Safety helmets

نویسنده

  • R. Tollrian
چکیده

helmet of the water flea (Daphnia spp.) does not make it invisible, but it does confer some protection against predators by making the fleas harder to catch. Water fleas do not necessarily begin life with a helmet but can form one as a morphological defence in response to chemicals released by their predators. The images above show three pairs of water fleas from different species; the non-helmeted morph is on the left in each pair of fleas. Clockwise from the top left these are: Daphnia cucullata; the Australian species Daphnia longicephala, whose huge crests keep their predator, the backswimmer, from getting a firm grasp on them; and the Asian/African species Daphnia lumholtzi, whose distinctive helmets protect them against even fish. But being able to develop a helmet is no good to the water flea if it is attacked before it has done so. In Daphnia, females who have grown helmets can transmit this benefit to their offspring, thereby improving their reproductive success. Their offspring not only start life with a form that provides better protection but, in the face of predatorial threat, can go on to develop larger helmets than the offspring of nonhelmeted females in the same environment. This bequeathing of a helmet is an example of a maternally induced (transgenerational) adaptation; genes activated in the mother are expressed as a phenotype in their offspring. For further details, see Agrawal A.A., Laforsch C. and Tollrian R., Nature 1999, 401: 60-63. Images provided by Ralph Tollrian and Christian Laforsch, Ludwig–Maximilian University, Zoological Institute, Karlstrasse 25, 80333 München, Germany. Magazine R3

برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

منابع مشابه

The damping of off-central impact for selected industrial safety helmets used in Poland.

The paper presents a review of head injury criteria and determines an assessment criterion for test results. Parameters characterizing the protection properties of off-central impacted industrial helmets are chosen and the test stands used in the Central Institute for Labour Protection to test those parameters are presented. The idea of damping 2 selected industrial helmets used in Poland is di...

متن کامل

Compliance of proper safety helmet usage in motorcyclists.

Motorcyclists make up the largest group of fatalities on Malaysian roads, majority succumbing to head injuries despite the compulsory safety helmet laws in the country. One possible reason for this high fatality is improper usage of safety helmets. This study examines the compliance of proper safety helmet use in motorcyclists in a typical Malaysian town. Five hundred motorcyclists were studied...

متن کامل

Ski patrollers: reluctant role models for helmet use.

Ski helmets reduce the risk of traumatic brain injury (TBI), but usage rates are low. Ski patrollers could serve as role models for helmet use, but little is known about their practices and beliefs. A written survey was distributed to ski patrollers attending continuing education conferences. The questions addressed included helmet use rates, prior TBI experiences, perceptions of helmet risks a...

متن کامل

Safety helmets for skiers and snowboarders--efficacy, safety and fitting principles. Review of literature.

Head trauma is leading cause of mortality after injuries related with skiing and snowboarding. Wearing a helmet is considered to be a primary method to prevent traumatic brain injuries (TBI) among alpine sports participants. This article, based on literature review, determines the efficacy of helmets and safety of their use. It also presents practical principles of proper helmet fitting. A well...

متن کامل

Attenuation of noise by motorcycle safety helmets.

For workers such as police motorcyclists or couriers, traffic and engine noise reaching the ears is an important factor contributing to the overall condition of their work. This noise can be reduced with motorcycle helmets. In this study, insertion loss of motorcycle helmets was measured with the microphone-in-real-ear technique and sound attenuation with the real-ear-at-threshold method. Resul...

متن کامل

ذخیره در منابع من


  با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید

برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

عنوان ژورنال:
  • Current Biology

دوره 10  شماره 

صفحات  -

تاریخ انتشار 2000