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Chelonia mydas
Number of Pages: 4Integrative BiologyGeological Science
Some aspects of the ecology of the leatherback turtle Dermochelys coriacea at Laguna Jalova, Costa Rica
The ecology and reproductive biology of the leatherback turtle (Dennochelys coriacea) was studied on a high-energy nesting beach near Laguna Jalova, Costa Rica, between 28 March and 8 June 1985. The peak of nesting was between 15
April and 21 May. Leatherbacks here measured an average 146.6 cm straightline standard carapace length and laid an average 81.57 eggs. The eggs measured a mean 52.12 mm diameter and weighed an average of 85.01 g. Significant positive relationships were found between the carapace lengths of nesters and their clutch sizes and average diameter and weight of eggs. The total clutch weighed between 4.02 and 13.39 kg, and yolkless eggs accounted for an average 12.4% of this weight. The majority of nesters dug shallow (<24 cm) body pits and spent an average
81 minutes at the nest site. A significant number of c1utcbes were laid below the berm crest. In a hatchery 42.2% of the eggs hatched, while in natural nests 70.2%
hatched. The average hatchling carapace length was 59.8 mm and weight was 44.6 g. The longevity of leatherback tracks and nests on the beach was affected by weather. One nester was recaptured about one year later off the coast of
Mississippi, U.S.A. Egg poaching was intense on some sections of the Costa Rican coast. Four aerial surveys in four different months provided the basis for comparing
density of nesting on seven sectors of the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. The beach at Jalova is heavily used by green turtles (Chelonia mydJJs) after the leatherback nesting season. The role of the Parque Nacional Tortuguero in conserving the leatherback and green turtle is discussed.(PDF file contains 20 pages.
Dislocation Core Energies and Core Fields from First Principles
Ab initio calculations in bcc iron show that a screw dislocation
induces a short-range dilatation field in addition to the Volterra elastic
field. This core field is modeled in anisotropic elastic theory using force
dipoles. The elastic modeling thus better reproduces the atom displacements
observed in ab initio calculations. Including this core field in the
computation of the elastic energy allows deriving a core energy which converges
faster with the cell size, thus leading to a result which does not depend on
the geometry of the dislocation array used for the simulation.Comment: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.05550
Voltage from mechanical stress in type-II superconductors: Depinning of the magnetic flux by moving dislocations
Mechanical stress causes motion of defects in solids. We show that in a
type-II superconductor a moving dislocation generates a pattern of current that
exerts the depinning force on the surrounding vortex lattice. Concentration of
dislocations and the mechanical stress needed to produce critical depinning
currents are shown to be within practical range. When external magnetic field
and transport current are present this effect generates voltage across the
superconductor. Thus a superconductor can serve as an electrical sensor of the
mechanical stress.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure
Evolutionarily conserved mechanisms for the selection and maintenance of behavioural activity
Survival and reproduction entail the selection of adaptive behavioural repertoires. This selection manifests as phylogenetically acquired activities that depend on evolved nervous system circuitries. Lorenz and Tinbergen already postulated that heritable behaviours and their reliable performance are specified by genetically determined programs. Here we compare the functional anatomy of the insect central complex and vertebrate basal ganglia to illustrate their role in mediating selection and maintenance of adaptive behaviours. Comparative analyses reveal that central complex and basal ganglia circuitries share comparable lineage relationships within clusters of functionally integrated neurons. These clusters are specified by genetic mechanisms that link birth time and order to their neuronal identities and functions. Their subsequent connections and associated functions are characterized by similar mechanisms that implement dimensionality reduction and transition through attractor states, whereby spatially organized parallel-projecting loops integrate and convey sensorimotor representations that select and maintain behavioural activity. In both taxa, these neural systems are modulated by dopamine signalling that also mediates memory-like processes. The multiplicity of similarities between central complex and basal ganglia suggests evolutionarily conserved computational mechanisms for action selection. We speculate that these may have originated from ancestral ground pattern circuitries present in the brain of the last common ancestor of insects and vertebrates
Predicting dislocation climb: Classical modeling versus atomistic simulations
The classical modeling of dislocation climb based on a continuous description
of vacancy diffusion is compared to recent atomistic simulations of dislocation
climb in body-centered cubic iron under vacancy supersaturation [Phys. Rev.
Lett. 105 095501 (2010)]. A quantitative agreement is obtained, showing the
ability of the classical approach to describe dislocation climb. The analytical
model is then used to extrapolate dislocation climb velocities to lower
dislocation densities, in the range corresponding to experiments. This allows
testing of the validity of the pure climb creep model proposed by Kabir et al.
[Phys. Rev. Lett. 105 095501 (2010)]
Defects in Crystalline Packings of Twisted Filament Bundles: II. Dislocations and Grain Boundaries
Twisted and rope-like assemblies of filamentous molecules are common and
vital structural elements in cells and tissue of living organisms. We study the
intrinsic frustration occurring in these materials between the two-dimensional
organization of filaments in cross section and out-of-plane interfilament twist
in bundles. Using non-linear continuum elasticity theory of columnar materials,
we study the favorable coupling of twist-induced stresses to the presence of
edge dislocations in the lattice packing of bundles, which leads to a
restructuring of the ground-state order of these materials at intermediate
twist. The stability of dislocations increases as both the degree of twist and
lateral bundle size grow. We show that in ground states of large bundles,
multiple dislocations pile up into linear arrays, radial grain boundaries,
whose number and length grows with bundle twist, giving rise to a rich class of
"polycrystalline" packings.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure
Modeling of Dislocation Structures in Materials
A phenomenological model of the evolution of an ensemble of interacting
dislocations in an isotropic elastic medium is formulated. The line-defect
microstructure is described in terms of a spatially coarse-grained order
parameter, the dislocation density tensor. The tensor field satisfies a
conservation law that derives from the conservation of Burgers vector.
Dislocation motion is entirely dissipative and is assumed to be locally driven
by the minimization of plastic free energy. We first outline the method and
resulting equations of motion to linear order in the dislocation density
tensor, obtain various stationary solutions, and give their geometric
interpretation. The coupling of the dislocation density to an externally
imposed stress field is also addressed, as well as the impact of the field on
the stationary solutions.Comment: RevTeX, 19 pages. Also at http://www.scri.fsu.edu/~vinals/jeff1.p
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