A Sociological Analysis of Contemporary Irish Social Drinking Patterns

This thesis seeks to provide an understanding of contemporary Irish social drinking patterns by conducting a detailed analysis of the evolving sociological theories of alcohol consumption in Ireland. ‘Alcohol is a social drug which, to this day, evokes the divisive moral qualities that originated, or at least were solidified, in the last century with the birth of temperance movements’ (Cassidy, 1997:175). The temperance movement in Ireland under Father Mathew, a legacy which still reverberates in Irish society, served to further ingrain the ‘image of the whisky drinking Irishman’ (Ibid: 17). This is seen in such work as Stivers (1976) who uses sociological labelling theory to provide verification of a deviant Irish status, biologically, socially and culturally predisposed to alcohol. The author argues that these temperance movements sought to remove the linkages of alcohol and “Irishness” but this quasi-stigmatisation process created a “self-fulfilling prophecy”, which further abetted the legitimisation of alcohol within cultural spheres. The tourism industry, in connection with drink manufacturers, has had a monumental role in alcohol’s contemporary position within the upper echelons of Irish culture and heritage. Their hand in the commodification of “Stage Irishy”, seen as “craic”, has further entrenched the links between consumption of alcohol and the consumption of Irish Identity “McGovern, 2002). Furthermore, commercial interests are keen to cash in and maintain the dominance of alcohol in Irish society. This thesis concludes that this factor, in connection with the accelerated modernisation that Ireland has experienced since the mid-nineties, has malleable consequences for Irish society. As Keohane and Kuhling (2007) assert, post-modern consumption patterns of excess and ‘insatiability’ have been introduced into contemporary Irish drinking patterns and are affecting the nature of alcohol consumption in Ireland.This resource was contributed by The National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.

Can Families Resist Managerial and Financial Revolutions? Swiss Family Firms in the Twentieth Century

The aim of this contribution is to highlight the long-term evolution of family capitalism in Switzerland during the twentieth century. We focus on 22 large companies of the machine, electrotechnical and metallurgy (MEM) sector whose boards of directors and general managers have been identified in five benchmark years across the twentieth century, which allows us to distinguish between family-owned and family-controlled firms. Our results show that family firms prevailed until the 1980s and thus contradict the dominance of 'managerial capitalism'. Although we observe a decline of family capitalism during the last decade of the century, the significant remaining presence of family firms in 2000 allows us to relativise the advent of investor capitalism.

La religion affaire privée : un enjeu pour l'évangélisme?

(Résumé de l'ouvrage) Cet ouvrage aborde l'ensemble des protestantismes d'Europe latine (France, Suisse romande, Wallonie, Italie, Espagne, Portugal), région longtemps marquée par la dominance catholique. Mais aujourd'hui, l'Europe latine connaît des bouleversements notables au plan religieux du fait de l'irruption de grandes religions non chrétiennes et de mouvement «néo-religieux» à l'identité souvent indécise. Tenant compte de ces évolutions, ce livre analyse les rapports entre protestantismes de conversion et protestantisme établi et étudie les dynamiques concurrentielles qui sous-tendent leur opposition ainsi que les redéfinitions qu'entraîne l'évolution du religieux dans la modernité tardive. Cinq perspectives abordent successivement le rapport privé/public, les transformations des traditions, les redéfinitions juridiques, les évolutions spatiales et les liens à l'ethnicité.

La recomposition des protestantismes en Europe latine: reprises théoriques

(Résumé de l'ouvrage) Cet ouvrage aborde l'ensemble des protestantismes d'Europe latine (France, Suisse romande, Wallonie, Italie, Espagne, Portugal), région longtemps marquée par la dominance catholique. Mais aujourd'hui, l'Europe latine connaît des bouleversements notables au plan religieux du fait de l'irruption de grandes religions non chrétiennes et de mouvement «néo-religieux» à l'identité souvent indécise. Tenant compte de ces évolutions, ce livre analyse les rapports entre protestantismes de conversion et protestantisme établi et étudie les dynamiques concurrentielles qui sous-tendent leur opposition ainsi que les redéfinitions qu'entraîne l'évolution du religieux dans la modernité tardive. Cinq perspectives abordent successivement le rapport privé/public, les transformations des traditions, les redéfinitions juridiques, les évolutions spatiales et les liens à l'ethnicité.

Clonotype selection and composition of human CD8 T cells specific for persistent herpes viruses varies with differentiation but is stable over time.

