What properties characterize the hub proteins of the protein-protein interaction network of Saccharomyces cerevisiae?

BACKGROUND: Most proteins interact with only a few other proteins while a small number of proteins (hubs) have many interaction partners. Hub proteins and non-hub proteins differ in several respects; however, understanding is not complete about what properties characterize the hubs and set them apart from proteins of low connectivity. Therefore, we have investigated what differentiates hubs from non-hubs and static hubs (party hubs) from dynamic hubs (date hubs) in the protein-protein interaction network of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. RESULTS: The many interactions of hub proteins can only partly be explained by bindings to similar proteins or domains. It is evident that domain repeats, which are associated with binding, are enriched in hubs. Moreover, there is an over representation of multi-domain proteins and long proteins among the hubs. In addition, there are clear differences between party hubs and date hubs. Fewer of the party hubs contain long disordered regions compared to date hubs, indicating that these regions are important for flexible binding but less so for static interactions. Furthermore, party hubs interact to a large extent with each other, supporting the idea of party hubs as the cores of highly clustered functional modules. In addition, hub proteins, and in particular party hubs, are more often ancient. Finally, the more recent paralogs of party hubs are underrepresented. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that multiple and repeated domains are enriched in hub proteins and, further, that long disordered regions, which are common in date hubs, are particularly important for flexible binding

Response of ‘Carabao’ Mangoes to Various Ripening Agents

Mango (Mangifera indica), a climacteric fruit, undergoes ripening after harvest. Ripening alters the physicochemical characteristics of fruit that converts it into one that is edible and acceptable in the market. The ripening of mango consists of changes in color, firmness, texture, aroma, and taste. Ethylene gas ripens mangoes, but it is not readily available. The local market uses calcium carbide, which is no longer used in many mango-producing countries. The use of bioethylene or ethylene natural sources can be alternative ripening agents. In this study, various ripening agents were evaluated. ‘Carabao’ mangoes were treated with ethephon (2-chloroethylphosphonic acid, CEPA at 250, 500, 1000, and 1500 μL L-1); calcium carbide (CaC2 at 2.5, 5, and 7.5 g kg-1); and bioethylene sources such as madre cacao or kakawate (Gliricidia sepium) at 10% and 20%; more green than yellow ‘Cardava’ banana (10%), and more green than yellow mango (10%). Bioethylene sources did not reduce the number of days to ripen the mango compared to calcium carbide and ethephon at 1500 μL L-1. Calcium carbide treatment reduced the days to ripening or TRS (from 6.6 to 3 days) of mango fruit with better visual quality and lower weight loss at TRS. At TRS, untreated fruit had the highest weight loss at 9.6%. Fruit ripened with more yellow than green ‘Cardava’ banana and mango gave the least weight loss per day

Near-Infrared Fluorescence Image-Guided Surgery in Esophageal and Gastric Cancer Operations

Background: Near-infrared fluorescence image-guided surgery helps surgeons to see beyond the classical eye vision. Over the last few years, we have witnessed a revolution which has begun in the field of image-guided surgery. Purpose, and Research design: Fluorescence technology using indocyanine green (ICG) has shown promising results in many organs, and in this review article, we wanted to discuss the 6 main domains where fluorescence image-guided surgery is currently used for esophageal and gastric cancer surgery. Study sample and data collection: Visualization of lymphatic vessels, tumor localization, fluorescence angiography for anastomotic evaluation, thoracic duct visualization, tracheal blood flow analysis, and sentinel node biopsy are discussed. Conclusions: It seems that this technology has already found its place in surgery. However, new possibilities and research avenues in this area will probably make it even more important in the near future

Induction of angiotensin converting enzyme after miR-143/145 deletion is critical for impaired smooth muscle contractility.

MicroRNAs have emerged as regulators of smooth muscle cell phenotype with a role in smooth muscle-related disease. Studies have shown that miR-143 and miR-145 are the most highly expressed microRNAs in smooth muscle cells, controlling differentiation and function. The effect of miR-143/145 knockout has been established in the vasculature but not in smooth muscle from other organs. Using knockout mice we found that maximal contraction induced by either depolarization or phosphatase inhibition was reduced in vascular and airway smooth muscle but maintained in the urinary bladder. Furthermore, a reduction of media thickness and reduced expression of differentiation markers was seen in the aorta but not in the bladder. Supporting the view that phenotype switching depends on a tissue-specific target of miR-143/145, we found induction of angiotensin converting enzyme in the aorta but not in the bladder where angiotensin converting enzyme was expressed at a low level. Chronic treatment with angiotensin type-1 receptor antagonist restored contractility in miR-143/145-deficient aorta while leaving bladder contractility unaffected. This shows that tissue-specific targets are critical for the effects of miR-143/145 on smooth muscle differentiation and that angiotensin converting enzyme is one such target

