Functional Duality Research Articles

Valence Bond Theory Reveals Hidden Delocalized Diradical Character of Polyenes.

The nature of the electronic-structure of polyenes, their delocalization features, and potential diradicaloid characters constitute a fundamental problem in chemistry. To address this problem, we used valence bond self-consistent field (VBSCF) calculations and modeling of polyenes, C2nH2n+2 (n = 2-10). The theoretical treatment shows that starting with n = 5, the polyene's wave function is mainly a shifting 1,4-diradicaloid, a character that increases as the chain length increases, while the contribution of the fundamental Lewis structure with alternating double and single bonds (1) decays quite fast and becomes minor relative to the diradicaloid pack. We show how, nevertheless, it is this wave function that predicts that polyenes will still exhibit alternating short/long CC bonds like the fundamental structure 1. Furthermore, despite the decay of the VB contribution of 1, it remains the single structure with the largest weight among all the individual structures. The mixing of all the 1,4-diradicaloid structures into 1 follows perturbation theory rules, with the result that the delocalization energy due to this mixing is additive and behaves as a linear function of the number of the double bonds, ΔEdel = -6.9 × n (kcal mol-1). The VB modeling shows that while the conjugation stabilizes structure 1, this stabilization energy is energetically overridden by the Pauli repulsion between two adjacent double bonds. Nevertheless, unsubstituted polyenes remain planar; this observation is addressed. Potential manifestations of the diradicaloid nature of polyenes are discussed, and it is concluded that the diradicaloid character is clearly not a well-defined physical property as in real diradicals. Thus, we went full circle to realize that our philosophical question may not be strictly resolved. The localized/delocalized properties of polyenes seem to define a "chemical duality principle". This duality of molecular wave functions is a ubiquitous beguiling phenomenon.

Das mythologische Bild des Teufels als Pflüger in der slawischen mündlichen Volksliteratur

Summary In the presented paper the motive of the devil in the folk narrative literature of the west Slavic regions will be analysed. The text corpus consists of orally handed down folk tales. In these sources the devil is presented as a contradictory demonic creature, who signs an agreement on the division of spheres of power. This agreement will be confirmed with magical ploughing as a cosmogonic act. In the paper will also be submitted a hypothesis about the functional similarity of the folk tales devil with the old Slavic mythological system based on old Indo-European sources. The paper attempts to prove, that the cosmogonic act of the devil in the folk tales could be connected with aspects of the Indo-European first functional duality of the Gods-Sovereigns Mitra-Varuna based on description and analysis of Georges Dumézil.

Analyzing the Novel "The Thief and the Dogs" with the Structural Framework of Claude Bremond

The novel (the Thief and the Dogs), the literary work of Najib Mahfouz, similar to his other works, is one of the best world’s contemporary literary works. Its structure and narrative style can be compared to the structural framework of the French prominent structural linguist and narratologist, Claude Bremond. He suggested we should take a look at the logical sequence of several functions as a basic unit instead of taking functions in Props' meaning as minimal narration units. Therefore, the stories which cannot be evaluated in Props' structural pattern can be evaluated easier. The current research, using a descriptive-analytic method, reveals that many of Najib Mahfouz’ current story telling methods in the mentioned novel is in harmony with Claude Bremond’s structural framework. The novel including specific structural and analytic characteristics such as the failure of the main character, namely, Saeed Mehran, at the end of the story, faces some ambiguities which not only get solved through Bremond’s structural framework but also become meaningful and justifiable. It is due to the fact that Bremond’s theory considers the duality of functions which makes it possible for the story champion to be put in any of the two functions. Thus, there exists the possibility of both success and failure for the champion, and this lets one analyze such stories. This novel includes three functions: possibility, process, and consequence. Narratively, the novel includes coherent and meaningful sequences, and a variety of simple, mixed, and chain sequences can be extracted from the novel. This issue indicates the author’s outstanding talent and his great creativity.

