Sex role similarity and sexual selection predict male and female song elaboration and dimorphism in fairy-wrens.

Historically, bird song complexity was thought to evolve primarily through sexual selection on males; yet, in many species, both sexes sing and selection pressure on both sexes may be broader. Previous research suggests competition for mates and resources during short, synchronous breeding seasons leads to more elaborate male songs at high, temperate latitudes. Furthermore, we expect male-female song structure and elaboration to be more similar at lower, tropical latitudes, where longer breeding seasons and year-round territoriality yield similar social selection pressures in both sexes. However, studies seldom take both types of selective pressures and sexes into account. We examined song in both sexes in 15 populations of nine-fairy-wren species (Maluridae), a Southern Hemisphere clade with female song. We compared song elaboration (in both sexes) and sexual song dimorphism to latitude and life-history variables tied to sexual and social selection pressures and sex roles. Our results suggest that song elaboration evolved in part due to sexual competition in males: male songs were longer than female songs in populations with low male survival and less male provisioning. Also, female songs evolved independently of male songs: female songs were slower paced than male songs, although only in less synchronously breeding populations. We also found male and female songs were more similar when parental care was more equal and when male survival was high, which provides strong evidence that sex role similarity correlates with male-female song similarity. Contrary to Northern Hemisphere latitudinal patterns, male and female songs were more similar at higher, temperate latitudes. These results suggest that selection on song can be sex specific, with male song elaboration favored in contexts with stronger sexual selection. At the same time, selection pressures associated with sex role similarity appear to favor sex role similarity in song structure.

Genetics and evidence for balancing selection of a sex-linked colour polymorphism in a songbird.

Colour polymorphisms play a key role in sexual selection and speciation, yet the mechanisms that generate and maintain them are not fully understood. Here, we use genomic and transcriptomic tools to identify the precise genetic architecture and evolutionary history of a sex-linked colour polymorphism in the Gouldian finch Erythrura gouldiae that is also accompanied by remarkable differences in behaviour and physiology. We find that differences in colour are associated with an ~72-kbp region of the Z chromosome in a putative regulatory region for follistatin, an antagonist of the TGF-ß superfamily genes. The region is highly differentiated between morphs, unlike the rest of the genome, yet we find no evidence that an inversion is involved in maintaining the distinct haplotypes. Coalescent simulations confirm that there is elevated nucleotide diversity and an excess of intermediate frequency alleles at this locus. We conclude that this pleiotropic colour polymorphism is most probably maintained by balancing selection.

Winter range expansion of a hummingbird is associated with urbanization and supplementary feeding.

Anthropogenic changes to the landscape and climate cause novel ecological and evolutionary pressures, leading to potentially dramatic changes in the distribution of biodiversity. Warm winter temperatures can shift species' distributions to regions that were previously uninhabitable. Further, urbanization and supplementary feeding may facilitate range expansions and potentially reduce migration tendency. Here we explore how these factors interact to cause non-uniform effects across a species's range. Using 17 years of data from the citizen science programme Project FeederWatch, we examined the relationships between urbanization, winter temperatures and the availability of supplementary food (i.e. artificial nectar) on the winter range expansion (more than 700 km northward in the past two decades) of Anna's hummingbirds (Calypte anna). We found that Anna's hummingbirds have colonized colder locations over time, were more likely to colonize sites with higher housing density and were more likely to visit feeders in the expanded range compared to the historical range. Additionally, their range expansion mirrored a corresponding increase over time in the tendency of people to provide nectar feeders in the expanded range. This work illustrates how humans may alter the distribution and potentially the migratory behaviour of species through landscape and resource modification.

Using best practice to create a pathway to improve management of irritable bowel syndrome: aiming for timely diagnosis, effective treatment and equitable care.

