Cloning and expression in Escherichia coli of an esterase-coding gene from the oil-degrading bacterium Acinetobacter calcoaceticus RAG-1.

A putative esterase gene (est) from Acinetobacter calcoaceticus RAG-1 has been cloned into Escherichia coli. Esterase-positive clones exhibited high levels of esterase activity even in intact cells. In addition, expression of the est gene conferred on E. coli the ability to grow on simple triglycerides such as triacetin (TAC). The original esterase-positive plasmid pRA17 carried a 2.2-kb insert from a partial MboI digest of RAG-1 DNA, which gave a single band with RAG-1 DNA following Southern hybridization. By subcloning and sequencing the est gene was found to contain a sequence of 870 bp which could be translated to yield a protein of Mr 32,700. In support of the sequencing results was the finding that when pRA17 was expressed in minicells, a unique peptide of Mr 32,500 was identified. This peptide was not found in minicells transformed with esterase-negative plasmids, such as pRA176, which contained a Tn5 insertion in the est gene. The fact that the production of active esterase depended on the orientation of the est gene within the vector suggested that transcription proceeded from the tet promoter in pBR322.

EEG alpha reactivity and self-regulation correlates of smoking and smoking deprivation.

Twelve nonsmokers, ten ex-smokers, ten deprived smokers (2-3 hours), and ten nondeprived smokers were exposed to a short-term (18-sec) vigilance task and underwent 6 min of biofeedback-assisted alpha amplitude enhancement and suppression training. Cigarette smoking was found to be associated with decreased alpha suppression to the vigilance task. However, no consistent role of cigarette smoking in alpha self-regulation emerged from the results.

Type A personality as psychopathology: personality correlates and an abbreviated scoring system.

This study investigated the relationship between the Jenkins Activity Survey, a questionnaire developed to measure the Type A 'coronary-prone' personality described by Friedman and Rosenman, and other personality measures, comprising the Eysenck Personality Inventory, the Personal Deviance Scale, and a measure of Achievement Need. Significant correlations were obtained between Neuroticism and both the Type A scale, and the Speed and Impatience subscale of the J.A.S. The Type A scale was also found to correlate with Dominance and Extrapunitiveness, and the Speed and Impatience subscale correlated with Extrapunitiveness. No correlation was found between any J.A.S. scale and the measure of Achievement Need. When subjects were divided into Types A and B using the group mean as division point, significant differences in certain questionnaire variables, most noticeably in Neuroticism were apparent, with the Type A group being found significantly more Neurotic. Theoretical implications of this for susceptibility to stress-related disease were discussed. Additionally, the paper explored a briefer alternative to the complex, computerised scoring system for the J.A.S., and found this to correlate well with the weighted scoring system.

Conditional probabilities and the grid test for schizophrenic thought disorder.

The grid test for schizophrenic thought disorder was administered to a sample of 149 psychiatric patients. This sample was drawn from a population with a known base rate of schizophrenia and an estimated base rate of thought disorder, thus allowing for the calculation of population specific cutting scores for the grid test. The grid test, using these data along with others from previous grid test studies, was then analysed for diagnostic efficiency using conditional probability formulae. The conclusion reached is that the grid test for schizophrenic thought disorder is unsatisfactory as a diagnostic instrument.