Countercurrent Chromatography Fractions of Plant Extracts with Anti-Tuberculosis Activity

Samples of numerous plant species were received from the southwestern part of the USA, from Richard Spjut, and plant samples were collected here in Illinois. All were extracted with typical solvents, giving crude residues, some of which were subjected to chromatographic methods. Some of the crude residues and some of the fractions were tested for anti-tuberculosis activity and/or antibacterial activity. In a general way, bioactive natural products are dealt with very well by Liang & Fang. More specifically, the southwestern part of the United States has a large variety of indigenous plants many of which have not been investigated for their medicinal potential, and only very few have had their extracts separated into the individual compounds they may contain. But, some information is available for Native American herbal uses (Moerman,2003)

Bowling Alone or Bowling at All? The Effect of Unemployment on Social Participation

This article examines the impact of unemployment on social participation for Germany using the German Socio-Economic Panel. We find significant negative, robust and, for some activities, lasting effects of unemployment on social participation. Causality is established by focussing on plant closures as exogenous entries into unemployment. Social norms, labor market prospects and the perception of individual failure are shown to be relevant for explaining these findings. Furthermore, our results not only (i) provide novel insights into the determinants of the unemployed's unhappiness but also (ii) highlight an hitherto unexplored channel through which unemployment influences economic outcomes, namely by altering the long-run level of social capital, and (iii) point to an alternative explanation of unemployment hysteresis based on access to information

The state of the Martian climate

60°N was +2.0°C, relative to the 1981–2010 average value (Fig. 5.1). This marks a new high for the record. The average annual surface air temperature (SAT) anomaly for 2016 for land stations north of starting in 1900, and is a significant increase over the previous highest value of +1.2°C, which was observed in 2007, 2011, and 2015. Average global annual temperatures also showed record values in 2015 and 2016. Currently, the Arctic is warming at more than twice the rate of lower latitudes

Weather and Financial Risk-Taking: Is Happiness the Channel?

Weather variables, and sunshine in particular, are found to be strongly correlated with financial variables. I consider self-reported happiness as a channel through which sunshine affects financial variables. I examine the influence of happiness on risk-taking behavior by instrumenting individual happiness with regional sunshine, and I find that happy people appear to be more risk-averse in financial decisions, and accordingly choose safer investments. Happy people take more time for making decisions and have more self-control. Happy people also expect to live longer and accordingly seem more concerned about the future than the present, and expect less inflation

The unfinished legacy of liver transplantation: Emphasis on immunology

Liver transplantation radically changed the philosophy of hepatology practice, enriched multiple areas of basic science, and had pervasive ripple effects in law, public policy, ethics, and theology. Why organ engraftment was feasible remained enigmatic, however, until the discovery in 1992 of donor leukocyte microchimerism in long-surviving liver, and other kinds of organ recipients. Following this discovery, the leukocyte chimerism-associated mechanisms were elucidated that directly linked organ and bone marrow transplantation and eventually clarified the relationship of transplantation immunology to the immunology of infections, neoplasms, and autoimmune disorders. We describe here how the initially controversial paradigm shift mandated revisions of cherished dogmas. With the fresh insight, the reasons for numerous inexplicable phenomena of transplantation either became obvious or have become susceptible to discriminate experimental testing. The therapeutic implications of the "new immunology" in hepatology and in other medical disciplines, have only begun to be explored. Apart from immunology, physiologic investigations of liver transplantation have resulted in the discovery of growth factors (beginning with insulin) that are involved in the regulation of liver size, ultrastructure, function, and the capacity for regeneration. Such studies have partially explained functional and hormonal relationships of different abdominal organs, and ultimately they led to the cure or palliation by liver transplantation of more than 2 dozen hepatic-based inborn errors of metabolism. Liver transplantation should not be viewed as a purely technologic achievement, but rather as a searchlight whose beams have penetrated the murky mist of the past, and continue to potentially illuminate the future. Copyright © 2006 by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases

The Supply Side of the Housing Boom and Bust of the 2000s

The boom and subsequent bust in housing construction and prices over the 2000s is widely regarded as a principal contributor to the Financial Panic of 2007 and the subsequent Great Recession. As of this writing, housing market activity remains at depressed levels as the economy slowly resolves the legacy of excess supply and sharply lower prices. Over 2.6 million foreclosures have been completed since 2008 and 1.9 million foreclosures are in process. Much has been written about the demand side of this pronounced housing cycle, in particular, the innovations in mortgage finance and the loosening of underwriting standards that greatly expanded the pool of potential homebuyers. In this paper, we take a closer look at developments on the supply side of the housing market. Following a short literature review, we begin with a descriptive review of housing production, sales, and prices at the national, regional, and state levels. We then look at developments in the homebuilding industry over this period. We also take a closer look at land markets using a quarterly price index for metropolitan statistical areas with both elastic and inelastic housing supplies across the United States. An important question is to what extent the supply side of the market contributed to the boom/bust dynamics. A second question is whether the significant changes in the industrial organization of the homebuilding industry exacerbated or ameliorated this supply impact

Geometric morphometrics reveals shifts in flower shape symmetry and size following gene knockdown of CYCLOIDEA and ANTHOCYANIDIN SYNTHASE

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