The honey bee shaking signal: function and design of a modulatory communication signal

This study explores the meaning and functional design of a modulatory communication signal, the honey bee shaking signal, by addressing five questions: (I) who shakes, (II) when do they shake, (III) where do they shake, (IV) how do receivers respond to shaking, and (V) what conditions trigger shaking. Several results confirm the work of Schneider (1987) and Schneider et al. (1986a): (I) most shakers were foragers (at least 83%); (II) shaking exhibited a consistent temporal pattern with bees producing the most signals in the morning (0810–1150 hours) just prior to a peak in waggle dancing activity; and (IV) bees moved faster (by 75%) after receiving a shaking signal. However, this study differs from previous work by providing a long-term, temporal, spatial, and vector analysis of individual shaker behavior. (III) Bees producing shaking signals walked and delivered signals in all areas of the hive, but produced the most shaking signals directly above the waggle dance floor. (IV) Bees responded to the signal by changing their direction of movement. Prior to receiving a signal, bees selected from the waggle dance floor moved, on average, towards the hive exit. After receiving a signal, some bees continued moving towards the exit but others moved directly away from the exit. During equivalent observation periods, non-shaken bees exhibited a strong tendency to move towards the hive exit. (V) Renewed foraging activity after food dearth triggered shaking signals, and, the level of shaking is positively correlated with the duration of food dearth. However, shaking signal levels also increased in the morning before foraging had begun and in the late afternoon after foraging had ceased. This spontaneous afternoon peak has not previously been reported. The shaking signal consequently appears to convey the general message “reallocate labor to different activities” with receiver context specifying a more precise meaning. In the context of foraging, the shaking signal appears to activate (and perhaps deactivate) colony foraging preparations. The generally weak response elicited by modulatory signals such as the shaking signal may result from a high receiver response threshold which allows the receiver to integrate multiple sources of information and which thereby increases the probability that receiver actions will be appropriate to colony needs. Received: 21 March 1997 / Accepted after revision: 30 August 1997     

Testing function of fiddler crab claw waving by manipulating social context

Many territorial advertisement signals are thought to be dual-function signals, directed to both rival male and receptive female conspecifics. However, few studies have tested this assumption by examining whether in fact both sexes are likely to elicit signaling behavior from territorial males. In this study, I experimentally manipulated the social context of male sand fiddler crabs (Uca pugilator) to investigate the effect of different audiences on the performance of the claw-waving display, a territorial signal that is often presumed to be directed to both males and females. To test whether males perform this signal to both audiences, I measured the frequency of waving behavior by focal males when housed in field enclosures alone, with only males, with only females, or with both males and females. Focal males waved at a low frequency when alone, and the presence of males had no effect on their level of waving. However, in the presence of females, focal males showed a significantly higher level of waving, whether or not males were also present. In addition, there was no association between fighting and waving behavior. This experiment provides evidence that from the perspective of the signaling male, the claw-waving display of U. pugilator is not a dual-function signal but rather is primarily directed to receptive females. Received: 16 December 1999 / Received in revised form: 1 February 2000 / Accepted: 19 February 2000     

Species-specific attraction to pheromonal analogues in orchid bees

Male orchid bees (Euglossini) collect fragrances from flowers and other natural sources, a behaviour that has shaped the euglossine pollination syndrome. Males store such chemicals in hind leg pouches and later expose them during courtship display. In the present study, we show that complex bouquets of two sympatric species of Eulaema, E. meriana and E. bombiformis, are chemically distinct. When exposed during bioassays at display perches individual hind leg extracts rapidly and consistently attracted other males of the correct species, even if derived from males of disparate localities (French Guiana and Panama). Conspecific males as well as females of E. bombiformis arrived at natural perch sites only from downwind, and two copulations were observed. Our findings demonstrate that acquired odours mediate exclusive attraction within species and support the idea that such fragrances are pheromone analogues. Their role in acquiring matings and during male–male interaction is discussed.     

内源性气态SO2对大鼠血管的舒张作用及其机制IV:SO2对血压的调节与信号通路

为探讨内源性二氧化硫(SO2)对动脉血压的影响及其信号转导通路,采用大鼠颈动、静脉插管技术研究SO2对动脉压调节作用,通过离体血管环灌流试验观察SO2对NE引起的主动脉血管环收缩作用的影响,用生物化学方法与实时定量RT-PCR技术研究SO2对离体血管一氧化氮(NO)生成、一氧化氮合酶(NOS)活性和基因表达的调节作用....     

