Variations on a theme: Clifford’s parallelism in elliptic space

In 1873, W. K. Clifford introduced a notion of parallelism in the three-dimensional elliptic space that, quite surprisingly, exhibits almost all properties of Euclidean parallelism in ordinary space. The purpose of this paper is to describe the genesis of this notion in Clifford’s works and to provide a historical analysis of its reception in the investigations of F. Klein, L. Bianchi, G. Fubini, and E. Bortolotti. Special emphasis is placed upon the important role that Clifford’s parallelism played in the development of the theory of connections.     

Promoting Entrepreneurship through a Community Learning Model – Case Study: Green Businesses

This article presents a community learning model formulated by Engineers Without Borders Colombia with the aim of providing communities with tools to create sustainable productive solutions which have relevancy for members and for potential customers. The goal of this formulation is to promote learning processes that are guided by decisions made by community members to propose sustainable and replicable initiatives. The model applicability is evidenced through a case study devoted to strengthening community-led green businesses in the Guavio Province, Colombia by collecting lessons and conclusions. Ultimately, this collection will prove useful in replicating the learning model in other similar rural communities.

     

The Shwachman-Bodian-Diamond syndrome protein mediates translational activation of ribosomes in yeast

The autosomal recessive disorder Shwachman-Diamond syndrome, characterized by bone marrow failure and leukemia predisposition, is caused by deficiency of the highly conserved Shwachman-Bodian-Diamond syndrome (SBDS) protein. Here, we identify the function of the yeast SBDS ortholog Sdo1, showing that it is critical for the release and recycling of the nucleolar shuttling factor Tif6 from pre-60S ribosomes, a key step in 60S maturation and translational activation of ribosomes. Using genome-wide synthetic genetic array mapping, we identified multiple TIF6 gain-of-function alleles that suppressed the pre-60S nuclear export defects and cytoplasmic mislocalization of Tif6 observed in sdo1Delta cells. Sdo1 appears to function within a pathway containing elongation factor-like 1, and together they control translational activation of ribosomes. Thus, our data link defective late 60S ribosomal subunit maturation to an inherited bone marrow failure syndrome associated with leukemia predisposition.     

Modulation of protein biophysical properties by chemical glycosylation: biochemical insights and biomedical implications

Glycosylation constitutes one of the most important posttranslational modifications employed by biological systems to modulate protein biophysical properties. Due to the direct biochemical and biomedical implications of achieving control over protein stability and function by chemical means, there has been great interest in recent years towards the development of chemical strategies for protein glycosylation. Since current knowledge about glycoprotein biophysics has been mainly derived from the study of naturally glycosylated proteins, chemical glycosylation provides novel insights into its mechanistic understanding by affording control over glycosylation parameters. This review presents a survey of the effects that natural and chemical glycosylation have on the fundamental biophysical properties of proteins (structure, dynamics, stability, and function). This is complemented by a mechanistic discussion of how glycans achieve such effects and discussion of the implications of employing chemical glycosylation as a tool to exert control over protein biophysical properties within biochemical and biomedical applications. Received 15 December 2006; received after revision 28 March 2007; accepted 25 April 2007     

Solving Non-Uniqueness in Agglomerative Hierarchical Clustering Using Multidendrograms

In agglomerative hierarchical clustering, pair-group methods suffer from a problem of non-uniqueness when two or more distances between different clusters coincide during the amalgamation process. The traditional approach for solving this drawback has been to take any arbitrary criterion in order to break ties between distances, which results in different hierarchical classifications depending on the criterion followed. In this article we propose a variable-group algorithm that consists in grouping more than two clusters at the same time when ties occur. We give a tree representation for the results of the algorithm, which we call a multidendrogram, as well as a generalization of the Lance andWilliams’ formula which enables the implementation of the algorithm in a recursive way. The authors thank A. Arenas for discussion and helpful comments. This work was partially supported by DGES of the Spanish Government Project No. FIS2006–13321–C02–02 and by a grant of Universitat Rovira i Virgili.     

Die Wirkung des Toluidinblaus und der Thrombokinase auf den Vorgang der Thrombininaktivierung

Summary The disappearance of thrombin—formed in the blood, or added to serum-follows a manomolecular reaction-type. Heparin increases the reaction-velocity of this thrombin-inactivating process.Our investigation established that toluidine blue or kinase, which, according to the literature, bind heparin, strongly reduce the speed of thrombin-inactivation too. Therefore the heparin-binding capacity of these substances is also manifested in the decrease of thrombin-inactivation.     

Comparison of the effects of different isomers of bicuculline infused in the preoptic area on male rat sexual behavior

Summary Intracerebral infusion of (+) bicuculline methiodide, but not of its (–) isomer, in the preoptic area, stimulated masculine sexual behavior in rat as evidenced by a decrease in the number of intromissions preceding ejaculation and a shortening of the ejaculation latency and postejaculatory interval. Data suggest a role of the GABAergic system in mediating masculine sexual behavior.Acknowledgments. Authors wish to thank Ms Elisabeth Wallin for excellent technical assistance and Ms Madelene Kröning for preparing the figures.     

The induction of secondary seed dormancy by oxygen deficiency in a barnyard grassEchinochloa crus-galli

At 25°C, secondary dormancy was induced in seeds ofE. crus-galli exposed for 100 days to oxygen deficiency. By contrast, hypoxia did not induce dormancy at 15°C or prevent dormancy termination at 7°C. Secondary dormancy was terminated after 2 months stratification at 7°C. Oxygen deficiency may increase the proportion of dormant seeds in the soil, and affect the dynamics of the barnyard-grass soil seed bank.We thank Miss Jitka Králová for her excellent technical assistance.