Consumer Advisory Bulletin, Credit Cards vs. Nailing Down Home Repair Rip-Offs & Disputes, April 2011

The Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division receives hundreds of calls and consumer complaints every year. Follow these tips to avoid unexpected expense and disappointments. This record is about: Nailing Down Home Repair Rip-Offs & Disputes

Regulatory roles of the GacS/GacA two-component system in plant-associated and other gram-negative bacteria.

The sensor kinase GacS and the response regulator GacA are members of a two-component system that is present in a wide variety of gram-negative bacteria and has been studied mainly in enteric bacteria and fluorescent pseudomonads. The GacS/GacA system controls the production of secondary metabolites and extracellular enzymes involved in pathogenicity to plants and animals, biocontrol of soilborne plant diseases, ecological fitness, or tolerance to stress. A current model proposes that GacS senses a still-unknown signal and activates, via a phosphorelay mechanism, the GacA transcription regulator, which in turn triggers the expression of target genes. The GacS protein belongs to the unorthodox sensor kinases, characterized by an autophosphorylation, a receiver, and an output domain. The periplasmic loop domain of GacS is poorly conserved in diverse bacteria. Thus, a common signal interacting with this domain would be unexpected. Based on a comparison with the transcriptional regulator NarL, a secondary structure can be predicted for the GacA sensor kinases. Certain genes whose expression is regulated by the GacS/GacA system are regulated in parallel by the small RNA binding protein RsmA (CsrA) at a posttranscriptional level. It is suggested that the GacS/GacA system operates a switch between primary and secondary metabolism, with a major involvement of posttranscriptional control mechanisms.

Ecology and evolution of social-organization: insights from fire ants and other highly eusocial insects

Social organisms exhibit conspicuous intraspecific variation in all facets of their social organization. A prominent example of such variation in the highly eusocial Hymenoptera is differences in the number of reproductive queens per colony, Differences in queen number in ants are associated with differences in a host of reproductive and social traits, including queen phenotype and breeding strategy, mode of colony reproduction, and pattern of sex allocation. We examine the causes and consequences of changes in colony queen number and associated traits using the fire ant Solenopsis invicta as a principal model. Ecological constraints on mode of colony founding may act as important selective forces causing the evolution of queen number in this and many other ants, with social organization generally perpetuated across generations by means of the social environment molding appropriate queen phenotypes and reproductive strategies. Shifts in colony queen number have profound effects on genetic structure within nests and may also influence genetic structure at higher levels (aggregations of nests or local demes) because of the association of queen number with particular mating and dispersal habits. Divergence of breeding habits between populations with different social organizations has the potential to promote genetic differentiation between these social variants. Thus, evolution of social organization can be important in generating intrinsic selective regimes that channel subsequent social evolution and in initiating the development of significant population genetic structure, including barriers to gene flow important in cladogenesis.

Other Imported Livestock Report to Iowa, April 2011

The Other Imported Livestock report monthly by the Department of Agricultural.

Consumer Advisory Bulletin, ID Theft: Prevent & Protect, May 2011

The Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division receives hundreds of calls and consumer complaints every year. Follow these tips to avoid unexpected expense and disappointments. This record is about: ID Theft: Prevent & Protect

Consumer Advisory Bulletin, Door-to-Door Sales: Your Right to Cancel, June 2011

The Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division receives hundreds of calls and consumer complaints every year. Follow these tips to avoid unexpected expense and disappointments. This record is about: Door-to-Door Sales: Your Right to Cancel

Other Imported Livestock Report to Iowa, May 2011

The Other Imported Livestock report monthly by the Department of Agricultural.

Consumer Advisory Bulletin, Be Wary of Online Payday Loans, July 2011

The Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division receives hundreds of calls and consumer complaints every year. Follow these tips to avoid unexpected expense and disappointments. This record is about: Be Wary of Online Payday Loans

Other Imported Livestock Report to Iowa, June 2011

The Other Imported Livestock report monthly by the Department of Agricultural.

Consumer Advisory Bulletin, How to Avoid Buying a Salvage, Damaged or Flood Vehicle, August 2011

The Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division receives hundreds of calls and consumer complaints every year. Follow these tips to avoid unexpected expense and disappointments. This record is about: How to Avoid Buying a Salvage, Damaged or Flood Vehicle

Other Imported Livestock Report to Iowa, July 2011

The Other Imported Livestock report monthly by the Department of Agricultural.

Other Imported Livestock Report to Iowa, August 2011

The Other Imported Livestock report monthly by the Department of Agricultural.

Consumer Advisory Bulletin, Some Guidance on Giving Avoiding charity fraud, October 2011

The Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division receives hundreds of calls and consumer complaints every year. Follow these tips to avoid unexpected expense and disappointments. This record is about: Some Guidance on Giving Avoiding charity fraud

Fact Sheet: Terrorism, 2011

Learn about the nature of terrorism. • Terrorists often choose targets that offer little danger to themselves and areas with relatively easy public access. • Foreign terrorists look for visible targets where they can avoid detection before or after an attack such as international airports, large cities, major international events, resorts, and high-profile landmarks. Learn about the different types of terrorist weapons including explosives, kidnappings, hijackings, arson, and shootings. Prepare to deal with a terrorist incident by adapting many of the same techniques used to prepare for other crises.