N

What are the selective pressures on protein sequences during evolution? Amino acid residues may be highly conserved for functional or structural (stability) reasons. Theoretical studies have proposed that residues involved in the folding nucleus may also be highly conserved. To test this we are using an experimental``fold approach'' to the study of protein folding. This compares the folding and stability of a number of proteins that share the same fold, but have no common amino acid sequence or biological activity. The fold selected for this study is the immunoglobulin-like b-sandwich fold, which is a fold that has no speci®cally conserved function. Four model proteins are used from two distinct superfamilies that share the immunoglobulin-like fold, the ®bronectin type III and immunoglobulin superfamilies. Here, the fold approach and protein engineering are used to question the role of a highly conserved tyrosine in the``tyrosine corner'' motif that is found ubiquitously and exclusively in Greek key proteins. In the four model b-sandwich proteins characterised here, the tyrosine is the only residue that is absolutely conserved at equivalent sites. By mutating this position to phenylalanine, we show that the tyrosine hydroxyl is not required to nucleate folding in the immunoglobulin superfamily, whereas it is involved to some extent in early structure formation in the ®bronectin type III superfamily. The tyrosine corner is important for stability, mutation to phenylalanine costs between 1.5 and 3 kcal mol À1 . We propose that the high level of conservation of the tyrosine is related to the structural restraints of the loop connecting the b-sheets, representing an evolutionary``cul-de-sac''.

Genomic and cDNA clones of a mcol gene encoding mini-collagen (MCOL), a nematocyst capsule protein, have been isolated from a reef-building coral, Acropora donei (Anthozoa). The gene and its flanking regions, comprising 5382 bp and covering three exons and two introns, were sequenced. Exons 2 and 3 together have an open reading frame which can encode a MCOL of 176 amino acids (aa). The coral MCOL has all the characteristic regions present in the four hydra MCOL specified by the four mcol cDNA clones previously isolated from Hydra magnipapillata (Hydrozoa) by Kurz et al. I-J. Cell Biol. 115 (1991) 1159-1169, including a central Gly-Xaa-Yaa region and flanking Pro-rich and Cys-repeat regions. This observation suggests that a mcol family is highly conserved in Anthozoa and Hydrozoa, and also that the characteristic regions present in MCOL are essential for the structure and function of these peptides.

Termites play an important role in decomposition processes in savanna and tropical forest ecosystems. In the process of mound building, termites modify the physical, chemical and biochemical characteristics of the soil they use for construction, as well as the soil of nearby areas, so that organic compounds, particularly C and N, and in some cases P, are more abundant in the termite nests than in the surrounding soils. In this study, organic matter and nutrient mineralization in incubation experiments were measured in mounds of Nasutitermes ephratae and associated soils of Orinoco savannas. The mounds of Nasutitermes ephratae contain more C, N and P than adjacent topsoils due to the use of faecal material to build gallery walls. Mounds accumulate 2.25 times more total P than adjacent soils. Available and potentially mineralizable organic P (Po) were signi®cantly higher in Nasutitermes mounds than in adjacent soils. The mound materials signi®cantly stimulated soil microbial metabolism, due to the accumulation of organic carbon (9.30%). The results for nitrogen dynamics emphasise the low ammoni-®cation rate in savanna soils. Ammonium production in the savanna soil was very low ranging from 20.4 to 39.9 mg g 21 , whereas in the mound the value increases to 1528 mg g 21 , which means that as much as 20% of the total nitrogen was found as inorganic nitrogen within the termitaria. Nitrate production on the other hand was negligible in both soils and mound, so that the nitri®cation rate seemed to be not limited by ammonium production. The nutrient depleted conditions of this environment together with the important concentrations of C, N and P found within the mounds of Nasusitermes ephratae corroborated the hypothesis that termite mounds can act as`sinks' in the nutrient economy of well-drained savannas with low productivity. q

According to our interpretation, modern trade fairs started in Europe during the First World War and in its immediate aftermath. With the closing of trade movements during the war, many cities had to resort to the old medieval tradition of providing especial permits to traders to guarantee them personal protection during their trade meetings. During the tough post war crisis many more cities –typically industrial districts-discovered in the creation of trade fairs a powerful competitive tool to attract market transactions. We compare these developments with the remote origins of fairs, as, in both cases, trade fair development is a reaction to the closing of free markets under the pressure of political violence.

