Review ["Telling the Evolutionary Time : Molecular Clocks and the Fossil Record" edited by Philip C. J. Donoghue and M. Paul Smith]

Determining the temporal scale of biological evolution has traditionally been the preserve of paleontology, with the timing of species originations and major diversifications all being read from the fossil record. However, the ages of the earliest (correctly identified) records will underestimate actual origins due to the incomplete nature of the fossil record and the necessity for lineages to have evolved sufficiently divergent morphologies in order to be distinguished. The possibility of inferring divergence times more accurately has been promoted by the idea that the accumulation of genetic change between modern lineages can be used as a molecular clock (Zuckerkandl and Pauling, 1965). In practice, though, molecular dates have often been so old as to be incongruent even with liberal readings of the fossil record. Prominent examples include inferred diversifications of metazoan phyla hundreds of millions of years before their Cambrian fossil record appearances (e.g., Nei et al., 2001) and a basal split between modern birds (Neoaves) that is almost double the age of their earliest recognizable fossils (e.g., Cooper and Penny, 1997).

A genome-wide association study of caffeine-related sleep disturbance: Confirmation of a role for a common variant in the adenosine receptor

OBJECTIVES To identify common genetic variants that predispose to caffeine-induced insomnia and to test whether genes whose expression changes in the presence of caffeine are enriched for association with caffeine-induced insomnia. DESIGN A hypothesis-free, genome-wide association study. SETTING Community-based sample of Australian twins from the Australian Twin Registry. PARTICIPANTS After removal of individuals who said that they do not drink coffee, a total of 2,402 individuals from 1,470 families in the Australian Twin Registry provided both phenotype and genotype information. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS A dichotomized scale based on whether participants reported ever or never experiencing caffeine-induced insomnia. A factor score based on responses to a number of questions regarding normal sleep habits was included as a covariate in the analysis. More than 2 million common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were tested for association with caffeine-induced insomnia. No SNPs reached the genome-wide significance threshold. In the analysis that did not include the insomnia factor score as a covariate, the most significant SNP identified was an intronic SNP in the PRIMA1 gene (P = 1.4 x 10(-)(6), odds ratio = 0.68 [0.53 - 0.89]). An intergenic SNP near the GBP4 gene on chromosome 1 was the most significant upon inclusion of the insomnia factor score into the model (P = 1.9 x 10(-)(6), odds ratio = 0.70 [0.62 - 0.78]). A previously identified association with a polymorphism in the ADORA2A gene was replicated. CONCLUSIONS Several genes have been identified in the study as potentially influencing caffeine-induced insomnia. They will require replication in another sample. The results may have implications for understanding the biologic mechanisms underlying insomnia.

Reproduction of oil painting portrait of Ernestine Salomonsen nee Philip Portraits Women

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Memoirs : Heida Hermanns Holde /

The author's mother Alice Goldschmidt was a gifted piano player, who studied with Carl Maria Breithaupt and became his most talented student. Childhood recollections. Early musical awakening. Outbreak of World War One. Recollections of air raids and scarceness of food. Inflation and political instability in post-war Germany. Piano lessons by her mother from an early age. Heida made her debut at age fourteen with the Wiesbaden Symphony under the conductor Carl Schuricht, who became a close mentor and friend. Close relationship to her mother, who had a great influence on her professional career. Heida had a number of outstanding teachers, among them Artur Schnabel, Karl Leimer and Egon Petri. Heida was accepted as a student of Petri at the "Hochschule fuer Musik" in Berlin, where she studied between 1922-1925. Salon at her aunt's house with guests such as the playwright Georg Kaiser and Siegfried Wagner. Her sister Elsie received her Ph.D. in economics and moved to Berlin as well. Heida graduated from the "Hochschule" in 1925. Soon after she won an international piano competition in Berlin. Engagements with various conductors such as Max Fiedler and Otto Klemperer. Private lessons with Arthur Schnabel and Carl Friedberg, the co-founder of Juilliard. Due to occasional experiences of antisemitism during her music career Heida decided to change her name from Goldschmidt to Hermanns. Position at the "Hoch Conservatory" in Frankfurt. Encounter with the music critic Artur Holde, Heida's future-husband. Engagement and wedding in 1932. Move to Berlin.

Lucien Wolf and David Mowshowitch papers, [ca. 1869-1959]

Correspondence, reports, minutes, manuscripts, and clippings relating to the activities of Wolf, Mowshowitch, and the Joint Foreign Committee, as well as to the political situation of Jews in various countries and to the Paris Peace Conference. Papers of Lucien Wolf include his diary, lectures on English-German relations and English-Russian relations; bibliography of Wolf's works on Jewish themes; clippings of Wolf's articles; congratulations on his seventieth birthday; article on his last interview with Chamberlain; and correspondence with parents, 1869-1882, A. Abrahams, 1914-1925, Chief Rabbi Dr. J.H. Hertz, 1892-1923, Clara Melchior, 1913-1929, Jacob Schiff, 1910, Maxim Vinawer, 1917, Mark Wischnitzer, 1926-1928, Lord Robert Cecil, 1916-1919, Lord Rothschild, 1906, Cyrus Adler, Count J. Bernstorff, Szymon Ashkenazy, Solomon Dingol, Louis Marshall, Claude G. Montefiore, Sir Edward Sassoon, Jacob Schiff, Lord William Selborne, Nakhum Sokolow, Oscar Straus, Chaim Weizmann, the American Jewish Congress, 1916-1923, Hilfsverein der Deutschen Juden, 1913, and Jewish Historical Society of England.

