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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span lang=EN-IE
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>The department of
Mathematics and Statistics invites you to a seminar by </span></font><font
size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:navy'>Dr. Daniele Avitabile (Bristol Centre for Applied Nonlinear
Mathematics, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">University of Bristol</st1:City>,
<st1:country-region w:st="on">UK</st1:country-region></st1:place>): <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span lang=EN-IE
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span lang=EN-IE
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Title: </span></font><font
size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:navy'>Active Hearing Systems in mosquitoes: from mesoscopic to
macroscopic models<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span lang=EN-IE
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Abstract: </span></font><span
class=apple-style-span><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Insects have evolved
diverse and delicate morphological structures in</span></font></span><font
size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:navy'> </span></font><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>order to capture the inherently
low energy of a propagating sound</span></font><font size=2 color=navy
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'> </span></font><font
size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:navy'>wave. In mosquitoes, the capture of acoustic energy, and its</span></font><font
size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:navy'> </span></font><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>transduction into
neuronal signals, is assisted by the active mechanical participation of the
scolopidia. We have proposed a simple mesoscopic mechanistic model of the
active amplification in the mosquito species Toxorhynchites brevipalpis. The
model is based on the description of the antenna as a forced-damped oscillator
coupled to a set of active threads (ensembles of scolopidia) that provide an impulsive
force when they twitch. This twitching is in turn controlled by channels
that are opened and closed if the antennal oscillation reaches a critical
amplitude. The model matches both qualitatively and quantitatively with recent
experiments: spontaneous oscillations, nonlinear amplification, hysteresis, 2:1
resonances, frequency</span></font><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'> </span></font><font
size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:navy'>response, gain loss due to hypoxia. The numerical simulations also generate
new hypotheses. In particular, the model seems to indicate that scolopidia
located toward the tip of the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Johnston</st1:City></st1:place>'s
organ are responsible for the entrainment of the other scolopidia, and that
they give the largest contribution to the mechanical amplification. I will
also introduce an averaging of the mesoscopic model, allowing to describe
quantitatively the neuronal force at a macroscopic scale.</span></font><font
size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:navy'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span lang=EN-IE
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span lang=EN-IE
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span lang=EN-IE
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>The seminar will take
place on <b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Friday 20<sup>th</sup> November, at
4pm</span></b>, in A2-002.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span lang=EN-IE
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span lang=EN-IE
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>If you have any questions
regarding this seminar, please direct them to Sarah Mitchell (061 202259, <a
href="mailto:sarah.mitchell@ul.ie" title="blocked::mailto:sarah.mitchell@ul.ie"><font
color=navy><span style='color:navy'>sarah.mitchell@ul.ie</span></font></a>).
A full list of Seminars for this semester can be found at: <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span lang=EN-IE
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span lang=EN-IE
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><a
href="http://www.staff.ul.ie/mitchells/MACSI_seminars.html"
title="blocked::http://www.staff.ul.ie/mitchells/MACSI_seminars.html"><font
color=navy><span style='color:navy'>http://www.staff.ul.ie/mitchells/MACSI_seminars.html</span></font></a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span lang=EN-IE
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span lang=EN-IE
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>----------------------------------------------------------------------------<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span lang=EN-IE
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Supported by Science
Foundation Ireland Mathematics Initiative funding, MACSI - the Mathematics
Applications Consortium for Science and Industry (<a href="www.macsi.ie"
title="blocked::www.macsi.ie"><font color=navy title="blocked::www.macsi.ie"><span
title="blocked::www.macsi.ie"><span style='color:navy;text-decoration:none'>www.macsi.ie</span></span></font></a>),
centred at the University of Limerick, is dedicated to the mathematical
modelling and solution of problems which arise in science, engineering and
industry in Ireland<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span lang=EN-IE
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>----------------------------------------------<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span lang=EN-IE
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><img border=0 width=142
height=142 id="_x0000_i1025" src="cid:image001.jpg@01CA6692.91012470"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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