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The present study examines the training environment and sponsorship dynamics in Hungarian artistic swimming, with a particular focus on competitiveness. Through the utilization of a linear regression method ample aspects were identified, such as coach qualifications, funding sources, and facilities, that positively impact the number of qualified competitors. The availability of funding sources, when coupled with governmental assistance, has a favorable effect on the number of competitors, whereas membership fees have a deleterious impact. Furthermore, the findings indicate that increased water availability and increased publicity enhance artistic swimming recognition, whereas improved land-based training conditions may lead to a decline in the number of competitors. This paper discusses how different aspects of training programs can be integrated to improve overall athleticism, prevent injury, and enhance the competitive ability of artistic swimmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aesthetic experience of a group of artworks—such as an afternoon spent wandering in a museum—is not simply the sum of experiences of the individual works. In the present research, we explored visit-level aesthetic experiences in a field study of 298 visitors to a museum of modern and contemporary art. In particular, we focused on emotional diversity: the richness, complexity, and heterogeneity of the emotions that people experienced during their visit. After their visit, participants reported the degree to which they experienced, if at all, 10 emotions, from which we calculated diversity metrics reflecting their emotional variety (the number of emotions experienced) and emotional balance (the relative evenness between emotions or dominance of a single emotion) during the visit. Overall, the sample reported a rich aesthetic experience, but there was wide and predictable variability. Among other findings, emotional variety was higher for people with greater openness to experience and among first-time visitors to the museum; emotional balance was higher among people high in openness to experience and people with greater interest in art. The concept of diversity—the richness and complexity of someone's emotional experience of the arts—appears promising for understanding holistic aesthetic experiences, such as entire museum visits rather than single works, as well as for many other questions in empirical aesthetics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital technologies reshape the way we interact with our environment, including with artworks. Advanced computational imaging solutions allow having extremely high-resolution digital reproductions of artworks outside museums, presumably increasing artwork engagement. We tested whether exploring such reproductions via an interactive interface heightened aesthetic appreciation and enhanced recognition. With this interface, observers can move, turn, zoom, and relight the digital reproductions (; ). In Study 1, 82 participants explored paintings in the laboratory. In Study 2, 63 participants explored precious cultural artefacts in the museum. In both studies, participants' aesthetic appreciation (interest, pleasure, intensity, subjective learning) was higher towards artworks they had explored interactively as compared to non-interactively or as physical objects, highlighting the advantage of the tested technology. However, we found no evidence that interactive exploration improved artwork recognition. More studies are needed to learn when and why digital interaction is beneficial above and beyond subjective aesthetic evaluations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In empirical aesthetics, choosing stimuli, especially artworks, is a persistent challenge. Artworks differ largely in terms of style, complexity, formal features, and valence, as well as historical context, presentation quality, genre, and content, all of which might influence aesthetic experiences. To advance the comparability of studies and increase our understanding of studied effects, it is important that the research community develops and, ideally, utilizes common standards or even data sets for stimulus selection. Here, we present the Vienna Art Picture System (VAPS), which provides such a comprehensive data set of visual artistic stimuli consisting of 999 fine art paintings from 347 European painters and from 13 art historical periods/styles from 1434 to the beginning of the 21st century. The artworks correspond to five genre categories: scenes, portraits, landscapes, still lifes, and paintings with increasing levels of abstraction. As a base for future research, the data set contains rating information (based on a German-speaking student sample of 60 women and 60 men) on five variables: liking, emotional valence, emotional arousal, visual complexity, and familiarity. The VAPS is freely accessible to the scientific community for noncommercial use at https://osf.io/a7xcr/. Thus, the VAPS offers a normed (mean, standard deviation) set of fine art pictures that can be used as a tool for researchers in the field of empirical visual aesthetics, and experimental psychology, to select stimulus sets suited to their needs and that can provide a basis for more standardized and comparable research across individual laboratories and researchers in the rapidly expanding assessment of experiences with art. