A molecular analysis of the microtubule associated protein MAP65-1

Microtubules (MTs) play important roles in various cellular processes including cell division, organelle movement and the determination of cellular morphology. The dynamics and organization of microtubules are regulated by microtubule associated proteins (MAPs).MAP65 bundles microtubules and forms crossbridges between microtubules in vitro. MAP65 belongs to a group of phylogenetically divergent proteins which includes yeast (s. cerevisiae) Asel, insect (D. melanogaster) FEO, mammalian {H. sapiens) PRC1, and worm (C. elegans) SPD-1. All members of this group concentrate in the spindle midzone during anaphase and telophase and are important for successful cytokinesis. A gene family encoding nine MAP65-like proteins has been identified in Arabidopsis thaliana. These proteins have a sequence identity from 28% to 79%, suggesting that each protein might play a different role in microtubule organization. This study focuses on the MAP65-1 sub group of MAP-65 proteins. Members of this sub-group can bind and bundle microtubules without affecting their dynamics in vitro and they co-localize with subsets of interphase microtubules, the preprophase band, the midzone of the anaphase spindle and the phragmoplast. Accumulation of MAP65-1 proteins in the anaphase spindle midzone suggests that it might crossbridge anti-parallel microtubules. However, the molecular mechanism of the MAP65-1 function is still unclear. To study the dynamics of the interaction between MAP65-1 and microtubules in vivo, GFP: MAP65-1 chimeras were constructed and expressed in tobacco BY2 and A. thaliana plants. The localization of GFP was then analysed through the cell cycle and in different plant tissues. FRAP (fluorescence recovery after photobleaching) was used to study the MAP65-1 turnover. The data revealed that MAP65 has a higher turnover than tubulin and that it can associate/dissociate randomly along microtubules. The expression of GFP: MAP65-1 in A. thaliana showed that MAP65-1 decorates microtubules in most of the tissues. These results suggest that the properties of MAP65-1 make it ideal for the maintenance of spatial organisation of dynamic microtubules via cross-bridging. The location of the microtubule binding domain of MAP65-1 was mapped using truncated fragments and mutants. The results of these experiments demonstrate that the microtubule-binding domain lies in the C-terminal region of AtMAP65-1, whereas the dimerisation domain lies in the N-terminal region. However, a single amino acid substitution within the AtMAP65-1 microtubule binding domain (A409D and A420V) can significantly decrease the microtubule binding ability of AtMAP65- 1 in vitro. The cell cycle-specific binding of MAP65-1 to microtubules suggests that a specific mechanism controls this binding. Two possibilities were examined: (i) control of the protein level regulated through the cell cycle by specific degradation utilising the Destruction box and (ii) cell cycle-specific phosphorylation. Mutation of the Destruction box motif did not affect cell division or microtubule organization during the cell cycle, nor did it affect plant development. This suggests that MAP65-1 is not regulated in this way. However, MAP65-1 is hyperphosphorylated during prophase/metaphase and several phosphorylation motifs are predicted in the AtMAP65-1 protein. in vivo and in vitro experiments demonstrated that AtMAP65-1 is regulated by phosphorylation/dephosphorylation during the cell cycle by several distinct pathways including CDK and МАРК. Interestingly, over-expression of the non-phosphorylatable form of MAP65-1 induced excessive bundling of microtubules during mitosis, increased the number of pole-to-pole microtubule bundles in the mitotic spindle and caused a delay in mitosis. Therefore, precise control of microtubule bundling by MAP65-1 is essential for normal cell division

Believe: A Motion Graphic Animation Brings Positive Power to Life

Life is an adventure, and growing up is not always enjoyable. When Life is filled mainly with struggles, sometimes people lose their confidence. They lack faith in themselves. Believe is a short motion graphic that comes directly from my own personal experience. This animation expresses my views on progress through life. The motion graphics animation has had a significant impact on audiences. The story encourages people to build up their faith and self-confidence, because Life is full of opportunity. The project was made by using motion graphics design concepts and experimenting with current computer graphics integration technologies. The final delivery is an one minute and 30 seconds world of imagination motion graphic. Sharing my personal experiences that may benefit others, as a motion motion graphic designer, I hope to convert my thoughts into creations meaningful to the universe

