Meta-analysis suggests choosy females get sexy sons more than "good genes"

Female preferences for specific male phenotypes have been documented across a wide range of animal taxa, including numerous species where males contribute only gametes to offspring production. Yet, selective pressures maintaining such preferences are among the major unknowns of evolutionary biology. Theoretical studies suggest that preferences can evolve if they confer genetic benefits in terms of increased attractiveness of sons ("Fisherian" models) or overall fitness of offspring ("good genes" models). These two types of models predict, respectively, that male attractiveness is heritable and genetically correlated with fitness. In this meta-analysis, we draw general conclusions from over two decades worth of empirical studies testing these predictions (90 studies on 55 species in total). We found evidence for heritability of male attractiveness. However, attractiveness showed no association with traits directly associated with fitness (life-history traits). Interestingly, it did show a positive correlation with physiological traits, which include immunocompetence and condition. In conclusion, our results support "Fisherian" models of preference evolution, while providing equivocal evidence for "good genes." We pinpoint research directions that should stimulate progress in our understanding of the evolution of female choice.     

Replicating Life Cycle of Early‐Maturing Species in the Timing of Restoration Seeding Improves Establishment and Community Diversity

Tallgrass prairie is among the most endangered ecosystems in North America. High‐diversity restorations protect remnant habitat and expand native communities. Excluding land acquisition, the most expensive step in restoration is procuring seed. Given this cost, managers want to maximize seedling establishment. Native species that flower and ripen early in the growing season are included in a diverse seeding mix but as a group they have not successfully established. For early‐maturing species, the practice of storing seeds in a cold room from harvest until sowing in the dormant season effectively eliminates exposure to the summer conditions seeds would naturally have in the wild. In this study, we compared the effect of summer sowing timing and winter sowing timing on establishment in field conditions. In August 2004 and December 2004, we broadcast a seed mix of seven early‐maturing species: Antennaria plantaginifolia (L.) Richardson. (Pussy toes), Arabis lyrata L. (Sand cress), Carex swanii (Fernald) Mack. (Downy green sedge), Hymenopappus scabiosaeus L'Hér. (Old plainsman), Lupinus perennis L. ssp. perennis var. occidentalis S. Watson. (Wild lupine), Phlox bifida Beck. (Sand phlox) and Hesperostipa spartea (Trin.) Barkworth. (Porcupine grass). We collected data on establishment and reproductive success at 12 time points from June 2005 until October 2008. Species established one growing season sooner when planted at the summer sowing time, and diversity in the summer sowing plots was higher after 4 years. Quicker establishment may have benefits such as providing early competition from weeds that may outweigh additional effort required to ensure timely planting.     

Subsistence Exposure Scenarios for Tribal Applications

The article provides an overview of methods that can be used to develop exposure scenarios for unique tribal natural resource usage patterns. Exposure scenarios are used to evaluate the degree of environmental contact experienced by people with different patterns of lifestyle activities, such as residence, recreation, or work. In 1994, U.S. President Bill Clinton's Executive Order 12898 recognized that disproportionately high exposures could be incurred by people with traditional subsistence lifestyles because of their more intensive contact with natural resources. Since then, we have developed several tribal exposure scenarios that reflect tribal-specific traditional lifeways. These scenarios are not necessarily intended to capture contemporary resource patterns, but to describe how the resources were used before contamination or degradation, and will be used once again in fully traditional ways after cleanup and restoration. The direct exposure factors for inhalation and soil ingestion rates are the same in each tribal scenario, but the diets are unique to each tribe and its local ecology, natural foods, and traditional practices. Scenarios, in part or in whole, also have other applications, such as developing environmental standards, evaluating disproportionate exposures, developing sampling plans, planning for climate change, or evaluating service flows as part of natural resource damage assessments.     

Survival of extrapair and within-pair young in tree swallows

In monogamous species, it is generally accepted that males seekextrapair matings to increase their reproductive success withoutadditional parental investment; however, the benefits of extrapairmatings to females are much less clear. One possibility isthat females obtain genes for enhanced offspring viabilityfrom the extrapair sires. If this is the case, then the increasedviability of extrapair young may be evident throughout the periodof embryonic development as well as later in life. Tree swallows(Tachycineta bicolor) have one of the highest known levelsof extrapair mating in birds, and females have substantialcontrol over the paternity of their offspring. We used moleculartechniques to determine the parentage of nestlings and unhatchedembryos to examine the possibility that female tree swallowsgain viability benefits for their extrapair offspring. Althoughboth extrapair paternity and mortality of embryos and nestlingswere high (89% and 54% of broods respectively), we found nodifference in the viability of within-pair and extrapair youngprior to fledging. In addition, extrapair young were not morelikely to be male. There was no bias in the sex of young atfledging, but unhatched embryos were more likely to be male.Our results do not support the idea that female tree swallowsengage in extrapair mating to increase offspring viability,at least early in life.     

Preliminary fabrication and characterization of electron beam melted Ti–6Al–4V customized dental implant

The current study was aimed to fabricate customized root form dental implant using additive manufacturing technique for the replacement of missing teeth. The root form dental implant was designed using Geomagic™ and Magics™, the designed implant was directly manufactured by layering technique using ARCAM A2™ electron beam melting system by employing medical grade Ti–6Al–4V alloy powder. Furthermore, the fabricated implant was characterized in terms of certain clinically important parameters such as surface microstructure, surface topography, chemical purity and internal porosity. Results confirmed that, fabrication of customized dental implants using additive rapid manufacturing technology offers an attractive method to produce extremely pure form of customized titanium dental implants, the rough and porous surface texture obtained is expected to provide better initial implant stabilization and superior osseointegration.     

