Quantifying social group evolution

The rich set of interactions between individuals in society results in complex community structure, capturing highly connected circles of friends, families or professional cliques in a social network. Thanks to frequent changes in the activity and communication patterns of individuals, the associated social and communication network is subject to constant evolution. Our knowledge of the mechanisms governing the underlying community dynamics is limited, but is essential for a deeper understanding of the development and self-optimization of society as a whole. We have developed an algorithm based on clique percolation that allows us to investigate the time dependence of overlapping communities on a large scale, and thus uncover basic relationships characterizing community evolution. Our focus is on networks capturing the collaboration between scientists and the calls between mobile phone users. We find that large groups persist for longer if they are capable of dynamically altering their membership, suggesting that an ability to change the group composition results in better adaptability. The behaviour of small groups displays the opposite tendency-the condition for stability is that their composition remains unchanged. We also show that knowledge of the time commitment of members to a given community can be used for estimating the community's lifetime. These findings offer insight into the fundamental differences between the dynamics of small groups and large institutions.     

Oncogenically active MYD88 mutations in human lymphoma

The activated B-cell-like (ABC) subtype of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) remains the least curable form of this malignancy despite recent advances in therapy. Constitutive nuclear factor (NF)-κB and JAK kinase signalling promotes malignant cell survival in these lymphomas, but the genetic basis for this signalling is incompletely understood. Here we describe the dependence of ABC DLBCLs on MYD88, an adaptor protein that mediates toll and interleukin (IL)-1 receptor signalling, and the discovery of highly recurrent oncogenic mutations affecting MYD88 in ABC DLBCL tumours. RNA interference screening revealed that MYD88 and the associated kinases IRAK1 and IRAK4 are essential for ABC DLBCL survival. High-throughput RNA resequencing uncovered MYD88 mutations in ABC DLBCL lines. Notably, 29% of ABC DLBCL tumours harboured the same amino acid substitution, L265P, in the MYD88 Toll/IL-1 receptor (TIR) domain at an evolutionarily invariant residue in its hydrophobic core. This mutation was rare or absent in other DLBCL subtypes and Burkitt's lymphoma, but was observed in 9% of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphomas. At a lower frequency, additional mutations were observed in the MYD88 TIR domain, occurring in both the ABC and germinal centre B-cell-like (GCB) DLBCL subtypes. Survival of ABC DLBCL cells bearing the L265P mutation was sustained by the mutant but not the wild-type MYD88 isoform, demonstrating that L265P is a gain-of-function driver mutation. The L265P mutant promoted cell survival by spontaneously assembling a protein complex containing IRAK1 and IRAK4, leading to IRAK4 kinase activity, IRAK1 phosphorylation, NF-κB signalling, JAK kinase activation of STAT3, and secretion of IL-6, IL-10 and interferon-β. Hence, the MYD88 signalling pathway is integral to the pathogenesis of ABC DLBCL, supporting the development of inhibitors of IRAK4 kinase and other components of this pathway for the treatment of tumours bearing oncogenic MYD88 mutations.     

港式饮茶与香港人的身份认同

港式饮茶具有香港人身份认同的社会作用 ,它是香港人社会关系得以强化以及建构身份认同的文化领域。以饮茶为核心的物质文化和消费行为是都市人身份认同的重要组成部分。港式饮茶在香港表现出自助、自动和自由选拔的意识 ,成为官方文化和普及文化一致接受的香港人身份认同的象征     

直流微电网的故障分析与保护配置研究

直流微电网是一种运行效率高、综合造价低和占用空间少的微电网组网方式,但目前限制直流微电网推广应用的原因是缺乏有效保护解决方案.在分析直流微电网结构组成与接地方式的基础上,给出了一种直流微电网简化模型,进而研究系统直流侧故障情况下电压电流的响应特性;结合模型仿真对不同位置故障的响应作了讨论对比,据此提出了直流微电网的保护配置相关原则;具体分析了母线、支路和变流器3个关键组成的保护措施,可为实现直流微电网可靠保护、促进系统安稳运行提供参考.     

Pulsed UV Laser Modification of Polyester Textile Materials:Effect on Wettability

There has recently been great interest in ablative photodecomposition(APD), notably in pulsed UV laser treatment on polymers, for modification of physical and chemical properties, such as dyeability, printability, adhesion, Iuster and many more. Very little attention was focused, however, on the property of wetting behaviour,which is one of the most fundamental properties in affecting polymer science. Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) fibers drawn to two different draw ratios and under two temperatures, and three white knitted polyester fabrics made of 100% PET fibre were used to investigate their wetting behaviour due to excimer laser treatment.Experiments like water contact angle measurement, vertical drop test and moisture regain were conducted upon samples and all results give the same conclusion that laser treatment increases the hydrophobicity of all samples tested. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) observation reveals how the morphological modification of polymers by laser treatment is correlate     

Stereoselectivity of a radioimmunoassay for the insecticide S-bioallethrin

The stereoselectivity of a radioimmunoassay (RIA) system using an S-bioallethrin specific antiserum was studied by observing the abilities of the 8 allethrin isomers and other selected compounds to compete with a radiolabelled S-bioallethrin tyramine derivative for antibody binding sites. The results demonstrate the feasibility of RIA as a rapid, sensitive and steroselective residue technique for compounds difficult to analyze by classical methods.     

Central nervous system and peripheral nerve growth factor provide trophic support critical to mature sensory neuronal survival

Primary sensory neurones in cranial and dorsal root ganglia (DRG) of adult animals are generally thought to be maintained through connections with their peripheral (but not central) targets by trophic factor(s) other than nerve growth factor (NGF). Damage to the peripheral process of sensory neurones results in a dramatic response or even death of the neurones, whereas axotomy (cutting) of the central process does not initiate profound reaction in these neurones. The development and maintenance of neurones are highly dependent on a supply of trophic agents produced by targets and retrogradely transported via the peripheral process to the cell body. NGF deprivation in fetal rodents produced either by exogenously administered antibodies or by those of maternal origin, results in death of DRG and of some cranial sensory neurones. However, as chronic NGF deprivation in neonatal or adult rodents produces little or no cell death, it has been assumed that some other trophic factor(s) derived from the peripheral target sustains sensory neurones in postnatal life. By inducing NGF deprivation by autoimmunizing guinea pigs with mouse NGF and/or by cutting the central root (process) of a DRG, we demonstrate here that under certain conditions DRG neurones require NGF and centrally derived trophic support. Our results indicate that sensory neurones are maintained by the trophic support provided by both peripheral and central targets. This support is mediated by NGF and other as yet unidentified trophic factors. The relative importance of the two target fields and NGF compared with other trophic factors changes during development.