Digging with ‘hands’: observations of food capture in the flying gurnard Dactylopterus volitans (Linnaeus, 1758)

ABSTRACT

Videofilms of a foraging flying gurnard (Dactylopterus volitans) were collected at Itaipu, Niterói, RJ, Brazil. Analysis revealed details of the use of anterior parts of the pectoral fins which act as digging ‘hands’ to access infaunal prey items that are subsequently captured by oral suction feeding. Each pectoral fin has two distinct sections articulated separately on the pectoral girdle. The digging ‘anterior pectoral fin’ mainly consists of segmented and flexible fin rays but has an anterior robust unsegmented ray that provides an edge to the ‘hand’, allowing penetration of the substratum. The huge ‘posterior pectoral fins’ are supported by unsegmented rays. Most digging episodes involved one ‘hand’ and consisted of 1–7 cycles of movement with frequencies 1.15–3.74 cycles s^?1. During a cycle, the ‘hand’ is moved forwards and medially above the substratum, then is twisted medially and simultaneously depressed so that the anterior unsegmented ray impacts and enters the substratum. The hand is then drawn backwards and laterally to disturb the substratum. To prevent upward pitching of the head during digging, the ‘posterior pectoral fins’ are both moved anteriorly and laterally to shift the centre of gravity forwards while the caudal and ?second dorsal fins continue to provide propulsive force.     

Microstructure,mechanical properties and wear resistance of an Al–Mg–Si alloy produced by equal channel angular pressing

Microstructure, mechanical properties and wear resistance in an ultrafine-grained Al–Mg–Si alloy fabricated utilizing a combination of equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) and dynamic aging were investigated in this paper. The results indicated that the grain size of the ECAP alloy was significantly refined, i.e., to ~239 nm after three ECAP passes. Meanwhile, the yield and tensile strength of the ECAPed material reached 340 MPa and 445 MPa, respectively, while maintaining a significant uniform elongation of 14%. Wear resistance results demonstrated that the wear rate, wear depth and width of the ECAPed material decreased in comparison with the solution-treated (SST) and peak-aged (T6) conditions under a load range of 5–25 N. The adhesive wear that occurs in the undeformed specimens at 10 N does not appear in the ECAPed specimen at the same load, indicating that the ECAPed specimen delay the appearance of more serious wear mechanisms under certain loads. The cooperative interaction of high density nano-scale β" precipitates and dislocations resulted in a combination of super-high strength and good work hardening ability which suppressed the extension of cracks between the friction layer and the plastic deformation zone. As a consequence, the combination of ECAP and dynamic aging brings a significant improvement for antifriction performance of the 6061 aluminum alloy.     

Effect of heat treatment on microstructures and properties of a novel Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy for oil drilling

In view of the special requirements for strength, heat resistance and corrosion resistance of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy for oil drilling, the Al-6.2 Zn-2.5 Mg-1.6 Cu alloy was prepared by increasing Cu content on basis of Russian Series 1953 alloy. The effect of heat treatment on the microstructures and properties of the alloy was characterized by optical microscope(OM), scanning electron microscope(SEM) and transmission electron microscope(TEM), and investigated by tensile test at room temperature, thermal exposure test and corrosion test. The results show that the strength after T6 aging treatment exhibit a decrease trend as an increase of the solution temperature from465 °C to 480 °C. After the solution treated by the rate of 470 °C/1 h, second phases dissolve into the matrix very well and the strength property reaches optimum. The alloy has better comprehensive properties treated by a solution treatment of 470 °C/1 h and then followed by an aging treatment of 120 °C/24 h + 170 °C/1 h + 120 °C/24 h. Under the aging state, the precipitated phases inside the grains are suitable in size, while on the grain boundary distribute discontinuously and the precipitate-free zone is obvious. Besides, the alloy still maintain high tensile properties. The yield strength, tensile strength and elongation are 650 MPa, 686 MPa,12.0%, respectively. The yield strength retention after heat exposure is 92%. The alloy has good corrosion resistance and the exfoliation corrosion degree. The average corrosion rate in the H_2S and CO_2 environment is 0.0024 mm/a, which is far less than the required 0.12 mm/a. It is insensitive to H_2S and CO_2 environments.     

“百病生于气”疾病观的针灸临床应用

 “百病生于气”见于《素问·举痛论》，几千年来始终是中医临床认识疾病、防治疾病的重要理论依据之一。对气的含义及气机失调致病的机制进行了梳理，得出了“百病生于气”的基本含义可以概括为气机失调是疾病发生的基本病机的结论，情志因素、精神心理是导致疾病发生的重要内因。分析认为“百病生于气”的理论对于针灸临床有重要指导意义，针灸诊疗过程中应注重“调气”“调神”，这是针灸取得佳效的根本保障。     

封闭式运动减肥对肥胖青少年体质健康的影响

对44名14～19岁肥胖青少年进行6周的封闭式饮食控制及运动,测定实验对象的身体形态、身体机能、身体素质和血液健康等指标.通过数理统计方法对实验所测得的数据进行分析.结果表明:肥胖青少年的脂肪量、体质量、体脂率都有明显的下降(P0.05);肺活量逐渐上升,身体素质指标(耐力、柔韧、50 m跑)与血液健康指标(血脂TC、甘油三酯TG、空腔胰岛素FINS)都呈非常明显改善(P0.01).封闭式运动减肥对青少年肥胖者体质健康具有良好的效能表现.     

基于交通信号灯信息的混合动力汽车节能预测控制方法

针对传统混合动力汽车控制方法不考虑已知道路交通信号灯信息对车辆能量管理影响的问题,提出了基于交通信号灯信息的混合动力汽车节能预测控制智能优化策略。通过建立混合动力汽车系统的简化模型,并采用连续广义最小残量方法求解模型预测控制问题。运用MATLAB/Simulink进行仿真,仿真结果验证了交通信号灯信息模型的有效性,以及所设计的模型预测控制算法大幅度提高混合动力汽车的燃油经济性的能力和实时控制性能。研究结果表明所提出的控制策略可以实现车辆行驶轨迹的优化控制,显著提高了车辆的燃油经济性,并满足系统的实时最优控制要求。     

智能高速罐身电阻焊机数字化控制系统

提出了以国产MCT80 0 0F8运动控制器为核心的智能高速罐身电阻焊机数字化控制系统 ,并介绍了系统的组成、工作原理、硬件接口、电机控制方法以及伺服电机的运动关系数学模型 .新的系统有利于提高罐身电阻焊机的制罐生产速度 ,并具有功能全面、可靠性高、控制精确、开放性好以及成本较低等优点     

网络:校园思想政治工作的新空间与新挑战

介绍了在计算机、互联网为代表的第三次产业革命冲击下 ,网络带给校园思想政治工作的机遇与挑战 ,提出了在网络环境下从事该项工作的策略及建议     

NIPA类共聚温敏水凝胶中水的状态和耐热性

用N-异丙基丙烯酰胺（NIPA）与丙烯酸钠（SA）及甲基丙烯酸钠（SMA）共聚合成了两个系列的水凝胶，研究了共聚组成与水凝胶基本性质的关系，并用示差扫描量热法（DSC）和热失重法（TG）研究了此类水凝胶中水的状态和耐热性。     

化工测量中的干扰分析及抗干扰方法

分析了化工测量中的干扰问题，并结合多年来的工作实践，提出了一些抗干扰的方法。