Histocompatibility and Reproduction: Lessons from the Anglerfish

Reproduction in certain deep-sea anglerfishes involves the permanent attachment of dwarf males to much larger females and fusion of their tissues leading to the establishment of a shared circulatory system. This unusual phenomenon of sexual parasitism enables anglerfishes to maximize reproductive success in the vast and deep oceans, where females and males otherwise rarely meet. An even more surprising phenomenon relates to the observation that joining of genetically disparate male and female anglerfishes does not evoke a strong anti-graft immune rejection response, which occurs in vertebrates following allogeneic parabiosis. Recent studies demonstrated that the evolutionary processes that led to the unique mating strategy of anglerfishes coevolved with genetic changes that resulted in loss of functional genes encoding critical components of the adaptive immune system. These genetic alterations enabled anglerfishes to tolerate the histoincompatible tissue antigens of their mate and prevent the occurrence of reciprocal graft rejection responses. While the exact mechanisms by which anglerfishes defend themselves against pathogens have not yet been deciphered, it is speculated that during evolution, anglerfishes adopted new immune strategies that compensate for the loss of B and T lymphocyte functions and enable them to resist infection by pathogens.

Design and Implementation of Digital Beam Former Architecture for Phased Array Radar

This paper deals with the design and implementation of a digital beam former architecture which is developed for 4/8/12/16 element phased array radar. This technique employs a very high performance FPGA to handle large no of parallel complex arithmetic operations including digital down conversion and filtering. A 3MHz echo signal riding on an IF carrier of 60 MHz is under sampled at 50 MHz and down converted digitally to bring the spectrum to echo signal baseband. After suitable decimation filtering, the I and Q channels are multiplied with Recursive Least Squares based optimized complex weights to form partial beams. The prototype architecture employs techniques of pipelining and parallelism to generate multiple beams simultaneously from a 16 element array within 1 μsec. This can be extended to several number of arrays. The critical components employed in this design are eight 16 bit 125 MS/s ADCs and a very high performance state of the art Xilinx FPGA device Virtex-5 FX 130T having several on-chip resources and 150 MHz clock generators.

Modeling of Supercritical Co2 Shell-and-Tube Heat Exchangers Under Extreme Conditions. Part 1: Correlation Development

High-temperature supercritical CO2 Brayton cycles are promising possibilities for future stationary power generation and hybrid electric propulsion applications. Heat exchangers are critical components in supercritical CO2 thermal cycles and require accurate correlations and comprehensive performance modeling under extreme temperatures and pressures. In this paper (part I), new Colburn and friction factor correlations are developed to quantify shell-side heat transfer and friction characteristics of flow within heat exchangers in the shell-and-tube configuration. Using experimental and CFD data sets from existing literature, multivariate regression analysis is conducted to achieve correlations that capture the effect of multiple critical geometric parameters. These correlations offer superior accuracy and versatility as compared to previous studies and predict the thermohydraulic performance of about 90% of the existing experimental and CFD data within ±15%. Supplementary thermohydraulic performance data is acquired from CFD simulations with sCO2 as working fluid to validate the developed correlations and demonstrate its capability to be applied to sCO2 heat exchangers.

Mental Computations of Ideological Choice and Conviction: The Utility of Integrating Psycho-Economics and Bayesian Models of Belief

A quick scan of the political landscape reveals that people differ in the ideologies they embrace and advocate. Why do individuals prefer certain ideologies over others? A formal analysis of psychological needs and consumption desires suggests that it is possible to compute the subjective utility of selecting one ideology over another, as though it were a purchasing decision. Given resources, constraints, and available options, individuals can rationally choose the ideology that best matches or resonates with their interests. It is a compelling framework that can take into account how diverse ideologies satisfy people’s diverse and multidimensional psychological and material needs. This psycho-economic model is ambitious and informative, and I will argue that it can be even more encompassing and enlightening if it is expanded to incorporate two critical components of ideological cognition: (1) the nature of ideological conviction and extremism and (2) the dynamic, probabilistic mental computations that underlie belief formation, preservation, and change. Firstly, I will argue that a formal model of ideological choice cannot escape the question of the strength of ideological commitment. In other words, we need to ask not only about which ideologies individuals choose but also about how strongly they adhere to these ideologies once those are chosen. An analysis of ideological choice needs to be accompanied by an analysis of ideological conviction. Secondly, in order to build a robust sense of the rationality behind ideological thinking, it is useful to incorporate principles of uncertainty and probability-based belief updating into the formal model of ideological worldviews. Bayesian models highlight how human brains seek to build predictive models of the world by updating their beliefs and preferences in ways that are proportional to their prior expectations and sensory experiences. Consequently, incorporating Bayesian principles into the formal model of ideological choice will provide a more wholistic understanding of what happens when a mind enters the market for belief systems – and why a mind can, at times, purchase toxic doses of the ideologies that sellers and entrepreneurs offer on display.

