Investigation of miRNAs enrichment and degradation in bovine granulosa cells during follicular development

The granulosa cells in the mammalian ovarian follicle respond to gonadotropin signalling and are involved in the processes of folliculogenesis and oocyte maturation. Although, several studies have been done on spatio temporal expression of genes during follicular development, little is known about the post-transcriptional regulation of those genes. This study unravelled the basic knowledge on bovine miRNA prevalence and expression pattern during the early luteal phase of the bovine estrous cycle. For this, miRNAs enriched total RNA isolated from granulosa cells of subordinate follicles (SF) and dominant follicles (DF) obtained from heifers slaughtered at day 3 and day 7 of the estrous cycle and were subjected for miRNAs deep sequencing. The data analysis revealed that 291 and 318 mature miRNAs were detected in granulosa cells of SF and DF, respectively at day 3 of estrous cycle, while 314 and 316 were detected in granulosa cells of SF and DF, respectively, at day 7 of estrous cycle. A total of 244 detected miRNAs were common to all follicle groups, of which 15 miRNAs including bta-miR-10b, bta-miR-26a, let-7 families, bta-miR-92a, bta-miR-191, bta-miR-125a, bta-miR-148 and bta-miR-30a-5p, were highly abundant (≥3000 reads) in both SF and DF at both days of the estrous cycle. At day 3 of the estrous cycle, 16 miRNAs including bta-miR-449a, bta-miR-449c, bta-miR-212, bta-miR-21-3p, bta-miR-183 and bta-mir-34c were differentially expressed (DE) in granulosa cell of subordinate follicle groups. Similarly, at day 7 of the estrous cycle, a total of 108 miRNAs including bta-mir-409a, bta-miR-2446, and bta-mir-383 were altered in granulosa cells of SF compared to DF. Nine miRNAs including bta-miR-21-3p, bta-miR-708, and bta-miR-335 were commonly DE between SF and DF at day 3 and day 7 of the estrous cycle. In addition to known miRNAs, a total of 21 novel miRNAs were identified and detected in granulosa cells of SF and/or DF at day 3 and day 7 of the estrous cycle. The majority of the DE miRNAs were found to be involved in regulation of programmed cell death and regulation of cell proliferation. In addition, the DE miRNAs were found to be involved in Wnt signaling, TGF-beta signaling, oocyte meiosis, MAPK signaling, focal adhesion, axon guidance and gap junction. Therefore, our findings suggest that temporal variation in the abundance of mature miRNAs during bovine follicular development in SF and DF of granulosa cells, which may be associated with recruitment, selection and development of bovine follicles.Untersuchung der miRNA Anreicherung und Abbau in bovine Granulosazellen während der Follikelreifung Die Granulosazellen aus ovarialen Säugertierfollikeln reagieren auf Gonadotropin-Signale und sind an den Prozessen der Follikulogenese und Eizellenreifung beteiligt. Obwohl bereits mehrere Studien über die spatio-temporale Genexpression während der follikulären Entwicklung erfolgten, ist bisher wenig über die post-transkriptionelle Regulierung dieser Gene bekannt. Daher befasst sich diese Studie mit der Untersuchung von der bovine miRNA Prävalenz und ihrer Expressionsmuster während der frühen Lutealphase des bovinen Östruszyklus. Dafür wurde miRNA angereicherte Gesamt-RNA aus Granulosazellen von untergeordneten Follikeln (SF) und dominanten Follikeln (DF) am Tag 3 und Tag 7 des Östruszyklus von geschlachteten Färsen isoliert und mittels Deep Sequenzierung analysiert. Durch die Datenanalyse konnten jeweils 291 und 317 miRNAs in Granulosazellen von SF und DF am Tag 3 des Östruszyklus ermittelt werden. Für Tag 7 des Östruszyklus gewonnene Granulosazellen konnten 314 und 316 miRNAs identifizierten werden. In allen Follikelgruppen wurden insgesamt 244 miRNAs detektiert, wobei 15 miRNAs einschließlich bta-miR-10b, bta-miR-26a, let-7 families, bta-miR-92a, bta-miR-191, bta-miR-125a, bta-miR-148 und bta-miR-30a-5p in beiden SF und DF und auch an beiden Tagen des Östruszyklus hoch reguliert (≥3000 reads) waren. Am Tag 3 des Östruszyklus waren 16 miRNAs einschließlich bta-miR-449a, bta-miR-449c, bta-miR-212, bta-miR-21-3p, bta-miR-183 und bta-mir-34c unterschiedlich in Granulosazellen der untergeordneten Follikelgruppe exprimiert (DE). Genauso zeigten am Tag 7 des Östruszyklus insgesamt 108 miRNAs einschließlich bta-mir-409a, bta-miR-2446, und bta-mir-383 in SF Granulosazellen im Vergleich zu DF eine unterschiedliche Expression. Neun miRNAs, u.a. bta-miR-21-3p, bta-miR-708 und bta-miR-335 waren sowohl am Tag 3 als auch am Tag 7 DE zwischen SF und DF des Östruszyklus. Insgesamt wurden 21 neue miRNAs zusätzlich zu den bekannten miRNAs in den Granulosazellen von SF und/oder DF am Tag 3 und 7 des Östruszyklus identifiziert und detektiert. Die Mehrheit der DE miRNAs sind an der Regulierung des programmierten Zelltods und der Regulierung der Zellproliferation beteiligt. Gleichwohl waren diese DE miRNAs auch an den Signalwegen Wnt, TGF-beta, Meiose der Eizelle, MAPK, fokal Adhäsion, Axon Guidance und Gap Junction involviert. Deshalb lassen unsere Ergebnisse darauf schließen, dass temporale Variationen in der Anreicherung von miRNAs während der bovinen Follikelentwicklung in SF und DF aus Granulosazellen, welche mit der Rekrutierung, Selektion und Entwicklung boviner Follikel assoziiert werden, vorkommen können

