Surface-induced x-ray reflection visualization of membrane orientation and fusion into multibilayers

The fusion of lipid membranes at the air-water interface has been detected with the use of x-ray reflection as a high-resolution, surface-sensitive technique. The rate of this fusion for dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) bilayers is the highest at 29 degrees C, which coincides with the chain-melting phase-transition temperature for the top membrane layers. After 6 hours of incubation a stack of at least ten surface-ordered membrane bilayers in equilibrium with the bulk vesicle suspension is formed. Such fusion is thus surface-catalyzed but not restricted to the first surface layer. The process involves partial membrane dehydration near the solution surface which decreases toward the bulk.     

Forces between surfaces in liquids

Recent developments in the direct measurements of forces between surfaces in liquids at the ?ngstrom resolution level are reviewed. The results reveal a rich variety of interactions and interaction potentials that depend on the nature of the surfaces and intervening liquids. These results also shed new insights into liquid structure adjacent to surfaces and the interactions occurrig in complex systems, with implications in many different areas of chemical physics, biology, and technology. The origin of some important fundamental interactions, such as repulsive "hydration" forces and attractive "hydrophobic" forces, are still not understood and offer a challenge for experimental and theoretical work in this area.     

Adhesion and friction mechanisms of polymer-on-polymer surfaces

The adhesion and friction of smooth polymer surfaces were studied below the glass transition temperature by use of a surface forces apparatus. The friction force of a crosslinked polymer was orders of magnitude less than that of an uncrosslinked polymer. In contrast, after chain scission of the outermost layers, the adhesion hysteresis and friction forces increase substantially. These results show that polymer-polymer adhesion hysteresis and friction depend on the dynamic rearrangement of the outermost polymer segments at shearing interfaces, and that both increase as a transition is made from crosslinked surfaces to surfaces with long chains to surfaces with quasi-free ends. The results suggest new ways for manipulating the adhesion and friction of polymer surfaces by adjusting the state of the surface chains.     

SNARE proteins: one to fuse and three to keep the nascent fusion pore open

Neurotransmitters are released through nascent fusion pores, which ordinarily dilate after bilayer fusion, preventing consistent biochemical studies. We used lipid bilayer nanodiscs as fusion partners; their rigid protein framework prevents dilation and reveals properties of the fusion pore induced by SNARE (soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor). We found that although only one SNARE per nanodisc is required for maximum rates of bilayer fusion, efficient release of content on the physiologically relevant time scale of synaptic transmission apparently requires three or more SNARE complexes (SNAREpins) and the native transmembrane domain of vesicle-associated membrane protein 2 (VAMP2). We suggest that several SNAREpins simultaneously zippering their SNARE transmembrane helices within the freshly fused bilayers provide a radial force that prevents the nascent pore from resealing during synchronous neurotransmitter release.     

The force needed to move an atom on a surface

Manipulation of individual atoms and molecules by scanning probe microscopy offers the ability of controlled assembly at the single-atom scale. However, the driving forces behind atomic manipulation have not yet been measured. We used an atomic force microscope to measure the vertical and lateral forces exerted on individual adsorbed atoms or molecules by the probe tip. We found that the force that it takes to move an atom depends strongly on the adsorbate and the surface. Our results indicate that for moving metal atoms on metal surfaces, the lateral force component plays the dominant role. Furthermore, measuring spatial maps of the forces during manipulation yielded the full potential energy landscape of the tip-sample interaction.     

Apoptotic force and tissue dynamics during Drosophila embryogenesis

Understanding cell morphogenesis during metazoan development requires knowledge of how cells and the extracellular matrix produce and respond to forces. We investigated how apoptosis, which remodels tissue by eliminating supernumerary cells, also contributes forces to a tissue (the amnioserosa) that promotes cell-sheet fusion (dorsal closure) in the Drosophila embryo. We showed that expression in the amnioserosa of proteins that suppress or enhance apoptosis slows or speeds dorsal closure, respectively. These changes correlate with the forces produced by the amnioserosa and the rate of seam formation between the cell sheets (zipping), key processes that contribute to closure. This apoptotic force is used by the embryo to drive cell-sheet movements during development, a role not classically attributed to apoptosis.     

Membrane fusion intermediates via directional and full assembly of the SNARE complex

Cellular membrane fusion is thought to proceed through intermediates including docking of apposed lipid bilayers, merging of proximal leaflets to form a hemifusion diaphragm, and fusion pore opening. A membrane-bridging four-helix complex of soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptors (SNAREs) mediates fusion. However, how assembly of the SNARE complex generates docking and other fusion intermediates is unknown. Using a cell-free reaction, we identified intermediates visually and then arrested the SNARE fusion machinery when fusion was about to begin. Partial and directional assembly of SNAREs tightly docked bilayers, but efficient fusion and an extended form of hemifusion required assembly beyond the core complex to the membrane-connecting linkers. We propose that straining of lipids at the edges of an extended docking zone initiates fusion.     

