Raptorial jaws in the throat help moray eels swallow large prey

Most bony fishes rely on suction mechanisms to capture and transport prey. Once captured, prey are carried by water movement inside the oral cavity to a second set of jaws in the throat, the pharyngeal jaws, which manipulate the prey and assist in swallowing. Moray eels display much less effective suction-feeding abilities. Given this reduction in a feeding mechanism that is widespread and highly conserved in aquatic vertebrates, it is not known how moray eels swallow large fish and cephalopods. Here we show that the moray eel (Muraena retifera) overcomes reduced suction capacity by launching raptorial pharyngeal jaws out of its throat and into its oral cavity, where the jaws grasp the struggling prey animal and transport it back to the throat and into the oesophagus. This is the first described case of a vertebrate using a second set of jaws to both restrain and transport prey, and is the only alternative to the hydraulic prey transport reported in teleost fishes. The extreme mobility of the moray pharyngeal jaws is made possible by elongation of the muscles that control the jaws, coupled with reduction of adjacent gill-arch structures. The discovery that pharyngeal jaws can reach up from behind the skull to grasp prey in the oral jaws reveals a major innovation that may have contributed to the success of moray eels as apex predators hunting within the complex matrix of coral reefs. This alternative prey transport mode is mechanically similar to the ratcheting mechanisms used in snakes--a group of terrestrial vertebrates that share striking morphological, behavioural and ecological convergence with moray eels.     

'Rejuvenation' protects neurons in mouse models of Parkinson's disease

Why dopamine-containing neurons of the brain's substantia nigra pars compacta die in Parkinson's disease has been an enduring mystery. Our studies suggest that the unusual reliance of these neurons on L-type Ca(v)1.3 Ca2+ channels to drive their maintained, rhythmic pacemaking renders them vulnerable to stressors thought to contribute to disease progression. The reliance on these channels increases with age, as juvenile dopamine-containing neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta use pacemaking mechanisms common to neurons not affected in Parkinson's disease. These mechanisms remain latent in adulthood, and blocking Ca(v)1.3 Ca2+ channels in adult neurons induces a reversion to the juvenile form of pacemaking. Such blocking ('rejuvenation') protects these neurons in both in vitro and in vivo models of Parkinson's disease, pointing to a new strategy that could slow or stop the progression of the disease.     

供热设计方案综合评价与优选研究

多目标综合效果测度法是一种非常有效的系统优化评价方法。从方案的经济性、技术性及对环境的影响等角度,对5种供热方案进行分析,运用多目标综合效果测度法对备选方案进行评价,确定污水源热泵系统为最佳方案。     

电磁阻尼器性能参数试验研究

电磁阻尼器性能与多种因素有关,在电磁阻尼器基本性能试验研究基础上,制作了一个电磁阻尼器模型,进行了涡流板厚度参数影响的试验研究:做了3种厚度涡流板在不同频率、不同位移情况下的试验,得到了涡流板厚度对阻尼器性能影响的定性结论。     

粘土基防渗浆材的实验研究

针对目前常用浆材的局限性和工程应用的需要,采用正交优化的实验方法研究一种以粘土为主的粘土基防渗浆材,浆材具有良好的稳定性和可灌性,其结石体具有低渗透性和较低强度,适用于非加固型的防渗注浆工程。     

QY25起重机行星变速箱优化设计

根据产品要求,对起重机起升机构中的行星变速箱进行优化设计,主要对变速箱中的齿轮进行高度变位计算,从而达到减轻整机的重量和体积,合理地确定已有参数,以期达到最佳设计的目的。     

一种包边模边界缩进控制方法

 将确定性优化方法用于板料包边设计.汽车板料包边仿真中变形区域小导致有限元模型在变形区域的网格很小,模型计算时间太长.本文针对影响板料包边后边界缩进较大的3个参数,建立目标函数的径向基函数近似模型,并用确定性优化方法对近似模型进行优化,近似模型计算效率高,提高了优化方法计算效率,使板料包边的优化设计成为可能,并为生产中的汽车板料控制包边后的边界缩进提供了一种新的思路.     

某类重特大火灾数值模拟研究

某酒吧火灾、深圳舞王俱乐部火灾和福建长乐拉丁酒吧火灾的发生场所和火灾原因类似,且短时间就造成大量人员伤亡,研究这类火灾防控措施有较好的意义。本文利用FDS软件构造某酒吧的火灾模型,合理分析场所的人员情况设定疏散模拟参数,根据火场情况设定合适的火灾场景,分析热辐射、烟气温度、烟气毒性、烟气能见度等参数的变化过程,并得到可用疏散时间。结合CFE软件进行人员疏散过程模拟,模拟的预期火灾人员伤亡与实际情况较好相符;并对不同的可燃物类型、消防设施状况和待疏散人数进行火灾后果分析,可燃物分析结果说明装修用聚氨酯泡沫吸音棉是造成火灾极速蔓延的直接原因,这类材料产生大量的有毒浓烟,很快就造成人员伤亡;不同消防设施模拟分析的结果体现了自动消防设施的重要作用,公共娱乐场所的自动喷水灭火系统应推广快速响应喷头,未按国家标准安装自动消防设施是造成重大火灾人员伤亡的成灾原因;对酒吧不同待疏散人数的火灾预期伤亡数定量分析证明了公共娱乐场所定员管理的重要意义;模拟分析的结果可用于此类火灾成因分析和火灾防控措施研究。     

飞机电热除冰的研究进展与展望

 飞机在结冰气象条件下容易发生结冰现象,冰的存在会破坏飞机气动特性,影响飞行安全,严重结冰可导致机毁人亡,故必须及时将冰移除。电热除冰是目前最常考虑的除冰方式之一,本文系统介绍了电热除冰装置及其工作原理。首先,主要围绕除冰过程的传热特性、冰层力学特性和冰脊的形成,详细阐述了国内外电热除冰研究的发展。然后,针对国内外研究存在的一些问题,提出了几点对电热除冰研究的粗略想法,电热除冰数值计算方法和模拟技术研究、热力耦合特性对冰层融化和力学特性的影响研究、冰脱落准则和运动规律研究是未来研究需要重视的方向。     

Why endophenotype development requires families

Endophenotypes are heritable quantitative traits that are associated with disease liability, can be measured in both affected and unaffected individuals, and provide much greater power to localize and identify risk genes for mental illness than does affection status alone. Traditionally, endophenotypic markers for psychiatric illnesses include in vivo neuroanatomic and functional magnetic resonance imaging measurements and indices of neurocognitive abilities. However, neurocognitive and neuroimaging measures are by no means the only classes of endophenotypes that could be useful for identifying genes for mental illness. Given the advantages of endophenotype-based strategies for elucidating the genetic underpinnings of psychiatric disorders, it would seem prudent to develop a wide range of putative endophenotypes. In order for a measure to be considered a valid endophenotype, it must meet a number of criteria. Specifically, the trait must (1) have moderate to high heritability, (2) be associated with the illness, (3) be independent of clinical state, and (4) impairment must co-segregate with the illness within a family, with non-affected family members showing impairment relative to the general population. While each of these criteria is critical, the heritability and co-segregation requirements are really what differentiate an endophenotype from a simple biomarker. At this time, one requires an experimental design that includes families to demonstrate both heritability and co-segregation. The assertion that novel endophenotypes can not be fully established without family data does not preclude work in unrelated individuals, rather that unrelated samples will only be able to nominate potential candidate endophenotypes that subsequently need to be confirmed in family-based experiments.