Transcriptome Analysis in Tardigrade Species Reveals Specific Molecular Pathways for Stress Adaptations

Tardigrades have unique stress-adaptations that allow them to survive extremes of cold, heat, radiation and vacuum. To study this, encoded protein clusters and pathways from an ongoing transcriptome study on the tardigrade Milnesium tardigradum were analyzed using bioinformatics tools and compared to expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from Hypsibius dujardini, revealing major pathways involved in resistance against extreme environmental conditions. ESTs are available on the Tardigrade Workbench along with software and databank updates. Our analysis reveals that RNA stability motifs for M. tardigradum are different from typical motifs known from higher animals. M. tardigradum and H. dujardini protein clusters and conserved domains imply metabolic storage pathways for glycogen, glycolipids and specific secondary metabolism as well as stress response pathways (including heat shock proteins, bmh2, and specific repair pathways). Redox-, DNA-, stress- and protein protection pathways complement specific repair capabilities to achieve the strong robustness of M. tardigradum. These pathways are partly conserved in other animals and their manipulation could boost stress adaptation even in human cells. However, the unique combination of resistance and repair pathways make tardigrades and M. tardigradum in particular so highly stress resistant

An Antibody-Aptamer-Hybrid Lateral Flow Assay for Detection of CXCL9 in Antibody-Mediated Rejection after Kidney Transplantation

Chronic antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) is a key limiting factor for the clinical outcome of a kidney transplantation (Ktx), where early diagnosis and therapeutic intervention is needed. This study describes the identification of the biomarker CXC-motif chemokine ligand (CXCL) 9 as an indicator for AMR and presents a new aptamer-antibody-hybrid lateral flow assay (hybrid-LFA) for detection in urine. Biomarker evaluation included two independent cohorts of kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) from a protocol biopsy program and used subgroup comparisons according to BANFF-classifications. Plasma, urine and biopsy lysate samples were analyzed with a Luminex-based multiplex assay. The CXCL9-specific hybrid-LFA was developed based upon a specific rat antibody immobilized on a nitrocellulose-membrane and the coupling of a CXCL9-binding aptamer to gold nanoparticles. LFA performance was assessed according to receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Among 15 high-scored biomarkers according to a neural network analysis, significantly higher levels of CXCL9 were found in plasma and urine and biopsy lysates of KTRs with biopsy-proven AMR. The newly developed hybrid-LFA reached a sensitivity and specificity of 71% and an AUC of 0.79 for CXCL9. This point-of-care-test (POCT) improves early diagnosis-making in AMR after Ktx, especially in KTRs with undetermined status of donor-specific HLA-antibodies

Development and Application of KPIs for the Evaluation of the Control Reserve Supply by a Cross-border Renewable Virtual Power Plant .

International audienceIn an increasingly decentralised energy system with a rising share of fluctuating renewable energy sources, such as wind energy and photovoltaics (PV), the importance of virtual power plants (VPP) for the provision of ancillary services is growing. Transmission system operators (TSOs) impose stringent requirements on the reliability and accurate controllability of power plants that are susceptible to qualify for control reserve provision. It needs to be discussed whether these requirements have to evolve to enable the participation of renewables in control reserve markets. As part of the REstable research project, an innovative ICT infrastructure was set up for linking German and French wind and PV farms in a transnational VPP. Key performance indicators (KPIs) derived from technical requirements of the German TSOs are proposed and applied to quantify the quality of control reserve provision by the VPP in physical field test

Biphasic Metabolism and Host Interaction of a Chlamydial Symbiont

Chlamydiae are obligate intracellular bacteria comprising well-known human pathogens and ubiquitous symbionts of protists, which are characterized by a unique developmental cycle. Here we comprehensively analyzed gene expression dynamics of Protochlamydia amoebophila during infection of its Acanthamoeba host by RNA sequencing. This revealed a highly dynamic transcriptional landscape, where major transcriptional shifts are conserved among chlamydial symbionts and pathogens. Our data served to propose a time-resolved model for type III protein secretion during the developmental cycle, and we provide evidence for a biphasic metabolism of P. amoebophila during infection, which involves energy parasitism and amino acids as the carbon source during initial stages and a postreplicative switch to endogenous glucose-based ATP production. This fits well with major transcriptional changes in the amoeba host, where upregulation of complex sugar breakdown precedes the P. amoebophila metabolic switch. The biphasic chlamydial metabolism represents a unique adaptation to exploit eukaryotic host cells, which likely contributed to the evolutionary success of this group of microbes.This article is published as König L, Siegl A, Penz T, Haider S, Wentrup C, Polzin J, Mann E, Schmitz-Esser S, Domman D, Horn M. 2017. Biphasic metabolism and host interaction of a chlamydial symbiont. mSystems 2:e00202-16. doi: 10.1128/mSystems.00202-16.</p

