Introduction of Large-Fruited Strawberry Varieties on the Territory of the Novosibirsk Region in the Conditions of Western Siberia

Background: For the Novosibirsk region, the need for planting material suitable for growing varieties is very high. The relatively easy technology of growing strawberries allows obtaining high yields not only for those who grow them but also on an industrial scale. Strawberry fruits contain a huge number of useful elements, including vitamins, which are necessary for the human body. The study aimed to determine the influence of the maturity group on the yield of introduced varieties of large-fruited garden strawberries.Methods: Records and observations were carried out from May 2019 to September 2020 at the collection site of the biological polygon of the Federal State Budgetary Research Institution Siberian Physical and Technical Institute in the Novosibirsk Region.Results: During the years of the study, the weather conditions of the spring period developed successfully for the growth and development of strawberries. Thus, on average, over the years of the study, high yields were shown of different maturity groups.Conclusion: The obtained yield indicators obtained were not inferior to previously zoned and local varieties, which shows that planting can be carried out both in traditional soil and in soilless culture. Thus, the quality and quantity of fruits does not change with the physicochemical properties or methods of cultivation but depends on the age of the plant and the seasonal crop cycle

Hadron multiplicity in e+e- events induced by top quark pairs at the ILC energy

The average charged hadron multiplicity in the $e^+e^-$ events with the primary $t\bar{t}$-pair at the collision energy 500 GeV, as well as the average multiplicity of charged hadrons from the top quark are calculated in QCD to be $86.7 \pm 1.11$ and $41.0 \pm 0.54$, respectively.Comment: 24 pages, 12 figures, journal version, to be published in PMC Physics

Ferroelectric thin film acoustic devices with electrical multiband switching ability

Design principles of a new class of microwave thin film bulk acoustic resonators with multiband resonance frequency switching ability are presented. The theory of the excitation of acoustic eigenmodes in multilayer ferroelectric structures is considered, and the principle of selectivity for resonator with an arbitrary number of ferroelectric layers is formulated. A so called “criterion function” is suggested that allows to determine the conditions for effective excitation at one selected resonance mode with suppression of other modes. The proposed theoretical approach is verifiedusing thepreexisting experimental data published elsewhere. Finally, the possible application of the two ferroelectric layers structures for switchable microwave overtone resonators, binary and quadrature phase-shift keying modulators are discussed. These devices could play a pivotal role in the miniaturization of microwave front-end antenna circuits

Laser-driven acceleration of quasi-monoenergetic, near-collimated titanium ions via a transparency-enhanced acceleration scheme

Laser-driven ion acceleration has been an active research area in the past two decades with the prospects of designing novel and compact ion accelerators. Many potential applications in science and industry require high-quality, energetic ion beams with low divergence and narrow energy spread. Intense laser ion acceleration research strives to meet these challenges and may provide high charge state beams, with some successes for carbon and lighter ions. Here we demonstrate the generation of well collimated, quasi-monoenergetic titanium ions with energies ∼145 and 180 MeV in experiments using the high-contrast(<10-9) and high-intensity (6× 1020 W cm-2) Trident laser and ultra-Thin (∼100 nm) titanium foil targets. Numerical simulations show that the foils become transparent to the laser pulses, undergoing relativistically induced transparency (RIT), resulting in a two-stage acceleration process which lasts until ∼2 ps after the onset of RIT. Such long acceleration time in the self-generated electric fields in the expanding plasma enables the formation of the quasi-monoenergetic peaks. This work contributes to the better understanding of the acceleration of heavier ions in the RIT regime, towards the development of next generation laser-based ion accelerators for various applications

The Spin Structure of the Nucleon

We present an overview of recent experimental and theoretical advances in our understanding of the spin structure of protons and neutrons.Comment: 84 pages, 29 figure

Large introns in relation to alternative splicing and gene evolution: a case study of Drosophila bruno-3

