Fate of wild-caught Antechinus flavipes released after physiological experiments

Animals may be released into the wild for introduction, translocation or rehabilitation programs. Often, released animals do not survive or reproduce as well as wild conspecifics. Another circumstance whereby animals may be released is the return to the wild of research subjects, and although these animals may be expected to fare better than those from introduction, translocation or rehabilitation programs, there is little information regarding their subsequent survival and reproduction. We examine here the survivorship and reproductive success of five (one male, four female) yellow-footed antechinus (Antechinus flavipes) released back into the wild after being held in captivity for approximately one week for physiological experiments. Three of the four female Antechinus were recaptured after release and, on inspection, all three had 10 pouch young. Survivorship after release of antechinus held in captivity (0.75) was not different from the population as a whole, which ranged between 0.5 and 1.0. We therefore present unequivocal evidence that Antechinus released into the wild after physiological experiments can successfully survive and reproduce. This information is important for wildlife managers and animal ethics committees when considering the fate of ex-research animals

‘Cort short on a mountaintop’ – Eight new species of sequestrate Cortinarius from sub-alpine Australia and affinities to sections within the genus

During the course of research on mammal mycophagy and movement in the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, extensive collections of sequestrate fungi were made, including numerous cortinarioid taxa. Historically any novel taxa would have been described in the cortinarioid sequestrate genera Descomyces, Hymenogaster, Protoglossum, Quadrispora, Thaxterogaster or Timgrovea based on broad morphological similarities of the sporocarps and spore ornamentation. However, consistent with other recent analyses of nuclear DNA regions, taxa from sequestrate genera were found to have affinities with Cortinarius and Descolea or Hebeloma, and to be scattered across many sections within Cortinarius. None of the historical sequestrate cortinarioid genera are monophyletic in our analyses. In particular, the gastroid genus Hymenogaster is paraphyletic, with one clade including two species of Protoglossum in Cortinarius, and a second clade sister to Hebeloma. Eight new species of sequestrate Cortinarius are described and illustrated, and discussion of their affinities with various sections provided: C. argyronius, C. caesibulga and C. cinereoroseolus in section Purpurascentes, C. maculobulga in section Rozites, C. sinapivelus in section Splendidi, C. kaputarensis in a mixed section Phlegmacium/Myxacium within a broader section Dermocybe, C. basorapulus in section Percomes and C. nebulobrunneus in section Pseudotriumphantes. Keys to genera of the Bolbitiaceae and Cortinariaceae containing sequestrate taxa and to currently known Australian species of sequestrate Cortinarius and Protoglossum are provided. As with the related agaricoid taxa, macroscopic characters such as colour and texture of basidioma, degree of loculisation of the hymenophore, and stipe-columella development and form remain useful for distinguishing species, but are generally not so useful at the sectional level within Cortinarius. Microscopic characters such as spore shape, size, and ornamentation, and pileipellis structure (simplex vs duplex and size of hyphal elements) are essential for determining species, and also appear to follow sectional boundaries

Ab-initio calculation of Kerr spectra for semi-infinite systems including multiple reflections and optical interferences

Based on Luttinger's formulation the complex optical conductivity tensor is calculated within the framework of the spin-polarized relativistic screened Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker method for layered systems by means of a contour integration technique. For polar geometry and normal incidence ab-initio Kerr spectra of multilayer systems are then obtained by including via a 2x2 matrix technique all multiple reflections between layers and optical interferences in the layers. Applications to Co|Pt5 and Pt3|Co|Pt5 on the top of a semi-infinite fcc-Pt(111) bulk substrate show good qualitative agreement with the experimental spectra, but differ from those obtained by applying the commonly used two-media approach.Comment: 32 pages (LaTeX), 5 figures (Encapsulated PostScript), submitted to Phys. Rev.

Modeling mycorrhizal fungi dispersal by the mycophagous swamp wallaby (Wallabia bicolor)

Despite the importance of mammal-fungal interactions, tools to estimate the mammal-assisted dispersal distances of fungi are lacking. Many mammals actively consume fungal fruiting bodies, the spores of which remain viable after passage through their digestive tract. Many of these fungi form symbiotic relationships with trees and provide an array of other key ecosystem functions. We present a flexible, general model to predict the distance a mycophagous mammal would disperse fungal spores. We modelled the probability of spore dispersal by combining animal movement data from GPS-telemetry with data on spore gut-retention time. We test this model using an exemplar generalist mycophagist, the swamp wallaby (Wallabia bicolor). We show that swamp wallabies disperse fungal spores hundreds of metres—and occasionally up to 1265 m—from the point of consumption, distances that are ecologically significant for many mycorrhizal fungi. In addition to highlighting the ecological importance of swamp wallabies as dispersers of mycorrhizal fungi in eastern Australia, our simple modelling approach provides a novel and effective way of empirically describing spore dispersal by a mycophagous animal. This approach is applicable to the study of other animal-fungi interactions in other ecosystems.Funding provided by: Hermon Slade FoundationCrossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001109Award Number: HSF08-6Funding provided by: Australian Research CouncilCrossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000923Award Number: DP0557022Methods are described in the published article