The Role of Underemployment in Employee’s Overall Job Satisfaction: The Alabama Case.

Job satisfaction is an important measure of utility that employees derive from their jobs and is related to various features of the job such as pay, security, intrinsic values of work, working conditions, career growth opportunities, working hours, and the like. This paper analyzes the relationship between underemployment and overall job satisfaction among other personal and job characteristics of the workforce in Alabama using survey data from Alabama workforce development regions. A logistic model is used to analyze the determinants of job satisfaction in Alabama including underemployment. Estimation results show a negative relationship between underemployment and job satisfaction. Personal and work-related attributes such as education, age, work hours, and gender are also shown to influence employee job satisfaction.Community/Rural/Urban Development, Industrial Organization, Labor and Human Capital,

Orchestrating Service Migration for Low Power MEC-Enabled IoT Devices

Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) is a key enabling technology for Fifth Generation (5G) mobile networks. MEC facilitates distributed cloud computing capabilities and information technology service environment for applications and services at the edges of mobile networks. This architectural modification serves to reduce congestion, latency, and improve the performance of such edge colocated applications and devices. In this paper, we demonstrate how reactive service migration can be orchestrated for low-power MEC-enabled Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Here, we use open-source Kubernetes as container orchestration system. Our demo is based on traditional client-server system from user equipment (UE) over Long Term Evolution (LTE) to the MEC server. As the use case scenario, we post-process live video received over web real-time communication (WebRTC). Next, we integrate orchestration by Kubernetes with S1 handovers, demonstrating MEC-based software defined network (SDN). Now, edge applications may reactively follow the UE within the radio access network (RAN), expediting low-latency. The collected data is used to analyze the benefits of the low-power MEC-enabled IoT device scheme, in which end-to-end (E2E) latency and power requirements of the UE are improved. We further discuss the challenges of implementing such schemes and future research directions therein

A New Weighting Scheme in Weighted Markov Model for Predicting the Probability of Drought Episodes

Drought is a complex stochastic natural hazard caused by prolonged shortage of rainfall. Several environmental factors are involved in determining drought classes at the specific monitoring station. Therefore, efficient sequence processing techniques are required to explore and predict the periodic information about the various episodes of drought classes. In this study, we proposed a new weighting scheme to predict the probability of various drought classes under Weighted Markov Chain (WMC) model. We provide a standardized scheme of weights for ordinal sequences of drought classifications by normalizing squared weighted Cohen Kappa. Illustrations of the proposed scheme are given by including temporal ordinal data on drought classes determined by the standardized precipitation temperature index (SPTI). Experimental results show that the proposed weighting scheme for WMC model is sufficiently flexible to address actual changes in drought classifications by restructuring the transient behavior of a Markov chain. In summary, this paper proposes a new weighting scheme to improve the accuracy of the WMC, specifically in the field of hydrology

