Global attractors, extremal stability and periodicity for a delayed population model with survival rate on time scales

<abstract><p>In this paper, we investigate the existence of global attractors, extreme stability, periodicity and asymptotically periodicity of solutions of the delayed population model with survival rate on isolated time scales given by</p> <p><disp-formula> <label/> <tex-math id="FE1"> \begin{document}$ x^{\Delta} (t) = \gamma(t) x(t) + \dfrac{x(d(t))}{\mu(t)}e^{r(t)\mu(t)\left(1 - \frac{x(d(t))}{\mu(t)}\right)}, \ \ t \in \mathbb T. $\end{document} </tex-math></disp-formula></p> <p>We present many examples to illustrate our results, considering different time scales.</p></abstract>

A systematic analysis of miRNA markers and classification algorithms for forensic body fluid identification

Identifying the types of body fluids left at the crime scene can be essential to reconstructing the crime scene and inferring criminal behavior. MicroRNA (miRNA) molecule extracted from the trace of body fluids is one of the most promising biomarkers for the identification due to its high expression, extreme stability and tissue specificity. However, the detection of miRNA markers is not the answer to a yes–no question but the probability of an assumption. Therefore, it is a crucial task to develop complicated methods combining multi-miRNAs as well as computational algorithms to achieve the goal. In this study, we systematically analyzed the expression of 10 most probable body fluid-specific miRNA markers (miR-451a, miR-205-5p, miR-203a-3p, miR-214-3p, miR-144-3p, miR-144-5p, miR-654-5p, miR-888-5p, miR-891a-5p and miR-124-3p) in 605 body fluids-related samples, including peripheral blood, menstrual blood, saliva, semen and vaginal secretion. We introduced the kernel density estimation (KDE) method and six well-established methods to classify the body fluids in order to find the most optimal combinations of miRNA markers as well as the corresponding classifying method. The results show that the combination of miR-451a, miR-891a-5p, miR-144-5p and miR-203a-3p together with KDE can achieve the most accurate and robust performance according to the cross-validation, independent tests and random perturbation tests. This systematic analysis suggests a reference scheme for the identification of body fluids in an accurate and stable manner.

Covalent organic frameworks as micro-reactors: confinement-enhanced electrochemiluminescence

The electrochemiluminescence (ECL) micro-reactors with enhanced intensity and extreme stability were firstly established, unravelling the mechanism of ECL micro-reactors using COF-LZU1 assembled Ru(bpy)32+ as a case study.

Hydrothermal preparation of Phyllostachys pubescens – nanocellulose/graphene aerogel as a simple device for supercapacitors

Bamboo nanocellulose can be regarded as a promising biomass material for the preparation of sustainable energy devices due to its unique structure, excellent properties, and wide range of sources. A highly conductive electrochemical energy storage was synthesized due to the excellent electrical conductivity of graphene and the high surface area of nanocellulose and graphene, which was beneficial for producing a network structure. The symmetric capacitor assembled from the Phyllostachys pubescens nanocellulose/graphene aerogel (CGA) electrode exhibited a high specific capacitance of 125.5 F/g at 5 mV/s and extreme stability of 98.3% capacitance retention ratio after 5000 cycles at 2 A/g. This nanocellulose-graphene electrode showed potential for future high-performance supercapacitors.

Study of the photoluminescence properties of Eu2+-doped Ca(AlxGa1−x)2S4 solid solutions at high excitation intensity and low temperature

The investigation of photoluminescence (PL) properties of Ca(Al[Formula: see text]Ga[Formula: see text]S4:Eu[Formula: see text] solid solutions with [Formula: see text] = 0, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3 synthesized for the first time was performed in wide temperature and excitation power density ranges. It is shown that PL intensity decreases by only 20–30% for different [Formula: see text] in the temperature range from 10 K to 300 K. The extreme stability of shape and position of the emission spectra was found in the range of excitation power density from [Formula: see text] W/cm2 to [Formula: see text] W/cm2 by nanosecond pulsed radiation. The reversible PL efficiency droop was only above 104 W/cm2 of excitation power density. The PL decay time constant was found to be of about 560 ns to 595 ns for [Formula: see text] ranging between 0.1 and 0.3 at room temperature.

