This paper presents analytical and experimental results of an investigation of joint actuators and their suitability for a particular class of complex mechanisms: serpentine robots. In practice, serpentine robots usually comprise of multiple segments connected by joints. Some serpentine robots provide legged, wheeled, or tracked propulsion, and, in addition, actuation for the joints. We compare...

jHauwolfia serpentina has been known as a medicinal plant in India for a long time but its use in the treatment of hypertension is of comparatively recent origin. The dried root contains 1 per cent of total alkaloids besides resin, starch, potassium carbonate, phosphate, silicate and traces of iron and manganese (Sen and Bose, 1931). Siddiqui and Siddiqui (1931) found two groups of alkaloids an...

Habitat specialization plays an important role in the creation and loss of biodiversity over ecological and evolutionary time scales. In California, serpentine soils have a distinctive flora, with 246 serpentine habitat specialists (i.e., endemics). Using molecular phylogenies for 23 genera containing 784 taxa and 51 endemics, we infer few transitions out of the endemic state, which is shown by...

Plant soil specialists contribute greatly to global diversity; however, the ecoevolutionary forces responsible for generating this diversity are poorly understood. We integrate molecular phylogenies with descriptive and experimental ecological data, creating a powerful framework with which to elucidate forces driving soil specialization. Hypotheses explaining edaphic specialization have histori...

Intra- and interspecific phylogenetic relationships of the rare serpentine endemic taxon Caulanthus amplexicaulus var. barbarae and related taxa in the "Streptanthoid Complex" of genera (Streptanthus, Caulanthus, Guillenia) were examined using nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and chloroplast trnL intron sequences. Phylogenetic hypotheses generated from 81 variable ITS nucleot...

As the volume of CO2, one of greenhouse gases linked to global warming, in the atmosphere increases, there has been an increasing interest in CO2 sequestration. Aqueous carbonation, which involves the extraction of Mg from serpentine minerals and the subsequent carbonation reaction with CO2 to form the geologically stable mineral MgCO3, has been proposed as a promising CO2 sequestration technol...

Serpentine is formed during chemical transformation of ultrabasic magmatic rocks. The characteristics of serpenti ne soi l are its high Mg and low Ca contenI. Various factors have lead to the formation of specific serpentine flora and vegetation. In the serpentine flora both basophi10us and acidophilous plant species are present, and a small number of families and often genera predominate. Most...

There are more than half million tons of serpentine waste produced per year during mining operation in Taiwan. This study is to develop a process to manufacture fire-resistant geopolymer based on serpentine waste. The experiment results show that the waste serpentine-based geopolymer have very good physical/mechanical characteristics. For fire resistance tests, a 10 mm thick geopolymer panel wa...

Effects of simulated serpentine soil conditions (elevated Mg:Ca ratio and Ni concentration) on seedlings from populations of Virginia pine (Pinus virginiana Mill.) from serpentine and non-serpentine sites were evaluated in sand culture. We determined (1) how seedlings are affected by elevated Mg:Ca ratio and Ni concentrations, (2) if there are interactive effects between Mg:Ca ratio and Ni conc...