Weiße Flecken in der digitalen Vernetzung der Energiewirtschaft. IuK-Ansätze und -Lösungen

Derzeitige Energie-Infrastrukturen sind etablierte, stabile Systeme, die lineare Abstimmungsprozesse von wenigen großen Akteuren voraussetzen. Die Energiewende geht jedoch mit einer steigenden Anzahl von kleineren Teilnehmern einher, deren Geschäftsmodelle u. a. auf der Verfügbarkeit von Daten basieren und eine flexiblere Koordination benötigen. Ziel der vorliegenden Studie ist es daher, zu identifizieren, wo es noch am Einsatz von moderner, digitaler Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologie (IuK) für die zukünftigen Informationsflüsse in der Energiewirtschaft mangelt. Zur Verortung dieser weißen Flecken werden zunächst die bestehenden energiewirtschaftlichen Informationsflüsse aufgezeigt. Darüber hinaus wird davon ausgegangen, dass es mit der Digitalisierung zu neuen Informationsflüssen und damit zu einer Umstrukturierung der Energiewirtschaft kommen kann. Zur Abbildung der zukünftigen Struktur der Energiewirtschaft verwendet diese Studie, in Anlehnung an Limbacher und Richard [1], ein energiewirtschaftliches Wertschöpfungsnetzwerk mit zehn Wertschöpfungsfeldern; dieses entsteht durch das Aufspannen der klassischen Wertschöpfungskette zu einer zweidimensionalen »Landkarte«. Da diese Landkarte auch die Zuordnung von Sendern und Empfängern energiewirtschaftlicher Informationen erlaubt, scheint sie ein geeignetes Mittel zur Bestimmung der weißen Flecken zu sein. Als Kernergebnis dieser Studie zeigt Abbildung 1 diesen Ansatz zur Strukturierung der zukünftigen Energiewirtschaft, ordnet die Sender und Empfänger energiewirtschaftlicher Informationen einander zu und liefert eine Übersicht zu den wesentlichen Bereichen mit fehlenden Informationsflüssen sowie möglichen IuK-Lösungen

Report on the first Rendez-Vous. STELLAR - Del. WP3. D3.1

This is a report on a non&#8208;standard conference called Alpine Rendez&#8208;Vous that has been organized as part of \u27Scientific Capacity Building\u27 in the Network of Excellence STELLAR (work package 3) and took place in December 2009 in Garmisch&#8208;Partenkirchen, Germany. Main goals were (a) to identify and advance emerging topics, methodologies and technologies in the field of Technology&#8208;Enhanced Learning (TEL) and (b) to build community within and beyond STELLAR

Varia

Le numéro 48 de la revue Études finno-ougriennes est particulièrement riche et diversifié. Il couvre en effet pratiquement toutes les aires concernées par la revue : les questions générales de linguistique finno-ougristique et d’autres concernant les peuples finno-ougriens (histoire et droit), les peuples finno-ougriens du Nord avec leurs langues et leurs littératures, Sames d’Umeå, Khantys orientaux, Mansis, les peuples de la Volga (Oudmourtes) ainsi que les relations de ceux-ci avec les Tchouvaches. Il faut noter que pour la première fois nous donnons une place aux Tchouvaches, peuples parlant une langue turcique certes, mais qui partage de très nombreux traits d’histoire et de culture avec les peuples finno-ougriens environnants. La linguistique fennique – estonien et finnois – est bien représentée ainsi que la culture orale carélienne, et finalement le domaine hongrois est présent avec des réflexions sur la mode. Du point de vue disciplinaire également la diversité est assurée : six articles linguistiques, un sur l’histoire, un sur le droit, un sur la littérature, trois sur les traditions populaires (ethnographie et oralités) et un sur la mode. Notons les rubriques terrains – alimentée par des expériences chez les Oudmourtes d’outre-Kama –, chroniques – malheureusement caractérisée par un nombre important de décès dans l’année écoulée – et les traditionnels comptes rendus d’ouvrages intéressants pour la discipline