Information Complexity in Material Culture

Humans invest a substantial amount of time in the creation of artworks. For generations, humans around the world have learned and shared their knowledge and skills on artistic traditions. Albeit large experimental settings or online databases have brought considerable insights on the evolutionary role and trajectory of art, why humans invest in art, what information artworks carry and how art functions within the community still remain elusive. To address these unresolved questions, this present thesis integrates ethnographic accounts with data governance and statistical approaches to systematically investigate a large corpus of art. This thesis specifically focuses on a large corpus of Tamil kolam art from South India to provide an exemplary case study of artistic traditions. The foundation for the projects presented in this thesis was the design and construction of a robust data infrastructure that enabled the synthesis of raw data from various sources into one database for systematic analyses. The data infrastructure on the kolam artistic system enabled the development of complex statistical methods to explore the substantial investments and information complexity in art. In the first chapter, I examine artists’ strategic decisions in the creation of kolam art and how they strive to optimize the complexity of their artworks under constraints using evolutionary signaling theory and theoretically guided statistical methods. Results revealed that artists strive to maintain a stable and invariant complexity measured as Shannon information entropy, regardless of the size of the artwork. In order to achieve an optimal artistic complexity “sweet spot”, artists trade-off two standard measures of biological diversity in ecology: evenness and richness. Additionally, results showed that although kolam art arises in a highly stratified and multi-ethnic society, artistic complexity is strategically optimized across the population and not constrained by group boundaries. Instead, the trade-off can most likely be explained by aesthetic preferences or cognitive limitations. While artistic complexity in kolam art can be strategically optimized across the population, distinct styles and patterns can still be employed by artists. Thus, in the second chapter, I focus on how artistic styles in kolam art covary along cultural boundaries. I employ a novel statistical method to measure the mapping between styles onto group boundaries on a large corpus of kolam art by decomposing the system into sequential drawing decisions. In line with Chapter 1, results demonstrate limited group-level variation. Distinct styles or patterns in kolam art can only be weakly mapped to caste boundaries, neighborhoods or previous migration. Both chapters strongly suggest that kolam art is primarily a sphere where artists differentiate themselves from others by displaying their unique skill set and knowledge. Thus, variability in kolam art is largely dominated by individual-level variation and not reflective of group boundaries or narrow socialization channels. This thesis contributes to an emergent understanding of how artists conceptualize what they are doing and how art functions within the community. Taken together, this thesis serves as an example approach that demonstrates an optimized workflow and novel approaches for the evolutionary study of a large corpus of artistic traditions

Establishment of the criteria of the green city for developing cities

Building a livable city is the top objective of local governments. 'Green City' is concerned, researched, and constructed effectively in some cities around the world. The paper is to identify a green city's benefits to humans and the environment. Moreover, this study also establishes criteria of the green city according to international standards in emerging cities, especially in 5 criteria such as green space and land use, atmosphere, water resource, and energy supply. Finally, the criteria of the green city established are used for scoring and assessing Vung Tau city. Currently, Vung Tau city has 60.9 scores below a green city's standards with 65 scores; however, it can be changed by proposals in development policies to get 69.3 scores.Việc xây dựng một thành phố đáng sống là một mục tiêu hàng đầu của các chính phủ địa phương. Thành phố xanh “Green City” đang được quan tâm, nghiên cứu, và xây dựng một cách hiệu quả tại nhiều thành phố trên thế giới. Bài báo này sẽ làm rõ ràng những chức năng mà một thành phố xanh mang lại. Ngoài ra, nghiên cứu này cũng xây dựng những tiêu chí của thành phố xanh đạt tiêu chuẩn quốc tế tại các thành phố đang phát triển, đặc biệt là 5 tiêu chí không gian xanh và sử dụng đất; giao thông; không khí; nguồn nước; nguồn năng lượng. Hơn nữa, việc ứng dụng các tiêu chí thành phố xanh cho việc chấm điểm và đánh giá Thành phố Vũng Tàu. Hiện nay, thành phố Vũng Tàu được chấm 60.9 điểm, mức điểm này ở dưới tiêu chuẩn của một thành phố xanh là 65 điểm, tuy nhiên trong tương lai gần với những chính sách phát triển phù hợp thì số điểm này có thể tăng lên đến 69.3 điểm

The stress-sensing domain of activated IRE1α forms helical filaments in narrow ER membrane tubes

