Erosion of behavioural plasticity and pace-of-life shifts under multigenerational pharmaceutical pollution.

Research Highlight: Aich, U., Polverino, G., Yazdan Parast, F.

Sperm performance in the race for fertilization, the influence of female reproductive fluid.

In studies of sperm competition, particularly in external fertilizers, the importance of the fertilization environment on the paternity share among rival males often goes overlooked. The female reproductive fluid (FRF), produced and released by females, creates the microenvironment that sperm encounter on their quest for fertilization and can generate paternity biases by affecting key traits in sperm competition. Yet, whether there is a direct link between FRF effects on sperm traits and its effect on competitive fertilization dynamics remains to be explored.

Quadrivalent Live-Attenuated Influenza Vaccine in Milan preschools: an Italian experience of school-located flu vaccination within the 2022-2023 season.

Background: In Italy, since the 2020-2021 flu season, the flu vaccine recommendation was extended to all children aged 6 months to 6 years and quadrivalent Live-Attenuated Influenza Vaccine (qLAIV) was introduced. Since school-aged children are important carriers of annual influenza epidemics, a school-based influenza vaccination program may potentially increase vaccine uptake. Recent studies, conducted in the UK and the US, show that school-based vaccination can reach higher percentage of paediatric vaccination coverage compared to children vaccinated in other settings.

Sub-acute exposure of male guppies (Poecilia reticulata) to environmentally relevant concentrations of PFOA and GenX induces significant changes in the testis transcriptome and reproductive traits.

Poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are frequently detected in the environment and are linked to adverse reproductive health outcomes in humans. Although legacy PFAS have been phased out due to their toxicity, alternative PFAS are increasingly used despite the fact that information on their toxic effects on reproductive traits is particularly scarce. Here, we exposed male guppies (Poecilia reticulata) for a short period (21 days) to an environmentally realistic concentration (1 ppb) of PFOA, a legacy PFAS, and its replacement compound, GenX, to assess their impact on reproductive traits and gene expression.

Population density effects on gamete traits and fertilisation dynamics under varying sperm environments in mussels.

Gamete traits can vary widely among species, populations and individuals, influencing fertilisation dynamics and overall reproductive fitness. Sexual selection can play an important role in determining the evolution of gamete traits with local environmental conditions determining the strength and direction of sexual selection. Here, we test for signatures of post-mating selection on gamete traits in relation to population density, and possible interactive effects of population density and sperm concentration on sperm motility and fertilisation rates among natural populations of mussels.