On the initial unloading slope in indentation of elastic-plastic solids by an indenter with an axisymmetric smooth profile

A simple relationship between the initial unloading slope, the contact area, and the elastic modulus is derived for indentation in elastic-plastic solids by an indenter with an arbitrary axisymmetric smooth profile. Although the same expression was known to hold for elastic solids, the new derivation shows that it is also true for elastic-plastic solids with or without work hardening and residual stress. These results should provide a sound basis for the use of the relationship for mechanical property determination using indentation techniques. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.

Functional consequences of new exon acquisition in mammalian chromodomain Y-like (CDYL) genes

The origin of new exons is an important mechanism for proteome diversity. Here, we report the recurrent origination of new exons in mammalian chromodomain Y-like (CDYL) genes and the functional consequences associated with the acquisition of the new exons

Duplication-degeneration as a mechanism of gene fission and the origin of new genes in Drosophila species

Gene fission and fusion, the processes by which a single gene is split into two separate genes and two adjacent genes are fused into a single gene, respectively, are among the primary processes that generate new genes(1-4). Despite their seeming reversibi

Origin and evolution of new exons in the rodent zinc finger protein 39 gene

The origin of new structures and functions is an important process in evolution. In the past decades, we have obtained some preliminary knowledge of the origin and evolution of new genes. However, as the basic unit of genes, the origin and evolution of exons remain unclear. Because young exons retain the footprints of origination, they can be good materials for studying origin and evolution of new exons. In this paper, we report two young exons in a zinc finger protein gene of rodents. Since they are unique sequences in mouse and rat genome and no homologous sequences were found in the orthologous genes of human and pig, the young exons might originate after the divergence of primates and rodents through exonization of intronic sequences. Strong positive selection was detected in the new exons between mouse and rat, suggesting that these exons have undergone significant functional divergence after the separation of the two species. On the other hand, population genetics data of mouse demonstrate that the new exons have been subject to functional constraint, indicating an important function of the new exons in mouse. Functional analyses suggest that these new exons encode a nuclear localization signal peptide, which may mediate new ways of nuclear protein transport. To our knowledge, this is the first example of the origin and evolution of young exons.

Origin and evolution of new exons in rodents

Gene number difference among organisms demonstrates that new gene origination is a fundamental biological process in evolution. Exon shuffling has been universally observed in the formation of new genes. Yet to be learned are the ways new exons originate and evolve, and how often new exons appear. To address these questions, we identified 2695 newly evolved exons in the mouse and rat by comparing the expressed sequences of 12,419 orthologous genes between human and mouse, using 743,856 pig ESTs as the outgroup. The new exon origination rate is about 2.71 x 10(-3) per gene per million years. These new exons have markedly accelerated rates both of nonsynonymous substitutions and of insertions/ deletions (indels). A much higher proportion of new exons have Kappa(a)/Kappa(s) ratios > 1 (where K-a is the nonsynonymous substitution rate and K-s is the synonymous substitution rate) than K do the old exons shared by human and mouse, implying a role of positive selection in the rapid evolution. The majority of these new exons have sequences unique in the genome, suggesting that most new exons might originate through "exonization" of intronic sequences. Most of the new exons appear to be alternative exons that are expressed at low levels.

On the origin of new genes in Drosophila

Several mechanisms have been proposed to account for the origination of new genes. Despite extensive case studies, the general principles governing this fundamental process are still unclear at the whole-genome level. Here, we unveil genome-wide patterns