Responses of the Crab Heterozius rotundifrons to Heterospecific Chemical Alarm Cues: Phylogeny vs. Ecological Overlap

The big-handed brachyuran crab Heterozius rotundifrons extends the time spent in its anti-predator posture, limb extended posture, if exposed to chemical cues from crushed conspecifics. In this study, we tested whether crabs also respond to chemical cues from crushed heterospecific crabs, and if so, whether phylogenetic relations or ecological overlap is more important in influencing the duration of the anti-predator posture. Chemical cues from two other brachyuran crabs ( Cyclograpsus lavauxi and Hemigrapsus sexdentatus ), which do not overlap directly in ecological distribution with H. rotundifrons , elicited a duration of the anti-predator posture that was indistinguishable from that produced by conspecific chemical cues. In contrast, chemical cues from two anomuran crabs ( Petrolisthes elongatus and Pagurus novizealandiae ) that overlap in ecological distribution with H. rotundifrons , elicited durations of the antipredator posture that were significantly shorter than those of either conspecifics or more closely related crab species. Thus, phylogenetic relationship seems to be more important than ecological overlap in influencing anti-predator behavior in H. rotundifrons .Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44900/1/10886_2005_Article_2054.pd

The novel Mechanical Ventilator Milano for the COVID-19 pandemic

This paper presents the Mechanical Ventilator Milano (MVM), a novel intensive therapy mechanical ventilator designed for rapid, large-scale, low-cost production for the COVID-19 pandemic. Free of moving mechanical parts and requiring only a source of compressed oxygen and medical air to operate, the MVM is designed to support the long-term invasive ventilation often required for COVID-19 patients and operates in pressure-regulated ventilation modes, which minimize the risk of furthering lung trauma. The MVM was extensively tested against ISO standards in the laboratory using a breathing simulator, with good agreement between input and measured breathing parameters and performing correctly in response to fault conditions and stability tests. The MVM has obtained Emergency Use Authorization by U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in healthcare settings during the COVID-19 pandemic and Health Canada Medical Device Authorization for Importation or Sale, under Interim Order for Use in Relation to COVID-19. Following these certifications, mass production is ongoing and distribution is under way in several countries. The MVM was designed, tested, prepared for certification, and mass produced in the space of a few months by a unique collaboration of respiratory healthcare professionals and experimental physicists, working with industrial partners, and is an excellent ventilator candidate for this pandemic anywhere in the world

Analysis of the fragmentation properties of quark and gluon jets at the CERN SPS pp̄ collider

A sample of two-jet events from the UA1 experiment at the CERN pp̄ Collider has been used to study the fragmentation of high-energy quark and gluon jets into charged hadrons. Compared with lower-energy jets observed in e+e- and pp collisions, the fragmentation function measured in the present experiment is softer (i.e. peaked to smaller values of z) and the mean internal transverse momentum is larger, mainly because of the effects of the QCD scaling violations. Using our knowledge of the quark and gluon structure functions in the proton, together with the QCD matrix elements, a statistical separation of quark and gluon jets is achieved within the present experiment. The fragmentation function for the gluon jets is found to be softer, and the angular spread of the fragmentation products larger, than is the case for quark jets. © 1986