Chemistry of living systems Semiannual report, Apr. 1 - Sep. 30, 1967

Biochemical studies on nucleic acids, proteins, metabolisms, bacteriophages, and related topic

Vipassana Meditation and Life Effectiveness

the present study is aimed at understanding the influence of Vipassana Meditation among business managers who did Vipassana Meditation during their management education or after. How far Vipassana Meditation process influences life effectiveness of these young managers. Quantitative-multidimensional analysis of attitudinal and behavioral variables is the primary focus of this study. Exploratory study is conducted to arrive at appropriate variables in relation the professional and personal dimensions selected for the study. Data collection made from 176 junior level managers, who have passed out from five business schools in Pune, India. Independent and dependent variables are analyzed into with correlation and multiple regression models. The findings indicate that the Vipassana meditation process is having high influence on professional and personal effectiveness of managers. This research study envisages the importance of holistic education to the management graduates that ensure the development of physically stable, mentally alert and professionally matured students for better operations and business excellence

LEGAL FRATERNITIES

No exact computation of the number of practicing attorneys who are members of legal fraternities is available. However, well over 120,000 law students have in the past 82 years affiliated with a legal fraternity-no account being taken of the numbers belonging to purely local societies. Since the great majority of these individuals have entered into the practice, it is apparent that the Survey of the Legal Profession would not be exhaustive without some reference to such organizations. Professional Greek-letter fraternities now exist in practically all conceivable fields from Animal Husbandry to Textile Arts. Their legal counterpart furnished the model

Control of feline leukaemia virus.

Feline leukaemia virus (FeLV) usually occurs in its natural species, the domestic cat. FeLV is also important to human individuals as a comparative model, as it may cause a variety of diseases, some malignant and some benign, such as immunosuppression, which bears a resemblance to AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) in man. FeLV is transmitted among cats by contagion. The main sources of infection are persistently infected carrier cats which continuously excrete virus. Dissemination of FeLV among cats may be prevented by identifying infected carrier cats and removing them from contact with non-infected cats. Removal programmes using indirect immunofluorescence antibody tests were applied successfully in The Netherlands. The proportion of FeLV-positive cats decreased from 9% in 1974 to approximately 3% in 1985 during such a programme. The results of a removal programme carried out in a catbreeders' society were even better: the incidence of cats positive for FeLV decreased from 11% in 1974 to less than 2% within 4 years. None of the cats tested in this society has been found to be positive for FeLV since 1984. Besides removal programmes, other methods of control, such as pre-exposure treatment, were developed to prevent the spread of FeLV. We attempted to protect kittens against oronasal infection with FeLV by treatment with virus-neutralizing (VN) monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) directed against an epitope on the viral glycoprotein gp70. However, no protection was achieved. It is unlikely that the amount of VN antibodies, the mode and route of their application or the infectious dose of FeLV used can account for this failure. Other possible explanations for the lack of protective effect are that (i) the restricted epitope specificity of the MoAb preparation used may have led to selection of neutralization-resistant virus mutants, or (ii) other mechanisms than virus neutralization (complement-mediated lysis, antibody-dependent cell cytotoxicity), that may be involved in protection, function less efficiently with MoAb. However, in the light of our finding that an early anti-idiotypic response is observed in all cats following administration of the MoAb preparation, the rapid clearance of anti-FeLV MoAb from the circulation is a more likely explanation. Efforts were further made to develop a vaccine for controlling FeLV infection. The immunostimulating complex vaccine (FeLV-ISCOM vaccine), a subunit vaccine in which FeLV gp70 is presented in a particular manner, looks promising. The protective effect of FeLV-IS

The origins of bubbles in laboratory asset markets

In twelve sessions conducted in a typical bubble-generating experimental environment, we design a pair of assets that can detect both irrationality and speculative behavior. The specific form of irrationality we investigate is probability judgment error associated with low-probability, high-payoff outcomes. Independently, we test for speculation by comparing prices of identically paying assets in multiperiod versus single-period markets. When these tests indicate the presence of probability judgment error and speculation, bubbles are more likely to occur. This finding suggests that both factors are important bubble drivers.