Biomass gasification is being considered as one of the most promising technologies for converting biomass into gaseous fuel. Here we present results of gasification, using an adiabatic bed gasifier with air as gasification medium, of mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) and redberry juniper (Juniperus pinchotii), two woody species that dominate uncultivated lands in the Southern Great Plains, U.S.A., that may have potential for bioenergy utilization. The effects of equivalence ratio (ER), particle size, and moisture content on the temperature profile, gas composition (CO, CO 2 , H 2 , N 2 , CH 4 , and C 2 H 6), and higher heating value (HHV) were investigated. As ER decreased from 4.2 to 2.7, the mole composition of the end product gas for mesquite contained: 13e21% CO, 1.6e3% H 2 , 1e1.5% CH 4 , 0.4e0.6% C 2 H 6, 60e64% N 2 , 11e25% CO 2 , and 1e2% O 2. The mole composition of the end product gas for juniper consisted of 21e25% CO, 2.5e3.5% H 2 , 1.5e1.8% CH 4 , 0.3e0.5% C 2 H 6 , 58e61% N 2 , 9e12% CO 2 , and 1e2% O 2. The H 2 and CO mole percentages decreased with increasing ER while the CO 2 and N 2 mole percentage increased. After removing N 2 , the HHV of the end-product gas for mesquite and juniper reached 26 and 27.5% of natural gas HHV, respectively, when ER z 2.7.

Aim of the study: The aim of the present study is to determine in a procedurally uniform manner the mescaline concentrations in stem tissue of 14 taxa/cultivars of the subgenus Trichocereus of the genus Echinopsis (Cactaceae) and to evaluate the relationship (if any) between mescaline concentration and actual shamanic use of these plants. Materials and methods: Columnar cacti of the genus Echinopsis, some of which are used for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes by South American shamans in traditional medicine, were selected for analysis because they were vegetative clones of plants of documented geographic origin and/or because they were known to be used by practitioners of shamanism. Mescaline content of the cortical stem chlorenchyma of each cactus was determined by Soxhlet extraction with methanol, followed by acid-base extraction with water and dichloromethane, and high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). Results: By virtue of the consistent analytical procedures used, comparable alkaloid concentrations were obtained that facilitated the ranking of the various selected species and cultivars of Echinopsis, all of which exhibited positive mescaline contents. The range of mescaline concentrations across the 14 taxa/cultivars spanned two orders of magnitude, from 0.053% to 4.7% by dry weight. Conclusions: The mescaline concentrations reported here largely support the hypothesis that plants with the highest mescaline concentrations-particularly E. pachanoi from Peru-are most associated with documented shamanic use.

Leaf water content is an important variable for understanding plant physiological properties. This study evaluates a spectral analysis approach, continuous wavelet analysis (CWA), for the spectroscopic estimation of leaf gravimetric water content (GWC, %) and determines robust spectral indicators of GWC across a wide range of plant species from different ecosystems. CWA is both applied to the Leaf Optical Properties Experiment (LOPEX) data set and a synthetic data set consisting of leaf reflectance spectra simulated using the leaf optical properties spectra (PROSPECT) model. The results for the two data sets, including wavelet feature selection and GWC prediction derived using those features, are compared to the results obtained from a previous study for leaf samples collected in the Republic of Panamá (PANAMA), to assess the predictive capabilities and robustness of CWA across species. Furthermore, predictive models of GWC using wavelet features derived from PROSPECT simulations are examined to assess their applicability to measured data. The two measured data sets (LOPEX and PANAMA) reveal five common wavelet feature regions that correlate well with leaf GWC. All three data sets display common wavelet features in three wavelength regions that span 1732-1736 nm at scale 4, 1874-1878 nm at scale 6, and 1338-1341 nm at scale 7 and produce accurate estimates of leaf GWC. This confirms the applicability of the wavelet-based methodology for estimating leaf GWC for leaves representative of various ecosystems. The PROSPECT-derived predictive models perform well on the LOPEX data set but are less successful on the PANAMA data set. The selection of high-scale and low-scale features emphasizes significant changes in both overall amplitude over broad spectral regions and local spectral shape over narrower regions in response to changes in leaf GWC. The wavelet-based spectral analysis tool adds a new dimension to the modeling of plant physiological properties with spectroscopy data.

