Estimation of the parameters for non-stationary time series with long memory and heavy tails using weak dependence condition

Wnioskowanie statystyczne dla nieznanych rozkładów statystyk lub estymatorów można oprzeć na rozkładach asymptotycznych. Niestety, w przypadku danych zależnych, takie procedury statystyczne są¸ niejednokrotnie nieefektywne. Różne są¸ tego przyczyny, np. zbyt ma la liczba danych, nieznana postać rozkładu asymptotycznego, zbyt wolna zbieżność do rozkładu asymptotycznego. Od początku lat osiemdziesiątych ubiegłego wieku intensywnie prowadzone są badania nad rozwojem tzw. metod resamplingowych. Za pomocą tychże metod można bezpośrednio przybliżać nieznane rozkłady statystyk i estymatorów. Idea resamplingu jest prosta. Obliczamy replikacje estymatora i z tych replikacji wyznaczamy rozkład empiryczny tzw. rozkład resamplingowy. Problem, z którym trzeba się zmierzyć badając procedury resamplingowe to ich zgodność, tzn. czy rozkład resamplingowy jest bliski prawdziwemu rozkładowi ? Metod resamplingowych jest wiele. Ich zgodność w przypadku obserwacji niezależnych została dogłębnie zbadana. Przypadek danych stacjonarnych ze swoistą strukturą zależności tzn. silnie mieszających także został zbadany. Przedmiotem intensywnych prac badaczy był również resampling dla niestacjonarnych szeregów czasowych ze specyficzną formą niestacjonarności tzn. okresowych i prawie okresowych. Ostatnie badania nad metodami resamplingowymi koncentrują się głównie na szeregach czasowych ze zdefiniowana¸ przez Paula Doukhana słabą zależnością. W niniejszej pracy został przedstawiony model dla szeregów czasowych, które maja¸ bardzo specyficzne własności tzn.: posiadają długa¸ pamięć, ciężkie ogony (stabilne lub GED) oraz strukturę okresową. Taki model może mieć naturalne zastosowanie w wielu dziedzinach np.: energetyce, wibromechanice, telekomunikacji, klimatologii jak również w ekonomii. Celem pracy jest pokazanie twierdzeń dotyczących zgodności estymatora jednej z metod resamplingowych dla funkcji średniej we wspomnianych powyżej szeregach czasowych. Okazuje się, że jedyną metodą resamplingową, którą można zastosować do danych z długą pamięcią jest subsampling. Polega ona na wyborze z obserwacji wszystkich możliwych podciągów o pewnej długości i wyznaczaniu estymatora na tych podciągach. W pracy sformułowano i udowodniono centralne twierdzenia graniczne, niezbędne do udowodnienia zgodności subsamplingu. Ponadto przedstawiony został przegląd dotychczasowych rezultatów dotyczących metod resamplingowych w szeregach czasowych

Plastid differentiation during microgametogenesis determines green plant regeneration in barley microspore culture

Developing plants from in vitro culture of microspores or immature pollen grains (androgenesis) is a highly genotype-dependent process whose effectiveness in cereals is significantly reduced by occurrence of albino regenerants. Here, we examined a hypothesis that the molecular differentiation of plastids in barley microspores prior to in vitro culture affects the genotype ability to regenerate green plants in culture. At the mid-to-late uninucleate (ML) stage, routinely used to initiate microspore culture, the expression of most genes involved in plastid transcription, translation and starch synthesis was significantly higher in microspores of barley cv. ‘Mercada’ producing 90% albino regenerants, than in cv. ‘Jersey’ that developed 90% green regenerants. The ML microspores of cv. ‘Mercada’ contained a large proportion of amyloplasts filled with starch, while in cv. ‘Jersey’ there were only proplastids. Using additional spring barley genotypes that differed in their ability to regenerate green plants we confirmed the correlation between plastid differentiation prior to culture and albino regeneration in culture. The expression of GBSSI gene (Granule-bound starch synthaseI) in early-mid (EM) microspores was a good marker of a genotype potential to produce green regenerants during androgenesis. Initiating culture from EM microspores that significantly improved regeneration of green plants may overcome the problem of albinism

