Null mutation of endothelin receptor type B gene in spotting lethal rats causes aganglionic megacolon and white coat color.

Mutations in the gene encoding the endothelin receptor type B (EDNRB) produce congenital aganglionic megacolon and pigment abnormalities in mice and humans. Here we report a naturally occurring null mutation of the EDNRB gene in spotting lethal (sl) rats, which exhibit aganglionic megacolon associated with white coat color. We found a 301-bp deletion spanning the exon 1-intron 1 junction of the EDNRB gene in sl rats. A restriction fragment length polymorphism caused by this deletion perfectly cosegregates with the sl phenotype. The deletion leads to production of an aberrantly spliced EDNRB mRNA that lacks the coding sequence for the first and second putative transmembrane domains of the G-protein-coupled receptor. Radioligand binding assays revealed undetectable levels of functional EDNRB in tissues from homozygous sl/sl rats. We conclude that EDNRB plays an essential role in the normal development of two neural crest-derived cell lineages, epidermal melanocytes and enteric neurons, in three mammalian species--humans, mice, and rats. The EDNRB-deficient rat may also prove valuable in defining the postnatal physiologic role of this receptor.

BigLaw Identity Capital: Pink and Blue, Black and White

This Article advances a new capital framework for understanding the bargain between large law firms and their lawyers, depicting BigLaw relationships not as basic labor-salary exchanges but rather as complex transactions in which large law firms and their lawyers exchange labor and various forms of capital — social, cultural, and identity. First, it builds on the work of Pierre Bourdieu regarding economic, cultural, symbolic, and social capital by examining the concepts of positive and negative capital, exploring the meaning of capital ownership by entities, and developing the notion of identity capital — the value individuals and institutions derive from their identities. Then, the Article advances a capital theory of BigLaw, in which large law firms and their lawyers engage in complex transactions trading labor, social, cultural, and identity capital for economic, social, cultural, and identity capital. Capital analysis sheds new light on the well-documented and troubling underrepresentation of diverse lawyers at BigLaw. It shows that the underrepresentation of women and minority lawyers is not solely the result of exogenous forces outside the control of large law firms such as implicit bias, but rather the outcome of the very exchanges in which BigLaw and its lawyers engage. Specifically, large law firms take into account the capital endowments of their lawyers in making hiring, retention and promotion decisions, and derive value from their lawyers’ capital, for example, by trading on the identity of women and minority lawyers in marketing themselves as being diverse and inclusive to clients and potential recruits. Yet, while BigLaw trades for the identity capital of women and minority lawyers, it fails to offer them opportunities in return to acquire the social and cultural capital necessary for attaining positions of power, resulting in underrepresentation. Moreover, these labor-capital exchanges are often implicit and made by uninformed participants, and therefore unjust. Exactly because the capital framework describes the underrepresentation of diverse lawyers at BigLaw as an endogenous outcome within the control of BigLaw and its lawyers, however, it is a cautiously optimistic model that offers hope for greater representation of diverse lawyers in positions of power and influence. The Article suggests policies and procedures BigLaw can and should adopt to improve the quality of the exchanges it offers to women and minority attorneys and to reduce the underrepresentation of diverse lawyers within its ranks. Employing the concepts of capital transparency, capital boundary, and capital infrastructure, it demonstrates how BigLaw can (1) explicitly recognize the roles social, cultural, and identity capital play in its hiring, retention and promotion apparatuses and (2) revise its policies and procedures to ensure that all of its lawyers have equal opportunities to develop the requisite capital and compete on equal and fair terms for positions of power and influence.

Sediment and organic matter properties, and molecular formula from sampling locations in the Northern Black Sea

Remineralization of organic matter in reactive marine sediments releases nutrients and dissolved organic matter (DOM) into the ocean. Here we focused on the molecular-level characterization of DOM by high-resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR-MS) in sediment pore waters and bottom waters from contrasting redox regimes in the northern Black Sea with particular emphasis on nitrogen-bearing compounds to derive an improved understanding of the molecular transformations involved in nitrogen release. The number of nitrogen-bearing molecules is generally higher in pore waters than in bottom waters. This suggests intensified degradation of nitrogen-bearing precursor molecules such as proteins in anoxic sediments: No significant difference was observed between sediments deposited under oxic vs anoxic conditions (average O/C ratios of 0.55) suggesting that the different organic matter quality induced by contrasting redox conditions does not impact protein diagenesis in the subseafloor. Compounds in the pore waters were on average larger, less oxygenated, and had a higher number of unsaturations. Applying a mathematical model, we could show that the assemblages of nitrogen-bearing molecular formulas are potential products of proteinaceous material that was transformed by the following reactions: (a) hydrolysis and deamination, both reducing the molecular size and nitrogen content of the products and intermediates; (b) oxidation and hydration of the intermediates; and (c) methylation and dehydration.

Polyaromatic hydrocarbons in sediments from the Barents and White Seas

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are common environmental contaminants which can be derived from anthropogenic sources, such as combustion and discharges from extraction and transport, and natural processes, including leakage and erosion of fossil carbon. Natural PAH sources contribute, along with biological activities and terrestrial run-off, to the organic carbon content in sediments.The Barents Sea region is far from many anthropogenic sources of PAH, but production and trans-shipment of hydrocarbons is increasing. We present data for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations in bottom sediments from 510 stations in the Barents and White Seas, and along the northern coast of Norway.

Australian life, black and white.

Mode of access: Internet.

Trends in hospital diagnoses for black patients and white patients, 1980-87 /

"June 1995"--P. 2.

Self-Portrait with Curly Hair and White Collar, 2nd state

Rembrandt van Rijn; 2 13/64 in.x 1 59/64 in.; etching on paper