Data on the fungal species consumed by mammal species in Australia

The data reported here support the manuscript Nuske et al. (2017). Searches were made for quantitative data on the occurrence of fungi within dietary studies of Australian mammal species. The original location reported in each study was used as the lowest grouping variable within the dataset. To standardise the data and compare dispersal events from populations of different mammal species that might overlap, data from locations were further pooled and averaged across sites if they occurred within 100 km of a random central point. Three locations in Australia contained data on several (>7) mycophagous mammals, all other locations had data on 1–3 mammal species. Within these three locations, the identity of the fungi species was compared between mammal species’ diets. A list of all fungi species found in Australian mammalian diets is also provide along with the original reference and fungal synonym names

Electrical transport properties of bulk Nic_{c}Fe1−c_{1-c} alloys and related spin-valve systems

Within the Kubo-Greenwood formalism we use the fully relativistic, spin-polarized, screened Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker method together with the coherent-potential approximation for layered systems to calculate the resistivity for the permalloy series Ni$_{c}$Fe$_{1-c}$. We are able to reproduce the variation of the resistivity across the entire series; notably the discontinuous behavior in the vicinity of the structural phase transition from bcc to fcc. The absolute values for the resistivity are within a factor of two of the experimental data. Also the giant magnetoresistance of a series of permalloy-based spin-valve structures is estimated; we are able to reproduce the trends and values observed on prototypical spin-valve structures.Comment: 6 pages, ReVTeX + 4 figures (Encapsulated Postscript), submitted to PR

Verbonden door water: van 1984 via het heden naar 2034

Wageningen UR hield in september 2009 een reünie voor oud-studenten, die in 1984 aan hun studie waren begonnen. In dat jaar was de opkomst hoog. Maar liefst 1.200 studenten verschenen aan de start, waarvan ongeveer driekwart de finish haalde. Deze lichting heeft twee hoogleraren voortgebracht en vele promovendi. Beide hoogleraren (Marc Bierkens, Geografische hydrologie aan de Universiteit van Utrecht, en Remko Uijlenhoet, Hydrologie en Kwantitatief waterbeheer aan Wageningen UR) kozen destijds voor dezelfde studierichting Cultuurtechniek, oriëntatie Hydrologie en waterbeheer. Een goed waterjaar, want na 25 jaar blijken ook de andere hydrologen uit 1984 nog steeds geïnspireerd door water en bekleden gevariëerde functies binnen wetenschap, overheid en bedrijfsleven

Homozygous microdeletion of exon 5 in ZNF277 in a girl with specific language impairment

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Potential economic implications for regional tourism of a Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak in North Queensland

International and domestic tourism are sensitive to disastrous events which make areas inaccessible to visitors, less attractive or more dangerous. One form of tourism disaster is the outbreak of an exotic disease, of which Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) is a prime case. It is now well documented that the 2001 FMD outbreak in the UK had a greater impact on tourism than on agriculture. It has been estimated than an FMD outbreak in Australia would impose a cost of about $13 million. The impact on tourism would be highly dependent on the extent and duration of an FMD outbreak, as well as on any management and containment restrictions imposed by the authorities in their attempt to control and eventually eradicate the disease. Public perception and thus the provision of accurate information and the way in which the media report disasters will also play an important role in determining the impact on the tourism industry. The economy of Tropical North Queensland relies heavily on international visitors, and an FMD outbreak in the region would impose a large cost to the regional economy, conservatively estimated here to be of the order of$200 million per year

Foxp2 Regulates Gene Networks Implicated in Neurite Outgrowth in the Developing Brain

Forkhead-box protein P2 is a transcription factor that has been associated with intriguing aspects of cognitive function in humans, non-human mammals, and song-learning birds. Heterozygous mutations of the human FOXP2 gene cause a monogenic speech and language disorder. Reduced functional dosage of the mouse version (Foxp2) causes deficient cortico-striatal synaptic plasticity and impairs motor-skill learning. Moreover, the songbird orthologue appears critically important for vocal learning. Across diverse vertebrate species, this well-conserved transcription factor is highly expressed in the developing and adult central nervous system. Very little is known about the mechanisms regulated by Foxp2 during brain development. We used an integrated functional genomics strategy to robustly define Foxp2-dependent pathways, both direct and indirect targets, in the embryonic brain. Specifically, we performed genome-wide in vivo ChIP–chip screens for Foxp2-binding and thereby identified a set of 264 high-confidence neural targets under strict, empirically derived significance thresholds. The findings, coupled to expression profiling and in situ hybridization of brain tissue from wild-type and mutant mouse embryos, strongly highlighted gene networks linked to neurite development. We followed up our genomics data with functional experiments, showing that Foxp2 impacts on neurite outgrowth in primary neurons and in neuronal cell models. Our data indicate that Foxp2 modulates neuronal network formation, by directly and indirectly regulating mRNAs involved in the development and plasticity of neuronal connections