Termination Mechanism Research Articles

Investigating the Crash Protection Performance of a Medical Carrier Bag for Drone Transport

Background: Drone transport regulations in Europe require a crash-protected container (CPC) to be used for the carriage of dangerous goods. With increasing interest in the use of drones for medical logistics, the motivation behind this research was to investigate whether the existing approved medical carriers could also pass as CPCs. To date, there has been little practical experimentation on or theoretical research into the crash protection performance of medical containers. Methods: Addressing this gap, this paper reports findings from a series of drop test experiments to investigate the crashworthiness of a standard medical carrier bag used by the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK. Th drop tests were performed from heights of up to 122 m using standard medical carriers containing bags of dyed saline to examine the robustness of the carrier and whether it could contain any leakages, a key requirement for transporting dangerous goods. Results: The tests found that the medical carrier failed on some drops, with the zipped lid being identified as the main weakness. Conclusions: A new understanding of the carrier’s terminal velocity, impact acceleration, and failure mechanisms were gained and subsequent strengthening and waterproofing remedial measures recommended. New insights and practical recommendations are provided relating to performing formal drop tests and how to conduct these using a drone.

Investigation of operational limit of a pulsating heat pipe by estimating local heat transfer

How pulsating heat pipes (PHPs) reach their operational limit has not yet been fully understood. This study aims to provide a complete picture of the termination mechanism of the self-oscillation of vapor and liquid. Experimental studies on a 10-turn PHP with HFC-134a were conducted and the filling ratio (FR) was from 20% to 80%. The thermo-fluid behavior in the PHP was investigated by temperature measurements with a high-resolution and high-speed infrared camera and estimation of fluid-to-wall heat flux distributions by solving inverse heat conduction problems. The results suggested that the PHP, increasing heat load, reached the operational limit due to different mechanisms depending on the filling ratio: at a high FR (80%), the liquid volume ratio increased with the increase of the operating temperature, resulting in the compressed liquid phase. At a low FR (20%), when a large amount of heat was applied, the fluid in the evaporator dried out and became a superheated vapor. The PHP with an optimum FR (50%) transferred the maximum heat under the same evaporator temperature, as the fluid in the PHP was able to keep the saturated two-phase state until the evaporator temperature exceeded the critical temperature.

Transcription termination and readthrough in African swine fever virus.

African swine fever virus (ASFV) is a nucleocytoplasmic large DNA virus (NCLDV) that encodes its own host-like RNA polymerase (RNAP) and factors required to produce mature mRNA. The formation of accurate mRNA 3' ends by ASFV RNAP depends on transcription termination, likely enabled by a combination of sequence motifs and transcription factors, although these are poorly understood. The termination of any RNAP is rarely 100% efficient, and the transcriptional "readthrough" at terminators can generate long mRNAs which may interfere with the expression of downstream genes. ASFV transcriptome analyses reveal a landscape of heterogeneous mRNA 3' termini, likely a combination of bona fide termination sites and the result of mRNA degradation and processing. While short-read sequencing (SRS) like 3' RNA-seq indicates an accumulation of mRNA 3' ends at specific sites, it cannot inform about which promoters and transcription start sites (TSSs) directed their synthesis, i.e., information about the complete and unprocessed mRNAs at nucleotide resolution. Here, we report a rigorous analysis of full-length ASFV transcripts using long-read sequencing (LRS). We systematically compared transcription termination sites predicted from SRS 3' RNA-seq with 3' ends mapped by LRS during early and late infection. Using in-vitro transcription assays, we show that recombinant ASFV RNAP terminates transcription at polyT stretches in the non-template strand, similar to the archaeal RNAP or eukaryotic RNAPIII, unaided by secondary RNA structures or predicted viral termination factors. Our results cement this T-rich motif (U-rich in the RNA) as a universal transcription termination signal in ASFV. Many genes share the usage of the same terminators, while genes can also use a range of terminators to generate transcript isoforms varying enormously in length. A key factor in the latter phenomenon is the highly abundant terminator readthrough we observed, which is more prevalent during late compared with early infection. This indicates that ASFV mRNAs under the control of late gene promoters utilize different termination mechanisms and factors to early promoters and/or that cellular factors influence the viral transcriptome landscape differently during the late stages of infection.

