Complementation between mouse Mfn1 and Mfn2 protects mitochondrial fusion defects caused by CMT2A disease mutations

Mfn2, an oligomeric mitochondrial protein important for mitochondrial fusion, is mutated in Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) type 2A, a peripheral neuropathy characterized by axonal degeneration. In addition to homooligomeric complexes, Mfn2 also associates with Mfn1, but the functional significance of such heterooligomeric complexes is unknown. Also unknown is why Mfn2 mutations in CMT2A lead to cell type–specific defects given the widespread expression of Mfn2. In this study, we show that homooligomeric complexes formed by many Mfn2 disease mutants are nonfunctional for mitochondrial fusion. However, wild-type Mfn1 complements mutant Mfn2 through the formation of heterooligomeric complexes, including complexes that form in trans between mitochondria. Wild-type Mfn2 cannot complement the disease alleles. Our results highlight the functional importance of Mfn1–Mfn2 heterooligomeric complexes and the close interplay between the two mitofusins in the control of mitochondrial fusion. Furthermore, they suggest that tissues with low Mfn1 expression are vulnerable in CMT2A and that methods to increase Mfn1 expression in the peripheral nervous system would benefit CMT2A patients

Ab initio calculations with a nonspherical Gaussian basis set: Excited states of the hydrogen molecule

A basis set of generalized nonspherical Gaussian functions (GGTOs) is presented and discussed. As a first example we report on Born-Oppenheimer energies of the hydrogen molecule. Although accurate results have been obtained, we conclude that H_2 is too 'simple' to allow for a substantial gain by using nonspherical functions. We rather expect that these functions may be particularly useful in calculations on large systems. A single basis set of GGTOs was used to simultaneously calculate the potential energy curves of several states within each subspace of {1,3}\Sigma_{g,u} symmetry. We hereby considerd the entire region of internuclear distances 0.8 < R < 1000 a.u. In particular the results for the fourth up to sixth electronic states show a high accuracy compared to calculations which invoke explicitely correlated functions, e.g. the relative accuracy is at least of the order of magnitude of 10^{-5}a.u. Energies for the 4 ^1\Sigma_u^+ and 4-6 ^3\Sigma_u^+ were improved and accurate data for the 6 ^3\Sigma_g^+, 5 ^1\Sigma_u^+, and 6 ^1\Sigma_u^+ state are, to the best of the authors knowledge, presented for the first time. Energy data for the seventh up to the nineth electronic state within each subspace were obtained with an estimated error of the order of magnitude of 10^{-4}a.u. The 7 ^1\Sigma_g^+ and the 6 ^1\Sigma_u^+ state were found to exhibit a very broad deep outer well at large internuclear distances.Comment: 4 figures, subm.to J.Chem.Phy

The New Right: The Blue-Collar Ideological Shift Towards a Conservative Populism

Overview: “Make America Great Again” the populist rally cry of the 2016 Election was championed by none other than now President Donald J. Trump. His appeal to the populist blue-collar working class was shocking to some, but historically not unexpected. His promise to bring back manufacturing jobs to the United States by having “fair trade” resonated with the disenfranchised working class who felt once again left out politically, socially, and economically by the government and its seemingly progressive state. This promise however was not original. Ronald Reagan, the Republican “messiah” campaigned on this saying, attempting to restore hope in the minds of the American people. It is important to note not how the saying began, but why. Trump and Reagan, while different regarding ideology, campaigned on the populist ideal that the American people were being exploited by an elite power. The 1960s and early 1970s was a time of progressive legislation that displayed the changing tides of American culture such as the civil, women’s, and LGBT rights movement. Author\u27s Reflection: My name is Julia Detmer, I am currently a Sophomore Inclusive Education and American Studies major at St. John Fisher College. I have a true passion for learning specifically regarding history as I have had some incredible teachers that have inspired me to pursue education in college. I am also a member of the Honors Program and currently serve as Vice President of the Honors Student Association. I grew up in the town of Pittsford where I graduated from Pittsford Mendon High School. Dr. Rice began his RW class, “American Culture in the 1970s,” by asking our perceptions of culture in 1970s. Many stated the musical styles or film/pop culture, but I was interested in our political climate and said “distrust in government” was something defined in the 1970s primarily related to Nixon and the Watergate Scandal. My topic that was fairly broad needed to be specified and more concrete, so I connected the distrust in the 1970s to our current political climate (this after the election) to make sense of how President Trump became our President. I eventually narrowed my topic down to specifically focusing on the working-class\u27 sentiments towards an establishment which inspired the rise of a political outsider. This process was extremely rewarding because it allowed me to realize the deep importance of the editing process, as the majority of the semester’s work focused on research, editing, and revising the final product. In addition, it allowed me to visualize and understand perspectives that people aren’t necessarily aware of. At times it was difficult to find information on the working class in the 1970s mostly because the working class has been overlooked in society, especially regarding scholarly articles. With help of my professor and the library staff, I did find a book by Dominic Sandbrook called Mad as Hell: The Crisis of the 1970s and the Rise of the Populist Right that allowed my research paper to go above and beyond with its use of primary sources and a unique perspective that many other articles didn’t share about the 1970s. The 199 Research Writing course is critical for a college student to develop better research and writing skills. Just as in the Fisher core goals, this class allowed me to develop an argument, present critical evidence to prove the argument, and navigate databases for relevant scholarly and primary sources. This class definitely teaches skills that students will use in all programs at St. John Fisher College. Dr. Rice\u27s Summary: Julia Detmer is a student who takes seriously the pursuit of knowledge. The presidential election of 2016 made her attuned to the rising populist mood in the United States and she was interested in finding precedents and patterns in American history. The result is this paper, a close examination of the populist mood of American culture in the 1970s. Julia was receptive to constructive feedback and took seriously the hard work of revision, resulting in this strong example of first-year writing

