Onboarding: Key to perception of the company as a great place to work

Science, Organization and Sustainability: A Multilevel Approach

Natural selection causes change in the phenotypic composition of a population through the differential birth and death of its members. Natural selection can operate simultaneously at many different levels in the hierarchy of biological organization, from the cellular (gametic selection) to the individual (Darwinian or mass selection), to the population (kin, group, and interdemic selection) as well as to the species or community level. That is, we can consider populations of gametes, cells, individuals, populations (called “metapopulations”), communities, and species as collections of biological entities whose members persist, reproduce, and die as a result of differences in phenotype. Differences in the direction or strength of natural selection at different levels in the biological hierarchy contribute to the origins of biodiversity.

Like all structural biomaterials in Metazoa also the spicules from sponges are hierarchically organized and biofabricated. With the exception of the spicules the structural complexity of the metazoan bioskeletons can be traced back from the millimeter-scale only to the micrometer- or submicrometer-scale, while the biological and/or genetic basis controlling the synthesis of these skeletons and their building blocks remained unknown. In contrast, from the spicules of the siliceous sponges the key molecules and the molecular-biological processes, involved in their formation, have been elucidated in the last few years. Here we summarize the different levels of molecular, biological and structural hierarchies that are controlling the synthesis of the picturesquely and intricately architectured spicules. The basic enzymatic/proteinaceous machinery that facilitates the polycondensation of silicate to the bio-silica scaffold that compose the spicules are the silicateins and their interacting/mature proteins. Two isoforms of silicatein, silicatein-α and silicatein-β, have been described that catalyzes the polymerization of ortho-silicate to polymeric bio-silica enzymatically. Silicatein-α together with silicatein-β forms pentameric units that continue to grow in a linear pattern. The silicatein-interacting protein, silintaphin-1, stabilizes the initially formed silicatein fractals [pentameric strands]; silintaphin-2 provides Ca2+ ions to the galectins that are required for the growth of the spicules. The primary product of the enzymatic reaction forming bio-silica is a polymeric network that is translucent. This bio-silica polymer undergoes hardening via a controlled process of syneresis. During this reaction the bio-silica acquires its characteristic morphology, form and shape. Taking together, this review attempts to overcome the frontiers in the understanding of the different levels of hierarchies, genetic, biological and structural and, by that, contributes to a rational fabrication of new bioinspired, functional material which is guided by a genetic blueprint.

Structural biomaterials are hierarchically organized and biofabricated. Although the structural complexity of most bioskeletons can be traced back from the millimeter-scale to the micrometer- or submicrometer-scale, the biological and/or genetic basis controlling the synthesis of these skeletons and their building blocks remained unknown. There is one distinguished example, the spicules of the siliceous sponges, for which the principle molecules and molecular-biological processes involved in their formation have been elucidated in the last few years. In this review, recent data on the different levels of molecular, biological and structural hierarchies controlling the synthesis of the picturesquely and intricately architectured spicules are summarized. The silicateins and their interacting/maturated proteins comprise the basic enzymatic/proteinous machinery that facilitates the polycondensation of silicate to biosilica. Two isoforms of silicatein, silicatein-α and silicatein-β, the enzyme that catalyzes the polymerization of orthosilicate to polymeric biosilica, have been identified. The remarkable feature of these enzymes is that, besides their enzymatic function, they act as structure-giving proteins that provide the platform for the organization of the silica spicules. Silicatein-α together with silicatein-β forms pentameric units that continue to grow in a linear pattern. The silicatein-interacting protein, silintaphin-1, stabilizes the initially formed silicatein fractals, while silintaphin-2 provides Ca2+ ions required for the appositional growth of the spicules. The biosilica formed during the enzymatically driven sol–gel process that is catalyzed by this multi-protein system is a soft, gel-like inorganic polymer. This soft biosilica undergoes a biologically controlled process of syneresis, resulting in a shrinkage of the silica network. During this reaction the biosilica is transformed into an elastic solid and gains the characteristic spicule morphology. A sizeable amount of protein, mostly silicatein, remains embedded in the biosilica material, thus forming a hybrid bioinorganic (“biosilica”) material. The process of syneresis involves the removal of water by cell-membrane-associated aquaporin channels and is guided by collagen bundles. Four cell types, sclerocytes, archaeocytes, chromocytes and lophocytes, participate in this structure-guiding process. In conclusion, this article attempts to overcome the frontiers in the understanding of the different levels of hierarchies, genetic, biological and structural, and to contribute towards the fabrication of new bioinspired functional materials.

This paper proposes a new method for decomposing a technological domain (TD). Specifically, the method identifies sub-TDs at the different levels of technological hierarchy within the TD based on the characteristics of patent co-classification and classification hierarchy. We defined the smallest class, named Minimum Overlapped Class (MOC), constructed by overlaps of sub-group IPC(s) and sub-class UPC(s), and sub-TD is basically identified as a set of the MOCs. In order to cluster the MOCs, technological distances among MOCs are calculated based on patent co-classification and hierarchical structure of patent classification systems. Technologically similar MOCs are grouped by using a hierarchical clustering and the identified clusters at the different level of hierarchy show the hierarchical structure of a TD. Detailed technological content for each sub-TD is represented by extracting representative keywords through a text-mining technique. The method is empirically tested by the solar photovoltaic technology and the results show that the identified sub-TDs are reasonably acceptable by qualitative analysis.

