Biomechanical properties of insects in relation to insectivory: cuticle thickness as an indicator of insect 'hardness' and 'intractability'

2005 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alistair R. Evans ◽  
Gordon D. Sanson
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Measurement ◽  
Structural Strength ◽  
Biomechanical Properties ◽  
Dietary Group ◽  
Good Measure ◽  
Major Advance ◽  
Skull Morphology ◽  
Cuticle Thickness ◽  
Masticatory Apparatus

The concept of ‘hardness’ has long been used to describe the biomechanical properties of the diet of many animals. However, due to the lack of a consistent definition, and the multitude of uses to which the term has been put, the use of the term ‘intractability’ has been advocated here to represent the extent to which the structural strength, stiffness and toughness are increased in a foodstuff. The thickness of the cuticle of an insect was a good measure of the intractability of cuticle. The tremendous advantage of the use of cuticle thickness as a measure of the biomechanical properties of invertebrates means that the dietary properties of a living insectivore can be directly quantified according to the thickness of the cuticle in its faeces. The quantitative measurement of intractability obtained through this technique can be used in correlations with adaptations of the masticatory apparatus, including tooth and skull morphology, as well as more general considerations of ecology. This is a major advance on previous measures of the biomechanical properties of insectivore diets, and may represent the best technique of any dietary group in assessing the properties of its diet.

Biomechanics of the jaw apparatus of the gigantic Eocene bird Diatryma: implications for diet and mode of life

Paleobiology ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 95-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence M. Witmer ◽  
Kenneth D. Rose
Keyword(s):  
Biomechanical Properties ◽  
Feeding Apparatus ◽  
Behavioral Repertoire ◽  
Safety Factors ◽  
Skull Morphology ◽  
Biomechanical Models ◽  
Jaw Apparatus ◽  
Mode Of Life ◽  
Willwood Formation

Discovery of several new specimens of the gigantic Eocene ground bird Diatryma gigantea from the Willwood Formation of northwestern Wyoming, has prompted an analysis of its feeding apparatus and an assessment of the mode of life of this unusual bird. Diatryma exhibits many of the features predicted by biomechanical models to occur in animals delivering large dorsoventral bite forces. Similarly, the mandible of Diatryma, which was modeled as a curved beam, appears well equipped to withstand such forces, especially if they were applied asymmetrically. Interpretation of these size-independent biomechanical properties in light of the large absolute skull size of Diatryma suggests a formidable feeding apparatus. The absence of modern analogues complicates the determination of just how this unique skull morphology correlates with diet. Suggestions that Diatryma was an herbivore seem improbable in that they require the postulation of excessively high safety factors in the construction of the skull. The traditional hypothesis of Diatryma as a carnivorous bird accords as well or better with the data at hand. Carnivory raises the probability of “accidental” encounter with bones, thus explaining the high safety factors. In fact, the skull and mandible of Diatryma are so massive that bone crushing may have been an important behavior. Diatryma could have been a scavenger. However, limb allometry and phylogenetic interpretation of limb proportions call into question the picture of Diatryma as a slow, plodding graviportal animal, suggesting that active predation was within its behavioral repertoire.

Calibration of Pd-porphyrin phosphorescence for oxygen concentration measurements in vivo

1996 ◽  
Vol 81 (5) ◽  
pp. 2297-2303 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Sinaasappel ◽  
C. Ince
Keyword(s):  
Oxygen Concentration ◽  
Decay Time ◽  
Quantitative Measurement ◽  
Oxygen Sensor ◽  
Preparation Method ◽  
Major Advance ◽  
Ph Dependency ◽  
Effects Of Ph ◽  
Concentration Measurements

