TRIM16 Acts as an E3 Ubiquitin Ligase and Can Heterodimerize with Other TRIM Family Members

The TRIM family of proteins is distinguished by its tripartite motif (TRIM). Typically, TRIM proteins contain a RING finger domain, one or two B-box domains, a coiled-coil domain and the more variable C-terminal domains. TRIM16 does not have a RING domain but does harbour two B-box domains. Here we showed that TRIM16 homodimerized through its coiled-coil domain and heterodimerized with other TRIM family members; TRIM24, Promyelocytic leukaemia (PML) protein and Midline-1 (MID1). Although, TRIM16 has no classic RING domain, three-dimensional modelling of TRIM16 suggested that its B-box domains adopts RING-like folds leading to the hypothesis that TRIM16 acts as an ubiquitin ligase. Consistent with this hypothesis, we demonstrated that TRIM16, devoid of a classical RING domain had auto-polyubiquitination activity and acted as an E3 ubiquitin ligase in vivo and in vitro assays. Thus via its unique structure, TRIM16 possesses both heterodimerization function with other TRIM proteins and also has E3 ubiquitin ligase activity

Results from the centers for disease control and prevention's predict the 2013-2014 Influenza Season Challenge

Background: Early insights into the timing of the start, peak, and intensity of the influenza season could be useful in planning influenza prevention and control activities. To encourage development and innovation in influenza forecasting, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) organized a challenge to predict the 2013-14 Unites States influenza season. Methods: Challenge contestants were asked to forecast the start, peak, and intensity of the 2013-2014 influenza season at the national level and at any or all Health and Human Services (HHS) region level(s). The challenge ran from December 1, 2013-March 27, 2014; contestants were required to submit 9 biweekly forecasts at the national level to be eligible. The selection of the winner was based on expert evaluation of the methodology used to make the prediction and the accuracy of the prediction as judged against the U.S. Outpatient Influenza-like Illness Surveillance Network (ILINet). Results: Nine teams submitted 13 forecasts for all required milestones. The first forecast was due on December 2, 2013; 3/13 forecasts received correctly predicted the start of the influenza season within one week, 1/13 predicted the peak within 1 week, 3/13 predicted the peak ILINet percentage within 1 %, and 4/13 predicted the season duration within 1 week. For the prediction due on December 19, 2013, the number of forecasts that correctly forecasted the peak week increased to 2/13, the peak percentage to 6/13, and the duration of the season to 6/13. As the season progressed, the forecasts became more stable and were closer to the season milestones. Conclusion: Forecasting has become technically feasible, but further efforts are needed to improve forecast accuracy so that policy makers can reliably use these predictions. CDC and challenge contestants plan to build upon the methods developed during this contest to improve the accuracy of influenza forecasts. © 2016 The Author(s)

Direct involvement of the TEN domain at the active site of human telomerase

Telomerase is a ribonucleoprotein that adds DNA to the ends of chromosomes. The catalytic protein subunit of telomerase (TERT) contains an N-terminal domain (TEN) that is important for activity and processivity. Here we describe a mutation in the TEN domain of human TERT that results in a greatly increased primer Kd, supporting a role for the TEN domain in DNA affinity. Measurement of enzyme kinetic parameters has revealed that this mutant enzyme is also defective in dNTP polymerization, particularly while copying position 51 of the RNA template. The catalytic defect is independent of the presence of binding interactions at the 5′-region of the DNA primer, and is not a defect in translocation rate. These data suggest that the TEN domain is involved in conformational changes required to position the 3′-end of the primer in the active site during nucleotide addition, a function which is distinct from the role of the TEN domain in providing DNA binding affinity

Fear Effects on Pheasant Reproductive Ecology and a Curriculum to Teach Wildlife Habitat Selection

