2,295 research outputs found
Temporal and spatial expression of tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases 1 and 2 (TIMP-1 and -2) in the bovine corpus luteum
The matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and their endogenous inhibitors, tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs), may mediate the dramatic structural and functional changes in the corpus luteum (CL) over the course of its life span. In addition to regulating MMP activity, TIMPs are also involved in a variety of cellular processes, including cell proliferation and steroidogenesis. In a series of initial studies, we determined that matrix metalloproteinase inhibitory activity was present in protein extracts from early (4 days old, estrus = day 0), mid (10–12 days old) and late (16 days old) CL (n = 3 for each stage). Reverse zymography revealed four metalloproteinase inhibitory protein bands with relative Molecular masses that are consistent with those reported for TIMP-1 to -4. In order to gain a better understanding of TIMPs and their role in luteal function, we further characterized this inhibitory activity with a particular focus on the temporal and spatial expression of TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 in the bovine CL. Northern blotting revealed that the TIMP-1 transcript (0.9 kb) was expressed at a higher (p \u3c 0.05) level in early and mid cycle CL than in the late stage. In contrast, two TIMP-2 mRNA species, one major 1 kb species and one minor 3.5 kb species, were significantly (p \u3c 0.05) increased in the mid and late cycle CL than in the early. Western blotting analyses demonstrated no differences in TIMP-1 (29 kDa) protein levels between early and mid stages, while its levels decreased (p \u3c 0.05) from the mid to late stage CL. Conversely, TIMP-2 (22 kDa) protein was detected at a low level in the early CL, but significantly (p \u3c 0.05) increased in the mid and late stages. Immunohistochemistry revealed that both TIMP-1 and -2 were localized to large luteal cells from all three ages of CL. TIMP-1 was also localized in capillary smooth muscle cells, while TIMP-2 was restricted to the endothelial cells in the capillary compartment. In conclusion, the different temporal expression patterns of TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 suggest that TIMP-1 may be important for luteal formation and development, while TIMP-2 may play significant roles during luteal development and maintenance. Furthermore, the distinct localization of these two inhibitors in the vascular compartment indicates that they may serve diverse physiological functions during different stages of luteal angiogenesis
Review of the initial validation and characterization of a chicken 3K SNP array.
In 2004 the chicken genome sequence and more than 2.8 million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were reported. This information greatly enhanced the ability of poultry scientists to understand chicken biology, especially with respect to identification of quantitative trait loci (QTL) and genes that control simple and complex traits. To validate and address the quality of the reported SNPs, assays for 3072 SNPS were developed and used to genotype 2576 DNAs isolated from commercial and experimental birds. Over 90% of the SNPs were valid based on the criterion used for segregating, and over 88% had a minor allele frequency of 2% or greater. As the East Lansing (EL) and Wageningen University (WAU) reference panels were genotyped, 1933 SNPs were added to the chicken genetic map, which was used in the second chicken genome sequence assembly. It was also discovered that linkage disequilibrium varied considerably between commercial layers and broilers; with the latter having haplotype blocks averaging 10 to 50 kb in size. Finally, it was estimated that commercial lines have lost 70% or more of their genetic diversity, with the majority of allele loss attributable to the limited number of chicken breeds used
Pricing of early-exercise Asian options under L\'evy processes based on Fourier cosine expansions
In this article, we propose a pricing method for Asian options with early-exercise
features. It is based on a two-dimensional integration and a backward recursion of the
Fourier coefficients, in which several numerical techniques, like Fourier cosine expansions,
Clenshaw–Curtis quadrature and the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) are employed. Rapid
convergence of the pricing method is illustrated by an error analysis. Its performance is
further demonstrated by various numerical examples, where we also show the power of
an implementation on Graphics Processing Units (GPUs)
An efficient pricing algorithm for swing options based on Fourier cosine expansions
Swing options give contract holders the right to modify amounts of future delivery
\nof certain commodities, such as electricity or gas. We assume that these options
\ncan be exercised at any time before the end of the contract, and more than once.
\nHowever, a recovery time between any two consecutive exercise dates is incorporated
\nas a constraint to avoid continuous exercise. We introduce an efficient way
\nof pricing these swing options, based on the Fourier cosine expansion method,
\nwhich is especially suitable when the underlying is modeled by a L\xc3\xa9vy process
Underlying Pairing States in Cuprate Superconductors
In this Letter, we develop a microscopic theory to describe the close
proximity between the insulating antiferromagnetic (AF) order and the d-wave
superconducting (dSC) order in cuprates. We show that the cuprate ground states
form a configuration of coherent pairing states consisting of extended singlet
Cooper pairs and triplet pairs, which can simultaneously describe AF and
dSC orders.Comment: 4 papes, 1 figur
A Critical Analysis Of The State-Of-The-Art On Automated Detection Of Deceptive Behavior In Social Media
Recently, a large body of research has been devoted to examine the user behavioral patterns and the business implications of social media. However, relatively little research has been conducted regarding users’ deceptive activities in social media; these deceptive activities may hinder the effective application of the data collected from social media to perform e-marketing and initiate business transformation in general. One of the main contributions of this paper is the critical analysis of the possible forms of deceptive behavior in social media and the state-of-the-art technologies for automated deception detection in social media. Based on the proposed taxonomy of major deception types, the assumptions, advantages, and disadvantages of the popular deception detection methods are analyzed. Our critical analysis shows that deceptive behavior may evolve over time, and so making it difficult for the existing methods to effectively detect social media spam. Accordingly, another main contribution of this paper is the design and development of a generic framework to combat dynamic deceptive activities in social media. The managerial implication of our research is that business managers or marketers will develop better insights about the possible deceptive behavior in social media before they tap into social media to collect and generate market intelligence. Moreover, they can apply the proposed adaptive deception detection framework to more effectively combat the ever increasing and evolving deceptive activities in social medi
Gravitational time advancement and its possible detection
The gravitational time advancement is a natural but a consequence of curve
space-time geometry. In the present work the expressions of gravitational time
advancement have been obtained for geodesic motions. The situation when the
distance of signal travel is small in comparison to the distance of closest
approach has also been considered. The possibility of experimental detection of
time advancement effect has been explored.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, a part of the work has been changed in the
revised versio
Decoherence of Atomic Gases in Largely Detuned Laser Fields
We study theoretically the decoherence of a gas of bosonic atoms induced by
the interaction with a largely detuned laser beam. It is shown that for a
standing laser beam decoherence coincides with the single-particle result. For
a running laser beam many-particle effects lead to significant modifications.Comment: 5 pages, 2 Figures, RevTe
Scaling behavior of the overlap quark propagator in Landau gauge
The properties of the momentum space quark propagator in Landau gauge are
examined for the overlap quark action in quenched lattice QCD. Numerical
calculations are done on three lattices with different lattice spacings and
similar physical volumes to explore the approach of the quark propagator toward
the continuum limit. We have calculated the nonperturbative momentum-dependent
wave function renormalization function Z(p) and the nonperturbative mass
function M(p) for a variety of bare quark masses and perform an extrapolation
to the chiral limit. We find the behavior of Z(p) and M(p) are in reasonable
agreement between the two finer lattices in the chiral limit, however the data
suggest that an even finer lattice is desirable. The large momentum behavior is
examined to determine the quark condensate.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, Revtex 4. Streamlined presentation, additional
data. Final versio
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