How the law of the sea treaty will affect u.s. Marine science

The Law of the Sea treaty will clearly affect the way U.S. marine scientists operate in about 40 percent of the ocean. The matter will be made even more complex by the apparent intention of the Reagan Administration to remain outside the treaty.     

Transition States Between Pyramids and Domes During Ge/Si Island Growth

Real-time observations were made of the shape change from pyramids to domes during the growth of germanium-silicon islands on silicon (001). Small islands are pyramidal in shape, whereas larger islands are dome-shaped. During growth, the transition from pyramids to domes occurs through a series of asymmetric transition states with increasing numbers of highly inclined facets. Postgrowth annealing of pyramids results in a similar shape change process. The transition shapes are temperature dependent and transform reversibly to the final dome shape during cooling. These results are consistent with an anomalous coarsening model for island growth.     

Understanding behavior in escalation situations

Everyday observation reveals that both individuals and organizations often become overly committed to losing courses of action; in a sense, throwing good money after bad. More than 10 years of research on this escalation problem shows that persistence is associated with at least four major clases of determinants: project, psychological, social, and organizational variables. The influence of these four sets of variables evolves over time, forming a dynamic model of behavior in escalation situations.     

Improving the efficiency of electricity use in manufacturing

Largely in response to the energy shocks of the 1970s, U.S. manufacturers reduced their real fossil fuel intensity (the weighted-average ratio of energy use to production in each subsector) by 50% and achieved zero growth in real electricity intensity. In the future, adoption of new technologies for increasing the efficiency of electricity use is likely to continue to be as important as new modes of electrification, implying that the real electricity intensity will be stable; but the outcome depends on electricity pricing and other policies, public and private.     

A mutation in the catalytic subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase that disrupts regulation

A mutant catalytic subunit of adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate (cAMP)-dependent protein kinase has been isolated from Saccharomyces cerevisiae that is no longer subject to regulation yet retains its catalytic activity. Biochemical analysis of the mutant subunit indicates a 100-fold decreased affinity for the regulatory subunit. The mutant catalytic subunit exhibits approximately a threefold increase in Michaelis constant for adenosine triphosphate and peptide cosubstrates, and is essentially unchanged in its catalytic rate. The nucleotide sequence of the mutant gene contains a single nucleotide change resulting in a threonine-to-alanine substitution at amino acid 241. This residue is conserved in other serine-threonine protein kinases. These results identify this threonine as an important contact between catalytic and regulatory subunits but only a minor contact in substrate recognition.