Intrasexually selected weapons Rico‐Guevara, Alejandro; Hurme, Kristiina J.
Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society,
February 2019, Letnik:
94, Številka:
1
Journal Article
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ABSTRACT
We propose a practical concept that distinguishes the particular kind of weaponry that has evolved to be used in combat between individuals of the same species and sex, which we term ...intrasexually selected weapons (ISWs). We present a treatise of ISWs in nature, aiming to understand their distinction and evolution from other secondary sex traits, including from ‘sexually selected weapons’, and from sexually dimorphic and monomorphic weaponry. We focus on the subset of secondary sex traits that are the result of same‐sex combat, defined here as ISWs, provide not previously reported evolutionary patterns, and offer hypotheses to answer questions such as: why have only some species evolved weapons to fight for the opposite sex or breeding resources? We examined traits that seem to have evolved as ISWs in the entire animal phylogeny, restricting the classification of ISW to traits that are only present or enlarged in adults of one of the sexes, and are used as weapons during intrasexual fights. Because of the absence of behavioural data and, in many cases, lack of sexually discriminated series from juveniles to adults, we exclude the fossil record from this review. We merge morphological, ontogenetic, and behavioural information, and for the first time thoroughly review the tree of life to identify separate evolution of ISWs. We found that ISWs are only found in bilateral animals, appearing independently in nematodes, various groups of arthropods, and vertebrates. Our review sets a reference point to explore other taxa that we identify with potential ISWs for which behavioural or morphological studies are warranted. We establish that most ISWs come in pairs, are located in or near the head, are endo‐ or exoskeletal modifications, are overdeveloped structures compared with those found in females, are modified feeding structures and/or locomotor appendages, are most common in terrestrial taxa, are frequently used to guard females, territories, or both, and are also used in signalling displays to deter rivals and/or attract females. We also found that most taxa lack ISWs, that females of only a few species possess better‐developed weapons than males, that the cases of independent evolution of ISWs are not evenly distributed across the phylogeny, and that animals possessing the most developed ISWs have non‐hunting habits (e.g. herbivores) or are faunivores that prey on very small prey relative to their body size (e.g. insectivores). Bringing together perspectives from studies on a variety of taxa, we conceptualize that there are five ways in which a sexually dimorphic trait, apart from the primary sex traits, can be fixed: sexual selection, fecundity selection, parental role division, differential niche occupation between the sexes, and interference competition. We discuss these trends and the factors involved in the evolution of intrasexually selected weaponry in nature.
Physical fault detection in panels that are part of photovoltaic (PV) plants typically involves the analysis of thermal and electroluminescent images, which makes it either difficult or impossible to ...identify the source of the fault in the plant. This paper proposes a method of automatic physical fault classification for PV plants using convolutional neural networks for semantic segmentation and classification from RGB images. This study shows experimental results for 2 output classes identified as a fault and no fault, and 4 output classes as no fault, cracks, shadows, and dust that cannot be easily detected. The proposed method presents an average accuracy of 75% for 2 output classes and 70% for 4 classes, showing a positive approach to the proposed classification method for PV systems.
•A methodology based on RGB image analysis of photovoltaic systems is developed.•Automatic recognition and classification of failure signatures in photovoltaic systems.•Semantic segmentation is used in solar panels arrays images to remove background.•Convolutional Neuronal Networks are used to classify problems in photovoltaic systems.
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a consequence of the interaction of many pathophysiological processes, manifested by a decrease in the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and abnormal kidney function. ...Sedentary behavior is associated with decreased kidney function, and regular physical activity could have the potential to reduce the risk of developing CKD, although this is not entirely clear. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between sedentary behavior and the development of CKD.
A search was carried out in different databases and metasearchers from January 2015 to June 2020 for cross-sectional, case-control, and cohort studies, in which the association of a sedentary lifestyle or physical inactivity with the appearance of CKD was evaluated in healthy people. Eight articles were obtained, including six cross-sectional studies, one case-control, and one cohort study. The quality of evidence for the main outcomes was assessed using the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation) model.
Most of the studies included in this systematic review agree that there is an association between a sedentary lifestyle and CKD; however, not all used the same definition of this disease, in the same way, the definitions of physical activity and sedentary behavior were different between these studies, as well as the methods of measuring sedentary behavior.
