The Xanthomonas citri effector protein PthA interacts with citrus proteins involved in nuclear transport, protein folding and ubiquitination associated with DNA repair

P>Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri utilizes the type III effector protein PthA to modulate host transcription to promote citrus canker. PthA proteins belong to the AvrBs3/PthA family and carry a domain comprising tandem repeats of 34 amino acids that mediates protein-protein and protein-DNA interactions. We show here that variants of PthAs from a single bacterial strain localize to the nucleus of plant cells and form homo- and heterodimers through the association of their repeat regions. We hypothesize that the PthA variants might also interact with distinct host targets. Here, in addition to the interaction with alpha-importin, known to mediate the nuclear import of AvrBs3, we describe new interactions of PthAs with citrus proteins involved in protein folding and K63-linked ubiquitination. PthAs 2 and 3 preferentially interact with a citrus cyclophilin (Cyp) and with TDX, a tetratricopeptide domain-containing thioredoxin. In addition, PthAs 2 and 3, but not 1 and 4, interact with the ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme complex formed by Ubc13 and ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme variant (Uev), required for K63-linked ubiquitination and DNA repair. We show that Cyp, TDX and Uev interact with each other, and that Cyp and Uev localize to the nucleus of plant cells. Furthermore, the citrus Ubc13 and Uev proteins complement the DNA repair phenotype of the yeast Delta ubc13 and Delta mms2/uev1a mutants, strongly indicating that they are also involved in K63-linked ubiquitination and DNA repair. Notably, PthA 2 affects the growth of yeast cells in the presence of a DNA damage agent, suggesting that it inhibits K63-linked ubiquitination required for DNA repair.

Sisal chemically modified with lignins: Correlation between fibers and phenolic composites properties

Sisal fibers have been chemically modified by reaction with lignins, extracted from sugarcane bagasse and Pinus-type wood and then hydroxymethylated, to increase adhesion in resol-type phenolic thermoset matrices. Inverse gas chromatography (IGC) results showed that acidic sites predominate for unmodified/modified sisal fibers and for phenolic thermoset, indicating that the phenolic matrix has properties that favor the interaction with sisal fibers. The IGC results also showed that the phenolic thermoset has a dispersive component closer to those of the modified fibers suggesting that thermoset interactions with the less polar modified fibers are favored. Surface SEM images of the modified fibers showed that the fiber bundle deaggregation increased after the treatment, making the interfibrillar structure less dense in comparison with that of unmodified fibers, which increased the contact area and encouraged microbial biodegradation in simulated soil. Water diffusion was observed to be faster for composites reinforced with modified fibers, since the phenolic resin penetrated better into modified fibers, thereby blocking water passage through their channels. Overall, composites` properties showed that modified fibers promote a significant reduction in the hydrophilic character, and consequently of the reinforced composite without a major effect on impact strength and with increased storage modulus. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

On the open-circuit interaction between methanol and oxidized platinum electrodes

In the present work, results of the interaction between methanol and oxidized platinum surfaces as studied via transients of open-circuit potentials are presented. The surface oxidation before the exposure to interaction with 0.5 M methanol was performed at different polarization times at 1.4 V vs reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE). In spite of the small changes in the initial oxide content, the increase of the pre-polarization time induces a considerable increase of the time needed for the oxide consumption during its interaction with methanol. The influence of the identity of the chemisorbing anion on the transients was also investigated in the following media: 0.1 M HClO4, 0.5 M H2SO4, and 0.5 M H2SO4 + 0.1 mM Cl-. It was observed that the transient time increases with the energy of anion chemisorption and, more importantly, without a change in the shape of the transient, meaning that free platinum sites are available at the topmost layer all over the transient and not only in the potential region of small oxide `coverage`. The impact of the pre-polarization time and the effect of anion chemisorption on the transients are rationalized in terms of the presence of surface and subsurface oxygen driven by place exchange.

Stoichiometry and thermodynamics of the interaction between the C-terminus of human 90 kDa heat shock protein Hsp90 and the mitochondrial translocase of outer membrane Tom70

A large majority of the 1000-1500 proteins in the mitochondria are encoded by the nuclear genome, and therefore, they are translated in the cytosol in the form and contain signals to enable the import of proteins into the organelle. The TOM complex is the major translocase of the outer membrane responsible for preprotein translocation. It consists of a general import pore complex and two membrane import receptors, Tom20 and Tom70. Tom70 contains a characteristic TPR domain, which is a docking site for the Hsp70 and Hsp90 chaperones. These chaperones are involved in protecting cytosolic preproteins from aggregation and then in delivering them to the TOM complex. Although highly significant, many aspects of the interaction between Tom70 and Hsp90 are still uncertain. Thus, we used biophysical tools to study the interaction between the C-terminal domain of Hsp90 (C-Hsp90), which contains the EEVD motif that binds to TPR domains, and the cytosolic fragment of Tom70. The results indicate a stoichiometry of binding of one monomer of Tom70 per dimer of C-Hsp90 with a K(D) of 360 30 nM, and the stoichiometry and thermodynamic parameters obtained suggested that Tom70 presents a different mechanism of interaction with Hsp90 when compared with other TPR proteins investigated. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Front End Evaluation of 'Tester' Exhibition to be Developed into a Travelling Sports Exhibition

