Constituent Parts Research Articles

Exogenous nitric oxide extends longevity in cut Lilium tigrinum flowers by orchestrating biochemical and molecular aspects.

Senescence represents a developmentally orchestrated and precisely regulated cascade of events, culminating in the abscission of plant organs and ultimately leading to the demise of the plant or its constituent parts. In this study, we observed that senescence in cut Lilium tigrinum flowers is induced by elevated ABA levels and the hyperactivation of lipoxygenase (LOX) activity. This cascade increased ROS concentrations, heightened oxidative damage, and disrupted cellular redox equilibrium. This was evidenced by elevated lipid peroxidation, attenuated antioxidant machinery, and reduced membrane stability index (MSI). Despite its known role in delaying flower senescence, the specific biochemical and molecular mechanisms by which nitric oxide (NO) regulates senescence in cut L. tigrinum flowers are not fully elucidated. Specifically, the interactions between NO signaling and ABA metabolism, the regulation of protease activity, and the influence of NO-mediated ROS scavenging, senescence-associated gene expression requires further exploration. Exogenous application of sodium nitroprusside (SNP), a source of NO, mitigated senescence in L. tigrinum cut flowers by upregulating the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and reducing the LOX activity, an indicator of lipid peroxidation. SNP treatment also downregulated the relative expression of senescence-associated gene (SAG12 ),lipoxygenase 1 (LOX1 ), and abscisic aldehyde oxidase 3 (AAO3 ). NO also upregulated defender against apoptotic death 1 (DAD1 ) expression correlated with minimized protease activity and reduced α-amino acid content in SNP-treated tepals. This regulation was accompanied by increased contents of sugars, proteins and phenols and reduced abscisic acid content, which collectively delayed the senesecence and enhanced the longevity of L. tigrinum cut flowers. This study demonstrates that exogenous SNP application can effectively mitigate senescence in cut L. tigrinum flowers by modulating antioxidant enzyme activities, reducing oxidative stress, and regulating the expression of key senescence-associated genes. This study unravels the complex molecular networks involved in NO-mediated senescence delay, which may lead to the development of innovative approaches for improving flower longevity.

Intrinsic value, sovereignty rights, and sentient animals in Antarctica

ABSTRACT Two things central to the Antarctic Treaty System fill the minds of ethicists and political theorists the more often they reflect upon them: territorial sovereignty (AT, IV.2) and the intrinsic value of Antarctica (Protocol, art.3). Regarding its intrinsic value, in the first half of the paper I argue that to give adequate consideration to the different morally significant constituent parts of Antarctica, it is necessary to recognise sentient animals as a fundamental source of intrinsic value. In the second part of the paper, I look at the implications this interpretation would have particularly, but not only, for those States with sovereignty claims over the continent. The conclusion I draw is twofold. On the one hand, State sovereignty in Antarctica would have to become conditional to acting on the continent in ways that are consistent with the respect owed to wild sentient animals. On the other hand, claimant States and State parties would be required to revisit and amend domestic policies that generate direct harm or unreasonable risk to wild animals in the white continent, even when performed far away from Antarctica.

Quantitative Design of Cathode Materials for Ion Battery from a Reductionist Perspective

AbstractThe quantitative design of functionalities for functional materials is highly attractive for materials research, which must be based on a thorough understanding of the behavior of fundamental particles. Reductionism advocates for the understanding of complex materials through dissection into the constituent parts, providing a robust framework for investigating functional materials. In an ion battery system, this review utilizes reductionism to deconstruct cathode materials into phase, atom, and even electron, building the intrinsic connections between the macroscopic properties and fundamental particles across four degrees of freedom. This aims to enable the quantitative design of cathode materials. Specifically, the microscopic origins of the macroscopic properties, that is, capacity, potential, rate, and cycling reversibility, based on lattice, charge, orbital, and spin degrees of freedom are elucidated. Additionally, current strategies are summarized and proposed future development directions for improving these properties. These insights contribute to achieving the goal of quantitative design of energy storage materials.

