Experimental surgery to create subgenomes of Bacillus subtilis 168

The 4,188-kb circular genome of Bacillus subtilis 168 was artificially dissected into two stable circular chromosomes in vivo, one being the 3,878-kb main genome and the other the 310-kb subgenome that was recovered as covalently closed circular DNA in CsCl-ethidium bromide ultracentrifugation. The minimal requirements to physically separate the 310-kb DNA segment out of the genome were two interrepeat homologous sequences and an origin of DNA replication between them. The subgenome originated from the 1,255–1,551-kb region of the B. subtilis genome was essential for the cell to survive because the subgenome was not lost from the cell. The finding that the B. subtilis genome has a potential to be divided and the resulting two replicons stably maintained may shed light on origins and formation mechanisms of giant plasmids or second chromosomes present in many bacteria. Similar excision or its reversal process, i.e., integration of large sized covalently closed circular DNA pieces into the main genome, implies significant roles of subgenomes in the exchange of genetic information and size variation of bacterial genomes in bacterial evolution.

Changes in brain cell shape create residual extracellular space volume and explain tortuosity behavior during osmotic challenge

Diffusion of molecules in brain extracellular space is constrained by two macroscopic parameters, tortuosity factor λ and volume fraction α. Recent studies in brain slices show that when osmolarity is reduced, λ increases while α decreases. In contrast, with increased osmolarity, α increases, but λ attains a plateau. Using homogenization theory and a variety of lattice models, we found that the plateau behavior of λ can be explained if the shape of brain cells changes nonuniformly during the shrinking or swelling induced by osmotic challenge. The nonuniform cellular shrinkage creates residual extracellular space that temporarily traps diffusing molecules, thus impeding the macroscopic diffusion. The paper also discusses the definition of tortuosity and its independence of the measurement frame of reference.

Forced evolution of glutathione S-transferase to create a more efficient drug detoxication enzyme.

Glutathione S-transferases (EC 2.5.1.18) in mammalian cells catalyze the conjugation, and thus, the detoxication of a structurally diverse group of electrophilic environmental carcinogens and alkylating drugs, including the antineoplastic nitrogen mustards. We proposed that structural alteration of the nonspecific electrophile-binding site would produce mutant enzymes with increased efficiency for detoxication of a single drug and that these mutants could serve as useful somatic transgenes to protect healthy human cells against single alkylating agents used in cancer chemotherapy protocols. Random mutagenesis of three regions (residues 9-14, 102-112, and 210-220), which together compose the glutathione S-transferase electrophile-binding site, followed by selection of Escherichia coli expressing the enzyme library with the nitrogen mustard mechlorethamine (20-500 microM), yielded mutant enzymes that showed significant improvement in catalytic efficiency for mechlorethamine conjugation (up to 15-fold increase in kcat and up to 6-fold increase in kcat/Km) and that confer up to 31-fold resistance, which is 9-fold greater drug resistance than that conferred by the wild-type enzyme. The results suggest a general strategy for modification of drug- and carcinogen-metabolizing enzymes to achieve desired resistance in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic plant and animal cells.

A Qualitative Study on Successful African American Marriages on How They Create and Repair Attachment Injuries Using Emotional Skillfulness.

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the meanings that Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee Davis attribute to how they have adapted to their marriage and overcame conflict over the years. A purposive sample of this well-known African American married couple, who self-identified as being in a long-term, successful marriage, was used. The subjects of study were married for 56 years. An analysis using Colaizzi's (1978) method revealed 2 themes, with 13 and 2 subthemes respectively. The themes that emerged from the analysis of the formulated meanings were: (1) secrets to a successful marriage; and (2) sources of conflict in marriage. Secrets to a successful marriage included 13 subthemes: (a) egalitarian roles; (b) commitment; (c) forgiveness; (d) communication; (e) love; (f) honesty; (g) understanding the struggles of Black males and females; (h) friendship; (i) religion/ support from God; (j) compromise; (k) beliefs that marriage is a process; (l) emotional availability of spouse; and (m) feelings of security. In addition, the theme sources of conflict in marriage had two subthemes: (a) different decision making styles; and (b) experiences of abandonment. These findings provided insight from this couple's perspective on the secrets to a successful marriage and the ways in which they managed to make their marriage work, in light of the unique challenges that face African American marriages.

