Rank Change and Growth Within Social Hierarchies of the Orange Clownfish, Amphiprion Percula

Social hierarchies within groups define the distribution of resources and provide benefits that support the collective group or favor dominant members. The progression of individuals through social hierarchies is a valuable characteristic for quantifying population dynamics. On coral reefs, a number of small site-attached fish maintain size-based hierarchical communities where individuals queue through social ranks. The cost of waiting in a lower-ranked position is outweighed by the reduced risk of eviction and mortality. Clownfish exist in stable social groups with subordinate individuals queuing to be part of the dominant breeding pair. Site attachment to their host anemone, complex social interactions, and relatively low predation rates make them ideal model organisms to assess changes in group dynamics through time in their natural environment. Here, we investigate the rank changes, and isometric growth rates of individual orange clownfish, Amphiprion percula, from 247 naturally occurring social groups in Kimbe Island, Papua New Guinea (5°12’13.54” S, 150°22’32.69” E). We use DNA profiling to assign and track individuals over an eight-year time period in 2011 and 2019. Over half of the individuals survived alongside two or three members of their original social group, with twelve breeding pairs persisting over the study period. Half of the surviving individuals increased in rank and experienced double the growth rate of those that maintained their rank. Examining rank change over a long-term period in a wild fish population gives new insights and highlights the complexity and importance of rank and social hierarchy in communal site-attached reef fish.Subject Area: behavior, ecology, evolution

Valuable Characteristic of Patlak Parametric Imaging Based on Total-Body Dynamic PET Imaging: Higher Contrast For Tumor Lesions With Respect To Hypermetabolic Tissues

Purpose To demonstrate the characteristics of high-contrast tumor lesions on total-body dynamic positron emission tomography (dPET) parametric images qualitatively and quantitatively. Method We reported the results of Patlak parametric images based on total-body dPET images of four patients with different types of tumor lesions. The contrast-to-noise ratios (CNRs) of the target tumor lesions were calculated with respect to hypermetabolic tissues, including the liver and ventricles, both on static PET and parametric images. Results Visual comparisons between the last frame of total-body dPET images and the generated parametric images illustrated the higher contrast of tumor lesions relative to other tissues in the patients. Visualization of the tumor lesions was reserved, while that of the livers and ventricles was diminished. The parametric images resulted in higher CNR values for the tumor lesions with respect to livers and ventricles compared to those given by dynamic PET images. The results were consistent in all the cases analyzed in this study. Conclusion Patlak parametric imaging provides the valuable characteristic of higher contrast for tumor lesions than hypermetabolic tissues, which helps in the clinical detection and diagnosis of tumor tissues.

Numerical Simulations of Cryogenic Hydrogen Cooling in Vortex Tubes with Smooth Transitions

Improving efficiency of hydrogen cooling in cryogenic conditions is important for the wider applications of hydrogen energy systems. The approach investigated in this study is based on a Ranque-Hilsch vortex tube (RHVT) that generates temperature separation in a working fluid. The simplicity of RHVT is also a valuable characteristic for cryogenic systems. In the present work, novel shapes of RHVT are computationally investigated with the goal to raise efficiency of the cooling process. Specifically, a smooth transition is arranged between a vortex chamber, where compressed gas is injected, and the main tube with two exit ports at the tube ends. Flow simulations have been carried out using STAR-CCM+ software with the real-gas Redlich-Kwong model for hydrogen at temperatures near 70 K. It is determined that a vortex tube with a smooth transition of moderate size manifests about 7% improvement of the cooling efficiency when compared vortex tubes that use traditional vortex chambers with stepped transitions and a no-chamber setup with direct gas injection.

Liliopsida anatomical traits in the Trollius species (Ranunculaceae)

Floral shoot anatomy in Trollius asiaticus and seedling morphology in T. altaicus, T. apertus, T. asiaticus, T. europaeus, T. ledebourii and T sajanensis were studied in early ontogeny stages. In four species, there occurs syncotyly, its distribution among the species of the genus being probably a valuable characteristic to understand the genus phylogeny. In T. asiaticus, vascular bundles are closed, stems are unable to any secondary increase in thicknes; sclerenchyma is not located radially but forms massive strands externally to the vascular bundles.