Evaluation of environmentally conscious manufacturing programs using a three-hybrid multi-criteria decision analysis method

Environmental management, being an important component in strategies for achieving sustainable development of processes and products, has emerged as a proactive approach in majority of the manufacturing organizations. From the strategic perspective environmentally conscious manufacturing (ECM) programs lead to better environmental management practice. The objective of the current paper is to present an integrated and holistic framework to evaluate ECM programs. This framework combines three multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) methods to consider eight major environmentally conscious manufacturing indicators (ECMI) in order to identify the efficiency of each ECM program. First the interdependence relationship among the ECMIs is established using decision-making trail and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL). Then a range of weightage (i.e. upper and lower bounds) is created for each ECMI using analytic network process (ANP) to include managerial preferences. Finally, this range of weightage for each indicator is applied to perform restricted multiplier data envelopment analysis (RMDEA). Results show that the technical efficiency of the inefficient ECM programs for integrated RMDEA, on average, is calculated as 53.2% whereas traditional input oriented DEA provides the same score as 72.3%. This clearly indicates that integrated RMDEA is better than the input oriented DEA because same level of output could be produced with lesser resources if the ECM programs perform on the frontier. Hence, the advantage of this methodology is that the managerial preferences are successfully implemented through this newly developed hybrid methodology that will help to reduce less resource consumption and lead to better environmental policy.     

Condition‐dependent mutation rates and sexual selection

‘Good genes’ models of sexual selection show that females can gain indirect benefits for their offspring if male ornaments are condition‐dependent signals of genetic quality. Recurrent deleterious mutation is viewed as a major contributor to variance in genetic quality, and previous theoretical treatments of ‘good genes’ processes have assumed that the influx of new mutations is constant. I propose that this assumption is too simplistic, and that mutation rates vary in ways that are important for sexual selection. Recent data have shown that individuals in poor condition can have higher mutation rates, and I argue that if both male sexual ornaments and mutation rates are condition‐dependent, then females can use male ornamentation to evaluate their mate’s mutation rate. As most mutations are deleterious, females benefit from choosing well‐ornamented mates, as they are less likely to contribute germline‐derived mutations to offspring. I discuss some of the evolutionary ramifications of condition‐dependent mutation rates and sexual selection.     

Sexual colouration and sperm traits in guppies

The relationships among the area, hue, saturation and brightness of orange colouration and sperm traits in the guppy Poecilia reticulata were investigated. Males with greater areas of orange colouration had significantly larger sperm loads, more motile sperm and longer sperm relative to males with relatively little orange colouration. Males with greater areas of orange colouration did not possess more viable sperm than males with relatively little orange colouration. There was no evidence that any of the sperm traits were related to the hue, saturation or brightness of the orange colouration. These results are discussed in the context of the roles that direct and indirect selection might play in maintaining female preference for male guppies with large areas of orange colouration.     

Involvement of INF-γ functional single nucleotide polymorphism +874 T/A (rs2430561) in breast cancer risk

According Global Cancer Statistics 2020 GLOBOCAN estimates female breast cancer was found as the most commonly diagnosed cancer, with an estimated 2.3 million new cases (11.7%), and the fourth leading cause (6.9%) of cancer death among women worldwide. Identification of new diagnostic marker sharply characterize the tumor feature is intensive need. The present work was performed to investigate the involvement of the INF-γ + 874 T/A gene polymorphism in different breast cancer prognostic factors. Polymorphism detection analysis was performed on 163 subjects from breast cancer patients, 79 with inflamed cells of breast patients and 144 controls. The gene polymorphism was detected using the amplification refractory mutation system- polymerase chain reaction method (ARMS-PCR). The distribution of INF-γ T + 874A gene polymorphism shows strong significant association between INF-γ + 874 T/A genotypes TT in BC patients (ORTT: 6.41 [95% CI = 2.72–15.1] P < 0.0001) as well as strong significant association regarding T allele (ORT: 1.99 [95% CI = 1.43–2.76] P < 0.0001) when compared to the healthy control. In ICB group the strong association was noted with INF-γ + 874 T/A genotypes AT genotype (ORAT: 2.28 [95% CI = 1.22–4.29] P = 0.007). From the different histological BC hormonal markers the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) was showing significant association in INF-γ + 874 T/A genotypes TT (P = 0.03) and recessive model (TT versus AA + AT P = 0.03). Concerning different BC prognostic models, the poor prognostic one of luminal B, (ER^+ve PR^+ve Her2^+ve) show significant association in the host INF-γ + 874 T/A genotype (TT, P = 0.03) and recessive model (TT versus AA + AT P = 0.02) when compared to the good prognostic hormonal status luminal A model, (ER^+ve PR^+ve Her2-ve). It seems that this is the first study that interested in correlate the INF-γ + 874 T/A gene polymorphisms in Egyptian BC patients. T allele, TT genotype and recessive model of the INF-γ + 874 T/A gene variants were documented as risk factors for BC pathogenesis. It may be used as practical biomarker to guide the BC carcinogenesis and risk process.