Knowledge Management Model for Smart Campus in Indonesia

The application of smart campuses (SC), especially at higher education institutions (HEI) in Indonesia, is very diverse, and does not yet have standards. As a result, SC practice is spread across various areas in an unstructured and uneven manner. KM is one of the critical components of SC. However, the use of KM to support SC is less clearly discussed. Most implementations and assumptions still consider the latest IT application as the SC component. As such, this study aims to identify the components of the KM model for SC. This study used a systematic literature review (SLR) technique with PRISMA procedures, an analytical hierarchy process, and expert interviews. SLR is used to identify the components of the conceptual model, and AHP is used for model priority component analysis. Interviews were used for validation and model development. The results show that KM, IoT, and big data have the highest trends. Governance, people, and smart education have the highest trends. IT is the highest priority component. The KM model for SC has five main layers grouped in phases of the system cycle. This cycle describes the organization’s intellectual ability to adapt in achieving SC indicators. The knowledge cycle at HEIs focuses on education, research, and community service.

Numerical Analysis of Single-Particle Motion Using CFD-DEM in Varying-Curvature Elbows

Centrifugal pumps are the critical components in deep-sea mining. In order to investigate the particle motion in the curved channel of the impeller, three different types of curvature conform to blade profile to simplify the impeller design of pumps. A numerical study is conducted to investigate the flow field in a varying-curvature channel for solid-liquid two-phase flow. The flow of particles within the varying curvature channel is studied by combining the discrete element method (DEM) with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and a comparison with Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) test results. The results show that a polyhedral mesh with a small mesh number yields very accurate results, which makes it very suitable for CFD-DEM. Based on this method, the movement of a single particle is compared and analyzed, and the particle-motion law is obtained. The effects of the curvature ratio Cr and area ratio Ar on the motion law for a single particle are studied, and the simulation results are analyzed statistically. The results show that the effect of Cr on both the particle slip velocity and the turbulent kinetic energy only changes its strength, while the distribution law does not change significantly. Compared with the curvature ratio Cr, the area ratio Ar has a greater impact on the particles, and its distribution law becomes clearly different. As the area ratio Ar increases, the arc radius and length of the corresponding particle trajectory decrease.

Traditional Chinese medicine Lingguizhugan decoction ameliorate HFD-induced hepatic-lipid deposition in mice by inhibiting STING-mediated inflammation in macrophages

Background Stimulator of IFN genes (STING) is highly expressed in the livers of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients and high fat diet (HFD) induced NAFLD mice model. The STING signaling-mediated inflammation has been shown to play a critical role in metabolic disorders. Lingguizhugan decoction (LGZG), a Traditional Chinese herbal decoction, has been applied to treat metabolic disorders for many years. However, whether LGZG can alleviate the progression of NAFLD through inhibiting inflammation remains unclear. This study was to determine the role of STING-mediated inflammation in the HFD-induced hepatic-lipid deposition treated with LGZG. Methods The anti-inflammatory and anti-steatotic effects of LGZG in vivo were detected by H&E staining, immunofluorescence and immuno-chemistry. Mice bone-marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) and primary liver macrophages were treated with STING-specific agonist (DMXAA), LGZG and its critical components respectively. The treated culture supernatant of BMDMs and primary liver macrophages from each group was co-cultured with palmitic acid-treated mouse primary hepatocytes or mouse liver cell line AML-12 respectively to detect whether the activation of STING-mediated pathway is involved in the anti-steatotic effect of LGZG. The hepatocyte lipid deposition in vivo and in vitro were detected by oil red staining. Mitochondrial DNA release of mouse liver extracts were detected by real time PCR. The expression of proteins and inflammatory cytokines related to STING-TBK1-NF-κB pathway was detected by western blotting and ELISA. Results LGZG significantly ameliorated HFD induced hepatic steatosis, oxidative stress, hepatic mitochondrial damage and mitochondrial DNA release, which was correlated with reduction of the expression level of STING as well as the infiltration of STING-positive macrophages in the livers of HFD fed mice. The critical components of LGZG directly inhibited the activation of STING-TBK1-NF-κB pathway in liver macrophages induced by DMXAA, LPS, thereby reducing the release of IFNβ and TNFα. Co-incubating the culture supernatant of LGZG treated liver macrophages and PA-stimulated hepatocytes significantly inhibited the PA-induced lipid deposition. Conclusion This study demonstrates that LGZG can ameliorate HFD-induced hepatic-lipid deposition through inhibiting STING-TBK1-NF-κB pathway in liver macrophages, which provides novel insight for elucidating the molecular mechanism of LGZG alleviating HFD induced hepatic steatosis.

