58 research outputs found
Goddess of the Orient: Exploring the Relationship between the Persian Goddess Anahita and the Sufi Journey to Mount Qaf
No full textThis paper explores the possible connections between the Persian Goddess Aredvi Sura Anahita and Sufi cosmology. How can we trace images, symbols and functions of the goddess in the symbolic journey to Mount Qaf in Sufism? The research question was posed by the author after a collision of mystical experiences and dreams with the figure of Anahita while being on the Sufi path. The paper offers a linguistic, scriptural and hermeneutic analysis of Anahita in the Avesta and her role in Zoroastrian cosmology, while looking at the symbolic importance of Mount Qaf and the figure of Khezr in Sufism. The comparative study draws on the work of Henry Corbin and Shahab al-Din Sohrawardi to explore the threads between these two ancient Persian traditions
Phänotypisierung von Mäusen mit genetischen Defekten relevant zum allergischen Erkrankungen: Proteinase 3/neutrophil Elastase Doppel-Knockout-Mäusen
No full textUnderstanding the type of cellular inflammation in acute severe asthma has important implications not only for the treatment of disease but also for its prevention. Although there is clear evidence demonstrating distinct infiltration and presence of neutrophils in asthma, their specific function for the disease is not fully elucidated.
The granule-associated elastase homologues neutrophil elastase and proteinase 3 are involved in immune defense reactions of neutrophils.
The use of genetically engineered animal models to explore the function of genes and for the selection of appropriate drug targets holds great promise in accelerating the development of valuable therapies. Model organisms, especially the mouse, have proven to be important tools to learn more about gene functions.
Understanding the role of neutrophils and its proteases has important implication not only for the treatment of asthma but also for its prevention.
In this study the role of neutrophil proteases in an animal model of asthma was investigated. We mainly focused on type I allergic reactions. Intrestingly, we found that after aerosol challenge of mice lacking the neutrophil proteases, Elastase and proteinase 3, normal attending of neutrophils in bronchial lumen can be followed by recruitment /infiltration of the normal levels of eosinophils.
Thus, surprisingly, our primary hypothesis that impaired neutrophils may cause significant changes in eosinophils infiltration in bronchoalveolar lavage was not confirmed. This observation raises the hypothesis that neutrophil serine proteases may exert more subtle effects such a delayed cellular clearance in the inflammation site.Es gibt klare Beweise für eine starke Infiltration von Neutrophilen bei Asthma. Die Aufklärung der Rolle von Neutrophilen und deren Proteasen, die Neutrophilen Elastase und Proteinase 3 kann somit wichtige Erkenntnisse für Prävention und Therapie von Asthma liefern. In dieser Studie wurde die Rolle der Neutrophilenproteasen in einem Asthma-Mausmodell untersucht. Zusammenfassend lässt sich feststellen, dass ein Defekt von Neutrophilenproteasen die Infiltration von Eosinophilen nicht beeinträchtigt. Es ist jedoch möglich, dass Neutrophilenproteasen an der Beseitigung des zellulären Infiltrates am Entzündungsort beteiligt sein können
A novel bi-level temporally-distributed MPC approach: An application to green urban mobility
No full textModel predictive control (MPC) has been widely used for traffic management, such as for minimizing the total time spent or the total emissions of vehicles. When long-term green urban mobility is considered including e.g. a constraint on the total yearly emissions, the optimization horizon of the MPC problem is significantly larger than the control sampling time, and thus the number of the variables that should be optimized per control time step becomes very large. For systems with dynamics that involve nonlinear, non-convex, and non-smooth functions, including urban traffic networks, this results in optimization problems that are computationally intractable in real time. In this paper, we propose a novel bi-level temporal distribution of such complex MPC optimization problems, and we develop two mathematically linked short-term and long-term MPC formulations with small and large control sampling times that will be solved together instead of the original complex optimization problem. The resulting bi-level control architecture is used to solve the two MPC formulations online for real-time control of urban traffic networks with the objective of long-term green mobility. In order to assess the performance of the bi-level control architecture, we perform a case study where a rough version of the model of the urban traffic flow, S-model, is used by the long-term MPC level to estimate the states of the urban traffic networks, and a detailed version of the model is used by the short-term MPC level. The results of the simulations prove the effectiveness (with respect to the objective of control, as well as computational efficiency) of the proposed bi-level MPC approach, compared to state-of-the-art control approaches.Control & SimulationTransport and PlanningTeam Bart De SchutterDelft Center for Systems and Contro
Flexible urbanism
