Signal Amplification in Highly Ordered Networks Is Driven by Geometry

Here, we hypothesize that, in biological systems such as cell surface receptors that relay external signals, clustering leads to substantial improvements in signaling efficiency. Representing cooperative signaling networks as planar graphs and applying Euler’s polyhedron formula, we can show that clustering may result in an up to a 200% boost in signaling amplitude dictated solely by the size and geometry of the network. This is a fundamental relationship that applies to all clustered systems regardless of its components. Nature has figured out a way to maximize the signaling amplitude in receptors that relay weak external signals. In addition, in cell-to-cell interactions, clustering both receptors and ligands may result in maximum efficiency and synchronization. The importance of clustering geometry in signaling efficiency goes beyond biological systems and can inform the design of amplifiers in nonbiological systems.

Cosmoparticle Physics of Dark Universe

The physics of the dark Universe goes beyond the standard model (BSM) of fundamental interactions. The now-standard cosmology involves inflation, baryosynthesis and dark matter/energy corresponding to BSM physics. Cosmoparticle physics offers cross disciplinary study of the fundamental relationship of cosmology and particle physics in the combination of its physical, astrophysical and cosmological signatures. Methods of cosmoparticle physics in studies of BSM physics in its relationship with inevitably nonstandard features of dark universe cosmology are discussed. In the context of these methods, such exotic phenomena as primordial black holes, antimatter stars in baryon asymmetrical Universe or multi-charged constituents of nuclear interacting atoms of composite dark matter play the role of sensitive probes for BSM models and their parameters.

Computer Simulations of Deep Eutectic Solvents: Challenges, Solutions, and Perspectives

Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) are one of the most rapidly evolving types of solvents, appearing in a broad range of applications, such as nanotechnology, electrochemistry, biomass transformation, pharmaceuticals, membrane technology, biocomposite development, modern 3D-printing, and many others. The range of their applicability continues to expand, which demands the development of new DESs with improved properties. To do so requires an understanding of the fundamental relationship between the structure and properties of DESs. Computer simulation and machine learning techniques provide a fruitful approach as they can predict and reveal physical mechanisms and readily be linked to experiments. This review is devoted to the computational research of DESs and describes technical features of DES simulations and the corresponding perspectives on various DES applications. The aim is to demonstrate the current frontiers of computational research of DESs and discuss future perspectives.

A Study of the Convective Cooling of Large Industrial Billets

The thermodynamic heat-transfer mechanisms, which occur as a heated billet cools in an air environment, are of clear importance in determining the rate at which a heated billet cools. However, in finite element modelling simulations, the convective heat transfer term of the heat transfer mechanisms is often reduced to simplified or guessed constants, whereas thermal conductivity and radiative emissivity are entered as detailed temperature dependent functions. As such, in both natural and forced convection environments, the fundamental physical relationships for the Nusselt number, Reynolds number, Raleigh parameter, and Grashof parameter were consulted and combined to form a fundamental relationship for the natural convective heat transfer as a temperature-dependent function. This function was calculated using values for air as found in the literature. These functions were then applied within an FE framework for a simple billet cooling model, compared against FE predictions with constant convective coefficient, and further compared with experimental data for a real steel billet cooling. The modified, temperature-dependent convective transfer coefficient displayed an improved prediction of the cooling curves in the majority of experiments, although on occasion a constant value model also produced very similar predicted cooling curves. Finally, a grain growth kinetics numerical model was implemented in order to predict how different convective models influence grain size and, as such, mechanical properties. The resulting findings could offer improved cooling rate predictions for all types of FE models for metal forming and heat treatment operations.

Computer Simulations of Deep Eutectic Solvents. Challenges, Solutions, and Perspectives

Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) are one of the most rapidly evolving types of solvents, appearing in a broad range of applications such as nanotechnology, electrochemistry, biomass transformation, pharmaceuticals, membrane technology, biocomposite development, modern 3D-printing, and many others. The range of their applicability continues to expand, which demands the development of new DESs with improved properties. To do so requires an understanding of the fundamental relationship between the structure and properties of DESs. Computer simulation and machine learning techniques provide a fruitful approach as they can provide predictions, reveal physical mechanisms and readily be linked to experiments. This review is devoted to the computational research of DESs and describes technical features of DES simulations and the corresponding perspectives on various DES applications. The aim is to demonstrate the current frontiers of computational research of DESs and discuss future perspectives.

