Ciliary beating patterns map onto a low-dimensional behavioural space

Biological systems are robust to perturbations at both the genetic and environmental levels, although these same perturbations can elicit variation in behaviour. The interplay between functional robustness and behavioural variability is exemplified at the organellar level by the beating of cilia and flagella. Cilia are motile despite wide genetic diversity between and within species, differences in intracellular concentrations of ATP and calcium, and considerable environment fluctuations in temperature and viscosity. At the same time, these perturbations result in a variety of spatio-temporal patterns that span a rich behavioural space. To investigate this behavioural space we analysed the dynamics of isolated cilia from the unicellular algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii under many different environmental and genetic conditions. We found that, despite large changes in beat frequency and amplitude, the space of waveform shapes is low-dimensional in the sense that two features account for 80% of the observed variation. The geometry of this behavioural space accords with the predictions of a simple mechanochemical model in the low-viscosity regime. This allowed us to associate waveform shape variability with changes in only the curvature response coefficients of the dynein motors.

Effects of Long-Acting Muscarinic Antagonists on Promoting Ciliary Function in Airway Epithelium

Background Mucociliary clearance (MCC) is an essential defense mechanism in airway epithelia for removing pathogens from the respiratory tract. Impaired ciliary functions and MCC have been demonstrated in asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Long-acting muscarinic antagonists (LAMAs) are a major class of inhaled bronchodilators, which are used for treating asthma and COPD; however, the effects of LAMAs on ciliary function remain unclear. This study aimed to identify the effects of LAMAs on airway ciliary functions. Methods Wild-type BALB/c mice were treated with daily intranasal administrations of glycopyrronium for 7 days, and tracheal samples were collected. Cilia-driven flow and ciliary activity, including ciliary beat frequency (CBF), ciliary beating amplitude, effective stroke velocity, recovery stroke velocity and the ratio of effective stroke velocity to recovery stroke velocity, were analyzed by imaging techniques. Using in vitro murine models, tracheal tissues were transiently cultured in media with/without LAMAs, glycopyrronium or tiotropium, for 60 min. Cilia-driven flow and ciliary activity were then analyzed. Well-differentiated normal human bronchial epithelial (NHBE) cells were treated with glycopyrronium, tiotropium, or vehicle for 60 min, and CBF was evaluated. Several mechanistic analyses were performed. Results Intranasal glycopyrronium administration for 7 days significantly increased cilia-driven flow and ciliary activity in murine airway epithelium. In the murine tracheal organ culture models, treatment with glycopyrronium or tiotropium for 60 min significantly increased cilia-driven flow and ciliary activity in airway epithelium. Further, we confirmed that 60-min treatment with glycopyrronium or tiotropium directly increased CBF in well-differentiated NHBE cells. In the mechanistic analyses, neither treatment with glycopyrronium nor tiotropium affected intracellular calcium ion concentrations in well-differentiated NHBE cells. Glycopyrronium did not increase protein kinase A activity in well-differentiated NHBE cells. Moreover, glycopyrronium had no effect on extracellular adenosine triphosphate concentration. Conclusions LAMAs exert a direct effect on airway epithelium to enhance ciliary function, which may improve impaired MCC in asthma and COPD. Further investigations are warranted to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of the effects of LAMAs on the promotion of airway ciliary function.

Investigation on the Formation of Laser Transverse Pattern Possessing Optical Lattices

Optical lattices (OLs) with diverse transverse patterns and optical vortex lattices (OVLs) with special phase singularities have played important roles in the fields of atomic cooling, particle manipulation, quantum entanglement, and optical communication. As a matter of consensus until now, the OL patterns are generated by coherently superimposing multiple transverse modes with a fixed phase difference through the transverse mode locking (TML) effect. There are phase singularities in the dark area of this kind of OL pattern, so it is also called OVL pattern. However, in our research, it is found that some high-order complex symmetric OL patterns can hardly be analyzed by TML model. Instead, the analysis method of incoherent superposition of mode intensity could be applied. The OL pattern obtained by this method can be regarded as in non-TML state. Therefore, in this article, we mainly study the distinct characteristics and properties of OL patterns in TML and non-TML states. Through intensity comparison, interferometry, and beat frequency spectrum, we can effectively distinguish OL pattern in TML and non-TML states, which is of significance to explore the formation of laser transverse pattern possessing OL.

