Magnetomotive drive and detection of clamped-clamped mechanical resonators in water

We demonstrate magnetomotive drive and detection of doubly clamped string resonators in water. A compact 1.9 T permanent magnet is used to detect the fundamental and higher flexural modes of $\mathrm{200 \mu m}$ long resonators. Good agreement is found between the magnetomotive measurements and optical measurements performed on the same resonator. The magnetomotive detection scheme can be used to simultaneously drive and detect multiple sensors or scanning probes in viscous fluids without alignment of detector beams.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Lateral hypothalamus is required for context-induced reinstatement of extinguished reward seeking

We studied the role of lateral hypothalamus (LH) in context-induced reinstatement (renewal) of reward seeking. Rats were trained to respond for 4% (v/v) alcoholic beer or 10% (w/v) sucrose reward in one context (Context A) before extinction training in a second context (Context B). On test, rats were returned to the training context, A (ABA), or the extinction context, B (ABB). Return to the training context (ABA) produced robust reinstatement. Reversible inactivation of LH via baclofen/muscimol infusion prevented context-induced reinstatement of beer and sucrose seeking. This prevention was specific to bilateral infusions into LH. We then used the retrograde neuronal tracer cholera toxin b subunit (CTb) combined with detection of the c-Fos protein to identify activated afferents to LH during context-induced reinstatement of beer seeking. Double labeling for c-Fos and CTb revealed a significant recruitment of LH-projecting neurons in nucleus accumbens shell (AcbSh) during reinstatement. These afferents could be classified into two anatomically and functionally distinct groups. First, afferents in the ventral AcbSh projecting to LH were activated during reinstatement. Second, afferents in the dorsomedial AcbSh projecting to LH were activated during test in the extinction context. These recruitments were specific to an AcbSh–LH pathway because they were not observed following CTb injection into the immediately adjacent perifornical hypothalamus. These results show that LH is critical for context-induced reinstatement of reward seeking and that parallel striatal-hypothalamic pathways are recruited following return to the training versus extinction contexts

Tropical cyclones and the ecohydrology of Australia's recent continental-scale drought

The Big Dry, a recent drought over southeast Australia, began around 1997 and continued until 2011. We show that between 2002-2010, instead of a localized drought, there was a continent-wide reduction in water storage, vegetation and rainfall, spanning the northwest to the southeast of Australia. Trends in water storage and vegetation were assessed using Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data. Water storage and NDVI are shown to be significantly correlated across the continent and the greatest losses of water storage occurred over northwest Australia. The frequency of tropical cyclones over northwest Australia peaked just prior to the launch of the GRACE mission in 2002. Indeed, since 1981, decade-scale fluctuations in tropical cyclone numbers coincide with similar variation in rainfall and vegetation over northwest Australia. Rainfall and vegetation in southeast Australia trended oppositely to the northwest prior to 2001. Despite differences between the northwest and southeast droughts, there is reason to believe that continental droughts may occur when the respective climate drivers align

Rhesus Macaques Form Preferences for Brand Logos Through Sex and Social Status Based Advertising

Like humans, monkeys value information about sex and status, inviting the hypothesis that our susceptibility to these factors in advertising arises from shared, ancestral biological mechanisms that prioritize social information. To test this idea, we asked whether rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) show choice behavior that is similar to humans in response to sex and social status in advertising. Our results show that monkeys form preferences for brand logos repeatedly paired with images of macaque genitals and high status monkeys. Moreover, monkeys sustain preferences for these brand logos even though choosing them provided no tangible rewards, a finding that cannot be explained by a decision mechanism operating solely on material outcomes. Together, our results endorse the hypothesis that the power of sex and status in advertising emerges from the spontaneous engagement of shared, ancestral neural circuits that prioritize information useful for navigating the social environment. Finally, our results show that simple associative conditioning is sufficient to explain the formation of preferences for brand logos paired with sexual or status-based images

Gendering Local Governing: Canadian and Comparative Lessons – The Case of Metropolitan Vancouver

The United Nations Special Advisor on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women, Rachel Mayanja recently noted the slow progress toward gender equity in political representation in the world’s assemblies: while representation of women in national legislatures is up (now at 16.4% overall), there remain areas of slower progress, and the rate of change remains distinctly unhurried. Countries such as Canada offer a basis for some comparisons; so does comparing national, provincial/state/regional and local governments. What is posed here is some evidence from the Canadian case, with brief national comparisons with a variety of other countries. Central to this examination of Canada is a study, reported here, on women in local government in metropolitan Vancouver, providing lessons in terms of Canada and more generally

Preface

No Abstract.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/37479/1/1330290209_ftp.pd

Archiving the Scientific Legacy of Dr. Alec Costin

Alec Costin is one of Australia’s foremost ecologists, internationally respected for his pioneering work into the soils, hydrology and vegetation of the Australian alpine regions. Advisor to governments and their agencies, he was instrumental in the conservation of the Australian Alps. Alec’s field notes, data sheets and Kodachrome slides, a record of the Alps in the 1950s and 60s, are important historically and provide an important resource to interpret change in vegetation and landscapes in the Australian Alps. The University of Melbourne, funded by the Australian Alps National Parks, will catalogue and archive these materials, so future generations of scientists and historians can easily gain access to them