Methyl Jasmonate Affects Photosynthesis Efficiency, Expression of HvTIP Genes and Nitrogen Homeostasis in Barley

Jasmonates modulate many growth and developmental processes and act as stress hormones that play an important role in plant tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses. Therefore, there is a need to identify the genes that are regulated through the jasmonate signalling pathway. Aquaporins, and among them the Tonoplast Intrinsic Proteins (TIPs), form the channels in cell membranes that are responsible for the precise regulation of the movement of water and other substrates between cell compartments. We identified the cis-regulatory motifs for the methyl jasmonate (MeJA)-induced genes in the promoter regions of all the HvTIP genes, which are active in barley seedlings, and thus we hypothesised that the HvTIP expression could be a response to jasmonate signalling. In the presented study, we determined the e ect of methyl jasmonate on the growth parameters and photosynthesis e ciency of barley seedlings that had been exposed to di erent doses of MeJA (15–1000 M 120 h) in a hydroponic solution. All of the applied MeJA concentrations caused a significant reduction of barley seedling growth, which was most evident in the length of the first leaf sheath and dry leaf weight. The observed decrease of the PSII parameters after the exposure to high doses of MeJA (500 M or higher) was associated with the downregulation of HvPsbR gene encoding one of the extrinsic proteins of the Oxygen Evolving Complex. The reduced expression of HvPsbR might lead to the impairment of the OEC action, manifested by the occurrence of the K-band in an analysis of fluorescence kinetics after MeJA treatment as well as reduced photosynthesis e ciency. Furthermore, methyl jasmonate treatment caused a decrease in the nitrogen content in barley leaves, which was associated with an increased expression the four tonoplast aquaporin genes (HvTIP1;2, HvTIP2;2, HvTIP4;1 and HvTIP4;2) predicted to transport the nitrogen compounds from the vacuole to the cytosol. The upregulation of the nitrogen-transporting HvTIPs might suggest their involvement in the vacuolar unloading of ammonia and urea, which both could be remobilised when the nitrogen content in the leaves decreases. Our research provides tips on physiological role of the individual TIP subfamily members of aquaporins under methyl jasmonate action

Differences in the composition of the bacterial element of the urinary tract microbiome in patients undergoing dialysis and patients after kidney transplantation

IntroductionThe development of molecular biology methods and their application in microbial research allowed the detection of many new pathogens that cause urinary tract infections (UTIs). Despite the advances of using new research techniques, the etiopathogenesis of UTIs, especially in patients undergoing dialysis and patients after kidney transplantation, is still not fully understood.MethodsThis study aimed to characterize and compare the composition of the bacterial element of the urinary tract microbiome between the groups of patients undergoing dialysis (n = 50) and patients after kidney transplantation (n = 50), with positive or negative urine culture, compared to healthy individuals (n = 50).ResultsAsymptomatic bacteriuria was observed in 30% of the urine cultures of patients undergoing dialysis and patients after kidney transplantation, with Escherichia coli as the most dominant microorganism (73%) detected with the use of classical microbiology techniques. However, differences in the bacterial composition of the urine samples between the evaluated patient groups were demonstrated using the amplicon sequencing. Finegoldia, Leptotrichia, and Corynebacterium were found to be discriminative bacteria genera in patients after dialysis and kidney transplantation compared to the control group. In addition, in all of urine samples, including those without bacteriuria in classical urine culture, many types of bacteria have been identified using 16S rRNA sequencing.DiscussionThe revealed microbial characteristics may form the basis in searching for new diagnostic markers in treatment of patients undergoing dialysis and patients after kidney transplantation

Mutation in HvCBP20 (Cap binding protein 20) adapts barley to drought stress at phenotypic and transcriptomic levels

