112 resultados para Seed number
Resumo:
This article presents an experimental approach for evaluating the various flight characteristics of a mahogany seed in its autorotative descent. Analytical formulae proposed by Yasuda and Azuma are used to interpret the results. The findings are used in the development of a sophisticated blade element computational model, primarily to analyse planar autorotating systems. This approximate computational approach is then used to predict the flight performance of mahogany seeds and the results are compared with experimental data. The potential use of the computational model in the design of autorotating systems is then brought to light.
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The capacity of species to track shifting climates into the future will strongly influence outcomes for biodiversity under a rapidly changing climate. However, we know remarkably little about the dispersal abilities of most species and how these may be influenced by climate change. Here we show that climate change is projected to substantially reduce the seed dispersal services provided by frugivorous vertebrates in rainforests across the Australian Wet Tropics. Our model projections show reductions in both median and long-distance seed dispersal, which may markedly reduce the capacity of many rainforest plant species to track shifts in suitable habitat under climate change. However, our analyses suggest that active management to maintain the abundances of a small set of important frugivores under climate change could markedly reduce the projected loss of seed dispersal services and facilitate shifting distributions of rainforest plant species.
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Stoichiometric tin (II) sulfide (SnS) nano-structures were synthesized on SnS(010)/glass substrates using a simple and low-temperature chemical solution method, and their physical properties were investigated. The as-synthesized SnS nanostructures exhibited orthorhombic crystal structure and most of the nanocrystals are preferentially oriented along the <010> direction. These nanostructures showed p-type electrical conductivity and high electrical resistivity of 93 Omega cm. SnS nanostructures exhibited a direct optical band gap of 1.43 eV. While increasing the surrounding temperature from 20 to 150 degrees C, the electrical resistivity of the structures decreased and exhibited the activation energy of 0.28 eV.
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1. Plant reproductive phenology is generally viewed as an individual's strategy to maximize gamete exchange and propagule dispersal and is often considered largely dependent on patterns of floral initiation. Reproductive phenology, however, can be affected by proximate responses to pollinators, parasites and herbivores which could influence floral longevity or fruit development time. 2. We examined the influence of insect interactants on within-plant reproductive phenology in the fig-fig wasp nursery pollination mutualism in Ficus racemosa (Moraceae). Most figs support a wasp community comprised of a mutualistic pollinator, with several host-plant-specific non-pollinating herbivorous gallers and parasitoids. These wasps reproduce within enclosed inflorescences called syconia, which develop into fruit after pollination. While different wasp species oviposit into syconia at varying times during its ontogeny, all wasp progeny are constrained to exit syconia simultaneously just prior to fruit ripening. Developing larvae of early-ovipositing wasps may hasten syconium ontogeny through formation of earlier and larger nutrient sinks, whereas larvae of late-arriving parasites may lengthen syconium ontogeny to complete their development successfully. Seeds are also important nutrient sinks. The number of seeds and the type and number of developing wasps may therefore be expected to influence syconium development times, thereby affecting the reproductive synchrony of syconia on a plant. 3. Observations on naturally pollinated and parasitized syconia indicated that their seed and wasp content affected syconium development time. Experimental manipulations of syconia to produce only seeds or various combinations of wasps confirmed this finding. Early-ovipositing galler progeny reduced syconium development times, while gallers ovipositing concurrently with pollinators had no effect on syconium development. Late-ovipositing parasitoid progeny, the presence of only seeds within the syconium, or delayed pollination increased syconium development time. The differential development of syconia, which was influenced by mutualistic or parasitic progeny, accordingly contributed to within-tree reproductive asynchrony. 4. Synthesis. Individual reproductive units in fig trees called syconia, which also function as brood sites for pollinating and parasitic fig wasps, have plastic development durations dependent on pollination timing and species of wasps developing within them. Syconium development times are a likely compromise between conflicting demands from developing seeds and different wasp species.
