Liminality as an Autopoietic Process within Spatial Identity

Spatial identity surpasses geographical boundaries of a certain space, and denotes not only physical characteristics of space, but its meaning to people that use it, as well as their intercommunication, which produces new social and spatial meaning. Unless there is an abrupt change in social structure or formal/functional transformation of (un)built environment, we perceive spatial identity as something almost permanent. However, it is in a constant state of change, existing in a present state that relies on our past experiences and contains projections of our future, maintained through constant background processes of disorganization and concomitant organization – in other words, identity is in the state of (perpetual) liminality. Liminality is the product, as well as the initiator of autopoietic processes within identity, which leads to the main premise of this article – (spatial) identity is an autopoietic system. This is analyzed through three chosen aspects of place attachment: ritual, memory and architecture.

Formation of Fused Images of the Land Surface from Radar and Optical Images in Spatially Distributed On-Board Operational Monitoring Systems

This paper considers the issues of image fusion in a spatially distributed small-size on-board location system for operational monitoring. The purpose of this research is to develop a new method for the formation of fused images of the land surface based on data obtained from optical and radar devices operated from two-position spatially distributed systems of small aircraft, including unmanned aerial vehicles. The advantages of the method for integrating information from radar and optical information-measuring systems are justified. The combined approach allows removing the limitations of each separate system. The practicality of choosing the integration of information from several widely used variants of heterogeneous sources is shown. An iterative approach is used in the method for combining multi-angle location images. This approach improves the quality of synthesis and increases the accuracy of integration, as well as improves the information content and reliability of the final fused image by using the pixel clustering algorithm, which produces many partitions into clusters. The search for reference points on isolated contours is carried out on a pair of left and right images of the docked image from the selected partition. For these reference points, a functional transformation is determined. Having applied it to the original multi-angle heterogeneous images, the degree of correlation of the fused image is assessed. Both the position of the reference points of the contour and the desired functional transformation itself are refined until the quality assessment of the fusion becomes acceptable. The type of functional transformation is selected based on clustered images and then applied to the original multi-angle heterogeneous images. This process is repeated for clustered images with greater granularity in case if quality assessment of the fusion is considered to be poor. At each iteration, there is a search for pairs of points of the contour of the isolated areas. Areas are isolated with the use of two image segmentation methods. Experiments on the formation of fused images are presented. The result of the research is the proposed method for integrating information obtained from a two-position airborne small-sized radar system and an optical location system. The implemented method can improve the information content, quality, and reliability of the finally established fused image of the land surface.

Nrf2 Regulates Microglia-Mediated Phagocytosis and Neuroinflammation Following Intracerebral Hemorrhage

Background To explore the effect of microglial functional transformation in hematoma clearance following intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), and investigate whether Nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) -mediated microglial phagocytosis and inflammatory response is beneficial for hematoma clearance and functional recovery in vitro and in vivo experiments after ICH. Methods In vitro experiments, BV-2 cells were cultured and randomly divided into 4 groups: normal control, microglia + Nrf2-siRNA (100 nmol/L), microglia + monascin (15 µM), microglia + Xuezhikang (200 µg/mL). In vivo experiments, 42 mice were divided into sham, ICH+vehicle, ICH+Nrf2-/-, ICH+monascin (10mg/kg/day, twice) and ICH+Xuezhikang (0.2g/kg/day, twice). Neurologic scores, hemoglobin levels, microglial phagocytosis, brain expression of CD80 /Trem1/TNF-α (pro-inflammatory cytokines) as well as CD206/Trem2/BDNF (anti-inflammatory cytokines) were analyzed at 72 hours after surgery. Results The results showed that Nrf2 agonists improved neurological deficits and decreased hemoglobin levels after ICH. The administration of Nrf2 agonist- monascin/ Xuezhikang enhanced microglia-mediated phagocytosis of erythrocytes and bioparticles by up-regulating Nrf2. Alternatively, monascin/Xuezhikang promoted the expressions of Triggering receptor II expressed on myeloid cells (Trem2), CD206 and BDNF, while inhibited the expressions of Trem1,CD80 and TNF-αexpressed in microglia. Conversely, Nrf2 inhibition (Nrf2 siRNA or Nrf2-/-) showed the opposite results following ICH. Conclusions Microglial functional transformation are involved in hematoma clearance following ICH. Nrf2 activation contributes to microglial functional transformation and phagocytic responses then exerts its neuroprotection after ICH. Nrf2 activator (Monascin/Xuezhikang) enhances hematoma clearance and alleviates neuroinflammation via the regulation of microglial functional alteration following ICH.

