Pottery Production of the Novaya Zaimka Village in the 2nd Third of the XX Century (The Tyumen Region)

The article introduces a new source for pottery production in the South of the Tyumen region in the 30s‑50s of the XX century. It is also compared with the results of similar studies conducted by specialists of Tyumen regional local lore Museum, Tyumen regional Museum of fine arts and Tyumen state University in neighboring areas.В статье приведены новые материалы по гончарному производству на юге Тюменской обл. в 30–50-х гг. XX в. Также производится сравнение с результатами аналогичных исследований проведенных специалистами Тюменского областного краеведческого музея, Тюменского областного музея изобразительных искусств и Тюменского государственного университета в соседних районах

Dose-Sparing H5N1 A/Indonesia/05/2005 Pre-pandemic Influenza Vaccine in Adults and Elderly Adults: A Phase III, Placebo-Controlled, Randomized Study

Background. Highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 viruses remain a threat to human health, with potential to become pandemic agents

Herman, the Buck-Toothed Arabian Guppy

Part of the Grab and Go With Science series, in this activity, youth will use chromatography to analyze the components of different pollutants. Youth will observe how different ingredients in a mixture are carried along at different rates in water and, therefore, end up in different places. They will draw conclusions regarding the source of a pollutant by comparing the outcomes of their experiments

Exploring the Role of SeAgo in Host Defense and Gene Transfer Processes in Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942

Widely distributed and highly conserved among all three domains of life, argonaute proteins generally function in binding and utilizing short nucleic acid guides, and some additionally perform guide-mediated cleavage of complementary DNA or RNA targets. Due to their functional analogy to CRISPR-Cas systems, catalytically active prokaryotic argonautes (pAgos) have been primarily highlighted in the field of biotechnology for applications in seamless genetic engineering, leading to the emergence of the first pAgo-based genetic modification technology. However, characterization of the in vivo role of pAgos is in its early stage and only a few catalytically active pAgos have been broadly analyzed such as the T. thermophilus TtAgo. Through bioinformatics, gene transfer assays, and RB-TnSeq, we identify and investigate a closely related homolog of TtAgo, SeAgo from the genetically tractable model cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 (S. elongatus). In this study, we explored the effect of SeAgo on natural transformation and conjugation in S. elongatus as well as the potential relationship between SeAgo and the predicted associated nuclease SeCas4. For the purpose of this study, we designed improved CRISPR-Cpf1 genetic engineering tools by constructing a CRISPR-CpfI module adapted for the CYANO-VECTOR platform in addition to five CRISPR-Cpf1 plasmids carrying an improved RSF1010 backbone which significantly reduced the difficulty of the subsequent cloning. Nevertheless, even with an improved RSF1010 backbone, the transfer of RSF1010 based plasmids in S. elongatus repeatedly fails or results in small unstable colonies. Here we show that loss of function of SeAgo drastically increases the efficiency of transfer of RSF1010-based plasmids. With new RSF1010-based CRISPR tools continuing to emerge, overcoming the challenges of utilizing these technologies in the model cyanobacterium S. elongatus could significantly advance our understanding of these photosynthetic prokaryotes and their defense mechanisms

Diagnostic Accuracy of Routine Laboratory Tests for COVID-19

Objectives: COVID-19 has ravaged healthcare systems across the globe. Availability of and timely results for PCR testing have made diagnosis in the Emergency Department challenging. Therefore, we sought to determine if routine serum laboratory tests could be diagnostic of COVID-19. Methods: All patients tested for COVID-19 at an academic hospital in Pennsylvania between 1 March 2020–28 April 2020, were retrospectively analyzed. Results of COVID-19 PCR testing and laboratory tests were recorded. Mean difference was used to determine which tests demonstrated a significant difference, with p < 0.01 used, due to multiple observations. The tests that met these criteria had ROC curves and sensitivity and specificity determined. Results: Of the patients identified, 553 had had any laboratory test. All tests that showed a statistically significant mean difference were lower in COVID-19 positive patients. These included white blood cell count, platelets, absolute neutrophil count, absolute lymphocyte count, absolute eosinophil count, alkaline phosphatase, albumin, troponin T, lactic acid, D-DIMER, and procalcitonin. D-Dimer was excluded for only having four tests completed in COVID-19 positive patients. The remaining tests had a specificity of 88–96%, with a sensitivity of 5–50%. Discussion: No single serum laboratory test demonstrated sensitivity for COVID-19. Some tests might be moderately specific, but this was of limited clinical use. Future research should focus on a combination of tests to diagnose COVID-19, and healthcare systems should work to obtain rapid and accurate PCR tests to diagnose COVID-19