Biophysical studies of TIMP-1

This study had two aspects. The first was the production and purification of TIMP-l. The second was a series of biophysical studies of TIMP-l and a TIMP-l derived peptide. A monoclonal antibody affinity column was developed and used to purifY large quantities of human TIMP-l for further experiments. Two E.coli expression systems were studied to determine whether they would be suitable for large scale production of recombinant protein. In the first system TIMP-I was to be secreted as a fusion protein which could be cleaved, leaving a free N-terminus. It was discovered that it was not possible to cleave off the fusion protein. In the second system, the protein was secreted, without additions to the periplasm. Although active protein, with the correct N-tenninus, was obtained, the yields were too low to be of use for large scale expression. Secondary structure analysis by CD and FTIR showed TIMP-l to be a mostly f3- sheet protein (approaching 50%) with around 20% a-helix. A temperature study using these techniques found that little change occurs until temperatures of over 60°C where the protein aggregates. The small changes appear to be a general loosening of the structure. In analyses of the surface of TIMP-l, additional carbohydrate was identified (other than the two N-linked chains) using Con-A probing of Western blots. TIMP-l purified from WI-38 foetal lung fibroblast cells can be separated into two pools by Concanavalin A-Sepharose chromatography. These two pools were found to have a different set of pIs and a different monosaccharide composition. The use of NMR paramagnetic probes identified a hydrophobic region exposed on the surface of TIMP-I. This region probably includes a tyrosine residue and either a tryptophan or phenylalanine. The presence of an exposed hydrophobic region was also shown in binding studies using the fluorescent probe ANS. These studies identified a single, low affinity binding site. An additional study with the N-terminal fragment of type-I collagenase found no binding sites on the enzyme, but a change in fluorescence occurred when TIMP-I was present. A peptide was designed based on the N-terminal sequence of TIMP-I. High homology, susceptibility to mutation and an interesting resemblance to the Bowman-Birk family of inhibitors suggested that this peptide might be inhibitory. It was found to have only a weak inhibitory activity against gelatinase. NMR studies of this peptide in water showed a large number of conformers as a result of stabilisation of the cis isomer of its proline residues. This preference for the cis form was retained for one proline in the solvent, TFE. Preliminary NMR studies were also carried out which concluded that TIMP-I should be suitable for further structural studies using isotopic labelling

Paper Session III-C - Implementation of a NASA Life Science Teachers Workshop as Part of the Summer Teacher Enhancement Program

The Summer Teacher Enhancement Program (STEP) was developed to bring up to 40 local area teachers to Kennedy Space Center (KSC) to inform them of activities at KSC and encourage the use of this information in the school curricula. During the second week of the four week STEP, a workshop on NASA-KSC Life Sciences was implemented. The purpose of this effort was to: develop a workshop curriculum and; evaluate the effectiveness of the STEP workshop in informing and educating the participants about NASA Space Life Sciences research and concerns. Teacher workshops have been used with varying degrees of success. Results of both positive and no effects have been found by various investigators. A bibliography of select research articles on the effectiveness of teacher workshops is included as Appendix I

Paper Session II-C - Measuring the Concerns of Teachers: A Possible Means for Evaluating the Efficacy of Kennedy Space Center Teacher Enhancement Workshops

In-service teacher enhancement workshops are held as part of the NASA teacher preparation and enhancement programs. For these workshops, teachers are brought to NASA field centers during summer months for training in various aerospace related areas. The National Research Council, Committee on NASA Education Program Outcomes (NEPO) has recommended comprehensive data collection to show program efficacy. Teacher workshops are a part of the nearly 300 NASA educational programs for students and teachers from pre-school through post-graduate, and NEPO has made specific recommendations for the evaluation of the teacher workshops. In accordance with one recommendation, a questionnaire was administered during four of the summer 1995 teacher workshops to measure participant concerns about using workshop material (space science) in their classes. Participant responses to the questions reflect changes in concerns relative to using workshop materials in teaching. (Work performed under NASA contract: NAS1O-1218O

