Concurrent Bursty Behavior of Social Sensors in Sporting Events

The advent of social media expands our ability to transmit information and connect with others instantly, which enables us to behave as “social sensors.” Here, we studied concurrent bursty behavior of Twitter users during major sporting events to determine their function as social sensors. We show that the degree of concurrent bursts in tweets (posts) and retweets (re-posts) works as a strong indicator of winning or losing a game. More specifically, our simple tweet analysis of Japanese professional baseball games in 2013 revealed that social sensors can immediately react to positive and negative events through bursts of tweets, but that positive events are more likely to induce a subsequent burst of retweets. We confirm that these findings also hold true for tweets related to Major League Baseball games in 2015. Furthermore, we demonstrate active interactions among social sensors by constructing retweet networks during a baseball game. The resulting networks commonly exhibited user clusters depending on the baseball team, with a scale-free connectedness that is indicative of a substantial difference in user popularity as an information source. While previous studies have mainly focused on bursts of tweets as a simple indicator of a real-world event, the temporal correlation between tweets and retweets implies unique aspects of social sensors, offering new insights into human behavior in a highly connected world.     

Effects of the lysosomal fraction of polymorphonuclear leukocytes on proliferation of cultured vascular cells

The effects of the lysosomal fraction isolated from polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PLF) on the growth of cultivated aortic medial smooth muscle cells (SMCs) and arterial endothelial cells (ECs) were studied by assaying DNA synthesis and counting the numbers of cells. PLF proved to promote the growth of cultivated SMCs and ECs. There was a positive correlation between an increase in DNA synthesis and the dose of PLF. The growth-promoting effect was observed in sparsely cultivated SMCs and ECs, in densely cultivated SMCs, but not in confluently cultivated ECs. The difference in response between SMCs and ECs seems to depend on their biological characteristics. Because a small amount of PLF showed potent growth-promoting activity in the presence of 10% fetal bovine serum which possesses a high protease blocking activity, the mechanism of this promoting activity is suggested to be independent of the proteases contained in PLF.     

Comparison of promoter activities of heterologous and homologous promoters in Bacillus subtilis

Summary We have constructed promoter probe vectors with the Escherichia coli galactokinase monitoring system that can be used in Bacillus subtilis. In vivo studies with these vectors demonstrated that the E. coli trp and tac(trp::lac) promoter regions could be utilized in B. subtilis. These promoter regions and the promoter region for the erythromycin resistance gene originating from Staphylococcus aureus were preferentially utilized during the stationary growth phase of B. subtilis, whereas the B. subtilis P21K and P29K promoters were utilized during the exponential growth phase and decreased rapidly during the stationary phase. The apparent strength of these promoters of E. coli in B. subtilis, in terms of galactokinase units, was comparable with those of the B. subtilis promoters.     

Step-wise thermal denaturation of cobrotoxin,a snake venom neurotoxin fromNaja naja atra: A proton nuclear magnetic resonance study

Temperature dependence of proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectra has been followed for cobrotoxin, a postsynaptic neurotoxin fromNaja naja atra venom. Several aromatic amino-acid residues, including the functionally essential Trp-29 located at the tip of the central loop of the molecule, have been found to undergo a thermal structural transition above the global thermal denaturation temperature. It is suggested that a local structure around these residues behaves somehow independently of the rest of the molecule, and that such structural organization may be favorable for a conformational change of a neurotoxin molecule on binding to acetylcholine receptor.     

Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase: Structural conservation among different classes of animals and its implications

Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase cDNAs have been isolated from different classes of animals. Cloning of genes from lower eukaryotes has allowed us to investigate directly the biological functions of poly(ADP-ribosyl)ationin vivo. The conservation of specific regions among mammals, chicken,Xenopus laevis, andDrosophila melanogaster reveals the essential structural elements required for recognition of breaks in DNA and for catalytic activity. Cys, His and basic residues in the zinc-finger consensus region are conserved. The carboxyl terminal region corresponding to an NAD-binding domain is strongly conserved. The dinucleotide-binding consensus sequence and 1-A-2, Rossmann fold structure, and -sheet structures are completely conserved from mammals to insect. InDrosophila, a putative leucine-zipper motif has been identified, and other poly(ADP-ribose) polymerases also contain an -helical, amphipathic structure in the auto-modification domain. In this article, we review the recent structural analyses of the functional domains of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase in phylogenetically divergent species, and discuss the implications of structural conservation for its biological functions.Abbreviations aa amino acid(s) - D. melanogaster Drosophila melanogaster - PARP poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase [EC 2.4.2.30] - PCR polymerase chain reaction - X. laevis Xenopus laevis     

Immuno-Localization of DEAD Family Proteins in Germ Line Cells of Xenopus Embryos.

In order to investigate whether a vasa -like protein is present in germ line cells of Xenopus , antibodies were produced which react specifically with synthetic oligopeptides of sequences from near the N- or C-termini or with one including the DEAD box of the Drosophila vasa protein.
Only the antibody against the oligopeptide including the DEAD box reacted strongly with germ plasm (GP) or with cytoplasm of germ line cells of Xenopus embryos by immunofluorescence microscopy. By immunoelectron microscopy, the antibody was demonstrated to react with the GP-specific structure, germinal granules, in cleaving embryos, and with their derivatives in the germ line cells of embryos at stages extending from gastrula to feeding tadpole. It also reacted with mitochondria not only in the GP and the germ line cells but also in somatic cells, and with myofibrils in muscle cells. By Western blotting, the antibody was shown to react with several bands of Mr 42–69 ± 10³ in protein samples from Xenopus embryos. In samples from Drosophila ovaries, it reacted with a Mr 71 ± 10³ band which was probably the vasa protein. This indicates the possibility that Xenopus embryos contain several DEAD family proteins. One of these is present on germinal granules, resembling the vasa protein on polar granules of Drosophila .     

Genetic analysis of human lymphocyte proteins by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis: 3. Frequent occurrence of genetic variants in some abundant polypeptides of PHA-stimulated peripheral blood lymphocytes

Summary The 100 or so most intensely Coomassie blue-stained polypeptides from PHA-stimulated peripheral blood lymphocytes were analyzed by two-dimensional electrophoresis in combination with family and population studies. Besides polymorphic lymphocyte cytosol 64k polypeptide reported previously, genetic variants were frequently observed in three polypeptides with molecular weights of 100,000, 49,000, and 40,000. All of them occur in the cytosol. These variant polypeptides are charge variants, because they are separated in the isoelectric focusing dimension. It is indicated by family and population studies and cell distribution analysis that the polypeptide with a molecular weight of 100,000 shows a genetic polymorphism determined by two alleles at a new autosomal locus, as described in the following paper. Family and population studies also suggest that a genetic polymorphism defined by alleles at an autosomal locus is present in each of the polypeptides with molecular weights of 49,000 and 40,000. In contrast to the previous reports of the extremely restricted genetic variability of the 100 or so most abundant fibroblast polypeptides, the present data indicate that common genetic variants are present at least in four of the 100 or so most intensely Coomassie blue-stained lymphocyte polypeptides. The result also shows that careful side-by-side comparison of two-dimensional electrophoresis patterns among both parents and their children is an effective method to detect genetic variant polypeptides.