Pseudomonas Cytochrome c551 at 2.0 angstrom Resolution: Enlargement of the Cytochrome c Family

The structure of respiratory cytochrome c551 of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, with 82 amino acids, has been solved by x-ray analysis and refined to a crystallographic R factor of 16.2%. It has the same basic folding pattern and hydrophobic heme environment as cytochromes c, c2, and c550, except for a large deletion at the bottom of the heme crevice. This same "cytochrome fold" appears to be present in photosynthetic cytochromes c of green and purple sulfur bacteria, and algal cytochromes f, suggesting a common evolutionary origin for electron transport chains in photosynthesis and respiration

Phantoms in Science: Nietzsche\u27s Nonobjectivity on Planck\u27s Quanta

What does Maxwell Planck\u27s concept of phantomness suggest about the epistemological basis of science and how might a Nietzschean critique reveal solution to the weaknesses revealed? With his solution to Kirchoff\u27s equation, Maxwell Planck launched the paradigm of quantum physics. This same solution undermined much of current understandings of science versus pseudoscience. Using Nietzsche\u27s perspectivism and other philosophical critiques, Planck\u27s answer to blackbody radiation is used to highlight the troubles with phantom problems in science and how to try to direct science towards a more holistic and complete scientific approach

Observations of the Mating habits and Attack Pattern of Trypodendron retusum (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) on Populus grandidentata in Central Michigan

Trypodendron retusum Leconte attack pattern on Populus grandidentata Michx. (Big Tooth Aspen) was studied. Mating habits of males and females involved copulation at the entrance hole bored by the female. Attack (entrance )holes averaged 15.9 cm. apart and were found to be uniformly spaced on the bark surface. Attack density was greater on standing trees than wind-thrown trees. On standing trees attack density appeared to be a function of the height rather than the diameter of the tree

Acupuncture and Chiropractic Care: Utilization and Electronic Medical Record Capture

Objectives: To describe acupuncture and chiropractic use among patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain (CMP) at a health maintenance organization, and explore issues of benefit design and electronic medical record (EMR) capture. Study Design: Cross-sectional survey. Methods: Kaiser Permanente members meeting EMR diagnostic criteria for CMP were invited to participate. The survey included questions about self-identified presence of CMP, use of acupuncture and chiropractic care, use of ancillary self-care modalities, and communication with conventional medicine practitioners. Analysis of survey data was supplemented with a retrospective review of EMR utilization data. Results: Of 6068 survey respondents, 32% reported acupuncture use, 47% reported chiropractic use, 21% used both, and 42% used neither. For 25% of patients using acupuncture and 43% of those using chiropractic care, utilization was undetected by the EMR. Thirty-five percent of acupuncture users and 42% of chiropractic users did not discuss this care with their health maintenance organization (HMO) clinicians. Among chiropractic users, those accessing care out of plan were older (P \u3c.01), were more likely to use long-term opioids (P = .03), and had more pain diagnoses (P = .01) than those accessing care via clinician referral or self-referral. For acupuncture, those using the clinician referral mechanism exhibited these same characteristics. Conclusions: A majority of participants had used acupuncture, chiropractic care, or both. While benefit structure may materially influence utilization patterns, many patients with CMP use acupuncture and chiropractic care without regard to their insurance coverage. A substantial percentage of acupuncture and chiropractic use thus occurs beyond detection of EMR systems, and many patients do not report such care to their HMO clinicians

Reproductive development and performance of inbred and crossbred boars

This report includes much of the material presented by the senior author as a doctoral dissertation--P. [3].Digitized 2007 AES.Includes bibliographical references (page 56)

Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase kinase-β acts upstream of AMP-activated protein kinase in mammalian cells

SummaryAMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is the downstream component of a kinase cascade that plays a pivotal role in energy homeostasis. Activation of AMPK requires phosphorylation of threonine 172 (T172) within the T loop region of the catalytic α subunit. Recently, LKB1 was shown to activate AMPK. Here we show that AMPK is also activated by Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase kinase (CaMKK). Overexpression of CaMKKβ in mammalian cells increases AMPK activity, whereas pharmacological inhibition of CaMKK, or downregulation of CaMKKβ using RNA interference, almost completely abolishes AMPK activation. CaMKKβ isolated from rat brain or expressed in E. coli phosphorylates and activates AMPK in vitro. In yeast, CaMKKβ expression rescues a mutant strain lacking the three kinases upstream of Snf1, the yeast homolog of AMPK. These results demonstrate that AMPK is regulated by at least two upstream kinases and suggest that AMPK may play a role in Ca2+-mediated signal transduction pathways

Direct Evidence for Octupole Deformation in 146^{146}Ba and the Origin of Large E1E1 Moment Variations in Reflection-Asymmetric Nuclei

Despite the more than one order of magnitude difference between the measured dipole moments in $^{144}$Ba and $^{146}$Ba, the strength of the octupole correlations in $^{146}$Ba are found to be as strong as those in $^{144}$Ba with a similarly large value of $B(E3;3^- \rightarrow 0^+)$ determined as 48($^{+21}_{-29}$) W.u. The new results not only establish unambiguously the presence of a region of octupole deformation centered on these neutron-rich Ba isotopes, but also manifest the dependence of the electric dipole moments on the occupancy of different neutron orbitals in nuclei with enhanced octupole strength, as revealed by fully microscopic calculations.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let

Chemical principles. Third edition.

PREFACE: This edition of Chemical Principles, like its predecessors, is designed to be used in a general university chemistry course which must provide both an overview of chemistry for nonspecialists and a sound foundation for later study for science or chemistry majors. Hence there are several survey chapters introducing different areas of chemistry, including inorganic, nuclear, organic, and biochemistry, and an attempt is made throughout the book to place chemistry in its historical and cultural setting. At the same time, the quantitative aspects of chemistry are presented in a manner consistent with their importance, in a way that will make it easy to build upon them in later courses. This is the first complete revision of Chemical Principles since the first edition was published in 1969. The authors have rethought and replanned the entire book, especially the first thirteen chapters, trying to make it a better pedagogical tool without losing the special viewpoints and flavor that made the earlier editions so successful. The history and the anecdotal asides that help to make the subject palatable have been retained, but they have been better segregated from the factual material for which a student will be held responsible

Scent lure effect on camera-trap based leopard density estimates

Density estimates for large carnivores derived from camera surveys often have wide confidence intervals due to low detection rates. Such estimates are of limited value to authorities, which require precise population estimates to inform conservation strategies. Using lures can potentially increase detection, improving the precision of estimates. However, by altering the spatio-temporal patterning of individuals across the camera array, lures may violate closure, a fundamental assumption of capture-recapture. Here, we test the effect of scent lures on the precision and veracity of density estimates derived from camera-trap surveys of a protected African leopard population. We undertook two surveys (a 'control' and 'treatment' survey) on Phinda Game Reserve, South Africa. Survey design remained consistent except a scent lure was applied at camera-trap stations during the treatment survey. Lures did not affect the maximum movement distances (p = 0.96) or temporal activity of female (p = 0.12) or male leopards (p = 0.79), and the assumption of geographic closure was met for both surveys (p >0.05). The numbers of photographic captures were also similar for control and treatment surveys (p = 0.90). Accordingly, density estimates were comparable between surveys (although estimates derived using non-spatial methods (7.28-9.28 leopards/100km 2 ) were considerably higher than estimates from spatially-explicit methods (3.40-3.65 leopards/100km 2 ). The precision of estimates from the control and treatment surveys, were also comparable and this applied to both non-spatial and spatial methods of estimation. Our findings suggest that at least in the context of leopard research in productive habitats, the use of lures is not warranted