Procedures before the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission

In light of the pervasive influence of the Public Utility Commission, an administrative agency whose procedures have recently been substantially amended after intensive study by the legislature, the final symposium article complements an examination of the state administrative process by exploring the unique procedural structure of the body regulating public utilities in contrast with the general Administrative Agency Law governing agencies regulating private business

Programmed schedule holds for improving launch vehicle holds

Baseline definition and system optimization are used for the analysis of programmed holds developed through prelaunch system analysis. Identification of design specifications for ground support equipment and maintenance concepts, and design specifications are used to describe the functional utilization of the overall flow process

MutSα Binds to and Promotes Synapsis of Transcriptionally Activated Immunoglobulin Switch Regions

AbstractImmunoglobulin class switch recombination joins a new constant (C) region to the rearranged and expressed heavy chain variable (VDJ) region in antigen-activated B cells (Figure 1A) (reviewed in [1, 2]). Switch recombination is activated by transcription of intronic, G-rich and repetitive switch (S) regions and produces junctions that are heterogeneous in sequence and position in the S regions. Switch recombination depends upon the B cell-specific cytidine deaminase, AID, and conserved DNA repair factors, including the mismatch repair heterodimer, MutSα (MSH2/MSH6). In mice, ablation of Msh2 or Msh6, but not Msh3, decreases levels of switch recombination and diminishes heterogeneity of switch junctions [3–7]. Here, we demonstrate that MSH2 associates with transcribed S regions in primary murine B cells activated for switch recombination. Electron microscopic imaging reveals that MutSα binds in vitro to DNA structures formed within transcribed S regions and mediates their synapsis. MutSα binds with high affinity to G4 DNA formed upon transcription of the S regions and also binds to U·G mismatches, initial products of DNA deamination by AID. These results suggest that MutSα interacts with the S regions in switching B cells to promote DNA synapsis and recombination

Halothane binds to druggable sites in the [Ca2+]4-calmodulin (CaM) complex, but does not inhibit [Ca2+]4-CaM activation of kinase

The mechanism(s) of volatile anesthetics (VA) are poorly understood. We used high resolution NMR spectroscopy to determine the structure of the halothane/calmodulin([Ca2+]4-CaM) complex, and found that halothane molecules bind in the druggable sites. We then examined whether VA binding to druggable sites in calmodulin would effect [Ca2+]4-CaM dependent activity of myosin light chain kinase. We used fluorescence assays to determine that VA effect [Ca2+]4-CaM activation of smooth-muscle-myosin-light-chain-kinase (smMLCK), but not the Kd of [Ca2+]4-CaM binding to skeletal-myosin-light-chain-kinase-peptide recognition sequence (skMLCKp). These results suggest that VA do not alter [Ca2+]4-CaM dependent MLCK activity via direct interactions with [Ca2+]4-CaM

French responses to the Prague Spring: connections, (mis)perception and appropriation

Looking at the vast literature on the events of 1968 in various European countries, it is striking that the histories of '1968' of the Western and Eastern halves of the continent are largely still written separately.1 Nevertheless, despite the very different political and socio-economic contexts, the protest movements on both sides of the Iron Curtain shared a number of characteristics. The 1968 events in Czechoslovakia and Western Europe were, reduced to the basics, investigations into the possibility of marrying social justice with liberty, and thus reflected a tension within European Marxism. This essay provides an analysis specifically of the responses by the French left—the Communist Party, the student movements and the gauchistes—to the Prague Spring, characterised by misunderstandings and strategic appropriation. The Prague Spring was seen by both the reformist and the radical left in France as a moderate movement. This limited interpretation of the Prague Spring as a liberal democratic project continues to inform our memory of it