Association scan of 14,500 nonsynonymous SNPs in four diseases identifies autoimmunity variants

We have genotyped 14,436 nonsynonymous SNPs (nsSNPs) and 897 major histocompatibility complex (MHC) tag SNPs from 1,000 independent cases of ankylosing spondylitis (AS), autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD), multiple sclerosis (MS) and breast cancer (BC). Comparing these data against a common control dataset derived from 1,500 randomly selected healthy British individuals, we report initial association and independent replication in a North American sample of two new loci related to ankylosing spondylitis, ARTS1 and IL23R, and confirmation of the previously reported association of AITD with TSHR and FCRL3. These findings, enabled in part by increased statistical power resulting from the expansion of the control reference group to include individuals from the other disease groups, highlight notable new possibilities for autoimmune regulation and suggest that IL23R may be a common susceptibility factor for the major 'seronegative' diseases.     

Saving the Strong Programme? A critique of David Bloor’s recent work

This article critically appraises David Bloor’s recent attempts to refute criticisms levelled at the Strong Programme’s social constructionist approach to scientific knowledge. Bloor has tried to argue, contrary to some critics, that the Strong Programme is not idealist in character, and it does not involve a challenge to the credibility of scientific knowledge. I argue that Bloor’s attempt to deflect the charge of idealism, which calls on the self-referential theory of social institutions, is partially successful. However, I suggest that although the Strong Programme should not be accused of ‘strong idealism’, it is still vulnerable to the criticism that it entails a form of ‘weak idealism’. The article moves on to argue that, contrary to Bloor, constructionist approaches do challenge the credibility of the scientific knowledge that they analyse. I conclude the article by arguing that sociological analyses of scientific knowledge can be conducted without the weak idealism and the credibility-challenging assumptions of the Strong Programme approach.     

Research fraud: false data confessed

Joseph Cort, a researcher at Mount Sinai Medical School in New York City from 1976 to 1980, has admitted fabricating data on the synthesis of hormone analogues. Cort's research at Mount Sinai was supported principally by a contract from Vega Biochemicals, though he received a small amount of support under a National Institutes of Health grant to his department.     

Genetic engineering: regulation issue is resurrected by EPA

The Environmental Protection Agency is asserting regulatory control over the commercial production of genetically-engineered microorganisms, such as oil-eating bacteria, intended for release into the environment. EPA's legally-complex claim that such organisms are "new chemical substances," and thus subject to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), raises a challenge to the adequacy of regulation by the National Institute of Health's Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee (RAC) over the commercial and ecological implications of environmental release. Industry, which has been voluntarily adhering to the RAC guidelines, is reluctant to challenge application of the relatively lenient TSCA requirements but eager to see the legal uncertainties resolved.     

Further snag with Stanford patent: filing error claimed in Cohen-Boyer

An attorney for Stanford and the University of California has conceded that there is a serious error in the second Cohen-Boyer genetic engineering patent, but he argues that the patent is still valid. In an August decision to reject the patent, the U.S. Patent Office cited the error as one of several potential flaws. The same potential flaws are found in the original Cohen-Boyer patent, as well. Also in question is whether Robert Helling of the University of Michigan should be included as a co-inventor. Further appeals could delay a final decision until the summer of 1984 or beyond.     

DNMR 研究金属烯烃内质子交换的动力学行为

该文用完全线形分析法、磁化强度迁移法和自选锁定技术等三种具体的DNMR法对含有不同取代基的金属烯烃有机化合物中因碳碳键转动引起的分子内质子的化学交换的动力学行为进行了较为详细的研究。结果表明，测得的化学交换的速率常数是合理的。它们满足Eyring 和Ar-rehenuius 关系式；由此获得的化学交换的活化能参数和活化自由能的变化与化合物中的取代基的Hammett 常数6存在很好的一致关系。     

γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) signalling in plants

The role of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) as a signal in animals has been documented for over 60 years. In contrast, evidence that GABA is a signal in plants has only emerged in the last 15 years, and it was not until last year that a mechanism by which this could occur was identified—a plant ‘GABA receptor’ that inhibits anion passage through the aluminium-activated malate transporter family of proteins (ALMTs). ALMTs are multigenic, expressed in different organs and present on different membranes. We propose GABA regulation of ALMT activity could function as a signal that modulates plant growth, development, and stress response. In this review, we compare and contrast the plant ‘GABA receptor’ with mammalian GABA_A receptors in terms of their molecular identity, predicted topology, mode of action, and signalling roles. We also explore the implications of the discovery that GABA modulates anion flux in plants, its role in signal transduction for the regulation of plant physiology, and predict the possibility that there are other GABA interaction sites in the N termini of ALMT proteins through in silico evolutionary coupling analysis; we also explore the potential interactions between GABA and other signalling molecules.