École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
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Diverse roles of TssA-like proteins in the assembly of bacterial type VI secretion systems
No full textProtein translocation by the bacterial type VI secretion system (T6SS) is driven by a rapid contraction of a sheath assembled around a tube with associated effectors. Here, we show that TssA-like or TagA-like proteins with a conserved N-terminal domain and varying C-terminal domains can be grouped into at least three distinct classes based on their role in sheath assembly. The proteins of the first class increase speed and frequency of sheath assembly and form a stable dodecamer at the distal end of a polymerizing sheath. The proteins of the second class localize to the cell membrane and block sheath polymerization upon extension across the cell. This prevents excessive sheath polymerization and bending, which may result in sheath destabilization and detachment from its membrane anchor and thus result in failed secretion. The third class of these proteins localizes to the baseplate and is required for initiation of sheath assembly. Our work shows that while various proteins share a conserved N-terminal domain, their roles in T6SS biogenesis are fundamentally different.CIMELBEMThis is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens
The pleasantness of sensory dissonance is mediated by musical style and expertise
No full textWestern musical styles use a large variety of chords and vertical sonorities. Based on objective acoustical properties, chords can be situated on a dissonant-consonant continuum. While this might to some extent converge with the unpleasant-pleasant continuum, subjective liking might diverge for various chord forms from music across different styles. Our study aimed to investigate how well appraisals of the roughness and pleasantness dimensions of isolated chords taken from real-world music are predicted by Parncutt's established model of sensory dissonance. Furthermore, we related these subjective ratings to style of origin and acoustical features of the chords as well as musical sophistication of the raters. Ratings were obtained for chords deemed representative of the harmonic language of three different musical styles (classical, jazz and avant-garde music), plus randomly generated chords. Results indicate that pleasantness and roughness ratings were, on average, mirror opposites; however, their relative distribution differed greatly across styles, reflecting different underlying aesthetic ideals. Parncutt's model only weakly predicted ratings for all but Classical chords, suggesting that listeners' appraisal of the dissonance and pleasantness of chords bears not only on stimulus-side but also on listener-side factors. Indeed, we found that levels of musical sophistication negatively predicted listeners' tendency to rate the consonance and pleasantness of any one chord as coupled measures, suggesting that musical education and expertise may serve to individuate how these musical dimensions are apprehended.DCM
Associations between usual diet and gut microbiota composition: results from the Milieu Interieur cross-sectional study
No full textBackground: Diet is widely recognized as one of the main modifiable drivers of gut microbiota variability, and its influence on microbiota composition is an active area of investigation.Objective: The present work aimed to explore the associations between usual diet and gut microbiota composition in a large sample of healthy French adults.Methods: Gut microbiota composition was established through sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene in stool samples from 862 healthy French adults of the Milieu Interieur study. Usual dietary consumptions were determined through the administration of a food-frequency questionnaire. The associations between dietary variables and alpha- and beta-diversity indexes and relative taxa abundances were tested using Spearman correlations, permutational ANOVAs, and multivariate analyses with linear models, respectively.Results: Foods generally considered as healthy (raw fruits, fish) were positively associated with alpha-diversity, whereas food items for which a limited consumption is generally recommended (fried products, sodas or sugary drinks, fatty sweet products, processed meats, ready-cooked meals, and desserts) were negatively associated with alpha-diversity. Fruits, fried products, ready-cooked meals, and cheese contributed to shifts within microbiota composition (beta-diversity). Our results also highlighted a number of associations between various food group intakes and abundances of specific phyla, genera, and species. For instance, the consumption of cheese was negatively associated with Akkermansia muciniphila abundance.Conclusions: This large-scale population-based study supports that the usual consumption of certain food items is associated with several gut microbial features, and extends the mechanistic arguments linking Western diet to an altered microbiota composition. These results provide new insights into the understanding of complex diet-gut microbiota relations, and their implications for host health deserve further investigation because altered microbiota diversity was consistently linked to increased risk of several health outcomes. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01699893.UPFELLA
Self-Recognition in Data Visualization: How Individuals See Themselves in Visual Representations
