A method of determination of the angular velocity vector of a limb segment

A method for the determination of the angular velocity vector of a limb segment in three dimensional motion, is described. It is first necessary to obtain the coordinates, with respect to a space fixed system of Cartesia axes, at suitably small time increments for three non-colinear points on the limb segment. The velocity components with respect to space fixed axes, of the points on the limb segments are then obtained by numerical differentiation. A procedure which is given is then used to calculate the components, with respect to body fixed axes, of the angular velocity vector from the velocity components of the three points.     

The angular orientation of the movement detectors acting on the flight lift response in flies

The lift response of houseflies Musca domestica in fixed flight to periodic gratings movins in 12 different orientations has been measured. Two projectors were arranged symmetrically to the flies stimulating successively 18 circular patches of 50° (25°) diameter (9 for each eye) in their visual field. The shapes of the lift responses measured as a function of the orientation of the moving grating varied when different patches in the visual field were stimulated. A qualitative comparison of these response curves leads to the conclusion that the orientation of the movement detecting substrate acting on the flight lift response varies as a function of the stimulated area in the visual field. A straightforward correlation between the geometry of the ommatidial pattern and the orientation of the movement detecting substrate valid for all stimulated areas of the compound eyes does not seem very likely.     

试论白蚁防治的研究方向

白蚁是世界上五大经济害虫之一,在我国的危害也相当严重,已引起国家有关部门的高度重视,为此,国家建设部于１９９９年１０月１５日特发布第７２号令,要求自１９９９年１１月１日起施行《城市房屋建筑白蚁防治管理规定》,鼓励开展城市房屋建筑白蚁防治科学研究,推广应用新药物、新技术、新工艺、新设备。其中高效低毒白蚁防治的研究是其重要组成部分,而目前,我们开展较多的研究是在化学防治方面,我认为应侧重于微生物防治的研究。１ 化学防治 化学防治是使用化学除虫剂来防治白蚁的方法,是目前最有效、运用最多、投入的研究也最多…     

On the orientation of houseflies to various surfaces

The attraction of houseflies (Musca domestica L.) to surfaces was investigated by repeated counting of flies on samples of materials. The materials tested were mainly such as ordinarily occur in stables. The observations were made partly in a big cage in the laboratory and partly in a stable. The mechanism of attraction to some surfaces was analyzed by counting the number of flies arriving per time unit, and by measuring the duration of visits.Significant differences between materials were found. The brightness of the surfaces proved an important factor. The light materials, e.g. white tile and limewashed surfaces, were less visited than darker ones. Metallic surfaces were highly avoided. More flies were counted on very rough surfaces, straw, and jute sack, than on smoother ones, such as wood and concrete. The arrival of more flies per time unit to dark surfaces was demonstrated in some cases, and so was a tendency of staying longer on relatively rough surfaces, but the differences of attraction were not completely explained by these two reactions.

