Formation Scheme Research Articles

Daidzein Hydroxylation by CYP81E63 Is Involved in the Biosynthesis of Miroestrol in Pueraria mirifica.

White Kwao Krua (Pueraria candollei var. mirifica), a Thai medicinal plant, is a rich source of phytoestrogens, especially isoflavonoids and chromenes. These phytoestrogens are well known; however, their biosynthetic genes remain largely uncharacterized. Cytochrome P450 (P450) is a large protein family that plays a crucial role in the biosynthesis of various compounds in plants, including phytoestrogens. Thus, we focused on P450s involved in the isoflavone hydroxylation that potentially participates in the biosynthesis of miroestrol. Three candidate P450s were isolated from the transcriptome libraries by considering the phylogenetic and expression data of each tissue of P. mirifica. The candidate P450s were functionally characterized both in vitro and in planta. Accordingly, the yeast microsome harboring PmCYP81E63 regiospecifically exhibited either 2' or 3' daidzein hydroxylation and genistein hydroxylation. Based on in silico calculation, PmCYP81E63 had higher binding energy with daidzein than with genistein, which supported the in vitro result of the isoflavone specificity. To confirm in planta function, the candidate P450s were then transiently co-expressed with isoflavone-related genes in Nicotiana benthamiana. Despite no daidzein in the infiltrated N. benthamiana leaves, genistein and hydroxygenistein biosynthesis were detectable by liquid Chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Additionally, we demonstrated that PmCYP81E63 interacted with several enzymes related to isoflavone biosynthesis using bimolecular fluorescence complementation studies and a yeast two-hybrid analysis, suggesting a scheme of metabolon formation in the pathway. Our findings provide compelling evidence regarding the involvement of PmCYP81E63 in the early step of the proposed miroestrol biosynthesis in P. mirifica.

Energy-efficient subchannel assignment and power allocation in VLC-IoT systems with SLIPT.

In this paper, we investigate joint subchannel assignment and power allocation for the energy efficiency (EE) optimization in an indoor visible light communication (VLC)-Internet of Things (IoT) system with simultaneous lightwave information and power transfer (SLIPT). A mixed-integer fractional nonlinear programming problem that is challenging to solve is formulated. To tackle this problem, the optimal transmission scheme is decomposed into subchannel assignment and power allocation. Firstly, a virtual cell formation and subchannel assignment (VCF-SA) scheme is proposed, which considers the location of IoT devices, quality of service requirements, and energy states. Secondly, a quadratic transformation-based power allocation (QTBPA) scheme is designed to transform the fractional nonlinear programming problem into a series of convex problems that can be solved iteratively. Simulation results illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme in terms of system EE compared to the benchmarks. The impact of system parameters on the EE is also analyzed.

Образование как несущая структура общества знания

The article analyzes the role of educational system in reproduction of the intellectual life of a modern society, which, according to certain scientists, is striving for a state referred to by them as the Knowledge Society. It is pointed out that among various interpretations of this concept the authors are closest to understanding it as the social ideal, since it is too early to talk about any noticeable and even more so final transition to a fundamentally new type of the social reality. Another interpretation is also proposed, which means that any knowledge society as a social attractor appears to be a possible and desirable new quasi-stable state of the society based on systematic production of the rational knowledge in the course of widely held theoretical (aimed at finding propositional truth), moral and practical (aimed at finding normative correctness) discussions. The simulated attractor will make it possible to avoid catastrophic scenarios for the development of Civilization associated with unpreparedness of the human mind to cope with the growing instrumental power and other challenges of the history. Relevance of the problem under discussion is due to unprecedented acceleration of the evolutionary processes in the 21st century noted by many researchers of the Universal History (Big History). An original procedural concept of rational knowledge is presented, which basic component is the widely understood principle of sufficient reason serving as the universal mechanism for accumulating the cultural capital. It is noted that the introduced principle is not any law of logic, but is represented by a five-step scheme for formation and selection of knowledge and could be substantiated by the transcendental-pragmatic method proposed by Karl-Otto Apel and Jürgen Habermas. To analyze the functions of education, fundamental theory of the intellectual networks by R. Collins is introduced, which includes theory of interactive rituals, social concept of creativity and model of the intellectual attention space dynamics.

