Perceptions of the past in the post-Soviet space

Honing in on how citizens in the former Soviet Union find themselves in an information competition over their own past, this paper explores whether and why ordinary people’s perceptions of historical events and figures in their country’s past are in line with a Russian-promoted narrative that highlights World War II – known as the “Great Patriotic War” in Russia and some former Soviet states – as a glorious Soviet victory and Stalin as a great leader. We draw on comparative survey data across six states and one de facto state in 2019–2020 to examine whether geopolitical or cultural proximity to Russia is associated with a more favourable view on a Russian-promoted narrative about the past. We find that closer geopolitical proximity to Russia is associated with perceiving the past in line with the Russian-promoted narrative, though the findings are less consistent when it comes to measures for closer cultural proximity

Optically trapped bacteria pairs reveal discrete motile response to control aggregation upon cell–cell approach

Aggregation of bacteria plays a key role in the formation of many biofilms. The critical first step is cell–cell approach, and yet the ability of bacteria to control the likelihood of aggregation during this primary phase is unknown. Here, we use optical tweezers to measure the force between isolated Bacillus subtilis cells during approach. As we move the bacteria towards each other, cell motility (bacterial swimming) initiates the generation of repulsive forces at bacterial separations of ~3 μm. Moreover, the motile response displays spatial sensitivity with greater cell–cell repulsion evident as inter-bacterial distances decrease. To examine the environmental influence on the inter-bacterial forces, we perform the experiment with bacteria suspended in Tryptic Soy Broth, NaCl solution and deionised water. Our experiments demonstrate that repulsive forces are strongest in systems that inhibit biofilm formation (Tryptic Soy Broth), while attractive forces are weak and rare, even in systems where biofilms develop (NaCl solution). These results reveal that bacteria are able to control the likelihood of aggregation during the approach phase through a discretely modulated motile response. Clearly, the force-generating motility we observe during approach promotes biofilm prevention, rather than biofilm formation

Infectious Disease Ontology

Technological developments have resulted in tremendous increases in the volume and diversity of the data and information that must be processed in the course of biomedical and clinical research and practice. Researchers are at the same time under ever greater pressure to share data and to take steps to ensure that data resources are interoperable. The use of ontologies to annotate data has proven successful in supporting these goals and in providing new possibilities for the automated processing of data and information. In this chapter, we describe different types of vocabulary resources and emphasize those features of formal ontologies that make them most useful for computational applications. We describe current uses of ontologies and discuss future goals for ontology-based computing, focusing on its use in the field of infectious diseases. We review the largest and most widely used vocabulary resources relevant to the study of infectious diseases and conclude with a description of the Infectious Disease Ontology (IDO) suite of interoperable ontology modules that together cover the entire infectious disease domain

Magnetism, FeS colloids, and Origins of Life

A number of features of living systems: reversible interactions and weak bonds underlying motor-dynamics; gel-sol transitions; cellular connected fractal organization; asymmetry in interactions and organization; quantum coherent phenomena; to name some, can have a natural accounting via $physical$ interactions, which we therefore seek to incorporate by expanding the horizons of `chemistry-only' approaches to the origins of life. It is suggested that the magnetic 'face' of the minerals from the inorganic world, recognized to have played a pivotal role in initiating Life, may throw light on some of these issues. A magnetic environment in the form of rocks in the Hadean Ocean could have enabled the accretion and therefore an ordered confinement of super-paramagnetic colloids within a structured phase. A moderate H-field can help magnetic nano-particles to not only overcome thermal fluctuations but also harness them. Such controlled dynamics brings in the possibility of accessing quantum effects, which together with frustrations in magnetic ordering and hysteresis (a natural mechanism for a primitive memory) could throw light on the birth of biological information which, as Abel argues, requires a combination of order and complexity. This scenario gains strength from observations of scale-free framboidal forms of the greigite mineral, with a magnetic basis of assembly. And greigite's metabolic potential plays a key role in the mound scenario of Russell and coworkers-an expansion of which is suggested for including magnetism.Comment: 42 pages, 5 figures, to be published in A.R. Memorial volume, Ed Krishnaswami Alladi, Springer 201

The Forkhead Transcription Factor Foxi1 Is a Master Regulator of Vacuolar H+-ATPase Proton Pump Subunits in the Inner Ear, Kidney and Epididymis

The vacuolar H+-ATPase dependent transport of protons across cytoplasmic membranes in FORE (forkhead related) cells of endolymphatic epithelium in the inner ear, intercalated cells of collecting ducts in the kidney and in narrow and clear cells of epididymis require expression of several subunits that assemble into a functional multimeric proton pump. We demonstrate that expression of four such subunits A1, B1, E2 and a4 all co-localize with the forkhead transcription factor Foxi1 in a subset of epithelial cells at these three locations. In cells, of such epithelia, that lack Foxi1 we fail to identify any expression of A1, B1, E2 and a4 demonstrating an important role for the transcription factor Foxi1 in regulating subunit availability. Promoter reporter experiments, electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSA) and site directed mutagenesis demonstrate that a Foxi1 expression vector can trans-activate an a4-promoter reporter construct in a dose dependent manner. Furthermore, we demonstrate using chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays that Foxi1-dependent activation to a large extent depends on cis-elements at position −561/−547 in the a4 promoter. Thus, we provide evidence that Foxi1 is necessary for expression of at least four subunits in three different epithelia and most likely is a major determinant for proper assembly of a functional vacuolar H+-ATPase complex at these locations

