Sexually dimorphic acetyl-CoA biosynthesis and utilization in response to drought and exogenous acetic acid.

Female willows exhibit greater drought tolerance and benefit more from exogenous acetic acid (AA)-improved drought tolerance than males. However, the potential mechanisms driving these sex-specific responses remain unclear. To comprehensively investigate the sexually dimorphic responsive mechanisms of willows to drought and exogenous AA, here, we performed physiological, proteomic, Lys-acetylproteomic, and transgenic analyses in female and male Salix myrtillacea exposed to drought and AA-applicated drought treatments, focusing on protein abundance and lysine acetylation (LysAc) changes. Drought-tolerant females suffered less drought-induced photosynthetic and oxidative damage, did not activate AA and acetyl-CoA biosynthesis, TCA cycle, fatty acid metabolism, and jasmonic acid signaling as strongly as drought-sensitive males. Exogenous AA caused overaccumulation of endogenous AA and inhibition of acetyl-CoA biosynthesis and utilization in males. However, exogenous AA greatly enhanced acetyl-CoA biosynthesis and utilization and further enhanced drought performance of females, possibly determining that AA improved drought tolerance more in females than in males. Interestingly, overexpression of acetyl-CoA synthetase (ACS) could reprogram fatty acids, increase LysAc levels, and improve drought tolerance, highlighting the involvement of ACS-derived acetyl-CoA in drought responses. In addition, drought and exogenous AA induced sexually dimorphic LysAc associated with histones, transcription factors, and metabolic enzymes in willows. Especially, exogenous AA may greatly improve the photosynthetic capacity of S. myrtillacea males by decreasing LysAc levels and increasing the abundances of photosynthetic proteins. While hyperacetylation in glycolysis, TCA cycle, and fatty acid biosynthesis potentially possibly serve as negative feedback to acclimate acetyl-CoA biosynthesis and utilization in drought-stressed males and AA-applicated females. Thus, acetyl-CoA biosynthesis and utilization determine the sexually dimorphic responses of S. myrtillacea to drought and exogenous AA.

Novel rat model of gaming disorder: assessment of social reward and sex differences in behavior and c-Fos brain activity.

RATIONALE: In 2018, the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) classified Gaming Disorder (GD) as a mental disorder. GD mainly occurs among adolescents, who, after developing addiction, show psychopathological traits, such as social anxiety, depression, social isolation, and attention deficit. However, the different studies conducted in humans so far show several limitations, such as the lack of demographic heterogeneity and equal representation of age, differences in the type of game and in the follow-up period. Furthermore, at present, no animal models specific to GD are available. OBJECTIVES: To address the lack of an experimental model for GD, in the present work, we proposed a new GD rat model to investigate some peculiar tracts of the disorder. METHODS: Two-month-old Wistar Kyoto rats, both males and females, were subject to a five-week training with a new innovative touch-screen platform. After five weeks of training, rats were assessed for: (a) their attachment to the play under several conditions, (b) their hyperactivity during gaming, and (c) the maintenance of these conditions after a period of game pause and reward interruption. After sacrifice, using immunohistochemistry techniques, the immunoreactivity of c-Fos (a marker of neuronal activity) was analyzed to study different neural areas. RESULTS: After the training, the rats subjected to GD protocol developed GD-related traits (e.g., hyperactivity, loss control), and the behavioral phenotype was maintained consistently over time. These aspects were completely absent in the control groups. Lastly, the analysis of c-Fos immunoreactivity in prelimbic cortex (PrL), orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), nucleus Accumbens, amygdala and bed nucleus of stria terminalis (BNST) highlighted significant alterations in the GD groups compared to controls, suggesting modifications in neural activity related to the development of the GD phenotype. CONCLUSIONS: The proposal of a new GD rat model could represent an innovative tool to investigate, in both sexes, the behavioral and neurobiological features of this disorder, the possible role of external factors in the predisposition and susceptibility and the development of new pharmacological therapies.

Sex- and state-dependent covariation of risk-averse and escape behavior in a widespread lizard.

