Coevolution of visual signals and eye morphology in Polistes paper wasps

To be effective, signals must propagate through the environment and be detected by receivers. As a result, signal form evolves in response to both the constraints imposed by the transmission environment and receiver perceptual abilities. Little work has examined the extent to which signals may act as selective forces on receiver sensory systems to improve the efficacy of communication. If receivers benefit from accurate signal assessment, selection could favour sensory organs that improve discrimination of established signals. Here, we provide evidence that visual resolution coevolves with visual signals in Polistes wasps. Multiple Polistes species have variable facial patterns that function as social signals, whereas other species lack visual signals. Analysis of 19 Polistes species shows that maximum eye facet size is positively associated with both eye size and presence of visual signals. Relatively larger facets within the eye''s acute zone improve resolution of small images, such as wasp facial signals. Therefore, sensory systems may evolve to optimize signal assessment. Sensory adaptations to facilitate signal detection may represent an overlooked area of the evolution of animal communication.     

In-situ spectroscopic investigation of ultrasonic assisted unfolding and aggregation of insulin

It is well-known that fibrillogenesis of proteins can be influenced by diverse external parameters, such as temperature, pressure, agitation or chemical agents. The present preliminary study suggests that ultrasonic excitation at moderate intensities has a significant influence on the unfolding and aggregation behaviour of insulin. Irradiation with an average sound intensity of even as low as 70 mW/cm² leads to a lowering of the unfolding and aggregation temperature up to 7 K. The effect could be explained by an increase of the aggregation kinetics due to ultrasonically induced acoustic micro-streaming in the insulin solution that most probably enhances the aggregation rate. The clear and remarkable effect at relatively low sound intensities offers interesting options for further applications of ultrasound in biophysics and biochemistry. On the other hand, a process that causes a change of kinetics equivalent to 7 K also gives a warning signal concerning the safety of those medical ultrasonic devices that work in this intensity range.     

Residual force enhancement contributes to increased performance during stretch-shortening cycles of human plantar flexor muscles in vivo

It is well known that muscular force production is history-dependent, which results in enhanced (RFE) and depressed (RFD) steady-state forces after stretching and shortening, respectively. However, it remains unclear if force-enhancing mechanisms can contribute to increased performance during in vivo stretch-shortening cycles (SSCs) of human locomotor muscles. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether RFE-related mechanisms contribute to enhanced force and power output during SSCs of the human plantar flexor muscles. Net ankle torques of fourteen participants were measured during and after pure isometric, pure stretch, pure shortening, and SSC contractions when the triceps surae muscles were electrically stimulated at a submaximal level that resulted in 30% of their maximum isometric torque. Dynamic contractions were performed over an amplitude of 15°, from 5° plantar flexion to 10° dorsiflexion, at a speed of 120° s⁻¹. External ankle work during shortening was 11.6% greater during SSCs compared to pure shortening contractions (p = .003). Additionally, RFD after SSCs (8.6%) was reduced compared to RFD after pure shortening contractions (12.0%; p < .05). It is therefore concluded that RFE-related mechanisms contribute to increased performance following SSCs of human locomotor muscles. Since RFD after SSCs decreased although work during shortening was increased, we speculate that the relevant mechanism lies outside actin-myosin interaction. Finally, our data suggests that RFE might be relevant and beneficial for human locomotion whenever a muscle is stretched, but this needs to be confirmed.     

Molecular dynamics simulation of single-walled carbon nanotubes inside liquid crystals

Molecular dynamic simulations of systems of single-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in liquid crystalline solvents were performed, in order to investigate the effect of the molecular structure and phase of the liquid crystal (LC) on the interactions between the CNTs. Three different LC molecules (5CB, 8CB and 5CF) were considered in our study. Our results with 5CB and 8CB suggest that increasing the chain length of the hydrophobic part of the LC molecule by three carbon atoms is insufficient to decrease the tendency for the CNTs to aggregate in the LCs. Additionally, varying the phase of the LC is also insufficient to decrease the aggregation tendency of the CNTs. However, simulations with 5CF (which has fluorine atoms in the head group of the LC molecule) suggest that this LC solvent can decrease the tendency of the CNTs to aggregate. This study is relevant to assist experimentalists with the development of high-quality dispersions of large concentrations of CNTs in the LCs.     