Dualities in the class of extended Boolean functions

We introduce and discuss duality operators on the set of binary extended Boolean functions, i.e., on the set of binary operations on the real interval [0,1] whose restrictions to Boolean inputs yield Boolean functions. These dualities have been divided into seven classes, and the majority of their properties depend on the class they belong to. We study composition of dualities, properties of dual classes, duality of properties of extended Boolean functions and invariantness of extended Boolean functions with respect to particular dualities. Our approach allows to transfer the results known for some studied class of extended Boolean functions into the results for the corresponding dual classes. As typical examples, one can recall the standard duality of the classes of all t-norms and t-conorms and the duality of implication functions and conjunctive (disjunctive) aggregation functions.

ORA59 and EIN3 interaction couples jasmonate-ethylene synergistic action to antagonistic salicylic acid regulation of PDF expression.

Hormonal crosstalk is central for tailoring plant responses to the nature of challenges encountered. The role of antagonism between the two major defense hormones, salicylic acid (SA) and jasmonic acid (JA), and modulation of this interplay by ethylene (ET) in favor of JA signaling pathway in plant stress responses is well recognized, but the underlying mechanism is not fully understood. Here, we show the opposing function of two transcription factors, ethylene insensitive3 (EIN3) and EIN3-Like1 (EIL1), in SA-mediated suppression and JA-mediated activation of PLANT DEFENSIN1.2 (PDF1.2). This functional duality is mediated via their effect on protein, not transcript levels of the PDF1.2 transcriptional activator octadecanoid-responsive Arabidopsis59 (ORA59). Specifically, JA induces ORA59 protein levels independently of EIN3/EIL1, whereas SA reduces the protein levels dependently of EIN3/EIL1. Co-infiltration assays revealed nuclear co-localization of ORA59 and EIN3, and split-luciferase together with yeast-two-hybrid assays established their physical interaction. The functional ramification of the physical interaction is EIN3-dependent degradation of ORA59 by the 26S proteasome. These findings allude to SA-responsive reduction of ORA59 levels mediated by EIN3 binding to and targeting of ORA59 for degradation, thus nominating ORA59 pool as a coordination node for the antagonistic function of ET/JA and SA.

Convexity and the Euclidean Metric of Space-Time

We address the reasons why the “Wick-rotated”, positive-definite, space-time metric obeys the Pythagorean theorem. An answer is proposed based on the convexity and smoothness properties of the functional spaces purporting to provide the kinematic framework of approaches to quantum gravity. We employ moduli of convexity and smoothness which are eventually extremized by Hilbert spaces. We point out the potential physical significance that functional analytical dualities play in this framework. Following the spirit of the variational principles employed in classical and quantum Physics, such Hilbert spaces dominate in a generalized functional integral approach. The metric of space-time is induced by the inner product of such Hilbert spaces.

Total variation based denoising methods for speckle noise images

In this paper, we introduce a new algorithm based on total variation for denoising speckle noise images. Total variation was introduced by Rudin, Osher, and Fatemi in 1992 for regularizing images. Chambolle proposed a faster algorithm based on the duality of convex functions for minimizing the total variation, but his algorithm was built for Gaussian noise removal. Unlike Gaussian noise, which is additive, speckle noise is multiplicative. We modify the original Chambolle algorithm for speckle noise images using the first noise equation for speckle denoising, proposed by Krissian, Kikinis, Westin and Vosburgh in 2005. We apply the Chambolle algorithm to the Krissian et al. speckle denoising model to develop a faster algorithm for speckle noise images.

On multiplicative generators of overlap and grouping functions

Overlap and grouping functions have been proposed by Bustince et al.. In this paper, we continue investigating the two functions by their multiplicative generator pairs. At first, we introduce the concept of multiplicative generator pair for overlap functions. And then, we investigate the migrativity, homogeneity, idempotency, Archimedean and cancellation properties for the overlap functions obtained by such multiplicative generator pairs. Finally, we give the definition of multiplicative generator pair for grouping functions and show some related results by the duality of overlap and grouping functions.

Structural basis of GM-CSF and IL-2 sequestration by the viral decoy receptor GIF.

