IRS Looks Closely at Independent Contractors

The IRS is using various tools to attack the status of various so-called 'outside consultants" being used by hospitality firms. This article will provide some planning tips so that the hospitality firm can minimize its chances of having workers reclassified as employees.

The Beacon, March 3, 2008

Vol. 20, Issue 53, 16 pages

Tailoring Heme-Thiolate Proteins into Efficient Biocatalysts with High Specificity and Selectivity

Cytochrome P450 monooxygenases, one of the most important classes of heme-thiolate proteins, have attracted considerable interest in the biochemical community because of its catalytic versatility, substrate diversity and great number in the superfamily. Although P450s are capable of catalyzing numerous difficult oxidation reactions, the relatively low stability, low turnover rates and the need of electron-donating cofactors have limited their practical biotechnological and pharmaceutical applications as isolated enzymes. The goal of this study is to tailor such heme-thiolate proteins into efficient biocatalysts with high specificity and selectivity by protein engineering and to better understand the structure-function relationship in cytochromes P450. In the effort to engineer P450cam, the prototype member of the P450 superfamily, into an efficient peroxygenase that utilizes hydrogen peroxide via the “peroxide-shunt” pathway, site-directed mutagenesis has been used to elucidate the critical roles of hydrophobic residues in the active site. Various biophysical, biochemical and spectroscopic techniques have been utilized to investigate the wild-type and mutant proteins. Three important P450cam variants were obtained showing distinct structural and functional features. In P450camV247H mutant, which exhibited almost identical spectral properties with the wild-type, it is demonstrated that a single amino acid switch turned the monooxygenase into an efficient preoxidase by increasing the peroxidase activity nearly one thousand folds. In order to tune the distal pocket of P450cam with polar residues, Leu 246 was replaced with a basic residue, lysine, resulting in a mutant with spectral features identical to P420, the inactive species of P450. But this inactive-species-like mutant showed catalytic activities without the facilitation of any cofactors. By substituting Gly 248 with a histidine, a novel Cys-Fe-His ligation set was obtained in P450cam which represented the very rare case of His ligation in heme-thiolate proteins. In addition to serving as a convenient model for hemoprotein structural studies, the G248H mutant also provided evidence about the nature of the axial ligand in cytochrome P420 and other engineered hemoproteins with thiolate ligations. Furthermore, attempts have been made to replace the proximal ligand in sperm whale myoglobin to construct a heme-thiolate protein model by mimicking the protein environment of cytochrome P450cam and chloroperoxidase.

Coseismic horizontal slip revealed by sheared clastic dikes in the Dead Sea Basin

Peer reviewed

Different cation-protonation patterns in mol-ecular salts of unsymmetrical dimethyhydrazine : C2H9N2·Br and C2H9N2·H2PO3

Peer reviewed

Haematological and biochemical blood study in baby alpaca with diarrhoea

The aim of this study was to determine the haematological value and biochemical blood in baby alpacas with enteric disorder. A total of 30 blood and serum samples were collected from alpacas of 1 month old with diarrhoea and 5 blood samples of clinically healthy baby alpacas (controls). The animals were from communities in the central Andes from Peru. About haematology were determined haematocrit, haemoglobin concentration, red blood count and white blood count that were not significantly different between control animals and animals with diarrhoea. Moreover, biochemical blood parameters as total protein, albumin and calcium decrease significantly (p<0.05). We conclude that our results could be considered as factors in the mortality of baby alpaca by infectious diarrhoea.

Terapia de aceptación y compromiso en un caso de tras¬torno mixto de ansiedad y depresión en una paciente con cáncer

This paper introduces the case of a woman with breast cancer who had developed a mixed depressive-anxiety disorder with avoidance behaviors. The patient presented depressive symptoms like listlessness, insomnia, weeping, food disorders and hopelessness though. Also, she exhibited physiological arousal and restlessness feelings. Additionally, the patient had an avoidance patron behavior in relation with all stimulus she believed could hurt her. Based on the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) the intervention planted the following objectives: the patient will learn to accept her illness and the emotional distress that she was experiencing, also, the patient will recover the other areas of her life that she had abandoned. The treatment was developed in 14 sessions. The therapist used these techniques: creative hopelessness, disabling verbal functions, values clarification and loss of control over private events. In the results, it was observed a positive change in the behavior of the patient as well as a decrease in emotional distress that was his reason for initial consultation

Toledo, locus terribilis. Iglesia y milagro en el De viris illustribus de Ildefonso de Toledo

A mediados del siglo VII, el obispo Ildefonso de Toledo (657-667) elaboró su propio catálogo de hombres ilustres, continuando una tradición cuyos orígenes cristianos se remontaban a Jerónimo en el siglo IV. Sin embargo, en lugar de reproducir los modelos de sus antecesores cristianos, entre los que se incluyen además a Genadio de Marsella e Isidoro de Sevilla, el De viris illustribus de Ildefonso incorporaba cambios significativos en el género. Este artículo estudia el tópico del milagro en el opúsculo toledano con el objetivo de indagar qué tipo de relación estableció la Iglesia visigoda de la segunda mitad del siglo VII con este tipo de fenómenos y qué estrategias elaboró en función de él.

Guía de aplicación de la NIC 11 contratos de construcción con el caso práctico: Restauración del graderío sur del estadio municipal de Azogues, Jorge Andrade Cantos por el período 2007-2008

La presente investigación consistió en diseñar una estructura para el procesamiento de información contable del área de la construcción, proveyendo además de una herramienta útil para la toma de decisiones, con el objeto de minimizar y controlar los costos e incrementar la rentabilidad al término del proyecto; reforzándola mediante el manejo de material bibliográfico como: libros, revistas, tesis, CDS, apuntes e internet. A través de la aplicación de este tema se logrará dotar de un sistema contable que facilite un correcto análisis e interpretación de la información para la acertada toma de decisiones. Es así que durante el desarrollo del trabajo se necesitará contar con una comprensión clara de lo que constituye el contrato para la fabricación de un activo o un conjunto de activos, que están íntimamente relacionados entre sí o son interdependientes en términos de su diseño, tecnología y función, o bien en relación con su último destino o utilización (Contrato de Construcción) y de la lista de cuentas que definen la información de la obra, de acuerdo al detalle que se utilice, dependiendo de la complejidad del proyecto (Plan de Cuentas).

Discriminación en el Perú: exploraciones en el Estado, la empresa y el mercado laboral

¿Cuántos profesionales calificados están siendo marginados del crecimiento económico que vive el Perú simplemente por su sexo y el grupo étnico al que pertenecen? Un grupo multidisciplinario de expertos de la Universidad del Pacífico se propuso investigar la magnitud de la exclusión y la discriminación en el Estado, la empresa y el mercado laboral peruano, mediante el uso de innovadoras metodologías de investigación. Los estudios grafican la persistente desventaja de los grupos de ancestros andinos y, en menor medida, de las mujeres. Más aun, cuando se incluye en el análisis a los grupos amazónicos y afrodescendientes, vemos que son estos quienes tienen menos acceso a educación y servicios públicos, y perciben peores sueldos.

Discourses and practices regarding low-carbon strategy: the case of French integrated retailers

International audience