Number of natively unfolded proteins scales with genome size

Natively unfolded proteins exist as an ensemble of flexible conformations lacking a well defined tertiary structure along a large portion of their polypeptide chain. Despite the absence of a stable configuration, they are involved in important cellular processes. In this work we used from three indicators of folding status, derived from the analysis of mean packing and mean contact energy of a protein sequence as well as from VSL2, a disorder predictor, and we combined them into a consensus score to identify natively unfolded proteins in several genomes from Archaea, Bacteria and Eukarya. We found a high correlation among the number of predicted natively unfolded proteins and the number of proteins in the genomes. More specifically, the number of natively unfolded proteins scaled with the number of proteins in the genomes, with exponent 1.81 +- 0.10. This scaling law may be important to understand the relation between the number of natively unfolded proteins and their roles in cellular processes.Comment: Submitted to Biophysics and Bioengineering Letters http://padis2.uniroma1.it:81/ojs/index.php/CISB-BB

Copenhagen Quantum Mechanics Emerges from a Deterministic Schroedinger Theory in 11 Dimensional Spacetime Including Weak Field Gravitation

We construct a world model consisting of a matter field living in 4 dimensional spacetime and a gravitational field living in 11 dimensional spacetime. The seven hidden dimensions are compactified within a radius estimated by reproducing the particle - wave characteristic of diffraction experiments. In the presence of matter fields the gravitational field develops localized modes with elementary excitations called gravonons which are induced by the sources (massive particles). The final world model treated here contains only gravonons and a scalar matter field. The solution of the Schroedinger equation for the world model yields matter fields which are localized in the 4 dimensional subspace. The localization has the following properties: (i) There is a chooser mechanism for the selection of the localization site. (ii) The chooser selects one site on the basis of minor energy differences and differences in the gravonon structure between the sites, which appear statistical. (iii) The changes from one localization site to a neighbouring one take place in a telegraph-signal like manner. (iv) The times at which telegraph like jumps occur dependent on subtleties of the gravonon structure which appear statistical. (v) The fact that the dynamical law acts in the configuration space of fields living in 11 dimensional spacetime lets the events observed in 4 dimensional spacetime appear non-local. In this way the phenomenology of Copenhagen quantum mechanics is obtained without the need of introducing the process of collapse and a probabilistic interpretation of the wave function. Operators defining observables need not be introduced. All experimental findings are explained in a deterministic way as a consequence of the time development of the wave function in configuration space according to Schroedinger's equation

Transfer of metal ions in the soil-root interface: influence of copper(II) on the stability of the fibrils

A network of Ca-polygalacturonate arranged in fibrils similar to those of plant roots (Gessa C. and Deiana S., (1990); C.Gessa and Deiana S., (1990)) constitutes a very useful model far the study of the ionic transfer both in the soil-root interface and in the apoplast. Due to the fact that important properties of the network, such as the hydration degree and the absorption phenomena, vary dramatically with the reticulating ion (Gessa C. and Deiana S., (1989)), this note reports on the influence of the metal ions on the fibrillar structure of the network and gives further information about the transfer of the metal ions to the roots

The Intended and Unintended Effects of Opioid Policies on Prescription Opioids and Crime

Abstract In response to the opioid crisis, US states have implemented policies to reduce the dispensing of opioids and curb drug mortality. Exploiting a long panel of county-level data, we analyse the combination of demand- and supply-side state opioid policies and evaluate their effect on opioids per capita dispensed and their unintended fallouts on drug-related crime. We demonstrate that only laws targeting the supply for opioids reduce the volume of prescribed drugs, while demand-side policies are less effective. We also emphasize that within supply-side state regulations, Pain Management Clinics Laws are the most successful in reducing the dispensation of prescription opioids. Remarkably, the drop in opioids distributed due to supply-side regulations is accompanied by negative externalities in the local market for illicit drugs

Impact of soil management on the functional activity of microbial communities associated to cork oak rhizosphere

The microbial ecology of cork oak rhizosphere was investigated using the Biolog community level physiological profile (CLPP) that provides a unique metabolic fingerprint helpful for the characterization of complex microbial communities. Microbial populations from the rhizosphere of cork oak plants growing at three different sites within the same area were characterized using CLPP and compared. The sites were distinguished by a different soil management under the tree cover and, in general terms, by a different anthropogenic impact. The comparison of metabolic fingerprints of the different microbial populations showed the existence of a relationship between general microbial activity and functional biodiversity in the rhizosphere and the level of anthropogenic impact. Particularly the presence of grazing animals, soil tillage and fire could be identified as the main factors affecting both the general microbial activity and the structure of microbial populations from cork oak rhizospheres

Local Labour Market Effects of Unemployment on Crime Induced by Trade Shocks

This paper analyses the effect of a long-term change in unemployment on crime in the US local labour markets (1990-2007). During these last two decades, the US economy has experienced severe structural changes caused by international trade shocks, and China has played a crucial role as a major global exporter. The rapid growth of US exposure to China products triggers the increase in US local unemployment rates. This study documents whether this increasing exposure to Chinese competitiveness has indirectly contributed to the change in the propensity to commit crime through the displacement of workers. I exploit the cross-market variation in import exposure stemming from initial differences in industry specialisation to instrument the unemployment rate. The empirical evidence suggests that a one per cent increase in unemployment rate, induced by a change in Chinese import products, leads to almost a one per cent rise in the total crime rate

Uno specchio frammentario. La soggettività umana in H. G. Gadamer tra determinazione storica e responsabilità al singolare

The research aims to analyse the terms in which Hans Georg Gadamer’s philosophical hermeneutics considered the idea of human subjectivity. The way that has been developed at first took up again the fundamental gadamerian text, Truth and Method, finding in it the lines of an overcoming the subjectivity and of its heterodetermination by the historical and sociocultural context in the first place. The principal and more characteristic concepts of the gadamerian thought (play, prejudice, the consciousness of historical determination, the history of effects, and so on), have been treated again, just according to the peculiar key of interpretation of the subjectivity. Special attention has been given to the language, since through it an accurate diachronic analysis was possible about this theme in the author’s writing. Subsequently to this founding part we have outlined the subject of a social reason, understood as a collective concrete matter which inserts itself in the social dialogue and the culture and then becomes a heritage of contents and ideas that are a background for every individual reflection and action. In a third section the presence of some elements in Gadamer’s hermeneutics has been detected, especially through the examination of a series of short essays written in his “second philosophical youth”, which can be traced back to a conception of liberty of the subjectivity of man, glimmers that express themselves mainly in the moment of decision, with its solitude, and are synthesized in the extreme formula of a responsibility which, though raised on a base of communitarian ethos, continues to be an irrevocable principle of singularity

GLOBAL 3D/4D APPLICATIONS: BEYOND ALL BARRIERS

Le soluzioni SkylineGlobe by Skyline Software Systems, Inc. si propongono come un ambiente utile all’integrazione di dati e sistemi provenienti da diverse piattaforme di ambito territoriale per l’acquisizione, la creazione, l’annotazione, la pubblicazione, l’erogazione, la visualizzazione, l’interrogazione e l’analisi di geodatasets in un ambiente 3D/4D di facile utilizzo, distribuzione e condivisione.SkylineGlobe by Skyline Software Systems, Inc. stands as a fair solution for data and system integration from territorial platforms in order to acquire, create, authoring, publish, network, visualize, query and analyze geodatasets in a easy to use, to deliver and to share, 3D/4D environment