Subversion of the host immune system by viruses is often mediated by molecular decoys that sequester host proteins pivotal to mounting effective immune responses. The widespread mammalian pathogen parapox Orf virus deploys GIF, a member of the poxvirus immune evasion superfamily, to antagonize GM-CSF (granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor) and IL-2 (interleukin-2), two pleiotropic cytokines of the mammalian immune system. However, structural and mechanistic insights into the unprecedented functional duality of GIF have remained elusive. Here we reveal that GIF employs a dimeric binding platform that sequesters two copies of its target cytokines with high affinity and slow dissociation kinetics to yield distinct complexes featuring mutually exclusive interaction footprints. We illustrate how GIF serves as a competitive decoy receptor by leveraging binding hotspots underlying the cognate receptor interactions of GM-CSF and IL-2, without sharing any structural similarity with the cytokine receptors. Our findings contribute to the tracing of novel molecular mimicry mechanisms employed by pathogenic viruses.

Schwartz duality of the Dirac delta function for the Chebyshev collocation approximation to the fractional advection equation

Singular source terms represented by the Dirac delta function are found in various applications modeling natural problems. Solutions to differential equations perturbed by such singular source terms have jump discontinuity and their high order numerical approximations suffer from the Gibbs phenomenon. We use the Schwartz duality to approximate the Dirac delta function existent in fractional differential equations. The singular source term is approximated by the fractional derivative of the Heaviside function. We provide a Chebyshev spectral collocation method for solving the fractional advection equation with the singular source term and show that the Schwartz duality yields the consistent formulation resulting in vanishing Gibbs phenomenon. The numerical results show that the proposed approximation of the Dirac delta function is efficient and accurate, particularly for linear problems.

Iron uptake and transport across physiological barriers.

Iron is an essential element for human development. It is a major requirement for cellular processes such as oxygen transport, energy metabolism, neurotransmitter synthesis, and myelin synthesis. Despite its crucial role in these processes, iron in the ferric form can also produce toxic reactive oxygen species. The duality of iron’s function highlights the importance of maintaining a strict balance of iron levels in the body. As a result, organisms have developed elegant mechanisms of iron uptake, transport, and storage. This review will focus on the mechanisms that have evolved at physiological barriers, such as the intestine, the placenta, and the blood–brain barrier (BBB), where iron must be transported. Much has been written about the processes for iron transport across the intestine and the placenta, but less is known about iron transport mechanisms at the BBB. In this review, we compare the established pathways at the intestine and the placenta as well as describe what is currently known about iron transport at the BBB and how brain iron uptake correlates with processes at these other physiological barriers.

Paulistine--The Functional Duality of a Wasp Venom Peptide Toxin.

It has been reported that Paulistine in the venom of the wasp Polybia paulista co-exists as two different forms: an oxidized form presenting a compact structure due to the presence of a disulfide bridge, which causes inflammation through an apparent interaction with receptors in the 5-lipoxygenase pathway, and a naturally reduced form (without the disulfide bridge) that exists in a linear conformation and which also causes hyperalgesia and acts in the cyclooxygenase type II pathway. The reduced peptide was acetamidomethylated (Acm-Paulistine) to stabilize this form, and it still maintained its typical inflammatory activity. Oxidized Paulistine docks onto PGHS2 (COX-2) molecules, blocking the access of oxygen to the heme group and inhibiting the inflammatory activity of Acm-Paulistine in the cyclooxygenase type II pathway. Docking simulations revealed that the site of the docking of Paulistine within the PGHS2 molecule is unusual among commercial inhibitors of the enzyme, with an affinity potentially much higher than those observed for traditional anti-inflammatory drugs. Therefore, Paulistine causes inflammatory activity at the level of the 5-lipooxygenase pathway and, in parallel, it competes with its reduced form in relation to the activation of the cyclooxygenase pathway. Thus, while the reduced Paulistine causes inflammation, its oxidized form is a potent inhibitor of this activity.

