Multilevel Manner Research Articles

Transcript Abundances of the Prolactin Receptor, the Leptin Receptor and their Major Suppressor in the Sheep Mammary Gland During Pregnancy and Lactation

Abstract This study aimed to expand the knowledge of the interactions between prolactin (PRL) and leptin in the ovine mammary gland during pregnancy and lactation; we examined the mRNA expression of prolactin receptor (PRLR), the long form of the leptin receptor (LRb) and suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS)-3 in mammary gland biopsies collected on days 60, 90 and 120 of pregnancy and on days 30, 60 and 90 of lactation (n = 6 for each time point), along with the plasma PRL and leptin concentrations. The PRL concentrations were stable throughout pregnancy and increased during lactation. The plasma leptin concentrations were comparable among nonpregnant, early-pregnant, late-pregnant and lactating ewes, but this metric peaked during mid-pregnancy. Expression of PRLR and SOCS-3 in the mammary gland fluctuated during the transition from pregnancy to lactation, and differences in LRb expression occurred during the late stages of lactation. The LRb transcript abundance was approximately 31 times higher in ewes on day 60 of lactation than in early-lactating ewes. Expression of SOCS-3 mRNA in biopsies gradually decreased over the course of pregnancy and reached a minimum value during late pregnancy. After lambing, the transcript level of SOCS-3 increased and peaked on day 60 of lactation. During pregnancy, the plasma PRL concentration positively correlated with the abundances of PRLR (r = 0.971, P<0.01) and SOCS-3 (r = 0.818, P<0.05). Positive correlations were also observed between the transcript abundances of SOCS-3 and LRb (r = 0.854, P<0.05). The variations observed in the plasma PRL and leptin concentrations and the changes in expression of key leptin and PRL signal transduction pathway components, such as PRLR, LRb and SOCS-3, indicate that the efficacies of both hormone actions are modulated in a multilevel manner throughout pregnancy and lactation. These interactions may regulate the ability of the mammary gland to respond to current energy requirements and challenges, thus affecting milk yield and lactation duration.

On-farm welfare monitoring system for goats based on Internet of Things and machine learning

Intensive animal husbandry is becoming more and more popular with the adoption of modern livestock farming technologies. In such circumstances, it is required that the welfare of animals be continuously monitored in a real-time way. To this end, this study describes one on-farm welfare monitoring system for goats, with a combination of Internet of Things and machine learning. First, the system was designed for uninterruptedly monitoring goat growth in a multifaceted and multilevel manner, by means of collecting on-farm videos and representative environmental data. Second, the monitoring hardware and software systems were presented in detail, aiming at supporting remote operation and maintenance, and convenience for further development. Third, several key approaches were put forward, including goat behavior analysis, anomaly data detection, and processing based on machine learning. Through practical deployment in the real situation, it was demonstrated that the developed system performed well and had good potential for offering real-time monitoring service for goats’ welfare, with the help of accurate environmental data and analysis of goat behavior.

From inert matter to the global society life as multi-level networks of processes

A few billion years have passed since the first life forms appeared. Since then, life has continued to forge complex associations between the different emergent levels of interconnection it forms. The advances of recent decades in molecular chemistry and theoretical biology, which have embraced complex systems approaches, now make it possible to conceptualize the questions of the origins of life and its increasing complexity from three complementary notions of closure: processes closure, autocatalytic closure and constraints closure. Developed in the wake of the second-order cybernetics, this triple closure approach, that relies on graph theory and complex networks science, sketch a paradigm where it is possible to go up the physical levels of organization of matter, from physics to biology and society, without resorting to strong reductionism. The phenomenon of life is conceived as the contingent complexification of the organization of matter, until the emergence of life forms, defined as a network of auto-catalytic process networks, organized in a multi-level manner. This approach of living systems, initiated by Maturana & Varela and Kauffman, inevitably leads to a reflection on the nature of cognition; and in the face of the deep changes that affected humanity as a complex systems, on the nature of cultural evolution. Faced with the major challenges that humanity will have to address in the decades to come, this new paradigm invites us to change our conception of causality by shifting our attention from state change to process change and to abandon a widespread notion of 'local' causality in favour of complex systems thinking. It also highlights the importance of a better understanding of the influence of social networks, recommendation systems and artificial intelligence on our future collective dynamics and social cognition processes. This article is part of the theme issue 'Unifying the essential concepts of biological networks: biological insights and philosophical foundations'.