Test of hyper-forward translocation as a general mechanism for T7 RNA polymerase stability and termination

Test of hyper-forward translocation as a general mechanism for T7 RNA polymerase stability and termination

Parameter extraction of photovoltaic model based on butterfly optimization algorithm with chaos learning strategy

Accurate extraction of photovoltaic (PV) model parameter is significant for the evaluation of PV system. Most of existing methods for extracting the PV parameters suffer from low extraction accuracy and are prone to fall into local optima. To solve these shortcomings, a chaos learning butterfly optimization algorithm (CLBOA) is proposed. First, the introduced Cauchy mutation increases the perturbation to butterflies and helps the algorithm to jump out of local optima. Second, a chaos learning strategy is proposed to lead the butterflies within the population to learn from the optimal individual using the improved Tent chaos mapping, which strengthens the learning exchange of the population, enhances the ability of global exploration and local exploitation, and optimizes the convergence speed and accuracy. Third, the three worst individual positions were randomly initialized using a terminal elimination mechanism to increase population diversity. After evaluating CLBOA through the CEC2022 benchmark suite, it was used to extract parameters for a total of 12 PV cell and module models for 5 materials. Compared with 9 well-known algorithms, CLBOA performs excellent in terms of convergence performance, parameters extraction accuracy, running time and improvement index. Finally, CLBOA was applied on YL PV power station model of Guizhou Power Grid in China under different irradiations and temperatures. The I-V and P-V curves reconstructed by CLBOA are highly fit to the synthesized curves, and the individual absolute error (IAE) and relative error (RE) also confirm the satisfactory accuracy of parameters extraction. Comprehensive analysis shows that CLBOA can extract parameters better than the comparison algorithms, demonstrating its strong potential for PV parameters extraction.

A temporal and spatial electric vehicle charging optimization scheme with DSO-EVA coordination framework

Burdens of increasing penetration of electric vehicles (EVs) on distribution systems have attracted wide attention to the research of EV charging coordination. Nevertheless, existing coordination lacks the joint consideration of the temporal-spatial flexibility of EVs, which could reduce load fluctuations when meeting the EV charging demands. Moreover, a thorough investigation is required for the coordination of the benefits to the distribution system operator (DSO), EV aggregator (EVA), and EVs. In this paper, a novel EV charging scheme considering the temporal-spatial features of EVs is proposed, achieving the coordination of DSO, EVA, and EVs in two steps. First, a mixed-integer second-order cone programming (MISOCP)-based EV charging schedule is developed for DSO. Second, the temporal-spatial features of EVs are exploited by EVA to track the charging schedule. Specifically, a dynamic charging price mechanism based on active power margin is proposed for public charging facilities and a specific load regulation is designed for private charging facilities. On this basis, the modified adaptive multi-objective particle swarm optimization (AMOPSO) algorithm is proposed, including adaptive flight parameter adjustment and termination mechanisms. Case studies demonstrate the proposed strategy can attenuate load variance and raise EVA revenue. Further, the impact analysis of penalty price and the price elasticity of electricity demand can provide references for stable distribution network operation, higher EVA revenue, and charging cost reduction.

Contractual obligations in Civil Law of Ukraine: Executive points

The article explores the theoretical aspects of terminating civil obligations, emphasizing the unique role of contracts as legal facts. It asserts that contracts, established by parties in a legal transaction, serve as independent foundations for initiating, modifying, or terminating legal relations. The terms of civil contracts create distinct mechanisms for rightful termination, aligning with legal models for the occurrence of right-terminating legal facts. The author highlights the dependency of contractual obligations on the lawful intent of the involvedparty or objective circumstances, prescribed by the legal model in the contract. When thesemodels align with actual events, they lead to the realization of parties' expectations and thetermination of obligations. These legal facts contribute to the regulatory function of the law,ensuring the fair exercise of rights and interests as defined in the contract. The article provides a detailed list of such legal structures and conducts a legal analysis of their implications

