Short intense bouts of MERE can trigger increases in circulating EPC and related angiogenic factors, potentially contributing to vascular adaptation and vasculoprotection.

In a sample composed of 147 undergraduates (age range 18 to 55 years; M = 22), we conducted an examination of the convergent and discriminant validity of self- and other-forgiveness in the Five-factor model of personality (FFM). Using multiple measures of each construct, principal components analysis (PCA) supported a 2-component model of forgiveness. Findings for the PCA and external correlates with the FFM provided evidence for a largely orthogonal relationship between self- and other-forgiveness. Specifically, self-forgiveness was negatively related to Neuroticism and unrelated to Agreeableness, whereas other-forgiveness was unrelated to Neuroticism and positively related to Agreeableness. Overlap between the constructs was found in which both self- and other-forgiveness were negatively related to the hostility facet of Neuroticism and the order facet from Conscientiousness and positively related to the warmth and positive emotions facet scales from the Extraversion domain of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (Costa & McCrae, 1992). Overall, these findings suggest that self- and other-forgiveness, although seemingly similar, carry very different motivational underpinnings.

Newly produced queens in the multiple-queen (polygyne) form of the fire ant Solenopsis invicta show dramatic variation in dispersal patterns, and this variation is influenced by genotypic variation at a single locus associated with the genetic marker Gp-9. Heavy, homozygous Gp-9 BB queens exhibit the highest vagility among polygyne queens and are strongly attracted to the open, disturbed-habitat patches that characteristically attract queens of the single-queen (monogyne) form (all of which possess genotype Gp-9 BB ). Intermediate weight, heterozygous Gp-9 Bb queens exhibit a mixed dispersal strategy: some remain in the area near their natal nest, while others disperse to land in the same disturbed-habitat patches as Gp-9 BB queens. Light, homozygous Gp-9 bb queens appear to lack the energy reserves needed to take part in mating flights in substantial numbers. Most queens that disperse from their natal nest site apparently fail to infiltrate mature nests to reproduce. However, consistent with the expectations of game-theoretical models for the evolution of dispersal, the low realized success of dispersing queens does not prevent relatively large numbers of them from dispersing. Furthermore, the results presented here are consistent with the hypothesis that the reproductive syndrome that characterizes polygyny in S. invicta is largely controlled by a single locus.

The objective of this study was to disentangle the relative effects of Pgm‐3 and Gp‐9 and/or other closely linked genes on the phenotypes and reproductive success of queens in introduced (USA) populations of S. invicta. Gp‐9 or a closely linked gene(s) was found to have major effects on queen weight, the likelihood that queens shed their wings (a behaviour associated with the onset of reproduction), and the probability that queens are accepted in polygyne (multiple‐queen) colonies. Our analyses show that once the effect of Gp‐9 genotype is taken into account, Pgm‐3 genotype no longer is significantly associated with differences in queen phenotype or the probability of queens being accepted in polygyne colonies. This suggests that the associations of Pgm‐3 genotype with weight, wing shedding rate and probability of acceptance by polygyne colonies previously reported in studies that did not control for the effects of Gp‐9 are due to the strong linkage disequilibrium that exists between Pgm‐3 and Gp‐9, or to linkage disequilibria between these and other genes affecting queen phenotype and fitness. Several lines of evidence, including data from the native South American range, suggest that additional cryptic alleles at Gp‐9, or additional genes in the same linkage group as Gp‐9, must be involved in controlling queen phenotype and the large suite of traits important in determining social organization of S. invicta colonies.