Protection from reactivation of persistent herpes virus infection is mediated by Ag-specific CD8 T cell responses, which are highly regulated by still poorly understood mechanisms. In this study, we analyzed differentiation and clonotypic dynamics of EBV- and CMV-specific T cells from healthy adults. Although these T lymphocytes included all subsets, from early-differentiated (EM/CD28(pos)) to late-differentiated (EMRA/CD28(neg)) stages, they varied in the sizes/proportions of these subsets. In-depth clonal composition analyses revealed TCR repertoires, which were highly restricted for CMV- and relatively diverse for EBV-specific cells. Virtually all virus-specific clonotypes identified in the EMRA/CD28(neg) subset were also found within the pool of less differentiated "memory" cells. However, striking differences in the patterns of dominance were observed among these subsets, because some clonotypes were selected with differentiation while others were not. Late-differentiated CMV-specific clonotypes were mostly characterized by TCR with lower dependency on CD8 coreceptor interaction. Yet all clonotypes displayed similar functional avidities, suggesting a compensatory role of CD8 in the clonotypes of lower TCR avidity. Importantly, clonotype selection and composition of each virus-specific subset upon differentiation was highly preserved over time, with the presence of the same dominant clonotypes at specific differentiation stages within a period of 4 years. Remarkably, clonotypic distribution was stable not only in late-differentiated but also in less-differentiated T cell subsets. Thus, T cell clonotypes segregate with differentiation, but the clonal composition once established is kept constant for at least several years. These findings reveal novel features of the highly sophisticated control of steady state protective T cell activity in healthy adults.

The additive genetic variance after bottlenecks is affected by the number of loci involved in epistatic interactions.

We investigated the role of the number of loci coding for a neutral trait on the release of additive variance for this trait after population bottlenecks. Different bottleneck sizes and durations were tested for various matrices of genotypic values, with initial conditions covering the allele frequency space. We used three different types of matrices. First, we extended Cheverud and Routman's model by defining matrices of "pure" epistasis for three and four independent loci; second, we used genotypic values drawn randomly from uniform, normal, and exponential distributions; and third we used two models of simple metabolic pathways leading to physiological epistasis. For all these matrices of genotypic values except the dominant metabolic pathway, we find that, as the number of loci increases from two to three and four, an increase in the release of additive variance is occurring. The amount of additive variance released for a given set of genotypic values is a function of the inbreeding coefficient, independently of the size and duration of the bottleneck. The level of inbreeding necessary to achieve maximum release in additive variance increases with the number of loci. We find that additive-by-additive epistasis is the type of epistasis most easily converted into additive variance. For a wide range of models, our results show that epistasis, rather than dominance, plays a significant role in the increase of additive variance following bottlenecks.

Bentho-planktonic evidence from the Austrian Alps for a decline in sea-surface carbonate production at the end of the Triassic

A high-resolution micropalaeontological study, combined with geochemical and sedimentological analyses was performed on the Tiefengraben, Schlossgraben and Eiberg sections (Austrian Alps) in order to characterize sea-surface carbonate production during the end-Triassic crisis. At the end-Rhaetian, the dominant calcareous nannofossil Prinsiosphaera triassica shows a decrease in abundance and size and this is correlated with a increase in delta O-18 and a gradual decline in delta C-13(carb) values. Simultaneously, benthic foraminiferal assemblages show a decrease in diversity and abundance of calcareous taxa and a dominance of infaunal agglutinated taxa. The smaller size of calcareous nannofossils disturbed the vertical export balance of the biological carbon pump towards the sea-bottom, resulting in changes in feeding strategies within the benthic foraminiferal assemblages from deposit feeders to detritus feeders and bacterial scavengers. These micropalaeontological data combined with geochemical proxies suggest that changes in seawater chemistry and/or cooling episodes might have occurred in the latest Triassic, leading to a marked decrease of carbonate production. This in turn culminated in the quasi-absence of calcareous nannofossils and benthic foraminifers in the latest Triassic. The aftermath (latest Triassic earliest Jurassic) was characterised by abundance peaks of ``disaster'' epifaunal agglutinated foraminifera Trochammina on the sea-floor. Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP) paroxysmal activity, superimposed on a major worldwide regressive phase, is assumed to be responsible for a deterioration in marine palaeoenvironments. CAMP sulfuric emissions might have been the trigger for cooling episodes and seawater acidification leading to disturbance of the surface carbonate production at the very end-Triassic.

Inter- and intrahemispheric dissociations in ideomotor apraxia: a large-scale lesion-symptom mapping study in subacute brain-damaged patients.