The uncanny valley hypothesis suggests that robots that are humanoid in appearance elicit positive and empathetic responses, but that there is a point where the robot design is very close to human, the robot becomes repulsive [1]. A possible mechanism underlying this phenomenon is based on the predictive coding theory of neural computations [2,3]. According to this framework, certain neural systems in the brain can ascribe humanness to a robot that is highly human-like in its appearance, and if the robot's behavior does not match in realism to the appearance, there will be a processing conflict the neural network will need to resolve. Although this hypothesis is consistent with previous results in the field, empirical work directly testing it is lacking. Here we addressed this gap with a cognitive neuroscience study: We recorded electrical brain activity from the human brain using electroencephalography (EEG) as human subjects viewed images and videos of three agents: A female adult (human), a robot agent closely resembling her (android), and the same robot in a more mechanical appearance (robot). The human and robot had congruent appearance and movement (human with biological appearance and movement; robot with mechanical appearance and movement), and the android had incongruent appearance and movement (biological appearance but mechanical movement). We hypothesized that the android would violate the brain's predictions since it has a biological appearance, but mechanical movement, whereas the other agents would not lead to such a conflict (robot looks mechanical and moves mechanically; human looks biological and moves biologically). We focused on the N400 ERP component derived from the EEG data. Since the N400 has a greater amplitude for anomalies and violations based on preceding context, we hypothesized the amplitude would be significantly greater for the android in the moving condition than the still condition, whereas the moving and still conditions of the robot and human stimuli would not differ. Our results confirmed out hypothesis, indicating that the uncanny valley might at least partially be due to violations of the brain's internal predictions about almost-but-not-quite-human robots. Interdisciplinary studies like this one not only allows us to understand the neural basis of human social cognition but also informs robotics about what kind of robots we should design for successful human-robot interaction.

1. Introduction, 2. Brothers and sisters â€" adelphoi, 3. The believers, 4. The saints â€" hoi hagioi, 5. The assembly â€" hÄ" ekklÄ" sia, 6. Disciples â€" mathÄ" tai, 7. The way â€" hÄ" hodos, 8.'Christian'â€" Christianos, 9. Conclusions.

... Page 16. Deflation and Stock Exchanges Page 14 public house toward payment of the dividends on new capital – new capital that had been issued precisely to purchase the exclusive vending rights to beverages sold in previously independent, free, pubs. ...

In this study, the adsorption of lead (Pb 2þ ) onto activated carbon (AC) originating from cow bone, chemically modified with HNO 3 , was investigated. Physico-chemical carbon characterization assays and the determination of the optimum pH conditions and contact time, as well as studies on the kinetic and isothermal equilibrium and adsorbent reuse, were carried out. The AC presented a greater amount of acid functional groups than basic groups at the surface, making it efficient for cationic exchange. The pH PZC was 4.0 and the minimum contact time required for the assays to be performed was 6 h. It was observed that the time required to reach kinetic equilibrium decreased with increasing initial metal concentration in solution and the values found for q exp were 32.1, 50.1 and 42.3 mg g À1 for concentrations of 100, 150 and 200 mg L À1 , respectively. The pseudo-second-order kinetic model best represented the experimental data for all initial lead concentrations studied, presenting good linear correlation coefficients. The Langmuir and Freundlich models were used to fit the experimental data and these showed good correlations, with the Langmuir model providing a better description of the equilibrium (higher R 2 value). It was verified that the HCl desorption showed the highest efficiency; the minimum time to reach the desorption equilibrium was 3 h and the recovery was approximately 50%. The proposed adsorption process efficiently removes lead present in aqueous solution and can be used in industrial processes. (M.A.P. Cechinel), [email protected] (S.M.ArrudaG. Ulson de Souza), [email protected] (A.A. Ulson de Souza).

