Проблеми ліквідації дуалізму виконавчої влади в Україні

Досліджуються конституційні засади функціонування виконавчої влади на пред­мет виявлення дублювання управлінських функцій та пропонуються заходи щодо зако­нодавчого забезпечення стабільності робот уряду.Исследуются конституционные основы функционирования исполнительной власти на предмет обнаружения дублирования управленческих функций и предлагаются меры для законодательного обеспечения стабильной работы правительства.The author analyses the constitutional foundation of executive power activity in order to detect the duplication of administrative functions. The legislative measures for the stable work of the government are proposed

Preferential killing of melanoma cells by a p16-related peptide.

We report the identification of a synthetic, cell-penetrating peptide able to kill human melanoma cells efficiently and selectively, while less toxic to normal human melanocytes and nontoxic to human fibroblasts. The peptide is based on the target-binding site of the melanoma suppressor and senescence effector p16 (INK4A, CDKN2A), coupled to a cell-penetrating moiety. The killing is by apoptosis and appears to act by a route other than the canonical downstream target of p16 and CDK4, the retinoblastoma (RB) family, since it is also effective in HeLa cells and a melanocyte line expressing HPV E7 oncogenes, which both lack any active RB. There was varying toxicity to other types of cancer cell lines such as glioblastoma. Melanoma cell killing by a p16-derived peptide was reported once before but only at a higher concentration, while selectivity and generality were not previously tested

Structure and optical properties of Lu <inf>2</inf>SiO <inf>5</inf>:Ce phosphor thin films

Luminescent, cerium doped Lu 2SiO 5 thin films with C2/c symmetry have been prepared by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) at temperatures much lower than the crystallization temperature (2150°C) of the corresponding bulk crystals. The PLD grown films show the typical luminescence resulting from the Ce 3+ 5d-4f transition. Maximum luminescence efficiency was observed for films prepared at an oxygen partial pressure of 200 mTorr at 600°C. These conditions reflect a balance between Ce 4+/Ce 3+ interconversion and the crystalline quality of the films. The results indicate that PLD offers a low temperature deposition technique for complex oxide phosphor materials. © 2006 American Institute of Physics

The interaction between vaginal microbiota, cervical length and vaginal progesterone treatment for preterm birth risk

Background: Preterm birth is the primary cause of infant death worldwide. A short cervix in the second trimester of pregnancy is a risk factor for preterm birth. In specific patient cohorts, vaginal progesterone reduces this risk. Using 16S rRNA gene sequencing we undertook a prospective study in women at risk of preterm birth (n=161) to assess 1) the relationship between vaginal microbiota and cervical length in the second trimester and preterm birth-risk, and 2) the impact of vaginal progesterone on vaginal bacterial communities in women with a short cervix. Results: Lactobacillus iners dominance at 16 weeks gestation was significantly associated with both a short cervix <25mm (n=15, P<0.05), and preterm birth <34+0 weeks (n=18, 38P<0.01; 69% PPV). In contrast, L. crispatus dominance was highly predictive of term birth (n=127, 98% PPV). Cervical shortening and preterm birth were not associated with vaginal dysbiosis. A longitudinal characterization of vaginal microbiota (<18, 22, 28 and 34 weeks) was then undertaken in women receiving vaginal progesterone (400mg/OD, n=25) versus controls (n=42). Progesterone did not alter vaginal bacterial community structure nor reduce L. iners-associated preterm birth (<34 weeks). Conclusions: L. iners dominance of the vaginal microbiota at 16 weeks gestation is a risk factor for preterm birth, whereas L. crispatus dominance is protective against preterm birth. Vaginal progesterone does not appear to impact the pregnancy vaginal microbiota. Patients and clinicians who may be concerned about ‘infection risk’ associated with use of a vaginal pessary during high-risk pregnancy can be reassured

Video enhancement using adaptive spatio-temporal connective filter and piecewise mapping

This paper presents a novel video enhancement system based on an adaptive spatio-temporal connective (ASTC) noise filter and an adaptive piecewise mapping function (APMF). For ill-exposed videos or those with much noise, we first introduce a novel local image statistic to identify impulse noise pixels, and then incorporate it into the classical bilateral filter to form ASTC, aiming to reduce the mixture of the most two common types of noises - Gaussian and impulse noises in spatial and temporal directions. After noise removal, we enhance the video contrast with APMF based on the statistical information of frame segmentation results. The experiment results demonstrate that, for diverse low-quality videos corrupted by mixed noise, underexposure, overexposure, or any mixture of the above, the proposed system can automatically produce satisfactory results

Luminescent properties and reduced dimensional behavior of hydrothermally prepared Y <inf>2</inf>SiO <inf>5</inf>: Ce nanophosphors

