Effect of the periodic ripple in an axial confining magnetic field on the Alfvén heating of a cylindrical plasma

In a uniform axial magnetic field, the structure of local Alfvén resonance and the resonant absorption of RF power are governed by collisions, finite ion Larmor radius effects, and electron inertia. It is shown that, in a cylindrical plasma in a constant, periodically rippled, axial magnetic field, the structure of Alfvén resonance and the absorption of RF power can strongly depend on the ripple amplitude. The conditions under which the effect in question is dominant are intrinsic, e.g., to the modular Wendelstein stellarators.     

A study of the nature of plasma protein adsorption on the surface of perfluorocarbon emulsions stabilized by different triblock copolymers

The composition of plasma proteins adsorbed on the surface of perfluorocarbon emulsions stabilized by different triblock copolymers and their quantitative ratio were analyzed. The results allowed us to describe three types of protein adsorption on the surface of emulsion droplets. Opsonin proteins prevailed during the first type of adsorption. Their adsorption occurred on a dense and inactive layer of triblock copolymers. The second type of adsorption occurred due to the hydrophobic effect on a dense and mobile layer, with low-molecular-weight proteins being predominantly adsorbed (monoadsorption). The third type of adsorption occurred on a loose layer of triblock copolymers. In this case, the adsorption of a large amount of proteins with a molecular weight of 10–500 kDa was observed, while the total molecular weight was distributed over a large number of proteins.     

Fatty Acid Levels in Striated Muscles of Chronic Alcohol-Fed Rats

Biophysics - Abstract—Changes in the fatty acid levels in the cardiac and gastrocnemius muscles of rats that were chronically alcoholized for 3 and 6 months were studied using two methods of...     

A 3-Day Functional Unloading is Accompanied by an Increase in the TTN Gene Expression in the Rat Soleus Muscle without Changes in Alternative Splicing from Exon 50 to Exon 111

Biophysics - Abstract—Changes in the expression of the titin gene and alternative splicing of titin pre-mRNA from exon 50 to exon 111 in rat soleus muscle were analyzed following 3-day...     

Magnetic structure of current sheets in magnetic fields with a singular X line

Direct measurements of magnetic fields in a plasma show that current sheets can form in magnetic configurations with an X line in the presence of a longitudinal magnetic field. It is found that, in a plane perpendicular to the X line and to the direction of the main current, the current sheet has two very different dimensions. The tangential and normal components of the magnetic field and current density in the sheet are determined. The influence of the initial conditions (such as the strength of the longitudinal magnetic field, the gradient of the transverse field, and the plasma ion mass) on the current sheet parameters is investigated.     

Systematic analysis of tropomodulin/tropomyosin interactions uncovers fine-tuned binding specificity of intrinsically disordered proteins

An intriguing regulatory mechanism is the ability of some proteins to recognize their binding partners in an isoform‐specific manner. In this study we undertook a systematic analysis of the specificity of the tropomodulin (Tmod) interaction with tropomyosin (TM) to show that affinities of different Tmod isoforms to TM are isoform‐dependent. Intrinsic disorder predictions, alignment of sequences, and circular dichroism were utilized to establish a structural basis for these isoform‐specific interactions. The affinity of model peptides derived from the N‐terminus of different TM isoforms to protein fragments that correspond to the two TM‐binding sites of different Tmod isoforms were analyzed. Several residues were determined to be responsible for the isoform‐dependent differences in affinity. We suggest that changing a set of residues rather than a single residue is needed to alter the binding affinity of one isoform to mimic the affinity of another isoform. The general intrinsic disorder predictor, PONDR® VLXT, was shown to be a useful tool for analyzing regions involved in isoform‐specific binding and for predicting the residues important for isoform differences in binding. Knowing the residues responsible for isoform‐specific affinity creates a tool suitable for studying the influence of Tmod/TM interactions on sarcomere assembly in muscle cells or actin dynamics in non‐muscle cells. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Alternative Splicing of Titin mRNA in Rat Soleus after Seven-Day Gravitational Unloading

Human Physiology - Changes in titin alternative splicing in the rat soleus after seven-day gravitational unloading (the hindlimb unloading model) were studied by long-fragment PCR and nanopore...     

Influence of the Recombinant Heat Shock Protein 90β (HSP90β) on the Wound Healing Rate in Mice

Biology Bulletin - It is known that the alpha isoform of heat shock protein 90 (HSP90α) plays an important role in wound healing. HSP90α has a stimulating effect on migration and invasion...     

Influence of a transverse magnetic field on the characteristics of a dc gas discharge

The influence of a transverse magnetic field and the working-gas pressure on the rotation frequency of the current channel, as well as on the electric field in the positive column and the cathode voltage drop in a dc gas discharge, was studied experimentally. The working gases were pure hydrogen and hydrogen-methane, hydrogen-argon, and hydrogen-argon-methane mixtures. It is shown that a transverse (with respect to the discharge current) magnetic field stabilizes a normal glow discharge against a transition to an arc discharge at specific absorbed powers above 300 W/cm³. The cathode voltage drop and the electric field in the positive column are measured. It is shown that the electric field does not depend on the magnetic field strength, whereas the cathode voltage drop increases with increasing magnetic field. It is found that the rotation frequency of the current channel is a complicated function of the discharge parameters and attains 400 Hz.