Background: Alternative splicing (AS) of maturing mRNA can generate structurally and functionally distinct transcripts from the same gene. Recent bioinformatic analyses of available genome databases inferred a positive correlation between intron length and AS. To study the interplay between intron length and AS empirically and in more detail, we analyzed the diversity of alternatively spliced transcripts (ASTs) in the Drosophila RNA-binding Bruno-3 (Bru-3) gene. This gene was known to encode thirteen exons separated by introns of diverse sizes, ranging from 71 to 41,973 nucleotides in D. melanogaster. Although Bru-3's structure is expected to be conducive to AS, only two ASTs of this gene were previously described. Results: Cloning of RT-PCR products of the entire ORF from four species representing three diverged Drosophila lineages provided an evolutionary perspective, high sensitivity, and long-range contiguity of splice choices currently unattainable by high-throughput methods. Consequently, we identified three new exons, a new exon fragment and thirty-three previously unknown ASTs of Bru-3. All exon-skipping events in the gene were mapped to the exons surrounded by introns of at least 800 nucleotides, whereas exons split by introns of less than 250 nucleotides were always spliced contiguously in mRNA. Cases of exon loss and creation during Bru-3 evolution in Drosophila were also localized within large introns. Notably, we identified a true de novo exon gain: exon 8 was created along the lineage of the obscura group from intronic sequence between cryptic splice sites conserved among all Drosophila species surveyed. Exon 8 was included in mature mRNA by the species representing all the major branches of the obscura group. To our knowledge, the origin of exon 8 is the first documented case of exonization of intronic sequence outside vertebrates. Conclusion: We found that large introns can promote AS via exon-skipping and exon turnover during evolution likely due to frequent errors in their removal from maturing mRNA. Large introns could be a reservoir of genetic diversity, because they have a greater number of mutable sites than short introns. Taken together, gene structure can constrain and/or promote gene evolution

A Functional Role for 4qA/B in the Structural Rearrangement of the 4q35 Region and in the Regulation of FRG1 and ANT1 in Facioscapulohumeral Dystrophy

The number of D4Z4 repeats in the subtelomeric region of chromosome 4q is strongly reduced in patients with Facio-Scapulo-Humeral Dystrophy (FSHD). We performed chromosome conformation capture (3C) analysis to document the interactions taking place among different 4q35 markers. We found that the reduced number of D4Z4 repeats in FSHD myoblasts was associated with a global alteration of the three-dimensional structure of the 4q35 region. Indeed, differently from normal myoblasts, the 4qA/B marker interacted directly with the promoters of the FRG1 and ANT1 genes in FSHD cells. Along with the presence of a newly identified transcriptional enhancer within the 4qA allele, our demonstration of an interaction occurring between chromosomal segments located megabases away on the same chromosome 4q allows to revisit the possible mechanisms leading to FSHD

Missing-in-Metastasis/Metastasis Suppressor 1 Regulates B Cell Receptor Signaling, B Cell Metabolic Potential, and T Cell-Independent Immune Responses

Efficient generation of antibodies by B cells is one of the prerequisites of protective immunity. B cell activation by cognate antigens via B cell receptors (BCRs), or pathogen-associated molecules through pattern-recognition receptors, such as Toll-like receptors (TLRs), leads to transcriptional and metabolic changes that ultimately transform B cells into antibody-producing plasma cells or memory cells. BCR signaling and a number of steps downstream of it rely on coordinated action of cellular membranes and the actin cytoskeleton, tightly controlled by concerted action of multiple regulatory proteins, some of them exclusive to B cells. Here, we dissect the role of Missing-In-Metastasis (MIM), or Metastasis suppressor 1 (MTSS1), a cancer-associated membrane and actin cytoskeleton regulating protein, in B cell-mediated immunity by taking advantage of MIM knockout mouse strain. We show undisturbed B cell development and largely normal composition of B cell compartments in the periphery. Interestingly, we found that MIM-/- B cells are defected in BCR signaling in response to surface-bound antigens but, on the other hand, show increased metabolic activity after stimulation with LPS or CpG. In vivo, MIM knockout animals exhibit impaired IgM antibody responses to immunization with T cell-independent antigen. This study provides the first comprehensive characterization of MIM in B cells, demonstrates its regulatory role for B cell-mediated immunity, as well as proposes new functions for MIM in tuning receptor signaling and cellular metabolism, processes, which may also contribute to the poorly understood functions of MIM in cancer

An Atlas of the Speed of Copy Number Changes in Animal Gene Families and Its Implications

The notion that gene duplications generating new genes and functions is commonly accepted in evolutionary biology. However, this assumption is more speculative from theory rather than well proven in genome-wide studies. Here, we generated an atlas of the rate of copy number changes (CNCs) in all the gene families of ten animal genomes. We grouped the gene families with similar CNC dynamics into rate pattern groups (RPGs) and annotated their function using a novel bottom-up approach. By comparing CNC rate patterns, we showed that most of the species-specific CNC rates groups are formed by gene duplication rather than gene loss, and most of the changes in rates of CNCs may be the result of adaptive evolution. We also found that the functions of many RPGs match their biological significance well. Our work confirmed the role of gene duplication in generating novel phenotypes, and the results can serve as a guide for researchers to connect the phenotypic features to certain gene duplications