Energetics of honeybee swarm thermoregulation

Honeybee swarms regulate their core temperature at a high set point (near 36 degrees C) and the mantle at a low set point (near 15 degrees C). The temperature gradient from core to mantle permits considerable energy economy, and it is abolished only shortly before swarm takeoff.     

Behavioral thermoregulation by fishes: a new experimental approach

Electronic equipment allows fishes, by their spatial movements, to regulate the temperature in experimental tanks. Swimming into warmer water causes the temperature of the entire tank to increase; conversely, swimming into cooler water causes the temperature to decrease. The technique may be adapted for studying simultaneous behavioral regulation of temperature and nonthermal factors.     

Honey bee nest thermoregulation: diversity promotes stability

A honey bee colony is characterized by high genetic diversity among its workers, generated by high levels of multiple mating by its queen. Few clear benefits of this genetic diversity are known. Here we show that brood nest temperatures in genetically diverse colonies (i.e., those sired by several males) tend to be more stable than in genetically uniform ones (i.e., those sired by one male). One reason this increased stability arises is because genetically determined diversity in workers' temperature response thresholds modulates the hive-ventilating behavior of individual workers, preventing excessive colony-level responses to temperature fluctuations.     

Peripheral thermoregulation: foot temperature in two Arctic canines

Arctic foxes and gray wolves maintain their foot temperature just above the tissue freezing point (about -1 degrees C)when standing on extremely cold snow, or when the foot is immersed in a -35 degrees C bath in the laboratory. Proportional thermoregulation stabilized the subcutaneous temperature of the foot pad to a precision of +/- 0.7 degrees C (largest deviations). Selective shunting of blood-borne body heat through a cutaneous vascular plexus in the foot pad accounted for more than 99 percent of measured heat loss from the pad surface. Maximum energetic efficiency is achieved because the unit of heat exchange is located in the pad surface which contacts the cold substrate rather than throughout the pad.     

Behavioral thermoregulation in lizards: importance of associated costs

The Puerto Rican lizard Anolis cristatellus behaviorally regulates body temperature in an open habitat but passively tolerates lower and more variable temperatures in an adjacent forest where basking sites are few and distant. Thermoregulation may be adaptive only when costs resulting from associated losses of time and energy are low.     

留住历史的艺术家们

在马利雅尼壁画的作坊里,流传着一个广为人知的秘密:让古老的壁画艺术在现代家居装饰中复活,使每个人都有机会重温文艺复兴时期的繁华气息。工人们采用了一种在意大利语中被称之为撕墙的制作工艺,这种古老的近乎失传的技法最早出现在乔托为阿西斯圣弗朗西斯教堂绘制的壁画中。     

剔旧——维持高校图书馆藏的生命力

基于高校图书馆馆藏建设的需要,分析了图书剔旧的必要性,以及现有剔旧方法的不足之处,提出在馆长领导下组建一个剔旧小组,在分析各类图书特点的基础上,结合馆藏建设规划,适当参考专家读者意见,最终确定科学合理的剔旧方案。     

蜂王受精囊腺cDNA文库的构建与分析

从400只人工培育的处女蜂王中解剖受精囊及其腺体,利用其mRNA构建了一个cDNA文库.该文库的滴度为1.1×106,重组效率大于99％.进一步对文库克隆进行小规模测序和分析,获得了一批编码蜂王受精囊腺内溶蛋白的基因克隆,同时从中也检测到编码3种蜂毒蛋白(明肽、镇静肽和icarapin)、2种王浆蛋白(MRJP8-9)...     

新疆荒漠化防治与持续发展的关键一环

荒漠化是制约新疆持续发展的关键。从６×１０４ｋｍ２绿洲的人均、亩均水资源占有量现状看，新疆水资源是比较丰富的；但从１６０×１０４ｋｍ２国土的长远持续发展和荒漠化防治来看，新疆水资源不仅量少而且分布极不均匀，属全国最缺水的省区。节水是新疆的当务之急，然而调水却是新疆持续发展的长远之计，因此也必须纳入议事日程予以考虑