Graphene nano particles to improve lightning dissipation on transmission lines

Lightning is the primary cause of outages for many high voltage transmission lines. One approach to reduce the frequency of these outages is the improvement of the grounding system using chemical ground enhancers to better disperse transient or fault currents into the soil. In this paper, the objective is to use graphene nano particles to improve the performance of commercial ground enhancers by exploration of 15 different commercial graphene nano particles used to reformulate 19 commercial ground enhancers and one natural ground enhancer. Incorporation of nano graphene particles is by high shear mixing method. The results show reduction in two of the commercial ground enhancers’ resistivity values by a factor of 60. Moreover, lightning impulse tests show that the use of graphene reduce deterioration of the ground enhancer, which can occur after high current events, thereby prolonging its efficacy. Due to the superior electrical conductivity and chemical stability of the graphene, the reformulated ground enhancers improve short-term performance in managing lightning current impulses, and provide a solution, which is likely to perform better over long periods. However, the compatibility of the constituent parts of the formulation is critical to long-term performance.

Reconfiguring the Tribe: Changing Ethnic Affiliations in India’s Northeast

This essay sees the form and functioning of the Zeliangrong Naga community as a work in progress. Rather than a perennial, historically immutable and delimited entity, the (relatively recent) formation of the Zeliangrong community indicates that tribes can be formed afresh and that tribal identities are constantly in flux. I begin by tracing and placing the origins of the Zeliangrong Naga as told by Zeliangrong elders and circulating origin and migration stories. Then, continuing my focus on ethnic alignment and realignment, I studied the Zeliangrong movement that emerged in the 1920s. At first, they advocated a Naga Raj through the ousting of the colonial government. Over time, however, this rebellion changed direction and reduced its ambitions to the creation of a Zeliangrong homeland that would unite the Zeliangrong people who currently inhabit three different states of Northeast India, namely Manipur, Nagaland and Assam. Drawing both on historical analysis and fresh ethnography this essay shows how over time the Zeliangrong ethnic identity has come under strain and is increasingly internally contested with its constituent parts now expressing divergent political aspirations while also struggling over status, standing and dominance within.

აჭარა-გურიის გეოლოგიური აგებულება მიღებული მაღლივი-კოსმოსური მასალების დეშიფრირებით

The geological structure of the Adjara-Guria region is defined by the fault zones of the orthgonal-diagonal system, which are the constituent parts (segments) of the transregional lineaments, and are well interpreted on high-space images.The block structure of the regionis determined by fault zones. Nine tectonic blocks of different configurations and geological structures are separated. There are deciphered 11 and 12 km wide tectonic zones with meridian direction, compiled,replaced by a large number of faults and related dykes. The gold occurencesin the region are associated with meridian structures, that’s why the identified tectonic zones are promising spaces for gold.

From Waste to Best: Biotechnological Approaches for Sustainable Developments

An essential element required for the existence of man and other biotic species is the environment. The survival and well-being of all its constituent parts are measured by the physical environment's degree of sustainability. Furthermore, using any recognized way to dispose of poisonous or harmful compounds is insufficient. Increasing demand of human population results in utilization of many chemical based products like pesticides and synthetic fertilizers. But, these processes harm ecosystem and environment with increasing toxicity and pollutant. Excess mining with acids to recover metals also cause pH imbalance and change of natural microbial community. Waste is generated from routine life which comprising food wastes, animal wastes or agricultural wastes. These waste material contain cellulose, lignin and starch components. Waste material can be decomposed by microorganisms for their own growth. Microorganisms can synthesize different type of bioplastics by decomposing waste material. They can also fix nutrition in soil and can be used as a biofertilizers. Antagonistic nature of microbes can be used as a pesticide to kill pests in agricultural sector. Besides these enormous benefits of microbes, they can even recover metals from raw ore. Biobased products can even be degraded easily without any posing any toxicity. The greatest way to manage the environment is to recycle all of its constituent parts, or wastes, making them usable and assisting the biotic and abiotic relationships in maintaining the aesthetically pleasing and physiologically sound balance that distinguishes an ideal environment. Thus, this review comprises screening of utilization of microbes to produce bio based products from waste material to sustain the environment from chemical based products. Cooperation between nations and organizations is essential for knowledge exchange and for giving developing countries financial and technical support.

