Depressive Symptoms and Drinking to Cope in Relation to Alcohol Use Outcomes among White and Black/African American College Students.

Objective: Prior research shows that Black/African American adults experience more negative alcohol use consequences than White adults, despite lower alcohol consumption. Research also shows that Black/African Americans experience higher rates of depression, which can increase risk for alcohol consumption and alcohol use disorder (AUD) through drinking to cope. We examined associations between depressive symptoms and drinking to cope with alcohol consumption and AUD symptoms among White and Black/African American college students.

The merozoite surface protein 1 complex is a platform for binding to human erythrocytes by Plasmodium falciparum.

Plasmodium falciparum is the causative agent of the most severe form of malaria in humans. The merozoite, an extracellular stage of the parasite lifecycle, invades erythrocytes in which they develop. The most abundant protein on the surface of merozoites is merozoite surface protein 1 (MSP1), which consists of four processed fragments.

New method for purifying histidine-rich glycoprotein from human plasma redefines its functional properties.

Histidine-rich glycoprotein (HRG) is a relatively abundant plasma protein that has been implicated in multiple biological processes including immunity, tumor progression, and vascular biology. However, current protocols for purifying HRG from plasma result in the copurification of contaminating proteins and raise questions over the validity of biological activities ascribed to HRG. In this study, we describe a two-step protocol for the large-scale purification of HRG from human plasma using a combination of metal affinity and ion exchange chromatography.

A mixed-method exploration of functioning in Safe Schools/Healthy Students partnerships.

This paper presents a mixed-method approach to measuring the functioning of Safe Schools/Healthy Students (SS/HS) Initiative partnerships. The SS/HS national evaluation team developed a survey to collect partners' perceptions of functioning within SS/HS partnerships. Average partnership functioning scores were used to rank each site from lowest to highest.

Minimal requirements for actin filament disassembly revealed by structural analysis of malaria parasite actin-depolymerizing factor 1.

Malaria parasite cell motility is a process that is dependent on the dynamic turnover of parasite-derived actin filaments. Despite its central role, actin's polymerization state is controlled by a set of identifiable regulators that is markedly reduced compared with those of other eukaryotic cells. In Plasmodium falciparum, the most virulent species that affects humans, this minimal repertoire includes two members of the actin-depolymerizing factor/cofilin (AC) family of proteins, P.

A family of helminth molecules that modulate innate cell responses via molecular mimicry of host antimicrobial peptides.

Over the last decade a significant number of studies have highlighted the central role of host antimicrobial (or defence) peptides in modulating the response of innate immune cells to pathogen-associated ligands. In humans, the most widely studied antimicrobial peptide is LL-37, a 37-residue peptide containing an amphipathic helix that is released via proteolytic cleavage of the precursor protein CAP18. Owing to its ability to protect against lethal endotoxaemia and clinically-relevant bacterial infections, LL-37 and its derivatives are seen as attractive candidates for anti-sepsis therapies.

Substrate-mediated stabilization of a tetrameric drug target reveals Achilles heel in anthrax.

Bacillus anthracis is a gram-positive spore-forming bacterium that causes anthrax. With the increased threat of anthrax in biowarfare, there is an urgent need to characterize new antimicrobial targets from B. anthracis.

Expression, purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of dihydrodipicolinate synthase from Bacillus anthracis in the presence of pyruvate.

Dihydrodipicolinate synthase (DHDPS) catalyses the first committed step in the lysine-biosynthesis pathway in bacteria, plants and some fungi. In this study, the expression of DHDPS from Bacillus anthracis (Ba-DHDPS) and the purification of the recombinant enzyme in the absence and presence of the substrate pyruvate are described. It is shown that DHDPS from B.