Investigation of the Caveolin-Human Follicle Stimulating Hormone Receptor Interaction through Peptide Treatments

The purpose of my research project has been to determine the nature of the binding relationship between caveolin and hFSHR inside sex cells. FSH plays a role in the maturation of these cells, and interfering with the receptor’s interaction with caveolin would prevent cell maturation (down regulating fertility). It is believed the interaction occurs through transmembrane domain IV of the receptor due to its aromatic nature. The treatment of sex cells with synthetic peptides that mimic the hFSHR-caveolin binding sequence should prevent the interaction, shutting down the signaling cascade from hFSHR. This can be tested for by the monitoring of downstream signals given off by hFSHR, including the presence (or absence) of phosphorylated p44, PKA, and CREB. It is hypothesized the wildtype peptide treatment will down regulate all of these signals when compared to the mutant control. Current data points towards this hypothesis holding true, with successful western blots displaying a noted difference in cell signaling between the wildtype and mutant peptide treatments. These results indicate the key interaction between caveolin and hFSHR likely occurs at transmembrane domain IV

The Effects of Lysine Vasopressin on Conditioned Behaviour in Rats

This thesis is concerned with lysine vasopressin's (LVP's) behavioural activity. Chapter One describes vasopressin's synthesis, secretion, metabolism, pressor, antidiuretic and putative corticotrophic functions with emphasis on behaviourally significant aspects. Chapter Two reviews behavioural data showing that manipulations of endogenous vasopressin levels alter subsequent avoidance performance. Although these data have predominantly been interpreted in favour of vasopressin altering memory formation (consolidation) results reported from an experiment combining response prevention trials and vasopressin injections failed to support the consolidation hypotheis. Chapter Three reviews the response prevention literature and confirms the feasibility of using prevention trials with automated shuttle box training (Experiment One). LVP (1 µg/rat) injected immediately after training increased subsequent extinction responding (Experiment Two). Experiment Three showed that LVP (1 µg/rat) increased responding when injected immediately after prevention trials but decreased extinction responding when injected after 30 minutes of post training retention in the home cage or 30 extinction trials. LVP injections 30 minutes after training and immediately after prevention trials increased suppression of concurrent lever press responding 24 hours later (Experiment Four). Manipulating the training-injection interval after automated training yielded maximal response reductions with a 60 minute interval (Experiment Five) with indications of a negative dose response curve for higher (2-4 µg/rat) doses (Experiment Six). Manual shuttle box tests showed that with a 30 minute training-injection interval subsequent extinction responding varied as an inverted "U" shaped function of the LVP dose (Experiment Seven). Opposite effects of 0.11 µg/rat and 2.97 µg/rat were confirmed with higher training shock levels (Experiment Nine). A further experiment (Experiment Eight) revealed a complex interaction between dose and injection interval. Extinction responding was also reduced by some doses of DG-LVP (Experiment Ten). Post training manipulation of cholinergic activity did not alter LVP's response reducing effects in well trained rats (Experiment Eleven) although some cholinergic involvement was indicated (Experiment Fourteen) in the response increasing effects of LVP (1 µg/rat) injected 30 minutes after training in poor avoidance learners (Experiments Twelve and Thirteen). Tests on the suitability of appetitive responding for exploring vasopressin's behavioural effects showed that both a variable interval (60 seconds) schedule and differential reinforcement of low response rates (DRL) schedule were sensitive to high LVP doses (3-4 µg/rat). The implications of these data for our understanding of vasopressin's behavioural effects are discussed

The British and rubber in Malaya, c1890-1940

This paper aims to explain the relations between Capital and Labour on the rubber plantations in Malaya until the time of the Japanese invasion. It examines the way in which the British acquired and controlled land as a resource, and the ways in which companies raised and applied investment capital. It considers the means of recruiting an adequate supply of labour, and controlling it as a workforce; it demonstrates a close relationship between the rubber companies and the State, which was modified by the special interests of the State itself

Conclusion - The Italian Diaspora after the Second World War

The Conference at Bivongi followed on others that had raised some serious questions about the Italian diaspora that occurred after the Second World War. We asked contributors to submit papers in three broad divisions, the first relating to the migrants\u27 experience before departure, the second to experience in the host country, and the third to the cinematographic and literary interpretation of that experience. The papers contributed that successfully completed the peer review process are arranged in that sequence in this book

Making nutrition decisions in high-cost environments

Take home messages • At average fertiliser costs, return on investment to nitrogen applications exceed 5:1, i.e. every dollar spent on nitrogen results in $5 of additional profit • When N prices double, growers are still receiving$2.10 in profit for every dollar spent on nitrogen, and at triple the cost nitrogen is still expected to return $0.85 in additional profit for every dollar spent • With higher N prices profitable N responses to winter cereals are only expected under favourable grain prices or seasonal conditions • Soil testing and precision/variable nutrient application become more valuable as nutrition costs rise

