OBJECTIVE To evaluate information on the practice and associated ill effects of sword swallowing. DESIGN Letters sent to sword swallowers requesting information on technique and complications. SETTING Membership lists of the Sword Swallowers' Association International. PARTICIPANTS 110 sword swallowers from 16 countries. RESULTS We had information from 46 sword swallowers. Major complic...

Female green swordtails, Xiphophorus helleri, possess a preference for the multicomponent male sword. Previous work suggests that this female preference is a result of a pre-existing receiver bias favouring a sword and has contributed to sword evolution via intersexual selection. We use video presentations to investigate how females respond to components of this composite trait. Complete swords...

Zephyranthes is a genus of bulbous perennials belonging to family Amaryllidaceae. This family is one of the top 20 most widely used plant families well known for its ornamental value. The plants of this family are used by native peoples of different countries for treating various diseases. The genus Zephyranthes is one amongst 75 genera under this family [1,2]. It consists of about 90 species a...

Location intelligence is a set of tools and techniques to integrate a geographical dimension into BI platforms, aimed at enhancing their capability of better monitoring and interpreting business events. Though most commercial data warehouse tools have implemented spatial extensions to support GIS integration, the user experience with spatial data is still mostly limited to the visualization of ...

The handicap theory of sexual selection posits that male display traits that are favored in mate choice come at a significant cost to performance. We tested one facet of this hypothesis in the green swordtail (Xiphophorus helleri). In this species, the lower ray of male caudal fin is extended into a 'sword', which serves to attract potential mates. However, bearing a long sword may increase dra...

As a popular ornamental flower, potted lily is an important object of lily breeding. Paclobutrazol, a chemical growth retardation compound, is often used to dwarf plant in producing potted lilies. However, in recent years, the plants with inherited dwarf traits by using genetic engineer breeding technology are being developed. The studies on molecular basis of lily dwarfism will offer some targ...

Male swordtail fish of the genus Xiphophorus (Poeciliidae) possess a "sword" that is composed of several colored elongated ventral fin rays of the caudal fin. The sword is a secondary sexual trait that evolved through sexual selection by female preference. To uncover the developmental mechanisms underlying the metamorphosis from a juvenile caudal fin to the sword, we have devised a transplantat...

1. Exaggerated morphological structures that evolve under sexual selection have the potential to alter functional relationships and hence affect aspects of movement. These effects may be more pronounced when the exaggerated morphological trait is coupled to the propulsive system. 2. Many studies have examined the effects of sexually selected traits on whole-organism performance, but few have do...

This paper presents the results of Lily in the ontology alignment contest OAEI 2015. As a comprehensive ontology matching system, Lily is intended to participate in four tracks of the contest: benchmark, conference, anatomy, and instance matching. The specific techniques used by Lily will be introduced briefly. The strengths and weaknesses of Lily will also be discussed. 1 Presentation of the s...

We present a method for simultaneous Receding Horizon Estimation and Control of a robotic arm equipped with a sword in an adversarial situation. Using a single camera mounted on the arm, we solve the problem of blocking a opponent’s sword with the robot’s sword. Our algorithm uses model-based sensing to estimate the opponent’s intentions from the camera’s observations, while it simultaneously a...