The aim of the present study was to introduce methods for exome sequencing of two ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters ABCC8 and ABCD2 recently suggested to play a putative role in breast cancer progression and prognosis of patients. We performed next generation sequencing targeted at analysis of all exons in ABCC8 and ABCD2 genes and surrounding noncoding sequences in blood DNA samples from 24 patients with breast cancer. The revealed alterations were characterized by in silico tools. We then compared the most frequent functionally relevant polymorphism rs757110 in ABCC8 with clinical data of patients. In total, the study identified 113 genetic alterations (>70 % novel ones) in both genes. Of these alterations, 83 were noncoding, 13 synonymous, 10 frameshifts and 7 were missense alterations. Four in silico programs predicted pathogenicity of two polymorphisms and four newly identified alterations. Rs757110 polymorphism in ABCC8 did not significantly associate with clinical data of the patients. In conclusion, exome sequencing identified several functionally relevant alterations in ABCC8 and ABCD2 genes that may further be used for a larger follow-up study aiming to assess their clinical significance., P. Soucek, V. Hlavac, K. Elsnerova, R. Vaclavikova, R. Kozevnikovova, K. Raus., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The thermoluminescence signals from leaflets of the same pea plant varied gradually according to their developmental stage. The AG emission, due to a back flow of electrons towards photosystem 2 (PS2) along a cyclic/chlororespiratory pathway, was stronger in mature leaves than in the growing ones. These age-related variations could be explained by a higher capacity of cyclic electron flow in mature leaves.
The commonly encountered account ot the postmodern (including postmodernist cultural practices) is the one based on (or very similar to) Fredric Jameson´s view of postmodernism as representing the logic of late capitalism and being defined by the issues of surface, pastiche and paranoia. This also includes Jameson´s criticism of postmodernism´s supposed ahistoricity (or belief that when it uses history, it does so in a naive and sentimentally nostalgic way). Such is also the prevalent definition of the postmodern in Taiwan, most recently adopted, for example, in Liu Liangya´s new publication, Postmodernism and Postcolonisalism: Taiwanese Fiction since 1987. Offering an alternative view, this article deploys Linda Hutcheon´s project of "problematics" of postmodernism to argue that as opposed to the more or less dualistic view of postnodern vs. postcolonial tencencies in contemporary Taiwanese fiction (especially as regards postmodernism´s relation to history) it is also possible to describe the constant revisiting of the past in numerous novels by different authors in post-martial-law Taiwan in terms of Hutcheon´s "postmodern historiographic metafiction". This thesis is further demonstrated by means of an analysis of a short story by Lai Xiangyin.
In the following essay-manifesto, Contradictions editor Joseph Grim Feinberg lays out his view of the journal as a platform for confronting the central contradictions of post-communism, working through the problems of Central and Eastern Europe in global context, and seeking the continued contemporary relevance of the history of emancipatory and critical thought. Contradictions, he writes, should enable philosophy and its neighboring fields to engage with this region, at this moment, while telling world history something that no other time or place has told it before.
This paper argues for the following three theses: (1) There is a clear reason to prefer physical theories with deterministic dynamical equations: such theories are maximally rich in information and usually also maximally simple. (2) There is a clear way how to introduce probabilities in a deterministic physical theory, namely as answer to the question of what evolution of a specific system we can reasonably expect under ignorance of its exact initial conditions. This procedure works in the same manner for both classical and quantum physics. (3) There is no cogent reason to take the parameters that enter into the (deterministic) dynamical equations of physics to refer to properties of the physical systems. Granting an ontological status to parameters such as mass, charge, wave functions and the like does not lead to a gain in explanation, but only to artificial problems. Against this background, I argue that there is no conflict between determinism in physics and free will (on whatever conception of free will), and, in general, point out the limits of science when it comes to the central metaphysical issues., Tato práce se zabývá následujícími třemi tezemi: (1) Existuje jasný důvod preferovat fyzikální teorie s deterministickými dynamickými rovnicemi: takové teorie jsou maximálně bohaté na informace a obvykle také maximálně jednoduché. (2) Existuje jasná cesta, jak zavést pravděpodobnosti do deterministické fyzikální teorie, a to jako odpověď na otázku, jaký vývoj určitého systému můžeme rozumně očekávat za nevědomosti jeho přesných počátečních podmínek. Tento postup funguje stejně pro klasickou i kvantovou fyziku. (3) Neexistuje žádný přesvědčivý důvod vzít v úvahu parametry, které vstupují do (deterministických) dynamických rovnic fyziky, aby odkazovaly na vlastnosti fyzikálních systémů. Udělení ontologického stavu parametrům, jako je hmotnost, náboj, vlnové funkce a podobně, nevede k zisku ve vysvětlení, ale pouze na umělé problémy. Na tomto pozadí tvrdím, že neexistuje žádný konflikt mezi determinismem ve fyzice a svobodnou vůlí (na jakékoli koncepci svobodné vůle) a obecně poukazuje na hranice vědy, pokud jde o ústřední metafyzické otázky., and Michael Esfeld
