Pentamerid Brachiopods from the Lower Silurian (Wenlock) Canberra Formation, A.C.T., Australia

Pentamerid brachiopods are rare in the Wenlock-age Canberra Formation, but re-examination of old collections held by Geoscience Australia revealed the presence of four recognisable taxa, described here. The gypiduline Ascanigypa glabra (Mitchell) was originally described from Yass, northwest of Canberra, and has since been recorded from areas farther south; the latter records are revised. The pentamerides are Apopentamerus clarkei Strusz, Kirkidium (Kirkidium) canberrense sp. nov., and Rhipidium (Pararhipidium) oepiki sp. nov

History of the Reorganization of Utah\u27s State Administrative Government By the Twenty-Fourth Legislature

In the evening of January 13, 1941, Herbert B. Maw, who was then beginning his first term as Governor of the state of Utah, addressed his first legislative message to a joint session of the 1941 Utah Legislature from the rostrum of the chamber of the House of Representatives. An overwhelming amount of the Governor\u27s message was devoted to a multifaceted topic, the reorganization of Utah\u27s state administration. After extensively deploring state structural and political organization as it existed at that time, Governor Maw declared: The plan which I shall now propose is a product of the recommendations of the Committee of Nine created by the 1935 Legislature, the reorganization structure plans of several other states, and the recommendations of authorities in the field of political science

Covid-19: accelerating recovery

Covid-19 infections and related illness and death are rightly at the forefront of our minds. It is critical that we consider how to reduce infections, treat those who are ill and protect health systems. We must, however, also consider how the pandemic is affecting the families of those infected, and how interventions to prevent the spread of the virus come with large negative economic and social consequences. We must begin to identify the ways in which we can soften these blows and recover from the negative consequences over the medium and long-term. We highlight here the importance of moving away the tendency to search for interventions to improve one outcome at a time. It will be essential, particularly in highly resource constrained settings, to look for accelerators, interventions which improve multiple outcomes simultaneously. We discuss how this will be especially important for groups who are at particular risk at this time, including of long-term negative outcomes. These include very young children, adolescents and those who have limited capacity to benefit from narrow interventions given critical needs in multiple domains. Searching for accelerators requires that we take a step back and look to identify common causes of negative outcomes and consider how we might address them. For many countries, recovery from this epidemic will be highly constrained by the limited availability of financial resources. Wise investments will be especially important at this time

Probing the Differential Dynamics of the Monomeric and Dimeric Insulin from Amide-I IR Spectroscopy

The monomer–dimer equilibrium for insulin is one of the essential steps in forming the receptor-binding competent monomeric form of the hormone. Despite this importance, the thermodynamic stability, in particular for modified insulins, is quite poorly understood, in part, due to experimental difficulties. This work explores one- and two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy in the range of the amide-I band for the hydrated monomeric and dimeric wild-type hormone. It is found that for the monomer the frequency fluctuation correlation function (FFCF) and the one-dimensional infrared spectra are position sensitive. The spectra of the −CO probes at the dimerization interface (residues Phe24, Phe25, and Tyr26) split and indicate an asymmetry despite the overall (formal) point symmetry of the dimer structure. Also, the decay times of the FFCF for the same −CO probe in the monomer and the dimer can differ by up to 1 order of magnitude, for example, for residue PheB24, which is solvent exposed for the monomer but at the interface for the dimer. The spectroscopic shifts correlate approximately with the average number of hydration waters and the magnitude of the FFCF at time zero. However, this correlation is only qualitative due to the heterogeneous and highly dynamical environment. Based on density functional theory calculations, the dominant contribution for solvent-exposed −CO is found to arise from the surrounding water (∼75%), whereas the protein environment contributes considerably less. The results suggest that infrared spectroscopy is a positionally sensitive probe of insulin dimerization, in particular in conjunction with isotopic labeling of the probe

