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Oral contraceptives (OCs) containing estrogen and progesterone analogues are widely used amongst reproductive-aged women, but their neurocognitive impact is poorly understood. Preliminary studies suggest that OCs improve verbal memory and that OCs with greater androgenic activity may improve visuospatial ability. We sought to explore the cognitive impact of OCs by assessing performance of OC users at different stages of the OC cycle, and comparing this performance between users of different OC formulations according to known androgenic activity. We conducted a prospective, observational trial of OC users, evaluating cognitive performance with CogState software on two occasions days 7-10 of active hormonal pill phase, and days 3-5 of the inactive pill phase (coinciding with the withdrawal bleed resembling menstruation). Thirty-five OC users (18 taking androgenic formulations, 17 taking anti-androgenic) were assessed. Analysis by androgenic activity showed superior performance by users of androgenic OCs, as compared to anti-androgenic OCs, in visuospatial ability and facial affect discrimination tasks. A growing understanding of cognitive effects of OC progestin androgenicity may have implications in choice of OC formulation for individuals and in future OC development.A plant's response to stress conditions is governed by intricately coordinated gene expression. The microRNAs (miRs) have emerged as relatively new players in the genetic network, regulating gene expression at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional level. In this study, we performed comprehensive profiling of miRs in roots of the naturally salt-tolerant Pokkali rice variety to understand their role in regulating plant physiology in the presence of salt. For comparisons, root miR profiles of the salt-sensitive rice variety Pusa Basmati were generated. It was seen that the expression levels of 65 miRs were similar for roots of Pokkali grown in the absence of salt (PKNR) and Pusa Basmati grown in the presence of salt (PBSR). The salt-induced dis-regulations in expression profiles of miRs showed controlled changes in the roots of Pokkali (PKSR) as compared to larger variations seen in the roots of Pusa Basmati. Target analysis of salt-deregulated miRs identified key transcription factors, ion-transporters, and signaling molecules that act to maintain cellular Ca2+ homeostasis and limit ROS production. These miRmRNA nodes were mapped to the Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) to identify the correlated root traits for understanding their significance in plant physiology. The results obtained indicate that the adaptability of Pokkali to excess salt may be due to the genetic regulation of different cellular components by a variety of miRs.Acute restraint stress (ARS) is an unavoidable stress situation and may be encountered in different clinical situations. The aim of the current study was to investigate the effects of ARS on the hippocampus and cerebellum, assess the impact of these effects on the behavior and cognitive function, and determine whether pretreatment with ceftriaxone would attenuate the damages produced by ARS on the hippocampus and cerebellum. Four groups of male mice were included in this study The control group, ARS group, ceftriaxone group, and ARS + ceftriaxone group. Tail suspension test, Y-maze task, and open field tests were used to assess depression, working spatial memory, and anxiety. The biochemical analyses included measurements of serum cortisol, tumor necrotic factor (TNF), interleukin-6, hippocampal expression of bone morphogenetic protein 9 (BMP9), lysosomal-associated membrane protein 1 (LAMP1), glutamate transporter 1 (GLT1), heat shock protein 90, cerebellar expression of S100 protein, glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD), and carbon anhydrase. Histopathological examination of the brain sections was conducted on the hippocampus and cerebellum by hematoxylin and eosin stains in addition to ultrastructure evaluation using electron microscopy. Our results suggested that ceftriaxone had neuroprotective properties by attenuating the effects of ARS on the hippocampus and cerebellum in mice. This effect was demonstrated by the improvement in the cognitive and behavioral tests as well as by the preservation of the hippocampal and cerebellar architecture.In the mammalian ovary, the hyaluronan (HA)-rich cumulus extracellular matrix (ECM) organized during the gonadotropin-induced process of oocyte maturation is essential for ovulation of the oocyte-cumulus complex (OCC) and fertilization. Versican is an HA-binding proteoglycan that regulates cell function and ECM assembly. Versican cleavage and function remain to be determined in ovarian follicle. We investigated versican expression in porcine ovarian follicles by real-time (RT)-PCR and western blotting. The aims of the present work were to determine whether 1) versican was produced and cleaved by porcine OCCs during gonadotropin stimulation; 2) these processes were autonomous or required the participation of mural granulosa cells (MGCs); and 3) versican cleavage was involved in the formation or degradation of expanded cumulus ECM. We demonstrate two cleavage products of G1 domain of versican (V1) accumulated in the HA-rich cumulus ECM. One of them, a G1-DPEAAE N-terminal fragment (VG1) of ~70 kDa, was generated from V1 during organization of HA in in vivo and in vitro expanded porcine OCCs. [https://www.selleckchem.com/products/repsox.html E-616452] Second, the V1-cleaved DPEAAE-positive form of ~65 kDa was the only species detected in MGCs. No versican cleavage products were detected in OCCs cultured without follicular fluid. In summary, porcine OCCs are autonomous in producing and cleaving V1; the cleaved fragment of ~70 kDa VG1 is specific for formation of the expanded cumulus HA-rich ECM.The interoperations of endpoint devices are generally achieved by gateways in Internet of Things (IoT) systems. However, the gateways mainly focus on networking communication, which is lack of data logic control capabilities. The microcontrollers with embedded intelligence could work as an intermediate device to help the interconnections of the endpoint devices. Moreover, they could help control the endpoint devices. In this paper, a microcontroller architecture with intelligent and scalable characteristics is proposed. The intelligence means that the microcontroller could control the target endpoint devices by its logical circuits, and the scalability means that the microcontroller architecture could be easily extended to deal with more complex problems. Two real world industrial implementations of the proposed architecture are introduced. The implementations show that the microcontroller is important to provide the intelligent services to users in IoT systems. Furthermore, a simulation experiment based on the cloud model is designed to evaluate the proposed method.