892 research outputs found
Entangled histories and divided audiences : overhearing Joseph Conrad, W. G. Sebald, and Dan Jacobson
No full textThis article focuses on specific effects that occur when transnational literary texts encounter diverse readerships that do not share the same historical imaginary. The author highlights a readerly dynamic of 'overhearing,' in which readers realize their outsider position within the discourse of a text but also recognize something sufficiently familiar in it to imagine a linkage to their own historical and social position. This dynamic is studied through texts by twentieth-century emigre authors Joseph Conrad and W. G. Sebald as well as by Dan Jacobson, whose memoir on the Lithuanian past of his Jewish family is referenced by Sebald.Peer reviewe
Dysfunction of cGMP signalling in photoreceptors by a macular dystrophy-related mutation in the calcium sensor GCAP1
No full textMacular dystrophy leads to progressive loss of central vision and shows symptoms similar to age-related macular degeneration. Genetic screening of patients diagnosed with macular dystrophy disclosed a novel mutation in the GUCA1A gene, namely a c.526C > T substitution leading to the amino acid substitution p.L176F in the guanylate cyclase-activating protein 1 (GCAP1). The same variant was found in three families showing an autosomal dominant mode of inheritance. For a full functional characterization of the L176F mutant we expressed and purified the mutant protein and measured key parameters of its activating properties, its Ca(2+)/Mg(2+)-binding, and its Ca(2+)-induced conformational changes in comparison to the wildtype protein. The mutant was less sensitive to changes in free Ca(2+), resulting in a constitutively active form under physiological Ca(2+)-concentration, showed significantly higher activation rates than the wildtype (90-fold versus 20-fold) and interacted with an higher apparent affinity with its target guanylate cyclase. However, direct Ca(2+)-binding of the mutant was nearly similar to the wildtype; binding of Mg(2+ )occurred with higher affinity. We performed molecular dynamics simulations for comparing the Ca(2+)-saturated inhibiting state of GCAP1 with the Mg(2+)-bound activating states. The L176F mutant exhibited significantly lower flexibility, when three Ca(2+ )or two Mg(2+ )were bound forming probably the structural basis for the modified GCAP1 function
INTENSITY CALCULATIONS FOR THE TRANSITION OF ACETYLENE
No full textC. K. Ingold and G. W. King, J. Chem. Soc., 2702-2755 (1953); K. K. Innes, J. Chem. Phys. 22, 863-876 (1954). J. K. G. Watson, Paper TG11, OSU Symposium (1998). J. D. Tobiason, A. L. Utz, E. L. Sibert III, and F. F. Crim, J. Chem. Phys. 99, 5762-5767 (1993). M. P. Jacobson, Ph.D. Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1999); M. P. Jacobson and R. W. Field, J. Phys. Chem. 104, 3073 (2000). L. Halonen, M. S. Child, and S. Carter, Mol. Phys. 47, 1097 1982.Author Institution: Centre for Experimental and Constructive Mathematics, Department of Mathematics, National Research Council of CanadaThe transition of acetylene was the first electronic transition for which a change of point group was confirmed in . Previously, harmonic Franck-Condon calculations for this transition were . The present calculations allow for anharmonicity in the ground state, although the upper-state potential is still assumed to be . The transition moment is taken to be proportional to the bending coordinate. For the calculation of the dispersed fluorescence it is found that the global potential surface of Halonen, Child and gives the best qualitative agreement for the intensities, but could be improved for the energies of high bending states
The macroeconomics of the public sector deficit : the case of Morocco
No full textThis paper tries to uncover the reasons underlying the performance of the Moroccan economy. The author argues that wage moderation and judicious monetary policies were instrumental in restraining inflation. With one brief exception in 1983, monetary authorities remained firmly committed to eschew any inflationary financing of the budget deficit. This strategy could only succeed however because of the wide ranging system of credit and monetary regulations which worked to channel domestic funds toward the Treasury at relatively low costs. The prospects for the continuation of such a strategy are not favourable however. As far as the growth performance is concerned, it appears that it can be attributed to an outstanding export response to the new trade regime on the one hand and a set of favourable supply shocks, including a string of recordagricultural harvests and the collapse of real oil prices, on the other. The paper studies the evolution of the budget and its different components and argues that the reluctance by Morocco's policy makers to monetize existing budget deficits is well explained by the sharply unfavourable trade-offs between higher monetization and inflation existing in Morocco. It analyzes the implications that continuing budgetary disequilibria has on investment and saving decisions and finds that such implications may be substantial, even though they may not work their way exclusively through traditional interest rates channels.Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Banks&Banking Reform,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Financial Intermediation
Aggressive behavior in adolescents with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders
No full textIncludes bibliographical references.Behavioral studies of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) have indicated that aggression is common amongst alcohol-exposed adolescents, and that it appears to become more prevalent with age in that population. Such studies have documented the presence of aggression as a behavioral outcome, but have not provided detailed information regarding its presentation, including whether it is proactive or reactive in nature and under which circumstances it arises. Consequently, there is a lack of a theoretical framework within which to understand aggression in FASD. The current research comprised two studies. In Study 1, comorbid developmental disorders that are typically associated with aggression were examined in alcohol-exposed and non-exposed boys and girls. The results indicated a higher prevalence of disruptive behavior disorders, and conduct disorder in particular, amongst the alcohol-exposed boys, and highlighted a significant association between prenatal alcohol exposure and an aggressive subtype of conduct disorder. Based on these findings, Study 2, a multiple-case study, examined the aggressive behaviors of 6 alcohol-exposed and nonexposed adolescents and their classmates
