Hormones, genes, and behavior

With assays of hormone-sensitive behaviors, it is possible to demonstrate both direct and indirect actions of genes on mammalian social behaviors. Direct effects of estrogen receptor gene expression and progesterone receptor gene expression figure prominently in well analyzed neuroendocrine mechanisms for sex behavior, operating through a neural circuit that has been delineated. Indirect effects, notably the consequences of sexual differentiation, display complex dependencies. In a human condition, Kallmann syndrome, the data show a clear, indirect genetic influence on an important human social behavior, in which damage at chromosome Xp-22.3 works through at least six discrete steps to affect libido. Altogether, simplistic extrapolations from lower animals, especially during brief summaries for nonscientists, do not appear justified as we discover and conceptualize genetic influences on mammalian brain and behavior.

Total synthesis of cytochrome b562 by native chemical ligation using a removable auxiliary

We have completed the total chemical synthesis of cytochrome b562 and an axial ligand analogue, [SeMet7]cyt b562, by thioester-mediated chemical ligation of unprotected peptide segments. A novel auxiliary-mediated native chemical ligation that enables peptide ligation to be applied to protein sequences lacking cysteine was used. A cleavable thiol-containing auxiliary group, 1-phenyl-2-mercaptoethyl, was added to the α-amino group of one peptide segment to facilitate amide bond-forming ligation. The amine-linked 1-phenyl-2-mercaptoethyl auxiliary was stable to anhydrous hydrogen fluoride used to cleave and deprotect peptides after solid-phase peptide synthesis. Following native chemical ligation with a thioester-containing segment, the auxiliary group was cleanly removed from the newly formed amide bond by treatment with anhydrous hydrogen fluoride, yielding a full-length unmodified polypeptide product. The resulting polypeptide was reconstituted with heme and folded to form the functional protein molecule. Synthetic wild-type cyt b562 exhibited spectroscopic and electrochemical properties identical to the recombinant protein, whereas the engineered [SeMet7]cyt b562 analogue protein was spectroscopically and functionally distinct, with a reduction potential shifted by ≈45 mV. The use of the 1-phenyl-2-mercaptoethyl removable auxiliary reported here will greatly expand the applicability of total protein synthesis by native chemical ligation of unprotected peptide segments.

A statistical evaluation of the effectiveness of FMVSS 301: Fuel System Integrity. Final report.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, D.C.

Exposure measures for evaluating highway safety issues. Volume I. Final report.

Federal Highway Administration, Washington, D.C.

Exposure measures for evaluating highway safety issues. Volume 2 - users manual. Final report.

Federal Highway Administration, Washington, D.C.

A user's guide for REDEQL.EPA : a computer program for chemical equilibria in aqueous systems /

Mode of access: Internet.

Investigation of petroleum in the marine environs of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and northern Puget Sound /

Mode of access: Internet.

REDEQL.EPAK : aqueous chemical equilibrium computer program /

"Marine Division, Corvallis Environmental Research Laboratory."

Injury scaling research. Final report.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, D.C.

Skin-friction measurements in incompressible flow /

Supersedes NACA technical note 4231.

Tests of an area suction flap on an NACA 64A010 airfoil at high subsonic speeds /

Mode of access: Internet.

The effect of using a 'towaway' threshold in studying traffic accidents. Final report.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, D.C.

Traffic operations control for older drivers. Final report.

Federal Highway Administration, Office of Safety and Traffic Operations Research and Development, McLean, Va.

A comparison of the automatic shoulder belt/knee bolster restraint system with the lap and shoulder belt system in VW Rabbits. Final report.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, D.C.