Federal Biotechnology Policy: The Perils of Progress and the Risks of Uncertainty

Americans have a schizophrenic view of science and technology. Some of our greatest heroes have been technological pioneers- from the Wright brothers to Lindbergh to Chuck Yeager. Until recently, we expressed unmitigated adoration for the scientists and engineers who put man in space. Yet at the same time, many Americans are generally uneasy about the triumph of technology in their own lives. One does not have to be a Luddite to rail against computers every now and then. In deciding how to allocate precious public resources in an era of limits, legislators must take public perceptions of science very seriously. Unfortunately, the public can prove to be quite fickle in these matters. It is not easy to keep funding a scientific project when the American people keep changing their minds about it

Letter: From Al Gore, To Edna Saffy

A letter from Al Gore to Edna Saffy congratulating her on being chosen as a Standing Committee Member on his behalf in Florida. Gore 2000 campaign stationary. Date: January 2, 2000. Box 14 Folder 3

Al Gore discusses “Earth in the Balance: The Environmental Crisis for Our Nation and Our World, at the Ford Hall Forum, audio recording and transcript

Al Gore, an American politician and environmentalist, provides an analysis of the environmental crisis and suggestions for individual and collective action in a forum entitled, “Earth in the Balance: The Environmental Crisis for Our Nation and Our World.” Introduced by host and moderator Jan Putnam.https://dc.suffolk.edu/fhf-av/1050/thumbnail.jp

Clonal analysis of a human antibody response. Quantitation of precursors of antibody-producing cells and generation and characterization of monoclonal IgM, IgG, and IgA to rabies virus.

We quantitated and characterized the changes in the human B cell repertoire, at the clonal level, before and after immunization with rabies virus. Moreover, we generated 10 monoclonal cell lines producing IgM, IgG, and IgA antibodies to the virus. We found that in healthy subjects, not previously exposed to the virus, nearly 2% of the circulating B lymphocytes were committed to the production of antibodies that bound the virus. These B cells expressed the surface CD5 molecule. The antibodies they produced were polyreactive IgM that displayed a relatively low affinity for the virus components (Kd, 1.0-2.4 x 10(-6) g/microliters). After immunization, different anti-virus (IgG and IgA) antibody-producing cells consistently appeared in the circulation and increased from less than 0.005% to greater than 10% of the total B cells committed to the production of IgG and IgA, respectively. Most of such B cells do not express CD5 and produce monoreactive antibodies of high affinity for rabies virus (Kd, 6.5 x 10(-9) to 1.2 x 10(-10) g/microliters). One of these IgG mAbs efficiently neutralized rabies virus in vitro and in vivo, as detailed elsewhere (Dietzschold, B., P. Casali, Y. Ueki, M. Gore, C. E. Rupprecht, A. L. Notkins, and H. Koprowski, manuscript submitted for publication). Hybridization experiments using probes specific for the different human V gene segment families revealed that cell precursors producing low affinity IgM binding to rabies virus utilized a restricted number of VH gene segments (i.e., only members of the VHIIIb subfamily), whereas cell precursors producing high affinity IgG and IgA to rabies virus utilized an assortment of different VH gene segments (i.e., members of the VHI, VHIII, VHIV, and VHVI families and VHIIIb subfamily). In conclusion, our studies show that EBV transformation in conjunction with limiting dilution technology and somatic cell hybridization techniques are useful methods for quantitating, at the B cell clonal level, the human antibody response to foreign Ags and for generating human mAbs of predetermined specificity and high affinity

Transcriptomics-Based Network Medicine Approach Identifies Metformin as a Repurposable Drug for Atrial Fibrillation

Effective drugs for atrial fibrillation (AF) are lacking, resulting in significant morbidity and mortality. This study demonstrates that network proximity analysis of differentially expressed genes from atrial tissue to drug tar-gets can help prioritize repurposed drugs for AF. Using enrichment analysis of drug-gene signatures and functional testing in human inducible pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived atrial-like cardiomyocytes, we identify metformin as a top repurposed drug candidate for AF. Using the active compactor, a new design analysis of large-scale longitudinal electronic health record (EHR) data, we determine that metformin use is significantly associated with a reduced risk of AF (odds ratio = 0.48, 95%, confidence interval [CI] 0.36- 0.64, p \u3c 0.001) compared with standard treatments for diabetes. This study utilizes network medicine meth-odologies to identify repurposed drugs for AF treatment and identifies metformin as a candidate drug

Complete larval development of the hermit crabs Clibanarius aequabilis and Clibanarius erythropus (Decapoda : Anomura : Diogenidae), under laboratory conditions, with a revision of the larval features of genus Clibanarius

