While advances in retrofitting automobiles have enabled persons with disabilities to drive, many drivers, particularly those using wheelchairs, have difficulty pumping their own gas at self-service pumps and need refueling assistance. Due to dexterity and mobility disabilities, they cannot easily get in and out of their vehicles to use the controls, hose, or nozzle at the pumps. Despite the protections afforded by Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)1 and the laws in 25 states, drivers with disabilities are still finding it difficult to get the assistance they need. Full-service stations continue to disappear, and oil companies such as Exxon Mobil are getting out of the retail gas business due to low profits.2 The result of this trend may be that gasoline distributors will have fewer resources to devote to fuel pump accessibility. As wounded veterans return from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, this problem will affect increasing numbers of disabled drivers.

ABSTRACTXylella fastidiosa, the causal agent of several scorch diseases, is associated with leaf scorch symptoms inChitalpa tashkentensis, a common ornamental landscape plant used throughout the southwestern United States. For a number of years, many chitalpa trees in southern New Mexico and Arizona exhibited leaf scorch symptoms, and the results from a regional survey show that chitalpa trees from New Mexico, Arizona, and California are frequently infected withX. fastidiosa.Phylogenetic analysis of multiple loci was used to compare theX. fastidiosainfecting chitalpa strains from New Mexico, Arizona, and trees imported into New Mexico nurseries with previously reportedX. fastidiosastrains. Loci analyzed included the 16S ribosome, 16S-23S ribosomal intergenic spacer region, gyrase-B, simple sequence repeat sequences,X. fastidiosa-specific sequences, and the virulence-associated protein (VapD). This analysis indicates that theX. fastidiosaisolates associated with infected chitalpa trees in the Southwest are a highly related group that is distinct from the four previously defined taxonsX. fastidiosasubsp.fastidiosa(piercei),X. fastidiosasubsp.multiplex,X. fastidiosasubsp.sandyi, andX. fastidiosasubsp.pauca. Therefore, the classification proposed for this new subspecies isX. fastidiosasubsp.tashke.

The general objective of the "Rehabilitation Medicine Summit: Building Research Capacity" was to advance and promote research in medical rehabilitation by making recommendations to expand research capacity. The five elements of research capacity that guided the discussions were: (1) researchers; (2) research culture, environment, and infrastructure; (3) funding; (4) partnerships; and (5) metrics. The 100 participants included representatives of professional organizations, consumer groups, academic departments, researchers, governmental funding agencies, and the private sector. The small group discussions and plenary sessions generated an array of problems, possible solutions, and recommended actions. A post-Summit, multi-organizational initiative is called to pursue the agendas outlined in this report.

The general objective of the "Rehabilitation Medicine Summit: Building Research Capacity" was to advance and promote research in medical rehabilitation by making recommendations to expand research capacity. The 5 elements of research capacity that guided the discussions were (1) researchers; (2) research culture, environment, and infrastructure; (3) funding; (4) partnerships; and (5) metrics. The 100 participants included representatives of professional organizations, consumer groups, academic departments, researchers, governmental funding agencies, and the private sector. The small group discussions and plenary sessions generated an array of problems, possible solutions, and recommended actions. A post-Summit, multiorganizational initiative is called to pursue the agendas outlined in this article.

Zeins are alcohol soluble seed storage proteins synthesized within the endosperm of maize and subsequently deposited into endoplasmic reticulum (ER) derived protein bodies. The genes encoding the beta and delta zeins were previously introduced into tobacco with the expectation of improving the nutritional quality of plants (Bagga et al. in Plant Physiol 107:13, 1997). Novel protein bodies are produced in the leaves of transgenic plants accumulating the beta or delta zein proteins. The mechanism of protein body formation within leaves is unknown. It is also unknown how zeins are retained in the ER since they do not contain known ER retention motifs. Retention may be due to an interaction of zeins with an ER chaperone such as binding luminal protein (BiP). We have demonstrated protein–protein interactions with the delta zeins, beta zeins, and BiP proteins using an E. coli two-hybrid system. In this study, four putative BiP binding motifs were identified within the delta zein protein using a BiP scoring program (Blond-Elguindi et al. in Cell 75:717, 1993). These putative binding motifs were mutated and their effects on protein interactions were analyzed in both a prokaryotic two-hybrid system and in plants. These mutations resulted in reduced BiP–zein protein interaction and also altered zein–zein interactions. Our results indicate that specific motifs are necessary for BiP–delta zein protein interactions and that there are specific motifs which are necessary for zein–zein interactions. Furthermore, our data demonstrates that zein proteins must be able to interact with BiP and zeins for their stability and ability to form protein bodies.

