Birds in some species produce two broods in a season to maximize reproductive success, but in species such as the northern house wren (Troglodytes aedon), not all individuals produce a second brood even if they have enough time to do so. We investigated whether variation in individual quality, in addition to time-of-season, explains some of the variation in the likelihood of producing a second brood. We examined the effects of individual age, body condition, and territory quality, and estimated the repeatability of producing a second brood using breeding records from a long-term dataset. We also cross-fostered eggs between earlier-nesting females (presumed high quality) and later-nesting females (presumed low quality) to delay or advance the natural nesting date, exposing an effect of quality if present. There was little evidence that the individual traits measured affected the production of a second brood. Cross-fostered, delayed females did not differ from the control in their likelihood of producing a second brood, but advanced females were more likely to produce a second brood compared with the control. However, the production of a second brood was significantly repeatable, and this repeatability was substantially higher after accounting for variation in timing of the first brood. This suggests that individual characteristics, in addition to time-of-season, have a substantial effect on the likelihood of producing a second brood, but that further studies are needed to identify the specific traits responsible for this effect.

In response to sexual conflict, males have evolved strategies to manipulate female behavior and physiology to increase their paternity. One hypothesis posits that males of some insects use nuptial food gifts given to females at copulation to achieve this. In decorated crickets, Gryllodes sigillatus, the male’s nuptial gift, the spermatophylax, is consumed by the female after mating, prior to her removing a sperm-containing ampulla. Spermatophylax feeding deters premature termination of sperm transfer, thereby enhancing male paternity. We hypothesized that spermatophylax (SPX) proteins play a key role in sexual conflict and are a route through which males manipulate female future reproductive behavior to their own fitness benefit. We used RNA interference to knock down gene expression of SPX1 and SPX2, the most abundant SPX proteins, assessing focal male mating and female remating. Males with reduced SPX1/2 expression had lower mating success, and females fed for a shorter time on their spermatophylaxes. Moreover, females mated with SPX1/2 knockdown males had reduced latency to remate and fed longer on spermatophylaxes upon remating. Our results provide evidence that spermatophylax proteins play important roles in mediating sexual conflict, enhancing a male’s paternity share by increasing his sperm transfer time, while decreasing that of competitors in subsequent matings.

This paper evaluates the privacy policies of AI-powered mHealth apps, focusing on their availability, readability, transparency, and scope. We replicate the methodology of Sunyaev et al. 2015, for iOS apps and compile a dataset of 2,231 AI-focused health apps. Our analysis reveals that only 68.04% of these apps have publicly accessible privacy policies. On average, a privacy policy contains 2,784.25 words, with a mean readability score of 13.48. Regarding transparency, aspects such as "type of information collected" and "sharing of information" are more frequently addressed, whereas "rationale for collection" is less commonly discussed. Additionally, only 11.2% of the privacy policies mention the use of user health data for training AI systems. In terms of scope, over 60% of app privacy policies cover the single app, and 25% cover no app-related scope.

Bumble bee populations of certain species have been declining precipitously in North America over several decades. Hypotheses for declines include exposure to the fungal pathogen Nosema bombi and neonicotinoid pesticides. Importantly, populations of some bumble bee species remain stable despite their presumed exposure to these same stressors. Here we hypothesize that declining and stable species, respectively, exhibit distinct responses to N. bombi and neonicotinoid pesticides, detectable as differential gene expression profiles. To test this, we exposed developing larvae from colonies of Bombus occidentalis (declining) and B. impatiens (stable) to N. bombi and to the neonicotinoid imidacloprid, plus a combination of both. RNA-seq analysis revealed almost no overlap between these species in gene expression responses to the individual stressors. Combined-stressor effects were more similar, but nevertheless differed significantly in differentially expressed genes and in gene coexpression network modules. To test whether the molecular responses correlated within declining and stable species, we carried out quantitative PCR on twenty target genes and included a second pair of species, B. terricola (declining) and B. griseocollis (stable). Results showed no correlation with decline or stable status, with each of the four species exhibiting species-specific responses. Overall, these results highlight that generalizing causes of decline across different species may be misleading, as diverse species respond in a species-specific manner to particular environmental stressors.

This dataset contains data related to pennycress establishment, growth, and yield as affected by applied treatments and site effects. Data related to sites includes field location, management practices of tillage, rotational crop, and soil type, and precipitation before and after planting. Treatments tested include two genetic pennycress lines (black-seeded line called 'MN106NS' and a golden-seeded line called 'tt8-t/ARV1') and six seed treatments: 1) non-treated control, 2) a treatment where seeds were soaked for 12 hrs in 0.01% w/w solution of Gibberellic Acid A4+A7, 3) treament with fludioxonil fungicide at a rate of 50 μg ai per g of seed, 4) seeds were pelleted using a commercial binder and diatomaceous earth as the filler, 5) a combination of pelleting + fungicide, and 6) the pelleting treatment in 4) but added 0.01% w/w GA solution to the binding agent during pellet construction plus the fungicide. All combinations of pennycress line and seed treatment were assigned a unique value from 1-12 as described in the column header information for "Treatment" within the dataset.