The signaling network of the unfolded protein response (UPR) adjusts the protein folding capacity of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) according to need. The most conserved UPR sensor, IRE1α, spans the ER membrane and activates through oligomerization. IRE1α oligomers accumulate in dynamic foci. We determined the in-situ structure of IRE1α foci by cryogenic correlated light and electron microscopy (cryo-CLEM), combined with electron cryo-tomography (cryo-ET) and complementary immuno-electron microscopy. IRE1α oligomers localize to a network of narrow anastomosing ER tubes (diameter ~28 nm) with complex branching. The lumen of the tubes contains protein filaments, likely composed of linear arrays of IRE1α lumenal domain dimers, arranged in two intertwined, left-handed helices. Our findings define a previously unrecognized ER subdomain and suggest positive feedback in IRE1 signaling

The acceptability of and willingness to pay for a herpes zoster vaccine: A systematic review

Patients, predominantly the elderly, with Herpes Zoster (HZ) not only suffer symptoms of the disease but also bear considerable expenses. This study systematically reviewed the acceptability of and willingness to pay for the HZ vaccine. This review was registered in PROSPERO 2023 (CRD42023403062). We used “acceptance”, “willing to pay”, and “HZ vaccine” (and variations thereof) as keywords in a systematic search for original English research articles published up to April 7, 2023. The search was conducted over Scopus, PubMed, ScienceDirect, Cochrane, and Google Scholar in accordance with PRISMA 2020 guidelines. The inclusion criteria were as follows: studies (1) that mentioned HZ vaccination, (2) related to acceptability or willingness to pay, and (3) with full texts available and peer-reviewed prior to final publication. Grey literature, letters to editors, commentaries, case reports or series, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, articles of poor quality, and articles with ambiguously defined and measured outcome variables were excluded. The Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) critical appraisal checklist was used to evaluate the methodological quality of the studies. Finally, the search yielded 24 studies, of which 9 were conducted in Asia, 8 in Europe, and 7 in America. General adults or patients aged 50 or older were often the target populations, for whom treatments were accompanied by healthcare providers’ recommendations. The willingness to pay and willingness to accept the vaccine ranged from $8 to$150 and 16.6% to 85.8%, respectively. Compared to the US, Asia and Europe had higher acceptance rates for HZ immunization. The most frequent excuses given for not being vaccinated are side effects, cost, lack of recommendations, anti-vaccination views, ignorance about the HZ vaccine, and the belief that one is not at risk for the disease. National campaigns should be developed to increase public awareness of HZ, and more international research should be conducted to understand the WTA and WTP for HZ immunizations

Cloning, expression and purification of fructosyl amino acid oxidase (FAOX) in Escherichia Coli

Introduction: The level of serum HbA1c is an indicator of the average blood sugar level in the last three months. HbA1c can be quantified using assays involving the enzyme fructosyl amino acid oxidase (FAOX). This study aims to produce GST-tagged FAOX-TE (GST/FAOX-TE), a thermal stable and specific variant of FAOX, for future application studies. Materials and methods: The E. coli strains DH5α and BL21 (DE3) were used as cloning and expression hosts, respectively. The FAOX-TE sequence was synthesized at IDT (US) and clonned into pGEX-4T3 vector, which was confirmed by Colony PCR. The expression was induced at 16°C, 0.5 mM IPTG in LB media containing 50 µg/ml ampicilin. The protein expression profile was analyzed by SDS-PAGE. The cell pellet was sonicated and purified by Glutathione Sepharose 4 Fast Flow (Cytiva, US). The catalytic activity of GST/FAOX-TE with fructosyl valine was determined using high performance anion exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometry detection (HPAEC-PAD). Results: The fusion protein was successfully expressed in Escherichia coli using the plasmid pGEX-4T3 and purified to high purity 93%. Recombinant GST/FAOX-TE was shown to be active on fructosyl valine. Conclusions: Active GST/FAOX-TE was successfully expressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3) and purified, which will be used for future development of biosensors for fructosyl valine quantification

Essential Facts on the History of Hyperthermia and their Connections with Electromedicine

The term hyperthermia is a combination of two Greek words: HYPER (rise) and THERME (heat) and refers to the increasing of body temperature or selected tissues in order to achieve a precise therapeutic effect. This paper reviews the development of thermotherapy by describing the most important moments in its history. For decades, the development of hyperthermia ran parallel with the development of cancer treatment and had numerous connections with electromedicine. Throughout its history, hyperthermia evoked a number of hopes, brought spectacular successes, but also was the subject of many disappointments