A Robust and Versatile Mating Function for Two-Sex Population Projection Models Fitting all Types of Mating Systems.

Commonly used two-sex discrete-time population projection models rely on mating functions developed for continuous-time frameworks that overestimate the number of unions between reproductive individuals. This has important consequences for our understanding of the evolution and demography of two-sex populations and consequently for management and conservation. Here, we propose a novel mating function that is robust by obeying all properties necessary to be ecologically valid and flexible by accommodating all mating systems and efficiency in mating encounters.

Humidity modifies species-specific and age-dependent heat stress effects in an insect host-parasitoid interaction.

Climate change is projected to increase the frequency and intensity of extreme heat events, and may increase humidity levels, leading to coupled thermal and hydric stress. However, how humidity modulates the impacts of heat stress on species and their interactions is currently unknown. Using an insect host-parasitoid interaction: the Indian meal moth, , and its endoparasitoid wasp, , we investigated how humidity interacted with heat stress duration, applied at different host developmental stages, to affect life history traits.

Diffusion enhancement and autoparametric resonance.

The possibility of an autoparametric resonance in an isolated many-particle system induces a specific behavior of the particles in the presence of thermal noise. In particular, the variance associated with a resonant mode, and consequently that of the associated particles, is strongly increased compared to what it would have in the absence of parametric resonance. In this paper we consider a dimer submitted to a periodic potential for which there are only two modes, the center of mass motion and the internal vibration mode.

Motions of a dimer on a periodic potential.

A dimer on a periodic potential is a simple system that exhibits a surprisingly rich dynamics. This system is conservative, but it is nonlinear and nonintegrable. In a previous work, we evidenced the autoparametric excitation of the relative motion by the center of mass in two limiting cases (very small or very large initial energy, compared to the external potential depth).

Parametric resonance in a conservative system of coupled nonlinear oscillators.

We study a dimer in a periodic potential well, which is a conservative but nonintegrable system. This seemingly simple system exhibits a surprisingly rich dynamics. Using a systematic asymptotic analysis, we demonstrate that the translation mode of the dimer (center of mass motion) may induce a parametric resonance of the oscillatory mode.

The kinship matrix: inferring the kinship structure of a population from its demography.

The familial structure of a population and the relatedness of its individuals are determined by its demography. There is, however, no general method to infer kinship directly from the life cycle of a structured population. Yet, this question is central to fields such as ecology, evolution and conservation, especially in contexts where there is a strong interdependence between familial structure and population dynamics.

An Evolutionary and Ecological Community Model for Distribution of Phenotypes and Abundances among Competing Species.

AbstractHere, we propose a theory for the structure of communities of competing species. We include ecologically realistic assumptions, such as density dependence and stochastic fluctuations in the environment, and analyze how evolution caused by - and -selection will affect the packing of species in the phenotypic space as well as the species abundance distribution. Species-specific traits have the same matrix of additive genetic variances and covariances, and evolution of mean traits is affected by fluctuations in population size of all species.

Forest management affects seasonal source-sink dynamics in a territorial, group-living bird.

The persistence of wildlife populations is under threat as a consequence of human activities, which are degrading natural ecosystems. Commercial forestry is the greatest threat to biodiversity in boreal forests. Forestry practices have degraded most available habitat, threatening the persistence of natural populations.

Evolutionary demographic models reveal the strength of purifying selection on susceptibility alleles to late-onset diseases.

Assessing the role played by purifying selection on a susceptibility allele to late-onset disease (SALOD) is crucial to understanding the puzzling allelic spectrum of a disease, because most alleles are recent and rare. This fact is surprising because it suggests that alleles are under purifying selection while those that are involved in post-menopause mortality are often considered neutral in the genetic literature. The aim of this article is to use an evolutionary demography model to assess the magnitude of selection on SALODs while accounting for epidemiological and sociocultural factors.

New insights on mercury abatement and modeling in a full-scale municipal solid waste incineration flue gas treatment unit.

Modeling approaches are generally used to describe mercury transformations in a single step of flue gas treatment processes. However, less attention has been given to the interactions between the different process stages. Accordingly, the mercury removal performance of a full-scale solid waste incineration plant, equipped with a dry flue gas treatment line was investigated using two complementary modeling strategies: a thermochemical equilibrium approach to study the mercury transformation mechanisms and speciation in the flue gas, and a kinetic approach to describe the mercury adsorption process.

Density-dependent population dynamics of a high Arctic capital breeder, the barnacle goose.

Density regulation of the population growth rate occurs through negative feedbacks on underlying vital rates, in response to increasing population size. Here, we examine in a capital breeder how vital rates of different life-history stages, their elasticities and population growth rates are affected by changes in population size. We developed an integrated population model for a local population of Svalbard barnacle geese, Branta leucopsis, using counts, reproductive data and individual-based mark-recapture data (1990-2017) to model age class-specific survival, reproduction and number of individuals.

