Folk religion and folklore in Taiwan: A study of popular Taoism.

The following is a work on popular religious Taoism, the result of field work carried out in Hsinchu city, Taiwan, between the years 1964 and 1970. It concerns the teachings of an orthodox Cheng-i Heavenly Master sect Taoist named Chuang-Ch'en, and his necessary relationships with the folk religion and its adherents. The first chapter shows that the basic principles of China's folk religion and of popular Taoism are the same. The second chapter cites the folklore and legends shared by the folk religion and Taoism, as well as the myths known only by the Taoist, concerning the origins of the cosmos, and of the doctrines of religious Taoism. Prom a secret Taoist manual the five kinds of Taoist orders are made known for the first time. The third chapter tells the legends of the Ho-t'u and Lo-shu, showing how: these two ancient charts are the basis for Taoist liturgy. Chapter four gives an interpretation of the Yellow Court Canon, (a cryptic text hitherto considered by scholars as a form of Taoist Yoga,) according to which the text must rightfully be considered a manual for liturgical meditation. Chapter five shows how Taoist meditation and the ritual of the popular Taoist are intimately connected. Finally chapter six describes the great festival of the folk religion called Chiao, in which Taoism and the aims of the folk religion are united. The thoughts presented represent orthodox Cheng-i Taoism as practised in north Taiwan, the origin of which can be traced to the Taoist monasteries of mainland China

The CAFA challenge reports improved protein function prediction and new functional annotations for hundreds of genes through experimental screens

Background The Critical Assessment of Functional Annotation (CAFA) is an ongoing, global, community-driven effort to evaluate and improve the computational annotation of protein function. Results Here, we report on the results of the third CAFA challenge, CAFA3, that featured an expanded analysis over the previous CAFA rounds, both in terms of volume of data analyzed and the types of analysis performed. In a novel and major new development, computational predictions and assessment goals drove some of the experimental assays, resulting in new functional annotations for more than 1000 genes. Specifically, we performed experimental whole-genome mutation screening in Candida albicans and Pseudomonas aureginosa genomes, which provided us with genome-wide experimental data for genes associated with biofilm formation and motility. We further performed targeted assays on selected genes in Drosophila melanogaster, which we suspected of being involved in long-term memory. Conclusion We conclude that while predictions of the molecular function and biological process annotations have slightly improved over time, those of the cellular component have not. Term-centric prediction of experimental annotations remains equally challenging; although the performance of the top methods is significantly better than the expectations set by baseline methods in C. albicans and D. melanogaster, it leaves considerable room and need for improvement. Finally, we report that the CAFA community now involves a broad range of participants with expertise in bioinformatics, biological experimentation, biocuration, and bio-ontologies, working together to improve functional annotation, computational function prediction, and our ability to manage big data in the era of large experimental screens.Peer reviewe

The CAFA challenge reports improved protein function prediction and new functional annotations for hundreds of genes through experimental screens

BackgroundThe Critical Assessment of Functional Annotation (CAFA) is an ongoing, global, community-driven effort to evaluate and improve the computational annotation of protein function.ResultsHere, we report on the results of the third CAFA challenge, CAFA3, that featured an expanded analysis over the previous CAFA rounds, both in terms of volume of data analyzed and the types of analysis performed. In a novel and major new development, computational predictions and assessment goals drove some of the experimental assays, resulting in new functional annotations for more than 1000 genes. Specifically, we performed experimental whole-genome mutation screening in Candida albicans and Pseudomonas aureginosa genomes, which provided us with genome-wide experimental data for genes associated with biofilm formation and motility. We further performed targeted assays on selected genes in Drosophila melanogaster, which we suspected of being involved in long-term memory.ConclusionWe conclude that while predictions of the molecular function and biological process annotations have slightly improved over time, those of the cellular component have not. Term-centric prediction of experimental annotations remains equally challenging; although the performance of the top methods is significantly better than the expectations set by baseline methods in C. albicans and D. melanogaster, it leaves considerable room and need for improvement. Finally, we report that the CAFA community now involves a broad range of participants with expertise in bioinformatics, biological experimentation, biocuration, and bio-ontologies, working together to improve functional annotation, computational function prediction, and our ability to manage big data in the era of large experimental screens.</p