117 research outputs found
Dominance relationship in the establishment of reproductive division of labour in a primitively eusocial wasp (Ropalidia marginata)
In mature post-emergence colonies of the tropical primitively eusocial polistine wasp Ropalidia marginata, the queen is not a behaviourally dominant individual. Nevertheless, she completely suppresses reproduction by the workers and becomes the sole egg-layer in the colony. Mechanisms by which a female is able to establish her exclusive reproductive status in the colony can be investigated by examining dominance-submission relationships and hierarchy formation at particular stages of the colony cycle when reproductive competition is behaviourally manifest. Observations on the behaviour of R. marginata females (1) during early stages of colony-founding, (2) when potential queens challenge the existing queen, and (3) immediately after queen replacement show that these wasps use highly aggressive dominance interactions to establish their reproductive status. Both the frequency and the intensity of dominance behaviours are significantly higher at these stages than those observed at phases of the colony when there is no apparent reproductive strife. Once her position as the only egg-layer of the colony has been established, the levels of dominance interactions initiated by the queen decrease and the nature of these interactions also becomes comparatively milder. Thus, the mechanisms by which a queen establishes her social status in her colony and those by which she continues to suppress reproduction of her nestmates in the absence of overt physical dominance may be quite different
Incorporating Forcing Terms in Cascaded Lattice-Boltzmann Approach by Method of Central Moments
Cascaded lattice-Boltzmann method (Cascaded-LBM) employs a new class of
collision operators aiming to improve numerical stability. It achieves this and
distinguishes from other collision operators, such as in the standard single or
multiple relaxation time approaches, by performing relaxation process due to
collisions in terms of moments shifted by the local hydrodynamic fluid
velocity, i.e. central moments, in an ascending order-by-order at different
relaxation rates. In this paper, we propose and derive source terms in the
Cascaded-LBM to represent the effect of external or internal forces on the
dynamics of fluid motion. This is essentially achieved by matching the
continuous form of the central moments of the source or forcing terms with its
discrete version. Different forms of continuous central moments of sources,
including one that is obtained from a local Maxwellian, are considered in this
regard. As a result, the forcing terms obtained in this new formulation are
Galilean invariant by construction. The method of central moments along with
the associated orthogonal properties of the moment basis completely determines
the expressions for the source terms as a function of the force and macroscopic
velocity fields. In contrast to the existing forcing schemes, it is found that
they involve higher order terms in velocity space. It is shown that the
proposed approach implies "generalization" of both local equilibrium and source
terms in the usual lattice frame of reference, which depend on the ratio of the
relaxation times of moments of different orders. An analysis by means of the
Chapman-Enskog multiscale expansion shows that the Cascaded-LBM with forcing
terms is consistent with the Navier-Stokes equations. Computational experiments
with canonical problems involving different types of forces demonstrate its
accuracy.Comment: 55 pages, 4 figure
Ropalidia rufoplagiata: a polistine wasp society probably lacking permanent reproductive division of labour
Ropalidia rufoplagiata Cameron (Hymenoptera: Vespidae), a polistine species from penisular India, appears to be unique among all known primitively eusocial wasps. A total of 33 out of 46 identified females from an observed colony were found to oviposit on 1-17 occasions. No single predominant egg-layer could be identified during the 45-day period. Of the 17 dissected egg-layers, 12 were mated. All egg-layers showed several oviposition-related behavioural patterns including systematic, but indiscriminate, cannibalism of eggs and larvae, cleaning of empty cells, and guarding of freshly-laid eggs. There was no correlation between the egg-laying activity of the females (whether mated or not), oophagy, and their position in the dominance hierarchy. All nest-maintenance activities were performed exclusively by the egg-layers, while the non-egg-layers were mainly involved in the extranidal task offoraging. No significant morphometric differences between egg-layers and foragers could be discerned. Almost all the older individuals in the colony were egg-layers, while foragers were mainly younger animals. Such a temporal differentiation in reproductive labour suggests the absence of a permanent reproductive caste in this species
Diffusional transport modulation through reversible bilayer membranes
A new approach to attaining time invariant diffusional flux through bilayered membranes with reversible barriers has been demonstrated. The barrier has been formed by exploiting the phenomenon of volume transition in polymers. The novelty of the approach is that such bilayers can be formed in situ. A theoretical analysis shows how the desired diffusional behaviour can be achieved. The validity of the concept, as well as the quantitative predictability of the theoretical analysis, is demonstrated by experimentation on model systems. A potential application is highlighted
Lattice Boltzmann Model for Axisymmetric Multiphase Flows
In this paper, a lattice Boltzmann (LB) model is presented for axisymmetric
multiphase flows. Source terms are added to a two-dimensional standard lattice
Boltzmann equation (LBE) for multiphase flows such that the emergent dynamics
can be transformed into the axisymmetric cylindrical coordinate system. The
source terms are temporally and spatially dependent and represent the
