A Note on the crowned Eagle (Spizaetus coronatus)

Volume: XII

Hatching Success of Rainbowfish Eggs Following Exposure to Air

Translocation of fishes within and between drainage basins is widely recognised as a threatening process to Australian native fishes. While many translocations are deliberate, for example for fisheries enhancement, it is possible that translocation can occur naturally. In the Wet Tropic region of Australia, the widespread eastern rainbowfish, Melanotaenia splendida, has begun to colonise the Atherton tablelands. This is of particular concern because the area is home to several endangered endemic species such as the Lake Eacham rainbowfish, M. eachamensis, and its allies. It is likely that some of the translocations have occurred through the use of this species as bait, but the recent invasion of Lake Eacham may have occurred naturally via the movement of eggs between nearby streams running into Lake Tinaroo. Here we determine whether rainbowfish eggs could be transported over land by examining their desiccation tolerance. In the first experiment we plucked eggs from spawning media and exposed them to air for varying amounts of time. The results showalmost100%mortality after just 15 min. Rainbowfish eggs have a web-like projection that enables them to adhere to aquatic vegetation. In the second experiment, therefore, eggs were exposed to air attached to simulated weed (wet acrylic wool). Around 20% of eggs on the simulated weed where still viable after an hour. The results show that rainbowfish eggs could readily be transported between catchments by aquatic birds or human leisure activities such as kayaking or swimming. The implications for conservation management of Australian freshwater species is discussed

Room temperature plasmon laser by total internal reflection

Plasmon lasers create and sustain intense and coherent optical fields below light's diffraction limit with the unique ability to drastically enhance light-matter interactions bringing fundamentally new capabilities to bio-sensing, data storage, photolithography and optical communications. However, these important applications require room temperature operation, which remains a major hurdle. Here, we report a room temperature semiconductor plasmon laser with both strong cavity feedback and optical confinement to 1/20th of the wavelength. The strong feedback arises from total internal reflection of surface plasmons, while the confinement enhances the spontaneous emission rate by up to 20 times.Comment: 8 Page, 2 Figure

Experience Dependent Sensorimotor Functioning in Adults with Severe Autism Spectrum Disorder

The aim of this doctoral research was to provide new insights into sensorimotor development and functioning in autistic adults. First, classification measures (Chapter Two) were used to verify the diagnosis of autism, and automatic imitation (Chapter Three) was used to verify an intact perception-action link. In Chapter Four, in Twists, the trampolining group (those with sensorimotor experience) had a First Fixation Location on the incongruent model on the first trial but had a longer First Fixation Duration on the congruent model across the trials. Whereas the non-trampolining group (those without sensorimotor experience) did not attend to either model significantly differently in their First Fixation Location but had a longer First Fixation Duration on the incongruent model. In Chapter Five, for familiar actions, the First Fixation Location was on the autistic model on the first trial, and First Fixation Duration was longer on the autistic model across the trials. This indicates that the sensorimotor system in autistic individuals is attuned to autistic kinematics, due to attention being drawn to the autistic model and it being evaluated for longer. For the skilled actions across the trials, the First Fixation Location was on the typical model, and for the Percentage of Total Fixation Duration the typical model was fixated on for proportionately longer. This was then further investigated in Chapter Six, in which participants ability to pursue point-light displays performing trampolining actions was examined. Sensorimotor experience did not result in superior pursuit of the point-light displays; the trampolining and non-trampolining groups performed similarly with no significant differences in the number or duration of eye movements. Therefore, the result of sensorimotor experience is superior identification and initial evaluation seen in the first fixation but does not have a significant effect past this point. Taken together, it can be suggested that action observation is intact in moderate to severely autistic adults through experience dependent attentional differences. This will add to the literature and understanding of minimally verbal adults with moderate to severe autism, a vastly understudied population