scholarly journals Origin of biomolecular games: deception and molecular evolution

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (146) ◽  
pp. 20180429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven E. Massey ◽  
Bud Mishra
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Evolution ◽  
Information Asymmetry ◽  
Molecular Mimicry ◽  
Biological Macromolecules ◽  
Junk Dna ◽  
Evolutionary Transitions ◽  
Units Of Selection ◽  
Genetic Conflict ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Signalling Games

Biological macromolecules encode information: some of it to endow the molecule with structural flexibility, some of it to enable molecular actions as a catalyst or a substrate, but a residual part can be used to communicate with other macromolecules. Thus, macromolecules do not need to possess information only to survive in an environment, but also to strategically interact with others by sending signals to a receiving macromolecule that can properly interpret the signal and act suitably. These sender–receiver signalling games are sustained by the information asymmetry that exists among the macromolecules. In both biochemistry and molecular evolution, the important role of information asymmetry remains largely unaddressed. Here, we provide a new unifying perspective on the impact of information symmetry between macromolecules on molecular evolutionary processes, while focusing on molecular deception. Biomolecular games arise from the ability of biological macromolecules to exert precise recognition, and their role as units of selection, meaning that they are subject to competition and cooperation with other macromolecules. Thus, signalling game theory can be used to better understand fundamental features of living systems such as molecular recognition, molecular mimicry, selfish elements and ‘junk’ DNA. We show how deceptive behaviour at the molecular level indicates a conflict of interest, and so provides evidence of genetic conflict. This model proposes that molecular deception is diagnostic of selfish behaviour, helping to explain the evasive behaviour of transposable elements in ‘junk’ DNA, for example. Additionally, in this broad review, a range of major evolutionary transitions are shown to be associated with the establishment of signalling conventions, many of which are susceptible to molecular deception. These perspectives allow us to assign rudimentary behaviour to macromolecules, and show how participation in signalling games differentiates biochemistry from abiotic chemistry.

Curbing electronic shopper perceived opportunism and encouraging trust

2017 ◽  
Vol 117 (10) ◽  
pp. 2210-2226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonia San-Martín ◽  
Nadia Jimenez
Keyword(s):  
Information Asymmetry ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
External Quality ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Quality Signals ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Relevant Factors ◽  
Analyze Data

Purpose Consumers can face a situation of information asymmetry in electronic shopping (ES). The purpose of this paper to examine the relationships between: relational variables such as satisfaction, trust and perceived opportunism; and website cues (cognitive signals such as security and personalization, and experiential signals, such as design and entertainment). Design/methodology/approach The paper opted for the structural equation methodology to analyze data collected from 447 Spanish e-shoppers. Findings Results show different factors that relate to satisfaction, trust and perceived opportunism in ES. Satisfactory experience with ES and entertainment emerge as the most relevant factors to achieve trust and prevent perceived opportunism in e-commerce. Originality/value The five contributions of this study are: the introduction of variables from several theoretical approaches to the study of an agency problem in e-commerce; the study of different ways to gain buyer trust and reduce perceived opportunism in an electronic shopper-vendor relationship; the application of signaling theory as part of the process of helping the principal (e-shopper) to solve their shopping problem in a context of information asymmetry; the analysis of the impact of external cues from e-vendor/site, which allows for a comparison between internal experiences and external quality signals; and the study of entertainment as an important hedonic variable in order to have satisfied and confident e-shoppers.

Information asymmetry and equity issue decision of low-leverage firms

2018 ◽  
Vol 44 (11) ◽  
pp. 1330-1346
Author(s):  
Bipin Sony ◽  
Saumitra Bhaduri
Keyword(s):  
Information Asymmetry ◽  
Equity Issue ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Equity Issues ◽  
Developed Economies ◽  
Tangible Assets ◽  
Credit History ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Role Of Information

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of information asymmetry in the equity issue decision of two categories of Indian firms with distinct levels of information asymmetry – levered firms and unlevered firms. Design/methodology/approach This paper proposes a novel empirical approach to compare these two categories of firms. Levered firms exposed to the debt markets are under the scrutiny of lenders, reducing their information asymmetry problems. On the other hand, unlevered firms, which are smaller firms with fewer tangible assets and no credit history suffers more information problems. The authors use a propensity score matching method to identify firms that share similar firm-specific characteristics in these groups and compare equity issues to analyze the impact of information asymmetry. Findings The results show that information asymmetry plays a key role in the equity issue decision of Indian firms. Additionally, the authors find that the trends and characteristics of low-leverage (LL) firms in India are comparable to the LL from developed economies, which is consistent with the findings that they face more information problems. Originality/value Unlike the conventional approach of using proxy variables to capture information asymmetry, this study uses a novel framework where the authors compare the equity issue decision of similar firms in two categories with different degrees of information asymmetry.

scholarly journals Evidence of Information Asymmetry and Herding Behaviour – The Swiss Franc Unpegging Event in Perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 59-77
Author(s):  
Shruti Garg
Keyword(s):  
Information Asymmetry ◽  
Short Duration ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Swiss Franc ◽  
High Frequency Data ◽  
Frequency Data ◽  
Indian Market ◽  
Causality Test ◽  
Financial Events ◽  
The Impact

The paper aims to find the impact of financial events that occurred in one country on another. Taking the case of the Swiss Franc Unpegging of 2015 in Switzerland, the paper observes its impact on the Indian economy. This is done by studying the information asymmetry and herding behaviour in Indian market on the day of the event. The study uses two sets of data, (i) high frequency data and (ii) 3 years index data of both countries. The Ganger Causality test has been conducted to study the cause and effect relationship between the economies, which helps determine the impact on any of the countries. The study found that herding behaviour and information asymmetry in Indian market are now linked to each other in such a way that the country is affected even if the event has not occurred in the economy itself, however, only for a short duration of time. There also seems to be a huge gap between information available amongst all investors.