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Hydrophobic/superhydrophobic metallic surfaces prepared via chemical treatment are encountered in many industrial scenarios involving the impingement of spray droplets. The effectiveness of such surfaces is understood through the analysis of droplet impact experiments. In the present study, three target surfaces with aluminum (Al-6061) as base material-acid-etched, Octadecyl Trichloro Silane (OTS) coated, and acid-etched plus OTS-coated-were prepared. Experiments on the impact of inertia dominated water drops on these chemically modified aluminum surfaces were carried out with the objective to highlight the effect of chemical treatment on the target surfaces on key sub-processes occurring in drop impact phenomenon. High speed videos of the entire drop impact dynamics were captured at three Weber number (We) conditions representative of high We (We > 200) regime. During the early stages of drop spreading, the drop impact resulted in ejection of secondary droplets from spreading drop front on the etched surfaces resembling prompt splash on rough surfaces whereas no such splashing was observable on untreated aluminum surface. Prominent development of undulations (fingers) were observed at the rim of drop spreading on the etched surfaces; between the etched surfaces the OTS-coated surface showed a subdued development of fingers than the uncoated surface. The impacted drops showed intense receding on OTS-coated surfaces whereas on the etched surface a highly irregular receding, with drop liquid sticking to the surface, was observed. Quantitative analyses were performed to reveal the effect of target surface characteristics on drop impact parameters such as temporal variation of spread factor of drop lamella, temporal variation of average finger length during spreading phase, maximum drop spreading, time taken to attain maximum spreading, sensitivity of maximum spreading to We, number of fingers at maximum spreading, and average receding velocity of drop lamella. Existing models for maximum drop spreading showed reasonably good agreement with the experimental measurements on the target surfaces except the acid-etched surface. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Rainbow connection number, rc(G), of a connected graph G is the minimum number of colors needed to color its edges so that every pair of vertices is connected by at least one path in which no two edges are colored the same (note that the coloring need not be proper). In this paper we study the rainbow connection number with respect to three important graph product operations (namely the Cartesian product, the lexicographic product and the strong product) and the operation of taking the power of a graph. In this direction, we show that if G is a graph obtained by applying any of the operations mentioned above on non-trivial graphs, then rc(G) a parts per thousand currency sign 2r(G) + c, where r(G) denotes the radius of G and . In general the rainbow connection number of a bridgeless graph can be as high as the square of its radius 1]. This is an attempt to identify some graph classes which have rainbow connection number very close to the obvious lower bound of diameter (and thus the radius). The bounds reported are tight up to additive constants. The proofs are constructive and hence yield polynomial time -factor approximation algorithms.
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Central to network tomography is the problem of identifiability, the ability to identify internal network characteristics uniquely from end-to-end measurements. This problem is often underconstrained even when internal network characteristics such as link delays are modeled as additive constants. While it is known that the network topology can play a role in determining the extent of identifiability, there is a lack in the fundamental understanding of being able to quantify it for a given network. In this paper, we consider the problem of identifying additive link metrics in an arbitrary undirected network using measurement nodes and establishing paths/cycles between them. For a given placement of measurement nodes, we define and derive the ``link rank'' of the network-the maximum number of linearly independent cycles/paths that may be established between the measurement nodes. We achieve this in linear time. The link rank helps quantify the exact extent of identifiability in a network. We also develop a quadratic time algorithm to compute a set of cycles/paths that achieves the maximum rank.
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Frugivores with disparate foraging behavior are considered to vary in their seed dispersal effectiveness (SDE). Measured SDEs for gibbons and macaques for a primate-fruit' were comparable despite the different foraging and movement behavior of the primates. This could help facilitate fruit trait convergence in diverse fruit-frugivore networks.
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Plants emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from most parts of their anatomy. Conventionally, the volatiles of leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds have been investigated separately. This review presents an integrated perspective of volatiles produced by fruits and seeds in the context of selection on the whole plant. It suggests that fruit and seed volatiles may only be understood in the light of the chemistry of the whole plant. Fleshy fruit may be viewed as an ecological arena within which several evolutionary games are being played involving fruit VOCs. Fruit odour and colour may be correlated and interact via multimodal signalling in influencing visits by frugivores. The hypothesis of volatile crypsis in the evolution of hard seeds as protection against volatile diffusion and perception by seed predators is reviewed. Current views on the role of volatiles in ant dispersal of seeds or myrmecochory are summarised, especially the suggestion that ants are being manipulated by plants in the form of a sensory trap while providing this service. Plant VOC production is presented as an emergent phenotype that could result from multiple selection pressures acting on various plant parts; the ``plant'' phenotype and VOC profile may receive significant contributions from symbionts within the plant. Viewing the plant as a holobiont would benefit an understanding of the emergent plant phenotype.