CKD could be associated with sedentary behavior in previously healthy people. It was not possible to determine a measure of association with the available scientific evidence, as the study designs were heterogeneous. Modifiable risk factors should be considered in different population groups to reduce the risk of CKD.
Abstract
Animal acoustic signals are widely used in diverse research areas due to the relative ease with which sounds can be registered across a wide range of taxonomic groups and research settings. ...However, bioacoustics research can quickly generate large data sets, which might prove challenging to analyse promptly. Although many tools are available for the automated detection of sounds, choosing the right approach can be difficult and only a few tools provide a framework for evaluating detection performance.
Here, we present
ohun
, an R package intended to facilitate automated sound event detection.
ohun
provides functions to diagnose and optimize detection routines, compare performance among different detection approaches and evaluate the accuracy in inferring the temporal location of events.
The package uses reference annotations containing the time position of target sounds in a training data set to evaluate detection routine performance using common signal detection theory indices. This can be done both with routine outputs imported from other software and detections run within the package. The package also provides functions to organize acoustic data sets in a format amenable to detection analyses. In addition,
ohun
includes energy‐based and template‐based detection methods, two commonly used automatic approaches in bioacoustics research.
We show how
ohun
can be used to automatically detect vocal signals with case studies of adult male zebra finch
Taenopygia gutata
songs and Spix's disc‐winged bat
Thyroptera tricolor
ultrasonic social calls. We also include examples of how to evaluate the detection performance of ohun and external software. Finally, we provide some general suggestions to improve detection performance.
Introducción. La tafenoquina fue aprobada en el 2018 por la Food and Drug Administration de Estados Unidos y, en el 2019, por la Therapeutic Goods Administration en Australia. Su administración en ...dosis única y su mecanismo de acción en las fases aguda y latente han sido objeto de estudio para cambiar el esquema de tratamiento de la malaria por Plasmodium vivax.Objetivo. Evaluar la evidencia científica disponible sobre la eficacia de la tafenoquina en la profilaxis y el tratamiento de la malaria por P. vivax, entre el 2009 y el 2019.Materiales y métodos. Se establecieron los descriptores MeSH y DeCS. Se utilizó la sintaxis ((Malaria Vivax) AND (tafenoquine) AND (prophylaxis)) OR (Malaria Vivax) AND (tafenoquine) AND (relapse) en las siguientes bases de datos: Pubmed, The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Clinical Trials (CENTRAL), ISIS Web of Science, Lilacs y Scopus. Los resultados obtenidos se sometieron a análisis crítico (matriz CASPE). El análisis cuantitativo se realizó utilizando la diferencia de riesgos en análisis de supervivencia (Kaplan-Meier) en los tres artículos finales.Resultados. Se sometieron tres estudios a metaanálisis (Llanos-Cuentas, 2014; Llanos-Cuentas, 2019, y Lacerda, 2019) para evaluar la eficacia del tratamiento con tafenoquina en comparación con primaquina. Se obtuvo una diferencia de riesgo global de 0,04 (IC95% 0-0,08; p=0,07). La tafenoquina no mostró inferioridad en la eficacia del tratamiento frente al esquema de primaquina.Conclusión. La tafenoquina es una alternativa que mejora el cumplimiento del tratamiento, lo que podría acercar a Colombia a las metas de la Estrategia Técnica Mundial contra la Malaria, 2016-2030.
Hummingbird tongues pick up a liquid, calorie-dense food that cannot be grasped, a physical challenge that has long inspired the study of nectar-transport mechanics. Existing biophysical models ...predict optimal hummingbird foraging on the basis of equations that assume that fluid rises through the tongue in the same way as through capillary tubes. We demonstrate that the hummingbird tongue does not function like a pair of tiny, static tubes drawing up floral nectar via capillary action. Instead, we show that the tongue tip is a dynamic liquid-trapping device that changes configuration and shape dramatically as it moves in and out of fluids. We also show that the tongue-fluid interactions are identical in both living and dead birds, demonstrating that this mechanism is a function of the tongue structure itself, and therefore highly efficient because no energy expenditure by the bird is required to drive the opening and closing of the trap. Our results rule out previous conclusions from capillarity-based models of nectar feeding and highlight the necessity of developing a new biophysical model for nectar intake in hummingbirds. Our findings have ramifications for the study of feeding mechanics in other nectarivorous birds, and for the understanding of the evolution of nectarivory in general. We propose a conceptual mechanical explanation for this unique fluid-trapping capacity, with far-reaching practical applications (e.g., biomimetics).
