Short-term variation in sperm competition causes sperm-mediated epigenetic effects on early offspring performance in the zebrafish

The inheritance of non-genetic factors is increasingly seen to play a major role in ecology and evolution. While the causes and consequences of epigenetic effects transmitted from the mother to the offspring have received ample attention, much less is known about how variation in the condition of the father affects the offspring. Here, we manipulated the intensity of sperm competition experienced by male zebrafish Danio rerio to investigate the potential for sperm-mediated epigenetic effects over a relatively short period of time. We found that the rapid responses of males to varying intensity of sperm competition not only affected sperm traits as shown previously, but also the performance of the resulting offspring. We observed that males exposed to high intensity of sperm competition produced faster swimming and more motile sperm, and sired offspring that hatched over a narrower time frame but exhibited a lower survival rate than males exposed to low intensity of sperm competition. Our results provide striking evidence for short-term paternal effects and the possible fitness consequences of such sperm-mediated non-genetic factors not only for the resulting offspring but also for the female.

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Effects of different returning method combined with decomposer on decomposition of organic components of straw and soil fertility

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-95015-5 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Xiao Wang ◽

Xuexin Wang ◽

Peng Geng ◽

Qian Yang ◽

Kun Chen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Organic Carbon ◽

Soil Fertility ◽

Decomposition Rate ◽

Microbial Biomass Carbon ◽

No Tillage ◽

Short Term ◽

Straw Decomposition ◽

Short Period ◽

Straw Return ◽

Forms Of Carbon

AbstractIn view of the problems of low straw decomposition rates and reduced soil fertility in southern Liaoning, China, we investigated the effects of no-tillage mode (NT), deep loosening + deep rotary tillage mode (PT), rotary tillage mode (RT) and the addition of decomposing agent (the next is called a decomposer) (NT + S, PT + S, RT + S) on the decomposition proportion of straw, respectively, by using the nylon net bag method in combination with 365-day field plot experiments. The decomposition rules of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin as well as the dynamics of soil organic carbon (SOC), soil microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and soil dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in straw returned to the field for 15, 35, 55, 75, 95, 145 and 365 days were analyzed. The results showed that in the short term, the decomposition of straw was better in both the rotray tillage and deep loosening + deep rotary modes than in the no-tillage mode, and the addition of decomposer significantly promoted the decomposition of straw and the release of carbon from straw, among them, the RT + S treatment had the highest straw decomposition proportion and carbon release proportion in all sampling periods. After a one year experimental cycle, the RT + S treatment showed the highest proportion of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin decomposition with 35.49%, 84.23% and 85.50%, respectively, and soil SOC, MBC and DOC contents were also higher than the other treatments with an increase of 2.30 g kg−1, 14.22 mg kg−1 and 25.10 mg kg−1, respectively, compared to the pre-experimental soil. Our results show that in the short term, to accelerate the decomposition rate of returned straw and increase the content of various forms of carbon in soil, rotary tillage can be used to return the straw to the field, while also spraying straw decomposer on its surface. This experiment used a new straw decomposer rich in a variety of microorganisms, combined with the comparison of a variety of straw return modes, and in-depth study of straw decomposition effects of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. Thus, a scheme that can effectively improve the decomposition rate of straw and the content of various forms of organic carbon in soil within a short period of time was explored to provide theoretical support for the southern Liaoning.

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EXPRESS: Short-term upper limb immobilization impairs grasp representation

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology ◽

10.1177/1747021820985523 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 174702182098552

Author(s):

Lucette Toussaint ◽

Aurore Meugnot ◽

Christel Bidet-Ildei

Keyword(s):

Response Times ◽

Motor Program ◽

Control Group ◽

Short Term ◽

Small Sphere ◽

Large Sphere ◽

Short Period ◽

Limb Immobilization ◽

Laterality Task ◽

Sensorimotor Processes

The present experiment aimed to gain more information on the effect of limb nonuse on the cognitive level of actions and, more specifically, on the content of the motor program used for grasping an object. For that purpose, we used a hand-grasping laterality task that is known to contain concrete information on manipulation activity. Two groups participated in the experiment: an immobilized group, including participants whose right hand and arm were fixed with a rigid splint and an immobilization vest for 24 hours, and a control group, including participants who did not undergo the immobilization procedure. The main results confirmed a slowdown of sensorimotor processes, which is highlighted in the literature, with slower response times when the participants identified the laterality of hand images that corresponded to the immobilized hand. Importantly, the grip-precision effect, highlighted by slower response times for hands grasping a small sphere versus a large sphere, is impaired by 24 hours of limb nonuse. Overall, this study provided additional evidence of the disengagement of sensorimotor processes due to a short period of limb immobilization.

