Системний підхід у соціальній адаптації студентів-іноземців

SUMMARY: High-throughput genotyping and sequencing technologies facilitate studies of complex genetic traits and provide new research opportunities. The increasing popularity of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) leads to the discovery of new associated loci and a better understanding of the genetic architecture underlying not only diseases, but also other monogenic and complex phenotypes. Several softwares are available for performing GWAS analyses, R environment being one of them. RESULTS: We present cgmisc, an R package that enables enhanced data analysis and visualisation of results from GWAS. The package contains several utilities and modules that complement and enhance the functionality of the existing software. It also provides several tools for advanced visualisation of genomic data and utilises the power of the R language to aid in preparation of publication-quality figures. Some of the package functions are specific for the domestic dog (Canis familiaris) data. AVAILABILITY: The package is operating system-independent and is available from: https://github.com/cgmisc-team/cgmisc CONTACT: [email protected]

Smart Cities in practice. A comparative case study between Warsaw, Gdynia, Copenhagen and Malmö. A public actor’s perspective with a secondary focus on collaboration and digitization

The purpose of this dissertation was to examine what Smart City concept entails in practice rather than a theory, with a clear secondary focus on digitization and collaboration as the means to deliver successful Smart City projects. This project sheds light on the public actor’s managerial perspective on many actual topics for the globalized world, where cities play a pivotal role. By interviewing deputy-mayors of the cities, strategists and project leaders, the author gives the opportunity to look at Smart City concept from a practical, rather than theoretical standpoint. The author also researched the importance of context for multiplying Smart City projects in different settings. The public actor’s perspective was based on the collected empirically-driven material from four different cities, located in three European countries: Warsaw, Gdynia, Copenhagen, and Malmö. The case study analysis with extensive empirical data, led the author to undermine the fully techno-centric vision of Smart Cities, that is most apparent in the theoretical discourse, in order to focus on a more holistic approach, where the different Smart City aspects are complementary to each other and most importantly, the citizens and their needs are treated as a priority. Hence, bringing the best possible service for inhabitants and being engaged in their growing expectations constitute a Smart City. To bring this best possible service and improve efficiency, cities should be proactive about the current pace of technological change, collaborate with different non-governmental parties and apply ICT and novel solutions. In line with the secondary objectives of this thesis, it was established that cross-sector collaboration and digitization are the means to deliver successful Smart City projects. Thanks to cross-sector collaboration and digitization, Smart City solutions result as more sustainable and better adjusted to citizens’ needs. The partnerships cities create become most beneficial, when they involve not only municipalities and private companies but also NGOs, research institutions as well as different civic organizations. This appears to be the modernized approach of managing change and uncertainty while handling innovation-based projects, in comparison to traditional principal-agent based governing schemes. The innovation-based projects, like Smart City projects, also require collaborations that are deeply based on trust, establishing mutual goals and openness between the municipalities and different sectors. Simultaneously, digital technologies and ICT reshape the way cities work, the way they cooperate with different stakeholders and communicate both internally and externally. Thus, cross-sector collaboration and digitization are the key factors to deliver successful Smart City projects. This dissertation can raise awareness and serve as an inspiration for private companies, municipalities and nongovernmental organizations on what can be examples of how to handle innovation-based projects, how the researched cities perceive collaboration with external parties and operate for their citizens

Antibiotic hyper-resistance in a class I aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase with altered active site signature motif

Antibiotics target key biological processes that include protein synthesis. Bacteria respond by developing resistance, which increases rapidly due to antibiotics overuse. Mupirocin, a clinically used natural antibiotic, inhibits isoleucyl-tRNA synthetase (IleRS), an enzyme that links isoleucine to its tRNAIle for protein synthesis. Two IleRSs, mupirocin-sensitive IleRS1 and resistant IleRS2, coexist in bacteria. The latter may also be found in resistant Staphylococcus aureus clinical isolates. Here, we describe the structural basis of mupirocin resistance and unravel a mechanism of hyper-resistance evolved by some IleRS2 proteins. We surprisingly find that an up to 103-fold increase in resistance originates from alteration of the HIGH motif, a signature motif of the class I aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases to which IleRSs belong. The structural analysis demonstrates how an altered HIGH motif could be adopted in IleRS2 but not IleRS1, providing insight into an elegant mechanism for coevolution of the key catalytic motif and associated antibiotic resistance.ISSN:2041-172

cgmisc : Enhanced Genome-wide Association Analyses and Visualisation

SUMMARY: High-throughput genotyping and sequencing technologies facilitate studies of complex genetic traits and provide new research opportunities. The increasing popularity of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) leads to the discovery of new associated loci and a better understanding of the genetic architecture underlying not only diseases, but also other monogenic and complex phenotypes. Several softwares are available for performing GWAS analyses, R environment being one of them. RESULTS: We present cgmisc, an R package that enables enhanced data analysis and visualisation of results from GWAS. The package contains several utilities and modules that complement and enhance the functionality of the existing software. It also provides several tools for advanced visualisation of genomic data and utilises the power of the R language to aid in preparation of publication-quality figures. Some of the package functions are specific for the domestic dog (Canis familiaris) data. AVAILABILITY: The package is operating system-independent and is available from: https://github.com/cgmisc-team/cgmisc CONTACT: [email protected]

Bacteriophage therapy against pathological Klebsiella pneumoniae ameliorates the course of primary sclerosing cholangitis

Abstract Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is characterized by progressive biliary inflammation and fibrosis. Although gut commensals are associated with PSC, their causative roles and therapeutic strategies remain elusive. Here we detect abundant Klebsiella pneumoniae (Kp) and Enterococcus gallinarum in fecal samples from 45 PSC patients, regardless of intestinal complications. Carriers of both pathogens exhibit high disease activity and poor clinical outcomes. Colonization of PSC-derived Kp in specific pathogen-free (SPF) hepatobiliary injury-prone mice enhances hepatic Th17 cell responses and exacerbates liver injury through bacterial translocation to mesenteric lymph nodes. We developed a lytic phage cocktail that targets PSC-derived Kp with a sustained suppressive effect in vitro. Oral administration of the phage cocktail lowers Kp levels in Kp-colonized germ-free mice and SPF mice, without off-target dysbiosis. Furthermore, we demonstrate that oral and intravenous phage administration successfully suppresses Kp levels and attenuates liver inflammation and disease severity in hepatobiliary injury-prone SPF mice. These results collectively suggest that using a lytic phage cocktail shows promise for targeting Kp in PSC