Distinct RPA domains promote recruitment and the helicase-nuclease activities of Dna2

The Dna2 helicase-nuclease functions in concert with the replication protein A (RPA) in DNA double-strand break repair. Using ensemble and single-molecule biochemistry, coupled with structure modeling, we demonstrate that the stimulation of S. cerevisiae Dna2 by RPA is not a simple consequence of Dna2 recruitment to single-stranded DNA. The large RPA subunit Rfa1 alone can promote the Dna2 nuclease activity, and we identified mutations in a helix embedded in the N-terminal domain of Rfa1 that specifically disrupt this capacity. The same RPA mutant is instead fully functional to recruit Dna2 and promote its helicase activity. Furthermore, we found residues located on the outside of the central DNA-binding OB-fold domain Rfa1-A, which are required to promote the Dna2 motor activity. Our experiments thus unexpectedly demonstrate that different domains of Rfa1 regulate Dna2 recruitment, and its nuclease and helicase activities. Consequently, the identified separation-of-function RPA variants are compromised to stimulate Dna2 in the processing of DNA breaks. The results explain phenotypes of replication-proficient but radiation-sensitive RPA mutants and illustrate the unprecedented functional interplay of RPA and Dna2.

Comments on fixed point results in classes of function with values in a b–metric space

We prove and discuss several fixed point results for nonlinear operators, acting on some classes of functions with values in a b-metric space. Thus we generalize and extend a recent theorem of Dung and Hang (J Math Anal Appl 462:131–147, 2018), motivated by several outcomes in Ulam type stability. As a simple consequence we obtain, in particular, that approximate (in some sense) eigenvalues of some linear operators, acting in some function spaces, must be eigenvalues while approximate eigenvectors are close to eigenvectors with the same eigenvalue. Our results also provide some natural generalizations and extensions of the classical Banach Contraction Principle.

Multivariate Fractal Functions in Some Complete Function Spaces and Fractional Integral of Continuous Fractal Functions

There has been a considerable evolution of the theory of fractal interpolation function (FIF) over the last three decades. Recently, we introduced a multivariate analogue of a special class of FIFs, which is referred to as α-fractal functions, from the viewpoint of approximation theory. In the current note, we continue our study on multivariate α-fractal functions, but in the context of a few complete function spaces. For a class of fractal functions defined on a hyperrectangle Ω in the Euclidean space Rn, we derive conditions on the defining parameters so that the fractal functions are elements of some standard function spaces such as the Lebesgue spaces Lp(Ω), Sobolev spaces Wm,p(Ω), and Hölder spaces Cm,σ(Ω), which are Banach spaces. As a simple consequence, for some special choices of the parameters, we provide bounds for the Hausdorff dimension of the graph of the corresponding multivariate α-fractal function. We shall also hint at an associated notion of fractal operator that maps each multivariate function in one of these function spaces to its fractal counterpart. The latter part of this note establishes that the Riemann–Liouville fractional integral of a continuous multivariate α-fractal function is a fractal function of similar kind.

Mishearing as a Side Effect of Rational Language Comprehension in Noise

Language comprehension in noise can sometimes lead to mishearing, due to the noise disrupting the speech signal. Some of the difficulties in dealing with the noisy signal can be alleviated by drawing on the context – indeed, top-down predictability has shown to facilitate speech comprehension in noise. Previous studies have furthermore shown that strong reliance on the top-down predictions can lead to increased rates of mishearing, especially in older adults, which are attributed to general deficits in cognitive control in older adults. We here propose that the observed mishearing may be a simple consequence of rational language processing in noise. It should not be related to failure on the side of the older comprehenders, but instead would be predicted by rational processing accounts. To test this hypothesis, we extend earlier studies by running an online listening experiment with younger and older adults, carefully controlling the target and direct competitor in our stimuli. We show that mishearing is directly related to the perceptibility of the signal. We furthermore add an analysis of wrong responses, which shows that results are at odds with the idea that participants overly strongly rely on context in this task, as most false answers are indeed close to the speech signal, and not to the semantics of the context.

Mechanisms Involved in Interspecific Communication between Wine Yeasts

In parallel with the development of non-Saccharomyces starter cultures in oenology, a growing interest has developed around the interactions between the microorganisms involved in the transformation of grape must into wine. Nowadays, it is widely accepted that the outcome of a fermentation process involving two or more inoculated yeast species will be different from the weighted average of the corresponding individual cultures. Interspecific interactions between wine yeasts take place on several levels, including interference competition, exploitation competition, exchange of metabolic intermediates, and others. Some interactions could be a simple consequence of each yeast running its own metabolic programme in a context where metabolic intermediates and end products from other yeasts are present. However, there are clear indications, in some cases, of specific recognition between interacting yeasts. In this article we discuss the mechanisms that may be involved in the communication between wine yeasts during alcoholic fermentation.

