Loading of the lumbar spine during backpack carriage

Backpack carriage is significantly associated with a higher prevalence of low back pain. Elevated compression and shear forces in the lumbar intervertebral discs are known risk factors. A novel method of calculating the loads in the lumbar spine during backpack carriage is presented by combining physical and numerical modelling. The results revealed that to predict realistic lumbar compression forces, subject-specific lumbar curvature data were not necessary for loads up to 40 kg. In contrast, regarding shear forces, using subject-specific lumbar curvature data from upright MRI measurements as input for the rigid body model significantly altered lumbar joint force estimates.     

Domains and Rafts in Membranes – Hidden Dimensions of Selforganization

Both biomembranes and biomimetic membranes such as lipid bilayers withseveral components contain intramembrane domains and rafts.Macromolecules, which are anchored to the membrane but have no tendeney tocluster, induce curved nanodomains. Clustering of membrane componentsleads to larger domains which can grow up to a certain maximal size andthen undergo a budding process. The maximal domain size depends on theinterplay of spontaneous curvature, bending rigidity, and line tension.It is argued that this interplay governs the formation of bothclathrin-coated buds and caveolae. Finally, membrane adhesion often leadsto domain formation within the contact zone.     

Interrogating the role of liposome size in mediating the dynamics of a chromophore in the acyl chain region of a phospholipid bilayer

We have examined the temperature-dependent reorientation dynamics of perylene imbedded in bilayers of 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-phosphatidylcholine (DMPC), where the bilayers exist in the form of unilamellar vesicles. Previous work using 100-nm diameter DMPC vesicles has shown that the phase transition from the gel phase to the fluid phase can be detected using the reorientation dynamics of perylene. In this work we explore the vesicle size dependence of the perylene reorientation dynamics in DMPC vesicles. The size of the vesicles is determined by extrusion and the reorientation dynamics of perylene are measured as a function of vesicle size between 100-nm and 5-microm diameter. We find that, while the phase transition for DMPC is seen in smaller vesicles, perylene becomes insensitive to the phase transition for vesicles larger than ca. 800-nm diameter. We also find a discontinuous change in perylene reorientation dynamics with increasing vesicle size, and we consider this result in the context of the location of perylene within the bilayer.     

Impacts of environmental factors on the climbing behaviors of herbaceous stem‐twiners

The curvature of the helical trajectory formed by herbaceous stem‐twiners has been hypothesized to be constant on uniformly sized cylindrical supports and remains constant on different supports varying in diameter. However, experimental studies on the constant curvature hypothesis have been very limited. Here, we tested the hypothesis in a series of experiments on five herbaceous stem‐twiners (Ipomoea triloba, Ipomoea nil, Phaseolus vulgaris, Vigna unguiculata, and Mikania micrantha). We investigated how internode characteristics (curvature [β], diameter [d], and length [L]) and success rate (SR) of twining shoots would be affected by support thickness (D), temperature (T), illumination, and support inclination. The results showed that: (1) the SR of tested species decreased, but d increased with increasing support thickness. The β of the twining shoots on erect cylindrical poles was not constant, but it decreased with increasing d or support thickness. (2) The SR of tested species was not obviously reduced under low‐temperature conditions, but their β was significantly higher and d significantly lower when temperature was more than 5°C lower. (3) The SR, d, and L of two tested Ipomoea species significantly declined, but β increased under 50% shading stress. (4) The curvatures of upper semicycles of I. triloba shoots on 45° inclined supports were not significantly different from curvatures of those shoots climb on erect supports, whereas the curvatures of lower semicycles were 40%–72% higher than curvatures of upper semicycles. Synthesis: Our study illustrates that stem curvatures of a certain herbaceous stem‐twiners are not constant, but rather vary in response to external support, temperature, and illumination conditions. We speculate that herbaceous stem‐twiners positively adapt to wide‐diameter supports by thickening their stems and by reducing their twining curvatures. This insight helps us better understand climbing processes and dynamics of stem‐twiners in forest communities and ecosystems.     

地形对典型阔叶红松林叶面积指数分布的影响

基于小兴安岭丰林国家级自然保护区阔叶红松林30 hm²监测样地,利用叶面积指数(LAI)与胸高断面积间的经验模型计算样地内主要树种及所有树种的总LAI,研究海拔、坡度、坡向和曲率4种地形因子对LAI分布的影响,以及对LAI分布的综合作用. 结果表明: 4种地形因子对红松、冷杉、紫椴、裂叶榆和五角槭5种主要树种LAI的分布均存在显著影响,而坡向对枫桦LAI的分布存在显著影响;4种地形因子对所有树种总LAI的分布具有显著影响. 将样地划分为山脊、阳坡、山谷阳面、阴坡和山谷阴面5种生境类型.生境类型对所有树种总LAI的分布存在显著影响,其中山脊LAI显著高于其他生境类型,均值为8.85;阳坡的LAI次之,均值为7.62;山谷阳面和阴坡的LAI不存在显著差异;而山谷阴面的LAI最小,均值为4.42.     

