Comparison of pigment composition and melanin content among white,light-green,dark-green,and purple morphs of sea cucumber,Apostichopus japonicus

Sea cucumber, Apostichopus japonicus（Selenka）, is a commercially important marine species in China. Among the differently colored varieties sold in China, white and purple sea cucumbers have the greatest appeal to consumers. Identification of the pigments that may contribute to the formation of different color morphs of sea cucumbers will provide a scientific basis for improving the cultivability of desirable color morphs. In this study,sea cucumbers were divided into four categories according to their body color： white, light green, dark green, and purple. The pigment composition and contents in the four groups were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography（HPLC）. The results show that the pigment contents differed significantly among the white, lightgreen, dark-green, and purple sea cucumbers, and there were fewer types of pigments in white sea cucumber than in the other color morphs. The only pigments detected in white sea cucumbers were guanine and pteroic acid.Guanine and pteroic acid are structural colors, and they were also detected in light-green, dark-green, and purple sea cucumbers. Every pigment detected, except for pteroic acid, was present at a higher concentration in purple morphs than in the other color morphs. The biological color pigments melanin, astaxanthin, β-carotene, and lutein were detected in light-green, dark-green, and purple sea cucumbers. While progesterone and lycopene,which are also biological color pigments, were not detected in any of the color morphs. Melanin was the major pigment contributing to body color, and its concentration increased with deepening color of the sea cucumber body. Transmission electron microscopy analyses revealed that white sea cucumbers had the fewest epidermal melanocytes in the body wall, and their melanocytes contained fewer melanosomes as well as non-pigmented pre-melanosomes. Sea cucumbers with deeper body colors contained more melanin granules. In the body wall of dark-green and purple sea cucumbers, melanin granules were secreted out of the cell. The results of this study provide evidence for the main factors responsible for differences in coloration among white, light-green, darkgreen, and purple sea cucumbers, and also provide the foundation for further research on the formation of body color in sea cucumber, A. japonicus.

Haematology of <i>Pelophylax ridibundus</i>(Amphibia: <i>Ranidae</i>) of <i>Striata</i>and <i>Maculata</i>Morphs in Populations Living in Conditions of Anthropogenic Pollution in Southern Bulgaria

Basic haematological parameters were studied in adult, sexually mature individuals of colour morphs (striata and maculata) in the populations of Pelophylax ridibundus living in biotopes with various degrees of anthropogenic pollution (control, domestic sewage pollution and heavy metal pollution) in Southern Bulgaria. We found that in the polluted biotopes in individuals of both morphs of P. ridibundus the blood parameters: erythrocyte (RBC) and leukocyte (WBS) count, haemoglobin concentration (Hb), haematocrit (PCV) were statistically reliably higher, the number of lymphocytes (Ly) decreased, and the parameters: mean cell haemoglobin (MCH), mean cell haemoglobin concentration (MCHC), mean cell volume (MCV) and differential blood formula changed considerably in comparison with the control group. In terms of anthropogenic pollution, the average values of RBC and Hb were higher in P. ridibundus of striata morph.

Development and Characterization of Microsatellite Markers for Three Pollination Morphs of <i>Cimicifuga simplex</i>(Ranunculaceae)

Cimicifuga simplex Wormsk. (Ranunculaceae) is a perennial herb distributed in eastern and northeastern Asia for which at least three different pollination morphs have been reported. It is classified as endangered or near threatened in some Japanese regions, and its rhizome is commercially used as a crude drug. To examine genetic differentiation and gene flow among the three morphs, we developed eight microsatellite markers by using next-generation sequencing and estimated the genetic structure of C. simplex. We tested eight primer pairs on 93 individuals from six populations of C. simplex in Nagano, central Japan, and found that heterozygosity in morphs I and III was low compared to expected heterozygosity. Bayesian clustering performed with the STRUCTURE program clearly distinguished the three morphs of C. simplex, and only a little gene flow was detected among the morphs. These eight microsatellite markers are expected to be useful in conservation genetic studies of this species and for future conservation planning.