A study to assess COPD Symptom-based Management and to Optimise treatment Strategy in Japan (COSMOS-J) based on GOLD 2011

Background and objective: The Global initiative for chronic Obstructive Lung Disease(GOLD) Committee has proposed a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) assessment framework focused on symptoms and on exacerbation risk. This study will evaluate a symptom and exacerbation risk-based treatment strategy based on GOLD in a real-world setting in Japan. Optimal management of COPD will be determined by assessing symptoms using the COPD Assessment Test (CAT) and by assessing the frequency of exacerbations. Methods: This study (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01762800) is a 24-week, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, parallel-group study. It aims to recruit 400 patients with moderate-to-severe COPD. Patients will be randomized to receive treatment with either salmeterol/fluticasone propionate (SFC) 50/250μg twice daily or with tiotropium bromide 18μg once daily. Optimal management of patients will be assessed at four-weekly intervals and, if patients remain symptomatic, as measured using the CAT, or experience an exacerbation, they have the option to step up to treatment with both drugs, ie, SFC twice daily and tiotropium once daily (TRIPLE therapy). The primary endpoint of the study will be the proportion of patients who are able to remain on the randomized therapy. Results: No data are available. This paper summarizes the methodology of the study in advance of the study starting. Conclusion: The results of this study will help physicians to understand whether TRIPLE therapy is more effective than either treatment strategy alone in controlling symptoms and exacerbations in patients with moderate-to-severe COPD. It will also help physicians to understand the GOLD recommendation work in Japan

Large seasonal and spatial variation in nano- and microphytoplankton diversity along a Baltic Sea-North Sea salinity gradient

Aquatic phytoplankton experience large fluctuations in environmental conditions during seasonal succession and across salinity gradients, but the impact of this variation on their diversity is poorly understood. We examined spatio-temporal variation in nano- and microphytoplankton (>2 mu m) community structure using almost two decades of light-microscope based monitoring data. The dataset encompasses 19 stations that span a salinity gradient from 2.8 to 35 along the Swedish coastline. Spatially, both regional and local phytoplankton diversity increased with broad-scale salinity variation. Diatoms dominated at high salinity and the proportion of cyanobacteria increased with decreasing salinity. Temporally, cell abundance peaked in winter-spring at high salinity but in summer at low salinity. This was likely due to large filamentous cyanobacteria blooms that occur in summer in low salinity areas, but which are absent in higher salinities. In contrast, phytoplankton local diversity peaked in spring at low salinity but in fall and winter at high salinity. Whilst differences in seasonal variation in cell abundance were reasonably well-explained by variation in salinity and nutrient availability, variation in local-scale phytoplankton diversity was poorly predicted by environmental variables. Overall, we provide insights into the causes of spatio-temporal variation in coastal phytoplankton community structure while also identifying knowledge gaps

Introduzione - La Diaspora italiana dopo la Seconda Guerra Mondiale

This paper provides a critical introduction to the Italian section of the edited volume La Diaspora italiana dopo la Seconda Guerra Mondiale. The Italian Diaspora after the Second World War, Bivongi [RC], International AM Edizioni, 2007

Aggregate demand and wage effects on manufacturing employment in Australia 1954-55 to 1984-85

Interest in the relative roles of wages and demand in determining employment can be traced to Keynes' General Theory. This gave rise to research into the cyclic relationship between employment and wages, and also into the role of wages and demand variables as determinants of the demand for labour. This thesis pursues the second line of inquiry which can be categorised as a comparison of neoclassical and Keynesian explanations of the demand for labour in which the former stresses the role of wages and the latter the role of demand variables. There is no consensus in the literature about the relative imponance of wage and aggregate demand variables in labour demand models. The Australian manufacturing sector forms the data for this study. The demand for labour in Australian manufacturing rose from the mid-1950s to 1973-74. During this time employment in manufacturing behaved in much the same way as it did in the rest of the economy. From the mid 1970s employment in manufacturing began a sustained decline while that of the rest of the economy grew. There are four main features of the thesis. The first is that it analyses the demand for labour in Australian manufacturing over a long time period (30 years). Second, alternative specifications of the demand for labour are systematically compared, which includes testing the importance of appropriately modelling the capital stock and technical progress. Third, the role of aggregation in identifying an appropriate labour demand function is investigated. An integrated approach to investigating the relative importance of wage and demand variables, which includes testing the robustness of the specifications, forms the fourth feature of the thesis. The conclusions derived from a systematic study of the Australian manufacturing sector using a long time series of disaggregated data are that: - if technical progress and investment are jointly modelled as time trends, then the real wage is a highly significant determinant of labour demand (this result is very sensitive to the specification chosen); - the importance of the demand effects in the labour demand function are sensitive to the level of aggregation chosen: and, - if the method of modelling MFP and investment is accepted and the level of aggregation chosen appropriate, then both real wages and aggregate demand have significant effects on labour demand over the period studied