Predation risk is an important source of selection that shapes prey density, distribution and abundance. The immediate impacts of predator consumption on prey populations are widespread and well-studied, and a growing body of research demonstrates immediate impacts of predator-induced fear (independent of prey mortality) on prey behavior, physiology and life-history expression. However, predation risk is often seasonally variable and while it is clear that consumption effects often carry over to influence prey population demography for years after predators have disappeared, the temporal carry-over effects of fear on prey populations remain largely unexplored. We assessed effects of fall hunting activity by humans on spring female pheasant reproductive ecology. We were able to isolate the effects of fear from the selective implications of predation because hunter harvest is limited to males, though both sexes experience cues indicative of risk. We found fall hunter activity did not influence female body condition, survival, or nest site choice the following spring; however, females had elevated baseline corticosterone concentrations that were sensitive to body condition, such that birds in poorer condition had higher baseline corticosterone concentrations in high risk sites. Additionally, hunting activity reduced egg size by 10%. Our results indicate that fear alone can impact prey physiology and reproductive investment after cues indicative of risk are gone. To teach grade school students how sources of selection shape wildlife populations, we developed and taught a curriculum that demonstrates concepts of habitat selection through a hands-on outdoor activity using radio-telemetry equipment and an indoor game and discussion. Advisor: Joseph J. Fontain

Chemische Synthese von Resorcin‐Formaldehyd‐Aerogelkompositen

Resorcinol‐formaldehyde‐aerogel‐composites are synthesized and characterized in regard to properties which are interesting for industry. Density, thermal conductivity, specific surface and the compression strength are determined and the structure is investigated by scanning electron microscopy. A standard RF‐recipe are used which contains the molar ratios of resorcinol to formaldehyde (R/F) of 0.7, resorcinol to water (R/W) of 0.04 and resorcinol to catalyst (R/C) of 1500. RF/cellulose‐composites are synthesized by adding cellulose fibers in RF‐solution which fibers are untreated or pretreated with sodium hydroxide to swell or dissolve. Beside RF/cellulose‐composites are synthesized with cellulose‐hydrogel which is immersed into a RF‐solution (with different R/C‐values) while it gels. After aging these composites, the gels are dried supercritical. Furthermore, RF/silica‐composites are synthesized with hydrophobic silica‐aerogels with different grain sizes (1 to 4 mm) by mixing silica with a highly viscous RF‐solution. By employing the same synthesis procedures for RF/Silicacomposites, RF/silica/cellulose‐composites are synthesized with untreated cellulose. All the gels are dried under ambient conditions except the RF/cellulose‐composites with cellulose‐gel

Synthese und Eigenschaften von Aerogel-Aerogel-Verbundwerkstoffen

In this work, materials for thermal insulation applications are investigated. Aerogels are advantageous because they are light and have a low thermal conductivity what makes them suitable to be used as insulation material. Due to a low compressive and a low shear stability of highly insulating aerogels the aim of this work is to embed them as granulate materials into a more stable aerogel matrix and in this way to prepare effective insulation materials. The composites to be examined consist of two different types of aerogels that are chosen from the three materials resorcinol-formaldehyde (RF), silica, and cellulose aerogel. Different aerogel-aerogel particulate composites are synthesized and are analyzed with regard to structural, mechanical and thermal properties and the usability as insulation material is discussed.RF aerogel-silica aerogel composites contain granular silica aerogel, which are embedded into a matrix of subcritically dried RF aerogel. On the one hand, a known recipe is used for the synthesis of the RF aerogel matrix. On the other hand, a new recipe is developed in this work with the aim to reduce the production time for composites and to improve the properties concerning the application. In both cases, plates in the dimension of 140 x 140 x 20 mm³ are synthesized. In addition, composites consisting of a cellulose aerogel matrix and granular, highly insulating, hydrophilic silica or RF aerogel are investigated. Granular aerogel and granular wet gel, both are used as granulate material. These new materials have to be dried under supercritical conditions. The preparation of small cylindrical samples in lab-scale (ø ≤ 50 mm) enables a first assessment of the insulation capability of these kinds of composites.The methods applied enable the preparation of insulation materials with a density of 0.17–0.22 g/cm³ and a thermal conductivity near superinsulation within the range of 0.023–0.037 W/mK, if the composite consists of a RF aerogel matrix and hydrophobic granular silica aerogel. A low density between 0.05 and 0.17 g/cm³ in combination with a thermal conductivity of 0.036–0.052 W/mK is achieved if the material is made from cellulose aerogel matrix and granular RF or silica aerogel