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Paternal effects correlate with female reproductive stimulation in the polyandrous ladybirdCheilomenes sexmaculata

Bulletin of Entomological Research ◽

10.1017/s0007485314000194 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 104 (4) ◽

pp. 480-485 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

M.A. Mirhosseini ◽

J.P. Michaud ◽

M.A. Jalali ◽

M. Ziaaddini

Keyword(s):

Female Reproduction ◽

Paternal Effects ◽

Female Fecundity ◽

Adult Weight ◽

Male Age ◽

Mating History ◽

Epigenetic Effects ◽

Seminal Fluids ◽

Egg Fertility ◽

Male Factors

AbstractComponents of male seminal fluids are known to stimulate fecundity and fertility in females of numerous insect species and paternal effects on offspring phenotype are also known, but no studies have yet demonstrated links between male effects on female reproduction and those on progeny phenotype. In separate laboratory experiments employing 10-day-old virgin females ofCheilomenes sexmaculata(F.), we varied male age and mating history to manipulate levels of male allomones and found that the magnitude of paternal effects on progeny phenotype was correlated with stimulation of female reproduction. Older virgin males remained in copula longer than younger ones, induced higher levels of female fecundity, and sired progeny that developed faster to yield heavier adults. When male age was held constant (13 days), egg fertility declined as a function of previous male copulations, progeny developmental times increased, and the adult weight of daughters declined. These results suggest that male epigenetic effects on progeny phenotype act in concert with female reproductive stimulation; both categories of effects increased as a consequence of male celibacy (factor accumulation), and diminished as a function of previous matings (factor depletion). Male factors that influence female reproduction are implicated in sexual conflict and parental effects may extend this conflict to offspring phenotype. Whereas mothers control the timing of oviposition events and can use maternal effects to tailor progeny phenotypes to prevailing or anticipated conditions, fathers cannot. Since females remate and dilute paternity in polyandrous systems, paternal fitness will be increased by linking paternal effects to female fecundity stimulation, so that more benefits accrue to the male's own progeny.

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Clinical and microbiological evaluation of one-stage full-mouth disinfection: a short-term study

Revista de Odontologia da UNESP ◽

10.1590/s1807-25772013000400010 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 42 (4) ◽

pp. 298-303

Author(s):

José Roberto Cortelli ◽

Marcos Vinicius Moreira de Castro ◽

Rodrigo Dalla Pria Balejo ◽

Camila Oliveira de Alencar ◽

Antonio Carlos Gargioni Filho ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Chronic Periodontitis ◽

