Slight Relaxation Research Articles

Identification of Catecholamine and Drug Target α2A-Adrenoceptor in Human Testis and Human Testicular Peritubular Cells.

Background: Clonidine has been used in clinical medicine, e.g., to treat high blood pressure and other conditions. Animal studies have linked its use to impairments of male reproductive functions, and although only a few reports exist for the human species, such actions may exist in man as well. The underlying reasons and, specifically, possible actions of clonidine at the level of the testis are not known. Introduction: Clonidine is an agonist at the α2A-adrenoceptor (ADRA2A), which, as data bank mining indicated, is expressed by several cells of the human testis. The human testis and most of its cells are, however, not readily accessible to experimental testing. Cells from the peritubular wall compartment (human testicular peritubular cells; HTPCs) are the exception. Methods and Results: As shown by immunohistochemical/immunocytochemical and PCR techniques these cells express ADRA2A and retain expression upon isolation and culture. When tested over a concentration range (1-1000 µM) and 24 h, clonidine did not visibly affect HTPC morphology but significantly stimulated IL6 mRNA levels in a concentration-dependent manner. ELISA measurements of cell culture supernatants confirmed a stimulatory action of clonidine (10 µM) on secreted IL6. When examined in collagen gel contraction assays of HTPCs, clonidine (10 µM) exerted a slight relaxing action, while a proteomic study revealed that clonidine (10 µM) did not significantly change cellular protein abundance of HTPCs after 24 h (data available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD052220). Conclusion: Thus, ADRA2A-bearing cells in the human testis are targets for catecholamines and drugs such as clonidine. The results of this HTPCs-focused study only show the tip of the iceberg. It is likely that catecholamines/catecholaminergic drugs have the potential to interfere with human testicular functions.

Genomic Reconstruction of the Successful Establishment of a Feralized Bovine Population on the Subantarctic Island of Amsterdam.

The feral cattle of the subantarctic island of Amsterdam provide an outstanding case study of a large mammalian population that was established by a handful of founders and thrived within a few generations in a seemingly inhospitable environment. Here, we investigated the genetic history and composition of this population using genotyping and sequencing data. Our inference showed an intense but brief founding bottleneck around the late 19th century and revealed contributions from European taurine and Indian Ocean Zebu in the founder ancestry. Comparative analysis of whole-genome sequences further revealed a moderate reduction in genetic diversity despite high levels of inbreeding. The brief and intense bottleneck was associated with high levels of drift, a flattening of the site frequency spectrum and a slight relaxation of purifying selection on mildly deleterious variants. Unlike some populations that have experienced prolonged reductions in effective population size, we did not observe any significant purging of highly deleterious variants. Interestingly, the population's success in the harsh environment can be attributed to preadaptation from their European taurine ancestry, suggesting no strong bioclimatic challenge, and also contradicting evidence for insular dwarfism. Genome scan for footprints of selection uncovered a majority of candidate genes related to nervous system function, likely reflecting rapid feralization driven by behavioral changes and complex social restructuring. The Amsterdam Island cattle offers valuable insights into rapid population establishment, feralization, and genetic adaptation in challenging environments. It also sheds light on the unique genetic legacies of feral populations, raising ethical questions according to conservation efforts.

Comparison of Orchard Networks Using Their Extended μ-Representation.

Phylogenetic networks generalize phylogenetic trees in order to model reticulation events. Although the comparison of phylogenetic trees is well studied, and there are multiple ways to do it in an efficient way, the situation is much different for phylogenetic networks. Some classes of phylogenetic networks, mainly tree-child networks, are known to be classified efficiently by their μ-representation, which essentially counts, for every node, the number of paths to each leaf. In this article, we introduce the extended μ-representation of networks, where the number of paths to reticulations is also taken into account. This modification allows us to distinguish orchard networks and to define a metric on the space of such networks that can, moreover, be computed efficiently. The class of orchard networks, as well as being one of the classes with biological significance (one such network can be interpreted as a tree with extra arcs involving coexisting organisms), is one of the most generic ones (in mathematical terms) for which such a representation can (conjecturally) exist, since a slight relaxation of the definition leads to a problem that is Graph Isomorphism Complete.

