Comparison of 3D scanned human models for off-body communications using motion capture

Body area networks are complex to analyze as there are several channel mechanisms occurring simultaneously, i.e. environmental multipath together with body motion and close coupling between worn antennas and human tissue. Electromagnetic (EM) simulation is an important tool since not all studies can be done on a real human. In order to gain insight into off-body communication involving a worn antenna, this paper uses a 3D animated model obtained from a 3D surface scanner and a motion capture system for full wave simulation of channels at 2.45 and 5.5GHz. To evaluate if the model can represent body area radio channels in general, a comparison of S21 of the simulated model with measurements from 5 other models of similar height to the main test subject is presented

Deep Basement Construction Through an Existing Basemement at the Central Business District of Hong Kong

In June 2002, a 32-storey high quality commercial building with a 3-level deep basement, namely Chater House, was completed. The Chater House site was previously occupied by the Swire House and its basement structure and foundations obstructed the construction of the new basement. Temporary pipe pile walls with grout curtain were used to facilitate local trimming/demolition of the existing basement slab and pile caps. Diaphragm walls were constructed through the locally demolished basement to retain the soils for the 15m deep excavation and the new basement was constructed by top-down construction method. In addition, the diaphragm walls and large diameter bored piles were constructed to support the vertical loads and wind shear from the superstructure. This paper describes the geotechnical design aspects of the new development. The difficulties and special issues during the substructure construction works are also discussed. Instrumentation monitoring results are also reviewed and compared with the predicted movements

How does iron interact with sporopollenin exine capsules? An X-ray absorption study including microfocus XANES and XRF imaging

Sporopollenin exine capsules (SECs) derived from plant spores and pollen grains have been proposed as adsorption, remediation and drug delivery agents. Despite many studies there is scant structural data available. This X-ray absorption investigation represents the first direct structural data on the interaction of metals with SECs and allows elucidation of their structure–property relationships. Fe K-edge XANES and EXAFS data have shown that the iron local environment in SECs (derived from Lycopodium clavatum) reacted with aqueous ferric chloride solutions is similar to that of ferrihydrite (FeOOH) and by implication ferritin. Fe Kα XRF micro-focus experiments show that there is a poor correlation between the iron distribution and the underlying SEC structure indicating that the SEC is coated in the FeOOH material. In contrast, the Fe Kα XRF micro-focus experiments on SECs reacted with aqueous ferrous chloride solutions show that there is a very high correlation between the iron distribution and the SEC structure, indicating a much more specific form of interaction of the iron with the SEC surface functional groups. Fe K-edge XANES and EXAFS data show that the FeII can be easily oxidised to give a structure similar to, but not identical to that in the FeIII case, and that even if anaerobic conditions are used there is still partial oxidation to FeIII

Climate and pest interactions pose a cross-landscape management challenge to soil and water conservation

Climate change and biological invasions by plant pests (weeds), agriculture and forest insect pests (insects), and microbial pests (plant pathogens) are complex interactive components of global environmental change. The influence of pest distribution and prevalence across landscapes are challenging the conservation and sustainability of natural resources, agricultural production, native biological diversity, and the valuable ecosystem services they provide (Huenneke 1997; Vitousek 1997; Juroszek and von Tiedemann 2013; Ziska and Dukes 2014). Since 2000, numerous scientific studies indicate accelerating climate change is posing substantial risks to natural and managed systems in North America (IPPC 2022). Intensified droughts, largescale wildfires, and increased demands for limited surface and groundwater water supplies in arid regions are threatening the sustainability of irrigated agriculture and contributing to economic losses (Stewart et al. 2020), while extreme rainfall events are contributing to severe riverine and urban flooding across the United States. Climate change affects crops, rangelands, forests, and natural areas directly through the immediate effects of temperature, precipitation, and atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels and thereby impacts production and management systems. These effects are amplified by climatedriven increases in weed, insect, and plant pathogen problems that further complicate related factors such as water, nutrient, and pest management (Walthall et al. 2013). Changing climates also alter physiological, ecological, and evolutionary processes that can support increased establishment, invasiveness, local spread, and geographic range changes of weeds, insects, and plant pathogens (Chidawanyika et al. 2019; Gallego-Tevár et al. 2019; Ziska et al. 2019) that have cascading effects on soil and water quality, and human livelihoods. Joshua W. Campbell is a research ecologist studying basic insect and pollinator behavior in managed and wild ecosystems at the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Pest Management Research Unit in Sidney, Montana. Michael R. Fulcher is a research plant pathologist conducting research to identify pathogenic biocontrol agents at the USDA ARS Foreign Disease-Weed Science Research Unit in Fort Detrick, Maryland. Brenda J. Grewell is a research plant ecologist focusing on understanding the biogeography of invasive plant species and the ecology of invaded systems at the USDA ARS Invasive Species and Pollinator Health Research Unit in Davis, California. Stephen L. Young is a national program leader in weeds and invasive pests at the USDA ARS Office of National Programs in Beltsville, Maryland. Received October 25, 2022. Thus, a need exists for cross-habitat and landscape/watershed-scale perspectives to improve understanding of mechanisms underlying pest fitness and impacts within and across integrated systems