Title: Reflections a Different Journey Author: Klein ISBN: 0071422692 Category: Parenting Trim Size: 6 x 9 UPC: 639785385547. Most parents of children with disabilities lack personal experience with adults with disabilities. Hearing from people who have lived the disability experience can provide all parents with essential information about the possibilities for their children. Reflections from a Different Journey comprises forty inspiring and realistic essays written by successful adult role models who share what it is like to grow up with a disability.Compiled by two award-winning advocates for the disabled, each eloquently written essay is an insightful source of wisdom, inspiration, and emotional support as well as a rare glimpse inside the lives and minds of people with many different disabilities - cerebral palsy, down syndrome, autism, learning disabilities, deafness, blindness, mental illness, developmental disabilities, spina bifida, muscular dystrophy, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, congenital amputation, and chronic health conditions. In preparing their essays, the authors were each asked to write about something they wished their own parents had read or been told while they were growing up.The essays, which demonstrate that, first and foremost, people with disabilities are human beings with the same needs and desires as people without disabilities, are arranged thematically: 'Love Me and Accept Me as I Am' essays express appreciation for parents who provided unconditional love and a sense of belonging and accepted them as whole people - including that part of them considered to be a disability. Are the Most Important Experts essays describe how their parents addressed their unique needs and became the most important experts in their lives. 'Parental Expectations' essays present different approaches to expectations and standards and encourage every child to have hopes and aspirations. 'Sexuality' essays explore how all children need to talk about and learn about intimacy and sexuality.'Education About Disability' essays explain why it is important for parents and children to learn all about a child's disability and how to facilitate necessary accommodations so that each child can enjoy a full life. foreword is written by Marlee Matlin, the Academy Award-winning actress who is deaf. afterword is written by the book's coeditor, John D. Kemp, a successful attorney and advocate for the disabled who was born without arms and legs.Brimming with a wealth of life-affirming lessons, Reflections from a Different Journey offers many specific suggestions for parents and family members of people with disabilities, older disabled children, and education and health care professionals. Stanley Klein, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist and frequent speaker to parents and health care and education professionals, has worked with children with disabilities and their parents for fifty years, and has received numerous national awards for his work. A cofounder and former editor in chief of Exceptional Parent magazine, Dr. Klein has coedited The Disabled Child and the Family, Isn't Fair: Siblings of Children with Disabilities, You Will Dream New Dreams: Inspiring Personal Stories by Parents of Children with Disabilities, and From There to Here: Stories of Adjustment to Spinal Cord Injury. He lives in Gloucester, Massachusetts. John Kemp is a successful Washington, DC, attorney and lifelong advocate for the rights of people with disabilities. He is a frequently sought-after speaker, giving up to fifty keynote presentations each year.Kemp has been recognized for his work on behalf of people with disabilities, including service as the 1960 National Easter Seal Society Poster Child, 1991 membership in the Horatio Alger Award of Distinguished Americans, the Freedom of the Human Spirit Award from the International Center for the Disabled, and an Honorary Doctorate of Laws and the Distinguished Alumni Fellow Award from his alma mater, Washburn University Law School.'As the mother of a son with profound physical disabilities, I want every parent of a child in similar circumstances to read this remarkable eye-opening book. lessons it brings from adults with disabilities are essential to giving our kids the start they deserve and to understanding how close their hopes and aspirations are to kids we see as 'normal' - Judy Woodruff. 'Advice to parents about how to raise and guide their children with disabilities is rarely offered in such a compelling and insightful way as it is in Reflections from a Different Journey. Nobody says it any better than people with disabilities themselves when topics such as risk taking, social acceptance, envisioning a life of greater independence, and all the challenges confronting any parent arise. These essays will educate, inform, and entertain every parent who wants to know how to be the very best parent he or she can be' - Senator Robert Dole.'The significant education for those helping, supporting, advising, and motivating people with disabilities is in listening to them. These writers with disabilities are brilliant in portraying their lives with pathos and even humor. Professionals and parents trying to achieve equality for people with disabilities must read this masterpiece' - Henry Betts, M.D., former medical director and CEO, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.'A fabulous contribution to the field of disabilities. Parents everywhere need to read this book. Everyone involved with children with disabilities needs to read it. It answers so many questions about what works and what doesn't. And it answers the questions in the most reliable manner - in the voice of the son or daughter' - Patricia McGill Smith, Senior Policy Advisor, National Down Syndrome Society.