Topological three-dimensional dissipative optical solitons

This article presents a review of recent investigations of topological three-dimensional (3D) dissipative optical solitons in homogeneous laser media with fast nonlinearity of amplification and absorption. The solitons are found numerically, with their formation, by embedding two-dimensional laser solitons or their complexes in 3D space after their rotation around a vortex straight line with their simultaneous twist. After a transient, the ‘hula-hoop’ solitons can form with a number of closed and unclosed infinite vortex lines, i.e. the solitons are tangles in topological notation. They are attractors and are characterized by extreme stability. The solitons presented here can be realized in lasers with fast saturable absorption and are promising for information applications. The tangle solitons of the type described present an example of self-organization that can be found not only in optics but also in various distributed dissipative systems of different types. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Dissipative structures in matter out of equilibrium: from chemistry, photonics and biology (part 1)’.

Stability of the human polymerase δ holoenzyme and its implications in lagging strand DNA synthesis

In eukaryotes, DNA polymerase δ (pol δ) is responsible for replicating the lagging strand template and anchors to the proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) sliding clamp to form a holoenzyme. The stability of this complex is integral to every aspect of lagging strand replication. Most of our understanding comes fromSaccharomyces cerevisaewhere the extreme stability of the pol δ holoenzyme ensures that every nucleobase within an Okazaki fragment is faithfully duplicated before dissociation but also necessitates an active displacement mechanism for polymerase recycling and exchange. However, the stability of the human pol δ holoenzyme is unknown. We designed unique kinetic assays to analyze the processivity and stability of the pol δ holoenzyme. Surprisingly, the results indicate that human pol δ maintains a loose association with PCNA while replicating DNA. Such behavior has profound implications on Okazaki fragment synthesis in humans as it limits the processivity of pol δ on undamaged DNA and promotes the rapid dissociation of pol δ from PCNA on stalling at a DNA lesion.

Stable Phenotypic Changes of the Host T Cells Are Essential to the Long-Term Stability of Latent HIV-1 Infection

ABSTRACTThe extreme stability of the latent HIV-1 reservoir in the CD4+memory T cell population prevents viral eradication with current antiretroviral therapy. It has been demonstrated that homeostatic T cell proliferation and clonal expansion of latently infected T cells due to viral integration into specific genes contribute to this extraordinary reservoir stability. Nevertheless, given the constant exposure of the memory T cell population to specific antigen or bystander activation, this reservoir stability seems remarkable, unless it is assumed that latent HIV-1 resides exclusively in memory T cells that recognize rare antigens. Another explanation for the stability of the reservoir could be that the latent HIV-1 reservoir is associated with an unresponsive T cell phenotype. We demonstrate here that host cells of latent HIV-1 infection events were functionally altered in ways that are consistent with the idea of an anergic, unresponsive T cell phenotype. Manipulations that induced or mimicked an anergic T cell state promoted latent HIV-1 infection. Kinome analysis data reflected this altered host cell phenotype at a system-wide level and revealed how the stable kinase activity changes networked to stabilize latent HIV-1 infection. Protein-protein interaction networks generated from kinome data could further be used to guide targeted genetic or pharmacological manipulations that alter the stability of latent HIV-1 infection. In summary, our data demonstrate that stable changes to the signal transduction and transcription factor network of latently HIV-1 infected host cells are essential to the ability of HIV-1 to establish and maintain latent HIV-1 infection status.IMPORTANCEThe extreme stability of the latent HIV-1 reservoir allows the infection to persist for the lifetime of a patient, despite completely suppressive antiretroviral therapy. This extreme reservoir stability is somewhat surprising, since the latently HIV-1 infected CD4+memory T cells that form the structural basis of the viral reservoir should be exposed to cognate antigen over time. Antigen exposure would trigger a recall response and should deplete the reservoir, likely over a relatively short period. Our data demonstrate that stable and system-wide phenotypic changes to host cells are a prerequisite for the establishment and maintenance of latent HIV-1 infection events. The changes observed are consistent with an unresponsive, anergy-like T cell phenotype of latently HIV-1 infected host cells. An anergy-like, unresponsive state of the host cells of latent HIV-1 infection events would explain the stability of the HIV-1 reservoir in the face of continuous antigen exposure.