[Truncated abstract] Despite the costs associated with mating, females of many taxa solicit multiple mates during a single reproductive event (polyandry). Polyandry is clearly adaptive when females gain direct benefits from males at mating. However, polyandry has also been shown to increase female fitness in the absence of direct benefits. Thus, a number of genetic benefit hypotheses have been developed to account for the origin of this behaviour. Although not mutually exclusive, a distinction lays between genetic benefits that propose defense against reproductive failure (nonadditive genetic effects), and those that propose benefits from intrinsic sire effects (additive genetic effects). Nonadditive genetic benefits of polyandry have been documented in a number of species; by soliciting multiple mates females can avoid inbreeding and other forms of incompatibility between parental genotypes. Polyandry may also increase female reproductive success when genetically superior males have greater success in sperm competition, and produce better quality offspring. An inevitable consequence of polyandry is that sperm from rival males will overlap in the female reproductive tract and compete to fertilise the ova. The outcome of sperm competition is typically determined by bias in sperm use by the females, interactions between parental genotypes, and ejaculate characteristics that provide a fertilisation advantage. Thus, sperm competition is recognised as a persuasive force in the evolution of male reproductive traits. Comparative analyses across species, and competitive mating trials within species have suggested that sperm competition can influence the evolution of testis size and sperm production, and both sperm form and sperm function. ... After six generations of selection I observed phenotypic divergence in litter size - litter size increased in the polyandrous lines but not in the monandrous lines. This result was not attributable to inbreeding depression, or environmental/maternal effects associated with mating regime. Genetic benefits associated with polyandry could account for this result if increased litter size were attributable to increased embryo survival. However, males from the polyandrous lineages were subject to sperm competition, and evolved ejaculates with more sperm, suggesting that evolutionary increases in litter size may in part be due to improved male fertility. Finally, Chapter Five is an investigation of the natural variation in levels of polyandry in the wild, and the potential for sperm competition to drive macroevolutionary changes in male reproductive traits among geographically isolated island populations of house mice. I sampled seven island populations of house mice along the coast of Western Australia and, by genotyping pregnant females and their offspring, determined the frequency of multiply sired litters within each population. I applied the frequency of multiple paternity as an index of the risk of sperm competition, and looked for selective responses in testis size and ejaculate traits. I found that the risk of sperm competition predicted testis size across the seven island populations. However, variation in sperm traits was not explained by the risk of sperm competition. I discuss these results in relation to sperm competition theory, and extrinsic factors that influence ejaculate quality.

Nous voulions déterminer les facteurs de l'anthropisation impliqués dans le commensalisme de la souris, selon une approche phylogéographique et historique.<br />La quantification de la variabilité actuelle des morphologies dentaires (analyses de Fourier) du genre Mus en Méditerranée a montré qu'il est possible de discriminer les espèces et sous-espèces du genre à partir du matériel fossile et qu'elle pouvait être un marqueur des flux géniques. <br />L'application archéozoologique nous a permis d'identifier l'émergence des pratiques de l'économie agricole néolithique (stockage des grains, champs cultivés...) au Proche-Orient comme le facteur déterminant dans l'adaptation de la souris à la niche commensale.<br />Enfin, nous avons montré que la souris domestique colonisa la Méditerranée occidentale lors de l'intensification conjointe des échanges et de l'urbanisation du premier millénaire av. J.-C., lui permettant de surmonter les barrières écologiques et génétiques qui, auparavant, empêchaient son invasion.

<p>The genetic basis for behavioural traits is largely unknown. The overall aim of this thesis was to find genes with importance for behavioural traits related to fear and anxiety. Microarray analysis was used to screen expression profiles of brain regions important for emotional behaviour in dogs, wolves, foxes and mice. In a first experiment, dogs and their wild ancestors the wolves were compared. Our results suggested that directed selection for behaviour might have resulted in expression changes in few genes acting on several brain functions, possibly affecting behaviour. However, the observed expressional differences were confounded with environmental effects. This was addressed in a second study on domesticated silver foxes. By correlating behaviour and brain gene expression in foxes selected for tameness to non-selected foxes raised in the same environment, we found large behavioural differences but only few genes with differential expression in the brain. Fifteen of the 40 genes showing evidence of expression difference were related to haem or haemoglobins. Further studies showed an additive genetic effect on brain gene expression, similar to the additive genetic inheritance of behaviour, indicating an involvement in domestication. Transcriptional profiling was also used for finding genes involved with the sleep disorder narcolepsy. Narcoleptic Doberman pinschers homozygous for the canarc-1 mutation were compared to their unaffected heterozygots revealing reduced expression of three genes, TAC1, PENK and SOCS2, with relevance to the narcoleptic phenotype. Finally gene expression was investigated in relation to anxiety-related traits in a mouse model. Surprisingly, as in the fox study, genes coding for haemoglobins indicated differential expression in the brain between animals with different anxiety levels. Our combined results suggest that genes like haemoglobins, best known for their function in oxygen transport in blood, may also participate in brain functions related to decreased anxiety in domestic animals. </p>

