Cloning and characterization of a second alpha-amylase gene (LKA2) from Lipomyces kononenkoae IGC4052B and its expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Lipomyces kononenkoae secretes a battery of highly effective amylases (i.e. alpha-amylase, glucoamylase, isoamylase and cyclomaltodextrin glucanotransferase activities) and is therefore considered as one of the most efficient raw starch-degrading yeasts known. Previously, we have cloned and characterized genomic and cDNA copies of the LKA1 alpha-amylase gene from L. kononenkoae IGC4052B (CBS5608T) and expressed them in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Here we report on the cloning and characterization of the genomic and cDNA copies of a second alpha-amylase gene (LKA2) from the same strain of L. kononenkoae. LKA2 was cloned initially as a 1663 bp cDNA harbouring an open reading frame (ORF) of 1496 nucleotides. Sequence analysis of LKA2 revealed that this ORF encodes a protein (Lka2p) of 499 amino acids, with a predicted molecular weight of 55,307 Da. The LKA2-encoded alpha-amylase showed significant homology to several bacterial cyclomaltodextrin glucanotransferases and also to the alpha-amylases of Aspergillus nidulans, Debaryomyces occidentalis, Saccharomycopsis fibuligera and Sz. pombe. When LKA2 was expressed under the control of the phosphoglycerate kinase gene promoter (PGK1(p)) in S. cerevisiae, it was found that the genomic copy contained a 55 bp intron that impaired the production of biologically active Lka2p in the heterologous host. In contrast to the genomic copy, the expression of the cDNA construct of PGK1p-LKA2 in S. cerevisiae resulted in the production of biologically active alpha-amylase. The LKA2-encoded alpha-amylase produced by S. cerevisiae exhibited a high specificity towards substrates containing alpha-1,4 glucosidic linkages. The optimum pH of Lka2p was found to be 3.5 and the optimum temperature was 60 degrees C. Besides LKA1, LKA2 is only the second L. kononenkoae gene ever cloned and expressed in S. cerevisiae. The cloning, characterization and co-expression of these two genes encoding these highly efficient alpha-amylases form an important part of an extensive research programme aimed at the development of amylolytic strains of S. cerevisiae for the efficient bioconversion of starch into commercially important commodities.     

Bed Drag Coefficient Variability under Wind Waves in a Tidal Estuary

In this paper we report the results of a study of the variation of shear stress and the bottom drag coefficient CD with sea state and currents at a shallow site in San Francisco Bay. We compare shear stresses calculated from turbulent velocity measurements with the model of Styles and Glenn reported in 2000. Although this model was formulated to predict shear stress under ocean swell on the continental shelf, results from our experiments show that it accurately predicts these bottom stress under wind waves in an estuary. Higher up in the water column, the steady wind-driven boundary layer at the free surface overlaps with the steady bottom boundary layer. By calculating the wind stress at the surface and assuming a linear variation of shear between the bed and surface, however, the model can be extended to predict water column shear stresses that agree well with data. Despite the fidelity of the model, an examination of the observed stresses deduced using different wave–turbulence decomposition schemes suggests that wave–turbulence interactions are important, enhancing turbulent shear stresses at wave frequencies.     

An Investigation Into the Relationship Between Socially Desirable Responding and Offender Self-Report.

Recent research has shown that offenders high on impression management report fewer antisocial attitudes and less antisocial history and are objectively rated at less risk to commit a criminal offense. Further, impression management has been shown to be significantly and negatively related to criminal behavior. The present research investigated the hypothesis that this relationship may be due to the honest responding of offenders to items measuring relatively minor antisocial and criminal behaviors. The Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (now the Paulhus Deception Scales; D. L. Paulhus, 1994, 1998) is shown to be confounded with criminal-risk variance, and it may lead to incorrect conclusions when used with correctional samples. The discussion centers on the relationship of socially desirable responding with other constructs important in the prediction of reoffending within a correctional population. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

High spatial resolution sea surface climatology from Landsat thermal infrared data

High spatial and temporal resolution maps of sea surface temperature (SST) have numerous applications in coastal and estuarine systems. A climatology map, tracking SST as a function of year-day, was produced at Southern New England using 53 Landsat TM and ETM+ thermal infrared data. A recursive curve-fitting algorithm was used to fit these data and eliminate cloud contamination, resulting in an average daily temperature at every 60-m pixel. The climatology was validated against long-term in situ records that were analyzed with the same techniques. The results show, as expected, that isolated and shallow water bodies undergo more extreme temperature variation (−2 to 25 °C) than deeper, well-connected embayments (1 to 21 °C) or the coastal ocean (4 to 18 °C). The coastal ocean is shown to lag insolation and shallow lakes by up to 44 days, with embayments showing a gradation between these extremes. Despite the subtle temperature range variation, there is rich detail in the spatial patterns which are relevant to the applied sciences of coastal and estuarine systems. The spatial pattern of the climatology reveals anomalous patterns, such as occur where anthropogenic forcing alters climatological patterns. The heat budget of Mount Hope Bay in northeast Narragansett Bay has anthropogenic thermal input from a large power plant, and this input is reflected in the climatology. From the results, it is seen that Narragansett Bay has, on average, a mean annual temperature of 11.86±0.41 °C, while the Mount Hope Bay system is consistently warmer at 12.30±0.21 °C and shows a delayed response to autumn cooling. The long history of Landsat data acquisition can be used to create a climatology of coastal and estuarine scale dynamics at an order of magnitude finer scale resolution than AVHRR climatologies.     