PERLINDUNGAN HUKUM PEKERJA DENGAN PERJANJIAN KERJA WAKTU TERTENTU BERDASAR UNDANG-UNDANG NOMOR 13 TAHUN 2003 TENTANG KETENAGAKERJAAN

Legal protection for employees is regulated by the Law No. 13 of 2003 concerning Labor. The legal protection obtained by a worker relates to the fulfilment of the rights agreed between the employees and the employer, which are laid down in the employment contract, among others; wages or remuneration or salary; time, rest, and leave of work; safety, health and well-being at work; mechanisms of termination of employment relations; and etc. An employment contract is a prerequisite for the establishment of an employment relationship and for the fulfilment of the rights of the worker. An employment contract consists of a Fixed Term Employment Agreement and An Indefinite Time Work Agreement. The discussion in this study is: Forms of legal protection of workers with Fixed Term Employment Agreement under Law No. 13 of 2003 concerning Labor. The method used is normative jurisprudence with specifications of analytical descriptive research. The data collected is secondary data obtained from library material such as books, documents, archives, literature and reports related to the subject being studied. After all the material is collected, the data is analyzed qualitatively.

Mechanism of termination and dismissal of Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights authorities: problematic aspects

Mechanism of termination and dismissal of Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights authorities: problematic aspects

Свобода договора и ее пределы в цифровой среде

Introduction: various actions in online space (for example, pressing a button or continuing to view a website) can have legal consequences predetermined by the rules of information systems with which the subject works. Potentially, his or her rights may be significantly violated by such rules. In cases where it is necessary to protect the rights of citizens and legal entities in digital environment, it seems that many issues can be effectively solved through the application of the doctrine of freedom of contract and its limits to relations arising in online space. We can solve many of the problems that are currently being discussed in relation to digital law using the institution of restriction of contractual freedom in certain cases (where there is a need to protect interests of the weak party to a contract, interests of third parties, public interests, etc.). The purpose of the study is to shape an understanding of the concept of freedom of contract as applied to relations connected with the use of digital technologies; to propose a system of criteria to be used when establishing restrictions on contractual freedom for such situations. Methods: empirical methods of comparison and description; theoretical methods of formal and dialectical logic; specific scientific methods: legal dogmatic method, comparative legal method, and the method of legal norms interpretation. Results: the principle of freedom of contract in general and the universally recognized mechanisms for its limitation remain an effective and necessary tool for regulating relations in digital environment, even if such relations have unique technical features (as is the case with smart contracts or blockchain technology). Conclusions: the transparency criterion is the basis for understanding all aspects of the limitations considered in the article. We should presume unlimited freedom of contract where the procedure for concluding and executing contracts, the content of public offers, the possible mechanisms for cancellation and termination of contractual relations are open, and also where there are no doubts concerning the application of antimonopoly legislation.

Diagnostic criteria of death cause from low temperature in air and water established by traditional expert examination methods

To clarify and supplement the complex of differential diagnostic macro- and microscopic signs of a fatal acute general cold trauma received when person is in the air and water. The conclusions of forensic medical experts on the bodies of people who died from hypothermia in the air and in water (by 150 observations) were analyzed. Methods of descriptive statistics, calculation of the frequency ratio of signs' occurrence were used. The article provides quantitative assessment of occurrence (detection) rate of diagnostically significant signs established with the help of traditional methods of expert examination. A new classification of diagnostic death signs from hypothermia taking into account their differential diagnostic significance and reflecting the conditions of a person's stay in the air and water in the pre-mortem and post-mortem periods, as well as terminal period mechanisms is proposed. The established complexes of signs provide an objective basis for determining death cause in non-obvious conditions when cold exposure is expected to be one of the most damaging factors.