Acquisition of Word-formation Competence by Children Aged 3 to 6 Based on the Example of nomina agentis

The article presents how preschool children (aged 3 to 6) develop word-formation competences in the category of nomina agentis (names of agents). The linguistic material was collected with the author’s questionnaire. The tasks in this questionnaire were preceded by an example that led the child to the correct word formation scheme. The quantitative and qualitative analysis was created with the division into verbal formants (-acz and -ator) and nominal formants (-arz and -owiec). The analysis included the coding (creation) and decoding (an indication of the motivating word) of derivatives.The research showed how the process of acquiring word formation skills worked in the case of preschool children (aged 3 to 6) of similar social backgrounds. They confirmed that their word-building competence increased linearly, indicated the age at which they start developing these functions and what strategies they used when they were unable to complete the tasks. Among the 1,280 researched utterances, the most common children’s operations were the creation of tranpositional derivatives (e.g. słuchanie), neologisms (e.g. organizacz, organizek, organizant; dokuczaniec, dokucznik; mydłowiec), alternation and adding connectives (e.g. zabaw-l-owiec; kostk-ow-ek). The conclusions reached after the analysis of the material were compared with the hypotheses found in the literature on the subject matter and with the results of other researchers.

Adaptive neural sliding mode control for heterogeneous ship formation keeping considering uncertain dynamics and disturbances

This paper investigates the formation keeping problem of heterogeneous ships with underactuated inputs, uncertain dynamics, and environmental disturbances. The control objective is to make the heterogeneous followers keep the desired formation while tracking a leader. To solve the problem effectively, a novel virtual leader–follower formation scheme considering the ship heterogeneity is proposed by utilizing the backstepping method, adaptive neural network, and adaptive control law. The stability of the formation control system is proved based on Lyapunov’s direct method where all tracking errors are guaranteed to be uniformly ultimately bounded. Finally, simulations and comparisons are conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control law.

Galaxies in the central regions of simulated galaxy clusters

Context. Recent observations found that observed cluster member galaxies are more compact than their counterparts in ΛCDM hydrodynamic simulations, as indicated by the difference in their strong gravitational lensing properties, and they reported that measured and simulated galaxy–galaxy strong lensing events on small scales are discrepant by one order of magnitude. Among the possible explanations for this discrepancy, some studies suggest that simulations with better resolution and implementing different schemes for galaxy formation could produce simulations that are in better agreement with the observations. Aims. In this work, we aim to assess the impact of numerical resolution and of the implementation of energy input from AGN feedback models on the inner structure of cluster sub-haloes in hydrodynamic simulations. Methods. We compared several zoom-in re-simulations of a sub-sample of cluster-sized haloes obtained by varying mass resolution and softening the length and AGN energy feedback scheme. We studied the impact of these different setups on the sub-halo (SH) abundances, their radial distribution, their density and mass profiles, and the relation between the maximum circular velocity, which is a proxy for SH compactness Results. Regardless of the adopted numerical resolution and feedback model, SHs with masses of MSH ≲ 1011 h−1 M⊙, the most relevant mass range for galaxy–galaxy strong lensing, have maximum circular velocities ∼30% smaller than those measured from strong lensing observations. We also find that simulations with less effective AGN energy feedback produce massive SHs (MSH ≳ 1011 h−1 M⊙) with higher maximum circular velocity and that their Vmax − MSH relation approaches the observed one. However, the stellar-mass number count of these objects exceeds the one found in observations, and we find that the compactness of these simulated SHs is the result of an extremely over-efficient star formation in their cores, also leading to larger than observed SH stellar mass. Conclusions. Regardless of the resolution and galaxy formation model adopted, simulations are unable to simultaneously reproduce the observed stellar masses and compactness (or maximum circular velocities) of cluster galaxies. Thus, the discrepancy between theory and observations that emerged previous works. It remains an open question as to whether such a discrepancy reflects limitations of the current implementation of galaxy formation models or the ΛCDM paradigm.

