The Preference Clause Revisited: Central Lincoln Peoples\u27 Utility District v. Johnson and the Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and Conservation Act

This article analyzes the legislative development of the preference clause to its inclusion in the Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and Conservation Act (Northwest Power Act). This analysis demonstrates the Northwest Power Act\u27s reaffirmation of the supply preference traditionally included in federal power marketing legislation. The analysis also reveals a unique price discount for customers entitled to a supply preference under the Northwest Power Act. Additionally, the article considers recent Ninth Circuit decisions applying the preference clause to various forms of power allocation by federal agencies. The analysis identifies legislative and judicial adherence to the preference concept based on congressional confidence in the principles underlying the preference concept. The article concludes that Congress and the federal courts have strengthened the priority given to public utilities in the Pacific Northwest to federally generated electric power despite attempts to circumvent or erode preference rights

Surface-plasmon-enhanced light scattering from microscopic spheres

Copyright © 2003 American Institute of Physics. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics. The following article appeared in Applied Physics Letters 83 (2003) and may be found at http://link.aip.org/link/?APPLAB/83/3006/1The enhanced light scattering from microscopic latex spheres placed in the optical field associated with a surface-plasmon resonance is explored. Spheres of 200 nm diameter are placed on an optically thin gold film that supports the surface-plasmon and the scattered intensity is then measured as a function of scattering angle. This is compared to the scattering profiles obtained from spheres placed on a bare glass substrate. In both cases, the experimental data are compared to theory. This system is of interest in the field of optical biosensing

UK framework for basic epilepsy training and oromucosal midazolam administration.

BACKGROUND: UK wide Oromucosal Midazolam is used as an emergency treatment in community for seizures administered by family/carers with the right training. The Joint Epilepsy Council (JEC) UK which produced the training guidelines disbanded in 2016. PURPOSE: Provide standards for basic epilepsy education and rescue medication (Midazolam) administration. METHODS: The Epilepsy Nurses Association (ESNA), The International League against Epilepsy, British Chapter (ILAE) and the Royal college of Psychiatrists (RCPsych), used the Delphi process to update guidelines for the administration of oromucosal midazolam including developing a voluntary on-line test for carers. During 2017-2019 a facilitator worked with two ESNA committees to update the existing guidance and another to develop a question-bank. Both committee outputs were circulated to the ESNA membership, then ILAE and RCPsych for review. Patient-facing organizations and charities' opinions were solicited. All feedback was assimilated. A private provider was contracted to deliver the test. RESULTS: A consensus process involving two task and finish groups of 19 people each compared, reflected, debated, and engaged with stakeholders across three stages. The updated ratified guidelines were circulated nationally. The Delphi process highlighted many regions and individuals had local assessment tools and procedures in place, while others (around 50%) had no assessment provision. 278 carers with a 95% pass-rate and 100% positive feedback have undertaken the online test (10/2020). CONCLUSION: The UK-wide care provision gap in basic epilepsy-training and safe rescue medication administration is now addressed. A two-yearly update to the guidelines and test is planned

Convergent evolution of toxin resistance in animals

Convergence is the phenomenon whereby similar phenotypes evolve independently in different lineages. One example is resistance to toxins in animals. Toxins have evolved many times throughout the tree of life. They disrupt molecular and physiological pathways in target species, thereby incapacitating prey or deterring a predator. In response, molecular resistance has evolved in many species exposed to toxins to counteract their harmful effects. Here, we review current knowledge on the convergence of toxin resistance using examples from a wide range of toxin families. We explore the evolutionary processes and molecular adaptations driving toxin resistance. However, resistance adaptations may carry a fitness cost if they disrupt the normal physiology of the resistant animal. Therefore, there is a trade‐off between maintaining a functional molecular target and reducing toxin susceptibility. There are relatively few solutions that satisfy this trade‐off. As a result, we see a small set of molecular adaptations appearing repeatedly in diverse animal lineages, a phenomenon that is consistent with models of deterministic evolution. Convergence may also explain what has been called ‘autoresistance’. This is often thought to have evolved for self‐protection, but we argue instead that it may be a consequence of poisonous animals feeding on toxic prey. Toxin resistance provides a unique and compelling model system for studying the interplay between trophic interactions, selection pressures and the molecular mechanisms underlying evolutionary novelties

