A family of 13 related but divergent vsp genes was recently found in the chromosome of the bovine pathogen Mycoplasma bovis. The vsp genomic locus was shown to undergo high-frequency rearrangements and to mediate phenotypic switching of variable lipoprotein antigens (Vsps) on the mycoplasma cell surface. Here we report that the vsp gene repertoire is subject to changes. Genetic analysis of M. b...

failure of the quay walls due to earthquakes results in severe economic loss. because of hazards threatening such inexpensive nodes of national and international transportation networks, seismic design of quay walls is still an evolving topic in marine structural engineering. this study investigates the sensitivity of the gravity-type quay wall stability respect to uncertain soil and seismic pr...

Application of least-squares Kirchhoff migration (LSM) to synthetic reverse vertical seismic profile data (RVSP) demonstrates that LSM reduces the migration artifacts, improves the image resolution and produces a more accurate image than the standard migration, but cannot completely recover the model reflectivity for AVO analysis because of the limited data coverage. The influence of incomplete...

Voltage-sensing phosphatases (VSPs) share the molecular architecture of the voltage sensor domain (VSD) with voltage-gated ion channels and the phosphoinositide phosphatase region with the phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN), respectively. VSPs enzymatic activities are regulated by the motions of VSD upon depolarization. The physiological role of these proteins has remained elusive, and insig...

This vertically self-pillared (VSP) structure extends the application range of traditional porous materials with facile mass/ion transport and enhanced reaction kinetics. Here, we prepare a single crystal metal-organic framework (MOF), employing ZIF-67 as proof concept, which is constructed by nanosheets (VSP-MOF). We further converted VSP-MOF into VSP-cobalt sulfide (VSP-CoS2) through sulfidat...

Two seismic profiles were established for experimental determination of a decrease of the maximum ground motion acceleration amplitudes as a function of the distance and magnitude of seismic sources. Profile I (direction N-S) was equipped by four accelerometers in the period from 2003 July 1 till 2004 December 31. At present, five additional seismometers are dislocated along the Profile II (NW-...

Constructing the seismic image in vertical time, as opposed to depth, eliminates the inherent ambiguity of resolving the vertical P -wave velocity from surface seismic data in transversely isotropic media with a vertical axis of symmetry (VTI media). By ray tracing in the space-time (x-τ)-domain, a traveltime map is built by interpolating the traveltime information along the rays onto a regular...

The application of the seismic reflection method is often limited in complex terrain areas. The problem is the incorrect correction of time-shifts caused by topography. To apply normal moveout (NMO) correction to reflection data correctly, static corrections are necessary to be applied in advance for the compensation of the time distortions of topography and the time-delays from near-surface we...

The concept of controlling seismic waves is in progress and first full-scale experiments had confirmed the interest which we can have for this new axis of research. The possibility of imagining a seismic 2D or 3D metamaterial made of a grid of inclusions or empty boreholes in the soil, interacting with a part of the earthquake signal is becoming realistic. Here we show the dynamic response of a...

Phosphoinositides act as signaling molecules in numerous cellular transduction processes, and phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PtdIns(4,5)P2) regulates the function of several types of plasma membrane ion channels. We investigated the potential role of PtdIns(4,5)P2 in Ca(2+) homeostasis and excitation-contraction (E-C) coupling of mouse muscle fibers using in vivo expression of the volta...