Multifunctional queen pheromone and maintenance of reproductive harmony in termite colonies.

Pheromones are likely involved in all social activities of social insects including foraging, sexual behavior, defense, nestmate recognition, and caste regulation. Regulation of the number of fertile queens requires communication between reproductive and non-reproductive individuals. Queen-produced pheromones have long been believed to be the main factor inhibiting the differentiation of new reproductive individuals. However, since the discovery more than 50 years ago of the queen honeybee substance that inhibits the queen-rearing behavior of workers, little progress has been made in the chemical identification of inhibitory queen pheromones in other social insects. The recent identification of a termite queen pheromone and subsequent studies have elucidated the multifaceted roles of volatile pheromones, including functions such as a fertility signal, worker attractant, queen-queen communication signal, and antimicrobial agent. The proximate origin and evolutionary parsimony of the termite queen pheromone also are discussed

Queens close sperm-gates of eggs for asexual reproduction in termites

Dissertação de Mestrado Integrado em Arquitectura, apresentada ao Departamento de Arquitectura da Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade de Coimbra.A presente dissertação de mestrado pretende desenvolver uma rede de percursos interpretativos no Município de Condeixa-a-Nova, destinada a mobilidades lentas - preferencialmente a ciclável - numa tentativa de estimular a aproximação da comunidade residente e visitante ao Território, proporcionando a leitura do mesmo. Esta rede, maioritariamente assente em Corredores Verdes, tenciona criar uma nova dinâmica de relações (inter)municipais na região do Baixo-Mondego/Maciço de Sicó aliada a um sistema de transportes multi-modal, introduzindo a bicicleta como alternativa efetiva.This master thesis aims to develop a network of interpretative trails in the County of Condeixa-a-Nova, designed to slow mobilities - preferably the cycling - in an attempt to stimulate the approach of the host community and visitors to the Territory, providing the reading thereof. This network, mainly based on Greenways, intends to create a new dynamic of relations in Baixo Mondego/Maciço de Sicó region combined with a multi-modal transport system, introducing the bicycle as an effective alternative

Hand-motion Analysis for Development of Double-unders Skill

Double-unders is one of interesting physical skills combining multiple primitive motions of different frequencies. This paper discusses an analyzing method of trajectory on hand-motion in double-unders. It also tackles to design an environment for the staged learning in acquisition process of the skill. We focus on the radius of motion-trajectory of the hand and spatial positions of moving hand. We measure some parameters relating to the hand-motions, and observe relative hand positions to the body. Then, we observe the difference of them between persons who have acquired the skill and others who have not acquired the skill yet. As a result, it has clarified that our proposal relating to the hand-motions is not irrelevant to success or failure of double-unders