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Two colloidal spheres are maintained in oscillation by switching the position of an optical trap when a sphere reaches a limit position. leading to oscillations that are bounded in amplitude but free in phase and period. The interaction between the oscillators is only through the hydrodynamic flow induced by their motion. We prove that in the absence of stochastic noise the antiphase dynamical state is stable, and we show how the period depends on coupling strength. Both features are observed experimentally. As the natural frequencies of the oscillators are made progressively different, the coordination is quickly lost. These results help one to understand the origin of hydrodynamic synchronization and how the dynamics can be tuned. Cilia and flagella are biological systems coupled hydrodynamically, exhibiting dramatic collective motions. We propose that weakly correlated phase fluctuations, with one of the oscillators typically precessing the other, are characteristic of hydrodynamically coupled systems in the presence of thermal noise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We tested the hypothesis that primate female copulation calls are a form of postcopulatory female choice. We collected data on female sexual swellings, sexual and agonistic behavior, copulation calls and postcopulatory behavioral interactions in a multimale-multifemale captive group of Guinea baboons over a 3-mo period. Males copulated with only a few females, and females copulated with only 1 or 2 different males in the group, suggesting a harem-like mating system similar to that of hamadryas and gelada baboons. Female copulations were most likely to occur at peak sexual swellings and male copulatory success was accounted for by dominance rank and age. Variation in female tendencies to call after copulation is best explained by the copulatory success of the male with which each female copulated the most and by the number of copulating partners. The findings are consistent with predictions that calls are likely to be associated with copulation with preferred males and the risk of sperm competition. The prediction that copulation calls increased the probability of postcopulatory mate guarding is also supported. Taken together, the findings suggest that female copulation calls may play an important role in postcopulatory sexual selection and in particular in the expression of postcopulatory female choice in primate species in which females have little opportunity to choose their mates or female mate choice is costly or both. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing body of literature suggests that the ratio of the lengths of the second to fourth digits (2D:4D) on human hands is sexually dimorphic and associated with prenatal exposure to gonadal hormones, circulating serum testosterone, and a number of psychological and behavioral measures. Little research has investigated digit ratios in nonhuman species. In the present study, we investigated sex differences in digit ratios and their possible association with serum testosterone in a captive group of Guinea baboons (Papio papio). Contrary to the sex difference typically reported in humans, male baboons exhibited a substantially larger 2D:4D than did female baboons. Consistent with the human data, however, lower 2D:4D was associated with higher serum testosterone among the males. The present findings suggest that the relationship between digit ratios and male gonadal hormones may be phylogenetically well-conserved, although they also suggest possible species differences in the causal relationships between developmental mechanisms and sex-differentiated digit length patterns. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Four herds of pony mares, each consisting of a stallion and six mares, were used to characterize the nature of herding by the stallion and the factors that induced the herding behavior. Herding behaviors were compared among four successive treatments (six mares alone, stallion added, two new mares added, and entire herd moved to a new pasture). A new treatment was initiated every 7 days and behavior was studied for 5 consecutive days (Days 1–5) for each treatment. Observations were made every 10 min during a 2-h period for each day. The extent of herding was quantitated by the mean distances between mares. The extent of snaking (herding with the head and neck extended and ears held back) was scored 0, 1, 2, or 3 (nil, minimal, intermediate, and maximal, respectively). The mean distance among the original mares on Day 1 when the mares were alone was 5.0 mare lengths and was reduced (P<0.05) to 1.9 mare lengths when the stallion was added. The mean distance among the original mares of an established stallion/mare herd (3.8 mare lengths) was reduced (P<0.05) on the day the herd was moved to a new pasture (1.9 mare lengths), similar to the effect of the introduction of the stallion. Scores for the extent of snaking, as well as the extent of herding, were highest (P<0.05) on Day 1 when the stallion was added or the stallion/mare herd was moved to a new pasture. The extent of herding and snaking decreased (P<0.05) by Day 2 and was seen only occasionally on Days 3–5. The addition of new mares to the herd did not induce herding of the original mares. However, the new mares maintained mean distances of 8–12 mare lengths from the original mares, resulting primarily from chasing by the stallion. By Day 4, the distances between the new and original mares were not different (P>0.05) from the distances among the original mares. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

fink is a broker designed to enable science with large time-domain alert streams such as the one from the upcoming Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). It exhibits traditional astronomy broker features such as automatized ingestion, annotation, selection, and redistribution of promising alerts for transient science. It is also designed to go beyond traditional broker features by providing real-time transient classification that is continuously improved by using state-of-the-art deep learning and adaptive learning techniques. These evolving added values will enable more accurate scientific output from LSST photometric data for diverse science cases while also leading to a higher incidence of new discoveries which shall accompany the evolution of the survey. In this paper, we introduce fink , its science motivation, architecture, and current status including first science verification cases using the Zwicky Transient Facility alert stream. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]