308 research outputs found

    Велика Вітчизняна війна в публікаційній діяльності державної архівної служби Республіки Білорусь

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    Проаналізовано внесок архівістів Білорусі у висвітлення безсмертного народного подвигу в роки великої вітчизняної війни, зокрема публікаційну діяльність державної архівної служби Республіки Білорусь.Проанализирован вклад архивистов Беларуси в освещение бессмертного народного подвига в годы великой отечественной войны, в частности публикационная деятельность Государственной архивной службы Республики Беларусь.The article analizes the contribution of Bilorus’ archivists in clarification of national immortal exploits of the Great Patriotic War, including publication activities of the State Archival Service of the Republic of Bilorus’

    Molecular species identification, host preference and detection of myxoma virus in the Anopheles maculipennis complex (Diptera: Culicidae) in southern England, UK.

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    BACKGROUND: Determining the host feeding patterns of mosquitoes by identifying the origin of their blood-meals is an important part of understanding the role of vector species in current and future disease transmission cycles. Collecting large numbers of blood-fed mosquitoes from the field is difficult, therefore it is important to maximise the information obtained from each specimen. This study aimed to use mosquito genome sequence to identify the species within Anopheles maculipennis sensu lato (An. maculipennis s.l.), identify the vertebrate hosts of field-caught blood-fed An. maculipennis s.l. , and to test for the presence of myxoma virus (Poxviridae, genus Leporipoxvirus) in specimens found to have fed on the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus). METHODS: Blood-fed An. maculipennis s.l. were collected from resting sites at Elmley Nature Reserve, Kent, between June and September 2013. Hosts that An. maculipennis s.l. had fed on were determined by a PCR-sequencing approach based on the partial amplification of the mitochondrial cytochrome C oxidase subunit I gene. Mosquitoes were then identified to species by sequencing a region of the internal transcribed spacer-2. DNA extracts from all mosquitoes identified as having fed on rabbits were subsequently screened using PCR for the presence of myxoma virus. RESULTS: A total of 94 blood-fed Anopheles maculipennis s.l. were collected, of which 43 (46%) provided positive blood-meal identification results. Thirty-six of these specimens were identified as Anopheles atroparvus, which had fed on rabbit (n = 33, 92%) and cattle (n = 3, 8%). Seven mosquitoes were identified as Anopheles messeae, which had fed on cattle (n = 6, 86%) and dog (n = 1, 14%). Of the 33 An. atroparvus that contained rabbit blood, nine (27%) were positive for myxoma virus. CONCLUSIONS: Results demonstrate that a single DNA extract from a blood-fed mosquito can be successfully used for molecular identification of members of the An. maculipennis complex, blood-meal identification, and for the targeted detection of a myxoma virus. This study shows that An. atroparvus has a strong feeding preference for both healthy and myxoma-infected rabbits, providing evidence that this species may play a significant role in the transmission of myxomatosis among wild rabbit populations in the United Kingdom (UK)

    Bird-biting mosquitoes on farms in southern England

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    Mosquitoes that blood-feed on avian hosts are important vectors of many arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses). In Europe, these include West Nile virus (WNV), Usutu virus (USUTV) and Sindbis virus. These are all maintained in enzootic bird-mosquito-bird cycles and are important veterinary and medical threats to the UK. Principally, veterinary concerns lie with the risks to domestic animals, such as the incidental spillover infection of horses with WNV which may lead to serious neurological sequelae. Wildlife may also be affected, with certain wild birds being highly susceptible to infection and death with USUTV, although poultry are less susceptible. To date, UK surveillance for these viruses has not yielded evidence of active virus transmission although serological evidence has been reported

    Dual-flow-RootChip reveals local adaptations of roots towards environmental asymmetry at the physiological and genetic levels

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    Roots grow in highly dynamic and heterogeneous environments. Biological activity as well as uneven nutrient availability or localized stress factors result in diverse microenvironments. Plants adapt their root morphology in response to changing environmental conditions, yet it remains largely unknown to what extent developmental adaptations are based on systemic or cell‐autonomous responses. We present the dual‐flow‐RootChip, a microfluidic platform for asymmetric perfusion of Arabidopsis roots to investigate root–environment interactions under simulated environmental heterogeneity. Applications range from investigating physiology, root hair development and calcium signalling upon selective exposure to environmental stresses to tracing molecular uptake, performing selective drug treatments and localized inoculations with microbes. Using the dual‐flow‐RootChip, we revealed cell‐autonomous adaption of root hair development under asymmetric phosphate (Pi) perfusion, with unexpected repression in root hair growth on the side exposed to low Pi and rapid tip‐growth upregulation when Pi concentrations increased. The asymmetric root environment further resulted in an asymmetric gene expression of RSL4, a key transcriptional regulator of root hair growth. Our findings demonstrate that roots possess the capability to locally adapt to heterogeneous conditions in their environment at the physiological and transcriptional levels. Being able to generate asymmetric microenvironments for roots will help further elucidate decision‐making processes in root–environment interactions

