Impact of glucosinolate structure on the performance of the crucifer pest Phaedon cochleariae (F.)

Glucosinolates (GS) are sulfur-rich secondary metabolites found in the Brassicaceae and other related families of the order Brassicales. GS consist of structurally-related compounds with different side chains. To explore the possibility that various side chain confer divergent biological activities to individual GS, we have investigated the performance of the specialist pest beetle, Phaedon cochleariae (F.) on Arabidopsis thaliana L. mutants and Columbia wild-type (WT) which differ in the main group of GS. Plant lines of A. thaliana altered for the expression of MAM3, because of the introduction of an overexpression construct of MAM3 (mam3+) or containing double knockouts of CYP79B2 and CYP79B3 (cyp79B2-/cyp79B3-) were used for the study in comparison to the WT.A. thaliana genotypes differed in their GS profiles. The highest GS content was present in the WT followed by mam3+ and cyp79B2-/ cyp79B3-. A modified aliphatic GS content was detected for the mam3+ as compared to the WT lines. Furthermore, indolyl GS were completely absent in cyp79B2-/cyp79B3-. The percentage weight increase of larvae raised on each of the three plant genotypes was significant different. Larval performance was poorest on plants of cyp79B2-/cyp79B3- and best on WT, but there was no significant difference found in percentage weight increase on mam3+ and WT. There was no correlation between the weight increase of the larvae on genotypes and induced levels of aliphatic, indolyl, and total GS. However, the poor performance of beetle larvae on cyp79B2-/ cyp79B3-compared to WT and mam3+ might be explained by comparable high aliphatic GS levels of this mutant, a different induction of secondary metabolites, and the absence of indolyl GS. Basic knowledge about the relationship of GS structures and their insect pests may help in further resistance breeding of crucifer crops

Contrastive Learning for API Aspect Analysis

We present a novel approach - CLAA - for API aspect detection in API reviews that utilizes transformer models trained with a supervised contrastive loss objective function. We evaluate CLAA using performance and impact analysis. For performance analysis, we utilized a benchmark dataset on developer discussions collected from Stack Overflow and compare the results to those obtained using state-of-the-art transformer models. Our experiments show that contrastive learning can significantly improve the performance of transformer models in detecting aspects such as Performance, Security, Usability, and Documentation. For impact analysis, we performed empirical and developer study. On a randomly selected and manually labeled 200 online reviews, CLAA achieved 92% accuracy while the SOTA baseline achieved 81.5%. According to our developer study involving 10 participants, the use of 'Stack Overflow + CLAA' resulted in increased accuracy and confidence during API selection. Replication package: https://github.com/shahariar-shibli/Contrastive-Learning-for-API-Aspect-AnalysisComment: Accepted in the 38th IEEE/ACM International Conference on Automated Software Engineering (ASE2023

Bond Strength of Fusion Bonded Epoxy-Coated Reinforcement in Concrete

Fusion-bonded epoxy-coated steel is expected to extend the service life of the reinforced concrete structure in chloride-laden environments. However, the effect of coating on the bond-strength between rebar and concrete is not well understood yet. This research, therefore, studied the effect of epoxy-coating on the bond characteristics of reinforcing bars in concrete. The bond characteristics were assessed through pullout test considering variables viz. concrete strength, embedded length and bar diameter. The load was applied to reinforcing bars embedded in concrete until bond strength between the bar and concrete exceeded. Bond strength of epoxy-coated bars was compared with that of the uncoated bars. It was found that epoxy-coating reduced the bond strength approximately 25% for Ø20mm bar and 12% for Ø16mm and Ø12mm bar. As with uncoated bar, bond strength of coated bars were also increased with concrete strength. However, the bond strength ratio between coated and uncoated bars was found almost independent of concrete strength. Based on the test results, a development length modification factor of 1.33 is proposed for Ø20mm bar and 1.15 for Ø12mm and Ø16mm bar to compensate the bond strength reduction due to the epoxy coating

CAUSALITY BETWEEN EXCHANGE RATE AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN BANGLADESH

This paper attempts to examine the relationship between Exchange Rate (ER) and Economic Growth (EG) proxied by Real Gross Domestic Product (RGDP) in Bangladesh for a period of 41 years ranges from 1973 to 2013 by using time series econometric technique. The empirical results show that there is a significant positive correlation between ER and EG. The results also advocate the presence of long-run equilibrium relationship between ER and EG. This is evidenced from Granger’s Causality Test that there is a bi-directional causality runs through ER to EG and EG to ER

FKBP5 DNA methylation does not mediate the association between childhood maltreatment and depression symptom severity in the Detroit Neighborhood Health Study

Exposure to childhood maltreatment increases the risk of developing mental illness later in life. Childhood maltreatment and depression have both been associated with dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis—a key regulator of the body's stress response. Additionally, HPA axis dysregulation has been implicated in the etiology of a range of mental illnesses. A substantial body of work has shown history of childhood maltreatment alters DNA methylation levels within key HPA axis genes. We therefore investigated whether one of these key genes, FKBP5 mediates the relationship between childhood maltreatment and depression, and assessed FKBP5 DNA methylation and gene expression within 112 adults from the Detroit Neighborhood Health Study (DNHS). DNA methylation was assessed in 4 regions, including the upstream promoter, downstream promoter, and two glucocorticoid response elements (GREs) via pyrosequencing using whole blood derived DNA; Taqman assays measured relative RNA expression from leukocytes. Mediation analyses were conducted using sequential linear regression. Childhood maltreatment was significantly associated with depression symptom severity (FDR 0.05). Our results suggest DNA methylation does not mediate the childhood maltreatment-depression association in the DNHS

Evaluating hole quality in drilling of Al 6061 alloys

Hole quality in drilling is considered a precursor for reliable and secure component assembly, ensuring product integrity and functioning service life. This paper aims to evaluate the influence of the key process parameters on drilling performance. A series of drilling tests with new TiN-coated high speed steel (HSS) bits are performed, while thrust force and torque are measured with the aid of an in-house built force dynamometer. The effect of process mechanics on hole quality, e.g., dimensional accuracy, burr formation, surface finish, is evaluated in relation to drill-bit wear and chip formation mechanism. Experimental results indicate that the feedrate which dictates the uncut chip thickness and material removal rate is the most dominant factor, significantly impacting force and hole quality. For a given spindle speed range, maximum increase of axial force and torque is 44.94% and 47.65%, respectively, when feedrate increases from 0.04 mm/rev to 0.08 mm/rev. Stable, jerk-free cutting at feedrate of as low as 0.04 mm/rev is shown to result in hole dimensional error of less than 2%. A low feedrate along with high spindle speed may be preferred. The underlying tool wear mechanism and progression needs to be taken into account when drilling a large number of holes. The findings of the paper clearly signify the importance and choice of drilling parameters and provide guidelines for manufacturing industries to enhance a part's dimensional integrity and productivity