A Test of Temporal Variation in Risk and Food Stimuli on Behavioral Tradeoffs in the Rusty Crayfish, Orconectes rusticus : Risk Allocation and Stimulus Degradation

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72936/1/j.1439-0310.2006.01156.x.pd

Influence of shells on mating behavior in the hermit crab Calcinus tibicen

Populations of the intertidal hermit crab Calcinus tibicen were observed in the laboratory and reproductive behaviors recorded. Of the 218 interactions, 68 resulted in copulation(s). Male and female sizes were positively correlated. Male size affected copulation success in a non-linear fashion. In particular, the largest males did not obtain any copulations. This was largely a consequence of the shell species occupied by large individuals; males in Nerita sp and Cittarium pica shells were unsuccessful in courtship. The ability to execute precopulatory rotation of the female was negatively affected by certain shell types. Repeated pairings of individuals suggested some level of individual recognition within the reproductively active population.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/46890/1/265_2004_Article_BF00293264.pd

Non-visual functions of crustacean eyestalk ganglia

Ablation experiments demonstrated that in several crustacean groups, the proximal eyestalk ganglia are important in a variety of behavior patterns: 1. Chemical elicitation of feeding via the antennules is altered in lobsters, hermit crabs, and some brachyuran crabs by bilateral eyestalk ablation; the ablation of one antennule and the contralateral eyestalk is effective in lobsters and hermit crabs;Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/47106/1/359_2005_Article_BF01245153.pd

Brain structure in sagittal craniosynostosis

Craniosynostosis, the premature fusion of one or more cranial sutures, leads to grossly abnormal head shapes and pressure elevations within the brain caused by these deformities. To date, accepted treatments for craniosynostosis involve improving surgical skull shape aesthetics. However, the relationship between improved head shape and brain structure after surgery has not been yet established. Typically, clinical standard care involves the collection of diagnostic medical computed tomography (CT) imaging to evaluate the fused sutures and plan the surgical treatment. CT is known to provide very good reconstructions of the hard tissues in the skull but it fails to acquire good soft brain tissue contrast. This study intends to use magnetic resonance imaging to evaluate brain structure in a small dataset of sagittal craniosynostosis patients and thus quantify the effects of surgical intervention in overall brain structure. Very importantly, these effects are to be contrasted with normative shape, volume and brain structure databases. The work presented here wants to address gaps in clinical knowledge in craniosynostosis focusing on understanding the changes in brain volume and shape secondary to surgery, and compare those with normally developing children. This initial pilot study has the potential to add significant quality to the surgical care of a vulnerable patient population in whom we currently have limited understanding of brain developmental outcomes

Normative Alethic Pluralism

Some philosophers have argued that truth is a norm of judgement and have provided a variety of formulations of this general thesis. In this paper, I shall side with these philosophers and assume that truth is a norm of judgement. What I am primarily interested in here are two core questions concerning the judgement-truth norm: (i) what are the normative relationships between truth and judgement? And (ii) do these relationships vary or are they constant? I argue for a pluralist picture—what I call Normative Alethic Pluralism (NAP)—according to which (i) there is more than one correct judgement-truth norm and (ii) the normative relationships between truth and judgement vary in relation to the subject matter of the judgement. By means of a comparative analysis of disagreement in three areas of the evaluative domain—refined aesthetics, basic taste and morality—I show that there is an important variability in the normative significance of disagreement—I call this the variability conjecture. By presenting a variation of Lynch’s scope problem for alethic monism, I argue that a monistic approach to the normative function of truth is unable to vindicate the conjecture. I then argue that normative alethic pluralism provides us with a promising model to account for it

Developments in synchrotron x-ray microtomography for application to flow in porous media

Microimaging capabilities at Brookhaven National Laboratory`s National Synchrotron Light Source have been enhanced to provide larger and higher resolution 3-D renderings of pore networks in reservoir rocks at a fraction of the time required in previous first Generation scanning methods. Computer Microtomography, CMT, volumes containing 16 million voxels have been acquired at 3 micron resolution with the aid of expansion optics in a matter of hours. Such data are used to model single and multiphase flow properties in digital images of real porous media. Advances in 3-D visualization, which are being implemented in Brookhaven National Laboratory`s 3-D theater, will allow even greater digestion and interpretation of phenomena dependent upon pore interconnectivity and multipore interactions. Pore networks are analyzed for tortuosity and connectivity measures, which have been elusive parameters in transport property models. We present examples of porosimetry simulation via network modeling to produce initial water saturation and residual oil distributions in a water-wet pore system. Furthermore, pore networks can provide the boundary condition framework for more rigorous simulations of displacement, such as in the lattice Boltzmann simulated water flood example provided

Longitudinal Profiles of Adaptive Behavior in Fragile X Syndrome

To examine longitudinally the adaptive behavior patterns in fragile X syndrome