The relationship between body mass and relative investment in testes mass in amniotes and other vertebrates

In terrestrial placental mammals, there is a well‐known negative allometric relationship between body mass and relative investment in testes mass. Such a negative relationship means that males of relatively monogamous small species invest proportionately more in their reproductive tissues than males of more polyandrous larger species. The selective pressure responsible for this relationship remains unclear and is it not known if this is a general allometric relationship that is similar across all vertebrate lineages. To investigate this, we conducted the first comparison of relationships between body mass and testes mass (using percentage testes mass as the dependent variable) across a variety of vertebrate groups. In all amniote lineages examined, the allometric relationship between body mass and testes mass was relatively strong and negative. We show, for the first time, that reptiles, birds and terrestrial placental mammals followed the same allometric relationship and, contrary to previous expectations, this relationship is sigmoidal rather than linear. Within this data set, there was no significant difference between this general amniote relationship and any of the 13 orders of reptiles, birds and terrestrial placental mammals examined. As a result, we propose that a sigmoidal relationship should be considered the default assumption for the form of the body mass – testes mass relationship within the amniote lineage. However, we also identify significant differences within some additional mammal groups (marsupials, bats and cetaceans). In each of these cases, only some sub‐groupings differed significantly from the general amniote relationship. In contrast to the amniotes, the relationship is relatively weak and positive in teleost fish and frogs suggesting that a negative allometric relationship is not universal in vertebrates. We explore whether variation in the body mass – testes mass relationships can be linked to sperm competition or a variety of ecological characteristics, either for amniotes in particular or vertebrates in general.     

Intraspecific abundance–occupancy relationships: case studies of six bird species in Britain

Although acknowledged to be common, intraspecific relationships between local abundance and site occupancy have been examined in detail for few species. Here we report such analyses for six widespread species of breeding birds in Britain, using data from the Common Birds Census. These exhibit a range of temporal trends, including different combinations of increase and decrease in abundance and occupancy. Overall, two species have a statistically significant positive abundance–occupancy relationship on farmland but no relationship in woodland (collared dove, tree sparrow), one a significant positive relationship on farmland and in woodland (magpie), two a significant positive relationship on farmland and a negative one in woodland (redstart, song thrush), and one a significant negative abundance–occupancy relationship on farmland but no relationship in woodland (sparrowhawk). The population dynamics associated with these patterns are used to discern their underlying mechanisms.     

The influence of scale and species pool on the relationship between vascular plant species richness and cover in an alpine area in Norway

Recent studies emphasise the potential importance of scale and species pool on the humped-back or unimodal relationship between species richness and productivity. We use a classic phytosociological data-set from Rondane, central south Norway, to evaluate the relative importance of these factors in an alpine area. The effect of species pool is assessed using plot scores from a Correspondence Analysis (CA) of the data. Generalised Additive Models (GAM) are used to relate vascular plant species richness to cover of vascular plants, CA plot scores, and plot area in different combinations. Species richness of vascular plants is unimodally related to total vascular plant cover. Plot scores of the first three CA axes (representing the effect of species pool) have a complex relationship with species richness, but explain a large fraction of the total deviance in richness. A humped relationship between richness and cover remains after accounting for CA plot scores in the model, i.e. the relationship is independent of species pool. The results suggest that the relationship between richness and cover changes from one vegetation type to another, as evaluated statistically through the importance of the interaction between cover and CA scores in explaining variation in richness. Plot area also influences the relationship. A unimodal relationship is only evident when small plot sizes are used, whereas a monotonically increasing relationship is found at large plot sizes. Plot area has the strongest effect on the unimodal relationship between richness and cover, whereas vegetation type has only a minor effect on this relationship. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Does the species/area relationship account for the density/area relationship?

The best-known macroecological generalisation is the species/area relationship: larger areas contain more species. It has also been observed that the estimated densities of individual species is lower when they are censused over a larger area. Let us call this the density/area relationship. Numerous explanations for the density/area relationship have been proposed – including the idea that the relationship is artefactual. One possible explanation is that it is a necessary consequence of the species/area relationship – after all, if a larger area is to contain more species then the average abundance of individual species must decline. We study a data set that allows us to study both relationships simultaneously. We conclude that the density/area relationship observed for the individual species in this study is consistent with the species/area relationship explanation: in other words, the densities of individual species decline, quantitatively, in the manner required to fit more species into communities with larger areas. We conclude that whatever explains the species/area relationship also explains the density/area relationship and discuss, in particular, the habitat heterogeneity hypothesis.     

