Live high-train low altitude training: responders and non-responders

Objective: Investigate differences between athletes that responded (improved performance) compared to those that did not, after a 20-day “live high-train low” (LHTL) altitude training camp. Methods: Ten elite triathletes completed 20 days of live high (1545-1650 m), train low (300 m) training. The athletes underwent (i), two 800-m swimming time trials at sea-level (1 week prior to and 1 week after the altitude camp) and (ii) two 10-min standardised submaximal cycling tests at altitude on day 1 and day 20 of the altitude camp. Acute mountain sickness (AMS) was also measured during the camp. Based on their 800-m swimming time trial performances, athletes were divided into responders (improved by 3.2 ± 2.2%, mean ± SD, n=6) and non-responders (decreased by 1.8 ± 1.2%, n=4). Results: Compared to non-responders, the responders had lower exercise heart rates (-6.3 ± 7.8%, mean ± 90% CL, and higher oxygen saturations (1.2 ± 1.3%) at the end of the 10-min submaximal test after the camp. Compared to the responders, the non-responders had substantially higher VE and VE/VO₂ during the submaximal test on day 1 of the altitude training camp, and a substantially higher RER during the submaximal test on day 20 of the camp. As a result of the altitude training, exercise economy of the non-responders compared to the responders deteriorated (i.e., non-responders required more oxygen per watt). Non-responders were 3.0 times (90% CL=0.5-16.6) more likely to suffer symptoms of acute mountain sickness during first 5 days of altitude compared to responders. Conclusion: Changes in SpO₂, heart rate and some respiratory variables during exercise and resting AMS scores may help determine athletes that respond to LHTL altitude training camps from athletes that fail to respond to such training

Communications Biophysics

Contains reports on four research projects.U.S. Air Force under Contract AF19(604)-411

Insights into the role of DNA methylation in diatoms by genome-wide profiling in Phaeodactylum tricornutum

DNA cytosine methylation is a widely conserved epigenetic mark in eukaryotes that appears to have critical roles in the regulation of genome structure and transcription. Genome-wide methylation maps have so far only been established from the supergroups Archaeplastida and Unikont. Here we report the first whole-genome methylome from a stramenopile, the marine model diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum. Around 6% of the genome is intermittently methylated in a mosaic pattern. We find extensive methylation in transposable elements. We also detect methylation in over 320 genes. Extensive gene methylation correlates strongly with transcriptional silencing and differential expression under specific conditions. By contrast, we find that genes with partial methylation tend to be constitutively expressed. These patterns contrast with those found previously in other eukaryotes. By going beyond plants, animals and fungi, this stramenopile methylome adds significantly to our understanding of the evolution of DNA methylation in eukaryotes.Fil: Veluchamy, Alaguraj. Institut de Biologie de l'École Normale Supérieure; FranciaFil: Lin, Xin. Institut de Biologie de l'École Normale Supérieure; Francia. Xiamen University; ChinaFil: Maumus, Florian.Fil: Rivarola, Maximo Lisandro.Fil: Bhavsar, Jaysheel.Fil: Creasy, Todd.Fil: O'Brien, Kimberly.Fil: Sengamalay, Naomi A..Fil: Tallon, Luke J..Fil: Smith, Andrew D..Fil: Rayko, Edda.Fil: Ahmed, Ikhlak.Fil: Crom, Stéphane Le.Fil: Farrant, Gregory K..Fil: Sgro, Jean-Yves.Fil: Olson, Sue A..Fil: Bondurant, Sandra Splinter.Fil: Allen, Andrew.Fil: Rabinowicz, Pablo D..Fil: Sussman, Michael R..Fil: Bowler, Chris.Fil: Tirichine, Leïla

Evaluation of Hungarian Wines for Resveratrol by Overpressured Layer Chromatography

A method, including solid phase extraction sample preparation, overpressured layer chromatographic separation and subsequent densitometric evaluation, was developed for measurement of total resveratrol (cis- and trans-isomers) content of wine. The amount of resveratrol was determined in wine samples from different winemaking regions of Hungary. The total resveratrol was high in Hungarian red wines (3.6–11 mg/L), and much lower in white ones (0.04–1.5 mg/L)

‘More willing to carry on in the face of adversity’: how beginner teachers facing challenging circumstances experience positive psychology coaching. An interpretative phenomenological analysis

Positive psychology coaching (PPC) is defined as activating positive psychology (PP) in an applied and systematic way through coaching (Passmore, J., & Oades, P. (2014). Positive psychology coaching – A model for coaching practice. The Coaching Psychologist, 10(2), 68–70). Currently studies looking at how PPC is experienced by coachees are limited. While there has been some early success cited in using a PPC approach in professional development in education with adults (Zwart, R. C., Korthagen, F. A. J., & Attema-Noordewier, S. (2014). A strength-based approach to teacher professional development. Professional Development in Education, 41(3), 579–596. https://doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2014.919341) it is not yet known how teachers experience PPC. The purpose of this paper was to gain an understanding of how PPC is experienced by beginner teachers undergoing challenging circumstances. This initial explorative study adopted a qualitative approach using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) (Smith, J., Flowers, P., & Larkin, M. (2009). Interpretative phenomenological analysis: Theory, method and research. Sage). Four superordinate themes emerged: ‘perfectly normal to feel this way’; making sense and ‘joining the dots’; increased positive emotion; and, time to think ‘in an easy-going environment’. Further studies of the application of PPC in educational settings are needed