Проблемы традиционной культуры коренных малочисленных народов юга Дальнего Востока России и роли государства в этих процессах (XX–начало XXI века)

During the XX-XXI centuries, aboriginal ethnic groups turned from independent ethnic formations into constituent parts of a large multinational state, with a fundamentally different spiritual dominant, a different social structure and type of economy. The changes affected both traditional material and spiritual culture. In the process of these changes, the concepts themselves were transformed, the lines between tradition and reality began to blur, since the latter is in constant dynamics. We made an attempt to assess the role of the state in the ongoing processes, as well as to compare the situation with the indigenous minorities in neighboring China, and note general trends. The study identifies the role of the main factors that influenced global transformations in the field of spiritual and material development of the Primorye Territrory, as well as outlines a somewhat new understanding of the problem of preserving ethnic identity.

Ukrainian Musical Culture: Integrative Component

The purpose of the research to study the current state of Ukrainian musical culture and to prove the importance of its European integration. Research methodology. To achieve the set goals, the following research methods were used: historical - to study the emergence, formation and development of Ukrainian musical culture; systematic method – for a comprehensive study of the musical culture of Ukraine; cultural – which reveals the complexity of socio-cultural processes and phenomena; axiological method – which allowed to investigate the phenomena of mass culture in view of their valuable nature. Scientific novelty the article consists in the theoretical and methodological substantiation of the influence of the European space on the Europeanisation of Ukrainian culture in Ukraine and beyond. Conclusions. The disclosure of the concept of Ukrainian culture showed that the constituent parts of any culture are the people with their customs, beliefs, traditions, as well as innovations in this field, which are closely intertwined with the past heritage. Enrichment of culture is possible only if the experience of past generations is successfully combined with modern manifestations of cultural development. Having considered the main factors and determining factors of national culture, we proved that art itself, in particular music, are determining factors of culture. It is music that is capable of enriching and elevating the spiritual value of the Ukrainian people, because the feeling of beauty aesthetically directs the personality, contributes to value orientations and conscious being. The interpenetration of different cultures and generations leads to the development of innovations, while the use of some of the latest technologies loses the meaning of national culture. It is necessary to enrich the spiritual culture of Ukraine – as an important factor in the development of a modern, educated personality. National musical heritage is the primary source of formation of national consciousness and identity. Integration processes and cultural dialogue are a necessary condition for the development of Ukrainian musical culture, as well as any culture in general. A dialogue that involves active interaction, mutual enrichment of equal cultural subjects, a desire to understand one's own and others' peculiarities and uniqueness.

A Survey of Acute Transfusion Reactions in Thalassemic Patients in Pakistan: A Single Centre Experience

Background: Blood transfusion reactions are characterized as adverse reactions linked to whole blood or any of its constituent parts, encompassing a spectrum of severity levels, from minor to potentially life-threatening. The administration of blood products is a common practice to enhance the hemodynamic status and overall clinical well-being of patients. However, it's important to note that transfusing blood components comes with potential complications, both infectious and non-infectious in nature. Objective: The current study aim to evaluate the type and frequency of transfusion reactions in thalassemic patients at Hamza Foundation Welfare Hospital and Blood Services, Peshawar. Method: The current study was a descriptive cross-sectional study. The data was collected from 152 participants through a self-generated questionnaire during the 4 months (from April to July 2022) study period. Results: The overall frequency of febrile non-hemolytic reactions (FNHTR), allergic transfusion reactions (ATR), and acute hemolytic transfusion reactions (AHTR) was 84%. Among the 152 participants, 91 (59.8%) were males, and 61 (40.2%) were females. Of the total males, 83 (55.6%) experienced transfusion reactions, while 46 (30%) of the females had transfusion reactions. Specifically, 56 males and 36 females experienced FNHTRs, 22 males and 4 females experienced ATRs, and 5 males and 6 females experienced AHTRs. Fever was observed predominant symptom 69.7% and 52.6% among FNHTR and AHTR, anxiety was predominantly observed in 34.8% in ATRs. Conclusion: Among the transfusion reaction types, FNHTRs emerged as the most common, followed by ATRs and AHTRs. Key words: Febrile Non-Hemolytic Reaction, Allergic Transfusion Reaction, Hemolytic Transfusion Reactions

The legal status and activities of the authorities of the Ukrainian People’s Republic in exile (end of 1920 – August 22, 1992): historical and legal aspects