BACKGROUND: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) costs the National Health Service almost £12 million per annum. Despite national guidelines advising primary care management, these have failed to stem secondary care referrals of patients with likely IBS for unnecessary and costly assessment and investigation without necessarily achieving resolution of their symptoms. METHODS: In 2011, an integrated team from primary and secondary care developed a business case using baseline data to create a Somerset-wide IBS pathway using Clinical Commissioning Group funding. This provided face-to-face general practitioners (GP) education, developed a diagnostic pathway and funded faecal calprotectin (FC) testing to exclude inflammatory pathology for patients aged 16-45 years with likely IBS and no alarm symptoms. For those with FC≤50 µg/g, we provided a management algorithm and community-based dietetic treatment. Audit results measured usage and outcomes from FC testing, changes in patterns and costs of new patients reviewed in gastroenterology outpatients and dietetic IBS treatment outcomes. RESULTS: The proportion of new patient slots used reduced from 14.3% to 8.7% over 10 months while overall costs reduced by 25% for patients with no alarm symptoms and likely IBS aged 16-45 years. FC results confirmed research findings with no inflammatory pathology, if FC≤50 µg/g over 2 years. 63% of patients had satisfactory control of their IBS after specialist dietetic input with 74% reporting improved quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of GP education, providing diagnosis and management pathways, using FC to exclude inflammatory pathology and providing an effective treatment for patients with likely IBS appeared successful in our pilot. This proved cost-effective, reduced secondary care involvement and improved patient care.

The couple that sings together stays together: duetting, aggression and extra-pair paternity in a promiscuous bird species.

When individuals mate outside the pair bond, males should employ behaviours such as aggression or vocal displays (e.g. duetting) that help assure paternity of the offspring they care for. We tested whether male paternity was associated with aggression or duetting in the red-backed fairy-wren, a species exhibiting high rates of extra-pair paternity. During simulated territorial intrusions, aggression and duetting were variable among and repeatable within males, suggesting behavioural consistency of individuals. Males with quicker and stronger duet responses were cuckolded less often than males with slower and weaker responses. In contrast, physical aggression was not correlated with male paternity. These results suggest that either acoustic mate guarding or male-female vocal negotiations via duetting lead to increased paternity assurance, whereas physical aggression does not.

Differential rates of phenotypic introgression are associated with male behavioral responses to multiple signals.

Sexual selection on multiple signals may lead to differential rates of signal introgression across hybrid zones if some signals contribute to reproductive isolation but others facilitate gene flow. Competition among males is one powerful form of sexual selection, but male behavioral responses to multiple traits have not been considered in a system where traits have introgressed differentially. Using playbacks, mounts, and a reciprocal experimental design, we tested the hypothesis that male responses to song and plumage in two subspecies of red-backed fairy-wren (Malurus melanocephalus) explain patterns of differential signal introgression (song has not introgressed, whereas plumage color has introgressed asymmetrically). We found that males of both subspecies discriminated symmetrically between subspecies' songs at a long range, but at a close range, we found that aggression was equal for both subspecies' plumage and songs. Taken together, our results suggest that male behavioral responses hinder the introgression of song, but allow for the observed asymmetrical introgression of plumage. Our results highlight how behavioral responses are a key component of signal evolution when recently divergent taxa come together, and how differential responses to multiple signals may lead to differential signal introgression and novel trait combinations.

HLA-DQA1-HLA-DRB1 variants confer susceptibility to pancreatitis induced by thiopurine immunosuppressants.

Pancreatitis occurs in approximately 4% of patients treated with the thiopurines azathioprine or mercaptopurine. Its development is unpredictable and almost always leads to drug withdrawal. We identified patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) who had developed pancreatitis within 3 months of starting these drugs from 168 sites around the world. After detailed case adjudication, we performed a genome-wide association study on 172 cases and 2,035 controls with IBD. We identified strong evidence of association within the class II HLA region, with the most significant association identified at rs2647087 (odds ratio 2.59, 95% confidence interval 2.07-3.26, P = 2 × 10(-16)). We replicated these findings in an independent set of 78 cases and 472 controls with IBD matched for drug exposure. Fine mapping of the HLA region identified association with the HLA-DQA1*02:01-HLA-DRB1*07:01 haplotype. Patients heterozygous at rs2647087 have a 9% risk of developing pancreatitis after administration of a thiopurine, whereas homozygotes have a 17% risk.

