Juha Helenius Department of Applied Biology, PO Box 27, FIN-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland, e-mail: [email protected] Jarmo K. Holopainen MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Plant Production Research, Plant Protection, FIN-31600 Jokioinen, Finland. Current address: Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, University of Kuopio, PO Box 1627, FIN-70211 Kuopio, Finland Erja Huusel...

This is the first known report on the skeletal and muscular systems, and the skin histology, of the pectoral fin of the rare planktivorous megamouth shark Megachasma pelagios. The pectoral fin is characterized by three features: 1) a large number of segments in the radial cartilages; 2) highly elastic pectoral fin skin; and 3) a vertically-rotated hinge joint at the pectoral fin base. These fea...

The dynamics of pectoral fin rowing in the threespine stickleback are investigated by measuring the instantaneous force balance on freely swimming fish throughout the stroke cycle and comparing the measured forces with fin motions and an unsteady, blade-element model of pectoral fin propulsion. Both measured and modeled forces suggest that attached vortex and circulatory forces and not inertial...

The nature of the primary instabilities that arise in a fluid contained in a fast rotating cylindrical annulus with slightly inclined plane top and bottom boundaries, radial gravity, and internal heating is numerically analyzed. It is shown that for moderate and high Prandtl numbers, the onset of convection is described by a competition of azimuthal thermal modes with different radial structure...

An experimental study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of manipulating convective electrokinetic instability (EKI) waves to control/enhance fluid mixing inside three Y-shaped microchannels, which includes a conventional straight channel, a channel with micro-cavities, and a channel with microsteps. Epi-fluoresence imaging technique was used to conduct qualitative flow visualization and...

In this study, the thermal performance analysis of porous fin with temperature-dependent thermal conductivity and internal heat generation is carried out using Haar wavelet collocation method. The effects of various parameters on the thermal characteristics of the porous fin are investigated. It is found that as the porosity increases, the rate of heat transfer from the fin increases and the th...

We consider two related one-dimensional steady-state problems of heat conduction/radiation in a cooling fin. In both problems the solution consists of the value of a parameter (length of the fin) and a monotone temperature distribution in the fin. Three boundary conditions are accordingly imposed: temperature at both ends of the fin and heat flux at one end. We show that these problems have sol...

The median fins of fishes consist of the dorsal, anal, and caudal fins and have long been thought to play an important role in generating locomotor force during both steady swimming and maneuvering. But the orientations and magnitudes of these forces, the mechanisms by which they are generated, and how fish modulate median fin forces have remained largely unknown until the recent advent of Digi...

Fin-angle feedback control is usually used in conventional fin stabilizers, and its actual anti-rolling effect is difficult to reach theoretical design requirements. Primarily, lift of control torque is a theoretical value calculated by static hydrodynamic characteristics of fin. However, hydrodynamic characteristics of fin are dynamic while fin is moving in waves. As a result, there is a large...

The musculoskeletal mechanism of pectoral fin propulsion was investigated in representatives of the two subfamilies of the Embiotocidae (surfperches). Kinematic and electromyographic records of steady swimming by the open-water cruiser Amphistichus rhodoterus and the benthic maneuverer Embiotoca lateralis were compared at 80 % of the species' respective pectoral­caudal gait transition speed...