    Metaphoric coherence: Distinguishing verbal metaphor from `anomaly\u27

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    Theories and computational models of metaphor comprehension generally circumvent the question of metaphor versus “anomaly” in favor of a treatment of metaphor versus literal language. Making the distinction between metaphoric and “anomalous” expressions is subject to wide variation in judgment, yet humans agree that some potentially metaphoric expressions are much more comprehensible than others. In the context of a program which interprets simple isolated sentences that are potential instances of cross‐modal and other verbal metaphor, I consider some possible coherence criteria which must be satisfied for an expression to be “conceivable” metaphorically. Metaphoric constraints on object nominals are represented as abstracted or extended along with the invariant structural components of the verb meaning in a metaphor. This approach distinguishes what is preserved in metaphoric extension from that which is “violated”, thus referring to both “similarity” and “dissimilarity” views of metaphor. The role and potential limits of represented abstracted properties and constraints is discussed as they relate to the recognition of incoherent semantic combinations and the rejection or adjustment of metaphoric interpretations

    Fabrication and use of the dual-flow-rootChip for the imaging of arabidopsis roots in asymmetric microenvironments

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    Fabrication and Use of the Dual-Flow-RootChip for the Imaging of Arabidopsis Roots in Asymmetric Microenvironment

    Restoration of impaired intestinal barrier function by the hydrolysed casein diet contributes to the prevention of type 1 diabetes in the diabetes-prone BioBreeding rat

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    Aims/hypothesis Impaired intestinal barrier function is observed in type I diabetes patients and animal models of the disease. Exposure to diabetogenic antigens from the intestinal milieu due to a compromised intestinal barrier is considered essential for induction of the autoimmune process leading to type I diabetes. Since a hydrolysed casein (HC) diet prevents autoimmune diabetes onset in diabetes-prone (DP)-BioBreeding (BB) rats, we studied the role of the HC diet on intestinal barrier function and, therefore, prevention of autoimmune diabetes onset in this animal model. Methods DP-BB rats were fed the HC diet from weaning onwards and monitored for autoimmune diabetes development. Intestinal permeability was assessed in vivo by lactulose mannitol test and ex vivo by measuring trans-epithelial electrical resistance (TEER). Levels of serum zonulin, a physiological tight junction modulator, were measured by ELISA. heal mRNA expression of Myo9b, Cldn1, Cldn2 and Ocln (which encode the tight junction-related proteins myosin IXb, claudin-1, claudin-2 and occludin) and Il-10, Tgf-beta (also known as Il10 and Tgfb, respectively, which encode regulatory cytokines) was analysed by quantitative PCR. Results The HC diet reduced autoimmune diabetes by 50% in DP-BB rats. In DP-BB rats, prediabetic gut permeability negatively correlated with the moment of autoimmune diabetes onset. The improved intestinal barrier function that was induced by HC diet in DP-BB rats was visualised by decreasing lactulose:mannitol ratio, decreasing serum zonulin levels and increasing ileal TEER. The HC diet modified ileal mRNA expression of Myo9b, and Cldn1 and Cldn2, but left Ocln expression unaltered. Conclusions/interpretation Improved intestinal barrier function might be an important intermediate in the prevention of autoimmune diabetes by the HC diet in DP-BB rats. Effects on tight junctions, ileal cytokines and zonulin production might be important mechanisms for this effect

    Kinome capture sequencing of high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma reveals novel mutations in theJAK3gene

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    High-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSOC) remains the deadliest form of epithelial ovarian cancer and despite major efforts little improvement in overall survival has been achieved. Identification of recurring "driver" genetic lesions has the potential to enable design of novel therapies for cancer. Here, we report on a study to find such new therapeutic targets for HGSOC using exome-capture sequencing approach targeting all kinase genes in 127 patient samples. Consistent with previous reports, the most frequently mutated gene wasTP53(97% mutation frequency) followed byBRCA1(10% mutation frequency). The average mutation frequency of the kinase genes mutated from our panel was 1.5%. Intriguingly, afterBRCA1,JAK3was the most frequently mutated gene (4% mutation frequency). We tested the transforming properties of JAK3 mutants using the Ba/F3 cell-basedin vitrofunctional assay and identified a novel gain-of-function mutation in the kinase domain ofJAK3(p.T1022I). Importantly, p.T1022IJAK3mutants displayed higher sensitivity to the JAK3-selective inhibitor Tofacitinib compared to controls. For independent validation, we re-sequenced the entireJAK3coding sequence using tagged amplicon sequencing (TAm-Seq) in 463 HGSOCs resulting in an overall somatic mutation frequency of 1%. TAm-Seq screening ofCDK12in the same population revealed a 7% mutation frequency. Our data confirms that the frequency of mutations in kinase genes in HGSOC is low and provides accurate estimates for the frequency ofJAK3andCDK12mutations in a large well characterized cohort. Although p.T1022IJAK3mutations are rare, our functional validation shows that if detected they should be considered as potentially actionable for therapy. The observation ofCDK12mutations in 7% of HGSOC cases provides a strong rationale for routine somatic testing, although more functional and clinical characterization is required to understand which nonsynonymous mutations alterations are associated with homologous recombination deficiency.ISSN:1932-620
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