Stipa glareosa (Poaceae) in the Republic of Buryatia (Russia)

Stipa glareosa P. A. Smirn. (sect. Smirnovia Tzvel.) is reported for the first time from the Republic of Buryatia (Russia). Its stations are located at the northern limit of its general distribution range. The taxonomy, distribution and habitat preferences of the species are given, along with its population size at each new locality

Findings to the flora of Russia and adjacent countries: New national and regional vascular plant records, 4

With this paper we continue a new annual series, the main purpose of which is to make significant floristic findings from Russia and neighboring countries more visible in Russia and abroad. In total, this paper presents new records for 48 vascular plant species from 6 Eurasian countries, obtained during field explorations, as well as during taxonomic revisions of herbarium materials. For the first time, a new locality of Leontopodium leiolepis is recorded for Russia, Rheum uzengukuushi for China, Rorippa prolifera for Lithuania, Lappula marginata for Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, Anthriscus caucalis, Chenopodium ficifolium, Euphorbia prostrata for Uzbekistan, Adonis × hybrida, Potamogeton × franconicus, Solidago × niederederi for the Asian part of Russia, Echinochloa esculenta, Poa jamalinensis, Puccinellia poecilantha for Siberia, Potentilla intermedia for the Caucasus, Rhynchospora alba for the Russian part of Altai, Poa sphondylodes, Veronica beccabunga for Eastern Siberia, Asclepias syriaca for the Republic of Altai, Chimaphila umbellata, Orobanche korshinskyi, Veronica scutellata for the Republic of Buryatia, Cirsium alatum, Thalictrum simplex for the Republic of Crimea, Thymus rariflorus, Th. terekensis for the Republic of Ingushetia, Berberis thunbergii, Crataegus maximowiczii, Prunus serotina for the Republic of Mordovia, Oenothera villosa for the Republic of Tatarstan, Astragalus sulcatus, Galium mollugo for the Republic of Tyva, Phragmites altissimus for the Chelyabinsk Region, Senecio dubitabilis for the Magadan Region, Asclepias syriaca, Galatella villosa, Potentilla recta for the Novosibirsk Region, Dodartia orientalis for the Omsk Region, Viola hultenii for the Sakhalin Region, Phragmites tzvelevii for the Samara Region and the Middle Volga, Jacobaea ferganensis for the Samara Region, Carex media, Impatiens parviflora for the Tyumen Region. There are some more findings which are not new for the region but they contribute significantly to the understanding of species distribution

Новые комбинации и названия сосудистых растений Азиатской России.

In this paper, we present nomenclatural novelties required in the course of the preparation of the second, revised version of the checklist of vascular plants of Asian Russia. The first version was published in 2012 (Baikov 2012). At the family level, we accepted the modern classification systems (APG IV for flowering plants, PPG I for lycophytes and ferns, and GPG for gymnosperms). At the genus level, we follow the generic concepts applied for particular taxonomic groups according to the Catalogue of Life (COL; https://www.catalogueoflife.org/), version COL23.5. At the species level, we consistently apply the monotypic species concept (also known in Russia as Komarov’s concept). In total, this paper presents one new nothogenus name (× Sibirotrisetokoeleria Chepinoga nom. nov., Poaceae) and 156 new names in the rank of species, in 28 families: Amaranthaceae Juss. (1 name), Amaryllidaceae J. St.-Hil. (1), Apiaceae Lindl. (2), Asteraceae Bercht. & J.Presl (12), Boraginaceae Juss. (4), Caryophyllaceae Juss. (11), Crassulaceae J. St.-Hill. (3), Cyperaceae Juss. (8), Ericaceae Juss. (2), Fabaceae Lindl. (16), Gentianaceae Juss. (1), Geraniaceae Juss. (1), Juncaceae Juss. (1), Lamiaceae Martinov (1), Menyanthaceae Dumort. (1), Orchidaceae Juss. (1), Orobanchaceae Vent. (1), Papaveraceae Juss. (4), Plantaginaceae Juss. (1), Poaceae Barnhart (49), Polygonaceae Juss. (4), Primulaceae Batsch. ex Borkh. (6), Ranunculaceae Juss. (4), Rosaceae Juss. (5), Salicaceae Mirb. (2), Saxifragaceae Juss. (11), Vitaceae Juss. (1), Zygophyllaceae R. Br. (2 names)

