Insects are successful terrestrial organisms able to locomote over a wide range of obstacles and substrates. This study investigated how foot morphology (tarsal structure) correlates with substrate adhesion and ecological niche in the Madagascan hissing cockroach, Gromphadorhina portentosa Schaum (Blattaria: Blaberidae). Using light and scanning electron microscopy, the morphology of the differ...

Seed quality is an important issue in forestry as it essential parameter the production of high planting material. Many factors may hinder harvesting seeds, including insufficient number sunny days, external conditions temperate climate zones, and fungal pathogens affecting development seedlings. We undertook to develop a procedure maximizing seed protection promoting optimum physiological seed...

Plants with animal-dispersed fruits seem to overcome the barriers that limit their spread into new habitats more easily than other invasive plants and, at the same time, they pose special difficulties for containment, control or eradication. The effects of animals on plant propagules can be very diverse, with positive, neutral or negative consequences for germination and recruitment. Moreover, ...

Stress experienced in childhood is associated with an increased risk of developing psychiatric disorders in adulthood. These disorders are particularly characterized by disturbances to emotional and cognitive processes, which are not currently fully modeled in animals. Assays of cognitive bias have recently been used with animals to give an indication of their emotional/cognitive state. We used...

Hydrocarbon contamination accumulated on titanium (Ti) implant surfaces during storage and sterilization is unavoidable and difficult to remove. It impairs the bioactivity of implants, restricts initial interactions between implants and the surrounding biological environment, and has become a common challenge for Ti implants. To overcome this problem, sterilization was considered as the final s...

The rodent whisker system is a major model for understanding neural mechanisms for tactile sensation of surface texture (roughness). Rats discriminate surface texture using the whiskers, and several theories exist for how texture information is physically sensed by the long, moveable macrovibrissae and encoded in spiking of neurons in somatosensory cortex. However, evaluating these theories req...