Preferential Induction of the T Cell Auxiliary Signaling Molecule B7-H3 on Synovial Monocytes in Rheumatoid Arthritis

B7-H3, a newly identified B7 family member, has functional duality as a co-stimulator and co-inhibitor that fine-tunes T cell-mediated immune responses. Given that B7-H3 expression on human monocytes and dendritic cells is enhanced by inflammatory cytokines, its potential inmmunoregulatory role at sites of inflammation has been suggested. Further, monocytes play crucial roles in the pathophysiology of various inflammatory disorders including autoimmune diseases; however, the immunological role of B7-H3 in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has not been defined. Thus, we aimed to investigate the possible roles of monocyte B7-H3 in the pathogenesis of RA. Synovial monocytes, but not peripheral monocytes, in RA patients predominantly express surface B7-H3. The 4Ig isoform of B7-H3 is exclusively induced on the cell surface, whereas the 2Ig B7-H3 isoform is constitutively expressed in the intracytoplasmic region of both peripheral and synovial monocytes. B7-H3 knockdown experiments reveal that surface B7-H3 has an inhibitory effect on IFN-γ production in CD4 memory cells. Moreover, surface B7-H3 expression on synovial monocytes inversely correlates with RA clinical parameters. Our findings demonstrate that activation-induced B7-H3 expression on synovial monocytes has the potential to inhibit Th1-mediated immune responses and immunomodulatory roles affecting RA pathogenesis.

LANGUAGE, FOLKLORE AND WORLDVIEW AS A CONCEPTUAL BASIS OF ETHNOPHILOSOPHY

The article presents a study of the conceptual foundations of ethnophilosophy having the purpose of definitions of "ethnophilosophy" and mechanisms of its formation to support objectivity ethnophilosophy. It stresses the importance of linguistic-cultural aspect of history of formation of science. In today's study, the author also analyzes ethnophilosophy ideological beginning, the relationship of folklore and outlook. In conclusion, it is concluded significant problems of language and structure determination ethnophilosophy it as a science. The study of linguistic-cultural aspect goes with structural differentiation of ethnophilosophy knowledge. Communicative function inherent in folklore as a linguistic sign, leads to a dialectical antinomy with respect to autonomous linguistic sign. The duality of communicative and autonomous functions in folklore manifests itself in the process of formation of the philosophy of the people associated respectively with different age levels worldview. In conclusion, the author concludes that ethnophilosophy is a mutually balanced concept of material and ideal, or a dual relationship to reality, dualism, however ethnophilosophy adheres to the materialist line in its conceptual views and content. Modifications relation to reality play an important role in the oral-poetic creativity and structure ethnophilosophy (metaphysics, mythology, materialism, philosophy, science: in the whole structure of the existing tradition). Theoretical study of ethnophilosophy structure holds as a philosophical discourse is to represent the unity of the whole semantic structure and the scientific definition of the object of his research.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ORGANIZATIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND INNOVATIONS: CASE OF LITHUANIAN SPORTS FEDERATIONS

Background. Sports organizations exist to perform tasks that can only be executed through cooperative effort, and sports management is responsible for the performance and success of these organizations. The main problem concerning sports organizations and making them implement modern management paradigms is the duality of functions, which divides a sports organization into units increasing the internal competition and reducing the possibilities to create new knowledge. This undoubtedly affects the insufficiently productive functioning of a sports organization under modern conditions of globalization. Organizational intelligence (OI) could be a way to promote innovations, create and share knowledge (McMaster, 1998; Winand, Qualizza, Vos, Zintz, & Scheerder, 2013b). Methods. Two questionnaires were used in this research: first, regarding the evaluation of organizational intelligence level, the second regarding the sports organization’s preparation for innovations. Results. One of the lowest evaluated OI factors was organizational openness and the highest rating was given to group work. Comparing OI internal dimensions score of sports organizations which implemented or not innovations during the last 12 months it became clear that there was a significant difference in the scores for organizational openness in sport organizations which implemented innovations and (M = 4.2747, SD = 0.82337) and for sport organizations which did not implement innovations (M = 3.5874, SD = 0.51288), p = .24 (two-tailed). Conclusion. Sports organizations having more features of intelligent organization more analyse innovation development opportunities in various aspects, but the level of intelligence and innovation ideas development has no relation, except for costs analysis. Sports organization becoming intelligent and developing innovations had advantage only in some phases of innovation development: situation analysis and decision making.

