Temperature variability and thermal performance in ectotherms: acclimation, behaviour, and experimental considerations

ABSTRACT Background: Among the predictions of the effect of future climate change, the impact of thermal conditions at local levels on the performance of individuals and their acclimation capacities is key to understanding animals' responses to global warming. Woodlice (the terrestrial isopod Porcellio laevis) exhibit a readily observed behaviour that may reflect their acclimation capacities. When they find themselves on their back, they sometimes roll over (i.e. right themselves). Whether they do, and how fast they do it, are measures of their behaviour and performance that vary with ambient temperature. Goal: Measure experimentally the effect of acclimation to environmental thermal variability on the rollover behaviour of Porcellio laevis. Methods: Maintain woodlice in 24ЊC laboratory environments. Each individual lived in one of three thermal treatments: constant temperature regime (δ = 0); a regime with alternating temperatures of 27ЊC during daytime and 21ЊC at night (δ = 3); and a regime with alternating temperatures of 32ЊC during daytime and 16ЊC at night (δ = 8). After 3 months, measure the rollover behaviour (percentage that rolled over) and rollover speed of the woodlice at 5, 15, 25, 32, and 38ЊC. Rollover speed is the inverse of the time it took an individual to right itself. Results: At 5 and 38ЊC, most woodlice seemed to be in thermal coma and had very slow rollover speed. At 15, 25, and 32ЊC, rollover speed was in the range 0.12-0.18 rollovers per second. At 15, 25, and 32ЊC, 52% of individuals righted themselves in ∼4 s. At these temperatures, most individuals either rolled quickly or remained inactive for the entire 10-min test period. When we examined rollover speed in the cooler (night) and warmer (daytime) periods, individuals subjected to the three regimes of temperature variation differed: woodlice acclimated to δ = 8 roll over very fast when temperature (T ) is low and very slowly when T is high; woodlice acclimated to δ = 3 roll over fairly fast when T is low and somewhat slowly when T is high; and woodlice acclimated to δ = 0 roll over quite quickly when T is low and quit

Tsunami Resonance in Palma Bay and Harbor, Majorca Island, as induced by the 2003 Western Mediterranean Earthquake

ABSTRACT: he tsunami induced by the May 21, 2003, Algerian Boumerde`s-Zemmouri earthquake (moment magnitude Mw=6.9) propagated across the western Mediterranean Basin, thereby causing material damages in some harbors and coastal areas. This was the case in the Balearic Islands and particularly the Palma harbor. Attempts to simulate the 2003 tsunami event found discrepancies between tsunami arrival times and wave amplitude when comparing tide gauge records with results from numerical models. To date, all published model results of the amplitude of the tsunami are underestimations, attributed to numerical limitations due to the lack of high-resolution bathymetry and poor definition of harbor geometry. Other views suggest the nappropriateness of the available seismic source parameterizations and the possible occurrence of submarine landsliding triggered by the earthquake that has not been included in the numerical simulations. In this article we present the results of a numerical study aimed at better understanding the response of the interacting Palma bay and harbor under the impact of the 2003 western Mediterranean tsunami. The transference of the tsunami energy from the generation area to the continental shelf, the bay, and the harbor has been studied and compared with the natural oscillation modes of the bay and harbor water bodies. Our work includes a sensitivity analysis of the source parameterization and the bathymetry grid size for the bay and harbor as a way to explain the discrepancies between simulations and observations. The Palma harbor tide gauge shows that energy from the tsunami concentrated mainly in periods that fitted to the natural modes of oscillations of the bay. Therefore, the significant wave amplification observed inside the harbor, mainly in its northern basin, was generated by a resonance effect induced by Palma bay. The improvement of the bathymetry grid resolution in the bay and harbor domains and the inclusion in the simulations of the exact harbor geometry and internal configuration result in a slight wave-high increment that is much below the wave height recorded in the tide gauge. Our results strongly point to a necessary revision of the tsunami seismic source parameters

CIENCIA E IMAGINOLOGIA: ANÁLISIS CUANTITATIVO DE LA INVESTIGACIÓN RADIOLÓGICA Science and imaginology: A quantitative analysis of radiologic research

Trabajando con las hipótesis generales: la especialidad de imaginología desarrolla actividad científica efectiva y la Revista Chilena de Radiología representa la investigación de los radiólogos chilenos, el objetivo del estudio fue caracterizar la producción científica y estimar su impacto a nivel nacional e internacional, desde una perspectiva cuantitativa. Se caracterizaron 277 artículos de la revista 1995-2007, estudiando el impacto nacional 2002-2007 y el internacional de 100 radiólogos primeros autores de los artículos. Los resultados indican que nuestra actividad científica consiste fundamentalmente en revisión de literatura y reportes de casos; en trabajos científicos usamos pocos casos, planteando sólo ocasionalmente hipótesis. En un 47% usamos alguna estadística más allá de porcentajes. Tenemos bajo impacto entre colegas y a nivel internacional. De los reportes internacionales, 8% fueron liderados por radiólogos. Sin embargo, las encuestas de usuarios de nuestra revista muestran que nos gusta lo que hacemos. Discutimos las posibles causas en el contexto del quehacer científico.Having in mind the general hypothesis that, on one hand, the specialty of Imaginology carnes out an effective scientific work, and on the other hand, that Revista Chilena de Radiología constitutes the Chilean Radiologists research outcomes publication, the objective of this study was to characterize the scientific production as well as to assess its national and international impact factor from a quantitative point of view. Two hundred and seventy-seven journal articles published between 1995 and 2007 were reviewed and characterized to determine the national impact factor from 2002 to 2007, while international impact Índex of one hundred authors ofabove mentioned articles was also established. Our findings are indicative of main emphasis placed on Literature Reviews and Case Reports. This study proved that Original Articles are a minority, with occasionally clearly formulated hypothesis. Onlya 47% ofthe articles applied more sophisticated statistics tools than mere percentages. We have a low impact factor among national and international peers as well. Only8% ofthe international studies conducted were headedbya Radiologist. Nevertheless, ourinquiry revealed that, in general terms, our target audience considers our Journal contents as appropriate. Finally we analyze and discuss our current reality in the frame of scientific production and publication