jmalloldiaz's blog

Following up on my work on sensory priming during the past semester and this summer, I will continue running arena trials with a new generation of P. princeps in order to study the behavioral responses of jumping spiders towards visual and acoustic stimuli. My experiments consisted of introducing a jumping spider in an arena so that it walked into a viewing chamber were pictures suddenly appeared in an iPod screen. The pictures were of a wasp (a potential predator), a cricket (a preferred prey), and a beetle (a neutral stimulus). Each spider was shown one image per trial and during the sound trials a speaker played a wasp buzzing sound for 5 seconds every 2 minutes.  Since the trials were run between the end of the Spring semester and this summer, it is possible that the effect of age influenced the spider’s response towards the stimuli, because jumping spiders are very visual and still they showed little response towards the pictures.

Due to using intermediate flight speeds for calibration purposes, pectoralis power data for cockatiels and doves is overestimated at slow speeds and underestimated at fast speeds. A follow-up study could address this issue by using other calibration parameters that do not interfere with slow and fast speed data for pectoralis power. Apart from the pectoralis muscles, data from other relevant wing muscles was not recorded in this study, and the role of the tail in reducing power requirements at slow speeds was unaddressed. This could be easily solved by employing sonomicrometry and other techniques in the rest of the muscles involved with flight, and by analyzing the bird’s use of its tail when flying at slow speeds. Finally, the model struggled to accurately measure drag at faster speeds due to a gap in the knowledge of the components of total drag. This would require further studies in the aerodynamics of flight, perhaps by employing more advanced biophysics software or using new lab techniques that record the components of total drag.

Ethers can only react with HBr and HI.

If they ask for products you have to follow the table, while if they ask for the ingredients to prepare an ether you have to assign the less hindered side to the X. In the second case your alkyl halide can't be vinyl, phenyl, or tertiary.

In Claisen rearrangement you have a phenyl and an allyl on each side of the ether. You have to start numbering form the double bond towards the O, and then shift the double bond to carbons 2-3.

Epoxides:

If a reaction whose product is an epoxide has a reactant with an X you have to use NaOH/H-.

If there is no X, the reaction will happen if there is Ag2O/O3/300C or molecules with CO3.

The base always attacks the less hindered side.

Due to using intermediate flight speeds for calibration purposes, pectoralis power data for cockatiels and doves is overestimated at slow speeds and underestimated at fast speeds. A follow-up study could address this issue by using other calibration parameters that do not interfere with slow and fast speed data for pectoralis power. Apart from the pectoralis muscles, data from other relevant wing muscles was not recorded in this study, and the role of the tail in reducing power requirements at slow speeds was unaddressed. This could be easily solved by employing sonomicrometry and other techniques in the rest of the muscles involved with flight, and by analyzing the bird’s use of its tail when flying at slow speeds. Finally, the model struggled to accurately measure drag at faster speeds due to a gap in the knowledge of the components of total drag. This would require further studies in the aerodynamics of flight, perhaps by employing more advanced biophysics software or using new lab techniques that record the components of total drag.

Poster C has the most aesthetically visual format of this selection. Despite its unusual format, it has the perfect balance between words and figures, and it conveys its message in a clear and easy way to understand. At the bottom of this poster there is a QR code next to the contact information, inviting the reader to further interact with the poster by downloading it or reaching out to the authors, which is a great idea because this way it can potentially reach out more people than just the attendants of the conference.

As a scientist, it is important to have a comprehensive knowledge of the ecological, behavioral, physiological, and evolutionary factors that affect the organisms of an ecosystem and their interactions. For example, if we look at a crab spider on flower in a field, we can study its predator-prey interactions with bees, the evolution and physiology of its color-changing mechanisms, or its defensive behavior towards potential predators like birds. The initial work of this course will build my knowledge on the biology of tropical environments, which will allow me to design and carry out my own project in an actual tropical field site. The ability to develop an experimental design, testing it, and later analyzing the results, is a fundamental skill for graduate school that this course will help me to improve.

Due to using intermediate flight speeds for calibration purposes, pectoralis power data for cockatiels and doves are overestimated at slow speeds and underestimated at fast speeds. Apart from the pectoralis muscles, data from other relevant wing muscles was not recorded in this study, and the role of the tail in reducing power requirements at slow speeds was unaddressed. Finally, the model struggled to accurately measure drag at faster speeds due to a gap in the knowledge of the components of total drag.

Magpies, cockatiels, and doves have different morphologies and flight styles, which affect their respective power curves. Magpies have a relatively small aspect ratio (5) and long tails, while the aspect ratio of cockatiels and doves is higher (7.0 and 5.7), and they have shorter tails. The morphology of a magpie restricts their maximum flight speed, because they have more profile drag and a smaller thrust/drag ratio. Meanwhile, cockatiels and doves have more optimal thrust/drag ratios and their maximum flight speed is limited by the power output of their pectoralis muscles. Regarding the effect of flight style on power curves, magpies follow an intermittent pattern, while cockatiels and doves are capable of constant flight for hours.

The amount of power produced by the pectoralis muscles varied depending on flight speed. In the case of the cockatiels, the minimum output was 1.3 W at 5 m s^-1, while at maximum output it was 3.7 W at 14 m s^-1. Meanwhile, doves had a minimum output of 4.3 W at 7 m s -1, and a maximum output of 7.5 W at 17 m s^-1. Regarding wing-beat frequency data, cockatiels reached their minimum at 9 m s^-1, while doves had a wider minimum range from 7 to 13 m s^-1. The power curve for the magpies remained relatively flat between 4 and 12 m s^-1, while cockatiels produced acutely concave curves, and doves produced an intermediate shape.

The goal of this study was to determine how cockatiels (Nymphicus hollandicus) and ringed turtle-doves (Streptopelia risoria) perform during flight in regard to their mechanical power curves. According to aerodynamic theory such curve should be U-shaped, but the only test up to date was performed with black-billed magpies (Pica pica) and produced a relatively flat power curve.