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There is currently an explosion of museum and heritage activity across Asia, especially in China, where audience development and public education have been made a government priority area for museums. In some Asian countries such as Singapore and Korea public participation is already well established. As yet, this is little documented and reviewed for a wider audience in Asia and beyond. This practical handbook examines and critiques these developments and asks how best practice can match the specific needs of diverse Asian cultures and societies. Prioritizing, understanding and developing the relationship between museums and their users in cultural contexts that may, but often do not prioritize the public is a key challenge for Asian museum professionals at all levels, and for foreign partners of Asian museums also. Bringing together a range of regional examples of innovative practice and new initiatives, written by current practitioners, the book covers shared themes and challenges in museums, galleries, outreach/community projects and heritage sites across Asia.

Small basic proteins present in most Archaea share a common ancestor with the eukaryotic core histones. We report the crystal structure of an archaeal histone-DNA complex. DNA wraps around an extended polymer, formed by archaeal histone homodimers, in a quasi-continuous superhelix with the same geometry as DNA in the eukaryotic nucleosome. Substitutions of a conserved glycine at the interface of adjacent protein layers destabilize archaeal chromatin, reduce growth rate, and impair transcription regulation, confirming the biological importance of the polymeric structure. Our data establish that the histone-based mechanism of DNA compaction predates the nucleosome, illuminating the origin of the nucleosome.

يحفل الكتاب بلوحات فنية رائعة نابضة بالحياة تعطينا فكرة واضحة ومعلومات قيمة عن الفنون اليابانية بشتى أشكالها تلك التي تعكس عراقة حضارته وتاريخه المملوء بالإنجازات العظيمة. كما نجد بين طيات الكتاب نبذة عن تاريخية عن الديانات التي اعتنقها اليابانيون، والحروب التي خاضوها فيما بينهم أو ضد جيرانهم.، وطرائق عيشهم وتقديرهم للفنون والمسرح ورعايتهم للرسامين والممثلين والفنانين عموما.

Pathogens rarely cause extinctions of host species, and there are few examples of a pathogen changing species richness and diversity of an ecological community by causing local extinctions across a wide range of species. We report the link between the rapid appearance of a pathogenic chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in an amphibian community at El Copé, Panama, and subsequent mass mortality and loss of amphibian biodiversity across eight families of frogs and salamanders. We describe an outbreak of chytridiomycosis in Panama and argue that this infectious disease has played an important role in amphibian population declines. The high virulence and large number of potential hosts of this emerging infectious disease threaten global amphibian diversity.

Background Prokaryotes have relatively small genomes, densely-packed with protein-encoding sequences. RNA sequencing has, however, revealed surprisingly complex transcriptomes and here we report the transcripts present in the model hyperthermophilic Archaeon , Thermococcus kodakarensis , under different physiological conditions. Results Sequencing cDNA libraries, generated from RNA isolated from cells under different growth and metabolic conditions has identified >2,700 sites of transcription initiation, established a genome-wide map of transcripts , and consensus sequences for transcription initiation and post-transcription regulatory elements. The primary transcription start sites (TSS) upstream of 1,254 annotated genes, plus 644 primary TSS and their promoters within genes, are identified. Most mRNAs have a 5'-untranslated region (5'-UTR) 10 to 50 nt long (median = 16 nt), but ~20% have 5'-UTRs from 50 to 300 nt long and ~14% are leaderless. Approximately 50% of mRNAs contain a consensus ribosome binding sequence. The results identify TSS for 1,018 antisense transcripts, most with sequences complementary to either the 5'- or 3'-region of a sense mRNA, and confirm the presence of transcripts from all three CRISPR loci, the RNase P and 7S RNAs, all tRNAs and rRNAs and 69 predicted snoRNAs. Two putative riboswitch RNAs were present in growing but not in stationary phase cells. The procedure used is designed to identify TSS but, assuming that the number of cDNA reads correlates with transcript abundance, the results also provide a semi-quantitative documentation of the differences in T. kodakarensis genome expression under different growth conditions and confirm previous observations of substrate-dependent specific gene expression. Many previously unanticipated small RNAs have been identified, some with relative low GC contents (≤50%) and sequences that do not fold readily into base-paired secondary structures, contrary to the classical expectations for non-coding RNAs in a hyperthermophile. Conclusion The results identify >2,700 TSS, including almost all of the primary sites of transcription initiation upstream of annotated genes, plus many secondary sites, sites within genes and sites resulting in antisense transcripts. The T. kodakarensis genome is small (~2.1 Mbp) and tightly packed with protein-encoding genes, but the transcriptomes established also contain many non-coding RNAs and predict extensive RNA-based regulation in this model Archaeon .

A growing body of literature points to a large-scale research approach as essential for understanding population and community ecology. Many of our advances regarding the spatial ecology of predators and prey can be attributed to research with insect parasitoids and their hosts. In this review, we focus on the progress that has been made in the study of the movement and population dynamics of hosts and their parasitoids in heterogeneous landscapes, and how this research approach may be beneficial to pest management programs. To date, few studies have quantified prey and predator rates and ranges of dispersal and population dynamics at the patch level-the minimum of information needed to characterize population structure. From host-parasitoid studies with sufficient data, it is clear that the spatial scale of dispersal can differ significantly between a prey and its predators, local prey extinctions can be attributed to predators and predator extinction risk at the patch level often exceeds that of the prey. It is also evident that populations can be organized as a single, highly connected (patchy) population or as semi-independent extinction-prone local populations that collectively form a persistent metapopulation. A prey and its predators can also differ in population structure. At the landscape level, agricultural studies indicate that predator effects on its prey often spill over between the crop and surrounding area (matrix) and can depend strongly on landscape structure (e.g. the proportion of suitable habitat) at scales extending well beyond the crop margins. In light of existing empirical data, predator-prey models are typically spatially unrealistic, lacking important details on boundary responses and movement behaviour within and among patches. The tools exist for conducting empirical and theoretical research at the landscape level and we hope that this review calls attention to fertile areas for future exploration.