Identification of GSK-3 as a potential therapeutic entry point for epilepsy

In view of the clinical need for new antiseizure drugs (ASDs) with novel modes of action, we used a zebrafish seizure model to screen the anticonvulsant activity of medicinal plants used by traditional healers in the Congo for the treatment of epilepsy, and identified a crude plant extract that inhibited pentylenetetrazol (PTZ)-induced seizures in zebrafish larvae. Zebrafish bioassay-guided fractionation of this anticonvulsant Fabaceae species, Indigofera arrecta, identified indirubin, a compound with known inhibitory activity of glycogen synthase kinase (GSK)-3, as the bioactive component. Indirubin, as well as the more potent and selective GSK-3 inhibitor 6-bromoindirubin-3'-oxime (BIO-acetoxime) were tested in zebrafish and rodent seizure assays. Both compounds revealed anticonvulsant activity in PTZ-treated zebrafish larvae, with electroencephalographic recordings revealing reduction of epileptiform discharges. Both indirubin and BIO-acetoxime also showed anticonvulsant activity in the pilocarpine rat model for limbic seizures and in the 6-Hz refractory seizure mouse model. Most interestingly, BIO-acetoxime also exhibited anticonvulsant actions in 6-Hz fully kindled mice. Our findings thus provide the first evidence for anticonvulsant activity of GSK-3 inhibition, thereby implicating GSK-3 as a potential therapeutic entry point for epilepsy. Our results also support the use of zebrafish bioassay-guided fractionation of antiepileptic medicinal plant extracts as an effective strategy for the discovery of new ASDs with novel mechanisms of action

The neutron and its role in cosmology and particle physics

Experiments with cold and ultracold neutrons have reached a level of precision such that problems far beyond the scale of the present Standard Model of particle physics become accessible to experimental investigation. Due to the close links between particle physics and cosmology, these studies also permit a deep look into the very first instances of our universe. First addressed in this article, both in theory and experiment, is the problem of baryogenesis ... The question how baryogenesis could have happened is open to experimental tests, and it turns out that this problem can be curbed by the very stringent limits on an electric dipole moment of the neutron, a quantity that also has deep implications for particle physics. Then we discuss the recent spectacular observation of neutron quantization in the earth's gravitational field and of resonance transitions between such gravitational energy states. These measurements, together with new evaluations of neutron scattering data, set new constraints on deviations from Newton's gravitational law at the picometer scale. Such deviations are predicted in modern theories with extra-dimensions that propose unification of the Planck scale with the scale of the Standard Model ... Another main topic is the weak-interaction parameters in various fields of physics and astrophysics that must all be derived from measured neutron decay data. Up to now, about 10 different neutron decay observables have been measured, much more than needed in the electroweak Standard Model. This allows various precise tests for new physics beyond the Standard Model, competing with or surpassing similar tests at high-energy. The review ends with a discussion of neutron and nuclear data required in the synthesis of the elements during the "first three minutes" and later on in stellar nucleosynthesis.Comment: 91 pages, 30 figures, accepted by Reviews of Modern Physic

Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks in 188 countries, 1990-2013: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013

Background: The Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factor study 2013 (GBD 2013) is the first of a series of annual updates of the GBD. Risk factor quantification, particularly of modifiable risk factors, can help to identify emerging threats to population health and opportunities for prevention. The GBD 2013 provides a timely opportunity to update the comparative risk assessment with new data for exposure, relative risks, and evidence on the appropriate counterfactual risk distribution. Methods: Attributable deaths, years of life lost, years lived with disability, and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) have been estimated for 79 risks or clusters of risks using the GBD 2010 methods. Risk-outcome pairs meeting explicit evidence criteria were assessed for 188 countries for the period 1990-2013 by age and sex using three inputs: risk exposure, relative risks, and the theoretical minimum risk exposure level (TMREL). Risks are organised into a hierarchy with blocks of behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks at the first level of the hierarchy. The next level in the hierarchy includes nine clusters of related risks and two individual risks, with more detail provided at levels 3 and 4 of the hierarchy. Compared with GBD 2010, six new risk factors have been added: handwashing practices, occupational exposure to trichloroethylene, childhood wasting, childhood stunting, unsafe sex, and low glomerular filtration rate. For most risks, data for exposure were synthesised with a Bayesian metaregression method, DisMod-MR 2.0, or spatial-temporal Gaussian process regression. Relative risks were based on meta-regressions of published cohort and intervention studies. Attributable burden for clusters of risks and all risks combined took into account evidence on the mediation of some risks such as high body-mass index (BMI) through other risks such as high systolic blood pressure and high cholesterol. Findings: All risks combined account for 57·2% (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 55·8-58·5) of deaths and 41·6% (40·1-43·0) of DALYs. Risks quantified account for 87·9% (86·5-89·3) of cardiovascular disease DALYs, ranging to a low of 0% for neonatal disorders and neglected tropical diseases and malaria. In terms of global DALYs in 2013, six risks or clusters of risks each caused more than 5% of DALYs: dietary risks accounting for 11·3 million deaths and 241·4 million DALYs, high systolic blood pressure for 10·4 million deaths and 208·1 million DALYs, child and maternal malnutrition for 1·7 million deaths and 176·9 million DALYs, tobacco smoke for 6·1 million deaths and 143·5 million DALYs, air pollution for 5·5 million deaths and 141·5 million DALYs, and high BMI for 4·4 million deaths and 134·0 million DALYs. Risk factor patterns vary across regions and countries and with time. In sub-Saharan Africa, the leading risk factors are child and maternal malnutrition, unsafe sex, and unsafe water, sanitation, and handwashing. In women, in nearly all countries in the Americas, north Africa, and the Middle East, and in many other high-income countries, high BMI is the leading risk factor, with high systolic blood pressure as the leading risk in most of Central and Eastern Europe and south and east Asia. For men, high systolic blood pressure or tobacco use are the leading risks in nearly all high-income countries, in north Africa and the Middle East, Europe, and Asia. For men and women, unsafe sex is the leading risk in a corridor from Kenya to South Africa. Interpretation: Behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks can explain half of global mortality and more than one-third of global DALYs providing many opportunities for prevention. Of the larger risks, the attributable burden of high BMI has increased in the past 23 years. In view of the prominence of behavioural risk factors, behavioural and social science research on interventions for these risks should be strengthened. Many prevention and primary care policy options are available now to act on key risks

Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks, 1990-2015: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015

Background: The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2015 provides an up-to-date synthesis of the evidence for risk factor exposure and the attributable burden of disease. By providing national and subnational assessments spanning the past 25 years, this study can inform debates on the importance of addressing risks in context. Methods: We used the comparative risk assessment framework developed for previous iterations of the Global Burden of Disease Study to estimate attributable deaths, disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), and trends in exposure by age group, sex, year, and geography for 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks from 1990 to 2015. This study included 388 risk-outcome pairs that met World Cancer Research Fund-defined criteria for convincing or probable evidence. We extracted relative risk and exposure estimates from randomised controlled trials, cohorts, pooled cohorts, household surveys, census data, satellite data, and other sources. We used statistical models to pool data, adjust for bias, and incorporate covariates. We developed a metric that allows comparisons of exposure across risk factors—the summary exposure value. Using the counterfactual scenario of theoretical minimum risk level, we estimated the portion of deaths and DALYs that could be attributed to a given risk. We decomposed trends in attributable burden into contributions from population growth, population age structure, risk exposure, and risk-deleted cause-specific DALY rates. We characterised risk exposure in relation to a Socio-demographic Index (SDI). Findings: Between 1990 and 2015, global exposure to unsafe sanitation, household air pollution, childhood underweight, childhood stunting, and smoking each decreased by more than 25%. Global exposure for several occupational risks, high body-mass index (BMI), and drug use increased by more than 25% over the same period. All risks jointly evaluated in 2015 accounted for 57·8% (95% CI 56·6–58·8) of global deaths and 41·2% (39·8–42·8) of DALYs. In 2015, the ten largest contributors to global DALYs among Level 3 risks were high systolic blood pressure (211·8 million [192·7 million to 231·1 million] global DALYs), smoking (148·6 million [134·2 million to 163·1 million]), high fasting plasma glucose (143·1 million [125·1 million to 163·5 million]), high BMI (120·1 million [83·8 million to 158·4 million]), childhood undernutrition (113·3 million [103·9 million to 123·4 million]), ambient particulate matter (103·1 million [90·8 million to 115·1 million]), high total cholesterol (88·7 million [74·6 million to 105·7 million]), household air pollution (85·6 million [66·7 million to 106·1 million]), alcohol use (85·0 million [77·2 million to 93·0 million]), and diets high in sodium (83·0 million [49·3 million to 127·5 million]). From 1990 to 2015, attributable DALYs declined for micronutrient deficiencies, childhood undernutrition, unsafe sanitation and water, and household air pollution; reductions in risk-deleted DALY rates rather than reductions in exposure drove these declines. Rising exposure contributed to notable increases in attributable DALYs from high BMI, high fasting plasma glucose, occupational carcinogens, and drug use. Environmental risks and childhood undernutrition declined steadily with SDI; low physical activity, high BMI, and high fasting plasma glucose increased with SDI. In 119 countries, metabolic risks, such as high BMI and fasting plasma glucose, contributed the most attributable DALYs in 2015. Regionally, smoking still ranked among the leading five risk factors for attributable DALYs in 109 countries; childhood underweight and unsafe sex remained primary drivers of early death and disability in much of sub-Saharan Africa. Interpretation: Declines in some key environmental risks have contributed to declines in critical infectious diseases. Some risks appear to be invariant to SDI. Increasing risks, including high BMI, high fasting plasma glucose, drug use, and some occupational exposures, contribute to rising burden from some conditions, but also provide opportunities for intervention. Some highly preventable risks, such as smoking, remain major causes of attributable DALYs, even as exposure is declining. Public policy makers need to pay attention to the risks that are increasingly major contributors to global burden. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Listeria pathogenesis and molecular virulence determinants

