Impact of Human,workplace and indoor environmental risk factors on operator’s reliability in control rooms

Abstract

Adequate design of control rooms is very important for increasing the reliability of operators working in them. Therefore, it is necessary to choose the best solution for improving the compliance between operators and elements of control room while dealing with problems of illumination, thermal climate and noise. For this purpose we will analyze the impact of execution time of operator's information processing tasks, motor and logical operator's tasks, operator's functional state, workplace risk factors and indoor environment parameters on operator's reliability in control room. Methodological approaches for these five groups are formed and used for experimental research and to determine the level of their quantitative values. Research results are showing the following levels of reliability for specific indicators: reaction time ‐ very good, coefficient of task complexity ‐ optimal, operator's error caused by stress ‐ very good, workplace risk factor ‐ critical and indoor environment ‐ good. Because the functional appropriateness and efficiency in the operator's workplace were inadequate, the following recommendations and solutions were proposed: signaling and control elements should be placed on the central part of the control desk, because due to poor control desk construction, they cause uneven burden on various operator's body parts.     

Phenotypic noise and the cost of complexity

Experimental studies demonstrate the existence of phenotypic diversity despite constant genotype and environment. Theoretical models based on a single phenotypic character predict that during an adaptation event, phenotypic noise should be positively selected far from the fitness optimum because it increases the fitness of the genotype, and then be selected against when the population reaches the optimum. It is suggested that because of this fitness gain, phenotypic noise should promote adaptive evolution. However, it is unclear how the selective advantage of phenotypic noise is linked to the rate of evolution, and whether any advantage would hold for more realistic, multidimensional phenotypes. Indeed, complex organisms suffer a cost of complexity, where beneficial mutations become rarer as the number of phenotypic characters increases. Using a quantitative genetics approach, we first show that for a one-dimensional phenotype, phenotypic noise promotes adaptive evolution on plateaus of positive fitness, independently from the direct selective advantage on fitness. Second, we show that for multidimensional phenotypes, phenotypic noise evolves to a low-dimensional configuration, with elevated noise in the direction of the fitness optimum. Such a dimensionality reduction of the phenotypic noise promotes adaptive evolution and numerical simulations show that it reduces the cost of complexity.     

Muon disrupts AKT hydrogen bond network in cancer

A cancer microenvironment generates strong hydrogen bond network system by the positive feedback loops supporting cancer complexity and robustness. Such network functions through the AKT locus generating high entropic energy supporting cancer metastatic robustness. Charged lepton particle muon follows the rule of Bragg effect during a collision with hydrogen network in cancer cells. Muon beam dismantles hydrogen bond network in cancer by the muon-catalyzed fusion, leading to apoptosis of cancer cells. Muon induces cumulative energy appearance on the hydrogen bond network in a cancer cell with its fast decay to an electron and two neutrinos. Thus, muon beam, muonic atom, muon neutrino shower, and electrons simultaneously cause fast neutralization of the AKT hydrogen bond network by the conversion of hydrogen into deuterium or helium, inactivating the hydrogen bond networks and inducing failure of cancer complexity and robustness with the disappearance of a malignant phenotype.     

Disialogangliosides and Their Interaction with Cholera Toxin—Investigation by Molecular Modeling,Molecular Mechanics and Molecular Dynamics

Abstract

Molecular mechanics and molecular dynamics studies are performed to investigate the conformational preference of cell surface disialogangliosides (GD1A, GD1B and GD3) in aqueous environment. The molecular mechanics calculation reveals that water mediated hydrogen bonding network plays a significant role in the structural stabilization of GD1A, GD1B and GD3. These water mediated hydrogen bonds not only exist between neighboring residues but also exist between residues that are separated by 2 to 3 residues in between. The conformational energy difference between different conformational states of gangliosides correlates very well with the number of water mediated and direct hydrogen bonds. The spatial flexibility of NeuNAc of gangliosides at the binding site of cholera toxin is worked out. The NeuNAc has a limited allowed eulerian space at the binding site of Cholera Toxin (2.4%). The molecular modeling, molecular mechanics and molecular dynamics of disialo- ganglioside-cholera toxin complex reveal that cholera toxin can accommodate the disialo- ganglioside GD1A in three different modes. A single mode of binding is permissible for GD1B and GD3. Direct and water mediated hydrogen bonding interactions stabilizes these binding modes and play an essential role in defining the order of specificity for different disialogangliosides towards cholera toxin. This study not only provides models for the disialoganglioside-cholera toxin complexes but also identifies the NeuNAc binding site as a site for design of inhibitors that can restrict the pathogenic activity of cholera toxin.     

