The KCTD family includes tetramerization (T1) domain containing proteins with diverse biological effects. We identified a novel member of the KCTD family, BTBD10. A comprehensive analysis of protein‐protein interactions (PPIs) allowed us to put forth a number of testable hypotheses concerning the biological functions for individual KCTD proteins. In particular, we predict that KCTD20 participates in the AKT‐mTOR‐p70 S6k signaling cascade, KCTD5 plays a role in cytokinesis in a NEK6 and ch‐TOG‐dependent manner, KCTD10 regulates the RhoA/RhoB pathway. Developmental regulator KCTD15 (...) represses AP‐2α and contributes to energy homeostasis by suppressing early adipogenesis. TNFAIP1‐like KCTD proteins may participate in post‐replication DNA repair through PCNA ubiquitination. KCTD12 may suppress the proliferation of gastrointestinal cells through interference with GABAb signaling. KCTD9 deserves experimental attention as the only eukaryotic protein with a DNA‐like pentapeptide repeat domain. The value of manual curation of PPIs and analysis of existing high‐throughput data should not be underestimated. (shrink)

This article is a reflection on the philosophical text in its context of development and importance, from antiquity to modernity. The philosophical text is essential for a meaningful learning of students in the classroom, its reading, interpretation and hermeneutics.

This study builds on a long-established tradition within the psychology of religion concerned with the analysis and interpretation of prayer. Drawing on 917 prayer-cards le in one rural church over a sixteenth-month period, the analysis distinguishes between three aspects of intercessory and supplicatory prayer defined as reference, intention, and objective. Results of the analysis showed that only 4% of prayer requests had the prayer author as a key focus, and that there was a preference to pray for other people and (...) for world or global issues . Specific concrete issues were not included in 29% of prayer requests, but in the 71% of requests where concrete contexts were provided, 76% of these were concerned with illness, death, and conflict or disaster. Overall, there were more examples of secondary control than primary control , and primary control was found more often in requests which had the prayer author as a key focus and in the categories of illness, growth, work, relationships, and general requests. These results give rise to a number of hypotheses regarding prayers authors' perceptions of prayer and its purpose. (shrink)

A particular amount of punishment is justified if and only if that amount of punishment is deserved and the desert claim is not overridden. In the case of some multiple murderers or people who perform serious violent acts in addition to murder, the deserved punishment must involve torture. I argue that this legitimate desert claim is not overridden by objections based on notions of brutality and inhumanity, the Kantian concern that persons be treated as ends, the intuitive distaste that many (...) persons have for torture, the negative consequences of institutionalized torture, the concern for bias in the imposition of punishment, and the need for accuracy in measuring harms. (shrink)

Until recently, it was assumed that co-representation of others’ actions, an essential part in joint action, is biologically tuned. However, research demonstrated that we also simulate actions of non-biological interaction partners under certain conditions. In the present study, we investigated whether perceived intentionality or perspective taking is the underlying mechanisms of this phenomenon. Participants saw a short video fragment of a non-biological agent as main character. The movements of this agent were either described as intentional or as unintentional. Furthermore, participants (...) were instructed to either take the perspective of this non-biological agent or not. Results show that perspective taking and perceived intentionality both lead to action co-representation of non-biological actions. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed. (shrink)

In two experiments and two different research paradigms, we tested the hypothesis that Zen meditation increases access to accessible but unconscious information. Zen practitioners who meditated in the lab performed better on the Remote Associate Test than Zen practitioners who did not meditate. In a new, second task, it was observed that Zen practitioners who meditated used subliminally primed words more than Zen practitioners who did not meditate. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.

Test domains for AI can have a deep impact on research. The polyflap domain is proposed for testing complex AI theories about architectures, mechanisms and forms of representation involved in features of human and animal intelligence that evolved to enable perception, action, and learning in diverse environments containing things that we can perceive and manipulate, and many complex processes involving objects that differ in shape, materials, causal properties, and relations to one another. We need a test environment that is rich (...) enough to provide some of that variety of structures, processes and affordances, yet simple enough to be within reach of robotics research in the not too distant future. (shrink)

It is well-known to scholars that the simile of the wool spinner described in Verg. Aen. 8.407–413 reworks on a verbal level Ap. Rhod. Argon. 3.291–295. Comparing Verg. Aen. 8.410 and Ap. Rhod. Argon. 3.291, this paper aims to suggest that in Ap. Rhod. Argon. 3.291 Virgil read a different text from that generally accepted by modern editors.

Engl. Zsfassung u.d.T.: The crossings of the enlightenment and the romanticism : philosophical trends and controversies in Lithuania on the verge of the 18th and 19th centuries.

The proteins encoded by early region 1 A (E1A) of human adenoviruses (Ad) modulate the expression of both adenovirus genes and various host cell genes. With these transcription‐regulating properties the E1A proteins redirect the cell's metabolism, which enables them to induce oncogenic transformation in rodent cells. The E1A proteins modulate transcription by interacting both with gene‐specific and general cellular transcription factors. Various members of the AP‐1 and ATF/CREB families of transcription factors are targets for E1A‐dependent regulation, including cJun, the protein (...) product of the c‐jun proto‐oncogene. The E1A proteins modulate cJun‐dependent transcription both positively and negatively, and affect the activity as well as the expression levels of cJun. By increasing the phosphorylation status of cJun, E1A can stimulate transcription regulated by cJun/ATF2 heterodimers. In contrast, E1A inhibits the expression of various metalloproteases by interfering with the DNA‐binding capacity of cJun/cJun and cJun/cFos dimers, which might involve the association of E1A with the putative transcriptional coactivator p300. Since the ability of E1A to alter cJun‐dependent transcription correlates with its transforming capacity, interference with cJundependent transcription may be an essential step in E1A‐induced transformation. (shrink)

This study empirically analyses the exclusion of companies from investors’ investment universe due to a company’s business model or due to a company’s violations of international norms. We conduct a time-series analysis of the performance implications of the exclusion decisions of two leading Nordic investors, Norway’s Government Pension Fund-Global and Sweden’s AP-funds. We find that their portfolios of excluded companies do not generate an abnormal return relative to the funds’ benchmark index. While the exclusion portfolios show higher risk than the (...) respective benchmark, this difference is only statistically significant for the case of GPFG. These findings suggest that the exclusion of the companies generally does not harm funds’ performance. We interpret these findings as indicative that with exclusionary screening, as practiced by the sample funds, asset owners can meet the ethical objectives of their beneficiaries without compromising financial returns. (shrink)