The meeting of Eastern Europe and Yemen: ‘Idealistic workers’ and ‘natural workers’ in early Zionist settlement in Palestine

This study questions the customary thesis according to which the dominant status of the ashkenazim (European Jews) over the mizrachim (Middle Eastern and North African Jews) in Israeli society is to be explained by the earlier arrival of the former in Palestine. It does so by demonstrating that an early wave of Yemenite Jews, who arrived in Palestine simultaneously with the founding fathers, remained in a subservient social position. Archival sources, memoirs, and contemporary newspapers are used to explain the low status of Yemenite Jews by reference to the broader context of the Jewish‐Arab conflict as it took shape in Palestine's labour and land markets.     

Laying, development and hatching of eggs of the fish ectoparasite Argulus japonicus (Crustacea: Branchiura)

Egg laying of the fish-louse Argulus japonicus was observed and examined experimentally. The effect of temperature on development time and hatching yielded an inverse exponential function. Hatching started after 61–10 days in a temperature span of 15–35 °C. Eggs are laid in strings on hard substrata and covered by a gelatinous material. Females lay between 1–9 strings, 5–226 eggs per string, arranged in 1–6 rows. Four embryonic developmental stages were recognized and the mean hatching efficiency was 50% in the optimal temperature range of 20–30 °C. Hatching efficiency was not related to either the number of eggs in a string or the total number of eggs laid by any particular female. Argulus japonicus displays continuous egg-laying activity with a possibility of an overwintering mechanism which suggests a seasonality of a sort.     

The value of angiography prior to use of the latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap.

In 5 patients studied, preoperative angiography showed the thoracodorsal artery to be patent in two--both of them then had successful transfers of latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flaps. Obliteration of this artery was apparent in 3 patients, precluding the operation. We suggest that selective preoperative angiography be performed in all patients in whom a latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap transfer is being considered, as a patent thoracodorsal artery is essential to the success of this procedure.     

A forward-backward fragment assembling algorithm for the identification of genomic amplification and deletion breakpoints using high-density single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array

Background  

DNA copy number aberration (CNA) is one of the key characteristics of cancer cells. Recent studies demonstrated the feasibility of utilizing high density single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping arrays to detect CNA. Compared with the two-color array-based comparative genomic hybridization (array-CGH), the SNP arrays offer much higher probe density and lower signal-to-noise ratio at the single SNP level. To accurately identify small segments of CNA from SNP array data, segmentation methods that are sensitive to CNA while resistant to noise are required.     

Diversity in fertility potential and organo-sulphur compounds among garlics from Central Asia

Extending the collection of garlic (Allium sativum L.) accessions is an important means that is available for broadening the genetic variability of this cultivated plant, with regard to yield, quality, and tolerance to biotic and abiotic traits; it is also an important means for restoring fertility and flowering. In the framework of the EU project Garlic and Health, 120 garlic accessions were collected in Central Asia – the main centre of garlic diversity. Plants were documented and thereafter maintained in field collections in both Israel and The Netherlands. The collection was evaluated for biological and economic traits. Garlic clones vary in most vegetative characteristics (leaf number, bulb size and structure), as well as in floral scape elongation and inflorescence development. A clear distinction was made between incomplete bolting and bolting populations; most of the accessions in the latter populations produced flowers with fertile pollen and receptive stigma. Wide variations were recorded with regard to differentiation of topsets, their size, number and rapidity of development. Furthermore, significant variation in organo-sulphur compounds (alliin, isoalliin, allicin and related dipeptides) was found within garlic collections and between plants grown under differing environmental conditions. Genetic fingerprinting by means of AFLP markers revealed three distinct groups within this collection, differing also in flowering ability and organo-S content.     

Exploring the binding domain of EmrE, the smallest multidrug transporter

EmrE is a small multidrug transporter in Escherichia coli that extrudes various positively charged drugs across the plasma membrane in exchange with protons, thereby rendering cells resistant to these compounds. Biochemical experiments indicate that the basic functional unit of EmrE is a dimer where the common binding site for protons and substrate is formed by the interaction of an essential charged residue (Glu14) from both EmrE monomers. Previous studies implied that other residues in the vicinity of Glu14 are part of the binding domain. Alkylation of Cys replacements in the same transmembrane domain inhibits the activity of the protein and this inhibition is fully prevented by substrates of EmrE. To monitor directly the reaction we tested also the extent of modification using fluorescein-5-maleimide. While most residues are not accessible or only partially accessible, four, Y4C, I5C, L7C, and A10C, were modified at least 80%. Furthermore, preincubation with tetraphenylphosphonium reduces the reaction of two of these residues by up to 80%. To study other essential residues we generated functional hetero-oligomers and challenged them with various methane thiosulfonates. Taken together the findings imply the existence of a binding cavity accessible to alkylating reagents where at least three residues from TM1, Tyr40 from TM2, and Trp63 in TM3 are involved in substrate binding.