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Journal of Personality Disorders Jun 2016The goal of this article is to describe, characterize, and differentiate personality disorders by connecting their conceptual features to their foundations in the... (Review)
Review
The goal of this article is to describe, characterize, and differentiate personality disorders by connecting their conceptual features to their foundations in the natural sciences. What is proposed is akin to Freud's abandoned Project for a Scientific Psychology and Wilson's (1975) highly controversial Sociobiology. Both were worthy endeavors to advance our understanding of the styles and traits of human nature; this was to be done by exploring interconnections among the diverse disciplines of nature that evolved ostensibly unrelated bodies of research and manifestly dissimilar languages.
Topics: Humans; Personality; Personality Disorders
PubMed: 27243919
DOI: 10.1521/pedi.2016.30.3.289 -
Advances in Experimental Medicine and... 2020Brain tumors are complex cellular ecosystems, composed of populations of both neoplastic and non-neoplastic cell types. While the contributions of the cancer cells in... (Review)
Review
Brain tumors are complex cellular ecosystems, composed of populations of both neoplastic and non-neoplastic cell types. While the contributions of the cancer cells in low-grade and high-grade gliomas have been extensively studied, there is comparatively less known about the contributions of the non-neoplastic cells in these tumors. As such, a large proportion of the non-neoplastic cells in gliomas are resident brain microglia, infiltrating circulating macrophages, and T lymphocytes. These immune system-like stromal cells are recruited into the evolving tumor through the elaboration of chemokines, and are reprogrammed to adopt new cellular identities critical for glioma formation, maintenance, and progression. In this manner, these populations of tumor-associated microglia and macrophages produce growth factors that support gliomagenesis and continued tumor growth. As we begin to characterize these immune cell contributions, future therapies might emerge as adjuvant approaches to glioma treatment.
Topics: Brain Neoplasms; Glioma; Humans; Macrophages; Microglia
PubMed: 32030651
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-35727-6_8 -
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal... Oct 2022Ants are ecologically one of the most important groups of insects and exhibit impressive capabilities for visual learning and orientation. Studies on numerous ant... (Review)
Review
Ants are ecologically one of the most important groups of insects and exhibit impressive capabilities for visual learning and orientation. Studies on numerous ant species demonstrate that ants can learn to discriminate between different colours irrespective of light intensity and modify their behaviour accordingly. However, the findings across species are variable and inconsistent, suggesting that our understanding of colour vision in ants and what roles ecological and phylogenetic factors play is at an early stage. This review provides a brief synopsis of the critical findings of the past century of research by compiling studies that address molecular, physiological and behavioural aspects of ant colour vision. With this, we aim to improve our understanding of colour vision and to gain deeper insights into the mysterious and colourful world of ants. This article is part of the theme issue 'Understanding colour vision: molecular, physiological, neuronal and behavioural studies in arthropods'.
Topics: Animals; Ants; Color Vision; Insecta; Learning; Phylogeny
PubMed: 36058251
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0291 -
Current Biology : CB Aug 2017Jennions et al. introduce the different kinds of sex ratio and their biology.
Jennions et al. introduce the different kinds of sex ratio and their biology.
Topics: Animals; Female; Humans; Invertebrates; Male; Reproduction; Sex Ratio; Vertebrates
PubMed: 28829960
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.05.042 -
Frontiers in Insect Science 2021Honeybees and wild bees are among the most important pollinators of both wild and cultivated landscapes. In recent years, however, a significant decline in these... (Review)
Review
Honeybees and wild bees are among the most important pollinators of both wild and cultivated landscapes. In recent years, however, a significant decline in these pollinators has been recorded. This decrease can have many causes including the heavy use of biocidal plant protection products in agriculture. The most frequent residues in bee products originate from fungicides, while neonicotinoids and, to a lesser extent, pyrethroids are among the most popular insecticides detected in bee products. There is abundant evidence of toxic side effects on honeybees and wild bees produced by neonicotinoids, but only few studies have investigated side effects of fungicides, because they are generally regarded as not being harmful for bees. In the field, a variety of substances are taken up by bees including mixtures of insecticides and fungicides, and their combinations can be lethal for these pollinators, depending on the specific group of insecticide or fungicide. This review discusses the different combinations of major insecticide and fungicide classes and their effects on honeybees and wild bees. Fungicides inhibiting the sterol biosynthesis pathway can strongly increase the toxicity of neonicotinoids and pyrethroids. Other fungicides, in contrast, do not appear to enhance toxicity when combined with neonicotinoid or pyrethroid insecticides. But the knowledge on possible interactions of fungicides not inhibiting the sterol biosynthesis pathway and insecticides is poor, particularly in wild bees, emphasizing the need for further studies on possible effects of insecticide-fungicide interactions in bees.