L-arginine, inosine and meldonium effect on the vascular wall reactivity of adult rats

Changes in the structure, metabolism and cardiovascular system function that develop during ageing are the basis for the circulatory pathology occurrence in old age. Currently, cardiovascular system diseases are one of the main causes of mortality in almost all developed countries. Therefore, searching for new drugs to correct the metabolism and functions of organs and systems whose activity is disrupted during ageing is an urgent problem. The article presents the study influence results of the synthesis precursor of endothelial relaxing factor - NO (ERF-NO) L-arginine, the purine nucleoside inosine and the β-oxidation inhibitor of fatty acids meldonium on the vascular wall reactivity of adult rats. When used separately, these drugs have been shown to cause slight relaxation of the thoracic aorta isolated segments in adult animals. When L-arginine, inosine and meldonium are used together, there is no summation of their pharmacological effect on blood vessels, however, some vasodilator effect potentiation is observed. The acetylcholine (Ach) vasodilator effect was significantly more than the vasodilator effect of the studied composition (L-arginine + inosine + meldonium), conventionally called Melarginine. It should be noted that, although the vasodilator Ach effect was significant, it was short-term, and the vasodilator effect of the studied combination (Melarginine) was long-lasting. A pronounced vasodilator response to Ach indicates the preservation of the endothelium in adult rats. Therefore, with intact endothelium in adult animals, Melarginine does not cause significant vascular relaxation. In aged rats, which typically exhibit endothelial damage, the effect of Melarginine may be more significant compared to adults. This will be the subject of our further study. Still, Melarginine has a small but long-lasting vasodilatory effect in adult rats, which also helps regulate vascular tone. _________________________________________________________________________________________ Keywords: vessel reactivity; endothelial dysfunction; L-arginine; inosine; meldonium; Melarginine

Boldness-Recalibration for Binary Event Predictions

Probability predictions are essential to inform decision making across many fields. Ideally, probability predictions are (i) well calibrated, (ii) accurate, and (iii) bold, that is, spread out enough to be informative for decision making. However, there is a fundamental tension between calibration and boldness, since calibration metrics can be high when predictions are overly cautious, that is, non-bold. The purpose of this work is to develop a Bayesian model selection-based approach to assess calibration, and a strategy for boldness-recalibration that enables practitioners to responsibly embolden predictions subject to their required level of calibration. Specifically, we allow the user to pre-specify their desired posterior probability of calibration, then maximally embolden predictions subject to this constraint. We demonstrate the method with a case study on hockey home team win probabilities and then verify the performance of our procedures via simulation. We find that very slight relaxation of calibration probability (e.g., from 0.99 to 0.95) can often substantially embolden predictions when they are well calibrated and accurate (e.g., widening hockey predictions’ range from 26%–78% to 10%–91%).

Surface texturing, residual stresses and edge treatment of hardmetal tools by means of femtosecond pulsed laser

Laser induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) have been produced at the surface of a WC-Co turning insert by femtosecond pulsed laser ablation. Wavelengths of approx. 500 nm have been obtained with a 1030 nm incident radiation and with a spot size of 30 μm. No thermal damage is induced by following this procedure, although a slight surface stress relaxation is detected as fluence increases. The higher material removal needed for chamfering operations requires accumulated fluences over 1 kJ/cm2. At lower energy densities, material removal is not completed. If fluence is increased by reducing the laser spot size, material removal is also inefficient since signicant amount of debris is accumulated on the irradiated areas. Best chamfering strategy involves the combination of relatively large spot sizes and fluences. Form factors (Κappa) of the chamfered cutting edges range from 4 to 10 although the laser is oriented at 45° of the rake face. Lower Κ values can be obtained by adjusting the laser focus along the machining process.

INVESTIGATING RACIAL SALARY DISCRIMINATION AND THE ROLE OF BARGAINING POWER: EVIDENCE FROM THE NBA

This paper investigates racial salary discrimination by analyzing an NBA dataset from 1985 to 2022. My findings reveal that non-white players receive around 10% lower remuneration than their white counterparts, after accounting for the player, team and consumer attributes. I investigate this salary gap, indicative of discrimination against black players, by studying the salary contracts under which players possess different levels of bargaining power. I find that this earning shortfall is strongly persistent under contracts where employers have monopsony and oligopsony power, suggesting that slight relaxation of the competition in the contracting environment cannot alleviate the discrimination. Nevertheless, discrimination is eliminated when players are signed under contracts that are protected by the collective power of a union. In addition, I discover that a negative demand shock (proxied by COVID-19) and a negative supply shock (proxied by lockouts) amplify this racial discrimination.

