The Old Dominion and the New Nation: 1788–1801

This comprehensive study—an honorable mention in the 1971 Frederick Jackson Turner Award competition— traces the emergence and development of the Republican and Federalist party organizations in Virginia and shows how the old oligarchic system based on wealth, influence, and social prestige remained strong in that state after the formation of the new nation. The book covers details of the Virginia Antifederalists’ continuing hostility to the federal Constitution, James Madison’s switch from the Federalist party to the emerging Republican party, Madison’s and Jefferson’s attempts to coordinate Republican opposition to Federalist foreign policy, and the Republicans’ successful campaign in 1800 to replace President John Adams with a Virginian. Richard R. Beeman’s central concern is the style of political life in Virginia and the effect of that style on national party alignments, and his findings demonstrate that the mode of political conduct displayed by Virginia’s leaders proved increasingly self-indulgent and dysfunctional by 1800. Richard R. Beeman is assistant professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania.https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_united_states_history/1045/thumbnail.jp

Two major cuticular proteins are required for assembly of horizontal laminae and vertical pore canals in rigid cuticle of Tribolium castaneum

The insect exoskeleton is composed of cuticle primarily formed from structural cuticular proteins (CPs) and the polysaccharide chitin. Two CPs, TcCPR27 and TcCPR18, are major proteins present in the elytron (highly sclerotized and pigmented modified forewing) as well as the pronotum (dorsal sclerite of the prothorax) and ventral abdominal cuticle of the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum. Both CPs belong to the CPR family, which includes proteins that have an amino acid sequence motif known as the Rebers & Riddiford (R&R) consensus sequence. Injection of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) for TcCPR27 and TcCPR18 resulted in insects with shorter, wrinkled, warped and less rigid elytra than those from control insects. To gain a more comprehensive understanding of the roles of CPs in cuticle assembly, we analyzed for the precise localization of TcCPR27 and the ultrastructural architecture of cuticle in TcCPR27- and TcCPR18-deficient elytra. Transmission electron microscopic analysis combined with immunodetection using goldlabeled secondary antibody revealed that TcCPR27 is present in dorsal elytral procuticle both in the horizontal laminae and in vertical pore canals. dsRNA-mediated RNA interference (RNAi) of TcCPR27 resulted in abnormal electron-lucent laminae and pore canals in elytra except for the boundary between these two structures in which electron-dense molecule(s) apparently accumulated. Insects subjected to RNAi for TcCPR18 also had disorganized laminae and pore canals in the procuticle of elytra. Similar ultrastructural defects were also observed in other body wall regions with rigid cuticle such as the thorax and legs of adult T. castaneum. TcCPR27 and TcCPR18 are required for proper formation of the horizontal chitinous laminae and vertical pore canals that are critical for formation and stabilization of rigid adult cuticle

Performance of the multiband imaging photometer for SIRTF

We describe the test approaches and results for the Multiband Imaging Photometer for SIRTF. To verify the performance within a `faster, better, cheaper' budget required innovations in the test plan, such as heavy reliance on measurements with optical photons to determine instrument alignment, and use of an integrating sphere rather than a telescope to feed the completed instrument at its operating temperature. The tests of the completed instrument were conducted in a cryostat of unique design that allowed us to achieve the ultra-low background levels the instrument will encounter in space. We controlled the instrument through simulators of the mission operations control system and the SIRTF spacecraft electronics, and used cabling virtually identical to that which will be used in SIRTF. This realistic environment led to confidence in the ultimate operability of the instrument. The test philosophy allowed complete verification of the instrument performance and showed it to be similar to pre-integration predictions and to meet the instrument requirements

Facilitate Insight by Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation

Our experiences can blind us. Once we have learned to solve problems by one method, we often have difficulties in generating solutions involving a different kind of insight. Yet there is evidence that people with brain lesions are sometimes more resistant to this so-called mental set effect. This inspired us to investigate whether the mental set effect can be reduced by non-invasive brain stimulation. 60 healthy right-handed participants were asked to take an insight problem solving task while receiving transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to the anterior temporal lobes (ATL). Only 20% of participants solved an insight problem with sham stimulation (control), whereas 3 times as many participants did so (p = 0.011) with cathodal stimulation (decreased excitability) of the left ATL together with anodal stimulation (increased excitability) of the right ATL. We found hemispheric differences in that a stimulation montage involving the opposite polarities did not facilitate performance. Our findings are consistent with the theory that inhibition to the left ATL can lead to a cognitive style that is less influenced by mental templates and that the right ATL may be associated with insight or novel meaning. Further studies including neurophysiological imaging are needed to elucidate the specific mechanisms leading to the enhancement

Modelling human choices: MADeM and decision‑making

Research supported by FAPESP 2015/50122-0 and DFG-GRTK 1740/2. RP and AR are also part of the Research, Innovation and Dissemination Center for Neuromathematics FAPESP grant (2013/07699-0). RP is supported by a FAPESP scholarship (2013/25667-8). ACR is partially supported by a CNPq fellowship (grant 306251/2014-0)

Gene families of cuticular proteins analogous to peritrophins (CPAPs) in Tribolium castaneum have diverse functions

Citation: Jasrapuria S, Specht CA, Kramer KJ, Beeman RW, Muthukrishnan S (2012) Gene Families of Cuticular Proteins Analogous to Peritrophins (CPAPs) in Tribolium castaneum Have Diverse Functions. PLoS ONE 7(11): e49844. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0049844The functional characterization of an entire class of 17 genes from the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum, which encode two families of Cuticular Proteins Analogous to Peritrophins (CPAPs) has been carried out. CPAP genes in T. castaneum are expressed exclusively in cuticle-forming tissues and have been classified into two families, CPAP1 and CPAP3, based on whether the proteins contain either one (CPAP1), or three copies (CPAP3) of the chitin-binding domain, ChtBD2, with its six characteristically spaced cysteine residues. Individual members of the TcCPAP1 and TcCPAP3 gene families have distinct developmental patterns of expression. Many of these proteins serve essential and non-redundant functions in maintaining the structural integrity of the cuticle in different parts of the insect anatomy. Three genes of the TcCPAP1 family and five genes of the TcCPAP3 family are essential for insect development, molting, cuticle integrity, proper locomotion or fecundity. RNA interference (RNAi) targeting TcCPAP1-C, TcCPAP1-H, TcCPAP1-J or TcCPAP3-C transcripts resulted in death at the pharate adult stage of development. RNAi for TcCPAP3-A1, TcCPAP3-B, TcCPAP3-D1 or TcCPAP3-D2 genes resulted in different developmental defects, including adult/embryonic mortality, abnormal elytra or hindwings, or an abnormal ‘stiff-jointed’ gait. These results provide experimental support for specialization in the functions of CPAP proteins in T. castaneum and a biological rationale for the conservation of CPAP orthologs in other orders of insects. This is the first comprehensive functional analysis of an entire class of cuticular proteins with one or more ChtBD2 domains in any insect species