A Joint Cluster Formation Scheme With Multilayer Awareness for Energy-Harvesting Supported D2D Multicast Communication

Recently, Energy Harvesting-supported Device-to-Device (EH-D2D) communication receives extensive concerns due to its excellent properties in Energy Efficiency (EE), offloading capability, etc. Researches on EH-D2D mainly focus on resource allocation schemes of available energy. With the popularity of mobile devices and applications, content sharing becomes anytime, anywhere. Multicast is the foundation to realize the content sharing and can reduce transmission consumption because of multi-user service feature. Thus, Mutlicast can further improve EE of EH-D2D in communication mode rather than in resource allocation. However, the heterogeneity and imbalance of available energy, content requests and social ties on the user side will bring great challenges to the deployment of EH-D2D Multicast (EH-D2MD) communication. This paper aims at EE optimization and establishes a two-layer cluster formation model, which solves grouping, cluster head selection and power control jointly. When facing the non-convex of the sum of fractional functions and the product of binary variables, this paper specifically designs a two-step Convex Approximation Algorithm (CDA). CDA skillfully transforms the modeled non-convex Mixed Integer Non-Linear Programming (MINLP) problem into a convex MINLP one, which is easier to solve. Simulation results reveal that CDA can obtain the joint cluster formation results with approximate optimal EE and lower complexity.

Behavior of child droplets during micro-explosion and puffing of suspension fuel droplets: The impact of the component mixing sequence

The article provides experimental research findings on the behavior of micro-explosion and puffing of two-liquid droplets in different droplet formation schemes: liquid combustible component (rapeseed oil) as the shell with liquid incombustible component (water) as the core and vice versa. The experiments were conducted on fuel compositions that had not been pre-mixed; no coal particles had been added into them. These conditions aimed to reflect industrial production conditions with separate injection and blow-in of components into combustion chambers. Shadow Photography and Planar Laser Induced Fluorescence techniques were used in the experiments. An alcohol burner was used for heating droplets. The temperature of the heating medium was varied in the range of 850–1050 K by adjusting the vertical distance of the droplet from the burner bottom to match the conditions typical for industrial applications, specifically, composite fuel creation technologies and thermal/flame purification of liquids. Conditions have been determined under which droplets of combustible and non-combustible components are atomized during fragmentation thus producing polydisperse and monodisperse aerosols. Effects have been discovered whereby the fragmentation of combustible and noncombustible liquid components produces droplets of different sizes. Correlations between the size and component composition of child droplets with the heating temperature and mixing sequence of the liquids in the parent droplet have been established.

Energy-Efficient Cooperative MIMO Formation for Underwater MI-Assisted Acoustic Wireless Sensor Networks

The energy problem has become one of the critical factors limiting the development of underwater wireless sensor networks (UWSNs), and cooperative multiple-input–multiple-output (MIMO) technology has shown advantages in energy saving. However, the design of energy-efficient cooperative MIMO techniques does not consider the actual underwater environment, such as the distribution of nodes. Underwater magnetic induction (MI)-assisted acoustic cooperative MIMO WSNs as a promising scheme in throughput, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and connectivity have been demonstrated. In this paper, the potential of the networks to reduce energy consumption is further explored through the joint use of cooperative MIMO and data aggregation, and a cooperative MIMO formation scheme is presented to make the network more energy efficient. For this purpose, we first derive a mathematical model to analyze the energy consumption during data transmission, considering the correlation between data generated by nodes. Based on this model, we proposed a cooperative MIMO size optimization algorithm, which considers the expected transmission distance and transmission power constraints. Moreover, a competitive cooperative MIMO formation algorithm that jointly designs master node (MN) selection and cooperative MIMO size can improve energy efficiency and guarantee the connectivity of underwater nodes and surface base station (BS). Our simulation results confirm that the proposed scheme achieves significant energy savings and prolongs the network lifetime considerably.

