558 research outputs found
The Morphology and Adhesion Mechanism of Octopus vulgaris Suckers
The octopus sucker represents a fascinating natural system performing adhesion on different terrains and substrates. Octopuses use suckers to anchor the body to the substrate or to grasp, investigate and manipulate objects, just to mention a few of their functions. Our study focuses on the morphology and adhesion mechanism of suckers in Octopus vulgaris. We use three different techniques (MRI, ultrasonography, and histology) and a 3D reconstruction approach to contribute knowledge on both morphology and functionality of the sucker structure in O. vulgaris. The results of our investigation are two-fold. First, we observe some morphological differences with respect to the octopus species previously studied (i.e., Octopus joubini, Octopus maya, Octopus bimaculoides/bimaculatus and Eledone cirrosa). In particular, in O. vulgaris the acetabular chamber, that is a hollow spherical cavity in other octopuses, shows an ellipsoidal cavity which roof has an important protuberance with surface roughness. Second, based on our findings, we propose a hypothesis on the sucker adhesion mechanism in O. vulgaris. We hypothesize that the process of continuous adhesion is achieved by sealing the orifice between acetabulum and infundibulum portions via the acetabular protuberance. We suggest this to take place while the infundibular part achieves a completely flat shape; and, by sustaining adhesion through preservation of sucker configuration. In vivo ultrasonographic recordings support our proposed adhesion model by showing the sucker in action. Such an underlying physical mechanism offers innovative potential cues for developing bioinspired artificial adhesion systems. Furthermore, we think that it could possibly represent a useful approach in order to investigate any potential difference in the ecology and in the performance of adhesion by different species
Laboratory Experiments on Astrophysical Dust Analogs at NASA/MSFC
No abstract availabl
Nurses\u27 Alumnae Association Bulletin, May 1960
Accreditation of Programs in Nursing
Alumnae Meetings, 1959
Committee Reports
Greetings from the President
Highlights from first issue of Alumnae Bulletin
Living in the new nurses residence
Lost Members
Marriages
Necrology
New Arrivals
Notices
Personal Items of Interest
Report of the School of Nursing and Nursing Services
Staff Nurses Association
Student Activities
Year of tremendous growth and expansio
A giant squid architeuthis sp. (mollusca, cephalopoda) stranded on the Patagonian shore of Argentina
A female giant squid was stranded in Bustamante Bay, Argentina (45°08’S, 66°31’W), in May 1996; it was identified as Architeuthis sp. The main morphometric data are given and compared with South Atlantic Oceanrecords for this genus. Parasites found in the stomach, caecum and intestine are provisionally identified to genus
Settling the Variance of Multi-Agent Policy Gradients
Policy gradient (PG) methods are popular reinforcement learning (RL) methods where a baseline is often applied to reduce the variance of gradient estimates. In multi-agent RL (MARL), although the PG theorem can be naturally extended, the effectiveness of multi-agent PG (MAPG) methods degrades as the variance of gradient estimates increases rapidly with the number of agents. In this paper, we offer a rigorous analysis of MAPG methods by, firstly, quantifying the contributions of the number of agents and agents’ explorations to the variance of MAPG estimators. Based on this analysis, we derive the optimal baseline (OB) that achieves the minimal variance. In comparison to the OB, we measure the excess variance of existing MARL algorithms such as vanilla MAPG and COMA. Considering using deep neural networks, we also propose a surrogate version of OB, which can be seamlessly plugged into any existing PG methods in MARL. On benchmarks of Multi-Agent MuJoCo and StarCraft challenges, our OB technique effectively stabilises training and improves the performance of multi-agent PPO and COMA algorithms by a significant margin. Code is released at https://github.com/morning9393/Optimal-Baseline-for-Multi-agent-Policy-Gradients
Psychologizing indexes of societal progress: Accounting for cultural diversity in preferred developmental pathways
Since the Second World War, the dominating paradigm of societal development has focused on economic growth. While economic growth has improved the quality of human life in a variety of ways, we posit that the identification of economic growth as the primary societal goal is culture-blind because preferences for developmental pathways likely vary between societies. We argue that the cultural diversity of developmental goals and the pathways leading to these goals could be reflected in a culturally sensitive approach to assessing societal development. For the vast majority of post-materialistic societies, it is an urgent necessity to prepare culturally sensitive compasses on how to develop next, and to start conceptualizing growth in a more nuanced and culturally responsive way. Furthermore, we propose that cultural sensitivity in measuring societal growth could also be applied to existing development indicators (e.g. the Human Development Index). We call for cultural researchers, in cooperation with development economists and other social scientists, to prepare a new cultural map of developmental goals, and to create and adapt development indexes that are more culturally sensitive. This innovation could ultimately help social planners understand the diverse pathways of development and assess the degree to which societies are progressing in a self-determined and indigenously valued manner.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio
