The virulent Wolbachia strain wMelPop increases the frequency of apoptosis in the female germline cells of Drosophila melanogaster

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Wolbachia</it> are bacterial endosymbionts of many arthropod species in which they manipulate reproductive functions. The distribution of these bacteria in the <it>Drosophila</it> ovarian cells at different stages of oogenesis has been amply described. The pathways along which <it>Wolbachia</it> influences <it>Drosophila</it> oogenesis have been, so far, little studied. It is known that <it>Wolbachia</it> are abundant in the somatic stem cell niche of the <it>Drosophila</it> germarium. A checkpoint, where programmed cell death, or apoptosis, can occur, is located in region 2a/2b of the germarium, which comprises niche cells. Here we address the question whether or not the presence of <it>Wolbachia</it> in germarium cells can affect the frequency of cyst apoptosis in the checkpoint.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Our current fluorescent microscopic observations showed that the wMel and wMelPop strains had different effects on female germline cells of <it>D. melanogaster.</it> The <it>Wolbachia</it> strain wMel did not affect the frequency of apoptosis in cells of the germarium. The presence of the <it>Wolbachia</it> strain wMelPop in the <it>D. melanogaster^w1118</it> ovaries increased the number of germaria where cells underwent apoptosis in the checkpoint. Based on the appearance in the electron microscope, there was no difference in morphological features of apoptotic cystocytes between <it>Wolbachia</it>-infected and uninfected flies. Bacteria with normal ultrastructure and large numbers of degenerating bacteria were found in the dying cyst cells.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our current study demonstrated that the <it>Wolbachia</it> strain wMelPop affects the egg chamber formation in the <it>D. melanogaster</it> ovaries. This led to an increase in the number of germaria containing apoptotic cells. It is suggested that <it>Wolbachia</it> can adversely interfere either with the cystocyte differentiation into the oocyte or with the division of somatic stem cells giving rise to follicle cells and, as a consequence, to improper ratio of germline cells to follicle cells and, ultimately, to apoptosis of cysts. There was no similar adverse effect in <it>D. melanogaster</it> Canton S infected with the <it>Wolbachia</it> strain wMel. This was taken to mean that the observed increase in frequency of apoptosis was not the general effect of <it>Wolbachia</it> on germline cells of <it>D. melanogaster</it>, it was rather induced by the virulent <it>Wolbachia</it> strain wMelPop.</p

Formalization of hydrocarbon conversion scheme of catalytic cracking for mathematical model development

The issue of improving the energy and resource efficiency of advanced petroleum processing can be solved by the development of adequate mathematical model based on physical and chemical regularities of process reactions with a high predictive potential in the advanced petroleum refining. In this work, the development of formalized hydrocarbon conversion scheme of catalytic cracking was performed using thermodynamic parameters of reaction defined by the Density Functional Theory. The list of reaction was compiled according to the results of feedstock structural-group composition definition, which was done by the n-d-m-method, the Hazelvuda method, qualitative composition of feedstock defined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and individual composition of catalytic cracking gasoline fraction. Formalized hydrocarbon conversion scheme of catalytic cracking will become the basis for the development of the catalytic cracking kinetic model

Idiomatic equivalents in terms of metaphoric transfer

The article presents a hermeneutic approach to idiomatic equivalents in terms of metaphoric transfer. Metaphor is viewed by the authors in its broad sense that can be applied to any use of words in an indirect meaning. Hence, an idiom is understood as a verbalized metaphor that reflects both the universal and specific features of a given language. Idiomatic equivalence that traditionally refers to the linguistic properties of the idiom is presented in the article as hermeneutic equivalence based on the thinking activity approach. Within the framework of such approach the idiomatic equivalence highlights the transfer from one culture to another way of thinking and thinking activity organization

Modern Model of Competences of Personal Agents as Increase Factor of Clients’ Subjective Well-being

The model of competences of personal agents is developed in the article. The model allows raising the level of subjective well-being of clients and promotes the growth of main indicators characterizing productivity of personal selling. The author designates a new group of stakeholders with which the company has to develop relationship for realization of a social orientation. Relationship marketing is defined taking into account the priority of its broad treatments and orientation on developing relationships with various groups of people. The concept ‘personal agent’ is entered into the theory of marketing. This concept reflects the activity of the seller in modern conditions more precisely. The definition of personal selling is given. Novelty of the author's formulation of this definition is that the personal agents have to own skillfully technologies of sales for achieving their purpose. It is proved that the main objective of personal selling in the context of relationship marketing is not sale of goods, but development of relationship between clients and personal agents (company). The author proves the importance of application of psychological theories and offers the method of creation of a psychological portrait of clients on the basis of classification of standard psychological characteristics. The behavioural indicators characterizing demonstration of all main competences of personal agents are revealed and presented