Se escribe siempre en primer lugar el símbolo del elemento o radical menos electronegativo (metal o grupo que actúe como tal) y a continuación el del elemento o radical más electronegativo; sin embargo, al nombrarlos se hace en orden inverso (empezando a nombrar por la derecha).

Islam telah melahirkan banyak ilmuwan. Islam berkontribusi besar dalam kemajuan zaman khususnya dalam ilmu pengetahuan farmasi/kedokteran. Lahirnya ilmuwan kedokteran islam membawa perubahan dunia dan mengubah pandangan dunia bahwa islam adalah benar-benar agama yang membawa kebenaran dan kemajuan. Dalam hal ini islam sangat dipandang khususnya dalam kajian ilmu medis/kedokteran. Dalam islam membahas bahwa penyakit ada yang kasat mata dan yang tidak terlihat oleh mata, yang terlihat oleh mata biasanya bisa disembuhkan oleh dokter atau tenaga medis, tetapi ada penyakit hati yang tak kasat mata yaitu seperti iri, dengki, hasud, dan sebagainya yang bisa mengahalangi seseorang dalam meraih kemuliaan diriya. Islam sudah lebih dulu membahas kajian ilmu medis/kedokteran dan memberikan solusi untuk proses penyembuhan penyakit baik yang kasat mata maupun yang tidak. Para ilmuwan seperti Ibnu Sina (Avicenna), Al-Razi, Al-Biruni, Al-Kindi, adalah tokoh yang ada dalam sejarah peradaban  dunia muslim ikut berkontribusi dan mempengaruhi perkembangan ilmu farmasi.

The behavior HTS materials and devices at overload currents is determined in a very high level by cooling, particularly, by the transient heat transfer from HTS device to liquid nitrogen. Recently we observed sharp peaks in the voltage during rectangular current pulse. In the present paper we explain these peaks by analysis of transient regimes in liquid nitrogen. The sharp peak in the voltage is occurring after temperature exceeds certain level before nucleate boiling starts. Basing on measurements of the voltage and temperature of HTS tapes during current overload and numerical analysis of the process we estimated overheat temperatures of nitrogen in transient regimes. Influence of covers of HTS tapes on overheat temperature of nitrogen is discussed. Experimental data and theoretical calculations' are compared.

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Di dalam tata cara peradilan di Indonesia, pembuktian adalah salah satu dari tata cara peradilan Indonesia yang digunakan sebagai dasar pertimbangan hakim dalam mengambil sebuah keputusan hukum, yang didasarkan atas keyakinan hakim yang didasarkan kepada fakta-fakta yang telah di berikan oleh Jaksa Penuntut Umum dan juga Penasehat Hukum dan sang terdakwa itu sendiri, adapun keyakinan hakim yang akan terbentuk pada akhirnya nanti hanya terdiri dari dua macam, yaitu keyakinan bahwa terdakwa tidak terbukti bersalah atau sebaliknya keyakinan bahwa terdakwa terbukti bersalah. Menurut M. Yahya Harahap dalam buku nya Pembahasan Permasalahan Dan Penerapan KUHAP : Penyidikan dan Penuntutan mengungkapkan Pembuktian adalah ketentuan yang berisi penggarisan dan pedoman tentang cara-cara yang dibenarkan undang-undang membuktikan kesalahan yang didakwakan kepada terdakwa. Pembuktian juga merupakan ketentuan yang mengatur alat-alat bukti yang dibenarkan undang-undang dan boleh digunakan hakim membuktikan kesalahan yang didakwakan Sebagai dasar hukum pembuktian, alat-alat bukti dalam perkara pidana terdapat dalam pasal 183-189 KUHAP (Kitab Undang-Undang Hukum Acara Pidana). Pasal 184 ayat (1) KUHAP disebutkan secara rinci atau limitatif alat bukti yang sah menurut undang-undang yaitu keterangan saksi, keterangan ahli, surat, petunjuk dan keterangan terdakwa. 1 Namun, seiring dengan perkembangan 1 1 M. Yahya Hrahap. Pembahasan Permasalahan dan Penerapan KUHAP Pemeriksaan Sidang Pengadilan, Banding, Kasasi, dan Peninjauan Kembali, Cetakan 4/Edisi 2, (Jakarta: Sinar Grafika, 2002), hal 283. 2 jaman dan perkembangan peraturan, dalam beberapa undang-undang terjadi perluasan alat bukti, misalnya pada Undang-Undang ITE dijelaskan mengenai alat bukti berupa dokumen elektronik. Pembuktian dalam perkara pidana berbeda dengan pembuktian dalam perkara perdata. Hukum acara pidana itu: a) Bertujuan mencari kebenaran material, yaitu kebenaran sejati atau yang sesungguhnya yang mana hal ini di ungkapkan oleh Andi Hamzah dalam bukunya Pengantar Hukum acara Pidana ; b) Hakimnya bersifat aktif. Hakim berkewajiban untuk mendapatkan bukti yang cukup untuk membuktikan tuduhan kepada tertuduh ; dan c) Alat buktinya bisa berupa keterangan saksi, keterangan ahli, surat, petunjuk, keterangan terdakwa. Makalah ini membahas lebih lanjut tentang keterangan ahli, dimana menyorot masalah tentang pengertian keterangan ahli, kedudukannya, perbandingannya dengan hukum pidana acara lain, dan yurisprudensi yang terkait dengan keterangan ahli dan visum et repertum.