Agglomeration tendency and activated carbon concentration effects on activated carbon‐polysulfone mixed matrix membrane performance: A design of experiment formulation study

AbstractMixed matrix membranes (MMMs) are effective materials for emerging separation applications. While MMMs show promise, various membrane formation schemes have produced particle agglomerations, surface ruptures, and varying separation performance as a result. In this work, a replicated 2 × 23 full factorial design of experiment (DOE) and a mixture analysis was conducted to investigate the effects of activated carbon, polyethylene glycol (PEG), and solvent type, used during MMM formation. Aniline blue filtration was used as a model for performance. A thorough analysis was conducted on contact angle, agglomeration frequency, water flux, and dye rejection. Specifically, a novel and facile method to study agglomeration tendencies is presented. Among other trends, agglomeration tendencies were mitigated by the addition of PEG during the fabrication process. Water flux increased from 10 to 55 LMH when PEG was used as a pore former and dye rejection increased from 72% to 90% with the addition of AC particles.

Forecasting groundwater rise in the historic downtown area of Irkutsk city

The purpose of this investigation is to develop an analytical model for predicting the groundwater level rise due to the barrage effect. Processing of a significant volume of production decisions for multiple objects has resulted an analytical model that allows predicting the dynamics of groundwater rise due to the barrage effect when building deep foundation structures. The study has been conducted for the downtown areas of Irkutsk and other cities of Eastern Siberia. Prediction schemes for the groundwater level formation have been made, and an assessment of the study areas by their underflooding conditions has been carried out. Being adequately simple and multi-purpose. The analysis of the research results shows that the hydraulic gradient of the underground water flow and the project structure width have the biggest effect on the groundwater rise. Vertical planning of the territory and the use of pile foundations play a significant role in the formation of the groundwater level. Besides, when evaluating the depth of the underground water formation level and developing the prevention and protection measures, it is necessary to take into account the seasonal rise of the underground waters. The developed model can be applied in the corresponding geological and hydrogeological conditions.

Стратегирование финансовой безопасности: возможности и угрозы

Introduction. Stability of financial systems has become the most important issue of economic strategizing as a result of geopolitics, global economic crisis, and pandemics, which affect regions and the state as a whole. Financial security is now the current strategic priority of socio-economic development. Study objects and methods. The present research featured Kuzbass as an example of industrial region and its financial security as a strategic characteristic of the financial system. The study of financial security relied on a systematic approach based on the dialectical perception of reality. The empirical research relied on statistical methods, analysis of existing knowledge systems, economic monitoring, etc. The resulting abstract system and theoretical generalizations made it possible to define the strategic priorities of the regional development. In economics, the consistency principle takes into account the territorial features of socio-economic systems; the specifics of natural, economic, technical, and other factors; the degree of its political, administrative, and economic independence; its interaction with other regions, etc. Results and discussion. The phenomenon of financial security of the region is considered as an element of strategic management of socio-economic development. The author determined and classified the essential characteristics of financial security to make up a scheme of formation and development of financial risk as an element of the system of strategic priorities. Within this scheme, inflation and unemployment are additional aggregate criteria for assessing the level of financial security. Conclusion. New systemic threats in the field of finance require new ways to optimize financial relations and develop a theoretical and methodological foundation for qualitative and quantitative assessments of financial security. Numerous studies focus on various aspects of financial security in order to explain the interrelations of the financial bloc with economic elements in the regions, in Russia, and abroad. These relationships define the methodology for assessing the level of financial security and its subsequent consideration in strategizing. The present research compared a set of criteria with their threshold levels. However, these estimates may grow less reliable following the changes in the significance and priority of the corresponding criteria in the unstable economic and political reality. The new conditions require mobility and flexibility in adapting these criteria to the conditions of a particular region. This strategic project can be designed and implemented based on Professor V.L. Kvint’s concept of strategizing.

Формирование природоохранной компетентности студентов вуза

The problem of formation of environmental competence of students of higher educational institutions is investigated. The paper presents the structure of competence. The scheme of formation of environmental competence of students in the educational process is proposed. The factors influencing the effectiveness of the formation of environmental competence of students are studied. A model for the formation of environmental competence of university students has been developed.

