Energetics and conserved quantity of an axially moving string undergoing three-dimensional nonlinear vibration

Nonlinear three-dimensional vibration of axially moving strings is investigated in the view of energetics. The governing equation is derived from the Eulerian equation of motion of a continuum for axially accelerating strings. The time-rate of the total mechanical energy associated with the vibration is calculated for the string with its ends moving in a prescribed way. For a string moving in a constant axial speed and constrained by two fixed ends, a conserved quantity is proved to remain unchanged during three-dimensional vibration, while the string energy is not conserved. An approximate conserved quantity is derived from the conserved quantity in the neighborhood of the straight equilibrium configuration. The approximate conserved quantity is applied to verify the Lyapunov stability of the straight equilibrium configuration. Numerical simulations are performed for a rubber string and a steel string. The results demonstrate the variation of the total mechanical energy and the invariance of the conserved quantity.     

Phospholipase D2 is a positive regulator of sirtuin 1 and modulates p53-mediated apoptosis via sirtuin 1

Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) is a nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide-dependent histone deacetylase that plays diverse physiological roles. However, little is known about the regulation of SIRT1 activity. Here, we show that phospholipase D2 (PLD2), but not PLD1, selectively interacts with SIRT1 and increases the deacetylase activity of SIRT1. PLD2 does not interact with the other isozymes of SIRT (SIRT2–7). Two leucine residues in the LXXLL motif (L173 and L174) in the phox domain of PLD2 interact with the region essential for SIRT1 activity. PLD2 stimulates the SIRT1-mediated deacetylation of p53 independent of its lipase activity. In our study, mutagenesis of the LXXLL motif suppressed the interaction of PLD2 with SIRT1 and inhibited SIRT1-mediated p53 deacetylation and p53-induced transactivation of proapoptotic genes. Ultimately, overexpression of wild-type PLD2 but not that of LXXLL-mutant PLD2 protected cells against etoposide-induced apoptosis. Moreover, PLD2 did not protect against apoptosis induced by SIRT1 depletion under genotoxic stress. Collectively, our results suggest that PLD2 is a positive regulator of SIRT1 and modulates p53-mediated apoptosis via SIRT1.Subject terms: Lipid signalling, Cancer metabolism     

MicroRNA-26a/b-5p promotes myocardial infarction-induced cell death by downregulating cytochrome c oxidase 5a

Myocardial infarction (MI) damage induces various types of cell death, and persistent ischemia causes cardiac contractile decline. An effective therapeutic strategy is needed to reduce myocardial cell death and induce cardiac recovery. Therefore, studies on molecular and genetic biomarkers of MI, such as microRNAs (miRs), have recently been increasing and attracting attention due to the ideal characteristics of miRs. The aim of the present study was to discover novel causative factors of MI using multiomics-based functional experiments. Through proteomic, MALDI-TOF-MS, RNA sequencing, and network analyses of myocardial infarcted rat hearts and in vitro functional analyses of myocardial cells, we found that cytochrome c oxidase subunit 5a (Cox5a) expression is noticeably decreased in myocardial infarcted rat hearts and myocardial cells under hypoxic conditions, regulates other identified proteins and is closely related to hypoxia-induced cell death. Moreover, using in silico and in vitro analyses, we found that miR-26a-5p and miR-26b-5p (miR-26a/b-5p) may directly modulate Cox5a, which regulates hypoxia-related cell death. The results of this study elucidate the direct molecular mechanisms linking miR-26a/b-5p and Cox5a in cell death induced by oxygen tension, which may contribute to the identification of new therapeutic targets to modulate cardiac function under physiological and pathological conditions.Subject terms: Protein-protein interaction networks, Predictive markers     

The modeling and the optimization of a grating optical low-pass filter

Through the one-dimensional analysis of the diffraction of a phase grating, we calculated the optical transfer function (OTF) of a phase grating. By a 0th-order approximation of the optical transfer function, we analyzed the feasibility of using it as a spatial frequency filter and obtained the structure of a grating for the optimum-filtering characteristics. The OTF of a phase grating as an optical low-pass filter is optimal when the incoming light is equally divided into three beams. The distance of those beams must be equal to the pixel size. The theoretical development was verified through an experiment. Received: 21 May 2001 / Revised version: 16 July 2001 / Published online: 15 October 2001     

