Matrix Metalloproteinase Expression Varies Throughout Development and During the Innate Immune Response of Tobacco Hornworm. Manduca sexta

Matrix metalloproteinases (MI'v1Ps) are a family of conserved, proteolytic enzymes. MMPs can degrade most extracellular matrix proteins. As such, they are key enzymes in tissue remodeling processes. such as molting and metamorphosis in insects. The presence of MMP in tracheae of 4th and 5th instar Manduca scxra (M sexta) larvae was investigated using zymograms and Western blots, and the expression was found to decrease at the end of the instar. Failure to completely inhibit gelatinolytic activity in a zymogram indicates the existence of various other proteases that arc involved in the molting process. However, delay in the appearance of the dorsal blood vessel along with a reduction in the body mass upon inhibition of MMP supports our hypothesis that MMPs are required for molting. MMPs are also known to be up-regulated in many disease states, where they may cause tissue damage. Their presence may be beneficial, as their inhibition may result in worsening of symptoms or increased mortality. We tested the hypothesis that MMPs play a role in innate immunity in the tobacco hornworm caterpillar. Jf. sex/a. Larvae infected with E. coli DH5a had significantly more circulating hemocytes (insect blood cells) when compared to the larvae v,:hich received an MMP inhibitor. suggesting that MMPs may be important for hernocyte recruitment from the hematopoietic organs such as the lymph gland and hematopoictic cells present near the v.'ing imaginal discs. The expression of MMP was increased by 50% in larvae that had been infected with E. coli DH5a. However, this response was abrogated upon inhibition of MMPs. reducing expression tocontrol levels. The majority of the circulating hemocytes were granulocytes. a cell type that phagocytoses foreign bodies. including pathogens. We used flow cytometry to assess phagocytic ability. Hemocytes in the presence of the MMP inhibitor were less abk to phagocytose sephadex beads. supporting the hypothesis that this MMP contributes to the cellular innate immune response. Our results suggest that MMP expression is high at the beginning of the in star while it reduces as the caterpillar reaches molting. during which other proteases like chitinases and molting fluid proteinases play a more prominent role. Our results also suggest that M. sex/a larvae have a reduced immunity to bacterial infections when MMPs are inhibited. Collectively, inhibition of MMPs during the molting process indicates that the larvae. by down regulating the expression of MMPs. prevent the elicitation of immune responses that is generally seen during the larval pupal metamorphosis

Conceptual Design of High Temperature Superconducting Toroidal Field Coils for Future Fusion Power Plants