Mounting evidence has shown that personality and behavioral syndromes have a substantial influence on interspecific interactions and individual fitness. However, the stability of covariation among multiple behavioral traits involved in antipredator responses has seldom been tested. Here, we investigate whether sex, gravidity, and parasite infestations influence the covariation between risk aversion (hiding time within a refuge) and escape response (immobility, escape distance) using a viviparous lizard, Zootoca vivipara, as a model system. Our results demonstrated a correlation between risk-averse and escape behavior at the among-individual level, but only in gravid females. We found no significant correlations in either males or neonates. A striking result was the loss of association in postparturition females. This suggests that the "risk-averse - escape" syndrome is ephemeral and only emerges in response to constraints on locomotion driven by reproductive burden. Moreover, parasites have the potential to dissociate the correlations between risk aversion and escape response in gravid females, yet the causal chain requires further examination. Overall, our findings provide evidence of differences in the association between behaviors within the lifetime of an individual and indicate that individual states, sex, and life stages can together influence the stability of behavioral syndromes.

Sex differences in antioxidant ability and energy metabolism level resulting in the difference of hypoxia tolerance in red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii).

Sexual dimorphism widely exists in crustaceans. However, sex differences in the hypoxia tolerance of crayfish have rarely been reported. In this study, the differences in hypoxia tolerance between the two sexes of crayfish were assessed according to mortality, pathological features of hepatopancreas, antioxidant enzyme activity and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) analysis using transcriptome. The results showed that male crayfish displayed significantly higher mortality than the female under hypoxia stress (p < 0.05). Furthermore, female crayfish demonstrated higher levels of antioxidant enzyme activity. Hematoxylin-eosin staining analysis revealed that the damage of hepatopancreas was more severe in the male crayfish compared to the female crayfish. Additionally, there was higher expression level of the DEGs in hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) pathway and higher energy metabolism level in the female compared to the male. Together, these findings suggest that the female crayfish with higher antioxidant ability and energy metabolism level exhibits stronger hypoxia tolerance than the male crayfish, providing the theoretical support for investigating sex differences in hypoxia tolerance among crustaceans.

UN ETEROCLITO BABUINO: On Giordano Bruno's Candelaio and the Infinitization of the Sexes.

Giordano Bruno (Nola 1548 - Rome 1600) published in 1582 Candelaio, a comedy that anticipates the core arguments he developed in the six dialogs written in volgare during the philosopher's stay in England (1583-1585). In the comedy, the term candelaio (candlebearer) is deployed not only as a trope for light and illumination, but also as a slang designation for sodomite. Thus, sexual dissident Bonifacio, the tragicomic personage to which the title refers, brings to light the mostly unavowed or denigrated, albeit ineradicable complexities of every sexual individuality. In this framework, the personality, lifestyle, and views of disruptive Bonifacio/Candelaio serve as narrative support for a critical stance aiming at undoing the validity claims of the man/woman dichotomy. At the antipodes of the finitization of sexuality fostered by Christian creationism, Bruno's sexual approach is framed within a conception of "natura naturante," the all-pervasive, inexhaustible and animating power, which enables the emergence of utterly diversified beings throughout the infinitude of the existing worlds. Having dismantled the epistemic pretentions of sexual binarity and its possible closed supplementations, Bruno effectively frees Bonifacio's sexual heteroclisis from the stigma of unnaturalness. Notwithstanding the trailblazing traits of Bruno's sexual thought and its ontological framework, Brunian scholarship to the present has ignored that the philosopher from Nola posed the arguably most profound and consistent challenge to binary sexuality and its finite suppletions in pre-Darwinian Modernity. In view of the critiques of patriarchy and anti-feminism that began to develop at the turn to the twentieth century, it is striking that no systematic effort has been undertaken to relate Bruno's principled reversion of the form/matter hierarchy to his advocacy for the axiological restauration of femaleness in the masculinist-centered culture of the West. In accordance with Bruno's explicit design to "turn upside down the reversed world," his philosophy seeks to reveal the endless profusion of sexual forms not as creations of an omnipotent paternal figure, but as emergences from an inexhaustible source, which he signally terms "the maternal womb of Nature."

Blood cells and hematological parameters of Chiala Mountain Salamander, Batrachuperus karlschmidti (Urodela, Hynobiidae).

