Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books 20 (05) 1967

published or submitted for publicatio

Mutations in the Arabidopsis Peroxisomal ABC Transporter COMATOSE Allow Differentiation between Multiple Functions In Planta: Insights from an Allelic Series

COMATOSE (CTS), the Arabidopsis homologue of human Adrenoleukodystrophy protein (ALDP), is required for import of substrates for peroxisomal β-oxidation. A new allelic series and a homology model based on the bacterial ABC transporter, Sav1866, provide novel insights into structure-function relations of ABC subfamily D proteins. In contrast to ALDP, where the majority of mutations result in protein absence from the peroxisomal membrane, all CTS mutants produced stable protein. Mutation of conserved residues in the Walker A and B motifs in CTS nucleotide-binding domain (NBD) 1 resulted in a null phenotype but had little effect in NBD2, indicating that the NBDs are functionally distinct in vivo. Two alleles containing mutations in NBD1 outside the Walker motifs (E617K and C631Y) exhibited resistance to auxin precursors 2,4-dichlorophenoxybutyric acid (2,4-DB) and indole butyric acid (IBA) but were wild type in all other tests. The homology model predicted that the transmission interfaces are domain-swapped in CTS, and the differential effects of mutations in the conserved "EAA motif" of coupling helix 2 supported this prediction, consistent with distinct roles for each NBD. Our findings demonstrate that CTS functions can be separated by mutagenesis and the structural model provides a framework for interpretation of phenotypic data

Alexandria: History and culture

Alexandria has been one of the most important cities throughout history. Born from the mixing of two of the major cultures of Antiquity―Greek and Egyptian―the city has been a melting pot allowing the development of human knowledge from its origins. It was the city where some renowned figures of the Antiquity, and recently several celebrated contemporaneous writers, worked. Hit by the hazards of the history, often violent, nowadays Alexandria seems to reborn, to become again a lighthouse for the science and humanities of the 21th century. Nevertheless, it will be necessary to remain watchful to overcome misunderstanding, intolerance and fanaticism, which threatens almost the entire planet Eart

The divine kingship of the Shilluk: on violence, utopia and the human condition, or, elements for an archaeology of sovereignty

Since Frazer's time, Shilluk kingship has been a flashpoint of anthropological debates about the nature of sovereignty, and while such debates are now considered irrelevant to current debates on the subject, they need not be. This essay presents a detailed analysis of the history, myth, and ritual surrounding the Shilluk institution to propose a new set of distinctions: between "divine kingship" (by which humans can become god through arbitrary violence, reflexively defining their victims as "the people") and "sacred kingship" (the popular domestication of such figures through ritual), and argues that kingship always represents the image of a temporary, imperfect solution to what is taken to be the fundamental dilemma of the human condition—one that can itself only be maintained through terro

Passion and Conflict: Medieval Islamic Views of the West

This article analyzes the representation of al-Andalus and North Africa in medieval Islamic maps from the eleventh to the fifteenth centuries. In contrast to other maps of the Mediterranean, which display a veneer of harmony and balance, the image of the Maghrib is by deliberate design one of conflict and confusion; of love and hate; of male vs. female; of desire vs rejection. This paper interprets and explains the reasons behind the unusual depiction of Andalus and the Maghrib by medieval Islamic cartographers. In addition, this article develops a new methodology of interpreting medieval Islamic maps employing a deconstruction of the forms through an analysis of different levels of gaze. The analysis unfolds into the use of erotic and nostalgic Hispano-Arabic poetry as a lens of interpretation for Islamic maps

Some Thoughts on Devising a Historiographical Map of Seventh-Century BC Egypt

The social and cultural developments in the Eastern Mediter-ranean Area of Connectivity in the 8th to 6th c. BC are stronglyrooted in the cross-regional mobility and subsequent culturaldiversity that resulted from the various local strategies in thesouthern Levant and the Nile delta of challenging and outma-neuvering the super-powers. Yet, historiographical maps of 7thc. Egypt predominantly depict the political landscape – if at all– as the dominion of politically homogeneous entities: as parteither of the Assyrian empire, or of the Kushite empire, or ofa local power. By contrast, this paper discusses an alternativevisualization, which indicates historical complexity with theaim of triggering further research

Connecting Cairo to the Nile: Renewing life and heritage on the river

As urban waterfronts around the world de-industrialize, cities are increasingly capitalizing on these opportunities to provide open space and alternative commuting routes along riverbanks, bringing residents and visitors back to the waterfronts. Cairo has remarkable opportunities to reconnect its people with the river that was historically its heart. In an intensive workshop involving 23 students and seven faculty from Cairo University (CU), The American University in Cairo (AUC), and the University of California, Berkeley (UCB), interdisciplinary teams systematically inventoried existing conditions along a 12-km reach of the Nile from Maadi to Tahrir Square, recording river-bank relations, building heights and conditions, circulation, and land-use