Relationship Status and Relationship Instability,but Not Dominance,Predict Individual Differences in Baseline Cortisol Levels

We investigated variation in baseline cortisol levels in relation to relationship status (single or in a relationship), relationship characteristics (length, stability, presence or absence of clear dominance), or individual attributes (dominant or subordinate status, relative physical attractiveness, relationship worries). Study participants were 77 men and 75 women aged between 18 and 38 years. Individuals in romantic relationships had lower cortisol levels than singles. Individuals of African ethnicity, however, showed the opposite pattern. Individuals who perceived their relationship to be highly unstable had higher cortisol levels. Aside from African-Americans, married individuals reported the lowest relationship instability and the lowest cortisol levels, followed by individuals in long-term relationships, and by individuals in short-term relationships. The presence or absence of clear dominance in the relationship, dominance status, or relationship worries did not affect cortisol levels. Therefore relationship status and relationship instability were better predictors of variation in cortisol (presumably through stress-related mechanisms) than individual attributes.     

The allometry of fluctuating asymmetry in southern African plants: flowers and leaves

Several studies of fluctuating asymmetry (FA) in animals show that secondary sexual characters used in signalling have a negative relationship between size and asymmetry. Larger sexual traits are presumably more costly to produce, which should lead to greater developmental stress and corresponding increases in asymmetry. In the absence of among individual variation in the ability to handle these costs, the relationship between size and asymmetry should thus be positive. A negative relationship therefore suggests that expression of these traits is condition-dependent. In plants, flowers act as signals for pollinators and may show similar trends to animal signals. Leaves which are uninvolved in signalling should not. Moller & Eriksson (1994) found that 89% of species ( n = 16 of 18) with insect-pollinated flowers showed a negative relationship between petal size and asymmetry, while 79% of species ( n = 15 of 19) showed a positive relationship between leaf size and asymmetry. I carried out a similar study of 18 plant species. The average relationship between petal size and asymmetry did not differ significantly from zero in those species showing measurable FA in flowers ( n = 12). The relationship was significantly negative in one species, and significandy positive in another. On average, leaves in species with FA did not show a significant positive relationship between size and asymmetry ( n = 7). There was no significant difference in the slopes of the relationship between size and asymmetry for leaves and flowers. Levels of floral asymmetry for species with FA were significandy repeatable on individual plants in 33% ( n = 4 of 12) of species, but leaf asymmetry was not significantly repeatable in any species. It is argued that condition-dependence of traits need not result in a negative relationship between size and asymmetry.     

Type A in relation to job-stress, social and bioclinical variables: the Belgian Physical Fitness Study

The present study focuses on the relationship of Type A behavior, a suspected coronary-prone behavior pattern in its overall or specific aspects, to "stress" experienced at work, and to social and coronary bioclinical risk factors. In order to measure Type A behavior and Job-Stress, respectively, the Jenkins Activity Survey Questionnaire (J.A.S. for employed persons, 1969 version) and a self-constructed Job-Stress Questionnaire were administered at a base-line examination to 2,302 men aged 40-50 years. The multivariate analysis shows: A strong Type A behavior-Job-Stress relationship; An important relationship between employment grade, educational attainment and--to a lesser extent--, marital status and, overall Type A behavior, Speed and Impatience and Job-Involvement, A weak relationship between cholesterol and triglycerides (not found in univariate analysis), and, overall Type A behavior; a small weak relationship between smoking habits, and, Speed and Impatience and Hard-Driving. A direct relationship between heavy physical activity during leisure-time and Job-Involvement.     

