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Current Biology : CB Aug 2022Animals often display prosocial behaviors, performing actions that benefit others. Although prosociality is essential for social bonding and cooperation, we still know...
Animals often display prosocial behaviors, performing actions that benefit others. Although prosociality is essential for social bonding and cooperation, we still know little about how animals integrate behavioral cues from those in need to make decisions that increase their well-being. To address this question, we used a two-choice task where rats can provide rewards to a conspecific in the absence of self-benefit and investigated which conditions promote prosociality by manipulating the social context of the interacting animals. Although sex or degree of familiarity did not affect prosocial choices in rats, social hierarchy revealed to be a potent modulator, with dominant decision-makers showing faster emergence and higher levels of prosocial choices toward their submissive cage mates. Leveraging quantitative analysis of multimodal social dynamics prior to choice, we identified that pairs with dominant decision-makers exhibited more proximal interactions. Interestingly, these closer interactions were driven by submissive animals that modulated their position and movement following their dominants and whose 50-kHz vocalization rate correlated with dominants' prosociality. Moreover, Granger causality revealed stronger bidirectional influences in pairs with dominant focals and submissive recipients, indicating increased behavioral coordination. Finally, multivariate analysis highlighted body language as the main information dominants use on a trial-by-trial basis to learn that their actions have effects on others. Our results provide a refined understanding of the behavioral dynamics that rats use for action-selection upon perception of socially relevant cues and navigate social decision-making.
Topics: Altruism; Animals; Cues; Hierarchy, Social; Rats; Reward; Social Behavior
PubMed: 35803272
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.06.026 -
Frontiers in Microbiology 2022Due to global warming, shorter ice cover duration might drastically affect the ecology of lakes currently undergoing seasonal surface freezing. High-mountain lakes show...
Due to global warming, shorter ice cover duration might drastically affect the ecology of lakes currently undergoing seasonal surface freezing. High-mountain lakes show snow-rich ice covers that determine contrasting conditions between ice-off and ice-on periods. We characterized the bacterioplankton seasonality in a deep high-mountain lake ice-covered for half a year. The lake shows a rich core bacterioplankton community consisting of three components: (i) an assemblage stable throughout the year, dominated by Actinobacteria, resistant to all environmental conditions; (ii) an ice-on-resilient assemblage dominating during the ice-covered period, which is more diverse than the other components and includes a high abundance of Verrucomicrobia; the deep hypolimnion constitutes a refuge for many of the typical under-ice taxa, many of which recover quickly during autumn mixing; and (iii) an ice-off-resilient assemblage, which members peak in summer in epilimnetic waters when the rest decline, characterized by a dominance of , and . The rich core community and low random elements compared to other relatively small cold lakes can be attributed to its simple hydrological network in a poorly-vegetated catchment, the long water-residence time ( 4 years), and the long ice-cover duration; features common to many headwater deep high-mountain lakes.
PubMed: 36187988
DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.935378 -
The New Phytologist Oct 2019A crucial step in the transition from outcrossing to self-fertilization is the loss of genetic self-incompatibility (SI). In the Brassicaceae, SI involves the...
A crucial step in the transition from outcrossing to self-fertilization is the loss of genetic self-incompatibility (SI). In the Brassicaceae, SI involves the interaction of female and male specificity components, encoded by the genes SRK and SCR at the self-incompatibility locus (S-locus). Theory predicts that S-linked mutations, and especially dominant mutations in SCR, are likely to contribute to loss of SI. However, few studies have investigated the contribution of dominant mutations to loss of SI in wild plant species. Here, we investigate the genetic basis of loss of SI in the self-fertilizing crucifer species Capsella orientalis, by combining genetic mapping, long-read sequencing of complete S-haplotypes, gene expression analyses and controlled crosses. We show that loss of SI in C. orientalis occurred < 2.6 Mya and maps as a dominant trait to the S-locus. We identify a fixed frameshift deletion in the male specificity gene SCR and confirm loss of male SI specificity. We further identify an S-linked small RNA that is predicted to cause dominance of self-compatibility. Our results agree with predictions on the contribution of dominant S-linked mutations to loss of SI, and thus provide new insights into the molecular basis of mating system transitions.
Topics: Base Sequence; Capsella; Crosses, Genetic; Frameshift Mutation; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Genes, Dominant; Genetic Loci; Haplotypes; Phylogeny; Quantitative Trait, Heritable; RNA, Plant; Reproduction; Self-Incompatibility in Flowering Plants; Time Factors
PubMed: 31254395
DOI: 10.1111/nph.16035 -
Scientific Reports Mar 2022When our eyes are confronted with discrepant images (yielding incompatible retinal inputs) interocular competition (IOC) is instigated. During IOC, one image temporarily...
