Search results for "climbing"
showing 10 items of 48 documents
Climbing into the past—first Himalayan mummies discovered in Nepal
2003
In a cave system in Mebrak (Mustang District, Western Nepal), a team of archaeologists investigating extensive abandoned settlements in the high Himalayas made an extraordinary discovery in 1995. One of the caves had been used as a community burial chamber from ca. 400 BC to 50 AD. Inside, approximately 30 naturally mummified bodies rested in bed-like wooden coffins exhibiting ornamental carving and elaborate painting. The dead had been furnished with a rich store of grave goods consisting of both personal ornaments and objects of daily life as well as the remains of domestic animals. Due to the favourable climatic conditions, all of the artefacts, which also include fur and textile garment…
Biomechanics and functional morphology of a climbing monocot.
2015
Climbing monocots can develop into large bodied plants despite being confined by primary growth. In our study on Flagellaria indica we measured surprisingly high stem biomechanical properties (in bending and torsion) and we show that the lack of secondary growth is overcome by a combination of tissue maturation processes and attachment mode. This leads to higher densities of mechanically relevant tissues in the periphery of the stem and to the transition from self-supporting to climbing growth. The development of specialised attachment structures has probably underpinned the evolution of numerous other large bodied climbing monocot taxa.
Vascular bundle modifications in nodes and internodes of climbing Marantaceae
2020
AbstractNodes are interfaces between stems and leaves. Vascular bundles originate here and elongate into leaves and internodes. In Marantaceae, internodal bundles are highly diverse, including inverted bundles in the climbing genus Haumania. The objective of this paper is to characterize bundle forms, their position across the stem and their connection to leaves and short shoots in Haumania spp. and other unrelated African branch-angle climbers in the family (Hypselodelphys, Trachyphrynium). We question whether bundle inversion is a genus-specific trait in Haumania or related to the climbing growth form. Vascular bundles in internodes are scattered across the stem diameter in a characterist…
A screen for constituents of motor control and decision making in Drosophila reveals visual distance-estimation neurons
2016
AbstractClimbing over chasms larger than step size is vital to fruit flies, since foraging and mating are achieved while walking. Flies avoid futile climbing attempts by processing parallax-motion vision to estimate gap width. To identify neuronal substrates of climbing control, we screened a large collection of fly lines with temporarily inactivated neuronal populations in a novel high-throughput assay described here. The observed climbing phenotypes were classified; lines in each group are reported. Selected lines were further analysed by high-resolution video cinematography. One striking class of flies attempts to climb chasms of unsurmountable width; expression analysis guided us to C2 …
In silico discovery of substituted pyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidines and pentamidine-like compounds with biological activity in myotonic dystrophy models
2016
Myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) is a rare multisystemic disorder associated with an expansion of CUG repeats in mutant DMPK (dystrophia myotonica protein kinase) transcripts; the main effect of these expansions is the induction of pre-mRNA splicing defects by sequestering muscleblind-like family proteins (e.g. MBNL1). Disruption of the CUG repeats and the MBNL1 protein complex has been established as the best therapeutic approach for DM1, hence two main strategies have been proposed: targeted degradation of mutant DMPK transcripts and the development of CUG-binding molecules that prevent MBNL1 sequestration. Herein, suitable CUG-binding small molecules were selected using in silico approach…
Constraints representing a meta-stable régime facilitate exploration during practice and transfer of learning in a complex multi-articular task
2018
Previous investigations have shown that inducing meta-stability\ud in behavior can be achieved by overlapping affordances through constraint\ud manipulation, allowing cooperative and competitive tendencies to\ud functionally coexist. The purpose of this paper was to test a number of\ud conditions applying these design principles on performance during skills\ud practice and transfer. Of additional interest, was whether the existing\ud skill level interacted with the environmental properties of the\ud experimental tasks (varying indoor climbing routes). Two skill groups\ud practised on three routes per session over four separate sessions. At the\ud end of the final session, climbers undertook…
Energy expenditure during an ultraendurance alpine climbing race.
2009
Accurate reports of energy expenditure (EE) during prolonged mountaineering activity are sparse. The purpose of this study was to estimate EE during a winter ultraendurance climbing race and individual mountaineering activities in Mont Blanc, France.Seven days before the race, resting metabolic rate (RMR) and maximal oxygen consumption (Vo2(max)) were measured in 10 experienced male climbers (30.0 +/- 0.9 years). Three days before (reference period) and during the race, heart rate (HR) was recorded for estimation of total daily EE (TDEE), and the type and duration of all activities were collected through questionnaires. Total DEE was calculated by adding DEE during sleep (DEE sleep), sedent…
Elderly obese women display the greatest improvement in stair climbing performance after a 3-week body mass reduction program
2004
OBJECTIVE: To depict the general trends of muscle anaerobic performance in obese subjects within a wide range of age and body weight. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study for the measurement of lower limb maximal anaerobic power output with a modification of the Margaria stair climbing test in a large population of obese subjects of both genders within a wide span of age (18-80 y) and body mass index (BMI, 30-68 kg m(-2)). Furthermore, body composition was also determined by bioimpedance analysis in a representative subgroup, in order to evaluate the relationships between fat-free mass (FFM) and power output. SUBJECTS: A total of 1298 obese subjects (486 males, 812 females) from an Italian populat…
Associations of socio-economic position and disability among older women in Britain and Jyväskylä, Finland
2005
The aim was to compare the pattern of associations in measures of socio-economic position and disability among British and Finnish older women. In Britain data from the British Women's Heart and Health Study was used. Women from 23 towns took part in a nurse-assessed medical examination and postal questionnaire (n = 4286). In Finland, data from the Evergreen study was used. Eight hundred and four women from the city of Jyväskylä were interviewed at home. Socio-economic position was measured according to social class in childhood, education, use of a car, home ownership and previous occupation. Disability measures included questions on difficulties in washing/dressing and climbing stairs. Lo…
Deferiprone and idebenone rescue frataxin depletion phenotypes in a Drosophila model of Friedreich's ataxia
2013
Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA), the most common inherited ataxia, is a neurodegenerative disease caused by a reduction in the levels of the mitochondrial protein frataxin, the function of which remains a controversial matter. Several therapeutic approaches are being developed to increase frataxin expression and reduce the intramitochondrial iron aggregates and oxidative damage found in this disease. In this study, we tested separately the response of a Drosophila RNAi model of FRDA ( Llorens et al., 2007) to treatment with the iron chelator deferiprone (DFP) and the antioxidant idebenone (IDE), which are both in clinical trials. The FRDA flies have a shortened life span and impaired motor coord…