Parental Investment Research Articles

The Effect of Maternal Hormones on the Avian Offspring: A Review

Maternal hormones have a significant impact on the development of avian embryos, controlling vital physiological functions such as immune system development, metabolism control, and productive traits. This review will examine the different types of maternal hormones, synthesis, regulation, and effects on avian physiology and productivity, as well as the implications for embryonic development. Additionally, it appears that how they might affect hatchability and chick quality. Studies have shown that maternal hormones transfer to eggs and subsequently affect the offspring's development, greatly influencing the behavior and phenotype of avian offspring overall. Understanding these mechanisms can help improve our knowledge of developmental biology, parental investment, and evolutionary processes that influence avian traits. Different species of birds may experience different effects when exposed to maternal hormones. For example injecting testosterone into bird eggs can increase the rate at which certain species hatch, such as quail, other species may see a decrease in hatchling weight. This emphasizes the complexity of hormonal influences on bird development and the necessity of more research. In particular, it is still unclear how yolk steroids affect birds' immune systems; early research indicates that they may chickens' ability to produce antibodies. Undertaking further research is necessary to completely understand the implications of avian immunity to fill in these gaps in knowledge across species and developmental stages.

Surface temperatures are influenced by handling stress independently of corticosterone levels in wild king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus)

Assessing the physiological stress responses of wild animals opens a window for understanding how organisms cope with environmental challenges. Since stress response is associated with changes in body temperature, the use of body surface temperature through thermal imaging could help to measure acute and chronic stress responses non-invasively. We used thermal imaging, acute handling-stress protocol and an experimental manipulation of corticosterone (the main glucocorticoid hormone in birds) levels in breeding king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus), to assess: 1. The potential contribution of the Hypothalamo-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis in mediating chronic and acute stress-induced changes in adult surface temperature, 2. The influence of HPA axis manipulation on parental investment through thermal imaging of eggs and brooded chicks, and 3. The impact of parental treatment on offspring thermal's response to acute handling.Maximum eye temperature (Teye) increased and minimum beak temperature (Tbeak) decreased in response to handling stress in adults, but neither basal nor stress-induced surface temperatures were significantly affected by corticosterone implant. While egg temperature was not significantly influenced by parental treatment, we found a surprising pattern for chicks: chicks brooded by the (non-implanted) partner of corticosterone-implanted individuals exhibited higher surface temperature (both Teye and Tbeak) than those brooded by glucocorticoid-implanted or control parents. Chick's response to handling in terms of surface temperature was characterized by a drop in both Teye and Tbeak independently of parental treatment.We conclude that the HPA axis seems unlikely to play a major role in determining chronic or acute changes in surface temperature in king penguins. Changes in surface temperature may primarily be mediated by the Sympathetic-Adrenal-Medullary (SAM) axis in response to stressful situations. Our experiment did not reveal a direct impact of parental HPA axis manipulation on parental investment (egg or chick temperature), but a potential influence on the partner's brooding behaviour.

Efektivitas Kelas Parenting dalam Meningkatkan pola Asuh Anak di Kelurahan Banyu Urip

The effectiveness of the Parenting Class in improving parenting in Kelurahan Banyu Urip shows positive and significant results. The program facilitates learning good parenting practices and actively involves parents in efforts to prevent child abuse and neglect. In addition, the program builds solidarity networks among parents and provides emotional support. The results show that the program has successfully changed parenting patterns and increased the role of parents in child development. Suggestions for improving the program include conducting ongoing evaluations and replicating similar programs in other areas to reach more families who can benefit.

Knowledge and Attitude Regarding Substance Use and Its Determinants Among College Students in a Coastal Town of South India.

Substance use among adolescents is increasing at an astounding rate globally posing a major threat to the health system and the society. This problem can be tackled if the adolescents are equipped with knowledge and positive attitude towards substance use. This study was an attempt to assess the knowledge and attitude towards substance use based on consumption and its determinants among college students. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 2,170 college students aged 18 years and above in Udupi taluk for two years using a predesigned questionnaire. Factors associated with knowledge and attitude towards substance use were identified using multiple logistic regression. The mean age of study participants was 19 ± 1.38 years with 39(1.8%) of them indulging in substance use. Around 434(20%) and 1866(86%) of them had good knowledge and positive attitude towards substance use respectively. Though the substance users had better knowledge as compared to non-users, attitude was better in the non-users. Paternal education, affluent socioeconomic status and usage of substances significantly correlated with knowledge. Gender and substance usage were independent predictors of attitude. The present study reveals that substance use is low among college students in Udupi taluk. Though knowledge about substance use is better in users as compared to non-users, the attitude is better in non-users. This calls for an urgent need to have health education sessions in the respective colleges with collaborative efforts of parents, teachers, and psychological counsellors to address the ill effects of substance.