Mosquito Feeding Affects Larval Behaviour and Development in a Moth

Organisms are attacked by different natural enemies present in their habitat. While enemies such as parasitoids and predators will kill their hosts/preys when they successfully attack them, enemies such as micropredators will not entirely consume their prey. However, they can still have important consequences on the performance and ecology of the prey, such as reduced growth, increased emigration, disease transmission

Recombinant human osteopontin expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana stimulates osteogenesis related genes in human periodontal ligament cells.

Tissue engineering aims to utilise biologic mediators to facilitate tissue regeneration. Several recombinant proteins have potential to mediate induction of bone production, however, the high production cost of mammalian cell expression impedes patient access to such treatments. The aim of this study is to produce recombinant human osteopontin (hOPN) in plants for inducing dental bone regeneration. The expression host was Nicotiana benthamiana using a geminiviral vector for transient expression. OPN expression was confirmed by Western blot and ELISA, and OPN was purified using Ni affinity chromatography. Structural analysis indicated that plant-produced hOPN had a structure similar to commercial HEK cell-produced hOPN. Biological function of the plant-produced hOPN was also examined. Human periodontal ligament stem cells were seeded on an OPN-coated surface. The results indicated that cells could grow normally on plant-produced hOPN as compared to commercial HEK cell-produced hOPN determined by MTT assay. Interestingly, increased expression of osteogenic differentiation-related genes, including OSX, DMP1, and Wnt3a, was observed by realtime PCR. These results show the potential of plant-produced OPN to induce osteogenic differentiation of stem cells from periodontal ligament in vitro, and suggest a therapeutic strategy for bone regeneration in the future

Pyrite-induced hydroxyl radical formation and its effect on nucleic acids

BACKGROUND: Pyrite, the most abundant metal sulphide on Earth, is known to spontaneously form hydrogen peroxide when exposed to water. In this study the hypothesis that pyrite-induced hydrogen peroxide is transformed to hydroxyl radicals is tested. RESULTS: Using a combination of electron spin resonance (ESR) spin-trapping techniques and scavenging reactions involving nucleic acids, the formation of hydroxyl radicals in pyrite/aqueous suspensions is demonstrated. The addition of EDTA to pyrite slurries inhibits the hydrogen peroxide-to-hydroxyl radical conversion, but does not inhibit the formation of hydrogen peroxide. Given the stability of EDTA chelation with both ferrous and ferric iron, this suggests that the addition of the EDTA prevents the transformation by chelation of dissolved iron species. CONCLUSION: While the exact mechanism or mechanisms of the hydrogen peroxide-to-hydroxyl radical conversion cannot be resolved on the basis of the experiments reported in this study, it is clear that the pyrite surface promotes the reaction. The formation of hydroxyl radicals is significant because they react nearly instantaneously with most organic molecules. This suggests that the presence of pyrite in natural, engineered, or physiological aqueous systems may induce the transformation of a wide range of organic molecules. This finding has implications for the role pyrite may play in aquatic environments and raises the question whether inhalation of pyrite dust contributes to the development of lung diseases

Clara cell adhesion and migration to extracellular matrix

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Clara cells are the epithelial progenitor cell of the small airways, a location known to be important in many lung disorders. Although migration of alveolar type II and bronchiolar ciliated epithelial cells has been examined, the migratory response of Clara cells has received little attention.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Using a modification of existing procedures for Clara cell isolation, we examined mouse Clara cells and a mouse Clara-like cell line (C22) for adhesion to and migration toward matrix substrate gradients, to establish the nature and integrin dependence of migration in Clara cells.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We observed that Clara cells adhere preferentially to fibronectin (Fn) and type I collagen (Col I) similar to previous reports. Migration of Clara cells can be directed by a fixed gradient of matrix substrates (haptotaxis). Migration of the C22 cell line was similar to the Clara cells so integrin dependence of migration was evaluated with this cell line. As determined by competition with an RGD containing-peptide, migration of C22 cells toward Fn and laminin (Lm) 511 (formerly laminin 10) was significantly RGD integrin dependent, but migration toward Col I was RGD integrin independent, suggesting that Clara cells utilize different receptors for these different matrices.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Thus, Clara cells resemble alveolar type II and bronchiolar ciliated epithelial cells by showing integrin mediated pro-migratory changes to extracellular matrix components that are present in tissues after injury.</p