Trickily Designed Copolyesters Degraded in Both Land and Sea - Confirmed by the Successful Capture of Degradation End Product CO2

When predator and prey animals face each other, preemptive actions by both sides are considered to mediate successful capture or escape. However, in spite of the general presumption, some animals, such as predatory snakes and their frog prey, occasionally remain motionless or move slowly for a while before striking or escaping, respectively. To clarify the possible advantages of this behaviour, we examined interactions between Japanese Four-lined Ratsnakes (Elaphe quadrivirgata (H. Boie, 1826)) and Black-spotted Pond Frogs (Pelophylax nigromaculatus (Hallowell, 1861)), focusing especially on kinematic features of strike behaviour of snakes and flight behaviour of frogs in close quarters. Staged encounter experiments and field observations revealed that counteractions against an opponent’s preemptive actions are effective for both snakes and frogs until a certain distance because they are hardly able to change their trajectories once they initiate strike or escape behaviours. Snakes and frogs also appropriately switched their behaviour from waiting for the opponent’s action to taking preemptive action at this threshold distance. These results suggested the occurrence of a game of patience between snakes and frogs in which they wait for the opponent’s action to achieve effective countermeasures. Our study provides new insights for predicting optimal decision-making by predators and prey and will contribute to a better understanding of their strategies.

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Comparative Prey Spectra Analyses on the Endangered Aquatic Carnivorous Waterwheel Plant (Aldrovanda vesiculosa, Droseraceae) at Several Naturalized Microsites in the Czech Republic and Germany

Integrative Organismal Biology ◽

10.1093/iob/oby012 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

M Horstmann ◽

L Heier ◽

S Kruppert ◽

L C Weiss ◽

R Tollrian ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Prey Species ◽

Prey Capture ◽

Trapping Efficiency ◽

The Czech Republic ◽

Prey Specificity ◽

Different Populations ◽

Trap Size ◽

Taxonomic Groups ◽

Prey Mobility ◽

Successful Capture

Synopsis The critically endangered carnivorous waterwheel plant (Aldrovanda vesiculosa, Droseraceae) possesses underwater snap traps for capturing small aquatic animals, but knowledge on the exact prey species is limited. Such information would be essential for continuing ecological research, drawing conclusions regarding trapping efficiency and trap evolution, and eventually, for conservation. Therefore, we performed comparative trap size measurements and snapshot prey analyses at seven Czech and one German naturalized microsites on plants originating from at least two different populations. One Czech site was sampled twice during 2017. We recorded seven main prey taxonomic groups, that is, Cladocera, Copepoda, Ostracoda, Ephemeroptera, Nematocera, Hydrachnidia, and Pulmonata. In total, we recorded 43 different prey taxa in 445 prey-filled traps, containing in sum 461 prey items. With one exception, prey spectra did not correlate with site conditions (e.g. water depth) or trap size. Our data indicate that A. vesiculosa shows no prey specificity but catches opportunistically, independent of prey species, prey mobility mode (swimming or substrate-bound), and speed of movement. Even in cases where the prey size exceeded trap size, successful capture was accomplished by clamping the animal between the traps’ lobes. As we found a wide prey range that was attracted, it appears unlikely that the capture is enhanced by specialized chemical- or mimicry-based attraction mechanisms. However, for animals seeking shelter, a place to rest, or a substrate to graze on, A. vesiculosa may indirectly attract prey organisms in the vicinity, whereas other prey capture events (like that of comparably large notonectids) may also be purely coincidental.

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Functional–morphological analyses of the delicate snap-traps of the aquatic carnivorous waterwheel plant (Aldrovanda vesiculosa) with 2D and 3D imaging techniques

Annals of Botany ◽

10.1093/aob/mcaa135 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 126 (6) ◽

pp. 1099-1107 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Anna S Westermeier ◽

Natalie Hiss ◽

Thomas Speck ◽

Simon Poppinga

Keyword(s):

