Structure,Assembly and Function of Cuticle from Mechanical Perspective with Special Focus on Perianth

This review is devoted to the structure, assembly and function of cuticle. The topics are discussed from the mechanical perspective and whenever the data are available a special attention is paid to the cuticle of perianth organs, i.e., sepals, petals or tepals. The cuticle covering these organs is special in both its structure and function and some of these peculiarities are related to the cuticle mechanics. In particular, strengthening of the perianth surface is often provided by a folded cuticle that functionally resembles profiled plates, while on the surface of the petal epidermis of some plants, the cuticle is the only integral continuous layer. The perianth cuticle is distinguished also by those aspects of its mechanics and development that need further studies. In particular, more investigations are needed to explain the formation and maintenance of cuticle folding, which is typical for the perianth epidermis, and also to elucidate the mechanical properties and behavior of the perianth cuticle in situ. Gaps in our knowledge are partly due to technical problems caused by very small thicknesses of the perianth cuticle but modern tools may help to overcome these obstacles.     

Fold and flexibility: what can proteins' mechanical properties tell us about their folding nucleus?

The determination of a protein''s folding nucleus, i.e. a set of native contacts playing an important role during its folding process, remains an elusive yet essential problem in biochemistry. In this work, we investigate the mechanical properties of 70 protein structures belonging to 14 protein families presenting various folds using coarse-grain Brownian dynamics simulations. The resulting rigidity profiles combined with multiple sequence alignments show that a limited set of rigid residues, which we call the consensus nucleus, occupy conserved positions along the protein sequence. These residues'' side chains form a tight interaction network within the protein''s core, thus making our consensus nuclei potential folding nuclei. A review of experimental and theoretical literature shows that most (above 80%) of these residues were indeed identified as folding nucleus member in earlier studies.     

Insertional re-activation of a chloramphenicol acetyltransferase misfolding mutant protein

The deletion of nine residues from the C-terminus of the bacterialchloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) results in depositionof the mutant protein in cytoplasmic inclusion bodies and lossof chloramphenicol resistance in Escherichia coli. This foldingdefect is relieved by C-terminal fusion of the polypeptide withas few as two residues. Based on these observations, efficientpositive selection for the cloning of DNA fragments has beendemonstrated. The cloning vector encodes a C-terminally truncatedCAT protein. Restriction sites in front of the stop codon allowthe insertion of target DNA, resulting in the production ofproperly folded CAT fusion proteins and regained chloramphenicolresistance. The positive selection of recombinants is accomplishedby growth of transformants on chloramphenicol-containing agarplates. The method appears particularly convenient for the cloningof DNA fragments amplified by the PCR because minimal informationto restore CAT folding can be included in the primers. The cloningof random sequences shows that the folding defect can be relievedby fusion to a wide variety of peptides, providing great flexibilityto the positive selection system. This vector may also contributeto the determination of the role of the C-terminus in CAT folding.     

An 8-bit, 200 MSPS Folding and Interpolating ADC

An 8-bit, 200 MSPS folding and interpolating analog-to-digitalconverter, ADC, has been implemented in a 1.2 µmBiCMOS-process. It achieves 7.5 effective bits with a power dissipationof 575mW. The active area is 4mm². The implementationand measured results are presented. A simple analytical modelfor the interpolation-induced nonlinearity in a folding and interpolatingADC using sinusoidal folding is presented. The bowing of thereference ladder due to interaction with the input stages isanalyzed, and analytical models are derived.     

The concept of an endurance limit for adhesive joints

The effect of cyclic stressing on the strength of single lap adhesive joints has been studied and a considerable reduction in strength observed when the maximum stress exceeds about 40% of the ultimate tensile strength, but whether or not a true endurance limit exists is not proven. Fallacies are shown in some of the techniques which have been proposed for studying the fatigue behaviour of adhesive joints.     

CAD系统中产品设计三维实体建模方法的研究

三维建模是应用CAD系统进行产品设计的重要步骤。现在市场上已有不少的CAD系统，但是不同系统中的三维建模方法却是基本相同的。在这些三维建模的方法中，往往对用户施加了许多的限制，使得用户无法建立复杂的三维实体。笔者提出了一种新的三维建模方法－折叠法，应用这种方法的概念和原理，可以开发出先进的三维建模CAD系统。折叠二维平面图形构成三维实体是作者提出的一种新概念。     

36 m 高砖砌水塔定向折叠爆破拆除

介绍了复杂环境中砖砌高大水塔的定向折叠爆破拆除.根据周围的环境情况,在施工中采用了开定向窗、挖定位坑等技术措施,确保爆破成功,达到了设计效果.     

磨削加工中磨削液对砂轮堵塞影响的试验分析

砂轮堵塞是影响砂轮耐用度的重要指标，磨削液在磨削加工中起到润滑、冷却、清洗等作用，对砂轮的堵塞有着较大影响．文章通过试验，分析了磨削液对砂轮堵塞的原因．     

基于去调频技术的斜视聚束SAR成像方法

针对具有方位谱混叠现象的斜视聚束式合成孔径雷达(SAR)成像问题,本文研究了一种基于去调频技术的成像方法.文中首先分析了斜视聚束SAR中的方位谱混叠现象,从理论上找出了斜视角影响方位粗聚焦的根本原因.基于分析结果,引入了回波信号非线性相位校正预处理法,彻底消除了斜视角的影响,从而得到正确的粗聚焦结果.然后基于斜视成像模型,推导了预处理回波信号的方位粗聚焦和精聚焦处理过程.在精聚焦的方位滤波处理中,针对非线性相位校正预处理导致的场景聚焦深度限制问题,提出了一种改进的非线性调频变标(NLCS)算法,实现了回波信号的高精度方位压缩.仿真实验结果证明了文中理论分析的正确性和所提方法的有效性.     

Muscular fatigue and maximum endurance time assessment for male and female industrial workers

A single arm pushing experiment was conducted in an electronic factory in Yantai, China to assess muscular fatigue using the theoretical models of muscular strength and maximum endurance time (MET) developed by Ma et al. (2009). Seventy seven workers, including 38 males and 39 females, participated in the study. The muscular strength of pushing was measured after the subject pushed a stick, with a force of 2.5 kgf, for 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0 min. Fatigue rate was determined based on a regression approach. In addition to the theoretical model, the MET for such a pushing task was also determined using four empirical models in the literature. The results indicated that females were more resistant to muscular fatigue than males in the pushing task. The results of the muscular strength prediction show that the predictability of the muscular strength model is acceptable. The prediction errors for muscular strength for female subjects were significantly lower than those of the male subjects. The predicted MET using the theoretical model, with a group constant k, was highly correlated with those using the empirical models compared in the current study.