Democratic Legal Principles in the Election of the Governor of NTB, Indonesia

This study critically examines the mechanism of appointing the Acting Governor of Nusa Tenggara Barat (NTB), focusing on its alignment with the principles of a democratic legal state. Utilizing a normative legal research methodology, the study employs legislative and conceptual approaches, drawing from primary and secondary legal materials. The analysis incorporates descriptive analytical, prescriptive, and argumentative data analysis techniques. Findings reveal that the current mechanism, governed by the Ministry of Home Affairs Regulation No. 4 of 2023, mandates adherence to democratic legal state principles. However, it faces significant challenges in ensuring optimal public participation and safeguarding human rights (HAM). Although the process involves multiple stakeholders, including optional non-ministerial government agencies, the final decision remains centrally with the president. This centralistic tendency undermines direct public participation in political decision-making, a core tenet of democracy. Additionally, the mechanism lacks clear legal procedures for termination, posing a risk of violating HAM principles and affecting the legitimacy and continuity of the appointed official. The study recommends enhancing public and representative body involvement to better reflect democratic participation principles. It also suggests regulatory changes to mandate broader stakeholder involvement and establish clear termination mechanisms, thereby improving transparency, accountability, and legal certainty while upholding human rights protection. These improvements are crucial for bolstering the mechanism's democratic legitimacy and efficacy in NTB's governance.Highlights
 
 Centralized Authority: The president's ultimate decision-making power limits public involvement.
 Public Participation Gap: Insufficient societal engagement in the appointment process.
 Human Rights Risks: Unclear termination procedures pose legal and legitimacy concerns.
 
 Keywords: Democratic Legal Principles, Public Participation, Human Rights, NTB Governor Appointment, Legal Transparency

Utilizing RNA-seq Data to Infer Bacterial Transcription Termination Sites and Validate Predictions.

The transcription termination process is an important part of the gene expression process in the cell. It has been studied extensively, but many aspects of the mechanism are not well understood. The widespread availability of experimental RNA-seq data from high-throughput experiments provides a unique opportunity to infer the end of the transcription units genome wide. This data is available for both Rho-dependent and Rho-independent termination pathways that drive transcription termination in bacteria. Our book chapter gives an overview of the current knowledge of Rho-independent transcription termination mechanisms and the prediction approaches currently deployed to infer the termination sites. Thereafter, we describe our method that uses cluster hairpins to detect Rho-independent transcription termination sites. These clusters are a group of hairpins that lies at <15 bp from each other and are together capable of enforcing the termination process. The idea of a group of hairpins being extensively used for transcription termination is new, and results show that at least 52% of the total cases are of this type, while in the remaining cases, a single strong hairpin is capable of driving transcription termination. The reads derived from the RNA-seq data for corresponding bacteria have been used to validate the predicted sites. The predictions that match these RNA-seq derived sites have higher confidence, and we find almost 98% of the predicted sites, including alternate termination sites, to match the RNA-seq data. We discuss the features of predicted hairpins in detail for a better understanding of the Rho-independent transcription termination mechanism in bacteria. We also explain how users can use the tools developed by us to do transcription terminator predictions and design their experiments through genome-level visualization of the transcription termination sites from the precomputed INTERPIN database.

Участие Европейского союза в судебном процессе Европейского суда по правам человека: механизм соответчика

The article examines the features of the application of the co-defendant mechanism, provided by the Agree-ment on the Accession of the European Union to the European Convention on Human Rights of 1950, as the main mechanism for the participation of the European Union in the judicial process of the European Court of Human Rights. The author analyzes the problematic aspects of application of the co-defendant mechanism, as well as the novelties developed by the ad hoc group (46+1) within the framework of the newly opened in 2019 negotiations on the accession of the European Union to the European Convention on Human Rights. The anal-ysis of the revised Agreement on the Accession of the European Union to the European Convention on Human Rights of 1950 demonstrates fundamental changes in the application of the co-defendant mechanism: a mechanism of termination of the co-defendant procedure is introduced, the European Court of Human Rights is obliged to inform the European Union without delay that the case in question involves the application of Eu-ropean Union law, the European Court of Human Rights is deprived of discretionary powers to determine the degree of responsibility of the defendant, and the European Court of Human Rights is deprived of discretionary powers to determine the extent of the defendant’s liability and the extent of the co-defendant’s responsibility. Finally, the author comes to the conclusion that the updated Accession Agreement takes into account all the requirements of the European Union and the Court of Justice of the European Union, which in turn significantly increases the chances of the European Union’s accession to the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights.

