Search results for "general [Quasars]"

The cost of open access publication of papers by spanish authors in five areas of the social sciences

2021

[ES] La publicación en abierto de los artículos conlleva unos gastos conocidos como cargos por procesamiento de artículos (APC, en sus siglas en inglés). El objetivo de este trabajo es determinar el coste de los artículos publicados en abierto mediante APC de autoría española en cinco categorías temáticas de las ciencias sociales: Humanities (Multidisciplinary), Sociology, Information Science & Library Science, Education & Educational Research y Communication de la Colección Principal de la Web of Science (WoS) durante el periodo 2012-2019. Se han identificado las revistas, las instituciones financiadoras y los modelos de publicación más frecuentes. El estudio indica que de las 223 revistas…

Ethnobotany of the Aegadian Islands: safeguarding biocultural refugia in the Mediterranean

2021

Abstract Background The Aegadian Islands are located west of Trapani, Sicily. Once the site of bountiful tuna fisheries and fruit orchards (plums, peaches, apricots), grapevines, prickly pears, and grains, the local economy is now based on tourism, and many traditional agricultural and maritime practices have been abandoned. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the state of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) concerning the use of wild and cultivated plants and fungi for human health, food, maritime, and agricultural purposes on the islands of Levanzo, Favignana, and Marettimo and compare present-day practices with those documented in the past. Methods In-depth semi-structured interviews …

Bioethics and neuroethics

2019

Neuroethics officially appeared at the start of the 21st century due to the progress made by the neurosciences, as an applied ethics related to bioethics, but also as an independent discipline in its own right. As an applied ethics, it tackles issues bordering on bioethics. As independent neuroethics, it deals with established philosophical problems from a neuroscientific standpoint in the broader sense. It involves two central questions: the design of a framework in which to select, interpret and integrate data from neuroscience on morality and outlining the appropriate method or methods for this new branch of knowledge. In both cases, most neuroethicists curiously claim to take a naturali…

Ecomorphological inferences in early vertebrates: reconstructing Dunkleosteus terrelli (Arthrodira, Placodermi) caudal fin from palaeoecological data

2017

Our knowledge about the body morphology of many extinct early vertebrates is very limited, especially in regard to their post-thoracic region. The prompt disarticulation of the dermo-skeletal elements due to taphonomic processes and the lack of a well-ossified endoskeleton in a large number of groups hinder the preservation of complete specimens. Previous reconstructions of most early vertebrates known from partial remains have been wholly based on phylogenetically closely related taxa. However, body design of fishes is determined, to a large extent, by their swimming mode and feeding niche, making it possible to recognise different morphological traits that have evolved several times in no…

2018

BackgroundThe use and partitioning of trophic resources is a central aspect of community function. On the ground of tropical forests, dozens of ant species may be found together and ecological mechanisms should act to allow such coexistence. One hypothesis states that niche specialization is higher in the tropics, compared to temperate regions. However, trophic niches of most species are virtually unknown. Several techniques might be combined to study trophic niche, such as field observations, fatty acid analysis (FAA) and stable isotope analysis (SIA). In this work, we combine these three techniques to unveil partitioning of trophic resources in a tropical and a temperate community. We des…

FLUCTUATING TEMPERATURE LEADS TO EVOLUTION OF THERMAL GENERALISM AND PREADAPTATION TO NOVEL ENVIRONMENTS

2013

Environmental fluctuations can select for generalism, which is also hypothesized to increase organisms' ability to invade novel environments. Here, we show that across a range of temperatures, opportunistic bacterial pathogen Serratia marcescens that evolved in fluctuating temperature (daily variation between 24°C and 38°C, mean 31°C) outperforms the strains that evolved in constant temperature (31°C). The growth advantage was also evident in novel environments in the presence of parasitic viruses and predatory protozoans, but less clear in the presence of stressful chemicals. Adaptation to fluctuating temperature also led to reduced virulence in Drosophila melanogaster host, which suggests…

Multiple‐batch spawning as a bet‐hedging strategy in highly stochastic environments: An exploratory analysis of Atlantic cod

2021

Stochastic environments shape life‐history traits and can promote selection for risk‐spreading strategies, such as bet‐hedging. Although the strategy has often been hypothesised to exist for various species, empirical tests providing firm evidence have been rare, mainly due to the challenge in tracking fitness across generations. Here, we take a ‘proof of principle’ approach to explore whether the reproductive strategy of multiple‐batch spawning constitutes a bet‐hedging. We used Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) as the study species and parameterised an eco‐evolutionary model, using empirical data on size‐related reproductive and survival traits. To evaluate the fitness benefits of multiple‐batc…

Enforced monoandry over generations induces a reduction of female investment into reproduction in a promiscuous bird.

2021

Abstract While uncovering the costs and benefits of polyandry has attracted considerable attention, assessing the net effect of sexual selection on population fitness requires the experimental manipulation of female mating over generations, which is usually only achievable in laboratory populations of arthropods. However, knowing if sexual selection improves or impairs the expression of life‐history traits is key for the management of captive populations of endangered species, which are mostly long‐lived birds and mammals. It might therefore be questionable to extrapolate the results gathered on laboratory populations of insects to infer the net effect of sexual selection on populations of …

Experimental increase in fecundity causes upregulation of fecundity and body maintenance genes in the fat body of ant queens.

2021

In most organisms, fecundity and longevity are negatively associated and the molecular regulation of these two life-history traits is highly interconnected. In addition, nutrient intake often has opposing effects on lifespan and reproduction. In contrast to solitary insects, the main reproductive individual of social hymenopterans, the queen, is also the most long-lived. During development, queen larvae are well-nourished, but we are only beginning to understand the impact of nutrition on the queens' adult life and the molecular regulation and connectivity of fecundity and longevity. Here, we used two experimental manipulations to alter queen fecundity in the ant Temnothorax rugatulus and …

The genome sequence of the grape phylloxera provides insights into the evolution, adaptation, and invasion routes of an iconic pest

2020

Background: Although native to North America, the invasion of the aphid-like grape phylloxera Daktulosphaira vitifoliae across the globe altered the course of grape cultivation. For the past 150 years, viticulture relied on grafting-resistant North American Vitis species as rootstocks, thereby limiting genetic stocks tolerant to other stressors such as pathogens and climate change. Limited understanding of the insect genetics resulted in successive outbreaks across the globe when rootstocks failed. Here we report the 294-Mb genome of D. vitifoliae as a basic tool to understand host plant manipulation, nutritional endosymbiosis, and enhance global viticulture. Results: Using a combination of…