New tardigrade records for the Baltic states with a description of Minibiotus formosus sp. n. (Eutardigrada, Macrobiotidae)

In sixteen moss, lichen and mixed (moss/lichen) samples, collected from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, 291 specimens, 48 simplexes, including one exuvium with 6 eggs, and 8 free-laid eggs of eutardigrades were found. In total, 17 species, together with one new to science, were identified (all are new records for the Baltic states): Astatumen bartosi, Diphascon (Adropion) prorsirostre, D. (Diphascon) bullatum, D. (D.) pingue pingue, D. (D.) recamieri, D. (D.) rugosum, Hypsibius convergens, H. dujardini, H. cf. scabropygus, Isohypsibius ronsisvallei, I. sattleri, Macrobiotus harmsworthi harmsworthi, M. hufelandi hufelandi, Milnesium asiaticum, Milnesium tardigradum tardigradum, Minibiotus formosus sp. n. and Paramacrobiotus richtersi. The new species is most similar to Minibiotus gumersindoi, but differs from it mainly by the presence of two types of cuticular pores, the absence of a triangular or pentagonal arrangement of pores above a single large pore on legs, the presence of granulation on all legs and a different macroplacoid length sequence. In this paper we also provide photographs and morphometrics of H. cf. scabropygus

Towards building mobile smart-IoT service system

The Internet of Things (IoT) has emerged as a disruptive technology for the current and future of computing and communication. IoT is characterized by a variety of heterogeneous technologies and devices able to be connected to the Internet. Current and future research and development efforts aim at adding artificial intelligence to IoT systems, enabling devices to become smart and thus make autonomous decisions individually or collectively. Additionally, such smart devices have the ability to interact not only with other smart devices but also with humans. Thus, the aim of this paper is to investigate the usability of the artificial intelligence in the IoT paradigm. To achieve the approach, a system called smart-IoT is built based on artificial neural networks, namely, neural networks have been learned by back-propagation algorithm. The system is tested using mobile devices under Android as smart objects. Experiments with neural networks were carried on certain services (such as auto set alarms for a specific event, or estimating the time to return home). These experiments showed the feasibility of embedding neural networks techniques into the IoT system. The approach allows also for easy adding of new services, which in turn means that smart IoT is a modular and full-fledged system.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Would You Be Happier If You Looked Better? A Focusing Illusion

Some people might believe that individuals who are more satisfied with their body are also happier. However, people tend to overrate the influence of some factors (e.g. money or health) on their happiness; a phenomenon termed the focusing illusion. Our aim was to examine the focusing illusion in relation to body satisfaction. We experimentally manipulated body satisfaction and life satisfaction focus by varying the order of relevant measurement scales. Volunteers (N = 97) completed two questionnaires placed in separate envelopes to control the order of scales administration. Participants either completed the Body Satisfaction Scale followed by the Satisfaction with Life Scale or vice versa. In line with the focusing illusion the association between body satisfaction and life satisfaction was significantly stronger when participants were asked about their body satisfaction first. Body satisfaction as a focusing illusion may need to be considered by scientist as well as lay people who try to look better and be happier

Review of nuclear medicine methods applied in diabetology.

The aim of this paper is to present the most relevant clinical applications of positron emission tomography/computed tomography, scintigraphy and single photon emission tomography with different radiotracers allowing to visualize e.g. glucose metabolism, amino acids metabolism, receptor density or inflammation and infections in diabetology.The aim of this paper is to present the most relevant clinical applications of positron emission tomography/computed tomography, scintigraphy and single photon emission tomography with different radiotracers allowing to visualise e.g. glucose metabolism, amino acids metabolism, receptor density or inflammation and infections in diabetology

Neurocalcin Delta Knockout Impairs Adult Neurogenesis Whereas Half Reduction Is Not Pathological

Neurocalcin delta (NCALD) is a brain-enriched neuronal calcium sensor and its reduction acts protective against spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). However, the physiological function of NCALD and implications of NCALD reduction are still elusive. Here, we analyzed the ubiquitous Ncald knockout in homozygous (NcaldKO/KO) and heterozygous (NcaldKO/WT) mice to unravel the physiological role of NCALD in the brain and to study whether 50% NCALD reduction is a safe option for SMA therapy. We found that NcaldKO/KO but not NcaldKO/WT mice exhibit significant changes in the hippocampal morphology, likely due to impaired generation and migration of newborn neurons in the dentate gyrus (DG). To understand the mechanism behind, we studied the NCALD interactome and identified mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase 10 (MAP3K10) as a novel NCALD interacting partner. MAP3K10 is an upstream activating kinase of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), which regulates adult neurogenesis. Strikingly, the JNK activation was significantly upregulated in the NcaldKO/KO brains. Contrary, neither adult neurogenesis nor JNK activation were altered by heterozygous Ncald deletion. Taken together, our study identifies a novel link between NCALD and adult neurogenesis in the hippocampus, possibly via a MAP3K10-JNK pathway and emphasizes the safety of using NCALD reduction as a therapeutic option for SMA

Polygenic Risk Scores for Prediction of Breast Cancer and Breast Cancer Subtypes

Stratification of women according to their risk of breast cancer based on polygenic risk scores (PRSs) could improve screening and prevention strategies. Our aim was to develop PRSs, optimized for prediction of estrogen receptor (ER)-specific disease, from the largest available genome-wide association dataset and to empirically validate the PRSs in prospective studies. The development dataset comprised 94,075 case subjects and 75,017 control subjects of European ancestry from 69 studies, divided into training and validation sets. Samples were genotyped using genome-wide arrays, and single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were selected by stepwise regression or lasso penalized regression. The best performing PRSs were validated in an independent test set comprising 11,428 case subjects and 18,323 control subjects from 10 prospective studies and 190,040 women from UK Biobank (3,215 incident breast cancers). For the best PRSs (313 SNPs), the odds ratio for overall disease per 1 standard deviation in ten prospective studies was 1.61 (95%CI: 1.57-1.65) with area under receiver-operator curve (AUC) = 0.630 (95%CI: 0.628-0.651). The lifetime risk of overall breast cancer in the top centile of the PRSs was 32.6%. Compared with women in the middle quintile, those in the highest 1% of risk had 4.37- and 2.78-fold risks, and those in the lowest 1% of risk had 0.16- and 0.27-fold risks, of developing ER-positive and ER-negative disease, respectively. Goodness-of-fit tests indicated that this PRS was well calibrated and predicts disease risk accurately in the tails of the distribution. This PRS is a powerful and reliable predictor of breast cancer risk that may improve breast cancer prevention programs.NovartisEli Lilly and CompanyAstraZenecaAbbViePfizer UKCelgeneEisaiGenentechMerck Sharp and DohmeRocheCancer Research UKGovernment of CanadaArray BioPharmaGenome CanadaNational Institutes of HealthEuropean CommissionMinistère de l'Économie, de l’Innovation et des Exportations du QuébecSeventh Framework ProgrammeCanadian Institutes of Health Researc