The Democratic-controlled U.S. Congress on Thursday approved budget blueprints embracing President Barack Obama's agenda but leaving many hard choices until later and a government deeply in the red.

With no Republican support, the House of Representatives and Senate approved slightly different, less expensive versions of Obama's $3.55 trillion budget plan for fiscal 2010, which begins on October 1. The differences will be worked out over the next few weeks.

Obama, who took office in January after eight years of the Republican Bush presidency, has said the Democrats' budget is critical to turning around the recession-hit U.S. economy and paving the way for sweeping healthcare, climate change and education reforms he hopes to push through Congress this year.

Obama, traveling in Europe, issued a statement praising the votes as "an important step toward rebuilding our struggling economy." Vice President Joe Biden, who serves as president of the Senate, presided over that chamber's vote.

The Democratic-controlled U.S. Congress on Thursday approved budget blueprints embracing President Barack Obama's agenda but leaving many hard choices until later and a government deeply in the red.

With no Republican support, the House of Representatives and Senate approved slightly different, less expensive versions of Obama's $3.55 trillion budget plan for fiscal 2010, which begins on October 1. The differences will be worked out over the next few weeks.

Obama, who took office in January after eight years of the Republican Bush presidency, has said the Democrats' budget is critical to turning around the recession-hit U.S. economy and paving the way for sweeping healthcare, climate change and education reforms he hopes to push through Congress this year.

Obama, traveling in Europe, issued a statement praising the votes as "an important step toward rebuilding our struggling economy." Vice President Joe Biden, who serves as president of the Senate, presided over that chamber's vote.

The United States and China hold the best hope for leading a global economic recovery, yet they may lack sufficient strength to firmly pull the world out of recession.

President Barack Obama warned fellow world leaders at the Group of 20 summit in London that they should not count on "voracious" U.S. consumers generating the level of demand that helped drive eight years of strong global economic growth.

But without an obvious growth engine to replace flagging American consumption, the global economy appears headed for a prolonged slump followed by only a tepid rebound.

"It is going to be a difficult paradox for the world, with the economy at the epicenter of the crisis -- the United States -- still being seen as the savior of the world at large," said Eswar Prasad, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Enzymes are generally globular proteins and range from just 62 amino acid residues in size, for the monomer of 4-oxalocrotonate tautomerase, to over 2,500 residues in the animal fatty acid synthase. A small number of RNA-based biological catalysts exist, with the most common being the ribosome; these are referred to as either RNA-enzymes or ribozymes. The activities of enzymes are determined by their three-dimensional structure. However, although structure does determine function, predicting a novel enzyme's activity just from its structure is a very difficult problem that has not yet been solved.

Most enzymes are much larger than the substrates they act on, and only a small portion of the enzyme (around 3–4 amino acids) is directly involved in catalysis. The region that contains these catalytic residues, binds the substrate, and then carries out the reaction is known as the active site. Enzymes can also contain sites that bind cofactors, which are needed for catalysis. Some enzymes also have binding sites for small molecules, which are often direct or indirect products or substrates of the reaction catalyzed. This binding can serve to increase or decrease the enzyme's activity, providing a means for feedback regulation.

Like all proteins, enzymes are made as long, linear chains of amino acids that fold to produce a three-dimensional product. Each unique amino acid sequence produces a specific structure, which has unique properties. Individual protein chains may sometimes group together to form a protein complex. Most enzymes can be denatured — that is, unfolded and inactivated — by heating or chemical denaturants, which disrupt the three-dimensional structure of the protein. Depending on the enzyme, denaturation may be reversible or irreversible.

The story is set in the mid-21st century. Global warming has led to ecological disasters all over the world, and a drastic reduction of the human population. Mankind's efforts to maintain civilization lead to the creation of "mechas," advanced humanoid robots capable of emulating human thoughts and emotions. Among these androids there is an advanced prototype model named David, a mecha created by the Cybertronics company to resemble a human child and to "feel" love for its human owners. They test their creation on one of their employees, Henry Swinton and his wife Monica. The Swintons have a son, Martin, who has been placed in suspended animation until a cure can be found for his rare disease. Although Monica is initially frightened of David, she eventually warms to him after activating his imprinting protocol, which irreversibly causes David to feel love for her as a child loves a parent. As he continues to live with the Swintons, David is befriended by Teddy, a mecha toy, who takes upon himself the responsibility of David's well being.

Martin is suddenly cured and brought home; a sibling rivalry ensues between Martin and David. Martin's scheming behavior backfires when he and his friends activate David's self-protection programming at a pool party. Martin is saved from drowning but David's actions prove too much for Henry. It is decided for David to be destroyed at the factory where he was built, but Monica rather leaves him (alongside Teddy) in a forest to live as unregistered mechas. David is captured for an anti-mecha Flesh Fair, an event where useless mechas are destroyed before cheering crowds. David is nearly killed, but the crowd is swayed by his realistic nature and he escapes, along with Gigolo Joe (Jude Law), a male prostitute mecha on the run after being framed for murder.

The two set out to find the Blue Fairy, whom David remembers from the story The Adventures of Pinocchio. As in the story, he believes that she will transform him into a real boy, so Monica will love him and take him back. Joe and David make their way to the decadent metropolis of Rouge City. Information from a holographic volumetric display personality called "Dr. Know" eventually leads them to the top of the Rockefeller Center in the flooded ruins of Manhattan. David's human creator, Professor Hobby, enters and excitedly tells David that finding him was a test, which has demonstrated the reality of his love and desire. A disheartened David attempts to commit suicide by falling from a ledge into the ocean, but Joe rescues him, just as he is captured by the authorities.

David and Teddy take a submersible to the fairy, which turns out to be a statue from a submerged attraction at Coney Island. Teddy and David become trapped when the park's ferris wheel falls on their vehicle. Believing the Blue Fairy to be real, he asks to be turned into a real boy, repeating his wish without end, until the ocean freezes. 2000 years later, Manhattan is buried under several hundred feet of glacial ice, and humans are extinct. Mechas have evolved into an alien-looking humanoid form. They find David and Teddy: functional mechas who knew living humans. David wakes up and realizes the fairy was fake. Using David's memories, the mechas reconstruct the Swinton home, and explain to him via a mecha of the Blue Fairy that he cannot become human. However, they recreate Monica from a lock of her hair which has been faithfully saved by Teddy, but she will live for only a single day and the process cannot be repeated. David spends the happiest day of his life playing with Monica and Teddy. Monica tells David that she loves him and has always loved him as she drifts to sleep for her final time. This was the "everlasting moment" he had been looking for, he closes his eyes, falls asleep for his first time, and goes "to that place where dreams are born".