453 research outputs found
Pollen Processing Behavior of Heliconius Butterflies: A Derived Grooming Behavior
Pollen feeding behaviors Heliconius and Laparus (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) represent a key innovation that has shaped other life history traits of these neotropical butterflies. Although all flower visiting Lepidoptera regularly come in contact with pollen, only Heliconius and Laparus butterflies actively collect pollen with the proboscis and subsequently take up nutrients from the pollen grains. This study focused on the behavior of pollen processing and compared the movement patterns with proboscis grooming behavior in various nymphalid butterflies using video analysis. The proboscis movements of pollen processing behavior consisted of a lengthy series of repeated coiling and uncoiling movements in a loosely coiled proboscis position combined with up and down movements and the release of saliva. The proboscis-grooming behavior was triggered by contamination of the proboscis in both pollen feeding and non-pollen feeding nymphalid butterflies. Proboscis grooming movements included interrupted series of coiling and uncoiling movements, characteristic sideways movements, proboscis lifting, and occasionally full extension of the proboscis. Discharge of saliva was more pronounced in pollen feeding species than in non-pollen feeding butterfly species. We conclude that the pollen processing behavior of Heliconius and Laparus is a modified proboscis grooming behavior that originally served to clean the proboscis after contamination with particles
Effect of anisotropy and destructuration on behavior of Haarajoki test embankment
This paper investigates the influence of anisotropy and destructuration on the behavior of Haarajoki test embankment, which was built by the Finnish National Road Administration as a noise barrier in 1997 on a soft clay deposit. Half of the embankment is constructed on an area improved with prefabricated vertical drains, while the other half is constructed on the natural deposit without any ground improvement. The construction and consolidation of the embankment is analyzed with the finite-element method using three different constitutive models to represent the soft clay. Two recently proposed constitutive models, namely S-CLAY1 which accounts for initial and plastic strain induced anisotropy, and its extension, called S-CLAY1S which accounts, additionally, for interparticle bonding and degradation of bonds, were used in the analysis. For comparison, the problem is also analyzed with the isotropic modified cam clay model. The results of the numerical analyses are compared with the field measurements. The simulations reveal the influence that anisotropy and destructuration have on the behavior of an embankment on soft clay
Generating multimedia presentations: from plain text to screenplay
In many Natural Language Generation (NLG) applications, the output is limited to plain text – i.e., a string of words with punctuation and paragraph breaks, but no indications for layout, or pictures, or dialogue. In several projects, we have begun to explore NLG applications in which these extra media are brought into play. This paper gives an informal account of what we have learned. For coherence, we focus on the domain of patient information leaflets, and follow an example in which the same content is expressed first in plain text, then in formatted text, then in text with pictures, and finally in a dialogue script that can be performed by two animated agents. We show how the same meaning can be mapped to realisation patterns in different media, and how the expanded options for expressing meaning are related to the perceived style and tone of the presentation. Throughout, we stress that the extra media are not simple added to plain text, but integrated with it: thus the use of formatting, or pictures, or dialogue, may require radical rewording of the text itself
Theory of extraordinary optical transmission through subwavelength hole arrays
We present a fully three-dimensional theoretical study of the extraordinary
transmission of light through subwavelength hole arrays in optically thick
metal films. Good agreement is obtained with experimental data. An analytical
minimal model is also developed, which conclusively shows that the enhancement
of transmission is due to tunneling through surface plasmons formed on each
metal-dielectric interfaces. Different regimes of tunneling (resonant through a
''surface plasmon molecule", or sequential through two isolated surface
plasmons) are found depending on the geometrical parameters defining the
system.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Modulation of surface plasmon coupling-in by one-dimensional surface corrugation
Surface plasmon-polaritons have recently attracted renewed interest in the
scientific community for their potential in sub-wavelength optics, light
generation and non-destructive sensing. Given that they cannot be directly
excited by freely propagating light due to their intrinsical binding to the
metal surface, the light-plasmon coupling efficiency becomes of crucial
importance for the success of any plasmonic device. Here we present a
comprehensive study on the modulation (enhancement or suppression) of such
coupling efficiency by means of one-dimensional surface corrugation. Our
approach is based on simple wave interference and enables us to make
quantitative predictions which have been experimentally confirmed at both the
near infra-red and telecom ranges.Comment: 20 pages, 13 figures, submitted to New Journal of Physics, revised
tex
Counterfactual entanglement and nonlocal correlations in separable states
It is shown that the outcomes of measurements on systems in separable mixed
states can be partitioned, via subsequent measurements on a disentangled
extraneous system, into subensembles that display the statistics of entangled
states. This motivates the introduction of the concept of "counterfactual"
entanglement, which can be associated with all separable mixed states including
those that are factorable. This type of entanglement gives rise to a new kind
of postselection-induced Bell inequality violation. The significance of
counterfactual entanglement, and its physical implications, are assessed
Observation of three-photon Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger entanglement
We present the experimental observation of polarization entanglement for
three spatially separated photons. Such states of more than two entangled
particles, known as GHZ states, play a crucial role in fundamental tests of
quantum mechanics versus local realism and in many quantum information and
quantum computation schemes. Our experimental arrangement is such that we start
with two pairs of entangled photons and register one photon in a way that any
information as to which pair it belongs to is erased. The registered events at
the detectors for the remaining three photons then exhibit the desired GHZ
correlations.Comment: Revtex, 4 pages, uses floats, epsfi
Robust plasmon waveguides in strongly-interacting nanowire arrays
Arrays of parallel metallic nanowires are shown to provide a tunable, robust,
and versatile platform for plasmon interconnects, including high-curvature
turns with minimum signal loss. The proposed guiding mechanism relies on gap
plasmons existing in the region between adjacent nanowires of dimers and
multi-wire arrays. We focus on square and circular silver nanowires in silica,
for which excellent agreement between both boundary element method and multiple
multipolar expansion calculations is obtained. Our work provides the tools for
designing plasmon-based interconnects and achieving high degree of integration
with minimum cross talk between adjacent plasmon guides.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Efficient unidirectional nanoslit couplers for surface plasmons
Plasmonics is based on surface plasmon polariton (SPP) modes which can be
laterally confined below the diffraction limit, thereby enabling ultracompact
optical components. In order to exploit this potential, the fundamental
bottleneck of poor light-SPP coupling must be overcome. In established SPP
sources (using prism, grating} or nanodefect coupling) incident light is a
source of noise for the SPP, unless the illumination occurs away from the
region of interest, increasing the system size and weakening the SPP intensity.
Back-side illumination of subwavelength apertures in optically thick metal
films eliminates this problem but does not ensure a unique propagation
direction for the SPP. We propose a novel back-side slit-illumination method
based on drilling a periodic array of indentations at one side of the slit. We
demonstrate that the SPP running in the array direction can be suppressed, and
the one propagating in the opposite direction enhanced, providing localized
unidirectional SPP launching.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure
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