Distribution of user-perceived usefulness of four presentation styles of opinion summarization

In this study, four opinion summarization styles were compared under an experimental environment. Thirty four participants sorted thirty two cards into five usefulness categories. Every eight cards belong to one presentation style. It was found that the users spent the shortest time on cards in “not at all useful” category. The time of viewing “extremely useful” cards was also shorter than that of “somewhat useful”, “useful”, and “very useful” cards. This result can be explained with the components of the usefulness categories. Tag clouds and Aspect oriented sentiments needed less time to view. They are the major styles in “not at all useful” and “extremely useful”. Paragraph summaries and Group samples requested more time and they took at least 50% in “somewhat useful”, “useful”, and “very useful”. The findings are consistent with our previous results

Prosopanche: a remarkable genus of parasitic plants

Prosopanche is a poorly known genus of parasitic plants from South and Central America. Growing almost entirely underground with a complete lack of leaves, plants of Prosopanche bear more resemblance to fungi than plants and have many remarkable aspects to their life history and ecology that require further investigation. Here, we provide an up-to-date revision of the current state of understanding of Prosopanche, including taxonomy, biogeography, plant-pollinator ecology and host-parasite interactions. We discuss the untapped research potential of this group of plants and recommend the Prosopanche as an ideal candidate for exploring the evolutionary origins of parasitism among flowering plants

Increasing dominance of large lianas in Amazonian forests

Ecological orthodoxy suggests that old-growth forests should be close to dynamic equilibrium, but this view has been challenged by recent findings that neotropical forests are accumulating carbon and biomass, possibly in response to the increasing atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide. However, it is unclear whether the recent increase in tree biomass has been accompanied by a shift in community composition. Such changes could reduce or enhance the carbon storage potential of old-growth forests in the long term. Here we show that non-fragmented Amazon forests are experiencing a concerted increase in the density, basal area and mean size of woody climbing plants (lianas). Over the last two decades of the twentieth century the dominance of large lianas relative to trees has increased by 1.7–4.6% a year. Lianas enhance tree mortality and suppress tree growth, so their rapid increase implies that the tropical terrestrial carbon sink may shut down sooner than current models suggest. Predictions of future tropical carbon fluxes will need to account for the changing composition and dynamics of supposedly undisturbed forests

Endogenous cholinergic inputs and local circuit mechanisms govern the phasic mesolimbic dopamine response to nicotine

Nicotine exerts its reinforcing action by stimulating nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) and boosting dopamine (DA) output from the ventral tegmental area (VTA). Recent data have led to a debate about the principal pathway of nicotine action: direct stimulation of the DAergic cells through nAChR activation, or disinhibition mediated through desensitization of nAChRs on GABAergic interneurons. We use a computational model of the VTA circuitry and nAChR function to shed light on this issue. Our model illustrates that the α4β2-containing nAChRs either on DA or GABA cells can mediate the acute effects of nicotine. We account for in vitro as well as in vivo data, and predict the conditions necessary for either direct stimulation or disinhibition to be at the origin of DA activity increases. We propose key experiments to disentangle the contribution of both mechanisms. We show that the rate of endogenous acetylcholine input crucially determines the evoked DA response for both mechanisms. Together our results delineate the mechanisms by which the VTA mediates the acute rewarding properties of nicotine and suggest an acetylcholine dependence hypothesis for nicotine reinforcement.Peer reviewe

