An Introduction to Art Criticism

Obesity Reviews, 2006

This chapter will deal with a number of aspects of the analysis of palace architecture in general, with spccific examples drawn from the city of Til<a1.1 The first topic is analysis by form in the quest for identification of function.

2001

This chapter adc-lresses several topics relevant to tire iclentificatiol of the preserlce of a royal corrrt at Tikal, the physical markers of such a court, and sorne specific examples of the bench type (identified herein as a "throne") as a marker of courtly activity. The importance of the throne as an iclentifier of the presence of the royal court is cliscussed with specific examples from the Central Acropolis of rikal, incltiding several separate structures that served as throne rootns.

2005

Households in the United States have long tended to concentrate their wealth in housing. In 2001, 68% of U.S. households were homeowners, according to the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances.1 The net worth of the median homeowner household was $171,700. The value of the median household’s primary residence was $123,000, and its housing equity was $53,000, or about 31% of its total net wealth. The risk confronting households holding large amounts of undiversified real estate has been recognized by Case, Shiller, and Weiss, and by Caplin et al.2 Case, Shiller, and Weiss propose the establishment of cash-settled real estate futures and options markets to allow better hedging and diversification. Caplin et al. urge the creation of partnership markets for housing equity. In December 2004, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange announced it was proceeding to offer futures contracts based on the cost of housing in different major cities in the United States.3 This article focuses on as...

Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology, 2012

Covalent dimers of alamethicin form conducting structures with gating properties that permit measurement of current-voltage (/-V) relationships during the lifetime of a single channel. These I-V curves demonstrate that the alamethicin channel is a rectifier that passes current preferentially, with voltages of the same sign as that of the voltage that induced opening of the channel. The degree of rectification depends on the salt concentration; single-channel I-V relationships become almost linear in 3 M potassium chloride. These properties may be qualitatively understood by using Poisson-Nernst-Planck theory and a modeled structure of the alamethicin pore.

eLife, 2015

The brain is sensitive to the dose of MECP2 such that small fluctuations in protein quantity lead to neuropsychiatric disease. Despite the importance of MeCP2 levels to brain function, little is know about its regulation. Here, we report eleven individuals with neuropsychiatric disease and copy-number variations spanning NUDT21, which encodes a subunit of pre-mRNA cleavage factor Im. Investigations of MECP2 mRNA and protein abundance in patient-derived lymphoblastoid cells from one NUDT21 deletion and three duplication cases show that NUDT21 regulates MeCP2 protein quantity. Elevated NUDT21 increases usage of the distal polyadenylation site in the MECP2 3&#39;UTR, resulting in an enrichment of inefficiently translated long-mRNA isoforms. Importantly, normalization of NUDT21 via siRNA-mediated knockdown in duplication-patient lymphoblasts restores MeCP2 to normal levels. In this study, we identify NUDT21 as a novel candidate for intellectual disability and neuropsychiatric disease, a...

International Journal of Biological Sciences, 2013

STAT5B, a specific member of the STAT family, is intimately associated with prostate tumor progression. While the full form of STAT5B is thought to promote tumor progression, a naturally occurring truncated isoform acts as a tumor suppressor. We previously demonstrated that truncated STAT5 is generated by insertion of an alternatively spliced exon and results in the introduction of an early termination codon.

Molecular Cancer Research

CDH1 (also known as E-cadherin), an epithelial-specific cell-cell adhesion molecule, plays multiple roles in maintaining adherens junctions, regulating migration and invasion, and mediating intracellular signaling. Downregulation of E-cadherin is a hallmark of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and correlates with poor prognosis in multiple carcinomas. Conversely, upregulation of E-cadherin is prognostic for improved survival in sarcomas. Yet, despite the prognostic benefit of E-cadherin expression in sarcoma, the mechanistic significance of E-cadherin in sarcomas remains poorly understood. Here, by combining mathematical models with wet-bench experiments, we identify the core regulatory networks mediated by E-cadherin in sarcomas, and decipher their functional consequences. Unlike carcinomas, E-cadherin overexpression in sarcomas does not induce a mesenchymalto-epithelial transition (MET). However, E-cadherin acts to reduce both anchorage-independent growth and spheroid formation of sarcoma cells. Ectopic E-cadherin expression acts to downregulate phosphorylated CREB1 (p-CREB) and the transcription factor, TBX2, to inhibit anchorage-independent growth. RNAi-mediated knockdown of TBX2 phenocopies the effect of E-cadherin on CREB levels and restores sensitivity to anchorage-independent growth in sarcoma cells. Beyond its signaling role, E-cadherin expression in sarcoma cells can also strengthen cell-cell adhesion and restricts spheroid growth through mechanical action. Together, our results demonstrate that E-cadherin inhibits sarcoma aggressiveness by preventing anchorage-independent growth. Implications: We highlight how E-cadherin can restrict aggressive behavior in sarcomas through both biochemical signaling and biomechanical effects.

Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 2012

Background-This paper examines differences in drinking and binge drinking between Mexican Americans living along the U.S.-Mexico border and those living in two metropolitan areas away from the border (Houston, Texas, and Los Angeles, California).