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, we introduce a response-time-based test that can be used to detect concealed language knowledge, for various potential applications (e.g., espionage, border control, counter-terrorism). In this test, the examinees are asked to respond to repeatedly presented items, including a real word in the language tested (suspected to be known by the examinee) and several pseudowords. A person who understands the tested language recognizes the real word and tends to have slower responses to it as compared to the pseudowords, and, thereby, can be distinguished from those who do not understand the language. This was demonstrated in a series of experiments including diverse participants tested for their native language (German, Hungarian, Polish, Russian; n = 312), for second language (English, German; n = 66), and several control groups (n = 192). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People visit museums with differing motivations. We use Falk's visitor identity model to examine visitors' motivations to visit an art museum. We assess (1) the prevalence of different motivation types; (2) how visit motivations and outcomes relate to visit satisfaction and length; and (3) the relation between visit motivations and fulfillment of expectations. We found that (1) visitors most strongly endorsed motivations and visit outcomes related to exploration and least strongly to facilitating another's visit; (2) visit outcomes predicted visit satisfaction and length more strongly than did visit motivations; and (3) visit outcomes largely met or exceeded the visitors' pre-visit expectations. The present findings suggest that outcomes of the visit matter more than motivations for visiting. We suggest that examining the entirety of a visit—pre-visit motivation and post-visit outcomes—may provide new insights about art museum visits that may be obscured when focusing on just one of these aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Scaffold proteins have an important role in the regulation of signal propagation. These proteins do not possess any enzymatic activity but can contribute to the formation of multiprotein complexes. Although scaffold proteins are present in all cell types, the nervous system contains them in the largest amount. Caskin proteins are typically present in neuronal cells, particularly, in the synapses. However, the signaling mechanisms by which Caskin proteins are regulated are largely unknown. Results Here we demonstrate that EphB1 receptor tyrosine kinase can recruit Caskin1 through the adaptor protein Nck. Upon activation of the receptor kinase, the SH2 domain of Nck binds to one of its tyrosine residues, while Nck SH3 domains interact with the proline-rich domain of Caskin1. Complex formation of the receptor, adaptor and scaffold proteins results in the tyrosine phosphorylation of Caskin1 on its SH3 domain. The phosphorylation sites were identified by mass-spectrometry as tyrosines 296 and 336. To reveal the structural consequence of this phosphorylation, CD spectroscopy was performed. This measurement suggests that upon tyrosine phosphorylation the structure of the Caskin1 SH3 domain changes significantly. Conclusion Taken together, we propose that the scaffold protein Caskin1 can form a complex with the EphB1 tyrosine kinase via the Nck protein as a linker. Complex formation results in tyrosine phosphorylation of the Caskin1 SH3 domain. Although we were not able to identify any physiological partner of the SH3 domain so far, we could demonstrate that phosphorylation on conserved tyrosine residues results in marked changes in the structure of the SH3 domain.

Background: Tyrosinaemia type 1 is a rare inherited metabolic disease caused by an enzyme defect in the tyrosine degradation pathway. It is treated using nitisinone and a low-protein diet. In a workshop in 2013, a group of nutritional specialists from Germany, Switzerland and Austria agreed to advocate a simplified low-protein diet and to allow more natural protein intake in patients with tyrosinaemia type 1. This retrospective study evaluates the recommendations made at different treatment centers and their impact on clinical symptoms and metabolic control. Methods: For this multicenter study, questionnaires were sent to nine participating treatment centers to collect data on the general therapeutic approach and data of 47 individual patients treated by those centers. Results: Dietary simplification allocating food to 3 categories led to increased tyrosine and phenylalanine blood concentrations without weighing food. Phenylalanine levels were significantly higher in comparison to a strict dietary regimen whereas tyrosine levels in plasma did not change. Non-inferiority was shown for the simplification and liberalization of the diet. Compliance with dietary recommendations was higher using the simplified diet in comparison to the stricter approach. Age correlates negatively with compliance. Conclusions: Simplification of the diet with increased natural protein intake based on three categories of food may be implemented in the