Residual stress relaxation by bending fatigue in induction-hardened gear studied by neutron Bragg edge transmission imaging and X-ray diffraction

The compressive residual stress on the gear tooth’s surface, a vital parameter to control mechanical properties, such as strength, has a beneficial effect on the component’s fatigue life. A novel procedure, double induction quenching (DIQ), effective for improving the fatigue strength of gear products, has been used for producing gears with steep gradients of compressive residual stress generated in the tooth surface. We performed a Bragg edge imaging experiment at a pulsed neutron source to determine the spatial distribution of the {110} lattice spacing (d110) and the broadening of the {110} Bragg edge (w110) on the DIQ gear product after tooth-bending fatigue tests to which different loading cycles were applied. No significant difference occurred in the d110 and the w110 at Hofer’s critical section (tensile side) of the teeth with different loading conditions within the accuracy of data analysis. However, we detected a decrease in the w110 and changes in the residual lattice strain distribution in the axial direction (through the thickness) along the tooth root directions at the opposite side of Hofer’s critical section for both teeth after 3 × 105 and 8 × 105 cycles, relieving the compressive residual stresses during the fatigue process. The residual stress close to the gear tooth surface determined by X-ray diffraction using sequential polishing showed a slight relaxation and redistribution from the tensile side in the hoop direction, complementary to the neutron Bragg edge imaging information in the axial direction.

Hypoglycemic and Hypotensive Effects of Calycotome villosa Subsp. intermedia Seeds in Meriones shawi Rats: In Vivo, Ex Vivo, and In Vitro Investigations.

Calycotome villosa subsp. intermedia is used in traditional medicine for the prevention and self-treatment of a variety of illnesses, including diabetes mellitus, obesity, and hypertension. The present study aims to investigate the in vivo, ex vivo, and in vitro hypoglycemic and hypotensive effects of the lyophilized aqueous extract of Calycotome villosa subsp. intermedia seeds (CV) on Meriones shawi submitted to hypercaloric diet and physical inactivity (HCD/PI) for 12 weeks. This diet induces a type 2 diabetes/metabolic syndrome phenotype with hypertension. Furthermore, HCD/PI decreased aorta contraction due to noradrenaline, enhanced L-arginine, and depressed insulin-evoked relaxation, while the relaxing effects of the NO donor SNAP and of diazoxide were unchanged. In vivo experiments showed that the oral administration of the CV extract (50 mg/kg b.wt) for 3 consecutive weeks significantly attenuated the development of type 2 diabetes, obesity, dyslipidemia, and hypertension. These effects may involve the improvement of lipid metabolism, insulin sensitivity, systolic arterial pressure, and urine output. Additionally, ex vivo and in vitro investigations revealed that CV treatment improved vascular contraction to noradrenaline, induced a slight aorta relaxation in response to carbachol, increased the vasorelaxation effect evoked by insulin, and depressed the L-arginine evoked relaxation. However, CV did not change the endothelium-independent vasorelaxation response evoked by SNAP or diazoxide. Hence, the present study provides useful information and supports the traditional use of CV in the prevention and self-treatment of numerous ailments. Overall, it can be concluded that Calycotome villosa subsp. intermedia seed extracts might be useful in the management of type 2 diabetes and hypertension.

Starfish smooth muscle relaxing activity of SALMFamide isotype peptide and its analog derived from starfish, Asterias rubens

An organism’s physiological processes and behaviors are regulated by neuropeptides and hormone peptides. The first neuropeptide identified from echinoderms is SALMFamide. The two most well-studied SALMFamide neuropeptides are S1 and S2, which possess myoactivity on apical muscle, tube feet, and the cardiac stomach of starfishes. However, neuropeptide candidates identified from SALMFamide’s precursor protein sequence have not been investigated. This study aims to compare the bioactivity of SALMFamide neuropeptides from the starfish Asterias rubens using various starfish muscle preparations. In this study, the bioactivity of the L-type SALMFamide neuropeptides from the starfish A. rubens, AYHTGLPFamide (SALMFa-A) and the derivative AYHSALMFamide (SALMFa-B) was investigated. The neuropeptides were applied on Asterias amurensis apical muscle, tube feet, which revealed that the neuropeptides exhibit relaxing activity on apical muscle but no activity on tube feet. The native SALMFa- A peptide had lower relaxing activity on the apical muscle compared to the derivative peptide SALMFa-B. The relaxing activity of two neuropeptides also was compared with those on the apical muscle of Patiria pectinifera, which revealed relaxing activity as well as SALMFamide-S1 and S2 neuropeptides. Moreover, the investigation of SALMFa-A and SALMFa-B peptides’ bioactivity on P. pectinifera cardiac stomach muscle also showed slight relaxing activity.