Polarization of Myosin II Refines Tissue Material Properties to Buffer Mechanical Stress

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Traction Force Measurements of Human Aortic Smooth Muscle Cells Reveal a Motor-Clutch Behavior

The contractile behavior of smooth muscle cells (SMCs) in the aorta is an important determinant of growth, remodeling, and homeostasis. However, quantitative values of SMC basal tone have never been characterized precisely on individual SMCs. Therefore, to address this lack, we developed an in vitro technique based on Traction Force Microscopy (TFM). Aortic SMCs from a human lineage at low passages (4-7) were cultured 2 days in conditions promoting the development of their contractile apparatus and seeded on hydrogels of varying elastic modulus (1, 4, 12 and 25 kPa) with embedded fluorescent microspheres. After complete adhesion, SMCs were artificially detached from the gel by trypsin treatment. The microbeads movement was tracked and the deformation fields were processed with a mechanical model, assuming linear elasticity, isotropic material, plane strain, to extract the traction forces formerly applied by individual SMCs on the gel. Two major interesting and original observations about SMC traction forces were deduced from the obtained results: 1. they are variable but driven by cell dynamics and show an exponential distribution, with 40% to 80% of traction forces in the range 0-10 μN. 2. They depend on the substrate stiffness: the fraction of adhesion forces below 10 μN tend to decrease when the substrate stiffness increases, whereas the fraction of higher adhesion forces increases. As these two aspects of cell adhesion (variability and stiffness dependence) and the distribution of their traction forces can be predicted by the probabilistic motor-clutch model, we conclude that this model could be applied to SMCs. Further studies will consider stimulated contractility and primary culture of cells extracted from aneurysmal human aortic tissue.     

Magnetic Field–Suppressed Lithium Dendrite Growth for Stable Lithium‐Metal Batteries

Lithium metal is the most attractive anode material due to its extremely high specific capacity, minimum potential, and low density. However, uncontrollable growth of lithium dendrite results in severe safety and cycling stability concerns, which hinders the application in next generation secondary batteries. In this paper, a new and facile method imposing a magnetic field to lithium metal anodes is proposed. That is, the lithium ions suffering Lorentz force due to the electromagnetic fields are put into spiral motion causing magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) effect. This MHD effect can effectively promote mass transfer and uniform distribution of lithium ions to suppress the dendrite growth as well as obtain uniform and compact lithium deposition. The results show that the lithium metal electrodes within the magnetic field exhibit excellent cycling and rate performance in a symmetrical battery. Additionally, full batteries using limited lithium metal as anodes and commercial LiFePO₄ as cathodes show improved performance within the magnetic field. In summary, a new and facile strategy of suppressing lithium dendrites using the MHD effect by imposing a magnetic field is proposed, which may be generalized to other advanced alkali metal batteries.     

MVIC运动不能提高大学生篮球运动员的激活后增强效应

本研究旨在探讨激活后增强效应(post-activation potentiation, PAP)对大学生篮球运动员上肢力量表现和肌肉损伤指标的影响,以及不同最大自主等长收缩(maximal voluntary isometric contraction, MVIC)时间诱发激活后增强效应后,对卧推(bench press throw, BPT)表现的影响。本研究招募30名大学生男性篮球运动员进行重复交叉实验。所有受试者均接受3组3 s卧推MVICs (3 MVICs)、3组5 s卧推MVICs (5 MVICs)、对照控制(CON)共3次干预,记录推掷高度与杠铃腾空时间,并分析推掷高度、力量与功率的峰值。研究表明:3 MVICs、5 MVICs、CON处理后,卧推高度在后测各时间点皆显著低于前测平均值,功率峰值在第4分钟、第8分钟及后测平均值上,皆显著低于前测平均值。但是,力量峰值在后测各时间点与前测平均值均无显著性差异。本研究初步认为给予较长的组间恢复时间,3 MVICs、5 MVICs产生肌肉疲劳的程度可能高于诱发PAP的程度,进而无法提升训练良好运动员的上肢爆发力表现。     

Simultaneous cell traction and growth measurements using light

Characterizing the effects of force fields generated by cells on proliferation, migration and differentiation processes is challenging due to limited availability of nondestructive imaging modalities. Here, we integrate a new real‐time traction stress imaging modality, Hilbert phase dynamometry (HPD), with spatial light interference microscopy (SLIM) for simultaneous monitoring of cell growth during differentiation processes. HPD uses holographic principles to extract displacement fields from chemically patterned fluorescent grid on deformable substrates. This is converted into forces by solving an elasticity inverse problem. Since HPD uses the epi‐fluorescence channel of an inverted microscope, cellular behavior can be concurrently studied in transmission with SLIM. We studied the differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and found that cells undergoing osteogenesis and adipogenesis exerted larger and more dynamic stresses than their precursors, with MSCs developing the smallest forces and growth rates. Thus, we develop a powerful means to study mechanotransduction during dynamic processes where the matrix provides context to guide cells toward a physiological or pathological outcome.