coloration was not associated with variation in a set of strongly intercorrelated indicators of male dominance: male size, territory size, and territory location. Instead, the 2 male characters that predominantly determine female choice, territory size and red coloration, may be independent predictors of male quality: males with bright red coloration and large territories had lower parasite infestation rates. As a result, female preferences tended to select against heavily parasitized males. Consistent with parasite-mediated sexual selection, males had higher and more variable parasite loads than female

Prognostic factors in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer treated with cabazitaxel

Background: Treatment selection for men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) has become increasingly challenging with the introduction of novel therapies at earlier disease stages. The purpose of this study was to identify prognostic factors for overall survival (OS) and PSA response in patients with mCRPC treated with cabazitaxel. Results: 224 mCRPC patients were included in the current analysis. In multivariable analysis, WHO performance status, baseline hemoglobin, alkaline phosphatase and albumin were all significantly associated with OS. Hemoglobin and alkaline phosphatase were significantly associated with PSA response. Conclusions: This study identified prognostic factors for OS and PSA response of men with mCRPC treated with cabazitaxel. In an increasingly complicated treatment landscape with several treatment options available our findings might serve to estimate the chance of survival of men qualifying for treatment with second-line chemotherapy in daily practice. Furthermore, these data can be used to risk-stratify patients in clinical trials. Methods: We performed a post-hoc analysis of a randomized phase II trial of mCRPC patients treated with cabazitaxel. Cox and logistic regression models were used to investigate the influence of clinical and biochemical variables on OS and PSA response. Nomograms were developed to estimate the chance of PSA response and OS

About the authors

BACKGROUND: Although it is generally agreed that personality disorders are an important topic in old-age psychiatry, DSM-5 has paid relatively little attention to older persons affected with this severe mental disorder. AIM: To look closely and carefully at several aspects of the way in which DSM-5 defines personality disorders relating to older persons. METHOD: We make a critical evaluation of the description of personality disorders given in DSM-5. RESULTS: First of all, we question whether the phrase 'personality change due to another medical condition' should really be included in the dsm-5 chapter of personality disorders because a personality change actually has the features of a persistent conduct disorder. Secondly, we argue that in a future revised version of dsm-5 personality disorders affecting older persons should be referred to specifically as 'late-onset' personality disorders. Thirdly, we stress that the research programme relating to the dimensional dsm-5 model of personality disorders should involve a larger number of older persons. In addition, more research is needed with regard to the use, wording and validity of the phrase 'personality change due to a medical condition'. Those responsible for the revision of the DSM-5 should ensure that the concept 'late-onset personality disorders' is incorporated in the text. CONCLUSION: The description of personality disorders in DSM-5 is confusing. This is probably due to the transitional period between the old categorical (dsm-iv) system and the newly proposed dimensional approach to personality disorders in DSM-5, an approach that needs further investigation. However, this intervening period could be a good opportunity for doing further research into personality disorders in older adults

The teaching of recent and violent conflicts as challenges for history education

This paper has been written with the support of Projects EDU2015-65088P from the DGICYT (Ministry of Education, Spain) and also the Project PICT2012-1594 from the ANPCYT (Argentina) coordinated by the autho

The spliceosome as target for anticancer treatment

The spliceosome is a ribonucleoprotein complex involved in RNA splicing, that is, the removal of non-coding introns from precursor messenger RNA. (Alternative) Splicing events may play an essential role in tumourigenesis. The recent discovery that the spliceosome is a target for novel compounds with anticancer activity opens up new therapeutic avenues

Well being of obstetric patients on minimal blood transfusions (WOMB trial)

Background: Primary postpartum haemorrhage is an obstetrical emergency often causing acute anaemia that may require immediate red blood cell (RBC) transfusion. This anaemia results in symptoms such as fatigue, whic

Genetics of decayed sexual traits in a parasitoid wasp with endosymbiont-induced asexuality.

Trait decay may occur when selective pressures shift, owing to changes in environment or life style, rendering formerly adaptive traits non-functional or even maladaptive. It remains largely unknown if such decay would stem from multiple mutations with small effects or rather involve few loci with major phenotypic effects. Here, we investigate the decay of female sexual traits, and the genetic causes thereof, in a transition from haplodiploid sexual reproduction to endosymbiont-induced asexual reproduction in the parasitoid wasp Asobara japonica. We take advantage of the fact that asexual females cured of their endosymbionts produce sons instead of daughters, and that these sons can be crossed with sexual females. By combining behavioral experiments with crosses designed to introgress alleles from the asexual into the sexual genome, we found that sexual attractiveness, mating, egg fertilization and plastic adjustment of offspring sex ratio (in response to variation in local mate competition) are decayed in asexual A. japonica females. Furthermore, introgression experiments revealed that the propensity for cured asexual females to produce only sons (because of decayed sexual attractiveness, mating behavior and/or egg fertilization) is likely caused by recessive genetic effects at a single locus. Recessive effects were also found to cause decay of plastic sex-ratio adjustment under variable levels of local mate competition. Our results suggest that few recessive mutations drive decay of female sexual traits, at least in asexual species deriving from haplodiploid sexual ancestors

Rhythmic abdominal pumping movements in praying Mantises (Insecta: Mantodea)

We analyzed the rhythmic, cyclical dorsal-ventral abdominal pumping movements of nymphal and adult Hierodula patellifera (Audinet- Serville 1839), and adult Stagmomantis carolina (Johansson 1763), Tenodera sinensis (de Saussure 1871), Miomantis paykullii (Stål 1871), and Sphodromantis lineola (Burmeister 1838) using a combination of customized video analysis software and frame-by-frame video analyses. Despite the phylogenetic and ecological diversity of these species, we found fundamental similarities in the overall, intermittent patterns of their abdominal pumping movements. In adults of all species, intermittent bouts of abdominal pumping had median durations of 64-89 sec, and were separated by intervals with median durations of 10-25 sec. Bouts began with rhythmic upward abdominal deflections of progressively increasing amplitude and frequency which were superimposed on an overall, progressive abdominal elevation. Bouts ended with 1-4 very high amplitude, low frequency upward deflections after which the abdomen returned to its horizontal (resting) position. In H. patellifera, the overall adult pattern emerged gradually during larval development. Given the diversity of the species tested, our data suggest that intermittent abdominal pumping (which has been associated with respiratory behavior in insects) may be independent of ecological niche or acute environmental stressors in mantises. Instead, our data support the hypothesis that these apparently respiratory related, intermittent abdominal pumping movements are an emergent property of the mantis central nervous system organization