In a simplified discrete game with zero variation of fighting strength, helping neighbors is part of an evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS) only if fighting costs are low relative to those of renegotiation. However, if relative fighting costs are high then Selleckchem VE-822 an interventional

ESS remains possible with finite variation of strength. Under these conditions, neighbors may help residents fight off intruders. but only when the resident does not stand a reliable chance of winning alone. We show that neighbor intervention is more likely with low home advantage to occupying a territory, strengths combining synergistically or low probability that an ally will be usurped, amongst other factors. Our Parameterized model readily explains occasional intervention in the Australian fiddler crab, including why the ally tended to be larger than both the assisted neighbor and the intruder. Reciprocity is not necessary for this type of cooperation to persist, but also it is by no means inevitable in territorial species. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Methylphenidate (MPH) is commonly prescribed in childhood and DihydrotestosteroneDHT adolescence for the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity

disorders. In rodents, MPH exposure during preadolescence (postnatal days (PD) 20-35) causes decreased sensitivity to drug and natural rewards, while enhancing a negative emotional state characterized

by increased sensitivity to aversive situations later in adulthood. It has been proposed that this behavioral profile may be mediated, at least in part, by changes in the expression of dynorphin, the endogenous ligand for kappa-opioid receptors (KORs). Because increases in dynorphin activity and activation of KOR induce aversive states, we examined the possibility that these behavioral deficits may be mediated by changes in KOR function, and that MPH-exposed rats would demonstrate increased sensitivity to the kappa-agonist U-50488. Sprague-Dawley male rats were treated with MPH (2 mg/kg) or its saline vehicle (VEH) during PD20-35. When adults (PD90 +), these rats were divided into groups receiving saline, U-50488 (5 mg/kg), or norbinaltorphimine (20 mg/kg), STI571 clinical trial a kappa-antagonist, and their behavioral reactivity to various emotion-eliciting stimuli was assessed. Results show that MPH exposure decreases cocaine place conditioning and sucrose preference, while increasing vulnerability to anxiety (elevated plus maze)- and stress (forced swimming)-eliciting situations, and that these behavioral deficits can be intensified by U-50488, while being normalized by nor-binaltorphimine treatment. These results are consistent with the notion that dysregulated dynorphin/kappa-opioid systems may mediate deficits in behavioral responding after developmental MPH exposure.