Relationship between photonic band structure and emission characteristics of a polymer distributed feedback laser

G. A. Turnbull, P. Andrew, M. J. Jory, William L. Barnes, and I. D. W. Samuel, Physical Review B, Vol. 64, article 125122 (2001). "Copyright © 2001 by the American Physical Society."We present an experimental study of the emission characteristics and photonic band structure of a distributed feedback polymer laser, based on the material poly[2-methoxy-5-(2′-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylene vinylene]. We use measurements of the photonic band dispersion to explain how the substrate microstructure modifies both spontaneous and stimulated emission. The lasing structure exhibits a one-dimensional photonic band gap around 610 nm, with lasing occurring at one of the two associated band edges. The band edge (frequency) selection mechanism is found to be a difference in the level of output coupling of the modes associated with the two band edges. This is a feature of the second-order distributed feedback mechanism we have employed and is clearly evident in the measured photonic band structur

Distinct regulatory networks control toxin gene expression in elapid and viperid snakes

Background Venom systems are ideal models to study genetic regulatory mechanisms that underpin evolutionary novelty. Snake venom glands are thought to share a common origin, but there are major distinctions between venom toxins from the medically significant snake families Elapidae and Viperidae, and toxin gene regulatory investigations in elapid snakes have been limited. Here, we used high-throughput RNA-sequencing to profile gene expression and microRNAs between active (milked) and resting (unmilked) venom glands in an elapid (Eastern Brown Snake, Pseudonaja textilis), in addition to comparative genomics, to identify cis- and trans-acting regulation of venom production in an elapid in comparison to viperids (Crotalus viridis and C. tigris). Results Although there is conservation in high-level mechanistic pathways regulating venom production (unfolded protein response, Notch signaling and cholesterol homeostasis), there are differences in the regulation of histone methylation enzymes, transcription factors, and microRNAs in venom glands from these two snake families. Histone methyltransferases and transcription factor (TF) specificity protein 1 (Sp1) were highly upregulated in the milked elapid venom gland in comparison to the viperids, whereas nuclear factor I (NFI) TFs were upregulated after viperid venom milking. Sp1 and NFI cis-regulatory elements were common to toxin gene promoter regions, but many unique elements were also present between elapid and viperid toxins. The presence of Sp1 binding sites across multiple elapid toxin gene promoter regions that have been experimentally determined to regulate expression, in addition to upregulation of Sp1 after venom milking, suggests this transcription factor is involved in elapid toxin expression. microRNA profiles were distinctive between milked and unmilked venom glands for both snake families, and microRNAs were predicted to target a diversity of toxin transcripts in the elapid P. textilis venom gland, but only snake venom metalloproteinase transcripts in the viperid C. viridis venom gland. These results suggest differences in toxin gene posttranscriptional regulation between the elapid P. textilis and viperid C. viridis. Conclusions Our comparative transcriptomic and genomic analyses between toxin genes and isoforms in elapid and viperid snakes suggests independent toxin regulation between these two snake families, demonstrating multiple different regulatory mechanisms underpin a venomous phenotype

Characterization of a Novel Binding Protein for Fortilin/TCTP — Component of a Defense Mechanism against Viral Infection in Penaeus monodon

The Fortilin (also known as TCTP) in Penaeus monodon (PmFortilin) and Fortilin Binding Protein 1 (FBP1) have recently been shown to interact and to offer protection against the widespread White Spot Syndrome Virus infection. However, the mechanism is yet unknown. We investigated this interaction in detail by a number of in silico and in vitro analyses, including prediction of a binding site between PmFortilin/FBP1 and docking simulations. The basis of the modeling analyses was well-conserved PmFortilin orthologs, containing a Ca2+-binding domain at residues 76–110 representing a section of the helical domain, the translationally controlled tumor protein signature 1 and 2 (TCTP_1, TCTP_2) at residues 45–55 and 123–145, respectively. We found the pairs Cys59 and Cys76 formed a disulfide bond in the C-terminus of FBP1, which is a common structural feature in many exported proteins and the “x–G–K–K” pattern of the amidation site at the end of the C-terminus. This coincided with our previous work, where we found the “x–P–P–x” patterns of an antiviral peptide also to be located in the C-terminus of FBP1. The combined bioinformatics and in vitro results indicate that FBP1 is a transmembrane protein and FBP1 interact with N-terminal region of PmFortilin