Direct visualization of the dynamics of membrane-anchor proteins in living cells

Dynamic properties of proteins have crucial roles in understanding protein function and molecular mechanism within cells. In this paper, we combined total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy with oblique illumination fluorescence microscopy to observe directly the movement and localization of membrane-anchored green fluorescence proteins in living cells. Total internal reflect illumination allowed the observation of proteins in the cell membrane of living cells since the penetrate depth could be adjusted to about 80 nm, and oblique illumination allowed the observation of proteins both in the cytoplasm and apical membrane, which made this combination a promising tool to investigate the dynamics of proteins through the whole cell. Not only individual protein molecule tracks have been analyzed quantitatively but also cumulative probability distribution function analysis of ensemble trajectories has been done to reveal the mobility of proteins. Finally, single particle tracking has acted as a compensation for single molecule tracking. All the results exhibited green fluorescence protein dynamics within cytoplasm, on the membrane and from cytoplasm to plasma membrane.

Extractive institutions in colonial Africa

A common explanation for African current underdevelopment is the extractive character of institutions established during the colonial period. Yet, since colonial extraction is hard to quantify and its exact mechanisms are not well understood, we still do not know precisely how colonial institutions affect economic growth today. In this project, I study this issue by focusing on the peculiar structure of trade and labor policies employed by the French colonizers.

First, I analyze how trade monopsonies and coercive labor institutions reduced African gains from trade during the colonial period. By using new data on prices to agricultural producers and labor institutions in French Africa, I show that (1) the monopsonistic character of colonial trade implied a reduction in prices to producers far below world market prices; (2) coercive labor institutions allowed the colonizers to reduce prices even further; (3) as a consequence, colonial extraction cut African gains from trade by over 60%.

Given the importance of labor institutions, I then focus on their origin by analyzing the colonial governments' incentives to choose between coerced and free labor. I argue that the choice of institutions was affected more by the properties of exported commodities, such as prices and economies of scale, than by the characteristics of colonies, such indigenous population density and ease of settlement for the colonizers.

Finally, I study the long-term effects of colonial trade monopsonies and coercive labor institutions. By combining archival data on prices in the French colonies with maps of crop suitability, I show that the extent to which prices to agricultural producers were reduced with respect to world market prices is strongly negatively correlated with current regional development, as proxied by luminosity data from satellite images. The evidence suggests that colonial extraction affected subsequent growth by reducing development in rural areas in favor of a urban elite. The differential impact in rural and urban areas can be the reason why trade monopsonies and extractive institutions persisted long after independence.

A regulação política da sexualidade no âmbito da família por saberes e instituições médicas brasileiras : 1838-1940

Esta tese tem como objeto a regulação política da sexualidade no âmbito da família por saberes e instituições médicas brasileiras (1838-1940). Orienta-se pelo interesse em analisar continuidades e descontinuidades na construção de objetos, estratégias e táticas políticas direcionados para a regulação higiênica e eugênica do casamento e da sexualidade infantil. De inspiração foucaultiana, inscreve-se no campo da história dos saberes e está subsidiada por um conjunto heterogêneo de documentos (teses, artigos de periódicos, livros, anais etc.) circunscritos, majoritariamente, ao campo da medicina. Analisa a constituição de uma defesa higiênica dos casamentos no pensamento médico novecentista, voltada para remanejamentos das figuras de esposa e marido na nova configuração de família que começava a se esboçar no Brasil, contrastando-a com a regulação católica da moral sexual colonial. Em seguida, descreve a visibilidade higiênica que a medicina dará a infância no século XIX, problematizando especificamente o interesse pelo tema da masturbação, que articula simultaneamente a família, centrada na figura da mãe, e a escola na convocação de zelar pela criança. Partindo das contradições sociais que se apresentaram na construção do projeto liberal nacional a partir da década de 1870, discute a apropriação do discurso da degenerescência pelo saber médico-psiquiátrico brasileiro, que propiciou uma leitura da brasilidade marcada pelo excesso sexual e pela condição degenerada da miscigenação, a fim de pensar as condições de possibilidade para a emergência do projeto de eugenia matrimonial institucionalizado nas primeiras décadas do século XX e toma como táticas a campanha pela compulsoriedade do exame pré-nupcial, o combate aos casamentos consanguíneos, o controle do contágio venéreo e o aconselhamento sexual dos casais. Analisa a campanha de educação sexual, cuja pretensão de instituir uma sciencia sexual no Brasil, de legitimidade controversa, tinha como horizonte viabilizar uma profilaxia sexual que mitigasse a produção da criminalidade, das perversões sexuais e das doenças nervosas, bem como os desajustes familiares, a partir da fabricação de um novo objeto, qual seja, a sexualidade infantil, no qual incidirá uma nova pedagogia. Nesse particular, aponta particularidades discursivas da difusão das idéias freudianas entre higienistas brasileiros. Finalmente, sinaliza a constituição da higiene mental da criança como um novo domínio para a psiquiatria brasileira, que tomou a intensa circulação afetiva intrafamiliar como ponto de ancoragem para um projeto de normalização social, ainda centrado na eugenia, mas já atravessado por uma psicologia da adaptação.

