Speaker Prototyping Design

Audio design is a pertinent industry in today’s world, with an extremely large market including leaders such as Bose, Harman International, and Sennheiser. This project is designed to explore the processes that are necessary to create a new type of product in this market. The end goal is to have a functioning, high–quality set of speakers to prove various concepts of design and prototyping. The steps involved in this project go through the entire design process from initial choice of product to a finished prototype. Processes include the selection of outsourced components such as drivers and necessary connectors. The design stage will include any design processes necessary to create the enclosure or any electronics. Production will be controlled by shipping dates and any potential issues that lie within the methods chosen for production. The final product will be tested for response. The prototyping process is usually fulfilled by various departments with extreme expertise in the respective field

Evidence that nuclear receptors are related to terpene synthases

Ligand-activated nuclear receptors (NRs) orchestrate development, growth, and reproduction across all animal lifeforms – the Metazoa – but how NRs evolved remains mysterious. Given the NR ligands including steroids and retinoids are predominantly terpenoids, we asked whether NRs might have evolved from enzymes that catalyze terpene synthesis and metabolism. We provide evidence suggesting that NRs may be related to the terpene synthase (TS) enzyme superfamily. Based on over 10,000 3D structural comparisons, we report that the NR ligand-binding domain and TS enzymes share a conserved core of seven α-helical segments. In addition, the 3D locations of the major ligand-contacting residues are also conserved between the two protein classes. Primary sequence comparisons reveal suggestive similarities specifically between NRs and the subfamily of cis-isoprene transferases, notably with dehydrodolichyl pyrophosphate synthase and its obligate partner, NUS1/NOGOB receptor. Pharmacological overlaps between NRs and TS enzymes add weight to the contention that they share a distant evolutionary origin, and the combined data raise the possibility that a ligand-gated receptor may have arisen from an enzyme antecedent. However, our findings do not formally exclude other interpretations such as convergent evolution, and further analysis will be necessary to confirm the inferred relationship between the two protein classes

Mechanism Underlying Tissue Cryotherapy to Combat Obesity/Overweight: Triggering Thermogenesis

Background. Local adipose tissue (AT) cooling is used to manage obesity and overweight, but the mechanism is unclear. The current view is that acute local cooling of AT induces adipocyte cell disruption and inflammation (“cryolipolysis”) that lead to adipocyte cell death, with loss of subcutaneous fat being recorded over a prolonged period of weeks/months. A contrasting view is that AT loss via targeted cryotherapy might be mediated by thermogenic fat metabolism without cell disruption. Methods. In this retrospective study of individuals presenting for cryotherapy to the Clinic BioEsthetic, Paris, France, we recorded waist circumference, body weight, and body mass index (BMI) by direct measurement and by whole-body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometric scanning. In select individuals, blood analysis of markers of inflammation and fat mobilization was performed before and after the procedure. Results. We report that (i) single sessions of tissue cryotherapy lead to significant loss of tissue volume in the time frame of hours and (ii) multiple daily procedures lead to a cumulative decline in AT, as assessed by waist circumference, body weight, and BMI, confirmed by whole-body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometric scanning. In addition, (iii) blood analysis following tissue cryotherapy found no significant changes in biochemical parameters including markers of inflammation. Moreover, (iv) calculations of heat extracted and of compensatory weight loss taking place through thermogenesis are substantially consistent with the observed loss of AT. Conclusions. These findings argue that cold-induced thermogenesis (“cryothermogenesis”) rather than adipocyte disruption underlies the reduction in AT volume, raising the prospect that more intensive cryotherapy may be a viable option for combating obesity and overweight

From conifers to cognition: microbes, brain, and behavior

We would like to thank Hans Kuepper (Munich), Juergen Haas (Edinburgh), and Rob Moir† (Harvard) for constructive comments on the MS. This work was funded in part by the Benter Foundation.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The Early Development of the Vaccinia–Rabies Recombinant Vaccine Raboral

The recombinant vaccinia–rabies vaccine, now known as Raboral®, has been widely used in Europe and North America to control/eliminate rabies in the principal wildlife vectors, and thus prevent human transmission. The origins of this vaccine are sometimes forgotten, although the formulation has not changed substantially in almost four decades. This groundbreaking vaccine was assembled by a team at a very young (at that time) genetic engineering company, Transgène, in Strasbourg, France. The joint leaders of the rabies vaccine team reflect, 36 years later, on the trials and tribulations that went hand in hand with the construction of the vaccine