Combined Effects of Annealing and Cyclic Loading on Structural Rejuvenation and Mechanical Properties of CuZr Metallic Glass: A Molecular Dynamics Study

Structural rejuvenation is one of the key topics in the field of metallic glasses (MGs). In this work, we evaluated the combined effects of annealing treatment and elastic cyclic loading to discover pathways for promoting structural rejuvenation and improving the mechanical properties in the MGs. Using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, it was revealed that the sole cyclic loading led to the increase of rejuvenation degree; however, a saturated state was observed upon the 40th cycle. On the other side, the sample exposed to the combined treatment exhibited a slight relaxation at the first step of cycling process and then a sharp rejuvenation degree was detected in the material. The thorough analyses indicated that the change in the fraction of coordination polyhedrons at the relaxation stage was the main reason for the extra rejuvenation in the sample exposed to the combined treatments. The results also suggest that the combination of rejuvenation treatments improves the magnitude of rejuvenation in the amorphous alloys. It should be noted that the increase of rejuvenation in the alloying systems accompanied with a reduction in the tensile strength and an enhancement in the homogenous plastic deformation.

Plan-view TEM observation of a single-domain κ-Ga2O3 thin film grown on ε-GaFeO3 substrate using GaCl3 precursor by mist chemical vapor deposition

We demonstrated the growth of a single-domain κ-Ga2O3 thin film on ε-GaFeO3 by using an organic-free compound as a precursor for mist chemical vapor deposition. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that an 86 nm thick κ-Ga2O3 thin film was grown almost coherently with slight lattice relaxation. The surface morphology of the κ-Ga2O3 thin film exhibited a step-terrace structure without island growth. Furthermore, plan-view TEM observations revealed that the κ-Ga2O3 thin film grown on ε-GaFeO3 had a single domain, whereas the previously reported κ-Ga2O3 thin film grown on AlN template had a domain structure.

Thinking about Animals in Thirteenth-Century Paris: Theologians on the Boundary between Humans and Animals

Thinking about Animals in Thirteenth-Century Paris: Theologians on the Boundary between Humans and Animals

Thinking about Animals in Thirteenth-Century Paris: Theologians on the Boundary between Humans and Animals

Thinking about Animals in Thirteenth-Century Paris: Theologians on the Boundary between Humans and Animals

A Tabu Search Algorithm for General Threshold Visual Cryptography Schemes

In Visual Cryptography Schemes (VCSs), for message n transparencies are generated, such that the original message is visible if any k of them are stacked. VCS especially for large values of k and n, the pixel expansion’s reduction and enhancement of the recovered images’ display quality continue to be critical issues. In addition to this, it is challenging to develop a practical and systematic approach to threshold VCSs. An optimization-based pixel-expansion-free threshold VCSs approach has been proposed for binary secret images’ encryption. Along with contrast, blackness is also treated as a performance metric for assessing the recovered images’ display quality. An ideally secure technique for a secret image’s protection through its partition into shadow images (known as shadows) is the Visual Secret Sharing (VSS) scheme. Acquirement of a smaller shadow size or a higher contrast is the VSS schemes’ latest focus. The white pixels’ frequency has been utilized to demonstrate the recovered image’s contrast in this work. While the Probabilistic VSS (ProbVSS) scheme is non-expansible, it can also be readily deployed depending upon the traditional VSS scheme. Initially, this work has defined the problem as a mathematical optimization model such that, while contingent on blackness and density-balance constraints, there is the maximization of the recovered images’ contrast. Afterward, an algorithm dependent on the Tabu Search (TS) is devised in this work for this problem’s resolution. Multiple complicated combinatorial problems have been successfully resolved with the powerful TS algorithm. Moreover, this work has attempted to bolster the contrast through the density-balance constraint’s slight relaxation. Compared to the older techniques, the proposed optimization-based approach is superior regarding the recovered images’ display quality and the pixel expansion factor from the experimental outcomes.

Prostaglandin I2 mediates weak vasodilatation in human placental microvessels.

Human placental vessels (HPVs) play important roles in the exchange of metabolites and oxygen in maternal-fetal circulation. Endothelial-derived prostacyclin (prostaglandin I2, PGI2) is a critical endothelial vasodilator in the body. However, the physiological and pharmacological functions of endothelial PGI2 in the human placenta are still unclear. Human, sheep, and rat blood vessels were used in this study. Unlike non-placental vessels (non-PVs), the PGI2 synthesis inhibitor tranylcypromine (TCP) did not modify 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)-induced vascular contraction, indicating that endothelial-derived PGI2 was weak in PVs. Vascular responses to exogenous PGI2 showed slight relaxation followed by a significant contraction at a higher concentration in HPV, which was inhibited by the thromboxane-prostanoid (TP) receptors antagonist SQ-29,548. Testing PVs and non-PVs from sheep also showed similar functional results. More TP receptors than PGI2 (IP) receptors were observed in HPVs. The whole-cell K+ current density of HPVs was significantly weaker than that of non-PVs. This study demonstrated the specific characteristics of the placental endogenous endothelial PGI2 system and the patterns of placental vascular physiological/pharmacological response to exogenous PGI2, showing that placental endothelial PGI2 does not markedly contribute to vascular dilation in the human placenta, in notable contrast to non-PVs. The results provide crucial information for understanding the endothelial roles of HPVs, which may be helpful for further investigations of potential targets in the treatment of diseases such as preeclampsia.