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Zusammenfassung Die Bevorzugung verschiedener Oberflächen durch die Stubenfliege (Musca domestica L.) wurde durch wiederholte Auszählung der Fliegen auf Proben verschiedener Substrate untersucht. Die Materialen waren hauptsächlich solche, die oft in Ställen vorkommen, welche bei uns nämlich den wichtigsten Aufenthaltsort der Stubenfliegen darstellen. Die Beobachtungen wurden teils im Laboratorium in einem großen Käfig, teils in einem Stall vorgenommen, wo der Besuch der dort freilebenden Fliegen registriert wurde. Vier Substrate wurden in jedem einzelnen Versuch verglichen, wobei jedes von ihnen in vier Stücken vertreten war. In allen Versuchen wurde Holz als Vergleichsbasis benutzt. Bei einigen Oberflächen wurde versucht, ihre Anziehungskraft durch Zählung der Fliegen näher zu analysieren, die pro Zeiteinheit zu diesen Materialproben kamen, sowie durch Messung der Aufenthaltsdauer auf diesen Substraten. Bei dieser Analyse wurde jeweils eine einzige Materialprobe in einem Käfig beobachtet und mit einem Standardstück aus Holz verglichen. Mehrere der Oberflächen zeigten in bezug auf Fliegenbesuche signifikante Unterschiede. Als ein wichtiger Faktor erwies sich die Helligkeit, indem helle Substrate, wie weiße Fliesen und getünchte Oberflächen, weniger als die dunkleren besucht wurden. In einem Versuch mit Kartonstücken verschiedener Tönung (weiß, hellgrau, dunkelgrau und schwarz) ergab sich, daß unter den betreffenden Versuchs-bedingungen allein die Farbe Unterschiede derselben Größenordnung verursachen konnte wie die Unterschiede zwischen den natürlichen Materialien. Metallische Oberflächen wurden weitgehend vermieden. Auf unebenen Oberflächen, Stroh und Jutesack, wurden mehr Fliegen als auf den glatteren, wie z.B. Holz und Zement, gezählt. Bei den Zählungen der pro Zeiteinheit ankommenden Fliegen ergab sich in mehreren Fällen, daß von dunkleren Oberflächen mehr Fliegen angelockt wurden. Bei Messung der Aufenthaltsdauer zeigte sich in einigen Fällen eine Tendenz zu längerem Verweilen auf unebenen Oberflächen. Jedoch liefert diese Analyse der Präferenz für Oberflächen nicht in allen Fällen eine Erklärung für die Unterschiede im Fliegenbesuch, die bei wiederholten Zählungen der Fliegen auf den Substratstücken festgestellt wurden.

     

Motion determination in actin filament fluorescence images with a spatio-temporal orientation analysis method

We present a novel approach of automatically measuring motion in series of microscopic fluorescence images. As a differential method, the three-dimensional structure tensor technique is used to calculate the displacement vector field for every image of the sequence, from which the velocities are subsequently derived. We have used this method for the analysis of the movement of single actin filaments in the in vitro motility assay, where fluorescently labeled actin filaments move over a myosin decorated surface. With its fast implementation and subpixel accuracy, this approach is, in general, very valuable for analyzing dynamic processes by image sequence analysis.     

On visual orientation of dot patterns

Two-dimensional normally distributed random dot patterns were used in two experiments on visual orientation estimation. In the first experiment the patterns differed in their sample correlation and in dot number. In the second one the number of dots was maintained constant but the patterns were generated as a superposition of two normally distributed orthogonal sets composed of different number of dots. In both experiments the estimated orientation depended on stimuli correlation-with increasing correlation the estimated orientation gets closer to the orientation of the least square distance axis of the pattern. Even at very low unsignificant correlations there still remained a hint about stimulus orientation which was not estimated at random. Equalizing consecutively the number of dots in the two orthogonal dot patterns during the second experiment did not result in chance performance either. The bimodal angular distributions of the obtained responses permitted to approach the problem of orientation ambiguity. The results are discussed in terms of optimization processes taking place in the visual system.     

The simulation of aerial movement--III. The determination of the angular momentum of the human body

A method is presented for determining the angular momentum of the human body about its mass centre for general three-dimensional movements. The body is modelled as an 11 segment link system with 17 rotational degrees of freedom and the angular momentum of the body is derived as a sum of 12 terms, each of which is a vector function of just one angular velocity. This partitioning of the angular momentum vector gives the contribution due to the relative segmental movement at each joint rather than the usual contribution of each segment. A method of normalizing the angular momentum is introduced to enable the comparison of rotational movements which have different flight times and are performed by athletes with differing inertia parameters. Angular momentum estimates were calculated during the flight phases of nine twisting somersaults performed on trampoline. Errors in film digitization made large contributions to the angular momentum error estimates. For individual angular momentum estimates the relative error is estimated to be about 10% whereas for mean angular momentum estimates the relative error is estimated to be about 1%.     

On the directional orientation of female presents inMacaca fascicularis

The directional orientation of female presents in a captive group of long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) is markedly dependent upon the sex of the potential recipient. Females present in the ‘standard’ mode significantly more often than in the ‘sideways’ mode to males, with the opposite pattern prevailing to other females.     

