Matters of scale : positive allometry and the evolution of male dimorphisms

J.L.T. was funded by a Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council research fellowship, J.S.K. by the Academy of Finland, and N.R.L. by a Natural Environment Research Council research fellowship.The developmental independence of alternative phenotypes is key to evolutionary theories of phenotypic plasticity and the origins of diversity. Male dimorphisms associated with alternative reproductive tactics are widely cited examples of such facultative expression of divergent fitness optima. Current models for the evolution of male dimorphisms invoke a size-dependent threshold at which the phenotype is reprogrammed. We use predictions derived from allometric modeling to test for the existence of reprogramming thresholds in two species of beetle, Onthophagus taurus and Onthophagus binodis, and the European earwig Forficula auricularia. We also compare the allometry of a number of morphological traits to determine whether minor males suppress their secondary sexual traits. The intercept of the horn allometry was suppressed, but there was no evidence of reprogramming of horn growth in either beetle species. There was reprogramming in the earwig. In the beetles, the horn length in all males can be explained largely in terms of exponential horn growth following an extraordinarily steep power function. The asymptote in O. taurus can be explained by exponential growth meeting the constraint of resource exhaustion. These findings question the currently held view that beetle horn dimorphisms showcase the importance of developmental independence in the evolution of diversity.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Glasgow's progress.

This article examines the significance of the 1938 Empire Exhibition in defining relations between Glasgow Corporation's film sponsorship activities, the early Scottish documentary film movement and Glasgow's position in Scottish identity after the Second World War. The research for this article, and for its pair, Sadness and Gladness, led to the exhibition Sadness and Gladness and its related events

Sadness and gladness.

Lebas states that this essay on the first period of Glasgow Corporation's cinematic enterprise in Scotland begins with a discussion of photographs by Thomas Annan, taken in the 1860s and 1870s, which not only suggests that a shift would take place in the representation of social reform from a written to visual imagery, but also suggests that this shift indicated a change in sensibility. There was a fundamental difference in that the films implied not a viewer, but a collective, an audience, which was now made up of citizens, assembled as part of a social contract between themselves and the municipality they had elected. Muncipal cinema was a cinema of social democracy which had to appeal to the widest possible audience in order to fulfill its central political motive, namely to gain consent and consensus. After World War I, the Glasgow Corporation's commissioning of films demonstrated to its citizenry the possibility of a better and more orderly life was a judicious propaganda strategy. An indication of some themes that the Corporation relied on may be useful: Firstly, there is the imagery of 19th century reformism; equally important was the feeling of inclusion for the audience; thirdly, the films showed a positive contrast between "then" and "now" and "before" and "after"; fourthly, the films exploited collective pride in the city; and lastly, the films not only drew upon established photographic and film genres, but also upon popular Scottish and urban performance traditions. This article traces Glasgow Corporation's early involvement with cinema after the First World War in terms of its earlier relation to the documentary photography of Thomas Annan and argues for the significance of municipal cinema in the advent of universal suffrage

Turbulence in a gaseous hydrogen-liquid oxygen rocket combustion chamber

The intensity of turbulence and the Lagrangian correlation coefficient for a LOX-GH2 rocket combustion chamber was determined from experimental measurements of tracer gas diffusion. A combination of Taylor's turbulent diffusion theory and a numerical method for solving the conservation equations of fluid mechanics was used to calculate these quantities. Taylor's theory was extended to consider the inhomogeneity of the turbulence field in the axial direction of the combustion chamber, and an exponential function was used to represent the Lagrangian correlation coefficient. The results indicate that the value of the intensity of turbulence reaches a maximum of 14% at a location about 7" downstream from the injector. The Lagrangian correlation coefficient associated with this value is given by the above exponential expression where alpha = 10,000/sec

OncoLog Volume 55, Volume 06, June 2010

The BATTLE Results Are IN: Phase II trial reveals molecular signatures in lung cancer that may guide treatment decisions. Endoscopic Repair of Colon Perforations: Nonsurgical techniques for closing gestrointestinal defects may yiels benefits for patients undergoing colonoscopy. INBRIEF: Stem Cells Seen Repairing Heart Attack Damage Over Time/Additional Blood Data May Improve Pediatric Leukemia Predictions/Pediatric Patients with Rare Tumor May benefit from Heated Chemotherapy/New Findings Refute Link Between UVA, Melanoma. HOUSE CALL: Skin Cancer Screening: What is It and Who Should Get It ?: Types of skin cancer/Who should be screened ?/What to expect/Self-examination: Check your skin regularly and tell your doctor about any suspicious changeshttps://openworks.mdanderson.org/oncolog/1202/thumbnail.jp