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A protease inhibitor from the seeds of Butea monosperma (BmPI) was purified, characterized and studied for its influence on developmental physiology of Helicover-pa armigera. BmPI on two-dimensional separations indicated the presence of a 14 kDa protein with an isoelectric point in the acidic region (pl 5.6). Multiple Sequence Analysis data suggested that the BmPI contains a sequence motif which is conserved in various trypsin and chymotrypsin inhibitors of Kunitz-type. The inhibitor exhibited trypsin inhibitory activity in a broad range of pH (4-10) and temperature (10-80 degrees C). The enzyme kinetic studies revealed BmPI as a competitive inhibitor with a K-i value of 1.2 x 10(-9) M. In vitro studies with BmPI indicated measurable inhibitory activity on total gut proteolytic enzymes of H. armigera (IC(50)2.0 mu g/ml) and bovine trypsin. BmPI supplemented artificial diet caused dose dependent mortality and reduction in growth and weight. The fertility and fecundity of H. armigera, declined whereas the larval-pupal duration of the insect life cycle extended. These detrimental effects on H. armigera suggest the usefulness of BmPl in insect pest management of food crops. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Small covers were introduced by Davis and Januszkiewicz in 1991. We introduce the notion of equilibrium triangulations for small covers. We study equilibrium and vertex minimal 4-equivariant triangulations of 2-dimensional small covers. We discuss vertex minimal equilibrium triangulations of RP3#RP3, S-1 x RP2 and a nontrivial S-1 bundle over RP2. We construct some nice equilibrium triangulations of the real projective space RPn with 2(n) + n 1 vertices. The main tool is the theory of small covers.
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Logging and hunting are two key direct threats to the survival of wildlife in the tropics, and also disrupt important ecosystem processes. We investigated the impacts of these two factors on the different stages of the seed dispersal cycle, including abundance of plants and their dispersers and dispersal of seeds and recruitment, in a tropical forest in north-east India. We focused on hornbills, which are important seed dispersers in these forests, and their food tree species. We compared abundances of hornbill food tree species in a site with high logging and hunting pressures (heavily disturbed) with a site that had no logging and relatively low levels of hunting (less disturbed) to understand logging impacts on hornbill food tree abundance. We compared hornbill abundances across these two sites. We, then, compared the scatter-dispersed seed arrival of five large-seeded tree species and the recruitment of four of those species. Abundances of hornbill food trees that are preferentially targeted by logging were two times higher in the less disturbed site as compared to the heavily disturbed site while that of hornbills was 22 times higher. The arrival of scatter-dispersed seeds was seven times higher in the less disturbed site. Abundances of recruits of two tree species were significantly higher in the less disturbed site. For another species, abundances of younger recruits were significantly lower while that of older recruits were higher in the heavily disturbed site. Our findings suggest that logging reduces food plant abundance for an important frugivore-seed disperser group, while hunting diminishes disperser abundances, with an associated reduction in seed arrival and altered recruitment of animal-dispersed tree species in the disturbed site. Based on our results, we present a conceptual model depicting the relationships and pathways between vertebrate-dispersed trees, their dispersers, and the impacts of hunting and logging on these pathways.
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For maximizing influence spread in a social network, given a certain budget on the number of seed nodes, we investigate the effects of selecting and activating the seed nodes in multiple phases. In particular, we formulate an appropriate objective function for two-phase influence maximization under the independent cascade model, investigate its properties, and propose algorithms for determining the seed nodes in the two phases. We also study the problem of determining an optimal budget-split and delay between the two phases.