A historical and legal study of the legal status and activities of the authorities of the Ukrainian People’s Republic (hereinafter - the UPR) in exile (late 1920 – August 22, 1992). It is concluded that, since at the end of 1920 the authorities of the UPR lost influence on the population as a result of the establishment of Soviet power in most of the Ukrainian territories and the UPR actually ceased to exist, which was formally fixed by a peace treaty between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Soviet Russia on March 18, 1921. in Riga, the UNR authorities lost their state status and acquired public status. The content adopted by the Council of People’s Ministers and approved by the Chairman of the Directory on January 9, 1921 was analyzed. a normative act entitled “Law on the Council of the Republic,” in which the Council of the Republic was defined as “a temporary supreme authority of the people, which has full power.” The authorities of the UPR imitated state activity: the Council of the Republic – as legislative, the Council of People’s Ministers - as executive authority, the Head of the Directory – as the head of the UPR. After the termination of the existence of the Council of the Republic in August 1921 the functions of the UNR authorities in exile were carried out by the Head of the Directory and the Council of People’s Ministers. The content of the “Temporary Law on the Reorganization of the State Center of the UNR in Exile” of June 10, 1948, which established the competence of the constituent parts of the State Center of the UNR: President, Vice-President, Government, Ukrainian National Council, was studied. Based on the analysis of the content of this normative act, it was concluded that the State Center of the UPR in exile formally had the status of a public organization, but pretended to be a state authority and imitated state functions. According to this document, the Ukrainian National Council performs “the functions of a temporary legislative representation.” The relationship between the constituent parts of the State Center of the UPR in exile had to be revealed in the rule-making process and in the formation of the Government. The political responsibility of the Government to the Ukrainian National Council and the President of the UPR was envisaged. The Government’s accountability to the Ukrainian National Council and control over the UNR President were established. The UNR President was vested with the right to dissolve the Ukrainian National Council at the suggestion of the Government. The authorities formed on the basis of this normative act had the status of public and performed functions in international, normative, political, scientific and other spheres.

Impact of fruit reserve conditions from harvest to processing on the chemical composition and quality of coffee

Changes in the different stages of fruit processing are becoming a differentiating factor in coffee quality. Currently, generating delays in the processing of the fruit, that is, reserve, is a practice that can modify the sensory profile of the beverage. In this study, the fruit was reserved in three stages of maturity, two temperatures (15° and 20°C) and at two timepoints (24 and 48 h), establishing its chemical composition and sensory characteristics using analytical techniques such as liquid and gas chromatography. The state of maturity 1 showed an effect on malic and quinic acids due to the interaction of temperature and reserve time, while stage of maturity 3 showed an effect on glucose and fructose. The state of maturity 2 showed an effect of the reserve time on the same compounds of states 1 and 3, in addition to the content of defective beans and sucrose. The sensory quality expressed as the total SCA (Specialty Coffee Association) score and the attributes did not show treatments effect, the reserve of the fruit under the evaluated conditions presents an effect on the descriptors of the flavor. Extending the fruit reserve time from 24 to 48 h showed an increase in the groups of flavor descriptors associated with fruit and red fruits from 33.33 to 66.66% and from 34.04 to 65.95%. This implies that the constituent parts of the fruit such as the exocarp and mesocarp interact with the bean, leading to changes in the chemical composition and the improvement of the qualitative complexity of the sensory quality. This is a consequence of the increase in the frequency of the flavor descriptors of the fruit and red fruit category.

Machine learning reveals the transcriptional regulatory network and circadian dynamics of Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942

Synechococcus elongatus is an important cyanobacterium that serves as a versatile and robust model for studying circadian biology and photosynthetic metabolism. Its transcriptional regulatory network (TRN) is of fundamental interest, as it orchestrates the cell's adaptation to the environment, including its response to sunlight. Despite the previous characterization of constituent parts of the S. elongatus TRN, a comprehensive layout of its topology remains to be established. Here, we decomposed a compendium of 300 high-quality RNA sequencing datasets of the model strain PCC 7942 using independent component analysis. We obtained 57 independently modulated gene sets, or iModulons, that explain 67% of the variance in the transcriptional response and 1) accurately reflect the activity of known transcriptional regulations, 2) capture functional components of photosynthesis, 3) provide hypotheses for regulon structures and functional annotations of poorly characterized genes, and 4) describe the transcriptional shifts under dynamic light conditions. This transcriptome-wide analysis of S. elongatus provides a quantitative reconstruction of the TRN and presents a knowledge base that can guide future investigations. Our systems-level analysis also provides a global TRN structure for S. elongatus PCC 7942.