Twistor spaces on foliated manifolds

The theory of twistors on foliated manifolds is developed. We construct the twistor space of the normal bundle of a foliation. It is demonstrated that the classical constructions of the twistor theory lead to foliated objects and permit to formulate and prove foliated versions of some well-known results on holomorphic mappings. Since any orbifold can be understood as the leaf space of a suitably defined Riemannian foliation we obtain orbifold versions of the classical results as a simple consequence of the results on foliated mappings.

Distinct RPA domains promote recruitment and the helicase-nuclease activities of Dna2

The Dna2 helicase-nuclease functions in concert with the replication protein A (RPA) in DNA double-strand break repair. Using ensemble and single-molecule biochemistry, coupled with structure modeling, we demonstrate that the stimulation of S. cerevisiae Dna2 by RPA is not a simple consequence of Dna2 recruitment to single-stranded DNA. The large RPA subunit Rfa1 alone can promote the Dna2 nuclease activity, and we identified mutations in a helix embedded in the N-terminal domain of Rfa1 that specifically disrupt this capacity. The same RPA mutant is instead fully functional to recruit Dna2 and promote its helicase activity. Furthermore, we found residues located on the outside of the central DNA-binding OB-fold domain Rfa1-A, which are required to promote the Dna2 motor activity. Our experiments thus unexpectedly demonstrate that different domains of Rfa1 regulate Dna2 recruitment, and its nuclease and helicase activities. Consequently, the identified separation-of-function RPA variants are compromised to stimulate Dna2 in the processing of DNA breaks. The results explain phenotypes of replication-proficient but radiation-sensitive RPA mutants and illustrate the unprecedented functional interplay of RPA and Dna2.

On equicontinuous factors of flows on locally path-connected compact spaces

We consider a locally path-connected compact metric space K with finite first Betti number $\textrm {b}_1(K)$ and a flow $(K, G)$ on K such that G is abelian and all G-invariant functions $f\,{\in}\, \text{\rm C}(K)$ are constant. We prove that every equicontinuous factor of the flow $(K, G)$ is isomorphic to a flow on a compact abelian Lie group of dimension less than ${\textrm {b}_1(K)}/{\textrm {b}_0(K)}$ . For this purpose, we use and provide a new proof for Theorem 2.12 of Hauser and Jäger [Monotonicity of maximal equicontinuous factors and an application to toral flows. Proc. Amer. Math. Soc.147 (2019), 4539–4554], which states that for a flow on a locally connected compact space the quotient map onto the maximal equicontinuous factor is monotone, i.e., has connected fibers. Our alternative proof is a simple consequence of a new characterization of the monotonicity of a quotient map $p\colon K\to L$ between locally connected compact spaces K and L that we obtain by characterizing the local connectedness of K in terms of the Banach lattice $\textrm {C}(K)$ .

The Borel-Cantelli Lemmas, and Their Relationship to Limit Superior and Limit Inferior of Sets (or, Can a Monkey Really Type Hamlet?)

The purpose of this chapter is to show that if a monkey types infinitely, Shakespeare’s Hamlet and any other works one may wish to add to the list will each be typed, not once, not twice, but infinitely often with a probability of 1. This dramatic fact is a simple consequence of the Borel-Cantelli lemma and will come as no surprise to anyone who has taken a graduate-level course in Probability. The proof of this result, however, is quite accessible to anyone who has but a rudimentary understanding of the concept of independence, together with the notion of limit superior and limit inferior of a sequence of sets.

A world threatened by populism. Remarks on security in modern times

The article is an attempt to answer the question about the importance of populism in contemporary reflection on security in its broadest sense. The author of these analyses tries to find the reasons for the growing populist trend, which occurs not only in the political dimension, but permeates almost all social life. In the context of such a goal, the connection between populism and ideology and nihilism is shown. As a consequence of the methodological principles adopted, two types of populism were distinguished: ideological and nihilistic. Ideological populism is characterized by a high degree of indeterminacy and makes far-reaching simplifications and generalisations. In this perspective, the enemies of the people are both newcomers, strangers, immigrants, as well as sexual, ethnic and other minorities.Nihilist populism is more depressing. It is based on the recognition of fragmentation as a basic indicator of values. The individual, detached from the wider background, is in a way the programme of populism understood in this way. A simple consequence of nihilistic populism is the uprooting of the individual, which results in consumerist attitudes. In this sense, one can say that nihilistic populism is aimed at justifying consumptionism, i.e. it provides an ideological foundation for the carefree use of material goods.