I think I canp I think I canp Reconsidering the place for practice methodologies in psychological research.

Psychologists have an array of research methodologies at their disposal as they seek to answer theoretical or applied questions. Methodologies often describe reasons why one methodology is superior to another. Such discriminations are only true in general, and with respect to a certain perspective on scientific acceptability (e.g., in controlling threats to internal validity). But one research method's superiority to another may vanish in certain circumstances, with particular populations, for use with practical problems and so forth. Recent research using alternative ("softer") research methodologies (i.e., self-report measures of behavior, retrospective pretests, autobiographies) yield results demonstrably superior to those studies using more traditional methods. Given these somewhat surprising findings, arguments are offered as to why 2 other underused research methods (i.e., clinical case studies, self-experimentation) might also be seriously considered in psychology's empirical efforts. Greater use of such methods could lead to what L. T. Hoshmand and D. E. Polkinghorne (1992) refer to as practicing knowledge. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Crystallization and preliminary crystallographic data of the alpha-amylase inhibitors, Haim I and Paim I

Two proteins that act as alpha-amylase inhibitors, Haim I and Paim I, were crystallized and preliminary X-ray diffraction studies on them were carried out. We also sequenced Haim I prepared from Streptomyces griseosporeus YM-25 and confirmed that it is composed of 78 amino acid residues. Crystals of Haim I were grown from ammonium sulfate solution mixed with ethanol by the vapor diffusion technique. The crystals grew as hexagonal bipyramids and diffracted X-rays beyond 2.0 A resolution. They belong to the space group P6(1)22 (or P6(5)22) with unit cell dimensions of a = b = 36.7 A, c = 192.4 A, and contain one molecule per asymmetric unit. Paim I, a protein of 39 amino acid residues produced by Streptomyces corchorusii, was crystallized under similar conditions to Haim I. The crystals diffracted X-rays beyond 2.5 A. They belong to the space group P4(1)2(1)2 (or P4(3)2(1)2) with unit cell dimensions of a = b = 65.4 A, c = 96.1 A, and contain three molecules per asymmetric unit.     

If I knew then what I know now: Theme and variations.

This paper gives recognition to the immense expansion in psychoanalytic thinking of recent decades. However, the implication (of the title of the panel of which this paper was a part) that advances in knowledge readily translate into advances in technique is seriously challenged, though in a playful format. The format pursues 4 variations on the title theme: 1) I could not know then what I know now; 2) If I knew then what I know now, I would not have been able to use it; 3) I did know then what I know now; and 4) If I knew now what I knew then... (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Deoxyribonuclease I and its clinical applications

DNases are DNA hydrolyzing enzymes. The well-characterized bovine pancreatic DNase I, the first DNase discovered, is a model DNase for studying the structure-function relationships of the DNase I type enzymes. The Epstein-Barr virus produces a DNase with an unknown biologic function other than degrading DNA, and this viral DNase has been used as an Epstein-Barr viral marker. Human DNase I exhibits polymorphism that can be used for forensic identification and for correlation with certain diseases. Variations in serum DNase activities have been implicated as the result of disease states and measurements of DNase activities are often used for diagnosis and prognosis. Recombinant human DNase I has been administered in cystic fibrosis patients to improve mucociliary clearance and pulmonary function. Thus, although the primary function of DNase is to degrade DNA, there are many reports of its clinical applications.     

Diabetes and autoimmune diseases. I

An account is given of the clinical and serological associations between diabetes and autoimmune diseases, especially those between diabetes and antihyperoglobulin, antithyroid, anti-intrinsic factor, anticorticoadrenal cell, and anti-nucleic acid autoantibodies. Body fluid antipancreas autoimmunity is examined from various standpoints relating to antipancrease cell antibodies (ICA), autoantibodies against glucagon-secreting cells (ECA) and somatostatin-secreting cells (SCA), and anti-islet cell surface antibodies (McLaren and Lernmark antibodies). Particular attention is directed to ICAs, since these have supplied the background for the recent division of type I diabetes into Ia viral and Ib autoimmune. Stress is laid on both the soundness and the problems forming part of ICAs, since their actual pathogenetic role (cytoplasmic markers?) still has to be determined, even though their persistent and significant association with autoimmune polyendocrinopathies is certain.     

