Restoring circadian gene profiles in clock networks using synthetic feedback control

The circadian system—an organism’s built-in biological clock—is responsible for orchestrating biological processes to adapt to diurnal and seasonal variations. Perturbations to the circadian system (e.g., pathogen attack, sudden environmental change) often result in pathophysiological responses (e.g., jetlag in humans, stunted growth in plants, etc.) In view of this, synthetic biologists are progressively adapting the idea of employing synthetic feedback control circuits to alleviate the effects of perturbations on circadian systems. To facilitate the design of such controllers, suitable models are required. Here, we extend our recently developed model for the plant circadian clock—termed the extended S-System model—to model circadian systems across different kingdoms of life. We then use this modeling strategy to develop a design framework, based on an antithetic integral feedback (AIF) controller, to restore a gene’s circadian profile when it is subject to loss-of-function due to external perturbations. The use of the AIF controller is motivated by its recent successful experimental implementation. Our findings provide circadian biologists with a systematic and general modeling and design approach for implementing synthetic feedback control of circadian systems

Self-Evolving Integrated Vertical Heterogeneous Networks

6G and beyond networks tend towards fully intelligent and adaptive design in order to provide better operational agility in maintaining universal wireless access and supporting a wide range of services and use cases while dealing with network complexity efficiently. Such enhanced network agility will require developing a self-evolving capability in designing both the network architecture and resource management to intelligently utilize resources, reduce operational costs, and achieve the coveted quality of service (QoS). To enable this capability, the necessity of considering an integrated vertical heterogeneous network (VHetNet) architecture appears to be inevitable due to its high inherent agility. Moreover, employing an intelligent framework is another crucial requirement for self-evolving networks to deal with real-time network optimization problems. Hence, in this work, to provide a better insight on network architecture design in support of self-evolving networks, we highlight the merits of integrated VHetNet architecture while proposing an intelligent framework for self-evolving integrated vertical heterogeneous networks (SEI-VHetNets). The impact of the challenges associated with SEI-VHetNet architecture, on network management is also studied considering a generalized network model. Furthermore, the current literature on network management of integrated VHetNets along with the recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML) solutions are discussed. Accordingly, the core challenges of integrating AI/ML in SEI-VHetNets are identified. Finally, the potential future research directions for advancing the autonomous and self-evolving capabilities of SEI-VHetNets are discussed.Comment: 25 pages, 5 figures, 2 table

Preparation of Ion Imprinted SPR Sensor for Real-Time Detection of Silver(I) Ion from Aqueous Solution

The aim of the submitted study is to develop molecular imprinting based surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor for real-time silver ion detection. For this purpose polymeric nanofilm layer on the gold SPR chip surface was prepared via UV polymerization of acrylic acid at 395 nm for 30 minutes. N-methacryloyl- L cysteine used as the functional monomer to recognize the silver(I) ions from the aqueous solutions and methylene bisacrylamide used as the crosslinker for obtaining structural rigidity of the formed cavities. Silver(I) solutions with different concentrations were applied to SPR system to investigate the efficiency of the imprinted SPR sensor in real time. For the control experiments, non-imprinted SPR sensor was also prepared as described above without addition of template “silver(I) ions”. Prepared SPR sensors were characterized with atomic force microscopy (AFM). In order to show the selectivity of the silver(I) imprinted SPR sensor, competitive adsorption of Cu(II), Pb(II), Ni(II) ions was investigated. When you are citing the document, use the following link http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/3489

Probability densities for the sums of iterates of the sine-circle map in the vicinity of the quasi-periodic edge of chaos

We investigate the probability density of rescaled sum of iterates of sine-circle map within quasi-periodic route to chaos. When the dynamical system is strongly mixing (i.e., ergodic), standard Central Limit Theorem (CLT) is expected to be valid, but at the edge of chaos where iterates have strong correlations, the standard CLT is not necessarily to be valid anymore. We discuss here the main characteristics of the central limit behavior of deterministic dynamical systems which exhibit quasi-periodic route to chaos. At the golden-mean onset of chaos for the sine-circle map, we numerically verify that the probability density appears to converge to a q-Gaussian with q<1 as the golden mean value is approached.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, 1 tabl