scholarly journals Mitochondrial DNAs provide insight into trypanosome phylogeny and molecular evolution

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Kay ◽  
Tom A Williams ◽  
Wendy Gibson
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Evolution ◽  
Trypanosoma Brucei ◽  
Rna Editing ◽  
Phylogenetic Trees ◽  
Nucleotide Composition ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
African Trypanosomes ◽  
Animal Pathogens ◽  
Recent Emergence ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background: Trypanosomes are single-celled eukaryotic parasites characterised by the unique biology of their mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). African livestock trypanosomes impose a major burden on agriculture across sub-Saharan Africa, but are poorly understood compared to those that cause sleeping sickness and Chagas disease in humans. Here we explore the potential of trypanosome mtDNA to study the evolutionary history of trypanosomes and the molecular evolution of their mtDNAs.Results: We used long-read sequencing to completely assemble mtDNAs from four previously uncharacterized African trypanosomes, and leveraged these assemblies to scaffold and assemble a further 103 trypanosome mtDNAs from published short-read data. While synteny was largely conserved, there were repeated, independent losses of Complex I genes. Comparison of edited and non-edited genes revealed the impact of RNA editing on nucleotide composition, with non-edited genes approaching the limits of GC loss. African tsetse-transmitted trypanosomes showed high levels of RNA editing compared to other trypanosomes. Whole mtDNA coding regions were used to construct time-resolved phylogenetic trees, revealing deep divergence events among isolates of the pathogens Trypanosoma brucei and T. congolense .Conclusions: Our mtDNA data represents a new resource for experimental and evolutionary analyses of trypanosome phylogeny, molecular evolution and function. Molecular clock analyses yielded a timescale for trypanosome evolution congruent with major biogeographical events in Africa and revealed the recent emergence of Trypanosoma brucei gambiense and T. equiperdum , major human and animal pathogens.

scholarly journals COVID-19 Cardiac Complication- Myocarditis

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Lana Maričić ◽  
Damir Mihić ◽  
Livija Sušić ◽  
Domagoj Loinjak
Keyword(s):  
Myocardial Injury ◽  
Molecular Mimicry ◽  
Viral Myocarditis ◽  
Specific Situation ◽  
Adaptive Mechanisms ◽  
Inflammatory Drugs ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Dose Corticosteroid ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Risk Infection

Based on the clinical experience, it has been observed that when it comes to the impact of SARS-CoV-2 virus on the cardiovascular system, it is significant. In patients with COVID-19 infection, the development of myocarditis occurs a few days after the onset of fever. The mechanism of myocardial injury alone, as well as most pathologies caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, is the subject of research by many experts, but two basic ways can certainly be assumed: a direct toxic effect of SARS-CoV-2 on myocardial cells and another possible way of myocardial injury is to activate the innate immune response by releasing proinflammatory cytokines, as well as to activate the adaptive mechanisms of the autoimmune type by molecular mimicry. The approach to treatment is the same as for other viral myocarditis; it is non-specific, applied supportive treatment, such as anti-inflammatory drugs, low-dose corticosteroid therapy, and immunoglobulins. The aim of this review is to present the previous experiences of physicians around the world on the clinical presentation of myocarditis caused by COVID-19 infection, diagnostic and therapeutic approach in a specific situation of high-risk infection.

scholarly journals Improved Understanding of the Role of Gene and Genome Duplications in Chordate Evolution With New Genome and Transcriptome Sequences

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madeleine E. Aase-Remedios ◽  
David E. K. Ferrier
Keyword(s):  
Chromosomal Rearrangements ◽  
Expression Patterns ◽  
Gene Families ◽  
Evolutionary Transitions ◽  
Whole Genome Duplications ◽  
Chordate Evolution ◽  
Genome Duplications ◽  
The Many ◽  
Genome Assemblies ◽  
The Impact

Comparative approaches to understanding chordate genomes have uncovered a significant role for gene duplications, including whole genome duplications (WGDs), giving rise to and expanding gene families. In developmental biology, gene families created and expanded by both tandem and WGDs are paramount. These genes, often involved in transcription and signalling, are candidates for underpinning major evolutionary transitions because they are particularly prone to retention and subfunctionalisation, neofunctionalisation, or specialisation following duplication. Under the subfunctionalisation model, duplication lays the foundation for the diversification of paralogues, especially in the context of gene regulation. Tandemly duplicated paralogues reside in the same regulatory environment, which may constrain them and result in a gene cluster with closely linked but subtly different expression patterns and functions. Ohnologues (WGD paralogues) often diversify by partitioning their expression domains between retained paralogues, amidst the many changes in the genome during rediploidisation, including chromosomal rearrangements and extensive gene losses. The patterns of these retentions and losses are still not fully understood, nor is the full extent of the impact of gene duplication on chordate evolution. The growing number of sequencing projects, genomic resources, transcriptomics, and improvements to genome assemblies for diverse chordates from non-model and under-sampled lineages like the coelacanth, as well as key lineages, such as amphioxus and lamprey, has allowed more informative comparisons within developmental gene families as well as revealing the extent of conserved synteny across whole genomes. This influx of data provides the tools necessary for phylogenetically informed comparative genomics, which will bring us closer to understanding the evolution of chordate body plan diversity and the changes underpinning the origin and diversification of vertebrates.

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