Para los antropólogos, un concepto básico y central de su disciplina es el de cultura. El término cultura utilizado en un contexto antropológico tiene un sentido mucho más amplio que el que abarca en el habla ordinaria. El desarrollo del concepto de cultura y la insistencia en considerar cada cultura como un todo integrado, han sido unas de las principales aportaciones de la Antropología a las Ciencias Sociales.

Aim of the study: The aim of the present study is to determine in a procedurally uniform manner the mescaline concentrations in stem tissue of 14 taxa/cultivars of the subgenus Trichocereus of the genus Echinopsis (Cactaceae) and to evaluate the relationship (if any) between mescaline concentration and actual shamanic use of these plants. Materials and methods: Columnar cacti of the genus Echinopsis, some of which are used for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes by South American shamans in traditional medicine, were selected for analysis because they were vegetative clones of plants of documented geographic origin and/or because they were known to be used by practitioners of shamanism. Mescaline content of the cortical stem chlorenchyma of each cactus was determined by Soxhlet extraction with methanol, followed by acid-base extraction with water and dichloromethane, and high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). Results: By virtue of the consistent analytical procedures used, comparable alkaloid concentrations were obtained that facilitated the ranking of the various selected species and cultivars of Echinopsis, all of which exhibited positive mescaline contents. The range of mescaline concentrations across the 14 taxa/cultivars spanned two orders of magnitude, from 0.053% to 4.7% by dry weight. Conclusions: The mescaline concentrations reported here largely support the hypothesis that plants with the highest mescaline concentrations -particularly E. pachanoi from Peru -are most associated with documented shamanic use. [email protected] (M. Terry).

... These results hold across languages, whether the plan was generated in Chinese or in English. ... these differences in relation to the plan length and the difference in details for Qingming in the two languages, they appear to offer some insights into how language is stored ...

Attachment theory has been extremely successful at stimulating research on the formation and quality of emotional bonds and the complex interplay between individual-level and relationship-level processes in all phases of the lifespan . In this chapter, we review and assess some of the empirical findings and propose integrative ideas concerning both normative and individual-difference aspects of personal relationships in adulthood. First, we present a theoretical model of the activation and psychodynamics of the attachment behavioral system in adulthood and describe the intrapsychic and interpersonal manifestations of the sense of attachment security and the regulatory strategies of hyperactivation and deactivation. Next, we focus on romantic relationships, the site of some of the most important emotional bonds in adulthood, and explore implications of variations in attachment-system functioning for the formation and maintenance of these relationships. Specifically, we discuss (a) the contribution of these variations to relationship quality in different stages of a romantic relationship (initiation, consolidation, and maintenance) and (b) the interpersonal processes that explain this contribution. Finally, we extend our theoretical analysis to other kinds of relationships, such as relationships within family systems, friendships, therapeutic relationships, and both intra-and intergroup relations.