The Poisson's ratio characterizes the resultant strain in the lateral direction for a material under longitudinal deformation. Though negative Poisson's ratios (NPR) are theoretically possible within continuum elasticity, they are most frequently observed in engineered materials and structures, as they are not intrinsic to many materials. In this work, we report NPR in single-layer graphene rib...

Natriuretic peptides mediate their physiologic effects through activation of membrane-bound, guanylyl cyclase–coupled receptors (NPRs). Receptor dimerization is an important feature of signal transduction. This study was aimed at characterizing structurally important residues of the extracellular ligand-binding domain of NPR-B for receptor dimerization and cGMP generation. Deletion mutagenesis ...

We investigated spatial and temporal variations in bacterial community structures as well as the presence of three functional proteolytic enzyme genes in the sediments of a hypereutrophic freshwater lake in order to acquire an insight into dynamic links between bacterial community structures and proteolytic functions. Bacterial communities determined from 16S rRNA gene clone libraries markedly ...

Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) and C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) are important dilators of the pulmonary circulation during the perinatal period. We compared the responses of pulmonary arteries (PA) and veins (PV) of newborn lambs to these peptides. ANP caused a greater relaxation of PA than of PV, and CNP caused a greater relaxation of PV than of PA. RIA showed that ANP induced a greater ...

In the history of computer graphics, the area of non-photorealistic rendering (NPR) has emerged relatively recently as a subject area in its own right. Its popularity is reflected in the conference programs of the last several SIGGRAPH events, in which a session in each has been set aside to cover the areas of ’Art, Illustration and Expression’. For the research community, NPR represents a gold...

This paper surveys the field of nonphotorealistic rendering (NPR), focusing on techniques for transforming 2D input (images and video) into artistically stylized renderings. We first present a taxonomy of the 2D NPR algorithms developed over the past two decades, structured according to the design characteristics and behavior of each technique. We then describe a chronology of development from ...

Disruption of the circadian rhythm can lead to obesity and cardiovascular disease. In white adipose tissue, activation of the natriuretic peptide receptors (NPRs) stimulates lipolysis. We have previously shown that natriuretic peptides are expressed in a circadian manner in the heart, but the temporal expression profile of their cognate receptors has not been examined in white adipose tissue. W...

Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) is present in gastric mucosa and preferentially binds to two subtypes of natriuretic peptide receptors (NPR), NPR-A and NPR-C. The present study examines the role of endogenous ANP in regulating endocrine secretion in rat and human stomachs. NPR-A protein expression and transcripts were identified in rat antral and fundic mucosa by Western blot and RT-PCR. In su...

The ability to avoid noxious extremes of hot and cold is critical for survival and depends on thermal nociception. The TRPV subset of transient receptor potential (TRP) channels is heat activated and proposed to be responsible for heat detection in vertebrates and fruit flies. To gain insight into the genetic and neural basis of thermal nociception, we developed assays that quantify noxious hea...