A new family of yeast genes implicated in ergosterol synthesis is related to the human oxysterol binding protein

We have identified three yeast genes, KES1, HES1 and OSH1, whose products show homology to the human oxysterol binding protein (OSBP). Mutations in these genes resulted in pleiotropic sterol-related phenotypes. These include tryptophan-transport defects and nystatin resistance, shown by double and triple mutants. In addition, mutant combinations showed small but apparently cumulative reductions in membrane ergosterol levels. The three yeast genes are also functionally related as overexpression of HES1 or KES1 alleviated the tryptophan-transport defect in kes1Δ or osh1Δ mutants, respectively. Our study implicates this new yeast gene family in ergosterol synthesis and provides comparative evidence of a role for human OSBP in cholesterol synthesis.     

Syllables as processing units in handwriting production.

This research focused on the syllable as a processing unit in handwriting. Participants wrote, in uppercase letters, words that had been visually presented. The interletter intervals provide information on the timing of motor production. In Experiment 1, French participants wrote words that shared the initial letters but had different syllable boundaries. In Experiment 2, French- and Spanish-speaking participants wrote cognates and pseudowords with a letter sequence that was always intrasyllabic in French and intersyllabic in Spanish. In Experiment 3, French-Spanish bilinguals wrote the cognates and pseudowords with the same type of sequences. In the 3 experiments, the critical interletter intervals were longer between syllables than within syllables, indicating that word syllable structure constrains motor production both in French and Spanish. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The timing of appraisals.

The appraisal process consists of the subjective evaluation that occurs during an individual's encounter with significant events in the environment, determining the nature of the emotional reaction and experience. Placed in the context of appraisal theories of emotion-elicitation and differentiation, the aim of the present research was to test empirically the hypothesis that the intrinsic pleasantness evaluation occurs before the goal conduciveness evaluation. In two studies, intrinsically pleasant and unpleasant images were used to manipulate pleasantness, and a specific event in a Pacman-type videogame was used to manipulate goal conduciveness. Facial EMG was used to measure facial reactions to each evaluation. As predicted, facial reactions to the intrinsic pleasantness manipulation were faster than facial reactions to the goal conduciveness manipulation. These results provide good empirical support for the sequential nature of the appraisal process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Convoys of social support in childhood and early adolescence: Structure and function.

Little is known about social networks in childhood, and even less is known about the networks of ethnically diverse children. Interviews were conducted with 333 African-American, Anglo/European-American, and Hispanic-American public school children in Grades 1–2, 4–5, and 8–9. The research was based on the social convoy model (R. L. Kahn and T. C. Antonucci, 1980), in which social networks are viewed as dynamic hierarchic structures affording the provision of support across the life span. An adapted convoy mapping procedure evidenced good test–retest reliability at all ages, and convoy support measures were associated with self-concept and teacher-rated sociability and mood. For all ethnic groups, the results reflect the significance of close family relations across age, an increase in involvement with extended family in middle-childhood, and the emergent role of peers as support providers in adolescence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Risk in Transport Investments

We discuss how the standard Cost-Benefit Analysis should be modified in order to take risk (and uncertainty) into account. We propose different approaches used in finance (Value at Risk, Conditional Value at Risk, Downside Risk Measures, and Efficiency Ratio) as useful tools to model the impact of risk in project evaluation. After introducing the concepts, we show how they could be used in CBA and provide some simple examples to illustrate how such concepts can be applied to evaluate the desirability of a new project infrastructure.     

Verification of randomized consensus algorithms under round-rigid adversaries

International Journal on Software Tools for Technology Transfer - Randomized fault-tolerant distributed algorithms pose a number of challenges for automated verification: (i) parameterization in...     

Sinusoidal disturbance induced topology identification of Hindmarsh-Rose neural networks正弦扰动诱导复杂网络拓扑识别

Topology identification of complex networks is an important problem. Existing research shows that the synchronization of network nodes is an obstacle in the identification of network topology. Identification of the structure of the network presents an interesting challenge during the synchronization of complex networks. We developed a new method using the sinusoidal disturbance to identify the topology when the complex network achieves synchronization. Compared with the disturbance of all the nodes, the disturbance of the key nodes alone can achieve a very good effect. Finally, numerical simulation data are provided to validate our hypothesis.     

“Area Without Numbers”: Using Touchscreen Dynamic Geometry to Reason About Shape

Abstract

In this article, we report on two lessons aimed at introducing junior high school students to the idea of shearing in a touchscreen dynamic geometry environment. By using shearing, we hoped to shift students’ attention away from a formula-driven, computational conception of area toward a more geometric one. We found that the students were able to solve several problems involving the comparison of polygons based on verbal and diagrammatic explanations. We describe the features of the touchscreen dynamic geometry technology that supported their learning, as well as the specific role that the teacher played in modeling students’ reasoning about area.     

Ferritin Protein Regulates the Degradation of Iron Oxide Nanoparticles

Proteins implicated in iron homeostasis are assumed to be also involved in the cellular processing of iron oxide nanoparticles. In this work, the role of an endogenous iron storage protein—namely the ferritin—is examined in the remediation and biodegradation of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles. Previous in vivo studies suggest the intracellular transfer of the iron ions released during the degradation of nanoparticles to endogenous protein cages within lysosomal compartments. Here, the capacity of ferritin cages to accommodate and store the degradation products of nanoparticles is investigated in vitro in the physiological acidic environment of the lysosomes. Moreover, it is questioned whether ferritin proteins can play an active role in the degradation of the nanoparticles. The magnetic, colloidal, and structural follow‐up of iron oxide nanoparticles and proteins in lysosome‐like medium confirms the efficient remediation of potentially harmful iron ions generated by nanoparticles within ferritins. The presence of ferritins, however, delays the degradation of particles due to a complex colloidal behavior of the mixture in acidic medium. This study exemplifies the important implications of intracellular proteins in processes of degradation and metabolization of iron oxide nanoparticles.