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With the emergence of Systems Biology, there is a greater realization that the whole behavior of a living system may not be simply described as the sum of its elements. To represent a living system using mathematical principles, practical quantities with units are required. Quantities are not only the bridge between mathematical description and biological observations; they often stand as essential elements similar to genome information in genetics. This important realization has greatly rejuvenated research in the area of Quantitative Biology. Because of the increased need for precise quantification, a new era of technological development has opened. For example, spatio-temporal high-resolution imaging enables us to track single molecule behavior in vivo. Clever artificial control of experimental conditions and molecular structures has expanded the variety of quantities that can be directly measured. In addition, improved computational power and novel algorithms for analyzing theoretical models have made it possible to investigate complex biological phenomena. This research topic is organized on two aspects of technological advances which are the backbone of Quantitative Biology: (i) visualization of biomolecules, their dynamics and function, and (ii) generic technologies of model optimization and numeric integration. We have also included articles highlighting the need for new quantitative approaches to solve some of the long-standing cell biology questions. In the first section on visualizing biomolecules, four cutting-edge techniques are presented. Ichimura et al. provide a review of quantum dots including their basic characteristics and their applications (for example, single particle tracking). Horisawa discusses a quick and stable labeling technique using click chemistry with distinct advantages compared to fluorescent protein tags. The relatively small physical size, stability of covalent bond and simple metabolic labeling procedures in living cells provides this type of technology a potential to allow long-term imaging with least interference to protein function. Obien et al. review strategies to control microelectrodes for detecting neuronal activity and discuss techniques for higher resolution and quality of recordings using monolithic integration with on-chip circuitry. Finally, the original research article by Amariei et al. describes the oscillatory behavior of metabolites in bacteria. They describe a new method to visualize the periodic dynamics of metabolites in large scale cultures populations. These four articles contribute to the development of quantitative methods visualizing diverse targets: proteins, electrical signals and metabolites. In the second section of the topic, we have included articles on the development of computational tools to fully harness the potential of quantitative measurements through either calculation based on specific model or validation of the model itself. Kimura et al. introduce optimization procedures to search for parameters in a quantitative model that can reproduce experimental data. They present four examples: transcriptional regulation, bacterial chemotaxis, morphogenesis of tissues and organs, and cell cycle regulation. The original research article by Sumiyoshi et al. presents a general methodology to accelerate stochastic simulation efforts. They introduce a method to achieve 130 times faster computation of stochastic models by applying GPGPU. The strength of such accelerated numerical calculation are sometimes underestimated in biology; faster simulation enables multiple runs and in turn improved accuracy of numerical calculation which may change the final conclusion of modeling study. This also highlights the need to carefully assess simulation results and estimations using computational tools.

fluorescence chemistry --- numerical integration --- molecular crowding --- quantum dot --- cell division --- data visualization --- imaging --- model optimization --- GPGPU

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In March 2015, the Institute for Law and Finance in Frankfurt am Main held a full-day symposium which brought together leading representatives of the public and private sectors to deliver the first high level response to the questions posed by the Commission’s Green Paper on Building a Capital Markets Union. These responses are collected in this volume.

Capital market --- Capital markets --- Market, Capital --- Finance --- Financial institutions --- Loans --- Money market --- Securities --- Crowding out (Economics) --- Efficient market theory

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Capital market --- Finance --- Business & Economics --- Investment & Speculation --- Capital markets --- Market, Capital --- Financial institutions --- Loans --- Money market --- Securities --- Crowding out (Economics) --- Efficient market theory

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'Capital Market Refom in Asia' contains a selection of papers that capture the essence of capital market reform in the Asian region, including important lessons from the global financial crisis of 2007-2009.

Capital market --- Finance --- Capital markets --- Market, Capital --- Financial institutions --- Loans --- Money market --- Securities --- Crowding out (Economics) --- Efficient market theory --- E-books

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To what level are invisible stimuli processed by the brain in the absence of conscious awareness? It is widely accepted that simple visual properties of invisible stimuli are processed; however, the existence of higher-level unconscious processing (e.g., involving semantic or executive functions) remains a matter of debate. Three major factors may underlie the discrepancies found in the literature: 1) different levels of conservativeness in the definition of “unconscious;” 2) different dependent measures of unconscious processing; and 3) inherent differences in the amount of information let through by different suppression techniques. In this research topic we are particularly interested in the third factor.Researchers using visual masking and researchers using interocular suppression disagree on the extent of unconscious processing as measured by priming effects. On the one hand, the community of researchers using visual masking seems to have reached the consensus that “subliminal priming has now been convincingly demonstrated at visual, semantic, and motor levels” (Dehaene and Changeux). On the other hand, in an influential review, Blake and Logothetis claimed that for high-level cognitive processes, “[interocular] suppression renders normally effective priming stimuli impotent“. Stein and Sterzer came to similar conclusions in a more recent contribution. However, these claims are challenged by empirical evidence for unconscious processing under interocular suppression using other dependent variables, e.g., conditioning and perceptual learning. Hence, the picture is not as clear cut as priming studies may suggest.Neuroimaging studies (e.g., functional MRI) offer another window on the extent of unconscious processing. Kouider et al. found that faces masked with a combination of forward and backward pattern masks elicited a BOLD response in the Fusiform Face Area (FFA). Jiang and He also reported that the fusiform face area (FFA) was active in response to faces rendered invisible by continuous flash suppression. Though Sterzer, Haynes and Rees did not replicate this finding with univariate analyses, they could discriminate invisible faces from invisible houses in the fusiform face area using multivariate pattern analysis. Thus it appears that there is unconscious processing of invisible faces in the FFA whether visual masking or interocular suppression is used; the amount of processing may differ between the two techniques, as suggested by the necessity of performing decoding when interocular suppression is used.In the same conditions of well-controlled, conservatively established subjective invisibility, can we show that some of the techniques in the “psychophysical magic” arsenal (e.g., masking, but also visual crowding, attentional blink, etc.) reliably lead to higher-level unconscious processing than others (e.g., interocular suppression)? Some authors have started investigating this question, using multiple techniques in similar settings . We argue that this approach should be extended. Indeed, in order to delineate the frontiers of the unconscious mind using a contrastive method, one has to disentangle the limits attributable to unawareness itself, and those attributable to the technique inducing unawareness. The scope of this research topic is to provide a platform for scientists to contribute insights and further experiments addressing this fundamental question.

Subconsciousness. --- Unconscious (Psychology) --- Unconsciousness --- Psychology --- Continuous Flash Suppression (CFS) --- psychophysical magic --- unconscious processing --- visual crowding --- backward masking --- measures of consciousness --- interocular suppression --- invisibility