Multiple bromotryptophan and y-carboxyglutamate residues in a Conus peptide

Journal ArticleA novel peptide was purified from Conus textile venom which caused hyperactivity in mice. The 31-amino acid peptide has six residues with unusual post-translational modifications: four y-carboxyglutamates and two brominated tryptophan residues. This peptide, which we have designated the dibromorunning peptide, is the first known gene product with multiple bromotryptophan residues. We discuss the apparent non-random association of y-carboxyglutamate and bromotryptophan in Conus peptides

Single amino acid substitutions in ĸ-conotoxin PVIIA disrupt interaction with the Shaker K+ channel

Journal Articleĸ-Conotoxin PVIIA (ĸ-PVIIA), a 27-amino acid peptide with three disulfide cross-links, isolated from the venom of Conus purpurascens, is the first conopeptide shown to inhibit the Shaker K1 channel (Terlau, H., Shon, K., Grilley, M., Stocker, M., Stühmer, W., and Olivera, B. M. (1996) Nature 381, 148-151). Recently, two groups independently determined the solution structure for ĸ-PVIIA using NMR; although the structures reported were similar, two mutually exclusive models for the interaction of the peptide with the Shaker channel were proposed

Hydrogeothermal resources in spa areas of Serbia: Main properties and possible improvement of use

Geological complexity of the territory of Serbia is a world curiosity: six main geo-tectonic regions and tens sub-regions are delineated in a small area of 88,000 km2. Geologic origin and regional structure of some areas has long been the subject of discussion. Notable magmatism and associated tectonic events in the Earth's crust provided for a fairly large hydrogeothermal resource potential, which is manifested in more than 250 warm (mainly mineral) springs and more than 100 hydrothermal wells. Thermal springs and wells together discharge some 5 m3/s. This potential is used in part for balneal therapy (waters differ in temperature and chemical composition) in the spa areas of Serbia. The amounts of thermal water unused therapeutically or the amounts of heat energy from unused geo-thermal water may be used in almost all spas for space heating/cooling and thus increase the efficiency of the thermal water energy utilization. This also will be cost-effective, reduce emission of noxious gases, and improve the environmental-health image of the resorts. The hydrogeothermal resources are described for 29 spas with 700 l/s total discharge capacity of water temperature between 25°C and 96ºC, or an overall heat energy of 78.40 MWt. Feasibility of additional energy utilization of thermal water in spas is generally considered

Surface ionization study of the non- stoichiometric LnFn-1 (n = 4 – 6) clusters

In this study we are presenting the results of the surface ionization of LinFn-1 (n=4- 6) clusters on rhenium surface impregnated with fullerenes using the magnetic mass spectrometer. The Li5F4 nanocubic cluster was detected for the first time. We determined values of ionization energies for Li4F3 and Li6F5, they are 4,3±0,2 eV, 4,0±0,2eV, respectively. The ionization energies agreed with theoretical ionization energies obtained by ab initio method, which indicates the excess electron localized in a specific site for non-stoichiometric clusters. The first ionization energy value for the Li4F3 was in accordance with earlier results obtained experimentally using photoionization time-of-flight mass spectrometer. There are currently no reliable experimental data for the ionization energy of Li6F5 cluster.Physical chemistry 2006 : 8th international conference on fundamental and applied aspects of physical chemistry; Belgrade (Serbia); 26-29 September 200

Regulation of Reactive Oxygen Species and the Antioxidant Protein DJ-1 in Mastocytosis

Neoplastic accumulation of mast cells in systemic mastocytosis (SM) associates with activating mutations in the receptor tyrosine kinase KIT. Constitutive activation of tyrosine kinase oncogenes has been linked to imbalances in oxidant/antioxidant mechanisms in other myeloproliferative disorders. However, the impact of KIT mutations on the redox status in SM and the potential therapeutic implications are not well understood. Here, we examined the regulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and of the antioxidant protein DJ-1 (PARK-7), which increases with cancer progression and acts to lessen oxidative damage to malignant cells, in relationship with SM severity. ROS levels were increased in both indolent (ISM) and aggressive variants of the disease (ASM). However, while DJ-1 levels were reduced in ISM with lower mast cell burden, they rose in ISM with higher mast cell burden and were significantly elevated in patients with ASM. Studies on mast cell lines revealed that activating KIT mutations induced constant ROS production and consequent DJ-1 oxidation and degradation that could explain the reduced levels of DJ-1 in the ISM population, while IL-6, a cytokine that increases with disease severity, caused a counteracting transcriptional induction of DJ-1 which would protect malignant mast cells from oxidative damage. A mouse model of mastocytosis recapitulated the biphasic changes in DJ-1 and the escalating IL-6, ROS and DJ-1 levels as mast cells accumulate, findings which were reversed with anti-IL-6 receptor blocking antibody. Our findings provide evidence of increased ROS and a biphasic regulation of the antioxidant DJ-1 in variants of SM and implicate IL-6 in DJ-1 induction and expansion of mast cells with KIT mutations. We propose consideration of IL-6 blockade as a potential adjunctive therapy in the treatment of patients with advanced mastocytosis, as it would reduce DJ-1 levels making mutation-positive mast cells vulnerable to oxidative damage