拟南芥AtLH基因过量表达引起叶向下性卷曲和晚开花(英文)

AtLH基因是BcpLH基因在拟南芥(Arabidopsis thealiana L.)中的同源基因,含有两个编码双链RNA结合蛋白的结构域。在大白菜叶球发育过程中,BcpLH基因与包叶的卷曲有关。为研究AtLH基因对叶卷曲这一重要生物学现象的调控作用,构建了35S:AtLH基因的正义表达载体并转化拟南芥。与野生型比较而言,转基因植株的花和叶中AtLH的表达量有显著增加,成为AtLH基因过量表达的植株。这些植株的莲座叶向外或向下卷曲,呈现明显的偏上性生长;而且抽苔和开花时间延迟;在营养生长期其短缩茎的叶腋处着生数个侧茎,表现为顶端优势减弱;在生殖生长期二级花序减少使得主花序更加发达,表现为顶端优势增强;转基因植株对激素的敏感性改变,IAA刺激根生长的作用增强,ABA抑制根生长的作用减弱。由此可见,AtLH基因的过量表达可引起转基因植株的叶片向下卷曲。     

五种迁飞蛾类及非迁飞近似种前翅形状的数值分析

以翅面正投影周缘曲率为指标,对五种蛾类迁飞昆虫及与其近似的非迁飞昆虫的前翅翅形进行数值分析。结果表明,二者之间存在可以相互区别的差异：迁飞种类前翅前缘较平直,特别是前缘1/2处到翅尖的平均曲率绝对值显著小于非迁飞种类;而后缘1/2处到翅尖的平均曲率绝对值偏大,即这段后缘较弯曲,向外凸出,使翅外侧较宽阔。这种翅形特征较适合于利用气流进行远距离迁飞     

Sensitivity analysis for nonrandom dropout: a local influence approach

Diggle and Kenward (1994, Applied Statistics 43, 49-93) proposed a selection model for continuous longitudinal data subject to nonrandom dropout. It has provoked a large debate about the role for such models. The original enthusiasm was followed by skepticism about the strong but untestable assumptions on which this type of model invariably rests. Since then, the view has emerged that these models should ideally be made part of a sensitivity analysis. This paper presents a formal and flexible approach to such a sensitivity assessment based on local influence (Cook, 1986, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series B 48, 133-169). The influence of perturbing a missing-at-random dropout model in the direction of nonrandom dropout is explored. The method is applied to data from a randomized experiment on the inhibition of testosterone production in rats.     

Late pleistocene human femoral diaphyseal curvature

Anterior femoral curvature is a consistent characteristic of Pleistocene and recent humans, although variation exists in the degree of curvature among individuals and across populations. In particular, one group, the Neandertals, has been characterized for a century as having marked femoral curvature. To evaluate the degree of anterior femoral curvature in both Neandertals and other Late Pleistocene humans, their curvature subtenses and proximodistal positions were evaluated in the context of recent human variation. Recent human comparisons show little relationship between subtense (absolute curvature) and femoral length, suggesting that an index that incorporates subtense relative to the length of the femur is inappropriate for between-group assessments. Neandertals were statistically indistinguishable from Middle or earlier Upper Paleolithic modern humans in the degree of absolute curvature, all of whom had greater curvature on average than all later humans. Additionally, Neandertals and Qafzeh-Skhul early modern humans had a more distal point of maximum curvature than any other group. Curvature was not strongly correlated with functional considerations including body mass estimates, surrogate variables for body size, proximal femoral articular orientation, or knee anteroposterior dimensions. The functional role of femoral anterior curvature is unknown; however, the general decrease in curvature subtense closely parallels the between-group changes in inferred levels of mobility from femoral diaphyseal robusticity and shape, suggesting that femoral curvature may reflect mobility levels and patterns among Late Pleistocene and recent humans.     

Contribution of the intrinsic curvature to measured DNA persistence length

The persistence length of DNA, a, depends both on the intrinsic curvature of the double helix and on the thermal fluctuations of the angles between adjacent base-pairs. We have evaluated two contributions to the value of a by comparing measured values of a for DNA containing a generic sequence and for an "intrinsically straight" DNA. In each 10 bp segment of the intrinsically straight DNA an initial sequence of five bases is repeated in the sequence of the second five bases, so any bends in the first half of the segment are compensated by bends in the opposite direction in the second half. The value of a for the latter DNA depends, to a good approximation, on thermal fluctuations only; there is no intrinsic curvature. The values of a were obtained from measurements of the cyclization efficiency for short DNA fragments, about 200 bp in length. This method determines the persistence length of DNA with exceptional accuracy, due to the very strong dependence of the cyclization efficiency of short fragments on the value of a. We find that the values of a for the two types of DNA fragment are very close and conclude that the contribution of the intrinsic curvature to a is at least 20 times smaller than the contribution of thermal fluctuations. The relationship between this result and the angles between adjacent base-pairs, which specify the intrinsic curvature, is analyzed.