Sexual dimorphism in relation to adipose tissue and intrahepatocellular lipid deposition in early infancy

Sexual dimorphism in adiposity is well described in adults, but the age at which differences first manifest is uncertain. Using a prospective cohort, we describe longitudinal changes in directly measured adiposity and intrahepatocellular lipid (IHCL) in relation to sex in healthy term infants. At median ages of 13 and 63 days, infants underwent quantification of adipose tissue depots by whole-body magnetic resonance imaging and measurement of IHCL by in vivo proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Longitudinal data were obtained from 70 infants (40 boys and 30 girls). In the neonatal period girls are more adipose in relation to body size than boys. At follow-up (median age 63 days), girls remained significantly more adipose. The greater relative adiposity that characterises girls is explained by more subcutaneous adipose tissue and this becomes increasingly apparent by follow-up. No significant sex differences were seen in IHCL. Sex-specific differences in infant adipose tissue distribution are in keeping with those described in later life, and suggest that sexual dimorphism in adiposity is established in early infancy.

Sexual functioning in people with stable chronic diseases

Backgound - In developed countries people are living longer and the incidence of chronic disease is increasing. Chronic disease and its treatments can have a negative impact on sexual functioning and sexual satisfaction. Aim of study - To explore and to compare sexual function and sexual satisfaction in people with stable chronic diseases.

An integrated approach to Physcomitrella patens transcriptomics reveals importantclues of the evolutionary development of plant organs and sexual reproduction

Land plant evolution required the generation of a new body plan that could resist the harsher and fluctuating environmental conditions found outside of aquatic environments. Unraveling the genetic basis of plant developmental innovations is not only revealing in terms of an evolutionary point of view, but it is also important for understanding the emergence of agronomically important traits. Comparative genetic studies between basal and modern land plants, both at the genome and trancriptome levels, can help in the generation of hypotheses related to the genetic basis of plant evolutionary development.(...)

Sexual dimorphism in resource acquisition and deployment: both size and timing matter.

Background and Aims The males and females of many dioecious plant species differ from one another in important life-history traits, such as their size. If male and female reproductive functions draw on different resources, for example, one should expect males and females to display different allocation strategies as they grow. Importantly, these strategies may differ not only between the two sexes, but also between plants of different age and therefore size. Results are presented from an experiment that asks whether males and females of Mercurialis annua, an annual plant with indeterminate growth, differ over time in their allocation of two potentially limiting resources (carbon and nitrogen) to vegetative (below-and above-ground) and reproductive tissues.Methods Comparisons were made of the temporal patterns of biomass allocation to shoots, roots and reproduction and the nitrogen content in the leaves between the sexes of M. annua by harvesting plants of each sex after growth over different periods of time.Key Results and Conclusions Males and females differed in their temporal patterns of allocation. Males allocated more to reproduction than females at early stages, but this trend was reversed at later stages. Importantly, males allocated proportionally more of their biomass towards roots at later stages, but the roots of females were larger in absolute terms. The study points to the important role played by both the timing of resource deployment and the relative versus absolute sizes of the sinks and sources in sexual dimorphism of an annual plant.

Desarrollo sexual del paiche (arapaima gigas) en las zonas reservadas del estado (ríos Pacaya y Samiria) 1971 - 1975

Desarrolla los datos registrados en la Reserva Nacional Pacaya - Samiria, de noviembre de 1971 a noviembre de 1975, efectuado con 697 paiches hembras; donde determinaron el ciclo de desove y la longitud que alcanza el paiche en su primera madurez sexual.

Reporte de datos de madurez sexual de la anchoveta peruana (engraulis ringens) durante el periodo 1961 - 1987

Se presentan datos de madurez sexual promedio mensual de la anchoveta peruana, Engraulis ringens por longitudes y sexos, para las Regiones Norte (06°-10°S), Centro (10°-14° S) y Sur (14°-18°20 ' S) para el período 1961-87. Estos se obtuvieron usando los datos de madurez sexual colectados macroscópicamente de ejemplares procedentes de los desembarques a lo largo del litoral peruano.

Efecto de la proporción sexual, densidad y edad de los reproductores en la producción de semilla de Tilapia nilotica (Pisces, Cichlidae)

En el Laboratorio de Huachipa del Instituto del Mar del Perú, en el período comprendido entre octubre de 1980 y agosto de 1982, se realizaron varios experimentos a fin de determinar el efecto del tipo de estanque, densidad de carga y calidad y cantidad de fertilizante en el crecimiento y la producción de Tilapia nilotica. Estos experimentos arrojaron una diferencia no significativa entre los tratamientos, por lo cual se halló una cifra general promedio de crecimiento y producción que permitió su comparación con las cifras de producción obtenidas en otras áreas del mundo, un peso individual promedio de 203.4 g, una producción total de 2,038 Kg/ha/272 días, y una producción neta de 5.6 Kg/ha/día. Cifras que quedan dentro del rango reportado por el ICA (International Center for Aquaculture) para clima templado; similares a las obtenidas en países de Europa Central y la China, y notablemente bajas comparadas con los 20 Kg/ha/día producidos en Israel. Se identifican la mala condición de los estanques utilizados, la baja densidad de carga aplicada, la baja calidad del fertilizante y el clima de la zona, específicamente la presencia de nubosidad, como los factores de mayor incidencia en los resultados poco satisfactorios.