Hematological parameters are essential indices for assessing the function of blood and reflecting not only the health status of animal but also their physiological adaptation to the environment. Herein, the composition of blood cells and the hematological parameters of wild Batrachuperus karlschmidti were examined for the first time, and the effects of sex, body size, body mass, and age on the hematological parameters were explored. The morphology and morphometric data of the blood cells, as well as the hematological parameters, of B. karlschmidti were slightly differ from those of its congener. However, hematological differences between sexes were only found in erythrocyte and leukocyte count, and mean cell volume (MCV), which possibly reflecting the need for better oxygen distribution and stronger immune protection for reproduction. Hematocrit (Hct) and mean cell hemoglobin (MCH) were strongly dependent on body mass. These also might have been attributed to higher oxygen requirements with larger body masses. This is a pilot project exploring the hematology of this species that may help establish hematological parameters in future for supporting species protection and monitoring studies, as well as help understanding the physiological adaptation of this species.

Sexual dimorphism in a dioecious species with complex, specialist-pollinated flowers.

PREMISE: Pollinators with flower constancy and long nectar-feeding organs should favor less or no sexual dimorphism in the individual flowers of dioecious plants. This hypothesis is deduced because such pollinators can discriminate between intersexual flower size differences, and morphological differences between male and female flowers often diminish pollen transfer. METHODS: We compared floral traits and pollinator behavior between male and female flowers in the hawkmoth-pollinated species, Trichosanthes cucumeroides. In field studies, we removed petal fringes on both sexes and observed pollinators to assess the role of elaborate petal fringes in pollinator attraction and pollination success for each flower sex. RESULTS: Female flowers had a similar front flower size and fringe extension as male flowers, supporting our hypothesis. In contrast, females allocated fewer resources to floral biomass. Additionally, they had smaller and narrower petal lobes, lower fringe density, shorter tubes with inferior nectar rewards, and lower display size than males, which is inconsistent with the hypothesis. Nocturnal hawkmoths prefer flowers with long fringe extensions. Fringe removal significantly decreased hawkmoth visitations to both female and male flowers but reduced success only in females. A literature survey indicated that female flowers of specialist-pollinated species are similar in size or larger than the males and thus tend to attract more pollinators compared with female flowers of generalist-pollinated species. CONCLUSIONS: Female flowers have evolved fringe extensions that are similar to those of male flowers, likely increasing pollinator attraction even slightly, and had less biomass in other floral parts and produced less nectar compared with male flowers. Our findings imply that female-biased resource limitation and flower-size sensitivity of pollinators together exert sex-specific selection of floral traits in T. cucumeroides.

Yad'lun, the subject and sexuation / Há-um, o sujeito e a sexuação

RESUMO: O artigo visa demonstrar como o aforismo Há-um, forjado e trabalhado por Jacques Lacan notadamente nos seminários O saber do psicanalista e ...ou pior, entre 1971 e 1972, fundamenta a teoria da sexuação, promovida nessa época. Discutimos como as rupturas epistemológicas implicadas no Um desembocam na escrita da impossibilidade de proporção sexual para o ser falante. O aforismo se desdobra, portanto, em: não há relação do Um com o Ser, do Um com o Outro, do Um com o Outro sexo, isto é, não há relação sexual.

ABSTRACT: The article aims to demonstrate how the aphorism Yad'lun, forged and worked out by Jacques Lacan, notably in the seminars The psychoanalyst's knowledge and …or worse between 1971 and 1972, is the basis for the theory of sexuation promoted, at that time. We discussed how the epistemological ruptures involved in the One lead to the writing of the impossibility of sexual proportion for the speaking being. The aphorism unfolds therefore in: there is no relationship between the One and the Being, the One and the Other, the One and the Other sex, that is, there is no sexual relationship.

