A flow control mechanism in wing flapping with stroke asymmetry during insect forward flight

A theoretical modeling approach as well as an unsteady analytical method is used to study aerodynamic characteristics of wing flapping with asymmetric stroke-cycles in connection with an oblique stroke plane during insect forward flight. It is revealed that the aerodynamic asymmetry between the downstroke and the upstroke due to stroke-asymmetrical flapping is a key to understand the flow physics of generation and modulation of the lift and the thrust. Predicted results for examples of given kinematics validate more specifically some viewpoints that the wing lift is more easily produced when the forward speed is higher and the thrust is harder, and the lift and the thrust are generated mainly during downstroke and upstroke, respectively. The effects of three controlling parameters, i.e. the angles of tilted stroke plane, the different downstroke duration ratios, and the different angles of attack in both down- and up-stroke, are further discussed. It is found that larger oblique angles of stroke planes generate larger thrust but smaller lift; larger downstroke duration ratios lead to larger thrust, while making little change in lift and input aerodynamic power; and again, a small increase of the angle of attack in downstroke or upstroke may cause remarkable changes in aerodynamic performance in the relevant stroke.

Aerodynamics and mechanisms of elementary morphing models for flapping wing in forward flight of bat

Large active wing deformation is a significant way to generate high aerodynamic forces required in bat＇s flapping flight. Besides the twisting, elementary morphing models of a bat wing are proposed, including wing-bending in the spanwise direction,wing-cambering in the chordwise direction, and wing area-changing. A plate of aspect ratio 3 is used to model a bat wing, and a three-dimensional unsteady panel method is used to predict the aerodynamic forces. It is found that the cambering model has great positive influence on the lift, followed by the area-changing model and then the bending model. Further study indicates that the vortex control is a main mechanism to produce high aerodynamic forces. The mechanisms of aerodynamic force enhancement are asymmetry of the cambered wing and amplification effects of wing area-changing and wing bending. Lift and thrust are generated mainly during downstroke, and they are almost negligible during upstroke by the integrated morphing model-wing.

Learning from bat:Aerodynamics of actively morphing wing

Different from birds and insects, bats have complex wing-deformation capacity to generate high aerody- namic forces. In flight, the actively morphing of bat wing includes the twisting from wing root to wing tip, the cambering along the chordwise direction, the bending along the spanwise direction and the wing area-changing caused by the stretch and retraction of the wingspan. It was found that the high thrust and lift required in bat flight are dependent on the wing twisting and cambering respectively. Moreover, the integrated wing-morphing generates the aerodynamic lift and thrust mainly during the downstroke and almost negligible forces during the upstroke. The wing area-changing and bending can be used to amplify the oositive forces in the downstroke duration and reduce the negative forces in the uostroke duration.

A new photolabeling probe for efficient enrichment and deep profiling of cell surface membrane proteome by mass spectrometry

The cell surface membrane proteome is a class of proteins encoded by ~25% of all protein-coding genes in living organisms and plays a key role in mediating communication between the cells and their surrounding environment. However, most cell surface membrane proteins(CSMPs) are naturally expressed at very low levels compared with intracellular proteins. The difficulties in their purification with high specificity further hinder the understanding of their structure and function. In this study, we developed a new photolabeling probe to achieve efficient tagging and facile enrichment of the CSMPs. The probe is composed of a lipid tail for cell surface localization, a polyethylene glycol(PEG) spacer for increased water solubility, two 4-(N-maleimido)benzophenone(MBP) groups for UV-active tagging of the CSMPs, and a biotin tag for subsequent isolation. Application of this photolabeling probe resulted in the successful enrichment and identification of 3098 annotated CSMPs in HT22 cells with close to 70% selectivity. The proposed photolabeling probe and enrichment strategy were demonstrated to be a powerful method for deep cell surface proteome profiling, representing one of the largest groups of current drug targets.

An energetics analysis of fish self-propelled swimming

Fishes can swim freely in water owing to the interaction between their deforming bodies and the surrounding fluid,as is called self-propelled swimming.Besides the experimental study,the numerical simulation can provide much more details of the flow structure,hydrodynamics and energetics of fish swimming.Since the pioneering study by Carling et al.[1],numerical simulation has become the primary method

Porous covalent organic frameworks-improved solid phase microextraction ambient mass spectrometry for ultrasensitive analysis of tetrabromobisphenol-A analogs