Sexual dimorphism in immune response： Testing the hypothesis in an insect species with two male morphs

It has been proposed that given that males should invest in sexual traits at the expense of their investment in immune response, females are better immunocompetent than males. Typically, this idea has been tested in monomorphic species, but rarely has been evaluated in polymorphic male species. We used Paraphlebia zoe, a damselfly with two male morphs： the black-winged morph （Black-W） develop black spots as sexual traits and the hyaline-winged morph （Hyaline-W） resembles a female in size and wings color. We predicted that Black-W should have a lower immune response than Hyaline-W, but that the latter males should not differ from females in this respect. Nitric oxide （NO） and phenoloxidase （PO） production, as well as hemolymph protein content, were used as immune markers. Body size （wing length） was used as an indicator of the male condition. The results show that, as we predicted, females and Hyaline-W had higher values of NO than Black-W, corresponding to differences in size. However, the opposite was found in relation to PO production. Females had the highest levels of hemolymph protein content, whereas no differences were found between Black-W and Hyaline-W. These results partially support the sexual selection hypothesis and are discussed in the context of the life history of this species. Black-W, Hyaline-W, and females could express the immune markers that are prioritized by their particular condition, and probably neither of them could express all immune markers in an elevated manner, as this would result in an excessive accumulation of free radicals.

Comparison of the potential rate of population increase of brown and green color morphs of Sitobion avenae （Homoptera： Aphididae） on barley infected and uninfected with Barley yellow dwarf virus

Life tables of brown and green color morphs of the English grain aphid, Sitobion avenae （Fabricius） reared on barley under laboratory conditions at 20 ＋ 1℃,65% ± 5% relative humidity and a photoperiod of 16 ： 8 h （L ： D） were compared. The plants were either： （i） infected with the Barley yellow dwarf virus （BYDV）; （ii） not infectedwith virus but previously infested with aphids; or （iii） healthy barley plants, which were not previously infested with aphids. Generally, both color morphs of S. avenae performedsignificantly better when fed on BYDV-infected plants than on plants that were virus free but had either not been or had been previously infested with aphids. Furthermore,when fed on BYDV-infected plants, green S. avenae developed significantly faster and had a significantly shorter reproductive period than the brown color morph. There wereno significant differences in this respect between the two color morphs ofS. avenae when they were reared on virus-free plants that either had been or not been previously infestedwith aphids. These results indicate that barley infected with BYDV is a more favorable host plant than uninfected barley for both the color morphs ofS. avenae tested, particularly the green color morph.

Viability,behavior,and color expression in the offspring of matings between common wall lizard Podarcis muralis color morphs

Color polymorphisms are widely studied to identify the mechanisms responsible for the origin and maintenance of phenotypic variability in nature.Two of the mechanisms of balancing selection currently thought to explain the long-term persistence of polymorphisms are the evolution of alternative phenotypic optima through correlational selection on suites of traits including color and heterosis.Both of these mechanisms can generate differences in offspring viability and fitness arising from different morph combinations.Here,we examined the effect of parental morph combination on fertilization success,embryonic viability,newborn quality,antipredator,and foraging behavior,as well as inter-annual survival by conducting controlled matings in a polymorphic lacertid Podarcis muralis,where color morphs are frequently assumed to reflect alternative phenotypic optima(e.g.,alternative reproductive strategies).Juveniles were kept in outdoor tubs for a year in order to study inter-annual growth,survival,and morph inheritance.In agreement with a previous genome-wide association analysis,morph frequencies in the year-old juveniles matched the frequencies expected if orange and yellow expressions depended on recessive homozygosity at 2 separate loci.Our findings also agree with previous literature reporting higher reproductive output of heavy females and the higher overall viability of heavy newborn lizards,but we found no evidence for the existence of alternative breeding investment strategies in female morphs,or morphcombination effects on offspring viability and behavior.We conclude that inter-morph breeding remains entirely viable and genetic incompatibilities are of little significance for the maintenance of discrete color morphs in P.muralis from the Pyrenees.

Quantitative analysis of the morphing wing mechanism of raptors:Morphing kinematics of Falco peregrinus wing

Raptors are getting more attention from researchers because of their excellent flight abilities.And the excellent wing morphing ability is critical for raptors to achieve high maneuvering flight,which can be a good bionic inspiration for unmanned aerial vehicles(UAV)design.However,morphing wing motions of Falco peregrinus with multi postures cannot be consulted since such a motion database was nonexistent.This study aimed to provide data reference for future research in wing morphing kinetics.We used the computed tomography(CT)approach to obtain nine critical postures of the Falco peregrinus wing skeleton,followed with motion analysis of each joint and bone.Based on the obtained motion database,a six-bar kinematic model was proposed to regenerate wing motions with a high fidelity.

