Food Sources for Benthic Grazers in Trophic Networks of Macrophyte Habitats in a Transitional Baltic Ecosystem

In this study, we provide insights into that characteristics of two sites representing different conditions of productivity and salinity impact on trophic network structures of macrophyte habitats and diet of benthic grazers at the active vegetation period in the Curonian Lagoon (southeastern Baltic Sea). Regarding the epiphytic growth, macrophytes were more overgrown in the relatively less productive (northern) site with a muddy bottom and more frequent marine water inflow than in the (southern) site with higher productivity and freshwater sandy habitat. Stable isotope analysis revealed that organisms' samples from the northern site were more enriched with the heavier carbon isotopes, but depleted in the heavier nitrogen isotopes than those from the southern site. Gastropods and amphipods mainly consumed sedimentary organic matter in the southern site, while they grazed epiphytes together with sedimentary organic matter in the northern site. Although to a low extent, gastropods consumed more charophytes than pondweeds in the southern site. This study contributes to a better understanding of the functioning and structure of lagoonal systems, highlighting the importance, often overlooked, of the benthic compartment, which, however, may have a relevant influence on the productivity of the whole system

Carbon nanotubes and nanosensors: vibration, buckling and ballistic impact

The main properties that make carbon nanotubes (CNTs) a promising technology for many future applications are: extremely high strength, low mass density, linear elastic behavior, almost perfect geometrical structure, and nanometer scale structure. Also, CNTs can conduct electricity better than copper and transmit heat better than diamonds. Therefore, they are bound to find a wide, and possibly revolutionary use in all fields of engineering. The interest in CNTs and their potential use in a wide range of commercial applications; such as nanoelectronics, quantum wire interconnects, field emission devices, composites, chemical sensors, biosensors, detectors, etc.; have rapidly increased in the last two decades. However, the performance of any CNT-based nanostructure is dependent on the mechanical properties of constituent CNTs. Therefore, it is crucial to know the mechanical behavior of individual CNTs such as their vibration frequencies, buckling loads, and deformations under different loadings. This title is dedicated to the vibration, buckling and impact behavior of CNTs, along with theory for carbon nanosensors, like the Bubnov-Galerkin and the Petrov-Galerkin methods, the Bresse-Timoshenko and the Donnell shell theory