Pantomimes of object use require accurate representations of movements and a selection of the most task-relevant gestures. Prominent models of praxis, corroborated by functional neuroimaging studies, predict a critical role for left parietal cortices in pantomime and advance that these areas store representations of tool use. In contrast, lesion data points to the involvement of left inferior frontal areas, suggesting that defective selection of movement features is the cause of pantomime errors. We conducted a large-scale voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping analyses with configural/spatial (CS) and body-part-as-object (BPO) pantomime errors of 150 left and right brain-damaged patients. Our results confirm the left hemisphere dominance in pantomime. Both types of error were associated with damage to left inferior frontal regions in tumor and stroke patients. While CS pantomime errors were associated with left temporoparietal lesions in both stroke and tumor patients, these errors appeared less associated with parietal areas in stroke than in tumor patients and less associated with temporal in tumor than stroke patients. BPO errors were associated with left inferior frontal lesions in both tumor and stroke patients. Collectively, our results reveal a left intrahemispheric dissociation for various aspects of pantomime, but with an unspecific role for inferior frontal regions.

Phlebotomine fauna (Diptera: Psychodidae) and species abundance in an endemic area of American cutaneous leishmaniasis in southeastern Minas Gerais, Brazil

This study was undertaken to identify the phlebotomine fauna and species abundance in domiciliary and peridomiciliary (hen-house and guava-tree) environments, on a lake shore, a cultivated area of coffee and banana, and a forested area of Conceição da Aparecida municipality, southeastern the state of Minas Gerais, to provide information for the control and epidemiological surveillance of leishmaniasis in this area. The captures were carried out monthly between May 2001 and November 2002, with automatic light and Shannon traps. A total of 1444 sand flies were captured, 951 (76.5%) with automatic light traps and 493 (23.5%) with the Shannon trap. Thirteen species were captured, the most frequent being Nyssomyia whitmani (62.7%), Migonemyia migonei (21.4%), Pintomyia fischeri (6.9%), and Evandromyia lenti (3.6%). Species abundance was determined using the automatic light traps installed in the six environments. The most abundant species according to the standardized index of species abundance were Ny. whitmani (1.0) and Mg. migonei (0.82). In view of the dominance of these two species, known vectors of cutaneous leishmaniasis in other Brazilian areas, their participation in the transmission of the disease in this county is suggested. The diversity and evenness indexes in the domicile were the lowest due to the high frequency (83%) of Ny. whitmani. The capture of Lutzomyia longipalpis, rarely recorded in the south-eastern and southern regions of Minas Gerais, is also noteworthy.

Wolves in sheep's clothing: SDO asymmetrically predicts perceived ethnic victimization among White and Latino students across three years

Dominant groups have claimed to be the targets of discrimination on several historical occasions during violent intergroup conflict and genocide.The authors argue that perceptions of ethnic victimization among members of dominant groups express social dominance motives and thus may be recruited for the enforcement of group hierarchy. They examine the antecedents of perceived ethnic victimization among dominants, following 561 college students over 3 years from freshman year to graduation year. Using longitudinal, cross-lagged structural equation modeling, the authors show that social dominance orientation (SDO) positively predicts perceived ethnic victimization among Whites but not among Latinos, whereas victimization does not predict SDO over time. In contrast, ethnic identity and victimization reciprocally predicted each other longitudinally with equal strength among White and Latino students. SDO is not merely a reflection of contextualized social identity concerns but a psychological, relational motivation that undergirds intergroup attitudes across extended periods of time and interacts with the context of group dominance.

The association between drinking motives and alcohol-related consequences - room for biases and measurement issues?

Aims  To investigate whether the predominant finding of generalized positive associations between self-rated motives for drinking alcohol and negative consequences of drinking alcohol are influenced by (i) using raw scores of motives that may weight inter-individual response behaviours too strongly, and (ii) predictor-criterion contamination by using consequence items where respondents attribute alcohol use as the cause. Design  Cross-sectional study within the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and other Drugs (ESPAD). Setting  School classes. Participants  Students, aged 13-16 (n = 5633). Measurements  Raw, rank and mean-variance standardized scores of the Drinking Motives Questionnaire-Revised (DMQ-R); four consequences: serious problems with friends, sexual intercourse regretted the next day, physical fights and troubles with the police, each itemized with attribution ('because of your alcohol use') and without. Findings  As found previously in the literature, raw scores for all drinking motives had positive associations with negative consequences of drinking, while transformed (rank or Z) scores showed a more specific pattern: external reinforcing motives (social, conformity) had negative and internal reinforcing motives (enhancement, coping) had non-significant or positive associations with negative consequences. Attributed consequences showed stronger associations with motives than non-attributed ones. Conclusion  Standard scoring of the Drinking Motives Questionnaire (Revised) fails to capture motives in a way that permits specific associations with different negative consequences to be identified, whereas use of rank or Z-scores does permit this. Use of attributed consequences overestimates the association with drinking motives.