Extraction of Octave Spectra Information for Spoofing Attack Detection

This article focuses on extracting information from the octave power spectra of long-term constant-Q transform (CQT) for spoofing attack detection. A novel framework based on multi-level transform (MLT) is proposed that can capture the relevant information from octave power spectra using level by level in a multi-level manner. We then derive a novel feature referred to as constant-Q multi-level coefficient (CMC) based on proposed MLT. The proposed feature is evaluated on synthetic as well as replay speech detection studies on ASVspoof 2015 and ASVspoof 2017 version 2.0 database, respectively. We find the proposed CMC feature outperforms the conventional constant-Q cepstral coefficient based long-term feature obtained from linear power spectrum after uniform resampling. This depicts the usefulness of MLT to extract salient artifacts from octave power spectrum. Further, the proposed CMC feature performs better than the existing the well known other state-of-the-art systems for spoofing attack detection that showcases its importance.

Process optimization and stochastic modeling of void contents and mechanical properties in additively manufactured composites

The effects of process parameters (print temperature, bed temperature, and print speed) on dimensional accuracy, void contents, and mechanical properties are experimentally investigated for the additively manufactured short carbon fiber reinforced composites. Such studies are carried out at bead, lamina, and laminate levels to identify the process-microstructure-property relationship. Different dimensional parameters such as height, width, and deposition-alignment are monitored for different process parameters at the bead level and its effects on lamina, and laminate are studied in a multi-level manner. The various sources of uncertainties in fused filament fabrication (FFF) based additive manufacturing (AM) are identified, and their adverse effects on microstructure and performance are analyzed. Utilizing the experimentally extracted data for dimensional variability and mechanical property at each level, physical models were adopted to accurately quantify the uncertainty. A non-intrusive polynomial chaos (NIPC) based uncertainty analysis was introduced to improve the computational efficiency and reliability of the physical models. The classical lamination theory (CLT) is used with a slight modification to account for different kinds of voids of short fiber reinforced composites manufactured by FFF. The adjusted process parameters for 5% carbon fiber reinforced polylactic acid (CF/PLA) composite showed minimum dimensional variability and maximum structural performance at a print temperature of 220°C, bed temperature of 80°C, and print speed of 20 mm/s. The maximum dimensional accuracy, minimum void contents, and improved mechanical properties support these optimized processed parameters. These optimized parameters may be related to the viscosity of the material to identify the same parameters for other material systems. The NIPC accurately predicted intra-bead, inter-bead and interfacial-bead voids contents with the overall void contents in the range of 20–26%. All these predicted void contents were incorporated in the CLT to predict the stochastic load distribution of the laminate. The stochastic model closely predicted the laminate properties in terms of axial load distributions which were validated by experimentation of [00]s, [900]s, [450]s, [00/900]s, and [±450]s laminate testing.

The Value, Mode and Promotion Path of the Informatization of Veterinary Drug Production and Supervision

The veterinary drug industry is closely related to people’s lives. The production and sale of counterfeit and inferior veterinary drugs, the illegal use of prohibited drugs, and the non-prescribed use of veterinary drugs have affected the prevention of animal epidemics and affected the quality of animal products, which will finally affect people’s physical health. The intelligent management system for veterinary drug production and supervision (the system) can supervise the production, management and use of veterinary drug in an all-dimensional and multi-level manner in a wide range of fields. It has great research significance and broad application prospects. This paper mainly analyzes the significance of the system from three perspectives, studies its application prospects in different market entities, and analyzes the application and promotion of the system from two aspects.

Multilevel control of the metastable states in a manganite film

For high density memory applications, the dynamic switching between multilevel resistance states per cell is highly desirable, and for oxide-based memory devices, the multistate operation has been actively explored. We have previously shown that for La2/3Ca1/3MnO3 films, the antiferromagnetic charge-ordered-insulator (COI) phase can be induced via the anisotropic epitaxial strain, and it competes with the doping-determined ferromagnetic-metal (FMM) ground state in a wide temperature range. Here, we show that for the phase competitions, in various magnetic fields and/or thermal cycling, the reappearance of the COI phase and thus the resistance and magnetization can be manipulated and quantified in a multilevel manner at lower temperatures. Furthermore, by using a high-field magnetic force microscope, we image the COI/FMM domain structures in accordance with the transport measurements, and find that the evolving domains or the phase fraction ratios do underline the metastability of the reappeared COI droplets, possibly protected by the energy barriers due to accommodation strain. These results may add new insights into the design and fabrication of future multilevel memory cells.

