Multiple paternity in the cooperatively breeding fish Neolamprologus pulcher

In cooperative breeders, mature males may compete for fertilizations. In this study, we measured the degree of multiple paternity in a natural population of a cooperatively breeding fish. Neolamprologus pulcher (Perciformes: Cichlidae) is a highly social cichlid endemic to Lake Tanganyika. We used highly variable microsatellite loci to survey 12 groups with an average number of 10.6 brood care helpers per group and a total of 43 offspring (mean 3.6 per brood). In 11 of 12 groups, all young were assigned to the dominant female. The dominant male sired all offspring in three groups, part of the offspring in four groups, and in five groups, he had no paternity at all. In total, 44.2% of young were not fathered by the current male territory owner. Multiple paternity was found in 5 of 12 broods (41.7 %), with 8 of 35 young (22.9 %) being sired by males other than the respective territory owners. This is an exceptionally high rate of extra-pair paternity among cooperatively breeding vertebrates. Neither helpers present in these territories during collection nor neighbouring males were unequivocally assigned to have sired these extra-pair young. However, behavioural observations suggest that male helpers may have produced these young before being expelled from the territory in response to this reproductive parasitism. We discuss these results in the light of reproductive skew theory, cooperative breeding in vertebrates and alternative reproductive tactics in fis

Qualitative Analyse und Modellierung des wissenschaftlichen Arbeitens

Diese Masterarbeitet bietet einen Überblick der bestehenden Literatur zum Stand der Digitalisierung des geisteswissenschaflichen Arbeitens und den Stellenwert des Exzerpierens und Notierens während der Forschung. Die Erkentnisse aus der Literatur werden durch eine Interviewreihe, ausgewertet auf Basis der Grounded Theory, bestätigt. Basierend auf elf Interviews mit Promovierenden und Masterstudierenden wird ein informelles Aktitivätenmodell des (geistes)wissenschafltichen Arbeitens erstellt. Unter Miteinbeziehung des Forschungsstands auf dem Gebiet des Personal Information Management wird anschließend ein Concurrent Task Tree Modell für digitale Assistenz im Rahmen geisteswissenschaftlicher Forschung vorgestellt. Basierend darauf wurde ein Prototyp zur Evaluierung einer stillen Ausführungs- und Übersetzungsassistenz entwickelt, der im Labor getestet wurde. Die Nutzung des Prototypen führte entgegen der Erwartung zu keiner Effizienzsteigerung beim Zusammenfassen einer Textquelle. Gleichzeitig konnet aber bestätigt werden, dass die Nutzung eines Eye-Trackers und einer Webcam die Verortung von Papiernotizen im digitalen Quelltext ermöglicht. Bei die Auswertung der Interviews wurden zudem zwei Typen der Literaturverwaltung beobachtet, die den Stellenwert von Exzerpten unterstreichen und die zukünftige Entwicklung von Literaturverwaltungssoftware für Geisteswissenschaftler beeinflussen sollten

Zeitgeschichte untersuchen - Topic Modeling von #blackouttuesday-Inhalten auf Instagram

Das Forschungsprojekt dient der Untersuchung des New Social Movements Black Lives Matter und spezifisch den Solidaritätsbezeugungen am #blackouttuesday als Reaktion auf die Ermordung George Floyds. Um Sujets und Themen der Instagram-Nutzer*Innen rundum #blackouttuesday zu identifizieren und deren quantitative Analyse zu ermöglichen, wird ein Korpus aus den Bildunterschriften von Posts mit dem #blackouttuesday vom 02.06.2020 erstellt. Unter Anwendung des Latent Dirichlet Allocation Algorithmus sollen Topics gefunden werden. So kann der Diskurs über racial justice mit der quantitativen Methode des Topic Modeling untersucht werden. Das Forschungsprojekt kann in den Bereich der digitalen Kulturwissenschaft eingeordnet werden

Inbreeding, Microsatellite Heterozygosity, and Morphological Traits in Lipizzan Horses

While the negative effects of inbreeding and reduced heterozygosity on fecundity and survival are well established, only a few investigations have been carried out concerning their influence on morphological traits. This topic is of particular interest for a small and closed population such as the Lipizzan horse. Thus, 27 morphological traits were measured in 360 Lipizzan mares and were regressed on the individual inbreeding coefficients, as well as on the individual heterozygosity and mean squared distances (mean d2) between microsatellite alleles within an individual. Both individual heterozygosity and mean d2 were based on 17 microsatellite loci dispersed over 14 chromosomes. The results obtained by multivariate analysis reveal significant effects of stud (P <.0001), age at measurement (P <.0001), and mean d2 (P =.0143). In univariate analyses, significant associations were obtained between length of pastern-hindlimbs and inbreeding coefficient (P <.01), length of cannons-hindlimb and mean d2 (P <.01), and length of neck and mean d2 (P <.001). After adjustment of single-test P values for multiple tests (Hochberg's step-up Bonferroni method), only the association of the length of neck and mean d2 remained significant (P =.0213). Thus, no overall large effects of inbreeding, microsatellite heterozygosity, and mean d2 on morphological traits were observed in the Lipizzan hors

