Can Preference for Oviposition Sites Initiate Reproductive Isolation in Callosobruchus maculatus?

Theory has identified a variety of evolutionary processes that may lead to speciation. Our study includes selection experiments using different host plants and test key predictions concerning models of speciation based on host plant choice, such as the evolution of host use (preference and performance) and assortative mating. This study shows that after only ten generations of selection on different resources/hosts in allopatry, strains of the seed beetle Callosobruchus maculatus develop new resource preferences and show resource-dependent assortative mating when given the possibility to choose mates and resources during secondary contact. The resulting reduced gene flow between the different strains remained for two generations after contact before being overrun by disassortative mating. We show that reduced gene flow can evolve in a population due to a link between host preference and assortative mating, although this result was not found in all lines. However, consistent with models of speciation, assortative mating alone is not sufficient to maintain reproductive isolation when individuals disperse freely between hosts. We conclude that the evolution of reproductive isolation in this system cannot proceed without selection against hybrids. Other possible factors facilitating the evolution of isolation would be longer periods of allopatry, the build up of local adaptation or reduced migration upon secondary contact

The role of Assortative Mating in the Initial Stages of Sympatric and Parapatric Speciation

Divergence in the face of gene flow is perhaps the most wildly disputed subject among researchers through time. The debate is an old one and we find its origin as far back as the era of Darwin. The theories dealing with sympatric and parapatric speciation, its processes and ecological conditions, are numerous and the empirical data supporting the ideas is constantly growing. However, the reach of a consensus almost seem as distant as ever. Two fundamental prerequisites can be identified for the evolution of divergence with gene flow, the act of disruptive selection, and the development of assortative mating. A set of models in which speciation with gene flow seem particularly likely is when a shift occurs in host preference in phytophagous insects and mating takes place on the host. In the work behind this thesis, the role of assortative mating in the initial stages of sympatric and parapatric speciation has been studied, as has the interaction between assortative mating and inbreeding and how it effects speciation in small sympatric populations, an aspect not much attended to earlier in the literature. My results show that assortative mating based on resource preference, can evolve rapidly upon secondary contact, and even in parapatric populations with a migration rate of 8% (13-15 individuals) per generation. However for assortative mating to be maintained selection against hybrids is needed. My results also suggests that small inbred populations have a hard time coping with strong assortative mating an as a consequence tend to relax their mating preferences to avoid inbreeding depression. Based on these results, I advocate for the importance of considering not only assortative mating in itself, but also the joint effects of assortative mating and inbreeding when dealing with theories of speciation with gene flow

Individuals with Ehler-Danlos syndrome : The experience of the physiotherapeutic intervention, a questionnaire study

Bakgrund: Ehler-Danlos syndrom är en ärftlig bindvävssjukdom som drabbar kroppens leder och ligament, hud samt inre organ och blodkärl. Vanliga symtom är överrörlighet och led- och/eller muskelsmärta vilket även är förekommande symtom som dessa personer rehabiliteras för hos fysioterapeut. Tidigare forskning visar på brister inom rehabiliteringen och omhändertagandet av personer med denna diagnos. Syfte: Att sammanställa hur personer med Ehler-Danlos syndrom med tillhörande hypermobilitet och led- och/eller muskelsmärta upplever sin rehabilitering med fokus på den fysioterapeutiska interventionen. Metod: Kartläggning av personer med Ehler-Danlos i Sverige genom Ehler-Danlos syndrom riksförbund. En egenkonstruerad webbenkät som skickades ut via mail samt publicerades på riksförbundets facebooksida, totalt 163 svar samlades in. Resultat: Vanligaste typen var hypermobilitetstypen och samtliga deltagare hade minst ett av symtomen hypermobilitet, led- eller muskelsmärta. Vanligaste vårdgivaren för nämnda symtom var läkare/reumatolog och fysioterapeut. En stor andel av deltagarna upplevde sig missnöjda med sin rehabilitering och många ansåg att det fanns brister. De mest förekommande bristerna var kunskap och individanpassad träning som orsakade förvärrande av symtomen. Konklusion: Trots att studien har stora metodologiska felkällor kan författarna dra slutsatsen om att personer med EDS upplever stora brister i den fysioterapeutiska interventionen. De anser framförallt att kunskapen är låg inom professionen, att behandlingen består av för mycket träning och att individanpassning saknas. Mer forskning inom anpassade behandlingsmetoder krävs för att vi som fysioterapeuter ska kunna ge bästa möjliga rehabilitering för personer med Ehler-Danlos Syndrom med tillhörande hypermobilitet samt led- och/eller muskelsmärta