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders demonstrate deficits in speech and language, with the most outstanding speech impairments being in comprehension, semantics, prosody, and pragmatics. Perception and production of music and speech in children with ASD appear to follow the same principles of Gestalt pattern perceptual organization. In addition, common neuroanatomical structures and similar patterns of cortical activation mediate the perception and production of speech and music. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore how the perception of musical stimuli would impact the perception and production of speech and language in children with ASD. The study examined the effect of developmental speech-language training through music on the speech production of children with ASD. The participants were 50 children with ASD, age range 3 to 5 years, who had previously been evaluated on standard tests of language and level of functioning. The children completed the pre-test, six sessions of training, and the post-test. The pre-and post-tests consisted of the Verbal Production Evaluation Scale (VPES) and measured each participant's verbal production including semantics, phonology, pragmatics, and prosody, of 36 target words. Eighteen participants completed music training, in which they watched a music video containing six songs and pictures of the 36 target words. Another group of eighteen participants completed speech training, in which they watched a speech video containing six stories and pictures of target words. Fourteen participants were randomly assigned to a no-training condition. Results of the study showed that participants in both music and speech training significantly increased their scores on the VPES from the pre-test to the post-test. Both music and speech training were effective for enhancing participants' speech production including semantics, phonology, pragmatics, and prosody. Participants who received music training made greater progress on speech production than participants who received the speech training; however, the difference was not statistically significant. Results of the study also indicated that the level of speech production was influenced by the level of functioning in children with ASD. An interaction between level of functioning and training conditions on speech production approached significance. The results indicate that both high and low functioning participants improved their speech production after receiving either music or speech training; however, low functioning participants showed a greater improvement in speech production after the music training than after the speech training. Collectively, music training was more effective for speech production in low functioning children with ASD than was speech training. The study suggests that the superior performance in speech production in children with ASD who received music training might be generated from music stimuli which were organized by the Gestalt laws of pattern perception. In conclusion, children with ASD appear to perceive important linguistic information (i.e., target words) embedded in music stimuli, and can verbally produce the words as functional speech. These results provide evidence for the use of music as an effective way to enhance speech production in children with ASD.

The genetic basis for behavioural traits is largely unknown. The overall aim of this thesis was to find genes with importance for behavioural traits related to fear and anxiety. Microarray analysis was used to screen expression profiles of brain regions important for emotional behaviour in dogs, wolves, foxes and mice. In a first experiment, dogs and their wild ancestors the wolves were compared. Our results suggested that directed selection for behaviour might have resulted in expression changes in few genes acting on several brain functions, possibly affecting behaviour. However, the observed expressional differences were confounded with environmental effects. This was addressed in a second study on domesticated silver foxes. By correlating behaviour and brain gene expression in foxes selected for tameness to non-selected foxes raised in the same environment, we found large behavioural differences but only few genes with differential expression in the brain. Fifteen of the 40 genes showing evidence of expression difference were related to haem or haemoglobins. Further studies showed an additive genetic effect on brain gene expression, similar to the additive genetic inheritance of behaviour, indicating an involvement in domestication. Transcriptional profiling was also used for finding genes involved with the sleep disorder narcolepsy. Narcoleptic Doberman pinschers homozygous for the canarc-1 mutation were compared to their unaffected heterozygots revealing reduced expression of three genes, TAC1, PENK and SOCS2, with relevance to the narcoleptic phenotype. Finally gene expression was investigated in relation to anxiety-related traits in a mouse model. Surprisingly, as in the fox study, genes coding for haemoglobins indicated differential expression in the brain between animals with different anxiety levels. Our combined results suggest that genes like haemoglobins, best known for their function in oxygen transport in blood, may also participate in brain functions related to decreased anxiety in domestic animals.