Design and Research of Form Controlled Planar Folding Mechanism based on 4D Printing Technology

The use of non-smart materials in structural components and kinematic pairs allows for flexible assembly in practical applications and is promising for aerospace applications.However,this approach can result in a complex structure and excessive kinematic pairs,which limits its potential applications due to the difficulty in controlling and actuating the mechanism.While smart materials have been integrated into certain mechanisms,such integration is generally considered a unique design for specific cases and lacks universality.Therefore,organically combining universal mechanism design with smart materials and 4D printing technology,innovating mechanism types,and systematically exploring the interplay between structural design and morphing control remains an open research area.In this work,a novel form-controlled planar folding mechanism is proposed,which seamlessly integrates the control and actuation system with the structural components and kinematic pairs based on the combination of universal mechanism design with smart materials and 4D printing technology,while achieving self-controlled dimensional ratio adjustment under a predetermined thermal excitation.The design characteristics of the mechanism are analyzed,and the required structural design parameters for the preprogrammed design are derived using a kinematic model.Using smart materials and 4D printing technology,folding programs based on material properties and control programs based on manufacturing parameters are encoded into the form-controlled rod to achieve the preprogrammed design of the mechanism.Finally,two sets of prototype mechanisms are printed to validate the feasibility of the design,the effectiveness of the morphing control programs,and the accuracy of the theoretical analysis.This mechanism not only promotes innovation in mechanism design methods but also shows exceptional promise in satellite calibration devices and spacecraft walking systems.

Hardware-in-loop adaptive neural control for a tiltable V-tail morphing aircraft

This paper proposes an adaptive neural control(ANC)method for the coupled nonlinear model of a novel type of embedded surface morphing aircraft which has a tiltable V-tail.A nonlinear model with sixdegrees-of-freedom is established.The first-order sliding mode differentiator(FSMD)is applied to the control scheme to avoid the problem of“differential explosion”.Radial basis function neural networks are introduced to estimate the uncertainty and external disturbance of the model,and an ANC controller is proposed based on this design idea.The stability of the proposed ANC controller is proved using Lyapunov theory,and the tracking error of the closed-loop system is semi-globally uniformly bounded.The effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method are verified by numerical simulations and hardware-in-the-loop(HIL)simulations.

术语“Morpheme”指称的三种解读及其形态语义研究

从术语逻辑与术语使用规范等角度,重新审视了形态语义研究中的三个重要术语“morpheme”“morph”“allomorph”的语义内涵及关联性。研究表明,“morpheme”在指称上应区分三种情况,形位(morpheme)与形素(morph)之间并非简单的“实现-被实现”关系,而是表现出由一对一到多对一的动态结构。严格来说,“morph”(而非“morpheme”)是语言中最小的形义单位,基于此可以进一步区分词根/缀等形式。对“allomorph”与“morpheme”关系的准确理解,应注意从语音、形义配对等方面适切地深入讨论,但笼统地把“allomorph”视为形位变体有失妥当。

一种基于弯曲结构的线状要素Morphing方法

提出一种基于弯曲结构的线状要素Morphing方法。对于2个不同比例尺地图上表达的同一线状要素,首先根据其各自形态特征分别利用约束Delaunay三角网提取线状要素的独立弯曲及其层次结构信息,并用弯曲森林和弯曲树来表达线状要素的弯曲结构。然后,通过识别对应独立弯曲,从高层次到低层次对它们的层次弯曲结构进行识别与匹配,从而将两线状要素分割成多对对应线段。在此基础上,借助常用的插值算法进行Morphing。实验证明,提出的基于弯曲结构的Morphing方法要比已有的方法精度高,并有效保持Morphing过程中内插线状要素弯曲特征的一致性。

成像测井图像的动态增强及Morphing方法

未经图像学处理的成像测井原始图像对地层特征的反映通常并不明显。静态标准化图像亮度大,适合于观察变化范围较大的测井响应和岩性对比分析结果。动态增强图像增加了井孔特殊区域的特征清晰度,但所用的短窗长会使图像出现台阶现象,平滑滤波、重采样都不能很好地消除这种台阶。在用图像直方图局部均衡化实现动态增强研究的基础上,采用Morphing技术对颜色进行线性插值,即用一个控制序列控制图像渐变过程,在颜色混合时消除中间帧图像上的一些不良表现,对动态增强图像台阶上下作颜色线性插值,使图像渐变。结果表明此方法能够有效地解决由于图像动态增强而产生的台阶问题。

