Autophosphorylation of the Tousled-like kinases TLK1 and TLK2 regulates recruitment to damaged chromatin via PCNA interaction.

Tousled-like kinases 1 and 2 (TLK1 and 2) are cell cycle-regulated serine/threonine kinases that are involved in multiple biological processes. Mutation of TLK1 and 2 confer neurodegenerative diseases. Recent studies demonstrate that TLK1 and 2 are involved in DNA repair.

Habitual pre-exercise caffeine supplementation prevents exercise-training induced attenuation of exercising systolic blood pressure and double-product.

We examined the effect of habitual pre-exercise caffeine supplementation on training-induced adaptations to exercising systolic (SBP), diastolic (DBP), pulse pressure (PP), heart rate (HR), and double product (DP). Young women (mean±SD; 24±7 y) were randomized to a caffeine (120 mg) supplement (CAF; n=17) or placebo (PLA; n=16) group, completed 6-weeks of high intensity exercise training on three non-consecutive days per week, and supplemented with CAF or PLA 30-60 minutes before exercise or else upon waking. Before (PRE) and after (POST) the intervention, SBP, DBP, and HR were measured, and PP and DP calculated, at rest and during fixed-power exercise at 50W and 75W.

Energetic cost of gestation and prenatal growth in humpback whales.

Improving our understanding of energy allocation in reproduction is key for accurately parameterizing bioenergetic models to assess population responses to environmental perturbations and anthropogenic disturbance. We quantified the energetic cost of gestation in humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) using historical whaling records, non-invasive unoccupied aerial system (UAS) photogrammetry and post mortem tissue samples. First, we estimated relative birth size using body length measurements of 678 mother-fetus pairs from historical whaling records and 987 mother-calf pairs measured in situ using UAS-photogrammetry.

Probing THz intersubband absorption using Johnson noise thermometry.

We investigate the THz intersubband absorption behavior of a single 40-nm wide GaAs/AlGaAs square quantum well (QW) using Johnson noise thermometry. In our measurements, the Johnson noise associated with intersubband absorption is measured from the in-plane conduction channel of the QW while its intersubband absorption behavior is being tuned through the independent control of the charge density and the perpendicular DC electric field. Our measurements enable the study of intersubband absorption of a small (∼20,000 and potentially fewer) number of electrons in a single mesoscopic device, as well as direct measurement of the electron heating from intersubband absorption.