Dysregulation of apoptosis can result in inappropriate suppression of cell death, as occurs in the development of some cancers, or in failure to control the extent of cell death, as is believed to occur in acquired immunodeficiency and certain neurodegenerative disorders, such as spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Recently, we isolated a candidate gene, encoding neuronal apoptosis inhibitor protein (NAIP), for SMA. This gene is homologous to two baculovirus inhibitor of apoptosis proteins (Cp-IAP and Op-IAP) and is partly deleted in individuals with type I SMA. A second SMA candidate gene encoding survival motor neuron (SMN), which is contiguous with the NAIP locus on 5q13.1, was also reported. Here we demonstrate a NAIP-mediated inhibition of apoptosis induced by a variety of signals, and have identified three additional human complementary DNAs and a Drosophila melanogaster sequence that are also homologous to the baculovirus IAPs. The four open reading frames (ORFs) possess three baculoviral inhibition of apoptosis protein repeat (BIR) domains and a carboxy-terminal RING zinc-finger. The human iap genes have a distinct but overlapping pattern of expression in fetal and adult tissues. These proteins significantly increase the number of known apoptotic suppressors.

Irrespective of regional differences, high-risk behaviour of needle sharing and low condom use makes IDU a critical subpopulation for HIV prevention interventions. Interventions need to address the differing drug use patterns in the regions and transmission prevention among non-paid regular and casual female partners of IDU in the northeast districts and paid female partners in Mumbai/Thane.

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Excited states in 208 Pb have been studied by measuring ␥ rays in time coincidence with reaction charged particles. 208 Pb states were produced with both the 207 Pb(d, p) 208 Pb and 209 Bi(t,␣) 208 Pb reactions. The energy resolution of the particle spectra of 100 keV allowed a rough determination of level excitation, which then was determined with high resolution from the coincident ␥ decay measured in Ge detectors. Many new ␥ transitions have been found and previously unresolved multiplets of states resolved. The data give spectroscopic factors for neutron transfer and proton pickup. Spins and parities of levels could be deduced from their ␥ decays. A least squares fit of all ␥ energies gave very precise ͑0.1 keV͒ level energies. All states predicted by the shell model below 4.6 MeV are now found and their spins determined unambiguously. ͓S0556-2813͑97͒03009-4͔PACS number͑s͒: 21.60. Cs, 23.20.Lv, 25.45.Hi, 27.80.ϩw II. THE 209 Bi"t,␣␥… 208 Pb EXPERIMENT A. Design of the experiment and proceduresThe 209 Bi(t,␣␥) 208 Pb reaction was used to excite levels in 208 Pb. Due to the huge positive energy balance of this

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A y-ray cascade in ' Hg consisting of seventeen members is reported. The transition spacing is characteristic of a superdeformed band, and we propose it to be the second instance of superdeformation in the Hg region. We find the lowest spin in the band is likely to be Sh using a new method for obtaining spins in some superdeformed nuclei.Several theoretical calculations ' have predicted secondary minima in the potential-energy surfaces of the moderately neutron-dencient Hg nuclei at the collective coordinates corresponding to (P, y) (0.54,0). Quasistationary states in these minima are therefore characterized by large prolate deformation and major/minor axis ratio equal to 1.6. Weiss and co-workers' have shown the early results of microscopic three-dimensional Hartree-Fock calculations for the Hg isotopes in 1987. Detailed potential-energy landscapes obtained with the Skyrme potential together with a pairing term are presented in Ref. 2. Girod et al. used the constrained triaxial Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov approach and the Gogny interaction. Chasman5 has done calculations for nuclides near A 190 using the cranked Strutinsky method with a Woods-Saxon potential. Whatever the approach, all calculations predict a secondary minimum in the energy surface at large prolate deformation for Hg nuclei near A 194, and suggesta new region of superdeformation (SD). Predictions include the depth of the SD minimum, its excitation relative to the normal minimum, and moments of inertia for SD bands. These calculations predict deeper secondary minima at lower excitation than those in the A 152 region. Moore et al. studied ' 'Hg and found a y-ray cascade characteristic of a SD band. Direct lifetime measurements supported the highly collective nature of the band [Q, 18(3) e b corresponding to P 0.55].We report observation of a SD band in the nucleus Hg, located simultaneously by us and by the Argonne group, and describe the evidence for the second such band in this mass region. We also propose a method for 6nding spins in such bands.We populated levels in ' Hg with the ' Yb( Ne, 6n) ' Hg reaction at E( Ne) 122 MeV. At this energy, the compound nucleus ' Hg has an excitation energy 78 MeV and a maximum angular momentum, l,"-496.Beam currents on the order of 2 pnA struck a target of three stacked ' Yb foils ( -450, 450, and 700 mg/cm thick) mounted at the center of the 21-Ge-detector array HERA. The beam was produced by the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory 88-Inch Cyclotron. Just before this exper-iment, HERA was augmented by an inner 4tr "ball" of 40 bismuth germanate (BGO) detectors. Approximately 600 million events were collected onto magnetic tape for subsequent analysis. Double Ge coincidences with ball multiplicity condition M& 8 and all higher-order Ge coincidences were recorded. The fraction of triple or higherorder Ge coincidences under these conditions was -25% and the observed ratio of ' Hg(2+~0+)/' 3Hg( -", + --' , " ) -3/1. Initial sorting of the data into a two-parameter matrix symmetric in E"was done with BGO ball conditions o...

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