The contribution of small individuals to density–body size relationships

The relationship between density and body size is central to our understanding of species assemblages. The greatest challenge in sampling complete assemblages is obtaining reliable estimates of all taxa regardless of body size. We therefore examined the density-body size relationship in a coral reef fish assemblage using a novel sampling method which permits reliable quantification of the small/cryptic reef fish fauna. We found a negative linear relationship between density and adult body size. This is in marked contrast to the polygonal relationship previously described for other local scale assemblage studies. Our linear relationship may be a consequence of the larger differences in body size among taxa. Spanning over five orders of magnitude, the range of body sizes appears to be an important factor in shaping density-body size relationships.     

Monogenean body size,but not reproduction,increases with infracommunity density

Body size reveals a plethora of life-history, ecological, and evolutionary information about a species. It plays a critical role in success or failure during competitive, reproductive, or predator–prey interactions. Typically, there is a negative relationship between body size and population density in natural populations and communities. I analysed this relationship within and among multiple populations of two prominent monogenean parasites (>90% prevalence) on Lepomis macrochirus in three lakes in New Jersey (USA), using multiple regression models. To elucidate the causes and benefits of this relationship, I also measured host body condition via a regression index, and reproductive output of the parasite community by measuring parasite eggs shed from the host. The relationship between body size and density of infrapopulations (parasites of a single species on a single host) was positive, and the strength of this relationship for both species depended on which lake they occupied, indicating the potential for Allee effects. This relationship persists at the infracommunity level, where there was a similar positive relationship between a community weighted mean body size and density. However, this relationship did not result in greater reproductive success as measured by infracommunity egg production per individual per 24 h or egg size. The cause of this relationship also remains elusive; it was not explained by host condition or age. The results suggest that there is either no reproductive advantage to this increase in body size or the advantage conferred was not related to these measured fitness components. These findings indicate that researchers should be cautious using body size as a proxy for fitness or reproduction, while also raising further questions about the nature of the relationship between parasites on a host and that between those parasites and the host.     

论法律视野中医患关系的性质

医患关系法律性质的准确界定是医患纠纷妥善解决的基本前提。目前，我国关于医患关系法律性质的四种主流观点往往把医患关系归属于某种法律关系，这样的做法都显得会以偏概全或牵强附会。医患关系的基本法律属性是民事法律关系，但具有区别于一般法律关系的特征，是特殊的民事法律关系，在医患纠纷阶段，是民事侵权关系。     

DEGREE OF SPECIALIZATION IS RELATED TO BODY SIZE IN HERBIVOROUS INSECTS: A PHYLOGENETIC CONFIRMATION

Numerous studies have suggested a general relationship between the degree of host specialization and body size in herbivorous animals. In insects, smaller species are usually shown to be more specialized than larger‐bodied ones. Various hypotheses have attempted to explain this pattern but rigorous proof of the body size–diet breadth relationship has been lacking, primarily because the scarceness of reliable phylogenetic information has precluded formal comparative analyses. Explicitly using phylogenetic information for a group of herbivores (geometrid moths) and their host plant range, we perform a comparative analysis to study the body size–diet breadth relationship. Considering several alternative measures of body size and diet breadth, our results convincingly demonstrate without previous methodological issues—a first for any taxon—a positive association between these traits, which has implications for evaluating various central aspects of the evolutionary ecology of herbivorous insects. We additionally demonstrate how the methods used in this study can be applied in assessing hypotheses to explain the body size–diet breadth relationship. By analyzing the relationship in tree‐feeders alone and finding that the positive relationship remains, the result suggests that the body size–diet breadth relationship is not solely driven by the type of host plant that species feed on.     

The species-area-energy relationship

Area and available energy are major determinants of species richness. Although scale dependency of the relationship between energy availability and species richness (the species-energy relationship) has been documented, the exact relationship between the species-area and the species-energy relationship has not been studied explicitly. Here we show, using two extensive data sets on avian distributions in different biogeographic regions, that there is a negative interaction between energy availability and area in their effect on species richness. The slope of the species-area relationship is lower in areas with higher levels of available energy, and the slope of the species-energy relationship is lower for larger areas. This three-dimensional species-area-energy relationship can be understood in terms of probabilistic processes affecting the proportions of sites occupied by individual species. According to this theory, high environmental energy elevates species' occupancies, which depress the slope of the species-area curve.     

