Escape is a life critical defensive behaviour. One potential escape strategy is using ultrafast movements to relocate quickly. These movements do not rely solely on muscle activation and are beneficial for ectotherms at low temperatures when muscle performance is constrained.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study aimed to utilize the nonnegative matrix factorization (NNMF) algorithm for muscle synergy analysis, extracting synergy structures and muscle weightings and mining biomarkers reflecting changes in muscle fatigue from these synergy structures. A leg press exercise to induce fatigue was performed by 11 participants. Surface electromyography (sEMG) data from seven muscles, electrocardiography (ECG) data, Borg CR-10 scale scores, and the z-axis acceleration of the weight block were simultaneously collected.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To investigate the efficacy of transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS) combined with Fastigial nucleus stimulation (FNS) on cerebral blood flow and limb function in patients in the acute phase of ischemic stroke.
Methods: A total of 90 patients in the acute phase of ischemic stroke were randomly divided into an FNS, TUS, and TUS + FNS group (30 patients each), and all patients also received conventional treatment. The FNS group was treated with FNS alone.
J R Soc Interface
November 2023
Enhanced attachment ability is common in plants on islands to avoid potential fatal passive dispersal. However, whether island insects also have increased attachment ability remains unclear. Here we measured the attachment of a flightless weevil, , from tropical islands, and compared it with documented arthropods from the mainland.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe sensitivity of animal photoreceptors to different wavelengths of light strongly influence the perceived visual contrast of objects in the environment. Outside of the human visual wavelength range, ultraviolet sensitivity in many species provides important and behaviourally relevant visual contrast between objects. However, at the opposite end of the spectrum, the potential advantage of red sensitivity remains unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdaptations to control heat transfer through the integument are a key component of temperature regulation in animals. However, there remain significant gaps in our understanding of how different optical and morphological properties of the integument affect heating rates. To address these gaps, we examined the effect of reflectivity in both ultraviolet-visible and near-infrared wavelengths, surface rugosity (roughness), effective area (area subjected to illumination) and cuticle thickness on radiative heat gain in jewel beetles (Buprestidae).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Chromatogr B Analyt Technol Biomed Life Sci
June 2021
Although Cynomorium songaricum Rupr. polysaccharide (CSP) has been examined for its effects on glucose regulation, its underlying mechanism is still unclear. To address this issue, a MS-based lipidomics strategy was developed to gain a system-level understanding of the mechanism of CSP on improving type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe cuticle plays an important role in the evolutionary success of insects. Many studies on insect cuticles have reported a soft, resilin-rich endocuticle. However, a recent study indicated the presence of a sclerotised endocuticle in the weevil Pachyrhynchus sarcitis kotoensis, which contradicts former knowledge.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRobust body armor is one of many anti-predator strategies used among animal taxa. The exoskeleton of insects can serve as the secondary defense mechanism in combination with the primary defense such as warning color. Aposematic weevils advertise their unprofitability and use their robust exoskeleton for effective defense against lizard predators.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnti-predator strategies are significant components of adaptation in prey species. Aposematic prey are expected to possess effective defences that have evolved simultaneously with their warning colours. This study tested the hypothesis of the defensive function and ecological significance of the hard body in aposematic weevils pioneered by Alfred Russel Wallace nearly 150 years ago.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe have experimentally investigated the jitter time of a GaAs photoconductive switch (PCSS) when it is triggered by a laser pulse with 30 ns pulse width and 1064 nm wavelength. It is found that the jitter time decreases as the incident laser pulse energy increases from 0.40 to 1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF