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During an adenovirus infection, the viral protein E4 11k is responsible for relocalizing specific host cell proteins in order to disrupt normal cellular function to support viral replication. E4 11k has been shown to relocalize processing body (p body) proteins to cytoplasmic aggresomes. These aggresomes are regions of misfolded protein storage that are induced when there is cellular stress. The p body protein Ddx6 has been found in E4 11k-induced aggresomes, but it remained in p bodies in cells treated with the chemical stressor cadmium chloride (CdCl2). Ddx6 was also found to bind directly to E4 11k, which suggests that E4 11k may possess a mechanism to relocate Ddx6 during an infection. Ddx6, along with Pat1b and Edc3, are scaffolding proteins involved in p body formation. As scaffolding proteins are involved in many protein-protein interactions, it is likely the mechanism E4 11k uses to relocate other p body proteins is through interaction with one of these proteins. HeLa cells will be treated with CdCl2 to induce aggresome formation and several p body proteins will be stained, along with gamma tubulin, to indicate which p body proteins are relocalized to aggresomes. We expect at least one p body scaffolding protein to move to aggresomes during this cellular stress., Recommended Citation Authors Heather Vincent (*), Georgia College and State University Follow Sarah West (*), Georgia College and State University Follow Kasey Karen, Georgia College and State University Follow Vincent [...]

There are two potentially important efficiency rationales for alcohol taxes. First, they help to mitigate various external costs of alcohol abuse, such as the risks to others posed by drunk [...], This paper provides a first attempt to estimate the cross-price elasticity between alcoholic beverages and leisure, which is critical for assessing how much alcohol taxation might be warranted on fiscal grounds. We estimate a demand system defined over alcohol, leisure, and other goods, using data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey and other sources. Our results suggest that alcohol is a relative complement for leisure over a range of specifications. This implies that the optimal alcohol tax may substantially exceed the Pigouvian tax, reinforcing the efficiency case for higher taxation. These findings should be viewed as preliminary, however, given data and other limitations.

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2006.08.007 Byline: Sarah E. West (a), Roberton C. Williams (b)(c) Keywords: Optimal taxation; Gasoline; Labor supply; Second-best environmental taxes; Demand system Abstract: This study estimates parameters necessary to calculate the optimal second-best gasoline tax, most notably the cross-price elasticity between gasoline and leisure. Prior theoretical work indicates the importance of this elasticity, but despite this, almost none of the prior studies of commodity taxation (and none of the studies on second-best environmental regulation) actually estimate it. Using household data, we find that gasoline is a relative complement to leisure, and thus that the optimal gasoline tax is significantly higher than marginal damages-the opposite of the result suggested by the bulk of the prior literature. Indeed, even if there were no externalities at all associated with gasoline, the optimal tax rate would still be almost equal to the average gas tax rate in the U.S. Following this approach to estimate cross-price elasticities with leisure could strongly influence estimates of optimal rates for other important commodity or pollution taxes. Author Affiliation: (a) Department of Economics, Macalester College, 1600 Grand Ave., St. Paul, MN 55105, United States (b) Department of Economics, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, United States (c) NBER Article History: Received 15 January 2006; Revised 29 August 2006; Accepted 31 August 2006 Article Note: (footnote) [star] For their helpful comments and suggestions, we thank Don Fullerton, Eban Goodstein, Larry Goulder, Michael Greenstone, Dan Hamermesh, Shulamit Kahn, Gib Metcalf, Ian Parry, Raymond Robertson, Emmanuel Saez, Dan Slesnick, Steve Trejo, Pete Wilcoxen, Frank Wolak, Ann Wolverton, several anonymous referees, and seminar participants at the Brookings Institution, the NBER Environmental Economics Working Group, the Universities of California (Berkeley and Santa Barbara), Maryland, Minnesota, Texas, and Virginia, Syracuse University, the Southern Economics Association, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. For their excellent research assistance, we thank Chris Lyddy, Trey Miller, and Jim Sallee. Williams is grateful for financial support from the Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution and from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2006.03.007 Byline: Soren T. Anderson (a), Sarah E. West (b) Keywords: Open space; Hedonic; Home values; Fixed effects; Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Abstract: We use hedonic analysis of home transaction data from the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area to estimate the effects of proximity to open space on sales price. We allow the effects of proximity to vary with demographic and location-specific characteristics and include fixed effects to control for observed and unobserved neighborhood characteristics. We find that the value of proximity to open space is higher in neighborhoods that are dense, near the central business district, high-income, high-crime, or home to many children. Using the metropolitan area's average value may substantially overestimate or underestimate the value of open space in particular neighborhoods. Author Affiliation: (a) Department of Economics, University of Michigan, USA (b) Macalester College, Department of Economics, 1600 Grand Ave., St. Paul, MN 55105, USA Article History: Accepted 31 March 2006

A study conducted to analyze the effects of proximity to open spaces on sales prices of residential property, using geographic information systems is presented.

A comparison of the policy costs of gasoline taxes and tighter corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards reveals that increasing the gasoline tax would lead to a welfare gain whereas the alternative would almost certainly lead to a welfare loss. Given these results, it is unfortunate that policymakers are focusig on the CAFE rather than increasing the gas tax.

The significance of vehicle emissions taxes on local pollutants and is impact on poor vehicles owners is discussed.

The distributional effects of increasing the gasoline tax, under a range of assumptions about how the revenue is recycled and for a range of different incidence measures are analyzed. The results suggest that using the additional gas tax revenue to fund labor tax cuts makes the policy substantially less regressive while using the revenue to fund lump-sum transfers actually makes it progressive.

Distributional effects, by estimating the joint demand for vehicles and miles, using the consumer expenditure survey is examined. Greater price responsiveness among low income household enhances progress of gas or mile taxes across lower incomes, and mitigates regressivity across upper incomes.

It is argued that a tax on emissions is efficient but the measurement of every car's emission would be inaccurate and expensive. The second-best uniform tax rates on gasoline and on car characteristics are described.

This study examined perceptions of academic stress among male and female college students, and compared faculty and student perceptions of students' academic stress. The sample consisted of 249 students and [...]