Adjusting the cation and anion nature in ionic liquids used for the growth control of nanoparticles of organic conductors

Ionic liquids are used for controlling the growth of organic conductors as nanoparticles. We review the conditions of preparation of nanoparticles of conductors derived from tetrathiafulvalene (TTF), tetramethyltetraselenafulvalene (TMTSF) and bis-ethylenedithiotetrathiafulvalene (BEDT-TTF). They are prepared by electrocrystallization using an ionic liquid supporting electrolyte in which the cation plays the role of growth controller and the anion enters the composition of the expected organic conductor. Stable suspensions of nanoparticles are obtained in one case, a valuable characteristic for potential applications in electronic devices.

SELF RECOVERY AUTHENTICATION OF IMAGES IN THE DWT DOMAIN

The interest for multimedia contents authentication has recently increased. In particular watermarking-based authentication schemes seem to be offering some advantages with respect to classical cryptography tools (e.g. real content authentication, localization of manipulations, storage format independence, transparency to common signal processing, etc.). In this paper a simple and secure self recovery authentication algorithm which hides an image digest into some DWT subbands of the to be authenticated image is presented. This technique has been designed for video surveillance and/or remote sensing applications. The main goal of this approach is to detect possible malevolent object manipulations undergone by the image (object replacing and/or deletion) by means of a self recovery processing. This valuable characteristic has to be maintained also when an image is processed through an usual and friendly transformation like JPEG compression. Particular care is given to make the scheme robust against innocuous manipulations, and secure against forgery attempts. Experimental results are presented that demonstrate the good performance of the proposed system.

A four-straight-line model for the proteinase-binding characteristics of human blood serum

Kinetic evaluation of the capacity of human blood serum to form complexes with bovine trypsin generated partition profiles that may be approximated by a series of four intersecting straight lines. Such profiles are suggested to reflect the binding of trypsin to alpha 2-macroglobulin in a kinetically preferred mode (alpha-sites), followed by a subsidiary mode (beta-sites) and finally to alpha 1-antitrypsin. The form of the profile, in addition to revealing a hitherto unreported proteinase-binding capability of alpha 2-macroglobulin (beta-sites), also indicates that saturation of alpha-sites corresponds to a molar binding ratio of alpha 2-macroglobulin/trypsin of 1:2. Finally the profile provides, for certain pathological states, a clinically valuable characteristic.

SPECIES TRIALS WITH OILSEED PLANTS: II. CAMELINA

Camelina, a member of the mustard family, exceeded flax and rape in yield of seed per acre at Ottawa, Ontario, and at Fort Vermilion, Alberta. The oil content of the 10 varieties in the test ranged from 34.3 to 38.7 per cent at Ottawa and from 37.1 to 42.0 per cent at Fort Vermilion. The average fatty acid composition in percentage of methyl esters was: palmitate 5.0; stearate 2.1; behenic 1.7; palmitoleic, trace; oleic 14.8; linoleic 16.4; linolenic 36.1; eicosenoic 17.5; eicosadienoic 2.3; erucic 3.7. The seed contained 33.1 per cent protein, 9.6 per cent crude fiber, only a trace of isothiocyanate, and no thiooxazolidone.Camelina matured 3 to 4 weeks earlier than flax. This is a valuable characteristic for northern areas as it would prevent damage by early fall frost and would permit extending the northern limits of the oilseed-producing area.

The effect of seed size and depth of seeding on the emergence of grassland plants

The seeding of grasslands in Finland fails relatively often owing to the difficult growing conditions for the young seedlings. As a result, the stands are in many cases rather thin and must sometimes be ploughed up without giving any yield at all. One of the factors hampering the initial growth and development of grassland plants is unsuitable sowing. Thus, for instance, a considerable proportion of the seed may be sown at too great a depth, which prevents the seedlings from emerging. On the other hand, the seeds scattered upon the soil surface will also meet difficulties in their germination stage, especially in dry periods. Hence, a valuable characteristic for a grassland plant seedling would be the ability to surmount the various obstacles arising from deficient seeding measures. The object of the present investigation is to study the emergence capacity of some grassland plants, the majority of which are grown extensively in Finland. For this purpose, seeds of the plants to be studied were sown on soil surface as well as at different depths. The influence of seed size in this connexion was examined, too. All the studies concerned were carried out in the greenhouse. The soil used as substrata in these experiments was heavy clay, representing the valuable arable soil type occurring fairly commonly, especially in Southwest Finland.