Investigation of Micro-wear and Micro-friction Properties for Bionic Non-smooth Concave Components

Five kinds of 45^# steel samples with concave features on the surface were manufactured using Laser Texturing Technology (LIT). Optimum design theory was used to design the experiment, and a two-level orthogonal table-L16 (2^15) design was adopted , Micro-wear and micro-friction experienced by samples with concave surface features and samples with smooth surfaces were compared experimentally. The wear resistance of samples with concave surface features was increased most,and different surface morphologies had different effects on f~iction and wear properties.     

老年2型糖尿病患者血清ANGPTL4、Betatrophin、Vaspin水平与血糖、血脂及下肢血管病变的关系研究

摘要 目的：探讨老年2型糖尿病（T2DM）患者血清脂肪因子血管生成素样蛋白4（ANGPTL4）、促代谢因子（Betatrophin）、腹腔脂肪型丝氨酸蛋白酶抑制剂（Vaspin）水平与血糖、血脂、下肢血管病变（LVD）的关系。方法：选取我院2018年8月～2019年8月收治的老年T2DM患者108例,根据患者是否合并LVD,分成LVD组（n=38）和无LVD组（n=70）,比较两组临床资料、血清ANGPTL4、Betatrophin、Vaspin水平、血糖指标[空腹血糖（FPG）、餐后2 h血糖（2hPG）、糖化血红蛋白（HbA1c）]、血脂指标[总胆固醇（TC）、甘油三酯（TG）、高密度脂蛋白胆固醇（HDL-C）、低密度脂蛋白胆固醇（LDL-C）]。经Pearson线性相关分析患者血清ANGPTL4、Betatrophin、Vaspin水平与血糖、血脂指标相关性。经Logistic多因素回归模型分析患者LVD发生的影响因素。结果：LVD组舒张压、收缩压均高于无LVD组（P＜0.05）。LVD组血清Betatrophin水平及TC、TG、LDL-C、FPG、2hPG、HbA1c高于无LVD组,血清ANGPTL4、Vaspin水平及HDL-C低于无LVD组（P＜0.05）。Pearson线性相关分析显示,血清ANGPTL4、Vaspin与TC、TG、LDL-C、FPG、2hPG、HbA1c呈负相关,与HDL-C呈正相关（P＜0.05）。血清Betatrophin与TC、TG、LDL-C、FPG、2hPG、HbA1c呈正相关,与HDL-C呈负相关（P＜0.05）。Logistic多因素回归模型分析结果显示,血清ANGPTL4、Betatrophin、Vaspin以及舒张压、TC、TG、HDL-C、LDL-C、FPG、2hPG、HbA1c是患者LVD发生的影响因素（P＜0.05）。结论：老年T2DM合并LVD患者的血清ANGPTL4、Vaspin水平明显下降,而血清Betatrophin水平升高,且三者与血糖、血脂指标均存在相关性,并且是患者发生LVD的影响因素,临床可考虑通过检测血清ANGPTL4、Betatrophin、Vaspin水平,辅助评估LVD的发生风险。     

Why Darwin rejected intelligent design

As a Cambridge University undergraduate Charles Darwin was fascinated and convinced by the argument for intelligent design, as set forth in William Paley’s 1802 classic, Natural Theology. Subsequently, during his five-year voyage on HMS Beagle (1831–1836), Darwin interpreted his biological findings through a creationist lens, including the thought-provoking evidence he encountered during his historic visit to the Galápagos Islands in September and October 1835. After his return to England in 1836 and his subsequent conversion to the idea of organic evolution in March 1837, Darwin searched for a theory that would explain both the fact of evolution and the widespread appearance of intelligent design. His insight into the process of natural selection, which occurred in September 1838, provided this alternative explanation. Darwin’s Origin of Species (1859) exemplifies his skillful deployment of the hypothetico-deductive method in testing and refuting the arguments for intelligent design that he had once so ardently admired.     

双叉犀金龟表皮蛋白TdCPR12611与TdCPR7854的表达纯化及特性分析

[目的]探析双叉犀金龟Trypoxylus dichotomus表皮蛋白的序列特征及生化性质.[方法]利用RT-PCR克隆双叉犀金龟表皮蛋白基因,利用生物信息学方法分析表皮蛋白的结构特征及系统发育;采用大肠杆菌Escherichia coli表达系统对双叉犀金龟表皮蛋白进行重组表达,并通过金属离子鳌合层析的方法对重组蛋...     

Was “Lucy” more human than her “child”? Observations on early hominid postcranial skeletons

Fully adult partial skeletons attributed to Australopithecus afarensis (AL 288-1, “Lucy”) and to Homo habilis (OH 62, “Lucy's child”), respectively, both include remains from upper and lower limbs. Relationships between various limb bone dimensions of these skeletons are compared to those of modern African apes and humans. Surprisingly, it emerges that OH 62 displays closer similarities to African apes than does AL 288-1. Yet A. afarensis, whose skeleton is dated more than 1 million years earlier, is commonly supposed to be the ancestor of Homo habilis. If OH 62, classified as Homo habilis by its discoverers, does indeed represent a stage intermediate between A. afarensis and later Homo, a revised interpretation of the course of human evolution would be necessary.     