As representações sociais de profissionais de saúde acerca do paciente psiquiátrico: aspectos descritivos e de zona muda

A presença de pacientes crônicos em instituições psiquiátricas tem se constituído como um desafio humano, político e programático para esta área assistencial. Frente a isto, definiu-se como objetivo geral deste estudo analisar a reconstrução sócio-cognitiva do profissional de saúde mental acerca do paciente psiquiátrico crônico, contextualizando com a sua permanência institucional e o processo assistencial. Como objetivos específicos, descrever os conteúdos e a estrutura das representações sociais do paciente psiquiátrico crônico para os profissionais; identificar a existência de conteúdos implícitos nas formações discursivas dos profissionais de saúde referentes ao paciente crônico institucionalizado; e analisar a perspectiva assistencial implementada na atenção a esses indivíduos no contexto institucional a partir das representações sociais do paciente crônico. Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa, desenvolvida com o aporte teórico-metodológico da Teoria das Representações Sociais em sua abordagem estrutural, em dois hospitais colônias localizados na cidade do Rio de Janeiro. Os dados foram coletados através de evocações livres em dois momentos. No primeiro, com 159 profissionais e no segundo utilizou-se a técnica de substituição com 151 profissionais. Os dados gerados foram analisados pelo software EVOC 2003 e organizados pelo quadro de quatro casas. Utilizou-se, ainda, a análise de similitude. Quanto à representação do paciente psiquiátrico, a mesma foi organizada ao redor das dimensões assistencial-institucional (cuidado), imagética (louco) e afetividade positiva (atenção), que se desdobram nos demais quadrantes, com destaque para a primeira e a segunda. A análise de similitude revelou que o léxico cuidado, obteve o maior número de ligações. Quanto à representação do paciente crônico em contexto normativo, a dimensão assistencial-institucional mostrou-se fortemente presente (cuidado, paciência e dependente), seguida da imagética (abandonado) e da de necessidade (carência). No entanto, na análise de similitude, a afetividade positiva (amor) mostra-se central com maior número de ligações de léxicos. Em contextos contra-normativos, a representação revelou-se negativa (louco, não e medo). A análise de similitude demonstrou uma representação estruturada através de uma imagem e de uma afetividade negativas. Conclui-se que os avanços na área de saúde mental, nos últimos 30 anos, não foram capazes de realizar mudanças representacionais sob fenômenos que ancoram em imagens produzidas desde os primórdios da humanidade. Ressalta-se a possível existência de uma zona muda acerca do paciente psiquiátrico crônico.

Investigating the Role of the GET3-GET4/GET5 Interaction During Tail-Anchor Protein Targeting

The proper targeting of membrane proteins is essential to the viability of all cells. Tail-anchored (TA) proteins, defined as having a single transmembrane helix at their C-terminus, are post-translationally targeted to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane by the GET pathway (Guided Entry of TA proteins). In the yeast pathway, the handover of TA substrates is mediated by the heterotetrameric Get4/Get5 (Get4/5) complex, which tethers the co-chaperone Sgt2 to the central targeting factor, the Get3 ATPase. Although binding of Get4/5 to Get3 is critical for efficient TA targeting, the mechanisms by which Get4 regulates Get3 are unknown. To understand the molecular basis of Get4 function, we used a combination of structural biology, biochemistry, and cell biology. Get4/5 binds across the Get3 dimer interface, in an orientation only compatible with a closed Get3, providing insight into the role of nucleotide in complex formation. Additionally, this structure reveals two functionally distinct binding interfaces for anchoring and ATPase regulation, and loss of the regulatory interface leads to strong defects in vitro and in vivo. Additional crystal structures of the Get3-Get4/5 complex give rise to an alternate conformation, which represents an initial binding interaction mediated by electrostatics that facilitates the rate of subsequent inhibited complex formation. This interface is supported by an in-depth kinetic analysis of the Get3-Get4/5 interaction confirming the two-step complex formation. These results allow us to generate a refined model for Get4/5 function in TA targeting.