Alfalfa and other forage legumes are high in protein but deficient in S-amino acids cysteine and methionine. Our long-term goal is to improve the protein content of forage legumes for ruminants by introducing into them functional genes encoding for proteins rich in sulfur amino acids that are ruminally stable. The δ- and β-zein proteins contain proportionately high levels of S-amino acids and the focus of this paper is to determine if the introduction of the zein genes into alfalfa is a valid approach towards improving the methionine content of alfalfa leaves. Towards accomplishing our goal we have transformed alfalfa with CaMV 35S-β-zein and CaMV 35S-δ-zein gene constructs individually and in combination. Our results demonstrate that as in tobacco both the β- and the δ-zeins accumulate in the leaves of alfalfa and that the co-expression of the two zein genes has a stabilizing effect on the δ-zein. However, the level of accumulation of the zeins in alfalfa leaves is not high enough to make a significant change in the methionine levels. Our preliminary data on rumen incubation experiments have demonstrated that the zeins are completely stable in the rumen of cows and thus qualify as the suitable rumen bypass protein that is rich in methionine.

ABSTRACT DNA from over 300 Bacillus thuringiensis , Bacillus cereus , and Bacillus anthracis isolates was analyzed by fluorescent amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP). B. thuringiensis and B. cereus isolates were from diverse sources and locations, including soil, clinical isolates and food products causing diarrheal and emetic outbreaks, and type strains from the American Type Culture Collection, and over 200 B. thuringiensis isolates representing 36 serovars or subspecies were from the U.S. Department of Agriculture collection. Twenty-four diverse B. anthracis isolates were also included. Phylogenetic analysis of AFLP data revealed extensive diversity within B. thuringiensis and B. cereus compared to the monomorphic nature of B. anthracis . All of the B. anthracis strains were more closely related to each other than to any other Bacillus isolate, while B. cereus and B. thuringiensis strains populated the entire tree. Ten distinct branches were defined, with many branches containing both B. cereus and B. thuringiensis isolates. A single branch contained all the B. anthracis isolates plus an unusual B. thuringiensis isolate that is pathogenic in mice. In contrast, B. thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki (ATCC 33679) and other isolates used to prepare insecticides mapped distal to the B. anthracis isolates. The interspersion of B. cereus and B. thuringiensis isolates within the phylogenetic tree suggests that phenotypic traits used to distinguish between these two species do not reflect the genomic content of the different isolates and that horizontal gene transfer plays an important role in establishing the phenotype of each of these microbes. B. thuringiensis isolates of a particular subspecies tended to cluster together.

Graduate training is one of the most important activities in which we engage. Through PhD training programs in pathology, we continually renew the intellectual vigor of our discipline and assure its position as a vibrant force in the life sciences. To focus on this important issue, the Education Committee of the American Society for Investigative Pathology (ASIP) organized a workshop on April 11, 2003 for pathology graduate program directors from across the United States and Canada. The goals of this workshop were to better define the current models of pathology graduate training programs, to identify key issues pertaining to the curriculum of pathology training programs and strategies to better market pathology graduate training opportunities, and to identify challenges for the future. Twenty-three program directors and other faculty interested in pathology graduate education, as well as 2 invited PhD students, attended the workshop. Workshop participants concluded that the integration of more and better disease-related education into graduate training programs would attract more and better-qualified students into pathology career pathways that will ultimately fulfill important societal needs and train future leaders of the biomedical research community. The ASIP is facilitating this goal by taking a leadership role in publicizing educational efforts in pathology and by making systematic use of its Website for sharing information about curriculum ideas and materials, as well as course syllabi.