Enumeration of optimal pin-jointed bistable compliant mechanisms with non-crossing members

An optimization approach is presented for enumerating pin-jointed bistable compliant mechanisms. In the first stage, the statically determinate trusses with non-crossing members containing a given set of nodes and some pre-defined members are regarded as minimally rigid framework or a Laman framework, and are enumerated without repetitions by the graph enumeration algorithm. In the second stage, the nodal locations and the cross-sectional areas are optimized under mechanical constraints, where the snapthrough behavior is extensively utilized to produce a pin-jointed bistable compliant mechanism. In the numerical examples, many bistable compliant mechanisms are generated to show the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

Expression of heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A2/B1 in bronchial epithelium of chronic smokers

The monoclonal antibody 703D4, which binds heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A2/B1 (hnRNP A2/B1), has been reported to detect lung cancer more than a year earlier than routine chest X-ray or cytomorphology. To explore the biological basis of this detection, we studied the expression of this antigen in the central airways of smokers with evidence of bronchial metaplasia using specimens from a previously reported, randomized retinoid chemoprevention trial. By analyzing 1078 available biopsy specimens from 147 individuals at baseline and 68 individuals who completed the intervention, we frequently detected overexpression of hnRNP A2/B1 in normal and abnormal bronchial epithelium (i.e., in 41% of normal and 37% of squamous metaplasia samples). There was no correlation between hnRNP A2/B1 overexpression and the different histological changes. In cases with hnRNP A2/B1 overexpression, immunoreactivity was homogeneously expressed in all biopsied sites. For the 68 cases with serial biopsies, there was no significant modulation of hnRNP expression by retinoid intervention or smoking status. With lung cancer cell lines, 0.5-4 microM concentrations of 13-cis-retinoic acid reduced hnRNP A2/B1 overexpression by immunocytochemistry. We conclude that hnRNP A2/B1 overexpression is frequently found in central airways of chronic smokers, consistent with the pattern of expression that we reported previously in airways surrounding resected primary lung cancers. Oral 13-cis-retinoic acid at a dose of 1 mg/kg has no demonstrable effects on modulating hnRNP A2/B1 expression in proximal bronchial epithelium.     

横财飞来怎么办?

对于Jill Severn来说,最近发生的事情简直让人难以置信--她的继祖母为她留下了近50万美元的遗产.Jill在她继祖母病危孤单的时候一直陪伴着她.Jill的初衷也只是尽自己的一点孝心而已,并不求什么回报,或许真的是善有善报吧,上帝为Jill带来了好运.     

富裕的理发师[2]

8月3日 晴朗 "百分之十的储蓄":每月将你所挣收入的百分之十自动储存进一个基金. Roy:"Cathy,我今天给你讲一个有趣的故事,是关于‘百分之十储蓄'的."     

感受加拿大银行服务

从国内来到加拿大后,发现两地的银行有很大的不同.最大的不同是,这里的银行电脑化程度很高,业务范围广泛. 例如,在国内存款是先去银行柜台交钱,银行职员点数后,开存单或填存折给你.取款凭存折本,印章或凭存单和密码、身份证等.这种方法缺点是:存折本和存单不易携带和保存;存款、取款手续麻烦,人多时要排队;节假日银行关门无法存提款;异地存取款困难.     

墨比尔斯投资法则[一]——通往海外投资的致富之道

目前为富兰克林基金公司新兴市场最重要操盘人,素有新兴市场教父之称的马克·墨比尔斯(Mark Mobius),曾经荣获美国杂志评选的"全球十大投资大师"之一,并于1997年、1998年连续被路透社选为"年度最佳全球基金经理人".他的著作<获利护照--通往海外投资致富之道>提出多项投资法则,值得投资人参考.法则共有三十多条,我们对其进行精选,从这一期开始连续刊登,为你揭开墨比尔斯投资法则的神秘面纱.     

Ecological and Mechanistic Insights Into the Direct and Indirect Antimicrobial Properties of Bacillus subtilis Lipopeptides on Plant Pathogens

Members of the genus Bacillus produce a wide variety of antimicrobial compounds. Cyclic lipopeptides (CLP) produced by Bacillus subtilis strains have been shown to protect host plants from a numbers of pathogens. The representative families of these CLP (surfactins, fengycins, and iturins) share a polypeptide ring linked to a lipid tail of varying length. CLP provide plant protection through a variety of unique mechanisms. Members of the surfactin and fengycin families elicit induced systemic resistance in certain host plants, and they also function by directly affecting the biological membranes of bacterial and fungal pathogens, mainly resulting in membrane pore formation. Specific pore forming mechanisms differ between CLP families, causing differential activities. CLP also may aid in enhanced B. subtilis colonization of the plant environment in addition to potentially preventing the adhesion of competitive microorganisms. Several recent studies have highlighted the control of plant pathogens by CLP-producing B. subtilis strains. Strong ecological advantages through multifaceted activities of CLP provide these strains with immense promise in controlling pathogens in a variety of plant ecosystems.     

Anchoring effects in sequential clinical judgments.

To clarify further the nature of assimilation and contrast effects, serial judgments of clinical stimuli were studied using a 4-phase alternation of anchor design. Judgments of pathology of equivalent moderate clinical stimuli across the sequence of anchor contexts were made by 176 Ss. 2 types of behavior were judged, aggression and dependency. The results indicated significant anchoring effects on 3 of the 4 phases. Contrast on the initial phase was followed by a trend toward assimilation on the succeeding phases. It is concluded that assimilation effects using alternated anchors may be facilitated by the limited capacity of judges to discriminate clinical stimuli and by perceptual grouping effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A wide-plastic range spread for the Canadian armed forces

Summary An acetoglyceride type of spread having a wide plastic range has been developed, utilizing hydrogenated edible tallow for the hard component and acetoglycerides made from hydrogenated soybean oil for the liquid component of the spread. The product had good spreadability over a wide temperature range and good acceptability. Issued as Defence Research Medical Laboratories Report No. 53-5, PCC Project No. D50-78-60-01.     

Biologically inspired adaptive walking of a quadruped robot

We describe here the efforts to induce a quadruped robot to walk with medium-walking speed on irregular terrain based on biological concepts. We propose the necessary conditions for stable dynamic walking on irregular terrain in general, and we design the mechanical and the neural systems by comparing biological concepts with those necessary conditions described in physical terms. PD-controller at joints constructs the virtual spring-damper system as the viscoelasticity model of a muscle. The neural system model consists of a central pattern generator (CPG), reflexes and responses. We validate the effectiveness of the proposed neural system model control using the quadruped robots called 'Tekken1&2'. MPEG footage of experiments can be seen at http://www.kimura.is.uec.ac.jp.