Sexual Identity Disorder and Psychosis in Klinefelter Syndrome: A Synthesis of Literature and a Case Report.

Klinefelter syndrome (KS) 47, XXY is the most frequent chromosomal abnormality causing hypogonadism in humans. This chromosomal abnormality of number in its classical form called homogeneous (supernumerary X) is generally the result of a meiosis accident. Several studies have suggested that individuals with KS are at greater risk of developing various psychiatric disorders, including depression and schizophrenia.

Transverse single-file diffusion and enhanced longitudinal diffusion near a subcritical bifurcation.

A quasi-one-dimensional system of repelling particles undergoes a configurational phase transition when the transverse confining potential decreases. Below a threshold, it becomes energetically favorable for the system to adopt one of two staggered raw patterns, symmetric with respect to the system axis. This transition is a subcritical pitchfork bifurcation for short range interactions.

Enhancement of Brownian motion for a chain of particles in a periodic potential.

The transport of particles in very confined channels in which single file diffusion occurs has been largely studied in systems where the transverse confining potential is smooth. However, in actual physical systems, this potential may exhibit both static corrugations and time fluctuations. Some recent results suggest the important role played by this nonsmoothness of the confining potential.

Trait level analysis of multitrait population projection matrices.

In most matrix population projection models, individuals are characterized according to, usually, one or two traits such as age, stage, size or location. A broad theory of multitrait population projection matrices (MPPMs) incorporating larger number of traits was long held back by time and space computational complexity issues. As a consequence, no study has yet focused on the influence of the structure of traits describing a life-cycle on population dynamics and life-history evolution.

Interaction, coalescence, and collapse of localized patterns in a quasi-one-dimensional system of interacting particles.

We study the path toward equilibrium of pairs of solitary wave envelopes (bubbles) that modulate a regular zigzag pattern in an annular channel. We evidence that bubble pairs are metastable states, which spontaneously evolve toward a stable single bubble. We exhibit the concept of topological frustration of a bubble pair.

Thermal motion of a nonlinear localized pattern in a quasi-one-dimensional system.

We study the dynamics of localized nonlinear patterns in a quasi-one-dimensional many-particle system near a subcritical pitchfork bifurcation. The normal form at the bifurcation is given and we show that these patterns can be described as solitary-wave envelopes. They are stable in a large temperature range and can diffuse along the chain of interacting particles.

Hysteretic and intermittent regimes in the subcritical bifurcation of a quasi-one-dimensional system of interacting particles.

In this article, we study the effects of white Gaussian additive thermal noise on a subcritical pitchfork bifurcation. We consider a quasi-one-dimensional system of particles that are transversally confined, with short-range (non-Coulombic) interactions and periodic boundary conditions in the longitudinal direction. In such systems, there is a structural transition from a linear order to a staggered row, called the zigzag transition.

Subcriticality of the zigzag transition: A nonlinear bifurcation analysis.

When repelling particles are confined by a transverse potential in quasi-one-dimensional geometry, the straight line equilibrium configuration becomes unstable at small confinement, in favor of a staggered row that may be inhomogeneous or homogeneous. This conformational phase transition is a pitchfork bifurcation called the zigzag transition. We study the zigzag transition in infinite and periodic finite systems with short-range interactions.

Linear instability of a zigzag pattern.

Interacting particles confined in a quasi-one-dimensional channel are physical systems which display various equilibrium patterns according to the interparticle interaction and the transverse confinement potential. Depending on the confinement, the particles may be distributed along a straight line, in a staggered row (zigzag), or in a configuration in which the linear and zigzag phases coexist (distorted zigzag). In order to clarify the conditions of existence of each configuration, we have studied the linear stability of the zigzag pattern.

Noisy zigzag transition, fluctuations, and thermal bifurcation threshold.

We study the zigzag transition in a system of particles with screened electrostatic interaction, submitted to a thermal noise. At finite temperature, this configurational phase transition is an example of noisy supercritical pitchfork bifurcation. The measurements of transverse fluctuations allow a complete description of the bifurcation region, which takes place between the deterministic threshold and a thermal threshold beyond which thermal fluctuations do not allow the system to flip between the symmetric zigzag configurations.

Single-file diffusion of particles in a box: transient behaviors.

We consider a finite number of particles with soft-core interactions, subjected to thermal fluctuations and confined in a box with excluded mutual passage. Using numerical simulations, we focus on the influence of the longitudinal confinement on the transient behavior of the longitudinal mean squared displacement. We exhibit several power laws for its time evolution according to the confinement range and to the rank of the particle in the file.

Enhanced fluctuations of interacting particles confined in a box.

We study the position fluctuations of interacting particles aligned in a finite cell that avoid any crossing in equilibrium with a thermal bath. The focus is put on the influence of the confining force directed along the cell length. We show that the system may be modeled as a 1D chain of particles with identical masses, linked with linear springs of varying spring constants.