The Malayan Gerridae are monographed based mainly on the collections made by the authors. Of the total of 41 species recorded from Malaya, 4 species are being described elsewhere and are designated here without specific names. All the species are described and figured except Stenobates biroi which we have not collected. Keys to the genera and species are included. Notes on biology and distribution are also given. The Malayan gerrid fauna is both rich and varied and includes 18 genera, representing all six subfamilies of the Gerridae.

We report here the first chromosome numbers for sea-skaters. Meiotic metaphase figures were obtained from the testes of three littoral species: Asclepios shiranui, Halobates flaviventris and H. robustus and two pelagic species: H. germanus and H. micans. In the four species of Halobates 2n~ = 31, the highest chromosome number so far determined for the Gerridae. In a proposed ancestral form, A. shiranui, 2n6' = 23. Males of all five species have an unpaired chromosome, assumed to be the X chromosome of an XO sex chromosome system.

The fore tibial and hind tibio-tarsal grooming apparatus of Culicoides melleus and C. furens is described. The hind organ is more complex. The fore organ consists of a single comb of closely spaced spines supplemented by a few adjacent thickened setae, the whole complex being situated at the innter tibial apex.

The 'Manta Net', a new design capable of continuous-flow collection of organisms and flotsam at the sea surface, is described and compared to the Neuston Net. The Manta Net stays reliably at the surface during the entire sample period; its handling requires 2 persons.

Relatively few insects have invaded the marine environment, and only five species of sea skaters, Halobates Eschscholtz (Hemiptera: Gerridae), have successfully colonized the surface of the open ocean. All five species occur in the Pacific Ocean, H. germanus White also occurs in the Indian Ocean, whereas H. micans Eschscholtz is the only species found in the Atlantic Ocean. We sequenced a 780 bp long region of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene (COI) for a total of 66 specimens of the five oceanic Halobates species. Our purpose was to investigate the genetic variation within species and estimate the amount of gene flow betweenpopulations. We defined 27 haplotypes for H. micans and found that haplotype lineages from each of the major oceans occupied by this species are significantly different, having sequences containing five to seven unique base substitutions. We conclude that gene flow between populations of H. micans inhabiting the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Ocean is limited and hypothesize that these populations have been separated for 1 to 3 million years. Similarly, there may be limited gene flow between H. germanus populations found in the Pacific and Indian Ocean and between H. sericeus populations inhabiting thenorthern and southern parts of the Pacific Ocean. Finally, we discuss our findings in relation to recent hypotheses about the influence of oceanic diffusion on the distribution and population structure of oceanic Halobates spp.

Majority of practical multivariate statistical analysis and optimizations model interdependence among random variables in terms of the linear correlation. Though linear correlation is simple to use and evaluate, in several cases non-linear dependence between random variables may be too strong to ignore. In this paper, we propose polynomial correlation coefficients as simple measure of multi-variable non-linear dependence and show that the need for modeling non-linear dependence strongly depends on the end function that is to be evaluated from the random variables. Then, we calculate the errors in estimation resulting from assuming independence of components generated by linear de-correlation techniques, such as PCA and ICA. The experimental results show that the error predicted by our method is within 1% error compared to the real simulation of statistical timing and leakage analysis. In order to deal with non-linear dependence, we further develop a target-function-driven component analysis algorithm (FCA) to minimize the error caused by ignoring high order dependence. We apply FCA to statistical leakage power analysis and SRAM cell noise margin variation analysis. Experimental results show that the proposed FCA method is more accurate compared to the traditional PCA or ICA. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Despite the remarkable evolutionary success of insects at colonizing every conceivable terrestrial and aquatic habitat, only five Halobates (Heteroptera: Gerridae) species (~0.0001% of all known insect species) have succeeded at colonizing the open ocean – the largest biome on Earth. This remarkable evolutionary achievement likely required unique adaptations for them to survive and thrive in the challenging oceanic environment. For the first time, we explore the morphology and behavior of an open-ocean Halobates germanus and a related coastal species H. hayanus to understand mechanisms of these adaptations. We provide direct experimental evidence based on high-speed videos which reveal that Halobates exploit their specialized and self-groomed body hair to achieve extreme water repellence, which facilitates rapid skating and plastron respiration under water. Moreover, the grooming behavior and presence of cuticular wax aids in the maintenance of superhydrophobicity. Further, reductions of their body mass and size enable them to achieve impressive accelerations (~400 ms⁻²) and reaction times (~12 ms) to escape approaching predators or environmental threats and are crucial to their survival under harsh marine conditions. These findings might also inspire rational strategies for developing liquid-repellent surfaces for drag reduction, water desalination, and preventing bio-fouling.

© Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. 2015. Background: Acupuncture at specific acupoints has experimentally been found to reduce chronically elevated blood pressure. Objective: To examine effectiveness of electroacupuncture (EA) at select acupoints to reduce systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressures (DBP) in hypertensive patients. Design: Two-arm parallel study. Patients: Sixty-five hypertensive patients not receiving medication were assigned randomly to one of the two acupuncture intervention (33 versus 32 patients). Intervention: Patients were assessed with 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. They were treated with 30-minutes of EA at PC 5-6+ST 36-37 or LI 6-7+GB 37-39 once weekly for 8 weeks. Four acupuncturists provided single-blinded treatment. Main outcome measures: Primary outcomes measuring effectiveness of EA were peak and average SBP and DBP. Secondary outcomes examined underlying mechanisms of acupuncture with plasma norepinephrine, renin, and aldosterone before and after 8 weeks of treatment. Outcomes were obtained by double-blinded evaluation. Results: After 8 weeks, 33 patients treated with EA at PC 5-6+ST 36-37 had decreased peak and average SBP and DBP, compared with 32 patients treated with EA at LI 6-7+GB 37-39 control acupoints. Changes in blood pressures significantly differed between the two patient groups. In 14 patients, a long-lasting blood pressure-lowering acupuncture effect was observed for an additional 4 weeks of EA at PC 5-6+ST 36-37. After treatment, the plasma concentration of norepinephrine, which was initially elevated, was decreased by 41%; likewise, renin was decreased by 67% and aldosterone by 22%. Conclusions: EA at select acupoints reduces blood pressure. Sympathetic and renin-aldosterone systems were likely related to the long-lasting EA actions.