Establishment of pennycress is key to ensure uniform stands and maximise canopy closure in autumn. Past work has demonstrated that selected seed treatments could improve germination and establishment, but the optimisation of these processes to minimise inputs and time have not been assessed. The objective of this work was to evaluate seed enhancement technologies (hormone application by soaking and seed coating) to overcome seed dormancy and/or enhance germination. Two black-seeded lines (‘MN106NS’ and ‘ARV1’) and one golden-seeded line (‘tt8-t/ARV1’) were examined. Seeds were soaked in gibberellic acid (GA4+7) or benzyladenine (6-BA), or distilled water for different durations (30, 60, 240 minutes) and compared to an unsoaked control. Results showed that the GA treatment significantly increased germination, particularly for ‘ARV1’ and ‘MN106NS’ lines. Seed coating increased seed diameter but did not enhance germination; instead, it hindered ‘tt8-t/ARV1’ germination by 99-100%. The study suggests soaking seeds for at least 30 minutes in a GA solution to improve germination in black-seeded lines, however, economic and logistical factors must be considered. None of the tested enhancements proved beneficial on the two seed lots of golden-seeded line ‘tt8-t/ARV1’ and further research is needed to examine more seed lots before conclusions can be made.

Pennycress (Thlaspi arvense L.) is an emerging bioenergy oilseed crop of interest to farmers in the Upper Midwestern United States. Improved lines with beneficial agronomic traits are being developed, including lines with reduced silicle shattering and altered seed coat characteristics, though planting and establishment is still challenging for this small‐seeded crop. A controlled‐environment experiment was conducted to assess the impact of seed treatment and pelleting on pennycress germination and seedling vigor of four pennycress lines (three black and one golden colored seed) following storage for 0, 1, 3, 9, and 12 months in warm or cold conditions (23°C or 10°C, respectively). Seeds were either treated with a gibberellin A4+7 (GA) soak (positive control), seed pelleting, or pelleting with GA added to the binder solution in addition to the untreated control (negative control). After each storage duration, seeds were germinated in darkness and counted daily for 7 days to obtain total germination. Vigor indices were calculated using changes in daily germination values. For black‐seeded lines, GA treatment increased germination over the untreated by 5%–75% and pelleting alone increased germination by 4%–30%, but only until 3 months of storage. The GA treatment did not increase germination of the golden‐seeded line, and pelleting decreased germination after 3 months of storage. The GA soak treatment was most effective at improving seed vigor indices compared with other treatments, while pelleting negatively affected vigor scores at 9 and 12 months of storage. Similar effects on germination from treatment were observed under both warm and cold storage conditions. Results indicate seed treatment can benefit germination and vigor within 3 months of storage for black‐seeded lines but may negatively affect performance of golden‐seeded lines, or all pennycress seed types after 9 months of storage.

Pennycress is an emerging oilseed crop, but some improved lines still exhibit seed dormancy that may impede germination and establishment. A laboratory study was conducted in 2021 to identify seed treatments to increase germination of a wild pennycress improved line ('MN106NS'). A randomised complete block experimental design was used with two replications and 12 seed treatments: untreated control; fludioxonil (50 μg ai per g of seed); gibberellic acid (GA) soak at 0.05 or 0.01% w/w for 12 hours; pelleting with diatomaceous earth and a commercial binder ± each prior component and a carnauba wax coating. For all treatments, uniformity and stability of pelleted treatments were tested, and germination over time (3 to 14 days at 20°C in dark) was quantified. There were consistent increases in weight and size (142% in weight and 29% in size on average) of seeds with pelleting, and pelleting combination treatments did not vary in stability. Total germination increased compared to the control with all seed treatments, except the addition of fludioxonil alone. While all pelleting treatments improved total germination, the use of GA as a soak treatment or as an addition during seed pelleting was most effective to increase germination in MN106NS.

Animal colouration often plays a role in intraspecific communication. The badges of lizards and ornaments of birds are frequent examples of honest signals regarding physiological condition and behaviour. Turtles share evolved characteristics with both non-avian and avian reptiles and many express colour markings on the shell and head, yet the significance of colouration in turtles remains unclear. We assessed aspects of shell colouration (carapace spot hue, saturation, and brightness and percent melanism of the carapace and plastron) in adult eastern box turtles (Terrapene carolina carolina) from a wetland population and explored their association with age, sex, boldness, haemolysis capabilities, plasma triglycerides, plasma corticosterone, and body condition. We found evidence of varying bold temperaments based on high among- and low within- individual variation across several behaviours during and after handling. Findings further suggested that separate aspects of shell colouration were associated with sex, boldness temperament, and innate immunity. Specifically, males exhibited redder carapace spots than females, bolder turtles exhibited brighter carapace spots and less melanic (more spotted) plastrons, and turtles with higher in vitro haemolysis scores tended to have more saturated carapace spots. These associations suggest potential roles for shell colouration to signal aspects of behaviour and immune function, however, we discuss limitations arising from our methods such as the use of a single blood sample for physiological metrics. Further studies on these associations are needed to determine their stability, underlying mechanisms, and ecological implications.

Island populations of small land vertebrates frequently exhibit insular gigantism, presenting with larger body sizes compared to their mainland counterparts. While insular gigantism has been observed globally, the effects of biogeographic and ecological factors on body size in island systems are not well understood. Here we examine the biogeographic and ecological associations of insular gigantism. Deer Mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) were live-trapped, and body mass was measured on six of the Gulf Islands and the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. In addition to field sampling, body mass measurements were also recovered from museum specimens from the Gulf Islands area via the VertNet database. Biogeographic measures of land area and island distance from the mainland were estimated using ArcMap. The ecological measure of predator species richness was estimated from iNaturalist observations. These data were used in piecewise structural equation modeling to identify associations with insular gigantism. We found evidence of insular gigantism in the Gulf Islands system, with island mice having a larger mean body mass than mainland populations. Land area was positively associated with predator species richness, and predator species richness had a strong negative effect on Deer Mouse body mass, resulting in the observed pattern of insular gigantism. The concurrent analysis of biogeographic and ecological factors contributes to a better understanding of the evolution of insular gigantism in small vertebrates and its juxtaposition to the phenomenon of insular dwarfism of large vertebrates.