scholarly journals Commentary on the Recent FSH Collection: Known Knowns and Known Unknowns

Endocrinology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 161 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Djurdjica Coss
Keyword(s):  
Cell Function ◽  
Follicle Stimulating Hormone ◽  
Reproductive Function ◽  
Clinical Applications ◽  
Follicular Growth ◽  
Significant Progress ◽  
Known Unknowns ◽  
Near Future ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Made In

Abstract Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) is a dimeric glycoprotein secreted by the anterior pituitary gonadotrope that is necessary for reproductive function in mammals. FSH primarily regulates granulosa cells and follicular growth in females, and Sertoli cell function in males. Since its identification in the 1930s and sequencing in the 1970s, significant progress has been made in elucidating its regulation and downstream function. Recent advances provide deeper insight into FSH synthesis, and effects in the gonads suggest potential roles in extragonadal tissues and examine pharmacological approaches and clinical applications in infertility treatment that now affect 18% of couples. These advances were discussed in detail in a number of reviews published in the last 2 years in Endocrinology. In this brief commentary, we summarize these reviews and point to the outstanding questions that should be answered in the near future to bridge a gap in our understanding of this hormone.

scholarly journals Peace Unwanted? – The Frozen Conflict of Nagorno-Karabakh Revisited

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Pia Ferner
Keyword(s):  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Internally Displaced ◽  
Humanitarian Action ◽  
Peaceful Settlement ◽  
Political Dimensions ◽  
Near Future ◽  
Frozen Conflict ◽  
Desk Research ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Made In

More than twenty years after the ceasefire agreement has been signed between Armenia and Azerbaijan, little has been reached in resolving the dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh. This paper aims to provide insight into political dimensions of the conflict combining a geopolitical perspective with a perspective of local dynamics on the ground. Analyzing contributing factors to the lack of progress in the durable settlement of the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh provides an outlook on possibilities for a peaceful settlement of the dispute, which is of high relevance from a humanitarian perspective. The current positions of international actors contributing to the stalemate, as well as a lack of influential involvement of the civil society in the region provide little reason to believe significant change for a peaceful settlement of the conflict will be made in the near future. Increased transparency and improved communication are needed to provide opportunities for a peaceful change.This paper is primarily based on desk research, with additional insights gained from a research stay, and was issued as a contribution to Indonesian Humanitarian Action Forum. It is seen as an opportunity to shed light on an often forgotten conflict which poses strong humanitarian concerns due to a large number of IDPs (Internally Displaced Person) and continued landmine contamination hindering development.

Insight into the factors affecting the safety of take-off and landing of the ship-borne helicopter

2021 ◽  
pp. 095441002110504
Author(s):  
Yihua Cao ◽  
Yihao Qin
Keyword(s):  
Modelling And Simulation ◽  
Significant Progress ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Handling Qualities ◽  
Flying Qualities ◽  
Dynamic Interface ◽  
Systematical Review ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Made In

Despite the important role and highly frequent appearance of the helicopter in modern ship operations, the flight mission with take-off and landing of helicopters to ships, especially ships with small-sized decks, could be very challenging and potentially hazardous. Many researches on ship-helicopter dynamic interface (DI) have been conducted, and significant progress has been made. In this paper, a comprehensive and systematical review of the factors affecting the flying qualities of ship-borne helicopter and pilot workload during taking off and landing is derived from these efforts to date. The factors from two aspects, including the ship environment and the pilot-helicopter interface, are covered to address how these factors affect the helicopter handling qualities and pilot workload, primarily focusing on aerodynamic issues. The insight into these factors is not only of great significance for conducting take-off and landing tasks safely but also helpful to establish suitable fidelity criteria and guidelines for the modelling and simulation of the ship-helicopter DI environment.

scholarly journals FSH inhibits AMH to support ovarian estradiol synthesis in infantile mice

2019 ◽  
Vol 240 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie M Devillers ◽  
Florence Petit ◽  
Victoria Cluzet ◽  
Charlotte M François ◽  
Frank Giton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ovarian Function ◽  
Follicle Stimulating Hormone ◽  
Reproductive Function ◽  
Protein Abundance ◽  
Follicular Growth ◽  
Organotypic Cultures ◽  
Aromatase Expression ◽  
Antral Follicles ◽  
Estradiol Synthesis ◽  
Stimulation Of

Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) regulates ovarian function in cyclic females, notably by preventing premature follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH)-mediated follicular growth and steroidogenesis. Its expression in growing follicles is controlled by FSH and by estradiol (E2). In infantile females, there is a transient increase in the activity of the gonadotrope axis, as reflected by elevated levels of both gonadotropins and E2. We previously demonstrated in mice that elevated FSH concentrations are necessary to induce E2 production by preantral/early antral follicles through the stimulation of aromatase expression without supporting their growth. However, whether this action of FSH could involve AMH is unknown. Here, we show that Amh mRNA and protein abundance and serum AMH levels are elevated in infantile mouse females, compared with those in adults. By experimentally manipulating FSH and E2 levels in infantile mice, we demonstrate that high FSH concentrations lower Amh expression specifically in preantral/early antral follicles, whereas E2 has no effect. Importantly, treatment of infantile ovaries in organotypic cultures with AMH decreases FSH-mediated expression of Cyp19a1 aromatase, but it does not alter the expression of cyclin D2-mediating granulosa cell proliferation. Overall, our data indicate that the infantile elevation in FSH levels suppresses Amh expression in preantral/early antral follicles, thereby favoring Cyp19a1 aromatase expression and E2 production. Together with recent discoveries that AMH can act on both the hypothalamus and the pituitary to increase gonadotropin levels, this work suggests that AMH is a critical regulator of the gonadotrope axis during the infantile period, thereby contributing to adult reproductive function programming.

scholarly journals Molecular insight into how γ-TuRC makes microtubules

2021 ◽  
Vol 134 (14) ◽  
Author(s):  
Akanksha Thawani ◽  
Sabine Petry
Keyword(s):  
Single Molecule ◽  
Cell Function ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Ring Complex ◽  
Single Molecule Studies ◽  
Nucleation Activity ◽  
Open Question ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Made In

ABSTRACT As one of four filament types, microtubules are a core component of the cytoskeleton and are essential for cell function. Yet how microtubules are nucleated from their building blocks, the αβ-tubulin heterodimer, has remained a fundamental open question since the discovery of tubulin 50 years ago. Recent structural studies have shed light on how γ-tubulin and the γ-tubulin complex proteins (GCPs) GCP2 to GCP6 form the γ-tubulin ring complex (γ-TuRC). In parallel, functional and single-molecule studies have informed on how the γ-TuRC nucleates microtubules in real time, how this process is regulated in the cell and how it compares to other modes of nucleation. Another recent surprise has been the identification of a second essential nucleation factor, which turns out to be the well-characterized microtubule polymerase XMAP215 (also known as CKAP5, a homolog of chTOG, Stu2 and Alp14). This discovery helps to explain why the observed nucleation activity of the γ-TuRC in vitro is relatively low. Taken together, research in recent years has afforded important insight into how microtubules are made in the cell and provides a basis for an exciting era in the cytoskeleton field.

Increasingly Intelligent Micromachines

2022 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tian-Yun Huang ◽  
Hongri Gu ◽  
Bradley J. Nelson
Keyword(s):  
State Of The Art ◽  
Autonomous Systems ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Significant Progress ◽  
The Past ◽  
Water Cleaning ◽  
Information Media ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Made In

Intelligent micromachines, with dimensions ranging from a few millimeters down to hundreds of nanometers, are miniature systems capable of performing specific tasks autonomously at small scales. Enhancing the intelligence of micromachines to tackle the uncertainty and variability in complex microenvironments has applications in minimally invasive medicine, bioengineering, water cleaning, analytical chemistry, and more. Over the past decade, significant progress has been made in the construction of intelligent micromachines, evolving from simple micromachines to soft, compound, reconfigurable, encodable, multifunctional, and integrated micromachines, as well as from individual to multiagent, multiscale, hierarchical, self-organizing, and swarm micromachines. The field leverages two important trends in robotics research—the miniaturization and intelligentization of machines—but a compelling combination of these two features has yet to be realized. The core technologies required to make such tiny machines intelligent include information media, transduction, processing, exchange, and energy supply, but embedding all of these functions into a system at the micro- or nanoscale is challenging. This article offers a comprehensive introduction to the state-of-the-art technologies used to create intelligence for micromachines and provides insight into the construction of next-generation intelligent micromachines that can adapt to diverse scenarios for use in emerging fields. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Control, Robotics, and Autonomous Systems, Volume 5 is May 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Toward quantitative defect analysis using HREM

1994 ◽  
Vol 52 ◽  
pp. 714-715
Author(s):  
David J. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscope ◽  
Unit Cell ◽  
Defect Analysis ◽  
Significant Progress ◽  
Detailed Characterization ◽  
Small Unit ◽  
Resolution Electron ◽  
High Resolution Electron Microscope ◽  
Large Unit Cell ◽  
Made In

The electron microscope has evolved to the level where it is now straightforward to record highresolution images from thin samples (t∼10 to 20nm) that are directly interpretable in terms of atomic arrangements. Whilst recorded images necessarily represent two-dimensional projections of the structure, many defects such as dislocations and interfaces may be linear or planar in nature and thus might be expected to be amenable to detailed characterization. In this review, we briefly consider the recent significant progress that has been made in quantitative defect analysis using the high-resolution electron microscope and then discuss some drawbacks to the technique as well as potential scope for further improvements. Surveys of defect modelling for some small-unit-cell materials and interfaces have recently been published, and reference should be made to other papers in this symposium for further examples.The technique of structure imaging originated in the early '70s with observations of large-unit-cell block oxides.