An Adverse Outcome Pathway for Decreased Lung Function Focusing on Mechanisms of Impaired Mucociliary Clearance Following Inhalation Exposure

Adverse outcome pathways (AOPs) help to organize available mechanistic information related to an adverse outcome into key events (KEs) spanning all organizational levels of a biological system(s). AOPs, therefore, aid in the biological understanding of a particular pathogenesis and also help with linking exposures to eventual toxic effects. In the regulatory context, knowledge of disease mechanisms can help design testing strategies using in vitro methods that can measure or predict KEs relevant to the biological effect of interest. The AOP described here evaluates the major processes known to be involved in regulating efficient mucociliary clearance (MCC) following exposures causing oxidative stress. MCC is a key aspect of the innate immune defense against airborne pathogens and inhaled chemicals and is governed by the concerted action of its functional components, the cilia and airway surface liquid (ASL). The AOP network described here consists of sequences of KEs that culminate in the modulation of ciliary beat frequency and ASL height as well as mucus viscosity and hence, impairment of MCC, which in turn leads to decreased lung function.

Fishes regulate tail-beat kinematics to minimize speed-specific cost of transport

Energetic expenditure is an important factor in animal locomotion. Here we test the hypothesis that fishes control tail-beat kinematics to optimize energetic expenditure during undulatory swimming. We focus on two energetic indices used in swimming hydrodynamics, cost of transport and Froude efficiency. To rule out one index in favour of another, we use computational-fluid dynamics models to compare experimentally observed fish kinematics with predicted performance landscapes and identify energy-optimized kinematics for a carangiform swimmer, an anguilliform swimmer and larval fishes. By locating the areas in the predicted performance landscapes that are occupied by actual fishes, we found that fishes use combinations of tail-beat frequency and amplitude that minimize cost of transport. This energy-optimizing strategy also explains why fishes increase frequency rather than amplitude to swim faster, and why fishes swim within a narrow range of Strouhal numbers. By quantifying how undulatory-wave kinematics affect thrust, drag, and power, we explain why amplitude and frequency are not equivalent in speed control, and why Froude efficiency is not a reliable energetic indicator. These insights may inspire future research in aquatic organisms and bioinspired robotics using undulatory propulsion.

Contamination Analyses of ISS Vehicle Visits

The SAGE III Contamination Monitoring Package detects the contamination environment in the immediate vicinity of the payload using eight Thermoelectric Quartz Crystal Microbalance sensors that telemeter continuous beat frequency measurements to the ground. The single greatest source of contamination measured to date was the SpaceX Cargo Dragon, whose outgassed contaminants chemisorbed to the gold electrodes of the sensors. This paper contains results from the mission’s first three years, including the signals observed from every visible visiting vehicle, the measured effects on the overall payload, and learned lessons to consider for future ISS or TQCM missions.

Wilberforce pendulum: modelling linearly damped coupled oscillations of a spring-mass system

The Wilberforce pendulum is a coupled spring-mass system, where a mass with adjustable moment of inertia is suspended from a helical spring. Energy is converted between the translational and torsional modes, and this energy conversion is most clearly observed at resonance, which occurs when the damped natural frequencies of the two oscillation modes are equal. A theoretical model—with energy losses due to viscous damping accounted for—was formulated using the Lagrangian formalism to predict the pendulum mass’ trajectory. Theoretical predictions were compared with experimental data, showing good agreement. Fourier analysis of both theoretical predictions and experimental data further corroborate the validity of our quantitative model. The dependence of oscillation features like beat frequency and maximum conversion amplitude on relevant parameters such as the initial vertical displacement, initial angular displacement and moment of inertia was also investigated and experimentally verified.