Dissecting NDVI–species richness relationships in Hawaiian dry forests

Aim A growing body of research has used the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) as a proxy for productivity to predict species richness. Yet the mechanisms that produce the relationship between NDVI and species richness remain unclear because of correlated biotic and abiotic factors that influence NDVI. In this study we investigated different biotic and abiotic effects that potentially drive plant species richness–productivity relationships. Location Hawaiian Islands, USA. Methods We quantified woody plant species richness, structure (density, basal area and canopy height), and species composition along a precipitation gradient of 14 Hawaiian dry forest plots. We then used structural equation models combined with 10 years of satellite data to disentangle the effects of precipitation, structure and NDVI‐estimated productivity on species richness. Results Underlying the simple correlation between NDVI and species richness was the indirect effect of precipitation and direct effect of forest structure. The best‐fit model showed there was no direct effect of NDVI on species richness. Main conclusions Our results demonstrate that complex relationships drive simple correlations between species richness and productivity. Considering the mechanisms and underlying factors driving NDVI–species richness relationships could improve predictions of species diversity as satellite measures of productivity have an increasingly important role in habitat mapping, species distribution modelling and predictions for global change.     

Glutamine-Fructose-6-Phosphate Transaminase 2 (GFPT2) Is Upregulated in Breast Epithelial–Mesenchymal Transition and Responds to Oxidative Stress

Breast cancer cells that have undergone partial epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) are believed to be more invasive than cells that have completed EMT. To study metabolic reprogramming in different mesenchymal states, we analyzed protein expression following EMT in the breast epithelial cell model D492 with single-shot LFQ supported by a SILAC proteomics approach. The D492 EMT cell model contains three cell lines: the epithelial D492 cells, the mesenchymal D492M cells, and a partial mesenchymal, tumorigenic variant of D492 that overexpresses the oncogene HER2. The analysis classified the D492 and D492M cells as basal-like and D492HER2 as claudin-low. Comparative analysis of D492 and D492M to tumorigenic D492HER2 differentiated metabolic markers of migration from those of invasion. Glutamine-fructose-6-phosphate transaminase 2 (GFPT2) was one of the top dysregulated enzymes in D492HER2. Gene expression analysis of the cancer genome atlas showed that GFPT2 expression was a characteristic of claudin-low breast cancer. siRNA-mediated knockdown of GFPT2 influenced the EMT marker vimentin and both cell growth and invasion in vitro and was accompanied by lowered metabolic flux through the hexosamine biosynthesis pathway (HBP). Knockdown of GFPT2 decreased cystathionine and sulfide:quinone oxidoreductase (SQOR) in the transsulfuration pathway that regulates H₂S production and mitochondrial homeostasis. Moreover, GFPT2 was within the regulation network of insulin and EGF, and its expression was regulated by reduced glutathione (GSH) and suppressed by the oxidative stress regulator GSK3-β. Our results demonstrate that GFPT2 controls growth and invasion in the D492 EMT model, is a marker for oxidative stress, and associated with poor prognosis in claudin-low breast cancer.     

Multimodal cues improve prey localization under complex environmental conditions

Predators often eavesdrop on sexual displays of their prey. These displays can provide multimodal cues that aid predators, but the benefits in attending to them should depend on the environmental sensory conditions under which they forage. We assessed whether bats hunting for frogs use multimodal cues to locate their prey and whether their use varies with ambient conditions. We used a robotic set-up mimicking the sexual display of a male túngara frog (Physalaemus pustulosus) to test prey assessment by fringe-lipped bats (Trachops cirrhosus). These predatory bats primarily use sound of the frog''s call to find their prey, but the bats also use echolocation cues returning from the frog''s dynamically moving vocal sac. In the first experiment, we show that multimodal cues affect attack behaviour: bats made narrower flank attack angles on multimodal trials compared with unimodal trials during which they could only rely on the sound of the frog. In the second experiment, we explored the bat''s use of prey cues in an acoustically more complex environment. Túngara frogs often form mixed-species choruses with other frogs, including the hourglass frog (Dendropsophus ebraccatus). Using a multi-speaker set-up, we tested bat approaches and attacks on the robofrog under three different levels of acoustic complexity: no calling D. ebraccatus males, two calling D. ebraccatus males and five D. ebraccatus males. We found that bats are more directional in their approach to the robofrog when more D. ebraccatus males were calling. Thus, bats seemed to benefit more from multimodal cues when confronted with increased levels of acoustic complexity in their foraging environments. Our data have important consequences for our understanding of the evolution of multimodal sexual displays as they reveal how environmental conditions can alter the natural selection pressures acting on them.     