Fast intra coding in AVS3 based on direct non-first pre-coding skip

The third generation of Audio Video Coding Standard (AVS3) adopts sophisticated block partitioning structure with a multi-type tree, which includes Quad-Tree (QT), Binary-Tree (BT), and Extend Quad-Tree (EQT). During multi-type tree recursive block partitioning and pre-coding process of encoding, each Coding Unit (CU) of each Size at each Location (CUeSeL) of the picture is repeatedly pre-coded many times when visiting each branch of each tree. Although there are early termination mechanism, the number of visits for each CUeSeL is still very high and up to more than fifty. This process brings very high coding complexity. In order to reduce the coding complexity of AVS3, this paper proposes a method named Direct Non-First Pre-coding Skip (DNFPS) for a CUeSeL to directly and completely skip all non-first pre-coding under specific conditions. The conditions include, but are not limited to, those related to the first pre-coding. The contributions of the paper are as follows. In I pictures, for a CUeSeL with top-left location (x, y), if both x and y are multiples of 64 or if a set of conditions related to first pre-coding is satisfied, then each non-first pre-coding is skipped, and the coding result of the first pre-coding is reused for each non-first pre-coding skipped. In non-I pictures, each non-first pre-coding is skipped, and the coding result of the first pre-coding is reused for each non-first pre-coding skipped, provided a set of conditions related to first pre-coding is satisfied. The experimental results demonstrate that DNFPS has a negligible impact on coding efficiency under All Intra (AI) configurations, and coding runtime is reduced by 16 %.

Penyelesaian Pemutusan Hubungan Kerja Terhadap Pekerja PT Tirta Investama (Aqua) Solok

Abstract Unilateral termination of employment by PT Tirta Investama (Aqua) Solok was the result of a strike by workers demanding unpaid overtime wages from 2016 to 2022. Government involvement, in the form of monitoring and supervising the termination of employment and the fulfillment of workers' rights by companies, particularly by the local Manpower Office, is necessary. The issues addressed in this research are: 1) The mechanism of employment termination carried out by PT Tirta Investama (Aqua) Solok; 2) The fulfillment of the rights of workers affected by the employment termination by PT Tirta Investama (Aqua) Solok; and 3) The actions taken by the Solok District Manpower Office in response to the employment termination by PT Tirta Investama (Aqua) Solok. To address these issues, a normative empirical research method is used, which involves examining the implementation of regulations and how they are applied in society. Both primary and secondary data are used, collected through interviews and document studies. Based on the research results, the following conclusions can be drawn: 1) The mechanism of employment termination by PT Tirta Investama (Aqua) Solok is considered unilateral and not in accordance with the reasons stated in Article 153 and Article 154A of the Manpower Law, as updated by the Job Creation Law; 2) The company has provided severance pay and compensation to the workers affected by the employment termination, but the amounts are not appropriate for the workers; and 3) The Solok District Investment and Integrated One-Stop Service and Manpower Office has attempted to resolve the dispute by summoning both parties before mediation and holding several meetings with the management of PT Tirta Investama (Aqua) Solok to advocate for the rights of terminated workers in a mutually beneficial manner.

Modulating signalling lifetime to optimise a prototypical animal opsin for optogenetic applications

Animal opsins are light activated G-protein-coupled receptors, capable of optogenetic control of G-protein signalling for research or therapeutic applications. Animal opsins offer excellent photosensitivity, but their temporal resolution can be limited by long photoresponse duration when expressed outside their native cellular environment. Here, we explore methods for addressing this limitation for a prototypical animal opsin (human rod opsin) in HEK293T cells. We find that the application of the canonical rhodopsin kinase (GRK1)/visual arrestin signal termination mechanism to this problem is complicated by a generalised suppressive effect of GRK1 expression. This attenuation can be overcome using phosphorylation-independent mutants of arrestin, especially when these are tethered to the opsin protein. We further show that point mutations targeting the Schiff base stability of the opsin can also reduce signalling lifetime. Finally, we apply one such mutation (E122Q) to improve the temporal fidelity of restored visual responses following ectopic opsin expression in the inner retina of a mouse model of retinal degeneration (rd1). Our results reveal that these two strategies (targeting either arrestin binding or Schiff-base hydrolysis) can produce more time-delimited opsin signalling under heterologous expression and establish the potential of this approach to improve optogenetic performance.