A new child-friendly 3D bimanual protocol to assess upper limb movement in children with unilateral cerebral palsy: Development and validation

Unilateral cerebral palsy (uCP) causes upper limb movement disorders that impact on daily activities, especially in bimanual condition. However, a few studies have proposed bimanual tasks for 3D motion analysis. The aim of this study was to validate the new version of a child-friendly, 3D, bimanual protocol for the measurement of joint angles and movement quality variables. Twenty children with uCP and 20 typically developing children (TDC) performed the five-task protocol integrated into a game scenario. Each task specifically targeted one or two upper limb degrees of freedom. Joint angles, smoothness and trajectory straightness were calculated. Elbow extension, supination, wrist extension and adduction amplitudes were reduced; hand trajectories were less smooth and straight in children with uCP compared to TDC. Correlations between the performance-based score and kinematic variables were strong. High within and between-session reliability was found for most joint angle variables and lower reliability was found for smoothness and straightness in most tasks. The results therefore demonstrated the validity and reliability of the new protocol for the objective assessment of bimanual function in children with uCP. The evaluation of both joint angles and movement quality variables should increase understanding of pathological movement patterns and help clinicians to optimize treatment.ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03888443.     

A comparative analysis of the post‐cranial skeleton of fossorial and non‐fossorial gymnophthalmid lizards

Squamates are found in a wide range of habitats and show a corresponding diversity of morphologies that can often be correlated with locomotor mode. The evolution of a snake‐like body form, frequently associated with fossoriality, from a typical lacertiform morphology involves changes in the morphology of vertebrae, girdles, and limbs; the changes are mainly manifested by the reduction or loss of limbs and body elongation. In this study, we describe the axial and appendicular skeletons of six closely related gymnophthalmid species. Three of them show a lizard‐like morphology, with a four‐digit forelimb and a five‐digit hindlimb, and the other three show a snake‐like morphology associated with a burrowing habit, with reduced limbs and a longer body in comparison to the former three species. We show that vertebral morphology is similar among the six species, with the differences being accounted for by an increase in the number of vertebrae and by the structural reduction of girdles and limbs in the snake‐like species. Skeletal morphology provides valuable information on locomotion type, physiology, diet, and other biological features. The burrowing morphology usually involves accentuated reduction of girdle and limb elements, reflecting an undulating type of locomotion in which the limbs play little or no role in propelling the body; in contrast, well‐developed limbs and girdles indicate a greater reliance on the limbs for body propulsion. Limb reduction is frequent among vertebrates, but many different phenotypes are found in species exhibiting some kind of reduction, indicating that different mechanisms and evolutionary pressures may be involved in generating the diverse morphologies. J. Morphol. 274:845–858, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Sonic hedgehog is not a limb morphogen but acts as a trigger to specify all digits in mice

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What is the epipleurite? A contribution to the subcoxal theory as applied to the insect abdomen

The epipleurites were originally described by Hopkins in 1909 on the imago and larva of a beetle. Then this term was widely used in insect morphology, mainly for larvae, to designate certain sclerites of the pleural region. They have recently been interpreted as tergopleural (i.e. pleural but not strictly appendicular) by Deuve in 2001, but a study of embryonic development by Kobayashi et al. in 2013 has shown that they are instead eupleural (i.e. appendicular) and correspond to a dorsal part of the subcoxa. Their presence in the abdominal segments of insects illustrates the fundamental importance of the subcoxa in segmental structure, with a function of anchoring and supporting the appendage when the latter is present. However, the epipleurites are normally separated and functionally dissociated from the coxosternum, which integrates the ventral component of the subcoxa. In females, the epipleurite of segment IX of the abdomen corresponds to the gonangulum, as already pointed out by Deuve in 1994 and 2001, and it is involved in gonopod articulation. At segments VIII and IX of both males and females of holometabolans, the formation process of the genital ducts leads to an internalisation of the whole subcoxosternum (i.e. the coxosternum with the exception of the coxal and telopodal territories), and it is the two flanking epipleurites that ventrally close the abdomen in relation to the rearward displacement of the gonopore. This model may be generalised, in its broad lines, to a large part of the hemimetabolans. The body plan of the insect abdomen underlines the morphological and functional importance of the subcoxa in its fundamental structure, but the study of the Hexapoda in general also indicates the presence of a more proximal segment, the precoxa, which would belong to the groundplan but is more cryptic because it is often closely associated with the subcoxa and/or the paranotal lobe. Its location, which is sometimes on the ventral flank of the paranotal lobe, is in line with the hypothesis of a dual origin of the pterygote wing.