Musielak–Orlicz Hardy spaces associated to operators satisfying Davies–Gaffney estimates and bounded holomorphic functional calculus

Let $X$ be a metric space with doubling measure and $L$ be an operator which satisfies Davies–Gaffney heat kernel estimates and has a bounded $H_\infty$ functional calculus on $L^2(X)$. In this paper, we develop a theory of Musielak–Orlicz Hardy spaces associated to $L$, including a molecular decomposition, square function characterization and duality of Musielak–Orlicz Hardy spaces $H_{L,\omega}(X)$. Finally, we show that $L$ has a bounded holomorphic functional calculus on $H_{L,\omega}(X)$ and the Riesz transform is bounded from $H_{L,\omega}(X)$ to $L^1(\omega)$.

Hormesis: Decoding Two Sides of the Same Coin.

In the paradigm of drug administration, determining the correct dosage of a therapeutic is often a challenge. Several drugs have been noted to demonstrate contradictory effects per se at high and low doses. This duality in function of a drug at different concentrations is known as hormesis. Therefore, it becomes necessary to study these biphasic functions in order to understand the mechanistic basis of their effects. In this article, we focus on different molecules and pathways associated with diseases that possess a duality in their function and thus prove to be the seat of hormesis. In particular, we have highlighted the pathways and factors involved in the progression of cancer and how the biphasic behavior of the molecules involved can alter the manifestations of cancer. Because of the pragmatic role that it exhibits, the imminent need is to draw attention to the concept of hormesis. Herein, we also discuss different stressors that trigger hormesis and how stress-mediated responses increase the overall adaptive response of an individual to stress stimulus. We talk about common pathways through which cancer progresses (such as nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2-Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (Nrf2-Keap1), sirtuin-forkhead box O (SIRT-FOXO) and others), analyzing how diverse molecules associated with these pathways conform to hormesis.

Solving the Drift Control Problem

We model the problem of managing capacity in a build-to-order environment as a Brownian drift control problem. We formulate a structured linear program that models a practical discretization of the problem and exploit a strong relationship between relative value functions and dual solutions to develop a functional lower bound for the continuous problem from a dual solution to the discrete problem. Refining the discretization proves a functional strong duality for the continuous problem. The linear programming formulation is so badly scaled, however, that solving it is beyond the capabilities of standard solvers. By demonstrating the equivalence between strongly feasible bases and deterministic unichain policies, we combinatorialize the pivoting process and by exploiting the relationship between dual solutions and relative value functions, develop a mechanism for solving the LP without ever computing its coefficients. Finally, we exploit the relationship between relative value functions and dual solutions to develop a scheme analogous to column generation for refining the discretization so as to drive the gap between the discrete approximation and the continuous problem to zero quickly while keeping the LP small. Computational studies show our scheme is much faster than simply solving a regular discretization of the problem both in terms of finding a policy with a low average cost and in terms of providing a lower bound on the optimal average cost.

Evidence of cancer-promoting roles for AMPK and related kinases.

The discovery that the 5'AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) serves to link the tumour suppressors LKB1 and the tuberous sclerosis complex and functions to slow macromolecular synthesis through attenuation of the mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 revealed a role for AMPK in tumour suppression. On the other hand, the well-recognized role of AMPK in maintaining ATP homeostasis, through suppression of anabolism and promotion of catabolism, as well as the role of AMPK in neutralizing reactive oxygen species, via maintenance of NADPH-dependent reductive capacity, point to tumour-protective roles in the context of metabolic stress, which is a key feature of many solid tumours. A growing number of studies thus suggest a duality of functions for AMPK that are either pro- or anti-cancer, depending upon context. Importantly, AMPK is composed of three subunits, and multiple isoforms exist for all three, allowing for different permutations to assemble and the potential for specific AMPK complexes to regulate distinct cellular processes. Moreover, certain subunits of the AMPK complex are frequently overexpressed in a spectrum of human cancer types, suggesting an outright oncogenic function for specific AMPK complexes. Adding complexity to this picture, the catalytic AMPK alpha subunits belong to a family of 14 kinases that can all be activated by LKB1 and studies are beginning to reveal a similar duality of roles in cancer for other members of the AMPK-related kinase family.

TPL2-NPM-p53 pathway monitors nucleolar stress.

TPL2-NPM-p53 pathway monitors nucleolar stress.