5,647 research outputs found

    Genome-wide association study identifies common and low-frequency variants at the AMHgene locus that strongly predict serum AMH levels in males

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    Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) is an essential messenger of sexual differentiation in the foetus and is an emerging biomarker of postnatal reproductive function in females. Due to a paucity of adequately sized studies, the genetic determinants of circulating AMH levels are poorly characterized. In samples from 2815 adolescents aged 15 from the ALSPAC study, we performed the first genome-wide association study of serum AMH levels across a set of ∼9 M ‘1000 Genomes Reference Panel’ imputed genetic variants. Genetic variants at the AMH protein-coding gene showed considerable allelic heterogeneity, with both common variants [rs4807216 (PMale = 2 × 10−49, Beta: ∼0.9 SDs per allele), rs8112524 (PMale = 3 × 10−8, Beta: ∼0.25)] and low-frequency variants [rs2385821 (PMale = 6 × 10−31, Beta: ∼1.2, frequency 3.6%)] independently associated with apparently large effect sizes in males, but not females. For all three SNPs, we highlight mechanistic links to AMH gene function and demonstrate highly significant sex interactions (PHet 0.0003–6.3 × 10−12), culminating in contrasting estimates of trait variance explained (24.5% in males versus 0.8% in females). Using these SNPs as a genetic proxy for AMH levels, we found no evidence in additional datasets to support a biological role for AMH in complex traits and diseases in men

    The Doctrine of Functionality in Design Patent Cases

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    Closed Recirculating Seawater Systems for Holding Intermolt Blue Crabs: Literature Review, Systems Design and Construction

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    Three closed recirculating seawater systems designed for holding intermolt stage blue crabs are described and illustrated. Pertinent literature dealing with design criteria for closed systems is discussed. The biology of the blue crab is reviewed in relation to data required for design purposes. Cost and capacity of the systems are presented including provision for solar heating. Areas where future work is needed are identified.https://aquila.usm.edu/gcrl_publications/1010/thumbnail.jp

    A Efficacious Theoretical Perspective of Rural Female School Superintendents\u27 Self-Sustainability

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    The landscape of the rural superintendancy is in the midst of a leadership turnover as a significant number of its current administrators reach retirement age. Discussions in the literature have delineated the characteristics of successful rural superintendents and the barriers that threaten their achievement. It lacks, however, adequate discussion of how women have aspired to and sustained success in rural superintendencies. The qualitative case study presented in this report includes the narratives of five novice, rural, and female superintendents. An efficacious theoretical framework was identified as the lens through which the accounts could best be analyzed and discussed, including proposed implications for additional research to further explore this framework and the academy’s preparation of rural female superintendents

    A New Approach toward Transition State Spectroscopy

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    Chirped-Pulse millimetre-Wave (CPmmW) rotational spectroscopy provides a new class of information about photolysis transition state(s). Measured intensities in rotational spectra determine species-isomer-vibrational populations, provided that rotational populations can be thermalized. The formation and detection of S0 vinylidene is discussed in the limits of low and high initial rotational excitation. CPmmW spectra of 193 nm photolysis of Vinyl Cyanide (Acrylonitrile) contain J=0-1 transitions in more than 20 vibrational levels of HCN, HNC, but no transitions in vinylidene or highly excited local-bender vibrational levels of acetylene. Reasons for the non-observation of the vinylidene co-product of HCN are discussed.Comment: Accepted by Faraday Discussion

    Delayed Hardening in Soft Shell Blue Crabs

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    Ebola Virus Localization in the Macaque Reproductive Tract during Acute Ebola Virus Disease.

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    Sexual transmission of Ebola virus (EBOV) has been demonstrated more than a year after recovery from the acute phase of Ebola virus disease (EVD). The mechanisms underlying EBOV persistence and sexual transmission are not currently understood. Using the acute macaque model of EVD, we hypothesized EBOV would infect the reproductive tissues and sought to localize the infection in these tissues using immunohistochemistry and transmission electron microscopy. In four female and eight male macaques that succumbed to EVD between 6 and 9 days after EBOV challenge, we demonstrate widespread EBOV infection of the interstitial tissues and endothelium in the ovary, uterus, testis, seminal vesicle, epididymis, and prostate gland, with minimal associated tissue immune response or organ pathology. Given the widespread involvement of EBOV in the reproductive tracts of both male and female macaques, it is reasonable to surmise that our understanding of the mechanisms underlying sexual transmission of EVD and persistence of EBOV in immune-privileged sites would be facilitated by the development of a nonhuman primate model in which the macaques survived past the acute stage into convalescence
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