Selecting, training and supervising nurses to treat depression in the medically ill: experience and recommendations from the SMaRT Oncology collaborative care trials

ObjectiveCollaborative care programs to treat comorbid depression in the medically ill often have general (nonpsychiatric) nurses care managers. In this paper, we aim to provide practical recommendations for their selection, training and supervision.MethodsBased on more than 10 years of experience of selecting, training and supervising general nurses to deliver a highly effective collaborative care programme called “Depression Care for People with Cancer,” we describe the problems encountered and the solutions adopted to optimize the selection, training and supervision of nurse care managers.ResultsTo select nurses for the role of care manager, we found that role plays enabled us to assess nurses' ability to interact with distressed patients and their capacity for self-reflection better than simple interviews. To train the nurses, we found that a structured program that mirrored the treatment manual and included simulated practice was best. To achieve effective supervision, we found that having sessions led by senior psychiatrists facilitated both constructive feedback to the nurses and effective review of the management of cases.ConclusionsWe recommend that the selection, training and supervision of general nurses use the strategies outlined if they are to maximize the benefit that patients achieve from collaborative care programs

Conservation of ciliary proteins in plants with no cilia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Eukaryotic cilia are complex, highly conserved microtubule-based organelles with a broad phylogenetic distribution. Cilia were present in the last eukaryotic common ancestor and many proteins involved in cilia function have been conserved through eukaryotic diversification. However, cilia have also been lost multiple times in different lineages, with at least two losses occurring within the land plants. Whereas all non-seed plants produce cilia for motility of male gametes, some gymnosperms and all angiosperms lack cilia. During these evolutionary losses, proteins with ancestral ciliary functions may be lost or co-opted into different functions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here we identify a core set of proteins with an inferred ciliary function that are conserved in ciliated eukaryotic species. We interrogate this genomic dataset to identify proteins with a predicted ancestral ciliary role that have been maintained in non-ciliated land plants. In support of our prediction, we demonstrate that several of these proteins have a flagellar localisation in protozoan trypanosomes. The phylogenetic distribution of these genes within the land plants indicates evolutionary scenarios of either sub- or neo-functionalisation and expression data analysis shows that these genes are highly expressed in <it>Arabidopsis thaliana </it>pollen cells.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>A large number of proteins possess a phylogenetic ciliary profile indicative of ciliary function. Remarkably, many genes with an ancestral ciliary role are maintained in non-ciliated land plants. These proteins have been co-opted to perform novel functions, most likely before the loss of cilia, some of which appear related to the formation of the male gametes.</p

Simulation of the global ENSO–Tropical cyclone teleconnection by a high-resolution coupled general circulation model

This study assesses the influence of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on global tropical cyclone activity using a 150-yr-long integration with a high-resolution coupled atmosphere–ocean general circulation model [High-Resolution Global Environmental Model (HiGEM); with N144 resolution: ~90 km in the atmosphere and ~40 km in the ocean]. Tropical cyclone activity is compared to an atmosphere-only simulation using the atmospheric component of HiGEM (HiGAM). Observations of tropical cyclones in the International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS) and tropical cyclones identified in the Interim ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA-Interim) are used to validate the models. Composite anomalies of tropical cyclone activity in El Niño and La Niña years are used. HiGEM is able to capture the shift in tropical cyclone locations to ENSO in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. However, HiGEM does not capture the expected ENSO–tropical cyclone teleconnection in the North Atlantic. HiGAM shows more skill in simulating the global ENSO–tropical cyclone teleconnection; however, variability in the Pacific is overpronounced. HiGAM is able to capture the ENSO–tropical cyclone teleconnection in the North Atlantic more accurately than HiGEM. An investigation into the large-scale environmental conditions, known to influence tropical cyclone activity, is used to further understand the response of tropical cyclone activity to ENSO in the North Atlantic and western North Pacific. The vertical wind shear response over the Caribbean is not captured in HiGEM compared to HiGAM and ERA-Interim. Biases in the mean ascent at 500 hPa in HiGEM remain in HiGAM over the western North Pacific; however, a more realistic low-level vorticity in HiGAM results in a more accurate ENSO–tropical cyclone teleconnection