Butler e a psicanálise: do fracasso das normas à estranheza do gozo / Butler and psychoanalysis: from the failure of norms to the uncanniness of jouissance / Butler y el psicoanálisis: del fracaso de las normas a la rareza del goce

O objetivo deste artigo é fazer avançar o debate entre a psicanálise e os estudos queer, em especial a partir da interlocução traçada por Judith Butler com os trabalhos de Freud e Lacan. Retomando o modo como Butler articula Foucault, Derrida e a psicanálise para pensar os problemas de gênero, evidenciamos que a teoria psicanalítica permite à filósofa situar, a partir de sua concepção da melancolia de gênero, os pontos de fracasso da norma em função da vida psíquica do poder. Ainda que a cisheterossexualidade normativa imponha um roteiro de identificações e escolhas de objeto a seus sujeitos, há uma imprevisibilidade na maneira pela qual cada um responderá às injunções normativas da cultura, o que aponta para uma falha das normas em determinar completamente a subjetividade. A melancolia de gênero se torna, assim, uma marca da importância da psicanálise no percurso de Butler. Em seguida, discutimos as interpelações da filósofa ao simbólico lacaniano, bem como as nuances progressivamente introduzidas em sua leitura da diferença sexual. Ao longo do percurso de Butler, a diferença sexual deixa de ser considerada uma teoria da heterossexualidade e passa a ser apresentada como um conceito-borda, uma fronteira vacilante, que tomamos aqui como um convite para produzirmos uma releitura não normativa da diferença sexual na psicanálise a partir da teoria lacaniana da sexuação. Finalmente, localizamos a estranheza do gozo e o caráter irredutível da sexualidade às normas sociais como um importante eixo partilhado entre Butler e a psicanálise.(AU)

The aim of this article is to branch out the debate between psychoanalysis and queer studies, focusing on the interlocution drawn by Judith Butler with the works of Freud and Lacan. Returning to the way Butler articulates Foucault, Derrida and psychoanalysis to think about gender trouble, we show that psychoanalytic theory allows the philosopher to situate, from her conception of gender melancholy, the points of failure of the norm in function of the psychic life of power. After all, even though normative cis-heterosexuality imposes a script of identifications and object-choices on its subjects, there is an unpredictability to the way in which each one will respond to the normative injunctions of culture, so that norms fail to fully determine subjectivity. Gender melancholy thus becomes a mark of the importance of psychoanalysis in Butler's path. Then, we discuss the philosopher's interpellations to the Lacanian symbolic order, as well as the nuances progressively introduced in her reading of sexual difference. Along Butler's path, sexual difference is no longer considered a theory of heterosexuality and is presented as a border-concept, a vacillating frontier, which we take here as an invitation to produce a non-normative rereading of sexual difference in psychoanalysis, resorting to the Lacanian theory of sexuation. Finally, we locate the uncanniness of jouissance and the irreducible character of sexuality to social norms as an important shared axis between Butler and psychoanalysis.(AU)

El objetivo de este artículo es hacer avanzar el debate entre el psicoanálisis y los estudios queer, enfatizando la interlocución trazada por Judith Butler con los trabajos de Freud y Lacan. Volviendo a la forma en que Butler articula a Foucault, Derrida y el psicoanálisis para pensar los problemas de género, mostramos que la teoría psicoanalítica permite a la filósofa ubicar, desde su concepción de la melancolía de género, los puntos de falla de la norma en función de la vida psíquica del poder. Aunque la cis-heterosexualidad normativa imponga identificaciones y elecciones de objeto a sus sujetos, hay una imprevisibilidad en la forma en que cada uno responderá a los mandatos normativos de la cultura, lo que apunta a un fracaso de las normas para determinar completamente la subjetividad. La melancolía de género se convierte, entonces, en una marca de la importancia del psicoanálisis en la trayectoria de Butler. En seguida, discutimos las interpelaciones de la filósofa a lo simbólico lacaniano, así como los matices progresivamente introducidos en su lectura de la diferencia sexual. A lo largo de la trayectoria de Butler, la diferencia sexual deja de ser considerada una teoría de la heterosexualidad y pasa a ser presentada como un concepto-borde, um límite vacilante, que tomamos aquí como una invitación para producirmos una relectura no normativa de la diferencia sexual en psicoanálisis a partir de la teoría lacaniana de la sexuación. Finalmente, ubicamos la rareza del goce y el carácter irreductible de la sexualidad a las normas sociales como un importante eje compartido entre Butler y el psicoanálisis.(AU)

Salix gordejevii females exhibit more resistance against wind erosion than males under aeolian environment.