On the orientation of stripes in fish skin patterning

This paper is focused on the study of the stripes orientation in the fish skin patterns. Based on microscopic observations of the pigment cells behavior at the embryonic stage, the key aspects of the pigmentation process are implemented in an experimental reaction-diffusion system. The experiment consists of a photosensitive Turing pattern of stripes growing directionally in one direction with controlled velocity. Different growth velocities of the system rearrange the stripes in the same three possible orientations observed in the skin of the colored fishes: parallel, oblique, and perpendicular. Our results suggest that the spreading velocity of the pigment cells in the fish dermis selects the orientation in the patterning processes.     

On the determination of the concentration over a sphere with a barrier layer

Slow synaptic potentials may occur in principle because diffusion of the neurotransmitter to the receptors on the post-junctional cell is impeded by a barrier layer. This possibility can sometimes be tested by examining the time course of responses to an agonist applied at different distances from the cell surface.     

On the orientation of foreign neurotransmitter receptors in Xenopus oocytes

Xenopus oocytes can be made to incorporate into their membrane foreign neurotransmitter receptors and voltage-activated sodium channels. In their original location the receptors are normally activated by the extracellular action of transmitter substances. Tests were made to see if some of the newly synthesized foreign receptors were inserted in the oocyte membrane with their active site facing inwards. Since intracellular injections of acetylcholine, gamma-aminobutyric acid, serotonin and kainic acid and tetrodotoxin into the oocyte failed to elicit a response, we conclude that very few, or none, of the receptor molecules expressed in the oocyte by the exogenous mRNA are inserted with the wrong orientation in the membrane.     

On the determination of soil carbon

Summary Determinations of organic carbon on 12 carbonate-free terra rossa soil samples from Cyprus with the Walkley-Black method and the Allison reference method showed degree of carbon recovery with the Walkley-Black method ranging between 69.5 and 79.0 per cent. Determinations of organic carbon on 15 carbonaceous (21–28 per cent CaCO₃) alluvial soil samples with the method of Allison gave erratic results apparently because the carbonate could not be quantitatively removed prior to organic-C determination.Finally a rapid gravimetric method for estimating calcium carbonate in soils as refined by Bauer et al. ³ was tested on the 15 alluvial soil samples mentioned above and found as precise and as accurate as the Allison reference method.     

On permeability determination of the erythrocyte

A procedure is indicated to test the assumptions underlying the theory of determination of the permeability coefficients of the erythrocyte from its volume changes.     

The angular orientation of the black eye-bar in Haplochromis burtoni (Cichlidae,Pisces) and its relevance to aggressivity

Summary The effect of the black eye-bar in Haplochromis burtoni on the attack rate of conspecific males was found, using dummies, to depend on the angular orientation of this bar with respect to the body axis of the fish (Figs. 1, 4): The increment in attack rate increases as the black eye-bar parallels more closely the profile of the forehead and decreases as the bar approaches an orientation perpendicular to the forehead. This is valid independent of the actual body posture of the dummy bearing the black bar as could be shown by presenting dummies in a horizontal as well as in a head downward position. However, the head-down posture itself was found to cause an extra increment in attack rate, which may be considered to be additively or multiplicatively superimposed upon the increment determined by the orientation of the eye-bar with respect to the body axis (Fig. 4).Mit Unterstützung der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft im Rahmen des SFB 50.We wish to thank Ann and John Thorson for their most stimulating discussion of the paper.     

On the experimental determination of the entropy

Pfaffelhuber in his paper [1] deals with the approximation of the entropy H of finite information sources on the basis of independent observations. He derives an error estimation for the experimental entropy, which depends only on the number of the possible source-cutputs. Using this result he succeeded in giving an upper estimation for the number of independent observations needed for obtaining a reliable approximation of the exact entropy. The aim of this short correspondence is to improve his error estimation and thereby to give a new upper bound for the number of the necessary observations which is nearly the logarithm of E. Pfaffelhuber's one. We mention only that the same assertion holds for the information rate T of observation channels, too.