Client-Provider Communication in Postabortion Care

Muchos trabajadores de la salud que tratan a las mujeres que sufren complicaciones de aborto inducido o espontáneo están dispuestos a admitir que estas mujeres necesitan asesoría, pero a menudo ven la consejería como una función no médica que requiere una formación específica, un tiempo especialmente designado, aparte de la prestación de servicios postaborto y otras instalaciones separadas y privadas. De este modo, los proveedores de servicios de atención postaborto a menudo creen que el asesoramiento no es una de sus responsabilidades de trabajo y que carecen de la formación y las instalaciones para hacerlo

ICTD Work, Plus mFeel : improving communication in resource-poor settings

This issue's Works-In-Progress department has four entries related to the issue's theme, Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICTD). They are “Sustainable ICT in Agricultural Value Chains”, “Measuring Social Inclusion in Primary Schools”, “An Architecture for Green Mobile Computation”, and “Improving Communication in Resource-Poor Settings”. A fifth entry, “mFeel: An Affective Mobile System”, covers the mFeel mobile system, which combines context awareness with affective and cognitive techniques.

Domain–domain communication in a miniature archaebacterial tRNA synthetase

The three-dimensional structure of tRNA is organized into two domains—the acceptor-TΨC minihelix with the amino acid attachment site and a second, anticodon-containing, stem–loop domain. Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases have a structural organization that roughly recapitulates the two-domain organization of tRNAs—an older primary domain that contains the catalytic center and interacts with the minihelix and a secondary, more recent, domain that makes contacts with the anticodon-containing arm. The latter contacts typically are essential for enhancement of the catalytic constant kcat through domain–domain communication. Methanococcus jannaschii tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase is a miniature synthetase with a tiny secondary domain suggestive of an early synthetase evolving from a one-domain to a two-domain structure. Here we demonstrate functional interactions with the anticodon-containing arm of tRNA that involve the miniaturized secondary domain. These interactions appear not to include direct contacts with the anticodon triplet but nonetheless lead to domain–domain communication. Thus, interdomain communication may have been established early in the evolution from one-domain to two-domain structures.

Folliculostellate cell network: A route for long-distance communication in the anterior pituitary

All higher life forms critically depend on hormones being rhythmically released by the anterior pituitary. The proper functioning of this master gland is dynamically controlled by a complex set of regulatory mechanisms that ultimately determine the fine tuning of the excitable endocrine cells, all of them heterogeneously distributed throughout the gland. Here, we provide evidence for an intrapituitary communication system by which information is transferred via the network of nonendocrine folliculostellate (FS) cells. Local electrical stimulation of FS cells in acute pituitary slices triggered cytosolic calcium waves, which propagated to other FS cells by signaling through gap junctions. Calcium wave initiation was because of the membrane excitability of FS cells, hitherto classified as silent cells. FS cell coupling could relay information between opposite regions of the gland. Because FS cells respond to central and peripheral stimuli and dialogue with endocrine cells, the form of large-scale intrapituitary communication described here may provide an efficient mechanism that orchestrates anterior pituitary functioning in response to physiological needs.

Chemical communication in scarab beetles: reciprocal behavioral agonist-antagonist activities of chiral pheromones.

A novel mechanism of reciprocal behavioral agonist-antagonist activities of enantiomeric pheromones plays a pivotal role in overcoming the signal-to-noise problem derived from the use of a single-constituent pheromone system in scarab beetles. Female Anomala osakana produce (S, Z)-5-(+)-(1-decenyl)oxacyclopentan-2-one, which is highly attractive to males; the response is completely inhibited even by 5% of its antipode. These two enantiomers have reverse roles in the Popillia japonica sex pheromone system. Chiral GC-electroantennographic detector experiments suggest that A. osakana and P. japonica have both R and S receptors that are responsible for behavioral agonist and antagonist responses.

Introduction of asymmetry in the naturally symmetric restriction endonuclease EcoRV to investigate intersubunit communication in the homodimeric protein.

Type II restriction endonucleases are dimers of two identical subunits that together form one binding site for the double-stranded DNA substrate. Cleavage within the palindromic recognition site occurs in the two strands of the duplex in a concerted manner, due to the action of two catalytic centers, one per subunit. To investigate how the two identical subunits of the restriction endonuclease EcoRV cooperate in binding and cleaving their substrate, heterodimeric versions of EcoRV with different amino acid substitutions in the two subunits were constructed. For this purpose, the ecorV gene was fused to the coding region for the glutathione-binding domain of the glutathione S-transferase and a His6-tag, respectively. Upon cotransformation of Escherichia coli cells with both gene fusions stable homo- and heterodimers of the EcoRV variants are produced, which can be separated and purified to homogeneity by affinity chromatography over Ni-nitrilotriacetic acid and glutathione columns. A steady-state kinetic analysis shows that the activity of a heterodimeric variant with one inactive catalytic center is decreased by 2-fold, demonstrating that the two catalytic centers operate independently from each other. In contrast, heterodimeric variants with a defect in one DNA-binding site have a 30- to 50-fold lower activity, indicating that the two subunits of EcoRV cooperate in the recognition of the palindromic DNA sequence. By combining a subunit with an inactive catalytic center with a subunit with a defect in the DNA-binding site, EcoRV heterodimers were produced that only nick DNA specifically within the EcoRV recognition sequence.

Letters from Robert Hallowell Gardiner to his brother-in-law, William Tudor,

Four letters written during the Gardiner family’s journey through Maine and while they were settling in at Oaklands.

Letters from Robert Hallowell Gardiner to his brother-in-law, William Tudor,

Four letters in which Gardiner discusses progress of the church he was building on the estate and requests Tudor send him certain books from Boston.

Letters from Robert Hallowell Gardiner to his brother-in-law, William Tudor,

Four letters written from Oaklands. One letter from Emma expressing her grief and shock over the death of their father was finished by her husband, who described hearing the news from a friend, and Emma’s subsequent reaction. In other letters, Gardiner offers advice on resolving the elder William Tudor’s debts by selling off assets such as shares in the Boston Athenaeum and in a pew at Trinity Church. In one letter, Gardiner also offers his opinion regarding the prospects of Henry James (Harry) Tudor’s law career.

Letters from Robert Hallowell Gardiner to his brother-in-law, William Tudor,

Four letters regarding the Gardiner children as well as Delia Stewart’s constantly changing travel plans.

Letters from Robert Hallowell Gardiner to his brother-in-law, William Tudor,

Five letters regarding topics such as Delia Stewart’s travel plans, local Maine politics, and progress in the construction of a church on the estate. In one letter, Gardiner writes about attending the funeral of Bowdoin College President Jesse Appleton.

Letters from Robert Hallowell Gardiner to his brother-in-law, William Tudor,

Four letters regarding topics such as local Maine politics and various household items and books Tudor acquired on the Gardiner family’s behalf.

Letters from Robert Hallowell Gardiner to his brother-in-law, William Tudor,

One letter from Oaklands requesting Tudor come for a visit, and relaying anectdotes about the Gardiner and Stewart children. One letter written to Tudor in Brazil providing an update on family and local politics

Letter from Charles Stewart to his brother-in-law, William Tudor,

This letter was written aboard the U.S.S. Franklin. Stewart writes in detail about William’s brother Henry James (Harry) Tudor, and concerns about his character, particularly his "natural indolence and indifference." He notes that like his wife, Delia, Harry spends money irresponsibly. Stewart also writes he tried to interest Harry in the pursership of the Franklin, and had hoped he would be appointed to the Consulate of Tripoli or Tunis.