Attractive forces between uncharged hydrophobic surfaces: direct measurements in aqueous solution

Long, double-chained alkylammonium acetate surfactants are soluble in water and, under suitable conditions, adsorb onto sheets of muscovite mica, forming an electrically neutral, hydrophobic surface. Attractive forces measured between such surfaces are 10 to 100 times stronger than expected from van der Waals theory over distances D up to about 10 nanometers. The forces decay exponentially [with a force proportional to exp(-D/1.4)] instead of following the power-law behavior of continuum theory. The results of these and earlier experiments indicate that the strength of these attractive forces depends critically on the degree of hydrophobicity of the surface and is due to the long-range influence of the surface on the structure of water. In addition, for very hydrophobic surfaces, the cavitation effects on pulling the surfaces apart are described.     

Atomic resolution of the silicon (111)-(7x7) surface by atomic force microscopy

Achieving high resolution under ultrahigh-vacuum conditions with the force microscope can be difficult for reactive surfaces, where the interaction forces between the tip and the samples can be relatively large. A force detection scheme that makes use of a modified cantilever beam and senses the force gradient through frequency modulation is described. The reconstructed silicon (111)-(7x7) surface was imaged in a noncontact mode by force microscopy with atomic resolution (6 angstroms lateral, 0.1 angstrom vertical).     

产业融合视域下以“四力”推动养生旅游发展研究

从产业融合角度出发,用产业融合理论,探析养生旅游产业的"四力"影响因子,即市场需求的推力、竞争合作的压力、技术创新的拉力和政策支持的外力,提出"四力"驱动下的国内养生旅游发展策略。     

Materials: tribology experiment in zero gravity

A tribology experiment in zero gravity was performed during the orbital flight of Spacelab 1 to study the motion of liquid lubricants over solid surfaces. The absence of a significant gravitational force facilitates studies of the motion of liquid lubricants over solid surfaces as controlled by interfacial and capillary forces. Observations were made of phenomena associated with the liquid on one solid surface and also with the liquid between a pair of closely spaced surfaces. Typical photographic records obtained on Spacelab 1 are described.     

Subatomic Features on the Silicon (111)-(7x7) Surface Observed by Atomic Force Microscopy

The atomic force microscope images surfaces by sensing the forces between a sharp tip and a sample. If the tip-sample interaction is dominated by short-range forces due to the formation of covalent bonds, the image of an individual atom should reflect the angular symmetry of the interaction. Here, we report on a distinct substructure in the images of individual adatoms on silicon (111)-(7x7), two crescents with a spherical envelope. The crescents are interpreted as images of two atomic orbitals of the front atom of the tip. Key for the observation of these subatomic features is a force-detection scheme with superior noise performance and enhanced sensitivity to short-range forces.     

番木瓜摘取的接触力学模型构建与试验

【目的】实现番木瓜稳定无损伤摘取。【方法】采用三指对称夹持后扭断的摘取方案,构建摘取接触力平衡方程,依据三指内力汇交原理进行抓取稳定性分析,制定摘取接触力学模型求解方案,并对番木瓜进行摘取试验。【结果】样本表面无明显变形、压痕与裂纹,夹持处果肉室温静置24 h后无明显的颜色变化和伤痕,最大夹持力远小于成熟番木瓜横径方向受压弹性变形阶段压力极限值;质量和摘取扭转力矩与横径、纵径、果柄长度、果柄扭断直径有密切依存关系,质量多元线性回归达极显著水平,扭转力矩多元线性回归达显著水平;依据接触力学模型和回归模型计算的理论夹持力与测量夹持力对比,测量夹持力均高于理论夹持力,两者最大偏差小于20%,两者在趋势上具有较好一致性。【结论】摘取方案能稳定无损伤摘取番木瓜,摘取接触力学模型具有正确性与实用性,可为番木瓜摘取末端执行机构设计与力度控制提供依据。     

How mantle slabs drive plate tectonics

The gravitational pull of subducted slabs is thought to drive the motions of Earth's tectonic plates, but the coupling between slabs and plates is not well established. If a slab is mechanically attached to a subducting plate, it can exert a direct pull on the plate. Alternatively, a detached slab may drive a plate by exciting flow in the mantle that exerts a shear traction on the base of the plate. From the geologic history of subduction, we estimated the relative importance of "pull" versus "suction" for the present-day plates. Observed plate motions are best predicted if slabs in the upper mantle are attached to plates and generate slab pull forces that account for about half of the total driving force on plates. Slabs in the lower mantle are supported by viscous mantle forces and drive plates through slab suction.     

