Relaxation of yeast mitochondrial functions after whole-genome duplication

Mitochondria are essential for cellular energy production in most eukaryotic organisms. However, when glucose is abundant, yeast species that underwent whole-genome duplication (WGD) mostly conduct fermentation even under aerobic conditions, and most can

D77, one benzoic acid derivative, functions as a novel anti-HIV-1 inhibitor targeting the interaction between integrase and cellular LEDGF/p75

Integration of viral-DNA into host chromosome mediated by the viral protein HIV-1 integrase (IN) is an essential step in the HIV-1 life cycle. In this process, Lens epithelium-derived growth factor (LEDGF/p75) is discovered to function as a cellular co-fa

Singing Behavior and Singing Functions of Black-Crested Gibbons (Nomascus concolor jingdongensis) at Mt. Wuliang, Central Yunnan, China

We used data on loud duetted and solo songs collected from one habituated polygynous group of black-crested gibbons (Nomascus concolor jingdongensis) on Mt. Wuliang, Yunnan, to test several hypotheses about the functions of these songs. The major function

The non-local nature of structure functions

Kolmogorov's two-thirds, ((Δv) 2) ∼ e 2/ 3r 2/ 3, and five-thirds, E ∼ e 2/ 3k -5/ 3, laws are formally equivalent in the limit of vanishing viscosity, v → 0. However, for most Reynolds numbers encountered in laboratory scale experiments, or numerical simulations, it is invariably easier to observe the five-thirds law. By creating artificial fields of isotropic turbulence composed of a random sea of Gaussian eddies whose size and energy distribution can be controlled, we show why this is the case. The energy of eddies of scale, s, is shown to vary as s 2/ 3, in accordance with Kolmogorov's 1941 law, and we vary the range of scales, γ = s max/s min, in any one realisation from γ = 25 to γ = 800. This is equivalent to varying the Reynolds number in an experiment from R λ = 60 to R λ = 600. While there is some evidence of a five-thirds law for g > 50 (R λ > 100), the two-thirds law only starts to become apparent when g approaches 200 (R λ ∼ 240). The reason for this discrepancy is that the second-order structure function is a poor filter, mixing information about energy and enstrophy, and from scales larger and smaller than r. In particular, in the inertial range, ((Δv) 2) takes the form of a mixed power-law, a 1+a 2r 2+a 3r 2/ 3, where a 2r 2 tracks the variation in enstrophy and a 3r 2/ 3 the variation in energy. These findings are shown to be consistent with experimental data where the polution of the r 2/ 3 law by the enstrophy contribution, a 2r 2, is clearly evident. We show that higherorder structure functions (of even order) suffer from a similar deficiency.

On the functions of products

Understanding the performance and manner of functioning of existing products is at the base of new product development activities. In engineering design the term function is generally used to refer to the technical actions performed by a product. However, products accomplish a wider range of goals. This research explores the opportunity to describe and model, through the concept of function, product actions across four dimensions including technical, aesthetic, social and economic. The research demonstrates that non-technical functions can be represented through active verbs and nouns and modelled using a method known as the Function Analysis Diagram (FAD). The research argues that when technical, aesthetic, social and economic perspectives on product development are considered as different types of function, stakeholders have a common language to communicate which can benefit design collaboration.

700V smart trench IGBT with monolithic over-voltage and over-current protecting functions

An advanced 700V Smart Trench IGBT with monolithically integrated over-voltage and over-current protecting circuits is presented in this paper. The proposed Smart IGBT comprises a sense IGBT, a low voltage lateral n-channel MOSFET (M 1), an avalanche diode (D av), and poly-crystalline Zener diodes (ZD) and resistor (R poly). Mix-mode transient simulations with MEDICI have proven the functionalities of the protecting circuits when the device is operating under abnormal conditions, such as Unclamped Inductive Switching (UIS) and Short Circuit (SC) condition. A Trench IGBT process is used to fabricate this device with total 11 masks including one metal mask only. The characterizations of the fabricated device exhibit the clamping capability of the avalanche diode and voltage pull-down ability of the MOSFET. © 2012 IEEE.

Contraction of monotone phase-coupled oscillators

This paper establishes a global contraction property for networks of phase-coupled oscillators characterized by a monotone coupling function. The contraction measure is a total variation distance. The contraction property determines the asymptotic behavior of the network, which is either finite-time synchronization or asymptotic convergence to a splay state. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Lyapunov functions for stable cascades and applications to global stabilization

This paper generalizes recent Lyapunov constructions for a cascade of two nonlinear systems, one of which is stable rather than asymptotically stable. A new cross-term construction in the Lyapunov function allows us to replace earlier growth conditions by a necessary boundedness condition. This method is instrumental in the global stabilization of feedforward systems, and new stabilization results are derived from the generalized construction.

Testing of the multi-objective alliance algorithm on benchmark functions

A new version of the Multi-objective Alliance Algorithm (MOAA) is described. The MOAA's performance is compared with that of NSGA-II using the epsilon and hypervolume indicators to evaluate the results. The benchmark functions chosen for the comparison are from the ZDT and DTLZ families and the main classical multi-objective (MO) problems. The results show that the new MOAA version is able to outperform NSGA-II on almost all the problems.

Effects of the "all-fish" growth hormone transgene expression on non-specific immune functions of common carp, Cyprinus carpio L.

This study investigated non-specific immune functions of the F-2 generation of "all-fish" growth hormone transgenic carp, Cyprinus carpio L. Lysozyme activity was 145.0 (+/- 30.7) U ml(-1) in the transgenic fish serum and 105.0 (+/- 38.7) U ml(-1) in age-matched non-transgenic control fish serum, a significant difference (P < 0.01). The serum bactericidal activity in the transgenics was significantly higher than that in the controls (P < 0.05), with the percentage serum killing of 59.5% (6.83%) and 50.8% (8.67%), respectively. Values for leukocrit and phagocytic percent of macrophages in head kidney were higher in transgenics than controls (P < 0.05). However, the phagocytic indices in the transgenics and the controls were not different. In addition, the mean body weight of the transgenics was 63.4 (6.65) g, much higher than that of the controls [39.2 (+/- 3.30) g, P < 0.01]. The absolute weight of spleen of the transgenics [0.13 (+/- 0.03) g] was higher than that of the controls [0.08 (+/- 0.02) g, P < 0.01]. However, there was no difference in the relative weight of spleen between the transgenics and the controls, with the spleen mass index being 0.21% (+/- 0.02%) and 0.20% (+/- 0.03%), respectively. This study suggests that the "all-fish" growth hormone transgene expression could stimulate not only the growth but also the non-specific immune functions of carp. (c) 2006 Published by Elsevier B.V.