axisymmetric contribution of the order parameter of fluid phases and inertial,
viscous and surface tension forces. A model which is effectively explicit and
second order is obtained. This is achieved by taking into account the discrete
lattice effects in the Chapman-Enskog multiscale analysis, so that the
macroscopic axisymmetric mass and momentum equations for multiphase flows are
recovered self-consistently. The model is extended to incorporate reduced
compressibility effects. Axisymmetric equilibrium drop formation and
oscillations, breakup and formation of satellite droplets from viscous liquid
cylindrical jets through Rayleigh capillary instability and drop collisions are
presented. Comparisons of the computed results with available data show
satisfactory agreement.Comment: 17 pages, 11 figures, to be published in Physical Review
Direct observations of nickel silicide formation on (100) Si and Si0.75Ge0.25 substrates using in-situ transmission electron microscopy
Master'sMASTER OF SCIENC
On the Three-dimensional Central Moment Lattice Boltzmann Method
A three-dimensional (3D) lattice Boltzmann method based on central moments is
derived. Two main elements are the local attractors in the collision term and
the source terms representing the effect of external and/or self-consistent
internal forces. For suitable choices of the orthogonal moment basis for the
three-dimensional, twenty seven velocity (D3Q27), and, its subset, fifteen
velocity (D3Q15) lattice models, attractors are expressed in terms of
factorization of lower order moments as suggested in an earlier work; the
corresponding source terms are specified to correctly influence lower order
hydrodynamic fields, while avoiding aliasing effects for higher order moments.
These are achieved by successively matching the corresponding continuous and
discrete central moments at various orders, with the final expressions written
in terms of raw moments via a transformation based on the binomial theorem.
Furthermore, to alleviate the discrete effects with the source terms, they are
treated to be temporally semi-implicit and second-order, with the implicitness
subsequently removed by means of a transformation. As a result, the approach is
frame-invariant by construction and its emergent dynamics describing fully 3D
fluid motion in the presence of force fields is Galilean invariant. Numerical
experiments for a set of benchmark problems demonstrate its accuracy.Comment: 55 pages, 8 figure
Diffusional transport from structurally variant hydrogels
Diffusional release of solutes from polymer matrices undergoing structural changes has been analysed by incorporating the dependence of solute diffusivity on time. The functional dependence of diffusivity with time has been experimentally verified and its utility and limitations are discussed. Criteria for predicting release characteristics have been arrived at based on two model parameters, K and β. HereK represents the reciprocal of the time required for the structural change and β is the ratio of the solute diffusivity prior to the onset and after the completion of the structural change. The criteria, which are independent of the mechanistic details of the structural change, have been validated by analysing solute release from polymeric matrices undergoing diverse structural changes. The approach should be useful in predicting the relase characteristics of solutes on the basis of the physicochemical characteristics of the polymer-solute systems. It should also help in tailoring the polymers to obtain the desired release kinetics
Molecular docking studies on potent adsorbed receptor of Thrh protein: A new target for biodegradation of indigo dye
Vat dyes are aromatic compounds widely used for denim textile industries, this result in a great wastewater problem from this industry due to recalcitrant nature of these dyes. The active protein (ThrH) was purified from Pseudomonas aeruginosa by DEAE-Sepharose A-50 column chromatography and this 3D crystal structure was reported recently. The present study aimed to demonstrate the binding energy between 3D crystal structures of indigo dye and ThrH. We have calculated the gliding score as well as gliding energy based on the hydrophobic interactions between targeted sites (amino acid and dye residue) and the main think is binding energy which was observed maximum level because of the presence of magnesium ions along with catalytic molecules located at the binding sites. The dye degraded mineralized compound was predicted by mass spectrum and infrared spectroscopy
4D printing of smart polymer nanocomposites: integrating graphene and acrylate based shape memory polymers
The ever-increasing demand for materials to have superior properties and satisfy functions in the field of soft robotics and beyond has resulted in the advent of the new field of four-dimensional (4D) printing. The ability of these materials to respond to various stimuli inspires novel applications and opens several research possibilities. In this work, we report on the 4D printing of one such Shape Memory Polymer (SMP) tBA-co-DEGDA (tert-Butyl Acrylate with diethylene glycol diacrylate). The novelty lies in establishing the relationship between the various characteristic properties (tensile stress, surface roughness, recovery time, strain fixity, and glass transition temperature) concerning the fact that the print parameters of the laser pulse frequency and print speed are governed in the micro-stereolithography (Micro SLA) method. It is found that the sample printed with a speed of 90 mm/s and 110 pulses/s possessed the best batch of properties, with shape fixity percentages of about 86.3% and recovery times as low as 6.95 s. The samples built using the optimal parameters are further subjected to the addition of graphene nanoparticles, which further enhances all the mechanical and surface properties. It has been observed that the addition of 0.3 wt.% of graphene nanoparticles provides the best results
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