A female Brown-fronted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos auriceps) was first observed and photographed in the Jilong Valley of the Mount Qomolangma Region,China,on 21 May 2012.The coordinates of the site are 28°19′25.03″...A female Brown-fronted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos auriceps) was first observed and photographed in the Jilong Valley of the Mount Qomolangma Region,China,on 21 May 2012.The coordinates of the site are 28°19′25.03″N,85°20′29.70"E at an elevation of 2150 m.A few months later,a male was observed at 28°20′02.49"N,85°20′46.30"E on 8 August at an elevation of 2197 m.The habitat is a mountain temperate coniferous and dry broadleaved mixed forest of the warm temperate zone.展开更多
The Three-toed Woodpecker subspecies Picoides tridactylus funebris is endemic to the Qinghai-Tibet plateau in China. No part of its life history was ever reported since its discovery in 1870. To close this gap, we obs...The Three-toed Woodpecker subspecies Picoides tridactylus funebris is endemic to the Qinghai-Tibet plateau in China. No part of its life history was ever reported since its discovery in 1870. To close this gap, we observed foraging behavior of a pair between April and August 2007. A total of 117 observations (28 for male and 89 for female) were obtained by following the birds within their home-ranges using radio-tracking. P. t. funebris preferred foraging on live spruces and snags bigger than available with an average diameter of breast height (DBH) of 32.7 ± 9.2 cm. The most frequent foraging technique was pecking (39.8% of foraging time) and peeling (13.2%). Moreover, sap-sucking was observed more often in P. t. funebris than in P. t. alpinus, suggesting that P. t. funebris was more dependent on the tree sap than the other subspecies. We found distinct niche partitioning between the sexes with respect to use of three out of four investigated parameters of the foraging substrates. These differences were likely related to sexual dimorphism pronounced by slightly larger bill of the male. We concluded that the subspecies P. t. funebris displayed foraging behavior which was very similar to that of other subspecies of the Three-toed Woodpecker.展开更多
The interacting patterns of the luteolin and guanine have been investigated by using the density functional theory B3LYP method with 6-31+G* basis set. Eighteen stable structures for the luteolin-guanine complexes h...The interacting patterns of the luteolin and guanine have been investigated by using the density functional theory B3LYP method with 6-31+G* basis set. Eighteen stable structures for the luteolin-guanine complexes have been found respectively. The results indicate that the complexes are mainly stabilized by the hydrogen bonding interactions. Meanwhile, both the number and strength of hydrogen bond play important roles in determining the stability of the complexes which can form two or more hydrogen bonds. Theories of atoms in molecules and natural bond orbital have also been utilized to investigate the hydrogen bonds involved in all the systems. The interaction energies of all the complexes which were corrected by basis set superposition error are 6.04-56.94 kJ/mol. The calculation results indicate that there are strong hydrogen bonding interactions in the luteolin-guanine complexes. We compared the interaction between luteolin and four bases of DNA, and found luteolin-thymine was the strongest and luteolin-adenine was the weakest. The interaction between luteolin and DNA bases are all stronger than luteolin-water.展开更多
Woodpeckers are well able to resist head injury during repeated high speed impacts at 6-7 m s-1 with decelerations up to 1000 g.This study was designed to compare the mechanical properties,microstructures and composit...Woodpeckers are well able to resist head injury during repeated high speed impacts at 6-7 m s-1 with decelerations up to 1000 g.This study was designed to compare the mechanical properties,microstructures and compositions of cranial bone and beak bone of great spotted woodpecker(Dendrocopos major) and the Mongolian sky lark(Melanocorypha mongolica).Microstructures were observed using micro-computed tomography and scanning electron microscopy and their compositions were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy.Under high stress,the cranial bone and the beak of the woodpecker exhibited distinctive mechanical features,which were associated with differences in micro-structure and composition,compared with those of the lark.Evolutionary optimization of bone micro-structure has enabled functional adaptation to the woodpecker's specific lifestyle.Its characteristic micro-structure efficiently avoids head impact injury and may provide potential clues to the prevention of brain injury using bio-inspired designs of shock-absorbing materials.展开更多
The woodpecker does not suffer head/eye impact injuries while drumming on a tree trunk with high acceleration (more than 1000xg) and high frequency. The mechanism that protects the woodpecker's head has aroused the...The woodpecker does not suffer head/eye impact injuries while drumming on a tree trunk with high acceleration (more than 1000xg) and high frequency. The mechanism that protects the woodpecker's head has aroused the interest of ornithologists, biologists and scientists in the areas of mechanical engineering, material science and electronics engineering. This article reviews the literature on the biomechanisms and materials responsible for protecting the woodpecker from head impact injury and their applications in engineering and human protection.展开更多
To investigate the mechanism of brain protection of woodpecker,we built a finite element model of a whole woodpecker using computed topography scanning technique and geometry modeling.Dynamic analyses reveal:(i)99.7%o...To investigate the mechanism of brain protection of woodpecker,we built a finite element model of a whole woodpecker using computed topography scanning technique and geometry modeling.Dynamic analyses reveal:(i)99.7%of the impact energy is converted into strain energy in the bulk of body and 0.3%is converted into strain energy in the head after three successive peckings,indicating the majority of the impact energy is stored in the bulk of body;(ii)the strain energy in brain is mainly converted into the dissipated energy,alleviating the mechanical injury to brain;(iii)the deformation and the effective energy dissipation of the beaks facilitate the decrease of the stress and impact energy transferred to the brain;(iv)the skull and dura mater not only provide the physical protection for the brain,but also diminish the strain energy in the brain by energy dissipation;(v)the binding of skull with the hyoid bone enhances the anti-shock ability of head.The whole body of the woodpecker gets involved in the energy conversion and forms an efficient anti-shock protection system for brain.展开更多
文摘A female Brown-fronted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos auriceps) was first observed and photographed in the Jilong Valley of the Mount Qomolangma Region,China,on 21 May 2012.The coordinates of the site are 28°19′25.03″N,85°20′29.70"E at an elevation of 2150 m.A few months later,a male was observed at 28°20′02.49"N,85°20′46.30"E on 8 August at an elevation of 2197 m.The habitat is a mountain temperate coniferous and dry broadleaved mixed forest of the warm temperate zone.
