David S. Clark

The Bifunctional Entamoeba histolytica Alcohol Dehydrogenase 2 (EhADH2) Protein Is Necessary for Amebic Growth and Survival and Requires an Intact C-terminal Domain for Both Alcohol Dehydrogenase and Acetaldehyde Dehydrogenase Activity*

The intestinal protozoan pathogen Entamoeba histolytica lacks mitochondria and derives energy from the fermentation of glucose to ethanol with pyruvate, acetyl enzyme Co-A, and acetaldehyde as intermediates. A key enzyme in this pathway may be the 97-kDa bifunctional E. histolytica alcohol dehydrogenase 2 (EhADH2), which possesses both alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase activity (ALDH). EhADH2 appears to be a fusion protein, with separate N-terminal ALDH and C-terminal ADH domains. Here, we demonstrate that EhADH2 expression is required forE. histolytica growth and survival. We find that a mutant EhADH2 enzyme containing the C-terminal 453 amino acids of EhADH2 has ADH activity but lacks ALDH activity. However, a mutant consisting of the N-terminal half of EhADH2 possessed no ADH or ALDH activity. Alteration of a single histidine to arginine in the putative active site of the ADH domain eliminates both ADH and ALDH activity, and this mutant EhADH2 can serve as a dominant negative, eliminating both ADH and ALDH activity when co-expressed with wild-type EhADH2 inEscherichia coli. These data indicate that EhADH2 enzyme is required for E. histolytica growth and survival and that the C-terminal ADH domain of the enzyme functions as a separate entity. However, ALDH activity requires residues in both the N- and C-terminal halves of the molecule.

Comparative law and society

Contents: Preface 1. History of Comparative Law and Society David S. Clark PART I: METHODS AND DISCIPLINES 2. Comparative Sociology of Law Roger Cotterrell 3. Comparative Criminology Francis Pakes 4. Comparative Anthropology of Law Elizabeth Mertz and Mark Goodale 5. Comparative Law and Economics: Accounting for Social Norms Francesco Parisi and Barbara Luppi 6. Comparative Law and Political Economy John C. Reitz 7. Comparative Legal Psychology: Eyewitness Identification Ruth Horry, Matthew A. Palmer, Neil Brewer and Brian L. Cutler PART II: CORE ISSUES 8. Separation of Legislative and Executive Governmental Powers Howard J. Wiarda and Jonathan T. Polk 9. Federalism and Subnational Legal Systems: The Canadian Example of Provincial Constitutionalism G. Alan Tarr 10. Judges, their Careers, and Independence Carlo Guarnieri 11. Civil Court Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution Koen van Aeken 12. Criminal Courts and Procedure Stephen C. Thaman 13. Administrative Law, Agencies and Redress Mechanisms in the United Kingdom and Sweden Michael Adler and Sara Stendahl 14. Constitutional Law and Courts Tom Ginsburg 15. Legal Cultures David Nelken 16. Legal Education David S. Clark 17. Legal Professions and Law Firms David S. Clark 18. Legal Protection of the Environment Stephen C. McCaffrey and Rachael E. Salcido 19. Preventive Health at Work Julie C. Suk Index

American legal education: yesterday and today

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Courts and tribunals : a comparative study

The study of courts and tribunals written by Attila Racz, suggests as many questions as it may answer in relation to the administration of justice in the socialist states of Eastern Europe and in Russia. The shift in the basis of law in the socialist countries was made before an adequate codification, compilation and dissemination system was developed, such as the West Key system of the United States, and perhaps before adequate codification of customary law in the countries concerned. There was also a linguistic impediment to uniform justice under the old regimes. Eastern Europe was for the most part the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1918, comprised of Austria, Hungary, Rumania, Yugoslavia, Bosnia, Herzogovina, Serbia, and Trieste. Russia was also linguistically diverse, not only from province to province, but within the Russian language itself, which had a formal level for ecclesiastical use and a colloquial level for ordinary business. The countries were also administratively diverse. The provinces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire were under ministers as were the Russian provinces. In addition, though Hungary was privileged under the Empire due to its independence from the time of Saint Stephen, it was briefly and violently communistic in 1918. The countries of Eastern Europe were not so until 1945.

Use of the Amicus Curiae Brief in American Judicial Procedure in Comparative Perspective

After briefly describing the history and development of amicus curiae in England, this article traces the legal institution’s transplant to France, Germany, Latin America, and East Asia. I then consider the more substantial amici use in the United States since 1790 and the various functions it performs in U.S. judicial procedure, what analogous legal institutions it competes with, and how it might contribute to the judicial development of the law. The comparative excursus permits one to see yet again an example of American legal exceptionalism.

Comparative law in Colonial British America

American comparatists are unfamiliar with thinking about Ro man, civil, and canon law influence on colonial British American laws and legal institutions or about American colonial lawyers using Roman and civil law examples in their legal argument or reform ef forts in a manner that today we would consider practical comparative law. This Article explores whether American comparative law really began prior to 1776 with early European settlers. The aim here is to connect comparative law with its sister discipline, legal history, as far back as the evidence supports and to suggest promising avenues for further research. First, I consider the use of comparative law in England through the eighteenth century. Across the Atlantic, I then divide the analysis between intellectual legal history and social legal history. For the for mer, I consider the nature of legal education, availability of law books, and influential law-trained individuals. Because the social and physi cal environment in America was so different from that in England, I examine the importance of social factors on the development of law, especially on lawyers and courts. In addition, I speculate on the par ticular relevance for law of the religious and cultural diversity that existed in the thirteen colonies. Finally, I select John Adams as an exemplary legal comparatist in the pre-revolutionary period and de scribe his law practice and early political writings.

Legal Systems, Classification of

‘Law’ and ‘legal systems’ as concepts are closely related. Since there have been many philosophies and definitions of law, ideas about legal systems have been similarly diverse. A system involves regular interactions among elements that together make up an entity with boundaries. Thus, lawyers, judges, legislators, administrators, the police, and legal scholars all work with particular rules in regularized ways that involve cultural expectations about their roles and the legal institutions and processes with which they interact. This view of a legal system is greater than only the rules themselves. Classification suggests comparison. Comparison here contemplates more than one legal system and the search for similarities and differences among legal systems.