Shake, Rattle, and Roles: Lessons from Experimental Earthquake Engineering for Incorporating Remote Users in Large-Scale E-Science Experiments

While there has been substantial interest in using e-science and cyberinfrastructure technologies to enable synchronous remote participation in experimental research, the details of such participation are in question. On the one hand, there is a desire to give remote participants the same views and capabilities that they would have as local participants. On the other hand, there are settings where experimental specimens and apparatus are large and difficult to manipulate effectively or view from a remote vantage point. This article argues for more novel forms of remote participation by drawing on exploratory interview and observation data gathered in civil engineering laboratories. It is shown that, while experiments are in progress, the engineers studied focus primarily on detecting and preventing specimen failures, and that their unease about remote participation stems from doubts about the ability of remote participants to detect failures adequately. It is argued that this presents the opportunity to consider novel roles for remote participants that exploit the features of e-science technologies.     

Misunderstanding the affective consequences of everyday social interactions: The hidden benefits of putting one's best face forward.

Positive self-presentation may have beneficial consequences for mood that are typically overlooked. Across a series of studies, participants underestimated how good they would feel in situations that required them to put their best face forward. In Studies 1 and 2A, participants underestimated the emotional benefits of interacting with an opposite sex stranger versus the benefits of interacting with a romantic partner. In Study 2B, participants who were instructed to engage in self-presentation felt happier after interacting with their romantic partner than participants who were not given this instruction, although other participants serving as forecasters did not anticipate such benefits. Increasing the generalizability of this self-presentation effect across contexts, the authors demonstrated that participants also underestimated how good they would feel before and after being evaluated by another person (Studies 3 and 4). This failure to recognize the affective benefits of putting one's best face forward may underlie forecasting errors regarding the emotional consequences of the most common forms of social interactions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Family Income and Its Relation to Preschool Children's Adjustment for Families in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care.

The current study examines relations of mean-level estimates, linear changes, and instability in income and family processes to child outcomes and addresses whether income, through its impact on family functioning, matters more for children living in poverty. Temporal changes and instability in family processes, but not income, predicted children's adjustment. Cross-sectional mediational analyses indicated that for families living at the poverty threshold, family processes fully mediated the effect of average income over the study period on social behavior but only partially mediated its effect on cognitive-linguistic development. The strength of these associations diminished as average income exceeded the poverty threshold. That is, income had a greater impact on the family functioning and development of poor children than of nonpoor children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Panoramic Search: The Interaction of Memory and Vision in Search Through a Familiar Scene.

How do observers search through familiar scenes? A novel panoramic search method is used to study the interaction of memory and vision in natural search behavior. In panoramic search, observers see part of an unchanging scene larger than their current field of view. A target object can be visible, present in the display but hidden from view, or absent. Visual search efficiency does not change after hundreds of trials through an unchanging scene (Experiment 1). Memory search, in contrast, begins inefficiently but becomes efficient with practice. Given a choice between vision and memory, observers choose vision (Experiments 2 and 3). However, if forced to use their memory on some trials, they learn to use memory on all trials, even when reliable visual information remains available (Experiment 4). The results suggest that observers make a pragmatic choice between vision and memory, with a strong bias toward visual search even for memorized stimuli. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of small amounts of ag,se, and sn on the recrystallization of copper

This study is a laboratory investigation of the effects of small amounts of Ag, Se, and Sn singly and in combination on the recrystallization of copper. Pre-anneal solution heat treatments were given to copper wires to establish various amounts of the impurity element in solid solution in the wires. The wires were then cold drawn in tungsten carbide dies and given recrystallization anneals in low temperature salt baths. Degree of re-crystallization was determined by yield point measurements. The recrystallization behavior was found to obey the Avrami equation with the exponent in the Avrami equation indicating unidirectional recrystallization. Yield points did not vary with impurity concentration in the concentration ranges studied. The greatest increase in recrystallization temperature was found for tin additions. Activation energies and recrystallization temperatures for the various concentrations of impurity elements are given in the paper. Increased amounts of second phase precipitates had little effect on the recrystallization temperature with the greatest effect occurring for the impurity elements in solid solution. This paper is based on a presentation made at a symposium on “Recovery Recrystallization and Grain Growth in Materials” held at the Chicago meeting of The Metallurgical Society of AIME, October 1977, under the sponsorship of the Physical Metallurgy Committee.     

Analgesic nephropathy--a continuing problem

Analgesic-induced renal disease occurs more commonly than is recognized; unless specific inquiry is made, it is seldom diagnosed. Patients with chronic pain, especially those with hypertension, urinary tract infection, or renal insufficiency, should be suspect. The condition is preventable and even in the late stages is manageable if recognized. Analgesic abuse may result in end-stage renal disease; it accounts for a significant percentage of patients entering chronic hemodialysis or renal transplant programs.