We measured the level of fluctuating asymmetry (FA) in head shape, head scalation and femoral pores in two lizard species (Podarcis bocagei and Podarcis hispanica) from 13 islands and 15 mainland localities in the Ria de Arosa archipelago of north-western Spain. Given the recent geological history of the region, the degree of isolation to which lizard populations have been subjected can be ordered along a spatio-temporal gradient, yielding the following hypotheses to be tested: FA will be higher (1) in island populations than in mainland populations; (2) on remote islands than on islands close to the mainland; (3) on small islands than on large islands. Molecular genetic data suggest that P. hispanica is autochthonous in the Ria de Arosa, whereas P. bocagei is a more recent arrival. Therefore, we predict also (4) a higher level of FA in P. hispanica than in P. bocagei. Statistically significant results were obtained for head-shape asymmetry, supporting the second and the fourth hypotheses. With an overall meristic asymmetry index, none of the hypotheses were corroborated, whereas for certain independent meristic traits, the first, the third and the fourth hypotheses were partially supported. Both head shape and meristic traits constitute precise measures of FA, but FA is more convincingly expressed in head shape and in single meristic traits than in overall meristic traits asymmetry. We conclude that FA reflects population isolation and may be a good indicator of developmental instability. It seems worthwhile to test for FA in a landlocked system under environmental and genetic stress, for the purpose of conservation biological assessments.

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The ITTC57 correlation line, which is derived based on the assumption that the water in which ships advance is infinite deep and wide. However, for ships sailing in the waterway with limited water depth, the frictional resistance will be influenced leading to a decreasing accuracy of the prediction with this correlation line. In this study, a modification of the ITTC57 correlation line is proposed to correct the effects in very shallow water specifically for the flat area of the bottom of the ship. Under some assumptions, this area can be simplified to a 2D flat plate with a parallel wall close to it to study how the shallow water conditions of two interacting boundary conditions are affecting the flat plate friction coefficient. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) calculations are applied to investigate how a friction line specifically in shallow water deviates from the conventional lines. Such deviations may severely affect the extrapolation of a ship model's resistance to full scale and, therefore, the accuracy of ship's performance prediction. Cases at ten Reynolds numbers from 10 5 to 10 9 are simulated on the 2D flat plate. Seven different distances between the flat plate and the parallel wall were chosen to generate various shallow water conditions, and consequently, a database including frictional resistance coefficients, Reynolds numbers and the distance between those two walls is built. Results indicate that thinner boundary layers are observed in shallow water conditions, and the scale effects which has a significant impact on resistance extrapolation are also observed. Furthermore, the assumption of the zero pressure gradients (ZPG) which is commonly used in deep water is no longer valid in extremely shallow ones. Finally, a modification for the ITTC57 correlations line considering shallow water effects is proposed, which is willing to improve the prediction of the frictional resistance of those ships with a large area of flat bottom and sail in shallow water.

The manoeuvring performance of inland vessels is even more crucial than that of seagoing ships due to more complex navigation environment. One of the most effective possibilities to improve ship manoeuvrability is to change the rudder configuration. Twin or even quadruple rudders and high-lift profiles are widely applied to inland vessels. When inland vessels equip with multiple rudders, the interaction effects between the rudders affect the hydrodynamic characteristics of each rudder. This paper presents a study on these interaction effects using two-dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) methods. Various twin-rudder and quadruple-rudder configurations with different profiles and spacing among the multiple rudders were studied. RANS simulations were performed with a k − ω SST turbulence model and a pressure-based coupled algorithm. Series of NACA, IFS and wedge-tail profiles were tested. Regression formulas have been proposed for the twin-rudder lift and drag coefficients. Finally, interaction effects on multiple rudder hydrodynamics have been summarised. NomenclatureAbbreviations QPI The inner rudder of the port side twin-rudder unit QPO The outer rudder of the port side twin-rudder unit QSI The inner rudder of the starboard side twin-rudder unit QSO The outer rudder of the starboard side twin-rudder unit SPSR Single-propeller single-rudder SPTR Single-propeller twin-rudder TPQR Twin-propeller quadruple-rudder TPTR Twin-propeller twin-rudder Greek Symbolsσ Root mean squared error (standard error) of the regression coefficients (−) Roman Symbols