From owner-diagnostics@net.bio.net Mon Jul 14 23:00:00 1997 Path: biosci!biosci!not-for-mail From: BIOSCI Administrator Newsgroups: bionet.diagnostics Subject: Apologies for bionet.diagnostics interrupted service Date: 15 Jul 1997 15:46:44 -0700 Organization: BIOSCI International Newsgroups for Molecular Biology Lines: 12 Sender: daemon@net.bio.net Approved: biosci-help@net.bio.net Distribution: world Message-ID: Reply-To: biosci-help@net.bio.net NNTP-Posting-Host: net.bio.net Dear DIAGNOSTICS users, Last week we changed the moderator address, and we have been having problems posting from moderator to bboard. We apologize for the interruption and want you to know that we are working diligently to try to solve the problem. Serge Taylor Biosci Administrator Stanford University Libraries From owner-diagnostics@net.bio.net Tue Jul 15 23:00:00 1997 Path: biosci!biosci!not-for-mail From: Rolf Kocherhans Newsgroups: bionet.diagnostics Subject: Free practical programs for molecular biologists !!! Date: 16 Jul 1997 06:44:55 -0700 Organization: University of Zurich Lines: 77 Sender: daemon@net.bio.net Approved: odonnell@sasa.gov.uk Distribution: world Message-ID: <5qij8n$41b@net.bio.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: net.bio.net I wrote a few practical and simple to use programs which facilitate your daily work in the lab such as predicting the size of DNA fragments after digestion (graphical) with restriction enzymes. I would like to make these programs accessible to a broad user group by the Internet. All programs have been tested on MacOS and Windows95. My programs are accessible over the WWW and made functional using Netscape 2.x or Internet Explorer 2.x or higher in association with a free plugin which you have to download and install first. This is what you do: - Download the Roadster plugin http://www.unizh.ch/vetvir/plugin.html) install it on your computer. - Then connect to: http://www.unizh.ch/vetvir/programs.html That's it !! These are my programs which make your live as a molecular biologist easier ! Find here a few more examples or my programs: a. Digest Preview: Enter the size(s) of your DNA fragment(s) and see their migration pattern in a virtual gel in comparison to a 1 kb ladder. b. Adapter Design: Helps to create in frame adapters in order to link incompatible DNA ends together. c. Dilution Calculator: Does all the calculations when you have to make up solutions There are many other programs such as Oligo Tm, Compatible ends etc. Please have a look, comments are welcome! Have fun Rolf Kocherhans mailto:rolfk@vetvir.unizh.ch Robert Burns Monoclonal Antibody Unit Scottish Agricultural Science Agency East Craigs Edinburgh Scotland burns@sasa.gov.uk Robert Burns Monoclonal Antibody Unit Scottish Agricultural Science Agency East Craigs Edinburgh Scotland burns@sasa.gov.uk From owner-diagnostics@net.bio.net Thu Jul 17 23:00:00 1997 Path: biosci!biosci!not-for-mail From: Stuart Harbron Newsgroups: bionet.diagnostics Subject: Literature and Patents Date: 18 Jul 1997 01:30:10 -0700 Organization: Nildram Ltd Lines: 19 Sender: daemon@net.bio.net Approved: odonnell@sasa.gov.uk Distribution: world Message-ID: <5qn9ii$ird@net.bio.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: net.bio.net These two pages contain useful summary tables of recent scientific and patent literature in the clinical, veterinary and environmental diagnostics fields: Literature: http://www.experts.co.uk/dbsumm.htm Patents: http://www.experts.co.uk/dpsumm.htm Stuart Harbron harbron@nildram.co.uk Stuart Harbron, PhD Experts http://www.experts.co.uk Tel: +44 (0) 1442 873012 Fax: +44 (0) 1442 384084 From owner-diagnostics@net.bio.net Thu Jul 17 23:00:00 1997 Path: biosci!biosci!not-for-mail From: b823702 Newsgroups: bionet.diagnostics Subject: detergent required to solubilize lipoproteins Date: 18 Jul 1997 01:29:19 -0700 Organization: BIOSCI International Newsgroups for Molecular Biology Lines: 18 Sender: daemon@net.bio.net Approved: odonnell@sasa.gov.uk Distribution: world Message-ID: <5qn9gv$iq5@net.bio.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: net.bio.net Hi everyone, I am finding a detergent which will solubilize human serum lipoprotein in nitrocellulose membrane. I have already tried various detergents from non-ionic to ionic detergents which include triton X-100, Brij 35 and sodium deoxycholate etc.... These detergents work well in solution, however it does not work well in NC membrane. I found that the detergent micelles distributed unevenly in NC membrane and it could be due to the micelles were precipitated out in NC membrane or the lipoprotein was incompletely solubilized by the detergent in NC membrane. Therefore the micelles concentration over the entire NC membrane is different and inconsistence. Can anyone help ? All advice or idea is all welcomed. Please reply to my e-mail alexis@cuhk.edu.hk With many thanks Alexis From owner-diagnostics@net.bio.net Thu Jul 17 23:00:00 1997 Path: biosci!biosci!not-for-mail From: Arnold Tamarin Newsgroups: bionet.diagnostics Subject: vet diagnostic help Date: 18 Jul 1997 01:29:19 -0700 Organization: University of Washington Lines: 3 Sender: daemon@net.bio.net Approved: odonnell@sasa.gov.uk Distribution: world Message-ID: <5qn9gv$iq7@net.bio.