Role of Ligand Distribution in the Cytoskeleton-Associated Endocytosis of Ellipsoidal Nanoparticles

Nanoparticle (NP)–cell interaction mediated by receptor–ligand bonds is a crucial phenomenon in pathology, cellular immunity, and drug delivery systems, and relies strongly on the shape of NPs and the stiffness of the cell. Given this significance, a fundamental question is raised on how the ligand distribution may affect the membrane wrapping of non-spherical NPs under the influence of cytoskeleton deformation. To address this issue, in this work we use a coupled elasticity–diffusion model to systematically investigate the role of ligand distribution in the cytoskeleton-associated endocytosis of ellipsoidal NPs for different NP shapes, sizes, cytoskeleton stiffness, and the initial receptor densities. In this model, we have taken into account the effects of receptor diffusion, receptor–ligand binding, cytoskeleton and membrane deformations, and changes in the configuration entropy of receptors. By solving this model, we find that the uptake process can be significantly influenced by the ligand distribution. Additionally, there exists an optimal state of such a distribution, which corresponds to the fastest uptake efficiency and depends on the NP aspect ratio and cytoskeleton stiffness. We also find that the optimal distribution usually needs local ligand density to be sufficiently high at the large curvature region. Furthermore, the optimal state of NP entry into cells can tolerate slight changes to the corresponding optimal distribution of the ligands. The tolerance to such a change is enhanced as the average receptor density and NP size increase. These results may provide guidelines to control NP–cell interactions and improve the efficiency of target drug delivery systems.

Influence of fertilizers on the productivity of tea plants in the conditions of the north-west Caucasus

The research is aimed at finding effective ways to regulate the functional state of tea plants under stress, increase in yield and its stability, preserving and improving the quality. Foliar spraying of the tea stimulated the active formation of Proline (135.1-179.2 mg/g, in the control - 122.6 mg/g) and ascorbic acid (177.8-226.5 mg/g, in the control - 131.4 mg/g) in the leaves, which indicates the inclusion of processes associated with the mechanism of nonspecific protection against stress. The optimal state of tea plants treated with fertilizers explains the more developed specific surface density of the leaf (1.44 mg/cm2, in the control -1.24 mg/cm). The developed specific surface density of the leaf was ensuring the active operation of the leaf apparatus on the experimental variants, which is expressed in a higher productivity of the leaves (1.27-1.31 g/dm2), compared to the control plants. The highest yield (about 23.05 centner per ha) was observed in the variant with foliar treatments with rokogumin, in the variant with sodium humate (31.47 centner per ha), the yield exceeded the control (26.88 centner per ha) only in 2020, which may be due to the accumulative effect.

Evaluasi Pelaksanaan Pengawasan Berbasis Wilayah Di KPP Pratama Batu

Regional-based supervision is one of the strategies of the Directorate General of Taxes as the Indonesian tax authority to support the achievement of the national development priority agenda, optimal state revenues. The main objective of implementing regional-based supervision is to optimize state revenues and expand the tax base through increasing tax compliance and increasing tax potential. This study aims to find out how the implementation of regional-based supervision, the results of regional-based supervision, and the suitability of the results with the implementation objectives that have been mentioned as well as the constraints of region-based supervision in KPP Pratama Batu. Data was collected through interviews with account representatives of the KPP Pratama Batu and documentation. Furthermore, the research was conducted by combining qualitative methods and simple quantitative methods. The results showed that the regional-based supervision activities at KPP Pratama Batu were in accordance with the regulations although there were still some procedures that had not been fully implemented. Regional-based supervision is able to realize an increase in the formal compliance of corporate taxpayers in the form of reporting compliance, action compliance and increased revenue. However, regional-based supervision has not shown satisfactory results in terms of payment compliance, individual taxpayer reporting compliance, material compliance, tax potential exploration, and tax base. Furthermore, there are three obstacles in the implementation of regional-based supervision: differences in regional characteristics, challenges in the extensification of regional-based supervision and discrepancies in taxpayer data. Keywords : Compliance, Tax Base, Tax Revenue, Regional-based Supervision.. Abstrak Pengawasan berbasis wilayah merupakan salah satu strategi Direktorat Jenderal Pajak sebagai otoritas pajak Indonesia untuk mendukung pencapaian agenda prioritas pembangunan nasional yaitu penerimaan negara yang optimal. Tujuan utama penerapan pengawasan berbasis wilayah adalah mengoptimalkan penerimaan negara serta memperluas basis pajak melalui peningkatan kepatuhan kewajiban perpajakan dan peningkatan penggalian potensi pajak. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui bagaimana pelaksanaan pengawasan berbasis wilayah, hasil pengawasan berbasis wilayah, dan kesesuaian hasil dengan tujuan penerapan yang telah disebutkan serta kendala pengawasan berbasis wilayah di KPP Pratama Batu. Pengumpulan data dilakukan melalui wawancara dengan account representatives KPP Pratama Batu dan dokumentasi. Selanjutnya, penelitian dilakukan dengan mengombinasikan metode kualitatif dan metode kuantitatif sederhana. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa kegiatan pengawasan berbasis wilayah di KPP Pratama Batu telah sesuai dengan regulasi meskipun masih terdapat beberapa prosedur yang belum dapat dilaksanakan sepenuhnya. Pengawasan berbasis wilayah mampu mewujudkan peningkatan kepatuhan formal wajib pajak badan berupa kepatuhan pelaporan, kepatuhan perbuatan dan peningkatan penerimaan. Akan tetapi, pengawasan berbasis wilayah belum menunjukkan hasil yang memuaskan pada sisi kepatuhan pembayaran, kepatuhan pelaporan wajib pajak orang pribadi, kepatuhan material, penggalian potensi, dan basis pajak. Lebih lanjut, terdapat tiga kendala dalam pelaksanaan pengawasan berbasis wilayah yaitu perbedaan karakteristik wilayah, tantangan dalam ekstensifikasi pengawasan berbasis wilayah, serta ketidaksesuaian data wajib pajak. Kata Kunci : Basis Pajak, Kepatuhan, Penerimaan Pajak, Pengawasan Berbasis Wilayah.

On the estimation of optimal state-of-charge trajectory for plug-in hybrid electric buses using trip information

Plug-in hybrid electric buses are a viable solution to increase the fuel economy. In this framework, precise estimation of optimal state-of-charge trajectory along the upcoming driving cycle appears to play a pivotal role in the way to approach the globally optimal fuel economy. This paper aims to conduct a parametric study on the key factors affecting the estimation of optimal state-of-charge trajectory, including trip information availability and trip segment distance, and to provide a guideline for the design and implementation of predictive energy management systems. To accomplish this, the dynamic programming algorithm is employed to obtain the solution of optimal control problem for the sampled driving cycles in a particular bus route. A large database comprising of driving features of the cycles and the optimal solution is developed which then is used to construct a neural network based estimator for obtaining the optimal state-of-charge trajectory. The main results show promising performance of the proposed method with about 76% reduction in the root mean square error of the estimated trajectory comparing to the linear state-of-charge trajectory assumption. Moreover, the robustness of the estimator is verified through simulation and it is observed that appropriate choice of trip segment distance is vital to improve the estimation accuracy, especially in case of uncertain prediction of trip information.