During the last decades several studies in cognitive psychology have shown that many of our actions do not depend on the reasons that we adduce afterwards, when we have to account for them. Our decisions seem to be often influenced by normatively or explanatorily irrelevant features of the environment of which we are not aware, and the reasons we offer for those decisions are a posteriori rationalisations. But exactly what reasons has the psychological research uncovered? In philosophy, a distinction has been commonly made between normative and motivating reasons: normative reasons make an action right, whereas motivating reasons explain our behaviour. Recently, Maria Alvarez has argued that, apart from normative (or justifying) reasons, we should further distinguish between motivating and explanatory reasons. We have, then, three kinds of reasons, and it is not clear which of them have been revealed as the real reasons for our actions by the psychological research. The answer we give to this question will have important implications both for the validity of our classifications of reasons and for our understanding of human action.
An attempt is presented to explain the large difference in the
intensity, frequency range and number of radio activity events
following the large flares in the two complex active regions of June
1982 (NOAA Nos. 3763 and 3776). The topology of their local magnetic
fields in relation to the global field is discussed as one of the main
factors causing this effect.
The coffee plant is native to shaded environments and its seedlings are often produced in shaded nurseries. However, some nursery managers, in an effort to improve the acclimation of seedlings to field conditions after transplantation, produce seedlings in full sun exposure. In this study, the morphological and physiological parameters of arabica coffee (Coffea arabica) seedlings produced in full sun (T1) and in shade (T2) were examined. The biomass accumulation and relative growth rate of T1 and T2 seedlings were similar. The T1 seedlings had less biomass allocation to shoots, a lower leaf mass ratio and a lower leaf area ratio; however, they had a greater net assimilation rate (rate of increase in plant mass per unit leaf area), which was associated with a greater net photosynthetic rate. There were no alterations in the concentrations of total chlorophylls or in the chlorophyll a/b ratio when comparing T1 and T2 seedlings. No indications of photoinhibition or photooxidative damage were observed in the T1 plants, which were shown to have a more robust antioxidant system than the T2 plants. Seedlings transferred from shade to full sun (T3) were not capable of utilising the incident extra light to fix CO2. These seedlings showed a remarkable nocturnal retention of zeaxanthin and a significantly increased deepoxidation state of the xanthophyll cycle, even at predawn, but the activity of antioxidant enzymes was lower than in the T1 and T2 plants. Despite the acclimation capacity of T3 seedlings to the new light environment, they exhibited chronic photoinhibition and considerable photooxidative damage throughout the seven days following the transfer to full sun exposure. We further discuss the practical implications of producing coffee seedlings in full sunlight and under shade. and G. A. B. K. Moraes ... [et al.].
In this article we will describe a surprising observation that occurred in the construction of quadratic unramified extensions of a family of pure cubic number fields. Attempting to find an explanation will lead us on a magical mystery tour through the land of pure cubic number fields, Hilbert class fields, and elliptic curves.
N. N. Cencov wrote a commentary chapter included in the Appendix of the Russian translation of the Devroye and Györfi book [15] collecting some arguments supporting the <span class="tex">L<sub>1</sub></span> view of density estimation. The Cencov's work is available in Russian only and it hasn't been translated, so late Igor Vajda decided to translate the Cencov's paper and to add some remarks on the occasion of organizing the session "25 Years of the <span class="tex">L<sub>1</sub></span> Density Estimation" at the Prague Stochastics 2010 Symposium. In this paper we complete his task, i.e., we translate the Cencov's chapter and insert some remarks on the related literature focusing primarily on Igor's results. We would also like to acknowledge the excellent work of Alexandre Tsybakov who translated the Devroye and Györfi book in Russian, annotated it with valuable comments and included some related references published in Russian only.