ACVIM consensus statement: Guidelines for the identification, evaluation, and management of systemic hypertension in dogs and cats

An update to the 2007 American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) consensus statement on the identification, evaluation, and management of systemic hypertension in dogs and cats was presented at the 2017 ACVIM Forum in National Harbor, MD. The updated consensus statement is presented here. The consensus statement aims to provide guidance on appropriate diagnosis and treatment of hypertension in dogs and cats

"We deserve a better treatment": The rise and fall of the Black militias in the Western Hemisphere during the nineteenth century

Este artículo explora la historia de las milicias negras del hemisferio occidental durante el siglo xix. Para los afrodescendientes, la milicia fue un vehículo para establecer su sentido de pertenencia y participación en los emergentes estados nacionales de América del Norte y del Sur. Mientras que en Latinoamérica esta emergió como componente de las guerras independentistas y civiles que marcaron la construcción de los Estados-nación en la primera mitad del xix, en EE.UU. los negros libres formaron milicias para defender sus cuerpos, alcanzar autonomía económica y política, y afirmar su ciudadanía y su libertad.The article explores the history of black militias in the Western Hemisphere during the nineteenth century. African descendants viewed the militia as a vehicle to establish their sense of belonging and participation in the emerging nineteenth century nation-states in both North and South America. While in Latin America it emerged as a component of the independence and civil wars that shaped nation-building during the first half of the century, in the United States free blacks turned to black militia companies as a public means of defending their bodies, achieving economic and political autonomy, and asserting their citizenship and their freedom

"Merecemos un tratamiento mejor": Auge y caída de las milicias negras en el hemisferio occidental durante el siglo XIX

Este artículo explora la historia de las milicias negras del hemisferio occidental durante el siglo xix. Para los afrodescendientes, la milicia fue un vehículo para establecer su sentido de pertenencia y participación en los emergentes estados nacionales de América del Norte y del Sur. Mientras que en Latinoamérica esta emergió como componente de las guerras independentistas y civiles que marcaron la construcción de los Estados-nación en la primera mitad del xix, en EE.UU. los negros libres formaron milicias para defender sus cuerpos, alcanzar autonomía económica y política, y afirmar su ciudadanía y su libertad

We deserve better treatment: The Rise and Fall of the Militia in the Neneteenth Century Western Hemisphere

Este artículo explora la historia de las milicias negras del hemisferio occidental durante el siglo xix. Para los afrodescendientes, la milicia fue un vehículo para establecer su sentido de pertenencia y participación en los emergentes estados nacionales de América del Norte y del Sur. Mientras que en Latinoamérica esta emergió como componente de las guerras independentistas y civiles que marcaron la construcción de los Estados-nación en la primera mitad del xix, en EE.UU. los negros libres formaron milicias para defender sus cuerpos, alcanzar autonomía económica y política, y afirmar su ciudadanía y su libertad.The article explores the history of black militias in the Western Hemisphere during the nineteenth century. African descendants viewed the militia as a vehicle to establish their sense of belonging and participation in the emerging nineteenth century nation-states in both North and South America. While in Latin America it emerged as a component of the independence and civil wars that shaped nation-building during the first half of the century, in the United States free blacks turned to black militia companies as a public means of defending their bodies, achieving economic and political autonomy, and asserting their citizenship and their freedo

Structural Determinants Underlying the Temperature-sensitive Nature of a Gα Mutant in Asymmetric Cell Division of Caenorhabditis elegans*S⃞

Heterotrimeric G-proteins are integral to a conserved regulatory module that influences metazoan asymmetric cell division (ACD). In the Caenorhabditis elegans zygote, GOA-1 (Gαo) and GPA-16 (Gαi) are involved in generating forces that pull on astral microtubules and position the spindle asymmetrically. GPA-16 function has been analyzed in vivo owing notably to a temperature-sensitive allele gpa-16(it143), which, at the restrictive temperature, results in spindle orientation defects in early embryos. Here we identify the structural basis of gpa-16(it143), which encodes a point mutation (G202D) in the switch II region of GPA-16. Using Gαi1(G202D) as a model in biochemical analyses, we demonstrate that high temperature induces instability of the mutant Gα. At the permissive temperature, the mutant Gα was stable upon GTP binding, but switch II rearrangement was compromised, as were activation state-selective interactions with regulators involved in ACD, including GoLoco motifs, RGS proteins, and RIC-8. We solved the crystal structure of the mutant Gα bound to GDP, which indicates a unique switch II conformation as well as steric constraints that suggest activated GPA-16(it143) is destabilized relative to wild type. Spindle severing in gpa-16(it143) embryos revealed that pulling forces are symmetric and markedly diminished at the restrictive temperature. Interestingly, pulling forces are asymmetric and generally similar in magnitude to wild type at the permissive temperature despite defects in the structure of GPA-16(it143). These normal pulling forces in gpa-16(it143) embryos at the permissive temperature were attributable to GOA-1 function, underscoring a complex interplay of Gα subunit function in ACD

Ric-8A Catalyzes Guanine Nucleotide Exchange on Gαi1 Bound to the GPR/GoLoco Exchange Inhibitor AGS3*S⃞

Microtubule pulling forces that govern mitotic spindle movement of chromosomes are tightly regulated by G-proteins. A host of proteins, including Gα subunits, Ric-8, AGS3, regulators of G-protein signalings, and scaffolding proteins, coordinate this vital cellular process. Ric-8A, acting as a guanine nucleotide exchange factor, catalyzes the release of GDP from various Gα·GDP subunits and forms a stable nucleotide-free Ric-8A:Gα complex. AGS3, a guanine nucleotide dissociation inhibitor (GDI), binds and stabilizes Gα subunits in their GDP-bound state. Because Ric-8A and AGS3 may recognize and compete for Gα·GDP in this pathway, we probed the interactions of a truncated AGS3 (AGS3-C; containing only the residues responsible for GDI activity), with Ric-8A:Gαil and that of Ric-8A with the AGS3-C:Gαil·GDP complex. Pulldown assays, gel filtration, isothermal titration calorimetry, and rapid mixing stopped-flow fluorescence spectroscopy indicate that Ric-8A catalyzes the rapid release of GDP from AGS3-C:Gαi1·GDP. Thus, Ric-8A forms a transient ternary complex with AGS3-C:Gαi1·GDP. Subsequent dissociation of AGS3-C and GDP from Gαi1 yields a stable nucleotide free Ric-8A·Gαi1 complex that, in the presence of GTP, dissociates to yield Ric-8A and Gαi1·GTP. AGS3-C does not induce dissociation of the Ric-8A·Gαi1 complex, even when present at very high concentrations. The action of Ric-8A on AGS3:Gαi1·GDP ensures unidirectional activation of Gα subunits that cannot be reversed by AGS3