Effects of wind erosion on growth and adaptability have been widely reported in many plants, but little attention has been paid to dioecious plants. Recent studies have shown that sex-specific responses to environmental changes in many plants exist. To explore sexual differences in response to wind erosion, female and male Salix gordejevii saplings growing on inter-dune land (no erosion) and on the windward slope of the dune (20cm wind erosion) in Hunshandake Sandy Land were chosen and their morphology, biomass and physiological traits were investigated, respectively. Wind erosion significantly reduced plant growth, biomass accumulation, gas exchange and chlorophyll fluorescence, and obviously disrupted osmotic regulation function and antioxidant enzyme system in both sexes, especially in males. Under wind erosion condition, females exhibited higher sapling height (SH), basal diameter (BD), leaf dry mass (LDM), root dry mass (RDM), total dry mass (TDM), root percentage in total dry mass, net photosynthesis rate (P n), maximum efficiency of photosystem II (F v/F m), effective quantum yield of PSII (Φ PSII), relative water content (RWC) of leaves, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) activities, but lower malondialdehyde (MDA), proline as well as soluble sugar content than did males. However, no significant sexual differences in most of these traits were observed under no erosion condition. Our results demonstrated that females possess a greater resistance to wind erosion than do males, with females having a better photosynthetic capacity, stronger water retention capacity and more efficient antioxidant system to alleviate negative effects caused by aeolian environment.

El amor en Badiou: ontologia del vacío, la no relación sexual y la verdad / Love in Badiou: ontology of void, non-sexual relationship and truth / O amor em Badiou: ontologia do vazio, da não-sexualidade e da verdade

RESUMEN El objetivo del siguiente artículo de reflexion es ofrecer una lectura del concepto de amor en el pensamiento de Alain Badiou que medie y armonice el trasfondo abstracto y formal de su metaontología con sus conocidas intervenciones sobre este concepto dirigidas al gran público. Se llena con ello un vacío en la literatura que analiza esta region de su pensamiento. El artículo acomete esta tarea en tres momentos: primero se explica la conexión, que se asume que hay entre la teorïa del ser como multiplicidad y la teona lacaniana de la sexuación a fin de senalar la continuidad y limite entre las mismas. Tras ello, situamos el amor en las coordenadas de la teoría del acontecimiento, el sujeto y la verdad. Finalmente, interpretamos la propuesta de Badiou a la luz de algunos elementos que proceden de la teoría del amor de Platon y de lo que llamamos un comunismo de la diferencia o mínimo.

AВSTRAСT The aim of the current reflection article is to offer a reading of the concept of love in Alain Badiou's thought that mediates and harmonizes the abstract and formal background of his metaontology with his well-known interventions on this concept aimed at the general public. This fills a gap in the literature that analyzes this region of his thinking. The article undertakes this task in three moments: First the connection, which is assumed to exist, between the theory of being as multiplicity and the Lacanian theory of sexuation is explained in order to indicate the continuity and limit between them. After that, we place love in the coordinates of the theory of the event, the subject and the truth. Finally we interpret Badiou's proposal in the light of some elements that come from Plato's theory of love and what we call a communism of difference or minimum.

RESUMО O objetivo do artigo de reflexão a seguir é oferecer uma leitura do conceito de amor no pensamento de Alain Badiou que medeia e harmoniza o fundo abstrato e formal de sua metaontologia com suas conhecidas intervenções sobre este conceito dirigidas ao público em geral. Isto preenche uma lacuna na literatura que analisa esta região de seu pensamento. O artigo empreende esta tarefa em três etapas: primeiro, a suposta conexão entre a teoria do eu como multiplicidade e a teoria lacaniana da sexuação é explicada a fim de apontar a continuidade e os limites entre elas. Em seguida, situamos o amor nas coordenadas da teoria do evento, do assunto e da verdade. Finalmente, interpretamos a proposta de Badiou á luz de alguns elementos que provêm da teoria do amor de Platão e do que chamamos um comunismo de diferença ou minimalismo.

