Regulation of Alr1 Mg Transporter Activity by Intracellular Magnesium

Mg homeostasis is critical to eukaryotic cells, but the contribution of Mg transporter activity to homeostasis is not fully understood. In yeast, Mg uptake is primarily mediated by the Alr1 transporter, which also allows low affinity uptake of other divalent cations such as Ni2+, Mn2+, Zn2+ and Co2+. Using Ni2+ uptake to assay Alr1 activity, we observed approximately nine-fold more activity under Mg-deficient conditions. The mnr2 mutation, which is thought to block release of vacuolar Mg stores, was associated with increased Alr1 activity, suggesting Alr1 was regulated by intracellular Mg supply. Consistent with a previous report of the regulation of Alr1 expression by Mg supply, Mg deficiency and the mnr2 mutation both increased the accumulation of a carboxy-terminal epitope-tagged version of the Alr1 protein (Alr1-HA). However, Mg supply had little effect on ALR1 promoter activity or mRNA levels. In addition, while Mg deficiency caused a seven-fold increase in Alr1-HA accumulation, the N-terminally tagged and untagged Alr1 proteins increased less than two-fold. These observations argue that the Mg-dependent accumulation of the C-terminal epitope-tagged protein was primarily an artifact of its modification. Plasma membrane localization of YFP-tagged Alr1 was also unaffected by Mg supply, indicating that a change in Alr1 location did not explain the increased activity we observed. We conclude that variation in Alr1 protein accumulation or location does not make a substantial contribution to its regulation by Mg supply, suggesting Alr1 activity is directly regulated via as yet unknown mechanisms

Focus: Banking & Finance piece on the Small Business Administration\u27s (SBA) mi

Focus: Banking & Finance piece on the Small Business Administration\u27s (SBA) microloan program, which offers loans of up to $35,000 aimed at small businesses that might be ineligible for traditional bank loans. Six Maine nonprofit lenders participate in the program, issuing 62 microloans in the past year. With comments by Jane Mickeriz, a loan officer for the Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments; Ellen Golden, senior vice president for development at Coastal Enterprises, Inc.; and Chesley Flotten, who used an SBA microloan to open the Knitting Experience Cafe in Brunswick

Focus: Building & Real Estate piece examining on-the-job training opportunitie

Focus: Building & Real Estate piece examining on-the-job training opportunities for construction program students at Maine\u27s community colleges. Students in the construction technology program at Southern Maine Community College (SMCC) are completing most of the work on the school\u27s new building which will house the Early Childhood Education Center on the South Portland campus. Similar programs are in place at Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor, and Portland West\u27s Youth Building Alternatives. With comments by James Ortiz, president of SMCC; Dave Eng, instructor at SMCC; and Scott Beatty, project manager of the Early Childhood Education Center at SMCC

Focus on Building & Real Estate piece on Brian Rigney, founder of Blue Tarp Fi

Focus on Building & Real Estate piece on Brian Rigney, founder of Blue Tarp Financial Inc. of Portland and Charlotte, N.C. He relinquished the position of CEO to financial services industry veteran Bond Isaacson last November and became the company\u27s vice president of business development. The company, formerly called Blue Tarp, provides a purchase card program for the building material industry. In January it received a $14 million round of venture capital funding, contingent on bringing in a veteran like Isaacson, who is a North Carolina native. Isaacson wants to prove the company is a viable business model

Focus on Building & Real Estate piece on hospital construction projects that a

Focus on Building & Real Estate piece on hospital construction projects that are moving forward after the 2003 Dirigo Health Reform Act placed a one-year moratorium on large capital projects. With a cap on hospital expansions, hospitals now compete to prove the urgency of their construction need. Hospitals with major projects that began or were completed in 2005 include: Maine Medical Center in Portland, Goodall Hospital in Sanford, MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta and Waterville, Mount Desert Island Hospital in Bar Harbor, Southern Maine Medical Center in Biddeford, and Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. Hospitals with projects slated for 2006 include Maine Medical Center and Mercy Hospital in Portland, Southern Maine Medical Center in Biddeford, and MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta. With project details

The failure of success factors: Lessons from success and failure cases of enterprise architecture implementation

Copyright © 2017 ACM. Many Enterprise Architecture programmes fail to meet expectations. While much has been written about the factors influencing the success of EA programmes, there are few empirical investigations of the role of critical success factors (CSFs) in the success of EA programmes. This study condensed the very broad literature on CSFs for EA identifying six key CSFs that share a broad consensus in the literature. A qualitative case study was conducted to test the hypothesis that the six key CSFs would distinguish between the successful and the unsuccessful programmes. Analysis of the case study data reveals that three key CSFs associated with the use of EA tools did not distinguish between successful and unsuccessful cases while three key CSFs related to the process of EA programme implementation did so. The study concludes that success in EA programmes comes more from how architecture is practiced than what is practiced. The findings have important implications for EA suggesting that the methodological skills of architects need to be supplemented with an understanding of practice