LARP7 family proteins have conserved function in telomerase assembly

Understanding the intricacies of telomerase regulation is crucial due to the potential health benefits of modifying its activity. Telomerase is composed of an RNA component and reverse transcriptase. However, additional factors required during biogenesis vary between species. Here we have identified fission yeast Lar7 as a member of the conserved LARP7 family, which includes the Tetrahymena telomerase-binding protein p65 and human LARP7. We show that Lar7 has conserved RNA-recognition motifs, which bind telomerase RNA to protect it from exosomal degradation. In addition, Lar7 is required to stabilise the association of telomerase RNA with the protective complex LSm2-8, and telomerase reverse transcriptase. Lar7 remains a component of the mature telomerase complex and is required for telomerase localisation to the telomere. Collectively, we demonstrate that Lar7 is a crucial player in fission yeast telomerase biogenesis, similarly to p65 in Tetrahymena, and highlight the LARP7 family as a conserved factor in telomere maintenance

Promoting Resiliency among First-generation College Students

On a momentous day in May, six unlikely students walked across the graduation stage of a competitive, private university to receive their bachelor’s degrees. All six were participants in our study of successful first-generation college (FGC) students. Extensive research investigated the high attrition rates of FGC students and enumerated obstacles that led them to drop out. Our research took a different approach. Through in-depth interviews, we explored the way resilient FGC students navigated around obstacles and what supported their success. By definition, resilient individuals succeed despite characteristics that predict their failure. Stories from this study offer practical implications for advisers seeking to create university environments that support resiliency. The university can be a difficult place for people whose parents never attained a bachelor’s degree. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics (Warburton, Bugarin, & Nuñez, 2001), only 9.1 percent of students whose parents earned at least a bachelor’s degree drop out of college. In comparison, 20.5 percent of students whose parents did not attend college withdraw. The attrition rate of students whose parents attended but did not complete college remains a high 17.1 percent. The gap between FGC students’ attrition rates and that of their later-generation peers has been explained in a number of different ways. Chief among these are academic preparation, financial strain, identity issues, and social capital

Marked overlap of four genetic syndromes with dyskeratosis congenita confounds clinical diagnosis

Financial support provided by The Medical Research Council-MR/K000292/1, Children with Cancer- 2013/144 and Blood Wise-14032 (AJW, LC, SC, AE, TV, HT and ID). KMG is supported by the National Institute for Health Research through the NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre

Recent Decisions

Comments on recent decisions by Sidney Baker, John C. Castelli, John J. Cauley, Francis W. Collopy, Arthur B. Curran, Jr., Louis F. DiGiovanni, Francis J. Keating, William G. Mahoney, Jr., James D. Matthews, James W. Oberfell, John B. Palmer, Louis P. Peck, George Ratterman, Henry M. Shine, Jr., John G. Smith, James M. Wetzel, and Dale A. Winnie

Recent Decisions

Comments on recent decisions by Francis W. Collopy, William J. Verdonk, Vincent C. A. Scully, John F. Mendoza, James L. O\u27Brien, Bernard L. Weddel, William B. Wombacher, Thomas L. Smith, Henry M. Shine, Jr., James D. Matthews, Clifford A. Goodrich, Jr., Wilmer L. McLaughlin, and William M. Dickson

Suitability of the Southern Australia Integrated Marine Observing System’s (SA-IMOS) HF-Radar for operational forecasting

The IMOS HF-Radar array in South Australia provides observations of the ocean waters south of Spencer Gulf. In addition to ocean surface currents, the data from this array can be processed to provide near-real time observations of wave statistics and wind direction. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology requires access to these observations for forecast modelling but currently only have a single Waverider buoy operating in South Australian waters at Cape du Couedic, south of Kangaroo Island, which provides no directional information. The HF-Radar array could potentially be used to augment the current operational observation systems used by the Bureau. In this paper we evaluate the performance of the HF-Radar system against observations from the Waverider buoy and an automatic weather station at Neptune Island and also compare the HF-Radar observations to a wave model based on the eSA-Marine forecast grid. The results suggest that upgrading the HF-Radar to provide near-real time wave and wind data would provide a new, independent source of environmental observations for the Bureau

Experimental speedup of quantum dynamics through squeezing

We show experimentally that a broad class of interactions involving quantum harmonic oscillators can be made stronger (amplified) using a unitary squeezing protocol. While our demonstration uses the motional and spin states of a single trapped $^{25}$Mg$^{+}$ ion, the scheme applies generally to Hamiltonians involving just a single harmonic oscillator as well as Hamiltonians coupling the oscillator to another quantum degree of freedom such as a qubit, covering a large range of systems of interest in quantum information and metrology applications. Importantly, the protocol does not require knowledge of the parameters of the Hamiltonian to be amplified, nor does it require a well-defined phase relationship between the squeezing interaction and the rest of the system dynamics, making it potentially useful in instances where certain aspects of a signal or interaction may be unknown or uncontrolled

Selecting and Ranking Time Series Models Using the NOEMON Approach

Abstract. In this work, we proposed to use the NOEMON approach to rank and select time series models. Given a time series, the NOEMON approach provides a ranking of the candidate models to forecast that series, by combining the outputs of different learners. The best ranked models are then returned as the selected ones. In order to evaluate the proposed solution, we implemented a prototype that used MLP neural networks as the learners. Our experiments using this prototype revealed encouraging results.

LARP7 family proteins have conserved function in telomerase assembly

Understanding the intricacies of telomerase regulation is crucial due to the potential health benefits of modifying its activity. Telomerase is composed of an RNA component and reverse transcriptase. However, additional factors required during biogenesis vary between species. Here we have identified fission yeast Lar7 as a member of the conserved LARP7 family, which includes the Tetrahymena telomerase-binding protein p65 and human LARP7. We show that Lar7 has conserved RNA-recognition motifs, which bind telomerase RNA to protect it from exosomal degradation. In addition, Lar7 is required to stabilise the association of telomerase RNA with the protective complex LSm2–8, and telomerase reverse transcriptase. Lar7 remains a component of the mature telomerase complex and is required for telomerase localisation to the telomere. Collectively, we demonstrate that Lar7 is a crucial player in fission yeast telomerase biogenesis, similarly to p65 in Tetrahymena, and highlight the LARP7 family as a conserved factor in telomere maintenance