Quality Measures for Improving Technology Trees

The quality of technology trees in digital games can be improved by adjusting their structural and quantitative properties. Therefore, there is a demand for recognizing and measuring such properties. Part of the process can be automated; there are properties measurable by computers, and analyses based on the results (and visualizations of them) may help to produce significantly better technology trees, even practically without extra workload for humans. In this paper, we introduce useful technology tree properties and novel measuring features implemented into our software tool for manipulating technology trees

FEASIBILITY OF B2C CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP ANALYTICS IN THE B2B INDUSTRIAL CONTEXT

Abstract The purpose of the paper is to evaluate the feasibility of business-to-consumer (B2C) customer relationship analytics in the industrial business-to-business (B2B) context, in particular spare part sales. The contribution of the paper is twofold; the article identifies analytics approaches with value potential for B2B decision-making, and illustrates their value in use. The identified analytics approaches, customer segmentation, market basket analysis and target customer selection, are common in the B2C marketing and e-commerce. However, in the industrial B2B marketing, the application of these approaches is not yet common.. The different kinds of analytics under examination in this paper use machine learning (ML) techniques. The examination takes into account the applicability and usefulness of the techniques as well as implementation challenges. The research suggests that the identified analytics may serve different business purposes and may be relatively straightforward to implement. This requires careful examination of the desired purposes of use in a particular business context. However, the continuous and real-time use of such analyses remains a challenge for further examination also in information systems research. Keywords: Business analytics, B2B decision-making, Machine learning, Data mining, Artificial intelligence, CR

Säpsähtelyä ja poissaoloa

Keski-ikäiselle potilaalle ilmaantui etenkin aamuisin poissaolokohtauksia, joihin liittyi säpsähtelyä ja raajojen vääntelyä. Kohtausten aikana hän oli tajuissaan, mutta häneen ei saanut kontaktia

Polyketide reductases in defense-related parasorboside biosynthesis in Gerbera hybrida share processing strategies with microbial polyketide synthase systems

Plant polyketides are well-known for their crucial functions in plants and their importance in the context of human health. They are synthesized by type III polyketide synthases (PKSs) and their final functional diversity is determined by post-PKS tailoring enzymes. Gerbera hybrida is rich in two defense-related polyketides: gerberin and parasorboside. Their synthesis is known to be initiated by GERBERA 2-PYRONE SYNTHASE 1 (G2PS1), but the polyketide reductases (PKRs) that determine their final structure have not yet been identified. We identified two PKR candidates in the pathway, GERBERA REDUCTASE 1 (GRED1) and GRED2. Gene expression and metabolite analysis of different gerbera tissues, cultivars, and transgenic gerbera plants, and in vitro enzyme assays, were performed for functional characterization of the enzymes. GRED1 and GRED2 catalyze the second reduction step in parasorboside biosynthesis. They reduce the proximal keto domain of the linear CoA bound intermediate before lactonization. We identified a crucial tailoring step in an important gerbera PKS pathway and show that plant polyketide biosynthesis shares processing strategies with fungi and bacteria. The two tailoring enzymes are recruited from the ancient sporopollenin biosynthetic pathway to a defense-related PKS pathway in gerbera. Our data provide an example of how plants recruit conserved genes to new functions in secondary metabolism that are important for environmental adaptation.Peer reviewe

Gerberan karvasaineet suojaavat hyönteisherbivorialta

Gerbera hybrida (sädelatva) on suosittu koristekasvi. Terälehtien värit ovat peräisin vesiliukoisistaantosyaaneista, jotka ovat sekundäärimetabolian tuotteita. Tutkiessamme tätä metaboliareittiä, löysimmesen läheltä haaran, joka johtaa karvaan makuisiin yhdisteisiin, gerberiiniin ja parasorbosidiin.Näiden karvasaineiden merkitys gerberalle on ollut tuntematon.Gerberan karvasaineiden biosynteesiin vaikutettiin geenitekniikan keinoin hiljentämällä keskeisen2PS-geenin toiminta. Anti-2PS-linjojen siirtogeenisiin gerberoihin ei gerberiiniä ja parasorbosidiasynny, vaan ne maistuvat tavanomaiseen gerberaan verrattuna makealta. Epäily näiden makealta maistuvienkasvien herkkyydestä hyönteisherbivoriaan heräsi kasvihuonehavaintojemme perusteella.Teimme erilaisia syöttö- ja munintakokeita, joissa hyönteiset saivat valita karvasaineettoman jakarvasainetta sisältävän gerberan välillä. Karvasaineilla oli voimakas estävä vaikutus täplätupsukkaan(Orgyia antiqua) ja krysanteemiyökkösen (Spodoptera littoralis) herbivoriaa vastaan. Ansarijauhiasen(Trialeurodes vaporariorum) toukille karvasaineilla ei ollut merkitystä.Tutkimuksemme perusteella karvasaineilla on hyönteisherbivoriaa ehkäisevä vaikutus. Eri lajikkeillaon vaihtelua karvasaineiden määrän suhteen ja yhdisteiden pitoisuuksien mittaaminen onyksinkertainen keino uusien lajikkeiden hyönteiskestävyyden arvioimiseen jalostustyössä. Pitkällätähtäyksellä on myös mahdollista molekyylibiologisin keinoin siirtää koko karvasainereitti uusiinhyötykasvilajeihin, käytännössä koristekasveihin