Cavitation and the interaction between macroscopic hydrophobic surfaces

The interaction in water of neutral hydrocarbon and fluorocarbon surfaces, prepared by Langmuir-Blodgett deposition of surfactant monolayers, has been investigated. The attraction between these hydrophobic surfaces can be measured at separations of 70 to 90 nanometers and thus is of considerably greater range than previously found. Spontaneous cavitation occurred as soon as the fluorocarbon surfaces were brought into contact but occurred between the hydrocarbon surfaces only after separation from contact. The very long range forces measured are a consequence of the metastability of water films between macroscopic hydrophobic surfaces. Thus the hydrophobic interaction between macroscopic surfaces may not be related to water structure in the same way that the hydrophobic effect between nonpolar molecules is related to water structure.     

Study of the impact action of the grinder that processes vegetables,gourds, and melons

This article considers the conditions for the impact of forces applied by the operating element of the grinder used to process vegetables, gourds, and melons for conservation. The simulated elastic impact is studied that is produced by shock pulses embodied in time-variable normal and tangential forces applied to both bodies in collision. The calculation formulas are derived for use as the ground for the quantitative estimation of the tangential impact action of the operating grinder element on the treated material uneven on the outside and inside. The grinder is installed on the processing line, where vegetables, gourds, and melons are prepared for conservation. A mathematical relation is derived between the force of impact on the processed material to its mechanical and processing characteristics, such as friction properties, modulus in shear, Poisson ratio, numbers of single discrete contact spots on material surfaces, local deformation, static characteristic of the free product surface topography, and number of single tangential impact actions of operating elements.     

床垫支撑力对侧卧姿势下肩关节生物力学的影响

对人体侧卧姿势下肩关节进行生物力学分析,建立了肩关节中盂肱关节、三角肌和冈上肌肌力的计算公式,探究了床垫支撑作用力对肩关节中盂肱关节力、三角肌和冈上肌肌力的影响。结果发现,随着床垫对肩部支撑力的增大至120 N时,盂肱关节力和三角肌肌力逐渐增大;当床垫对肩部支撑力大于120 N时,盂肱关节力和三角肌肌力逐渐减小。冈上肌肌力则随着床垫对肩部支撑力增大,呈现先减小后增大的趋势,在床垫支撑力在85 N左右时为该趋势的转折点。随着床垫对上肢支撑力的增大,盂肱关节力和三角肌肌力逐渐增大;冈上肌肌力则呈现先减小,后增大再减小的趋势,从生物力学角度阐明了人体在睡眠过程中需要进行睡姿调整的内在原因。     

农业劳动力老龄化现状及其影响——基于河南省兰考县M村的实证研究

以河南省兰考县M村为例,研究了该村农业劳动力结构的变化,农业劳动力老龄化的现状及其对农业生产的影响。研究发现,受现代发展主义的影响,该村大部分青壮年劳动力长时间在外务工,农业劳动力老龄化趋势加重,50岁以上人成为农业生产的主力军。农业劳动力老龄化既造成了农业生产的单一化、粗放化经营,也增加了老年人的劳动负担,不利于农业的可持续发展。在此基础上提出:促进土地本地流转,形成规模效益、增加农业收入,吸引青壮年加入,改善农业劳动力结构,是确保农业基础稳固和国家粮食安全的重要措施。     

毛竹切削力的研究

为合理制定竹材切削工艺,节约切削动力,该文利用传感器技术及信号分析技术,经切削实验研究了毛竹不同切面、密度、含水率等物理性质及刀具前角、切削量与切削速度等切削参数对切削力的影响.结果表明,由于竹黄部位维管束分布较疏,所需主切削力较小;竹青部位维管束分布密集,主切削力较大.端面切削主切削力最大,纵向切削力次之,横向切削力最小;竹材密度对切削力有明显影响,且呈正相关关系.随着含水率的增大,竹材韧性增加,所需主切削力增加;当含水率超过30%之后,主切削力随含水率的进一步增加而缓慢降低.刀具前角对主切削力的影响较为显著,随刀具前角的增大,所需主切削力明显减小.主切削力与切削量呈正相关关系.切削速度对切削力的影响不大.      

Low-friction nanoscale linear bearing realized from multiwall carbon nanotubes

We demonstrate the controlled and reversible telescopic extension of multiwall carbon nanotubes, thus realizing ultralow-friction nanoscale linear bearings and constant-force nanosprings. Measurements performed in situ on individual custom-engineered nanotubes inside a high-resolution transmission electron microscope demonstrated the anticipated van der Waals energy-based retraction force and enabled us to place quantitative limits on the static and dynamic interwall frictional forces between nested nanotubes. Repeated extension and retraction of telescoping nanotube segments revealed no wear or fatigue on the atomic scale. Hence, these nanotubes may constitute near perfect, wear-free surfaces.