Cardiac troponin I (cTn I) and the postmortem diagnosis of myocardial infarction

KH 1060 is the 20-epi-22-oxa-24a-homo-26,27-dimethyl analogue of the natural hormone, 1 alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1 alpha,25(OH)2D3). We have previously shown that after topical application in hairless mice both KH 1060 and 1 alpha,25(OH)2D3 cause epidermal hyperproliferation. MC 1582 differs from KH 1060 by the lack of hydroxyl group in the side chain which is required for receptor binding. We found that MC 1582 strongly stimulates epidermal hyperplasia in hairless mice after topical application in vivo, approaching in potency KH 1060. A similar, although much weaker response was also obtained with 1 alpha-hydroxyvitamin D3 (1 alpha(OH)D3). Since only the vitamin D compounds which possess hydroxyl groups both in the position 1 alpha and in the side chain, bind to the vitamin D receptor, we suggest that a local metabolism of MC 1582 and 1 alpha(OH)D3 takes place in the skin to the active, side-chain-hydroxylated species, probably to KH 1060 and 1 alpha,25(OH)2D3. This study suggests that 1 alpha hydroxylated prodrugs may be of use in the dermatological treatment of the future.     

Glyoxalase I (GLO I, EC 4.4.1.5) polymorphism in hemolysates and bloodstains

Oxidized and reduced forms of high-potential iron-sulfur protein (HiPIP) from the purple non-sulfur photosynthetic bacterium Rhodoferax fermentans have been characterized using 1H-NMR spectroscopy. Pairwise and sequence-specific assignments of hyperfine-shifted 1H-NMR signals to protons of cysteine residues bound to the [4Fe-4S]3+/2+ cluster have been performed using one-dimensional NOE and exchange spectroscopy experiments. 1H-NMR hyperfine shifts and relaxation rates of cluster-bound Cys beta-CH2 protons indicate that in the [4Fe-4S]3+ cluster one iron ion can be formally described as Fe(III), while electron density corresponding to one electron is unevenly delocalized onto the remaining three iron ions. This delocalization is effected by means of two different electronic distributions interconverting rapidly on the NMR time scale. The mechanism of paramagnetic proton relaxation, studied by analyzing longitudinal relaxation rates of Cys beta-CH2 protons in HiPIPs from six different sources as a function of the Fe-S-C beta-C alpha dihedral angle, indicate that the major contribution is due to a dipolar metal-centered mechanism, with a non-negligible contribution from a ligand-centered dipolar mechanism which involves the 3p orbital of the Cys sulfur atom. A semi-quantitative tool for extracting structural information from relaxation time measurements is proposed.     

Protein-protein and protein-DNA interactions in the type I restriction endonuclease R.EcoR124I

The type I restriction-modification system EcoR124I recognizes and binds to the split DNA recognition sequence 5'-GAAN(6)RTCG-3'. The methyltransferase, consisting of HsdM and HsdS subunits with the composition M2S, can interact with one or more subunits of the HsdR subunit to form the endonuclease. The interaction of the methyltransferase with HsdR has been investigated by surface plasmon resonance, showing that there are two non-equivalent binding sites for HsdR which differ in binding affinity by at least two orders of magnitude. DNA footprinting experiments using Exonuclease III suggest that the addition of HsdR to the methyltransferase (at a stoichiometry of either 1:1 or 2:1) increases the stability of the resulting DNA-protein complex but does not increase the size of the footprint. More extensive in situ footprinting experiments using copper-phenanthroline on the DNA-protein complexes formed by M2S, R1M2S and R2M2S also show no difference in the detailed cleavage pattern, with approximately 18 nucleotides protected on both strands in each complex. Thus the HsdR subunit(s) of the endonuclease stabilise the interaction of the M2S complex with DNA, but do not directly contribute to DNA binding. In addition, the thymidine nucleotide in the tetranucleotide recognition sequence GTCG is hyper-reactive to cleavage in each case, suggesting that the DNA structure in this region is altered in these complexes.     

Type I interferons

Type I interferons (IFNs) constitute a family of structurally related proteins that are all derived from the same ancestral gene and act on a common cell-surface receptor. Contrary to many other cytokines, the production of type I IFNs is not a specialized function, and all cells in the organism can produce them, usually as a result of induction by viruses, via the formation of double-stranded RNA. Type I IFNs are indeed responsible for the first line of defense during virus infection and act through the induction of a great number of proteins. Of these, at least thirty have been characterized, and there are probably many more. In addition to their direct antiviral effect, type I IFNs exert a wide variety of other activities, such as for example the induction of various cytokines and the stimulation of different effector cells of the immune system. Due to these pleiotropic effects, recombinant interferons are used in the clinic to treat a variety of diseases, among which cancer, viral hepatitis and multiple sclerosis.