No Divã de Paul B. Preciado: Psicanálise e (Des)obediência Epistêmica / On Paul B. Preciado's Couch: Psychoanalysis and Epistemic (Dis)obedience / En el Diván de Paul B. Preciado: Psicoanálisis y (Des)obediencia epistémica

Este artigo discute alguns dos questionamentos dirigidos à psicanálise por Paul B. Preciado em uma conferência realizada na Escola da Causa Freudiana em novembro de 2019, bem como alguns de seus desdobramentos. Nosso intuito é reconhecer e acolher as críticas apontadas por Preciado e, de modo mais geral, pelo olhar contemporâneo de outras disciplinas, considerando a possibilidade de construção de uma nova epistemologia que aposte na multiplicidade de corpos e sexualidades em contrapartida a certa leitura empreendida no campo psicanalítico acerca da diferença sexual. Para isso, analisamos criticamente a resposta de três psicanalistas à intervenção de Preciado e discutimos a problemática da epistemologia da diferença sexual, situando-a nos diálogos contemporâneos entre a psicanálise e os estudos queer. Por fim, sustentamos uma leitura da diferença sexual articulada ao conceito de dispositivo, proposto por Michel Foucault; isto é, como uma epistemologia política e como uma gramática das subjetividades historicamente situada, dentre outras possíveis.

This paper discusses the criticism by Paul B. Preciado, as well as some of its ramifications, in respect of psychoanalysis, which was presented at a conference held at the École de la Cause Freudienne, on November 19th, 2019. We intend to recognize and welcome Preciado's commentary and, in a more comprehensive manner, achieve this through the contemporary perspective of other disciplines, while also considering the possibility of the development of a new epistemology that sets the multiplicity of bodies and sexualities in contrast to the reading undertaken regarding the sexual difference within the psychoanalytic field. For this purpose, we critically analyze the response of three psychoanalysts to Preciado's intervention, and we discuss the issue with the epistemology of sexual difference while situating it in the contemporary dialogues between psychoanalysis and queer studies. Finally, we establish an interpretation of the sexual difference linked to the concept of apparatus, which is proposed by Michel Foucault; namely, as a political epistemology, and as a historically contextualized grammar of subjectivities, among others that are also possible.

Este artículo discute algunos interrogantes dirigidos al psicoanálisis a partir de la intervención realizada por Paul B. Preciado en la Escuela de la Causa Freudiana en noviembre de 2019, así como algunos de sus desarrollos. Nuestro objetivo es reconocer y acoger las críticas señaladas por Preciado y, más en general, por la mirada contemporánea de otras disciplinas, considerando la posibilidad de construir una nueva epistemología que apueste por la multiplicidad de los cuerpos y sexualidades en contraposición a una determinada lectura emprendida en el campo psicoanalítico acerca de la diferencia sexual. Para eso, analizamos críticamente la respuesta de tres psicoanalistas a la intervención de Preciado y discutimos la cuestión de la epistemología de la diferencia sexual, ubicándola en los diálogos contemporáneos entre el psicoanálisis y los estudios queer. Finalmente, apoyamos una lectura de la diferencia sexual articulada al concepto de dispositivo, propuesto por Michel Foucault; esto es, como epistemología política y como gramática de subjetividades históricamente situadas, entre otras posibles.

Effect of Blue Light on the Growth of the Red Swamp Crayfish Procambraus clarkii Larvae -Seasonal and Sexual Differences.

Organisms have the ability to adapt their behavior and physiology in response to seasonal changes in their habitat's environments. Although it is known that a specific light wavelength affects growth and reproduction in various animal taxa, its effect on sexual and seasonal differences in year-round breeding animals remains unclear. Here, we demonstrate that a blue light stimulus promotes or suppresses larval growth in the red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkia depending on the season. During the spawning season (natural growing period), blue light irradiation accelerates female growth faster than in males, but suppresses growth in both females and males in the overwintering season. Moreover, these seasonal plastic effects of blue light show apparent sexual differences, with female juveniles exhibiting the greatest sensitivity. Our findings provide an opportunity to research how the red swamp crayfish can adapt to various habitable niches from the point of view of light color perception, and can be applied for the development of a more effective aquaculture system, not only for crayfish, but also for other commercially available decapod crustaceans using a specific light environment.

Enhanced Salt Tolerance of Torreya grandis Genders Is Related to Nitric Oxide Level and Antioxidant Capacity.

