Studies of insect flight have revealed novel mechanisms of production of aerodynamic lift. In the present study, large lift forces were measured during flight episodes elicited from dragonflies tethered to a force balance. Simultaneously, stroboscopic photographs provided stop-action views of wing motion and the flowfield structure surrounding the insect. Wing kinematics were correlated with both instantaneous lift generation and vortex-dominated flow fields. The large lift forces appear to be produced by unsteady flow-wing interactions. This successful utilization of unsteady separated flows by insects may signal the existence of a whole new class of fluid dynamic uses that remain to be explored.

The permanence of retrograde amnesia produced for a single training trial by a single electroconvulsive shock was studied. No recovery from amnesia was found with either single or repeated retention tests. Amnesic effects were found to be permanent with retention intervals as long as 1 month.

The effects of bone water content during dehydration and rehydration on the flexural properties of whole mouse femora were evaluated using three-point bending. The elastic and plastic flexural properties of the bones were determined on a dry mass normalized basis over dehydration times ranging from 0.25 to 48.0 hr; and (following complete dehydration) rehydration times ranging from 0.08 to 12.0 hr. Bones stored in physiological saline for times < 1 hr served as the control group. As expected, dehydration produced increased stiffness and strength along with decreased ductility. Upon rehydration, a statistically significant linear dependence of mechanical properties on recovered free water was obtained for all parameters except the maximum load. Elastic mechanical properties comparable to the controls were regained at differing rates and levels of recovered water content; however, after 3 hr of rehydration there were no statistically significant differences with respect to the control values. The results of this study indicate that the original flexural properties of whole mouse femora are preserved by air dehydration and can be recovered using appropriate saline rehydration intervals.

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