Character Development from Script to Screen: an Examination of "letters," M*a*s*h Script by Dennis Koenig

The critical study of television has grown over the years--the formulas used in television series, its influences on all audiences, and its aesthetic appeal. M*A*S*H is one television show that has been successful through its popular appeal to audiences. For ten seasons, this success has depended on the precedence of character development over plot. This study focuses on an examination of one script, from the 1980-81 season, "Letters" written by Dennis Koenig. This script shows how important character extension is for the success of the show. The analysis of the four drafts exhibits how Koenig characterizes, reestablishes, reaffirms, and alters four of the major characters: Hawkeye, Margaret, Charles, and Potter. The "Letters" script and actual presentation shows how these characters react to and deal with the situations in which they are placed.Englis

Impact of Wastewater Effluent on Antibiotic Resistance in Sediment-Associated Aeromonas

Because certain antibiotics can be excreted largely as the parent compound in human waste, questions have been raised concerning the possibilities of antibiotic resistance generation in microbes within and as a consequence of discharges by wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The release of low doses of antibiotics into receiving surface waters by WWTPs has therefore been identified as a possible contributor to the problems of resistance. The overarching concern surrounding the constant release of these pharmaceuticals from WWTPs is that this may give rise to the creation of a background level of resistance within environmental bacterial populations, which in turn may be transferred to more virulent human pathogens. The goal of this investigation therefore is to contribute to the body of knowledge surrounding the development of drug resistant bacteria as a consequence of the pervasive subtherapeutic concentrations of antibiotics in the environment. More specifically, the question examined in this study was whether wastewater effluent being discharged into environmental waters contributed to an increase in the numbers of resistant bacteria found downstream. The ubiquitous environmental genus Aeromonas was employed as a marker of the impacts of residual antibiotics on riparian bacterial populations. Opportunistic pathogens themselves, Aeromonas spp. have been shown to be able to transfer resistance to other pathogens such as Vibrio cholera, and they are included on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule List 2. Since both antibiotics and bacteria migrate between aqueous and sediment phases, sediment grab samples were taken around the point of effluent discharge from a local WWTP which uses activated sludge treatment and chlorination/dechlorination. Three sample collection points were located approximately 600 meters upstream of the effluent outfall, close to the point of effluent discharge, and 965 meters downstream of the outfall. Water column samples taken contemporaneously with sediment at the up- and downstream sampling points revealed antibiotic residuals in the latter but not the former site. Sediment samples were processed for bacterial isolation. An algorithm of several standrad biochemical tests was employed to identify 50 Aeromonas isolates from each sampling site; these isolates were subjected to resistance testing to four commonly used antibiotics detected in the WWTP effluent, namely ciprofloxacin, tetracycline, trimethoprim, and sulfamethoxazole. Changes in the susceptibility to the synergistic combination trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole were also assessed. The results of antibiotic resistance tests indicate that the Aeromonas bacteria found at points close to the effluent and downstream of the outfall exhibit an increase in both absolute and intermediate resistance relative to the same genus found upstream at the unimpacted sampling point. Statistical analyses revealed these differences to be significant, and since no other identifiable environmental impact exists at this site, the wastewater treatment plant effluent was identified as the source of this resistance increase. This finding highlights the need for both the implementation of conservative antibiotic prescription practices and disposal that reduce the levels of antibiotics reaching WWTPs and the consideration of alternate treatment processes that remove the last vestiges of these compounds before the effluent enters receiving streams.Master of Science in Environmental Engineerin

Blogging in the physics classroom: A research-based approach to shaping students' attitudes towards physics

