Reduced Visual Cortex Gray Matter Volume and Thickness in Young Adults Who Witnessed Domestic Violence during Childhood

Exposure to interparental violence is associated with negative outcomes, such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and reduced cognitive abilities. However, little is known about the potential effects of witnessing domestic violence during childhood on gray matter volume (GMV) or cortical thickness. High-resolution 3.0 T volumetric scans (Siemens Trio Scanner) were obtained on 52 subjects (18–25 years) including 22 (6 males/16 females) with a history of visually witnessing episodes of domestic violence, and 30 (8 males/22 females) unexposed control subjects, with neither a current nor past DSM-IV Axis I or II disorder. Potential confounding effects of age, gender, level of parental verbal aggression, parental education, financial stress, full scale IQ, and total GMV, or average thickness were modeled using voxel based morphometry and FreeSurfer. Witnessing domestic violence subjects had a 6.1% GMV reduction in the right lingual gyrus (BA18) (P = 0.029, False Discovery Rate corrected peak level). Thickness in this region was also reduced, as was thickness in V2 bilaterally and left occipital pole. Theses regions were maximally sensitive to exposure to witnessing domestic violence between 11–13 years of age. Regional reductions in GMV and thickness were observed in both susceptible and resilient witnessing domestic violence subjects. Results in subjects witnessing domestic violence were similar to previously reported results in subjects with childhood sexual abuse, as the primary region affected was visual cortex. Brain regions that process and convey the adverse sensory input of the abuse may be specifically modified by this experience, particularly in subjects exposed to a single type of maltreatment. Exposure to multiple types of maltreatment is more commonly associated with morphological alterations in corticolimbic regions. These findings fit with preclinical studies showing that visual cortex is a highly plastic structure.     

A Study in Neo‐conservative Populism: Richard Trudgen's Why Warriors Lie Down and Die

First appearing in 2000, and with 20,000 copies sold as it entered its sixth printing in 2004, Richard Trudgen's Why Warriors Lie down and Die is a minor publishing phenomenon. Although scholarly forums have generally ignored the book, Christian media outlets, the popular press and neo‐conservative political activists have enthusiastically received and promoted it. An examination of the merits of Why Warriors Lie down and Die suggests that its popularity is only partly explained by original observations or insights on the part of the author. The most important explanation, and implication, of the book's remarkable take‐up lies in the opportune way in which it corresponds with now ascendant neo‐conservative political perspectives on indigenous policy.     

Calcium-dependent binding of EDTA-extractable proteins to calf lens fiber membrane structures

Calf lens fiber membranes and fractions enriched in junction-like structures have been isolated in the absence and presence of EDTA. Their biochemical features have been studied. Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and immunoblotting experiments have provided evidence that a distinct group of EDTA-extractable proteins, being one of the main protein components of calf lens fiber membranes and very likely also of junction-like structures, is bound to these membranes via calcium ions. In addition to these proteins, four polypeptides with apparent molecular weights between 14 000 and 17 000 are characteristic for detergent-insoluble lens fiber structures prepared in calcium-rich medium. The absence of EDTA-extractable proteins in the urea-soluble calcium-containing fraction implies that they are not components of the cytoskeleton and that the calcium-dependent binding of these proteins to the membrane is urea-resistant. The use of EDTA throughout the whole membrane isolation procedure results in their complete removal from the membranes which already starts during buffer washing. This indicates that EDTA-extractable proteins exclusively consist of extrinsic membrane proteins which probably are not involved in cytoskeleton binding.     

Allylic palladium(II) triazenido complexes: synthesis and spectroscopic studies

Reaction of [Pd(1-3-η-allyl)Cl]₂ with lithium triazenide (triazenide = p-XC₆H₄NN-NC₆H₄X-p; X = Cl, H, CH₃) affords dimeric complexes of the type [Pd(1-3-η-allyl)(triazenide)]₂. In the solid state the triazenido ligands are bridging two palladium atoms with their terminal nitrogen atoms, as shown by a preliminary X-ray determination of the complex with X = CH₃. The allyl groups are stereochemically equivalent. ¹H NMR spectra demonstrate the presence of two conformers in solution. The major component has the same configuration found in the solid. The other conformer has stereochemically non equivalent allyl groups. The concentration ratio of the two conformers is independent of the temperature, suggesting the absence of intramolecular processes and of palladium- triazenido bond breaking. This point is discussed also by comparing the (1-3-η-allyl)(triazenide)palladium (II) dimers with the closely related(1-3-η-allyl)(acetate)palladium(II) complexes.     

Isolation and characterization of hog thyroid actin

When the thyroglobulin content is subtracted, actin represents approximately 4.6% of the total protein content in the hog thyroid gland. Actin has been isolated from acetone-dehydrated slices and purified to homogeneity by gel filtration, DEAE-cellulose chromatography and two polymerization-depolymerization cycles. Purified actin (Mr = 42000) contains the beta and gamma species with a 2 to 1 stoichiometry. In the presence of 0.1 M KCl and 2 mM MgCl2 thyroid actin polymerized into 6 nm diameter filaments; under these conditions the critical concentration was 30 micrograms/ml and the intrinsic viscosity 4.7 dl/g.