Haploid, Diploid, and Triploid—Discrimination Ability Against Polyploid Mating Partner in the Parasitic Wasp, Bracon brevicornis (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)

Abstract A framework is presented to extract and understand decision-making information from a deep neural network (DNN) classifier of jet substructure tagging techniques. The general method studied is to provide expert variables that augment inputs (“eXpert AUGmented” variables, or XAUG variables), then apply layerwise relevance propagation (LRP) to networks both with and without XAUG variables. The XAUG variables are concatenated with the intermediate layers after network-specific operations (such as convolution or recurrence), and used in the final layers of the network. The results of comparing networks with and without the addition of XAUG variables show that XAUG variables can be used to interpret classifier behavior, increase discrimination ability when combined with low-level features, and in some cases capture the behavior of the classifier completely. The LRP technique can be used to find relevant information the network is using, and when combined with the XAUG variables, can be used to rank features, allowing one to find a reduced set of features that capture part of the network performance. In the studies presented, adding XAUG variables to low-level DNNs increased the efficiency of classifiers by as much as 30-40%. In addition to performance improvements, an approach to quantify numerical uncertainties in the training of these DNNs is presented.

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Mating in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: The Role of the Pheromone Signal Transduction Pathway in the Chemotropic Response to Pheromone

Genetics ◽

10.1093/genetics/147.1.19 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 147 (1) ◽

pp. 19-32 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Kathrin Schrick ◽

Barbara Garvik ◽

Leland H Hartwell

Keyword(s):

Signal Transduction ◽

Map Kinase ◽

Transcriptional Activation ◽

Signal Transduction Pathway ◽

Transduction Pathway ◽

Wild Type ◽

Mating Partner ◽

Map Kinase Cascade ◽

Kinase Cascade ◽

Wild Type Control

Abstract The mating process in yeast has two distinct aspects. One is the induction and activation of proteins required for cell fusion in response to a pheromone signal; the other is chemotropism, i.e., detection of a pheromone gradient and construction of a fusion site available to the signaling cell. To determine whether components of the signal transduction pathway necessary for transcriptional activation also play a role in chemotropism, we examined strains with null mutations in components of the signal transduction pathway for diploid formation, prezygote formation and the chemotropic process of mating partner discrimination when transcription was induced downstream of the mutation. Cells mutant for components of the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase cascade (ste5, ste20, ste11, ste7 or fus3 kss1) formed diploids at a frequency 1% that of the wild-type control, but formed prezygotes as efficiently as the wild-type control and showed good mating partner discrimination, suggesting that the MAP kinase cascade is not essential for chemotropism. In contrast, cells mutant for the receptor (ste2) or the β or γ subunit (ste4 and stel8) of the G protein were extremely defective in both diploid and prezygote formation and discriminated poorly between signaling and nonsignaling mating partners, implying that these components are important for chemotropism.

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Amusia and protolanguage impairments in schizophrenia

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291714000373 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 44 (13) ◽

pp. 2739-2748 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

J. T. Kantrowitz ◽

N. Scaramello ◽

A. Jakubovitz ◽

J. M. Lehrfeld ◽

P. Laukka ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Remediation ◽

Thought Disorder ◽

Musical Ability ◽

Group Status ◽

Treatment Development ◽

Discrimination Ability ◽

Syndrome Scale ◽

Language And Music ◽

Auditory Tasks ◽

Negative Syndrome

BackgroundBoth language and music are thought to have evolved from a musical protolanguage that communicated social information, including emotion. Individuals with perceptual music disorders (amusia) show deficits in auditory emotion recognition (AER). Although auditory perceptual deficits have been studied in schizophrenia, their relationship with musical/protolinguistic competence has not previously been assessed.MethodMusical ability was assessed in 31 schizophrenia/schizo-affective patients and 44 healthy controls using the Montreal Battery for Evaluation of Amusia (MBEA). AER was assessed using a novel battery in which actors provided portrayals of five separate emotions. The Disorganization factor of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) was used as a proxy for language/thought disorder and the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) was used to assess cognition.ResultsHighly significant deficits were seen between patients and controls across auditory tasks (p < 0.001). Moreover, significant differences were seen in AER between the amusia and intact music-perceiving groups, which remained significant after controlling for group status and education. Correlations with AER were specific to the melody domain, and correlations between protolanguage (melody domain) and language were independent of overall cognition.DiscussionThis is the first study to document a specific relationship between amusia, AER and thought disorder, suggesting a shared linguistic/protolinguistic impairment. Once amusia was considered, other cognitive factors were no longer significant predictors of AER, suggesting that musical ability in general and melodic discrimination ability in particular may be crucial targets for treatment development and cognitive remediation in schizophrenia.