Structural Analysis of Bisphenol-A and its Methylene,Sulfur, and Oxygen Bridged Bisphenol Analogs

The molecular structures of bisphenol-A, C(CH₃)₂(p-C₆H₄OH)₂ (monoclinic, P2₁/n, a = 11.1940(6) Å, b = 18.738(1) Å, c = 17.8623(9) Å, β = 100.571(1)°), its methylene (CH₂) and heteroatom (S, O) bridged analogs, CH₂(p-C₆H₄OH)₂ (monoclinic, P2₁/n, a = 5.4351(1) Å, b = 20.7895(3) Å, c = 8.8432(1) Å, β = 93.419(1)°), S(p-C₆H₄OH)₂ (monoclinic, P2₁/n, a = 5.5115(1) Å, b = 21.0666(2) Å, c = 8.6917(1) Å, β = 92.962(1)°) and O(p-C₆H₄OH)₂ (orthorhombic, Pbcn, a = 5.2745(5) Å, b = 8.2724(8) Å, c = 22.085(2) Å), have been determined by X-ray diffraction at 115 K, revealing structural differences in the series of compounds. The results show that the C_aryl–X_bridge–C_aryl angles (X_bridge = C(CH₃)₂, CH₂, S, O) span a range greater than 14°. The dihedral angle between the planes of the hydroxyphenyl groups also varies according to the identity of the bridging group, varying from 67.24(2)° in S(p-C₆H₄OH)₂ to 85.82(4)° in C(CH₃)₂(p-C₆H₄OH)₂. In addition, the pitch angle, which more accurately describes the propeller-like nature of these bisphenolic compounds, varies from 39.88(3)° in S(p-C₆H₄OH)₂ to 59.62(7)° in C(CH₃)₂(p-C₆H₄OH)₂. Ab initio electronic structure calculations predict very similar bond lengths and angles to those observed crystallographically; however, the predicted dihedral angles and pitch angles are quite different, suggesting that these features are greatly influenced by crystal packing.     

Application of a modified Lindstedt–Poincaré method in coupled TDOF systems with quadratic nonlinearity and a constant external excitation

An analytical approach is developed for the nonlinear oscillation of a conservative, two-degree-of-freedom (TDOF) mass-spring system with serial combined linear–nonlinear stiffness excited by a constant external force. The main idea of the proposed approach lies in two categories, the first one is the transformation of two nonlinear differential equations of a two-mass system using suitable intermediate variables into a single nonlinear differential equation. Another is the treatment a quadratic nonlinear oscillator (QNO) by the modified Lindstedt–Poincaré (L-P) method presented recently by the authors. The first-order and second-order analytical approximations for the modified L-P method are established for the QNOs with satisfactory results. After solving the nonlinear differential equation, the displacements of two-mass system can be obtained directly from the governing linear second-order differential equation. Unlike the common perturbation method, the modified L-P method is valid for weak as well as strong nonlinear oscillation systems. On the other hand, the new approach yields simple approximate analytical expressions valid for small as well as large amplitudes of oscillation. In short, this new approach yields extended scope of applicability, simplicity, flexibility in application, and avoidance of complicated numerical integration as compared to the previous approaches such as the perturbation and classical harmonic balance methods. Two examples of nonlinear TDOF mass-spring systems excited by a constant external force are selected and the approximate solutions are verified with the exact solutions derived from the Jacobi elliptic function and also the numerical fourth-order Runge–Kutta solutions.     

An Extremely Simple and Effective Colony PCR Procedure for Bacteria, Yeasts, and Microalgae

An extremely simple and effective colony PCR procedure is established for both gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria, yeasts, and microalgae. Among the four lysis buffers examined, Y-PER is observed to be more effective than Tris/EDTA, 0.2 % SDS, and 10 mM EDTA in the extraction of PCR-quality genomic DNA from those microorganisms. Vortexing or pipetting agitation of the cells in Y-PER for 5–10 s was sufficient to release genomic DNA for all the test bacteria and yeasts, and most microalgae. Additional incubation at 98 °C for 5 min for further cell disruption was essential only for Chlorella vulgaris due to its notoriously rigid cell wall.