Transnational research programmes on environment : Analysis of ERA-Nets’ experiences and recommendations for good practices

ERA-Nets are networks of research funding organizations with the aim of promoting the creation of jointly coordinated and funded research programmes. Developing the European Research Area (ERA) and ERANets as an instrument of networking research funders are one part of the implementation of the Lisbon strategy to combine resources of different Member States and to improve the coordination and focus ofresearch and innovation activities in Europe. In planning and carrying out joint calls ERA-Nets have gained experience, responded to numerous challenges and developed good practices. This report analyses experiences of the environmental ERA-Nets in the process of preparation and implementation of the transnational calls, and based on this experience draws ”good practices” for the transnational calls, that future ERA-Nets do not have to ”invent the wheel” when planning their joint calls. The report continues the series of two previous reports on management of transnational calls, carried out by the Finnish Environment Institute under SKEP ERA-Net. The report contains general recommendations for each step of the process and typology of the ERA-Nets with specific recommendations depending on a type of funding network. These recommendations and good practices of the environmental ERA-Nets can be used for planning of the future joint calls of the ERA-Nets and to further develop and enhance joint collaboration between funding agencies and researchers of the EU Member States

NPRD: Nucleosome Positioning Region Database

Nucleosome Positioning Region Database (NPRD), which is compiling the available experimental data on locations and characteristics of nucleosome formation sites (NFSs), is the first curated NFS-oriented database. The object of the database is a single NFS described in an individual entry. When annotating results of NFS experimental mapping, we pay special attention to several important functional characteristics, such as the relationship between type of gene activity and nucleosome positioning, the influence of non-histone proteins on nucleosome formation, type of the variant of nucleosome positioning (translational or rotational), indication of tissue types and states of cell activity, description of experimental methods used and accuracy of nucleosome position determination, and the results of applying theoretical and computer methods to the analysis of contextual and conformational DNA properties. At present, the NPRD database contains 438 entries and integrates the data described in 124 original papers. The database URL: http://srs6.bionet.nsc.ru/srs6/. Then click the button ‘Databank’ and open the link NUCLEOSOME

On Some Layer-Based Risk Measures with Applications to Exponential Dispersion Models

Layer-based counterparts of a number of well-known risk measures have been proposed and studied. Namely, some motivations and elementary properties have been discussed, and the analytic tractability has been demonstrated by developing closed-form expressions in the general framework of exponential dispersion models

The organization of labour immigrants from Czechoslovakia in Frolov district of the Lower-Volga region in the 1920 and 1930s

Based on unpublished archival sources, this article considers the history and development of industrial organizations of labour immigrants from Czechoslovakia on the territory of the Lower Volga region in the 1920 and 1930s. The activities of the “Agricultural commune of Czechoslovak emigres” and the handicraft “Association of Czechoslovak Emigrants” illustrate how Soviet legislation was applied to labour immigration, how party authorities and economic bodies related to the two immigrant units, and how foreign workers adapted to the conditions in the USSR. Despite the many difficulties that labour immigrants had to overcome, their activities on the territory of Stalingrad province constitute a successful example of international workers’ cooperation in the USSR. The authors demonstrate that the production associations of labour immigrants from Czechoslovakia made a significant contribution to the strengthening and development of the economic complex of Frolov district in the Lower Volga region during the period under review. Through the efforts of the Czechoslovak citizens, shoe production and tanning were organized for the first time on industrial level. Later a metal plant emerged on the basis of the “Krasny Vagranschik” artel created by immigrants from Czechoslovakia. The experience of state regulation on labour immigration in the USSR can be successfully used in modern Russia’s practice of international cooperation

Experimental Modeling of Ankerite–Pyrite Interaction under Lithospheric Mantle P–T Parameters: Implications for Graphite Formation as a Result of Ankerite Sulfidation

Experimental modeling of ankerite–pyrite interaction was carried out on a multi-anvil high-pressure apparatus of a “split sphere” type (6.3 GPa, 1050–1550 °C, 20–60 h). At T ≤ 1250 °C, the formation of pyrrhotite, dolomite, magnesite, and metastable graphite was established. At higher temperatures, the generation of two immiscible melts (carbonate and sulfide ones), as well as graphite crystallization and diamond growth on seeds, occurred. It was established that the decrease in iron concentration in ankerite occurs by extraction of iron by sulfide and leads to the formation of pyrrhotite or sulfide melt, with corresponding ankerite breakdown into dolomite and magnesite. Further redox interaction of Ca,Mg,Fe carbonates with pyrrhotite (or between carbonate and sulfide melts) results in the carbonate reduction to C0 and metastable graphite formation (±diamond growth on seeds). It was established that the ankerite–pyrite interaction, which can occur in a downgoing slab, involves ankerite sulfidation that triggers further graphite-forming redox reactions and can be one of the scenarios of the elemental carbon formation under subduction settings

Synthesis of Polyhydroxylated Quinolizidine and Indolizidine Scaffolds from Sugar-Derived Lactams via a One-Pot Reduction/Mannich/Michael Sequence

A direct approach to the synthesis of indolizidine and quinolizidine scaffolds of iminosugars is described. The presented strategy is based on a one-pot sugar lactam reduction with Schwartz’s reagent followed by a diastereoselective Mannich/Michael tandem reaction of the resulting sugar imine with Danishefsky’s diene. The stereochemical course of the investigated reaction has been explained in detail. The obtained bicyclic products are attractive building blocks for the synthesis of various naturally occurring polyhydroxylated alkaloids and their derivatives

Novel Cyclic Peptides for Targeting EGFR and EGRvIII Mutation for Drug Delivery

The epidermal growth factor–epidermal growth factor receptor (EGF-EGFR) pathway has become the main focus of selective chemotherapeutic intervention. As a result, two classes of EGFR inhibitors have been clinically approved, namely monoclonal antibodies and small molecule kinase inhibitors. Despite an initial good response rate to these drugs, most patients develop drug resistance. Therefore, new treatment approaches are needed. In this work, we aimed to find a new EGFR-specific, short cyclic peptide, which could be used for targeted drug delivery. Phage display peptide technology and biopanning were applied to three EGFR expressing cells, including cells expressing the EGFRvIII mutation. DNA from the internalized phage was extracted and the peptide inserts were sequenced using next-generation sequencing (NGS). Eleven peptides were selected for further investigation using binding, internalization, and competition assays, and the results were confirmed by confocal microscopy and peptide docking. Among these eleven peptides, seven showed specific and selective binding and internalization into EGFR positive (EGFR+ve) cells, with two of them—P6 and P9—also demonstrating high specificity for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and glioblastoma cells, respectively. These peptides were chemically conjugated to camptothecin (CPT). The conjugates were more cytotoxic to EGFR+ve cells than free CPT. Our results describe a novel cyclic peptide, which can be used for targeted drug delivery to cells overexpressing the EGFR and EGFRvIII mutation