The balance of crystalline and amorphous regions in the fibroin structure underpins the tensile strength of bagworm silk

Protein-based materials are considered versatile biomaterials, and their biodegradability is an advantage for sustainable development. Bagworm produces strong silk for use in unique situations throughout its life stages. Rigorous molecular analyses of Eumeta variegata suggested that the particular mechanical properties of its silk are due to the coexistence of poly-A and GA motifs. However, little molecular information on closely related species is available, and it is not understood how these properties were acquired evolutionarily or whether the motif combination is a conserved trait in other bagworms. Here, we performed a transcriptome analysis of two other bagworm species (Canephora pungelerii and Bambalina sp.) belonging to the family Psychidae to elucidate the relationship between the fibroin gene and silk properties. The obtained transcriptome assemblies and tensile tests indicated that the motif combination and silk properties were conserved among the bagworms. Furthermore, our analysis showed that C. pungelerii produces extraordinarily strong silk (breaking strength of 1.4 GPa) and indicated that the cause may be the C. pungelerii -specific balance of crystalline/amorphous regions in the H-fibroin repetitive domain. This particular H-fibroin architecture may have been evolutionarily acquired to produce strong thread to maintain bag stability during the relatively long development period of Canephora species relative to other bagworms.

Forms of intermediality in the novels of M. Bulgakov The Master and Margarita and B. Pasternak Doctor Zhivago

The article focuses on analyzing such forms of intermediality as theatricality and carnival in the novels of M. Bulgakov The Master and Margarita and B. Pasternak Doctor Zhivago, intermediality being considered as an aspect of interdiscursivity. Theatricality in both novels is realized through the availability of «theatrical» vocabulary, theatric imagery and symbolism, and at the levels of the text structure and chronotope as well. The research shows that theatricality in Pasternak is of intimate, impressionistic character, while that in Bulgakov is explicit and features a carnival component. A common “theatrical” element in both novels is the motif of directing and the image of director. In Pasternak the director is life itself, unlike in Bulgakov, where life is directed by supernatural forces. In both novels the characters are actors and viewers at the same time, the stage and the floor of the house belong in the town. However, in Bulgakov, by contrast with Pasternak, there is no division of the town space. Theater in The Master and Margarita is related to the so called anticarnival, as it is conducted by the carnivalizer (Voland), rather than people. In Pasternak the unity «theatre ̶ life ̶ death» is a natural manifestation of life, unlike in Bulgakov, where the motif combination «theаter ̶ death» has an ominous and violent character. In Doctor Zhivago the final ruination of theatricality is of realistic character, while in The Master and Margarita it is of transcendent one. By and large it is possible to conclude that theatricality in Doctor Zhivago reminds of the theater of experience, when Bulgakov’s buffoonery is similar to the theater of performance.

Generating Behavior in the University-Industry Collaboration Network: Based on the Configuration of Motifs

University-industry collaboration networks consist of heterogeneous subjects; in fact, the interactions among these subjects lead to the emergence of the complex characteristics of university-industry collaboration networks and even to the emergence of the networks themselves. Thus, understanding the behavior that generates university-industry collaboration networks is essential to their construction and optimization. To more fully comprehend this generating behavior, we considered a university-industry collaboration network in the ocean energy industry in China as a case study. Employing the motif analysis method, we analyze the network’s generating behavior from four perspectives: motif characteristics, motif classification, motif combination and motif clustering. Furthermore, we explore agents’ modes of adaptive collaboration — and the causes of such collaborations — and summarize the characteristics and modes of networks’ generating behavior. The results indicate that universities and industries tend to form highly stable and close cooperative relationships. The constraints of the network’s generating behavior — which influences the subjects’ interactions through relational and structural embeddedness — include asymmetric information, resource and cost constraints, risk aversion and geographical constraints. Our research presents the benefits of using the motif analysis method to study the network’s generating behavior and its implications in constructing and optimizing a university-industry collaboration network.

A Comparative Study of the Current 3D Motif Combination Methods

As a special surface texture evaluation method, motif has received much attention since it was adopted as an ISO standard which is ISO12085 1996. However, like many other evaluation methods, it is based on 2 dimensional lines. The surface itself is three dimensional in nature. 3D motif evaluation should be more suitable. Until now, no 3D motif evaluation method has yet been proposed. A key issue is 3D motif combination to determine how the evaluation should be implemented. Three types of 3D MOTIF combination methods currently used are examined. Features such as algorithm complexity and application range are investigated. We conclude that the best 3D Motif combination method is not currently available. We should select a combination method based on the need for surface function analysis. Hybrid methods are also recommended.

Pure visual metaphor: Juri Lotman’s concept of rhetoric in fine arts

Salvador Dalí’s oilpainting Hallucination partielle. Six apparitions de Lénine sur un piano (1931) has been considered to be one of the most difficult works to interpret. O. Zaslavskii has analyzed it, using the sound of the words in title and the items depicted on the masterpiece, “the phonetic subtext”. Obviously, Zaslavskii’s interpretation is based on Osip Mandelstam’s poem “Grand piano” (1931), that in the context of Russian language associates the piano (pояль) with the French Revolution. Nevertheless, Zaslavskii’s final conclusion of the connections between Dalí’s painting and the French Revolution turns to be accurate, because it is possible to find iconographic parallels between Dalí’s “Partial hallucination…” and JacquesLouis David’s “The death of Marat” (1793). On at least four most significant oil paintings from the beginning of Dalí’s surreal period we can observe his “emblem of love and death” as the combination of fellatio and bleeding. Obviously, he understood in the same code also Marat’s murdering by the knife of a woman. This allows us to insist, that Dalí was inspired to paint “Partial hallucination…” by “The death of Marat”. The shadow of a grand piano on his painting “Diurnal illusion: the shadow of a grand piano approaching” (1931) directly bears the meaning of “terror” and “fear”. In such motif combination and graphic parallel, the complex cultural metaphoric relations of these two paintings can be viewed. This complex can be considered as rhetorical in the sense of Juri Lotman’s conception. But it is evidently a case of “pure visual metaphor”, not an illustration of verbal metaphors.