Rapid Communication: The Progesterone Receptor (PGR) Gene Maps to Porcine Chromosome 9p13-p11 by a Rodent-Porcine Somatic Cell Hybrid Panel

Genus and Species. Sus scrofa. Locus. Pig Progesterone Receptor ( PGR) gene. Source and Description of Primers. Oligonucleotide primers were designed from a partial pig PGR cDNA sequence (Genbank accession no. S49016) with inferred intron-exon boundary information from humans (Misrahi et al., 1993). The primers were designed to span the intron between exons 7 and 8 of the PGR gene

Issues Associated with Late Onset Deafness

Late deafened adults are individuals who have acquired a severe or profound hearing loss in adulthood. They comprise the largest proportion of the deaf population, yet little information is available about their condition and its influence on them. The current article will discuss problems experienced by late deafened adults, psychosocial aspects associated with late hearing loss, and suggestions that might assist professionals in working with these individuals. In addition to a literature review, personal accounts of the first author will be provided

Assessment of the swine protein-annotated oligonucleotide microarray

The specificity and utility of the swine protein-annotated oligonucleotide microarray, or Pigoligoarray (http://www.pigoligoarray.org), has been evaluated by profiling the expression of transcripts from four porcine tissues. Tools for comparative analyses of expression on the Pigoligoarray were developed including HGNC identities and comparative mapping alignments with human orthologs. Hybridization results based on the Pigoligoarray’s sets of control, perfect match (PM) and deliberate mismatch (MM) probes provide an important means of assessing non-specific hybridization. Simple descriptive diagnostic analyses of PM/MM probe sets are introduced in this paper as useful tools for detecting non-specific hybridization. Samples of RNA from liver, brain stem, longissimus dorsi muscle and uterine endothelium from four pigs were prepared and hybridized to the arrays. Of the total 20 400 oligonucleotides on the Pigoligoarray, 12 429 transcripts were putatively differentially expressed (DE). Analyses for tissue-specific expression [over-expressed in one tissue with respect to all the remaining three tissues (q \u3c 0.01)] identified 958 DE transcripts in liver, 726 in muscle, 286 in uterine endothelium and 1027 in brain stem. These hybridization results were confirmed by quantitative PCR (QPCR) expression patterns for a subset of genes after affirming that cDNA and amplified antisense RNA (aRNA) exhibited similar QPCR results. Comparison to human ortholog expression confirmed the value of this array for experiments of both agricultural importance and for tests using pigs as a biomedical model for human disease

Rapid Communication: MspI Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism at the Swine MYF6 Locus

Source and Description of Probe. A 1,296-bp rat cDNA clone for MRF4 (also called MYF6) was excised from the EcoRI site of the plasmid pBluescript KS+ (Rhodes and Konieczny, 1989

Rapid Communication: Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphisms at the Porcine Transporter Associated with Antigen Processing 1 (TAP1) Locus

Source and Description of Probe. A 2.7-kb human cDNA clone for TAP1 was excised from the XbaI site of the plasmid pRSV.5neo (Spies et al., 1990). Method of Detection. Hybridizations were performed at 65°C for 16 to 20 h (10% dextran sulfate, 7% SDS, .263 M NazHP04, 1% BSA, 1 mM EDTA, 100 pg/mL sonicated denatured salmon sperm DNA). Final washes were done at 65°C in .7x SSC, .5% SDS for 15 to 20 min

The pre-outburst flare of the A 0535+26 August/September 2005 outburst

We study the spectral and temporal behavior of the High Mass X-ray Binary A 0535+26 during a `pre-outburst flare' which took place ~5 d before the peak of a normal (type I) outburst in August/September 2005. We compare the studied behavior with that observed during the outburst. We analyse RXTE observations that monitored A 0535+26 during the outburst. We complete spectral and timing analyses of the data. We study the evolution of the pulse period, present energy-dependent pulse profiles both at the initial pre-outburst flare and close to outburst maximum, and measure how the cyclotron resonance-scattering feature (hereafter CRSF) evolves. We present three main results: a constant period P=103.3960(5)s is measured until periastron passage, followed by a spin-up with a decreasing period derivative of Pdot=(-1.69+/-0.04)x10^(-8)s/s at MJD 53618, and P remains constant again at the end of the main outburst. The spin-up provides evidence for the existence of an accretion disk during the normal outburst. We measure a CRSF energy of Ecyc~50kev during the pre-outburst flare, and Ecyc~46kev during the main outburst. The pulse shape, which varies significantly during both pre-outburst flare and main outburst, evolves strongly with photon energy.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in A&A Letters. To be published in parallel to Postnov et al. 200

Multiple Cyclotron Lines in the Spectrum of 4U 0115+63

We report phase resolved spectroscopy of the transient accreting pulsar, 4U0115+63. For the first time, more than two cylotron resonance scattering features are detected in the spectrum of an X-ray pulsar. The shape of the fundamental line appears to be complex, and this is in agreement with predictions of Monte-Carlo models. As in other pulsars, the line energies and optical depths are strong functions of pulse phase. One possible model for this is an offset of the dipole of the neutron star magnetic field.Comment: 5 pages. To appear in "Proceedings of the 5th Compton Symposium