Spider diagrams are a widely studied, visual logic that are able to make statements about relationships between sets and their cardinalities. Various meta-level results for spider diagrams have been established, including their soundness, completeness and expressiveness. In order to further enhance our understanding of spider diagrams, we can compare them with other languages; in the case of th...

We present a method for drawing lines on an object that depict both the shape and shading of the object. To do so, we construct a gradient field of the diffuse intensity of the surface to guide a set of adaptively spaced lines. The shape of these lines reflect the lighting under which the object is being viewed and its shape. When the light source is placed at the viewer’s location, these lines...

We studied the reproductive biology of a box-nesting population of Tree Swallows Tachycineta bicolor in southeastern Wisconsin, USA. We were interested particularly in the relationship between laying order and hatching order and the extent to which each was a predictor of nestling body mass. We found that laying order was a significant predictor of hatching order. Laying and hatching order were...

The behaviour of the cow blastocyst in vitro was studied by time-lapse cinematography and analysed by morphometry. Three types of behaviour were observed: continuous expansion followed by hatching; discontinuous expansion interrupted by few contractions and followed by hatching; discontinuous expansion interrupted by several rapid contractions without hatching. This demonstrated that the pulsat...

Spider silk fibers were produced through an alternative processing route that differs widely from natural spinning. The process follows a procedure traditionally used to obtain fibers directly from the glands of silkworms and requires exposure to an acid environment and subsequent stretching. The microstructure and mechanical behavior of the so-called spider silk gut fibers can be tailored to c...

Brown recluse spiders (Loxosceles reclusa) are responsible for virtually all documented cases of spider bites leading to significant necrosis. The actual spider bite often goes unnoticed for as long as 4 to 6 hours, which makes diagnosis and, therefore, appropriate treatment, difficult. The spider bite generally results in either a necrotic wound or systemic symptoms that can lead to hemolysis....

The embryos of red-eyed treefrogs, Agalychnis callidryas, use vibrations transmitted through their arboreal egg clutch to cue escape hatching behavior when attacked by egg-eating snakes. Hatching early increases the risk of predation in the water, so embryos should avoid it unless they are in danger. We exposed egg clutches to intermittent vibrations with different combinations of vibration dur...

Spider silk has been studied recently because of its tremendous strength and flexibility [1]. Biotechnology now opens possibilities for the application of spider silk [2–7]. We describe a new avenue for the application of spider silk in textile science and industry. Recently, spider silk/carbon nanotube composites have been prepared, and their mechanical and electrical properties characterized....