The purpose of this evaluation is to develop a framework that will help in planning and implementing the mobile sport exhibition, increase visitor satisfaction and aid At Bristol in building successful exhibits. The evaluation mainly focuses on visitor interaction with exhibits. It is believed that learning does occur in science centres and museums. The evaluation will therefore find out if learning occurs in the Sports exhibition and if so, the nature of the learning outcomes. The evaluation also discusses advantages and disadvantages of travelling exhibitions and identifies the characteristics of good exhibits that form the basis of the framework.From the results, an indication is that children make the larger proportion of visitors to Sportastic. Their age ranges, under 10 and 10 to 15 years constituted 21% and 30% respectively. The three most enjoyed exhibits are the Sprint Challenge (running), BATAK (test your reaction and Hot Shots (football). Visitors say these exhibits are enjoyed because they are fun, competitive, entertaining, interactive and hands-on. Skateboard Challenge and Skeleton Bob are among the exhibits least enjoyed since they are reported to be boring and uncomfortable to use. The learning outcomes from the exhibits are; increased knowledge about balancing, reaction, pulse and strength.

Students’ Role in Distance Learning

1. IntroductionMuch of the support that students have in a traditional classroom is absent in a distance learning course. In the traditional classroom, the learner is together with his or her classmates and the teacher; learning is socially embedded. Students can talk to each other and may learn from each other as they go through the learning process together. They also witness the teacher’s expression of the knowledge firsthand. The class participants communicate to each other not only through their words, but also through their gestures, facial expressions and tone of voice, and the teacher can observe the students’ progress and provide guidance and feedback in an as-needed basis. Further, through the habit of meeting in a regular place at a regular time, the participants reinforce their own and each other’s commitment to the course. A distance course must somehow provide learners other kinds of supports so that the distance learner also has a sense of connection with a learning community; can benefit from interaction with peers who are going through a similar learning process; receives feedback that allows him or her to know how he or she is progressing; and is guided enough so that he or she continues to progress towards the learning objectives. This cannot be accomplished if the distance course does not simultaneously promote student autonomy, for the distance course format requires students to take greater responsibility for their own learning. This chapter presents one distance learning course that was able to address all of these goals. The English Department at Högskolan Dalarna, Sweden, participates in a distance learning program with Vietnam National University. Students enrolled in this program study half-time for two years to complete a Master’s degree in English Linguistics. The distance courses in this program all contain two types of regular class meetings: one type is student-only seminars conducted through text chat, during which students discuss and complete assignments that prepare them for the other type of class meeting, also conducted through text chat, where the teacher is present and is the one to lead the discussion of seminar issues and assignments. The inclusion of student-only seminars in the course design allows for student independence while at the same time it encourages co-operation and solidarity. The teacher-led seminars offer the advantages of a class led by an expert.In this chapter, we present chatlog data from Vietnamese students in one distance course in English linguistics, comparing the role of the student in both student-only and teacher-led seminars. We discuss how students navigate their participation roles, through computer-mediated communication (CMC), according to seminar type, and we consider the emerging role of the autonomous student in the foreign-language medium, distance learning environment. We close by considering aspects of effective design of distance learning courses from the perspective of a foreign language (FL) environment.

Swedish Primary Teachers' Attitudes towards Integrating Gaming in the EFL Classroom

A current topic in Swedish schools is the use of computer games and gaming. One reason is because computers are becoming more and more integrated into the schools, and the technology plays a large role in the everyday lives of the pupils. Since teachers should integrate pupils’ interests in the formal teaching, it is of interest to know what attitudes teachers have towards gaming. Therefore the aim of this empirical study is to gain an insight into the attitudes Swedish primary teachers have towards online and offline computer games in the EFL classroom. An additional aim is to investigate to what extent teachers use games. Five interviews were conducted with teachers in different Swedish schools in a small to medium-sized municipality. After the interviews were transcribed, the results were analyzed and discussed in relation to relevant research and the sociocultural theory. The results show that teachers are positive towards games and gaming, mostly because gaming often contains interaction with others and learning from peers is a main component in sociocultural theory. However, only one out of the five participants had at some point used games. The conclusion is that teachers are unsure about how to use games in their teaching and that training and courses in this area would be valuable. More research is needed within this area, and it would be of value to investigate what suggested courses would contain and also to investigate exactly how games can be used in teaching.