Owing to frequent environmental monitoring of tetrabromobisphenol-A(TBBPA)analogs and their potential ecotoxicological effects on organisms,analysis of trace levels of TBBPA analogs with more non-polar and less water-soluble characteristics is of great significance for studying their environmental behaviors and toxic effects.Herein,a fast and sensitive technique is developed for directly detecting aqueous TBBPA analogs,including TBBPA mono(allyl ether)(TBBPA-MAE),TBBPA mono(2,3-dibromopropyl ether)(TBBPAMDBPE),TBBPA mono(2-hydroxyethyl ether)(TBBPA-MHEE)and TBBPA mono(glycidyl ether)(TBBPAMGE),by combining solid phase microextraction(SPME)based on porous covalent organic frameworks(Porous-COFs)with constant flow desorption ionization-mass spectrometry(CFDI-MS).As chromatographic separation is replaced by constant flow desorption,each sample can be analyzed within 7 min.The hierarchical porous structures(microporous,mesoporous and macroporous)of COFs lead to the enhanced mass transfer and the easier accessibility of active sites to TBBPA analogs,so that the extraction efficiency is 2.3-3.6 times higher than pure microporous COFs,and far superior to commercial coatings.The detection limit and quantification limit of this method are 0.1-1 and 0.4-3.2 ng/L,respectively.Ultratrace levels of TBBPA analogs from 5.0 ng/L to 66 ng/L have been successfully detected in river and sea water samples,showing great potential for subsequent studies of their environmental behaviors and toxicological effects.

A ratiometric fluorescent probe based on carbon dots assembly for intracellular lysosomal polarity imaging with wide range response

Lysosomal polarity is considered a key indicator of lysosomal function due to its significant impact on membrane fluidity and enzymatic reactions in lysosomes. Monitoring lysosomal polarity can gain insight into the related physiological and pathological processes and develop new diagnostic methods. However, current fluorescent probes with lysosomal polarity response suffer from narrow linear range, photobleaching and complicated preparation. Herein, a ratiometric fluorescent probe(r-b CDs) for intracellular lysosomal polarity imaging is designed and constructed by amide bond assembly of polarity-sensitive red fluorescent carbon dots(r CDs) and referenced blue fluorescent carbon dots(b CDs). r-b CDs show a much wider linear range of polarity response(orientation polarizability Δf from 0.020 to 0.315) than other probes, and the interference of uneven distribution and instrument factors can be effectively eliminated by ratiometric fluorescent sensing. Imaging of intracellular lysosomal polarity with r-b CDs is implemented to observe the polarity variation caused by the change of cell state and the difference between cancer cells and normal cells. This work provides a promising tool for studying the related physiological and pathological processes and developing new diagnostic methods.

Boronic acid-containing carbon dots array for sensitive identification of glycoproteins and cancer cells

Discrimination of glycoproteins and cell types is a significant but difficult issue.Herein,we presented a novel fluorescence sensor array for the detection and identification of glycoproteins and cancer cells based on the specific affinity between boronic acid-containing carbon dots(BA-CDs)and cis-diol residues of polysaccharides.The differential binding affinity of three BA-CDs to various glycoproteins resulted in a different fluorescence turn-on signal pattern caused by aggregation-enhanced emission(AEE),along with negligible response from other proteins.Therefore,BA-CDs encompassing sensing elements and signal indicator into one can enable a fast and accurate discrimination of glycoproteins with simple and easy operation.Seven glycoproteins could be well discriminated at a very low concentration of 10 nmol/L.The discriminating capability of glycoproteins is not sacrificed in both human urine and serum.Notably,different glycoprotein compositions of cancer cells provide more recognizable features for identification of cancer cells,comparing to the total protein.Five cell types could be identified in 15 min at a low concentration of 1000 cells/mL.This method is fast,accurate,and easy operation,and has a potential application in cancer diagnosis.

Hydrodynamic scaling law in undulatory braking locomotion

Flow over a fish-like airfoil is numerically investigated to elaborate the hydrodynamics of the undulatory braking locomotion for an elongated eel-like body or long-based fin. For undulation with low frequency, we find that boundary layer separation occurs in a parameter region with wakes in which two vortex pairs are formed per undulatory period. The physical mechanism of separation is governed by the slip(the ratio of swimming-to-body-wave speed), and the critical value of the slip in an inertial flow regime is approximately 4/3 rather than 1, which is independent of steepness(or amplitude). The relationship between pressure drag and relative velocity(between phase speed and free stream velocity) changes from linear to quadratic, corresponding to two different flow structures;this happens due to boundary layer separation, and the piecewise scaling relationship between pressure drag and relative velocity is explicitly clarified. Considering the viscosity effects, the separation criterion and the scaling relationship in the case of an undulatory brake are both synthetically modified using the Reynolds number, with all the required parameters clearly expressed. The results of this study provide physical insight into understanding the flow structures and hydrodynamics of the undulatory braking locomotion, which has instructional significance to brake design.