Toehold‐initiated Rolling Circle Amplification for Visualizing Individual MicroRNAs In Situ in Single Cells

The ability to quantitate and visualize microRNAs (miRNAs) in situ in single cells would greatly facilitate the elucidation of miRNA‐mediated regulatory circuits and their disease associations. A toehold‐initiated strand‐displacement process was used to initiate rolling circle amplification of specific miRNAs, an approach that achieves both stringent recognition and in situ amplification of the target miRNA. This assay, termed toehold‐initiated rolling circle amplification (TIRCA), can be utilized to identify miRNAs at physiological temperature with high specificity and to visualize individual miRNAs in situ in single cells within 3 h. TIRCA is a competitive candidate technique for in situ miRNA imaging and may help us to understand the role of miRNAs in cellular processes and human diseases in more detail.     

A Supercharged Fluorescent Protein as a Versatile Probe for Homogeneous DNA Detection and Methylation Analysis

Supercharged proteins are a new class of functional proteins with exceptional stability and potent ability to deliver bio‐macromolecules into cells. As a proof‐of‐principle, a novel application of supercharged proteins as a versatile biosensing platform for nucleic acid detection and epigenetics analysis is presented. Taking supercharged green fluorescent protein (ScGFP) as the signal reporter, a simple turn‐on homogenous method for DNA detection has been developed based on the polyionic nanoscale complex of ScGFP/DNA and toehold strand displacement. This assay shows high sensitivity and potent ability to detect single‐base mismatch. Furthermore, combined with bisulfite conversion, this ScGFP‐based assay was further applied to analyze site‐specific DNA methylation status of genomic DNA extracted from real human colon carcinoma tissue sample with ultrahigh sensitivity (4 amol methylated DNA).     

A finite element method based comparative fracture assessment of carbon black and silica filled elastomers: Reinforcing efficacy of carbonaceous fillers in flexible composites

This study is focused on numerical investigation on fracture behaviors of carbon black (CB) and silica filled elastomeric composites. Finite element analysis (FEA) in compliance with multi-specimen method is used to calculate J-integral and geometry factor of the rubber composites up to a displacement of 20 mm for single edge notch in tension (SENT) and double edge notch in tension (DENT) specimens. An empirical relationship between crack tip opening displacement (CTOD) and crack advancement is established depending on notch to width ratio (NWR). The stress contours across the notches for SENT and DENT specimens is discussed briefly. It is found that fracture propagation resistance of CB filled elastomer is 125% more than that of silica filled elastomer. Although, Silica filled elastomer have good tensile strength and crosslink density but it fails to replace carbon black in terms of fracture properties. The critical J-integral for CB filled elastomer is 18.7% and 32.2% more than silica filled elastomer for SENT and DENT specimens respectively. The effect of specimen type on various fracture properties is also explored. The factor of safety is found to be significantly more in case of CB filled elastomers making them less vulnerable to crack propagation and catastrophic failure.     

Parametric Duality Models for Semiinfinite Multiobjective Fractional Programming Problems Containing Generalized （α,η,ρ）-V-Invex Functions

In this paper, we present several parametric duality results under various generalized ( α,η,ρ )-V- invexity assumptions for a semiinfinite multiobjective fractional programming problem.     

Modified sub-population teaching-learning-based optimization for design of truss structures with natural frequency constraints

In this paper, a modified sub-population teaching-learning-based optimization (MS-TLBO) algorithm is proposed to improve the exploration and exploitation capacities by including the concept of number of teachers, adaptive teaching factor, learning through tutorial, and self-motivated learning in the basic TLBO algorithm. The multiple frequency responses to the structural optimization problems are challenging due to its search space, which is implicit, nonconvex, nonlinear, and often leading to divergence. The viability and efficiency of the proposed method are tested by five structural benchmark problems of shape and size optimization with multiple natural frequency constraints on the planar and space trusses. The results reveal that MS-TLBO is more effective as compared to the original TLBO and other state-of-the-art algorithms.     

Unified symmetry of mechano-electrical systems with nonholonomic constraints

The unified symmetry of mechano-electrical systems with nonholonomic constraints are studied in this paper, the definition and the criterion of unified symmetry of mechano-electrical systems with nonholonomic constraints are derived from the Lagrange-Maxwell equations. The Noether conserved quantity, Hojman conserved quantity and Mei conserved quantity are then deduced from the unified symmetry. An example is given to illustrate the application of the results.     

Digital holographic cameras and data processing for remote monitoring and measurements of mechanical parts

Fast growing technology and requirements for testing of different types of materials and devices require new methods and systems for investigation of their parameters. Among the quantities of high interest are shape, deformation, roughness, local materials constants, displacement, and strain fields of elements under load. In the paper, we present novel solutions for digital holographic cameras, which allow for remote monitoring and measurement of the above mentioned quantities at small mechanical objects or at restricted areas of interest at big structures. The systems have compact design, “black box” measurement approach, and allows for fast and accurate measurements performed directly at the element and often in outdoor environment. The principles of digital and optoelectronic reconstruction and phase manipulation are described together with the exemplary measurement results obtained by means of the cameras presented.     

Three-dimensional analytical solution for a transversely isotropic functionally graded piezoelectric circular plate subject to a uniform electric potential difference

This paper studies the problem of a functionally graded piezoelectric circular plate subjected to a uniform electric potential difference between the upper and lower surfaces. By assuming the generalized displacements in appropriate forms, five differential equations governing the generalized displacement functions are derived from the equilibrium equations. These displacement functions are then obtained in an explicit form, which still involve four undetermined integral constants, through a step-by-step integration which properly incorporates the boundary conditions at the upper and lower surfaces. The boundary conditions at the cylindrical surface are then used to determine the integral constants. Hence, three-dimensional analytical solutions for electrically loaded functionally graded piezoelectric circular plates with free or simply-supported edge are completely determined. These solutions can account for an arbitrary material variation along the thickness, and thus can be readily degenerated into those for a homogenous plate. A numerical example is finally given to show the validity of the analysis, and the effect of material inhomogeneity on the elastic and electric fields is discussed. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 10472102 and 10432030) and the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China (Grant No. 20060335107)     

On the Connectedness of Probabilistic Constraint Sets

We prove a result on the connectedness of (abstract) probabilistic constraints P(h(x,)0)p without any assumption on the distribution of . An application to storage level constraints is discussed briefly. Illustrating examples are provided and a simple criterion for the required condition is given in the case of linear h.