TO THE QUESTION OF SINTER BINDER FORMATION AND IMPROVEMENT OF THE SINTER STRENGTH

The higher share of unfluxed pellets in blast furnace burden determines the increase of sinter basicity (CaO/SiO2) up to 1.7‒2.2 units. Study of the microstructure formation peculiarities of such sinters is an urgent challenge. Recently, the mining enterprises have been increasing the iron content in the concentrate and use concentrate grades with iron content of 68‒70% in sintering. In this regard, it is interesting to study the microstructure of sinters with high iron content and the influence of mineral composition of the binder on the sinter strength. The schemes of formation of mineral composition of sinter with low basicity and high SiO2 content and with high basicity and low SiO2 content are given. The role of hedenbergite, ferrites and alumoferrites in the formation of the melt and the formation of the sinter structure is shown. It has been established that the structure of sinter with a basicity of 1.8 units and iron content of 57.1% consists of phases of partially oxidized magnetite, calcium monosilicate and glass of variable composition. In 1.8 basicity sinter with iron content of 59.4% the structure consists of phases of magnetite, calcium ferrite and glass of variable composition. The large amount of glass and pores in the binder does not allow the sinter hardening to be fully realized. The increase in strength is achieved by increasing the basicity of the sinter up to 2.1 units. The crystal structure of ferritic binder is needleshaped, which provides high strength of sinter. The amount of glass is reduced and it fills the gaps between the crystals of ferrite isolated from ore grains.

Experiment and modeling of coke formation and catalyst deactivation in n-heptane catalytic cracking over HZSM-5 zeolites

Since paraffins catalytic cracking was of significant importance to light olefins and aromatics production, this work was intended to gain insights into the feature and model of coke formation and catalyst deactivation in n-heptane catalytic cracking over HZSM-5 zeolites. 18 tests of n-heptane catalytic cracking were designed and carried out over HZSM-5 zeolites in a wide range of operating conditions. A particular attention was paid to the measurement of the conversion, product distribution, coke content, and the porosity and acidity of the fresh and spent HZSM-5 zeolites. It was found that alkene and aromatic promoted coke formation, and it reduced the pore volume and acid site of HZSM-5 zeolites, tailoring its performance in n-heptane catalytic cracking. The specific relationship between HZSM-5 zeolites, n-heptane conversion, product distribution and coke formation was quantitively characterized by the exponential and linear function. Based on the reaction network, the coupled scheme of coke formation and catalyst deactivation were specified for n-heptane catalytic cracking. The dual-model was proposed for the process simulation of n-heptane catalytic cracking over HZSM-5 zeolites. It predicted not only the conversion and product distribution but also coke content with the acceptable errors.

Adaptive Coalition Formation-Based Coordinated Voltage Regulation in Distribution Networks

High penetrations of photovoltaic (PV) systems can cause severe voltage quality problems in distribution networks. This paper proposes a distributed control strategy based on the dynamic formation of coalitions to coordinate a large number of PV inverters for voltage regulation. In this strategy, a rule-based coalition formation scheme deals with the zonal voltage difference caused by the uneven integration of PV capacity. Under this scheme, PV inverters form into separate voltage regulation coalitions autonomously according to local, neighbor as well as coalition voltage magnitude and regulation capacity information. To coordinate control within each coalition, we develop a feedback-based leader-follower consensus algorithm which eliminates the voltage violations caused by the fast fluctuations of load and PV generation. This algorithm allocates the required reactive power contribution among the PV inverters according to their maximum available capacity to promote an effective and fair use of the overall voltage regulation capacity. Case studies based on realistic distribution networks and field-recorded data validate the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy. Moreover, comparison with a centralized network decomposition-based scheme shows the flexibility of coalition formation in organizing the distributed PV inverters. The robustness and generalizability of the proposed strategy are also demonstrated.