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: net.bio.net Does anyone know of a site for veternary diagnostic help? All suggestions appreciated. Thanks From owner-diagnostics@net.bio.net Thu Jul 17 23:00:00 1997 Path: biosci!biosci!not-for-mail From: b823702 Newsgroups: bionet.diagnostics Subject: Dry reagent strip Date: 18 Jul 1997 07:45:52 -0700 Organization: BIOSCI International Newsgroups for Molecular Biology Lines: 29 Sender: daemon@net.bio.net Approved: odonnell@sasa.gov.uk Distribution: world Message-ID: <5qnvj0$rpt@net.bio.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: net.bio.net Dear all, I am working on a project for the development in dry reagent strip. NC and Nylon membrane was used as the reagent layer which contain the enzymes/chromogens react with the analyte to generate the colour change that will be proportional to the amount of the analyte in sample being analysed. My main problem is that the colour formed in the reagent layer appeared unevenly so that no consistent results can be obtained. Does anyone who have the experience in development of dry diagnostic reagent strip can offer me some help or advice ?? With many thanks Alexis Robert Burns Monoclonal Antibody Unit Scottish Agricultural Science Agency East Craigs Edinburgh Scotland burns@sasa.gov.uk From owner-diagnostics@net.bio.net Thu Jul 17 23:00:00 1997 Path: biosci!biosci!not-for-mail From: Jan Conradie Newsgroups: bionet.diagnostics Subject: Cassetts Date: 18 Jul 1997 07:45:24 -0700 Organization: BIOSCI International Newsgroups for Molecular Biology Lines: 20 Sender: daemon@net.bio.net Approved: odonnell@sasa.gov.uk Distribution: world Message-ID: <5qnvi4$rgf@net.bio.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: net.bio.net I am looking for molded plastic cassettes (containers) for holding strips used in rapid diagnostics. Anyone where one can buy this?. Thanks Martin Bubb Robert Burns Monoclonal Antibody Unit Scottish Agricultural Science Agency East Craigs Edinburgh Scotland burns@sasa.gov.uk From owner-diagnostics@net.bio.net Thu Jul 17 23:00:00 1997 Path: biosci!biosci!not-for-mail From: Michal Opas Newsgroups: bionet.diagnostics Subject: Calreticulin Meeting: 1st circular Date: 18 Jul 1997 09:44:59 -0700 Organization: BIOSCI International Newsgroups for Molecular Biology Lines: 323 Sender: daemon@net.bio.net Approved: odonnell@sasa.gov.uk Distribution: world Message-ID: <5qo6ib$e5o@net.bio.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: net.bio.net Dear Colleague, We are delighted to announce that Calreticulin Workshop, devoted to the structure and function of calreticulin and related proteins, will take place on March 31 - April 2, 1998 in Banff, Alberta, Canada. The Workshop will provide unique opportunity to meet and interact with the scientists interested in calreticulin research in spectacular surroundings of Banff National Park in Canadian Rocky Mountains. We are sure that the Banff Calreticulin Workshop will be an important forum to share the latest findings and to develop future interactions. Calreticulin has been implicated to play a role in almost every aspect of cell biology as outlined in a brief overview below. We hope that the Workshop will be useful to sort out some of the latest discoveries and controversies concerning calreticulin and implication of this protein in a variety of biological systems. On the behalf of the Organizing Committee we would like to invite you to participate in the Workshop. The Calreticulin Workshop is a satellite meeting to the 8th Fisher Winternational Symposium on Cellular and Molecular Biology which will be held April 2-5, 1998, also at the Banff Conference Centre. The Winternational Symposium, which is co-sponsored by our Society and Fisher Scientific, is held annually, with a different focus each year. The theme for the 1998 meeting is : "Membrane Proteins in Health and Disease." Further information about the Fisher Winternational or the satellite meetings can be obtained by visiting the Society's web site at http://www.csbmcb.ca/english/bulletin/winternational.e.html or by contacting the Chair of the Scientific Program Committee by E-mail: Carol Cass . I hope you will participate in the Calreticulin Workshop. If you would like to receive further information please send a request (if possible, by e-mail) to Michal Opas at: m.opas@utoronto.ca or at: Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology University of Toronto Medical Sciences Building Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1A8 Canada tel: (416) 978-8947 fax: (416) 978-3954 I look forward to hearing from you in the near future. For The Organizing Committee Sincerely yours Michal Opas Calreticulin, a multifunctional protein Calreticulin, 60 kDa Ca-binding protein [1], is a major component