PPERCEPTION OF MADURA DA’I ABOUT EARLY MATCH (Phenomenology Study in Madura, Indonesia)

<p>Madurese people are known as people who have a habit of pairing children at an early age, and some are even toddlers or babies still in the womb who have been booked for amatch. Early match in Madura is one of the causes of early marriage, and then it causes of school dropouts. This needs attention from influential person in the people, one of is Da'i. The da’ipercetion of these social realities are important so that they can provide understanding to the Madurese people about the early match well.</p><p>This study aims to know: 1) perception of Madura da’i about early match, and 2) typology of Madura da’i on early match. To achieve these objectives, the author uses qualitative-field methods by collecting data through observation, interviews and documentation. While for data analysis, the author uses the phenomenology theory.</p>The result of this study: Madura da’i perceive about early match as <em>i'tikad </em>(effort) that is an effort of parents who need to protect and worry to their children. Madura da’i also perceive that early match in Madura contains values of Islam; those are: (a) minimizing of approaching <em>zina</em>, (b) inviting to follow <em>sunnah</em>, and (c) inviting to keep the family relationship. Beside that, there are two typologies of Madura da’i about early match; first type is da’i who agrees to early match; second type is da’i who disagrees to early match.

Behavioural Endocrinology in the Social Sciences

Hormones are the endocrine system’s messengers and an important coordinating mechanism of the body’s growth, development, and functioning, with often simultaneous effects throughout the body and brain. Echoing calls for more interdisciplinary research bridging the gap between endocrinology and social sciences, we review evidence for hormones influencing human psychology (behaviour, cognition, and sociality), with a focus on health, sexuality, and further outcomes. We focus on four steroid hormones: testosterone (T), cortisol (C), estrogen (E), and progesterone (P). Embedded into life history theory as a prominent evolutionary framework, effects of T are conceptualised as modulating trade-offs between mating and parenting effort, especially when exposed to potential mates, interacting with offspring, and during competition. The challenge hypothesis suggests acute increases in T when facing challenges, with high T being linked to more competitive behaviour. The dual-hormone hypothesis postulates that C, as a measure of stress, inhibits the effects of T on status-seeking behaviour. The allostatic load framework suggests that chronic stress as indicated by high C levels could have detrimental health consequences. Various measurements of C are negatively related to socioeconomic status. The female steroid hormones E and P coordinate female reproduction by regulating the development and function of the uterus. They affect women’s sexual desire as well as self-perceived attractiveness and are influenced by endogenous (e.g. pregnancy) as well as exogenous (e.g. hormonal contraceptives) factors. We address misinterpretations of biological determinism, highlight potential challenges in measuring hormones, and discuss ways in which social scientists can continue to incorporate hormones into their research.

Post-Fledging Movements and Factors that Influence Permanent Departure of Juvenile Crested Caracaras in Florida

ABSTRACT We tracked 48 young Crested Caracaras (Caracara plancus) in south-central Florida from fledging through their first year and sought to define the post-fledging pre-dispersal period and the timing and drivers of permanent departure (PD) from the natal area. By examining Euclidean distances between telemetry locations and the nest for each tagged caracara, we defined the post-fledging dependency period as the first 2 mo after fledging, when fledglings remained mostly within 2.5 km of the nest and were dependent on their parents for food. Before PD, young caracaras explored areas as much as 11 km from their nest but returned to the natal area, resulting in areas used by fledglings up to 6 times the average home range size of an adult breeding pair. Some caracaras remained within their parents’ home range for several months after fledging, even after becoming independent of their parents for food. A fledgling permanently departed its natal area when telemetry indicated it made an abrupt long-distance movement away from its natal area and did not return. We used generalized linear mixed models and a hierarchical modeling approach to test environmental and biological factors that may affect the timing of PD. The most supported model indicated that PD depended on parental reproductive strategy and on the timing of fledging relative to the length of the breeding season. Birds with parents that raised only one brood remained in the natal area for 11.6–21.0 wk longer than birds with parents that raised multiple broods in the same breeding season; fledglings from the first of two broods departed at a younger age, suggesting that the PD decision is partially triggered by the level of parental investment in the first and subsequent brood. Additionally, birds that fledged early in the breeding season departed the natal area 2.8–12.2 wk earlier than those that fledged later in the breeding season, and birds that were exposed to high heat during the nestling stage departed the natal area earlier than those exposed to less heat. The period between fledging and permanent departure from the natal area is important for the conservation of species with delayed dispersal. When developing a conservation strategy for Florida’s caracara population, attention should be paid to protecting areas used by fledglings until PD rather than just focusing on a limited protection zone around the nest.

