A comparative study of communicative behavior in grasshoppers.

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/56385/1/MP141.pd

The Singing Insects of Michigan

Excerpt: The so-called singing insects are all those that make loud, rhythmical noises. They include members of three groups of Orthoptera (Gryllidae, Tettigoniidae, and Acridoidea) and one family of Homoptera (Cicadidae). There are about 300 noisy species in these four groups in eastern North America, perhaps a thousand in all of North America, and 25-30 thousand in the entire world. Only about 1000 of the world species have been studied in any detail, mostly in North America, Europe, Japan, and Australia

Process, People, Power and Conflict: Some Lessons from a Participatory Policy Process in Andhra Pradesh, India

A large body of empirical literature highlights the need for stakeholder participation within the context of policy change and democratic governance. This makes intuitive sense and may appear to be a straightforward process of managing conflicting interests, building consensus, and lining up support. The reality, however, is often much more complicated and conflictive, even where there is general agreement on the policy objectives. The present paper examines these issues in the context of participatory policy development for the delivery of veterinary services by para-professionals in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It illustrates the challenges inherent in the politics of participatory policy processes and the potential of ‘agenda hijack’ by influential partners, resulting in missed learning opportunities. It also offers insights on practical steps to counter these dangers, as potential lessons for practitioners and project managers engaged in participatory policy reform processes.

Designer quantum states of matter created atom-by-atom

With the advances in high resolution and spin-resolved scanning tunneling microscopy as well as atomic-scale manipulation, it has become possible to create and characterize quantum states of matter bottom-up, atom-by-atom. This is largely based on controlling the particle- or wave-like nature of electrons, as well as the interactions between spins, electrons, and orbitals and their interplay with structure and dimensionality. We review the recent advances in creating artificial electronic and spin lattices that lead to various exotic quantum phases of matter, ranging from topological Dirac dispersion to complex magnetic order. We also project future perspectives in non-equilibrium dynamics, prototype technologies, engineered quantum phase transitions and topology, as well as the evolution of complexity from simplicity in this newly developing field

The evolution of genitalia and mating behavior in crickets (Gryllidae) and other Orthoptera

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/56377/1/MP133.pd

Testing for biogeographic mechanisms promoting divergence in Caribbean crickets (genus Amphiacusta )

This work examines whether the history of diversification of Amphiacusta (Orthoptera, Gryllidae) in the Caribbean corresponds to a vicariant or a dispersalist model.The Greater Antillean islands of the Caribbean region.The phylogenetic relationships among species were estimated using a procedure that directly estimates the underlying species tree from independent loci (in this case, one mitochondrial and one nuclear locus). This tree was then used to test for topological congruence with a vicariant model, and to estimate divergence times.The analyses based on the expected pattern of species divergence (i.e. species-tree topology) support a vicariant model. With the notable exception of a dispersal event marking the colonization of Jamaica, the timing of the events are generally consistent with a vicariant scenario, given the current taxon sampling and potential errors with dating the divergence events.The tendency of species to co-segregate by island suggests that intra-island diversification is common. Despite their flightlessness, species of Amphiacusta are apparently capable of long-distance dispersal, such as colonization from the Puerto Rican/Virgin Island bank to Jamaica. The topology of the species tree is consistent with a vicariant model of divergence, and the dates of divergence between island groups are generally consistent with an island–island vicariance model. A strict island–island vicariance scenario can, however, be rejected because of inferred dispersal events such as the colonization of Jamaica. Nevertheless, the biogeographic tests suggest that most of the diversity was generated under a combination of intra-island diversification and island–island vicariance. Additional sampling of taxa will be needed to verify this hypothesized scenario. Our findings indicate that Amphiacusta presents an ideal opportunity for examining the role of sexual selection in promoting diversification, which would complement the large number of studies focused on adaptive divergence of Caribbean taxa.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/79301/1/j.1365-2699.2009.02231.x.pd

Two new species of Dellia Stål, 1878 grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Acrididae) from Sierra de Bahoruco, Dominican Republic

The acridid grasshoppers Dellia viridissima sp. nov. and Dellia ciceroana sp. nov. are described and illustrated from Sierra de Bahoruco, Dominican Republic. These species inhabit transition and mountain forests between 450 – 1,300 m elevation. D. viridissima sp. nov. was found in close association with the vine Solandra longiflora Tuss. (Solanaceae) suggesting that it could be an oligophagous specialist. D. ciceroana sp. nov. was collected in a more xeric transition forest at the sides of the trail from Puerto Escondido to the heights of the Sierra de Bahoruco National Park. The number of Dellia species known from Hispaniola is increased to six, three of these being from Sierra de Bahoruco

Morphing Attack Detection using Laplace operator based features

The vulnerability of facial recognition systems through morphing attacks is a known problem. Since the first publication about this vulnerability of facial recognition systems, a variety of morphing attack detection methods have been presented, promising an automated detection of such fraudulent attacks. In this work, a new approach is presented attempting to distinguish bona fide from morphed images based on information about the edges in the image extracted by the Laplace operator. It can be demonstrated that the features employed contain information that can contribute to the detection of morphed face images