Philip Cowen papers undated, 1873-1935

Contains primarily correspondence and published material in English, German and Russian relating to anti-Semitism in Russia and Roumania, the Russian passport question, loans from Jewish bankers to the Russian government and immigration from Eastern Europe, especially Russia, to the United States. Includes also correspondence concerning Jewish welfare institutions and agricultural colonies in the United States and the National Farm School in Doylestown, Pa. Also contains correspondence relating to and drafts of articles for the American Hebrew, particularly the Emma Lazarus memorial number, and correspondence relating to the publication of the Jewish encyclopedia and to survey on anti-Semitism conducted in 1890, as well as information on the Jews in China and material relating to Count Arthur Cherep-Spiridovich.

North American Jewish Students Appeal records, undated, 1962, 1964-1996 (bulk 1971-1995)

The records of the North American Jewish Students Appeal (NAJSA or APPEAL) contains documents on two levels of concern: those documents dealing with the NAJSA as a student-run organization promoting Jewish identity among college-aged youth; and those documents dealing with the APPEAL as a fundraising organization for several well-known student constituent organizations. The Constituents were: the Jewish Student Press Service, Lights in Action, the North American Jewish Students Network, the Progressive Zionist Caucus, Response: A Contemporary Jewish Review, Yavneh Religious Students Organization, and Yugntruf Youth for Yiddish. Documents include correspondence, financial records, minutes, press releases, information on grants awarded to student organizations for programming and publishing, student journals, and newspapers, photographs, and ephemera.

Philip Slomovitz papers, undated, 1933-1966.

Contains correspondence as editor of the Detroit Jewish chronicle and of The Jewish news. Of special interest is the correspondence with members of the U.S. Congress relating to aid to Israel, material relating to the boycott of Viceroy cigarettes, the question of the Jewish descent of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and the dictionary definition of "Jew."

Elihu Stone collection undated, 1913-1962.

Collection contains materials pertaining to the life and work of Stone.

Naomi Block Manners Stern collection of Eleanor Roosevelt correspondence undated, 1941-1962, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1984, 2003

This collection is mainly composed of correspondence between Ms. Stern and Mrs. Roosevelt, spanning the years from their first acquaintance in 1941 to Mrs. Roosevelt's decease in 1962. Letters that hold particular interest concern Ms. Stern's experience at the Summer Student Leadership Institute, and the White House. Additional material in the collection encompasses articles, newsclippings, programs, press releases, and photographs. The articles and newsclippings folder contains information pertaining to Ms. Stern's college career, the first Summer Student Leadership Institute, Mrs. Roosevelt's talk at Community Day, National Youth Association, and a donation of an ambulance to the war effort by Hunter college students. Naomi Block Manners Stern personal folder contains an article Naomi Block wrote in her college magazine, "Echo," describing her perceptions of President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill during her first visit at the White House. Also included is her graduation program, listing Mrs. Roosevelt as the main speaker, a commemoration of President Roosevelt in 1972 in which Ms. Stern took part, an article and press release describing Ms. Stern's career at Revlon, and a 2003 written summary of Ms. Stern's relationship with Mrs. Roosevelt. Photographs were taken by Naomi Block and others at the Summer Leadership Institute in 1941 portray identified fellow students, Mrs. Roosevelt, James Roosevelt, the Roosevelt home in Campobello, and Felix Frankfurter.

Philip Slomovitz South End collection 1969-1974

Contains 1969 and 1971-73 issues of The South End, Wayne State University student paper, as well as correspondence, public statements, petitions and a tape-recording relating to controversies generated by the printing of alleged anti-Zionist/anti-Semitic articles in the newspaper. The correspondence consists for the most part of an exchange of letters between university officials, Jewish community leaders and Leonard N. Simons, a Detroit advertising executive, during the 1969 controversy, and correspondence with Philip Slomovitz, editor of the Detroit Jewish news, in 1972-73. The tape recording is of a February 2, 1969 interview with John Watson, editor of the South end.

American Jewish Committee. Office of Jewish War Records, undated, 1918-1921, 1962.

The records consist of documentation of the American Jewish Committee's project to describe Jewish participation in the United States Armed Forces during World War I. The bulk of the material consists of questionnaires that the AJC sent to servicemen to determine Jewish identity, which contain information on personal identification and details of military service. Responses to the questionnaire come from both Jews and non-Jews. In addition, the collection contains office papers concerning the project and a ledger of manuscripts. The manuscripts document the distribution of records the Office of Jewish War Records collected, as well as list Jews who died or were given military honors.

Mailaender Family Collection 1962

Newspaper clippings realting to the 100th anniversary of Mailaender brewery "Bergbraeu" (1862-1962) in Fuerth, Bavaria.

Letter regarding prohibition of Philip J. Joachimsen from receiving mitzvah

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