Are personalities genetically determined? Inferences from subsocial spiders.

BACKGROUND:Recent research has revealed that polymorphic behavioral strategies shape intra-and interspecific interactions and contribute to fitness in many animal species. A better understanding of the proximate mechanisms underlying these behavioral syndromes will enhance our grasp this phenomenon. Spiders in the genus Anelosimus exhibit inter-individual behavioral variation on several axes: individuals have consistent responses to stimuli (e.g. bold vs. shy individuals) and they are subsocial (exhibiting extended maternal care and sibling cooperation) across most of their range, but they sometimes form permanent social groups in northern temperate regions. Here, we seek genetic variants associated with boldness and with social structure in a socially polymorphic population of the spider Anelosimus studiosus. We also develop preliminary genomic resources, including a genome assembly and linkage map, that support this and future genomic research on this group. RESULTS:Remarkably, we identify a small genomic scaffold (~ 1200 bp) that harbors seven single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with boldness. Moreover, heterozygotes are less common than expected based on Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, suggesting that either assortative mating or selection against heterozygotes may be occurring in this system. We find no loci significantly associated with social organization. Our draft genome assembly allows us to localize SNPs of interest in this study and to carry out genetic comparisons with other published genomes, although it remains highly fragmented. CONCLUSIONS:By identifying a locus associated with a well-studied animal personality trait, this study opens up avenues for future research to link behavioral studies of animal personality with genotype and fitness

ANALYZING THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF NATIONAL BEEF IMPORT LEVEL CHANGES ON THE VIRGINIA BEEF AND PORK SECTORS

International Relations/Trade,

Social Networking Sites and Our Lives

Examines the characteristics of social networking site users, their online activities, and their friendships, sense of trust, social support, perspectives, and civic engagement by site and compared with those of non-users and users of other technologies

Spontaneous formation of a chiral (Mo2O2S2)2+-based cluster driven by dimeric {Te2O6}-based templates

Utilization of [Mo2S2O2(H2O)6]2+ and a tellurite anion led to the formation of three new clusters, 1–3, with unique structural features. The tellurite anion not only templated the formation of [(Mo2O2S2)4(TeO3)(OH)9]3− 1 and [(Mo2O2S2)12(TeO3)4(TeO4)2 (OH)18]10− 3, but also the in situ generation of two different types of dimeric {Te2O6} based moieties induced the spontaneous assembly of the chiral [(Mo2O2S2)10(TeO3)(Te2O6)2(OH)18]8− anionic cluster, 2

Current noise of a quantum dot p-i-n junction in a photonic crystal

The shot-noise spectrum of a quantum dot p-i-n junction embedded inside a three-dimensional photonic crystal is investigated. Radiative decay properties of quantum dot excitons can be obtained from the observation of the current noise. The characteristic of the photonic band gap is revealed in the current noise with discontinuous behavior. Applications of such a device in entanglement generation and emission of single photons are pointed out, and may be achieved with current technologies.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. B (2005

The molecular environment of massive star forming cores associated with Class II methanol maser emission

Methanol maser emission has proven to be an excellent signpost of regions undergoing massive star formation (MSF). To investigate their role as an evolutionary tracer, we have recently completed a large observing program with the ATCA to derive the dynamical and physical properties of molecular/ionised gas towards a sample of MSF regions traced by 6.7 GHz methanol maser emission. We find that the molecular gas in many of these regions breaks up into multiple sub-clumps which we separate into groups based on their association with/without methanol maser and cm continuum emission. The temperature and dynamic state of the molecular gas is markedly different between the groups. Based on these differences, we attempt to assess the evolutionary state of the cores in the groups and thus investigate the role of class II methanol masers as a tracer of MSF.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, IAU Symposium 242 Conference Proceeding

A Pilot Survey for the H2_2O Southern Galactic Plane Survey (HOPS)

We describe observations with the Mopra radiotelescope designed to assess the feasibility of the H$_2$O maser southern Galactic plane survey (HOPS). We mapped two one-square-degree regions along the Galactic plane using the new 12 mm receiver and the UNSW Mopra spectrometer (MOPS). We covered the entire spectrum between 19.5 and 27.5 GHz using this setup with the main aims of finding out which spectral lines can be detected with a quick mapping survey. We report on detected emission from H$_2$O masers, NH$_3$ inversion transitions (1,1), (2,2) and (3,3), HC$_3$N (3-2), as well as several radio recombination lines.Comment: accepted by PAS