APPLICATION OF HOUSE OF QUALITY IN THE CONCEPTUAL DESIGN OF BATIK WAX EXTRUDER AND PRINTER

Malaysian batik production is dominated by two techniques known as hand-drawn batik, or batik tjanting, and stamp batik, or batik block. In comparison to batik block, the more popular batik tjanting takes a longer time to produce. A Standardized Nordic Questionnaire (SNQ) for musculoskeletal symptom examination involving batik artisans in Kelantan and Terengganu identified high rates of musculoskeletal disorders in respondents due to their working posture during the batik tjanting process. It was also observed that the number of workers and artisans willing to participate in the traditional batik industry is on the decline. These problems have led to a systematic Quality Functional Deployment approach to facilitate the decision-making process for the conceptual design of an automatic batik printer. In this study, house of quality (HOQ) was applied to identify the critical features for a batik printer based on the voice of the customer (VOC). A survey done to rate the importance of VOC using an 8-point Likert scale revealed that the batik practitioners topmost priority for the batik printer feature is the 'ability to adjust and maintain the temperature of wax' (17.54%) while the non-batik practitioners chose 'ability to deliver a variety of complex designs' (15.94%). The least required feature for the batik printer was related to the size of the batik printer. The mapping between customer requirements (VOC) and technical requirements identified that the extruder design (21.3%), the heating element (18%), and nozzle diameter (17.8%) were the most critical components for the batik printer. Several conceptual designs of the extrusion unit, cartesian-based batik printer, and 2D image conversion using open-sourced software were proposed at the end of this work. ABSTRAK: Pengeluaran batik Malaysia telah didominasi oleh dua teknik yang dikenali sebagai batik lukisan-tangan (batik canting) dan batik cap (batik blok). Sebagai perbandingan, batik canting yang popular mengambil masa lebih lama bagi dihasilkan. Soal Selidik Nordic Standad (SNQ) bagi meneliti gejala muskuloskeletal melibatkan tukang batik di Kelantan dan Terengganu telah menunjukkan persamaan kadar muskuloskeletal yang tinggi pada postur badan semasa bekerja canting batik. Bilangan pekerja yang terlibat dalam industri tradisional batik ini turut terjejas. Masalah-masalah ini telah mengarah kepada kaedah Pengerahan Fungsi Kualiti bagi membantu proses membuat keputusan dalam rekaan konsep pencetak batik automatik. Kajian ini telah mengadaptasi Kualiti Rumah (HOQ) bagi mengesan ciri-ciri kritikal pada pencetak batik berdasarkan suara pelanggan (VOC). Kaji selidik telah dilakukan bagi menilai kepentingan VOC menggunakan skala Likert 8-poin. Didapati keutamaan yang diperlukan oleh 17.54% ahli batik adalah; ciri pencetak batik ini perlu mempunyai ‘keupayaan dalam menyelaras dan menetapkan suhu lilin’, manakala sebanyak 15.94% bukan ahli batik memilih ‘keupayaan pencetak ini harus berjaya menghasilkan pelbagai rekaan yang kompleks’. Ciri yang kurang diberi tumpuan adalah berkaitan saiz pencetak batik. Persamaan antara kehendak pelanggan (VOC) dan kehendak teknikal dalam mengenal pasti komponen-komponen penting bagi pencetak batik adalah rekaan penyemperit (21.3%), elemen pemanas (18%), dan diameter nozel (17.8%). Pelbagai rekaan konsep bagi unit penyemperit, pencetak batik canting, dan imej konversi 2D menggunakan perisian sumber terbuka telah dicadangkan di bahagian akhir kajian ini.

Cryptocurrency Price Estimation Using Hyperparameterized Oscillatory Activation Functions in LSTM Networks

Activation functions are critical components of neural networks, helping the model learn highly-intricate dependencies, trends, and patterns. Non-linear activation functions allow the model to behave as a functional approximator, learning complex decision boundaries and multi-dimensional patterns in the data. Activation functions can be combined with one another to learn better representations with the objective of improving gradient flow, performance metrics reducing training time and computational cost. Recent work on oscillatory activation functions\cite{noel2021growing}\cite{noel2021biologically} showcased their ability to perform competitively on image classification tasks using a compact architecture. Our work proposes the utilization of these oscillatory activation functions for predicting the volume-weighted average of Bitcoin on the G-Research Cryptocurrency Dataset. We utilize a popular LSTM architecture for this task achieving competitive results when compared to popular activation functions formally used.

Effects of plaster therapy on thigh fat

Background: Thigh fat is associated with high cardiometabolic risks, attenuate risk for dyslipidemia, and glucose intolerance. Aerobic exercise has been linked to fat metabolization due to the increase of free fatty acid oxidation and the preservation of muscle glycogen. Plaster therapy, a beauty treatment that allows the quick elimination or reduction of cellulite, flaccid skin, and localized fat, eliminating liquid from the body, producing improvements that are not only aesthetic but also health-wise, may be used to maximize fat loss in the thigh area and complement exercise. The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of plaster therapy in combination with aerobic exercise on thigh fat. Methods: Six female volunteers were randomly divided into an intervention group (TG; n = 3) performing an aerobic exercise with plaster therapy and a control group (CG; n = 3) performing only aerobic exercise. Subcutaneous fat was estimated by the analysis of skinfolds and thigh perimeters. Results: The treatment group demonstrated a significant decrease (p ≤ 0.05) in subcutaneous fat at the left and right perimeters and thigh skinfold measurements at the end of the 10-session protocol. Conclusion: Comparing skinfold measurements, both groups revealed a statistically significant decrease in the perimeter of both left and right thighs. Furthermore, skinfold measurements showed, for the treatment groups, significant statistical results in the thigh area. Exercise is indeed one of the most critical components for the metabolism of fat. Plaster therapy in combination with aerobic exercise seems to be effective for thigh fat reduction.