The complete larval development (four zoeae and one megalopa) of Clibanarius aequabilis and C. erythropus, reared under laboratory conditions, is described and illustrated. The larval stages of the two northeastern Atlantic Clibanarius species cannot be easily differentiated. Their morphological characters are compared with those of other known Clibanarius larvae. The genus Clibanarius is very homogeneous with respect to larval characters. All Clibanarius zoeae display a broad and blunt rostrum, smooth abdominal segments and an antennal scale without a terminal spine. Beyond the second zoeal stage, the fourth telson process is present as a fused spine, and the uropods are biramous. In the fourth larval stage all species display a mandibular palp. The Clibanarius megalopa presents weakly developed or no ocular scales, symmetrical chelipeds, apically curved corneous dactylus in the second and third pereiopods, and 5-11 setae on the posterior margin of the telson. Apart from the number of zoeal stages, Clibanarius species may be separated, beyond the second zoeal stage, by the telson formula and the morphology of the fourth telson process.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Endocrine remodelling of the adult intestine sustains reproduction in Drosophila.

The production of offspring is energetically costly and relies on incompletely understood mechanisms that generate a positive energy balance. In mothers of many species, changes in key energy-associated internal organs are common yet poorly characterised functionally and mechanistically. In this study, we show that, in adult Drosophila females, the midgut is dramatically remodelled to enhance reproductive output. In contrast to extant models, organ remodelling does not occur in response to increased nutrient intake and/or offspring demands, but rather precedes them. With spatially and temporally directed manipulations, we identify juvenile hormone (JH) as an anticipatory endocrine signal released after mating. Acting through intestinal bHLH-PAS domain proteins Methoprene-tolerant (Met) and Germ cell-expressed (Gce), JH signals directly to intestinal progenitors to yield a larger organ, and adjusts gene expression and sterol regulatory element-binding protein (SREBP) activity in enterocytes to support increased lipid metabolism. Our findings identify a metabolically significant paradigm of adult somatic organ remodelling linking hormonal signals, epithelial plasticity, and reproductive output. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.06930.00

Review on classification of resonant converters for electric vehicle application

The conventional hard-switching converters suffer from the limitations like the upper limit on switching frequency, high electromagnetic interference (EMI), more switching losses, large size, increased weight and low efficiency. To overcome these limitations, resonant converters are popularly used in chargers of electric vehicles (EVs). However, the detailed classification of resonant converters used in EVs is not sufficiently discussed in the literature. The guideline to select a resonant converter based topology required to charge an EV on the basis of its rating is not mentioned. To fill this gap, this paper presents a state-of-art literature survey of various resonant converter based topologies used in chargers of EVs. This paper focuses on a detailed classification of resonant converters used in the second stage of EV chargers. Further, it provides a guideline to designers to choose a converter topology used in the first stage and the second stage of EV charger required based on wattage, unidirectional and bidirectional power flow. Depending on the number of reactive elements present in a given resonant converter topology, these are classified as two-element, three-element, and multi-element resonant converters. Depending upon the connection of inductive (L) and capacitive (C) elements with respect to transformer winding, these converter topologies are further categorized as series, parallel (two-elements), inductor–inductor–capacitor (LLC) (three-element) and capacitor–inductor–inductor–capacitor (CLLC) (Multi-elements). However, the LLC type resonant converters offer high efficiency, zero-voltage switching (ZVS turn-on, turn-off) and low voltage stress on switches and high power density. Therefore, this paper mainly focuses on LLC type resonant converter topology. In addition, various modulation schemes and control schemes for LLC, CLLC resonant converter along with control of active power and reactive power are discussed for vehicle-2-grid (V2G) mode of operation

Adam Smith’s Green Thumb and Malthus’ Three Horsemen: Cautionary tales from classical political economy

This essay identifies a contradiction between the flourishing interest in the environmental economics of the classical period and a lack of critical parsing of the works of its leading representatives. Its focus is the work of Adam Smith and Thomas Malthus. It offers a critical analysis of their contribution to environmental thought and surveys the work of their contemporary devotees. It scrutinizes Smith's contribution to what Karl Polanyi termed the "economistic fallacy," as well as his defenses of class hierarchy, the "growth imperative" and consumerism. It subjects to critical appraisal Malthus's enthusiasm for private property and the market system, and his opposition to market regulation. While Malthus's principal attraction to ecological economists lies in his having allegedly broadened the scope of economics, and in his narrative of scarcity, this article shows that he, in fact, narrowed the scope of the discipline and conceptualized scarcity in a reified and pseudo-scientific way