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Compared with all other variables, SES appears to have the strongest association with academic achievement. However, it also appears that high fitness levels are positively associated with academic achievement in school-aged youth.

We investigated spin-to-charge conversion in sputtered Bi43Se57/Co20Fe60B20 heterostructures with in-plane magnetization at room temperature. High spin-to-charge conversion voltage signals have been observed at room temperature. The transmission electron microscope images show that the sputtered bismuth selenide thin films are nanogranular in structure. The spin-pumping voltage decreases with an increase in the size of the grains. The inverse Edelstein effect length (λIEE) is estimated to be as large as 0.32 nm. The large λIEE is due to the spin-momentum locking and is further enhanced by quantum confinement in the nanosized grains of the sputtered bismuth selenide films. We also investigated the effect on spin-pumping voltage due to the insertion of layers of MgO and Ag. The MgO insertion layer has almost completely suppressed the spin-pumping voltage, whereas the Ag insertion layer has enhanced the λIEE by 43%.

The maize P gene is a transcriptional regulator of genes encoding enzymes for flavonoid biosynthesis in the pathway leading to the production of a red phlobaphene pigment. Multiple alleles of the P gene confer distinct patterns of pigmentation to specific floral organs, such as the kernel pericarp and cob tissues. To determine the basis of allele-specific pigmentation, we have characterized the gene products and transcript accumulation patterns of the P-wr allele, which specifies colorless pericarps and red cob tissues. RNA transcripts of P-wr are present in colorless pericarps as well as in the colored cob tissues; however, the expression of P-wr in pericarp does not induce the accumulation of transcripts from the C2 and A1 genes, which encode enzymes for flavonoid pigment biosynthesis. The coding sequences of P-wr were compared with the P-rr allele, which specifies red pericarp and red cob. The P-wr and P-rr cDNA sequences are very similar in their 5' regions. There are only two nucleotide changes that result in amino acid differences; both are outside of the Myb-homologous DNA binding domain. In contrast, the 3' coding region of P-rr is replaced by a unique 210-bp sequence in P-wr. The predicted P-wr protein has a C-terminal sequence resembling a cysteine-containing metal binding domain that is not present in the P-rr protein. These results indicate that the differential pericarp pigmentation specified by the P-rr and P-wr alleles does not result from an absence of P-wr transcripts in pericarps. Rather, the allele-specific patterns of P-rr and P-wr pigmentation may be associated with structural differences in the proteins encoded by each allele.

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The maize Activator/Dissociation (Ac/Ds) elements are members of the hAT (hobo, Ac, and Tam3) superfamily of type II (DNA) transposons that transpose through a ''cut-and-paste'' mechanism. Previously, we reported that a pair of Ac ends in reversed orientation is capable of undergoing alternative transposition reactions that can generate large-scale chromosomal rearrangements, including deletions and inversions. We show here that rearrangements induced by reversed Ac ends transposition can join the coding and regulatory sequences of two linked paralogous genes to generate a series of chimeric genes, some of which are functional. To our knowledge, this is the first report demonstrating that alternative transposition reactions can recombine gene segments, leading to the creation of new genes.

This paper examines the potential use of the Life Purpose Questionnaire (LPQ), which is an uncomplicated paper-and-pencil instrument designed to measure an individual's sense of life meaning. Sense of life meaning is an important focus of Crumbaugh's logotherapy for alcoholics. Correlations between scores of the LPQ and the more complicated Purpose-in-Life Test are significant for three separate alcoholic groups. Based on these results, it is concluded that the LPQ can be used with alcoholics in order to obtain a quick and readily understandable measure of the individual's sense of life meaning.