Paternal investment in Poecilimon veluchianus bushcrickets: beneficial effects of nuptial feeding on offspring viability

In most bushcrickets, males transfer a large spermatophore during copulation that is afterwards consumed by the female. In some species this nuptial gift enhances offspring fitness and is therefore believed to function as paternal investment. To determine whether this is the case, I examined whether a male's own offspring benefit from spermatophore consumption in the bushcricket Poecilimon veluchianus. Females that consumed a spermatophore produced offspring with increased residuals of dry weight compared to females that were prevented from feeding on the spermatophore. This beneficial effect of spermatophore consumption occurred within the first 4 days after copulation. An increased dry weight indicates higher energy reserves because offspring dry weight correlates significantly with the lifespan of starved larvae and because spermatophore consumption increased the lifespan of starved offspring. During egg-laying, females apply a liquid substance to the soil that hardens and probably serves as protection for the egg clutch. The amount of this substance correlated with the number of eggs laid but did not differ between spermatophore treatments. In P. veluchianus, females mate frequently and there is last-male sperm precedence. The spermatophore thus only constitutes paternal investment when offspring produced before female remating benefit from spermatophore consumption. The dry weight of offspring increased during the first 4 days after spermatophore consumption and thus within the natural remating interval. This shows that the spermatophore has a paternal investment function in addition to its already known sperm protection function. Received: 15 May 1998 / Accepted after revision: 11 October 1998     

孑遗植物四合木(Tetraenamongolica)迁地保护中的光合作用日变化特征与生理生态适应性

为了进一步廓清迁地保护条件下孑遗植物四合木（Tetraena mongolica）的光合生理生态适应性,在分析了瞬时光合效率的基础上,应用LI-6400光合作用测定系统测定了迁地保护试验区的四合木以及原生境伴生种白刺（Nitraria tangutorum）的光合作用日变化,并测定了其生长量。结果表明：四合木实生苗的生长南北冠幅大小依次为乌海四合木核心区实生苗（26.48 cm×27.26 cm）>鄂尔多斯实生苗（21.27 cm×21.75 cm）>阿拉善实生苗（19.25 cm×18.27 cm）。在原生境地乌海四合木核心区种植的实生苗与阿拉善实生苗之间的生长量存在显著差异（P≤0.01）,与鄂尔多斯实生苗之间的生长量存在显著差异（P≤0.05）。迁地保护条件下四合木生实生苗植株叶片光合速率Pn日变化均呈“双峰”曲线。不同试验区四合木光合作用日变化（Pn）、蒸腾速率（Tr）、气孔导度（Gs）和胞间 CO2浓度（Ci）均表现出明显的分异。迁地保护四合木条件下原生境地栽培的四合木实生苗的光合速率>鄂尔多斯栽培的四合木实生苗的光合速率>阿拉善栽培的四合木实生苗。鉴此可以作进一步推论,孑遗濒危植物四合木从原生境地西鄂尔多斯核心区（乌海）东移进行迁地保护具有更高的生理生态适应性和生境适宜性。但完成“从种子到种子”进而实现“保存性和代表性”,最终实现四合木迁地保护的“保持性和防止性”,保持其遗传多样性和遗传稳定性,最终成功实现四合木的迁地保护仍有待作进一步探索和深入研究。     

Comparison of Canadian firefighters and healthy controls based on submaximal fitness testing and strength considering age and gender

Introduction. Few studies have addressed whether firefighters are fitter than the general population and possess sufficient levels of aerobic capacity and muscle strength to perform on-duty tasks in a safe and efficient manner, considering age and gender. We aimed to evaluate the fitness levels of Hamilton firefighters, and to determine the effects of age and gender. Methods. In total, 89 participants were recruited. The modified Canadian aerobic fitness test was used to determine participants’ estimated maximal oxygen consumption (V_O2max) levels. For upper and lower body strength levels, a calibrated J-Tech hand-held dynamometer and a National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) lifting device was used respectively. Results. Firefighters’ mean (SD) V_O2max level was 40.30?±?6.25?ml·kg^?1·min^?1. Age proved to have a statistically significant impact on V_O2max (p?<?0.001). Gender displayed statistically significant effects on strength levels. Firefighters’ age was the only statistically significant independent variable, and accounted for 61.00% of the variance in firefighters’ aerobic capacity levels. Conclusions. Firefighters possessed somewhat similar aerobic capacities but much higher levels of body strength when compared with the general population. With age, firefighters’ aerobic capacities decreased; however, their upper and lower body strength levels remained the same.     

