Honeybees forage more successfully without the "dance language" in challenging environments.

Honeybees use the waggle dance to share information about food-site locations with nestmates. However, the importance of this behavior in colony foraging success remains unclear. We tested whether spatial dance information affects colony foraging success in a human-modified temperate environment by comparing colonies with oriented and disoriented dances. Notably, colonies with disoriented dances had greater foraging success. Over time, bees exposed to disoriented dances showed reduced interest in dancing nestmates. This may explain why disoriented colonies had a higher foraging rate than oriented colonies, as bees did not waste time waiting for information. This change in information-use strategy suggests bees learn about the value of dance information. An agent-based model confirmed that, under challenging conditions, waiting for dance information reduces colony foraging success compared to foraging without social information. Our results raise the possibility that humans have created environments to which the waggle dance language is not well adapted

Key lessons in mobile applications

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:4335.26205(HPL--93-108) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Comparative genome analysis of <i>Campylobacter jejuni</i> using whole genome DNA microarrays

AbstractWhole genome DNA microarrays were constructed and used to investigate genomic diversity in 18 Campylobacter jejuni strains from diverse sources. New algorithms were developed that dynamically determine the boundary between the conserved and variable genes. Seven hypervariable plasticity regions (PR) were identified in the genome (PR1 to PR7) containing 136 genes (50%) of the variable gene pool. When comparisons were made with the sequenced strain NCTC11168, the number of absent or divergent genes ranged from 2.6% (40 genes) to 10.2% (163) and in total 16.3% (269) of the genes were variable. PR1 contains genes important in the utilisation of alternative electron acceptors for respiration and may confer a selective advantage to strains in restricted oxygen environments. PR2, 3 and 7 contain many outer membrane and periplasmic proteins and hypothetical proteins of unknown function that might be linked to phenotypic variation and adaptation to different ecological niches. PR4, 5 and 6 contain genes involved in the production and modification of antigenic surface structures

Feasibility study of a deep geological repository for high level radioactive waste (HLW) in Central Australia

N. Melkoumian, C. Xu, M. Karakus, P. Cox, R. l'Anson, J. Stojakovich and O. Cianciohttp://www.india2012mpes-swemp.com/list-of-accepted-pape

Assessment methods for a CDMA trial system

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:4335.26205(HPL--93-110) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Scanning tunneling microscopy of a wheat seed storage protein reveals details of an unusual supersecondary structure.

Scanning tunneling microscopy has been used to demonstrate that a spiral structure based on beta-reverse turns is adopted by the repeat sequences present in a group of wheat gluten proteins. This structure is similar to the beta-spiral formed by a synthetic polypentapeptide based on a repeat sequence present in elastin. Wheat gluten and elastin are both elastomeric and it is possible that the spiral structure contributes to this property