Do Male House Wrens (Troglodytes aedon) Vary Their Singing Among Various Reproductive Stages?

Ohio State Lima Undergraduate Research Award - First PlaceThe vocalizations of male songbirds can function in attracting mates and in defending territory. If song were used for attracting a mate, song output should decline following pairing. If song were used primarily for territory defense, song output should be constant throughout reproduction, because territories are maintained throughout multiple reproductive attempts within one breeding season. If song were used for communicating an ’all clear‘ signal, song output would be highest during incubation, when females are spending the most time on the nest. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the song of male House Wrens (Troglodytes aedon) changes throughout the reproductive cycle. Male House Wren song was recorded by attaching a microphone to the nesting box during four different stages of reproduction (nest-building, laying, incubation, and nestling feeding). The vocalizations were analyzed for song rate (# songs/minute), duration (length of each song), and frequency. Song rate was greatest during the pre-laying stage. Song length was lowest during nestling stage. Results indicate that song may be used primarily for finding mates, and not territory defense or as an ‘all clear’ signal. However, I may not be detecting song used during territorial defense, as our microphone was stationary and located on the nesting box. Future studies should follow individual males to determine whether males also sing away from the nest box, or shift the location of singing during the breeding season.No embargoAcademic Major: Biolog

High-frequency two-input CMOS OTA for continuous-time filter applications

“This material is presented to ensure timely dissemination of scholarly and technical work. Copyright and all rights therein are retained by authors or by other copyright holders. All persons copying this information are expected to adhere to the terms and constraints invoked by each author's copyright. In most cases, these works may not be reposted without the explicit permission of the copyright holder." “Copyright IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or to reuse any copyrighted component of this work in other works must be obtained from the IEEE.”A high-frequency fully differential CMOS operational transconductance amplifier (OTA) is presented for continuous-time filter applications in the megahertz range. The proposed design technique combines a linear cross-coupled quad input stage with an enhanced folded-cascode circuit to increase the output resistance of the amplifier. SPICE simulations show that DC-gain enhancement can be obtained without significant bandwidth limitation. The two-input OTA developed is used in high-frequency tuneable filter design based on IFLF and LC ladder simulation structures. Simulated results of parameters and characteristics of the OTA and filters in a standard 1.2 μm CMOS process (MOSIS) are presented. A tuning circuit is also discussed.Peer reviewe

Finite-element analyses of blade and slot coating flows using an implicit pseudo-solid domain mapping technique coupled with unstructured grids

In coating processes (e.g. in blade coating) the flow domain inherently contains free surfaces and three-phase contact lines, and characteristic length scales of flow features in the dimension transverse to the web-movement vary by an order of magnitude or more from a fraction of a millimeter or more to tens of microns or less). The presence of free surfaces and three-phase contact lines, and the sudden changes of flow geometry and directions create difficulties in theoretical analyses of such flows. Though simulations of coating flows via finite-element methods using structured grids have been reportedly demonstrated in the literature, achieving high efficiency of such numerical experiments remains a grand challenge -- mainly due to difficulties in local mesh-refinement and in avoiding unacceptably distorted grids. High efficiency of computing steady flow fields under various process conditions is crucial in shortening turn-around time in design and optimization of coating-flow processes. In this paper we employ a fully-implicit, pseudo-solid, domain mapping technique coupled with unstructured meshes to analyze blade and slot coating flows using Galerkin`s method with finite element basis functions. We demonstrate the robustness and efficiency of our unique technique in circumventing shortcomings of mesh-motion schemes currently being used in the coating-flow research community. Our goal is to develop an efficient numerical tool, together with a suitable optimization toolkit, that can be used routinely in design and optimization of coating-flow processes

GOMA - A full-Newton finite element program for free and moving boundary problems with coupled fluid/solid momentum, energy, mass, and chemical species transport: User`s guide

GOMA is a two- and three-dimensional finite element program which excels in analyses of manufacturing processes, particularly those involving free or moving interfaces. Specifically, the full-Newton-coupled heat, mass, momentum, and pseudo-solid mesh motion algorithm makes GOMA ideally suited for simulating processes in which the bulk fluid transport is closely coupled to the interfacial physics. Examples include, but are not limited to, coating and polymer processing flows, soldering, crystal growth, and solid-network or solution film drying. The code is based on the premise that any boundary can be (1) moving or free, with an apriori unknown position dictated by the distinguishing physics, (2) fixed, according to a global analytical representation, or (3) moving in time and space under user-prescribed kinematics. The goal is to enable the user to predict boundary position or motion simultaneously with the physics of the problem being analyzed and to pursue geometrical design studies and fluid-structure interaction problems. The moving mesh algorithm treats the entire domain as a computational Lagrangian solid that deforms subject to the physical principles which dictate boundary position. As an added benefit, the same Lagrangian solid mechanics can be exploited to solve multi-field problems for which the solid motion and stresses interact with other transport phenomena, either within the same material phase (e.g. shrinking coating) or in neighboring material phases (e.g. flexible blade coating). Thus, analyses of many fluid-structure interaction problems and deformable porous media problems are accessible. This document serves as a user`s guide and reference for GOMA and provides a brief overview of GOMA`s capabilities, theoretical background, and classes of problems for which it is targeted