This work was supported by the European Regional Development Fund through the Innovative Economy for Poland 2007–2013, project WND-POIG.01.03.01-00-101/08 POLAPGEN-BD “Biotechnological tools for breeding cereals with increased resistance to drought,” task 22; National Science Centre, Poland, project SONATA 2015/19/D/NZ9/03573 “Translational genomics approach to identify the mechanisms of CBP20 signalosome in Arabidopsis and barley under drought stress.”CBP20 (Cap-Binding Protein 20) encodes a small subunit of the cap-binding complex (CBC), which is involved in the conserved cell processes related to RNA metabolism in plants and, simultaneously, engaged in the signaling network of drought response, which is dependent on ABA. Here, we report the enhanced tolerance to drought stress of barley mutant in the HvCBP20 gene manifested at the morphological, physiological, and transcriptomic levels. Physiological analyses revealed differences between the hvcbp20.ab mutant and its WT in response to a water deficiency. The mutant exhibited a higher relative water content (RWC), a lower stomatal conductance and changed epidermal pattern compared to the WT after drought stress. Transcriptome analysis using the Agilent Barley Microarray integrated with observed phenotypic traits allowed to conclude that the hvcbp20.ab mutant exhibited better fitness to stress conditions by its much more efficient and earlier activation of stress-preventing mechanisms. The network hubs involved in the adjustment of hvcbp20.ab mutant to the drought conditions were proposed. These results enabled to make a significant progress in understanding the role of CBP20 in the drought stress response.European Regional Development Fund; National Science Centre, Polan

Aluminum or low pH - which is the bigger enemy of barley? Transcriptome analysis of barley root meristem under Al and low pH stress

Aluminum (Al) toxicity is considered to be the most harmful abiotic stress in acidic soils that today comprise more than 50% of the world’s arable lands. Barley belongs to a group of crops that are most sensitive to Al in low pH soils. We present the RNAseq analysis of root meristems of barley seedlings grown in hydroponics at optimal pH (6.0), low pH (4.0), and low pH with Al (10 mM of bioavailable Al3C ions). Two independent experiments were conducted: with short-term (24 h) and long-term (7 days) Al treatment. In the short-term experiment, more genes were differentially expressed (DEGs) between root meristems grown at pH = 6.0 and pH = 4.0, than between those grown at pH = 4.0 with and without Al treatment. The genes upregulated by low pH were associated mainly with response to oxidative stress, cell wall organization, and iron ion binding. Among genes upregulated by Al, overrepresented were those related to response to stress condition and calcium ion binding. In the long-term experiment, the number of DEGs between hydroponics at pH = 4.0 and 6.0 were lower than in the short-term experiment, which suggests that plants partially adapted to the low pH. Interestingly, 7 days Al treatment caused massive changes in the transcriptome profile. Over 4,000 genes were upregulated and almost 2,000 genes were downregulated by long-term Al stress. These DEGs were related to stress response, cell wall development and metal ion transport. Based on our results we can assume that both, Al3C ions and low pH are harmful to barley plants. Additionally, we phenotyped the root system of barley seedlings grown in the same hydroponic conditions for 7 days at pH = 6.0, pH = 4.0, and pH = 4.0 with Al. The results correspond to transcriptomic data and show that low pH itself is a stress factor that causes a significant reduction of root growth and the addition of aluminum further increases this reduction. It should be noted that in acidic arable lands, plants are exposed simultaneously to both of these stresses. The presented transcriptome analysis may help to find potential targets for breeding barley plants that are more tolerant to such conditions

Polymorphisms of the DNA repair genes XRCC1 and ERCC4 are not associated with smoking- and drinking-dependent larynx cancer in a polish population

Aim of this article is to investigate the association between the genotypes of the XRCC1-Arg399Gln (rs25487) and ERCC4-Arg415Gln (rs1800067) polymorphisms and smoking- and drinking-related larynx cancer in a Polish population