Evidence for a cloud–cloud collision in Sh2-233 triggering the formation of the high-mass protostar object IRAS 05358+3543

ABSTRACT We have carried out a new kinematical analysis of the molecular gas in the Sh2-233 region by using the CO J = 2–1 data taken at ∼0.5 pc resolution. The molecular gas consists of a filamentary cloud of 5-pc length with 1.5-pc width where two dense cloud cores are embedded. The filament lies between two clouds, which have a velocity difference of 2.7 km s−1 and are extended over ∼5 pc. We frame a scenario that the two clouds are colliding with each other and compressed the gas between them to form the filament in ∼0.5 Myr which is perpendicular to the collision. It is likely that the collision formed not only the filamentary cloud but also the two dense cores. One of the dense cores is associated with the high-mass protostellar candidate IRAS 05358+3543, a representative high-mass protostar. In the monolithic collapse scheme of high mass star formation, a compact dense core of 100 M⊙ within a volume of 0.1 pc radius is assumed as the initial condition, whereas the formation of such a core remained unexplained in the previous works. We argue that the proposed collision is a step which efficiently collects the gas of 100 M⊙ into 0.1 pc radius. This lends support for that the cloud–cloud collision is an essential process in forming the compact high-mass dense core, IRAS 05358+3543.

Unconditionally positive NSFD and classical finite difference schemes for biofilm formation on medical implant using Allen-Cahn equation

Abstract The study of biofilm formation is becoming increasingly important. Microbes that produce biofilms have complicated impact on medical implants. In this paper, we construct an unconditionally positive non-standard finite difference scheme for a mathematical model of biofilm formation on a medical implant. The unknowns in many applications reflect values that cannot be negative, such as chemical component concentrations or population numbers. The model employed here uses the bistable Allen-Cahn partial differential equation, which is a generalization of Fisher’s equation. We study consistency and convergence of the scheme constructed. We compare the performance of our scheme with a classical finite difference scheme using four numerical experiments. The technique used in the construction of unconditionally positive method in this study can be applied to other areas of mathematical biology and sciences. The results here elaborate the benefits of the non-standard approximations over the classical approximations in practical applications.

Towards efficient device-to-device multicast content delivery with social awareness

Frequent content retrieval leads to significant energy consumption in cellular networks. Thereby, device-to-device (D2D) communication is used for proximal content delivery. Be aware that social friends may have common content interests, D2D content delivery is further improved by considering social network. However, how to implement efficient D2D multicast with the aid of social relationship needs further consideration. In this paper, with a proposed architecture on combined networks, the cooperation range of content sharing is investigated for D2D multicast to minimize the average energy consumption of serving a content request. Based on combined networks, a cooperation group formation scheme is proposed. Simulation results verify our analyzes and the advantage of proposed scheme.

NOx emissions in a swirled-stabilized magnesium flame

Alternative sources of clean energy with reduced greenhouse gas emissions have to be considered. Among them, the combustion of metal fuels such as aluminum or magnesium is promising. Nitrogen oxides (NOx) are the only undesirable gases produced during such metal combustion. The present study analyzes the amounts of NOx (NO and NO2) produced by a swirled stabilized magnesium flame. Two geometric swirl numbers are considered: 0.7 (low swirl number) and 7.3 (high swirl number). Different air–fuel ratios – equivalence ratio ranging from 0.17 to 1 – are considered, being obtained by changing the mass flow rate of the injected fuel which is a pulverized fuel of pure magnesium particles with a size fraction 50–70 µm. Thermocouples and a bichromatic pyrometer are implemented to monitor the gas temperature and the flame temperature, respectively. Oxygen (O2) is measured using an in-line paramagnetic analyzers and NOx are measured using an IR-UV analyzer.Whatever the swirl conditions and the air–fuel ratio tested, a stabilized flame of Mg is obtained. The metal combustion exhibits very stable performances. NOx emissions versus equivalent ratio follow a bell-shape curve. Under the tested experimental conditions, the amount of NOx never exceeds 7 gNOx/kWh, which is lower than the maximal value of NOx emission from a gasoline engine. The NOx mole fraction increases when the air–fuel ratio increases, as the power dissipated by the flame increases. The temperature of MgO particles in the flame reaches 2250 °C and the gas temperature never exceeds 1400 °C. The thermal NOx formation is estimated applying Zeldovich’s model. The model indicates that NOx can be produced in the gas surrounding the hot MgO particles. For the highest equivalence ratio, even if the gas temperature is still increasing, the NOx production is disfavored in the rich mixture. Based on these results, a global scheme for NOx formation is proposed which includes four successive steps.