Aus der langjährigen Forschung im Bereich der magnetischen Eingrenzung sind Stellaratoren und Tokamaks entstanden, die starken und ungleichmäßigen Magnetfelder zum Einfangen der Plasmapartikel nutzen und es ihnen ermöglichen, sich frei auf bestimmten Wegen zu bewegen. Die Tokamaks haben durch ein einfacheres Spulendesign, verschachtelte magnetische Oberflächen und die Fähigkeit, mit positiver magnetischer Scherung zu arbeiten, an Bedeutung gewonnen. Derzeit plant die Europäische Union (EU), ihre Studien über Tokamak auf Demonstrationskraftwerke (EU-DEMO) auszudehnen, der Strom erzeugen können. Ziel dieser Studie ist es, ein Konzept für die Ringkernfeldspule (TF-Spule) für zukünftige Kraftwerke mit dem Systemcode PROCESS zu entwickeln. Ziel dieser Studie ist es, ein Konzept für die Toroidalfeldspule (TF-Spule) für zukünftige Kraftwerke mit dem Systemcode PROCESS zu entwickeln. Der PROZESS-Code gibt bestimmte Informationen wie die ungefähre Form der TF-Spule, die Fläche des Wickelpakets, das Magnetfeld an der Plasmaachse. Ausgehend vom Eingang wird das Wickelpaket der TF-Spule entworfen. Zum Beispiel, wenn die Pancake-Wicklung gegenüber der Lagen-Wicklung bevorzugt wird. Zum Beispiel, wenn die Pancake-Wicklung gegenüber der Lagen-Wicklung bevorzugt wird. Die erste Lage, die der Plasmawärme zugewandt ist, wird angesammelt, da sie sich im Hochfeldbereich befindet, wodurch der Magnet mit einer geringeren Betriebsmarge arbeitet. Der Leiter der Pancake-Wicklung ist jedoch in Umfangsrichtung und nicht entlang der Achse eines Magneten gewickelt und jedes Modul ist separat gewickelt und elektrisch in Reihe geschaltet. Der wesentliche Vorteil bei diesem Verfahren ist, dass die Temperatur im Hochfeldbereich am niedrigsten ist, da sich der Heliumeinlass im Hochfeldbereich des Wickelpakets und der Auslass im Niederfeldbereich befindet. Das Wicklungspaket mit der elektrischen Schaltung ist in Reihe geschaltet und die hydraulische Schaltung ist parallel geschaltet. Aus dem PROZESS-Code wird überprüft, ob das Magnetfeld an der Plasmaachse gleich dem erforderlichen Magnetfeld ist. Das Spitzenmagnetfeld wird auch zur Bestimmung des Arbeitspunktes des Leiters berechnet. Die 3D Elektromagnetische Simulation wird mit dem Präprozessor TOKEF und dem Code EFFI durchgeführt. Codes zur Magnetfeldberechnung einer allgemeinen dreidimensionalen Stromverteilung, die Formulierungen verwenden, die auf einer fadenförmigen Annäherung und der endlichen Leitergröße basieren. Diese Codes werden durch eine Reihe von verteilten Filamenten unter Verwendung der EFFI-Formel, die aus dem Bio-Savart Gesetz für die Volumenstromverteilung abgeleitet wurde, approximiert. Die Statik der TF-Spule bestimmt die Spannungen im Spulengehäuse und im Wickelpaket. Der Bereich mit den höchsten Spannungen liegt in der Mittelebene des inneren Schenkels, was durch eine ähnliche Analyse mit dem Spulenmagnetsystem JT-60SA TF bestätigt wird. In der EU DEMO führt die TF-Spule hohe Ströme (in MA) und erzeugt hohe Felder. Die TF-Spule ist daher hohen magnetischen Drücken und Kräften ausgesetzt. Um die Spannungen im Wickelpaket und am Gehäuse zu untersuchen, werden in COMSOL und ANSYS verschiedene Methoden zur Analyse der Spannungen am Gehäuse, des Lösens des Wickelpakets und der Spannungen in Isolationsbauteilen betrachtet. Ein wichtiger Fehler, der bei der Konstruktion supraleitender Magnete zu berücksichtigen ist, ist der Übergang von der supraleitenden zur normal leitenden Phase, dem sogenannten Quench. Da im normal leitenden Modus der elektrische Widerstand des Supraleitermaterials hoch ist, erzeugt die Einführung von Kupfer als elektrischer Ableiter für den Stromfluss eine Joule-Erwärmung. Der Magnet muss durch Anschluss eines externen Widerstandes parallel zum Magneten entladen werden, um einen übermäßigen Temperaturanstieg zu vermeiden. Die maximal zulässige adiabatische Hotspot-Temperatur, wie sie vom International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) festgelegt wurde, ist auf 150 K begrenzt, wobei alle Materialien im Leiter berücksichtigt werden, d.h. Supraleiter, Kupfer, Helium, Edelstahlmantel und Isolierung. Um die Quenchausbreitung zu simulieren, wird eine externe Heizung in den Supraleiter eingesetzt und überprüft, wie die Ausbreitung ist und welche maximale Temperatur sie während der Entladungszeit erreicht

Bearing failure prediction using Wigner-Ville distribution, modified Poincare mapping and fast Fourier transform