of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of non-muscle cells [2-7]. The protein is of high physiological importance as it knockout is embryonic lethal [8]. Along with a wide tissue distribution [9], calreticulin is present in diverse animal and plant species [10]. calreticulin is a resident ER protein as demonstrated by a variety of biochemical and immunological techniques [1,3,4,6,11]. The protein is synthesized with an N-terminal signal sequence and it terminates with the KDEL sequence [3,12] which is responsible for retrieval of proteins to the lumen of the ER [13,14]. Calreticulin functions in vivo as a Ca storage protein [15,16]. It also has been well established that calreticulin is a chaperone [17-21] and it shows similarity in amino acid sequence to a part of calnexin, an ER membrane chaperone [22]. The Ca storage and chaperone functions of calreticulin are consistent with both the ER localization of calreticulin and its structure. Stable overexpression of calreticulin increases both cell-substratum and cell-cell adhesiveness with concomitant upregulation of adhesion-specific cytoskeletal protein, vinculin [23]. Upregulation of calreticulin also affects adhesion-dependent phenomena such as cell motility (which decreases) and cell spreading (which increases). Downregulation of calreticulin brings about inverse effects. In addition to the Ca storage and chaperone function, calreticulin modulates gene expression [24,25]. In vitro, calreticulin interaction with the DNA binding domain of the glucocorticoid receptor prevents the receptor from interacting with its glucocorticoid response element [24]. Transcriptional activation by glucocorticoid and androgen receptors in vivo is inhibited in cells overexpressing full length calreticulin [24,25]. Calreticulin itself is stress-regulated by heat and heavy metals [26-28]. Calreticulin has antithrombotic activity [29]. A host of other putative calreticulin functions includes a role in autoimmune diseases [30-34]. The protein affects replication of the Rubella virus RNA [35,36]. In cytolytic T lymphocytes it is found in the lytic granules where it may play a role in killing of target cells [37]. In human neutrophils calreticulin may contribute to the process of phagocytosis [38]. In line with the reported functional diversity, calreticulin was reported to be present in most cellular compartments [10,11,37,39,40], including the outer cell surface [41,42]. Recent hypotheses regarding calreticulin function have been presented by Krause and Michalak [43]. References 1. Ostwald TJ, MacLennan DH: Isolation of a high affinity calcium binding protein from sarcoplasmic reticulum. J Biol Chem 1974, 249:974-979. 2. Baksh S, Michalak M: Expression of calreticulin in Escherichia coli and identification of its Ca2+ binding domains. J Biol Chem 1991, 266:21458-21465. 3. Fliegel L, Burns K, Opas M, Michalak M: The high-affinity calcium binding protein of sarcoplasmic reticulum. Tissue distribution, and homology with calregulin. Biochim Biophys Acta 1989, 982:1-8. 4. Opas M, Dziak E, Fliegel L, Michalak M: Regulation of expression and intracellular distribution of calreticulin, a major calcium binding protein of nonmuscle cells. J Cell Physiol 1991, 149:160-171. 5. Milner RE, Baksh S, Shemanko C, Carpenter MR, Smillie L, Vance JE, Opas M, Michalak M: Calreticulin, and not calsequestrin, is the major calcium binding protein of smooth muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum and liver endoplasmic reticulum. J Biol Chem 1991, 266:7155-7165. 6. Michalak M, Baksh S, Opas M: Identification and immunolocalization of calreticulin in pancreatic cells: no evidence for "calciosomes". Exp Cell Res 1991, 197:91-99. 7. Michalak M, Milner RE, Burns K, Opas M: Calreticulin. Biochem J 1992, 285:681-692. 8. Coppolino MG, Woodside MJ, Demaurex N, Grinstein S, St-Arnaud R, Dedhar S: Calreticulin is essential for integrin-mediated calcium signalling and cell adhesion. Nature 1997, 386:843-847. 9. Tharin S, Dziak E, Michalak M, Opas M: Widespread tissue distribution of rabbit calreticulin, a non-muscle functional analogue of calsequestrin. Cell Tissue Res 1992, 269:29-37. 10. Opas M: The intracellular distribution and expression of calreticulin. In Calreticulin, edited by Michalak M. Georgetown: R.G. Landes; 1996:31-41. 11. Koch GLE: The endoplasmic reticulum and calcium storage. BioEssays 1990, 12:527-531. 12. Fliegel L, Burns K, MacLennan DH, Reithmeier RAF, Michalak M: Molecular cloning of the high affinity calcium-binding protein (calreticulin) of skeletal muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum. J Biol Chem 1989, 264:21522-21528. 13. Pelham HRB: Control of protein exit from the endoplasmic reticulum. Annu Rev Cell Biol 1989, 5:1-23. 14. S=F6nnichsen B, F=FCllekrug J, Van PN, Diekmann W, Robinson DG, Mieskes G: Retention and retrieval: Both mechanisms cooperate to maintain calreticulin in the endoplasmic reticulum. J Cell Sci 1994, 107:2705-2717. 