Cuticle and muscle variation underlying phenotypic plasticity in barnacle feeding leg and penis form

Many aspects of barnacle body form are known to be developmentally plastic. Perhaps the most striking examples of such plasticity occur in their feeding legs and unusually long penises, the sizes and shapes of which can change dramatically and adaptively with changes in conspecific density and local water flow conditions. However, whether variation in overall appendage form is mirrored by structural responses in cuticle and muscle is not known. In order to determine how structural variation underlies phenotypic plasticity in barnacle appendages, we examined barnacles occurring at low and high population densities from one wave-protected and one wave-exposed site. We used histological sectioning and fluorescence microscopy of feeding legs and penises to compare cuticle thickness, muscle thickness, and muscle organization, and artificial penis inflation to compare penis extensibility. We observed striking differences in cuticle thickness, muscle thickness, and muscle organization between sites that differed in water velocity, but we found no clear differences associated with variation in conspecific density. Penis extensibility also did not differ consistently between sites. These results are consistent with an adaptive explanation for much of the remarkable and complex variation in barnacle feeding leg and penis morphology among sites that differ in water velocity

A Nonstationary Model of Newborn EEG

The detection of seizure in the newborn is a critical aspect of neurological research. Current automatic detection techniques are difficult to assess due to the problems associated with acquiring and labelling newborn electroencephalogram (EEG) data. A realistic model for newborn EEG would allow confident development, assessment and comparison of these detection techniques. This paper presents a model for newborn EEG that accounts for its self-similar and non-stationary nature. The model consists of background and seizure sub-models. The newborn EEG background model is based on the short-time power spectrum with a time-varying power law. The relationship between the fractal dimension and the power law of a power spectrum is utilized for accurate estimation of the short-time power law exponent. The newborn EEG seizure model is based on a well-known time-frequency signal model. This model addresses all significant time-frequency characteristics of newborn EEG seizure which include; multiple components or harmonics, piecewise linear instantaneous frequency laws and harmonic amplitude modulation. Estimates of the parameters of both models are shown to be random and are modelled using the data from a total of 500 background epochs and 204 seizure epochs. The newborn EEG background and seizure models are validated against real newborn EEG data using the correlation coefficient. The results show that the output of the proposed models has a higher correlation with real newborn EEG than currently accepted models (a 10% and 38% improvement for background and seizure models, respectively)

Rocking and kinematic approaches for rigid block analysis of masonry walls: state of the art and recent developments

The assessment of the rocking and overturning response of rigid blocks to earthquakes is a complex task, due to its high sensitivity to the input motion, variations in geometry and dissipation issues. This paper presents a literature review dealing with classical and advanced approaches on rocking motion with particular reference to masonry walls characterized by a monolithic behavior. Firstly, the pioneering work of Housner based on the concept of the inverted pendulum is discussed in terms of the most significant parameters, i.e., the size and slenderness of the blocks, the coefficient of restitution and ground motion properties. Free and restrained rocking blocks are considered. Then, static force-based approaches and performance-based techniques, mostly based on limit analysis theory, are presented to highlight the importance of investigating the evolution of the rocking mechanisms by means of pushover curves characterized by negative stiffness. From a dynamic perspective, a review of probabilistic approaches is also presented, evaluating the cumulative probability of exceedance of any response level by considering different earthquake time histories. Some recent simplified approaches based on the critical rocking response and the worst-case scenario are illustrated, as well.The authors acknowledge the sponsorship of the Italian Civil Protection, through the RELUIS Project-Line: Masonry Structures (2017).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

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Does functionalisation enhance CO2 uptake in interpenetrated MOFs? An examination of the IRMOF-9 series

The effect of pore functionalisation (-I, -OH, -OCH3) on a series of topologically equivalent, interpenetrated metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) was assessed by both simulation and experiment. Counter-intuitively, a decreased affinity for CO2 was observed in the functionalised materials, compared to the non-functionalised material. This result highlights the importance of considering the combined effects of network topology and chemical functionality in the design of MOFs for enhanced CO2 adsorptionRavichandar Babarao, Campbell J. Coghlan, Damien Rankine, Witold M. Bloch, Gemma K. Gransbury, Hiroshi Sato, Susumu Kitagawa, Christopher J. Sumby, Matthew R. Hill and Christian J. Doona

On the particle paths and the stagnation points in small-amplitude deep-water waves

In order to obtain quite precise information about the shape of the particle paths below small-amplitude gravity waves travelling on irrotational deep water, analytic solutions of the nonlinear differential equation system describing the particle motion are provided. All these solutions are not closed curves. Some particle trajectories are peakon-like, others can be expressed with the aid of the Jacobi elliptic functions or with the aid of the hyperelliptic functions. Remarks on the stagnation points of the small-amplitude irrotational deep-water waves are also made.Comment: to appear in J. Math. Fluid Mech. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1106.382

Online Graphics Can Change Conversations About Racism in Aotearoa

Racism is endemic in many online spaces, promoted by the structures of social networking sites (SNS), and few initiatives have attempted to counter everyday racism online. This article describes how tauiwi groups collaboratively developed anti-racist graphics, which unpredictably became memes that stimulated online and offline conversations about anti-racism and decolonisation. I outline the difficulties in developing such graphics, suggest where to post them, and argue that the strategies used to develop anti-racist graphics could be useful in combatting other social inequities. The article draws on a larger PhD study in which I interviewed online news editors, analysed racism on SNS, developed and posted anti-racist graphics on two Facebook genres, and analysed the results. It envisions a future where online users commonly see witty images that challenge structural inequities

Black Apollo? Martin Bernal\u27s \u3cem\u3eBlack Athena: The Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization\u3c/em\u3e, volume iii, and Why Race Still Matters

This chapter provides a discussion of Martin Bernal\u27s third volume of Black Athena, published in 2006, with a view toward Bernal\u27s continued relevance in a changing social, political, and intellectual landscape. Previous criticisms of Bernal\u27s work to the contrary notwithstanding, I argue that Bernal examples the scholarly methods for historical inquiries about the past, particularly as they concern cultural heritage and cultural appropriation. The case of an African Apollo might resonate to those interested in African heritage, and even in a postcolonial context where hybridity trumps “origins,” the study of Apollo\u27s African analogs leads us down many productive paths. The chapter examines Bernal\u27s arguments for an African origin of Apollo, like a Black Athena, and the attendant sociocultural and scholarly problems associated with such a claim

Orpheus and the Racialized Body in Brazilian Film and Literature of the Twentieth Century

This paper argues for the significance of Orpheus as a racialized body in Brazil. A consistent feature of Orpheus in Brazil throughout the twentieth century is his blackness. This is the case in each of the three variations of the Orpheus myth in twentieth - century Brazilian drama and literature: Vinicius de Moraes\u27 play, Orfeu da Conceição (Orpheus of Conception), Marcel Camus\u27 Black Orpheus, and Carlos Diegues\u27s Orfeu. Thus Brazilian Orpheus fit into a context not only of twentieth - century classical reception in Brazil and throughout the modern world, but also in discussions of Afrodescendent communities in Brazil and the Americas

Dignity in Homer and Classical Greece

Woven into the distress of Homeric epic, which often laments the terrors of war, the violence of passion, and the desperation of life, are records of ancient customs that hint at a deep respect for culture and human worth. To take but one example, recall Hector\u27s refusal to take wine from his mother when he is bloody from battle. This moment is apt to strike modern readers as trivial. In fact, it reifies important ancient distinctions between war and peace, home and battlefield, and the equally ancient sentiment that to everything, there is a season