Mechanical Properties of Pedal Mucus and Their Consequences for Gastropod Structure and Performance
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In this article, the authors examined the possiblility that the physical properties of pedal mucus limit the size and speed of gastropods and found that the predicted maxima are near those observed in nature.Abstract:
This study examines the possiblility that the physical properties of pedal mucus limit the size and speed of gastropods. At small deformations hydrated pedal mucus is a viscoelastic solid. At large deformations the mucus yields and becomes a viscous liquid, the yield strength increasing as the rate of deformation increases. The mucus can ‘heal’ if left undeformed, its strength increasing with time. When dehydrated the mucus strength and stiffness increase substantially. These properties can be used to calculate the maximum speed of crawling and the maximum size for gastropods. In all the cases examined the predicted maxima are near those observed in nature, and it seems likely that pedal mucus indeed places limits on gastropod structure and performance.read more
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Structural deformation of bacterial biofilms caused by short‐term fluctuations in fluid shear: An in situ investigation of biofilm rheology
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Rheological fingerprinting of gastropod pedal mucus and synthetic complex fluids for biomimicking adhesive locomotion
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Formation and stabilization of rhizosheaths of zea mays l. : effect of soil water content
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Book ChapterDOI
Mucus from Marine Molluscs
TL;DR: The fate of molluscan mucus is largely unknown and probably makes a considerable contribution to POM in inshore waters, although its is readily degradable by marine microbes.
References
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Book
Viscoelastic properties of polymers
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe the nature of Viscoelastic behavior of polymeric systems and approximate relations among the linear Viscoels and approximate interrelations among the Viscelastic Functions.
Book
Mechanical design in organisms
TL;DR: This book reviews biological structural materials and systems and their mechanically important features and demonstrates that function at any particular level of biological integration is permitted and controlled by structure at lower levels of integration.
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Introduction to polymer viscoelasticity
TL;DR: Phenomenological treatment of Viscoelasticity Time--Temperature Correspondence Transitions and Relaxation in Amorphous Polymers Statistics of a Polymer Chain Rubber Elasticity Viscoelsastic Models Dielectric Relaxation Chemical Stress Relaxation Appendix References Answers to Problems List of Major Symbols Index
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