15. Bastianutto C, Clementi E, Codazzi F, Podini P, De Giorgi F, Rizzuto R, Meldolesi J, Pozzan T: Overexpression of calreticulin increases the Ca2+ capacity of rapidly exchanging Ca2+ stores and reveals aspects of their lumenal microenvironment and function. J Cell Biol 1995, 130:847-855. 16. Liu N, Fine RE, Simons E, Johnson RJ: Decreasing calreticulin expression lowers the Ca2+ response to bradykinin and increases sensitivity to ionomycin in NG-108-15 cells. J Biol Chem 1994, 269:28635-28639. 17. Nauseef WM, McCormick SJ, Clark RA: Calreticulin functions as a molecular chaperone in the biosynthesis of myeloperoxidase. J Biol Chem 1995, 270:4741-4747. 18. Wada I, Imai S, Kai M, Sakane F, Kanoh H: Chaperone function of calreticulin when expressed in the endoplasmic reticulum as the membrane-anchored and soluble forms. J Biol Chem 1995, 270:20298-20304. 19. Nigam SK, Goldberg AL, Ho S, Rhode MF, Bush KT, Sherman MY: A set of endoplasmic reticulum proteins possessing properties of molecular chaperones includes Ca2+-binding proteins and members of the thioredoxin superfamily. J Biol Chem 1994, 269:1744-1749. 20. Otteken A, Moss B: Calreticulin interacts with newly synthesized human immunodeficiency virus type 1 envelope glycoprotein, suggesting a chaperone function similar to that of calnexin. J Biol Chem 1996, 271:97-103. 21. Hebert DN, Foellmer B, Helenius A: Calnexin and calreticulin promote folding, delay oligomerization and suppress degradation of influenza hemagglutinin in microsomes. EMBO J 1996, 15:2961-2968. 22. Bergeron JJM, Brenner MB, Thomas DY, Williams DB: Calnexin: a membrane-bound chaperone of the endoplasmic reticulum. Trends Biochem Sci 1994, 19:124-128. 23. Opas M, Szewczenko-Pawlikowski M, Jass GK, Mesaeli N, Michalak M: Calreticulin modulates cell adhesiveness via regulation of vinculin expression. J Cell Biol 1996, 135:1913-1923. 24. Burns K, Duggan B, Atkinson EA, Famulski KS, Nemer M, Bleackley RC, Michalak M: Modulation of gene expression by calreticulin binding to the glucocorticoid receptor. Nature 1994, 367:476-480. 25. Dedhar S, Rennie PS, Shago M, Leung-Hagesteijn C-Y, Yang H, Filmus J, Hawley RG, Bruchovsky N, Cheng H, Matusik RJ, Gigu=E8re V: Inhibition of nuclear hormone receptor activity by calreticulin. Nature 1994, 367:480-483. 26. Nguyen TQ, Capra JD, Sontheimer RD: Calreticulin is transcriptionally upregulated by heat shock, calcium and heavy metals. Mol Immunol 1996, 33:379-386. 27. Dreher D, Vargas JR, Hochstrasser DF, Junod AF: Effects of oxidative stress and Ca2+ agonists on molecular chaperones in human umbilical vein endothelial cells. Electrophoresis 1995, 16:1205-1214. 28. Conway EM, Liu L, Nowakowski B, Steiner-Mosonyi M, Ribeiro SP, Michalak M: Heat shock-sensitive expression of calreticulin. In vitro and in vivo up-regulation. J Biol Chem 1995, 270:17011-17016. 29. Kuwabara K, Pinsky DJ, Schmidt AM, Benedict C, Brett J, Ogawa S, Broekman MJ, Marcus AJ, Sciacca RR, Michalak M, Wang F, Pan YC, Grunfeld S, Patton S, Malinski T, Stern DM, Ryan J: Calreticulin, an antithrombotic agent which binds to vitamin K-dependent coagulation factors, stimulates endothelial nitric oxide production, and limits thrombosis in canine coronary arteries. J Biol Chem 1995, 270:8179-8187. 30. Karska K, Tuckova L, Steiner L, Tlaskalova-Hogenova H, Michalak M: Calreticulin--the potential autoantigen in celiac disease. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 1995, 209:597-605. 31. Boehm J, Orth T, Van Nguyen P, S=F6ling H-D: Systemic lupus erythematosus is associated with increased auto-antibody titers against calreticulin and grp94, but calreticulin is not the Ro/SS-A antigen. Eur J Clin Invest 1994, 24:248-257. 32. Zhu J, Newkirk MM: Viral induction of the human autoantigen calreticulin. Clin Invest Med 1994, 17:196-205. 33. Ben-Chetrit E: The molecular basis of the SSA/Ro antigens and the clinical significance of their autoantibodies. Br J Rheumatol 1993, 32:396-402. 34. McCauliffe DP, Sontheimer RD: Molecular characterization of the Ro/SS-A autoantigens. J Invest Dermatol 1993, 100:73S-79S. 35. Atreya CD, Singh NK, Nakhasi HL: The rubella virus RNA binding activity of human calreticulin is localized to the N-terminal domain. J Virol 1995, 69:3848-3851. 36. Singh NK, Atreya CD, Nakhasi HL: Identification of calreticulin as a rubella virus RNA binding protein. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1994, 91:12770-12774. 37. Dupuis M, Schaerer E, Krause K-H, Tschopp J: The calcium-binding protein calreticulin is a major constituent of lytic granules in cytolytic T lymphocytes. J Exp Med 1993, 177:1-7. 38. Stendahl O, Krause K-H, Krischer J, Jerstrom P, Theler JM, Clark RA, Carpentier JL, Lew DP: Redistribution of intracellular Ca2+ stores during phagocytosis in human neutrophils. Science 1994, 265:1439-1441. 39. Nakamura M, Moriya M, Baba T, Michikawa Y, Yamanobe T, Arai K, Okinaga S, Kobayashi T: An endoplasmic reticulum protein, calreticulin, is transported into the acrosome of rat sperm. Exp Cell Res 1993, 205:101-110. 40. Dedhar S: Novel functions for calreticulin: Interaction with integrins and modulation of gene expression. Trends Biochem Sci 1994, 19:269-271. 