Nitric oxide (NO), a bioactive molecule, is often involved in the regulation of physiological and biochemical processes in stressed plants. However, the effects of NO donors on dioecious plants remain unclear. Using a pot experiment, female and male Torreya grandis were used to study the role of sex and NO in salt stress tolerance. In the present study, female and male T. grandis seedlings pretreated with an NO donor (sodium nitroprusside, SNP) were exposed to salt stress, and then leaf relative water content (RWC), photosynthetic pigments, chlorophyll fluorescence parameters, NO and glutathione levels, oxidative damage, and antioxidant enzyme activities were investigated. Female T. grandis plants had better tolerance to salinity, as they were characterized by significantly higher RWC, pigment content, and photochemical activities of photosystem II (PSII) and fewer negative effects associated with higher nitrate reductase (NR) activity and NO content. Pretreatment with an NO donor further increased the endogenous NO content and NR activity of both female and male T. grandis plants compared with salt treatment. Moreover, pretreatment with an NO donor alleviated salt-induced oxidative damage of T. grandis, especially in male plants, as indicated by reduced lipid peroxidation, through an enhanced antioxidant system, including proline and glutathione accumulation, and increased antioxidant enzyme activities. However, the ameliorating effect of the NO donor was not effective in the presence of the NO scavenger (Nω-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester, L-name). In conclusion, enhanced salt tolerance in T. grandis plants is related to nitric oxide levels and the supply of NO donors is an interesting strategy for alleviating the negative effect of salt on T. grandis. Our data provide new evidence to contribute to the current understanding of NO-induced salt stress tolerance.

Exploring physical activity in Central Chile during the Early Ceramic Period and Late Intermediate Period (200-1450 CE).

OBJECTIVES: We explore physical activity in early farming societies of Central Chile during the Early Ceramic and Late Intermediate Periods (200-1450 CE), a time of technological changes and intensification of food production. The existence of differences in entheseal changes (EC) between females and males is evaluated in two periods with different subsistence strategies. MATERIAL AND METHODS: EC were recorded with method in the upper and lower limbs of 56 male and female adult individuals from the Early Ceramic Period (ECP) and Late Intermediate Period (LIP). Hierarchical multiple factor analysis and hierarchical clustering on principal components were performed using an exploratory approach. RESULTS: In all the analyzed limbs, the EC scores are higher in males than females, which may be explained by sexual dimorphism. A constant overlap in the variability of the EC among males and females is observed. However, the EC scores show a different pattern of variability when comparing ECP females with LIP females. The results show that the scores increase in the latter. In contrast, when comparing ECP males with LIP males scores decrease in the later period. DISCUSSION: Physical activity in the societies of Central Chile with incipient agriculture did not vary by sex or during the timeframe studied. Nevertheless, the interaction between sex-period and the variability pattern of the EC from one period to another suggests different ways of doing similar physical activities or different emphases for similar biomechanical actions.

LOVE'S BODY AND THE BODY OF LOVE: On Norman O. Brown's Eschatological Hermaphrodite and the Darwinian Continuities of Nature.

US-American philosopher Norman O. Brown (1913-2002) was one of the very few twentieth-century intellectuals to situate hermaphroditism at the core of their work. Although Brown's publications became cult books of the then emerging protest subcultures and were eventually regarded as milestones in the history of Freudian revisionism, the reception of his views on hermaphroditism has been insubstantial. The present contribution focuses at first on Brown's attempt to supersede binary sexuality and its same-sex/other-sex combinatories by positing an ambit of hermaphroditic reconciliation that emerges from the depths of the unconscious, but is effectual only as an eschatological ideal. Against this backdrop, Brown's consequential neglect of Charles Darwin's universalization of corporeal hermaphroditism and of Magnus Hirschfeld's conception of human sexual intermediariness are analyzed and assessed.

Two sexes respond equally to food restriction in a sexually dimorphic but not body mass dimorphic jumping spider.