Analysis of acoustic emission during the melting of embedded indium particles in an aluminum matrix: a study of plastic strain accommodation during phase transformation
Acoustic emission is used here to study melting and solidification of
embedded indium particles in the size range of 0.2 to 3 um in diameter and to
show that dislocation generation occurs in the aluminum matrix to accommodate a
2.5% volume change. The volume averaged acoustic energy produced by indium
particle melting is similar to that reported for bainite formation upon
continuous cooling. A mechanism of prismatic loop generation is proposed to
accommodate the volume change and an upper limit to the geometrically necessary
increase in dislocation density is calculated as 4.1 x 10^9 cm^-2 for the
Al-17In alloy. Thermomechanical processing is also used to change the size and
distribution of the indium particles within the aluminum matrix. Dislocation
generation with accompanied acoustic emission occurs when the melting indium
particles are associated with grain boundaries or upon solidification where the
solid-liquid interfaces act as free surfaces to facilitate dislocation
generation. Acoustic emission is not observed for indium particles that require
super heating and exhibit elevated melting temperatures. The acoustic emission
work corroborates previously proposed relaxation mechanisms from prior internal
friction studies and that the superheat observed for melting of these
micron-sized particles is a result of matrix constraint.Comment: Presented at "Atomistic Effects in Migrating Interphase Interfaces -
Recent Progress and Future Study" TMS 201
Nurses\u27 Alumnae Association Bulletin - Volume 17 Number 1
Alumnae Notes
Committee Reports
Digest of Alumnae Association Meetings
Greetings from Miss Childs
Greetings from the Educational Director
Greetings from the President
Graduation Awards - 1951
Jefferson\u27s New Hospital Addition
Marriages
Necrology
Neurosurgery Department
New Arrivals New Drugs
Notes on the Cause of Leukemia
Nursing Staff
Saul Among the Prophets
Staff Activities, 1951-1952
Students\u27 Corner
The Hospital Pharmacy
The Student Nurse Association of Pennsylvania
White Haven and Barton Memorial Division
Advanced cryo-tomography workflow developments - correlative microscopy, milling automation and cryo-lift-out
Cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) is a groundbreaking technology for 3D visualisation and analysis of biomolecules in the context of cellular structures. It allows structural investigations of single proteins as well as their spatial arrangements within the cell. Cryo-tomograms provide a snapshot of the complex, heterogeneous and transient subcellular environment. Due to the excellent structure preservation in amorphous ice, it is possible to study interactions and spatial relationships of proteins in their native state without interference caused by chemical fixatives or contrasting agents. With the introduction of focused ion beam (FIB) technology, the preparation of cellular samples for electron tomography has become much easier and faster. The latest generation of integrated FIB and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) instruments (dual beam microscopes), specifically designed for cryo-applications, provides advances in automation, imaging and the preparation of high-pressure frozen bulk samples using cryo-lift-out technology. In addition, correlative cryo-fluorescence microscopy provides cellular targeting information through integrated software and hardware interfaces. The rapid advances, based on the combination of correlative cryo-microscopy, cryo-FIB and cryo-ET, have already led to a wealth of new insights into cellular processes and provided new 3D image data of the cell. Here we introduce our recent developments within the cryo-tomography workflow, and we discuss the challenges that lie ahead. Lay Description This article describes our recent developments for the cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) workflow. Cryo-ET offers superior structural preservation and provides 3D snapshots of the interior of vitrified cells at molecular resolution. Before a cellular sample can be imaged by cryo-ET, it must be made accessible for transmission electron microscopy. This is achieved by preparing a 200-300 nm thin cryo-lamella from the cellular sample using a cryo-focused ion beam (cryo-FIB) microscope. Cryo-correlative light and electron microscopy (cryo-CLEM) is used within the workflow to guide the cryo-lamella preparation to the cellular areas of interest. We cover a basic introduction of the cryo-ET workflow and show new developments for cryo-CLEM, which facilitate the connection between the cryo-light microscope and the cryo-FIB. Next, we present our progress in cryo-FIB software automation to streamline cryo-lamella preparation. In the final section we demonstrate how the cryo-FIB can be used for 3D imaging and how bulk-frozen cellular samples (obtained by high-pressure freezing) can be processed using the newly developed cryo-lift-out technology
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