Survival and productivity benefits to social nesting in the sweat bee <Emphasis Type="Italic">Megalopta genalis</Emphasis> (Hymenoptera: Halictidae)

Facultatively solitary and eusocial species allow for direct tests of the benefits of group living. We used the facultatively social sweat bee Megalopta genalis to test several benefits of group living. We surveyed natural nests modified for observation in the field weekly for 5 weeks in 2003. First, we demonstrate that social and solitary nesting are alternative behaviors, rather than different points on one developmental trajectory. Next, we show that solitary nests suffered significantly higher rates of nest failure than did social nests. Nest failure apparently resulted from solitary foundress mortality and subsequent brood orphanage. Social nests had significantly higher productivity, measured as new brood cells provisioned during the study, than did solitary nests. After accounting for nest failures, per capita productivity did not change with group size. Our results support key predictions of Assured Fitness Return models, suggesting such indirect fitness benefits favor eusocial nesting in M. genalis. We compared field collections of natural nests to our observation nest data to show that without accounting for nest failures, M. genalis appear to suffer a per capita productivity decrease with increasing group size. Calculating per capita productivity from collected nests without accounting for the differential probabilities of survival across group sizes leads to an overestimate of solitary nest productivity.     

三种类型油菜(Brassica spp.)和野芥菜(B. juncea var.gracilis Tsen et Lee)杂交亲和性及F1的适合度--潜在基因转移的研究

通过人工去雄授粉，采用荧光显微镜观察了3种类型栽培油菜花粉在两地采集的野芥菜柱头上的萌发生长情况，结合杂交后的结实率，探讨了3种类型油菜和野芥菜杂交的亲和性．结果表明，甘蓝型油菜和芥菜型油菜与野芥菜的亲和性都非常高，亲和性指数达10．0以上，而白菜型油菜和野芥菜的亲和性较低，亲和指数小于0．2．子一代的适合度研究结果表明，芥菜型油菜向野芥菜杂交一代的适合度没有降低，而甘蓝型及白菜型和野芥菜杂交一代的适合度明显下降，表现在花粉活力降低，结实率极低．上述结果表明，白菜型油菜和野芥菜的基因转移可能性最小，甘蓝型居中，而芥菜型极易向野芥菜发生基因转移．     

Why is dominance hierarchy age-related in social insects? The relative longevity hypothesis

In temperate regions, older eusocial hymenopteran females with annual life cycles (annual-temperate) tend to dominate younger females, a behavior demonstrated by many Polistes. However, in queenless ponerine ants and primitively eusocial tropical wasps (perennial/tropical), a younger female can be dominant and occasionally takes over from the older, most dominant reproductive female, the alpha. We investigated these patterns using an inclusive fitness model. The most important difference between the above two cases lay in the length of individual life compared with colony life. Colonies dissolve before winter in the annual-temperate case, so the expected future tenure of the replacement alpha is never longer than that of the original alpha. This makes the non-reproductive subordinate tactic more advantageous for individuals that emerge later in the season because of the fitness cost of superseding. The perennial/tropical case does not have a clear upper limit for colony longevity, so the model predicts that late-born younger daughters are more likely to challenge their mother-alpha because of the expected long future tenure of the new alpha compared with the small indirect cost of the mothers reproductive failure. To switch tactics from being a subordinate to being the new alpha is only optimal in some situations. The high mortality rate of subordinate workers does not qualitatively alter the above pattern. The specific sexual production schedule of the colony sometimes affects the optimal behavior of females in the perennial/tropical case, and older individuals can dominate younger ones when the end of current round of sexual production is imminent.Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available for this article at     

Assessment of patients' medical fitness to drive by primary care physicians: A cross-sectional study

Objectives: Motor vehicle collisions (MVCs) are a significant health burden in Saudi Arabia. The literature has consistently indicated that chronic medical conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, obstructive sleep apnea, and neurodevelopmental disorders, increase the risk of MVCs. Therefore, assessment of driver fitness by primary care physicians (PCPs) remains a major health intervention that might reduce MVCs. We studied the practices of PCPs in assessing medical fitness to drive in at-risk patients.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of all 88 government-funded primary care centers in the city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. We administered a self-reported questionnaire to PCPs that inquired about their driving risk assessment for specific medical conditions.

