Physical aspects of COPI vesicle formation

Abstract

Coat proteins orchestrate membrane budding and molecular sorting during the formation of transport intermediates. Coat protein complex I (COPI) vesicles shuttle between the Golgi apparatus and the endoplasmic reticulum and between Golgi stacks. The formation of a COPI vesicle proceeds in four steps: coat self-assembly, membrane deformation into a bud, fission of the coated vesicle and final disassembly of the coat to ensure recycling of coat components. Although some issues are still actively debated, the molecular mechanisms of COPI vesicle formation are now fairly well understood. In this review, we argue that physical parameters are critical regulators of COPI vesicle formation. We focus on recent real-time in vitro assays highlighting the role of membrane tension, membrane composition, membrane curvature and lipid packing in membrane remodelling and fission by the COPI coat.     

一期后路半椎体切除短节段内固定与一期前路半椎体切除短节段内固定治疗先天性半椎体畸形的疗效对比

目的：对比一期后路半椎体切除短节段植骨融合内固定术与一期前路半椎体切除短节段植骨融合内固定术治疗先天性半椎体畸形的疗效。方法：抽取兰州军区兰州总医院骨科中心脊柱外科46例住院手术治疗先天性半椎体畸形的患者,随机化分为2组,每组23例,分别行一期后路半椎体切除短节段植骨融合内固定术和一期前路半椎体切除短节段植骨融合内固定术,观察比较两纽的手术时间、出血量、术后住院时间、术前和术后6个月侧凸cobb角、后凸cobb角及矫正率。结果：两组间的手术时间、出血量、术后住院时间、术后6个月后凸cobb角及后凸矫正率对比差异有统计学意义。结论：一期后路半椎体切除短节段植骨融合内固定术在后凸畸形矫正方面优于一期前路半椎体切除短节段植骨融合内固定术,且其手术创伤较小、术后恢复较快。     

Lithium Doping to Enhance Thermoelectric Performance of MgAgSb with Weak Electron–Phonon Coupling

Despite the unfavorable band structure with twofold degeneracy at the valence band maximum, MgAgSb is still an excellent p‐type thermoelectric material for applications near room temperature. The intrinsically weak electron–phonon coupling, reflected by the low deformation potential E_def ≈ 6.3 eV, plays a crucial role in the relatively high power factor of MgAgSb. More importantly, Li is successfully doped into Mg site to tune the carrier concentration, leading to the resistivity reduction by a factor of 3 and a consequent increase in power factor by ≈30% at 300 K. Low lattice thermal conductivity can be simultaneously achieved by all‐scale hierarchical phonon scattering architecture including high density of dislocations and nanoscale stacking faults, nanoinclusions, and multiscale grain boundaries. Collectively, much higher average power factor ≈25 μW cm^?1 K^?2 with a high average ZT ≈ 1.1 from 300 to 548 K is achieved for 0.01 Li doping, which would result in a high output power density ≈1.56 W cm^?2 and leg efficiency ≈9.2% by calculations assuming cold‐side temperature T_c = 323 K, hot‐side temperature T_h = 548 K, and leg length = 2 mm.     

变温和恒温对沙葱萤叶甲发育速率的影响

沙葱萤叶甲为近年来在内蒙古草原猖獗成灾的新害虫,为明确温度对其发育速率的影响,分别设置5个变温组合(8/20℃,11/23℃,14/26℃,17/29℃和20/32℃)和6个恒温(13℃,17℃,21℃,25℃,29℃和33℃),比较了变温和恒温对沙葱萤叶甲幼虫和蛹发育速率的影响。结果表明,不同变温组合和恒温对沙葱萤叶甲幼虫和蛹的发育速率有显著的影响。发育历期随温度的升高而缩短,在变温条件下,1龄幼虫期、2龄幼虫期、3龄幼虫期、总幼虫期和蛹期分别从最低温度组合(8/20℃,平均15℃)的11.00,13.44,23.18,46.42和16.89 d,缩短至最高温度组合(20/32℃,平均27℃)的4.92,4.63,9.17,17.83和5.83 d;在恒温条件下,13℃下幼虫不能发育和存活,1龄幼虫期、2龄幼虫期、3龄幼虫期、总幼虫期和蛹期分别从17℃的14.50,10.75,20.63,45.50和11.00 d,缩短至33℃的6.10,5.47,10.60,22.17和5.33 d。在变温条件下,幼虫和蛹的发育起点温度分别为7.44℃和8.48℃,有效积温分别为344.82日度和113.52日度;在恒温条件下,幼虫和蛹的发育起点温度分别为0.64℃和5.11℃,有效积温分别为714.28日度和147.06日度。变温促进了沙葱萤叶甲幼虫和蛹的发育,本研究结果为沙葱萤叶甲的预测预报及综合防控提供了科学依据。     

Non-rigid deformation to include subject-specific detail in musculoskeletal models of CP children with proximal femoral deformity and its effect on muscle and contact forces during gait

To account for proximal femoral deformities in children with cerebral palsy (CP), subject-specific musculoskeletal models are needed. Non-rigid deformation (NRD) deforms generic onto personalized bone geometry and thereby transforms the muscle points. The goal of this study was to determine to what extent the models and simulation outcomes in CP patients differ when including subject-specific detail using NRD or Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)-based models. The NRD models slightly overestimated hip contact forces compared to MRI models and differences in muscle point positions and moment arm lengths (MALs) remained, although differences were smaller than for the generic model.     