Decision letter for "Multi-level emotion propagation in natural disaster events: diverse leadership of super-spreaders in different levels of hierarchy"

Domain hierarchy and closed loops (DHcL) (http://sitron.bccs.uib.no/dhcl/) is a web server that delineates energy hierarchy of protein domain structure and detects domains at different levels of this hierarchy. The server also identifies closed loops and van der Waals locks, which constitute a structural basis for the protein domain hierarchy. The DHcL can be a useful tool for an express analysis of protein structures and their alternative domain decompositions. The user submits a PDB identifier(s) or uploads a 3D protein structure in a PDB format. The results of the analysis are the location of domains at different levels of hierarchy, closed loops, van der Waals locks and their interactive visualization. The server maintains a regularly updated database of domains, closed loop and van der Waals locks for all X-ray structures in PDB. DHcL server is available at: http://sitron.bccs.uib.no/dhcl.

Review for "Multi-level emotion propagation in natural disaster events: diverse leadership of super-spreaders in different levels of hierarchy"

Review for "Multi-level emotion propagation in natural disaster events: diverse leadership of super-spreaders in different levels of hierarchy"

Decision letter for "Multi-level emotion propagation in natural disaster events: diverse leadership of super-spreaders in different levels of hierarchy"

Silencer! is a new, fully automated, substrate noise coupling analysis tool that is integrated into the CADENCE DFII design environment. This tool seamlessly enables substrate noise coupling analysis in a standard mixed-signal design flow. IC designers can analyze substrate noise coupling at different levels of hierarchy - from the schematic level to the layout. Examples have been simulated and the results are accurate to within 10% of measured fabricated chips.

In a productive system, are found several types of problems that directly affect the productivity, the quality and the final price of a certain product. Process mining presents itself as a promising technique to support analysis and problem solving. The present work has the objective of proposing an event log model capable of contemplating the different levels of hierarchy in which a manufacturing system is implemented, so that it is possible to use process mining as a support tool for the analysis and resolution of multi-level problems. A preliminary study was carried out in order to categorize the work related to the application of process mining in the industrial context as the basis of the RAMI4.0 model, in order to extract information regarding the types of problems related to the different levels of granularity, as well as the necessary information to solve them. In this way, a log model based on the XES standard capable of including the information of different levels of granularity was proposed. Through this model, a simulated log was generated contemplating three different levels of hierarchy, where, with the application of process mining, it was possible to attest that the proposed event log model assists in the resolution of problems in the industrial context, which require a larger volume of information that may not be available at the same granularity level.

Life is considered something different from non-living things, but no single driving force can account for all the different aspects of life, which consists of different levels of hierarchy, such as metabolism, cell physiology, multi-cellular development and organization, population dynamics, ecosystem, and evolution. Although free energy is evidently the driving force in biochemical reactions, there is no established relationship between metabolic energy and spatiotemporal organization of living organisms, or between metabolic energy and genetic information. Since Schrödinger pointed out the importance of exporting entropy in maintaining life, misunderstandings of entropy notion have been obstacles in constructing a unified view on the driving forces of life. Here I present a simplified conceptual framework for unifying driving forces of life at various different levels of hierarchy. The key concept is “entropy deficit”, or simply, ‘inhomogeneity’, which is defined as the difference of maximal possible entropy and actual entropy. This is equivalent to information content in genetic information and protein structure, and is also defined similarly for non-homogeneous structures in ecosystems and evolution. Entropy deficit or inhomogeneoity is a unified measure of all driving forces of life, which could be considered a scientific equivalent to ‘élan vital’ of Bergson.

This article deals with a new approach to an intelligent analog circuit design. The iterative closed loop design methodology adopts an expert system approach to provide topological synthesis, the SPICE circuit simulator to evaluate the circuit performance and a new approach of the diagnostic expert system to provide advice on how to improve the design. Unlike previous design methods, this approach introduces formal circuit representation for both numerical and heuristic knowledge of the design system. The predicate logic circuit representation is proposed to introduce a new concept of a formal analog circuit description language. The language syntax and semantics provide precise symbolic description of analog circuits functionality at different levels of hierarchy and connectivities together with transistor sizes of CMOS circuits at the transistor level. Different levels of hierarchy with circuit structures and performance parameters are presented in detail. It is shown how sentence conversion rules of language grammar can be used to derive transistor level circuits from input performance specifications through all intermediate levels of hierarchy. The implementation of the methodology and associated experimental results for CMOS operational amplifier designs are presented.

The target of research is the investigation of an aspect of public transport service quality – namely, reliability from passenger’s viewpoint. The paper presents the reliability assessment methodology with respect to the Riga Public Transport System (PTS) services by using microscopic traffic flow modelling and constructing and developing the integral indicator of the model outputs. The system of indicators analysing the reliability at different levels of hierarchy – from route and transport mode to the integral public transport system (or a fragment thereof) – is developed. The proposed approach makes it possible to model and incorporate some factors affecting the reliability – like weather, congestions, and the number of passengers – for evaluating the integral reliability indicator on the model.