Cephalopod-omics: emerging fields and technologies in cephalopod biology

14 pages, 1 figure.-- This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution LicenseFew animal groups can claim the level of wonder that cephalopods instill in the minds of researchers and the general public. Much of cephalopod biology, however, remains unexplored: the largest invertebrate brain, difficult husbandry conditions, and complex (meta-)genomes, among many other things, have hindered progress in addressing key questions. However, recent technological advancements in sequencing, imaging, and genetic manipulation have opened new avenues for exploring the biology of these extraordinary animals. The cephalopod molecular biology community is thus experiencing a large influx of researchers, emerging from different fields, accelerating the pace of research in this clade. In the first post-pandemic event at the Cephalopod International Advisory Council (CIAC) conference in April 2022, over 40 participants from all over the world met and discussed key challenges and perspectives for current cephalopod molecular biology and evolution. Our particular focus was on the fields of comparative and regulatory genomics, gene manipulation, single-cell transcriptomics, metagenomics, and microbial interactions. This article is a result of this joint effort, summarizing the latest insights from these emerging fields, their bottlenecks, and potential solutions. The article highlights the interdisciplinary nature of the cephalopod-omics community and provides an emphasis on continuous consolidation of efforts and collaboration in this rapidly evolving fieldPeer reviewe

Development, Installation and Operation of the Mpc&a Operations Monitoring (Mom) System at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (Jinr) Dubna, Russia

The Material Protection, Control and Accounting (MPC&A) Operations Monitoring (MOM) systems handling at the International Intergovernmental Organization - Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) is described in this paper. Category I nuclear material (plutonium and uranium) is used in JINR research reactors, facilities and for scientific and research activities. A monitoring system (MOM) was installed at JINR in April 2003. The system design was based on a vulnerability analysis, which took into account the specifics of the Institute. The design and installation of the MOM system was a collaborative effort between JINR, Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Financial support was provided by DOE through BNL. The installed MOM system provides facility management with additional assurance that operations involving nuclear material (NM) are correctly followed by the facility personnel. The MOM system also provides additional confidence that the MPC&A systems continue to perform effectively

Dialkoxyquinazolines: Screening Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors for Potential Tumor Imaging Probes

The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), a long-standing drug development target, is also a desirable target for imaging. Sixteen dialkoxyquinazoline analogs, suitable for labeling with positron-emitting isotopes, have been synthesized and evaluated in a battery of in vitro assays to ascertain their chemical and biological properties. These characteristics provided the basis for the adoption of a selection schema to identify lead molecules for labeling and in vivo evaluation. A new EGFR tyrosine kinase radiometric binding assay revealed that all of the compounds possessed suitable affinity (IC50 = 0.4 - 51 nM) for the EGFR tyrosine kinase. All of the analogs inhibited ligand-induced EGFR tyrosine phosphorylation (IC50 = 0.8 - 20 nM). The HPLC-estimated octanol/water partition coefficients ranged from 2.0-5.5. Four compounds, 4-(2'-fluoroanilino)- and 4-(3'-fluoroanilino)-6,7-diethoxyquinazoline as well as 4-(3'-chloroanilino)- and 4-(3'-bromoanilino)-6,7-dimethoxyquinazoline, possess the best combination of characteristics that warrant radioisotope labeling and further evaluation in tumor-bearing mice

“What’s in a Name?” The Taxonomy & Phylogeny of Early Homo

Hominin systematics, encompassing both taxonomy and phylogeny (Strait, 2013), has significant implications for how the evolution of species and traits are understood and communicated. Following a recent influx of fossils (e.g., Brown et al., 2004; Lordkipanidze et al., 2013; Villmoare et al., 2015a; Berger et al., 2015) the amount of diversity in fossil morphology has increased correspondingly. As researchers do not yet approach diversity in a uniform manner, the literature has been flooded with conflicting theories and methodologies (Strait, 2013). Particularly volatile has been the study of the origin of the genus Homo and the extent of variation therein: much controversy arises from conflicting views of the number of valid species subsumed within ‘early Homo’ given unspecified definitions of species and genera. Additionally, there is still a lack of understanding of the extent of and mechanism behind variation, especially within Hominina. The first section of the following paper addresses ‘how can species be identified?’ and ‘how should species be classified into higher taxa?’ The second section reviews the prevalent arguments used to systematise fossils frequently classified as ‘early Homo.’ It considers: the validity of Homo rudolfensis; the morphological, spatial & temporal overlap of earlier Homo with Homo ergaster; the systematic significance of the recently discovered LD 350-1; and finally, the appropriateness of ‘early Homo’ as an adaptive grade.© 2016 The Author(s). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License (CC-BY 3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/. The attached file is the published version of the article

Asa Issie, Aramis and the origin of Australopithecus

International audienc