Bacterial Load ◽

Periodontal Treatment ◽

Periodontal Pocket ◽

Short Term ◽

Term Study ◽

One Stage ◽

Short Term Study ◽

Short Period ◽

Full Mouth Disinfection

INTRODUCTION: Patients seem to adhere better to short-term periodontal treatment schemes. Besides, time-reduced treatments are more cost-effective. However, the degree of benefits related to this type of treatment still requires additional investigations. AIM: The present short-term study evaluated clinical and microbiological outcomes, from baseline to 3-months, of chronic periodontitis subjects treated by the one-stage full-mouth disinfection protocol. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Sixteen chronic periodontitis subjects (mean-age 49.87 ± 8.22) who met inclusion/exclusion criteria were included. A calibrated examiner measured whole-mouth plaque and gingival indices, periodontal pocket depth and clinical attachment level at baseline and at 3-months. Subgingival samples were also collected from the 5 most diseased periodontal sites to determine total bacterial load and levels of P. gingivalis and S. oralis by real time qPCR. Periodontal treatment consisted of full-mouth manual debridement plus wide intraoral use of chlorhexidine in gel and solution. Additionally, after debridement, individuals rinsed 0.12% chlorhexidine at home twice a day for the following 2 months. Data monitored were compared by paired Student-t test (p<0.05). RESULT: Statistical analysis revealed that, in general, one-stage full-mouth disinfection treatment provided significant clinical and microbiological improvements at 3-months. Total bacterial load showed one of the most pronounced reductions from baseline to 3-months (p=0.0001). Also, subgingival levels P. gingivalis and S. oralis reduced overtime. CONCLUSION: After a short period of monitoring, chronic periodontitis subjects showed clinical and microbial improvements following one-stage full-mouth disinfection treatment.

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Burst swimming and its enzymatic correlates in the threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus): full-sib heritabilities

Canadian Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1139/z97-236 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 76 (4) ◽

pp. 680-688 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Christophe Garenc ◽

Frederick G Silversides ◽

Helga Guderley

Keyword(s):

Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽

Genetic Factors ◽

Creatine Phosphokinase ◽

Swimming Performance ◽

Biotic Interactions ◽

Considerable Influence ◽

Paternal Effects ◽

Threespine Sticklebacks ◽

Burst Swimming ◽

Intrafamilial Variability

Full-sib heritabilities of burst-swimming capacity and its enzymatic correlates were calculated in juvenile threespine sticklebacks, Gasterosteus aculeatus, from 25 families raised under constant laboratory conditions. Variation among families in burst-swimming performance, enzyme activities, body size, and condition of the juveniles was considerable. Estimates of full-sib heritabilities of absolute and relative burst-swimming performance decreased during ontogenesis, as they were higher for 2-month-old than for 3.6-month-old sticklebacks. This decline may reflect a decrease in the importance of paternal effects with age, as well as an increase in intrafamilial variability due to the existence of feeding or social hierarachies. Enzymatic correlates of burst-swimming performance measured in 3.6-month-old sticklebacks had higher full-sib heritabilities than burst-swimming performance itself, with the highest values found for cytochrome c oxidase, followed by lactate dehydrogenase and then phosphofructokinase and creatine phosphokinase. These results suggest that genetic factors may have a considerable influence upon burst-swimming performance and muscle metabolic capacities of juvenile threespine sticklebacks, but that this influence may be tempered by biotic interactions.

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Redefining the Issues: NGO Influence on International Forest Negotiations

Global Environmental Politics ◽

10.1162/152638004323074192 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

pp. 51-74 ◽

Cited By ~ 35

Author(s):

David Humphreys

Keyword(s):

Nongovernmental Organizations ◽

United Nations ◽

International Politics ◽

Forest Policy ◽

Time Frame ◽

Short Term ◽

Early Stages ◽

The United Nations ◽

International Forest Policy ◽

Environmental Challenge

How successful have nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) been in influencing international forest policy? Specifically, how effective have they been at altering the texts of international forest policy declarations and agreements? This paper studies NGO efforts to influence international forest policy from the mid-1980s, when deforestation first emerged as an international environmental challenge, to 2001 when the United Nations Forum on Forests was created. This paper demonstrates that, in the short term, NGOs are more effective when they: 1. involve themselves in the early stages of negotiations, 2. suggest substantive and procedural ideas that are already well-known in fora outside forest politics, and 3. align their suggestions with the prevailing neoliberal discourse of international politics. The paper suggests that such conditions can be rather limited and thus speculates about NGO efforts within a longer time frame.

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Warm temperatures, cool sponges: the effect of increased temperatures on the Antarctic sponge Isodictya sp.

