In Drosophila embryos, dorsal-ventral polarity is defined by a signal transduction pathway that regulates nuclear import of the Dorsal protein. Dorsal protein's ability to act as a transcriptional activator of some zygotic genes and a repressor of others defines structure along the dorsal-ventral axis. Dorsal is a member of a group of proteins, the Rel-homologous proteins, whose activity is reg...

One important role of DIF, the stalk cell-specific inducer of Dictyostelium, may be to divert cells from the spore cell pathway of differentiation. The D19 gene encodes an mRNA which is highly enriched in prespore over prestalk cells in the migratory slug. We show, using a mutant defective in DIF accumulation, that the concentration of D19, and several other prespore mRNA sequences, decreases i...

The psychometric properties of instruments used to measure self-reported experiences of discrimination in epidemiologic studies are rarely assessed, especially regarding construct validity. The authors used 2000-2001 data from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study to examine differential item functioning (DIF) in 2 versions of the Experiences of Discrimination (EOD...

Background: To assess and correlate the clinical, histopathological and DIF features and compare the sensitivity of DIF with that of histopathology in autoimmune bullous disorders of skin. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive hospital based study was conducted on 45 patients who had active vesicobullous lesions. After a detailed cutaneous examination, two punch biopsies were taken, one from l...

Prespore and prestalk cells can be distinguished within aggregates of Dictyostelium by the expression of well-characterized cell type-specific genes. Fusion of the tagB regulatory region to Escherichia coli beta-galactosidase revealed that this prestalk specific gene marks the differentiation of the initial prestalk cell population, PST-1. The reporter gene was expressed normally in tagB- mutan...

Escherichia coli FtsK is a powerful, fast, double-stranded DNA translocase, which can strip proteins from DNA. FtsK acts in the late stages of chromosome segregation by facilitating sister chromosome unlinking at the division septum. KOPS-guided DNA translocation directs FtsK towards dif, located within the replication terminus region, ter, where FtsK activates XerCD site-specific recombination...

We have isolated cDNA clones derived from three mRNA sequences which are inducible by DIF, the putative stalk-specific morphogen of Dictyostelium. The three mRNA sequences are selectively expressed in cells on the stalk cell pathway of differentiation and we have compared them with previously characterized prestalk-enriched mRNA sequences. We find these latter sequences are expressed without a ...

The E. coli chromosome replication arms are polarized by motifs such as RRNAGGGS oligomers, found preferentially on leading strands. Their skew increases regularly from the origin to dif (the site in the center of the terminus where chromosome dimer resolution occurs), to reach a value of 90% near dif. Convergent information indicates that polarization in opposite directions from the dif region...

BACKGROUND Fairness is a critical component of defensible assessment. Candidates should perform according to ability without influence from background characteristics such as ethnicity or sex. However, performance differs by candidate background in many assessment environments. Many potential causes of such differences exist, and examinations must be routinely analysed to ensure they do not pre...