Predictive value of volume of cervical tissue removed during LLETZ on subsequent preterm delivery: a cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of volume of tissue removed during large loop excision of transformation zone on subsequent preterm birth rates. STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study was carried out in a single, large tertiary referral unit in UK. A total of 556 women who delivered between January 2008 and December 2011 following a previous large loop excision of transformation zone procedure or punch biopsy were identified from the maternity and colposcopy databases. Demographic data, gestational age at delivery, birthweight, neonatal outcome and dimensions of excised cervical specimen were collected. Pregnancy outcomes for women who had a previous loop excision were compared to a matched control group who had undergone punch biopsies only. RESULTS: There was a significant increase in preterm birth rate in the large loop excision group compared to the control group (9.0% vs. 3.6%, respectively, RR 2.5, 95% CI 1.224-5.107). Women who had undergone at least one previous loop excision had more than a threefold increased risk of spontaneous preterm birth compared with their matched controls. However, no relationship between volume or depth of cervical tissue excised and subsequent gestation at delivery could be demonstrated. CONCLUSIONS: Whilst LLETZ is associated with an increased rate of preterm birth, the volume of tissue removed does not appear to influence the subsequent gestational age at delivery. This should reassure clinicians who should continue to perform LLETZ with adequate tissue margins to ensure complete resection of disease.

Sons learn songs from their social fathers in a cooperatively breeding bird.

Song learning is hypothesized to allow social adaptation to a local song neighbourhood. Maintaining social associations is particularly important in cooperative breeders, yet vocal learning in such species has only been assessed in systems where social association was correlated with relatedness. Thus, benefits of vocal learning as a means of maintaining social associations could not be disentangled from benefits of kin recognition. We assessed genetic and cultural contributions to song in a species where social association was not strongly correlated with kinship: the cooperatively breeding, reproductively promiscuous splendid fairy-wren (Malurus splendens). We found that song characters of socially associated father-son pairs were more strongly correlated (and thus songs were more similar) than songs of father-son pairs with a genetic, but no social, association (i.e. cuckolding fathers). Song transmission was, therefore, vertical and cultural, with minimal signatures of kinship. Additionally, song characters were not correlated with several phenotypic indicators of male quality, supporting the idea that there may be a tradeoff between accurate copying of tutors and quality signalling via maximizing song performance, particularly when social and genetic relationships are decoupled. Our results lend support to the hypothesis that song learning facilitates the maintenance of social associations by permitting unrelated individuals to acquire similar signal phenotypes.

Maternal and neonatal outcomes following methadone substitution during pregnancy.

PURPOSE: To assess the maternal and neonatal outcomes of pregnant women enrolled on a Methadone Substitution Programme (MSP). DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Maternity unit of a London teaching hospital and tertiary referral centre. SUBJECTS: Pregnant women on a MSP whose antenatal care and delivery was at St Thomas' Hospital (STH) between January 2005 and March 2008. Controls were non-MSP mothers closely matched for age, parity and delivery date during the same period. METHODS: Maternal data was collected from the Liaison Antenatal Drugs and Alcohol Service clinic records and the STH Maternity Unit's computerised database. Neonatal data was extracted from the STH Neonatal database (part of the UK National Neonatal database). OUTCOME MEASURES: Maternal profiles (age, gravidity, parity, ethnicity, BMI, smoking and alcohol history, relationship and employment history), pregnancy details and mode of delivery. Neonatal outcome measures to include gestation age at delivery, birth weight, head circumference, admission rates and length of stay on Special Care Baby Unit plus Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) rates, scoring and treatment. RESULTS: Compared to the non-MSP mothers (n = 88) the MSP group (n = 44) booked later and had a higher incidence of smoking (6.8 vs. 84.1 %), alcohol consumption (10.2 vs. 34.1 %). As a group, they had adverse social background. The MSP group had a higher relative risk (RR) of premature delivery [RR = 2.5, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.66-3.88] and had lower birth weight babies (adjusted RR = 2.2; 95% CI 1.31-3.71) with smaller head circumferences (adjusted RR 1.9; 95% CI 1.06-3.38). NAS occurred in 27 % (95% CI 15.0-42.8) of the MSP group. There was no difference in congenital abnormality between the two groups, but caesarean section rate was higher in the control group. CONCLUSION: Opiate-addicted mothers have adverse perinatal outcomes even on MSPs. In addition to the drug effect associated social, relationship and accommodation problems should also be addressed as they may affect the outcome. Pregnancy care for these women needs to continue to develop to improve overall outcomes.