College readiness: Massachusetts compiles the data

A new database that collects information on Massachusetts public high school graduates who enroll in Massachusetts public postsecondary institutions has become a powerful tool for policymaking and for helping students move successfully from high school to college.Education - Massachusetts ; Universities and colleges - Massachusetts

Objects of desire: creating legacies, one collection at a time

Although their motivations might appear different, both individual collectors and museum curators seek to define themselves and leave their mark on the world through the things that they acquire.Collectors and collecting

Chances aren't

While we tend to think of whom and when we marry as an individual decision, social and economic forces play a major role.Marriage ; Economics

Doing well by doing time?: at their best, prisons can help inmates leave more employable than when they arrived: but most aren't there yet

About 1.3 million people are incarcerated each year in federal and state prisons. Almost all will eventually be released. Can working while in prison help prepare them for life on the outside?Prisoners - Vocational education

Accidents will happen: so what improves workplace safety?

Improving safety in the workplace takes more than good intentions. It requires all parts of the economy—businesses, government, and employees—working together.Industrial safety

Virtual university: is online learning changing higher education?

By allowing students to "attend" class when and where they choose, online learning is changing higher education.Education ; Universities and colleges

A psychological effect of stereotypes

We don’t normally think of highly successful people as likely to suffer due to psychological pressure or stereotyping. But according to social psychologists, it is those most invested in their achievement who are most likely to fall prey to a kind of unconscious behavior known as stereotype threat.Discrimination in employment ; Sex discrimination against women ; Stereotype (Psychology)

Preserving our past: who should bear the cost of history?

When a modern architectural treasure is also the site of an ongoing business, how do we decide whether to preserve the past or make way for the future?Office buildings

A Molecular Basis for Stabilization of the von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) Tumor Suppressor Protein by Components of the VHL Ubiquitin Ligase

The multiprotein von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) tumor suppressor (CBCVHL, Cul2-Elongin BC-VHL) and SCF (Skp1-Cul1/Cdc53-F-box protein) complexes are members of structurally related families of E3 ubiquitin ligases that use a heterodimeric module composed of a member of the Cullin protein family and the RING finger protein Rbx1 (ROC1/Hrt1) to activate ubiquitylation of target proteins by the E2 ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes Ubc5 and Cdc34. VHL and F-box proteins function as the substrate recruitment subunits of CBCVHL and SCF complexes, respectively. In cells, many F-box proteins are short lived and are proposed to be ubiquitylated by an autocatalytic mechanism and destroyed by the proteasome following assembly into SCF complexes. In contrast, the VHL protein is stabilized by interaction with the Elongin B and C subunits of CBCVHL in cells. In this report, we have presented direct biochemical evidence that unlike the F-box protein Cdc4, which is ubiquitylated in vitro by Cdc34 in the context of the SCF, the VHL protein is protected from Ubc5-catalyzed ubiquitylation following assembly into the CBCVHL complex. CBCVHL is continuously required for negative regulation of hypoxia-inducible transcription factors in normoxic cells and of SCF complexes, many of which function only transiently during the cell cycle or in response to cellular signals. Our findings provide a molecular basis for the different modes of cellular regulation of VHL and F-box proteins and are consistent with the known roles of CBCVHL

Continual Reassessment and Related Dose-Finding Designs

During the last twenty years there have been considerable methodological developments in the design and analysis of Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 1/2 dose-finding studies. Many of these developments are related to the continual reassessment method (CRM), first introduced by O'Quigley, Pepe and Fisher (\citeyearQPF1990). CRM models have proven themselves to be of practical use and, in this discussion, we investigate the basic approach, some connections to other methods, some generalizations, as well as further applications of the model. We obtain some new results which can provide guidance in practice.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/10-STS332 the Statistical Science (http://www.imstat.org/sts/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org