3D Imaging ◽

Imaging Techniques ◽

Agent Based ◽

Dionaea Muscipula ◽

Adaptive Architecture ◽

Plant Movement ◽

2D And 3D ◽

First Time ◽

Structural Insights ◽

Successful Capture

Abstract Background and Aims The endangered aquatic carnivorous waterwheel plant (Aldrovanda vesiculosa) catches prey with 3–5-mm-long underwater snap-traps. Trapping lasts 10–20 ms, which is 10-fold faster than in its famous sister, the terrestrial Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula). After successful capture, the trap narrows further and forms a ‘stomach’ for the digestion of prey, the so-called ‘sickle-shaped cavity’. To date, knowledge is very scarce regarding the deformation process during narrowing and consequent functional morphology of the trap. Methods We performed comparative analyses of virtual 3D histology using computed tomography (CT) and conventional 2D histology. For 3D histology we established a contrasting agent-based preparation protocol tailored for delicate underwater plant tissues. Key Results Our analyses reveal new structural insights into the adaptive architecture of the complex A. vesiculosa snap-trap. In particular, we discuss in detail the arrangement of sensitive trigger hairs inside the trap and present actual 3D representations of traps with prey. In addition, we provide trap volume calculations at different narrowing stages. Furthermore, the motile zone close to the trap midrib, which is thought to promote not only the fast trap closure by hydraulics but also the subsequent trap narrowing and trap reopening, is described and discussed for the first time in its entirety. Conclusions Our research contributes to the understanding of a complex, fast and reversible underwater plant movement and supplements preparation protocols for CT analyses of other non-lignified and sensitive plant structures.

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Successful Capture of LVAD-Emboli Using Carotid Filters Following Intra-Cavitary Thrombolysis for Pump Thrombosis

The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation ◽

10.1016/j.healun.2016.01.334 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 35 (4) ◽

pp. S122

Author(s):

S.S. Thomas ◽

R. Gallagher ◽

J. Steiner ◽

T.H. Song ◽

I. Palacios ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Pump Thrombosis ◽

Successful Capture

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Haida’s Song

Orca ◽

10.1093/oso/9780190673093.003.0022 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Jason M. Colby

Keyword(s):

Killer Whales ◽

Halfway House ◽

Canadian Government ◽

The Public ◽

Live Fish ◽

The Pacific ◽

The Family ◽

Acoustic Contact ◽

Born Again ◽

Successful Capture

Haida Didn’t Know it, but Bob Wright was thinking of setting him free. A longtime attraction at Wright’s Sealand of the Pacific, the male orca had reached twenty-three feet, and despite being paired with several females, he had failed to impregnate any of them. In June 1982, the oceanarium’s director, Angus Matthews, proposed an exchange to the Canadian government. In return for a permit to capture two young killer whales in local waters, Sealand would release Haida to the wild. It was a bold plan, made possible by recent scientific breakthroughs. Using Haida’s own calls, researchers had deduced that he was a member of L pod, one of the three southern resident pods identified and named by Mike Bigg. But the orca’s training for release would begin only after Sealand acquired new whales. Following a successful capture, Matthews explained, the oceanarium would move Haida to a pen in Pedder Bay, where the long-captive orca could learn to catch live fish and make acoustic contact with his family. But Matthews cautioned that success would ultimately depend on the whale himself. “Haida will be given his own choice,” he emphasized, “of joining his old pod and becoming a born-again whale, or returning to his friends at Sealand.” In late August, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO, formerly the Department of the Environment) approved the project and assigned Bigg to supervise it. The respected scientist cautioned the public that there was no guarantee Haida would survive, but he argued that the release “needs to be tried.” Critics disagreed. Some accused Sealand of plotting to abandon Haida now that he had served his purpose. Likening the plan to “throwing out the family pet when it is no longer young and amusing,” one local woman warned that Haida’s “trust in humans will probably result in a bullet from a gun-happy fisherman.” The fiercest opposition came from Greenpeace, which denounced the entire proposal. Declaring rehabilitation “unlikely,” Greenpeace Canada president Patrick Moore argued that to move the imprisoned whale to a “halfway house” in Pedder Bay would be “to condemn him to death—alone.”

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Camera traps provide insight into factors influencing trap success of the swamp wallaby, Wallabia bicolor

Australian Mammalogy ◽

10.1071/am13006 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 36 (1) ◽

pp. 15 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ami Bennett ◽

Graeme Coulson

Keyword(s):

Camera Traps ◽

The Moon ◽

Target Species ◽

Moon Phases ◽

Trap Door ◽

New Moon ◽

Wallabia Bicolor ◽

Successful Capture ◽

Insight Into ◽

Swamp Wallaby

Trapping programs for mammals often have low capture success, which is known to be influenced by a range of environmental factors, in addition to aspects of the traps themselves. However, the behavioural responses to traps by the target species are largely unknown. We simultaneously set camera traps and soft-walled double-layered traps for swamp wallabies, Wallabia bicolor, and used images from the camera traps to investigate responses by the target species. Wallabies mostly visited traps after sunset, with the number of visits declining steadily through the night. Visits to traps were more frequent during crescent and new moon phases and when the moon was set. In the majority (59%) of these visits, wallabies did not enter the traps. In some cases wallabies consumed only the bait outside the trap, or the trap door had been closed, usually by other swamp wallabies or bobucks, Trichosurus cunninghami, but in many cases (28% of visits) we could not discern why wallabies failed to enter. When wallabies did enter traps, just 14% of visits resulted in successful capture, with non-captures mainly occurring because wallabies reached in to obtain bait without triggering the trap.