Structural Comparison of Human Mammalian Ste20-Like Kinases

BACKGROUND: The serine/threonine mammalian Ste-20 like kinases (MSTs) are key regulators of apoptosis, cellular proliferation as well as polarization. Deregulation of MSTs has been associated with disease progression in prostate and colorectal cancer. The four human MSTs are regulated differently by C-terminal regions flanking the catalytic domains. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We have determined the crystal structure of kinase domain of MST4 in complex with an ATP-mimetic inhibitor. This is the first structure of an inactive conformation of a member of the MST kinase family. Comparison with active structures of MST3 and MST1 revealed a dimeric association of MST4 suggesting an activation loop exchanged mechanism of MST4 auto-activation. Together with a homology model of MST2 we provide a comparative analysis of the kinase domains for all four members of the human MST family. SIGNIFICANCE: The comparative analysis identified new structural features in the MST ATP binding pocket and has also defined the mechanism for autophosphorylation. Both structural features may be further explored for inhibitors design. ENHANCED VERSION: This article can also be viewed as an enhanced version in which the text of the article is integrated with interactive 3D representations and animated transitions. Please note that a web plugin is required to access this enhanced functionality. Instructions for the installation and use of the web plugin are available in Text S1

Finding one's way in proteomics: a protein species nomenclature

Our knowledge of proteins has greatly improved in recent years, driven by new technologies in the fields of molecular biology and proteome research. It has become clear that from a single gene not only one single gene product but many different ones - termed protein species - are generated, all of which may be associated with different functions. Nonetheless, an unambiguous nomenclature for describing individual protein species is still lacking. With the present paper we therefore propose a systematic nomenclature for the comprehensive description of protein species. The protein species nomenclature is flexible and adaptable to every level of knowledge and of experimental data in accordance with the exact chemical composition of individual protein species. As a minimum description the entry name (gene name + species according to the UniProt knowledgebase) can be used, if no analytical data about the target protein species are available

Statistical Characterization of the Charge State and Residue Dependence of Low-Energy CID Peptide Dissociation Patterns

Data mining was performed on 28 330 unique peptide tandem mass spectra for which sequences were assigned with high confidence. By dividing the spectra into different sets based on structural features and charge states of the corresponding peptides, chemical interactions involved in promoting specific cleavage patterns in gas-phase peptides were characterized. Pairwise fragmentation maps describing cleavages at all Xxx-Zzz residue combinations for b and y ions reveal that the difference in basicity between Arg and Lys results in different dissociation patterns for singly charged Arg-and Lys-ending tryptic peptides. While one dominant protonation form (proton localized) exists for Arg-ending peptides, a heterogeneous population of different protonated forms or more facile interconversion of protonated forms (proton partially mobile) exists for Lys-ending peptides. Cleavage C-terminal to acidic residues dominates spectra from singly charged peptides that have a localized proton and cleavage N-terminal to Pro dominates those that have a mobile or partially mobile proton. When Pro is absent from peptides that have a mobile or partially mobile proton, cleavage at each peptide bond becomes much more prominent. Whether the above patterns can be found in b ions, y ions, or both depends on the location of the proton holder(s) in multiply protonated peptides. Enhanced cleavages C-terminal to branched aliphatic residues (Ile, Val, Leu) are observed in both b and y ions from peptides that have a mobile proton, as well as in y ions from peptides that have a partially mobile proton; enhanced cleavages Nterminal to these residues are observed in b ions from peptides that have a partially mobile proton. Statistical tools have been designed to visualize the fragmentation maps and measure the similarity between them. The pairwise cleavage patterns observed expand our knowledge of peptide gas-phase fragmentation behaviors and may be useful in algorithm development that employs improved models to predict fragment ion intensities. Low-energy collision-induced dissociation (CID) in mass spectrometry has been used extensively in peptide sequencing for protein identification and analysis of protein modifications. 1,2 Computer algorithms are employed to automate the spectral analysis and assign peptide sequences to the fragmentation spectra. 2-4 Numerous peptide fragmentation spectra are obtained everyday, but only a low percentage (e.g., 10-35%) of them are successfully identified by readily available algorithms. [5][6][7][8] One explanation for the high failure rate of current algorithms is the very simple fragmentation model on which they are based, which assumes that cleavage will occur mainly, if not exclusively, at the amide bonds between consecutive amino acid residues to produce ions of identical abundance (or intensity), regardless of the identity or the chemical property of the residues. 4,9 Although intensity patterns of the fragment ions from the same peptide under the same experimental settings are highly reproducible, current readily available algorithms only use the mass-to-charge (m/z) information from a tandem mass (MS/MS) spectrum and ignore the other information availablesthe relative intensity information. While this approach is sufficient to identify many peptides, many others yield fragmentation patterns that significantly deviate from a uniform fragmentation model. 8 A more detailed and chemically meaningful fragmentation model might improve algorithm performance and might include using different models for different candidate sequences. In addition, the gas-phase unimolecula