Belief in an unjust world: when beliefs in a just world fail.

Belief in a just world, where people get what they deserve, has been hypothesized to underlie a variety of psychological phenomena (Lerner, 1965). Close inspection of individual difference measures of this belief, however, has indicated repeatedly that just world beliefs are not a unidimensional construct. The purpose of this investigation was to elaborate upon the conceptualization of unjust world beliefs as a related but separate construct from just world beliefs.

A transcription factor-binding domain of the coactivator CBP is essential for long-term memory and the expression of specific target genes.

Transcriptional activation is a key process required for long-term memory formation. Recently, the transcriptional coactivator CREB-binding protein (CBP) was shown to be critical for hippocampus-dependent long-term memory and hippocampal synaptic plasticity. As a coactivator with intrinsic histone acetyltransferase activity, CBP interacts with numerous transcription factors and contains multiple functional domains.

Cloning and expression of the S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase gene of Neurospora crassa and processing of its product.

S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase (AdoMetDC) catalyzes the formation of decarboxylated AdoMetDC, a precursor of the polyamines spermidine and spermine. The enzyme is derived from a proenzyme by autocatalytic cleavage. We report the cloning and regulation of the gene for AdoMetDC in Neurospora crassa, spe-2, and the effect of putrescine on enzyme maturation and activity.

Every discrete, finite image is uniquely determined by its dipole histogram.

A finite image I is a function assigning colors to a finite, rectangular array of discrete pixels. Thus, the information directly encoded by I is purely locational. Such locational information is of little visual use in itself: perception of visual structure requires extraction of relational image information.

Induction of cytochrome P4501A1 by ozone-oxidized tryptophan in Hepa lclc7 cells.

The present investigation was undertaken to determine whether administration of O3-oxidized amino acids to mouse hepatoma cells, Hepa lclc7 (Hepa-1), in culture would effect Cyp1a1 gene expression. The results demonstrate that, of all the amino acids tested, only O3-oxidized tryptophan caused a significant induction of CYP1A1-dependent 7-ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD) activity compared to the controls (p < 0.01).

Determining the membrane topology of peptides by fluorescence quenching.

Determination of the topology of peptides in membranes is important for characterizing and understanding the interactions of peptides with membranes. We describe a method that uses fluorescence quenching arising from resonance energy transfer ("FRET") for determining the topology of the tryptophan residues of peptides partitioned into phospholipid bilayer vesicles. This is accomplished through the use of a novel lyso-phospholipid quencher (lysoMC), N-(7-hydroxyl-4-methylcoumarin-3-acetyl)-1-palmitoyl-2-hydroxy-sn-gly cero-3-phosphoethanolamine.

Positive selection on the H3 hemagglutinin gene of human influenza virus A.

The hemagglutinin (HA) gene of influenza viruses encodes the major surface antigen against which neutralizing antibodies are produced during infection or vaccination. We examined temporal variation in the HA1 domain of HA genes of human influenza A (H3N2) viruses in order to identify positively selected codons. Positive selection is defined for our purposes as a significant excess of nonsilent over silent nucleotide substitutions.

Membrane protein folding and stability: physical principles.

Stably folded membrane proteins reside in a free energy minimum determined by the interactions of the peptide chains with each other, the lipid bilayer hydrocarbon core, the bilayer interface, and with water. The prediction of three-dimensional structure from sequence requires a detailed understanding of these interactions. Progress toward this objective is summarized in this review by means of a thermodynamic framework for describing membrane protein folding and stability.

Molecular and phylogenetic analysis of SRS 19-6 murine leukemia virus.

The complete nucleotide sequence of the genome of Solid-type Reticulum cell Sarcoma 19-6 murine leukemia virus (SRS 19-6 MuLV) was determined. This virus was isolated in mainland China from laboratory mice that had been separated from western mice since the 1930s. The genome is 8,256 nucleotides in length and exhibits a genetic organization characteristic of replication competent MuLVs.

Homology in the nervous system: of characters, embryology and levels of analysis.

The establishment of homologies is critically dependent upon the process of character identification. Valid characters must reliably appear in many individuals and be delimitable from other characters. They are not defined by any essential attributes, but rather by the formation of distinct clusters in a multidimensional morphospace.

Evolution of the vertebrate cardio-pulmonary system.

Vertebrate lungs have long been thought to have evolved in fishes largely as an adaptation for life in hypoxic water. This view overlooks the possibility that lungs may have functioned to supply the heart with oxygen and may continue to serve this function in extant fishes. The myocardium of most vertebrates is avascular and obtains oxygen from luminal blood.

Test of a convergence model for color transparency perception.

Models of color transparency suggest that a region in which colors of surfaces converge in color space will appear transparent. The convergence is described by a transparency parameter alpha and a target of convergence. To test such models psychophysically, observers were presented a display with four colored areas.

Retinoic acid-induced thymic abnormalities in the mouse are associated with altered pharyngeal morphology, thymocyte maturation defects, and altered expression of Hoxa3 and Pax1.

Exogenous retinoic acid is teratogenic in animals and man, causing a spectrum of abnormalities termed retinoic acid embryopathy. Using a mouse model of retinoic acid embryopathy, our results show that exposure to all-trans retinoic acid (RA) on gestational day (gd) 9 results in thymic ectopia, hypoplasia, and thymocyte maturational defects. Immunohistochemical and flow cytometric analyses showed aberrant expression of stromal and thymocyte markers, and abnormalities in thymocyte development.

Cloning and expression of a P2y purinoceptor from the adult bovine corpus callosum.

We have isolated an ATP receptor clone by screening a bovine corpus callosum cDNA library. The clone includes one open reading frame encoding for a protein of 373 amino acid residues (42 kDa) which belongs to the G-protein-coupled receptor superfamily. In Xenopus oocytes, this clone expressed an ATP receptor that triggered an oscillatory current in response to ATP (EC50 approximately 20 microM).

Related membrane domains in proteins of sterol sensing and cell signaling provide a glimpse of treasures still buried within the dynamic realm of intracellular metabolic regulation.

Recent discoveries in the regulation of cholesterol metabolism have documented a two step proteolytic pathway that regulates nuclear targeting of the sterol regulatory element binding proteins. Sterol regulatory element binding protein cleavage activating protein is a newly identified protein that modulates the proteolytic maturation of the sterol regulatory element binding proteins. It contains a domain that is quite similar in sequence to the membrane spanning region of the rate controlling enzyme of cholesterol biosynthesis, 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase.

Local upregulation of colonic angiotensin II receptors enhances potassium excretion in chronic renal failure.

The role of angiotensin II (ANG II) in colonic secretion of K+ was examined in rats with chronic renal failure (CRF). The basal net secretory flux of 86Rb+ (as a tracer for K+) across the CRF distal colon (-0.20 +/- 0.

Assembly of the QM protein onto the 60S ribosomal subunit occurs in the cytoplasm.

QM is a human cDNA originally isolated as a transcript elevated in a nontumorigenic Wilms' tumor microcell hybrid, relative to the tumorigenic parental cell line. The QM gene encodes a 24 kDa basic protein that peripherally associates with the ribosomes. Recently, the gene for this protein has also been shown in Saccharomyces cerevisiae to encode an essential 60S ribosomal subunit protein that is required for the joining of the 40S and 60S subunits.

Structure detection: a statistically certified unsupervised learning procedure.

We present a class of structure detection procedures (SDPs) that can extract the characteristic structures in an arbitrary population of images. An SDP adaptively augments the power of a novel, statistical, structure test to reject the null hypothesis that a randomly chosen image is devoid of structure. The core of the structure test consists of an orthonormal basis B of receptive fields that is refined into an increasingly sensitive detector of characteristic image structures.

A molecular modeling analysis of the binding interactions between the okadaic acid class of natural product inhibitors and the Ser-Thr phosphatases, PP1 and PP2A.

We have proposed computer-generated models of the catalytic subunits of the serine-threonine protein phosphatases PP1 and PP2A complexed with their endogenous substrate phospho-DARPP-32, and several known naturally occurring inhibitors. This study is part of an overall effort to elucidate the signal transduction pathways in which PP1 and PP2A may play an important role.

Inhibition of the Ser-Thr phosphatases PP1 and PP2A by naturally occurring toxins.

The okadaic acid class of naturally occurring toxins is a structurally diverse group of molecules that inhibit the protein phosphatases PP1 and PP2A. Studies providing information about the mode of binding between the toxins and the phosphatases contribute to an overall understanding of the signal transduction pathways in which the phosphatases are involved.

Differing influences of dopamine agonists and antagonists on Fos expression in identified populations of globus pallidus neurons.

Dopamine agonists increase the activity of globus pallidus neurons, as shown electrophysiologically and with Fos expression. More recently it has been shown that decreased D2 receptor activity also causes pallidal Fos expression. Similar responses occur in the striatum, where both dopamine agonists and D2 blockade induce Fos, although in separate neuronal populations (i.

MENTOR: a Bayesian Model for prediction of mental retardation in newborns.

Mental retardation (MR) is a diagnosis that is made with extreme caution because of the many uncertainties in its etiology and prognosis. In fact, most physicians will delay the diagnosis for months or years so that substantial evidence is available to rule the diagnosis in or out. MENTOR is a Bayesian Model for the prediction of MR in newborns that provides probabilities for the full range of cognitive outcomes, ranging from MR to superior intelligence.