车用柴油机湿式气缸套振动特性分析

目的通过对柴油机湿式气缸套振动特性的计算分析,研究气缸套失效的主要原因,以提高柴油机结构的可靠性。方法基于16V280ZJ型柴油机气缸套的结构参数,采用有限元法建立气缸套有限元分析模型,对其进行模态分析,包括自由模态以及约束模态,分析气缸套的固有振动特性。然后基于16V280ZJ型柴油机的性能参数,计算气体力与惯性力,从而计算得到气缸套承受的交变侧压力。通过时-频转化将交变侧压力谱转化为频域谱,以分析气缸套承受的激励特性。结果气缸套的模态振型主要为径向弯曲振动,说明径向刚度小于轴向刚度。气缸套承受的交变侧压力的频率低于气缸套的固有频率。结论柴油机湿式气缸套受活塞侧向激振力不会发生共振,缸套的径向刚度较小,导致激振力传递给冷却水后缸套会发生穴蚀。     

高压环境下2种NDIR型CO_(2)红外传感器的响应规律

目的研究压力变化环境对NDIR型CO_(2)气体传感器的影响,获得不同压力范围内传感器的响应变化规律。方法采用小型加压舱,在CO_(2)分压不变的情况下,分别采用N_(2)阶梯缓慢加压和冲击快速加压方式,研究英国C20和国产G4传感器在高压环境中稳定时间和漂移度等性能指标的波动规律,考察传感器对压力变化的响应规律。结果在低于607950 Pa的高气压稳压状态下,基本不会造成机械损伤,但信号会发生较大的漂移,国产G4分体式传感器出现信号震荡现象。CO_(2)分体式传感器及整机的浓度输出值随着压力的升高,标准气样值与实测值的比值接近幂函数形式,分体式传感器的输出浓度值比整机的输出浓度值要大。结论不同CO_(2)浓度分压下的压力响应规律具有比较良好的一致性,冲击加压的漂移比阶梯加压显著,浓度真值可以通过测量总压和内置多次函数来修正。     

车路协同下信号控制交叉口两难区问题改善方法

为降低两难区对信号控制交叉口交通安全的影响,针对车路协同环境下交通信息获取方式及交叉口区域车辆运行特点,提出信号控制交叉口两难区问题改善方法。在分析各种两难区问题改善措施的适用性基础上,确定车路协同环境下信号控制交叉口两难区问题改善方法的工作流程,综合运用车速引导、动态绿灯时间延长和黄灯时间调整等3种措施降低车辆进入两难区的概率,并提出主要参数计算方法。运用Vissim软件进行仿真试验,结果表明,笔者建立的两难区问题改善方法能使车辆闯红灯次数平均降低78.1%,且改善效果在低峰流量时优于高峰流量时。     

Work division of floral scent compounds in mediating pollinator behaviours

Floral scents are known as an olfactory signal for attracting pollinators, but why the flowers pollinated by highly specialised pollinators emit scents consisting of mixtures of many compounds and dominated by one or a few compounds is still poorly understood. We supposed that each (especially characteristic) chemical in floral scents may play a specific role in mediating pollinator behaviours and tested this supposition in a fig-fig wasp mutualism. Ficus curtipes is obligately pollinated by an undescribed Eupristina species. In the scent of F. curtipes receptive figs, over 50 compounds have been identified, and the scent is dominated by two compounds, 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-ol (OL) and 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one (NE). We therefore tested the roles of the two major chemicals in mediating the pollinator behaviours. Our results show that OL and NE, respectively, act as a long-distance attractant and a fig-entry behaviour stimulant to the obligate pollinator wasp. Namely, OL attracts the wasps to the figs and NE guides the wasps into the figs. This finding on the work division of floral scent compounds partially explains the maintenance mechanism of the fig-fig wasp mutualism and the significance of the chemical diversity of floral scent in plant–pollinator interactions, especially in specialised pollination systems.     

多色强光手电筒在森林防火中的应用研究

本文介绍了一种用于实现林区夜晚信息互通的应急通信工具—多色强光手电筒,并对其构成、使用方法、适用范围及应用前景进行了详尽的分析研究。     

Pesticides alter ion transport across frog (Pelophylax kl. esculentus) skin

We have measured, in the edible frog (Pelophylax kl. esculentus), the effect of two fungicides (8-hydroxyquinoline and captan), and four herbicides (DCMU, glyphosate, paraquat, and propachlor) on the short-circuit current, whose value gives an estimate of the net ion transport taking place across isolated skin. Glyphosate and paraquat treatment produced a modest increase in short-circuit current, corresponding to 2.6±0.7 and 4.6±0.8 μA·cm^?2, whereas the other substances had a more sustained effect, ranging from 9.1±0.6 (propachlor) to 14.8±0.9 μA·cm^?2 (captan), which is mainly attributable to an increase in the Na⁺ absorption, and, to a lesser extent, Cl^? secretion. The increase in short-circuit current after pesticide treatment, was partially abolished by AF12198, indomethacin, SC58125, SQ 22536, and W7; these results suggest that pesticides, independently from their chemical structure, induce the release of interleukin-1, which triggers the activity of cyclooxygenase-2, whose products, via a concentration in intracellular cAMP and Ca²⁺ concentration, increase Na⁺ absorption. The resulting Na⁺ disequilibrium must be compensated for by other epithelia, with the only consequence being the dissipation of energy. However, our results are important because they indicate that pesticides interact with the basic cellular machinery, which is responsible for the myriad of biological functions of different cell types.