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Influence of the membrane properties on the catalytic production of dimethyl ether with in situ water removal for the successful capture of co2

Chemical Engineering Journal ◽

10.1016/j.cej.2013.08.062 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 234 ◽

pp. 140-148 ◽

Cited By ~ 40

Author(s):

Nazely Diban ◽

Ane M. Urtiaga ◽

Inmaculada Ortiz ◽

Javier Ereña ◽

Javier Bilbao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dimethyl Ether ◽

Membrane Properties ◽

Water Removal ◽

Successful Capture

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Effect of elevated CO 2 and small boat noise on the kinematics of predator–prey interactions

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2017.2650 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 285 (1875) ◽

pp. 20172650 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Mark I. McCormick ◽

Sue-Ann Watson ◽

Stephen D. Simpson ◽

Bridie J. M. Allan

Keyword(s):

Community Dynamics ◽

Reef Fishes ◽

Combined Effects ◽

Predator Prey ◽

Predator Attack ◽

Perception Of Threat ◽

Short Term Exposure ◽

Multiplicative Effect ◽

Key Drivers ◽

Successful Capture

Oceans of the future are predicted to be more acidic and noisier, particularly along the productive coastal fringe. This study examined the independent and combined effects of short-term exposure to elevated CO 2 and boat noise on the predator–prey interactions of a pair of common coral reef fishes ( Pomacentrus wardi and its predator, Pseudochromis fuscus ). Successful capture of prey by predators was the same regardless of whether the pairs had been exposed to ambient control conditions, the addition of either playback of boat noise, elevated CO 2 (925 µatm) or both stressors simultaneously. The kinematics of the interaction were the same for all stressor combinations and differed from the controls. The effects of CO 2 or boat noise were the same, suggesting that their effects were substitutive in this situation. Prey reduced their perception of threat under both stressors individually and when combined, and this coincided with reduced predator attack distances and attack speeds. The lack of an additive or multiplicative effect when both stressors co-occurred was notable given the different mechanisms involved in sensory disruptions and highlights the importance of determining the combined effects of key drivers to aid in predicting community dynamics under future environmental scenarios.

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Tangential flow microfluidics for the capture and release of nanoparticles and extracellular vesicles on conventional and ultrathin membranes

10.1101/675488 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Mehdi Dehghani ◽

Kilean Lucas ◽

Jonathan Flax ◽

James McGrath ◽

Thomas Gaborski

Keyword(s):

Extracellular Vesicles ◽

Biological Fluids ◽

Biological Species ◽

Membrane Pores ◽

Tangential Flow ◽

Capture And Release ◽

Flow Filtration ◽

Successful Capture ◽

Track Etch ◽

Ultrathin Membranes

AbstractMembranes have been used extensively for the purification and separation of biological species. A persistent challenge is the purification of species from concentrated feed solutions such as extracellular vesicles (EVs) from biological fluids. We investigated a new method to isolate micro- and nano-scale species termed tangential flow for analyte capture (TFAC), which is an extension of traditional tangential flow filtration (TFF). Initially, EV purification from plasma on ultrathin nanomembranes was compared between both normal flow filtration (NFF) and TFF. NFF resulted in rapid formation of a protein cake which completely obscured any captured EVs and also prevented further transport across the membrane. On the other hand, TFF showed capture of CD63 positive EVs with minimal contamination. We explored the use of TFF to capture target species over membrane pores, wash and then release in a physical process that does not rely upon affinity or chemical interactions. This process of TFAC was studied with model particles on both ultrathin nanomembranes and conventional thickness membranes (polycarbonate track-etch). Successful capture and release of model particles was observed using both membranes. Ultrathin nanomembranes showed higher efficiency of capture and release with significantly lower pressures indicating that ultrathin nanomembranes are well-suited for TFAC of delicate nanoscale particles such as EVs.

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