Impact of social environment on variation in menstrual cycle length in captive female olive baboons (Papio anubis)

Factors affecting menstrual cycles and conception were explored for captive female olive baboons. We evaluated the relationship between the social environment and adequacy of the menstrual cycle in 55 non-conceptive and 21 conception cycles from 23 females. More abnormal cycles were expected for low-status females, and social stress levels were associated with variation in menstrual cycle length. Mean cycle length was 39.9 days (median=38) with a mean follicular phase duration of 23.7 (median=22) days. The duration of the follicular phase was more variable than that of the luteal phase (mean=15.8 days). The first cycle after post partum resumption of cycling was not markedly different from subsequent cycles in terms of duration or probability of conception. Dominance rank was one significant factor affecting female fertility. Low-ranking females experienced more cycles prior to conception, longer cycles once cycling was well established and had smaller sexual swellings anogenital area) than did high-ranking females. Both acute and chronic stresses may play important roles in fertility outcomes for these baboons and further research is needed to understand the role of stress and subtle menstrual cycle abnormalities in female mammal fertility

From Disease Association to Risk Assessment: An Optimistic View from Genome-Wide Association Studies on Type 1 Diabetes

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have been fruitful in identifying disease susceptibility loci for common and complex diseases. A remaining question is whether we can quantify individual disease risk based on genotype data, in order to facilitate personalized prevention and treatment for complex diseases. Previous studies have typically failed to achieve satisfactory performance, primarily due to the use of only a limited number of confirmed susceptibility loci. Here we propose that sophisticated machine-learning approaches with a large ensemble of markers may improve the performance of disease risk assessment. We applied a Support Vector Machine (SVM) algorithm on a GWAS dataset generated on the Affymetrix genotyping platform for type 1 diabetes (T1D) and optimized a risk assessment model with hundreds of markers. We subsequently tested this model on an independent Illumina-genotyped dataset with imputed genotypes (1,008 cases and 1,000 controls), as well as a separate Affymetrix-genotyped dataset (1,529 cases and 1,458 controls), resulting in area under ROC curve (AUC) of ∼0.84 in both datasets. In contrast, poor performance was achieved when limited to dozens of known susceptibility loci in the SVM model or logistic regression model. Our study suggests that improved disease risk assessment can be achieved by using algorithms that take into account interactions between a large ensemble of markers. We are optimistic that genotype-based disease risk assessment may be feasible for diseases where a notable proportion of the risk has already been captured by SNP arrays

Meta-analysis of shared genetic architecture across ten pediatric autoimmune diseases

Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified hundreds of susceptibility genes, including shared associations across clinically distinct autoimmune diseases. We performed an inverse χ(2) meta-analysis across ten pediatric-age-of-onset autoimmune diseases (pAIDs) in a case-control study including more than 6,035 cases and 10,718 shared population-based controls. We identified 27 genome-wide significant loci associated with one or more pAIDs, mapping to in silico-replicated autoimmune-associated genes (including IL2RA) and new candidate loci with established immunoregulatory functions such as ADGRL2, TENM3, ANKRD30A, ADCY7 and CD40LG. The pAID-associated single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were functionally enriched for deoxyribonuclease (DNase)-hypersensitivity sites, expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs), microRNA (miRNA)-binding sites and coding variants. We also identified biologically correlated, pAID-associated candidate gene sets on the basis of immune cell expression profiling and found evidence of genetic sharing. Network and protein-interaction analyses demonstrated converging roles for the signaling pathways of type 1, 2 and 17 helper T cells (TH1, TH2 and TH17), JAK-STAT, interferon and interleukin in multiple autoimmune diseases

Young children's comprehension of the locatives [shang mian]'on' & [xia mian] 'under'

Also available in print.Thesis (B.Sc)--University of Hong Kong, 1995"A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Bachelor of Science (Speech and Hearing Sciences), The University of Hong Kong, April 28, 1995."published_or_final_versionSpeech and Hearing SciencesBachelorBachelor of Science in Speech and Hearing Science

Young children's comprehension of the locatives [shang mian]'on' & [xia mian] 'under'

Also available in print.Thesis (B.Sc)--University of Hong Kong, 1995"A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Bachelor of Science (Speech and Hearing Sciences), The University of Hong Kong, April 28, 1995."published_or_final_versionSpeech and Hearing SciencesBachelorBachelor of Science in Speech and Hearing Science

Signals of female reproductive quality and fertility in colony-living baboons (Papio h. anubis) in relation to ensuring paternal investment

The fitness of a female’s offspring depends cruicially on the traits, genetic and paternal, that the father contributes. As such, females may either have an interest in behaviorally choosing the highest-quality male, or in reliably signaling their fertility status to males. Combining hormonal data on a female’s ovulatory fertile window with a behavioral context, we suggest that captive female olive baboons (Papio h. anubis) provide fathers with reliable signals of their fertile period. One signal, the maximum anogenital swelling (AGA), typically coincided with a 4-day fertile window of ovulation, which occurred 2–3 days prior to deturgescence. As expected from previous studies, AGA swelling indicated general attractiveness to males, and males attended to the relative attractiveness of females. Males approached and copulated with females significantly more often during the 4-day window around ovulation, irrespective of the absolute swelling stage. The two adult males present in the group were both able to copulate with consistent partners as at least two cycling females were available in most months; the dominant male was more selective about the timing of his copulations close to ovulation during the maximal swelling phase. Females with ovulatory but nonconceptive cycles were less attractive to males, especially during their maximal AGA swelling phase

Gospel songs / Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Marie Knight

Comprend : Up above my head, I hear the music in the air / Tharpe - Look away in the heavenly land / Lewis-Lee - Strange things happen every day / X - Milky White way / XBnF-Partenariats, Collection sonore - BelieveContient une table des matière