Combining the X.509 and the SAML Federated Identity Management Systems

Every distributed computing infrastructure requires authentication and authorisation infrastructures (AAI) to manage access to resources and content. Several of such so called AAI systems are in use within different groups of users. In the Large Scale Data Management and Analysis project we aim to support and bring together many user communities. We therefore need to harmonise the currently used AAI systems. The approach described is to translate between different authentication systems. We furthermore try to maintain the same trust level wherever possible, and to harmonise authorisation across the involved systems

Generation of three induced pluripotent stem cell lines (RAUi001-A, RAUi001-B and RAUi001-C) from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of a healthy Armenian individual

The study of pathological processes in cells carrying mutations should be carried out in comparison with a healthy control group. Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF), which is caused by a mutation in the MEFV gene, is predominantly found in people of Armenian nationality with the prevalence of 14–100 per 10000. We have obtained induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from Armenian healthy patient, which will be included as a control group in the study of this disease. iPSCs rapidly proliferate in colonies of cells with a typical pluripotent-like morphology, have a normal karyotype (46,XX). iPSCs express pluripotency markers (OCT4, SOX2, TRA-1–60, NANOG) and are able to give derivatives of three germ layers

Integrated stratigraphy of the Priabonian (upper Eocene) Urtsadzor section, Armenia

The transition from the Bartonian to the Priabonian, as traditionally understood, has long been associated with a series of extinctions and originations in several microfossil groups. The planktonic forami- nifer genus Morozovelloides and large species of Acarinina suffered a rapid global extinction, as did many radiolarians. Calcareous nannofossils show several assemblage changes including the acme beginning of Cri- brocentrum erbae and the lowest and highest occurrences of Chiasmolithus oamaruensis and C. grandis re- spectively. In shallow water environments, larger foraminifera also show an extinction among large species of Nummulites, as well as the first occurrences of the stratigraphically important genus Spiroclypeus. Howe- ver, the correlation between shallow and deep water records remains uncertain, as do the mechanisms driving these biotic events. Here we present the results of a new integrated stratigraphical study (calcareous nanno- fossils, planktonic foraminifera, larger benthic foraminifera, and low-resolution magnetostratigraphy) of the Urtsadzor section in south-western Armenia which appears to be continuous through this interval. The Urt- sadzor section consists of calcareous siltstones rich in micro- and nannofossils, with interbedded limestones containing abundant larger benthic foraminifera. Our new data enable us to correlate larger foraminiferal events with global plankton biostratigraphy, in a section outside of southwest Europe where most previous correlations have been based. At Urtsadzor, the large Nummulites species of N. millecaput-group are present throughout the whole section but decrease in abundance toward the top. The first occurrence of Spiroclypeus, also occurs in the upper part of the section, marking the SBZ 18/19 boundary. These events are associated with the phylogenetic development of the Nummulites fabianii and Heterostegina reticulata lineages. Howe- ver, the calcareous plankton biostratigraphy indicates the section is well within the Priabonian; within plank-tonic foraminiferal Zones E14 and E15 and calcareous nannoplankton Zones CNE 18 and CNE 19. These re- sults indicate larger foraminiferal events occur well above the planktonic foraminiferal extinction level and nannofossil assemblage changes indicating the events are not synchronous across groups, with implications for biostratigraphy and recognition of the basal Priabonian in different depositional settings and regions

Molecular Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 Lineages in Armenia

The sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 provides essential information on viral evolution, transmission, and epidemiology. In this paper, we performed the whole-genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 using nanopore and Illumina sequencing to describe the circulation of the virus lineages in Armenia. The analysis of 145 full genomes identified six clades (19A, 20A, 20B, 20I, 21J, and 21K) and considerable intra-clade PANGO lineage diversity. Phylodynamic and transmission analysis allowed to attribute specific clades as well as infer their importation routes. Thus, the first two waves of positive case increase were caused by the 20B clade, the third peak caused by the 20I (Alpha), while the last two peaks were caused by the 21J (Delta) and 21K (Omicron) variants. The functional analyses of mutations in sequences largely affected epitopes associated with protective HLA loci and did not cause the loss of the signal in PCR tests targeting ORF1ab and N genes as confirmed by RT-PCR. We also compared the performance of nanopore and Illumina short-read sequencing and showed the utility of nanopore sequencing as an efficient and affordable alternative for large-scale molecular epidemiology research. Thus, our paper describes new data on the genomic diversity of SARS-CoV-2 variants in Armenia in the global context of the virus molecular genomic surveillance

Where Brain, Body and World Collide

The production cross section of electrons from semileptonic decays of beauty hadrons was measured at mid-rapidity (|y| < 0.8) in the transverse momentum range 1 < pt < 8 Gev/c with the ALICE experiment at the CERN LHC in pp collisions at a center of mass energy sqrt{s} = 7 TeV using an integrated luminosity of 2.2 nb^{-1}. Electrons from beauty hadron decays were selected based on the displacement of the decay vertex from the collision vertex. A perturbative QCD calculation agrees with the measurement within uncertainties. The data were extrapolated to the full phase space to determine the total cross section for the production of beauty quark-antiquark pairs