Automatic analysis of facilitated taste-liking

This paper focuses on: (i) Automatic recognition of taste-liking from facial videos by comparatively training and evaluating models with engineered features and state-of-the-art deep learning architectures, and (ii) analysing the classification results along the aspects of facilitator type, and the gender, ethnicity, and personality of the participants. To this aim, a new beverage tasting dataset acquired under different conditions (human vs. robot facilitator and priming vs. non-priming facilitation) is utilised. The experimental results show that: (i) The deep spatiotemporal architectures provide better classification results than the engineered feature models; (ii) the classification results for all three classes of liking, neutral and disliking reach F1 scores in the range of 71%-91%; (iii) the personality-aware network that fuses participants’ personality information with that of facial reaction features provides improved classification performance; and (iv) classification results vary across participant gender, but not across facilitator type and participant ethnicity.EPSR

Alcohol use among university students in Sweden measured by an electronic screening instrument

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Electronic-based alcohol screening and brief interventions for university students with problem drinking behaviours forms an important means by which to identify risky drinkers.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In this study an e-SBI project was implemented to assess drinking patterns, and to provide personalised feedback about alcohol consumption and related health problems, to students in a Swedish university. In this study, third semester university students (n = 2858) from all faculties (colleges) at the University were invited to participate in e-SBI screenings. This study employed a randomised controlled trial, with respondents having a equal chance of being assigned to a limited, or full-feedback response.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The study shows that high risk drinkers tend to underestimate their own consumption compared to others, and that these high risk drinkers experience more negative consequences after alcohol intake, than other respondents. There was a strong belief, for both high- and low-risk drinkers, that alcohol helped celebrations be more festive. This study also confirms findings from other study locations that while males drank more than females in our study population; females reached the same peak alcohol blood concentrations as males.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Obtaining clear and current information on drinking patterns demonstrated by university students can help public health officials, university administration, and local health care providers develop appropriate prevention and treatment strategies.</p

Is there a demand for physical activity interventions provided by the health care sector? Findings from a population survey

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Health care providers in many countries have delivered interventions to improve physical activity levels among their patients. Thus far, less is known about the population's interest to increase their physical activity levels and their opinion about the health care provider's role in physical activity promotion. The aims of this paper were to investigate the self-reported physical activity levels of the population and intention to increase physical activity levels, self-perceived need for support, and opinions about the responsibilities of both individuals and health care providers to promote physical activity.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A regional public health survey was mailed to 13 440 adults (aged 18-84 years) living in Östergötland County (Sweden) in 2006. The survey was part of the regular effort by the regional Health Authorities.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>About 25% of the population was categorised as physically active, 38% as moderately active, 27% as somewhat active, and 11% as low active. More than one-third (37%) had no intentions to increase their physical activity levels, 36% had thought about change, while 27% were determined to change. Lower intention to change was mainly associated with increased age and lower education levels. 28% answered that physical activity was the most important health-related behaviour to change "right now" and 15% of those answered that they wanted or needed support to make this change. Of respondents who might be assumed to be in greatest need of increased activity (i.e. respondents reporting poor general health, BMI>30, and inactivity) more than one-quarter wanted support to make improvements to their health. About half of the respondents who wanted support to increase their physical activity levels listed health care providers as a primary source for support.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These findings suggest that there is considerable need for physical activity interventions in this population. Adults feel great responsibility for their own physical activity levels, but also attribute responsibility for promoting increased physical activity to health care practitioners.</p

On ethically solvent leaders : the roles of pride and moral identity in predicting leader ethical behavior.

The popular media has repeatedly pointed to pride as one of the key factors motivating leaders to behave unethically. However, given the devastating consequences that leader unethical behavior may have, a more scientific account of the role of pride is warranted. The present study differentiates between authentic and hubristic pride and assesses its impact on leader ethical behavior, while taking into consideration the extent to which leaders find it important to their self-concept to be a moral person. In two experiments we found that with higher levels of moral identity, authentically proud leaders are more likely to engage in ethical behavior than hubristically proud leaders, and that this effect is mediated by leaders’ motivation to act selflessly. A field survey among organizational leaders corroborated that moral identity may bring the positive effect of authentic pride and the negative effect of hubristic pride on leader ethical behavior to the forefront