When our eyes are confronted with discrepant images (yielding incompatible retinal inputs) interocular competition (IOC) is instigated. During IOC, one image temporarily dominates perception, while the other is suppressed. Many factors affecting IOC have been extensively examined. One factor that received surprisingly little attention, however, is the stimulus' visual hemifield (VHF) of origin. This is remarkable, as the VHF location of stimuli is known to affect visual performance in various contexts. Prompted by exploratory analyses, we examined five independent datasets of breaking continuous flash suppression experiments, to establish the VHF's role in IOC. We found that targets presented in nasal VHF locations broke through suppression much faster than targets in temporal VHF locations. Furthermore, we found that the magnitude of this nasal advantage depended on how strongly the targets were suppressed: the nasal advantage was larger for the recessive eye than for the dominant eye, and was larger in observers with a greater dominance imbalance between the eyes. Our findings suggest that the nasal advantage reported here originates in processing stages where IOC is resolved. Finally, we propose that a nasal advantage in IOC serves an adaptive role in human vision, as it can aid perception of partially occluded objects.
Topics: Attention; Humans; Photic Stimulation; Retina; Vision, Binocular; Visual Fields; Visual Perception
PubMed: 35301373
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-08473-w -
Medicine, Health Care, and Philosophy Mar 2017This paper invokes the conceptual framework of Bourdieu to analyse the mechanisms, which help to maintain inappropriate authorship practices and the functions these...
This paper invokes the conceptual framework of Bourdieu to analyse the mechanisms, which help to maintain inappropriate authorship practices and the functions these practices may serve. Bourdieu's social theory with its emphasis on mechanisms of domination can be applied to the academic field, too, where competition is omnipresent, control mechanisms of authorship are loose, and the result of performance assessment can be a matter of symbolic life and death for the researchers. This results in a problem of game-theoretic nature, where researchers' behaviour will be determined more by the logic of competition, than by individual character or motives. From this follows that changing this practice requires institutionalized mechanisms, and change cannot be expected from simply appealing to researchers' individual conscience. The article aims at showing that academic capital (administrative power, seniority) is translated into honorary authorship. With little control, undetected honorary authorship gives the appearance of possessing intellectual capital (scientific merit). In this way a dominant position is made to be seen as natural result of intellectual ability or scientific merit, which makes it more acceptable to those in dominated positions. The final conclusion of this paper is that undemocratic authorship decisions and authorship based performance assessment together are a form of symbolic violence.
Topics: Authorship; Biomedical Research; Humans; Publications; Social Theory
PubMed: 27522373
DOI: 10.1007/s11019-016-9722-5 -
Bulletin of Experimental Biology and... Jan 2016Organized activity of the myocardium manifested in dominant frequency structure of EСG was typical of the first 10 min of ventricular fibrillation in canine heart. The...
Organized activity of the myocardium manifested in dominant frequency structure of EСG was typical of the first 10 min of ventricular fibrillation in canine heart. The first minute of fibrillation was characterized by the most pronounced changes in the structure of oscillation frequency and transition from domination of high frequency oscillations (13-17 Hz) to domination of medium (8-12 Hz) and then low frequency (4-7 Hz) oscillations. The second minute was characterized by transition from domination of low frequency oscillations to domination of low and medium frequency oscillations; minutes 3-10 were characterized by domination of low and medium frequency oscillations; after 10 min, non-dominant ventricular oscillations were recorded.
Topics: Animals; Dogs; Electrocardiography; Heart; Ventricular Fibrillation
PubMed: 26742740
DOI: 10.1007/s10517-016-3153-4 -
The ISME Journal Nov 2022The mammalian intestine harbors heterogeneous distribution of microbes among which specific taxa (e.g. Lactobacillus) dominate across mammals. Deterministic factors such...
The mammalian intestine harbors heterogeneous distribution of microbes among which specific taxa (e.g. Lactobacillus) dominate across mammals. Deterministic factors such as nutrient availability and utilization may affect microbial distributions. Due to physiological complexity, mechanisms linking nutrient utilization and the dominance of key taxa remain unclear. Lactobacillus amylovorus is a predominant species in the small intestine of pigs. Employing a pig model, we found that the small intestine was dominated by Lactobacillus and particularly L. amylovorus, and enriched with peptide-bound amino acids (PBAAs), all of which were further boosted after a peptide-rich diet. To investigate the bacterial growth dominance mechanism, a representative strain L. amylovorus S1 was isolated from the small intestine and anaerobically cultured in media with free amino acids or peptides as sole nitrogen sources. L. amylovorus S1 grew preferentially with peptide-rich rather than amino acid-rich substrates, as reflected by enhanced growth and PBAA utilization, and peptide transporter upregulations. Utilization of free amino acids (e.g. methionine, valine, lysine) and expressions of transporters and metabolic enzymes were enhanced simultaneously in peptide-rich substrate. Additionally, lactate was elevated in peptide-rich substrates while acetate in amino acid-rich substrates, indicating distinct metabolic patterns depending on substrate forms. These results suggest that an increased capability of utilizing PBAAs contributes to the dominance of L. amylovorus, indicating amino acid utilization as a deterministic factor affecting intestinal microbial distribution. These findings may provide new insights into the microbe-gut nutrition interplay and guidelines for dietary manipulations toward gut health especially small intestine health.
