A new ruthenium cobalt oxide (RuCo2O4) with a unique marigold‐like nanostructure and excellent performance as an advanced electrode material has been successfully prepared by a simple ...electrodeposition (potentiodynamic mode) method. The RuCo2O4 marigolds consist of numerous clusters of ultrathin mesoporous nanoflakes, leaving a large interspace between them to provide numerous electrochemically active sites. Strikingly, this unique marigold‐like nanostructure provided excellent electrochemical performance in terms of high energy‐storage capacitance (1469 F g−1 at 6 A g−1) with excellent rate proficiency and long‐lasting operating cycling stability (ca. 91.3 % capacitance retention after 3000 cycles), confirming that the mesoporous nanoflakes participate in the ultrafast electrochemical reactions. Furthermore, an asymmetric supercapacitor was assembled using RuCo2O4 (positive electrode) and activated carbon (negative electrode) with aqueous KOH electrolyte. The asymmetric design allowed an upgraded potential range of 1.4 V, which further provided a good energy density of 32.6 Wh kg−1 (1.1 mWh cm−3). More importantly, the cell delivered an energy density of 12.4 Wh kg−1 even at a maximum power density of 3.2 kW kg−1, which is noticeably superior to carbon‐based symmetric systems.
Asymmetric supercapacitors! RuCo2O4 with a unique marigold‐like nanostructure is prepared by a simple electrodeposition method. The material shows excellent performance as an advanced electrode material, including high energy‐storage capacitance (1469 F g−1 at 6 A g−1) with excellent rate proficiency and long‐lasting operating cycling stability (ca. 91.3 % capacitance retention after 3000 cycles).
Summary Substantial evidence shows that inflammation promotes oncogenesis and, occasionally, participates in cancer rejection. This paradox can be accounted for by a dynamic switch from chronic ...smouldering inflammation promoting cancer-cell survival to florid, tissue-disruptive inflammatory reactions that trigger cancer-cell destruction. Clinical and experimental observations suggest that the mechanism of this switch recapitulates the events associated with pathogen infection, which stimulate immune cells to recognise danger signals and activate immune effector functions. Generally, cancers do not have danger signals and, therefore, they cannot elicit strong immune reactions. Synthetic molecules have been developed that mimic pathogen invasion at the tumour site. These compounds activate dendritic cells to produce proinflammatory cytokines, which in turn trigger cytotoxic mechanisms leading to cancer death. Simultaneously, dendritic cells capture antigen shed by dying cancer cells, undergo activation, and stimulate antigen-specific T and B cells. This process results in massive amplification of the antineoplastic inflammatory process. Thus, although anti-inflammatory drugs can prevent onset of some malignant diseases, induction of T cells specific for tumour antigen by active immunisation, combined with powerful activation signals within the cancer microenvironment, might yield the best strategy for treatment of established cancers.
Our first predictor of protein disorder was published just over a decade ago in the Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Neural Networks (Romero P, Obradovic Z, Kissinger C, ...Villafranca JE, Dunker AK (1997) Identifying disordered regions in proteins from amino acid sequence. Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Neural Networks, 1: 90-95). By now more than twenty other laboratory groups have joined the efforts to improve the prediction of protein disorder. While the various prediction methodologies used for protein intrinsic disorder resemble those methodologies used for secondary structure prediction, the two types of structures are entirely different. For example, the two structural classes have very different dynamic properties, with the irregular secondary structure class being much less mobile than the disorder class. The prediction of secondary structure has been useful. On the other hand, the prediction of intrinsic disorder has been revolutionary, leading to major modifications of the more than 100 year-old views relating protein structure and function. Experimentalists have been providing evidence over many decades that some proteins lack fixed structure or are disordered (or unfolded) under physiological conditions. In addition, experimentalists are also showing that, for many proteins, their functions depend on the unstructured rather than structured state; such results are in marked contrast to the greater than hundred year old views such as the lock and key hypothesis. Despite extensive data on many important examples, including disease-associated proteins, the importance of disorder for protein function has been largely ignored. Indeed, to our knowledge, current biochemistry books don't present even one acknowledged example of a disorder-dependent function, even though some reports of disorder-dependent functions are more than 50 years old. The results from genome-wide predictions of intrinsic disorder and the results from other bioinformatics studies of intrinsic disorder are demanding attention for these proteins.
