Russia's FLat-Tax: Myths and facts

Flat Tax, Russland, Russia

Structural Analysis and Deletion Mutagenesis Define Regions of QUIVER/SLEEPLESS that Are Responsible for Interactions with Shaker-Type Potassium Channels and Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors.

Ly6 proteins are endogenous prototoxins found in most animals. They show striking structural and functional parallels to snake α-neurotoxins, including regulation of ion channels and cholinergic signaling. However, the structural contributions of Ly6 proteins to regulation of effector molecules is poorly understood. This question is particularly relevant to the Ly6 protein QUIVER/SLEEPLESS (QVR/SSS), which has previously been shown to suppress excitability and synaptic transmission by upregulating potassium (K) channels and downregulating nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) in wake-promoting neurons to facilitate sleep in Drosophila. Using deletion mutagenesis, co-immunoprecipitations, ion flux assays, surface labeling and confocal microscopy, we demonstrate that only loop 2 is required for many of the previously described properties of SSS in transfected cells, including interactions with K channels and nAChRs. Collectively our data suggest that QVR/SSS, and by extension perhaps other Ly6 proteins, target effector molecules using limited protein motifs. Mapping these motifs may be useful in rational design of drugs that mimic or suppress Ly6-effector interactions to modulate nervous system function

L'ètica de la creença

Traducció de "The Ethics of Belief"

Natural History Of Syphilitic Aortitis

No large studies of cardiovascular syphilis at necropsy have been reported since 1964. We examined at necropsy 90 patients who had characteristic morphologic findings of syphilitic aortitis. None had ever undergone cardiovascular surgery. With the exception of 2 cases seen more recently, the hearts and aortas of the 90 patients were examined and categorized by one of us (W.C.R.) from 1966 to 1990. All 90 had extensive involvement of the tubular portion of the ascending aorta by the syphilitic process, which spared the sinuses of Valsalva in all but 4 patients. The aortic arch was also involved in 49 (91%) of 54 patients and the descending thoracic aorta in 47 (90%) of 52 patients. Syphilis was the cause of death in 23 (26%) of the 90 patients. It was secondary to rupture of the ascending or descending thoracic aorta in 12, severe aortic regurgitation leading to heart failure in 10, and severe narrowing of the aortic ostium of the right coronary artery in 1 patient. Of the 40 patients who had undergone serologic testing for syphilis, 28 (70%) had a positive (reactive) finding. Those patients with a negative or nonreactive test or who did not undergo a serologic test for syphilis had morphologic and histologic findings in the aorta at necropsy similar to the findings of those patients who had had a positive serologic test for syphilis. In conclusion, cardiovascular syphilis has not disappeared. In patients with dilated ascending aortas, with or without aortic regurgitation, a serologic test for syphilis is recommended. If the findings are positive or if characteristic morphologic features of cardiovascular syphilis are suspected, irrespective of the results of the serologic tests, antibiotic therapy appears desirable. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. (Am J Cardiol 2009;104:1578-1587)Integrative Biolog

The Relationship Between Vocabulary and Scholastic Achievement of a Group of Prairie View State College Students

The general problem upon which this study is based is to find whether there is any significant relationship between the vocabulary status of students enrolled at Prairie View State College during the second semester of the 1944-45 academic year, and their scholastic achievement as represented by the grade marks they received for the semester\u27s work. The foregoing statement implies the measurement of the vocabularies of the students included in this study and the reduction of their grade marks to some unit of measure capable of expressing varying degrees of scholastic achievement. Another implication is that the results obtained from measuring the vocabularies of these students are to be compared with the measures used to express quantitatively their scholastic achievement. Perhaps the most widely used measure of total achievement in academic work is the grade point average, and this is the measure used in this study. The solution of this problem is based upon answering the following questions concerning the students studied: 1. In this group were the students having the larger vocabularies more likely to earn higher grade point averages than the students having the smaller vocabularies? 2. How many students who have vocabulary scores falling between given percentiles of the scores for the group, also have their grade point averages falling between corresponding percentiles of the grade point averages for the group? 3. Of the students whose vocabulary scores are included in the lower 50 per cent of the scores tor the group, how many also have their grade point averages falling in the lower 50 per cent of the grade point averages tor the group? 4. How students whose vocabulary scores fall above the fiftieth percentile, also have grade point averages above the fiftieth percentile? 5. What is the coefficient of correlation between the vocabulary scores and the grade point averages tor this group of students? This problem is clearly linked with the whole problem of education. If students possessing the larger vocabularies are more likely to make better grades or to do more satisfactory college work than stu­dents with small or limited vocabularies, it is only reasonable to assume that a valuable means tor improving the scholastic achievement of students will be available in providing for the growth of their vocabu­laries

The Biology of Egg Production in the House Cricket, Acheta Domesticus L.

Oogenesis commenced on day 3 (day 0 = adult ecdysis) in Acheta domesticus L., which, based on degeneration of the flight muscles, was approximately when juvenile hormone was released. Starvation did not prevent the onset of oogenesis, although egg production was greatly reduced. Virgin females did not oviposit and the oviducts filled with eggs by day 15. Compaction appeared to be a factor limiting oogenesis. The digestive tract was compressed and feeding reduced, which might be the primary factors terminating oogenesis. The concentration of juvenile hormone esterase (JHE) did not change as virgins filled with eggs, which indicated that JHE was not involved with termination of oogenesis. Prostaglandin topically applied to the genital opening was 3x more effective in initiating oviposition than when injected. Testectomized males stimulated oviposition of unfertilized eggs, indicating that the prostaglandin synthetase was not produced in the testes. The male cemented the spermatophore in the female genital chamber; this seal probably reduced chances for degradation of the enzyme and increased the efficiency of semen transfer. The metabolic rate of virgin females was greatly reduced because the oxygen consumption by unfertilized eggs is very low. Although more than 90% of the eggs were derived directly from food, fat body reserves were used up during egg production. Mated females produced more eggs and lost more fat body than virgins or ovariectomized females. As females lost fat body, their survival time when starved decreased. Ovulated eggs stored in the oviducts could not be resorbed. The vitellogenin was partially purified and isolated by low-ionic-strength precipitation and DEAE-affinity chromatography. The molecular weight was estimated at 400,000 daltons by calibrated gel filtration, and the pI estimated at 5.7-6.4 by isoelectric focusing. It was a glycolipoprotein containing 9.6% lipid and 6.6% carbohydrate. At least two subunits having molecular weights of 112,000 and 40,000 daltons, respectively, were identified by calibrated SDS-polyacrylamide gels. Using an integrating densitometer on stained SDS-PAGE preparations, it was determined that starvation, age, and egg production reduced the vitellogenin titre and that ovariectomy elevated vitellogenin titre

Contract Law - Implied Agreements - Unmarried Cohabitants

The New Jersey Supreme Court has held that unmarried cohabitation will not bar an otherwise valid agreement between parties. Kozlowski v. Kozlowski, 80 N.J. 378, 403 A.2d 902 (1979)