My career in molecular biology

Norman Davidson's training as a physical chemist led him to make key early contributions to the chemistry of DNA. He described the details of DNA denaturation and renaturation, concepts that still form the basis for understanding hybridization. He also applied the single-molecule resolution of the electron microscope to describing the chemistry of circular DNA, mapping specific genes, and characterizing heteroduplexes. The latter became a dominant tool for the study of nucleic acids and contributed to our knowledge of transcription, polyadenylation, and retroviral structure. The advent of cDNA cloning and restriction enzymes enabled Davidson to describe the diversity of Drosophila actin genes and to isolate the gene encoding cAMP phosphodiesterase. Davidson then turned his attention to neuroscience and participated in cDNA cloning, oocyte expression, and structure-function studies of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, voltage-gated sodium channels, a GABA transporter, a G protein-gated potassium channel, and calcium channels. His interests also extended to synaptic plasticity, and he helped to define the role of neuronal nitric oxide synthase and of trkB receptors. His final experiments concerned the role of protein kinase A in long-term potentiation. (The abstract was written posthumously by a colleague.

Tattooing and piercing--the need for guidelines in EU.

As in Amsterdam [1], the impetus for UK guidelines for hygienic tattooing came from an outbreak of hepatitis B caused in 1978 by a tattooist. The outbreak resulted in 30 primary and three secondary cases [2]. Guidelines for hygienic tattooing followed soon after, and were taken up, fairly enthusiastically on the whole, by the tattooists. These were expanded in 1982 to include acupuncture, ear-piercing and hair electrolysis. Laws to control the hygiene of these practitioners were introduced at the same time {Local Government Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1982 [amended 2003] and the Greater London Council [General Powers] Act 1982}. Body piercing was hardly heard of at the time: although it was undoubtedly and somewhat furtively practised, it was not as popular or as open as it is now. Guidelines for beauty therapy, hygienic hairdressing and micropigmentation followed

Illinois Government Research no. 46 1978: Local Roads and Bridges in Illinois: Problems and Alternatives

In recent years the deteriorating condition of local roads and bridges, pointed up by bridge failures causing deaths and many injuries, has become a concern in Illinois and many other states. Serious as this problem is, it should be viewed in a broader context, one raising fundamental questions of public finance and political organization. In particular, the viability of small governmental units such as townships is being questioned: Can they raise adequate revenues and administer the services under their control effectively? The local road and bridge problem was addressed in a study of 186 townships in ten western Illinois counties undertaken during 1975-76. In this article, issues deriving from the basic question raised above are examined in light of information gained during the course of the project, particularly from personal interviews with local road commissioners. The advantages and disadvantages of several approaches to solving the problem are then examined.published or submitted for publicatio

Open heavy-flavour measurements in pp and p--Pb collisions with ALICE at the LHC

The ALICE detector is well suited to measure heavy-flavour (charm and beauty) production via hadronic and semi-leptonic decay channels of heavy-flavour particles. Here an overview of heavy-flavour measurements made with the ALICE detector during Run 1 in pp and p--Pb collisions is presented and discussed.Comment: Proceedings of 55th International Winter Meeting on Nuclear Physics, Bormio, Italy, 23-27 January 2017. 10 pages, 6 figure

Body language, security and e-commerce

Security is becoming an increasingly more important concern both at the desktop level and at the network level. This article discusses several approaches to authenticating individuals through the use of biometric devices. While libraries might not implement such devices, they may appear in the near future of desktop computing, particularly for access to institutional computers or for access to sensitive information. Other approaches to computer security focus on protecting the contents of electronic transmissions and verification of individual users. After a brief overview of encryption technologies, the article examines public-key cryptography which is getting a lot of attention in the business world in what is called public key infrastructure. It also examines other efforts, such as IBM’s Cryptolope, the Secure Sockets Layer of Web browsers, and Digital Certificates and Signatures. Secure electronic transmissions are an important condition for conducting business on the Net. These business transactions are not limited to purchase orders, invoices, and contracts. This could become an important tool for information vendors and publishers to control access to the electronic resources they license. As license negotiators and contract administrators, librarians need to be aware of what is happening in these new technologies and the impact that will have on their operations

Hyperbolic Browsers: From GUI to KUI

This paper studies the development of web browsers and describes a hyperbolic browser, a dynamic browser that organizes information visually