Mutations in the CRB1 gene cause Leber congenital amaurosis
No full textOBJECTIVES: To test the hypothesis that mutations in the CRB1 gene cause Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) and, if so, to describe the ocular phenotype of patients with LCA who harbor CRB1 sequence variations. PATIENTS: One hundred ninety probands with a clinical diagnosis of LCA were selected from a cohort of 233 probands ascertained in 5 different countries. The remaining 43 probands (18%) were excluded because they harbored sequence variations in previously identified LCA genes. METHODS: One hundred ninety unrelated individuals with LCA were screened for coding sequence mutations in the CRB1 gene with single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis followed by automated DNA sequencing. RESULTS: Twenty-one of the 190 probands (9% of the total cohort of 233) and 2 (1.4%) of 140 controls harbored amino acid-altering sequence variations in the CRB1 gene (P =.003). CONCLUSIONS: In our cohort of patients with LCA, coding sequence variations were observed in the CRB1 gene more frequently than in any of the other 5 known LCA-associated genes. Likely disease-causing sequence variations have now been identified in 64 (28%) of 233 subjects in this cohort. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Molecular diagnosis can confirm and clarify the diagnosis in an increasing fraction of patients with LCA. As genotype data accumulate, clinical phenotypes associated with specific mutations may be established. This will facilitate the counseling of patients regarding their visual prognosis and the likelihood of associated systemic anomalie
Rent - seeking trade policy : a time series approach
No full textUsing a time-series approach, the author analyzes the relationship between the extent of rent-seeking trade policy and both political and economic variables. For rent-seeking trade policy, the indicator he uses is the number of foreign-trade regulations passed each year for the benefit of a single firm or industry. The author uses data from Uruguay for 1925-83. Uruguay, which experienced an impressive economic decline, is an outstanding example of a rent-seeking society. After being a wealthy economy in midcentury, it suffered almost complete stagnation, which led to social and policital disintegration by the end of the 1960s. Three decades of restrictive regulations on foreign trade had created a nearly closed economy by the end of the 1960s. It was worth analyzing whether policymakers'great receptiveness to demands for protection could account for Uruguay's decline. Over the period 1925-83, the author finds almost 4,000 laws, decrees, and administrative resolutions that create, maintain, or modify a foreign-trade regulation for the benefit of a single firm or industry. About half of them explicitly identify the petitioner - usually a firm or guild. Since the size of the Uruguayan economy changed over the period studied, the author scales the annual number of regulations by output or exports to measure the extent of rent-seeking trade policy. The author shows that the extent of rent-seeking trade policy increased with discretionary policies and under dictatorship. (In the period studied, there were two stages of democracy - until 1932 and from 1943-72 - and two stages of dictatorship.) He also shows that rent-seeking trade restrictions increased under import-substitution strategies and, more unexpectedly, under active export promotion. This suggests that discretionary power leads to wasteful distribution, whether it is used to support inward- or outward-oriented policies. Finally, the author analyzes the correlation between innovations in the trade policy indicator and innovations in the growth rates of output and exports, with a lag of up to 20 years. Surprisingly, he finds a positive correlation with output growth rates after two or three years. But the correlation becomes negative some years later, particularly in the case of exports. The short-run positive impact on growth rates, together with the surprisingly long time lag before the negative impact, may account for policymakers'receptiveness to demands for protection.Trade Policy,Achieving Shared Growth,TF054105-DONOR FUNDED OPERATION ADMINISTRATION FEE INCOME AND EXPENSE ACCOUNT,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies
Allelic variation in the VMD2 gene in best disease and age-related macular degeneration
No full textPURPOSE: To assess the allelic variation of the VMD2 gene in patients with Best disease and age-related macular degeneration (AMD).METHODS: Three hundred twenty-one AMD patients, 192 ethnically similar control subjects, 39 unrelated probands with familial Best disease, and 57 unrelated probands with the ophthalmoscopic findings of Best disease but no family history were screened for sequence variations in the VMD2 gene by single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis. Amplimers showing a bandshift were reamplified and sequenced bidirectionally. In addition, the coding regions of the VMD2 gene were completely sequenced in six probands with familial Best disease who showed no SSCP shift.RESULTS: Forty different probable or possible disease-causing mutations were found in one or more Best disease or AMD patients. Twenty-nine of these variations are novel. Of the 39 probands with familial Best disease, mutations were detected in all 39 (33 by SSCP and 6 by DNA sequencing). SSCP screening of the 57 probands with a clinical diagnosis of Best disease but no family history revealed 16 with mutations. Mutations were found in 5 of 321 AMD patients (1.5%), a fraction that was not significantly greater than in control individuals (0/192, 0%).CONCLUSIONS: Patients with the clinical diagnosis of Best disease are significantly more likely to have a mutation in the VMD2 gene if they also have a positive family history. These findings suggest that a small fraction of patients with the clinical diagnosis of AMD may actually have a late-onset variant of Best disease, whereas at the same time, a considerable fraction of isolated patients with the ophthalmoscopic features of Best disease are probably affected with some other macular disease
- …