Hydrothermally prepared nanophosphor Y2 Si O5: Ce crystallizes in the P 21 c structure, rather than the B2b structure observed in bulk material. Relative to bulk powder, nanophosphors of particle size ∼25-100 nm diameter exhibit redshifts of the photoluminescence excitation and emission spectra, reduced self absorption, enhanced light output, and medium-dependent radiative lifetime. Photoluminescence data are consistent with reduced symmetry of the P 21 c structure and are not necessarily related to reduced dimensionality of the nanophosphor. In contrast, medium-dependent lifetime and enhanced light output are attributed to nanoscale behavior. Perturbation of the Ce ion electric field is responsible for the variable lifetime. © 2006 American Institute of Physics

The vaginal microbiome during pregnancy and the postpartum period in a European population

The composition and structure of the pregnancy vaginal microbiome may influence susceptibility to adverse pregnancy outcomes. Studies on the pregnant vaginal microbiome have largely been limited to Northern American populations. Using MiSeq sequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicons, we characterised the vaginal microbiota of a mixed British cohort of women (n = 42) who experienced uncomplicated term delivery and who were sampled longitudinally throughout pregnancy (8–12, 20–22, 28–30 and 34–36 weeks gestation) and 6 weeks postpartum. We show that vaginal microbiome composition dramatically changes postpartum to become less Lactobacillus spp. dominant with increased alpha-diversity irrespective of the community structure during pregnancy and independent of ethnicity. While the pregnancy vaginal microbiome was characteristically dominated by Lactobacillus spp. and low alpha-diversity, unlike Northern American populations, a significant number of pregnant women this British population had a L. jensenii-dominated microbiome characterised by low alpha-diversity. L. jensenii was predominantly observed in women of Asian and Caucasian ethnicity whereas L. gasseri was absent in samples from Black women. This study reveals new insights into biogeographical and ethnic effects upon the pregnancy and postpartum vaginal microbiome and has important implications for future studies exploring relationships between the vaginal microbiome, host health and pregnancy outcomes

Biological, ecological, conservation and legal information for all species and subspecies of Australian bird

We introduce a dataset of biological, ecological, conservation and legal information for every species and subspecies of Australian bird, 2056 taxa or populations in total. Version 1 contains 230 fields grouped under the following headings: Taxonomy &amp; nomenclature, Phylogeny, Australian population status, Conservation status, Legal status, Distribution, Morphology, Habitat, Food, Behaviour, Breeding, Mobility and Climate metrics. It is envisaged that the dataset will be updated periodically with new data for existing fields and the addition of new fields. The dataset has already had, and will continue to have applications in Australian and international ornithology, especially those that require standard information for a large number of taxa

Multiple reassortment events in the evolutionary history of H1N1 influenza A virus since 1918

The H1N1 subtype of influenza A virus has caused substantial morbidity and mortality in humans, first documented in the global pandemic of 1918 and continuing to the present day. Despite this disease burden, the evolutionary history of the A/H1N1 virus is not well understood, particularly whether there is a virological basis for several notable epidemics of unusual severity in the 1940s and 1950s. Using a data set of 71 representative complete genome sequences sampled between 1918 and 2006, we show that segmental reassortment has played an important role in the genomic evolution of A/H1N1 since 1918. Specifically, we demonstrate that an A/H1N1 isolate from the 1947 epidemic acquired novel PB2 and HA genes through intra-subtype reassortment, which may explain the abrupt antigenic evolution of this virus. Similarly, the 1951 influenza epidemic may also have been associated with reassortant A/H1N1 viruses. Intra-subtype reassortment therefore appears to be a more important process in the evolution and epidemiology of H1N1 influenza A virus than previously realized

A preliminary study of genetic factors that influence susceptibility to bovine tuberculosis in the British cattle herd

Associations between specific host genes and susceptibility to Mycobacterial infections such as tuberculosis have been reported in several species. Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) impacts greatly the UK cattle industry, yet genetic predispositions have yet to be identified. We therefore used a candidate gene approach to study 384 cattle of which 160 had reacted positively to an antigenic skin test (‘reactors’). Our approach was unusual in that it used microsatellite markers, embraced high breed diversity and focused particularly on detecting genes showing heterozygote advantage, a mode of action often overlooked in SNP-based studies. A panel of neutral markers was used to control for population substructure and using a general linear model-based approach we were also able to control for age. We found that substructure was surprisingly weak and identified two genomic regions that were strongly associated with reactor status, identified by markers INRA111 and BMS2753. In general the strength of association detected tended to vary depending on whether age was included in the model. At INRA111 a single genotype appears strongly protective with an overall odds ratio of 2.2, the effect being consistent across nine diverse breeds. Our results suggest that breeding strategies could be devised that would appreciably increase genetic resistance of cattle to bTB (strictly, reduce the frequency of incidence of reactors) with implications for the current debate concerning badger-culling