A complete understanding of the feeding structures is fundamental in order to study how animals survive. Some birds use long and protrusible tongues as the main tool to collect their central caloric ...source (e.g., woodpeckers and nectarivores). Hummingbirds are the oldest and most diverse clade of nectarivorous vertebrates, being a perfect subject to study tongue specializations. Their tongue functions to intraorally transport arthropods through their long bills and enables them to exploit the nectarivorous niche by collecting small amounts of liquid, therefore it is of vital importance to study its anatomy and structure at various scales. I focused on the portions of the hummingbird tongue that have been shown to be key for understanding their feeding mechanisms. I used histology, transmission and scanning electron microscopy, microCT, and
experiments in order to advance the comprehension of the morphology and functioning of the hummingbird feeding apparatus. I found that hummingbird tongues are composed mainly of thin cornified epithelium, lack papillae, and completely fill the internal cast of the rostral oropharyngeal cavity. Understanding this puzzle-piece match between bill and tongue will be essential for the study of intraoral transport of nectar. Likewise, I found that the structural composition and tissue architecture of the tongue groove walls provide the rostral portion of the tongue with elastic properties that are central to the study of tongue-nectar interactions during the feeding process. Detailed studies on hummingbirds set the basis for comparisons with other nectar-feeding birds and contribute to comprehend the natural solutions to collecting liquids in the most efficient way possible.
Black and red raspberries are fruits with a high phenolic and vitamin C content but are highly susceptible to deterioration. The effect of high hydrostatic pressure (HHP 400−600 MPa/CUT-10 min) and ...pulsed electric fields (PEF, frequency 100−500 Hz, pulse number 100, electric field strength from 11.3 to 23.3 kV/cm, and specific energy from 19.7 to 168.4 kJ/L) processes on black/red raspberry juice was studied. The effect on the inactivation of microorganisms and pectin methylesterase (PME) activity, physicochemical parameters (pH, acidity, total soluble solids (°Brix), and water activity (aw)), vitamin C and phenolic compounds content were also determined. Results reveal that all HHP-treatments produced the highest (p < 0.05) log-reduction of molds (log 1.85 to 3.72), and yeast (log 3.19), in comparison with PEF-treatments. Increments in pH, acidity, and TSS values attributed to compounds’ decompartmentalization were found. PME activity was partially inactivated by HHP-treatment at 600 MPa/10 min (22% of inactivation) and PEF-treatment at 200 Hz/168.4 kJ/L (19% of inactivation). Increment in vitamin C and TPC was also observed. The highest increment in TPC (79% of increment) and vitamin C (77% of increment) was observed with PEF at 200 Hz/168.4 kJ/L. The putative effect of HHP and PEF on microbial safety, enzyme inactivation, and phytochemical retention is also discussed in detail. In conclusion, HHP and PEF improve phytochemical compounds’ content, microbial safety, and quality of black/red raspberry juice.
To estimate the frequency of chronic joint pain after infection with chikungunya virus in a Latin American cohort.
A cross-sectional follow-up of a prospective cohort of 500 patients from the ...Atlántico Department, Colombia who were clinically diagnosed as having chikungunya virus during the 2014-2015 epidemic was conducted. Baseline symptoms and follow-up symptoms at 20 months were evaluated in serologically confirmed cases.
Among the 500 patients enrolled, 485 had serologically confirmed chikungunya virus and reported joint pain status. Patients were predominantly adults (mean ± SD age 49 ± 16 years) and female, had an education level of high school or less, and were of Mestizo ethnicity. The most commonly affected joints were the small joints, including the wrists, ankles, and fingers. The initial virus symptoms lasted a median of 4 days (interquartile range IQR 3-8 days). Sixteen percent of the participants reported missing school or work (median 4 days IQR 2-7 days). After 20 months, one-fourth of the participants had persistent joint pain. A multivariable analysis indicated that significant predictors of persistent joint pain included college graduate status, initial symptoms of headache or knee pain, missed work, normal activities affected, ≥4 days of initial symptoms, and ≥4 weeks of initial joint pain.
This is the first report to describe the frequency of chikungunya virus-related arthritis in the Americas after a 20-month follow-up. The high frequency of chronic disease highlights the need for the development of prevention and treatment methods.
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