Building the national health information infrastructure for personal health, health care services, public health, and research.

RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are.BACKGROUND: Improving health in our nation requires strengthening four major domains of the health care system: personal health management, health care delivery, public health, and health-related research. Many avoidable shortcomings in the health sector that result in poor quality are due to inaccessible data, information, and knowledge. A national health information infrastructure (NHII) offers the connectivity and knowledge management essential to correct these shortcomings. Better health and a better health system are within our reach. DISCUSSION: A national health information infrastructure for the United States should address the needs of personal health management, health care delivery, public health, and research. It should also address relevant global dimensions (e.g., standards for sharing data and knowledge across national boundaries). The public and private sectors will need to collaborate to build a robust national health information infrastructure, essentially a 'paperless' health care system, for the United States. The federal government should assume leadership for assuring a national health information infrastructure as recommended by the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics and the President's Information Technology Advisory Committee. Progress is needed in the areas of funding, incentives, standards, and continued refinement of a privacy (i.e., confidentiality and security) framework to facilitate personal identification for health purposes. Particular attention should be paid to NHII leadership and change management challenges. SUMMARY: A national health information infrastructure is a necessary step for improved health in the U.S. It will require a concerted, collaborative effort by both public and private sectors

Drops of One Ocean: Globalization, Identity Formation and Hegemony in the Baha\u27i Communities of Samoa, the Netherlands, Latvia, and Lithuania

This thesis examines the processes of globalization in different Baha’i communities in Samoa, Latvia, Lithuania and the Netherlands. Traditionally globalization has been defined as a secular force imposing worldwide homogenization from the global-center onto the global-periphery, however in the Baha’i Faith globalization is an essential part of the central goal to materialize a unified world marked by peace and racial, class-based, and gender-based justice infused with monotheistic spirituality. Drawing evidence from interviews with Baha’is and observations of community events and prayer services, and theoretical support from Foucault’s concept of authorship and Tsing, Rifkin, and Appiah’s theories of globalization, the main argument revolves around how the use of spirituality in Baha’i rhetoric centers human experience in globalization, resulting in tangible examples that defy assumed homogenization. The combination of these diverse theories aid to a conversation demystifying and decolonizing hegemonic globalization discourse and incorporate the ways in which friction between local and global streams of culture produce and reproduce heterogeneous cultural identities and communities

Electromagnetic transitions of the helium atom in superstrong magnetic fields

We investigate the electromagnetic transition probabilities for the helium atom embedded in a superstrong magnetic field taking into account the finite nuclear mass. We address the regime \gamma=100-10000 a.u. studying several excited states for each symmetry, i.e. for the magnetic quantum numbers 0,-1,-2,-3, positive and negative z parity and singlet and triplet symmetry. The oscillator strengths as a function of the magnetic field, and in particular the influence of the finite nuclear mass on the oscillator strengths are shown and analyzed.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figure

Informal Chair Support Groups: Benefits and Obstacles

Support Groups for Chairs can be a beneficial way in which to develop as an academic leader and possibly make the job of chairperson more enjoyable and successful. The roundtable discussion will guide members through a discussion the benefits of forming such an informal support group, but also consider the obstacles

Learning how to fly The intersectionality of religion, culture and gender of the Samoan Baha’i Community

The Samoan Baha’i community balances their multiple identities in a society where they are a minority. Their cultural, religious and gender identities are all essential to their expressions as human beings, and this research aims to explore how Samoan Baha’i reconcile their multiplicity of identities. Information was gathered through a wide range of primary and secondary resources consisting of interviews, other forms of personal communications and participatory observation. An expansion of the notion of intersectionality in a Pacific context contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of cultural change, globalization and social justice. As the Baha’i religion does not believe in continuing national identities many Baha’i do not actively pursue ways which maintain their Samoan identity, especially concerning cultural institutions that clash with core values of the faith. However the foundational values of Baha’i and Samoan culture align and show that the seemingly conflicting identities have been successfully renegotiated