Moving/deforming mesh techniques for computational fluid dynamics and heat transfer

This report represents a summary of a Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project to develop general purpose unstructured grid techniques for solving free and moving boundary problems in computational fluid dynamics and heat transfer. Both control volume finite element and Galerkin finite element techniques were utilized. A very robust technique for keeping the deforming mesh from tangling was implemented; the mesh was treated as a fictitious elastic body. Sample results for an ablating nose tip and buoyancy driven flow in a box are presented. References to additional publications resulting from this work are included

A Finite Element Method for Free-Surface Flows of Incompressible Fluids in Three Dimensions, Part II: Dynamic Wetting Lines

To date, few researchers have solved three-dimensional free-surface problems with dynamic wetting lines. This paper extends the free-surface finite element method described in a companion paper [Cairncross, R.A., P.R. Schunk, T.A. Baer, P.A. Sackinger, R.R. Rao, "A finite element method for free surface flows of incompressible fluid in three dimensions, Part I: Boundary-Fitted mesh motion.", to be published (1998)] to handle dynamic wetting. A generalization of the technique used in two dimensional modeling to circumvent double-valued velocities at the wetting line, the so-called kinematic paradox, is presented for a wetting line in three dimensions. This approach requires the fluid velocity normal to the contact line to be zero, the fluid velocity tangent to the contact line to be equal to the tangential component of web velocity, and the fluid velocity into the web to be zero. In addition, slip is allowed in a narrow strip along the substrate surface near the dynamic contact line. For realistic wetting-line motion, a contact angle which varies with wetting speed is required because contact lines in three dimensions typically advance or recede a different rates depending upon location and/or have both advancing and receding portions. The theory is applied to capillary rise of static fluid in a corner, the initial motion of a Newtonian droplet down an inclined plane, and extrusion of a Newtonian fluid from a nozzle onto a moving substrate. The extrusion results are compared to experimental visualization. Subject Categorie

Photo-detectors integrated with resonant tunneling diodes

We report on photo-detectors consisting of an optical waveguide that incorporates a resonant tunneling diode (RTD). Operating at wavelengths around 1.55 m in the optical communications C band we achieve maximum sensitivities of around 0.29 A/W which is dependent on the bias voltage. This is due to the nature of RTD nonlinear current-voltage characteristic that has a negative differential resistance (NDR) region. The resonant tunneling diode photo-detector (RTD-PD) can be operated in either non-oscillating or oscillating regimes depending on the bias voltage quiescent point. The oscillating regime is apparent when the RTD-PD is biased in the NDR region giving rise to electrical gain and microwave self-sustained oscillations Taking advantage of the RTD's NDR distinctive characteristics, we demonstrate efficient detection of gigahertz (GHz) modulated optical carriers and optical control of a RTD GHz oscillator. RTD-PD based devices can have applications in generation and optical control of GHz low-phase noise oscillators, clock recovery systems, and fiber optic enabled radio frequency communication systems.FCT under the project WOWi [PTDC/EEA-TEL/100755/2008]; programme POCTI/FEDER [REEQ/1272/EEI/2005]; FCT Portugal [SFRH/BPD/84466/2012]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A Power-Efficient Bio-Potential Acquisition Device with DS-MDE Sensors for Long-Term Healthcare Monitoring Applications

This work describes a power-efficient bio-potential acquisition device for long-term healthcare applications that is implemented using novel microelectromechanical dry electrodes (MDE) and a low power bio-potential processing chip. Using micromachining technology, an attempt is also made to enhance the sensing reliability and stability by fabricating a diamond-shaped MDE (DS-MDE) that has a satisfactory self-stability capability and superior electric conductivity when attached onto skin without any extra skin tissue injury technology. To acquire differential bio-potentials such as ECG signals, the proposed processing chip fabricated in a standard CMOS process has a high common mode rejection ratio (C.M.R.R.) differential amplifier and a 12-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC). Use of the proposed system and integrate simple peripheral commercial devices can obtain the ECG signal efficiently without additional skin tissue injury and ensure continuous monitoring more than 70 hours with a 400 mAh battery