This study outlines the experimental investigation methods of condition monitoring to predict bearing failures using the experimental vibration signatures. The purpose of condition monitoring is to maximize the machine availability and utility of the machine components. Bearings being one of the most common component in any rotating machinery, it is vital to study the health of the bearing and can predict bearing failure, its location and severity. This prevents machine downtime, monetary loss and unfortunate accidents. A test rig was fabricated to get the vibration signatures of bearings. Prediction of bearing failure relies on the presence of the bearing characteristic frequencies – inner race frequency, outer race frequency, ball pass frequency and fundamental train frequency – and its harmonics in the vibration signal acquired. These frequencies are present in the vibration signature due to the interaction of surfaces of different bearing components that have defects in them. Both time and frequency domain numerical signature analysis were performed on the vibration signatures acquired. Simple frequency domain method like Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), chaotic vibration method like modified Poincare mapping and time-frequency domain Wigner-Ville distribution (WVD) were used in detecting bearing failure. Using the FFT analysis method, it is hard to predict the failures, hence better signal processing methods like modified Poincare mapping and WVD are used. Also, it is observed that the chaotic vibration signatures found in the lower-order mechanical systems like bearings. With the chaotic analysis methods like, Poincare Mapping and Wigner-Ville Distribution, the location and the severity of the bearing failure can be predicted

Computational Reverse Engineering Analysis of Scattering Experiments Method for Interpretation of 2D Small-Angle Scattering Profiles (CREASE-2D)

Characterization of structural diversity within soft materials is key for engineering new materials for various applications. Small-angle scattering (SAS) is a widely used characterization technique that provides structural information in soft materials at varying length scales and typically outputs scattered intensity I(q) as a function of the scattered wavevector represented by its magnitude q and azimuthal angle {\theta}. While isotropic structures can be interpreted from azimuthally averaged 1D SAS profile, to understand anisotropic spatial arrangements, one has to interpret the 2D SAS profile, I(q,{\theta}). In this paper, we present a new method called CREASE-2D that interprets I(q,{\theta}) as is and outputs the relevant structural features. CREASE-2D is an extension of the 'computational reverse engineering analysis for scatting experiments' (CREASE) method that has been used successfully to analyze 1D SAS profiles for a variety of soft materials. CREASE uses a genetic algorithm for optimization and a surrogate machine learning (ML) model for fast calculation of 1D 'computed' scattering profiles that are then compared to the experimental 1D scattering profiles during optimization. In CREASE-2D, which goes beyond CREASE in interpretting 2D scattering profiles, we use XGBoost as the surrogate ML model to relate structural features to the I(q,{\theta}) profile. The CREASE-2D workflow identifies the structural features whose computed I(q,{\theta}) profiles match the input experimental I(q,{\theta}). We test the performance of CREASE-2D by using as input a variety of in silico 2D SAS profiles with known structural features and demonstrate that CREASE-2D converges towards their correct structural features. We expect this method will be valuable for materials' researchers who need direct interpretation of 2D scattering profiles to explore structural anisotropy.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, supporting information include

Fine-grained methods for using EM fields measured near computing chips to evaluate data leakage

This thesis presents novel fine-grained methods that show electromagnetic (EM) fields measured near chips during computations can be effectively used to evaluate data leakage. Several near-field measurement techniques combined with appropriate statistical analyses are introduced in the dissertation. The proposed EM side-channel analysis (SCA) methods are used to rapidly localize information leakage on the chip, identify optimal reusable measurement setups to minimize marginal cost of future evaluations, and infer the data values of interest. These methods are used to perform measurement-based evaluations of data leakage from several embedded system applications: (i) Using encryption keys of the advanced encryption standard (AES) algorithm as the data of interest, a multi-stage measurement protocol is introduced to rapidly identify chip locations which are most likely to leak the key, as well as the actual key value; the method was found to be ~2× to ~37× faster than alternatives while using them to evaluate the SCA resilience of several baseline and hardened implementations of AES; (ii) Assuming processor instructions as the data of interest, a hierarchical disassembler is developed to recover the execution trace of programs from a general-purpose micro-controller; the method was found to recover ~97% instructions from several application benchmarks; (iii) Using Bluetooth payload as the data of interest, vulnerable locations on a Bluetooth Low Energy server implementation are isolated, and the data values of the payload are estimated; while the exact data values were not found, the Hamming Weight (HW) of test data was identified with 100% accuracy. These methods provide feasible alternatives to an exhaustive evaluation where data is recovered after measuring all possible computations at every single probe configuration. The feasibility of these methods is inherently dependent on the restrictions placed on evaluators, i.e., the threat model. Thus, a systematic study of protocols suited for different threat models are performed, which also includes the marginal cost comparisons of different SCA attack modalities. Finally, the thesis also introduces novel metrics and modelling methods that improve potency of side-channel security evaluations.Electrical and Computer Engineerin

