689 research outputs found
Two new Mediterranean Stenothoe (Crustacea, Amphipoda) from the coast of Israel
Within collections along the Mediterranean coast of Israel, two new species of Stenothoe (Amphipoda) were found. They were found to be living on sand or mud and probably licking the surface of grains
Different environmental variables predict body and brain size evolution in Homo.
Increasing body and brain size constitutes a key macro-evolutionary pattern in the hominin lineage, yet the mechanisms behind these changes remain debated. Hypothesized drivers include environmental, demographic, social, dietary, and technological factors. Here we test the influence of environmental factors on the evolution of body and brain size in the genus Homo over the last one million years using a large fossil dataset combined with global paleoclimatic reconstructions and formalized hypotheses tested in a quantitative statistical framework. We identify temperature as a major predictor of body size variation within Homo, in accordance with Bergmann's rule. In contrast, net primary productivity of environments and long-term variability in precipitation correlate with brain size but explain low amounts of the observed variation. These associations are likely due to an indirect environmental influence on cognitive abilities and extinction probabilities. Most environmental factors that we test do not correspond with body and brain size evolution, pointing towards complex scenarios which underlie the evolution of key biological characteristics in later Homo
Foreword to the special issue "new frontiers for monitoring European biodiversity: The role and importance of amphipod crustaceans"
[No abstract available
Academic achievement : the role of praise in motivating students
The motivation of students is an important issue in higher education, particularly in the context of the increasing diversity of student populations. A social-cognitive perspective assumes motivation to be dynamic, context-sensitive and changeable, thereby rendering it to be a much more differentiated construct than previously understood. This complexity may be perplexing to tutors who are keen to develop applications to improve academic achievement. One application that is within the control of the tutor, at least to some extent, is the use of praise. Using psychological literature the article argues that in motivating students, the tutor is not well served by relying on simplistic and common sense understandings of the construct of praise and that effective applications of praise are mediated by students' goal orientations, which of themselves may be either additive or interactive composites of different objectives and different contexts
High precision measurement of the associated strangeness production in proton proton interactions
A new high precision measurement of the reaction pp -> pK+Lambda at a beam
momentum of 2.95 GeV/c with more than 200,000 analyzed events allows a detailed
analysis of differential observables and their inter-dependencies. Correlations
of the angular distributions with momenta are examined. The invariant mass
distributions are compared for different regions in the Dalitz plots. The cusp
structure at the N Sigma threshold is described with the Flatt\'e formalism and
its variation in the Dalitz plot is analyzed.Comment: accepted for publication in Eur. Phys. J.
First Model-Independent Measurement of the Spin Triplet Scattering Length from Final State Interaction in the Reaction
The reaction has been measured with the
COSY-TOF detector at a beam momentum of . The polarized
proton beam enables the measurement of the beam analyzing power by the
asymmetry of the produced kaon (). This observable allows the
spin triplet scattering length to be extracted for the first time
model independently from the final-state interaction in the reaction. The
obtained value is . This value is
compatible with theoretical predictions and results from model-dependent
analyses.Comment: Revised version as accepted for publication in PR
In Vivo Time- Resolved Microtomography Reveals the Mechanics of the Blowfly Flight Motor
Dipteran flies are amongst the smallest and most agile of flying animals. Their wings are driven indirectly by large power muscles, which cause cyclical deformations of the thorax that are amplified through the intricate wing hinge. Asymmetric flight manoeuvres are controlled by 13 pairs of steering muscles acting directly on the wing articulations. Collectively the steering muscles account for <3% of total flight muscle mass, raising the question of how they can modulate the vastly greater output of the power muscles during manoeuvres. Here we present the results of a synchrotron-based study performing micrometre-resolution, time-resolved microtomography on the 145 Hz wingbeat of blowflies. These data represent the first four-dimensional visualizations of an organism's internal movements on sub-millisecond and micrometre scales. This technique allows us to visualize and measure the three-dimensional movements of five of the largest steering muscles, and to place these in the context of the deforming thoracic mechanism that the muscles actuate. Our visualizations show that the steering muscles operate through a diverse range of nonlinear mechanisms, revealing several unexpected features that could not have been identified using any other technique. The tendons of some steering muscles buckle on every wingbeat to accommodate high amplitude movements of the wing hinge. Other steering muscles absorb kinetic energy from an oscillating control linkage, which rotates at low wingbeat amplitude but translates at high wingbeat amplitude. Kinetic energy is distributed differently in these two modes of oscillation, which may play a role in asymmetric power management during flight control. Structural flexibility is known to be important to the aerodynamic efficiency of insect wings, and to the function of their indirect power muscles. We show that it is integral also to the operation of the steering muscles, and so to the functional flexibility of the insect flight motor
On the SigmaN cusp in the pp -> pK+Lambda reaction
Measurements of the reaction at = 2.28 GeV have
been carried out at COSY-TOF. In addition to the FSI and
resonance excitation effects a pronounced narrow structure is observed in the
Dalitz plot and in its projection on the -invariant mass. The
structure appears at the N threshold and is interpreted as
N cusp effect. The observed width of 20 MeV/ is substantially
broader than anticipated from previous inclusive measurements. Angular
distributions of this cusp structure are shown to be dissimilar to those in the
residual channel, but similar to those observed in the
channel
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