High-density dislocation and ductile precipitate synergistically reinforced TiAl/Ni-based superalloy joint using novel multi-principal element interlayer

An extremely high-strength TiAl/Ni-based superalloy dissimilar joint was obtained using a designed Ni25Zr25Sn20Cu10Hf10Cr5Fe5 multi-principal element interlayer via contact reaction brazing. It was found that a joint mainly composed of eutectic structure of (Ni)ss, (Ni, Cr, Fe)ss, and (Cr, Ni, Fe, Mo)ss, as well as micro-nano precipitates of (Ti)ss and (Hf, Zr)ss, could be achieved through the interaction between the interlayer and the base metals. The joint exhibited a shear strength of 498 MPa when brazed at 1190 °C for 10 min, while the fracture occurred within the TiAl base metal, and the retention rate of high-temperature (HT) strength (650 °C) was ∼100%. The strengthening mechanism of the brazed joint was systematically discussed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). It was shown that high-density dislocations existed in each phase of the seam as well as twinning and stacking faults existed in the micro-nano precipitates, caused by a mass of solute atoms, greatly strengthened the joint. At HTs, the dislocation strengthening effect weakened due to grain recovery and recrystallization, but the joint could be additionally toughened by multi-cracking. Meanwhile, granular (Ti)ss dispersed through the seam and ductile reticular structure (Ni)ss toughened the joint via the mechanism of crack termination and bridging. The proposed method provides a new approach for high strength and heat resistance joining of TiAl/Ni-based superalloy in aeroengine components.

Structural study of UFL1-UFC1 interaction uncovers the role of UFL1 N-terminal helix in ufmylation.

Ufmylation plays a crucial role in various cellular processes including DNA damage response, protein translation, and ER homeostasis. To date, little is known about how the enzymes responsible for ufmylation coordinate their action. Here, we study the details of UFL1 (E3) activity, its binding to UFC1 (E2), and its relation to UBA5 (E1), using a combination of structural modeling, X-ray crystallography, NMR, and biochemical assays. Guided by Alphafold2 models, we generate an active UFL1 fusion construct that includes its partner DDRGK1 and solve the crystal structure of this critical interaction. This fusion construct also unveiled the importance of the UFL1 N-terminal helix for binding to UFC1. The binding site suggested by our UFL1-UFC1 model reveals a conserved interface, and competition between UFL1 and UBA5 for binding to UFC1. This competition changes in the favor of UFL1 following UFM1 charging of UFC1. Altogether, our study reveals a novel, terminal helix-mediated regulatory mechanism, which coordinates the cascade of E1-E2-E3-mediated transfer of UFM1 to its substrate and provides new leads to target this modification.

Microstructure evolution and coarsening behavior of precipitated O phase in Ti–22Al–24Nb-0.5Mo (at. %) alloy during the heat treatment

Microstructure evolution and coarsening behavior of precipitated O phase were systematically investigated in this study, and the corresponding microstructures were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The results showed that the original microstructure was composed of lath O phase, α2 phase and B2 matrix. The precipitated O phase presented different morphologies and sizes during heat treatment. With the increase of solution temperature and holding time, the O phase occurred coarsening, with a thickness ranging from 0.73 increased to 2.64 μm. But the volume fraction decreased from 57.65 to 18.40 %. During aging treatment, large amounts of fine secondary acicular O phase have precipitated from the matrix. As the aging temperature increases, the O phase underwent coarsening and the thickness increases from 0.70 to 1.40 μm. However, the aging temperature has little effect on the precipitation of acicular O phase, and the volume fraction decreases from 37.66 to 33.32 %. Research found that the small-sized O phase gradually dissolved in the matrix, while the large-sized O phase grew. This phenomenon can be explained by Ostwald ripening mechanism. The TEM analysis revealed that the O phase occurred separation, mainly due to the diffusion of solute atoms and the embedding of B2 matrix. Meanwhile, the O phase had been completed and segmented. The coarsening mechanism of the O phase was also explained by the boundary splitting mechanism and terminal migration mechanism.