Disorder prediction has been important for showing that the relatively few experimentally characterized examples are members of a very large collection of related disordered proteins that are wide-spread over all three domains of life. Many significant biological functions are now known to depend directly on, or are importantly associated with, the unfolded or partially folded state. Here our goal is to review the key discoveries and to weave these discoveries together to support novel approaches for understanding sequence-function relationships.
Intrinsically disordered protein is common across the three domains of life, but especially common among the eukaryotic proteomes. Signaling sequences and sites of posttranslational modifications are frequently, or very likely most often, located within regions of intrinsic disorder. Disorder-to-order transitions are coupled with the adoption of different structures with different partners. Also, the flexibility of intrinsic disorder helps different disordered regions to bind to a common binding site on a common partner. Such capacity for binding diversity plays important roles in both protein-protein interaction networks and likely also in gene regulation networks. Such disorder-based signaling is further modulated in multicellular eukaryotes by alternative splicing, for which such splicing events map to regions of disorder much more often than to regions of structure. Associating alternative splicing with disorder rather than structure alleviates theoretical and experimentally observed problems associated with the folding of different length, isomeric amino acid sequences. The combination of disorder and alternative splicing is proposed to provide a mechanism for easily "trying out" different signaling pathways, thereby providing the mechanism for generating signaling diversity and enabling the evolution of cell differentiation and multicellularity. Finally, several recent small molecules of interest as potential drugs have been shown to act by blocking protein-protein interactions based on intrinsic disorder of one of the partners. Study of these examples has led to a new approach for drug discovery, and bioinformatics analysis of the human proteome suggests that various disease-associated proteins are very rich in such disorder-based drug discovery targets.
Assuming that a company's institutional context influences its sustainability approach and its human resources management (HRM), this article compares firms' sustainable HRM systems across countries. ...Despite the presence of a supranational government, different social models exist in Europe according to the level of social protection in each country. The article compares the engagement of companies with sustainable HRM across Europe and develops an index with which to compare HRM sustainability in countries that present significant institutional differences: Germany, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The index is constructed based on a formative measurement model, which reflects the implementation levels of sustainable HRM in 106 western European firms. The index reveals significant differences between companies from the four countries and between liberal and coordinated market economies, indicating the need to address the impact of the national institutional context on firms' HRM sustainability.
Among terrestrial orchids, and particularly among the subtribe Orchidinae, flies are underrepresented as pollinators. The European Neotinea ustulata, which developed specialized pollination by ...tachinid flies, is known to produce high relative concentrations of the floral cuticular alkenes (Z)‐11‐tricosene and (Z)‐11‐pentacosene (referred to as (Z)‐11‐C23/C25enes), which seem to be uncommon among orchid flowers. If the evolution of tachinid pollination is related to that of (Z)‐11‐C23/C25enes, we can expect that closely related species have a different floral chemical pattern and significantly small or no production of (Z)‐11‐C23/C25enes, independently of their pollinator guild identity (e.g., bees, flies, moths). We chemically compared the floral cuticular composition among Neotinea species, performed electrophysiological analyses, reconstructed the phylogenetic Orchidinae tree, and identified the evolutionary history of pollinator guild and (Z)‐11‐C23/C25enes production within the Orchidinae. Neotinea ustulata has evolved a markedly different floral cuticular composition compared to other Neotinea and produces both compounds ((Z)‐11‐C23/C25enes) in high relative quantities (i.e., above 8% in combination), which are detectable by tachinid antennae. Moreover, most Orchidinae taxa have minimal or no production of these alkenes, independently of the identity of their pollinator guild. Our ancestral reconstruction suggested that (Z)‐11‐C23/C25enes production was an evolutionary exaptation in Neotinea, whereas tachinid pollination was a unique evolutionary innovation for N. ustulata. Floral cuticular composition and, in particular, the combined production of (Z)‐11‐C23/C25enes at relatively high concentrations is intimately linked to the evolution of tachinid pollination within the Orchidinae.
We identified that the fly tachinid‐pollinated Neotinea ustulata has evolved a markedly different floral cuticular composition compared to other Neotinea and produces two uncommon alkenes (Z)‐11‐tricosene and (Z)‐11‐pentacosene in high relative quantities, which are detectable by tachinid antennae. We also found that (Z)‐11‐C23/C25enes production was an evolutionary exaptation in the genus Neotinea, whereas tachinid pollination was a unique evolutionary innovation for N. ustulata. Floral cuticular composition and, in particular, the combined production of (Z)‐11‐C23/C25enes are intimately linked to the evolution of tachinid pollination within the Orchidinae.
AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF KIN AND ETHNIC FAVORITISM Akbari, Mahsa; Bahrami‐Rad, Duman; Kimbrough, Erik O. ...
Economic inquiry,
October 2020, 2020-10-00, 20201001, Letnik:
58, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Ethnic and kinship ties have long been viewed as potential catalysts for favoritism, and hence corruption. In experiments conducted in three countries, we recruit siblings, coethnics and strangers ...and vary the relationship(s) between the players of a game to observe how kin and ethnic ties influence the willingness of two players to benefit one another at the expense of a third party. We see universal sibling favoritism, but ethnic favoritism, and favoritism toward other in‐group members (friends) varies. We argue this may be driven in part by kinship institutions, since favoritism is more common in societies with denser kin networks. ( JEL D9, C9, D73, J12)
Treg are the main mediators of dominant tolerance. Their mechanisms of action and applications are subjects of considerable debate currently. However, a human microRNA (miR) Treg signature has not ...been described yet. We investigated human natural Treg and identified a signature composed of five miR (21, 31, 125a, 181c and 374). Among those, two were considerably under-expressed (miR-31 and miR-125a). We identified a functional target sequence for miR-31 in the 3' untranslated region (3' UTR) of FOXP3 mRNA. Using lentiviral transduction of fresh cord blood T cells, we demonstrated that miR-31 and miR-21 had an effect on FOXP3 expression levels. We showed that miR-31 negatively regulates FOXP3 expression by binding directly to its potential target site in the 3' UTR of FOXP3 mRNA. We next demonstrated that miR-21 acted as a positive, though indirect, regulator of FOXP3 expression. Transduction of the remaining three miR had no direct effect on FOXP3 expression or on the phenotype and will remain the subject of future investigations. In conclusion, not only have we identified and validated a miR signature for human natural Treg, but also unveiled some of the mechanisms by which this signature was related to the control of FOXP3 expression in these cells.
In this study, NiO was electrodeposited on a 3D graphene electrode to produce a nanocomposite with enhanced electrochemical properties. The electrodeposition process parameters such as electrolyte ...concentration, deposition time, and deposition potential were statistically optimised using response surface methodology. The statistical analysis showed that the optimal electrodeposition conditions to be 0.3 M, 10 min, and -1.2 V for electrolyte concentration, deposition time, and deposition potential, respectively. Furthermore, the predicted model and experimental results for the specific capacity of G-NiO were determined to be 240.91 C/g and 240.58 C/g at 3 mV/s. The results show that the electrochemical deposition technique can be employed as a fast and reliable synthesis route to develop graphene-based metal oxide nanocomposites. The structural and morphological properties were determined by XRD and FESEM studies. The electrochemical measurements revealed the excellent electrochemical performance of 3D graphene NiO composite (G-NiO) for energy storage applications.
•Process optimisation study for the electrodeposition of NiO.•G-NiO binder-free electrode exhibits excellent electrochemical properties.•High specific capacity (240.58 C/g) of G-NiO electrode.•Rapid fabrication and eco-friendly of binder-free electrode.
Becoming valuable to fellow group members so that one would attract assistance in times of need is a major adaptive problem. To solve it, the individual needs a predictive map of the degree to which ...others value different acts so that, in choosing how to act, the payoff arising from others’ valuation of a potential action (e.g., showing bandmates that one is a skilled forager by pursuing a hard-to-acquire prey item) can be added to the direct payoff of the action (e.g., gaining the nutrients of the prey captured). The pride system seems to incorporate all of the elements necessary to solve this adaptive problem. Importantly, data from western(-ized), educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic (WEIRD) societies indicate close quantitative correspondences between pride and the valuations of audiences. Do those results generalize beyond industrial mass societies? To find out, we conducted an experiment among 567 participants in 10 small-scale societies scattered across Central and South America, Africa, and Asia: (i) Bosawás Reserve, Nicaragua; (ii) Cotopaxi, Ecuador; (iii) Drâa-Tafilalet, Morocco; (iv) Enugu, Nigeria; (v) Le Morne, Mauritius; (vi) La Gaulette, Mauritius; (vii) Tuva, Russia; (viii) Shaanxi and Henan, China; (ix) farming communities in Japan; and (x) fishing communities in Japan. Despite widely varying languages, cultures, and subsistence modes, pride in each community closely tracked the valuation of audiences locally (mean r = +0.66) and even across communities (mean r = +0.29). This suggests that the pride system not only develops the same functional architecture everywhere but also operates with a substantial degree of universality in its content.
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