Solució mental i solució motriu en la iniciació als esports col·lectius en l'Educació Primària

The adjustment of the teaching learning contents in Physical Education, requires of a rigorous analysis that permits to adjust them to the maximum with the educational needs of the student body. It has been approached an investigation study in the one which have intervened pupils, boys and girls, of two different populations, Girona and Madrid in order to prove and analyse the motor and mental components of the student body in the real situation of the game. The hypothesis that we have treated are:if it exists differences between the boys and girls of the educational levels studied in the motor and mental solution in the sports initiation, additionally, the differences that they can exist between the courses and what distance is verified between the study ages to approach a physical activity that implies an initial step to the hour of teaching the collective sports in the classes of Physical education. They have been employed three measure instruments: the first permits to analyse the mental solution without need of practice employing situation photographs of the real game with those which the pupils must choose to who to happen; the second is a pass test that permits to prove the technical dominance to use in a collective sport and the third is a real game situation that permits to put in manifesto the relationship between the mental behaviour and the motor of the pupil. This real game situation is ‘the game of ten pass’ (Blázquez,1986; Torres,1993). The results demonstrate that it do not exist differences between the two sexes in the study ages. In the case of the technical execution level, there is a considerable increase with the age and it is slightly greater in the kids that in the girls. In the case of the real game, we find ourselves with a great variability in the results and we cannot conclude that there are relative differences to the sex in none of the three courses. Respect at participation level during the game is confirmed that the pupils that more participate are not the pupils than more balls lose, what permits to guarantee the idea of the fact that it is convenient to use the real game practice as direct learning element. Finally, there is no a high correlation between the execution level measured in the test of technical execution and the decision execution during the game

Tests for sex-biased dispersal using bi-parentally inherited genetic markers.

Understanding why dispersal is sex-biased in many taxa is still a major concern in evolutionary ecology. Dispersal tends to be male-biased in mammals and female-biased in birds, but counter-examples exist and little is known about sex bias in other taxa. Obtaining accurate measures of dispersal in the field remains a problem. Here we describe and compare several methods for detecting sex-biased dispersal using bi-parentally inherited, codominant genetic markers. If gene flow is restricted among populations, then the genotype of an individual tells something about its origin. Provided that dispersal occurs at the juvenile stage and that sampling is carried out on adults, genotypes sampled from the dispersing sex should on average be less likely (compared to genotypes from the philopatric sex) in the population in which they were sampled. The dispersing sex should be less genetically structured and should present a larger heterozygote deficit. In this study we use computer simulations and a permutation test on four statistics to investigate the conditions under which sex-biased dispersal can be detected. Two tests emerge as fairly powerful. We present results concerning the optimal sampling strategy (varying number of samples, individuals, loci per individual and level of polymorphism) under different amounts of dispersal for each sex. These tests for biases in dispersal are also appropriate for any attribute (e.g. size, colour, status) suspected to influence the probability of dispersal. A windows program carrying out these tests can be freely downloaded from http://www.unil.ch/izea/softwares/fstat.html

A new perspective on the zoogeography of the sibling mouse-eared bat species Myotis myotis and Myotis blythii: Morphological, genetical and ecological evidence

The actual geographic distribution of the two sibling mouse-eared bat species Myotis myotis and Myotis blythii, which occur widely sympatrically in the western Palaearctic region, remains largely controversial. This concerns particularly the specific attribution of marginal populations from the Mediterranean islands and from adjacent areas of North Africa and Asia, which are morphologically intermediate between continental M. myotis and M. blythii from Europe. This study attempts to clarify this question by using four different approaches: cranial morphology, external morphology, genetics and trophic ecology. The three latter methods show unambiguously that North Africa, Malta, Sardinia and Corsica are presently inhabited by monospecific populations of M. myotis. In contrast, cranial morphometrics do not yield conclusive results. These results contradict all recent studies, which attribute North African and Maltese mouse-eared bats to M. blythii and consider that Sardinia and Corsica harbour sympatric populations of the two species. As concerns south-eastern populations, doubts are also expressed about the attribution of the subspecific taxon omari which may actually refer to M. myotis instead of M. blythii. Protein electrophoresis is presently the only absolute method available for determining M. myotis and M. blythii throughout their distribution ranges. However, species identification may be approached by relying on less sophisticated morphometrical methods as presented in this study. Species-specific habitat specializations are probably responsible for the differences observed between the geographic distributions of M. myotis and M. blythii, as they provide a logical groundwork for a coherent model of speciation for these two bat species.