41. White TK, Zhu Q, Tanzer ML: Cell surface calreticulin is a putative mannoside lectin which triggers mouse melanoma cell spreading. J Biol Chem 1995, 270:15926-15929. 42. Gray AJ, Park PW, Broekelmann TJ, Laurent GJ, Reeves JT, Stenmark KR, Mecham RP: The mitogenic effects of the B chain of fibrinogen are mediated through cell surface calreticulin. J Biol Chem 1995, 270:26602-26606. 43. Krause K-H, Michalak M: Calreticulin. Cell 1997, 88:439-443. Dr. Michal Opas Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology University of Toronto 1 King's College Circle Medical Sciences Building Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1A8 Canada phone: (416) 978-8947 fax: (416) 978-3954 e-mail: m.opas@utoronto.ca www homepage: http://www.utoronto.ca/anatomy/opas/start.htm From owner-diagnostics@net.bio.net Thu Jul 17 23:00:00 1997 Path: biosci!biosci!not-for-mail From: Kevin O'Donnell Newsgroups: bionet.diagnostics Subject: Normal service has now been resumed Date: 18 Jul 1997 09:43:28 -0700 Organization: Scottish Agricultural Science Agency Lines: 15 Sender: daemon@net.bio.net Approved: odonnell@sasa.gov.uk Distribution: world Message-ID: <5qo6fg$e3i@net.bio.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: net.bio.net The bionet.diagnostics moderation system is now functional again. Apologies for the glitch. What happened was that when I went on holiday, the task of screening incoming posts and filtering out spam went to my co-mod, Robert Burns. A complex tale of software woes then ensued, the bottom line being that his email software couldn't send posts to biosci in a form that the server could recognise. We'll get it sorted by the next time I go on holiday... Kevin Dr Kevin O'Donnell Diagnostics and Molecular Biology SASA Edinburgh From owner-diagnostics@net.bio.net Thu Jul 17 23:00:00 1997 Path: biosci!biosci!not-for-mail From: "by way of Jack Woodall " Newsgroups: bionet.diagnostics Subject: Leishmania genomic DNA for PCR positive control Date: 18 Jul 1997 07:46:22 -0700 Organization: BIOSCI International Newsgroups for Molecular Biology Lines: 57 Sender: daemon@net.bio.net Approved: odonnell@sasa.gov.uk Distribution: world Message-ID: <5qnvju$rvr@net.bio.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: net.bio.net Date: Wed, 16 Jul 1997 12:25:13 -0500 To: promed@usa.healthnet.org From: mohabeer.ajay@pathology.swmed.edu (Ajay Mohabeer, M.D.) Subject: Request for Leishmania genoomic DNA for PCR positive control Greetings every one: I am a Clinical Microbiology Fellow in Microbiology at the Univeristy of Texas Southwestern Medical Ceneter at Dallas. I am trying to set up a project involving Leishmania PCR. I have everything set up except for positive control. Would any one be so kindly generous to provide me with some Genomic DNA from the L.dononvani complex? I am trying to PCR the Lmet2 gene. Your assistance will be G-R-E-A-T-L-Y appreciated! THANK-YOU. Ajay J Mohabeer, M.D. Pathology 9072 UTSW at Dallas 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard Dallas 75235-9072 Share pager (214)640-7441; personal number 28076. Ajay J Mohabeer, M.D. Pathology resident University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas Dallas, Texas 75235 (214) 590-8000 Pager #28076 (Work) (214) 513-1606 (Home) Robert Burns Monoclonal Antibody Unit Scottish Agricultural Science Agency East Craigs Edinburgh Scotland burns@sasa.gov.uk From owner-diagnostics@net.bio.net Thu Jul 17 23:00:00 1997 Path: biosci!biosci!not-for-mail From: BIOSCI Administrator Newsgroups: bionet.diagnostics Subject: BIOSCI/bionet miniFAQ & Fundraiser Date: 18 Jul 1997 01:30:42 -0700 Organization: BIOSCI International Newsgroups for Molecular Biology Lines: 233 Sender: daemon@net.bio.net Approved: odonnell@sasa.gov.uk Distribution: world Message-ID: <5qn9ji$iru@net.bio.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: net.bio.net (LAST REVISION: 30-JUL-95) This BIOSCI "miniFAQ" is designed to answer the questions that come up the *most frequently*. The main BIOSCI FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) is accessible on the World Wide Web at URL http://www.bio.net/. If you can not find an answer to your question in this or other documentation, the BIOSCI technical support staff answers e-mail queries sent to biosci-help@net.bio.net We can only answer questions about the use of the newsgroups and mailing lists. We unfortunately do not have the staff to do Internet information searches or answer scientific questions. Please post those to the appropriate BIOSCI/bionet newsgroups. Contents: -------- 0) BIOSCI NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT!! 1) Using the WWW to access the BIOSCI/bionet newsgroups. 2) What to do about "spams," i.e., junk mail, ads, etc. 3) Examples of subscribing and unsubscribing to the mailing lists. 4) The BIOSCI user address and research interest directory. 