Natural selection favors animals that evolve developmental and behavioral responses that buffer the negative effects of food restrictions. These buffering responses vary both between species and within species. Many studies have shown sex-specific responses to environmental changes, usually in species with sexual size dimorphism (SSD), less found in species with weak or no SSD, which suggests that sizes of different sexes are experiencing different selections. However, previous studies usually investigated development and behavior separately, and the balanced situation where males and females of sexually dimorphic species respond in the same way to food restriction remains little known. Here, we investigated this in Phintelloides versicolor (Salticidae) that presents sexual dimorphism in color and shape but weak SSD. We examined whether food restriction induced the same responses in males and females in development duration, adult body size and weight, daily time allocated to foraging, and hunting. We found food restriction induced similar responses in both sexes: both exhibited longer development duration, smaller adult body size and weight, higher probability of staying outside nests and noticing prey immediately, and higher hunting success. However, there were sexual differences regardless of food condition: females showed faster development, smaller adult body size, higher probability of staying outside of nests, and higher hunting success. These indicated the differential selection on male and female sizes of P. versicolor could be under a balanced situation, where males and females show equal developmental and behavioral plasticity to environmental constraints.

Effects of Sex and Seasonal Climatic Changes on the Risk of Incidence of Anti-EGFR Therapy-Induced Rash in Cancer Patients: A Retrospective Study.

Background and Objectives: Seasonal climatic changes may affect the development of the rash that is characteristic of treatment with anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) antibodies. We evaluated the association between seasons and rash incidence among patients with cancer. Materials and Methods: Data from patients with colorectal or head and neck cancer treated with cetuximab or panitumumab during summer (S group; n = 34) or winter (W group; n = 37) between June 2014 and February 2019 were collected to retrospectively examine patient characteristics and rash incidence ≤ 8 weeks after treatment initiation. Results: Rashes were observed in 73.5% (n = 25) and 78.4% (n = 29) and grade 3 rashes were observed in 17.6% (n = 6) and 2.7% (n = 1) of the patients in the S and W groups, respectively. The incidence of grade ≥ 2 rashes in males in the S group was higher than that in the rest of the patient groups (p < 0.01). Conclusions: The higher incidence of skin rashes in males during summer might be attributed to the effects of ultraviolet light, lack of skincare, male hormones, and secretion of anti-EGFR antibodies in sweat. These findings highlight the need for research on preventive measures for such rashes.

Sex differences of oxytocin and vasopressin in social behaviors.

The neuropeptides oxytocin (OT) and vasopressin (VP) are known to mediate social cognition and behaviors in a sex-dependent manner. This chapter reviews the sex-dependent influence of OT and VP on social behaviors, focusing on (1) partner preference and sexual orientation, (2) memory modulation, (3) emotion regulation, and (4) trust-related behaviors. Most studies suggest that OT promotes familiar (opposite-sex) partner preference, strengthens memory, relieves anxiety, and increases trust. However, VP-regulated social cognition has been studied less than OT. VP facilitates familiar (opposite-sex) partner preference, enhances memory, induces anxiety, and influences happiness/anger perception. Detailed sex differences of these effects are reviewed. There is a male preponderance in the use of animal models and many study results are too complex to draw firm conclusions. Clarifying the complex interplay between the OT/VP system and sex hormones in the regulation of social behaviors is needed.

Spatial Movement Patterns and Local Co-Occurrence of Nutria Individuals in Association with Habitats Using Geo-Self-Organizing Map (Geo-SOM).

Nutrias (Myocastor coypus) were imported to South Korea for farming in 1985; individuals escaped captivity and established wild populations in natural ecosystems in the late 1990s. Numerous studies have focused on their monitoring and management; however, information on the continuous movement of individuals is not available. In this study, telemetry data from field conditions were used to identify the nearest-neighbor distances of individuals in association with environmental factors, including plant type, land cover, and biological parameters. The minimum nearest-neighbor distances for the different sexes were, overall, according to the minimum distances for the same sex. Local co-occurrences of individuals, either of the same or different sex, were seasonal. Tall grasslands, followed by herbaceous vegetation, were associated with the co-occurrence of different sexes. Conversely, floating-leaved hydrophytes, followed by xeric herbaceous vegetation, were correlated with the co-occurrence of the same sex. Local female-male co-occurrences were negatively associated with male-male co-occurrences but not with female-female co-occurrences, suggesting male dominance in group formations. Movement and co-occurrence information extracted using Geo-self-organizing maps furthers our understanding of population dispersal and helps formulate management strategies for nutria populations.