Miss Sonny and Cher? You've got this, babe

'the nick & jessica variety hour'

When: 8 p.m. Sunday on WLS-Channel 7

Starring: Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson

Guest starring: Kenny Rogers, Mr. T, Johnny Bench, Babyface,Jewel, Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy

Does this sound familiar? "She was scamp, a camp and a bit of atramp. She was a v-a-m-p: Vamp!"

If you're too young to identify that little ditty as coming fromCher, planted atop a piano each week, on "The Sonny & Cher ComedyHour," then Sunday night's "The Nick & Jessica Variety Hour" on ABCmay well seem like a new idea.

Extremely odd, but new.

For the rest of us (and those youngsters who might have caught aglimpse of "Sonny & …

Actinomycin D binds strongly to d(CGACGACG) and d(CGTCGTCG)

ABSTRACT Earlier calorimetric studies had indicated that despite the absence of a GpC sequence, the self-complementary octamer d(CGTCGACG) binds strongly to actinomycin D (ACTD) with high cooperativity and a 2:1 drug/duplex ratio. A subsequent optical spectral study with related oligomers led us to suggest that ACTD may likely stack at the G - C basepairs of the duplex termini. New findings are reported herein to indicate that despite the lack of complete self-complementarity, oligomers of d(CGXCGXCG) [X = A or 11 motif exhibit unusually strong ACTD affinities with binding constants of roughly 2 x 107 M-1 and binding densities of 1 drug molecule per strand. The ACTD binding affinity for …

Wake Forest, Maryland meet for ACC division lead

Two-faced. Jekyll and Hyde. Schizophrenic.

Each can be used to describe the Maryland football team _ and to a lesser degree, No. 21 Wake Forest.

The Terrapins have won four straight against ranked opponents, including victories last month against California and Clemson. They have also lost to Middle Tennessee State, been manhandled 31-0 at Virginia and barely beat Delaware at home.

Sometimes, Maryland looks like a Top 25 team. Most times, not.

"We are 4-2 and I don't think we've even come close to playing at our potential as a team," coach Ralph Friedgen said. "We probably should feel fortunate to be where we are right …

Magic Morris steals show

CARMARTHEN Quins Under-13s travelled to Furnace where they put inanother good performance, overwhelming a spirited home team.

The Quins forwards set a great platform with captain CeiranStephens providing inspiration with some great drives ably assistedby fellow prop Gareth Morris.

Dylan Gibby was everpresent on the flank, providing terrificsupport for his team-mates, and the Quins kept the scoreboardticking over.

Behind the …

Mitsubishi workers OK 4-year contract

Striking United Auto Workers overwhelmingly approved on Sunday anew four-year contract at the Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing ofAmerica plant in Downstate Normal.

The new contract was ratified by 83 percent of the roughly 2,200workers who voted, said Justin West, president of UAW Local 2488.

He said the contract covers about 2,900 full- and part-timeworkers, adding that Sunday's vote ended the first strike called bythe union at the Mitsubishi plant.

"We have a contract," West said. He said workers, who walked offthe job on Friday, were expected to begin returning to work Sundaynight.

The new contract includes a 3 percent raise that takes effect nextmonth …

Street battles in Somali capital amid famine help

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — African Union troops fought house-to-house battles with militants to clear space for aid groups bringing in food supplies after intelligence reports showed insurgents reinforcing for a possible attack on squalid camps of famine refugees.

Heavy fighting erupted Thursday on the line of control between the government side and territory held by al-Shabab, Somalia's dominant militant group.

At least six people were killed. The AU troops also paid a heavy price, with one official saying 19 were wounded, and some of them were put on an ambulance jet bound for Kenya.

Somalia's famine is unfolding in the middle of a war zone, greatly complicating …

Pfizer buying FoldRx for undisclosed amount

Pfizer says it will buy privately held FoldRx Pharmaceuticals for an undisclosed amount, expanding its pipeline of potential products.

FoldRx, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is developing potential treatments for diseases caused by protein misfolding, which is increasingly recognized as an underlying cause in many chronic …