Creation of Clusters of Small Enterprises of the Region

Under the conditions of continuous economic progress, modernization of production, development of the world market there is the need for increasing competitiveness of small enterprises of the country and regions. This dynamics of changes demands new approaches to socio-economic development of the Russian industries. Each region of the country can be competitive not only in the domestic market, but also and in the world if it uses the reserve which has necessary economic, intellectual and financial potential. Thus, one of the ways of the effective realization of economic potential and stimulation of economic growth is the creation of competitive regional clusters, both large-scale organizations and small enterprises. Now the given problem is one of essential for the decision in the sphere of economic regional government as the analysis of world practice shows rather high efficiency of development of economies of many countries on the basis of use of cluster approach as opposed to branch that is acceptable for our country. The government of Russia also defined cluster approach as the main instrument of management of regional development. However, this approach demands detailed studying, first of all, from the point of view of adaptation of the international experience to the Russian conditions. Keywords: cluster, small enterprises, development, region, economic progress JEL Classifications: A10, C38, O1

The influence of bone substitute material on mechanical properties of trabecular bone in augmentation of intra-articular impression fractures. Experimental study

The purpose was to evaluate the effect of bone substitute materials on mechanical properties of trabecular bone adjacent to the joint. Material and methods A total of 21 female chinchilla rabbits weighing 3-3.5 kg was used for the experimental study. A bilateral impression fracture was simulated in the medial tibial condyle and surgically augmented with one of the bone substitution materials: beta-tricalcium phosphate, xenoplastic material and carbon nanostructures. The animals were sacrificed at 6, 12 and 24 weeks postsurgery. Uniaxial compression test was performed to determine mechanical properties of the tibial fragments. Bone microstructure was evaluated with scanning electron microscopy. Statistical data analysis was performed with nonparametric tests. Results Beta-tricalcium phosphate augmentation of the bone interface led to slow resorption accompanied by formation of adequate high-grade bone tissue with mechanical properties gradually increasing with greater observation time that indicated to the bone substitute integrated well with the host bone of the impression bone defect. Xenoplastic augmentation resulted in rapid resorption accompanied by formation of immature bone with mechanical properties declining at 6 to 12 weeks of observation. Carbon nanostructure augmentation of the bone interface caused perifocal bone resorption and absence of osteointegration with mechanical properties declining at 12 to 25 weeks of observation

Label-free macroscopic fluorescence lifetime imaging of brain tumors

Advanced stage glioma is the most aggressive form of malignant brain tumors with a short survival time. Real-time pathology assisted, or image guided surgical procedures that eliminate tumors promise to improve the clinical outcome and prolong the lives of patients. Our work is focused on the development of a rapid and sensitive assay for intraoperative diagnostics of glioma and identification of optical markers essential for differentiation between tumors and healthy brain tissues. We utilized fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) of endogenous fluorophores related to metabolism of the glioma from freshly excised brains tissues. Macroscopic time-resolved fluorescence images of three intracranial animal glioma models and surgical samples of patients\u27 glioblastoma together with the white matter have been collected. Several established and new algorithms were applied to identify the imaging markers of the tumors. We found that fluorescence lifetime parameters characteristic of the glioma provided background for differentiation between the tumors and intact brain tissues. All three rat tumor models demonstrated substantial differences between the malignant and normal tissue. Similarly, tumors from patients demonstrated statistically significant differences from the peritumoral white matter without infiltration. While the data and the analysis presented in this paper are preliminary and further investigation with a larger number of samples is required, the proposed approach based on the macroscopic FLIM has a high potential for diagnostics of glioma and evaluation of the surgical margins of gliomas

Association of gene polymorphisms with body weight changes in prediabetic patients

Recent research has demonstrated that Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) risk is influenced by a number of common polymorphisms, including MC4R rs17782313, PPARG rs1801282, and TCF7L2 rs7903146. Knowledge of the association between these single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and body weight changes in different forms of prediabetes treatment is still limited. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of polymorphisms within the MC4R, PPARG, and TCF7L2 genes on the risk of carbohydrate metabolism disorders and body composition changes in overweight or obese patients with early carbohydrate metabolism disorders. From 327 patients, a subgroup of 81 prediabetic female patients (48.7 ± 14.8 years) of Eastern European descent participated in a 3-month study comprised of diet therapy or diet therapy accompanied with metformin treatment. Bioelectrical impedance analysis and genotyping of MC4R rs17782313, PPARG rs1801282, and TCF7L2 rs7903146 polymorphisms were performed. The MC4R CC and TCF7L2 TT genotypes were associated with increased risk of T2D (OR = 1.46, p = 0.05 and OR = 2.47, p = 0.006, respectively). PPARG CC homozygotes experienced increased weight loss; however, no additional improvements were experienced with the addition of metformin. MC4R TT homozygotes who took metformin alongside dietary intervention experienced increased weight loss and reductions in fat mass (p < 0.05). We have shown that the obesity-protective alleles (MC4R T and PPARG C) were positively associated with weight loss efficiency. Furthermore, we confirmed the previous association of the MC4R C and TCF7L2 T alleles with T2D risk. [Abstract copyright: © 2022. The Author(s).