Crystal Structure of the P Pilus Rod Subunit PapA

P pili are important adhesive fibres involved in kidney infection by uropathogenic Escherichia coli strains. P pili are assembled by the conserved chaperone-usher pathway, which involves the PapD chaperone and the PapC usher. During pilus assembly, subunits are incorporated into the growing fiber via the donor-strand exchange (DSE) mechanism, whereby the chaperone's G1 β-strand that complements the incomplete immunoglobulin-fold of each subunit is displaced by the N-terminal extension (Nte) of an incoming subunit. P pili comprise a helical rod, a tip fibrillum, and an adhesin at the distal end. PapA is the rod subunit and is assembled into a superhelical right-handed structure. Here, we have solved the structure of a ternary complex of PapD bound to PapA through donor-strand complementation, itself bound to another PapA subunit through DSE. This structure provides insight into the structural basis of the DSE reaction involving this important pilus subunit. Using gel filtration chromatography and electron microscopy on a number of PapA Nte mutants, we establish that PapA differs in its mode of assembly compared with other Pap subunits, involving a much larger Nte that encompasses not only the DSE region of the Nte but also the region N-terminal to it. Author Summary. Bacterial adhesion to a host is a crucial step that determines the onset of bacterial infection. It is mediated through recognition of a receptor on the host cell surface by a protein called an adhesin displayed on the surface of the bacterium. Many adhesins are displayed at the tip of specialized organelles called pili, some of which are assembled by the ubiquitous chaperone-usher pathway. In this pathway, each pilus subunit is assisted in folding by a chaperone. The resulting chaperone-subunit complex is targeted to a pore located in the outer membrane, called the usher, that serves as assembly platform. There, pilus subunits dissociate from the chaperone and polymerize, resulting in a surface organelle, the pilus, that protrudes out of the usher. Here, we have determined the structure of the major subunit of the P pilus, PapA. The P pilus, produced in uropathogenic Escherichia coli, displays the adhesin PapG responsible for targeting the bacterium to the kidney epithelium. We have determined the structure of PapA either bound to its cognate chaperone, PapD, or bound to another PapA subunit. These structures provide a view of PapA before and after its assembly in the pilus and shed light on the mechanism of PapA assembly.National Institutes of Health (DE 09761, GM040388, DE 09161); Committee of Scientific Research (3 PO4A 003 24, 2 P05A 137 24); Foundation for Polish Science (SUBSYDIUM PROFESORSKIE award); Swedish Rheumatism Association; Nanna Svartz Foundation; King Gustaf V Foundatio

Understanding Global Citizenship: Extension Employees’ Perceptions, Attitudes, and Opinions

Extension services at land-grant universities typically deliver different aspects of global citizenship education for youth through a variety of activities and instructional methods. An examination of the literature reveals that although gaps in content areas and barriers to programming do exist, there are many types of experiences available in multiple settings for youth to learn about global citizenship. These activities vary in terms of content topics, duration, and delivery methods. The purpose of the study is to determine Extension employees’ perceptions about global citizenship education, their attitudes about what content students should learn, their opinions about how they learn about global citizenship, their feelings about the barriers and program strategies for implementing global citizenship education, and their past international experiences. The study was limited to Extension employees at eight land-grant universities in four states in the Eastern United States: Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia. A descriptive research design was used with an online survey divided into four major categories consisting of 10-15 questions centered on broad themes. A majority of respondents felt that they understood the concept of global citizenship and agreed that it should be an important part of the programming they deliver to youth. Significantly fewer individuals felt that that they had access to the necessary curriculum to effectively teach this topic. Some recommendations to address these concerns include developing new educational materials, promoting current Extension global citizenship curricula, and training Extension employees in methods to incorporate a global citizenship perspective into their existing lessons and programming

Conceptual framework of a Project Bank Account (PBA) blockchain payment application for the construction industry

The UK government published a guidance document in 2012 stipulating the use of project bank accounts (PBA) to promote fair and prompt payment practices in the construction industry. PBA utilises a project-specific escrow bank account to provide greater cash flow auditability and mitigate cascading payments down the supply chain. However, PBA is bureaucratic to manage and costly to set up. This paper will investigate whether blockchain can be used as an alternative system for executing PBA payments

Seasonality in the Business Survey. Quarterly Economic Commentary Special Article, July 1985

In 1961 the European Commission, in association with government departments or research institutes in Member States, instituted a harmonised monthly survey of the business attitudes held by managements affirms in the manufacturing sector. With Ireland's accession to the EEC the survey would have been extended here. However, there was already a quarterly survey on businessmen's intentions in operation. Beginning with the fourth quarter of 1961, the Confederation oflrish Industry ( CII) and The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) had been conducting a quarterly survey of businessmen's attitudes in the Republic of Ireland and publishing (from 1968) an account of the results of the latter's Quarterry Economic Commentary. On Ireland's accession, the CII-ESRI survey was revised so as to ensure comparability with other member countries, and the first monthly survey was carried out in March, 1974. Results are now reported in the Commission's Business Survey publication and in Ireland in a CII monthly report

THE COSTS TO IRELAND OF GREENHOUSE GAS ABATEMENT. ESRI Policy Research Series. 1997