Cellular, Molecular, and Genetic Mechanisms of Avian Beak Development and Evolution.

Diverse research programs employing complementary strategies have been uncovering cellular, molecular, and genetic mechanisms essential to avian beak development and evolution. In reviewing these discoveries, I offer an interdisciplinary perspective on bird beaks that spans their derivation from jaws of dinosaurian reptiles, their anatomical and ecological diversification across major taxonomic groups, their common embryonic origins, their intrinsic patterning processes, and their structural integration. I describe how descriptive and experimental approaches, including gene expression and cell lineage analyses, tissue recombinations, surgical transplants, gain- and loss-of-function methods, geometric morphometrics, comparative genomics, and genome-wide association studies, have identified key constituent parts and putative genes regulating beak morphogenesis and evolution. I focus throughout on neural crest mesenchyme, which generates the beak skeleton and other components, and describe how these embryonic progenitor cells mediate species-specific pattern and link form and function as revealed by 20 years of research using chimeras between quail and duck embryos.

What Do We Mean When We Say "Insight"? A Formal Synthesis of Existing Theory.

Researchers have derived many theoretical models for specifying users' insights as they interact with a visualization system. These representations are essential for understanding the insight discovery process, such as when inferring user interaction patterns that lead to insight or assessing the rigor of reported insights. However, theoretical models can be difficult to apply to existing tools and user studies, often due to discrepancies in how insight and its constituent parts are defined. This article calls attention to the consistent structures that recur across the visualization literature and describes how they connect multiple theoretical representations of insight. We synthesize a unified formalism for insights using these structures, enabling a wider audience of researchers and developers to adopt the corresponding models. Through a series of theoretical case studies, we use our formalism to compare and contrast existing theories, revealing interesting research challenges in reasoning about a user's domain knowledge and leveraging synergistic approaches in data mining and data management research.

Sustainable hydrogen production by integrating solar PV electrolyser and solar evacuated tube collector with hybrid nanoparticles enhanced PCM

The investigation is motivated to analyze the influence of Phase change material (PCM), nano PCMs, and hybrid Nano PCM in sustainable hydrogen production systems. An emerging and highly effective method for hydrogen production involves the use of proton exchange membrane (PEM) technology, which separates water into its constituent parts through electrolysis. Its susceptibility to performance deterioration over time, however, demandsroutine maintenance and component replacement, which negatively impacts operational effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. In this study, the PEM system for electricity and water heating was integrated with the evacuated tube collector and photovoltaic panel to produce hydrogen. Additionally, hybrid Al2O3 and SiO2 nanoparticles with a combined concentration of 0.1 % in equal shares improved the thermal characteristics of PCM in heat exchangers. The research result shows that the heat exchanger of the ETSC circuit with the hybrid nanoparticles enhanced PCM demonstrated improved thermal performance as well as increased hydrogen production. With hybrid nanoparticles enhanced PCM in the heat exchanger, the maximum energy and electrical energy were observed as246.5 kWh and 44.7 kWh, respectively. The ETSC efficiency, electrical efficiency, and PEM electrolyser efficiency reached their highest points at 93.1 %, 15.5 %, and 39.2 %, respectively. Furthermore, hybrid nanoparticle-enhanced PCM produces an average of 25.9 g of hydrogen.

Self-organization in computation and chemistry: Return to AlChemy.

