The fecundity-advantage hypothesis (FAH) explains larger female size relative to male size as a correlated response to fecundity selection. We explored FAH by investigating geographic variation in female reproductive output and its relation to sexual size dimorphism (SSD) in Lacerta agilis, an oviparous lizard occupying a major part of temperate Eurasia. We analysed how sex-specific body size and SSD are associated with two putative indicators of fecundity selection intensity (clutch size and the slope of the clutch size-female size relationship) and with two climatic variables throughout the species range and across two widespread evolutionary lineages. Variation within the lineages provides no support for FAH. In contrast, the divergence between the lineages is in line with FAH: the lineage with consistently female-biased SSD (L. a. agilis) exhibits higher clutch size and steeper fecundity slope than the lineage with an inconsistent and variable SSD (L. a. exigua). L. a. agilis shows lower offspring size (egg mass, hatchling mass) and higher clutch mass relative to female mass than L. a. exigua, that is both possible ways to enhance offspring number are exerted. As the SSD difference is due to male size (smaller males in L. a. agilis), fecundity selection favouring larger females, together with viability selection for smaller size in both sexes, would explain the female-biased SSD and reproductive characteristics of L. a. agilis. The pattern of intraspecific life-history divergence in L. agilis is strikingly similar to that between oviparous and viviparous populations of a related species Zootoca vivipara. Evolutionary implications of this parallelism are discussed.

The European common lizard, Zootoca vivipara, is the most widespread terrestrial reptile in the world. It occupies almost the entire Northern Eurasia and includes four viviparous and two oviparous lineages. We analysed how female snout-vent length (SVL), clutch size (CS), hatchling mass (HM), and relative clutch mass (RCM) is associated with the reproductive mode and climate throughout the species range and across the evolutionary lineages within Z. vivipara. The studied variables were scored for 1,280 females and over 3,000 hatchlings from 44 geographically distinct study samples. Across the species range, SVL of reproductive females tends to decrease in less continental climates, whereas CS corrected for female SVL and RCM tend to decrease in climates with cool summer. Both relationships are likely to indicate direct phenotypic responses to climate. For viviparous lineages, the pattern of co-variation between female SVL, CS and HM among populations is similar to that between individual females within populations. Consistent with the hypothesis that female reproductive output is constrained by her body volume, the oviparous clade with shortest retention of eggs in utero showed highest HM, the oviparous clade with longer egg retention showed lower HM, and clades with the longest egg retention (viviparous forms) had lowest HM. Viviparous populations exhibited distinctly lower HM than the other European lacertids of similar female SVL, many of them also displaying unusually high RCM. This pattern is consistent with Winkler and Wallin’s model predicting a negative evolutionary link between the total reproductive investment and allocation to individual offspring.

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Second-harmonic generation (SHG) spectra of single and coupled porous silicon-based photonic crystal microcavities are studied in both frequency and wave vector domains. For the fundamental field resonant to the microcavity mode the second-harmonic intensity is enhanced by 102 times in comparison with that outside the photonic band gap. SHG spectroscopy in identical microcavities coupled through the intermediate Bragg reflector reveals two SHG peaks if the fundamental field is in resonance with the splitted mode of coupled microcavities. The spatial confinement of the resonant fundamental radiation is directly probed at the microcavity cleavage by scanning near-field optical microscopy.

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For species to stay temporally tuned to their environment, they use cues such as the accumulation of degree-days. The relationships between the timing of a phenological event in a population and its environmental cue can be described by a population-level reaction norm. Variation in reaction norms along environmental gradients may either intensify the environmental effects on timing (cogradient variation) or attenuate the effects (countergradient variation). To resolve spatial and seasonal variation in species’ response, we use a unique dataset of 91 taxa and 178 phenological events observed across a network of 472 monitoring sites, spread across the nations of the former Soviet Union. We show that compared to local rates of advancement of phenological events with the advancement of temperature-related cues (i.e., variation within site over years), spatial variation in reaction norms tend to accentuate responses in spring (cogradient variation) and attenuate them in autumn (countergradient variation). As a result, among-population variation in the timing of events is greater in spring and less in autumn than if all populations followed the same reaction norm regardless of location. Despite such signs of local adaptation, overall phenotypic plasticity was not sufficient for phenological events to keep exact pace with their cues—the earlier the year, the more did the timing of the phenological event lag behind the timing of the cue. Overall, these patterns suggest that differences in the spatial versus temporal reaction norms will affect species’ response to climate change in opposite ways in spring and autumn.

A quantitative study of the low-frequency parametric modulation of a pulsed surface acoustic wave (SAW) by a partially closed fatigue crack is described. In situ ultrasonic measurements were performed during a fatigue test for different crack lengths and static opening loads. The crack is initiated in the plastic-yielding zone induced by a surface cavity, and clamped due to the constraint of the surrounding elastic medium. Small periodic loading, superimposed on a static crack-opening load, changes the open crack segment length and/or the crack interfacial condition producing nonlinear modulation of the reflected ultrasonic pulses. The modulation spectrum is related quantitatively to the crack length and to the crack opening–closure behavior. It is demonstrated that the application of a small static crack-opening load with the modulation load could considerably enhance crack detectability. The increase of the second modulation harmonic is pronounced when the crack is nearly closed and when it is nearly open. Also, it is observed that the maximum modulation occurs at different static opening loads depending on the crack length relative to the plastic-yielding zone size. A low-frequency scattering model is presented based on the mechanism of modulation of the open/close segment length of the partially opened crack. The modeling results compare favorably with experiment.

Natural safety nuclear reactors operate at a working temperature of the liquid-metal lead heat-transfer agent equal to 550~ which intensifies the metal corrosion and is fraught with the danger of thermal embrittlement. It is shown that long-term operation of the equipment requires inhibition of the heat-transfer agent by oxygen and the use of silicon steels. However, alloying with silicon increases the susceptibility of the steel to thermal and radiative embrittlement. This makes it necessary to create new steels with a stable structure. The suggested composition ofaustenitic steel 04Khl5N11S3MT is designed for shell and internal structures, and steel 10Kh9NSMF is designed for the pipe system of the steam generator.