Little is known about the importance of trade-offs between ageing and other life history traits, or the effects of ageing on sexual selection, particularly in wild populations suffering high extrinsic mortality rates. Life history theory suggests that trade-offs between reproduction and somatic maintenance may constrain individuals with higher initial reproductive rates to deteriorate more rapi...

A primary goal of polygenic scores, which aggregate the effects of thousands of trait-associated DNA variants discovered in genome-wide association studies (GWASs), is to estimate individual-specific genetic propensities and predict outcomes. This is typically achieved using a single polygenic score, but here we use a multi-polygenic score (MPS) approach to increase predictive power by exploiti...

Anurans (frogs and toads) are unique among land vertebrates in possessing a free-living larval stage that, parallel to adult frogs, diversified into an impressive range of ecomorphs. The tempo and mode at which tadpole morphology evolved through anuran history as well as its relationship to lineage diversification remain elusive. We used a molecular phylogenetic framework to examine patterns of...

Historical geological events and climatic changes are believed to have played important roles in shaping the current distribution of species. However, sympatric species may have responded in different ways to such climatic fluctuations. Here we compared genetic structures of two corvid species, the Azure-winged Magpie Cyanopica cyanus and the Eurasian Magpie Pica pica, both widespread but with ...

The risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is determined by a complex interplay involving lifestyle factors and genetic predisposition. Despite this, many studies do not consider the relative contributions of this complex array of factors to identify relationships which are important in progression or prevention of complex diseases. We aimed to describe the integrated effect of a nu...

The evolution of locally adapted ecotypes is a common phenomenon that generates diversity within plant species. However, we know surprisingly little about the genetic mechanisms underlying the locally adapted traits involved in ecotype formation. The genetic architecture underlying locally adapted traits dictates how an organism will respond to environmental selection pressures and has major im...

background labor pain is one of the most intense pains. physiological, personality, psychological, cultural, and environmental factors are related to the labor pain. pain is a strong stressor which can have great impacts on women’s reproductive, mental, and physical health; therefore, its harmful effects should be reduced. thus, the present study aimed to determine the relationship between the ...

This study examined the association between personality traits (as measured by the NEOPI-R) and subjective ratings of mental and physical health (as measured by the SF-36) in two samples of older adults differing in health status (Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, BLSA, n = 393, vs. Medicare Primary and Consumer-Directed Care Demonstration, Medicare PCC, n = 648). The association between p...

The usefulness of a virtual character depends on its ability to fulfill the user’s expectations: among other aspects, the character’s appearance should match her/his personality as well as her/his behavior [11]. It has indeed been shown that the better a character looks the part, the more believable and effective she/he will be in the narrative [13, 8]. This paper presents a system which genera...

Content The use of sub-talar joint positioning to describe intrinsic foot ‘deformity’ is principally used by podiatrists attempting to rationalise lower limb symptoms and the use of foot orthoses. In order to have evolved the physical structures that we exhibit, natural variation of form must exist, along with the conservation of common functional attributes. Results from molecular genetics res...