Intra- and intersexual selection and their potential consequences on fitness-relevant traits in several fish species

Résumé : Les mécanismes de sélection sexuelle, en particulier la compétition entre mâles (sélection inter-sexuelle) et le choix des femelles (sélection intra-sexuelle), peuvent fortement influencer le succès reproducteur d'un individu, c'est-à-dire son nombre de descendants. On observe ainsi que les mâles dominants et les mâles élaborant des caractères sexuels secondaires marqués ont un succès reproducteur élevé. Toutefois, le succès reproducteur ne suffit pas pour garantir une contribution génétique élevée, parce que la fitness dépend également de la performance des descendants (c'est-à-dire de leur survie et de leur propre succès reproducteur). Si cette performance dépend en partie des gènes paternels, les males ont un avantage certain à signaler leur qualité aux femelles afin d'atteindre des taux de reproduction élevé. Ce mécanisme de signalisation est connu sous le nom de 'good genes hypothesis', toutefois très peu d'études ont clairement démontré le lien entre la qualité génétique des individus et la signalisation. De plus, la performance des descendants peut aussi dépendre des effets génétiques de compatibilité entre mâles et femelles ('compatible genes'). C'est-à-dire que certains allèles paternels n'apporteraient un avantage aux descendants qu'en combinaison avec certains allèles maternels. Nous avons déterminé, durant la période de reproduction, le statut de dominance des mâles pour deux espèces de poissons d'eau douce : la truite (Salmo trotta) et le vairon (Phoxinus phoxinus), puis nous avons évalué la relation entre le succès reproducteur et le statut de dominance et/ou la quantité de signalisation des caractères sexuels secondaires. Nous avons également fécondés artificiellement des oeufs de truites et de corégones (Coregonus palaea), en croisant chaque mâle avec chaque femelle (full-factorial breeding design). Ce type de design autorise la quantification précise des effets génétiques et permet de séparer les effets de 'good genes' et de 'compatible genes'. Cela a été fait sous différentes intensités de stress bactérien, ainsi que dans des conditions naturelles, et nous avons pu ainsi tester si certains indicateurs de qualité génétique des mâles ('good genes') étaient liés a) à la dominance et/ou b) à l'expression des caractères sexuels secondaires des mâles comme l'intensité mélanique ou la taille des tubercules sexuels. En outre, nous cherchons à savoir si la survie des descendants est liée à certaines combinaison des gènes du complexe d'histocompatibilité majeur (MHC) et/ou à la parenté génétique des parents, les deux traits étant soupçonnés d'avoir des influences génétique de compatibilité (`compatible genes') à la performance des descendants. Nous avons constaté que la dominance des mâles est directement liée à la taille et au poids des mâles (truites, vairons), mais également aux caractères sexuels secondaires (tubercules). De plus, les mâles vairons dominant ont eu un succès de fécondation plus élevés que les mâles subordonnés. Nous montrons que les truites et corégones mâles diffèrent dans leur qualité génétique, qui a été mesurée avéc la survie embryonnaire, le temps avant l'éclosion et enfin la croissance juvénile. Contrairement aux prédictions, la dominance (ou les traits indicatifs de dominance) n'était liée à la qualité génétique, dans aucun des traitements, et ne fonctionne donc pas comme indicateur de qualité. Par contre, la qualité génétique était liée aux caractères sexuels secondaires, particulièrement par la teinte mélanique chez les truites. Les embryons de truites issus de pères sombres survivaient mieux que ceux issus de pères clairs dans des environnements difficiles, de plus leur croissance était plus élevée lors de leur première année dans des conditions naturelles. La taille des juvéniles lors de leur première année est un trait important lié au succès dans la compétition pour des ressources telles qu'abri ou nourriture. De plus, les femelles truites peuvent augmenter la survie de leurs descendants en choisissant des mâles selon leur type de MHC ou selon leur degré de parenté. En outre, chez les corégones, la morphologie des tubercules sexuels ne semble pas signaler la qualité génétique. Nous avons également remarqué que l'exposition à des pathogènes non-létaux pouvait influencer la performance des alevins à court et long terme, probablement en affaiblissant leur système immunitaire. Cette thèse montre que les mâles diffèrent dans leur qualité génétique et que différents mécanismes de sélection inter- ou intra-sexuelle (par exemple la préférence pour des mâles sombres, pour des génotypes MHC ou pour des couples avec degré de parenté basse) pouvait avoir un effet positif sur la qualité des descendants, bien que cet effet génétique pouvait changer au cours du temps et entre différents environnements. Contrairement à nos attentes, le résultat de la compétition intra-sexuelle (la hiérarchie de dominance entre mâles) n'était pas lié à la qualité génétique individuelle ('good genes'). Dans ce sens, ce