Air pollution and education investment

Our study examines the impact of air pollution on household investment in children's education. We use panel data from secondary schools in Shandong Province in China and find that a one-unit increase in PM2.5 concentration leads to a decrease in the probability of parental investment in their children's education by 3.9 percentage points. Factors such as educational expectations, financial considerations and personal well-being will mediate this impact. Additionally, our results suggest that education level and living area may moderate the relationship between air pollution and educational investment. These findings imply that air pollution may undermine human capital development due to alterations in parental investment behavior prompted by environmental conditions.

Nestling size and ornamentation interact to shape early development in house sparrow families

Abstract In many nuclear families, dependent offspring receive unequal shares of parental investment. Initial overproduction can be adaptive from the perspective of parents, but parents must be able to identify appropriate candidates for favourite status. We studied early nestling development in house sparrows (Passer domesticus), a species in which the loss of some brood members is common, testing the prediction that body mass and carotenoid-rich flange colours are important to nestling success. There was substantial variation in both traits within broods, even only 1 day after hatching. Nestlings low in the within-brood mass hierarchy gained more mass if they displayed more carotenoid-rich flanges than broodmates. Position in the colour hierarchy did not, however, predict mass gain for individuals that were heavier than their broodmates. Nestlings that were heavier or had more carotenoid-rich mouths were also less likely to be the victim of brood reduction. Our results suggest that house sparrow parents use both nestling body size and mouth colour when making allocation decisions. Understanding both how and when offspring traits and parental preferences function is key to understanding how selective pressures act on offspring–parent communication.

Weak Identification in Low-Dimensional Factor Models with One or Two Factors

Abstract This paper describes how to reparameterize low-dimensional factor models with one or two factors to fit weak identification theory developed for generalized method of moments models. Some identification-robust tests, here called “plug-in” tests, require a reparameterization to distinguish weakly identified parameters from strongly identified parameters. The reparameterizations in this paper make plug-in tests available for subvector hypotheses in low-dimensional factor models with one or two factors. Simulations show that the plug-in tests are less conservative than identification-robust tests that use the original parameterization. An empirical application to a factor model of parental investments in children is included.

The Role of Interpersonal Communication in Handling Tantrum Children in Winduaji Village, Brebes

The presence of smartphone technology has positive and negative impacts on its users, both adults and children. Positive benefits for children: they can gain knowledge and entertainment through smartphones. However, this positive impact can create comfort and addiction, which, if uncontrolled, can have a negative impact. One example is that children have tantrums when their smartphone use is stopped by their parents. This is what happened to children in Winduaji village, Brebes. Interpersonal communication between children and parents plays an important role in handling tantrums in children due to smartphone use. This study aims to determine the strategies or efforts of parents in dealing with tantrum children due to the use of smartphones. This study uses a qualitative descriptive method with observation techniques, in-depth interviews, and document studies, as well as a review of previous research relevant to the research. The results showed that parents’ handling of tantrum children have not been effective based on interpersonal needs theory. It happened because parents lack or even do not involve children in handling tantrums (inclusion), lack of mastery in communication (control), and affection carried out by parents in dealing with child tantrums. Based on operant conditioning theory, parents need to provide positive reinforcement to their children. In addition, parents need to be role models for their children in the use of smartphones that are not excessive.

TANGGUNG JAWAB SINGLE PARENT ATAS KESEJAHTERAAN ANAK DI ERA COVID-19 MENURUT UNDANG-UNDANG NOMOR 4 TAHUN 1979

In this Covid-19 era, children are one of the groups of people who are vulnerable to being exposed to the corona virus or its physical and non-physical impacts. In the Legislation, children are also protected by law and their welfare is guaranteed as in Indonesian Law Number 4 of 1979, both parents as part of society, must contribute to maintaining the welfare of children, including single parents. Then what about the responsibilities and efforts of single parents for the welfare of their children in the Covid-19 era? The research uses normative type with the nature of research descriptive analysis with deductive thinking method. The results of the study found the low responsibility and efforts of single parents in fulfilling children's welfare in the Covid-19 Era.

