A comparison of a class of earth-moon orbits with a class of rotating Kepler orbits

Comparison of class of orbits in Earth-Moon field and class of Kepler orbits in rotating coordinates by use of concurrent series of graph

SMART Research: Toward Interdisciplinary River Science in Europe

Interdisciplinary science is rapidly advancing to address complex human-environment interactions. River science aims to provide the methods and knowledge required to sustainably manage some of the planet’s most important and vulnerable ecosystems; and there is a clear need for river managers and scientists to be trained within an interdisciplinary approach. However, despite the science community’s recognition of the importance of interdisciplinary training, there are few studies examining interdisciplinary graduate programs, especially in science and engineering. Here we assess and reflect on the contribution of a 9-year European doctoral program in river science: ‘Science for MAnagement of Rivers and their Tidal Systems’ Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate (SMART EMJD). The program trained a new generation of 36 early career scientists under the supervision of 34 international experts from different disciplinary and interdisciplinary research fields focusing on river systems, aiming to transcend the boundaries between disciplines and between science and management. We analyzed the three core facets of the SMART program, namely: (1) interdisciplinarity, (2) internationalism, and (3) management-oriented science. We reviewed the contents of doctoral theses and publications and synthesized the outcomes of two questionnaire surveys conducted with doctoral candidates and supervisors. A high percentage of the scientific outputs (80%) were interdisciplinary. There was evidence of active collaboration between different teams of doctoral candidates and supervisors, in terms of joint publications (5 papers out of the 69 analyzed) but this was understandably quite limited given the other demands of the program. We found evidence to contradict the perception that interdisciplinarity is a barrier to career success as employment rates were high (97%) and achieved very soon after the defense, both in academia (50%) and the private/public sector (50%) with a strong international dimension. Despite management-oriented research being a limited (9%) portion of the ensemble of theses, employment in management was higher (22%). The SMART program also increased the network of international collaborations for doctoral candidates and supervisors. Reflections on doctoral training programs like SMART contribute to debates around research training and the career opportunities of interdisciplinary scientists

Transcriptome dynamics and molecular cross-talk between bovine oocyte and its companion cumulus cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The bi-directional communication between the oocyte and its companion cumulus cells (CCs) is crucial for development and functions of both cell types. Transcripts that are exclusively expressed either in oocytes or CCs and molecular mechanisms affected due to removal of the communication axis between the two cell types is not investigated at a larger scale. The main objectives of this study were: 1. To identify transcripts exclusively expressed either in oocyte or CCs and 2. To identify those which are differentially expressed when the oocyte is cultured with or without its companion CCs and vice versa.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We analyzed transcriptome profile of different oocyte and CC samples using Affymetrix GeneChip Bovine Genome array containing 23000 transcripts. Out of 13162 genes detected in germinal vesicle (GV) oocytes and their companion CCs, 1516 and 2727 are exclusively expressed in oocytes and CCs, respectively, while 8919 are expressed in both. Similarly, of 13602 genes detected in metaphase II (MII) oocytes and CCs, 1423 and 3100 are exclusively expressed in oocytes and CCs, respectively, while 9079 are expressed in both. A total of 265 transcripts are differentially expressed between oocytes cultured with (OO + CCs) and without (OO - CCs) CCs, of which 217 and 48 are over expressed in the former and the later groups, respectively. Similarly, 566 transcripts are differentially expressed when CCs mature with (CCs + OO) or without (CCs - OO) their enclosed oocytes. Of these, 320 and 246 are over expressed in CCs + OO and CCs - OO, respectively.</p> <p>While oocyte specific transcripts include those involved in transcription (<it>IRF6, POU5F1, MYF5, MED18</it>), translation (<it>EIF2AK1, EIF4ENIF1</it>) and CCs specific ones include those involved in carbohydrate metabolism (<it>HYAL1, PFKL, PYGL, MPI</it>), protein metabolic processes (<it>IHH, APOA1, PLOD1</it>), steroid biosynthetic process (<it>APOA1, CYP11A1, HSD3B1, HSD3B7</it>). Similarly, while transcripts over expressed in OO + CCs are involved in carbohydrate metabolism (<it>ACO1, 2</it>), molecular transport (<it>GAPDH, GFPT1</it>) and nucleic acid metabolism (<it>CBS, NOS2</it>), those over expressed in CCs + OO are involved in cellular growth and proliferation (<it>FOS, GADD45A</it>), cell cycle (<it>HAS2, VEGFA</it>), cellular development (<it>AMD1, AURKA, DPP4</it>) and gene expression (<it>FOSB, TGFB2</it>).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In conclusion, this study has generated large scale gene expression data from different oocyte and CCs samples that would provide insights into gene functions and interactions within and across different pathways that are involved in the maturation of bovine oocytes. Moreover, the presence or absence of oocyte and CC factors during bovine oocyte maturation can have a profound effect on transcript abundance of each cell types, thereby showing the prevailing molecular cross-talk between oocytes and their corresponding CCs.</p