NON LINEAR FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF THE CONTACT, STRAIN AND STRESS STATES OF A BOLT - NUT - WASHER - COMPRESSED SHEET JOINT SYSTEM

A non-linear finite element model with contact elements was developed to evaluate the contact state of a bolt - nut - washer - compressed sheet joint system. Applying the proper material law the non-linear behaviour of the members of the joint was studied in term of the clamping force. Based on the FE results the load distribution among the threads in contact and the real preload diagram of the system were evaluated. To produce the required clamping force at medium strength bolts it is advisable to use heat-treated washers instead of lower strength ones

Плодовитость перезимовавшего поколения тополевого листоеда (Chrysomela populi L.) в лабораторных условиях

Тополевый листоед (Chrysomela populi L. 1758) – один из наиболее опасных вредителей в тополевых питомниках и в различных видах плантаций тополей по всей Европе. В работе была исследована плодовитость перезимовавшего поколения в лабораторных условиях. Перезимовавшие имаго были собраны в марте 2014 г. перед наступлением сезона спаривания. Парочки содержались при температуре 20 ºС и фотопериоде 16:8 и выкармливались листьями гибридного тополя Popolus x euramericana cv. Pannonia. В процессе исследования подсчитывалось количество яиц от каждой самки и их вес до и после яйцекладки. Представлены данные о количестве яиц и размере каждой яйцекладки, времени между яйцекладками и плодовитости имаг

CLARIN: Common language resources and technology infrastructure

This paper gives an overview of the CLARIN project [1], which aims to create a research infrastructure that makes language resources and technology (LRT) available and readily usable to scholars of all disciplines, in particular the humanities and social sciences (HSS)

SHAPE OPTIMIZATION OF THREADED PLASTIC CAPS BY FEM

To reduce the mass of the widely used plastic caps there were compared two thread profiles and various outer shapes of them analysed by FE models applying axisymmetric, linear elastic finite elements plus contact elements. The result of this investigation by reducing mated threads and modifying the cap's outer geometry produced about 40% reduction in mass

The triple-mode pulsating variable V823 Cas

Based on extended multicolour CCD photometry of the triple-mode radial pulsator V823 Cas we studied the properties of the coupling frequencies invoked by nonlinear processes. Our results support that a resonance connection as suggested by Antonello & Aikawa (1998) affects the mode coupling behaviour. The P1/P0 period ratio of V823 Cas has an "out of range" value if compared with the period ratios of the known double mode pulsators, while the P2/P1 period ratio is normal. The periods and period ratios cannot be consistently interpret without conflict with pulsation and/or evolution models. We attempt to interpret this failure by the suggestion that at present, the periods of V823 Cas are in a transient, resonance affected state, thus do not reflect the true parameters of the object. The anomalous period change behaviour of the fundamental and second overtone modes supports this idea. We have also raised the possibility that a f0 + f2 = 2f1 resonance may act in triple mode pulsators.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, 5 tables. Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Affinity purification of human m-calpain through an intrinsically disordered inhibitor, calpastatin

Calpains are calcium-activated proteases that have biomedical and biotechnological potential. Their activity is tightly regulated by their endogenous inhibitor, calpastatin that binds to the enzyme only in the presence of calcium. Conventional approaches to purify calpain comprise multiple chromatographic steps, and are labor-intensive, leading to low yields. Here we report a new purification procedure for the human m-calpain based on its reversible calcium-mediated interaction with the intrinsically disordered calpastatin. We exploit the specific binding properties of human calpastatin domain 1 (hCSD1) to physically capture human m-calpain from a complex biological mixture. The dissociation of the complex is mediated by chelating calcium, upon which heterodimeric calpain elutes while hCSD1 remains immobilized onto the stationary phase. This novel affinity-based purification was compared to the conventional multistep purification strategy and we find that it is robust, it yields a homogeneous preparation, it can be scaled up easily and it rests on a non-disruptive step that maintains close to physiological conditions that allow further biophysical and functional studies. © 2017 Nguyen et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Boosted coupling of ATP hydrolysis to substrate transport upon cooperative estradiol-17-beta-D-glucuronide binding in a Drosophila ATP binding cassette type-C transporter

ATP binding cassette type-C (ABCC) transporters move molecules across cell membranes upon hydrolysis of ATP; however, their coupling of ATP hydrolysis to substrate transport remains elusive. Drosophila multidrug resistance-associated protein (DMRP) is the functional ortholog of human long ABCC transporters, with similar substrate and inhibitor specificity, but higher activity. Exploiting its high activity, we kinetically dissected the catalytic mechanism of DMRP by using E2-d-glucuronide (E2G), the physiologic substrate of human ABCC. We examined the DMRP-mediated interdependence of ATP and E2G in biochemical assays. We observed E2G-dependent ATPase activity to be biphasic at subsaturating ATP concentrations, which implies at least 2 E2G binding sites on DMRP. Furthermore, transport measurements indicated strong nonreciprocal cooperativity between ATP and E2G. In addition to confirming these findings, our kinetic modeling with the Complex Pathway Simulator indicated a 10-fold decrease in the E2G-mediated activation of ATP hydrolysis upon saturation of the second E2G binding site. Surprisingly, the binding of the second E2G allowed for substrate transport with a constant rate, which tightly coupled ATP hydrolysis to transport. In summary, we show that the second E2G binding-similar to human ABCC2-allosterically stimulates transport activity of DMRP. Our data suggest that this is achieved by a significant increase in the coupling of ATP hydrolysis to transport.-Karasik, A., Ledwitch, K. V., Aranyi, T., Varadi, A., Roberts, A., Szeri, F. Boosted coupling of ATP hydrolysis to substrate transport upon cooperative estradiol-17-beta-D-glucuronide binding in a Drosophila ATP binding cassette type-C transporter