基于多重变换组合的动态地图符号设计

采用面向对象的设计方法,将符号的状态描述(参量)与过程操作(对不同参量实施不同变换)封装,采用关键帧-层-图元-几何/非几何属性结构进行符号组织,从而将地图符号的时间维信息纳入到符号设计之中,建立了不同的变化速率模型,实现属性的动态变化;通过图元与图元之间的二维Morph函数变换矩阵,结合仿射变换,对符号的几何信息进行快速提取,从而实现了符号的动态显示。

基于L系统和三维Morphing的器官生长建模

为解决植物器官生长过程中的变形问题,提出一种基于L系统和三维Morphing的器官生长建模方法。该方法以L系统描述植物的拓扑结构,以三维Morphing模拟植物叶片和果实的变形过程,并根据花的特殊结构引入一种模块化建模方法以实现花的开放过程。以辣椒为例展示建模过程,实验结果表明,该算法能解决植物器官变形问题,提高建模效率。

敦煌石窟彩塑漫游技术

以敦煌莫高窟洞窟漫游系统为应用背景 ,介绍了系统中彩塑漫游部分的相关技术、操作方法 ,以及实验结果。根据敦煌彩塑的自身形态、位置、尺寸等特征 ,以及当前计算机的运算能力 ,我们把彩塑漫游的方法归结为 3D建模和IBR漫游两大类 ;利用三维扫描和数字摄影获得的彩塑信息 ,经过模型简化、纹理生成、计算IBR中间图像等处理步骤 ,得到漫游时使用的模型数据 ;将模型数据直接应用在漫游系统中 ,并增强了阴影等真实感效果 ,获得最终的漫游结果。

可控的三维Morphing

提出了一种基于距离场插值的三维 Morphing算法 .该方法通过解析距离场来实现三维 Morphing,使过渡形体的光滑性不依赖于原模型的离散剖分精度 .同时 ,给出了基于约束点对和变形控制体的交互形状过渡算法 ,用户可由此直观而方便地对变形过程实施有效的控制 .多个变形实例证明 ,该算法能够方便地实现两个任意定向流形模型间的可控三维 Morphing.

面状居民地Morphing变换的转向角函数法

提出了一种基于转向角函数的面状居民地morphing方法。针对同名居民地实体在两个不同比例尺下的表达,将传统矢量GIS的坐标串表达形式转为转向角函数表达形式,基于转向角函数分析多边形边特征在不同比例尺下的共性与差异,融合得到了任意中间比例尺下的多边形的转向角函数,最后将中间比例尺下的转向角函数还原为矢量坐标串形式,获得多边形在对应尺度的中间插值形状。试验证明,本文提出的基于转向角函数的面状居民地morphing方法对面状居民地多边形具有较好的适应性,能在保持直角化边界特征的前提下实现连续地图综合与多尺度表达。

面孔部件相似性判断研究

用Morph变形方法构建家族相似性面孔部件样例,采用多级估量法探讨分类活动中面孔部件相似性判断问题。结果发现,部件样例对部件原型的隶属度及部件样例对整体原型中对应部件的隶属度与部件样例变形百分比间是3次函数关系;耳朵、脸型、眼睛等部件样例对整体原型中对应部件的隶属度小于其对部件原型的隶属度,嘴巴样例对整体原型中嘴巴部件的隶属度高于其对部件原型的隶属度。表明面孔部件物理相似性与心理相似性间是3次函数关系;整体原型中其他部件降低了耳朵、脸型、眼睛等部件样例对整体原型中对应部件的隶属度,而提高了嘴巴样例对整体原型中嘴巴部件的隶属度。

基于Morphing的三维地质界面生成

利用Morphing技术,参照四周地质界线的形态特征并以之为约束,插值生成一系列形态渐变的过渡曲线,采用轮廓线算法构建相邻曲线间的不规则三角网,并最终生成较为光滑的三维地质界面。将实际复合问题转化为4种基本问题进行求解,并详述了四边问题的实现细节。实验表明,该方法能够生成光滑三维地质界面,并较好地保留了已知地质界线的形态特征。

基于域Morphing算法的手背静脉识别

根据人体手背静脉图像的结构及特点,提出一种快速域Morphing算法对手背静脉图像进行变换,通过对图像进行相似度计算实现了静脉识别.