TGF-β1 induction of the adenine nucleotide translocator 1 in astrocytes occurs through Smads and Sp1 transcription factors

Background  

The adenine nucleotide translocator 1 (Ant1) is an inner mitochondrial membrane protein involved with energy mobilization during oxidative phosphorylation. We recently showed that rodent Ant1 is upregulated by transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) in reactive astrocytes following CNS injury. In the present study, we describe the molecular mechanisms by which TGF-β1 regulates Ant1 gene expression in cultured primary rodent astrocytes.     

On the elastic-viscoplastic proportional combined twist and stretch of a circular bar of rate-sensitive material

The elastic-plastic behaviour of a solid circular bar made of a homogeneous, isotropic and nonhardening material but of a rate-dependent type, subjected to different proportional deformation programmes of twist and stretch, is analysed. In this investigation the material is assumed to yield according to the von Mises criterion and then to follow a rate-dependent post-yield constitutive law of the Perzyna type. Four radial paths in the angte-of-twist and axial-stretch plane were investigated. For each deformation path the numerical solution of the governing system of quasi-linear partial differential equations gave the corresponding loading path and the radial variation of the stress field at selected times. This study complements that of S. A. Meguid and J.D. Campbell (1979) which considered mainly nonproportional deformation paths. In this work residual stress profiles were also calculated, based upon instantaneous unloading after various amounts of deformation. Comparison with predictions of a rateindependent theory for a limiting state, where elastic strains are negligible, is made. Over a considerable range, the loading paths beyond the initial yield were nearly straight, at the elastic slope. The load trajectory then bends over and approaches a point on the limit-state locus. The results showed that the approximate procedure of increasing the flow stress by an empirically determined factor corresponding to a mean plastic strain-rate gave a good estimate for the limit-state stresses.     

The pressure broadening of the helium 2.06 μm (2 1P- 2 1S) line

The pressure broadening of the helium line (2 ¹P-2 ¹S) at 2 μm has been studied in the pressure region 0.3–20 Torr using Fourier transform spectroscopy. Preliminary results are reported.     

A High Resolution Fiber Bragg Grating Resonator Strain Sensing System

A strain sensing system is demonstrated, consisting of a fiber Bragg grating resonator as the strain-sensing element. Signal encoding and decoding is achieved by a synthetic heterodyne technique. A strain accuracy of ±0.426 μεwas attained; a value comparable to that of the classical fiber Fabry Perot (FFP) sensor and higher than conventional Bragg grating strain sensing schemes. This sensing element does not suffer from fabrication problems like the FFP sensor and the interrogation problems of the conventional Bragg grating sensor.     

Zur qualitativen Trennung von Kupfer, Wismuth und Cadmium

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Quasilinear rate-type constitutive equations and incremental stress waves

The requirement that the leading edge of an incremental loading pulse superimposed on a preloading that has reached a constant state will propagate at the elastic wave speed imposes some restrictions on the material functions describing a quasilinear rate-type material. These restrictions are discussed, and it is shown that the incremental wave behavior implies the existence of at least one relaxation boundary, and that a natural continuous transition from the quasilinear equation to a semilinear equation occurs in the neighborhood of the relaxation boundary.How the knowledge of a relaxation boundary can be used in determining the material functions is also discussed.     

Wave propagation in prestrained polyethylene rods

The influence of prestrain on the propagation of mechanical waves along a slender rod of low-density unoriented polyethylene was experimentally investigated. The investigation consisted of two major parts: first, a uniaxial continuous-wave technique was used to determine the dynamic mechanical properties of the polyethylene in the form of the frequency-dependent phase velocity and damping factor for frequencies spanning the audio spectrum and for levels of uniaxial static prestrain up to 10 percent. A linear incremental dynamic viscoelastic behavior about a state of finite-static prestrain was shown to obtain over the range of strains and frequencies used. In the second part, the propagation of an incremental strain pulse along a slender rod of the same material used in the first part was investigated. With the rod in a state of static prestrain, an incremental impact-induced strain pulse was introduced into the polyethylene rod and monitored at two positions along the rod. Assuming a linear incremental dynamic viscoelastic behavior of the material, the equations necessary to describe the resulting uniaxial strain as a function of time and position along the rod are presented and the solution obtained by Fourier transform methods. The resulting Fourier inverse transform was numerically evaluated, using the material properties determined in the first part. The strain measured at the first position was used as the input boundary condition for computing the strain at the second position. Results of the continuous-wave studies indicate that the phase velocity decreases and the damping factor increases with increasing prestrain in the range of prestrains used. The change in the phase velocity with prestrain is relatively uniform over the audio-frequency range. Good correlation of the leading edges of the experimentally measured and numerically synthesized strain pulses supports the high-frequency phase-velocity data of the first part.     

Computation of incremental torsional plastic waves with rate-dependent models

A theoretical analysis of the experimental data of Yew and Richardson on incremental plastic waves in copper is given. Three different strain-rate-dependent constitutive models are considered, and each is integrated by a different numerical scheme. Results show that the intermediate level strain data can be fairly well explained by any one of these models. Good match between the theory and the experiment has, however, not been obtained for the very low and the large amplitude strains. A rate-independent solution is presented for contrast, and it shows consistently poor agreement with the experiment.