Gene expression analysis of bovine embryonic disc, trophoblast and parietal hypoblast at the start of gastrulation

In cattle early gastrulation-stage embryos (Stage 5), four tissues can be discerned: (i) the top layer of the embryonic disc consisting of embryonic ectoderm (EmE); (ii) the bottom layer of the disc consisting of mesoderm, endoderm and visceral hypoblast (MEH); (iii) the trophoblast (TB); and (iv) the parietal hypoblast. We performed microsurgery followed by RNA-seq to analyse the transcriptome of these four tissues as well as a developmentally earlier pre-gastrulation embryonic disc. The cattle EmE transcriptome was similar at Stages 4 and 5, characterised by the OCT4/SOX2/NANOG pluripotency network. Expression of genes associated with primordial germ cells suggest their presence in the EmE tissue at these stages. Anterior visceral hypoblast genes were transcribed in the Stage 4 disc, but no longer by Stage 5. The Stage 5 MEH layer was equally similar to mouse embryonic and extraembryonic visceral endoderm. Our data suggest that the first mesoderm to invaginate in cattle embryos is fated to become extraembryonic. TGFβ, FGF, VEGF, PDGFA, IGF2, IHH and WNT signals and receptors were expressed, however the representative members of the FGF families differed from that seen in equivalent tissues of mouse embryos. The TB transcriptome was unique and differed significantly from that of mice. FGF signalling in the TB may be autocrine with both FGFR2 and FGF2 expressed. Our data revealed a range of potential inter-tissue interactions, highlighted significant differences in early development between mice and cattle and yielded insight into the developmental events occurring at the start of gastrulation

The effects of peer influence on adolescent pedestrian road-crossing decisions

Objective: Adolescence is a high-risk period for pedestrian injury. It is also a time of heightened susceptibility to peer influence. The aim of this research was to examine the effects of peer influence on the pedestrian road-crossing decisions of adolescents. Methods: Using 10 videos of road-crossing sites, 80 16- to 18-year-olds were asked to make pedestrian road-crossing decisions. Participants were assigned to one of 4 experimental conditions: negative peer (influencing unsafe decisions), positive peer (influencing cautious decisions), silent peer (who observed but did not comment), and no peer (the participant completed the task alone). Peers from the adolescent’s own friendship group were recruited to influence either an unsafe or a cautious decision. Results: Statistically significant differences were found between peer conditions. Participants least often identified safe road-crossing sites when accompanied by a negative peer and more frequently identified dangerous road-crossing sites when accompanied by a positive peer. Both cautious and unsafe comments from a peer influenced adolescent pedestrians’ decisions. Conclusions: These findings showed that road-crossing decisions of adolescents were influenced by both unsafe and cautious comments from their peers. The discussion highlighted the role that peers can play in both increasing and reducing adolescent risk-taking

The impact of stripped Nuclei on the Super-Massive Black Hole number density in the local Universe

The recent discovery of super-massive black holes (SMBHs) in the centers of high-mass ultra compact dwarf galaxies (UCDs) suggests that at least some UCDs are the stripped nuclear star clusters of lower mass galaxies. Tracing these former nuclei of stripped galaxies provides a unique way to track the assembly history of a galaxy or galaxy cluster. In this paper we present a new method to estimate how many UCDs host an SMBH in their center and thus are stripped galaxy nuclei. We revisit the dynamical mass measurements that suggest many UCDs have more mass than expected from stellar population estimates, which recent observations have shown is due to the presence of an SMBH. We revise the stellar population mass estimates using a new empirical relation between the mass-to-light ratio (M/L) and metallicity, and use this to predict which UCDs are most likely to host an SMBH. This enables us to calculate the fraction of UCDs that host SMBHs across their entire luminosity range for the first time. We then apply the SMBH occupation fraction to the observed luminosity function of UCDs and estimate that in the Fornax and Virgo cluster alone there should be $69^{+32}_{-25}$ stripped nuclei with SMBHs. This analysis shows that stripped nuclei with SMBHs are almost as common in clusters as present-day galaxy nuclei. We estimate the local SMBH number density in stripped nuclei to $3-8\times10^{-3}Mpc^{-3}$, which represents a significant fraction (10-40\%) of the SMBH density in the local Universe. These SMBHs hidden in stripped nuclei will increase expected event rates for tidal disruption events and SMBH-SMBH and SMBH-BH mergers. The existence of numerous stripped nuclei with SMBHs are a direct consequence of hierarchical galaxy formation, but until now their impact on the SMBH density had not been quantified.Comment: 15 pages, 8 Figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Experiences of Diagnosis, Symptoms, and Use of Reliever Inhalers in Patients With Asthma and Concurrent Inducible Laryngeal Obstruction or Breathing Pattern Disorder: Qualitative Analysis of a UK Asthma Online Community.