Studying the ephemeral, cultures of digital oblivion Identifying patterns in Instagram Stories

In diesem Beitrag stellen wir unsere Work-In-Progress Social-Media-Studie zu Instagram-Stories während der Bundestagswahl 2021 vor. Da es wenig Daten zu den Inhalten und Elementen der Stories gibt haben wir ein Annotationstool entwickelt, mit dem durch Crowdsourcing Stories auf privaten Profilen und denen von Influencern annotiert und beschrieben werden können. Zusätzlich wurden die Stories politischer Parteien und derer Spitzenkandidat*innen automatisiert gesammelt und teilautomatisiert annotiert. Die beiden Korpora werden im weiteren Verlauf miteinander verglichen um zunächst auf einer Metaebene unterschiede und parallelen der Story-Nutzung zwischen Privatpersonen und politischer Akteure sowie Influencern zu erfassen. Als Nebeneffekt erhalten wir ein Korpus das es entgegen der vorhandenen Literatur zum ersten Mal erlaubt quantitative Aussagen zu Instagram-Stories machen kann: Welche Elemente und Medien werden genutzt, welche Inhalte geteilt

Metal-Organic Frameworks for Sensing Applications in the Gas Phase

Several metal-organic framework (MOF) materials were under investigated to test their applicability as sensor materials for impedimetric gas sensors. The materials were tested in a temperature range of 120 °C - 240 °C with varying concentrations of O2, CO2, C3H8, NO, H2, ethanol and methanol in the gas atmosphere and under different test gas humidity conditions. Different sensor configurations were studied in a frequency range of 1 Hz -1 MHz and time-continuous measurements were performed at 1 Hz. The materials did not show any impedance response to O2, CO2, C3H8, NO, or H2 in the gas atmospheres, although for some materials a significant impedance decrease was induced by a change of the ethanol or methanol concentration in the gas phase. Moreover, pronounced promising and reversible changes in the electric properties of a special MOF material were monitored under varying humidity, with a linear response curve at 120 °C. Further investigations were carried out with differently doped MOF materials of this class, to evaluate the influence of special dopants on the sensor effect

Inbreeding, Microsatellite Heterozygosity, and Morphological Traits in Lipizzan Horses

While the negative effects of inbreeding and reduced heterozygosity on fecundity and survival are well established, only a few investigations have been carried out concerning their influence on morphological traits. This topic is of particular interest for a small and closed population such as the Lipizzan horse. Thus, 27 morphological traits were measured in 360 Lipizzan mares and were regressed on the individual inbreeding coefficients, as well as on the individual heterozygosity and mean squared distances (mean d2) between microsatellite alleles within an individual. Both individual heterozygosity and mean d2 were based on 17 microsatellite loci dispersed over 14 chromosomes. The results obtained by multivariate analysis reveal significant effects of stud (P <.0001), age at measurement (P <.0001), and mean d2 (P =.0143). In univariate analyses, significant associations were obtained between length of pastern-hindlimbs and inbreeding coefficient (P <.01), length of cannons-hindlimb and mean d2 (P <.01), and length of neck and mean d2 (P <.001). After adjustment of single-test P values for multiple tests (Hochberg's step-up Bonferroni method), only the association of the length of neck and mean d2 remained significant (P =.0213). Thus, no overall large effects of inbreeding, microsatellite heterozygosity, and mean d2 on morphological traits were observed in the Lipizzan horse

Microfabricated Formaldehyde Gas Sensors

Formaldehyde is a volatile organic compound that is widely used in textiles, paper, wood composites, and household materials. Formaldehyde will continuously outgas from manufactured wood products such as furniture, with adverse health effects resulting from prolonged low-level exposure. New, microfabricated sensors for formaldehyde have been developed to meet the need for portable, low-power gas detection. This paper reviews recent work including silicon microhotplates for metal oxide-based detection, enzyme-based electrochemical sensors, and nanowire-based sensors. This paper also investigates the promise of polymer-based sensors for low-temperature, low-power operation

Platform for a Hydrocarbon Exhaust Gas Sensor Utilizing a Pumping Cell and a Conductometric Sensor

Very often, high-temperature operated gas sensors are cross-sensitive to oxygen and/or they cannot be operated in oxygen-deficient (rich) atmospheres. For instance, some metal oxides like Ga2O3 or doped SrTiO3 are excellent materials for conductometric hydrocarbon detection in the rough atmosphere of automotive exhausts, but have to be operated preferably at a constant oxygen concentration. We propose a modular sensor platform that combines a conductometric two-sensor-setup with an electrochemical pumping cell made of YSZ to establish a constant oxygen concentration in the ambient of the conductometric sensor film. In this paper, the platform is introduced, the two-sensor-setup is integrated into this new design, and sensing performance is characterized. Such a platform can be used for other sensor principles as well