Group graph of the genetic code

The genetic code doublets can be divided into two octets of completely degenerate and ambiguous coding dinucleotides. These two octets have the algebraic property of lying on continuously connected planes on the group graph (a tesseract) of the Cartesian product of two Klein 4-groups of nucleotide exchange operators. The K X K group can also be broken into four cosets, one of which has completely degenerate coding elements, and another that has completely ambiguous coding elements. The two octets of coding doublets have the further algebraic property that the product of their internal exchange operators naturally divide into two exactly equivalent sets. These properties of the genetic code are relevant to unraveling error-detecting and error-correcting (proof-reading) aspects of the genetic code and may be helpful in understanding the context-sensitive grammar of genetic language.     

Genomic Adaptation of the Lactobacillus casei Group

Lactobacillus casei, L. paracasei, and L. rhamnosus form a closely related taxonomic group (Lactobacillus casei group) within the facultatively heterofermentative lactobacilli. Here, we report the complete genome sequences of L. paracasei JCM 8130 and L. casei ATCC 393, and the draft genome sequence of L. paracasei COM0101, all of which were isolated from daily products. Furthermore, we re-annotated the genome of L. rhamnosus ATCC 53103 (also known as L. rhamnosus GG), which we have previously reported. We confirmed that ATCC 393 is distinct from other strains previously described as L. paracasei. The core genome of 10 completely sequenced strains of the L. casei group comprised 1,682 protein-coding genes. Although extensive genome-wide synteny was found among the L. casei group, the genomes of ATCC 53103, JCM 8130, and ATCC 393 contained genomic islands compared with L. paracasei ATCC 334. Several genomic islands, including carbohydrate utilization gene clusters, were found at the same loci in the chromosomes of the L. casei group. The spaCBA pilus gene cluster, which was first identified in GG, was also found in other strains of the L. casei group, but several L. paracasei strains including COM0101 contained truncated spaC gene. ATCC 53103 encoded a higher number of proteins involved in carbohydrate utilization compared with intestinal lactobacilli, and extracellular adhesion proteins, several of which are absent in other strains of the L. casei group. In addition to previously fully sequenced L. rhamnosus and L. paracasei strains, the complete genome sequences of L. casei will provide valuable insights into the evolution of the L. casei group.     

Proteins of the Group B Arbovirus Kunjin

Purified Kunjin virus was disrupted with sodium dodecyl sulfate, urea, and mercaptoethanol or acetic acid. Electrophoresis on 7.5% polyacrylamide gel separated four proteins of high (120,000), intermediate (65,000) and low (18,000 and 13,000) molecular weights. A "core" particle was obtained by degradation of the virion with deoxycholate at 0 C; it contained the viral ribonucleic acid and the two small structural proteins. The "envelope" material released from around the core was identified with the most prominent (intermediate) protein seen in electropherograms of virion proteins. In addition to the structural proteins, at least three additional proteins (specified by virus infection) were found in the cytoplasm. The cytoplasmic proteins associated with Kunjin virus differed in their electrophoretic profile from those associated with infection by the related Murray Valley encephalitis virus.     

Group differences in the structure of illness

Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry - The paper reports an attempt to study in a naturalistic and quantitative fashion the features of illness episodes. Such episodes, as perceived and reported by...     

Group differences in the structure of illness

The paper reports an attempt to study in a naturalistic and quantitative fashion the features of illness episodes. Such episodes, as perceived and reported by lay persons, constitute a basic datum in ethnomedicine. Yet, they have rarely been the object of systematic research for theoretical and methodological reasons. The paper discusses ways in which illness episodes have significance in ethnomedicine and in health services research generally, and describes a method which can be used in field situations to study them. The content, internal structure and organization which illness episodes have are given attention by analysing and measuring the components of illness in a panel of adult females who reside in the highland state of Chiapas in Southeastern Mexico. Comparisons are undertaken in the two most dissimilar subgroupings of the region. Some commonalities and group differences in the duration of symptoms and in the way symptoms interrelate are described. An interpretation of these differences is offered, with principal emphasis given to the social circumstances and to the (cultural) meanings of illness in the two groups. The procedure employed, which is consistent with the way in which vital signs are recorded in the hospital, lends itself to field studies of the way symptoms and signs of disease unfold in the individual across time. The idea of a language of illness, which is introduced and developed in the paper, is used to draw emphasis to the communicative and symbolic features of illness.     

百合‘Siberia’בManissa’种间杂交后代的染色体核型分析

以东方百合杂种系(Oriental hybrids group)品种‘Siberia’为母本,OT杂种系(interspecific hybrids betweenOriental and Longiflorum/OT group)品种‘Manissa’为父本杂交获得种间杂交F1代,对亲本及F1代株系的染色体数目和形态特征进行了分析。结果显示,母本东方百合‘Siberia’为二倍体即24条染色体,而父本‘Manissa’是高度杂合后代,为三倍体即36条染色体。杂交F1代的8个株系中有6个株系为二倍体即24条染色体,有2个株系为非整倍体,染色体条数分别为25和26条。母本‘Siberia’的核型为4m(1SAT)+10st(1SAT)+10t,父本‘Manis-sa’的核型为3m+18st(1SAT)+15t(1SAT),均属3B型。杂种F1代核型出现了多种类型,其中株系a、b、h为3B型,株系c、d、e、f为3A型,株系g为4B型。与亲本染色体形态相比,F1代株系出现了随体及端部着丝点染色体较多等染色体形态结构特征,而亲本没有这些特征。从染色体的形态、随体来看,子代为真杂种,在遗传上均偏向于母本。