BACKGROUND: Breathing pattern disorders (BPDs) and inducible laryngeal obstruction (ILO) cause similar symptoms to asthma, including dyspnea and chest tightness, with an estimated prevalence of up to one-fifth of patients with asthma. Both conditions can be comorbid with asthma, and there is evidence that they are misdiagnosed and mistreated as asthma. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to explore whether the symptoms of ILO and BPD were topics of discussion in a UK asthma online health community and patient experiences of diagnosis and treatment, in particular their use of reliever inhalers. METHODS: A qualitative thematic analysis was performed with posts from an asthma community between 2018 and 2022. A list of key ILO or BPD symptoms was created from the literature. Posts were identified using the search terms "blue inhaler" and "breath" and included if describing key symptoms. Discussion threads of included posts were also analyzed. RESULTS: The search retrieved a total of 1127 relevant posts: 1069 written by 302 users and 58 posted anonymously. All participants were adults, except 2 who were parents writing about their children. Sex and age were only available for 1.66% (5/302; 3 females and 2 males) and 9.93% (30/302) of participants (27 to 73 years old), respectively. The average number of posts written by each participant was 3.54 (range 1-63). Seven participants wrote >20 posts each. Participants experiencing undiagnosed ILO or BPD symptoms, whether or not comorbid with asthma, expressed frustration with the "one-size-fits-all" approach to diagnosis, as many felt that their asthma diagnosis did not fully explain symptoms. Some suspected or were formally diagnosed with BPD or ILO, the latter reporting relief on receiving a diagnosis and appropriate management. Participants showed awareness of their inappropriate salbutamol use or overuse due to lack of effect on symptoms. BPD and ILO symptoms were frequently comorbid with asthma. The asthma online community was a valuable resource: engagement with peers not only brought comfort but also prompted action with some going back to their clinicians and reaching a diagnosis and appropriate management. CONCLUSIONS: Undiagnosed ILO and BPD symptoms and lack of effects of asthma treatment were topics of discussion in an asthma online community, caused distress and frustration in participants, and affected their relationship with health care professionals, showing that patients experiencing BPD and ILO have unmet needs. Clinicians' education on BPD and ILO diagnosis and management, as well as increased access to appropriate management options, such as respiratory physiotherapy and speech and language therapy, are warranted particularly in primary care. Qualitative evidence that engagement with the online community resulted in patients taking action going back to their clinicians and reaching a diagnosis of ILO and BPD prompts future research on online peer support from an established online health community as a self-management resource for patients

An S-FSCW Based Multi-Channel Reader System for Beamforming Applications using Surface Acoustic Wave Sensors

Interrogating multiple surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensors located within the same radar beam require techniques to separate the multiple superposing SAW sensor responses. The presented multi-channel reader features four parallel transceiver channels, which are based on the switched frequency-stepped continuous-wave principle and high-speed parallelized baseband electronics. Thus classical beamforming applications including angle of arrival measurement of single SAW tags and the angular separation of multiple SAW sensors are presented and compared to a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) approach. Due to the larger virtual array in the MIMO approach a larger aperture can be synthesized, which leads to significantly better angular separation results. The level analysis for the given system is verified by baseband-power measurements at different readout distances, considering the hardware parameters as well as the free-space propagation aspects. Finally measurements assess the maximum interrogation distance for the system

Specifying and Monitoring Market Mechanisms Using Rights and Obligations

We provide a formal scripting language to capture the semantics of market mechanisms. The language is based on a set of well-defined principles, and is designed to capture an agent’s rights, as derived from property, and an agent’s obligations, as derived from restrictions placed on its actions, either voluntarily or as a consequence of other actions. Rights and obligations are viewed as first-class goods, from which we define fundamental axioms about well-functioning market-oriented worlds. Coupled with the scripting language is a run-time system that is able to monitor and enforce rights and obligations. Our treatment extends to represent a variety of market mechanisms, ranging from simple two-agent single-good exchanges to complicated combinatorial auctions.Engineering and Applied Science