Estudio de la fecundidad y ciclo sexual de la anchoveta (Egraulis ringens. J.) en la zona de Chimbote

La fecundidad de la anchoveta del Perú (Engraulis ringens J.) ha sido investigada en 83 ovarios colectados en varias localidades de la zona pesquera de Chimbote, durante la estación de desove.La fecundidad, considerada aquí como el número de huevos que la anchoveta elimina en una puesta ha sido estimada determinando el número de ovas en el grupo del tamaño modal más avanzado.

La madurez sexual de la anchoveta (Engraulis rigens J.) en los periodos reproductivos 1961/1968

Información sobre la madurez sexual de la Anchoveta peruana, que ha sido estudiado por el examen macroscópico de las gónadas durante 1961-1968, el material se recogió en Chimbote, Callao e Ilo y se comparó con datos similares de Chile. Las etapas más avanzadas de la madurez sexual fueron la base de la evaluación. El análisis pone de relieve las diferencias de tiempo de la temporada de desove entre las localidades en relación con la longitud y la edad. Los datos de Chimbote y Callao indican que la actividad sexual se extiende de agosto a marzo. Se producen dos picos de desove, uno en septiembre y otro en febrero. por otro lado, los datos de Ilo y Chile demuestran que la época de desove en la zona sur comienza en julio y termina en febrero. Estos resultados también demuestran dos puntos interesantes en relación con la longitud y la edad de anchovetas: el pico a la madurez sexual en verano es tan intenso como en el invierno, pero el predominante de pequeñas anchovetas durante el verano hace dificil de detectar la situación real y las anchovetas mayores desove durante un período más largo y con mayor intensidad que los más jóvenes. Por último, las anchovetas en la etapa más avanzada de madurez fueron más abundantes durante 1964, 1967 y que durante el resto de año cerca de Callao y Chimbote.

Madurez sexual, frecuencia de desove y fecundidad de la anchoveta peruana durante invierno-primavera de 1997

Analiza tres aspectos importantes en el estudio de la biología reproductiva de la anchoveta Engraulis ringens: el estado reproductivo por grado latitudinal (entre 16° y 5°S), la frecuencia de desove y la fecundidad parcial. El desove fue más intenso en el área comprendida entre los grados 10°S y 12°S. La frecuencia de desove fue 0,071, disminuyendo en 32,0% en comparación al cálculo del año anterior.

Male body size and breeding tubercles are both linked to intra-sexual dominance and reproductive success in the minnow

Male dominance hierarchies are usually linked to relative body size and to weapon size, that is, to determinants of fighting ability. Secondary sexual characters that are not directly used as weapons could still be linked to dominance if they reveal determination or overall health and vigour and hence, indirectly, fighting ability. We studied the mating behaviour of the minnow, Phoxinus phoxinus, a cyprinid fish in which males develop breeding tubercles during the spawning season. The function of these breeding tubercles is still not clear. Using microsatellite markers, we determined male reproductive success under controlled conditions. The minnows were territorial and quickly established a dominance hierarchy at the beginning of the spawning season. Dominance was strongly and positively linked to fertilization success. Although body size and number of breeding tubercles were not significantly correlated in our sample, both large males and males with many breeding tubercles were more dominant and achieved higher fertilization success than small males or males with few tubercles. We found multimale fertilization in most clutches, suggesting that sperm competition is important in this species. Females showed behaviour that may be linked to spawning decision, that is, male dominance might not be the only determinant of male reproductive success in minnows

Impact of job insecurity on sexual desire: an exploratory analysis.

To explore, for the first time, the impact of job insecurity on sexual desire. Cross-sectional analysis of a nationally representative sample of 7247 individuals aged 20-64 years working as full or part-time employees in Switzerland. The logistic regression analysis showed that workers aged 20-49 years perceiving high levels of job insecurity are exposed to a significantly higher risk of decrease of sexual desire compared to the reference group. The risk is 53% higher among men (OR 1.53; 95% CI 1.16-2.01) and 47% for woman (OR 1.47; 1.13-1.91). No increased risk was found for employees aged 50-64 years old. An increasing fear of job loss is associated with a deterioration in sexual desire. These first preliminary findings should promote further epidemiological and clinical prospective studies on the impact of job insecurity on intimate relationships and sexual dysfunction.

Effects of female postmating odour on male sexual behaviour, in Heliconius butterflies /

The effects of the female postmating odour on male sexual behaviour were examined in Heliconius erato and H. charithonia (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Predictions from the antiaphrodisiac hypothesis were tested using the two reproductive strategies of these species. Within the pupal mating strategy, results from behavioural experiments quantified and statistically tested dispersal rates of pupal-perched males to the presence of stimuli with and without the postmating odour. Results do not support an antiaphrodisiac function to the postmating odour. Similarly, within the adult courtship strategy, behavioural test results indicate that males do not alter their expenditure of energy in terms of either the duration or frequency of courtship behaviours elicited by females with and without the postmating odour. The data from both experiments did not support the antiaphrodisiac hypothesis for the function of the female postmating odour. A novel hypothesis predicting that the postmating female odour acts as an oviposition-deterring pheromone is presented.

An examination of the mediation process as it is used to resolve sexual harassment complaints in Canadian universities /

The ways in which the process of mediation affected those involved in the resolution of sexual harassment complaints in Canadian universities were explored. Questionnaires were sent to forty- six Canadian universities and interviews were conducted with fifteen advisors. An analysis of the twenty- two questionnaires returned indicated that mediation was utilized in 11% of the sexual harassment complaints and effected a successful resolution in 67% of these. Both complainants and those con^lained against were reported to have spoken more favourably than unfavourably about the process and outcome of mediation. Questionnaire respondents in general found mediation a slightly less than satisfactory method of complaint resolution. Those respondents who had successfully used mediation; however, describe its usefulness within a university context.