Residual stress relaxation in HFMI-treated fillet welds after single overload peaks

The induction of near-surface compressive residual stress is an important factor for fatigue life improvement of HFMI-treated welded joints. However, the relaxation of these beneficial residual stresses under single overload peaks under variable amplitude and service loads may significantly reduce fatigue life improvement. For this reason, several recommendations exist to limit the maximum applied load stress for this kind of post-treated welded joints. In this work, the effect of single tension and compression overloads on the relaxation behavior of HFMI-induced residual stresses was studied experimentally by means of X-ray and neutron diffraction techniques complemented by numerical simulation at transverse stiffeners made of mild S355J2 steel and high strength S960QL steel. Loads were applied close to the real yield strength of the base material. Significantly different relaxation behavior was observed for S355J2 and S960QL steel. Furthermore, high compression loads lead to full residual stress relaxation at the weld toe of S960QL and moderate relaxation for S355J2. High tension loads lead only to slight relaxation.

Brain storm optimization using a slight relaxation selection and multi-population based creating ideas ensemble

Brain storm optimization is a swarm intelligence algorithm inspired by the brainstorming process in human beings. Many researchers have paid much more attention to it, and many attempts have been made to improve it’s performance. The search ability of brain storm optimization is maintained by the creating process of ideas, but it still suffers from sticking into stagnation during exploitation phase. This paper proposes a novel brain storm optimization variant, named RMBSO, in which a slight relaxation selection and multi-population based creating ideas ensemble are employed to improve the performance of brain storm optimization on global optimization problem with diverse landscapes. Firstly, the basic framework of original brain storm optimization is imbedded into multi-population based ensemble of heterogeneous but complementary creating ideas to make the algorithm jump out of stagnation with strong searching ability. Secondly, a new triangular mutation ruler and a simple partition of subpopulations are designed to better balance exploration and exploitation. Thirdly, a slight relaxation selection mechanism instead of greedy choice is first developed to keep the population’s diversity. Finally, extensive experiments on the suit of CEC 2015 benchmark functions and statistical comparisons are executed. Experimental results indicate that the proposed algorithm is significantly better than, or at least comparable to the state-of-the-art brain storm optimization variants and several improved differential evolution algorithms.

Processing-induced residual stresses in TWIP steel weld spots

ABSTRACTThe present study investigates the evolution of the residual stresses in TWIP steels induced by manufacturing chain for the production of automotive body-in-white. Two different manufacturing routes were considered. The first route encompassed a plastic deformation prior to the welding stage, whereas the second involved the spot welding followed by a baking treatment. A convergent approach was adopted to isolate the effects of the first and final manufacturing steps. The findings showed that the plastic deformation prior to the welding stage is not annihilated by the welding thermomechanical cycle. Abrupt hardness gradients along small material fractions are observed. The residual stresses state changes, although its profile is still defined by the welding stage. The post-weld bake treatment showed to promote slight residual stresses relaxation, but it is not effective in inducing the same post-weld residual stresses state for different RSW parameters set.

Large piezoelectricity and high transparency in fine-grained BaTiO3 ceramics

Grain size effect is considered as an important factor for the enhancement of dielectric and piezoelectric properties of the barium titanate (BT) ceramics. In this work, we prepared a dense fine-grained BT ceramic using the hot-press sintering method. This fine-grained BT not only exhibits superior electrical properties with a dielectric permittivity of 7200, piezoelectric coefficient of 420 pC/N, and field-induced electrostrain 0.2% at 30 kV/cm but also possesses high transmittance of 30%–60% over a wide range of wavelength from visible to middle infrared radiation spectrum. By a comparative study with the coarse-grained BT, the fine-grained BT is found to have a slight relaxation property due to its large volume fraction of grain boundaries. The coexistence of the fine domains in small grains and the relaxor regions of grain boundaries is responsible for the synchronous enhancement of electrical and optical properties of the fine-grained BT.