Measurement of velocity of a high speed waterjet

In order to maximum the productivity of water jet cutting and cleaning. The determination of the particle velocities at different conditions of water jet formation is essential to the establishment of a prediction model of the cutting results. The Study is Intended to develop an interface between Laser Transit Anemometer (LTA) and IBM PC for velocity field measurement of the jet by automation of technology design. To achieve this, a turbo basic program is developed to link LTA, counter processor, NIC-320 nicolet oscilloscope and IBM PC together for improve the efficiency and quality of velocity\u27s measurement of the jet. Because of computer speed, memory, and computational capabilities, a new system is developed by used LTA to measure the velocities of the particles entrained in the water jet automatically and the technique is validated. The result compare with manual measurement that increase the efficiency and accuracy of water jet velocity measurement along the down stream by 80%

A Mixed-methods Study of Governance Mechanisms and Outsourcing Information System Services on Goal Performance

Background: Information systems outsourcing (ISO) is one of the critical businesses in information technology outsourcing (ITO). Due to the increasing complexity of ISO, the failure rate of such outsourcing increases. Outsourcing information system services (OISS) was thus proposed to deal with this. A conceptual framework based on the information processing view was developed to investigate how the client firms assess OISS goal performance. Governance mechanisms (governance structure, relational governance, and IT coordination) were treated as antecedents of transaction cost and outsourcing flexibility; these would further affect goal performance (goal achievement and goal exceedance) with task complexity as a moderator. Method: A mix-methods study was conducted; the qualitative approach was employed to validate the conceptual framework by interviewing three managers with experiences in OISS from the client firms, whereas the quantitative approach, with 206 responses from those with OISS experiences from the client firms, provides empirical evidence. Results: The results indicated that relational governance effectively reduced transaction cost and increased outsourcing flexibility; the governance structure was also vital for outsourcing flexibility. Transaction cost was found to negatively affect goal achievement, and outsourcing flexibility positively affected both goal achievement and goal exceedance. The moderating effects of task complexity were also confirmed. Conclusion: The results extended the information processing view to OISS and proved that transaction cost and outsourcing flexibility are necessary to link governance mechanisms and goal performance. Practically, the client firms are suggested to maintain a positive relationship with the OISS provider. The OISS provider should offer an exclusive channel during and after the execution of the OISS project to reduce the possible cost that occurs during the implementation and improve the outsourcing flexibility to allow the client firms to consider their goals have been achieved and beyond their expectations. By doing so, the effect of goal performance can be maximized

Exploring Concurrent Relationships between Economic Factors and Student Mobility in Expanding Higher Education Achieving 2030

Student mobility is one of the most important indicators to reflect institutional internationalization in a sustainable higher education system. Student mobility issues have been addressed in previous studies, and the phenomenon was discussed in association with related factors persistently. Since higher education sustainable development has received much scholarly attention, monitoring student mobility flows to adjust international strategies is necessary. This study explored practical approaches to detect student mobility flows in the process of higher education expansion. Targeting Taiwan’s higher education system as an example, we addressed the topic of system expansion and the core issues of student mobility. Target series data were collected from 1950 to 2021, including the economic growth ratio, GDP per capita, higher education enrollment, gross enrollment ratio (GER), and the number of inbound and outbound students. The data were transformed with index formats, for example, the economic growth ratio, enrollment increasing ratio (IR), and net flow ratio. The cross-correlation function (CCF) and autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) were used to determine the correlations of the series data and their future trends. The findings suggested that the system expansion, with GER and IR, might reflect fluctuated student mobility in economic growth. This study confirmed that the time series approaches work well in detecting the phenomena of higher education expansion and their effects on student mobility flow in the future

CUSTOMER READINESS, MARKET ORIENTATION AND TRANSACTION FREQUENCY IN MOBILE BANKING SERVICE RECOVERY

This study investigates the effect of internet banking service recovery satisfaction on future intention toward using mobile banking, and examines transaction frequency as a moderator of this relationship. Moreover, this study applies customer participation in service recovery and service recovery experience as the influential factors of service recovery satisfaction. Questionnaires were obtained 419 respondents with internet banking and service recovery experience. The results of SEM analysis illustrate that both role clarity and ability of service recovery can affect the level of service recovery participation. Additionally, the internet banking service provider’s responsive and proactive customer orientation can influence customer service recovery experience, which further increases service recovery satisfaction. Recovery satisfaction can thus affect future intention toward using mobile banking. The moderating effect of transaction frequency was also confirmed. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed