To share or divide power? Minorities in autonomous regions,the case of the autonomous region in Muslim Mindanao

Abstract

Autonomy granted to minority groups as a form of power-sharing may not necessarily address the representation and welfare needs of the smaller minorities within the autonomous government. Although numerically insignificant, the smaller minorities' disempowerment and discrimination can lead to these groups' further marginalization and weaken the democratic viability and legitimacy of the autonomy project. What institutional mechanisms would work best for minorities-within-minorities in an autonomous region? Should similar power-sharing or consociational arrangements be replicated within the region? Or, are power-dividing measures and the integrative approach more appropriate for regional stability and democratic governance? Analyzing the institutional design of and practices in the Philippines' Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, this paper concludes that a combination of power-sharing and power-dividing measures are needed to address the gaps in representation and protection of welfare of all ethnic groups for both the short- and long-term viability of regional autonomy.     

Daily rhythms in blood and milk lead toxicokinetics following intravenous administration of lead acetate to dairy cows in summer

The objective of this study was to investigate circadian variations of blood and milk lead toxicokinetics in dairy cows in summer. Twenty lactating Holstein animals were randomly assigned to four treatments corresponding to different hours after onset of light (HALO): 2, 8, 14, and 20. Cows received a single intravenous administration of 2.5 mg/kg lead as lead acetate. Blood and milk samples were taken and analyzed by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. For each toxicokinetic parameter, a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to outline the existence of daily variations. Significant blood differences as a function of HALO were found for the hybrid constant of distribution (α), hybrid constant of elimination (β), elimination half-life (), area under the curve (AUC), volume of distribution at steady state (V_ss) and clearance (Cl_B) (p<0.05). Half-life of elimination presented two peaks at 2 and 14 HALO. Milk data showed significant differences for maximum concentration and AUC (p<0.05). The ratio AUC_milk/AUC_blood was utilized to estimate penetration of lead in milk. It differed significantly throughout the day (p<0.05). Milk data for the significant parameters could be fitted to circadian rhythms. No circadian rhythms were detected in blood parameters or in the ratio AUC_milk/AUC_blood.     

Status of complete proteome analysis by mass spectrometry: SILAC labeled yeast as a model system

Background  

Mass spectrometry has become a powerful tool for the analysis of large numbers of proteins in complex samples, enabling much of proteomics. Due to various analytical challenges, so far no proteome has been sequenced completely. O'Shea, Weissman and co-workers have recently determined the copy number of yeast proteins, making this proteome an excellent model system to study factors affecting coverage.     

Optical imaging of luminescence for in vivo quantification of gene electrotransfer in mouse muscle and knee

Background  

Optical imaging is an attractive non-invasive way to evaluate the expression of a transferred DNA, mainly thanks to its lower cost and ease of realization. In this study optical imaging was evaluated for monitoring and quantification of the mouse knee joint and tibial cranial muscle electrotransfer of a luciferase encoding plasmid. Optical imaging was applied to study the kinetics of luciferase expression in both tissues.     

The four hexamerin genes in the honey bee: structure,molecular evolution and function deduced from expression patterns in queens,workers and drones

Background  

Hexamerins are hemocyanin-derived proteins that have lost the ability to bind copper ions and transport oxygen; instead, they became storage proteins. The current study aimed to broaden our knowledge on the hexamerin genes found in the honey bee genome by exploring their structural characteristics, expression profiles, evolution, and functions in the life cycle of workers, drones and queens.     

Mutations on the Switch III region and the alpha3 helix of Galpha16 differentially affect receptor coupling and regulation of downstream effectors

Background

Gα₁₆ can activate phospholipase Cβ (PLCβ) directly like Gα_q. It also couples to tetratricopeptide repeat 1 (TPR1) which is linked to Ras activation. It is unknown whether PLCβ and TPR1 interact with the same regions on Gα₁₆. Previous studies on Gα_q have defined two minimal clusters of amino acids that are essential for the coupling to PLCβ. Cognate residues in Gα₁₆ might also be essential for interacting with PLCβ, and possibly contribute to TPR1 interaction and other signaling events.

Results

Alanine mutations were introduced to the two amino acid clusters (246–248 and 259–260) in the switch III region and α3 helix of Gα₁₆. Regulations of PLCβ and STAT3 were partially weakened by each cluster mutant. A mutant harboring mutations at both clusters generally produced stronger suppressions. Activation of Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) by Gα₁₆ was completely abolished by mutating either clusters. Contrastingly, phosphorylations of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) were not significantly affected by these mutations. The interactions between the mutants and PLCβ2 and TPR1 were also reduced in co-immunoprecipitation assays. Coupling between G₁₆ and different categories of receptors was impaired by the mutations, with the effect of switch III mutations being more pronounced than those in the α3 helix. Mutations of both clusters almost completely abolished the receptor coupling and prevent receptor-induced Gβγ release.

Conclusion

The integrity of the switch III region and α3 helix of Gα₁₆ is critical for the activation of PLCβ, STAT3, and JNK but not ERK or NF-κB. Binding of Gα₁₆ to PLCβ2 or TPR1 was reduced by the mutations of either cluster. The same region could also differentially affect the effectiveness of receptor coupling to G₁₆. The studied region was shown to bear multiple functionally important roles of G₁₆.     

The MODS method for diagnosis of tuberculosis and multidrug resistant tuberculosis

Patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) infect 10-15 other persons per year, making diagnosing active TB essential to both curing the patient and preventing new infections. Furthermore, the emergence of multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDRTB) means that detection of drug resistance is necessary for stopping the spread of drug-resistant strains. The microscopic-observation drug-susceptibility (MODS) assay is a low-cost, low-tech tool for high-performance detection of TB and MDRTB. The MODS assay is based on three principles: 1) mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) grows faster in liquid media than on solid media 2) microscopic MTB growth can be detected earlier in liquid media than waiting for the macroscopic appearance of colonies on solid media, and that growth is characteristic of MTB, allowing it to be distinguished from atypical mycobacteria or fungal or bacterial contamination 3) the drugs isoniazid and rifampicin can be incorporated into the MODS assay to allow for simultaneous direct detection of MDRTB, obviating the need for subculture to perform an indirect drug susceptibility test. Competing current diagnostics are hampered by low sensitivity with sputum smear, long delays until diagnosis with solid media culture, prohibitively high cost with existing liquid media culture methods, and the need to do subculture for indirect drug susceptibility testing to detect MDRTB. In contrast, the non-proprietary MODS method has a high sensitivity for TB and MDRTB, is a relatively rapid culture method, provides simultaneous drug susceptibility testing for MDRTB, and is accessible to resource-limited settings at just under $3 for testing for TB and MDRTB.Download video file.^{(243M, mp4)}     

New steroidal aromatase inhibitors: Suppression of estrogen-dependent breast cancer cell proliferation and induction of cell death

Background  

Aromatase, the cytochrome P-450 enzyme (CYP19) responsible for estrogen biosynthesis, is an important target for the treatment of estrogen-dependent breast cancer. In fact, the use of synthetic aromatase inhibitors (AI), which induce suppression of estrogen synthesis, has shown to be an effective alternative to the classical tamoxifen for the treatment of postmenopausal patients with ER-positive breast cancer. New AIs obtained, in our laboratory, by modification of the A and D-rings of the natural substrate of aromatase, compounds 3a and 4a, showed previously to efficiently suppress aromatase activity in placental microsomes. In the present study we have investigated the effects of these compounds on cell proliferation, cell cycle progression and induction of cell death using the estrogen-dependent human breast cancer cell line stably transfected with the aromatase gene, MCF-7 aro cells.