ScHeduling of jobs and Adaptive Resource Provisioning (SHARP) approach in cloud computing

Affordability of appropriate computing resources for satisfying prerequisites of Service Level Agreement (SLA) of clients and optimal utilization of cloud service providers are limited in the present scenario of cloud computing. To overcome these limitations, researchers have exploited various scheduling algorithms to process the deadline based autonomous jobs. The scheduling algorithms however do not support multiprocessor demand and adaptive resource provisioning. This inference triggers to propose a new approach called ScHeduling of jobs and Adaptive Resource Provisioning (SHARP) in cloud computing to handle independent jobs that processes the jobs in a multilevel manner. The SHARP approach embeds multiple criteria decision analysis to preprocess the jobs, multiple attribute job scheduling to prioritize the jobs and adaptive resource provisioning to provide resources dynamically. These contributions alleviate SLA violations in terms of deadline, upgrade client satisfaction and enhance resource utilization. The empirical studies verify the proposed approach in a cloud environment and show the necessity of the proposed approach to support elastic resource provisioning and meet SLA requirements.

Methods for The Metagenomic Data Visualization and Analysis

Surveys of environmental microbial communities using metagenomic approach produce vast volumes of multidimensional data regarding the phylogenetic and functional composition of the microbiota. Faced with such complex data, a metagenomic researcher needs to select the means for data analysis properly. Data visualization became an indispensable part of the exploratory data analysis and serves a key to the discoveries. While the molecular-genetic analysis of even a single bacterium presents multiple layers of data to be properly displayed and perceived, the studies of microbiota are significantly more challenging. Here we present a review of the state-of-art methods for the visualization of metagenomic data in a multi-level manner: from the methods applicable to an in-depth analysis of a single metagenome to the techniques appropriate for large-scale studies containing hundreds of environmental samples.

Fast motion estimation algorithm using multilevel distortion search in Walsh–Hadamard domain

Block-matching motion estimation (BME) can efficiently reduce the temporal redundancy between the successive video sequences in video compression coding system. In this study, a fast BME algorithm using multilevel distortion search in Walsh–Hadamard domain is proposed to reduce the computational burden and speed up coding process. First, the proposed algorithm divides the block into several sub-blocks. Then, the Walsh–Hadamard transform is applied to these sub-blocks. Finally, the proposed algorithm calculates the partial block matching distortion by utilising a novel back diagonal search scheme which can quickly reject unnecessary candidate block in a multilevel manner. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm effectively reduces the number of operations in block distortion calculation meanwhile maintains the best motion estimation matching quality. Compared with the full search, the proposed algorithm can reduce 87.19% computational complexity without any degradation of the peak signal to noise ratio. In addition, compared with the partial distortion search algorithm, successive elimination algorithm, multilevel successive elimination algorithm and the transform-domain successive elimination algorithm, the proposed algorithm can also save 68.27, 70.09, 37.81 and 37.44% computational complexity, respectively. Moreover, the proposed algorithm can also be easily incorporated into any block-based template search motion estimation algorithm.

November Madness

This Comment proposes Representative Democracy Brackets, a multi-level manner of choosing candidates in which all voters have an equal voice, but which by its structure reduces the effect of mass marketing in favor of a focus on forming and evaluating interpersonal relationships. By implementing Representative Democracy Brackets, a state or the United States can achieve the twin benefits of decreasing the undue effects of political spending and increasing the quality of the resulting decisions. The proposed brackets winnow the pool of voters until it is small enough to make an informed decision. This Comment defines the problem by reviewing the current state of campaign expenditures and the potentially negative effects of those expenditures on elections. To define the space within which changes could be made, the Comment discusses the law, including recent case law, that governs the financing and manner of holding elections. The Comment describes other decision-making processes and their features. Finally, the Comment proposes Representative Democracy Brackets as a viable solution, identifying the key success factors and the challenges to state or national implementation.

Internet Geographic Information Security Supervision Platform Architecture Research

Nowadays every link of geographical information from products manufacture, management, and distribution to application would be faced with tremendous security risks, which urgent need to establish a geography information security management and monitoring system with unified and multilevel action manner by the new technology and information measures. This article presents the overall architecture of the platform and typical services node, based on analysis of construction requirements for the Internet geographic information security supervision platform, laid the theory ground work for further research of the final geographic information security management measures and technique adapt to the development of science technology level and the requirements of social widely, and realized the overall aim of geography information security supervision in the end.

A Multilevel Investigation of the Influences of Employees' Resistance to Empowerment

We employed a multilevel research design to examine the effects of employees' resistance to empowerment. Survey responses were obtained from 637 customer service engineers who worked in 121 empowered teams. At the team level of analysis, resistance to empowerment climate related negatively to customer satisfaction as mediated by transition processes. In addition, resistance to empowerment climate evidenced an indirect relation with team performance via team action processes. At the individual level of analysis, employees' resistance to empowerment related negatively to their job satisfaction. Moreover, a cross-level relation was evidenced whereby team-level resistance to empowerment climate related negatively to job satisfaction, beyond that accounted for by the individual-level effects, as partially mediated by team interpersonal processes. Results are discussed in terms of the multilevel manner in which employees' resistance to empowerment can undermine organizational design changes.