diet of patients with tyrosinaemia type 1 without significantly altering metabolic control. Patient compliance is strongly influencing tyrosine blood concentrations. A subsequent prospective study with a larger sample size is necessary to get a better insight into the effect of dietary recommendations on metabolic control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of the cultivated wheat species and varieties are sensitive to powdery mildew caused by the obligate pathogen fungus Blumeria graminis f.sp. tritici. The infection can result in up to 40% yield loss; therefore breeding resistant cultivars has a great importance. Because of the high adaptability of the fungus it is a great challenge for breeders as well. The identified dominant resistance genes provided only short-term and isolate-specific protection. The lossof- function mutations of the Mlo gene represent an alternative protection in the co-evolutionary battle, because the presence of the functional wild type wheat MLO protein is essential for the successful fungal infection. This resistance mechanism, described first in wild barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) population, results in long-term, heritable powdery mildew resistance that is effective against all tested isolates. Orthologs of Mlo have been identified in numerous land plants including Triticum aestivum. Although more than 50 different mutations could be induced into these genes, only a few naturally evolved mutant mlo-alleles have been found so far. It is known for a long time that cultivars of einkorn (T. monococcum L.) have high level of resistance against diseases, including powdery mildew infection. In our work we investigate whether mutations occurring naturally in the Mlo gene/s provide this long-term protection. To identify such resistance genes would be useful for future breeding of resistant bread wheat cultivars. Our research strategy was to amplify the entire T. monococcum Mlo gene (TmMlo) sequence in order to find SNPs or INDELs that may lead to loss-of-function mutations. We studied different T. monococcum accessions from seed banks and breeders, which showed elevated levels of resistance against powdery mildew infection under field conditions. To identify the TmMlo gene PCR primers designed for the T. aestivum Mlo2 (TaMlo2) gene were used. First we amplified one of those sequence regions, which encodes conservative amino acids essential for normal function of the MLO protein. The obtained ~ 700 bp long fragment corresponds to the 1285−1983 nucleotide region of TaMlo2 gene. Sequence alignment resulted in three different types of sequences: the A-type showed 98% homology to the TaMlo2 gene while the B- and C-types showed 80% and 78% homology to the barley HvMlo-h1 gene, respectively. Although deletions and numerous SNPs were found in these groups, they were mainly localized in the predicted intron regions. To isolate the entire TmMlo gene, we designed primers for the 5'- and 3'-end based on sequences of TaMlo2, HvMlo-h1 genes and T. monococcum and T. urartu contigs. We found two types of TmMlo sequences as suggested by our first results: one of them showed 94% homology to the TaMlo2 gene and the other group showed 80% homology to the HvMlo-h1 gene. Alignment of the predicted exon sequences resulted in two SNPs in the first group (showing similarity to TaMlo2) leading to one amino acid change only. INDELs and numerous SNPs were found in the second sequence group leading to significant differences in the predicted amino acid sequence. Interestingly one of the studied accessions showed 98% similarity to Aegilops tauschii subs. tauschii Mlo protein homolog 1 mRNA sequence. To confirm the predicted exon sequences, RNA was extracted from three einkorn accessions. The cDNA sequences corresponded well to the predicted exon sequences. Based on our results, we plan to identify SNPs and INDELs, which lead to loss-of-function mutation. Since no annotated T. monococcum Mlo gene sequence was found in databases, the identification of the TmMlo gene and finding a naturally evolved mutant mlo-allele would be important for basic research and plant improvement as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recognition of poly ADP-ribose transferase-1 (PARP-1) as an ATP sensor receiving this energy source by way of a specific adenylate kinase ATP wire (AK) from mitochondrial ATP synthase (F0F1), and directly regulating cellular mRNA and DNA synthesis, was the first step towards the identification of an effect by PARP-1 that is of fundamental significance. The molecular target of AK-ATP is Arg 34 of the Zn finger I of PARP-1, which is also a site for cation-π interactions as a target of π-electron donors. We now identify this π-electron receptor site as the second active center of PARP-1 which by interaction with a π-electron donor-inducible MgATPase reversibly controls a malignant vs. non-malignant phenotype through energizing the NADH➝NADP+ transhydrogenase, a reaction which is the metabolic connection of PARP-1 to cell function. The specific enzyme-inducing action of the π-electrons is executed by the PARP-1 -topoisomerase I - DNA complex of the nuclei regulating both the nature and the quantity of cellular enzymes that constitute cell-specific physiology.