PeerJ ◽

10.7717/peerj.8088 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 7 ◽

pp. e8088 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Marcelo González-Aravena ◽

Nathan J. Kenny ◽

Magdalena Osorio ◽

Alejandro Font ◽

Ana Riesgo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Thermal Stress ◽

De Novo ◽

Cold Water ◽

Heat Exposure ◽

Time Frame ◽

Molecular Response ◽

Short Term ◽

Sres Scenarios ◽

Ipcc Sres ◽

The Antarctic

Although the cellular and molecular responses to exposure to relatively high temperatures (acute thermal stress or heat shock) have been studied previously, only sparse empirical evidence of how it affects cold-water species is available. As climate change becomes more pronounced in areas such as the Western Antarctic Peninsula, both long-term and occasional acute temperature rises will impact species found there, and it has become crucial to understand the capacity of these species to respond to such thermal stress. Here, we use the Antarctic sponge Isodictya sp. to investigate how sessile organisms (particularly Porifera) can adjust to acute short-term heat stress, by exposing this species to 3 and 5 °C for 4 h, corresponding to predicted temperatures under high-end 2080 IPCC-SRES scenarios. Assembling a de novo reference transcriptome (90,188 contigs, >93.7% metazoan BUSCO genes) we have begun to discern the molecular response employed by Isodictya to adjust to heat exposure. Our initial analyses suggest that TGF-β, ubiquitin and hedgehog cascades are involved, alongside other genes. However, the degree and type of response changed little from 3 to 5 °C in the time frame examined, suggesting that even moderate rises in temperature could cause stress at the limits of this organism’s capacity. Given the importance of sponges to Antarctic ecosystems, our findings are vital for discerning the consequences of short-term increases in Antarctic ocean temperature on these and other species.

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Observations of rapid-fire event tremor at Lascar volcano, Chile

Annals of Geophysics ◽

10.4401/ag-3972 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 39 (2) ◽

Author(s):

G. Asch ◽

K. Wylegalla ◽

M. Hellweg ◽

D. Seidl ◽

H. Rademacher

Keyword(s):

Fractal Structure ◽

Seismic Station ◽

Active Volcano ◽

Short Term ◽

Fire Event ◽

Local Seismicity ◽

Short Period ◽

Wide Range ◽

Lascar Volcano

During the Proyecto de Investigaciòn Sismològica de la Cordillera Occidental (PISCO '94) in the Atacama desert of Northern Chile, a continuously recording broadband seismic station was installed to the NW of the currently active volcano, Lascar. For the month of April, 1994, an additional network of three, short period, three-component stations was deployed around the volcano to help discriminate its seismic signals from other local seismicity. During the deployment, the volcanic activity at Lascar appeared to be limited mainly to the emission of steam and SO2. Tremor from Lascar is a random, «rapid-fire» series of events with a wide range of amplitudes and a quasi-fractal structure. The tremor is generated by an ensemble of independent elementary sources clustered in the volcanic edifice. In the short-term, the excitation of the sources fluctuates strongly, while the long-term power spectrum is very stationary.

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QTc prolongation in short-term treatment of schizophrenia patients: effects of different antipsychotics and genetic factors

European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience ◽

10.1007/s00406-018-0880-8 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 268 (4) ◽

pp. 383-390 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Ilja Spellmann ◽

Matthias A. Reinhard ◽

Diana Veverka ◽

Peter Zill ◽

Michael Obermeier ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Genetic Factors ◽

Term Treatment ◽

Qtc Prolongation ◽

Short Term ◽

Short Term Treatment

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Do cows regulate diet choice within the short-term time frame of a meal?

Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Science ◽

10.1017/s1752756200011650 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 2003 ◽

pp. 6-6

Author(s):

M. P. Yeates ◽

B. J. Tolkamp ◽

I. Kyriazakis

Keyword(s):

Feeding Behaviour ◽

Time Frame ◽

Food Type ◽

Direct Result ◽

Diet Choice ◽

Short Term ◽

Biological Unit

When cows are offered a choice of foods they are able to select a consistent combination of these foods over long periods of time. Consistent long-term diet choice (DC) is the result of feeding behaviour, which may be regulated in the short-term. The shortest unit of feeding that can be measured is often a visit to a feeder supplying one food type only. These visits are usually clustered into meals, which are the shortest biological unit in which DC can be expressed. Previous work led us to hypothesise that animals may select a consistent diet within meals, thus ensuring nutrient synchronisation in the short-term. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate whether long-term average DC was a direct result of cows selecting a consistent diet within meals.

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