Based on the geometrical nonlinear theory of large deflection elastic beams, the governing differential equations of post-buckling behavior of clamped-clamped inclined beams subjected to combined forces are established. By using the implicit compatibility conditions to solve the nonlinear statically indeterminate problems of elastic beams, the strongly nonlinear equations formulated in terms of elliptic integrals are directly solved in the numerical sense. When the applied force exceeds the critical value, the numerical simulation shows that the inclined beam snaps to the other equilibrium position automatically. It is in the snap-through process that the accurate configurations of the post-buckling inclined beam with different angles are presented, and it is found that the nonlinear stiffness decreases as the midpoint displacement is increased according to our systematical analysis of the inward relations of different buckling modes. The numerical results are in good agreement with those obtained in the experiments.

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It is believed that transferring the C4 engine into C3 crops will greatly increase the yields of major C3 crops. Many efforts have been made since the 1960s, but relatively little success has been achieved because C4plant traits, referred to collectively as C4 syndrome, are very complex, and little is known about the genetic mechanisms involved. Unfortunately, there exists no ideal genetic model system to study C4 syndrome. It was previously reported that the Haloxylon species have different photosynthetic pathways in different photosynthetic organs, cotyledons and assimilating shoots. Here, we took advantage of the developmental switch from the C3 to the C4 pathway to study the genetic mechanisms behind this natural transition. We compared the transcriptomes of cotyledons and assimilating shoots using mRNA-Seq to gain insight into the molecular and cellular events associated with C4 syndrome. A total of 2959 differentially expressed genes [FDR≤0.001 and abs (|log2(Fold change)|≥1)] were identified, revealing that the transcriptomes of cotyledons and assimilating shoots are considerably different. We further identified a set of putative regulators of C4 syndrome. This study expands our understanding of the development of C4 syndrome and provides a new model system for future studies on the C3-to- C4 switch mechanism.

Based on the postbuckling theory of large deflection beams, the nonlinear stiffness of a postbuckling beam is deduced and in agreement with the results of buckling experiments. Then, a novel postmachined threshold accelerometer is designed, which consists of eight oblique postbeams with an inertial mass in the middle to ensure its single moving direction and an electrical contact part fabricated on the bottom of the inertial mass. The threshold accelerometer is an integration of a threshold sensor and an inertial driven actuator used in airbag restraint systems. When the acceleration reaches the threshold, the beams buckle and close the threshold accelerometer, and when it gets down to be a certain value, the accelerometer opens quickly under the effect of the elastic force developed by the postbuckling beams. Compared with the design models of other threshold accelerometers with linear beam structures, the nonlinear postbuckling beams are introduced as threshold sensing elements. A number of design factors such as the air film damping and the contact force are taken into full consideration, thus establishing the dynamic equation of the accelerometer under coupled forces. The dynamical simulation for the strong nonlinear system with elliptic integrals indicates its good threshold characteristic and high contact reliability. The threshold accelerometer responds within 4 ms when it is triggered by a threshold acceleration ac = 20 g, and cuts off quickly when the cutoff acceleration is under ad = 5 g. Meanwhile, the unstable contact time is only 0.02 ms for the contact force to reach 50 mN, which guarantees the contact resistance to be less than 20 m. With the results of the dynamic simulation, supported by previous buckling experiments, the accelerometer can provide accurate threshold sensing without false actuations under interferences outside, especially electromagnetic and vibration interferences, and hence their wide applications in safe-arming systems. Index Terms-Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), nonlinear stiffness, postbuckling, threshold accelerometer.