0) BIOSCI NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT!! ------------------------------ BIOSCI's government funding has been expended, and we are now operating solely from advertising revenue that we have raised from our Web site at http://www.bio.net/. We need just a few minutes of your time to help us serve you. You can do two important things which will take very little time for you individually and will immensely help us continue to help you. First, please use our WWW system at http://www.bio.net/ to access the archives. You can post or reply to messages via your Web browser as described in item #1 below. Your usage helps attract sponsors. If you contact any of our sponsors, please be sure to thank them for supporting BIOSCI. It is critical for them to get this feedback if they are to continue their sponsorship for the long term. Second, if you work for a company or organization that provides products or services of interest to the biology community, please pass this message on to your marketing or marketing communications department or other appropriate group. Please ask them to help support BIOSCI by sponsoring our Web site and explain the uses and benefits of the system to the biology community. If they are interested, they can then contact us for further information at our tech support address, biosci-help@net.bio.net. 1) Using the WWW to access the BIOSCI/bionet newsgroups. -------------------------------------------------------- As of 10 December 1995, all BIOSCI/bionet full newsgroups are accessible through the World Wide Web (WWW) at URL http://www.bio.net. One can read and reply publicly or privately to both recent postings and archived messages through one's Web browser if it is configured properly to send e-mail. Each newsgroup is equipped with its own WAIS index. The main BIOSCI home page also has access to the BIO-JOURNALS Table of Contents database WAIS index and the BIOSCI user address database described in another item further below. 2) What to do about "spams," i.e., junk mail, ads, etc. ------------------------------------------------------- BIOSCI is a set of parallel USENET newsgroups (the "bionet" groups), mailing lists, and a hypermail archive at URL http://www.bio.net/. The same postings are distributed on all media (except for a small number of mailing-list-only groups at net.bio.net). Unfortunately it is becoming a despicable practice on the Internet (by a few people out to make a fast buck) to do automated mass postings to thousands of newsgroups and mailing lists. These attempts to grab free advertising are refered to as "spams" in the usual, somewhat boneheaded, net terminology. USENET is more susceptible to this practice, and many spams originate on the USENET groups and then are passed on to the mailing lists. However, spammers also get lists of mailing addresses and hit these too, so neither medium is immune. What should you do personally if you get junk mail? --------------------------------------------------- Just delete it and move on without reading it further. Filing a protest is becoming increasingly useless because spammers are often disguising the addresses where the messages are sent from. Unless you really understand Internet mail systems, your attempt at protest by sending replies to the message will often end up being sent to the address of an innocent person that the spammer is victimizing. What can BIOSCI/bionet do to protect its newsgroups? ---------------------------------------------------- The only solution currently available is to moderate the newsgroup. If this newsgroup is already moderated, then you are in good shape. Moderation protects the USENET distribution from about 95% of the spams that are being sent to date and protects the mailing lists completely. Moderation means, however, that someone has to take the time to review each message before it goes out. We have set up software here that simply allows the moderator to forward to an address at net.bio.net messages that (s)he wishes to have distributed. This takes no more time than that needed to read the message and pass it on, say about 1 min. per message. Most newsgroups currently have a discussion leader who is responsible for their newsgroup. The discussions leaders and their e-mail addresses are listed in the BIOSCI Information Sheet which is available on the Web at http://www.bio.net/. If a newsgroup is being hit with too many junk postings, please contact the discussion leader for that group and see if there is interest in moderating the group. Please do not assume that by simply posting a complaint to the newsgroup itself, anyone on the BIOSCI staff will act on your complaint. With close to 100 newsgroups to run, the BIOSCI staff has to rely on the discussion leaders of each newsgroup to report problems directly to us at biosci-help@net.bio.net. We will moderate any of our newsgroups if the discussion leader tells us that the readership of the group wishes to do so and if a moderator is willing to do the work. For most BIOSCI/bionet groups, this entails only a few minutes of work each day. Moderating a newsgroup will resolve probably 95% of the junk postings on the USENET distribution. Unfortunately there are easy ways for determined spammers to override the moderation mechanism on USENET, but we can protect our e-mail subscribers from unwanted postings if the newsgroup is moderated. You can also access our newsgroups over the WWW at URL http://www.bio.net. While this Web interface will not stop spammers from trying to post to the groups, this will give you yet another way, besides using USENET news, to keep the junk out of your personal mail files. For those of you with local USENET news systems, the Web interface will also give you faster access to new newsgroups and recent postings. 