ADAPTIVE SOLUTION OF FLOW PAST TWO SIDE-BY-SIDE CIRCULAR CYLINDERS

In this paper, a solution-adaptive finite difference method is presented for the simulation of flow past a pair of side-by-side circular cylinders. The method consists of an adaptive 5-point stencil algorithm, a central-difference spatial discretization and an immersed boundary representation of complex geometry. Numerical results indicate that the method is capable of solving the flow problems with complex geometry in a multilevel manner.

The Intellectual and Modern Focus in Israeli Military Thinking as Reflected in Ma'arachot Articles, 1948-2000

This article examines patterns of continuity and change in Israeli military thinking over time, as reflected in Ma'arachot articles. The main questions addressed are: First, do Ma'areaclhot pieces reflect an intellectual focus, that is, a theoretically and historically based thinking? Second, given the fact that in modern times war has receded from the actual battlefield, do Ma'arachot pieces reflect a modem focus? In other words, do they address war in a comprehensive, multilevel, and multidimensional manner? The findings of the survey refute the claim that the Israeli Defense Force IDF is ignorant or antiintellectual. However, the results portray an army which puts application before study, and which has a lot of catching up to do where a deep understanding of central aspects of modern war is concerned.

Reshaping London's Economic Governance: The Role of the London Development Agency

The shift towards network forms of urban and regional governance operating in a multi-level manner across different spatial scales and sectors is now well observed. For London, the system of network governance that developed from the 1980s appeared poorly positioned to respond to the particular challenges faced by world cities of retaining international competitiveness and dealing with increased social polarization. The restoration of pan-London strategic governance in 2000 initiated a phase of intense evolution in economic governance as the result of the creation of a Mayor and associated agency, the London Development Agency (LDA), to take the lead role for economic development and regeneration activity in the capital. This article analyses the emerging governance arrangements within London to illustrate the evolutionary and path-dependent nature of change through the interaction of national political and constitutional contexts, local conditions and wider processes of global change. The article argues that the potential of reinvigorated city-level economic governance within London is heavily constrained by the manner in which power was devolved by the central state. In its attempts to provide a strategic, lead role for London's economic development, the Mayor and the LDA must operate within a network governance system characterized by strong central control and a reliance on a complex array of partners operating across scales and sectors to deliver its economic strategy.

Reshaping London's Economic Governance: The Role of the London Development Agency

The shift towards network forms of urban and regional governance operating in a multi-level manner across different spatial scales and sectors is now well observed. For London, the system of network governance that developed from the 1980s appeared poorly positioned to respond to the particular challenges faced by world cities of retaining international competitiveness and dealing with increased social polarization. The restoration of pan-London strategic governance in 2000 initiated a phase of intense evolution in economic governance as the result of the creation of a Mayor and associated agency, the London Development Agency (LDA), to take the lead role for economic development and regeneration activity in the capital. This article analyses the emerging governance arrangements within London to illustrate the evolutionary and path-dependent nature of change through the interaction of national political and constitutional contexts, local conditions and wider processes of global change. The article argues that the potential of reinvigorated city-level economic governance within London is heavily constrained by the manner in which power was devolved by the central state. In its attempts to provide a strategic, lead role for London's economic development, the Mayor and the LDA must operate within a network governance system characterized by strong central control and a reliance on a complex array of partners operating across scales and sectors to deliver its economic strategy.

Exact calculation of natural frequencies of repetitive structures

Finite element stiffness matrix methods are presented for finding natural frequencies (or buckling loads) and modes of repetitive structures. The usual approximate finite element formulations are included, but more relevantly they also permit the use of 'exact finite elements', which account for distributed mass exactly by solving appropriate differential equations. A transcendental eigenvalue problem results, for which all the natural frequencies are found with certainty. The calculations are performed for a single repeating portion of a rotationally or linearly (in one, two or three directions) repetitive structure. The emphasis is on rotational periodicity, for which principal advantages include: any repeating portions can be connected together, not just adjacent ones; nodes can lie on, and members along, the axis of rotational periodicity; complex arithmetic is used for brevity of presentation and speed of computation; two types of rotationally periodic substructures can be used in a multi-level manner; multi-level non-periodic substructuring is permitted within the repeating portions of parent rotationally periodic structures or substructures and; all the substructuring is exact, i.e., the same answers are obtained whether or not substructuring is used. Numerical results are given for a rotationally periodic structure by using exact finite elements and two levels of rotationally periodic substructures. The solution time is about 500 times faster than if none of the rotational periodicity had been used. The solution time would have been about ten times faster still if the software used had included all the substructuring features presented.