RAMP3 determines rapid recycling of atypical chemokine receptor-3 for guided angiogenesis.

Receptor-activity-modifying proteins (RAMPs) are single transmembrane-spanning proteins which serve as molecular chaperones and allosteric modulators of G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and their signaling pathways. Although RAMPs have been previously studied in the context of their effects on Family B GPCRs, the coevolution of RAMPs with many GPCR families suggests an expanded repertoire of potential interactions. Using bioluminescence resonance energy transfer-based and cell-surface expression approaches, we comprehensively screen for RAMP interactions within the chemokine receptor family and identify robust interactions between RAMPs and nearly all chemokine receptors. Most notably, we identify robust RAMP interaction with atypical chemokine receptors (ACKRs), which function to establish chemotactic gradients for directed cell migration. Specifically, RAMP3 association with atypical chemokine receptor 3 (ACKR3) diminishes adrenomedullin (AM) ligand availability without changing G-protein coupling. Instead, RAMP3 is required for the rapid recycling of ACKR3 to the plasma membrane through Rab4-positive vesicles following either AM or SDF-1/CXCL12 binding, thereby enabling formation of dynamic spatiotemporal chemotactic gradients. Consequently, genetic deletion of either ACKR3 or RAMP3 in mice abolishes directed cell migration of retinal angiogenesis. Thus, RAMP association with chemokine receptor family members represents a molecular interaction to control receptor signaling and trafficking properties.This work was supported by NIH Grants RO1-DK099156, RO1-HD060860, and RO1-HL129086 (to K.M.C.); American Heart Association Innovator Award 16IRG27260077 (to K.M.C.); NIH Grant F32-HL134279 (to D.I.M.); American Heart Association Grant 15POST25270006 (to R.B.D.); NIH Grant F31-HL143836 (to N.R.N.); Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) Grant BB/M00015X/2 (to G.L.); and BBSRC Doctoral Training Partnership Grant BB/JO14540/1 (to M.H.)

Air conditioning using thermoelectric modules

The thesis is about the experimental design and fabrication of a prototype air conditioning unit using thermoelectric (TEC) modules or peltiers. This is in response to the inadequate air cooling options available in a tropical country like the Philippines. The objectives of the project were accomplished by extensive research and experimentation with both the components and the design. The most problematic area encountered in the process was finding a way to keep the temperature of the hot side of the modules low so as to achieve the desired cold side temperature. Since there was very scarce information as to how this type of technology can be used in this particular application, the researchers had to rely heavily on trial and error. After early attempts of force air blowing the heat out of the hot side coupled with different TEC configurations, a final design using 24 pairs (48 pieces) of stacked modules with a condenser used as a radiator and an evaporating coil was decided upon. During a reliability run of least 6-hours, the lowest temperature of 13ËšC was reached 1 1/2 hour from the 28ËšC start up temperature. That low reading was maintained until the end of the testing period. The researchers wanted to provide an alternative to the existing room air cooling by utilizing thermoelectric technology in a way it hasn\u27t been used before. The resulting system has the added benefit of no harmful refrigerants (CFCs and HCFCs) poisoning the environment. While the performance of the prototype still cannot be compared to that of Freon-based air conditioners at present, the findings culled from the study can help future researchers in further expanding the capacity of thermoelectric modules

Feeding efficiency of Chilocorus nigrita on Aspidiotus rigidus, Aspidiotus destructor, and Aspidiotus excisus

Philippines belongs to the top five leading coconut producers in the world. In 2009, it was threatened by the infestations of Aspidiotus rigidus, a coconut scale insect (CSI) which lead to several outbreaks and a decline of production of coconut resulting to billions of pesos loss in the Philippine agricultural economy. Moreover, chemical procedures to address the problem were dismissed and the act of using safer and a cost effective biocontrol were given more importance. This research aimed to investigate the feeding efficiency of Chilocorus nigrita (Ladybird beetle) adults and larva on Aspidiotus rigidus, Aspidiotus destructor, and Aspidiotus excisus, to come up with a biocontrol measure for CSI infestations. It mainly involved No-choice test and Choice tests. One-way Anova and Tukey-Kramer were used to know if there are significant differences between treatments. The results of the study showed that A excisus was the most preferred scale insect by adult and larva. C nigrita having feeding effeciency of 51.5% and 95.36% respectively. Overall the study showed that C nigrita is directly associated with Aspidiotus spp. but appeared to have preference on A. excisus

Philippine universal bank\u27s degree of product and revenue diversification: Determinants and effects on financial performance

As a conventional wisdom, diversification is a firm\u27s strategy to gain higher profits and minimize exposure to risks. In this study, the degree of divestification of the universal banks operating locally will be analyzed in terms of their products and revenue, using the loan and deposit focus indices, and entropy measure of diversification, respectively. Using the random effects estimation technique, and as supported by the traditional banking portfolio theory, we take the universal banks\u27 financial accounts from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, and simulate the determinants and effects of diversification on profitability. Through this, we hypothesize that the traditional banking and portfolio theory supports the positive and significant relationship between divestification and profitability in the Philippine universal banking industry

Evaluation of the physico-chemical properties and antioxidant activity of lambanog

Lambanog is a popular local drink in the Philippines having various brands of this distilled spirit available in the market; nevertheless, despite its popularity, there is not much research on the properties and components of Lambanog which is important for its characterization. Determining these variables helps enhance the final product quality. For this study, the physico-chemical properties (pH, density, and electrolytic conductivity) and antioxidant activity of Lambanog were evaluated to better profile the liquor. Two brands from the provinces of Batangas (Brand B and E) and three brands from Laguna (Brand A, C, and D), were subjected to pH, density, and conductivity tests at temperatures ranging from 30 to 60°C, and antioxidant activity tests through cyclic voltammetry (CV). The antioxidant activities of the brands were reported in terms of their ascorbic acid equivalents in mg. OriginPro® was used to generate graphs for the different experiments, while SketchAndCalc™ was used to calculate the anodic area for the antioxidant activity experiment. In terms of pH, Brands D and E are acidic (4.66 to 4.99 pH) while Brands A, B, and C are basic (7.48 to 8.55 pH). Brand C exhibits the highest density (0.9467 to 0.9627 g/cm3) while Brand B exhibits the lowest (0.9363 to 0.9557 g/cm3). Furthermore, Brand D has the highest range of conductivities (419.9 to 734.4 μS/cm) while Brand E has the lowest (111.4 to 135.4 μS/cm). For the antioxidant activity, the ascorbic acid equivalents in mg are found to be 532.0, 425.3, 381.4, 563.2, and 284.2 for Brands A to E, respectively. Comparing the voltammograms of Lambanog to other beverages, it was found that set parameters and conditions must be configured to produce the expected peaks from the samples. For future studies, it is recommended to perform chemical characterization to identify the concentrations of alcohol, aldehydes, ketones, acids and ethers. Aside from that, other antioxidant activity methods may be explored to compare the findings with CV. Lastly, determining the physico-chemical and antioxidant properties of other local beverages may be investigated for future research