基金supported by National Natural Sciences Foundation of China (30620130110)the Chinese Academy of Sciences
文摘The Three-toed Woodpecker subspecies Picoides tridactylus funebris is endemic to the Qinghai-Tibet plateau in China. No part of its life history was ever reported since its discovery in 1870. To close this gap, we observed foraging behavior of a pair between April and August 2007. A total of 117 observations (28 for male and 89 for female) were obtained by following the birds within their home-ranges using radio-tracking. P. t. funebris preferred foraging on live spruces and snags bigger than available with an average diameter of breast height (DBH) of 32.7 ± 9.2 cm. The most frequent foraging technique was pecking (39.8% of foraging time) and peeling (13.2%). Moreover, sap-sucking was observed more often in P. t. funebris than in P. t. alpinus, suggesting that P. t. funebris was more dependent on the tree sap than the other subspecies. We found distinct niche partitioning between the sexes with respect to use of three out of four investigated parameters of the foraging substrates. These differences were likely related to sexual dimorphism pronounced by slightly larger bill of the male. We concluded that the subspecies P. t. funebris displayed foraging behavior which was very similar to that of other subspecies of the Three-toed Woodpecker.
文摘The interacting patterns of the luteolin and guanine have been investigated by using the density functional theory B3LYP method with 6-31+G* basis set. Eighteen stable structures for the luteolin-guanine complexes have been found respectively. The results indicate that the complexes are mainly stabilized by the hydrogen bonding interactions. Meanwhile, both the number and strength of hydrogen bond play important roles in determining the stability of the complexes which can form two or more hydrogen bonds. Theories of atoms in molecules and natural bond orbital have also been utilized to investigate the hydrogen bonds involved in all the systems. The interaction energies of all the complexes which were corrected by basis set superposition error are 6.04-56.94 kJ/mol. The calculation results indicate that there are strong hydrogen bonding interactions in the luteolin-guanine complexes. We compared the interaction between luteolin and four bases of DNA, and found luteolin-thymine was the strongest and luteolin-adenine was the weakest. The interaction between luteolin and DNA bases are all stronger than luteolin-water.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 10925208 and 11120101001)
文摘Woodpeckers are well able to resist head injury during repeated high speed impacts at 6-7 m s-1 with decelerations up to 1000 g.This study was designed to compare the mechanical properties,microstructures and compositions of cranial bone and beak bone of great spotted woodpecker(Dendrocopos major) and the Mongolian sky lark(Melanocorypha mongolica).Microstructures were observed using micro-computed tomography and scanning electron microscopy and their compositions were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy.Under high stress,the cranial bone and the beak of the woodpecker exhibited distinctive mechanical features,which were associated with differences in micro-structure and composition,compared with those of the lark.Evolutionary optimization of bone micro-structure has enabled functional adaptation to the woodpecker's specific lifestyle.Its characteristic micro-structure efficiently avoids head impact injury and may provide potential clues to the prevention of brain injury using bio-inspired designs of shock-absorbing materials.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (10925208,11120101001,11202017,11272038)Beijing Natural Science Foundation (7133245)+1 种基金Young Scholars for the Doctoral Program of Ministry of Education of China (20121102120039)the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (G-U624)
文摘The woodpecker does not suffer head/eye impact injuries while drumming on a tree trunk with high acceleration (more than 1000xg) and high frequency. The mechanism that protects the woodpecker's head has aroused the interest of ornithologists, biologists and scientists in the areas of mechanical engineering, material science and electronics engineering. This article reviews the literature on the biomechanisms and materials responsible for protecting the woodpecker from head impact injury and their applications in engineering and human protection.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.11272080)the Doctoral Education Foundation of China Education Ministry(Grant No.20110041110021)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China(Grant No.DUT14LK36)
文摘To investigate the mechanism of brain protection of woodpecker,we built a finite element model of a whole woodpecker using computed topography scanning technique and geometry modeling.Dynamic analyses reveal:(i)99.7%of the impact energy is converted into strain energy in the bulk of body and 0.3%is converted into strain energy in the head after three successive peckings,indicating the majority of the impact energy is stored in the bulk of body;(ii)the strain energy in brain is mainly converted into the dissipated energy,alleviating the mechanical injury to brain;(iii)the deformation and the effective energy dissipation of the beaks facilitate the decrease of the stress and impact energy transferred to the brain;(iv)the skull and dura mater not only provide the physical protection for the brain,but also diminish the strain energy in the brain by energy dissipation;(v)the binding of skull with the hyoid bone enhances the anti-shock ability of head.The whole body of the woodpecker gets involved in the energy conversion and forms an efficient anti-shock protection system for brain.