Analysis of mode localization in a single-layer spherical reticulated shell

The occurrence of the mode localization is studied in a structure of a single-layer spherical reticulated shell. The matrix perturbation method is used to analyze the mechanism of the occurrence of mode localization. The dynamical characteristics of this structure, especially the effects of the variation of the stiffness parameter on the vibration modes of the structure, were analyzed by numerical simulations. An amplitude significance coefficient is proposed as a measure of the degree of the mode localization. The results show that small deviations of the stiffness parameter can cause significant changes to the structural dynamics characteristics; the mode localization does occur for some particular modes of this structure in the case of random stiffness mistuning. Preliminary analysis found that the mode can be considered as strongly localized when the amplitude significance coefficient is greater than 8

Function annotation of hepatic retinoid x receptor α based on genome-wide DNA binding and transcriptome profiling.

BackgroundRetinoid x receptor α (RXRα) is abundantly expressed in the liver and is essential for the function of other nuclear receptors. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing and mRNA profiling data generated from wild type and RXRα-null mouse livers, the current study identifies the bona-fide hepatic RXRα targets and biological pathways. In addition, based on binding and motif analysis, the molecular mechanism by which RXRα regulates hepatic genes is elucidated in a high-throughput manner.Principal findingsClose to 80% of hepatic expressed genes were bound by RXRα, while 16% were expressed in an RXRα-dependent manner. Motif analysis predicted direct repeat with a spacer of one nucleotide as the most prevalent RXRα binding site. Many of the 500 strongest binding motifs overlapped with the binding motif of specific protein 1. Biological functional analysis of RXRα-dependent genes revealed that hepatic RXRα deficiency mainly resulted in up-regulation of steroid and cholesterol biosynthesis-related genes and down-regulation of translation- as well as anti-apoptosis-related genes. Furthermore, RXRα bound to many genes that encode nuclear receptors and their cofactors suggesting the central role of RXRα in regulating nuclear receptor-mediated pathways.ConclusionsThis study establishes the relationship between RXRα DNA binding and hepatic gene expression. RXRα binds extensively to the mouse genome. However, DNA binding does not necessarily affect the basal mRNA level. In addition to metabolism, RXRα dictates the expression of genes that regulate RNA processing, translation, and protein folding illustrating the novel roles of hepatic RXRα in post-transcriptional regulation

Cross-borehole delineation of a conductive ore deposit in a resistive host-experimental design

Journal ArticleThe finite-difference time-domain method is used for high-resolution full-wave analysis of cross-borehole electromagnetic surveys of buried nickel sulfide deposits. The method is validated against analytical methods for simple cases, but is shown to be a valuable tool for analysis of complicated geological structures such as faulted or layered regions. The magnetic fields generated by a wire loop in a borehole near a nickel sulfide deposit are presented for several cases. The full-wave solution is obtained up to 200 MHz, where quasi-static methods would have failed. The dielectric response is included in the solution, and the diffractive nature of the field is observed. The sensitivity of each receiver in a vertical line in the cross borehole is presented and analyzed to provide an optimal weighting for receivers that can be applied to an experimental study

Cloud computing resource scheduling and a survey of its evolutionary approaches

A disruptive technology fundamentally transforming the way that computing services are delivered, cloud computing offers information and communication technology users a new dimension of convenience of resources, as services via the Internet. Because cloud provides a finite pool of virtualized on-demand resources, optimally scheduling them has become an essential and rewarding topic, where a trend of using Evolutionary Computation (EC) algorithms is emerging rapidly. Through analyzing the cloud computing architecture, this survey first presents taxonomy at two levels of scheduling cloud resources. It then paints a landscape of the scheduling problem and solutions. According to the taxonomy, a comprehensive survey of state-of-the-art approaches is presented systematically. Looking forward, challenges and potential future research directions are investigated and invited, including real-time scheduling, adaptive dynamic scheduling, large-scale scheduling, multiobjective scheduling, and distributed and parallel scheduling. At the dawn of Industry 4.0, cloud computing scheduling for cyber-physical integration with the presence of big data is also discussed. Research in this area is only in its infancy, but with the rapid fusion of information and data technology, more exciting and agenda-setting topics are likely to emerge on the horizon

Enhancing Hydrogen Generation Through Nanoconfinement of Sensitizers and Catalysts in a Homogeneous Supramolecular Organic Framework.

Enrichment of molecular photosensitizers and catalysts in a confined nanospace is conducive for photocatalytic reactions due to improved photoexcited electron transfer from photosensitizers to catalysts. Herein, the self-assembly of a highly stable 3D supramolecular organic framework from a rigid bipyridine-derived tetrahedral monomer and cucurbit[8]uril in water, and its efficient and simultaneous intake of both [Ru(bpy)3 ]2+ -based photosensitizers and various polyoxometalates, that can take place at very low loading, are reported. The enrichment substantially increases the apparent concentration of both photosensitizer and catalyst in the interior of the framework, which leads to a recyclable, homogeneous, visible light-driven photocatalytic system with 110-fold increase of the turnover number for the hydrogen evolution reaction

Correlated Quantum Memory: Manipulating Atomic Entanglement via Electromagnetically Induced Transparency

We propose a feasible scheme of quantum state storage and manipulation via electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in flexibly $united$ multi-ensembles of three-level atoms. For different atomic array configurations, one can properly steer the signal and the control lights to generate different forms of atomic entanglement within the framework of linear optics. These results shed new light on designing the versatile quantum memory devices by using, e.g., an atomic grid.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur

Triptolide induces cell apoptosis in human stomach cancer cell via caspase 3-dependent cascade pathway

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of triptolide on the induction of cell apoptosis in human gastric cancer BGC-823 cells.Methods: The cytotoxicity of triptolide was evaluated by 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5- diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The effect of triptolide on cell proliferation was measured using lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assay. Cell apoptosis was determined by Annexin V/propidium iodide (PI) double-staining assay.Results: MTT results indicate that triptolide significantly decreased cancer cell numbers in dose- and time-dependent manners in MTT assay. Data from LDH assay showed that triptolide markedly induced cytotoxicity in gastric cancer cells. Triptolide also remarkably induced both early and late apoptotic process in BGC-823 cells. In addition, the compound down-regulated the expression of anti-apoptotic Bcell lymphoma-2 (bcl-2) and up-regulated the expression of pro-apoptotic BCL-2-associated X (bax) in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, the pro-apoptotic activity of triptolide was involved in the activation of caspase-3 pathway in BGC-823 cells.Conclusion: Taken together, the findings strongly indicates that the pro-apoptotic activity of triptolide is regulated by caspase 3-dependent cascade pathway, and thus needs to be further developed for cancer therapy.Keywords: Triptolide, Gastric cancer therapy, Apoptosis, Cytotoxicity, Caspas

Bis(1,3-diethyl­benzimidazolium) tetra­bromidomercurate(II)

In the title compound, (C11H15N2)2[HgBr4], the tetra­coordinated HgII center of the complex anion adopts a distorted tetra­hedral geometry [Hg—Br = 2.5755 (8)–2.623 (11) Å and Br—Hg—Br = 103.78 (19)–116.4 (3)°]. One of the Br atoms is disordered over two sites [site-occupancy factors = 0.51 (6) and 0.49 (6)]. The N—C—N angles in the cations are 110.7 (6) and 111.4 (7)°. In the crystal packing, a supra­molecular chain is formed via both weak inter­molecular C—H⋯Br hydrogen bonds and π–π aromatic ring stacking inter­actions [centroid–centroid separation = 3.803 (1) Å]