The gram-positive bacterium Listeria monocytogenes is the causative agent of listeriosis, a highly fatal opportunistic foodborne infection. Pregnant women, neonates, the elderly, and debilitated or immunocompromised patients in general are predominantly affected, although the disease can also develop in normal individuals. Clinical manifestations of invasive listeriosis are usually severe and include abortion, sepsis, and meningoencephalitis. Listeriosis can also manifest as a febrile gastroenteritis syndrome. In addition to humans, L. monocytogenes affects many vertebrate species, including birds. Listeria ivanovii, a second pathogenic species of the genus, is specific for ruminants. Our current view of the pathophysiology of listeriosis derives largely from studies with the mouse infection model. Pathogenic listeriae enter the host primarily through the intestine. The liver is thought to be their first target organ after intestinal translocation. In the liver, listeriae actively multiply until the infection is controlled by a cell-mediated immune response. This initial, subclinical step of listeriosis is thought to be common due to the frequent presence of pathogenic L. monocytogenes in food. In normal indivuals, the continual exposure to listerial antigens probably contributes to the maintenance of anti-Listeria memory T cells. However, in debilitated and immunocompromised patients, the unrestricted proliferation of listeriae in the liver may result in prolonged low-level bacteremia, leading to invasion of the preferred secondary target organs (the brain and the gravid uterus) and to overt clinical disease. L. monocytogenes and L. ivanovii are facultative intracellular parasites able to survive in macrophages and to invade a variety of normally nonphagocytic cells, such as epithelial cells, hepatocytes, and endothelial cells. In all these cell types, pathogenic listeriae go through an intracellular life cycle involving early escape from the phagocytic vacuole, rapid intracytoplasmic multiplication, bacterially induced actin-based motility, and direct spread to neighboring cells, in which they reinitiate the cycle. In this way, listeriae disseminate in host tissues sheltered from the humoral arm of the immune system. Over the last 15 years, a number of virulence factors involved in key steps of this intracellular life cycle have been identified. This review describes in detail the molecular determinants of Listeria virulence and their mechanism of action and summarizes the current knowledge on the pathophysiology of listeriosis and the cell biology and host cell responses to Listeria infection. This article provides an updated perspective of the development of our understanding of Listeria pathogenesis from the first molecular genetic analyses of virulence mechanisms reported in 1985 until the start of the genomic era of Listeria research

Host plants of cuscuta lupuliformis krock. In the Tomsk region

The parasitic weed species is common agricultural weed throughout the world, causing reductions in yield of many crops and if infestation is heavly, causes the death of host (Salgude et al., 2015). The study of the evolution of the system of consort relationships of invasive species and the assessment of the role of this factor in the further expansion of introduced species is one of the priority tasks of invasive biolog

Vegetation and climate changes on the northern Taymyr, Russia during the Upper Pleistocene and Holocene reconstructed from pollen records

Pollen data from a Levinson-Lessing Lake sediment core (74°28'N, 98°38'E) and Cape Sabler,Taymyr Lake permafrost sequences (74°33'N, 100°32'E) reveal substantial environmental changeson the northern Taymyr Peninsula during the last c. 32 000 14C years. The continuous recordsconfirm that a scarce steppe-like vegetation with Poaceae, Artemisia, and Cyperaceae dominatedc. 32 000-10 300 14C yr BP, while tundra-like vegetation with Oxyria, Ranunculaceae andCaryophyllaceae grew in wetter areas. The coldest interval occurred c. 18 000 yr BP. Lateglacialpollen data show several warming events followed by a climate deterioration c. 10 500 14C yr BP,which may correspond with the Younger Dryas. The Late Pleistocene/Holocene transition,c. 10 300-10 000 14C yr BP, is characterized by a change from the herb-dominated vegetation toshrubby tundra with Betula sect. Nanae and Salix. Alnus fruticosa arrived locally c. 9000-8500 14Cyr BP and disappeared c. 4000-3500 14C yr BP. Communities of Betula sect. Nanae, broadlydistributed at c. 10,000-3500 14C yr BP, almost disappeared when vegetation became similar tothe modern herb tundra after 3500-3000 14C yr BP. Quantitative climate reconstructions showLast Glacial Maximum summer temperature about 4°C below present and Preboreal (c. 10 00014C yr BP) temperature 2-4°C above present. Maximum summer temperature occurred between10 000 and 5500 14C yr BP; later summers were similar to present or slightly warmer