A5016178090- Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior
- Adhesion, Friction, and Surface Interactions
- Cephalopods and Marine Biology
- Mechanics and Biomechanics Studies
- Winter Sports Injuries and Performance
- Marine Biology and Environmental Chemistry
- Plant and animal studies
- Silk-based biomaterials and applications
- Fossil Insects in Amber
- Plant and Biological Electrophysiology Studies
- Turfgrass Adaptation and Management
- Engineering Technology and Methodologies
- Neurobiology and Insect Physiology Research
- Surface Modification and Superhydrophobicity
- Plant Parasitism and Resistance
- Polymer Surface Interaction Studies
- Aquaculture Nutrition and Growth
- Anomaly Detection Techniques and Applications
- Physiological and biochemical adaptations
- Fish biology, ecology, and behavior
- Network Security and Intrusion Detection
- Advanced Malware Detection Techniques
- Mycorrhizal Fungi and Plant Interactions
- Sports Performance and Training
- Lichen and fungal ecology
Imperial College London
2022-2024
University of Cambridge
2019-2021
Yale University
2016
University of Michigan
2015
Recent advances in bio-inspired microfibrillar adhesives have resulted technologies that allow reliable attachment to a variety of surfaces. Because capillary and van der Waals forces are considerably weakened underwater, fibrillar however far less effective wet environments. Although various strategies been proposed achieve strong reversible underwater adhesion, work both air without additional surface treatments yet be developed. In this study, we report novel design-cupped microstructures...
Herbivores large and small need to mechanically process plant tissue. Their ability do so is determined by two forces: the maximum force they can generate, minimum required fracture The ratio of these forces determines relative mechanical effort; how this varies with animal size challenging predict. We measured cut thin polymer sheets mandibles from leaf-cutter ant workers which vary more than one order magnitude in body mass. Cutting were independent mandible size, but differed a factor...
Abstract Switchable underwater adhesion can be useful for numerous applications, but is extremely challenging due to the presence of water at contact interface. Here, deformable cupped microstructures (diameter typically 100 µm, rim thickness 5 µm) are reported that switch between high (≈1 MPa) and low (<0.2 strength by adjusting retraction velocity from 0.1 µm s –1 . The which occurs determined specific design parameters microstructure, such as cup width angle. results compared with...
Limpets (
Abstract Background Suction organs provide powerful yet dynamic attachments for many aquatic animals, including octopus, squid, remora, and clingfish. While the functional morphology of suction from some cephalopods fishes has been investigated in detail, there are only few studies on such attachment devices insects. Here we characterise ultrastructure net-winged midge larvae (genus Liponeura ; Diptera: Blephariceridae) – insects that live rocks rapid alpine waterways where flow speeds can...
Insects use their mandibles for a variety of tasks, including food processing, material transport, nest building, brood care, and fighting. Despite this functional diversity, mandible motion is typically thought to be constrained rotation about single fixed axis. Here, we conduct direct quantitative test 'hinge joint hypothesis' in species that uses its wide range tasks:
Suction is widely used by animals for strong controllable underwater adhesion but less well understood than of terrestrial climbing animals. Here we investigate the attachment aquatic insect larvae (Blephariceridae), which cling to rocks in torrential streams using only known muscle-actuated suction organs insects. We measured their forces on well-defined rough substrates and found that was reduced micro-roughness In vivo visualisation contact with microstructured revealed they can mould...
Herbivores large and small need to mechanically process plant tissue. Their ability do so is determined by two forces: the maximum force they can generate, minimum required fracture The ratio of these forces determines relative mechanical effort; how this varies with animal size challenging predict. We measured cut thin polymer sheets mandibles from leaf-cutter ant workers which vary more than one order magnitude in body mass. Cutting were independent mandible size, but differed a factor...
Anti-malware software traditionally employ methods of signature-based and heuristic-based detection. These detection systems need to be manually updated with new behaviors detect new, unknown, or adapted malware. Our goal is create a malware solution that will serve three purposes: automatically identify classify unknown files on spectrum severity; introduce hybrid machine learning approach modified traces; increase the accuracy results. accomplished through use data mining concepts...
How animals process and absorb nutrients from their food is a fundamental question in biology. Despite the continuity interaction between intraoral processing post-oesophageal nutritional extraction, these topics have largely been studied separately. At present, we lack synthesis of how pre- mechanisms shape ability various taxa to effectively assimilate diet. The aim this special issue catalyse unification distinct approaches as functional continuum. We highlight questions that derive...
To resist hydrodynamic forces, two main underwater attachment strategies have evolved multiple times in aquatic animals: glue-like &ldquo;bioadhesive secretions&rdquo; and pressure-driven &ldquo;suction attachment&rdquo;. In this review, we use a multi-level approach to highlight convergence mechanisms across four different length-scales (organism, organ, microscopic molecular). At the organism level, ability attach may serve variety of functions, most important being: (i)...
Leaf-cutter ants cut fresh leaves to grow a symbiotic fungus as crop. During cutting, one mandible is typically anchored onto the leaf lamina while other slices through it like knife. When initiating cuts into edge, however, foragers sometimes deviate from this behaviour, and instead used their mandibles symmetrically, akin scissors. In-vivo behavioural assays revealed that preference for either of two cutting strategies depended on edge geometry, differed between natural margins were...
2. Abstract Suction organs provide powerful yet dynamic attachments for many aquatic animals, including octopus, squid, remora, and clingfish. While the functional morphology of suction from various cephalopods fishes has been investigated in detail, there are only few studies on such attachment devices insects. Here we characterise morphology, ultrastructure, vivo movements net-winged midge larvae (genus Liponeura ) – insects that live rocks rapid alpine waterways where flow rates can reach...
Abstract Suction is widely used by animals for strong controllable underwater adhesion but less well understood than of terrestrial climbing animals. Here we investigate the attachment an aquatic insect larva (Blephariceridae), which clings to rocks in torrential streams using only known muscle-actuated suction organs insects. We measured their forces on well-defined rough substrates and found was much reduced micro-roughness In vivo visualisation contact with microstructured revealed that...
Insects use their mandibles for a variety of tasks, including cutting and material transport, defence, building nests, caring brood, competing mates. Despite this functional diversity, mandible motion is thought to be constrained rotation about single fixed axis in the majority extant species. Here, we conduct direct quantitative test ‘hinge joint hypothesis’ species that uses its wide range tasks: Atta vollenweideri leaf-cutter ants. Mandible movements from live restrained ants were...