Differential expression of mRNAs encoding co-receptor (betaglycan) and activin type-I preovulatory and prehierarchical follicles of the putative inhibin and type-II receptors in the laying hen ovary

Ovarian follicle development is primarily regulated by an interplay between the pituitary gonadotrophins, LH and FSH, and ovary-derived steroids. Increasing evidence implicates regulatory roles of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF beta) superfamily members, including inhibins and activins. The aim of this study was to identify the expression of mRNAs encoding key receptors of the inhibin/activin system in ovarian follicles ranging from 4 mm in diameter to the dominant F1 follicle (similar to 40 turn). Ovaries were collected (n=16) from inid-sequence hens maintained on a long-day photoschedule (16h of light:8 h of darkness). All follicles removed were dissected into individual granulosa and thecal layers. RNA was extracted and cDNA synthesized. Real-time quantitative PCR was used to quantify the expression of niRNA encoding betaglycan, activin receptor (ActR) subtypes (type-I, -IIA and -IIB) and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH); receptor expression data were normalized to GAPDH expression. Detectable levels of ActRI, -IIA and -IIB and the inhibin co-receptor (betaglycan) expression were found in all granulosa and thecal layers analysed. Granulosa ActRI mRNA peaked (P < 0(.)05) in 8-9(.)9 mm follicles, whereas ActRIIA rose significantly from 6-7(.)9 mm to 8-9(.)9 nun, before filling to F3/2; levels then rose sharply (3-fold) to F1 levels. Granulosa betaglycan niRNA expression rose 3-fold from 4-5(.)9 min to 8-9(.)9 mm, before falling 4-fold to F3/2; levels then rose sharply (4-fold) to F1 levels. ActRIIB levels did not vary significantly during follicular development. Thecal ActRI mRNA expression was similar from 4-7(.)9 mm then decreased significantly to a nadir at the F4 position, before increasing 2-fold to the F1 (P < 0(.)05). Although thecal ActRIIB and -IIA expression did not vary significantly from 4 nim to F3, ActRIIB expression increased significantly (2-fold) from F3 to F1 and ActIIA, increased 22-fold from F2 to F1 (P < 0(.)05). Thecal betaglycan fell to a nadir at F6 after follicle selection; levels then increased significantly to F2, before filling similar to 50% in the F I. In all follicles studied expression of betaglycan and ActRI (granulosa: 1-0(.)65, P < 0-001, n=144/group; theca: r=0(.)49, P < 0-001, n=144/group) was well correlated. No significant correlations were identified between betaglycan and ActRIIA or -IIB. Considering all follicles analysed, granulosa mRNA expression of betaglycan, ActRI ActRIIA and ActRIIB were all significantly lower than in corresponding thecal tissue (betaglycan, 11(.)4-fold; ActRIIB, 5(.)1-fold; ActR(.) 3-8-fold: ActRIIA, 2(.)8-fold). The co-localization of type-I and -II activin receptors and betaglycan on granulosa and thecal cells are consistent with a local auto/paracrine role of inhibins and activins in modulating ovarian follicle development, selection and progression in the domestic fowl.

Differential expression of mRNAs encoding co-receptor (betaglycan) and activin type-I preovulatory and prehierarchical follicles of the putative inhibin and type-II receptors in the laying hen ovary

