Many community-dwelling older adults are searching for ways to remain mentally and physically healthy as they age. One frequently offered suggestion is for older people to adopt a pet to avoid loneliness, to stay socially engaged, and to stave off depression. Despite the ubiquity of this advice in popular culture, research findings are equivocal on whether pet ownership is beneficial to the phy...

The term 'thin soles' refers to the suboptimal thickness of the weight-bearing surface of claws in ruminants. These palmar/plantar surfaces of the claws support the weight of the animal and consist of the distal wall horn, the sole proper, the heel and the minute white line area. The sole should normally only bear weight on uneven or undulating surfaces. A decrease in the thickness of the weigh...

Durophagous crabs successfully hunt hard-shelled prey by subjecting them to extremely strong biting forces using their claws. Here I show that, for a given body mass, six species of Cancer crabs (Cancer antennarius, Cancer branneri, Cancer gracilis, Cancer magister, Cancer oregonensis and Cancer productus) were able to exert mean maximum biting forces greater than the forces exerted in any othe...

main thrust of investigations on phenol oxidases in Drosophila has T g u s e d on pigment production and thus on color mutants since the very early experiments of GRAUBARD (1933). However, the function of the phenol oxidases may prove to be equally, or more important in cuticle formation (see KARLSON and SEKERIS 1964, for proposed pathway in Diptera). The role played by phenol oxidases in the d...

Ostracods are one of the major groups of marine benthos, inhabiting virtually all oceanic environments worldwide, and a total of 31 species have been recorded in genus Euphilomedes Kornicker, 1967. In the present study, we describe a new species Euphilomedes biacutidens collected from the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea. E. biacutidens sp. nov. differs from the related species of the genus Eu...

We investigated the holding and pulling forces generated by claws of the microarthropod Archegozetes longisetosus (Chelicerata, Acari, Oribatida) on three substrates with different roughness (R(a)=0.05 microm, 1 microm, 30 microm). Holding forces were measured perpendicular to the substrate using a strain gage force transducer; pulling forces were measured parallel to the substrate using an ana...

Hymenoptera attach to smooth surfaces with a flexible pad, the arolium, between the claws. Here we investigate its movement in Asian weaver ants (Oecophylla smaragdina) and honeybees (Apis mellifera). When ants run upside down on a smooth surface, the arolium is unfolded and folded back with each step. Its extension is strictly coupled with the retraction of the claws. Experimental pull on the ...

The fixation system consisting of a titanium plate and three pairs of claws can fix the ribs externally. This may contribute to preserve the normal thoracic structure and could result in a significant reduction in the period of ventilator dependency.

Leptohyphes cornutus Allen from Brazil (Santa Catarina) and Misiones, Argentina is re-studied from new material and newly diagnosed as follows: tubercles on head (two pairs), pronotum (two pairs, anterior pair very small), and mesonotum (two pairs), abdominal terga without paired tubercles, nor remnants of them; fore femur length/maximum width, 1.4-1.8; tarsal claws denticulation 4-11+1; hind w...