A genotyping protocol for multiple tissue types from the polyploid tree species Sequoia sempervirens (Cupressaceae).

Premise of the studyIdentifying clonal lineages in asexually reproducing plants using microsatellite markers is complicated by the possibility of nonidentical genotypes from the same clonal lineage due to somatic mutations, null alleles, and scoring errors. We developed and tested a clonal identification protocol that is robust to these issues for the asexually reproducing hexaploid tree species coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens).MethodsMicrosatellite data from four previously published and two newly developed primers were scored using a modified protocol, and clones were identified using Bruvo genetic distances. The effectiveness of this clonal identification protocol was assessed using simulations and by genotyping a test set of paired samples of different tissue types from the same trees.ResultsData from simulations showed that our protocol allowed us to accurately identify clonal lineages. Multiple test samples from the same trees were identified correctly, although certain tissue type pairs had larger genetic distances on average.DiscussionThe methods described in this paper will allow for the accurate identification of coast redwood clones, facilitating future studies of the reproductive ecology of this species. The techniques used in this paper can be applied to studies of other clonal organisms as well

Loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) nest predation at Cape Range National Park

Most of the existing sea turtle populations worldwide are in decline. In particular, loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) are listed as endangered and loggerhead nesting populations in Eastern Australia have declined by 86% since the 1970s. However, whilst Eastern Australian loggerhead populations have been extensively studied and monitored, not much is known about the Western Australian nesting population

All-Optical Production of a Degenerate Fermi Gas

We achieve degeneracy in a mixture of the two lowest hyperfine states of $^6$Li by direct evaporation in a CO$_2$ laser trap, yielding the first all-optically produced degenerate Fermi gas. More than $10^5$ atoms are confined at temperatures below $4 \mu$K at full trap depth, where the Fermi temperature for each state is $8 \mu$K. This degenerate two-component mixture is ideal for exploring mechanisms of superconductivity ranging from Cooper pairing to Bose condensation of strongly bound pairs.Comment: 4 pgs RevTeX with 2 eps figs, to be published in Phys. Rev. Let

A cost-effective, simple measure of emotional response in the brain for use by behavioral biologists

Studies combining brain activity measures with behavior have the potential to reveal more about animal cognition than either on their own. However, brain measure procedures in animal studies are often practically challenging and cost-prohibitive. Therefore, we test whether a simple measure of ear temperature can be used to index hemispheric brain activation using a handheld thermoscanner. Cortisol levels are correlated with the activation of the right cortical region, implying that, when stressful situations are experienced, increased right hemisphere activation occurs. This leads to corresponding locally detectable increases in ipsilateral ear temperature. We compared right- and left-ear temperatures of 32 domestic dogs under non-stressful and partially stressful conditions. We detected significant elevations in right-ear temperature – but not left-ear temperature – relative to baseline readings in the partially stressful condition that were not detected in the non-stressful condition. These findings provide encouraging support for the notion that tympanic membrane temperature readings can provide a simple index for canine hemispheric brain activation, which can be combined with data on behavioral decision-making, expectancy violations, or other measures of emotional processing. Devices are cheap, simple to use, portable, and only minimally invasive providing a means for real-time brain and behavior measurements to be conducted in real-world settings

Experiencing local news online: audience practices and perceptions

This article explores how audiences experience local news online. It discusses the findings of an empirical study that examined why audiences consumed local news online, what sources they were most likely to access, how important distributing platforms were in local news use, and what users understood by local news. The research had a qualitative design applying diaries as its main method collecting data in the South-East of England in 2016 and 2017. The findings suggest that there is no shared understanding among audience members about what local news is in the digital environment. The study identified three predominant ways in which participants understood local news: as personally relevant or interesting information, as content produced by legacy local media brands, and as community engagement. The study also found that each of the different understandings of local news was linked to particular online news consumption and engagement patterns. The paper argues that audience perceptions of news should be studied alongside motivations for and practices of news engagement and consumption in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of audiences and news in the digital age