Inferring kangaroo phylogeny from incongruent nuclear and mitochondrial genes

The marsupial genus Macropus includes three subgenera, the familiar large grazing kangaroos and wallaroos of M. (Macropus) and M. (Osphranter), as well as the smaller mixed grazing/browsing wallabies of M. (Notamacropus). A recent study of five concatenated nuclear genes recommended subsuming the predominantly browsing Wallabia bicolor (swamp wallaby) into Macropus. To further examine this proposal we sequenced partial mitochondrial genomes for kangaroos and wallabies. These sequences strongly favour the morphological placement of W. bicolor as sister to Macropus, although place M. irma (black-gloved wallaby) within M. (Osphranter) rather than as expected, with M. (Notamacropus). Species tree estimation from separately analysed mitochondrial and nuclear genes favours retaining Macropus and Wallabia as separate genera. A simulation study finds that incomplete lineage sorting among nuclear genes is a plausible explanation for incongruence with the mitochondrial placement of W. bicolor, while mitochondrial introgression from a wallaroo into M. irma is the deepest such event identified in marsupials. Similar such coalescent simulations for interpreting gene tree conflicts will increase in both relevance and statistical power as species-level phylogenetics enters the genomic age. Ecological considerations in turn, hint at a role for selection in accelerating the fixation of introgressed or incompletely sorted loci. More generally the inclusion of the mitochondrial sequences substantially enhanced phylogenetic resolution. However, we caution that the evolutionary dynamics that enhance mitochondria as speciation indicators in the presence of incomplete lineage sorting may also render them especially susceptible to introgression

Statistical and Dynamic Models of Charge Balance Functions

Charge balance functions, which identify balancing particle-antiparticle pairs on a statistical basis, have been shown to be sensitive to whether hadronization is delayed by several fm/c in relativistic heavy ion collisions. Results from two classes of models are presented here, microscopic hadronic models and thermal models. The microscopic models give results which are contrary to recently published pi+pi- balance functions from the STAR collaboration, whereas the thermal model roughly reproduce the experimental results. This suggests that charge conservation is local at breakup, which is in line with expectations for a delayed hadronization. Predictions are also presented for balance functions binned as a function of Q_inv.Comment: 12 pages 6 figure

Effect of Temperature and Coating Thickness on the Release of Urea from Resin-Coated Granules

Resin coatings are very effective in controlling the availability of N from applied urea in moist soil. In leaching studies, 94% of the noncoated urea was recovered in 1 day, compared to a 49% recovery of the N from coated urea (13.2% resin) in 4 weeks of intermittent leaching. Release rates are controlled by the thickness of the coating and the temperature of the medium. Coatings averaging 13.2% resin markedly decreased release of urea, compared to coatings of 9.0% resin. In the range beween 5 to 35C, increased release of urea accompanied increases in temperature. After 4 weeks of incubation and intermittent leaching totaling 20 inches of water, 25 and 67% of the added N were leached from soil at 5 and 35C, respectively. Increasing the temperature 10C was approximately equivalent to doubling the release time within a 16-week period. Increasing the temperature increases expansion of the capsule and the surface area through which diffusion must take place. This effect is probably supplemental to the effect of temperature on the diffusion phenomena per se. Approximately 99% of the capsules were recovered intact after incubation for 16 weeks at four temperatures between 5 and 35C

Covariance of Antiproton Yield and Source Size in Nuclear Collisions

We confront for the first time the widely-held belief that combined event-by-event information from quark gluon plasma signals can reduce the ambiguity of the individual signals. We illustrate specifically how the measured antiproton yield combined with the information from pion-pion HBT correlations can be used to identify novel event classes.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, improved title, references and readability; results unchange

Photomorphogenic mutants of tomato

Photomorphogenesis of tomato is being studied with the aid of mutants which are either modified in their photore- ceptor composition or in their signal transduction chain(s) . Several mutants affecting the phytochrome family of photoreceptors, some of which appear deficient for specific genes encoding phytochrome apoproteins have been isolated . In addition, other mutants, including transgenic lines overexpressing phytochrome A, exhibit exaggerated photomorphogenesis during de-etiolation . Anthocyanin biosynthesis and plastid development are being used as model systems for the dissection of the complex interactions among photomorphogenic photoreceptors and to elucidate the nature of their transduction chains

Magnetic fluctuations and spin freezing in nonsuperconducting LiFeAs derivatives

We present detailed magnetometry and muon-spin rotation data on polycrystalline samples of overdoped, nonsuperconducting LiFe1−xNixAs (x = 0.1,0.2) and Li1−yFe1+yAs (0 y 0.04) as well as superconducting LiFeAs.While LiFe1−xNixAs exhibits weak antiferromagnetic fluctuations down to 1.5 K,Li1−yFe1+yAs samples, which have a much smaller deviation from the 1 : 1 : 1 stoichiometry, show a crossover from ferromagnetic to antiferromagnetic fluctuations on cooling and a freezing of dynamically fluctuating moments at low temperatures. We do not find any signatures of time-reversal symmetry breaking in stoichiometric LiFeAs that would support recent predictions of triplet pairing