USG guided indices as a tool for prediction of difficult airway in obese: an observational study

Background: Now a days, Ultrasound has been the gold standard and an invaluable tool in the field of regional anaesthesia, especially for upper limb and truncal blocks where general anesthesia is associated with high risk and also in patients posted for general anesthesia with anticipated difficult airway. Recently, few studies have published the importance of Ultrasound in the evaluation of airway and related procedures. Aim of this study is to evaluate the use of USG guided indices for prediction of difficult airway in obese patients and correlating them with clinical parameters. Methods: This study was a prospective observational study done in a tertiary health care center, Government General hospital, Kakinada over a duration of two months from August 2022 to September 2022. Eight Ultrasound parameters like tongue thickness, skin to hyoid distance, pre-epiglottic space, skin to midpoint of vocal cords, skin to thyroid isthmus, anterior soft tissue thickness at suprasternal notch, hyomental distance and thyromental distance were correlated with clinical evaluation (Cormacke-lehane grading) in this study and conclusions were drawn. Results: Out of 30 cases studied, 20 (70%) were predicted to be difficult with Ultrasound airway examination and 16 (53.3%) were found to have difficulty in intubation clinically. Conclusions: The following USG indices like pre-epiglottic space, Skin to midpoint of vocal cords, Anterior soft tissue thickness at Suprasternal notch, Hyomental distance in mid-extended position and thyromental distance were found to be clinically correlated to predict difficult airway and intubation in obese patients

Application of remote sensing and GIS for identifying suitable sites for solid waste disposal in Erode Corporation, Tamil Nadu, India

1479-1485This investigation focuses on the selection of suitable sites for solid waste dumps in Erode Corporation, Tamil Nadu using Spatial Multi-Criteria Evaluation (SMCE) with the help of Topographical map and Landsat-8 satellite data for the generation of road, water bodies, rivers and drainages, land use/land cover, landforms, geology and soil, slope maps. Use of remote sensing and GIS for distinguishable proof of the sensible objectives of solid waste dumped depends on the overlaying of datasets and spots that fulfill the site suitability criteria. The datasets and spots join the spatial examination devices given by GIS to arrange and survey in order to choose possible waste areas. Finally, in Erode city Municipal Corporation an appropriate dumping zone and few locations for dumping of solid waste are created. A set of twenty-one (21) sites is found to be the most favorable locations for dumping of solid waste. Indeed, SMCE is found to be the best method for the present work

An adaptive measurement protocol for fine-grained electromagnetic side-channel analysis of cryptographic modules

An adaptive measurement protocol is presented to increase effectiveness of fine-grained electromagnetic side-channel analysis (EM SCA) attacks that attempt to extract the information that is unintentionally leaked from physical implementations of cryptographic modules. Because measured fields vary with probe parameters as well as the data being encrypted, identifying the optimal configurations requires searching among a large number of possible configurations. The proposed protocol is a multi-step acquisition that corresponds to a greedy search in a 4-D configuration space consisting of probe’s on-chip coordinates, orientation, and number of signals acquired. This 4-D space can be extended to a 6-D space by repeating the protocol for different probe sizes and heights. This approach is presented as an alternative to current fine-grained EM SCA techniques that perform exhaustive full-chip scans to isolate information leaking locations. To demonstrate the feasibility of the approach, the protocol is tested by performing EM SCA attacks for different configurations and identifying the best attack configuration for two realizations of the advanced encryption standard (AES), subject to the precision of the measurement equipment. It is found that the protocol requires ~20× to ~25× less acquisition time compared to an exhaustive search for the optimal attack configuration.Electrical and Computer Engineerin