A Possible Role Of Alpha-Amylase Isoenzymes From The Style Of The Mussel Choromytilus-Meridionalis (Krauss) Following Thermal-Acclimation

Separation of the proteins comprising the crystalline style of the mussel Choromytilus meridionalis (Krauss) by anion exchange chromatography shows that there are three fractions displaying α-amylase activity in both warm- and cold-acclimated mussels. These fractions correspond with one or more proteins which remain unbound to the resin (Peak I), a bound fraction which is eluted at 100–150 mM NaCl (Peak II) and a further fraction which is eluted at 200–250 mM NaCl (Peak III) but which may represent contamination carried over from Peak II. Cold-acclimation to 8°C results in the appearance of a fourth α-amylase fraction (Peak IV) which is eluted from the column between 300–400 mM NaCl. Thermal acclimation also results in changes in the activities of Fractions I–IV such that a specific activity of 0.47 mg glucose liberated per A280 unit of protein per 8 min incubation at 8°C in Fraction IV is increased nearly 10-fold to a specific rate of 4.10 in protein Fraction I following acclimation to 22°C. It is suggested that an increased of digestive activity may be of equal importance to a suppression of metabolic costs in the maintenance of energy flow into growth and reproduction in ectothermic organisms which experience an increase of environmental temperature, especially in bivalves such as C. meridionalis which do not show a compensatory increase in filtration rate.

Short reflections on the history of African communication

This article aims to propose a chronological subdivision in the history of African communication. African communication today is one of the most important axes for implementing development strategies, sustaining education, health, and schooling programmes, and so on. However, many of these programmes fail due to a lack of or ineffective communication between international organisations, local elite and lay people. The reasons for this situation must be found in Africa’s history of communication, which has undergone radical transformations in its different phases. Using the functionalist analysis drawn up by Jakobson, this article proposes a new chronological subdivision of Africa’s history of communication, reflecting on the current contradictions in contemporary communication in Africa.

Rambling in the Field of Modern Identity: Some Speculations on Irish Traditional Music

This article argues that Irish “traditional” music is modern in its form and history, and explores the ramifications of this thesis for understanding of the peculiarities of Irish modernity and identity. The article exhaustively surveys the historiography of Irish traditional music and uniquely interprets this literature in relation to competing conceptions of identity and modernity articulated by Taylor, Appiah and Žižek. It also interprets Irish traditional music in relation to conceptions of Irish modernity articulated in a wide range of disciplines within Irish studies. Reflecting on the author’s lifelong engagement with traditional music performance, the article argues that the resilience of traditional music within the broader culture is connected to the peculiar character of Irish modernity, and that it suffers from problems of aesthetic exhaustion shared by much modern art in the contemporary conjuncture.

Components of the peptidome and transcriptome persist in lin wa pi: the dried skin of the Heilongjiang brown frog Rana amurensis as used in Traditional Chinese Medicine

Although the ancient practice of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) utilizes predominantly herbal ingredients, many of which are now the subject of intense scientific scrutiny, significant quantities of animal tissue-derived materials are also employed. Here we have used contemporary molecular techniques to study the material known as lin wa pi, the dried skin of the Heilongjiang brown frog, Rana amurensis, that is used commonly as an ingredient of many medicines, as a general tonic and as a topical antimicrobial/wound dressing. Using a simple technology that has been developed and validated over several years, we have demonstrated that components of both the skin granular gland peptidome and transcriptome persist in this material. Interrogation of the cDNA library constructed from the dried skin by entrapment and amplification of polyadenylated mRNA, using a "shotgun" primer approach and 3'-RACE, resulted in the cloning of cDNAs encoding the precursors of five putative antimicrobial peptides. Two (ranatuerin-2AMa and ranatuerin-2AMb) were obvious homologs of a previously described frog skin peptide family, whereas the remaining three were of sufficient structural novelty to be named amurins 1-3. Mature peptides were each identified in reverse phase HPLC fractions of boiling water extracts of skin and their structures confirmed by MS/MS fragmentation sequencing. Components of traditional Chinese medicines of animal tissue origin may thus contain biologically active peptides that survive the preparation procedures and that may contribute to therapeutic efficacy.

Fiddling for Outcomes: Traditional Music, Social Capital, and Arts Policy in Northern Ireland

Arts development policies increasingly tie funding to the potential of arts organisations to effectively deliver an array of extra-artistic social outcomes. This paper reports on the difficulties of this work in Northern Ireland, where the arts sector, and in particular the so-called 'traditional arts', have been drawn into a politically ambiguous discourse centered on the concepts of 'mutual understanding' and, more recently, 'social capital.' The paper traces the recent history of these policies and the difficulties in evaluating the social outcomes of arts programs. The use of the term 'social capital' in the work of Putnam and Bourdieu is considered. The paper argues, through a rereading of Bourdieu's articulation of the 'forms' of capital and Eagleton's 'ideology of the aesthetic,' the concept of social capital can be released from its current neoliberal trappings by imagining a reconnection of the concepts of 'capital' and 'the aesthetic.'

Attachment Style in Adults who Failed to Thrive as Children: Outcomes of a 20 Year Follow-up Study of Factors Influencing Maintenance or Change in Attachment Style

A group of children identified as non-organic failure-to-thrive between 1977 and 1980 were investigated, assessed and provided with social work intervention and treatment. Those children and their families have been followed up for the last 20 years. The current paper examines the stability of an internal working model in a sample of individuals who had failed to thrive as children, by comparing each individual's adult attachment style with their childhood attachment to their mother. In this sample, several cases showed changes from insecure to secure attachment styles. Possible reasons are discussed for positive and negative changes, as well as cases when there was no change in attachment style. These include the effectiveness of intervention in addition to changes in life circumstances. The findings suggest that when appropriate support and intervention is provided, or when different circumstances or relationships are experienced, internal working models can change.

Impact of the intrinsic motivation on the academic performance through voluntary assignments: An empirical analysis

The students academic performance is a key aspect for all agents involved in a higher education quality program. However, there is no unanimity on how to measure it. Some professionals choose assessing only cognitive aspects while others lean towards assessing the acquisition of certain skills. The need to train increasingly adapted professionals in order to respond to the companies’ demands and being able to compete internationally in a global labour market requires a kind of training that goes beyond memorizing. Critical and logical thinking are amongst written language skills demanded in the field of Social Sciences. The objective of this study is to empirically demonstrate the impact of voluntary assignments on the academic performance of students. Our hypothesis is that students who complete high quality voluntary assignments are those more motivated and, therefore, those with higher grades. An experiment with students from the "Financial Accounting II" during the academic year of 2012/13 at the Business and Economics School of the UCM was carried out. A series of voluntary assessments involving the preparation of accounting essays were proposed in order to develop skills and competencies as a complement to the lessons included in the curriculum of the subject. At the end of the course, the carrying-out or not of the essay together with its critical, reflective quality and style, were compared. Our findings show a relationship between the voluntarily presented papers of quality and the final grade obtained throughout the course. These results show that the students intrinsic motivation is a key element in their academic performance. On the other hand, the teachers role focuses on being a motivating element through the learning process.