A tryptophan-rich peptide acts as a transcription activation domain

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Eukaryotic transcription activators normally consist of a sequence-specific DNA-binding domain (DBD) and a transcription activation domain (AD). While many sequence patterns and motifs have been defined for DBDs, ADs do not share easily recognizable motifs or structures.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We report herein that the N-terminal domain of yeast valyl-tRNA synthetase can function as an AD when fused to a DNA-binding protein, LexA, and turn on reporter genes with distinct LexA-responsive promoters. The transcriptional activity was mainly attributed to a five-residue peptide, WYDWW, near the C-terminus of the N domain. Remarkably, the pentapeptide <it>per se </it>retained much of the transcriptional activity. Mutations which substituted tryptophan residues for both of the non-tryptophan residues in the pentapeptide (resulting in W₅) significantly enhanced its activity (~1.8-fold), while mutations which substituted aromatic residues with alanine residues severely impaired its activity. Accordingly, a much more active peptide, pentatryptophan (W₇), was produced, which elicited ~3-fold higher activity than that of the native pentapeptide and the N domain. Further study indicated that W₇mediates transcription activation through interacting with the general transcription factor, TFIIB.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Since W₇shares no sequence homology or features with any known transcription activators, it may represent a novel class of AD.</p

An investigation to assess ankle mobility in healthy individuals from the application of multi-component compression bandages and compression hosiery

Background An investigation was undertaken to compare the effect of multi-component compression bandages and compression hosiery kits on individuals’ range of ankle motion whilst wearing typical and medical footwear, and barefoot. Methods A convenience sample of 30 healthy individuals recruited from the staff and student population at the University of Huddersfield, UK. Plantarflexion/dorsiflexion range of ankle motion (ROAM) was measured in participants over 6 steps in every combination of typical, medical and no footwear; and multi-component bandages, compression hosiery and no garments. Results Controlling for age, gender and garments, the use of typical footwear was associated with a mean increase in ROAM of 2.54° at best estimate compared with barefoot; the use of medical footwear was associated with a mean decrease in ROAM of 1.12° at best estimate compared with barefoot. Controlling for age, gender and footwear, the use of bandaging was associated with a mean decrease in ROAM of 2.51° at best estimate compared with no garments. Controlling for age, gender and footwear, the use of hosiery was not associated with a significant change in ROAM compared with no garments. Conclusions Bandages appear to restrict ROAM more than hosiery when used in conjunction with a variety of footwear types

Psychometric Properties of an Assessment for Mental Health Recovery Programs

The concept of recovery can be operationalized from either the point of view of the consumer, or from the perspective of the agency providing services. The Milestones of Recovery Scale (MORS) was created to capture aspects of recovery from the agency perspective. Evidence establishing the psychometric properties of the MORS was obtained in three efforts: Inter-rater reliability using staff at The Village, a multi-service organization serving the homeless mentally ill in Long Beach, California; inter-rater reliability was also obtained from Vinfen Corporation, a large provider of housing services to mentally ill persons in Boston, Massachusetts. A test–retest reliability study was conducted using staff rating of clients at The Village, and evidence for validity was obtained using the Level of Care Utilization System (LOCUS) as a validity measure. The intra-class correlation coefficient for the inter-rater reliability study was r = .85 (CI .81, .89) for The Village and r = .86 (CI .80, .90) for Vinfen Corporation; test–retest reliability was r = .85 (CI .81, .87); and validity coefficients for the LOCUS were at or above r = .49 for all subscales except one. There is sufficient evidence for the reliability and validity of the MORS

Transcriptome Responses of Insect Fat Body Cells to Tissue Culture Environment

Tissue culture is performed to maintain isolated portions of multicellular organisms in an artificial milieu that is outside the individual organism and for considerable periods of time; cells derived from cultured explants are, in general, different from cells of the corresponding tissue in a living organism. The changes in cultured tissues that precede and often explain the subsequent cell proliferation of explant-derived cells have been partially studied, but little is known about the molecular and genomic basis of these changes. Comparative transcriptomics of intact and cultured (90 hours in MGM-450 insect medium) Bombyx mori tissues revealed that fewer genes represented a larger portion of the transcriptome of intact fat body tissues than of cultured fat body tissues. This analysis also indicated that expression of genes encoding sugar transporters and immune response proteins increased during culture and that expression of genes encoding lipoproteins and cuticle proteins decreased during culture. These results provide support for hypotheses that cultured tissues respond immunologically to surgery, adapt to the medium by accelerating sugar uptake, and terminate their identity as part of an intact organism by becoming independent of that organism