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Levin???s hunting in Anna Karenina
No full textThrough analysis of the depictions of Levin???s hunts in Tolstoy???s Anna Karenina, this article argues that hunting scenes and allusions help develop the novel???s theme of marriage and family happiness. Levin???s first hunt with Oblonsky advances the narrative thread around his marriage when his hopes of marrying Kitty are rekindled after hearing from her brother that she has not wed Vronsky. The next instance finds Levin hunting a she-bear, hinting at his efforts to successfully woo Kitty, whom he called a ???tiny bear??? in her childhood. The novel???s longest hunting scene in which a pregnant Kitty sends a reassuring message to her concerned husband demonstrates that the couple has achieved a state of family happiness based on mutual trust and consideration. The final allusion to hunting, near the novel???s end, comes when Levin, now a loving husband and father, takes up beekeeping (literally ???bee hunting??? [pchelinaia okhota]) as a family pastime. Levin???s turn to this new type of ???hunting??? once he is happily married underscores hunting???s connection to a happy family life: the motif reappears throughout the narrative arc of Levin???s personal journey to selfhood through marriage and family life.??
ssDNA reeling is an intermediate step in the reiterative DNA unwinding activity of the WRN-1 helicase
No full textRecQ helicases are highly conserved between bacteria and humans. These helicases unwind various DNA structures in the 3??? to 5???. Defective helicase activity elevates genomic instability and is associated with predisposition to cancer and/or premature aging. Recent single-molecule analyses have revealed the repetitive unwinding behavior of RecQ helicases from Escherichia coli to humans. However, the detailed mechanisms underlying this behavior are unclear. Here, we performed single-molecule studies of WRN-1 Caenorhabditis elegans RecQ helicase on various DNA constructs and characterized WRN-1 unwinding dynamics. We showed that WRN-1 persistently repeated cycles of DNA unwinding and rewinding with an unwinding limit of 25-31 bp per cycle. Furthermore, by monitoring the ends of the displaced strand during DNA unwinding we demonstrated that WRN-1 reels in the ssDNA overhang in an ATP-dependent manner. While WRN-1 reeling activity was inhibited by a C. elegans homolog of human replication protein A (CeRPA), we found that CeRPA actually WRN-1 switched the reiterative unwinding activity of WRN-1 to unidirectional unwinding. These results reveal that reeling-in single-stranded DNA is an intermediate step in the reiterative unwinding process for WRN-1 (i.e., the process proceeds via unwinding-reeling-rewinding). We propose that the reiterative unwinding activity of WRN-1 may prevent extensive unwinding, allow time for partner proteins to assemble on the active region, and permit additional modulation in vivo
Pt cocatalyst morphology on semiconductor nanorod photocatalysts enhances charge trapping and water reduction
No full textIn photocatalysis, metal-semiconductor hybrid structures have been proposed for ideal photocatalytic systems. In this study, we investigate the effect of morphology and surface nature of Pt cocatalysts on photocatalytic hydrogen evolution activity in Pt-tipped CdSe nanorods. Three distinct morphologies of Pt cocatalysts were synthesized and employed as visible light photocatalysts. The rough tips exhibit the highest activity, followed by the round and cubic tips. Kinetic investigations using transient absorption spectroscopy reveal that the cubic tips exhibit lower charge-separated states feasible for reacting with water and water reduction rates due to their defectless surface facets. In contrast, the rough tips show a similar charge-separation value but a two-fold higher surface reaction rate than the round tips, resulting in a significant enhancement of hydrogen evolution. These findings highlight the importance of rational design on metal cocatalysts in addition to the main semiconductor bodies for maximizing photocatalytic activities
Brand Exploration in Metaverse: Effects of Avatar Resemblance on Brand Attitude
No full textRecently, the metaverse (i.e., a virtual world with avatar interaction) has been widely used as a marketing tool in various fields to enhance user engagement. However, few studies have examined the effects of avatar-self resemblance on user attitude and intention in the metaverse. In this sense, this study examines the mechanism by which avatar-self resemblance influences brand attitude and virtual item purchase intentions in the brand-oriented metaverse. In particular, we identify the role of virtual item purchase intention as a mediator and the number of concurrent users as a moderator. The main venue for the experiment is Zepeto???s ???Ralph Lauren brand world.??? This research provides several implications. Theoretically, this study complements the adoption of the metaverse as a virtual technology in the marketing field. As a practical implication, this study also provides marketing managers with valuable insights for designing an effective brand-oriented metaverse
Nonlinear Schrodinger systems with trapping potentials for mixed attractive and repulsive interactions
No full textIn this paper, we prove the existence of a positive least energy vector solution and its asymptotic behavior for three-component nonlinear Schrodinger systems with mixed couplings (two repulsive and one attractive) forces and nonconstant potentials on the entire space when the interaction forces are large. When the system with mixed coupling forces has constant potentials, repulsive forces make a state more stable when the interaction between components are less; thus it loses a compactness due to translation segregating components. To get a compactness, we impose a potential wall at infinity; then, we can construct a least energy vector solution. A main interest in this work is its asymptotic behavior of the solution for large interaction forces; one component repelling other two components survives and the other two components diminish and concentrate at a point diverging to infinity as the interaction forces are getting larger and larger. The location of the concetration point, which we could characterize in terms of the limit of a surviving component, a repulsive force and potentials of diminishing components under the assumption of the nondegeneracy for the limit problem of the surviving component
Intra-Lysosomal Peptide Assembly for the High Selectivity Index against Cancer
No full textLysosomes remain powerful organellesand important targetsforcancer therapy because cancer cell proliferation is greatly dependenton effective lysosomal function. Recent studies have shown that lysosomalmembrane permeabilization induces cell death and is an effective wayto treat cancer by bypassing the classical caspase-dependent apoptoticpathway. However, most lysosome-targeted anticancer drugs have verylow selectivity for cancer cells. Here, we show intra-lysosomal self-assemblyof a peptide amphiphile as a powerful technique to overcome this problem.We designed a peptide amphiphile that localizes in the cancer lysosomeand undergoes cathepsin B enzyme-instructed supramolecular assembly.This localized assembly induces lysosomal swelling, membrane permeabilization,and damage to the lysosome, which eventually causes caspase-independentapoptotic death of cancer cells without conventional chemotherapeuticdrugs. It has specific anticancer effects and is effective againstdrug-resistant cancers. Moreover, this peptide amphiphile exhibitshigh tumor targeting when attached to a tumor-targeting ligand andcauses significant inhibition of tumor growth both in cancer and drug-resistantcancer xenograft models