Topics: Amino Acids; Animals; Lactates; Lactobacillus; Lactobacillus acidophilus; Lysine; Mammals; Methionine; Nitrogen; Swine; Valine
PubMed: 35896730
DOI: 10.1038/s41396-022-01287-8 -
Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 2021Social status-dependent modulation of neural circuits has been investigated extensively in vertebrate and invertebrate systems. However, the effects of social status on...
Social status-dependent modulation of neural circuits has been investigated extensively in vertebrate and invertebrate systems. However, the effects of social status on neuromodulatory systems that drive motor activity are poorly understood. Zebrafish form a stable social relationship that consists of socially dominant and subordinate animals. The locomotor behavior patterns differ according to their social ranks. The sensitivity of the Mauthner startle escape response in subordinates increases compared to dominants while dominants increase their swimming frequency compared to subordinates. Here, we investigated the role of the endocannabinoid system (ECS) in mediating these differences in motor activities. We show that brain gene expression of key ECS protein pathways are socially regulated. Diacylglycerol lipase (DAGL) expression significantly increased in dominants and significantly decreased in subordinates relative to controls. Moreover, brain gene expression of the cannabinoid 1 receptor (CBR) was significantly increased in subordinates relative to controls. Secondly, increasing ECS activity with JZL184 reversed swimming activity patterns in dominant and subordinate animals. JZL184 did not affect the sensitivity of the startle escape response in dominants while it was significantly reduced in subordinates. Thirdly, blockage of CBR function with AM-251 had no effect on dominants startle escape response sensitivity, but startle sensitivity was significantly reduced in subordinates. Additionally, AM-251 did not affect swimming activities in either social phenotypes. Fourthly, we demonstrate that the effects of ECS modulation of the startle escape circuit is mediated via the dopaminergic system specifically via the dopamine D1 receptor. Finally, our empirical results complemented with neurocomputational modeling suggest that social status influences the ECS to regulate the balance in synaptic strength between excitatory and inhibitory inputs to control the excitability of motor behaviors. Collectively, this study provides new insights of how social factors impact nervous system function to reconfigure the synergistic interactions of neuromodulatory pathways to optimize motor output.
PubMed: 34045945
DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2021.668589 -
TSitologiia I Genetika 2017The degree of dominance and the coefficient of heritability have been investigated as indicators of the allelic interaction at loci Rht8 and Rht-B1, which is...
The degree of dominance and the coefficient of heritability have been investigated as indicators of the allelic interaction at loci Rht8 and Rht-B1, which is characterized by the partial, complete or over dominance of greater plant height and by the low or medium heritability. Alleles with a weaker or without direct negative effect dominate under alleles reducing the plant height stronger. The impact of weather conditions on a change of the dominance is discussed. The line Kooperatorka has an additional allele (alleles), causing the greater heights of plants, with partially recessive mode of inheritance. An unidentified half-dominant dwarfing gene (genes) is present in a genotype of the line Odeska 3. The presence of a heterosis, caused by heterozygosity for genes, which are not critical in our research, distorts the evaluation of the allelic relationship characteristics studied.
Topics: Alleles; Chimera; Epistasis, Genetic; Genes, Plant; Genotype; Hybrid Vigor; Inheritance Patterns; Models, Genetic; Phenotype; Quantitative Trait Loci; Quantitative Trait, Heritable; Triticum
PubMed: 30484607
DOI: No ID Found -
Experimental Brain Research Feb 2021Speed accuracy trade-off, the inverse relationship between movement speed and task accuracy, is a ubiquitous feature of skilled motor performance. Many previous studies...
Speed accuracy trade-off, the inverse relationship between movement speed and task accuracy, is a ubiquitous feature of skilled motor performance. Many previous studies have focused on the dominant arm, unimanual performance in both simple tasks, such as target reaching, and complex tasks, such as overarm throwing. However, while handedness is a prominent feature of human motor performance, the effect of limb dominance on speed-accuracy relationships is not well-understood. Based on previous research, we hypothesize that dominant arm skilled performance should depend on visual information and prior task experience, and that the non-dominant arm should show greater skill when no visual information nor prior task information is available. Forty right-handed young adults reached to 32 randomly presented targets across a virtual reality workspace with either the left or the right arm. Half of the participants received no visual feedback about hand position throughout each reach. Sensory information and task experience were lowest during the first cycle of exposure (32 reaches) in the no-vision condition, in which visual information about motion was not available. Under this condition, we found that the left arm group showed greater skill, measured in terms of position error normalized to speed, and by error variability. However, as task experience and sensory information increased, the right arm group showed substantial improvements in speed-accuracy relations, while the left arm group maintained, but did not improve, speed-accuracy relations throughout the task. These differences in performance between dominant and non-dominant arm groups during the separate stages of the task are consistent with complimentary models of lateralization, which propose different proficiencies of each hemisphere for different features of control. Our results are incompatible with global dominance models of handedness that propose dominant arm advantages under all performance conditions.
Topics: Arm; Biomechanical Phenomena; Functional Laterality; Hand; Humans; Movement; Psychomotor Performance; Young Adult
PubMed: 33388816
DOI: 10.1007/s00221-020-06011-6