The complications of ‘hiring a hubby’: gender relations and the commoditisation of home maintenance in New Zealand

This paper examines the commoditization of traditionally male domestic tasks through interviews with handymen who own franchises in the company ‘Hire a Hubby’ in New Zealand and homeowners who have paid for home repair tasks to be done. Discussions of the commoditization of traditionally female tasks in the home have revealed the emotional conflicts of paying others to care as well as the exploitative and degrading conditions that often arise when work takes place behind closed doors. By examining the working conditions and relationships involved when traditionally male tasks are paid for, this paper raises important questions about the valuing of reproductive labour and the production of gendered identities. The paper argues that while working conditions and rates of pay for ‘hubbies’ are better than those for people undertaking commoditized forms of traditionally female domestic labour, the negotiation of this work is still complex and implicated in gendered relations and identities. Working on the home was described by interviewees as an expression of care for family and a performance of the ‘right’ way to be a ‘Kiwi bloke’ and a father. Paying others to do this labour can imply a failure in a duty of care and in the performance of masculinity

Giant magnetothermopower of magnon-assisted transport in ferromagnetic tunnel junctions

We present a theoretical description of the thermopower due to magnon-assisted tunneling in a mesoscopic tunnel junction between two ferromagnetic metals. The thermopower is generated in the course of thermal equilibration between two baths of magnons, mediated by electrons. For a junction between two ferromagnets with antiparallel polarizations, the ability of magnon-assisted tunneling to create thermopower $S_{AP}$ depends on the difference between the size $\Pi_{\uparrow, \downarrow}$ of the majority and minority band Fermi surfaces and it is proportional to a temperature dependent factor $(k_{B}T/\omega_{D})^{3/2}$ where $\omega_{D}$ is the magnon Debye energy. The latter factor reflects the fractional change in the net magnetization of the reservoirs due to thermal magnons at temperature $T$ (Bloch's $T^{3/2}$ law). In contrast, the contribution of magnon-assisted tunneling to the thermopower $S_P$ of a junction with parallel polarizations is negligible. As the relative polarizations of ferromagnetic layers can be manipulated by an external magnetic field, a large difference $\Delta S = S_{AP} - S_P \approx S_{AP} \sim - (k_B/e) f (\Pi_{\uparrow},\Pi_{\downarrow}) (k_BT/\omega_{D})^{3/2}$ results in a magnetothermopower effect. This magnetothermopower effect becomes giant in the extreme case of a junction between two half-metallic ferromagnets, $\Delta S \sim - k_B/e$.Comment: 9 pages, 4 eps figure

Anomalous magnetic exchange in a dimerized quantum magnet composed of unlike spin species

We present here a study of the magnetic properties of the antiferromagnetic dimer material CuVOF 4 ( H 2 O ) 6 ⋅ H 2 O , in which the dimer unit is composed of two different S = 1 / 2 species, Cu(II) and V(IV). An applied magnetic field of μ 0 H c 1 = 13.1 ( 1 ) T is found to close the singlet-triplet energy gap, the magnitude of which is governed by the antiferromagnetic intradimer J 0 ≈ 21 K, and interdimer J ′ ≈ 1 K, exchange energies, determined from magnetometry and electron-spin resonance measurements. The results of density functional theory (DFT) calculations are consistent with the experimental results. The DFT calculations predict antiferromagnetic coupling along all nearest-neighbor bonds, with the magnetic ground state comprising spins of different species aligning antiparallel to one another, while spins of the same species are aligned parallel. The magnetism in this system cannot be accurately described by the overlap between localized V orbitals and magnetic Cu orbitals lying in the Jahn-Teller (JT) plane, with a tight-binding model based on such a set of orbitals incorrectly predicting that interdimer exchange should be dominant. DFT calculations indicate significant spin density on the bridging oxide, suggesting instead an unusual mechanism in which intradimer exchange is mediated through the O atom on the Cu(II) JT axis

How brains make decisions

This chapter, dedicated to the memory of Mino Freund, summarizes the Quantum Decision Theory (QDT) that we have developed in a series of publications since 2008. We formulate a general mathematical scheme of how decisions are taken, using the point of view of psychological and cognitive sciences, without touching physiological aspects. The basic principles of how intelligence acts are discussed. The human brain processes involved in decisions are argued to be principally different from straightforward computer operations. The difference lies in the conscious-subconscious duality of the decision making process and the role of emotions that compete with utility optimization. The most general approach for characterizing the process of decision making, taking into account the conscious-subconscious duality, uses the framework of functional analysis in Hilbert spaces, similarly to that used in the quantum theory of measurements. This does not imply that the brain is a quantum system, but just allows for the simplest and most general extension of classical decision theory. The resulting theory of quantum decision making, based on the rules of quantum measurements, solves all paradoxes of classical decision making, allowing for quantitative predictions that are in excellent agreement with experiments. Finally, we provide a novel application by comparing the predictions of QDT with experiments on the prisoner dilemma game. The developed theory can serve as a guide for creating artificial intelligence acting by quantum rules.Comment: Latex file, 20 pages, 3 figure