Severe Drought Impacts Female Pheasant Physiology in Southwest Nebraska

In 2012, Nebraska experienced one of the worst droughts since the 1930s, accompanied by abnormally high temperatures. We studied the impacts of the 2012 summer drought on female ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) body condition and baseline and stress-induced corticosterone concentrations (CORT). We hypothesized that drought conditions would reduce pheasant body condition, increase chronic stress resulting in elevated baseline CORT levels, and down-regulate pheasant stress response to acute stressors, resulting in reduced stress-induced CORT concentrations. In southwestern Nebraska, we captured female pheasants in 2012 (pre-drought) and 2013 (post-drought). Pheasants had poorer body condition after the drought. Although female CORT measures were similar among years (baseline: F1,8 = 0.591, P = 0.465; stress-induced: F1,26 = 1.118, P = 0.300), females in poorer condition had elevated baseline CORT (F1,26 = 6.446, P = 0.018) and stress-induced CORT (F1,26 = 8.770, P = 0.006) with potential negative consequences for reproduction. Our results suggest that it is critical for managers to consider how to buffer the negative impacts of drought on pheasant physiology and population growth, as droughts are likely to occur more frequently in southwest Nebraska in the next century

CELLULOSE FIBER REINFORCED RF-AEROGELS

Cellulose gels were synthesized in which the pore space was filled with resorcinol-formaldehyde (RF) aerogel solution. Three weight percent microcrystalline cellulose was dissolved in an aqueous calcium thiocyanate melt at 110 °C, which gelled on cooling building a nanofibrillar felt structure. The highly concentrated salt solution in the pore space is washed with ethanol until a test with Fe3+ ions does yield a colorless solution. After washing with formaldehyde (24%) the hydrogel was exposed to a resorcinol-formaldehyde solution while gelling. The RF solution had a molar ratio of resorcinol to water (R/W) of 0.04 and of resorcinol to formaldehyde (R/F) of 0.7. The molar ratio of resorcinol to catalyst sodium carbonate (R/C) used was 100, 500, 1000 or 1500. The composite gels prepared were dried supercritically and their nanostructure characterized by SEM. The aerogels were characterized by density, surface area, compression strength and thermal conductivity. Measurements of compression strength showed an anomalous behavior compared to those of pure cellulose aerogels

Base-acid catalyzed resorcinol-formaldehyde aerogels

Resorcinol-formaldehyde (RF) aerogels were synthesized via a newly developed two-step method. This synthesis combines the base and acid catalyzed routes of the polymerization of resorcinol with formaldehyde, which are well known in single application. For the first step a standard RF-recipe was used with the molar ratio of resorcinol to water (R/W) of 0.04 and of resorcinol to formaldehyde (R/F) of 0.7. In the base catalyzed step sodium carbonate as the catalyst was used and the molar ratio of resorcinol to catalyst (R/C) was varied between 10 and 1500. After a certain time while the RF solution gels, 1 M citric acid was added to initiate the acid catalyzed step. By adding citric acid to the base catalyzed solution, the gels formed could be dried under ambient conditions without large shrinkage. Indeed, in the base catalyzed one-step route with R/C ratios < 1000, heavy shrinkage is observed about more than 50 vol%. Small RF-particles construct the three-dimensional gel structure and therefore the particle chains do not withstand the capillary forces during the drying leading to high shrinkage. With the new method we still obtain small particles, but with an additional coating of a thin layer of RF in the acid catalyzed step. This causes a reinforcing effect allowing the subcritical drying. However, this effect depends on the time of changing the catalyst after starting the polymerization. Aerogels prepared by the new two-step route were characterized by density, thermal conductivity and specific surface and the structure was investigated by scanning electron microscopy

Aerogel–aerogel composites for normal temperature range thermal insulations

Aerogel–aerogel composites are prepared by embedding highly insulating granular silica aerogel (1–2 mm, 5–58 vol.%) into ambient pressure dried resorcinol-formaldehyde (RF) aerogel. The organic RF aerogel matrix is synthesized via a sol–gel reaction of resorcinol (1,3-dihydroxybenzene) and formaldehyde in deionized water with Na2CO3 as the catalyst. Plates around 90 × 195 mm² with a thickness of 19–25 mm are obtained and can be processed for application by sawing and grinding. A theoretical model for the volume-based surface area was used to show that the matrix aerogel around the silica aerogel grains is affected by their presence. Composites have a density 0.19 ≤ ρ ≤ 0.27 g/cm³ and a thermal conductivity at room temperature between 0.026 and 0.053 W/mK. Composites can be used as thermal insulation material in a normal temperature range b 200 °C due to the decomposition of the organic phase above 200 °C