Heliconiini butterflies can learn time-dependent reward associations.

For many pollinators, flowers provide predictable temporal schedules of resource availability, meaning an ability to learn time-dependent information could be widely beneficial. However, this ability has only been demonstrated in a handful of species. Observations of Heliconius butterflies suggest that they may have an ability to form time-dependent foraging preferences. Heliconius are unique among butterflies in actively collecting pollen, a dietary behaviour linked to spatio-temporally faithful 'trap-line' foraging. Time dependency of foraging preferences is hypothesized to allow Heliconius to exploit temporal predictability in alternative pollen resources. Here, we provide the first experimental evidence in support of this hypothesis, demonstrating that Heliconius hecale can learn opposing colour preferences in two time periods. This shift in preference is robust to the order of presentation, suggesting that preference is tied to the time of day and not due to ordinal or interval learning. However, this ability is not limited to Heliconius, as previously hypothesized, but also present in a related genus of non-pollen feeding butterflies. This demonstrates time learning likely pre-dates the origin of pollen feeding and may be prevalent across butterflies with less specialized foraging behaviours

An exceptionally potent inhibitor of human CD73

The research described in this manuscript was fully funded by Arcus Biosciences, Inc. a publicly traded biotechnology company.We recently reported the initiation of a Phase I clinical trial with AB680, a potent human CD73 inhibitor, being developed for the treatment of solid tumors (NCT03677973). We undertook a detailed kinetic analysis of the interaction between human CD73 and AB680 to determine the mode of inhibition. We found AB680 to be a reversible, slow-onset competitive inhibitor of human CD73 with a Ki of 5 pM. Clinical candidates of this potency are uncommon and deserve special consideration during lead optimization.PostprintPeer reviewe

Calcium puffs are generic InsP₃-activated elementary calcium signals and are downregulated by prolonged hormonal stimulation to inhibit cellular calcium responses

Elementary Ca2+ signals, such as "Ca2+ puffs", which arise from the activation of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptors, are building blocks for local and global Ca2+ signalling. We characterized Ca2+ puffs in six cell types that expressed differing ratios of the three inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor isoforms. The amplitudes, spatial spreads and kinetics of the events were similar in each of the cell types. The resemblance of Ca2+ puffs in these cell types suggests that they are a generic elementary Ca2+ signal and, furthermore, that the different inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate isoforms are functionally redundant at the level of subcellular Ca2+ signalling. Hormonal stimulation of SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells and HeLa cells for several hours downregulated inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate expression and concomitantly altered the properties of the Ca2+ puffs. The amplitude and duration of Ca2+ puffs were substantially reduced. In addition, the number of Ca2+ puff sites active during the onset of a Ca2+ wave declined. The consequence of the changes in Ca2+ puff properties was that cells displayed a lower propensity to trigger regenerative Ca2+ waves. Therefore, Ca2+ puffs underlie inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate signalling in diverse cell types and are focal points for regulation of cellular responses