Ovarian follicle development is primarily regulated by an interplay between the pituitary gonadotrophins, LH and FSH, and ovary-derived steroids. Increasing evidence implicates regulatory roles of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF beta) superfamily members, including inhibins and activins. The aim of this study was to identify the expression of mRNAs encoding key receptors of the inhibin/activin system in ovarian follicles ranging from 4 mm in diameter to the dominant F1 follicle (similar to 40 turn). Ovaries were collected (n=16) from inid-sequence hens maintained on a long-day photoschedule (16h of light:8 h of darkness). All follicles removed were dissected into individual granulosa and thecal layers. RNA was extracted and cDNA synthesized. Real-time quantitative PCR was used to quantify the expression of niRNA encoding betaglycan, activin receptor (ActR) subtypes (type-I, -IIA and -IIB) and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH); receptor expression data were normalized to GAPDH expression. Detectable levels of ActRI, -IIA and -IIB and the inhibin co-receptor (betaglycan) expression were found in all granulosa and thecal layers analysed. Granulosa ActRI mRNA peaked (P < 0(.)05) in 8-9(.)9 mm follicles, whereas ActRIIA rose significantly from 6-7(.)9 mm to 8-9(.)9 nun, before filling to F3/2; levels then rose sharply (3-fold) to F1 levels. Granulosa betaglycan niRNA expression rose 3-fold from 4-5(.)9 min to 8-9(.)9 mm, before falling 4-fold to F3/2; levels then rose sharply (4-fold) to F1 levels. ActRIIB levels did not vary significantly during follicular development. Thecal ActRI mRNA expression was similar from 4-7(.)9 mm then decreased significantly to a nadir at the F4 position, before increasing 2-fold to the F1 (P < 0(.)05). Although thecal ActRIIB and -IIA expression did not vary significantly from 4 nim to F3, ActRIIB expression increased significantly (2-fold) from F3 to F1 and ActIIA, increased 22-fold from F2 to F1 (P < 0(.)05). Thecal betaglycan fell to a nadir at F6 after follicle selection; levels then increased significantly to F2, before filling similar to 50% in the F I. In all follicles studied expression of betaglycan and ActRI (granulosa: 1-0(.)65, P < 0-001, n=144/group; theca: r=0(.)49, P < 0-001, n=144/group) was well correlated. No significant correlations were identified between betaglycan and ActRIIA or -IIB. Considering all follicles analysed, granulosa mRNA expression of betaglycan, ActRI ActRIIA and ActRIIB were all significantly lower than in corresponding thecal tissue (betaglycan, 11(.)4-fold; ActRIIB, 5(.)1-fold; ActR(.) 3-8-fold: ActRIIA, 2(.)8-fold). The co-localization of type-I and -II activin receptors and betaglycan on granulosa and thecal cells are consistent with a local auto/paracrine role of inhibins and activins in modulating ovarian follicle development, selection and progression in the domestic fowl.

Southern annular mode dynamics in observations and models, Part I: The influence of climatological zonal wind biases in a comprehensive GCM

A common bias among global climate models (GCMs) is that they exhibit tropospheric southern annular mode (SAM) variability that is much too persistent in the Southern Hemisphere (SH) summertime. This is of concern for the ability to accurately predict future SH circulation changes, so it is important that it be understood and alleviated. In this two-part study, specifically targeted experiments with the Canadian Middle Atmosphere Model (CMAM) are used to improve understanding of the enhanced summertime SAM persistence. Given the ubiquity of this bias among comprehensive GCMs, it is likely that the results will be relevant for other climate models. Here, in Part I, the influence of climatological circulation biases on SAM variability is assessed, with a particular focus on two common biases that could enhance summertime SAM persistence: the too-late breakdown of the Antarctic stratospheric vortex and the equatorward bias in the SH tropospheric midlatitude jet. Four simulations are used to investigate the role of each of these biases in CMAM. Nudging and bias correcting procedures are used to systematically remove zonal-mean stratospheric variability and/or remove climatological zonal wind biases. The SAM time-scale bias is not alleviated by improving either the timing of the stratospheric vortex breakdown or the climatological jet structure. Even in the absence of stratospheric variability and with an improved climatological circulation, the model time scales are biased long. This points toward a bias in internal tropospheric dynamics that is not caused by the tropospheric jet structure bias. The underlying cause of this is examined in more detail in Part II of this study.