Political Institutions, Technology and Growth: a dynamic panel approach

This paper investigates whether the effect of political institutions on sectoral economic performance is determined by the level of technological development of industries. Building on previous studies on the linkages among political institutions, technology and economic growth, we employ the dynamic panel Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimator for a sample of 4,134 country-industries from 61 industries and 89 countries over the 1990-2010 period. Our main findings suggest that changes of political institutions towards higher levels of democracy, political rights and civil liberties enhance economic growth in technologically developed industries. On the contrary, the same institutional changes might retard economic growth of those industries that are below a technological development threshold. Overall, these results give evidence of a technologically conditioned nature of political institutions to be growth-promoting.

Aquaculture genetics research and issues in INGA member countries/institutions

The information presented here is extracted from the presentations and discussions at the Sixth Steering Committee Meeting of the International Network on Genetics in Aquaculture (INGA) held in Hanoi, Vietnam on 8-10 May 2001. The main topics discussed were: review of genetics research progress and planned activities in member countries and Associate Member institutions; genetics improvement technologies; strategies and action plans for distribution of improved fish breeds to small-scale farmers; ecological risk assessment for genetically improved fish breeds; methods for monitoring the uptake of improved strains and impact assessment; and network activities and collaborations.

Traditional institutions and their role in the contemporary coastal resource management in the Pacific Islands

A discussion is presented on the role played by customary marine tenure (CMT) institutions in the regulation of fisheries in the Pacific Ocean Islands. Particular reference is made to the system in operation in Marovo Lagoon, in the Solomon Islands, whereby a number of defined clans control resource use within defined areas of land and sea. It is believed that such systems have considerable capacity for handling and adapting to new circumstances, thereby becoming potentially important tools in the contemporary management of fisheries and of the coastal zone in general.

A research framework for coastal fisheries co-management institutions

The article highlights objectives and activities of ICLARM's research project on co-management featuring the first step of the project which is the development of a research framework for coastal fisheries co-management institutions. The three components of the research framework are presented.

DEVELOPMENT OF MULTI-ANCHOR EARTH RETENTION SYSTEMS.

This paper discusses two projects, the first relating to tests on 'reinforced earth' conducted on the 1. 5 m radius centrifuge at U. M. I. S. T. and the second concerning a short pilot study on the T. R. R. L concept of 'anchored earth' carried out on the 5 m radius Cambridge Geotechnical Centrifuge. The paper proposes a role for centrifugal model testing in design evaluation, whether by the designer himself, his centrification authority, a rival patent holder, or a research worker.

Role of the state and financial institutions in financing the fishing industry

The experience of the Government in the recovery of loans for 28 foot mechanized vessels has been unsatisfactory. The author examines the various aspects which have contributed to this situation, and considers arrangements for financing purchase of such vessels. The risks associated with the investment in 38 foot vessels are high, and it seems that the reluctance of private investors to make the required contribution from personal funds is a result of fear of the unknown. Current incentives provided by the Government to the private sector for the purchase of 38 foot vessels are considered to be adequate.

Evaluation of external anchor tags for estimation of growth and survival in tilapia (Oreochromis shiranus chilwae Trewavas)

The effects of tagging with Roy FD-68B T-bar anchor tags on estimates of growth in Tilapia (Oreochromis shiranus chilwae) were investigated in a pond and in a field experiment. In the pond experiment, mean length increments of tagged and marked fish were compared. In the field experiment growth of tagged and "untouched" individual wild fish were compared by measuring scale circuli spacing (Circ.), which is correlated to instantaneous growth rate. Length increments of tagged and untagged/marked fish were not significantly different in either experiment. In the pond experiment, the total mortality rate in the small tagged fish was significantly higher than in the marked fish. The recoveries of tagged fish in the pond experiment increased with fish size. Recoveries exceeded 80% at lengths over 13 cm TL. The ratios of tagged to marked recoveries were 1.02 and 0.74 for large and small fish respectively. The study shows that tagging of Tilapia with Roy anchor tags does not in general alter the growth rates of the fish.