Will Love Tear Us Apart: Adapting the Lyrical to the Ludic

CounterText ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-235
Author(s):  
Gordon Calleja
Keyword(s):  
Design Process ◽  
Game Design ◽  
Digital Games ◽  
Design Decisions ◽  
The Core ◽  
Lyrical Poetry ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Made In

This paper gives an insight into the design process of a game adaptation of Joy Division's Love Will Tear Us Apart (1980). It outlines the challenges faced in attempting to reconcile the diverging qualities of lyrical poetry and digital games. In so doing, the paper examines the design decisions made in every segment of the game with a particular focus on the tension between the core concerns of the lyrical work being adapted and established tenets of game design.

ABATEMENT OF ANTICANCER DRUGS VIA ELECTROCHEMICAL OXIDATION PROCESS: A REVIEW

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
CHARULATA SIVODIA ◽  
ALOK SINHA
Keyword(s):  
Anticancer Drugs ◽  
Cell Function ◽  
Electrochemical Techniques ◽  
Aquatic Organisms ◽  
Pharmaceutical Drugs ◽  
Cytostatic Drugs ◽  
Cancerous Cell ◽  
Pharmaceutical Removal ◽  
Mutagenic Effects ◽  
Made In

The advancement made in biomedical industry upsurges the consumption rate of pharmaceutical drugs. The lack of proper monitoring and regulation methods leads to the unregulated discharge of pharmaceuticals in wastewater, where it can affect the aquatic organisms. Anticancer drugs are also known as cytostatic drugs mainly used for the treatment of cancer by disrupting the cell function and prevent multiplication of cancerous cell. Therefore, anticancer drugs are suspected to pose potential risk on environment by influencing mutagenic effects on the cells of aquatic organisms. An extensive research has been already made in the field of pharmaceutical removal, however their application on the removal of anticancer drugs is limited. This review paper elucidates about different electrochemical techniques for the mitigation of cytostatic drugs.

Biomarkers for Early Detection of Colitis-associated Colorectal Cancer - Current Concepts, Future Trends

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-145
Author(s):  
Tomasz Mackiewicz ◽  
Aleksander Sowa ◽  
Jakub Fichna
Keyword(s):  
Colorectal Cancer ◽  
Early Detection ◽  
Cancer Development ◽  
Sporadic Colorectal Cancer ◽  
Future Trends ◽  
Significant Progress ◽  
Current Standard ◽  
Risk Of Cancer ◽  
Histological Testing ◽  
Made In

: Colitis-associated colorectal cancer (CAC) remains a critical complication of ulcerative colitis (UC) with mortality of approximately 15%, which makes early CAC diagnosis crucial. The current standard of surveillance, with repetitive colonoscopies and histological testing of biopsied mucosa samples is burdensome and expensive, and therefore less invasive methods and reliable biomarkers are needed. Significant progress has been made thanks to continuous extensive research in this field, however no clinically relevant biomarker has been established so far. This review of the current literature presents the genetic and molecular differences between CAC and sporadic colorectal cancer and covers progress made in the early detection of CAC carcinogenesis. It focuses on biomarkers under development, which can be easily tested in samples of body fluids or breath and, once made clinically available, will help to differentiate between progressors (UC patients who will develop dysplasia) from non-progressors and enable early intervention to decrease the risk of cancer development.

scholarly journals Simultaneity and Precise Time in Rotation

Universe ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (12) ◽  
pp. 226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Don Koks
Keyword(s):  
Time Coordinate ◽  
Near Future ◽  
Precise Time ◽  
Made In

I analyse the role of simultaneity in relativistic rotation by building incrementally on its role in simpler scenarios. Historically, rotation has been analysed in 1 + 1 dimensions; but my stance is that a 2 + 1 -dimensional treatment is necessary. This treatment requires a discussion of what constitutes a frame, how coordinate choices differ from frame choices, and how poor coordinates can be misleading. I determine how precisely we are able to define a meaningful time coordinate on a gravity-free rotating Earth, and discuss complications due to gravity on our real Earth. I end with a critique of several statements made in relativistic precision-timing literature, that I maintain contradict the tenets of relativity. Those statements tend to be made in the context of satellite-based navigation; but they are independent of that technology, and hence are not validated by its success. I suggest that if relativistic precision-timing adheres to such analyses, our civilian timing is likely to suffer in the near future as clocks become ever more precise.

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