Insanity as a Defense to the Civil Fraud Penalty

Most neurological diseases are associated with chronic inflammation initiated by the activation of microglia, which produce cytotoxic and inflammatory factors. Signal transducers and activators of transcription (STATs) are potent regulators of gene expression but contribution of particular STAT to inflammatory gene expression and STAT-dependent transcriptional networks underlying brain inflammation need to be identified. In the present study, we investigated the genomic distribution of Stat binding sites and the role of Stats in the gene expression in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated primary microglial cultures. Integration of chromatin immunoprecipitation-promoter microarray data and transcriptome data revealed novel Stat-target genes including Jmjd3, Ccl5, Ezr, Ifih1, Irf7, Uba7, and Pim1. While knockdown of individual Stat had little effect on the expression of tested genes, knockdown of both Stat1 and Stat3 inhibited the expression of Jmjd3 and inflammatory genes. Transcriptional regulation of Jmjd3 by Stat1 and Stat3 is a novel mechanism crucial for launching inflammatory responses in microglia. The effects of Jmjd3 on inflammatory gene expression were independent of its H3K27me3 demethylase activity. Forced expression of constitutively activated Stat1 and Stat3 induced the expression of Jmjd3, inflammation-related genes, and the production of proinflammatory cytokines as potently as lipopolysacharide. Gene set enrichment and gene function analysis revealed categories linked to the inflammatory response in LPS and Stat1C + Stat3C groups. We defined upstream pathways that activate STATs in response to LPS and demonstrated contribution of Tlr4 and Il-6 and interferon-. signaling. Our findings define novel direct transcriptional targets of Stat1 and Stat3 and highlight their contribution to inflammatory gene expression

\u27Dear Colleague\u27 letter

\u27Dear Colleague\u27 letter for the September 2006 briefing on Children\u27s Well-Being and the Role of Workplace Flexibility for Parents event. Prepared on behalf of Workplace Flexibility 2010 by Senator Mike DeWine and Senator Christopher J. Dodd

A Peripatus from Barbados

Peripatus (s. str.) dominicae barbadensis, n. subsp., proveniente da ilha de Barbados nas Pequenas Antilhas, é descrito. A nova subespécie assemelha-se a P. d. dominicae e a P. d. antiguensis. aproxima-se da primeira pela distribuição das papilas da pele, da segunda pela disposição do tubérculo excretor do 4º e 5º pares de patas, que é independente do 3º arco do pé. Todos exemplares da nova subespécie têm 31 pares de patas, o que indicaria ter em média um a dois pares a mais que as duas outras subespécies

Tiny Bird, Huge Mystery - The Possibly Extinct Hooded Seedeater (Sporophila melanops) Is a Capuchino with a Melanistic Cap

Known with certainty solely from a unique male specimen collected in central Brazil in the first quarter of the 19th century, the Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct) Hooded Seedeater Sporophila melanops has been one of the great enigmas of Neotropical ornithology, arguably the only one of a host of long-lost species from Brazil to remain obstinately undiscovered. We reanalysed the morphology of the type specimen, as well as a female specimen postulated to represent the same taxon, and sequenced mitochondrial DNA (COI and Cyt-b) from both individuals. Furthermore, we visited the type locality, at the border between Goiás and Mato Grosso, and its environs on multiple occasions at different seasons, searching for birds with similar morphology to the type, without success. Novel genetic and morphological evidence clearly demonstrates that the type of S. melanops is not closely related to Yellow-bellied Seedeater S. nigricollis, as has been frequently postulated in the literature, but is in fact a representative of one of the so-called capuchinos, a clade of attractively plumaged seedeaters that breed mostly in the Southern Cone of South America. Our morphological analysis indicates that S. melanops has a hitherto unreported dark-coffee throat and that it is probably a Dark-throated Seedeater S. ruficollis collected within its wintering range, acquiring breeding plumage and showing melanism on the cap feathers. Alternatively, it may be a melanistic-capped individual of a local population of seedeaters known to breed in the Esteros del Iberá, Corrientes, Argentina, to which the name S. ruficollis might be applicable, whilst the name S. plumbeiceps might be available for what is currently known as S. ruficollis. A hybrid origin for S. melanops cannot be ruled out from the available data, but seems unlikely. The purported female specimen of S. melanops pertains either to S. nigricollis or to Double-collared Seedeater S. caerulescens based on genetic and morphological data, and thus cannot be a female of S. melanops. We conclude that Sporophila melanops is not typical of any natural population of seedeaters, appears to have been collected far from its breeding grounds while overwintering in central Brazil, and should not be afforded any conservation status.Fil: Areta, Juan Ignacio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales. Museo de Ciencias Naturales. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA; ArgentinaFil: Piacentini, Vítor de Q. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Haring, Elisabeth. Universidad de Viena; AustriaFil: Gamauf, Anita. Universidad de Viena; AustriaFil: Silveira, Luís Fábio. Universidad de Viena; AustriaFil: Machado, Erika. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Kirwan, Guy M.. The Field Museum; Estados Unido

Dnevna slika migriranja kratkorepog raka, Maja crispata, Risso 1827 (Brachyura, Majidae)

Occurrence, distribution, and assemblage of crustaceans in the southern Adriatic Sea were determined from data collected during five seasonal (summer) trawl surveys carried out during 1996-2000. Trawls were conducted at a bathymetric range of 10-800 m, by the same vessel and same sampling gear in the framework of the E.U. Project, MEDITS. Fifty-two benthic-epibenthic, and nektonic species (three stomatopods, 49 decapods) were caught. Species density data (individuals per km2) were processed according to multivariate techniques to describe the composition and distribution of main pecies assemblages. The assemblages were consistent throughout the surveyed area with some differences between the western and eastern zones, mostly those found on shelf bottoms. The influence of oceanographic features, other than depth, is discussed.U sjevernom Jadranu su promatrana dnevna pomicanja populacije brahiurnog raka, Maja crispata. Odnos spolova, mužjaka prema ženkama, iznosio je 3:2. Mužjaci su imali maksimalnu dužinu oklopa 91 mm, a ženke 74 mm. Maja crispata češće se nalazila na šljunkovitom dnu nego na bilo kojem drugom habitatu. Sedmero promatranih primjeraka nije se pomicalo prema nekom određenom području, nego se zadržavalo većim dijelom na tvrdom supstratu, između 0,8 i 3,5 m dubine. Maksimalna udaljenost od početnog položaja postignuta je u 9 dana, a iznosila je 16 metara