Boots Book-lovers' Library and the novel: The impact of a circulating library market on twentieth-century fiction

In a Report for the Society of Bookmen in 1928, British publishers estimated that between a quarter to two thirds of all the books they published went to four circulating libraries: Boots, Smith’s, Mudie’s, and The Times bookclub. This essay examines the literary impact of one of the largest of these, Boots Book-lovers’ Library (1899-66), which by 1935 had around 400 libraries attached to their high-street pharmacies catering for the tastes of over one million subscribers a year. Compared to the wealth of studies examining the influence of the library market in the Victorian period, the significance of the subscription libraries as key distributors of fiction in the twentieth century is not well known. But private libraries expanded rapidly in the early twentieth century to cater for what Sidney Dark termed a ‘new reading public’, and records in publishers’ archives indicate that authors routinely adapted their unpublished manuscripts in order to meet the perceived demands of this library reader. This article examines the impact of the Boots Book-lovers’ Library market on authors’ practices of writing and revision, and on literary marketing and censorship. It focuses in particular on the author James Hanley (1897-1985), using unpublished correspondence in the Chatto & Windus archive at the University of Reading to demonstrate how the publisher’s sense of the tastes and expectations of the Boots library reader influenced the editorial process.

Analysis and compensation of I/Q imbalance in MIMO transmit-receive diversity systems

In wireless communication systems, all in-phase and quadrature-phase (I/Q) signal processing receivers face the problem of I/Q imbalance. In this paper, we investigate the effect of I/Q imbalance on the performance of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) maximal ratio combining (MRC) systems that perform the combining at the radio frequency (RF) level, thereby requiring only one RF chain. In order to perform the MIMO MRC, we propose a channel estimation algorithm that accounts for the I/Q imbalance. Moreover, a compensation algorithm for the I/Q imbalance in MIMO MRC systems is proposed, which first employs the least-squares (LS) rule to estimate the coefficients of the channel gain matrix, beamforming and combining weight vectors, and parameters of I/Q imbalance jointly, and then makes use of the received signal together with its conjugation to detect the transmitted signal. The performance of the MIMO MRC system under study is evaluated in terms of average symbol error probability (SEP), outage probability and ergodic capacity, which are derived considering transmission over Rayleigh fading channels. Numerical results are provided and show that the proposed compensation algorithm can efficiently mitigate the effect of I/Q imbalance.

Analysis and compensation of I/Q imbalance in amplify-and-forward cooperative systems

In this paper, dual-hop amplify-and-forward (AF) cooperative systems in the presence of in-phase and quadrature-phase (I/Q) imbalance, which refers to the mismatch between components in I and Q branches, are investigated. First, we analyze the performance of the considered AF cooperative protocol without compensation for I/Q imbalance as the benchmark. Furthermore, a compensation algorithm for I/Q imbalance is proposed, which makes use of the received signals at the destination, from the source and relay nodes, together with their conjugations to detect the transmitted signal. The performance of the AF cooperative system under study is evaluated in terms of average symbol error probability (SEP), which is derived considering transmission over Rayleigh fading channels. Numerical results are provided and show that the proposed compensation algorithm can efficiently mitigate the effect of I/Q imbalance.

Object-based three-dimensional X-ray imaging

A form of three-dimensional X-ray imaging, called Object 3-D, is introduced, where the relevant subject material is represented as discrete ‘objects’. The surface of each such object is derived accurately from the projections of its outline, and of its other discontinuities, in about ten conventional X-ray views, distributed in solid angle. This technique is suitable for many applications, and permits dramatic savings in radiation exposure and in data acquisition and manipulation. It is well matched to user-friendly interactive displays.

A survey for planetary transits in the field of NGC 7789

We present results from 30 nights of observations of the open cluster NGC 7789 with the Wide Field Camera on the Isaac Newton Telescope, La Palma. From ~900 epochs, we obtained light curves and Sloan r'-i' colours for ~33000 stars, with ~2400 stars having better than 1 per cent precision. We expected to detect ~2 transiting hot Jupiter planets if 1 per cent of stars host such a companion and a typical hot Jupiter radius is ~1.2R_J. We find 24 transit candidates, 14 of which we can assign a period. We rule out the transiting planet model for 21 of these candidates using various robust arguments. For two candidates, we are unable to decide on their nature, although it seems most likely that they are eclipsing binaries as well. We have one candidate exhibiting a single eclipse, for which we derive a radius of 1.81+0.09-0.00R_J. Three candidates remain that require follow-up observations in order to determine their nature.