Examination Scheme at Secondary School Level in Pakistan:Composite Vs Split

Abstract: Examination is one and the only instrument for the assessment of different features of teaching learning process. Major objectives of the study were: To compare the students’ results; teachers instructional and assessment practices and administrative affaires of the school principals under composite and split scheme of examination at secondary school level. Stratified sampling technique was used to select 64 secondary schools in the Province of Punjab, Pakistan. All the principals (n=64) and secondary school teachers, with the experience of at least 10 years (n=340) in those selected schools were contacted for the purpose of data collection. Two questionnaires were constructed to collect data from the principals and teachers. Three years result of students studied in those selected schools under composite (2005, 2007 and 2008) and three years results under split scheme of examination (2006, 2009 and 2010) was compared. Data were analyzed with the help of SPSS version 15.0. The major conclusions of the study were: Teachers and students use traditional methods of pedagogy such as lecture method and rote memorization under both examination schemes; principals and teachers feel difficulty to manage the things and often claim time deficiency under split scheme; students’ results under split scheme of examination were better as compared to composite scheme of examination. Key words: Split; Composite; Examination; Secondary School Level; PedagogyRésumé: L'examen est le seul instrument pour évaluer les différentes caractéristiques des processus d'enseignement. Les principaux objectifs de l'étude étaient les suivants: Pour comparer les résultats des élèves, les professeurs d’enseignement et la pratique d'évaluation, et des affaires administratives des directeurs d'école sont sous le régime de split et compose au niveau du secondaire. La technique d'échantillonnage stratifié a été utilisée pour sélectionner 64 écoles secondaires dans la province de Punjab, au Pakistan. Dans ces écoles sélectionnées , Tous les directeurs d'école (n = 64) et les enseignants du secondaire, avec l'expérience d'au moins 10 ans (n = 340) ont été contactés dans le but de la collecte des données. Deux questionnaires ont été faites pour recueillir des données de l'école et les enseignants. On compare les études de 3 ans qui ont été faites par les étudiants dans des écoles sélectionnées sous le régime des composes (2005, 2007 et 2008) et et des écoles qui sont au régime de scission de l'examen (2006, 2009 et 2010). Les données ont été analysées à l'aide du logiciel SPSS version 15.0. Les principales conclusions de l'étude étaient: les enseignants et les élèves utilisent des méthodes traditionnelles de la pédagogie comme la méthode de lecture et de mémorisation sous les deux régimes d'examen; les directeurs et les enseignants se sentent mal à gérer les choses et prétendent souvent qu’ils n’ont pas assez de temps sous le régime de scission; les résultats des élèves sous le régime scission de l'examen sont meilleurs que ceux qui sont sous régime compose de l'examen. Mots clés: Split; Compose; Examen de niveau secondaire; La pédagogi

Antibacterial, Antifungal, and Insecticidal Potentials of Oxalis corniculata

Oxalis corniculata is a common medicinal plant widely used against numerous infectious diseases. The agrochemical potential of methanolic extract, n-hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and n-butanol fractions were assessed to measure the antibacterial, antifungal, and insecticidal activities of the plant. The crude, chloroform, and n-butanol soluble fractions showed excellent activities against Escherichia coli, Shigella dysenteriae, Salmonella typhi, and Bacillus subtilis but have no activity against Staphylococcus aureus. Similarly the crude, n-hexane, and chloroform fractions were also found to have significant activity against fungal strains including Fusarium solani, Aspergillus flexneri, and Aspergillus flavus and have no activity against Aspergillus niger. Chemical pesticides have shown very good results at the beginning, but with the passage of time the need was realized to use the natural plant sources for the safe control of insects. The current study will provide minor contribution towards it. High mortality rate was recorded for the crude extract and chloroform fraction against Tribolium castaneum. The two isolated compounds 5-hydroxy-6,7,8,4′-tetramethoxyflavone (1) and 5,7,4′-trihydroxy-6,8-dimethoxyflavone (2) were evaluated for antibacterial, antifungal, and insecticidal activities. The results showed that compound 2 was more active than compound 1 against the tested bacterial strains and insects