The structural complexity of DNA templates—Implications on cellular complexity

A previously formulated procedure for the quantitative evaluation of the complexities of molecules and biostructures is applied to assess the complexities of selected genomic DNA sequences. These include: (1) Several E. coli genes, including lacI, as examples of DNA sequences which are nearly as complex as possible (relative complexity=∼1). This is verified by the Lempel-Ziv (LZ) complexity analysis. (2) The telomere of a yeast chromosome, which has a considerable number of regular features that reduce complexity; the telomere shows indeed a lower structural complexity value. (3) A segment of human DNA, gene p53, which has a certain number of regular features such as 29 interspersed alu elements; these features cause a certain reduction in the complexity of the p53 gene, but do not invalidate the (previous) overall conclusion that template complexity is very high. The close to maximal complexity of the transcribed regions of p53 is validated by the LZ compression analysis. The general conclusion is that DNA base sequence composition is the dominant factor determining cellular complexity. The high complexity of DNA arrived at is a direct consequence of the template character of DNA and reflects the role of genomic DNA as a principal regulating element of a cell. It will be a challenge to find systems of lower complexity with the ability to respond to challenges from the environment to the extent that DNA templated systems do. Cellular complexity and template directed activity are thus highly intertwined properties, at the heart of many developmental, behavioral and evolutionary processes.     

E‐Commerce Effects on Energy Consumption: A Multi‐Year Ecosystem‐Level Assessment

This research investigates the impact of e‐commerce on energy consumption in all four sectors of the U.S. economy (commercial, industrial, residential, and transportation), using macroeconomic data from 1992 to 2015. These data capture all the development phases of e‐commerce, as well as direct and rebound effects in and across sectors. Empirical dynamic models (EDMs), a novel methodology in industrial ecology, are applied to the e‐commerce/energy relationship to accommodate for complex system behavior and state‐dependent effects. The results of these data‐driven methods suggest that e‐commerce increases energy consumption mainly through increases in the residential and commercial sectors. These findings contrast with extant research that focuses on transportation effects, which appear less prominent in this investigation. E‐commerce effects also demonstrate state dependence, varying over the magnitude of e‐commerce as a percentage of the total retail sector, particularly in commercial and transportation realms. Assuming these effects will continue in the future, the findings imply that policy makers should focus on mitigating the environmentally deteriorating effects of e‐commerce in the residential sector. However, this investigation cannot provide root causes for the uncovered e‐commerce effects. Robustness of the empirical findings, limitations of the novel EDM methodology, and respective avenues for future methodological and substantial research are discussed.     

Deleterious effects of potassium bromate administration on renal and hepatic tissues of Swiss mice

Potassium bromate (KBrO₃) is widely used as a food additive and is a major water disinfection by-product. The present study reports the side effects of KBrO₃ administration in Swiss mice. Animals were randomly divided into three groups: control, low dose KBrO₃ (100 mg/kg/day) and high dose KBrO₃ (200 mg/kg/day) groups. Administration of KBrO₃ led to decreased white blood corpuscles (WBCs), red blood corpuscles (RBCs) and platelets count in the animals of both the high and the low dose groups. Altered lipid profile represented as low density lipoprotein (LDL), high density lipoprotein (HDL) and cholesterol levels were observed in plasma samples of both KBrO₃ treated groups of mice. Also, an increased plasma level of LDH was detected in both KBrO₃ treated groups. Histological investigations showed impaired renal and hepatic histology that was concomitant with increased plasma Creatinine level in both of KBrO₃-treated groups. Nevertheless, decreased glutathione (GSH) level in both renal and hepatic tissue of mice after KBrO₃ intake was detected. These results show that KBrO₃ has serious damaging effects and therefore, its use should be avoided.