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Comparative Transcriptome Analysis Reveals Sex-Based Differences during the Development of the Adult Parasitic Wasp Cotesia vestalis (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)

Genes ◽

10.3390/genes12060896 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (6) ◽

pp. 896

Author(s):

Yuenan Zhou ◽

Pei Yang ◽

Shuang Xie ◽

Min Shi ◽

Jianhua Huang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Alternative Splicing ◽

Adult Development ◽

Sexual Development ◽

Molecular Mechanisms ◽

Parasitic Wasp ◽

Differentially Expressed Gene ◽

Regulation Mechanism ◽

Rna Seq ◽

Male And Female ◽

Cotesia Vestalis

The endoparasitic wasp Cotesia vestalis is an important biological agent for controlling the population of Plutella xylostella, a major pest of cruciferous crops worldwide. Though the genome of C. vestalis has recently been reported, molecular mechanisms associated with sexual development have not been comprehensively studied. Here, we combined PacBio Iso-Seq and Illumina RNA-Seq to perform genome-wide profiling of pharate adult and adult development of male and female C. vestalis. Taking advantage of Iso-Seq full-length reads, we identified 14,466 novel transcripts as well as 8770 lncRNAs, with many lncRNAs showing a sex- and stage-specific expression pattern. The differentially expressed gene (DEG) analyses showed 2125 stage-specific and 326 sex-specific expressed genes. We also found that 4819 genes showed 11,856 alternative splicing events through combining the Iso-Seq and RNA-Seq data. The results of comparative analyses showed that most genes were alternatively spliced across developmental stages, and alternative splicing (AS) events were more prevalent in females than in males. Furthermore, we identified six sex-determining genes in this parasitic wasp and verified their sex-specific alternative splicing profiles. Specifically, the characterization of feminizer and doublesex splicing between male and female implies a conserved regulation mechanism of sexual development in parasitic wasps.

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Novel Cs2HfCl6 Crystal Scintillator: Recent Progress and Perspectives

Physics ◽

10.3390/physics3020023 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. 320-351

Author(s):

Serge Nagorny

Keyword(s):

Recent Progress ◽

Raw Materials ◽

Light Output ◽

Light Yield ◽

Thermal Conditions ◽

Pulse Shape Discrimination ◽

Main Element ◽

High Quality ◽

Crystal Sample ◽

Discrimination Ability

Recent progress in Cs2HfCl6 (CHC) crystal production achieved within the last five years is presented. Various aspects have been analyzed, including the chemical purity of raw materials, purification methods, optimization of the growth and thermal conditions, crystal characterization, defect structure, and internal radioactive background. Large volume, crack-free, and high quality CHC crystals with an ultimate scintillating performance were produced as a result of such extensive research and development (R & D) program. For example, the CHC crystal sample with dimensions ∅23 × 30 mm3 demonstrates energy resolution of 3.2% FWHM at 662 keV, the relative light output at the level of 30,000 ph/MeV and excellent linearity down to 20 keV. Additionally, this material exhibits excellent pulse shape discrimination ability and low internal background of less than 1 Bq/kg. Furthermore, attempts to produce a high quality CHC crystal resulted in research on this material optimization by constitution of either alkali ions (Cs to Tl), or main element (Hf to Zr), or halogen ions (Cl to Br, I, or their mixture in different ratio), as well as doping with various active ions (Te4+, Ce3+, Eu3+, etc.). This leads to a range of new established scintillating materials, such as Tl2HfCl6, Tl2ZrCl6, Cs2HfCl4Br2, Cs2HfCl3Br3, Cs2ZrCl6, and Cs2HfI6. To exploit the whole potential of these compounds, detailed studies of the material’s fundamental properties, and understanding of the variety of the luminescence mechanisms are required. This will help to understand the origin of the high light yield and possible paths to further extend it. Perspectives of CHC crystals and related materials as detectors for rare nuclear processes are also discussed.

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