Computational analysis of glenohumeral joint growth and morphology following a brachial plexus birth injury

Children affected with brachial plexus birth injury (BPBI) undergo muscle paralysis. About 33% of affected children experience permanent osseous deformities of the glenohumeral joint. Recent evidence suggests that some cases experience restricted muscle longitudinal growth in addition to paralysis and reduced range of motion at the shoulder and elbow. It is unknown whether altered loading due to paralysis, muscle growth restriction and contracture, or static loading due to disuse is the primary driver of joint deformity after BPBI. This study uses a computational framework integrating finite element analysis and musculoskeletal modeling to examine the mechanical factors contributing to changes in bone growth and morphometry following BPBI. Simulations of 8 weeks of glenohumeral growth in a rat model of BPBI predicted that static loading of the joint is primarily responsible for joint deformation consistent with experimental measures of bone morphology, whereas dynamic loads resulted in normal bone growth. Under dynamic loading, glenoid version angle (GVA), glenoid inclination angle (GIA), and glenoid radius of curvature (GRC) (−1.3°, 38.2°, 2.5 mm respectively) were similar to the baseline values (−1.8°, −38°, 2.1 mm respectively). In the static case with unrestricted muscle growth, these measures increased in magnitude (5.2°, −48°, 3.5 mm respectively). More severe joint deformations were observed in GIA and GRC when muscle growth was restricted (GVA: 3.6°, GIA: −55°, GRC: 4.0 mm). Predicted morphology was consistent with literature reports of in vivo glenoid morphology following postganglionic BPBI. This growth model provides a framework for understanding the most influential mechanical factors driving glenohumeral deformity following BPBI.     

An exact test for the association between the disease and alleles at highly polymorphic loci with particular interest in the haplotype analysis

The association analysis between the disease and genetic alleles is one of the simple methods for localizing the susceptibility locus in the genes. For revealing the association, several statistical tests have been proposed without discussing explicitly the alternative hypotheses. We therefore specify two types of alternative hypotheses (i.e., there is only one susceptibility allele in the locus, and there is an extension or shortening of alleles associated with the disease) and derive exact tests for the respective hypotheses. We also propose to combine these two tests when the prior knowledge is not sufficient enough to specify one of these two hypotheses. In particular, these ideas are extended to the haplotype analysis of three-way association between the disease and bivariate allele frequencies at two closely linked loci. As a by-product, a factorization of the probability distribution of the three-way cell frequencies under the null hypothesis of no three-way interaction is obtained.     

Sap flow measurements with some thermodynamic methods,flow integration within trees and scaling up from sample trees to entire forest stands

Sap flow measurement techniques and evaluation of data are reviewed. Particular attention is paid to the trunk segment heat balance (THB) and heat field deformation (HFD) methods based on 30 years experience. Further elaboration of sap flow data is discussed in terms of integrating flow for whole stems from individual measuring points, considering variation of radial patterns in sapwood and variation around stems. Scaling up of data from sets of sample trees to entire forest stands based on widely available biometric data (partially on remote sensing images) is described and evaluated with a discussion of the magnitude of errors, the routine procedure applicable in any forest stand and practical examples.     

Electromechanical model of excitable tissue to study reentrant cardiac arrhythmias

We introduce the concept of a contracting excitable medium that is capable of conducting non-linear waves of excitation that in turn initiate contraction. Furthermore, these kinematic deformations have a feedback effect on the excitation properties of the medium. Electrical characteristics resemble basic models of cardiac excitation that have been used to successfully study mechanisms of reentrant cardiac arrhythmias in electrophysiology. We present a computational framework that employs electromechanical and mechanoelectric feedback to couple a three-variable FitzHugh–Nagumo-type excitation-tension model to the non-linear stress equilibrium equations, which govern large deformation hyperelasticity. Numerically, the coupled electromechanical model combines a finite difference method approach to integrate the excitation equations, with a Galerkin finite element method to solve the equations governing tissue mechanics. We present example computations demonstrating various effects of contraction on stationary rotating spiral waves and spiral wave break. We show that tissue mechanics significantly contributes to the dynamics of electrical propagation, and that a coupled electromechanical approach should be pursued in future electrophysiological modelling studies.