Background Histone wrapping of DNA into nucleosomes almost certainly evolved in the Archaea, and predates Eukaryotes. In Eukaryotes, nucleosome positioning plays a central role in regulating gene expression and is directed by primary sequence motifs that together form a nucleosome positioning code. The experiments reported were undertaken to determine if archaeal histone assembly conforms to the nucleosome positioning code. Results Eukaryotic nucleosome positioning is favored and directed by phased helical repeats of AA/TT/AT/TA and CC/GG/CG/GC dinucleotides, and disfavored by longer AT-rich oligonucleotides. Deep sequencing of genomic DNA protected from micrococcal nuclease digestion by assembly into archaeal nucleosomes has established that archaeal nucleosome assembly is also directed and positioned by these sequence motifs, both in vivo in Methanothermobacter thermautotrophicus and Thermococcus kodakarensis and in vitro in reaction mixtures containing only one purified archaeal histone and genomic DNA. Archaeal nucleosomes assembled at the same locations in vivo and in vitro, with much reduced assembly immediately upstream of open reading frames and throughout the ribosomal rDNA operons. Providing further support for a common positioning code, archaeal histones assembled into nucleosomes on eukaryotic DNA and eukaryotic histones into nucleosomes on archaeal DNA at the same locations. T. kodakarensis has two histones, designated HTkA and HTkB, and strains with either but not both histones deleted grow normally but do exhibit transcriptome differences. Comparisons of the archaeal nucleosome profiles in the intergenic regions immediately upstream of genes that exhibited increased or decreased transcription in the absence of HTkA or HTkB revealed substantial differences but no consistent pattern of changes that would correlate directly with archaeal nucleosome positioning inhibiting or stimulating transcription. Conclusions The results obtained establish that an archaeal histone and a genome sequence together are sufficient to determine where archaeal nucleosomes preferentially assemble and where they avoid assembly. We confirm that the same nucleosome positioning code operates in Archaea as in Eukaryotes and presumably therefore evolved with the histone-fold mechanism of DNA binding and compaction early in the archaeal lineage, before the divergence of Eukaryotes.

Amphibian populations are declining on all continents on which they occur, but not all species have been affected equally. Populations of some species are extirpated, others have declined but survive, some have not obviously declined, and some are increasing. If amphibian populations at multiple sites were affected by the same factors, then surviving species should share traits that promote persistence, whereas declining species should share traits that promote susceptibility. Identifying these traits can help diagnose potential causes and thus help to direct conservation actions. Using logistic regression, we quantified the vulnerability of amphibian populations in four areas in Central America. We analyzed a species-specific database of taxonomic identity, geographic and elevational range, elevational distribution, adult and larval habitat, activity period, and maximum adult body size. We found that (1) all four sites exhibited the same pattern of decline (there were no interactions between site and other variables); (2) declining populations shared aquatic habitats, restricted elevational ranges, and large body sizes; and (3) there was an interaction between body size and elevational range. The most significant variable in the model was lifetime aquatic index, a factor unrelated to demographic vulnerability and one that therefore might indicate the potential causative agent(s). Our results provide a predictive model with which to assess potential causes of population declines in other areas, and we generated a list of 52 species predicted to decline at a currently unaffected site in central Panama.

Nineteen Thermococcus kodakarensis strains have been constructed, each of which synthesizes a different His 6 -tagged protein known or predicted to be a component of the archaeal DNA replication machinery. Using the His 6 -tagged proteins, stable complexes assembled in vivo have been isolated directly from clarified cell lysates and the T. kodakarensis proteins present have been identified by mass spectrometry. Based on the results obtained, a network of interactions among the archaeal replication proteins has been established that confirms previously documented and predicted interactions, provides experimental evidence for previously unrecognized interactions between proteins with known functions and with unknown functions, and establishes a firm experimental foundation for archaeal replication research. The proteins identified and their participation in archaeal DNA replication are discussed and related to their bacterial and eukaryotic counterparts. IMPORTANCE DNA replication is a central and essential event in all cell cycles. Historically, the biological world was divided into prokaryotes and eukaryotes, based on the absence or presence of a nuclear membrane, and many components of the DNA replication machinery have been identified and characterized as conserved or nonconserved in prokaryotic versus eukaryotic organisms. However, it is now known that there are two evolutionarily distinct prokaryotic domains, Bacteria and Archaea , and to date, most prokaryotic replication research has investigated bacterial replication. Here, we have taken advantage of recently developed genetic techniques to isolate and identify many proteins likely to be components of the archaeal DNA replication machinery. The results confirm and extend predictions from genome sequencing that the archaeal replication system is less complex but more closely related to a eukaryotic than to a bacterial replication system. DNA replication is a central and essential event in all cell cycles. Historically, the biological world was divided into prokaryotes and eukaryotes, based on the absence or presence of a nuclear membrane, and many components of the DNA replication machinery have been identified and characterized as conserved or nonconserved in prokaryotic versus eukaryotic organisms. However, it is now known that there are two evolutionarily distinct prokaryotic domains, Bacteria and Archaea , and to date, most prokaryotic replication research has investigated bacterial replication. Here, we have taken advantage of recently developed genetic techniques to isolate and identify many proteins likely to be components of the archaeal DNA replication machinery. The results confirm and extend predictions from genome sequencing that the archaeal replication system is less complex but more closely related to a eukaryotic than to a bacterial replication system.