No full textThesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2006.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 95-96).This thesis seeks to find a new approach/method towards urbanization in existing low density neighborhoods in major metropolitan cities in the United States. The near South side of the city of Chicago (a city that carries a history as the most modern city in the world in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century) will be taken as a site for development. The site of the Illinois Institute of Technology has an associated history dating back to the nineteenth century as well as an extensive housing development built as a post world war two response to a lack of housing in major metropolitan cities. Today, the area stands deserted, with a few housing tower blocks that remain occupied. The idea of flexible urbanism that would benefit the Chicago neighborhood can be traced back in history to the eighteenth century, a period during which rationality created a new type of society. Rationality is fundamental to this thesis, taken to its hilt with the idea that extreme rationality could lead to a sense of madness and diversity in options and ways of living in order to organize society today.(cont.) The idea of extreme rationality can be seen through history with the development of the prisons and asylums in the eighteenth and nineteenth century, and later in the design of the microraion, the unit of neighborhood development in the Constructivist period of the Soviet Planning process. During that period the garden city movement grew in the United Kingdom propagating the return of nature in the design of cities. A comparison to the garden city would be another new Town in England: Milton Keynes, a city where land was distinguished as separately zoned areas. These ideas of rationality and rule based zoning systems are fundamental to this thesis, and taken to its extreme to understand the city parametrically, in three dimensions. Finally, the application of this new approach towards densification shows that this strategy is one that can be used universally to revitalize, reinvigorate, and re-emphasize the use of extreme rationality in order to create vitality in cities, and diversity in use.by Anahita Anandam.S.M
An Exploration of Integrated Bi-level Local and Global Model Predictive Control for Air Traffic Control Applications
No full textA hierarchical bi-level model predictive controller is proposed in this thesis to reduce the computational complexity of controlling a large scale air traffic control problem, using a model predictive control approach. The bi-level controller developed and tested in this research project is a combination of a global, long-term, slow-rate, centralized model predictive controller and a local, short-term, fast-rate decentralized model predictive controller that aims to cooperatively guide aircraft towards their destination while avoiding forbidden areas. The bi-level controller is compared to both single-level controllers it is contrived to explore the benefits achieved by the cooperation of the individual controllers, in the context of an air traffic control application. An accurate baseline model predictive controller is used to compare the computational efficiency advantage gained when using the bi-level control structure. The bi-level controller proves to attain a superior control performance over both its contributing parts. The bilevel controller provides a more accurate control performance than the single global centralized controller and performs better in trajectory optimization than the local decentralized controller. Furthermore, the controller performance of the accurate baseline controller can be approached with the bi-level controller at a reduced computation time.Aerospace Engineerin
Fueling the heart: What are the optimal dietary strategies in heart failure?
No full textOBJECTIVES: Heart failure (HF) is a global health concern with rising incidence and poor prognosis. While the essential role of nutritional and dietary strategies in HF patients is acknowledged in the existing scientific guidelines and clinical practice, there are no comprehensive nutritional recommendations for optimal dietary management of HF.
METHODS: In this review, we discuss results from recent studies on the obesity paradox and the effects of calorie restriction and weight loss, intermittent fasting, the Western diet, the Mediterranean diet, the ketogenic diet, and the DASH diet on HF progression.
RESULTS: Many of these strategies remain under clinical and basic investigation for their safety and efficacy, and there is considerable heterogeneity in the observed response, presumably because of heterogeneity in the pathogenesis of different types of HF. In addition, while specific aspects of cardiac metabolism, such as changes in ketone body utilization, might underlie the effects of certain dietary strategies on the heart, there is a critical divide between supplement strategies (i.e., with ketones) and dietary strategies that impact ketogenesis.
CONCLUSION: This review aims to highlight this gap by exploring emerging evidence supporting the importance of personalized dietary strategies in preventing progression and improving outcomes in the context of HF
Effect of dietary carbohydrate restriction on cardiometabolic function in type 2 diabetes: weight loss and beyond
No full textH. pylori virulence factors: influence on immune system and pathology.
