Vestigiality

Vestigiality refers to genetically determined structures or attributes that have apparently lost most or all of their ancestral function in a given species, but have been retained during the process of evolution. Assessment of the vestigiality must generally rely on comparison with homologous features in related species. The emergence of vestigiality occurs by normal evolutionary processes, typically by loss of function of a feature that is no longer subject to positive selection pressures when it loses its value in a changing environment. The feature may be selected against more urgently when its function becomes definitively harmful. Typical examples of both types occur in the loss of flying capability in island-dwelling species.

Overview

Vestigial features may take various forms; for example they may be patterns of behavior, anatomical structures, or biochemical processes. Like most other physical features, however functional, vestigial features in a given species may successively appear, develop, and persist or disappear at various stages within the life cycle of the organism, ranging from early embryonic development to late adulthood.

Biology

Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Modern biology is a vast and eclectic field, composed of many branches and subdisciplines. However, despite the broad scope of biology, there are certain general and unifying concepts within it that govern all study and research, consolidating it into single, coherent fields. In general, biology recognizes the cell as the basic unit of life, genes as the basic unit of heredity, and evolution as the engine that propels the synthesis and creation of new species. It is also understood today that all organisms survive by consuming and transforming energy and by regulating their internal environment to maintain a stable and vital condition.

Subdisciplines of biology are defined by the scale at which organisms are studied, the kinds of organisms studied, and the methods used to study them: biochemistry examines the rudimentary chemistry of life; molecular biology studies the complex interactions among biological molecules; botany studies the biology of plants; cellular biology examines the basic building-block of all life, the cell; physiology examines the physical and chemical functions of tissues, organs, and organ systems of an organism; evolutionary biology examines the processes that produced the diversity of life; and ecology examines how organisms interact in their environment.

Biology (journal)

Biology is a quarterly, peer-reviewed, open access, scientific journal covering research on all aspects of biology. It was established in 2012 and is published by MDPI. The editor-in-chief is Chris O'Callaghan (University of Oxford). The journal publishes reviews, research papers, and communications.

Subject Areas

This journal covers all topics related to biology. More detail about the journal and its scope is available in the first editorial. Research fields of interest include, but are not limited to:

Biology: The Unity and Diversity of Life

Biology: The Unity and Diversity of Life is a college-level introductory biology textbook that covers basic biochemistry, anatomy, taxonomy, evolution, biotechnology and ecology. The book is designed to create in students a broad foundation of knowledge in biology and is frequently used in AP Biology classes in American high schools. Each book includes an interactive CD-ROM with links to additional instructional material. Like many textbooks new versions are printed every few years and reflect new gains in scientific knowledge. The book is published by Brooks/Cole and is currently in its twelfth edition. It was primarily compiled by Cecie Starr and Ralph Taggart with pictures and illustrations by Lisa Starr.

The book was translated into few languages, among others into Hebrew, published by the Open University of Israel.

External links

Drum rudiment

In percussion music, a rudiment is one of a number of relatively small patterns which form the foundation for more extended and complex drum patterns. The term "rudiment" in this context means not only "basic", but also fundamental. While any level of drumming may, in some sense, be broken down by analysis into a series of component rudiments, the term "drum rudiment" is most closely associated with various forms of field drumming, also known as rudimental drumming.

Rudimental drumming has something of a flexible definition, even within drumming societies devoted to that form of drumming. For example, the longest running website on rudimental drumming defines it as "the study of coordination," whereas the Percussive Arts Society defines rudimental drumming as a particular method for learning the drums—beginning with rudiments, and gradually building up speed and complexity through practicing those rudiments. (An analogy might be made to learning the piano by first learning scales and arpeggios, as opposed to beginning by taking a full piece of music and grinding through it bit by bit, to the end.)

Aspect of music

An aspect of music (rudiment) is any characteristic, dimension, or element taken as a part or component of music. A parameter is any element that can be manipulated (composed) separately from other elements. "There is very little dispute about the principal constituent elements of music, though experts will differ on the precise definitions of each aspect. Most central are 'pitch' (or melody) and 'rhythm'...next in importance only to pitch and rhythm is 'timbre', the characteristic qualities of tone."(Gardner 1984, 104)

"Just as parameters within a culture are distinguished from one another because they are governed by somewhat different constraints, so it is with the parameters of music: melody, harmony, timbre, etc., are more or less independent variables."(Meyer 1989, 21.44) The first person to apply the term parameter to music may have been Joseph Schillinger, though its relative popularity may be due to Werner Meyer-Eppler (Grant 2005, 62n85). Gradation is gradual change within one parameter, or an overlapping of two blocks of sound. There is disagreement over the number and existence of specific aspects, as well as whether any aspects are common to all music.

Rudiment (disambiguation)

Rudiment may refer to: