Recent theoretical models and empirical studies of fruit flies, birds, and fish indicate that assortative mating may initiate speciation when physical barriers to gene flow are absent, and before postzygotic barriers evolve. These are important results for marine animals like coral reef fish, where ocean currents can carry planktonic larvae over broad ranges, interconnecting populations and slo...

1. Although a growing body of evidence supports that olfaction based on chemical compounds emitted by birds may play a role in individual recognition, the possible role of chemical cues in sexual selection of birds has been only preliminarily studied. 2. We investigated for the first time whether a passerine bird, the spotless starling Sturnus unicolor, was able to discriminate the sex of consp...

This paper presents an algorithm for real time and robust human face tracking against pictures and other objects. It is based on Haar-like features, skin segmentation and motion information for face detection. Face tracking is performed using particle filter which depends on skin color and probabilistic face model. Basically, the employed features for face detection are Haar-like. We employ PCA...

The Australian members of Microscydmus are revised, and a new subgenus Scydmomicrus subgen. n. is established to accommodate seven species: M. (Sc.) australiensis Franz (type species of Scydmomicrus), M. (Sc.) nasicornis Franz, M. (Sc.) capitiseboraci sp. n., M. (Sc.) queenslandicus sp. n., M. (Sc.) styxianus sp. n., M. (Sc.) edithensis sp. n., and M. (Sc.) tooloomensis sp. n. A new Microscydmu...

The monoolein-based liquid crystalline cubic phase was used as the matrix to incorporate redox enzymes--glucose (GOx), pyranose (PyOx) oxidases and laccase. Thin layer of the cubic phase embedding GOx or PyOx activated glucose oxidation in the presence and absence of appropriate mediators. The electrodes exhibited unchanged voltammetric response to glucose for not less than six days. The potent...

The larvae and pupae of six species of the Palaearctic genus Sibinia Germar, 1817 are described in detail for the first time. Five of them develop in seeds of Caryophyllaceae and belong to Sibinia (s. str.): S. attalica Gyllenhal, 1835; S. femoralis Germar, 1824; S. tibialis Gyllenhal, 1835; and S. viscariae (Linnaeus, 1760), which are included in the S. femoralis group, and S. sicana Ragusa, 1...

Context Aerial shooting from a helicopter targeting introduced sambar deer (Cervus unicolor) is key activity being undertaken on public land in the North East and Gippsland regions of Victoria. However, there currently little published information efficacy aerial for reducing populations Australia. Aims The aims this study were to analyse operational data collected during an program eastern Vic...

Aim: Vasectomy is performed in deer for population control, maintain pedigreed animals and prevent inbreeding. Conventional procedure of vasectomy required a long-term anesthesia and longer duration of hospitalization, which often result in stress, morbidity and mortality. A study was conducted to capture, neuter and release the deer with minimal hospitalization and stress by adopting three fin...

Laccase, an enzyme responsible for aerobic transformations of natural phenolics, in industrial applications requires the presence of low-molecular substances known as mediators, which accelerate oxidation processes. However, the use of mediators is limited by their toxicity and the high costs of exploitation. The activation of extracellular laccase in growing fungal culture with highly diluted ...