Retrogenes are functional genes that are created through retroposition, whereby mature mRNA is reverse-transcribed and re-integrated into the genome. In this study, the following objectives were accomplished: (i) intrachromosomal- and interchromosomal-retroposed genes were located in H. sapiens, (ii) interchromosomal-retroposed genes were located in M. musculus, D. melanogaster, and C. elegans. To date, this is the first assay for intrachromosomal-retroposed genes in H. sapiens and interchromosomal-retroposed genes in C. elegans. Biases discovered include excess interchromosomal generation of retrogenes by chromosome X in H. sapiens, M. musculus, and D. melanogaster. Selection pressure created by the inactivation of the X chromosome during male meiosis appears to be at least partially responsible for this phenomenon. In addition, excess interchromosomal recruitment of retrogenes by chromosome X was observed in H. sapiens. The driving force appears to be an interplay between selection for female-beneficial genes and selection for male-beneficial genes. No other chromosome biases were discovered.

Retrogenes are functional genes that are created through retroposition, whereby mature mRNA is reverse-transcribed and re-integrated into the genome. In this study, the following objectives were accomplished: (i) intrachromosomal- and interchromosomal-retroposed genes were located in H. sapiens, (ii) interchromosomal-retroposed genes were located in M. musculus, D. melanogaster, and C. elegans. To date, this is the first assay for intrachromosomal-retroposed genes in H. sapiens and interchromosomal-retroposed genes in C. elegans. Biases discovered include excess interchromosomal generation of retrogenes by chromosome X in H. sapiens, M. musculus, and D. melanogaster. Selection pressure created by the inactivation of the X chromosome during male meiosis appears to be at least partially responsible for this phenomenon. In addition, excess interchromosomal recruitment of retrogenes by chromosome X was observed in H. sapiens. The driving force appears to be an interplay between selection for female-beneficial genes and selection for male-beneficial genes. No other chromosome biases were discovered.

A variety of prey species are able to detect predators by odours emanating from their urine, feces, fur and anal glands. However, it is unknown whether the odour of a predator’s blood also contains information signalling “predator” to a prey. The aim of the present study was therefore to assess if blood odour from a cat elicits avoidance or anxiety responses in CD-1 mice (Mus musculus). A two-compartment test arena was used to assess place preference, motor activity and fecal excretions when the mice were simultaneously presented with cat blood and a blank control. Additionally, the mice were tested with horse blood and N-pentyl acetate, a fruity odour. The mice did not show avoidance of any of the three odours. Nevertheless, the mice were significantly less active when exposed to cat blood in comparison to horse blood, but did not increase defecation when exposed to cat blood. This suggests that the information mice get by the odour of cat blood did not contain the signal “predator”.

It is essential for prey species to be able to detect predators to avoid them. The sense of smell is used by a number of prey species for this purpose. The aim of the present study was to assess if one of the odourants that make up a predator odour is sufficient to induce a behavioural response in mice (Mus musculus). Two predator odourants were used, 2,2-dimethylthietane and methyl-2-phenylethyl sulfide, which are both found in the secretions of natural predators of mice. An odourant found in fruits, n-pentyl acetate, was also used. All three odourants were presented at a concentration that was a factor of 100 above the olfactory detection threshold of mice. Ten adult predator-naïve CD-1 mice were individually put in a two-compartment chamber one of which contained an odourant while the other contained a near-odourless solvent (diethyl phthalate). The results indicated that methyl-2-phenylethyl sulfide was actively avoided by the mice. Towards 2,2-dimethylthietane and n-pentyl acetate, in contrast, the mice behaved indifferent. Further, the results suggest a significant correlation between the number of switches between the two compartments of the test chamber and the test sessions when the animals were presented with n-pentyl acetate, but not when they were presented with the predator odourants. The results support the notion of an innate fear response towards the predator odourant methyl-2-phenylethyl sulfide in mice, but further studies with more animals and different concentrations of the odourants are necessary.

The purpose of this paper is to create a modern transcription/edition and an historical study of Munich Mus. Ms. 1511b thereby helping to define the social and pedagogical ramifications of lute repertoire from the mid-sixteenth-century. Because of the amateurish nature of the compositions, the conclusion of this study is that a member of the Herwarth family probably used the manuscript for learning purposes. Dance, grounds and other related forms found in the manuscript are discussed. Also included is an incipit concordance that can be used as a cross-reference for further research.