Hormonal profile of the cycle in 68 normally menstruating women

Abstract

Recent molecular and morphological systematic investigations revealed that the cacti are most closely related to Anacampseroteae, Portulaca and Talinum of the family Portulacaceae (ACPT clade of suborder Portulacineae). A combined analysis of ndhF, matK, and nad1 sequence data from the chloroplast and the mitochondrial genomes indicates that the tribe Anacampseroteae is the sister group of the family Cactaceae. This clade, together with Portulaca, is well characterized by the presence of axillary hairs or scales. Relationships within Anacampseroteae are characterized by a grade of five species of Grahamia s.l. from North and South America, and Grahamia australiana is found to be sister to the genera Anacampseros and Avonia. A comparison of vegetative characteristics indicates an evolutionary transition from woody subshrubs to dwarf perennial and highly succulent herbs during the diversification of Anacampseroteae. Available evidence from the present investigation as well as from previously published studies suggests that a revised classification of Portulacineae on the basis of inferred phylogenetic relationships might consist of a superfamily that includes Cactaceae and the three genera Anacampseros s.l.(including Avonia and Grahamia s.l.), Portulaca, and Talinum (including Talinella), either referred to three monogeneric families or to a paraphyletic family Portulacaceae*.

Women's hormone levels modulate the motivational salience of facial attractiveness and sexual dimorphism

“…A similar pattern of results was also evident for female, but not male, facial attractiveness. Given strong associations between estradiol-to-progesterone ratio and conception risk (Landgren et al, 1980;Baird et al, 1991), these results are consistent with other research suggesting that women's attraction to masculine men is greater when conception risk is high (see Gildersleeve et al, 2014 for discussion). Our results also suggest that women may be more sensitive to female attractiveness at this time.…”

“…Estradiol-to-progesterone ratio and testosterone may have different effects on responses to male faces because, while estradiol-to-progesterone ratio is a very good predictor of conception risk across the menstrual cycle (Landgren et al, 1980;Baird et al, 1991), testosterone may be more sensitive to situational factors related to competition for resources and mating (van Anders et al, 2011). …”

“…We also calculated estradiol-to-progesterone ratio (M=0.03, SD=0.02) from women's estradiol and progesterone data because estradiol-to-progesterone ratio is correlated with fertility (Landgren et al, 1980;Baird et al, 1991) and some researchers have suggested that women's responses to facial cues may covary with estrogen-to-progesterone ratio (e.g., Frost, 1994).…”

A longitudinal analysis of women’s salivary testosterone and intrasexual competitiveness

“…However, on this matter, it is important to note that Cobey et al (2013) observed no difference in reported intrasexual competitiveness between the late-follicular and mid-luteal phases of the menstrual cycle in women with natural menstrual cycles and that we found no evidence that women's intrasexual competitiveness tracked changes in their estradiol-toprogesterone ratio, a correlate of women's fertility (Baird et al, 1991;Landgren et al, 1980). Further work is needed to explore these issues.…”

“…To test for within-subject effects of hormone levels on reported intrasexual competitiveness and jealousy, scores on the intrasexual competitiveness and jealousy scales were entered as the dependent variable at the test session level and values for salivary estradiol, progesterone, testosterone, estradiolto-progesterone ratio, and cortisol were simultaneously entered as predictors, again at the test session level. Estradiol-to-progesterone level was included in our analyses in addition to estradiol and progesterone because it is positively correlated with fertility in women not using hormonal contraceptives (Baird et al, 1991;Landgren et al, 1980). Cortisol was included in our analyses in addition to testosterone because of previous work demonstrating that engaging in intrasexual competition increases women's cortisol and testosterone levels (Bateup et al, 2002;Casto & Edwards, in press).…”