Evaluación de impacto programa Jóvenes con Futuro

En este documento se presentan los resultados de la evaluación de impacto del programa de capacitación Jóvenes con Futuro (JCF), cuyo objetivo es desarrollar la formación con programas de educación para el trabajo y el desarrollo humano en jóvenes de escasos recursos que no hayan formado parte del conflicto armado. Utilizando la metodología de Diferencias en Diferencias (DD) se determinó el impacto del Programa en variables como la probabilidad de estar trabajando, el nivel de ingresos, la calidad del empleo y la probabilidad de seguir estudiando, entre otras. Adicionalmente, para probar la robustez de los resultados se midió el impacto del Programa mezclando las metodologías de Diferencias en Diferencias (DD) y de Emparejamiento por Probabilidad de Participación (EPP). Los resultados muestran un aumento significativo en la probabilidad de estar trabajando y en los ingresos una vez terminado el programa. Sin embargo no se encontró un impacto significativo en temas de calidad del empleo, pues no aumenta la probabilidad de tener un contrato a término indefinido ni existen efectos sobre la formalidad.Evaluación de Impacto, Educación, Empleo, Colombia.

"We have taken the attitude": star trek and conflict trek

U ovom članku odnos masovnih medija i društvenih sukoba tematizuje se na način procenjivanja kako jedan određeni medij obrađuje aktuelne tenzije, ali i kako svojom obradom utiče na njih. Reč je o vizuelnom mediju, o televiziji i filmu, ali ne u njihovom „novinarskomˮ aspektu, već o žanru koji se i u tom mediju ostvario i tek tu stekao popularnost: o naučnoj fantastici. Na primeru serija i filmova „franšizeˮ Zvezdanih staza, prikazuje se „dijalektikaˮ uticaja konfliktne društvene zbilje na njene „fantastičneˮ (pre)adaptacije i, obrnuto, povratnog uticaja zamisli drugačijeg sveta na ovaj iz koga se zamišlja.In this article, the relationship between media and social conflicts is tematized in the following way: the authors estimate how one particular medium deals with current tensions, but also how its treatment affects them. It is about a visual medium, about television and film, but not in their ˮjournalisticˮ aspect, but about the genre that realized itself and gained popularity in this medium: science fiction. Exemplifying series and films of the “Star Trekˮ franchise, the authors display the “dialecticsˮ of the impact of a conflicting social reality on its “fantasticˮ (re)adaptations and, conversely, the reverse influence of the conception of the other world on the one it is imagined from. Primarily, the authors discuss the relationship between science fiction visions of the future and the policy pursued at the time of its creation. After presenting the interpretations that praise the critical and emancipatory potential of the product of mass culture, special attention is paid to the opposite ones that discover camouflaged affirmation or justification of the foreign policy of the United States of America it. In conclusion, the authors argue for a well-measured interpretation according to which “Star Trek“ represented benevolent moral corrective to policies of the U. S. administration, whose scope and effect nevertheless remained limited and determined by the context in which it originated

Analysis of welding of the rear bridge semi-housing assembly of a firefighter truck by the semi-automatic procedure in gas protection

The problem considered in this paper is the welding technology of the steel assembly of a firefighter truck rear bridge semi-housing. Since in this procedure the welding is done of the two dissimilar steels, it is necessary to analyze effects of welding on mechanical properties and microstructure of individual joint's zones. The weldability of the base metal was considered first (semi-housing tube and flange), then the welding method and the filler metal were selected and, finally, the technological parameters of welding were calculated. The computational and experimental methods were used for the base metal weldability estimate, based on the hardness measurements in the joint's critical zones and analysis of their structures. Experimental investigations performed were aimed for verification and/or eventual correction of the proposed welding technology

Analysis of welding of the rear bridge semi-housing assembly of a firefighter truck by the semi-automatic procedure in gas protection

The problem considered in this paper is the welding technology of the steel assembly of a firefighter truck rear bridge semi-housing. Since in this procedure the welding is done of the two dissimilar steels, it is necessary to analyze effects of welding on mechanical properties and microstructure of individual joint's zones. The weldability of the base metal was considered first (semi-housing tube and flange), then the welding method and the filler metal were selected and, finally, the technological parameters of welding were calculated. The computational and experimental methods were used for the base metal weldability estimate, based on the hardness measurements in the joint's critical zones and analysis of their structures. Experimental investigations performed were aimed for verification and/or eventual correction of the proposed welding technology