No full textHelicobacter pylori is the most widespread chronic bacterial agent in humans and is well recognized for its association with ulcer disease and gastric cancer, with both representing major global health and socioeconomic issues. Given the high level of adaptation and the coevolution of this bacterium with its human host, a thorough and multidirectional view of the specific microbiological characteristics of this infection as well as the host physiology is needed in order to develop novel means of prevention of therapy. This review aims to pinpoint some of these potentially important angles, which have to be considered mutually when studying H. pylori's pathogenicity. The host's biological changes due to the virulence factors are a valuable pillar of H. pylori research as are the mechanisms by which bacteria provoke these changes. In this context, necessary adhesion molecules and significant virulence factors of H. pylori are discussed. Moreover, metabolism of the bacteria, one of the most important aspects for a better understanding of bacterial physiology and consequently possible therapeutic and prophylactic strategies, is addressed. On the other hand, we discuss the recent experimental proofs of the "hygiene hypothesis" in correlation with Helicobacter's infection, which adds another aspect of complexity to this infection
Gender-Specific Patterns in the Artificial Intelligence Scientific Ecosystem
No full textGender disparity in science is one of the most focused debating points among authorities and the scientific community. Over the last few decades, numerous initiatives have endeavored to accelerate gender equity in academia and research society. However, despite the ongoing efforts, gaps persist across the world, and more measures need to be taken. Using various methodologies such as social network analysis, statistical analysis, bibliometrics, natural language processing, and machine learning, in this study, we comprehensively analyzed gender-specific patterns in the highly interdisciplinary and evolving field of artificial intelligence for the period of 2000-2019. This work was completed in two main phases: First, we investigated the collaboration patterns of artificial intelligence (AI) scientists to shed light on team composition characteristics in interdisciplinary research teams from a gender perspective. Next, we identified highly central AI scientists and calculated a multi-dimensional feature vector at the author level that covered multiple characteristics of scientific activities to explore the effects of driving factors on acquiring key/central network positions and explain any possible gender differences.
Our findings suggest an overall increasing rate of mixed-gender collaborations. From the observed gender-specific collaborative patterns, the existence of disciplinary homophily at both dyadic and team levels is confirmed. However, a higher preference was observed for female researchers to form homophilous collaborative links. Our core-periphery analysis indicated a significant positive association between having diverse collaboration and scientific performance and experience. We found evidence in support of expecting the rise of new female superstar researchers in the artificial intelligence field. Moreover, our findings provided a deep understanding of the profiles of highly central AI scientists and revealed that various individual author-level factors could contribute differently to occupying certain strategic network roles in the AI co-authorship network. However, some of the notable and common characteristics of central researchers, regardless of their gender, are their highly collaborative behavior and high research productivity and impact
The representation of Nahid's supernatural tasks from artwork's narrative:Nahid's supernatural tasks
No full textThere is always a spiritual and intellectual power in primeval art which connects our world with supernatural world. The foundation-stone is agricultural lifestyle and farming archetypes in Iran ancient civilization; so, enrichment subject-matter or enhancement idea is a fair question for ancient culture. The generative idea plays a vital role that is connected with goddesses. These forms, shapes and metaphysical functions of goddesses are composed of natural elements like: The Zodiac (Stars), plants, animals or music instruments. The Iranian goddess named Anahita/ Nahid, is the symbol of generative idea and the kingdom of Seas. People regarded goddess of the waters/Nahid as very respectable and many Temples are built for her by people. They gave gifts to her temples. Gifts were the valuable works of art having some pictures of Nahid on them. These images showed her supernatural tasks inspired by religious texts and books. So we have reviewed religious literatures of Iranian Ancient centuries. If we pay attention to these ancient texts, we do not make mistakes in our interpretation from Nahid's image. Research method of the current study is based on library and documentation from works of art using comparative study of art. The author tried to find points of similarity between Anahita and other goddesses in matriarchal and ancient civilization, and illustrate and analyze the roots of their shapes for finding common denominator. We can see their pictures and mutual effects in art
- …