PubMed: 38468891
DOI: 10.3389/finsc.2021.808335 -
Biological Reviews of the Cambridge... Apr 2023In species with separate sexes, females and males often differ in their morphology, physiology and behaviour. Such sex-specific traits are functionally linked to... (Review)
Review
In species with separate sexes, females and males often differ in their morphology, physiology and behaviour. Such sex-specific traits are functionally linked to variation in reproductive competition, mate choice and parental care, which have all been linked to sex roles. At the 150th anniversary of Darwin's theory on sexual selection, the question of why patterns of sex roles vary within and across species remains a key topic in behavioural and evolutionary ecology. New theoretical, experimental and comparative evidence suggests that variation in the adult sex ratio (ASR) is a key driver of variation in sex roles. Here, we first define and discuss the historical emergence of the sex role concept, including recent criticisms and rebuttals. Second, we review the various sex ratios with a focus on ASR, and explore its theoretical links to sex roles. Third, we explore the causes, and especially the consequences, of biased ASRs, focusing on the results of correlational and experimental studies of the effect of ASR variation on mate choice, sexual conflict, parental care and mating systems, social behaviour, hormone physiology and fitness. We present evidence that animals in diverse societies are sensitive to variation in local ASR, even on short timescales, and propose explanations for conflicting results. We conclude with an overview of open questions in this field integrating demography, life history and behaviour.
Topics: Male; Animals; Female; Gender Role; Sexual Behavior, Animal; Sex Ratio; Reproduction; Biological Evolution; Sex Characteristics
PubMed: 36307924
DOI: 10.1111/brv.12915 -
MBio Mar 2020Bacteria harbor viruses called bacteriophages that, like all viruses, co-opt the host cellular machinery to replicate. Although this relationship is at first glance... (Review)
Review
Bacteria harbor viruses called bacteriophages that, like all viruses, co-opt the host cellular machinery to replicate. Although this relationship is at first glance parasitic, there are social interactions among and between bacteriophages and their bacterial hosts. These social interactions can take on many forms, including cooperation, altruism, and cheating. Such behaviors among individuals in groups of bacteria have been well described. However, the social nature of some interactions between phages or phages and bacteria is only now becoming clear. We are just beginning to understand how bacteriophages affect the sociobiology of bacteria, and we know even less about social interactions within bacteriophage populations. In this review, we discuss recent developments in our understanding of bacteriophage sociobiology, including how selective pressures influence the outcomes of social interactions between populations of bacteria and bacteriophages. We also explore how tripartite social interactions between bacteria, bacteriophages, and an animal host affect host-microbe interactions. Finally, we argue that understanding the sociobiology of bacteriophages will have implications for the therapeutic use of bacteriophages to treat bacterial infections.
Topics: Animals; Bacteria; Bacterial Infections; Bacteriophages; Host Microbial Interactions; Humans; Phage Therapy
PubMed: 32156804
DOI: 10.1128/mBio.00041-20 -
Cell and Tissue Research Jan 2021Olfactory circuits change structurally and physiologically during development and adult life. This allows insects to respond to olfactory cues in an appropriate and... (Review)
Review
Olfactory circuits change structurally and physiologically during development and adult life. This allows insects to respond to olfactory cues in an appropriate and adaptive way according to their physiological and behavioral state, and to adapt to their specific abiotic and biotic natural environment. We highlight here findings on olfactory plasticity and modulation in various model and non-model insects with an emphasis on moths and social Hymenoptera. Different categories of plasticity occur in the olfactory systems of insects. One type relates to the reproductive or feeding state, as well as to adult age. Another type of plasticity is context-dependent and includes influences of the immediate sensory and abiotic environment, but also environmental conditions during postembryonic development, periods of adult behavioral maturation, and short- and long-term sensory experience. Finally, plasticity in olfactory circuits is linked to associative learning and memory formation. The vast majority of the available literature summarized here deals with plasticity in primary and secondary olfactory brain centers, but also peripheral modulation is treated. The described molecular, physiological, and structural neuronal changes occur under the influence of neuromodulators such as biogenic amines, neuropeptides, and hormones, but the mechanisms through which they act are only beginning to be analyzed.
Topics: Animals; Insecta; Neuronal Plasticity; Receptors, Odorant
PubMed: 33275182
DOI: 10.1007/s00441-020-03329-z -
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal... Jul 2020How do organisms balance different types of recognition errors when cues associated with desirable and undesirable individuals or resources overlap? This is a... (Review)
Review
How do organisms balance different types of recognition errors when cues associated with desirable and undesirable individuals or resources overlap? This is a fundamental question of signal detection theory (SDT). As applied in sociobiology, SDT is not limited to a single context or animal taxon, therefore its application can span what may be considered dissimilar systems. One of the applications of SDT is the suite of acceptance threshold models proposed by Reeve (1989), which analysed how individuals should balance acceptance and rejection errors in social discrimination decisions across a variety of recognition contexts, distinguished by how these costs and benefits relatively combine. We conducted a literature review to evaluate whether these models' specific predictions have been upheld. By examining over 350 research papers, we quantify how Reeve's models (Reeve 1989 , 407-435 (doi:10.1086/284926)) have influenced the field of ecological and behavioural recognition systems research. We found overall empirical support for the predictions of the specific models proposed by Reeve, and argue for further expansion of their applications into more diverse taxonomic and additional recognition contexts. This article is part of the theme issue 'Signal detection theory in recognition systems: from evolving models to experimental tests'.
Topics: Animals; Cues; Models, Biological; Recognition, Psychology
PubMed: 32420847
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0475 -
Frontiers in Physiology 2022
PubMed: 35370789
DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2022.874999