Med rena händer i kampen mot VRI : Sjuksköterskors följsamhet till riktlinjer om handhygien: främjande och hindrande faktorer En litteraturöversikt

Bakgrund: Uppkomsten av vårdrelaterade infektioner (VRI) är ett globalt problem. Den vanligaste smittvägen är via personalens händer. Bra handhygien är väsentligt för att minska VRI. Med bättre följsamhet till handhygien kan uppkomsten av VRI minskas, därför har forskning om följsamhet till handhygien och faktorer som inverkar, stort betydelse. Syfte: Syftet var att sammanställa och beskriva aktuell forskning om sjuksköterskors följsamhet till handhygien och vilka faktorer främjar respektive hindrar följsamheten till handhygien. Metod: En litteraturöversikt som baserades på artiklar publicerade de senaste fem åren, från länder som följer Världshälsoorganisationens (WHO) handhygieniska riktlinjer. Sexton artiklar valdes efter kvalitetsgranskning för analys och beskrivning. Artiklarna bearbetades med innehållsanalys. Resultat: Sjuksköterskors följsamhet till handhygien var låg. Följande främjande faktorer identifierades: handhygien efter patientkontakt, materialtillgång, förebilder, utbildning, verbala och visuella påminnelser, positiva individuella attityder, kvinnlig könstillhörighet, yrkesgrupp, specialitet, patientens skydd, arbetskultur och samhällets inställning till handhygien. Följande hindrande faktorer identifierades: hög arbetsbelastning, bristande utbildning, kunskapsbrist, individuella attityder, hudpåverkan, materialtillgång, arbetskultur och samhällets inställning till handhygien, manlig könstillhörighet, yrkesgrupp, specialitet. Slutsats: Enligt resultat rekommenderas: samspelet med kollegor och patienter, stöd av teamarbete ledare, förebilder, materialtillgång, utbildning, påminnelser, intervention med tillgång till information, stöd, resurser och möjligheter för regelbunden kunskapsuppföljning, motivera till handhygien före patientkontakt, involvera patienter.

Levines and Colby Scrapbook

Includes covers and articles from the Colby alumni magazine and from the Echo, correspondence, donor lists for the Mayflower Associates, and photographs.

Anthology of Recent Colby Verse

A collection of Colby student poetry edited by Norris Potter, Jr. "This 'Anthology of Recent Colby Verse' merits the attention of everyone interested in poetry-or in Colby. It contains, perhaps, no great poems; but it contains many interesting ones." --From the introduction by Merle Crowell, Editor of the American Magazine.

Estabelecimentos isolados de ensino superior: um estudo das fundações educacionais de SC

Este estudo centra-se na análise das Instituições Isoladas de Ensino Superior. O universo da análise são as Fundações Educacionais de Santa Catarina e suas unidades de ensino superior. Estas Fundações, instituídas pelos poderes públicos Estadual e Municipais, foram responsáveis pelo processo de interiorização e regionalização do ensino superior em Santa Catarina, detendo, à época da pesquisa, mais de 2/3 do alunado deste nível de ensino. A legislação sobre o ensino superior, vigente em nosso País, adota a Universidade como norma e o Estabelecimento Isolado como exceção. Mas a exceção, segundo a lei, estatisticamente, ocupa posição modal. A Universidade e o Estabelecimento Isolado são realidades distintas e, normalmente, situadas em ambientes diferentes. Se diferente é a realidade de ambas não se pode enquadrá-las no mesmo "figurino" conceptual. O Estabelecimento Isolado de Ensino Superior deve buscar sua identidade institucional, sua vocação. Na busca da identidade dos Estabelecimentos Isolados de Ensino Superior, é analisada a experiência de Santa Catarina, através de suas Fundações Educacionais. A análise aborda essas instituições sob três aspectos: seus objetivos, sua estrutura organizacional e as formas de interação com o meio ambiente. A análise dos objetivos situa-se numa tríplice dimensão: os fins e funções do Ensino Superior, preconizados pela Lei, os fins e funções das Fundações Educacionais e suas unidades de ensino, expressos em seus documentos legais, e os resultados alcançados por estas instituições. Tanto na análise dos objetivos propostos, como dos resultados alcançados, são enfocados os três tipos de participantes: o pessoal docente admi-nistrativo das Instituições, os alunos e as comunidades a que servem. Estabelecem-se relações entre os objetivos propostos frente aos alcançados e as aspirações do pessoal docente-administrativo frente às dos alunos e comunidades, visando avaliar a coerência entre o proposto e o alcançado e a discrepância dos objetivos dos participantes. Para explicar a falta de coerência encontrada entre objetivos e resultados, são analisadas a estrutura formal e as práticas administrativas das instituições. Parte-se do pressuposto de que estruturas formais sofisticadas, além de complexidade da organização, geram "formalismos", entendidos como a discrepância entre o prescrito e os comportamentos. Os " formalismos" tendem a explicar a falta de coerência entre o proposto e o alcançado, no campo dos objetivos. Os dados mostram existir relação entre tipo de estrutura (formal-concreto) e coerência de objetivos com resultados. Para explicar as discrepâncias dos objetivos dos participantes, são analisadas as interações com o ambiente, entendidas como a atuação das IES sobre o meio e deste sobre aquelas, em termos de "trocas". Encontra-se, aqui, também, relação entre as variáveis analisadas. Os dados obtidos levam a conclusões no sentido da busca de vocação própria, da especificidade das Instituições Isoladas do Ensino Superior. São levantadas alternativas de ação, na busca da identidade das IES isoladas, propondo novos e mais aprofundados estudos sobre o assunto.

