Search results for "rigidity"
showing 10 items of 83 documents
Determining Factors for the Unfolding Pathway of Peptides, Peptoids, and Peptidic Foldamers.
2016
We present a study of the mechanical unfolding pathway of five different oligomers (α-peptide, β-peptide, δ-aromatic-peptides, α/γ-peptides, and β-peptoids), adopting stable helix conformations. Using force-probe molecular dynamics, we identify the determining structural factors for the unfolding pathways and reveal the interplay between the hydrogen bond strength and the backbone rigidity in the stabilization of their helix conformations. On the basis of their behavior, we classify the oligomers in four groups and deduce a set of rules for the prediction of the unfolding pathways of small foldamers.
Application of Rigidity-Controlled Supramolecular Affinity Materials for the Gravimetric Detection of Hazardous and Illicit Compounds.
2016
The combination of an (-)-isosteviol-derived building block and 9,9'-spirobifluorene or tetraphenylmethane generated highly potent new affinity materials for the detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Comparison of their affinity behaviour with different core structures showed remarkable influence on selectivity and sensitivity due to structural rigidity and their pre-organization. Their unique supramolecular properties were investigated in an affinity assay using high fundamental frequency quartz crystal microbalances.
Biomechanics and functional morphology of a climbing monocot.
2015
Climbing monocots can develop into large bodied plants despite being confined by primary growth. In our study on Flagellaria indica we measured surprisingly high stem biomechanical properties (in bending and torsion) and we show that the lack of secondary growth is overcome by a combination of tissue maturation processes and attachment mode. This leads to higher densities of mechanically relevant tissues in the periphery of the stem and to the transition from self-supporting to climbing growth. The development of specialised attachment structures has probably underpinned the evolution of numerous other large bodied climbing monocot taxa.
SHEAR COMPLIANCE AND SELF WEIGHT EFFECTS ON TRACTION BELT MECHANICS
2007
The transverse elastic deflection of a traction belt along the free span depends mainly on the flexural stiffness, but may be significantly influenced by the distributed weight and the shear compliance, which affect together the width of the arc of contact. In particular, the shear compliance yields a virtual decrease of the flexural stiffness, flattens the free span and increases the wound regions, to the advantage of the transmissible torque. Moreover, the tensioning of a given belt may be somewhat larger, in comparison with the ideal circular-straight path with the same centre distance, because of the increased length of the deflected belt trajectory due to gravity. The present paper ad…
Interrogating witnesses for geometric constraint solving
2012
International audience; Classically, geometric constraint solvers use graph-based methods to decompose systems of geometric constraints. These methods have intrinsic limitations, which the witness method overcomes; a witness is a solution of a variant of the system. This paper details the computation of a basis of the vector space of free infinitesimal motions of a typical witness, and explains how to use this basis to interrogate the witness for dependence detection. The paper shows that the witness method detects all kinds of dependences: structural dependences already detectable by graph-based methods, but also non-structural dependences, due to known or unknown geometric theorems, which…
Acute effects of cold pack on mechanical properties of the quadriceps muscle in healthy subjects.
2012
Purpose: To examine the effects of local cooling on mechanical properties of the quadriceps muscle in healthy subjects. Subjects: Thirty-nine healthy subjects (27 women, 12 men, mean age 39, range 20e62) volunteered. Methods: A cold gel pack was applied to the quadriceps muscle for 20 min. Properties were quantified by analyzing the frequency (tension), decrement (elasticity) and stiffness of damped oscillations and the compliance of the muscle before, immediately after and after 15-min after cooling. Results: The largest responses immediately after cooling were seen in the oscillation decrement parameter, 7.9 (3.7e12.1) %, and in the compliance parameter, � 7.5 (� 9.8 to � 5.3) %. Response…
Presentation and outcome of tuberculous meningitis in adults in the province of Castellon, Spain: a retrospective study
2008
SUMMARYThe aim of this study was to describe the epidemiological and clinical features of tuberculous meningitis in the province of Castellon, Spain. Retrospective analysis was done of all cases attended during the last 15 years. The following groups of variables were assessed: sociodemographic data, medical antecedents, clinical presentation, imaging study results, analyses, cerebrospinal fluid microbiology, treatment, and outcome. Twenty-nine cases were included. Median of age of patients was 34 years, and 17 (59%) were males. HIV infection was present in 15 cases (52%), fever, the most common symptom, occurred in 27 (93%), nuchal rigidity was noted in only 16 (55%), and syndrome of inapp…
Activation-Induced Rigidity in Neurologically and Cognitively Healthy Individuals Aged 18-90 Years: A Cross-Sectional Study.
2021
Background: Rigidity is a key clinical feature of Parkinson’s disease (PD), but in a very early phase of the disease it may be absent and can be enhanced through active movements of the arm contralateral to the one being tested. Objective: To evaluate in a large cohort of neurologically and cognitively healthy (NCH) subjects aged 18–90 years if activation-induced rigidity (AR) is present in all age classes, and if there are biological differences between subjects showing AR (AR+) and not showing AR (AR-). Methods: 2,228 NCH subjects categorized as young adult (18–44 years), adult (45–64 years), elderly (65–74 years), and old/oldest-old (75–90 years) were included in the analysis, and underw…
Complex multiplication, Griffiths-Yukawa couplings, and rigidity for families of hypersurfaces
2003
Let M(d,n) be the moduli stack of hypersurfaces of degree d > n in the complex projective n-space, and let M(d,n;1) be the sub-stack, parameterizing hypersurfaces obtained as a d fold cyclic covering of the projective n-1 space, ramified over a hypersurface of degree d. Iterating this construction, one obtains M(d,n;r). We show that M(d,n;1) is rigid in M(d,n), although the Griffiths-Yukawa coupling degenerates for d<2n. On the other hand, for all d>n the sub-stack M(d,n;2) deforms. We calculate the exact length of the Griffiths-Yukawa coupling over M(d,n;r), and we construct a 4-dimensional family of quintic hypersurfaces, and a dense set of points in the base, where the fibres ha…
A rigidity theorem for Lagrangian deformations
2005
We consider deformations of singular Lagrangian varieties in symplectic manifolds. We prove that a Lagrangian deformation of a Lagrangian complete intersection is analytically rigid provided that this is the case infinitesimally. This result is given as a consequence of the coherence of the direct image sheaves of relative infinitesimal Lagrangian deformations.