Ocean salinity, early-life health, and adaptation

We study the effects of in utero exposure to climate change induced high ocean salinity levels on children's anthropometric outcomes. Leveraging six geo-referenced waves of the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Surveys merged with gridded data on ocean salinity, ocean chemistry and weather indicators (temperature, rainfall and humidity) from 1993 to 2018, we find that a one standard deviation increase in in utero salinity exposure leads to a 0.11 standard deviation decline in height-for-age. Effects on weight-for-height and weight-for-age for a similar magnitude increase in salinity are 0.13 and 0.15 standard deviations, respectively. Analyses of parental investments and health-seeking behaviors demonstrate that compensating actions along these dimensions to attenuate the detrimental effects of salinity are few and restricted to poorer households. Using satellite-sourced datasets on agriculture and land-use, we find that increasing salinity constrains farmers' land use choices, restricting cultivation in the more profitable seasons which leads to lower agricultural potential. In particular, the effects of salinity on child health originate in areas with lower agricultural intensity caused by the progressive salinization of productive lands. These results highlight the climate change related costs of environmental insults on early-life health outcomes in vulnerable populations.

Delay in Adélie penguin nest occupation restricts parental investment in nest construction and reduces reproductive output.

Reproductive success is an important demographic parameter that can be driven by environmental and behavioural factors operating on various spatio-temporal scales. As seabirds breed on land and forage in the ocean, processes occurring in both environments can influence their reproductive success. At various locations around East Antarctica, Adélie penguins' (Pygoscelis adeliae) reproductive success has been negatively linked to extensive sea-ice. In contrast, our study site in the Windmill Islands has limited fast ice present during the breeding season, allowing us to examine drivers of reproductive success under vastly different marine environmental conditions. Here, we examined the reproductive success of 450 Adélie penguin nests over a 10-year period using images obtained from remotely operated cameras. We analysed nest survival in relation to marine and climatic factors, environmental conditions at the camera site and immediately around the nest, and behavioural attributes reflecting parental investment and phenological timing. Our key result was a strong positive association between nest structure and chick survival, particularly when ground moisture and snow cover around the nest were high. Earlier nesting birds were more likely to build bigger nests, although it is unclear whether this is due to more time available to build nests or whether early arrival and high-quality nests are complementary traits. This intrinsic activity is likely to become more important if future predictions of increased snowfall in this region manifest.

Interplay of cooperative breeding and predation risk on egg allocation and reproductive output.

Predation risk can influence behavior, reproductive investment, and, ultimately, individuals' fitness. In high-risk environments, females often reduce allocation to reproduction, which can affect offspring phenotype and breeding success. In cooperative breeders, helpers contribute to feed the offspring, and groups often live and forage together. Helpers can, therefore, improve reproductive success, but also influence breeders' condition, stress levels and predation risk. Yet, whether helper presence can buffer the effects of predation risk on maternal reproductive allocation remains unstudied. Here, we used the cooperatively breeding sociable weaver Philetairus socius to test the interactive effects of predation risk and breeding group size on maternal allocation to clutch size, egg mass, yolk mass, and yolk corticosterone. We increased perceived predation risk before egg laying using playbacks of the adults' main predator, gabar goshawk (Micronisus gabar). We also tested the interactive effects of group size and prenatal predator playbacks on offspring hatching and fledging probability. Predator-exposed females laid eggs with 4% lighter yolks, but predator-calls' exposure did not clearly affect clutch size, egg mass, or egg corticosterone levels. Playback-treatment effects on yolk mass were independent of group size, suggesting that helpers' presence did not mitigate predation risk effects on maternal allocation. Although predator-induced reductions in yolk mass may decrease nutrient availability to offspring, potentially affecting their survival, playback-treatment effects on hatching and fledging success were not evident. The interplay between helper presence and predator effects on maternal reproductive investment is still an overlooked area of life history and physiological evolutionary trade-offs that requires further studies.

"…in the middle of nowhere…" Access to, and quality of, services for autistic adults from parents' perspectives: a qualitative study.

Adequate education, employment, and services for autistic individuals contribute significantly to their and their parents' quality of life. Services and support for adults are dramatically more limited than those for children. The main purpose of this study was to explore how parents perceive factors supporting/hindering access to services, and how they assess the quality of services. Qualitative data provided by 12 parents via a semi-structured interview with a broader focus on parental quality of life and its factors were analyzed. Their autistic children were between 20 and 34 years of age. A thematic analysis was performed on parts of the narratives on their adult periods of life. A complex pattern of parental perception of supportive and hampering factors influencing access to services unfolded. The sparsity of services/activities and reliable information on them made the space for autonomous decisions on service take highly limited. Parents have modest expectations on quality of services, evaluating them along two key aspects: a safe, positive atmosphere, and communication between parents and professionals. Other aspects of individualized autism-specific support were not or just rarely mentioned. Parents perceive themselves as investing a lot of effort and resources in getting some form of regular service and/or activity for their adult child. However, these parental efforts often fail, their child becoming inactive, and dependent on their presence. This suggests system-level problems with services for autistic adults in Hungary, with literature showing it is not specific to this country.