Difference Blindness vs. Bias Awareness: Why Law Firms with the Best of Intentions Have Failed to Create Diverse Partnerships

This Article uses the example of BigLaw firms to explore the challenges that many elite organizations face in providing equal opportunity to their workers. Despite good intentions and the investment of significant resources, large law firms have been consistently unable to deliver diverse partnership structures - especially in more senior positions of power. Building on implicit and institutional bias scholarship and on successful approaches described in the organizational behavior literature, we argue that a significant barrier to systemic diversity at the law firm partnership level has been, paradoxically, the insistence on difference blindness standards that seek to evaluate each person on their individual merit. While powerful in dismantling intentional discrimination, these standards rely on an assumption that lawyers are, and have the power to act as, atomistic individuals - a dangerous assumption that has been disproven consistently by the literature establishing the continuing and powerful influence of implicit and institutional bias. Accordingly, difference blindness, which holds all lawyers accountable to seemingly neutral standards, disproportionately disadvantages diverse populations and normalizes the dominance of certain actors - here, white men - by creating the illusion that success or failure depends upon individual rather than structural constraints. In contrast, we argue that a bias awareness approach that encourages identity awareness and a relational framework is a more promising way to promote equality, equity, and inclusion.

Does the European Union create the foundations of an information society for all? Bruges European Economic Policy (BEEP) Briefing 11/2005

In order to increase the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the European Union Member States, the European Commission, on the initiative of Commissioner E. Liikannen, launched in December 1999 a bold programme called “eEurope”. Soon after its creation, the eEurope programme was integrated into the so- called Lisbon agenda for Europe to become the “most advanced knowledge based economy” in the world. We try to assess if the programme is successful in achieving its stated objective of promoting a knowledge based economy through the development of an “information society for all”. First, we conclude that eEurope, due to its origins and its procedures, has intrinsic limits both as regards its scope and effectiveness. Second, we show how Member States have adopted different trajectories towards the “knowledge based society”. To identify these heterogeneous paths of growth, we have selected a set of variables that, combined together, represent the institutional arrangements specific to a country or a group of countries. We found sharp differences between two advanced models that we label, respectively, as Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon. Without asserting the superiority of a model, we propose policy orientations to help Europe overcome those gaps hindering the move towards knowledge economies where information society technologies are widely diffused.

To Promote the Progress: Why Do States Create New Intellectual Property Rights? ACES Working Papers, August 2012

The question I seek to answer is not about explaining support or resistance to the globalization or harmonization of IP rights. Rather, I am interested in new IP rights: what happened to cause a certain intangible to change from something that was not considered intellectual property to something that was considered intellectual property? Explaining the globalization or harmonization of already-existing IP rights is an important task, but fundamentally different than explaining why some things became intellectual property in the first place.

TEXDOC: Stata module to create a LaTeX document including Stata output

texdoc provides tools to create a LaTeX document from within Stata in a weaving fashion. This is especially useful if you want to produce a LaTeX document that contains Stata output, such as, e.g., a Stata Journal article or solutions to statistics homework assignments.

Drainage channel and waterway; a history of the effort to secure an effective and harmless method for the disposal of the sewage of the city of Chicago, and to create a navigable channel between Lake Michigan and the Missippi River,

Mode of access: Internet.

Reorganization plan no. 27 of 1950 : to create a Department of Health, Education, and Security : report (to accompany H. Res. 647)

Also in Congressional serial volume 11381.

Protest against the cruel war, or, Propaganda to create a strong public sentiment against the war,

Cover title.

Analysis of cross-shore movement of natural longshore bars and material placed to create longshore bars /

At head of title: "Dredging Research Program."

Proposed repeal of the Federal home loan bank act : hearings ... Seventy-third Congress, first session, on S. 6, a bill to repeal an act entitled "An act to create federal home-loan banks, to provide for the supervision thereof, and for other purposes," approved July 22, 1932.

Pt.1. March 22, 23, 1933. 74 p.--pt.2. March 29, 1933. 96 p.