Tumor-Associated Macrophages and Their Functional Transformation in the Hypoxic Tumor Microenvironment

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are some of the most abundant immune cells within tumors and perform a broad repertoire of functions via diverse phenotypes. On the basis of their functional differences in tumor growth, TAMs are usually categorized into two subsets of M1 and M2. It is well established that the tumor microenvironment (TME) is characterized by hypoxia along with tumor progression. TAMs adopt an M1-like pro-inflammatory phenotype at the early phases of oncogenesis and mediate immune response that inhibits tumor growth. As tumors progress, anabatic hypoxia of the TME gradually induces the M2-like functional transformation of TAMs by means of direct effects, metabolic influence, lactic acidosis, angiogenesis, remodeled stroma, and then urges them to participate in immunosuppression, angiogenesis and other tumor-supporting procedure. Therefore, thorough comprehension of internal mechanism of this TAM functional transformation in the hypoxic TME is of the essence, and might provide some novel insights in hypoxic tumor immunotherapeutic strategies.

Integrated Analysis of Liver Transcriptome, miRNA, and Proteome of Chinese Indigenous Breed Ningxiang Pig in Three Developmental Stages Uncovers Significant miRNA–mRNA–Protein Networks in Lipid Metabolism

Liver is an important metabolic organ of mammals. During each transitional period of life, liver metabolism is programmed by a complex molecular regulatory system for multiple physiological functions, many pathways of which are regulated by hormones and cytokines, nuclear receptors, and transcription factors. To gain a comprehensive and unbiased molecular understanding of liver growth and development in Ningxiang pigs, we analyzed the mRNA, microRNA (miRNA), and proteomes of the livers of Ningxiang pigs during lactation, nursery, and fattening periods. A total of 22,411 genes (19,653 known mRNAs and 2758 novel mRNAs), 1122 miRNAs (384 known miRNAs and 738 novel miRNAs), and 1123 unique proteins with medium and high abundance were identified by high-throughput sequencing and mass spectrometry. We show that the differences in transcriptional, post-transcriptional, or protein levels were readily identified by comparing different time periods, providing evidence that functional changes that may occur during liver development are widespread. In addition, we found many overlapping differentially expressed genes (DEGs)/differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs)/differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) related to glycolipid metabolism in any group comparison. These overlapping DEGs/DEMs/DGPs may play an important role in functional transformation during liver development. Short Time-series Expression Miner (STEM) analysis revealed multiple expression patterns of mRNA, miRNA, and protein in the liver. Furthermore, several diverse key Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways, including immune defense, glycolipid metabolism, protein transport and uptake, and cell proliferation and development, were identified by combined analysis of DEGs and DGPs. A number of predicted miRNA–mRNA–protein pairs were found and validated by qRT-PCR and parallel reaction monitoring (PRM) assays. The results provide new and important information about the genetic breeding of Ningxiang pigs, which represents a foundation for further understanding the molecular regulatory mechanisms of dynamic development of liver tissue, functional transformation, and lipid metabolism.

Chebyshev approximation of the multivariable functions by some nonlinear expressions

A method for constructing a Chebyshev approximation of the multivariable functions by exponential, logarithmic and power expressions is proposed. It consists in reducing the problem of the Chebyshev approximation by a nonlinear expression to the construction of an intermediate Chebyshev approximation by a generalized polynomial. The intermediate Chebyshev approximation by a generalized polynomial is calculated for the values of a certain functional transformation of the function we are approximating. The construction of the Chebyshev approximation of the multivariable functions by a polynomial is realized by an iterative scheme based on the method of least squares with a variable weight function.

Formation of a fused image of the land surface based on pixel clustering of location images in a multi-position onboard system

The paper proposes a method for fusioning multi-angle images implementing the algorithm for quasi-optimal clustering of pixels to the original images of the land surface. The original multi-angle images formed by the onboard equipment of multi-positional location systems are docked into a single composite image and, using a high-speed algorithm for quasi-optimal pixel clustering, are reduced to several colors while maintaining characteristic boundaries. A feature of the algorithm of quasi-optimal pixel clustering is the generation of a series of partitions with gradually increasing detail due to a variable number of clusters. This feature allows you to choose an appropriate partition of a pair of docked images from the generated series. The search for reference points of the isolated contours is performed on a pair of images from the selected partition of the docked image. A functional transformation is determined for these points. And after it has been applied to the original images, the degree of correlation of the fused image is estimated. Both the position of the reference points of the contour and the desired functional transformation itself are refined until the evaluation of the fusion quality is acceptable. The type of functional transformation is selected according to the images reduced in color, which later is applied to the original images. This process is repeated for clustered images with greater detail in the event that the assessment of the fusion quality is not acceptable. The purpose of present study is to develop a method that allows synthesizing fused image of the land surface from heteromorphic and heterogeneous images. The paper presents the following features of the fusing method. The first feature is the processing of a single composite image from a pair of docked source images by the pixel clustering algorithm, what makes it possible to isolate the same areas in its different parts in a similar way. The second feature consists in determining the functional transformation by the isolated reference points of the contour on the processed pair of clustered images, which is later applied to the original images to combine them. The paper presents the results on the synthesis of a fused image both from homogeneous (optical) images and from heterogeneous (radar and optical) images. A distinctive feature of the developed method is to improve the quality of synthesis, increase the accuracy and information content of the final fused image of the land surface.