Identification of target genes for a MYB-type anthocyanin regulator in Gerbera hybrida

Genetic modification of the flavonoid pathway has been used to produce novel colours and colour patterns in ornamental plants as well as to modify the nutritional and pharmaceutical properties of food crops. It has been suggested that co-ordinate control of multiple steps of the pathway with the help of regulatory genes would lead to a more predictable control of metabolic flux. Regulation of anthocyanin biosynthesis has been studied in a common ornamental plant, Gerbera hybrida (Asteraceae). An R2R3-type MYB factor, GMYB10, shares high sequence similarity and is phylogenetically grouped together with previously characterized regulators of anthocyanin pigmentation. Ectopic expression of GMYB10 leads to strongly enhanced accumulation of anthocyanin pigments as well as to an altered pigmentation pattern in transgenic gerbera plants. Anthocyanin analysis indicates that GMYB10 specifically induces cyanidin biosynthesis in undifferentiated callus and in vegetative tissues. Furthermore, in floral tissues enhanced pelargonidin production is detected. Microarray analysis using the gerbera 9K cDNA array revealed a highly predicted set of putative target genes for GMYB10 including new gene family members of both early and late biosynthetic genes of the flavonoid pathway. However, completely new candidate targets, such as a serine carboxypeptidase-like gene as well, as two new MYB domain factors, GMYB11 and GMYB12, whose exact function in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis is not clear yet, were also identified

Virus-induced gene silencing for Asteraceae-a reverse genetics approach for functional genomics in Gerbera hybrida

Peer reviewe

Patterns of MADS-box gene expression mark flower-type development in Gerbera hybrida (Asteraceae)

Peer reviewe

Phyllotactic patterning of gerbera flower heads

Phyllotaxis, the distribution of organs such as leaves and flowers on their support, is a key attribute of plant architecture. The geometric regularity of phyllotaxis has attracted multidisciplinary interest for centuries, resulting in an understanding of the patterns in the model plants Arabidopsis and tomato down to the molecular level. Nevertheless, the iconic example of phyllotaxis, the arrangement of individual florets into spirals in the heads of the daisy family of plants (Asteraceae), has not been fully explained. We integrate experimental data and computational models to explain phyllotaxis in Gerbera hybrida. We show that phyllotactic patterning in gerbera is governed by changes in the size of the morphogenetically active zone coordinated with the growth of the head. The dynamics of these changes divides the patterning process into three phases: the development of an approximately circular pattern with a Fibonacci number of primordia near the head rim, its gradual transition to a zigzag pattern, and the development of a spiral pattern that fills the head on the template of this zigzag pattern. Fibonacci spiral numbers arise due to the intercalary insertion and lateral displacement of incipient primordia in the first phase. Our results demonstrate the essential role of the growth and active zone dynamics in the patterning of flower heads.Peer reviewe

TCP and MADS-Box Transcription Factor Networks Regulate Heteromorphic Flower Type Identity in Gerbera hybrida

The large sunflower family, Asteraceae, is characterized by compressed, flower-like inflorescences that may bear phenotypically distinct flower types. The CYCLOIDEA (CYC)/TEOSINTE BRANCHED1-like transcription factors (TFs) belonging to the TEOSINTE BRANCHED1/CYCLOIDEA/PROLIFERATING CELL FACTOR (TCP) protein family are known to regulate bilateral symmetry in single flowers. In Asteraceae, they function at the inflorescence level, and were recruited to define differential flower type identities. Here, we identified upstream regulators of GhCYC3, a gene that specifies ray flower identity at the flower head margin in the model plant Gerbera hybrida. We discovered a previously unidentified expression domain and functional role for the paralogous CINCINNATA-like TCP proteins. They function upstream of GhCYC3 and affect the developmental delay of marginal ray primordia during their early ontogeny. At the level of single flowers, the Asteraceae CYC genes show a unique function in regulating the elongation of showy ventral ligules that play a major role in pollinator attraction. We discovered that during ligule development, the E class MADS-box TF GRCD5 activates GhCYC3 expression. We propose that the C class MADS-box TF GAGA1 contributes to stamen development upstream of GhCYC3. Our data demonstrate how interactions among and between the conserved floral regulators, TCP and MADS-box TFs, contribute to the evolution of the elaborate inflorescence architecture of Asteraceae.Peer reviewe