Relationships Between the Spot Patterns on the Head of the Japanese Char, Salvelinus leucomaenis, in the Chugoku Region, and Altitude or Riverbed Gradient

We examined head spots of chars in rivers of the Chugoku Region, Japan and analysed relationships between the spot patterns and altitude or riverbed gradient. We compared the spot shapes quantitatively with two spot indices, index I, a ratio of the length to the width for the longest spot, and index II, a ratio of the width of the widest spot to the interobital width. We divided all the char samples into two groups, the Gogi and the Nikkoiwana, according to earlier publications on their distributions. Index I showed a significant negative relationship to altitude for the Gogi group whereas it showed a significant positive relationship for the Nikkoiwana group. On the other hand, index I showed no significant relationship to gradient for either group. Index II showed no significant relationship to altitude for either group. In contrast, index II showed a significant negative relationship to gradient for the Gogi group whereas it showed no significant relationship for the Nikkoiwana group. These results suggest that the Gogi has morphologically adapted to the above environmental factors in a different direction from the Nikkoiwana.     

Influence of molecular size on tissue distribution of antibody fragments

Biodistribution coefficients (BC) allow estimation of the tissue concentrations of proteins based on the plasma pharmacokinetics. We have previously established the BC values for monoclonal antibodies. Here, this concept is extended by development of a relationship between protein size and BC values. The relationship was built by deriving the BC values for various antibody fragments of known molecular weight from published biodistribution studies. We found that there exists a simple exponential relationship between molecular weight and BC values that allows the prediction of tissue distribution of proteins based on molecular weight alone. The relationship was validated by a priori predicting BC values of 4 antibody fragments that were not used in building the relationship. The relationship was also used to derive BC50 values for all the tissues, which is the molecular weight increase that would result in 50% reduction in tissue uptake of a protein. The BC50 values for most tissues were found to be ~35 kDa. An ability to estimate tissue distribution of antibody fragments based on the BC vs. molecular size relationship established here may allow better understanding of the biologics concentrations in tissues responsible for efficacy or toxicity. This relationship can also be applied for rational development of new biotherapeutic modalities with optimal biodistribution properties to target (or avoid) specific tissues.     

Circadian preference and relationship satisfaction among three types of couples

ABSTRACT

Mate selection is part of a growing interest in the study of processes by which couples are established, consolidated and/or separated. Similarity in psychological traits has been related to the well-being of couples, but given the possible effect of temporal convergence, it is necessary to control for the relationship length and whether or not both members of the couple live together. The aim of this study was to analyse the association between Morningness/Eveningness (M/E) similarity and relationship satisfaction in young-dating-non-cohabiting, young-married-cohabiting and old-married-cohabiting couples. Participants included 357 heterosexual couples (357 women and 357 men) with a mean age of 38.42 years old (SD = 13.11; age range between 19 and 69) who completed M/E (Composite Scale of Morningness) and relationship satisfaction measures (Comprehensive Marital Satisfaction Scale). Similarity in M/E was positively related to greater relationship satisfaction in both young cohabiting and non-cohabiting couples. In women, their own M/E was related to their own relationship satisfaction, whereas the level of relationship satisfaction in men was related to their partner’s M/E. This relationship was observed in young-married-cohabiting couples. M/E similarity may operate differently as a function of the relationship stage.     

Distribution-abundance relationship for passerines breeding in Tunisian oases: test of the sampling hypothesis

The positive relationship between local abundance and distribution of species is a widely recognized pattern in community ecology. However, it has been suggested that this relationship can simply be an artefact of sampling because locally rare species are less detectable then locally abundant ones, and hence their distribution can easily be underestimated. Here, we use count data to investigate the relationship between distribution and abundance of passerines breeding in a sample of oases from southern Tunisia, and we provide a test of the sampling artefact hypothesis. In particular, we checked for a difference in detection probability between localized and widespread species, and we tested if increasing the sampling effort affects the significance of the relationship. A significant positive relationship between the average local abundance of passerine species and the proportion of occupied oases was found. The use of a capture-recapture approach allowed us to estimate and to compare the detection probabilities of localized and widespread species subsets. We found that localized species were locally less detectable than widespread species, which is consistent with the main assumption of the sampling artefact hypothesis. However, increasing the detection probability of species by conducting more counts did not affect the significance of the relationship, which did not give support to the sampling artefact hypothesis. Our work implies that sampling contributed to the distribution-abundance relationship we found, but that it is unlikely that such a relationship could entirely be explained by an artefact of sampling. It also underlines the insight that can be gained by using probabilistic approaches of estimating species number and detection probability when attempting to disentangle sampling from ecological effects in community ecology studies.     