travail permet également de contribuer à l'explication du fait que la sélection sexuelle, de par sa forte sélection directionnelle, ne conduit pas à la diminution de la variance génétique, mais plutôt à la maintenance du polymorphisme génétique. Summary : Sexual selection mechanisms, especially male-male competition (inteasexual selection) and female mate choice (inteasexual selection), can strongly influence individual mating success, often resulting in dominant males and males with elaborate secondary sexual characters having higher fertilisation success. However, siring a high number of offspring alone does not guarantee high individual fitness, as fitness does also strongly depend on offspring performance (i.e. survival, fecundity). If this superiority in offspring performance depends on paternally inherited genes, the fathers are expected to signal this potential indirect benefit to females in order to attain high mating rates. This mechanism is also known as the 'good genes' hypothesis of sexual selection but until now most studies failed to conclusively show the relation of an individual genetic quality and its potential signalling traits. Further, offspring performance could also depend on compatible gene effects. These are alleles that increase offspring performance only in combination with other specific alleles. We first determined male dominance status from intrasexual competition during mating season for brown trout (Salmo trutta) and European minnows (Phoxinus phoxinus). For minnows we additionally checked if dominance and/or secondary sexual traits were linked to fertilisation success. Further, we artificially fertilised brown trout and alpine whitefish (Coregonus palaea) eggs, following full factorial breeding designs, enabling to properly measure `good gene' and `compatible gene' effects on offspring performance. This was done under different intensities of natural stressors, as well as under natural conditions. This procedure allowed us to test if the obtained male genetic quality measures (good genes effects) were indicated by a) dominance or lay traits linked to dominance and/or by b) secondary sexual characteristics such as melanin-based male skin darkness or breeding tubercles. Further, we investigated if offspring survival was linked to the MHC (major histocompatibility complex) gene combinations and/or to the parental genetic relatedness, as both traits were shown to have 'compatible gene' effects that may influence offspring performance. We found that male dominance in intrasexual competition was positively linked to body size, body weight (brown trout, minnows) but also to elaborate secondary sexual characteristics (breeding tubercles in minnows). Further, dominant minnow males did have an increased fertilisation success compared to subordinate ones. We show that brown trout and whitefish males do usually differ in their genetic quality, which was measured as embryo survival, hatching timing and finally as juvenile growth. Contrary to prediction male dominance or dominance indicating traits do not function as a quality signal as they were not linked to genetic quality. This result was constant when measuring genetic quality under different levels of natural stressors and under natural conditions (brown trout). On the other hand genetic quality seemed to be indicated by secondary sexual characteristics, specifically by melanin-based skin darkness in brown trout as brown trout embryos sired by darker fathers had increased survival rates when raised under harsh conditions and. they grew larger as juveniles after one year of growth in a natural stream, which is an important trait influencing success of juveniles in competition for hidings, food and other resources. Furthermore, brown trout females may increase the survival of their embryos when choosing males according to their MHC genotypes or to the general genetic relatedness between themselves and their potential mates. In whitefish on the other hand breeding tubercle morphology did not seem to signal genetic quality. Eventually, we saw that anon-lethal exposure to pathogens might influence short term and long term offspring performance probably by weakening an exposed individual's immune system. This thesis shows that males usually differ in their genetic quality and that different inter- or intrasexual selection mechanisms (e.g. mate selection favouring dark males, preference for MHC genotype combinations or for unrelated mates) may have strong positive effects on genetically dependent offspring performance but that such genetìc effects can change over time and environments. In contrast to our a priori expectations, the outcome of intrasexual selection, namely male dominance hierarchies, with dominant males often having high fertilisation success, was not linked to individual genetic quality (`good genes'). In this sense the present thesis may also be a helpful contribution to understand why sexual selection does not lead to rapid loss of genetic variation by strong directional selection but could even lead to the maintenance of genetic variation in natural populations.