Enabling retention: processes and strategies for improving student retention in university-based enabling programs: final report 2013

This project was funded by the Australian Teaching and Learning Council Ltd and, latterly, the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching, to investigate the nature and causes of student attrition in enabling programs and, in particular, to determine any similarities and differences in these processes in undergraduate programs, and to recommend measures to enhance student retention. The project was undertaken by academics from five Australian universities prominent in the delivery of enabling programs: The University of Newcastle (lead institution), the University of Southern Queensland, the University of South Australia, the University of New England and Edith Cowan University. These programs represent a cross-section of Australian university-based enabling programs

Tropical cyclones in the UPSCALE ensemble of high resolution global climate models

The UPSCALE (UK on PRACE: weather-resolving Simulations of Climate for globAL Environmental risk) project, using PRACE (Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe) resources, constructed and ran an ensemble of atmosphere-only global climate model simulations, using the Met Office Unified Model GA3 configuration. Each simulation is 27 years in length for both the present climate and an end-of-century future climate, at resolutions of N96 (130 km), N216 (60 km) and N512 (25 km), in order to study the impact of model resolution on high impact climate features such as tropical cyclones. Increased model resolution is found to improve the simulated frequency of explicitly tracked tropical cyclones, and correlations of interannual variability in the North Atlantic and North West Pacific lie between 0.6 and 0.75. Improvements in the deficit of genesis in the eastern North Atlantic as resolution increases appear to be related to the representation of African Easterly Waves and the African Easterly Jet. However, the intensity of the modelled tropical cyclones as measured by 10 m wind speed remain weak, and there is no indication of convergence over this range of resolutions. In the future climate ensemble, there is a reduction of 50% in the frequency of Southern Hemisphere tropical cyclones, while in the Northern Hemisphere there is a reduction in the North Atlantic, and a shift in the Pacific with peak intensities becoming more common in the Central Pacific. There is also a change in tropical cyclone intensities, with the future climate having fewer weak storms and proportionally more stronger storm

Women and Small Apparel Business Ownership:A Cross-cultural Exploration of the Entrepreneurial Experience

Women-owned small businesses are making increasingly important contributions to the global economy and are developing at a faster pace than those of men (Langowitz & Minniti, 2007). Indeed, it is estimated that women-owned enterprises comprise approximately 30% of the total number of small businesses in most countries (Minniti & Naudé, 2010). Within the entrepreneurship literature, women and small business ownership has primarily been studied from a motivational perspective

Strategic planning evaluation of creating a new professional association

A reoccurring question examined by the Working Group has been “why change?” This long report has carefully explored the pros and cons of creating a new association and provided numerous suggestions for its services and organization structures. A better question than “why change?” is “what kind of change is demanded by postsecondary education and needed by these professionals?” Perhaps others can provide a paradigm for us when considering the future. When writing a dialogue among several of his characters in a play discussing the future, Shakespeare penned the expression “The Undiscovered Country” to describe this place. While everyone will visit the future, no one can come back and tell others exactly what it will be like. However, all of us will walk into The Undiscovered Country. We have the choice regarding how we walk into the future. Change can be proactively managed or simply reacted to. The best of past traditions can be brought into the future and merged with new structures and traditions or all can be left to chance. The most important element that moves forward into the new association are members of the current organizations. They form the core of the new future and bring forward the history and traditions of the previous organizations. Let us encourage new members to join these veterans as we walk together into The Undiscovered Country as colleagues and friends. Let’s build a new future together