3) Examples of subscribing and unsubscribing to the mailing lists. ------------------------------------------------------------------ PLEASE NOTE: The BIOSCI management does NOT act on subscription/unsubscription requests that are posted improperly to the newsgroups and mailing lists. People who do this only bother everyone on the lists to no avail. Please be sure to follow the proper procedures below. Gory details are in the BIOSCI Information sheets on the Web at http://www.bio.net. Below we give an example utilizing the METHODS-AND-REAGENTS list at both of our two BIOSCI sites: Users in the Americas and Pacific Rim countries who use the BIOSCI ------------------------------------------------------------------ node at computer net.bio.net: ---------------------------- A) Determine the "listname" which is the <=8 character mail address ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ for the group. These can be found in the BIOSCI Info. Sheet. For the METHODS-AND-REAGENTS group the mailing address is methods@net.bio.net. The listname is the portion of the address to the left of the @ sign, i.e., "methods". The listname is used with the "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" commands illustrated below. B) Mail all commands in the body of a mail message addressed to biosci-server@net.bio.net. Do NOT send commands to the newsgroup posting addresses! Leave the Subject: line blank, any text on it will be ignored. C) In the body of your message put one or more of the following commands with an "end" command on the last line, e.g., subscribe methods unsubscribe methods end Do NOT put your e-mail address or other text on these lines. The server only allows you to cancel your subscription if the address on your mail header matches the address on our mailing list. Please ask for help at biosci-help@net.bio.net if your address has changed, e.g., if you know you are on the list but the server tells you that you are not a member. Users in Europe, Africa, and Central Asia who use the BIOSCI node at -------------------------------------------------------------------- computer daresbury.ac.uk (also known as dl.ac.uk): ------------------------------------------------- To subscribe and unsubscribe to/from the BIOSCI lists, you need to specify the full USENET newsgroup name with "bionet-news." prepended. The USENET newsgroup names are listed in the BIOSCI Information sheet on the Web at http://www.bio.net/. For the METHODS-AND-REAGENTS list the USENET newsgroup name is bionet.molbio.methds-reagnts, thus the appropriate commands are sub bionet-news.bionet.molbio.methds-reagnts unsub bionet-news.bionet.molbio.methds-reagnts These commands are included in a message addressed to mxt@dl.ac.uk, NOT to the newsgroup mailing addresses. As usual, include the text in the body of the message as text on the Subject: line is ignored. To unsubscribe from all the lists at the UK node, use unsub bionet-news Please note that if the address in the list is different than the one in your mail message header, you will not be able to unsubscribe by this method. If you have problems, please mail biosci@daresbury.ac.uk. 4) The BIOSCI user address and research interest directory. ----------------------------------------------------------- Please take this opportunity to add your name, address, and research interest information to the BIOSCI User Address Database if you have not already done so. You can fill out the address form directly through our Web page at URL http://www.bio.net/adrform.html. The address database is reindexed nightly for WWW access (the URL is http://www.bio.net/). If you are not directly on the Internet but can reach it by e-mail, please use our waismail server to access the user directory. waismail use is described above. You can also request a user address form by e-mail from biosci-help@net.bio.net. Please check your database entry from time-to-time to see if your address information is still up-to-date. Because of our limited personnel resources, we ask that you resubmit a *complete* form to revise your entry; we only replace complete entries and do not have resources to edit old forms. From owner-diagnostics@net.bio.net Thu Jul 17 23:00:00 1997 Path: biosci!biosci!not-for-mail From: Leigh Newsgroups: bionet.diagnostics Subject: Latex in Diagnostics Course Date: 18 Jul 1997 01:29:40 -0700 Organization: BIOSCI International Newsgroups for Molecular Biology Lines: 38 Sender: daemon@net.bio.net Approved: odonnell@sasa.gov.uk Distribution: world Message-ID: <5qn9hk$iqt@net.bio.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: net.bio.net Mail*Link(r) Remote Latex in Diagnostics Course Latex in Diagnostics Course Announcing the 9th and 10th offerings of the popular Latex Short Course: Medical Diagnostic Applications of Latex Technology Content: Theory and practical details of coating and using microspheres (or latex particles) in diagnostic tests and assays and other biomedical applications. We will teach about understanding, caring for, coating, and using microspheres, and will discuss applications ranging from latex agglutination tests; turbidimetric immunoassays; immunochromatographic or "strip" tests; particle capture ELISA " spot" tests; solid phase immunoassays using magnetic particles; to the newest "proximity" assays, where an immunological reaction brings two dissimilar microspheres together permitting energy transfer and light emission. Faculty: Internationally known teachers, researchers, and consultants in the field. Dates: October 1, 2, & 3, 1997 in San Francisco (Ramada Plaza Hotel at Fisherman's Wharf), and October 6, 7, & 8, 1997 in London (Tower Thistle Hotel--near the Tower Bridge and Tower of London). Cost: $975 (including most meals; hotel lodging is extra) Registration is still open, but there is a limit of 80 attendees for each course. If you have any interest, please ask for "Latex Course brochure" and give postal address where we can send it. Complete details and registration forms are also available at web site: www.bangslabs.com oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Leigh Bangs, aka "The Particle Doctor(TM)"; leigh@bangslabs.com Bangs Laboratories, Inc., 9025 Technology Drive, Fishers, IN 46038-2886 USA Tel: 317-570-7020 Fax: 317-570-7034 "The Microsphere Zone" [Web Site: http://www.bangslabs.com] oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo From owner-diagnostics@net.bio.net Tue Jul 22 23:00:00 1997 Path: biosci!biosci!not-for-mail From: Kevin O'Donnell Newsgroups: bionet.diagnostics Subject: (Fwd) Phytoparasitica On Line Date: 23 Jul 1997 03:55:53 -0700 Organization: Scottish Agricultural Science Agency Lines: 43 Sender: daemon@net.bio.net Approved: odonnell@sasa.gov.uk Distribution: world Message-ID: <5r4nvp$1u8@net.bio.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: net.bio.net ------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- Date: Wed, 23 Jul 1997 12:02:02 +0300 From: Judy Isaacson To: odonnell@sasa.gov.uk Subject: Phytoparasitica On Line Priel Publishers announces the latest On-Line Journal PHYTOPARASITICA Israel Journal of Plant Protection Sciences http://www.phytoparasitica.org * PHYTOPARASITICA - published since 1973 - is available on-line, presenting the results of research in the fields of: - Plant Pathology - Entomology - Virology - Nematology - Weed Sciences. * Fully searchable: by subject, keyword, title and author. * Archiving: All material from 1996 and 1997 may be downloaded FREE * 1998 (volume 26): Abstracts, Contents, and Index are available FREE * Contributors are advised to read Information for Authors on our web site http://www.phytoparasitica.org SUBSCRIBER PRIVILEGES - Subscribe to the print edition and enjoy these privileges: * Pre-press article preview: Retrieve newly accepted articles, prior to publication, in page-proof form, as soon as they are accepted for publication * Download entire articles from current issues FREE * To subscribe: http://www.phytoparasitica.org/phyto/order.html For further information: apriel@netvision.net.il Tel: +972-8-9365757. Fax: +972-8-9365858 From owner-diagnostics@net.bio.net Tue Jul 22 23:00:00 1997 Path: biosci!biosci!not-for-mail From: MHughes77@aol.com Newsgroups: bionet.diagnostics Subject: Re: vet diagnostic help Date: 23 Jul 1997 01:53:18 -0700 Organization: BIOSCI International Newsgroups for Molecular Biology Lines: 19 Sender: daemon@net.bio.net Approved: odonnell@sasa.gov.uk Distribution: world Message-ID: <5r4gpu$ho5@net.bio.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: net.bio.net On 7/18, Arnold Tamarin asked: > Does anyone know of a site for veternary diagnostic help? > All suggestions appreciated. Thanks There is a newsgroup for veterinarians on America Online called Veterinary Information Network (VIN), which has discussion areas for diagnostics. Some of the "folders" are maintained by specific manufacturers of diagnostic tests, which have technical representatives answer any questions which are posted regarding their products. Unfortunately, access to VIN requires payment of a substantial membership fee. Although, to my knowledge, there are no newsgroups that focus on veterinary diagnostics, there are newsgroups on related topics such as vet immunology, vet microbiology, vet virology, tropical diseases, etc. I would be glad to give you the address of any of these newsgroups if you let me know the specific area or disease you are interested in. Mark Hughes, DVM