A recepção da criança com deficiência intelectual ao texto literário na educação infantil

The focus of this thesis is children's reception to literary texts starting from literary livelihood in an inclusive literary context, looking for the possible evidences that are present in the construction as reader/hearing of literature. Based on a study case, we search the ways of participation of a child (girl) with intellectual deficiency in situations of offering and reception of literary texts, looking for the understanding and explication of some aspects of her processing and the building up of an initial reader. The data were taken starting from observations in moments of reading and story-telling in the period from November to December/2008 and May to June/2009 in a public school of children education, in Natal- Brazil, in which there was a registered student showing intellectual deficiency associated to Down syndrome. As research tools we used: field diary, interview scripts and video recordings. The analyses were based on research from Amarilha (2001, 2006a, 2006b), Bettelheim (2007), Coelho (2008), Iser (1996), Jauss (1979, 1994), Luria (1990a, 1990b), Vygotsky (1991, 1993), Wallon (2007, 2008) amongst others. The research showed that although expressing little verbalization and limited levels of attention, body attitudes, movements and talks of the child under investigation, denounced engagement and rendition to the sonority of the texts shared. These data gives us traces that, under a mediating action, the child with intellectual limitation can turn into a reader/hearing subject of literature, developing a sensitive and a selective attitude towards the literary text. Amongst other aspects, we identified that (1) a conception of deficiency present through the school that recognizes his/her potential of developing and learning (2) the situation of sharing, that favours a relation with the texts through the other, and (3) the relevance of orality providing the semantic paths that help the child in the building up of meaning, presenting themselves as fundamental to her/his viewing of the literary text, and, therefore, the formation of the reader. Thus, recognizing her/his capacity and possibilities, we think it is important to guarantee to the child with intellectual deficiency, a space towards interaction with the fictional text in which the child can learn and live its ludic and interactive character, to enjoy its hearing abilities, benefiting, then, from the aesthetic experience lived, mainly, in collective situations mediated through the more experient reader and shared with her/his different pairs. The research shows yet that, looking after conditions that guarantee a comfortable environment to the story hearings in the classrooms that focus on children education, being aware of a selection and the prosody of stories, the didactic contract, the attention to individual reactions, enlarge the possibility of any child deficient or not to enjoy her/himself as reader/ hearing subject of literature, engaged in its richness and magic

Interações comunicativas entre uma professora e um aluno com transtorno invasivo do desenvolvimento na escola regular

Inclusion of students with autism in regular education settings is a topic that has not been much explored by the national scientific literature. This matter is complex and, due to the extent of various aspects involved, it is essential to delimitate a focus of investigation. The direction taken by this study was to evaluate the effects of an intervention program in the communicative interactions between a student with autism and his teacher in a regular classroom. Data were collected in an elementary private school, located in the city of Natal, Rio Grande do Norte during the 2010 academic school year. The study included a teacher and a non-vocal, 10-year-old student diagnosed with autism. A quasi-experimental A-B research design was employed. During the intervention program the teacher was trained to use Naturalistic Teaching Strategies and Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) resources to increase the frequency of interactions with the student during three classroom routines (entry time, snack and pedagogical activity). The results indicated qualitative and quantitative changes in the interactions of the dyad after the implementation of the intervention program. The student began to use pictograms to communicate with the teacher in two of the three routines investigated. The frequency of AAC use was also observed in the teacher‟s repertoire, especially when the student failed to understand gestures and words. The teacher positively evaluated the intervention program