Results: Among all PCPs and centers, 189 PCPs (63%) from 74 centers (84%) participated in our survey. The mean age of the PCPs was 40 ± 10 years, and 108 (57%) were men. The average clinical experience of the group was 13 ± 9 years. Fewer than half of PCPs considered diabetes mellitus (45%) and obstructive sleep apnea (46%) as potential risks for MVCs. Approximately 45% of PCPs did not notify any authority or relatives of potential driving issues that they noticed in their patients. Only 15% of the participants believed that PCPs were responsible for alerting authorities about their fitness to drive.

Conclusions: PCPs did not adequately assess their patients' driving history and eligibility. Efforts are needed to improve awareness among PCPs regarding the effects of chronic medical conditions on driving.     

Exploring the association between working memory and driving performance in Parkinson's disease

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore whether varying levels of operational and tactical driving task demand differentially affect drivers with Parkinson's disease (PD) and control drivers in their sign recall.

Methods: Study participants aged between 50 and 70 years included a group of drivers with PD (n = 10) and a group of age- and sex-matched control drivers (n = 10). Their performance in a sign recall task was measured using a driving simulator.

Results: Drivers in the control group performed better than drivers with PD in a sign recall task, but this trend was not statistically significant (P =.43). In addition, regardless of group membership, subjects' performance differed according to varying levels of task demand. Performance in the sign recall task was more likely to drop with increasing task demand (P =.03). This difference was significant when the variation in task demand was associated with a cognitive task; that is, when drivers were required to apply the instructions from working memory.

Conclusions: Although the conclusions drawn from this study are tentative, the evidence presented here is encouraging with regard to the use of a driving simulator to examine isolated cognitive functions underlying driving performance in PD. With an understanding of its limitations, such driving simulation in combination with functional assessment batteries measuring physical, visual, and cognitive abilities could comprise one component of a multitiered system to evaluate medical fitness to drive.     

Effects of worker genotypic diversity on honey bee colony development and behavior (Apis mellifera L.)

There have been numerous reports of genetic influences on division of labor in honey bee colonies, but the effects of worker genotypic diversity on colony behavior are unclear. We analyzed the effects of worker genotypic diversity on the phenotypes of honey bee colonies during a critical phase of colony development, the nest initiation phase. Five groups of colonies were studied (n = 5–11 per group); four groups had relatively low genotypic diversity compared to the fifth group. Colonies were derived from queens that were instrumentally inseminated with the semen of four different drones according to one of the following mating schemes: group A, 4 A-source drones; group B, 4 B-source drones; group C, 4 C-source drones; group D, 4 D-source drones; and group E, 1 drone of each of the A-D drone sources. There were significant differences between colonies in groups A-D for 8 out of 19 colony traits. Because the queens in all of these colonies were super sisters, the observed differences between groups were primarily a consequence of differences in worker genotypes. There were very few differences (2 out of 19 traits) between colonies with high worker genotypic diversity (group E) and those with low diversity (groups A-D combined). This is because colonies with greater diversity tended to have phenotypes that were average relative to colonies with low genotypic diversity. We hypothesize that the averaging effect of genotypic variability on colony phenotypes may have selective advantages, making colonies less likely to fail because of inappropriate colony responses to changing environmental conditions.     

天然水体底质中Mn元素含量采样和分析质量控制研究

利用采样和分析全程质量控制程序(SAX),对于吉林省内7个天然水体底质中Mn元素的采样和分析过程进行了质量控制(QC)实例研究.实验采用了平行采样平行分析的设计方案,并进行了空白实验、重复测定和加标回收率的测定.然后利用稳健方差分析(Robust ANOVA)计算了采样分析全过程中的地理方差、采样方差和分析方差,并对整个质控过程按照适目的性原则进行了评价.通过本文的研究以及其他工作成果,可知评价中采用的比例限值标准在一般意义下的SAX过程中是行之有效的.但是,也应注意到该限值标准不是绝对的,在具体的实验设计中需要考虑多方面因素.