Navigate without a map : Attention while navigating with a vibrotactile interface compared to a visual interface

Skulle det finnas fördelar med att byta ut visuella gränssnitt mot taktila för att hjälpa personer att navigera? I den här rapporten utvärderar vi hur bra våra testdeltagare var på att uppmärksamma sin omgivning under tiden som de navigerade med en av två, för syftet utvecklade, prototyper. Den ena fungerade som en mer traditionell kartapplikation för smarta telefoner och den andra gav instruktioner via vibrationer mot huden. Experimentet utfördes i experimentmiljö och resultatet visar att de som deltog experimentet, med ett vibrotaktilt navigationsgränssnitt presterade något bättre i ett påföljande arbetsminnestest, än de som löste uppgiften ett visuellt navigationsgränssnitt. Våra resultat ger indikationer på att den vibrotaktila prototypen var mindre kognitivt belastade än den visuella prototypen och därför kunde testdeltagare som använde det vibrotaktila gränssnittet vara mer uppmärksamma på sin omgivning.Would there be advantages in replacing visual interfaces with tactile interfaces in order to help people navigate? In this report, we evaluate how well our test participants pay attention to their surroundings while they navigate with one of two purpose-built prototypes. The first prototype imitates traditional map applications for smart phones while the other gives instructions via vibrations against the skin of the participant. The experiment was conducted in a laboratory setting and we show that those who underwent the experiment with the vibrotactile navigation interface performed slightly better in a subsequent memory test, than those who completed the task with a visual navigation interface. Our results indicate that the participants using the vibrotactile prototype experienced less cognitive load than the participants with the visual prototype. Therefore they were more aware of the environment

Navigate without a map : Attention while navigating with a vibrotactile interface compared to a visual interface

Skulle det finnas fördelar med att byta ut visuella gränssnitt mot taktila för att hjälpa personer att navigera? I den här rapporten utvärderar vi hur bra våra testdeltagare var på att uppmärksamma sin omgivning under tiden som de navigerade med en av två, för syftet utvecklade, prototyper. Den ena fungerade som en mer traditionell kartapplikation för smarta telefoner och den andra gav instruktioner via vibrationer mot huden. Experimentet utfördes i experimentmiljö och resultatet visar att de som deltog experimentet, med ett vibrotaktilt navigationsgränssnitt presterade något bättre i ett påföljande arbetsminnestest, än de som löste uppgiften ett visuellt navigationsgränssnitt. Våra resultat ger indikationer på att den vibrotaktila prototypen var mindre kognitivt belastade än den visuella prototypen och därför kunde testdeltagare som använde det vibrotaktila gränssnittet vara mer uppmärksamma på sin omgivning.Would there be advantages in replacing visual interfaces with tactile interfaces in order to help people navigate? In this report, we evaluate how well our test participants pay attention to their surroundings while they navigate with one of two purpose-built prototypes. The first prototype imitates traditional map applications for smart phones while the other gives instructions via vibrations against the skin of the participant. The experiment was conducted in a laboratory setting and we show that those who underwent the experiment with the vibrotactile navigation interface performed slightly better in a subsequent memory test, than those who completed the task with a visual navigation interface. Our results indicate that the participants using the vibrotactile prototype experienced less cognitive load than the participants with the visual prototype. Therefore they were more aware of the environment

Wind Power is a Breeze

As a part of the international science festival in G\uf6teborg, Sweden, the experimental workshops welcomed over 10 000 visitors for a period of two weeks. During the weeks, students aged 8-15 visited the workshops and during the weekends the public joined in. At the workshop “Wind Power is a Breeze” students were able to construct their own turbines for a miniature wind power station and thereby learn about wind power. There were two turbines, a smaller one intended for the younger children and a larger one intended for the older ones. The small one was connected to a little model house with a light bulb and the larger one to three lamps connected in parallel plus a volt meter, ammeter and oscilloscope. The station was appreciated by the visitors, pupils as well as researchers. The station can be further improved and may be useful in laboratory practicals intended for older students.The work was carried out within the EU-project Power Cluster in The Interreg IVB North Sea Region Programme

Mean index of assortative mating.

<p>Mean (±95% confidence interval) index of assortative mating for all 18 replicates. Replicates 1–9 were run on BE beans, and replicates 10–18 on mung beans. a) Generation 1, b) generations 2, c) generation 3, d) generation 4, e) generation 8.</p

The proportion of eggs laid.

<p>The proportion of eggs (±95% confidence interval) laid by females in the different treatments. Origin refers to the bean type females were raised on for ten generations, and resource chosen refers to the bean type they chose to lay their eggs on when offered a mixture of the two bean types as oviposition substrate.</p