Fitness consequences of selfing and outcrossing in the
cestode Schistocephalus solidus

Mixed-mating, that is reproduction by both
self-fertilization and cross-fertilization is common in
hermaphroditic parasites. Its maintenance poses, however, a
problem for evolutionary biology. The tapeworm
Schistocephalus solidus Müller 1776, served as a model to
study experimentally the consequences of selfing and
outcrossing in its 2 consecutive intermediate hosts, a
copepod (Macrocyclops albidus Jurine) and the three-spined
stickleback fish (Gasterosteus aculeatus). Size-matched
tapeworms were allowed to reproduce either alone or in
pairs
in an in vitro system that replaced the definitive bird
host's gut. Selfed eggs from singletons had a 4 times lower
hatching success than outcrossed eggs from pairs.
Outcrossed
offspring achieved both a higher infection success and a
higher weight in the copepod, and a higher number of
parasites per host in both intermediate hosts, but only
under competition. Outcrossed offspring were generally more
successful. If a S. solidus plerocercoid has a partner in
the bird's gut, they should outcross unless they differ in
size and thus cannot solve the Hermaphrodite's Dilemma
cooperatively. Using microsatellite markers, the proportion
of selfed offspring and the total reproductive output of
each worm within pairs varying in mean weight and in weight
difference was measured. Worms produced more selfed
offspring not only with increasing weight difference as
expected but also with decreasing total weight of the pair.
If small worms were selfed, they have already purged
deleterious mutations and would thus be better selfers in a
year with low parasite density when worms cannot find
partners. To maintain this advantage they should self a
higher proportion of their eggs even with a partner. Here I
review recent exprimental evidence.(...)
http://icb.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/46/4/373

It’s a Kind of Magic

The stall, tucked away in the labyrinth of Souk Hamidiyeh,
is crammed with fur pelts from floor to ceiling. Behind the
counter an old man naps on a chair, curled up in a seated
fetal position. An unlit cigarette hangs from his mouth and
a television crackles at low volume, less than a foot from
his face. Here is our magic man.
My translator and I have been searching for the local
version of a witch doctor – a quasi-psychic,
self-professed religious figure who some people believe can
heal illnesses, solve financial woes and even put curses on
enemies and lovers alike. Such figures have a controversial
status in Syria. They refer to themselves as
‘sheikh’. Many call them moushaweth, a term
which basically translates to ignorant person.
I wake the old man and explain my family has a dire –
and entirely falsified – health situation that
requires his healing power. He takes my pulse, asks who I
am
and slowly agrees to perform an intervention.
“Return on Sunday at four,” he tells us.
“Bring a photo of your mother.”(....)
http://www.syria-today.com/
index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1731:
its-a-kind-of-magic-&catid=35:culture&Itemid=10

'Whale Wars' is back and so is controversial Capt. Paul
Watson
Capt. Paul Watson, whose Sea Shepherd Society has drawn
praise and harsh criticism for its sometimes
confrontational
encounters with Japanese whalers, says of the second season
of the Animal Planet series, ”Whale Wars,” which
debuts
tonight at 9 p.m.: ”It ought to be 10 times more
dramatic
and exciting than last year.”
That's because last year's shows, which were based on the
2007-08 exploits of Watson and crew, contained very little
drama and excitement. This year it'll be different because
Watson's 2008-09 campaign against whalers in the Antarctic
included numerous confrontations -- including three
collisions and a very dramatic pursuit through ice -- with
Japanese crews that regard Sea Shepherd as a terrorist
group.
”They were very aggressive toward us -- the most
aggressive
I've ever seen them -- so it's a far more dramatic season
for that reason,” Watson said in an interview this
week.
Sea Shepherd's tactics are to disrupt the months-long hunt
and any efforts by whalers to transfer harpooned whales
onto
the processing ship.(...)
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/outposts/2009/06/
whale-wars-is-back-and-so-is-controversial-capt-paul-wat son-

.html

Haye's title shot KO'd by injury blow

David Haye last night dramatically pulled out of his
heavyweight grudge match against Wladimir Klitschko with a
mystery injury.
And as news of the Hayemaker's withdrawal reached
Klitschko's alpine training camp here, the giant Ukrainian
scowled: ”He was the one challenging me - and now he
is
backing out.”
Haye had already tested Klitschko's patience with a
tasteless T-shirt bearing images of him and his brother
Vitali with decapitated heads.
But the dark expression on the three-belt world champion's
face, when the medical bulletin filtered through from
Londoner Haye's camp in Cyprus, was worth a thousand jabs.
And he scowled: ”I will not kick a man when he is on
the
floor or throw garbage in his face because we will have to
wait and see if we can find another date for me to punish
him.
”I only took this fight in the first place because I
thought
they could deliver it to Stamford Bridge, but it fell
through and now this(...)
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/more-sport/2009/06/04/
haye-s-title-shot-ko-d-by-injury-blow-115875-21413609/.

Pakistan vows to curb Jundullah terror group

Pakistan vows to wipe out a shadowy rebel group which has
used the country's territories as a pad to launch attacks
inside the Iranian border areas.
Pakistan's Dawn News revealed on Tuesday that Islamabad's
interior ministry presented all its information on
Jundullah
to the country's intelligence services in order to root out
the terror networks and its members from Pakistani soil.
The developments come as a bomb blast rocked a mosque in
the
Iranian city of Zahedan on Thursday night as mourners
participated in a ceremony marking the death of the
daughter
of the prophet of Islam.
The Jundullah terror group claimed responsibility for the
terrorist attack that lead to martyrdom of 25 faithful
believers and injured 125 others. A second explosive was
also defused at the mosque within minutes of the
explosion.(...)
http://www.presstv.ir/
detail.aspx?id=96799§ionid=351020101