A case of pulmonary aspergillosis in white storks

ΔΕΝ ΔΙΑΤΙΘΕΤΑΙ ΠΕΡΙΛΗΨΗAspergillosis is a fungal infection affecting respiratory system both in mammals and avian species. It is more commonly encountered in birds, in comparison with its mammalian counterpart. Mostly isolated strains are Aspergillus fumigatus (95%) and Aspergillus flavus (5%). Affected lungs and air sacs reveal miliary to gross lesions like gray-yellowish or white-grayish granulomatous foci surrounded by white halos indicative of inflammatory infiltration. Five storks found dead in the rural areas near Istanbul were submitted to our faculty between years 2008 and 2014. Two of them were thought to be younger than 1-year-old and the other three were older than one year of age. Necropsies were performed right after their submissions. Aspergillosis lesions were observed in the lungs and thoracic air sacs of the first four storks. In addition to these changes the lesions were detected at the aortic bifurcation and on the testicular and renal capsule of the fifth stork. Histopathology revealed encapsulated granulomas with foci of caseous necrosis at the center surrounded by numerous macrophages, heterophil leukocytes, lymphocytes and foreign body giant cells in all the storks. Following the gross, histopathological and mycological examinations the agents were detected as Aspergillus fumigatus. Although, the number of reported deaths due to Aspergillosis is not high in storks, we believe that these birds are quite susceptible to the disease and stress factors such as migration increases the risk of pathogenicity. This report was designed as a contribution to literature since there is only one reported case available with respect to aspergillosis associated death in storks and stress factors such as migration may also predispose storks to the disease

Machine-Knitted Seamless Pneumatic Actuators for Soft Robotics: Design, Fabrication, and Characterization

Computerized machine knitting offers an attractive fabrication technology for incorporating wearable assistive devices into garments. In this work, we utilized, for the first time, whole-garment knitting techniques to manufacture a seamless fully knitted pneumatic bending actuator, which represents an advancement to existing cut-and-sew manufacturing techniques. Various machine knitting parameters were investigated to create anisotropic actuator structures, which exhibited a range of bending and extension motions when pressurized with air. The functionality of the actuator was demonstrated through integration into an assistive glove for hand grip action. The achieved curvature range when pressurizing the actuators up to 150 kPa was sufficient to grasp objects down to 3 cm in diameter and up to 125 g in weight. This manufacturing technique is rapid and scalable, paving the way for mass-production of customizable soft robotics wearables

Gravitational hedgehog, stringy hedgehog and stringy sphere

We investigate the solutions of Einstein equations such that a hedgehog solution is matched to different exterior or interior solutions via a spherical shell. In the case where both the exterior and the interior regions are hedgehog solutions or one of them is flat, the resulting spherical shell becomes a stringy shell. We also consider more general matchings and see that in this case the shell deviates from its stringy character.Comment: 11 page

The Current State of Business Intelligence in Academia: The Arrival of Big Data

In December 2012, the AIS Special Interest Group on Decision Support, Knowledge and Data Management Systems (SIGDSS) and the Teradata University Network (TUN) cosponsored the Business Intelligence Congress 3 and conducted surveys to assess academia’s response to the growing market need for students with Business Intelligence (BI) and Business Analytics (BA) skill sets. This panel report describes the key findings and best practices that were identified, with an emphasis on what has changed since the BI Congress efforts in 2009 and 2010. The article also serves as a “call to action” for universities regarding the need to respond to emerging market needs in BI/BA, including “Big Data.” The IS field continues to be well positioned to be the leader in creating the next generation BI/BA workforce. To do so, we believe that IS leaders need to continuously refine BI/BA curriculum to keep pace with the turbulent BI/BA marketplace

Universal Infrared Absorption Spectroscopy Using Uniform Electromagnetic Enhancement

Infrared absorption spectroscopy has greatly benefited from the electromagnetic field enhancement offered by plasmonic surfaces. However, because of the localized nature of plasmonic fields, such field enhancements are limited to nanometer-scale volumes. Here, we demonstrate that a relatively small, but spatially uniform field enhancement can yield a superior infrared detection performance compared to the plasmonic field enhancement exhibited by optimized infrared nanoantennas. A specifically designed CaF2/Al thin film surface is shown to enable observation of stronger vibrational signals from the probe material, with wider bandwidth and a deeper spatial extent of the field enhancement as compared to such plasmonic surfaces. It is demonstrated that the surface structure presented here can enable chemically specific and label-free detection of organic monolayers using surface-enhanced infrared spectroscopy, indicating a great potential in highly sensitive yet cost-effective biomolecular sensing applications. © 2016 American Chemical Society