CONTEST : a Controllable Test Matrix Toolbox for MATLAB

Large, sparse networks that describe complex interactions are a common feature across a number of disciplines, giving rise to many challenging matrix computational tasks. Several random graph models have been proposed that capture key properties of real-life networks. These models provide realistic, parametrized matrices for testing linear system and eigenvalue solvers. CONTEST (CONtrollable TEST matrices) is a random network toolbox for MATLAB that implements nine models. The models produce unweighted directed or undirected graphs; that is, symmetric or unsymmetric matrices with elements equal to zero or one. They have one or more parameters that affect features such as sparsity and characteristic pathlength and all can be of arbitrary dimension. Utility functions are supplied for rewiring, adding extra shortcuts and subsampling in order to create further classes of networks. Other utilities convert the adjacency matrices into real-valued coefficient matrices for naturally arising computational tasks that reduce to sparse linear system and eigenvalue problems

The Skn7 Response Regulator of \u3ci\u3eSaccharomyces cerevisiae\u3c/i\u3e Interacts with Hsf1 In Vivo and Is Required for the Induction of Heat Shock Genes by Oxidative Stress

The Skn7 response regulator has previously been shown to play a role in the induction of stress-responsive genes in yeast, e.g., in the induction of the thioredoxin gene in response to hydrogen peroxide. The yeast Heat Shock Factor, Hsf1, is central to the induction of another set of stress-inducible genes, namely the heat shock genes. These two regulatory trans-activators, Hsf1 and Skn7, share certain structural homologies, particularly in their DNA-binding domains and the presence of adjacent regions of coiled-coil structure, which are known to mediate protein–protein interactions. Here, we provide evidence that Hsf1 and Skn7 interact in vitro and in vivo and we show that Skn7 can bind to the same regulatory sequences as Hsf1, namely heat shock elements. Furthermore, we demonstrate that a strain deleted for the SKN7 gene and containing a temperature-sensitive mutation in Hsf1 is hypersensitive to oxidative stress. Our data suggest that Skn7 and Hsf1 cooperate to achieve maximal induction of heat shock genes in response specifically to oxidative stress. We further show that, like Hsf1, Skn7 can interact with itself and is localized to the nucleus under normal growth conditions as well as during oxidative stress

Decision-making strategies: ignored to the detriment of healthcare training and delivery?

Context: People do not always make health-related decisions which reflect their best interest – best interest being defined as the decision they would make if they carefully considered the options and fully understood the information available. A substantial literature has developed in behavioral economics and social psychology that seeks to elucidate the patterns in individual decision-making. While this is particularly relevant to healthcare, the insights from these fields have only been applied in a limited way. To address the health challenges of the twenty-first century, healthcare providers and healthcare systems designers need to more fully understand how individuals are making decisions. Methods:: We provide an overview of the theories of behavioral economics and social psychology that relate to how individuals make health-related decisions. The concentration on health-related decisions leads to a focus on three topics: (1) mental shortcuts and motivated reasoning; (2) implications of time; and (3) implications of affect. The first topic is relevant because health-related decisions are often made in a hurry without a full appreciation of the implications and the deliberation they warrant. The second topic is included because the link between a decision and its health-related outcomes can involve a significant time lag. The final topic is included because health and affect are so often linked. Findings:: The literature reviewed has implications for healthcare training and delivery. Selection for medical training must consider the skills necessary to understand and adapt to how patients make decisions. Training on the insights garnered from behavioral economics and social psychology would better prepare healthcare providers to effectively support their clients to lead healthy lives. Healthcare delivery should be structured to respond to the way in which decisions are made. Conclusions:: These patterns in decision-making call into question basic assumptions our healthcare system makes about the best way to treat patients and deliver care. This literature has implications for the way we train physicians and deliver care

Strategies to Operationalize CACREP Standards in School Counselor Education

School counselor preparation programs must train students in counseling skills while addressing the unique factors related to counseling in an educational setting. One way to approach this task is to utilize the general and school counseling standards set forth by CACREP (2009) as a framework for program planning. This article describes one university‟s course sequencing, program specific courses, and strategies and assignments designed to meet the particular educational needs of future professional school counselors as well as incorporate the CACREP (2009) standards