41 research outputs found
Pharmacological distinction between dantrolene and ryanodine binding sites: evidence from normal and malignant hyperthermia-susceptible porcine skeletal muscle
Multilocus Phylogenetic Study of the Scheffersomyces Yeast Clade and Characterization of the N-Terminal Region of Xylose Reductase Gene
Many of the known xylose-fermenting (X-F) yeasts are placed in the Scheffersomyces clade, a group of ascomycete yeasts that have been isolated from plant tissues and in association with lignicolous insects. We formally recognize fourteen species in this clade based on a maximum likelihood (ML) phylogenetic analysis using a multilocus dataset. This clade is divided into three subclades, each of which exhibits the biochemical ability to ferment cellobiose or xylose. New combinations are made for seven species of Candida in the clade, and three X-F taxa associated with rotted hardwood are described: Scheffersomyces illinoinensis (type strain NRRL Y-48827T = CBS 12624), Scheffersomyces quercinus (type strain NRRL Y-48825T = CBS 12625), and Scheffersomyces virginianus (type strain NRRL Y-48822T = CBS 12626). The new X-F species are distinctive based on their position in the multilocus phylogenetic analysis and biochemical and morphological characters. The molecular characterization of xylose reductase (XR) indicates that the regions surrounding the conserved domain contain mutations that may enhance the performance of the enzyme in X-F yeasts. The phylogenetic reconstruction using XYL1 or RPB1 was identical to the multilocus analysis, and these loci have potential for rapid identification of cryptic species in this clade
Eugene – A Domain Specific Language for Specifying and Constraining Synthetic Biological Parts, Devices, and Systems
BACKGROUND: Synthetic biological systems are currently created by an ad-hoc, iterative process of specification, design, and assembly. These systems would greatly benefit from a more formalized and rigorous specification of the desired system components as well as constraints on their composition. Therefore, the creation of robust and efficient design flows and tools is imperative. We present a human readable language (Eugene) that allows for the specification of synthetic biological designs based on biological parts, as well as provides a very expressive constraint system to drive the automatic creation of composite Parts (Devices) from a collection of individual Parts. RESULTS: We illustrate Eugene's capabilities in three different areas: Device specification, design space exploration, and assembly and simulation integration. These results highlight Eugene's ability to create combinatorial design spaces and prune these spaces for simulation or physical assembly. Eugene creates functional designs quickly and cost-effectively. CONCLUSIONS: Eugene is intended for forward engineering of DNA-based devices, and through its data types and execution semantics, reflects the desired abstraction hierarchy in synthetic biology. Eugene provides a powerful constraint system which can be used to drive the creation of new devices at runtime. It accomplishes all of this while being part of a larger tool chain which includes support for design, simulation, and physical device assembly
Experiences and Affordances of Voice Interaction on Children
With the world pacing towards artificial intelligence, it is crucial to
understand how humans react to these technologies and what their apprehensions
are, regarding the use of these technologies. Voice is the most powerful tool for
use in human computer interaction because it is the most natural and significant
means of human communication.
Voice applications based on voice interfaces, voice recognition, and voice
dialogue management can help users to be focused on their current work without
extra effort for hands or eyes, and without extra learning time. While adults have
a fair idea about the technology around them, children are still trying to figure it
out. It is important to understand their reactions and opinions regarding the use
of these technologies. The research involved talking to children and trying to
understand how they express their queries while talking to intelligent assistants
as compared to a human. Their conversations change when people, place and
settings around them change and while expressing, conversations and actions
play an important role in conveying thoughts.
It is important to encourage conversation between children by urging them
to ask questions about various topics and engage in interesting conversations.
Observing and understanding these conversation patterns can help to create
a set of guidelines to be followed while designing for experience through
conversations between kids and intelligent assistants