How do complex adaptive systems, such as life, emerge from simple constituent parts? In the 1990s, Walter Fontana and Leo Buss proposed a novel modeling approach to this question, based on a formal model of computation known as the λ calculus. The model demonstrated how simple rules, embedded in a combinatorially large space of possibilities, could yield complex, dynamically stable organizations, reminiscent of biochemical reaction networks. Here, we revisit this classic model, called AlChemy, which has been understudied over the past 30 years. We reproduce the original results and study the robustness of those results using the greater computing resources available today. Our analysis reveals several unanticipated features of the system, demonstrating a surprising mix of dynamical robustness and fragility. Specifically, we find that complex, stable organizations emerge more frequently than previously expected, that these organizations are robust against collapse into trivial fixed points, but that these stable organizations cannot be easily combined into higher order entities. We also study the role played by the random generators used in the model, characterizing the initial distribution of objects produced by two random expression generators, and their consequences on the results. Finally, we provide a constructive proof that shows how an extension of the model, based on the typed λ calculus, could simulate transitions between arbitrary states in any possible chemical reaction network, thus indicating a concrete connection between AlChemy and chemical reaction networks. We conclude with a discussion of possible applications of AlChemy to self-organization in modern programming languages and quantitative approaches to the origin of life.

Political economy of peace and war

This essay discusses two questions: (i) what has been the dominant influence on international relations, economics, or politics, and (ii) what economic or political relations are most conducive to war and peace? The first pits those who claim that it is the political relations of states which shape their economic relations against those who claim that it is the economic relations of states which shape their political relations. This leaves open the question of what kind of economic or political relations are most conducive to peace and war. Economists have mainly seen economics as pacifying otherwise belligerent political structures, but this was not true of Marxist-Leninists, for whom ‘capitalism means war’. Political scientists have generally advocated supranational structures to tame the ‘international anarchy’, but this is not true of those peace theorists for whom the international structure can be self-policing if its constituent parts are democratic. This essay explores the different historical phases of these debates, spanning from the eighteenth century till today. It concludes that politics has always been dominant in setting the economic agenda and that democracies are drifting towards an economic system similar to that of the despotisms they condemn.

Optimal truss design with MOHO: A multi-objective optimization perspective.

This research article presents the Multi-Objective Hippopotamus Optimizer (MOHO), a unique approach that excels in tackling complex structural optimization problems. The Hippopotamus Optimizer (HO) is a novel approach in meta-heuristic methodology that draws inspiration from the natural behaviour of hippos. The HO is built upon a trinary-phase model that incorporates mathematical representations of crucial aspects of Hippo's behaviour, including their movements in aquatic environments, defense mechanisms against predators, and avoidance strategies. This conceptual framework forms the basis for developing the multi-objective (MO) variant MOHO, which was applied to optimize five well-known truss structures. Balancing safety precautions and size constraints concerning stresses on individual sections and constituent parts, these problems also involved competing objectives, such as reducing the weight of the structure and the maximum nodal displacement. The findings of six popular optimization methods were used to compare the results. Four industry-standard performance measures were used for this comparison and qualitative examination of the finest Pareto-front plots generated by each algorithm. The average values obtained by the Friedman rank test and comparison analysis unequivocally showed that MOHO outperformed other methods in resolving significant structure optimization problems quickly. In addition to finding and preserving more Pareto-optimal sets, the recommended algorithm produced excellent convergence and variance in the objective and decision fields. MOHO demonstrated its potential for navigating competing objectives through diversity analysis. Additionally, the swarm plots effectively visualize MOHO's solution distribution of MOHO across iterations, highlighting its superior convergence behaviour. Consequently, MOHO exhibits promise as a valuable method for tackling complex multi-objective structure optimization issues.

Heterogeneous solid residue from macadamia nut processing as viable feedstock for high-temperature gasification

This study delves into the intriguing prospect of concurrently utilizing macadamia husk and nutshell for biomass gasification, aiming to generate sustainable energy. By scrutinizing their physicochemical properties such as thermal behaviors, char conversion kinetics, and syngas properties we unveiled an intriguing revelation. The fusion of these residues creates an apt feedstock for biomass batch-gasification in industrial settings. This resultant blend inherits distinctive traits from its constituent parts, profoundly influencing gasification reactivity and fostering heightened char conversion efficiency and stability. Spanning 2165 s, this process exhibited commendable control. Furthermore, the residue amalgamation consistently yields an average syngas flow rate of 0.00136 [mol (g minute)−1], predominantly composed of CO at 0.00097 [mol (g minute)−1], constituting over 71 % of the syngas. These findings underscore the potential of merging these residues to optimize the conversion process and bolster resource availability, thus propelling advancements in waste-free energy production and sustainable energy technologies.