Ayurvedic approach to Embryogenesis: Exploring Fetal Development

Background: Embryology in Ayurveda is the study of embryonic and fetal development using Ayurvedic principles. Ayurveda describes the conception process, fetal development, and the effect of Doshas (biological energies) on the fetus's growth and health. Ayurvedic embryology emphasizes the mother's health and well-being during pregnancy, as well as the effect of the father's Doshas on the child's genetic makeup. It also includes prenatal care guidelines, such as diet, lifestyle, and herbal remedies, to help the fetus develop normally. Aims: This review applies Ayurvedic concepts of Grabhasharir to embryology, analyzing the genesis of progeny using modern scientific knowledge. Materials and Methods: Brihattrayee along with other relevant literature were reviewed to identify the hidden core of embryology described in chapters about Garbhasharir. Results: The Ayurvedic essence outlines two types of processes in progeny genesis: dependent and independent, with dependent processes modifying and independent processes unaffected by parental efforts. Conclusion: Even though the embryology concepts outlined in Ayurveda extend back millennia, they are still relevant in today's scientific world when properly interpreted.

Evolution of parental care in haploid-diploid plants.

In bryophytes that alternate between haploid gametophytes and diploid sporophytes through sexual reproduction, sporophytes are often attached to and nurtured on the female gametophyte. A similar phenomenon is seen in Florideophyceae (a group of red algae). These systems in which a gametophyte (mother) invests nutrients in sporophytes (offspring) are ideal for studying the evolution of 'parental care' in non-animal organisms. Here, we propose a model of a haploid-diploid life cycle and examine the evolution of maternal investment in sporophytes focusing on two effects: the degree of paternal or maternal control of investment and the number of sporophytes. We find that when the female dominantly controls the investment, the evolutionarily stable level of investment is that which maximizes the expected reproductive success of the female gametophyte. The genomic conflict between maternal and paternal alleles complicates the evolutionary outcome; however, a greater male allelic effect and a higher number of sporophytes favour a higher energy investment, which may lead to evolutionary branching or run-away escalation of the investment level. This suggests that the selfishness of the paternal gene is the evolutionary driver of parental care and that complex structures such as fusion cells in red algae may have evolved to suppress it.

Parental perceptions of economic inequality and investment in education in China

Using data from the 2012–2018 waves of the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), we investigate how parenting practices vary by parents’ perception of inequality in contemporary China. We ask three questions: (1) Whether and how do parents’ perceptions of inequality differ by their socioeconomic background? (2) Are parenting practices related to parents’ perception of inequality? (3) Whether and how the relationship between parenting practices and perception of inequality varies across parents of different socioeconomic status (SES)? The results show that the higher the SES of parents, the more pessimistic is their perception of inequality. In addition, parents who are more aware of income inequality tend to spend more money on children’s education, have higher expectations for their children’s academic performance and educational achievement, and are more engaged in intensive parenting behaviors than parents who perceive income inequality to be less severe. Mothers’ perceptions of inequality are more strongly associated with investment in children’s education than those of fathers. In addition, the relationship between perceived inequality and parental investment in out-of-school education only varies by family SES among mothers.

Semen promotes oocyte development in Sebastes schlegelii elucidating ovarian development dynamics in live-bearing fish

In some vertebrates and invertebrates, semen release factors affecting female physiology and behavior. Here, we report that semen delivered to females is potentially beneficial for promoting oocyte development in a viviparous teleost, Sebastes schlegelii. 88% of mated ovaries develop normally and give birth to larval fish, whereas 61% of non-mated ovaries are arrested in the previtellogenic stage. Semen's significant role (p<0.0001) in promoting oocyte development may involve remodeling follicular cells and regulating the expression of the extracellular matrix, which facilitates cell communication. Furthermore, the ovarian response to semen may influence the brain, affecting hormone release, follicular cell development and steroid production, and crucial for oocyte growth. This mechanism, which could potentially delay maternal investment in offspring until male genetic input occurs to avoid energy wastage, has not been previously described in teleosts. These findings enhance our understanding of ovarian development in viviparous fish, with broader implications for reproductive biology.