Serum Irisin and Diabetic Nephropathy in Patients with Diabetes Mellitus

Dear Editor,I read the article by Wang et al., who conducted a meta-analysis to investigate the association between serum irisin levels and diabetic nephropathy (DN) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) 1. The mean serum irisin level in T2DM patients with microalbuminuria was significantly lower than that in T2DM patients with normoalbuminuria. In addition, the mean serum irisin level in T2DM patients with macroalbuminuria was significantly lower than that in T2DM patients with microalbuminuria. Furthermore, the mean serum irisin level in T2DM patients with estimated glomerular infiltration rate (eGFR)<60 ml/min 1.73 m2 was significantly lower than that in T2DM patients with eGFR≥60 ml/min 1.73 m2. The authors concluded that decreased serum irisin level was associated with albuminuria and reduced eGFR in T2DM patients. DN was significantly related to decreased serum irisin level in T2DM patients with dose-response manner. Progression of DN may be considered as advanced DM status, and serum irisin level would reflect glucose intolerance via insulin resistance. I have a comment about their study with special reference to the fundamental relationship between the types of DM and serum irisin levels.

Mapping the Soundscape in Communicative Forms for Cultural Heritage: Between Realism and Symbolism

The dimension of sound plays a central role as a form of cultural representation. Sound is a means of knowledge and experiential involvement, as it is inextricably linked to place and space, mind and body, cultural context and emotion. This contribution aims to explore how sound design follows different paradigms and methods in the various media. Virtual reality, videogame, cinema and documentary have differently codified rules to provide acoustic verisimilitude to the simulated space, to orient or stimulate the user, to suggest contents or evoke events and to emotionally involve the public. These rules follow artistic principles closer to psychoacoustics than to scientific reproduction of sound in the simulated space. Under what conditions, however, is the scientific simulation of an acoustic space preferable to the more common paradigms of psychoacoustics? How could this be created? Immersive and non-immersive virtual reality for cultural heritage is currently the field of experimentation most open to future developments. Some virtual reality and mixed reality applications will be presented, dedicated to archaeological or historical-artistic contexts, where a fundamental relationship between sound and multisensory interaction has been created.

Analysis of Energy Utilization and Losses for Jet-Propelled Vehicles

The global control volume-based energy utilization balance for an aerospace vehicle is extended to allow for the analysis of jet-propelled vehicles. The methodology is first developed for analyzing the energy utilization and entropy generation characteristics of jet engines without airframe considerations. This methodology, when combined with separate energy utilization analysis for an unpowered airframe, allows for the assessment of a powered vehicle. Wake entropy generation for a powered vehicle is shown to be the summation of the wake entropy generation associated with the propulsion system (no airframe) and the unpowered airframe. The fundamental relationship between overall entropy generation and the flight conditions required for maximum range and endurance of a powered vehicle are also derived. Example energy utilization results obtained for a modeled turbojet engine in off-design operation are provided; wake and engine component entropy generation characteristics are directly related to engine operation and flight conditions. This engine model is then integrated with a legacy (twin-engine) Northrop F-5E Tiger II airframe. The overall entropy generation temporal rate for the vehicle is minimized, as predicted by our analysis, at flight conditions corresponding to maximum endurance. For flight conditions corresponding to maximum range, the overall entropy spatial rate is minimized.

Dysbiosis and obesity: implications of the gut microbiota

Introduction: Obesity has been considered a public health crisis, contributing as a risk factor for several important chronic diseases and even death. Considering this fact, it is noteworthy that there is a fundamental relationship between the intestine and health, and this organ is considered by modern medicine as our second brain in the concept of intestinal permeability. Within the evaluation of the food process, effective nutritional absorption can be altered due to imbalances, such as malabsorption, drug-nutrient interaction, changes in mucosal permeability, and, consequently, an imbalance in the gut microbiota. Dysbiosis is characterized by these negative changes that occur in the intestine. In this sense, the present systematic review study sought to answer: What influences can the microbiota composition have on the metabolic syndrome and obesity process? Objective: To elucidate the relationship between the presence of intestinal dysbiosis in the pathogenesis of obesity. Methods: This is a bibliographic review work where the MEDLINE, PubMed, and SciELO databases were consulted using the following descriptors: Human gut microbiota, obesity, dysbiosis. Results and Conclusion: Based on the literature that supports this theme, it was possible to observe that in the obese population there is an increase in bacteria of the genus Firmicutes and a decrease in the genus Bacteriodetes, with the blocking of factors and proteins that regulate the homeostasis of the absorption of lipids and fatty acids being observed thus being able to alter the energy metabolism leading to a greater accumulation of adipose tissue.

Steenrod operators, the Coulomb branch and the Frobenius twist

We observe a fundamental relationship between Steenrod operations and the Artin–Schreier morphism. We use Steenrod's construction, together with some new geometry related to the affine Grassmannian, to prove that the quantum Coulomb branch is a Frobenius-constant quantization. We also demonstrate the corresponding result for the $K$ -theoretic version of the quantum Coulomb branch. At the end of the paper, we investigate what our ideas produce on the categorical level. We find that they yield, after a little fiddling, a construction which corresponds, under the geometric Satake equivalence, to the Frobenius twist functor for representations of the Langlands dual group. We also describe the unfiddled answer, conditional on a conjectural ‘modular derived Satake’, and, though it is more complicated to state, it is in our opinion just as neat and even more compelling.