Most scientists believe and most governments seem to accept that global warming poses a threat to the world environment. Although there are residual uncertainties in tile scientific community as to the nature and gravity of tile global warming threat (Broecker, 1995), the solution to this problem can not be found in changes ill behaviour of individual countries or even individual trading blocks acting on their own. Instead, any programme of action to fend off the threat to tile world environment will ultimately depend on an agreement or agreements at a world level, which involve all the major economies, developed and underdeveloped. This makes the process of designing an effective strategy exceptionally difficult. (see Box A for a discussion of global warming). With the objective of reaching an initial agreement, a major international conference will be held in Kyoto in December 1997 under the auspices of the United Nations. This will be the second such UN conference to be held in the 1990s and it seems likely that the evolving policy debate will continue for many years afterwards, paralleling the continuing development of understanding of the problem in the scientific community. The role of the conference is to agree among tile major players in tile world economy a first policy response to tile problem which will lead eventually to an agreed comprehensive plan for action at a world level. The EU, as part of its negotiating position for the conference, has agreed a policy that would require a cut of 15 per cent in EU-wide emissions of greenhouse gases between 1990 and 2010. This proposed restriction on emissions is at tile more ambitious end of tile range of proposals being put toward by the major economies of the developed world. However, it must be seen as but one of many different inputs into what will be an exceptionally difficult set of negotiations. Any agreement reached in Kyoto will involve not only the restriction of emissions of greenhouse gases but it will also have important implications for tile distribution of income between the developed and the underdeveloped world and among individual trading blocks or countries within the developed world itself

Does gender moderate associations among impulsivity and health-risk behaviors?

The present study explores the relations among gender, impulsivity and three health-risk behaviors relevant to young adults (tobacco use, alcohol problems and gambling problems) in a sample of 197 college-age individuals. We sought to determine whether impulsivity is associated with health-risk behaviors in the same ways for men and women. For tobacco use and gambling problems, men were at higher risk than women, and impulsivity was not significantly associated with higher risk. Higher levels of motor impulsivity in men accounted for a significant amount of the gender difference in risk for alcohol problems. That is, impulsivity as measured by the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (version 11), mediated the association between gender and risk for alcohol problems. For impulsivity as measured by Stop Signal Reaction Time (i.e. response inhibition), gender moderated the association between impulsivity and alcohol problems. Specifically, lower levels of impulsivity were associated with greater risk for alcohol problems in both men and women, but the effect was stronger in men. We speculate that this seemingly paradoxical result might be the result of coping drinking to deal with negative affect associated with behavioral overcontrol. These findings suggest that prevention efforts might well focus on identifying individuals at high risk for alcohol problems, especially males, by assessing response inhibition

ACTION FOR BETTER GOVERNMENT: A ROLE FOR DONORS

Summary This article describes calls for more participation and accountability to bring better government in countries receiving aid and suggests how donors could help. These calls are made because people are more educated, better informed, disillusioned with bad government, and moved by news of changes elsewhere and by the concerns of donors. Better government requires a balance between economic, social and political goals, and the political determination to act against corruption. Aid programmes need participatory and accountable management with project appraisals that value social and political, as well as economic, benefits. The article concludes with a portfolio of project proposals to help political leaders, give people voice, transfer resources from public to private sectors, act against corruption, support law and order, strengthen civil society, and provide training to develop attitudes as well as skills. Résumé Cet article décrit les appels pour une augmentation de la participation et de la responsabilité financière afin d'instaurer de meilleures pratiques de gouvernement dans les pays donataires d'aide, et suggère certains moyens par lesquels les donateurs pourraient faciliter à ce processus. Ces demandes se font entendre parce que les peuples sont plus éduqués, mieux informés, désillusionnés par le mauvais gouvernement, et poussés à la fois par les nouvelles des changements intervenus ailleurs et par les inquitétudes des pays donateurs. L'amélioration de la pratique gouvernamentale exige un équilibre entre les aspirations économiques, sociales et politiques, et la volonté politique d'intervenir contre la corruption. Les programmes d'aide exigent la mise en place de moyens de gestion à la fois participatifs et capables de répondre d'eux mêmes, offrant en particulier des moyens d'évaluation des projets qui tiendraient compte des avantages sociaux et politiques en plus des bénéfices économiques. L'article présente en conclusion un portefeuille de projets proposés afin d'aider les dirigeants politiques; de faire entendre la voix des peuples; de transférer les ressources du secteur public au secteur privé; d'intervenir contre la corruption; d'appuyer l'ordre public; de renforcer la société civile; et de mettre en place des programmes de formation susceptibles de développer à la fois les attitudes et les aptitudes. Resumen Este artículo describe los llamamientos a más participación y responsabilidad para alcanzar mejor gobierno en los países que reciben ayuda, y sugiere cómo los donantes pueden ayudar. Se hacen estos llamamientos porque la gente está hoy más educada, mejor informada, y desilusionada con los malos gobiernos, y conmovida con las noticias de cambios en otros sitios, así como por el interés de los donantes. Un mejor gobierno requiere un equilibrio entre los objetivos económicos, sociales y políticos, y la determinación de actuar contra la corrupción. Los programas de ayuda necesitan una administración participatoria y responsable con evaluaciones que midan no sólo los beneficios económicos, sino también los sociales y los políticos. El artículo concluye con un paquete de propuestas para ayudar a los líderes políticos, dar voz al pueblo, transferir recursos del sector público al privado, apoyar la lucha contra la corrupción, asegurar el respeto a las leyes, fortalecer la sociedad civil, y proveer entrenamiento para desarrollar tanto actitudes como habilidades