Even though there has been a tremendous amount of research done in how to help students learn physics, students are still coming away missing a crucial piece of the puzzle: why bother with physics? Students learn fundamental laws and how to calculate, but come out of a general physics course without a deep understanding of how physics has transformed the world around them. In other words, they get the "how" but not the "why". Studies have shown that students leave introductory physics courses almost universally with decreased expectations and with a more negative attitude. This paper will detail an experiment to address this problem: a course weblog or "blog" which discusses real-world applications of physics and engages students in discussion and thinking outside of class. Specifically, students' attitudes towards the value of physics and its applicability to the real-world were probed using a 26-question Likert scale survey over the course of four semesters in an introductory physics course at a comprehensive Jesuit university. We found that students who did not participate in the blog study generally exhibited a deterioration in attitude towards physics as seen previously. However, students who read, commented, and were involved with the blog maintained their initially positive attitudes towards physics. Student response to the blog was overwhelmingly positive, with students claiming that the blog made the things we studied in the classroom come alive for them and seem much more relevant.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figure

Monitoring Ras Interactions with the Nucleotide Exchange Factor Sos using Site-specific NMR Reporter Signals and Intrinsic Fluorescence

The activity of Ras is controlled by the inter-conversion between GTP- and GDP-bound forms, partly regulated by the binding of the guanine nucleotide exchange factor Son of Sevenless (Sos). The details of Sos binding, leading to nucleotide exchange and subsequent dissociation of the complex, are not completely understood. Here, we used uniformly [15N]-labeled Ras, as well as [13C-methyl-M,I]-labeled Sos, for observing site-specific details of Ras:Sos interactions in solution. Binding of various forms of Ras (loaded with GDP and mimics of GTP, or nucleotide-free) at the allosteric and catalytic sites of Sos was comprehensively characterized, by monitoring signal perturbations in the NMR spectra. The overall affinity of binding between these protein variants, as well as their selected functional mutants, was also investigated using intrinsic fluorescence. The data supports a positive feedback activation of Sos by Ras•GTP, with Ras•GTP binding as a substrate for the catalytic site of activated Sos more weakly than Ras•GDP, suggesting that Sos should actively promote unidirectional GDP→GTP exchange on Ras, in preference of passive homonucleotide exchange. Ras•GDP weakly binds to the catalytic, but not to the allosteric site of Sos. This confirms that Ras•GDP cannot properly activate Sos at the allosteric site. The novel site-specific assay described may be useful for design of drugs aimed at perturbing Ras:Sos interactions

Preliminary safety assessment of a membrane-bound delta 9 desaturase candidate protein for transgenic oilseed crops

AbstractA gene encoding delta 9 desaturase (D9DS), an integral membrane protein, is being considered for incorporation into oilseed crops to reduce saturated fatty acids and thus improve human nutritional value. Typically, a safety assessment for transgenic crops involves purifying heterologously produced transgenic proteins in an active form for use in safety studies. Membrane-bound proteins have been very difficult to isolate in an active form due to their inherent physicochemical properties. Described here are methods used to derive enriched preparations of the active D9DS protein for use in early stage safety studies. Results of these studies, in combination with bioinformatic results and knowledge of the mode of action of the protein, along with a history of safe consumption of related proteins, provides a weight of evidence supporting the safety of the D9DS protein in food and feed

Small molecule binding sites on the Ras:SOS complex can be exploited for inhibition of Ras activation.

Constitutively active mutant KRas displays a reduced rate of GTP hydrolysis via both intrinsic and GTPase-activating protein-catalyzed mechanisms, resulting in the perpetual activation of Ras pathways. We describe a fragment screening campaign using X-ray crystallography that led to the discovery of three fragment binding sites on the Ras:SOS complex. The identification of tool compounds binding at each of these sites allowed exploration of two new approaches to Ras pathway inhibition by stabilizing or covalently modifying the Ras:SOS complex to prevent the reloading of Ras with GTP. Initially, we identified ligands that bound reversibly to the Ras:SOS complex in two distinct sites, but these compounds were not sufficiently potent inhibitors to validate our stabilization hypothesis. We conclude by demonstrating that covalent modification of Cys118 on Ras leads to a novel mechanism of inhibition of the SOS-mediated interaction between Ras and Raf and is effective at inhibiting the exchange of labeled GDP in both mutant (G12C and G12V) and wild type Ras