No full textThis article explores how readers recognize their personal identities represented through data visualizations. The recognition is investigated starting from three definitions captured by the philosopher Paul Ricoeur: the identification with the visualization, the recognition of someone in the visualization, and the mutual recognition that happens between readers. Whereas these notions were initially applied to study the role of the book reader, two further concepts complete the shift to data visualization: the digital identity stays for the present-day passport of human actions and the promise is the intimate reflection that projects readers towards their own future. This article reflects on the delicate meaning of digital identity and the way of representing it according to this structure: From Personal Identity to Media is a historical introduction to self-recognition, Data Visualization for Representing Identities moves the focus to visual representation, and The Course of Recognition breaks the self-recognition in through the five concepts above just before the Conclusion.DHLABThis article was initially published as a manuscript in 2016. As we think it is still worth working on, we developed the original version for a journal publication. Since the first structure has been maintained, we kept the original title modifying the subtitle only
«Wir müssen seinem Werk Sorge tragen» – Clementine Hegner-van Rooden Ein Gespräch mit Eugen Brühwiler über den Ingenieur und Mensch Christian Menn
No full textMC
Low-temperature flux growth of sulfates, molybdates, and tungstates of Ca, Sr, and Ba and investigation of doping with Mn 6 +
No full textIBI-STINational Licence
Pessimistic outcome expectancy does not explain ambiguity aversion in decision-making under uncertainty
No full textWhen faced with a decision, most people like to know the odds and prefer to avoid ambiguity. It has been suggested that this aversion to ambiguity is linked to people's assumption of worst possible outcomes. We used two closely linked behavioural tasks in 78 healthy participants to investigate whether such pessimistic prior beliefs can explain ambiguity aversion. In the risk-taking task, participants had to decide whether or not they place a bet, while in the beliefs task, participants were asked what they believed would be the outcome. Unexpectedly, we found that in the beliefs task, participants were not overly pessimistic about the outcome in the ambiguity condition and in fact closer to optimal levels of decision-making than in the risk conditions. While individual differences in pessimism could explain outcome expectancy, they had no effect on ambiguity aversion. Consequently, ambiguity aversion is more likely caused by general caution than by expectation of negative outcomes despite pessimism-dependent subjective weighting of probabilities.DCMLThis article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Deep learning assisted image transmission in multimode fibers
No full textWe propose a data -driven approach for light transmission control inside multimode fibers (MMFs). Specifically, we show that a convolutional neural network is able to reconstruct amplitude/phase modulated images from scrambled amplitude -only images obtained at the output of a 0.75m long MMF with a fidelity (correlation) as high as 98%. We show that the trained network shows good generalization as well. In particular, it is shown that the network is able to reconstruct images that do not belong to train/test datasets.LAPDL
Transforming scholarship in the archives through handwritten text recognition Transkribus as a case study
No full textPurpose An overview of the current use of handwritten text recognition (HTR) on archival manuscript material, as provided by the EU H2020 funded Transkribus platform. It explains HTR, demonstrates Transkribus, gives examples of use cases, highlights the affect HTR may have on scholarship, and evidences this turning point of the advanced use of digitised heritage content. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach This paper adopts a case study approach, using the development and delivery of the one openly available HTR platform for manuscript material. Findings Transkribus has demonstrated that HTR is now a useable technology that can be employed in conjunction with mass digitisation to generate accurate transcripts of archival material. Use cases are demonstrated, and a cooperative model is suggested as a way to ensure sustainability and scaling of the platform. However, funding and resourcing issues are identified. Research limitations/implications - The paper presents results from projects: further user studies could be undertaken involving interviews, surveys, etc. Practical implications - Only HTR provided via Transkribus is covered: however, this is the only publicly available platform for HTR on individual collections of historical documents at time of writing and it represents the current state-of-the-art in this field. Social implications The increased access to information contained within historical texts has the potential to be transformational for both institutions and individuals. Originality/value This is the first published overview of how HTR is used by a wide archival studies community, reporting and showcasing current application of handwriting technology in the cultural heritage sector.DHLABThis is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens
A Hybrid Method for Spectral Translation Equivalent Boolean Functions
No full textThe equivalence of Boolean functions with respect to five invariance (aka translation) operations has been well considered with respect to the Rademacher-Walsh spectral domain. In this paper, we introduce a hybrid approach that uses both the Reed-Muller and the Rademacher-Walsh spectra. A novel hybrid algorithm that maps a Boolean function to a representative function for the equivalence class containing the original function is presented. The algorithm can be used to determine a sequence of translations that maps one function to an equivalent function. We present experimental results that show the hybrid algorithm can determine the equivalence classes for 5 variables much more efficiently than before. We also show that for 6 variables where there are 150,357 equivalence classes, 8 are very difficult, a further 58 are difficult and the remainder are straightforward in terms of the CPU time required by the hybrid algorithm.LSI1LSI