Sinaasappel, M., and C. Ince. Calibration of Pd-porphyrin phosphorescence for oxygen concentration measurements in vivo. J. Appl. Physiol. 81(5): 2297–2303, 1996.—Quantitative measurement of oxygen concentrations in the microvasculature is of prime importance in issues related to oxygen transport to tissue. The introduction of the quenching of the Pd-porphyrin phosphorescence as oxygen sensor in vivo by Wilson et al. ( J. Appl. Physiol.74: 580–589, 1993) has provided in this context a major advance in this area of research. For in vivo application, the dye is coupled to albumin to restrict the dye to the circulation and to measure oxygen in the physiological range. In this study a phosphorimeter with a gated photomultiplier is presented and validated. Furthermore, a nonlinear-fit method using the Marquardt-Levenberg algorithm is used to calculate the decay time. With this new phosphorimeter, calibration measurements were performed to investigate the effects of pH, temperature, and diffusivity. The results present a preparation method for albumin coupling of the dye that eliminates the pH dependency of the quenching kinetics. Furthermore, the decreased oxygen diffusivity of serum was compared with that of water, and it was shown that calibration constants measured in water can be extrapolated to serum.

Some Problems in Understanding the Solar Corona

1994 ◽  
Vol 144 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
A. H. Gabriel
Keyword(s):  
Solar Corona ◽  
Solar Atmosphere ◽  
Theoretical Modelling ◽  
Total System ◽  
Major Advance ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Proper Perspective ◽  
Space Observations

The development of the physics of the solar atmosphere during the last 50 years has been greatly influenced by the increasing capability of observations made from space. Access to images and spectra of the hotter plasma in the UV, XUV and X-ray regions provided a major advance over the few coronal forbidden lines seen in the visible and enabled the cooler chromospheric and photospheric plasma to be seen in its proper perspective, as part of a total system. In this way space observations have stimulated new and important advances, not only in space but also in ground-based observations and theoretical modelling, so that today we find a well-balanced harmony between the three techniques.

A quantitative image analysis method for the determination of cocontinuity in polymer blends

1993 ◽  
Vol 51 ◽  
pp. 894-895
Author(s):  
William A. Heeschen
Keyword(s):  
Image Analysis ◽  
Polymer Blends ◽  
Quantitative Measurement ◽  
Morphological Evolution ◽  
Phase Ratio ◽  
Irregular Shapes ◽  
Quantitative Image ◽  
Discrete Domains ◽  
A Domains

Two new morphological measurements based on digital image analysis, CoContinuity and CoContinuity Balance, have been developed and implemented for quantitative measurement of morphology in polymer blends. The morphology of polymer blends varies with phase ratio, composition and processing. A typical morphological evolution for increasing phase ratio of polymer A to polymer B starts with discrete domains of A in a matrix of B (A/B < 1), moves through a cocontinuous distribution of A and B (A/B ≈ 1) and finishes with discrete domains of B in a matrix of A (A/B > 1). For low phase ratios, A is often seen as solid convex particles embedded in the continuous B phase. As the ratio increases, A domains begin to evolve into irregular shapes, though still recognizable as separate domains. Further increase in the phase ratio leads to A domains which extend into and surround the B phase while the B phase simultaneously extends into and surrounds the A phase.

Abstract #52: Quantitative Measurement of Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy

2004 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 19
Author(s):  
David Oyer ◽  
David Saxon
Keyword(s):  
Peripheral Neuropathy ◽  
Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy ◽  
Quantitative Measurement

Quantitative measurement of cerebral metabolic rate of glucose by means of dual-head coincidence gamma camera and 2-deoxy-2- [18F] fluoro-D-glucose

2005 ◽  
Vol 25 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. S670-S670
Author(s):  
Katsufumi Kajimoto ◽  
Naohiko Oku ◽  
Yasuyuki Kimura ◽  
Makiko Tanaka ◽  
Hiroki Kato ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Metabolic Rate ◽  
Gamma Camera ◽  
Quantitative Measurement ◽  
Cerebral Metabolic Rate

Quantitative measurement of urinary glycosaminoglycans using a modified DMB method facilitates the diagnosis and monitoring of mucopolysaccharidoses

2016 ◽  
Vol 02 (03) ◽  
pp. 163-167
Author(s):  
Rosi Shwartz ◽  
Ruth Sheffer ◽  
Geto Mangisto ◽  
Ann Saada
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Measurement ◽  
Urinary Glycosaminoglycans
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