« <Emphasis Type="Italic">Secondes personnes</Emphasis> », l’exemple d’un service psychiatrique d’urgence: ERIC

Phenomenological psychiatry, inspired by Binswanger and others, revolutionised traditional, objectifying psychiatry, which was based on the medical model, by pointing out and asserting the existential and intersubjective dimension in any therapeutic relationship. The strength of that revolution was the reorientation of therapy as a true face-to-face encounter between an attentive therapist and a suffering individual, rather than the mere examination of a patient by a specialist. This view of the therapeutic relationship has been proven fruitful; though it has limitations a new anthropology of human relations, based on practical ethics, is trying to overcome. Thus, we move away from a view of the therapeutic relationship as the simultaneous presence of two individuals (in the first and third person) to its view as a second-person dynamic relationship between two subjects. Yet, contrary to an interindividual perspective, the relationship takes precedence over the individuals; it is part of the ethical and practical dynamics of a second-person relationship. Such anthropology of the relationship already underlies the work of the mobile psychiatric emergency team, ERIC (Équipe Rapide d’Intervention de Crise), of Charcot Hospital in Plaisir, France. Their intervention methods are outlined in this paper through specific examples.     

Does a dose-response relationship reduce sensitivity to hidden bias?

It is often said that an important consideration in judging whether an association between treatment and response is causal is the presence or absence of a dose-response relationship, that is, larger ostensible treatment effects when doses of treatment are larger. This criterion is widely discussed in textbooks and is often mentioned in empirical papers. At the same time, it is well known through both important examples and elementary theory that a treatment may cause dramatic effects with no dose-response relationship, and hidden biases may produce a dose-response relationship when the treatment is without effect. What does a dose-response relationship say about causality? It is observed here that a dose-response relationship may or may not reduce sensitivity to hidden bias, and whether it has or has not can be determined by a suitable analysis using the data at hand. Moreover, a study without a dose-response relationship may or may not be less sensitive to hidden bias than another study with such a relationship, and this, too, can be determined from the data at hand. An example concerning cytogenetic damage among professional painters is used to illustrate.     

A point-process model for variance-occupancy-abundance relationships

The relationship between species abundance, the variance of the number of individuals, and species occupancy is a fundamental ecological characteristic of a community. Moreover, this relationship varies across scales, and any model for the variance-occupancy-abundance (VOA) relationship has to address its scale dependency in a consistent way. In this study, point-process theory was used to define a multiscale model that jointly predicts the VOA relationship across scales in a consistent way. This provides a tool to jointly analyze data sets collected at different scales and to give insights into the biological processes underlying the VOA relationship. This model can also account for different types of individual spatial pattern (clustered, random, or regular). Three stand-mapping data sets of tree species in tropical rain forests were used to assess the relevance of this model. When compared with four existing models, the model based on point-process theory provided the best fit to the data and was the most often ranked as the model with the best predictive performance.     

Affiliation and reciprocity in sibling and peer relationships among free-ranging immature male rhesus monkeys

The social relationships of immature male rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) were studied during 1977, 1978 and 1981 at the Cayo Santiago colony, Puerto Rico. Three types of social relationship were selected for comparison: the sibling relationship, the strong peer relationship and the weak peer relationship. Sibling relationships were initially distinguished from peer relationships on the basis of individual characteristics (age and relatedness), whereas the two types of peer relationship were initially differentiated on the basis of criteria that concerned their structure. Although the three types of relationship showed certain similarities these were far outweighed by differences in the content, diversity, qualities and the relative frequency and patterning of their interactions, and the degree to which their interactions were characterized as reciprocal or complementary. These findings are discussed in relation to a number of questions concerning the sturucture of relationships and it is concluded that, in broad terms, the three types of relationship can be contrasted in terms of a multidimensional quality, their degree of affiliation.