Identifying earthworms (Oligochaeta, Megadrili) of the Southern Kuril Islands using DNA barcodes

Identificación de las lombrices (Oligochaeta, Megadrili) del sur de las Islas Kuriles utilizando códigos de barras de ADN Las Islas Kuriles forman un archipiélago volcánico situado entre Hokkaido y Kamchatka. En este estudio analizamos las lombrices de tres de las Islas Kuriles meridionales: Kunashir, Shikotan y Yuri, utilizando el análisis morfológico y los códigos de barras de ADN. Nuestros resultados ponen de relieve el potencial de los códigos de barras de ADN para estudiar las lombrices: si bien en estudios anteriores solo se habían registrado seis especies y subespecies de lombriz en las Islas Kuriles meridionales, nosotros detectamos 15 grupos genéticos. Seis de ellos son especies cosmopolitas europeas; seis, especies asiáticas; y tres, sin determinar. A pesar de que no se encontraron lombrices europeas en Yuri, que está deshabitada desde la Segunda Guerra Mundial, estas especies dominaron en las islas Kunashir y Shikotan, que son más grandes y están habitadas, lo que sugiere que se trata de especies invasoras recientes. De las seis especies asiáticas, cinco tenían secuencias cox1 idénticas o muy emparentadas con las secuencias publicadas encontradas en el continente o en las islas del Japón y, por tanto, se trata de invasoras recientes.The Kuril Islands are a volcanic archipelago located between Hokkaido and Kamchatka. In this study we investigated earthworm fauna of three of the Southern Kuril Islands, Kunashir, Shikotan, and Yuri, using both morphological analysis and DNA barcoding. Our results highlight the potential of DNA barcoding for studying earthworm fauna: while previous studies reported only six earthworm species and subspecies on the Southern Kurils, we detected 15 genetic clusters. Six of them correspond to European cosmopolites; six, to Asian species, and three, to unidentified species. While no European earthworms were found on Yuri that is uninhabited since WWII, they dominated on larger and inhabited Kunashir and Shikotan, suggesting that they are recent invaders. Of the six Asian species, five had cox1 sequences identical or very closely related to published sequences from the mainland or the Japanese islands and thus are recent invaders.Identificación de las lombrices (Oligochaeta, Megadrili) del sur de las Islas Kuriles utilizando códigos de barras de ADN Las Islas Kuriles forman un archipiélago volcánico situado entre Hokkaido y Kamchatka. En este estudio analizamos las lombrices de tres de las Islas Kuriles meridionales: Kunashir, Shikotan y Yuri, utilizando el análisis morfológico y los códigos de barras de ADN. Nuestros resultados ponen de relieve el potencial de los códigos de barras de ADN para estudiar las lombrices: si bien en estudios anteriores solo se habían registrado seis especies y subespecies de lombriz en las Islas Kuriles meridionales, nosotros detectamos 15 grupos genéticos. Seis de ellos son especies cosmopolitas europeas; seis, especies asiáticas; y tres, sin determinar. A pesar de que no se encontraron lombrices europeas en Yuri, que está deshabitada desde la Segunda Guerra Mundial, estas especies dominaron en las islas Kunashir y Shikotan, que son más grandes y están habitadas, lo que sugiere que se trata de especies invasoras recientes. De las seis especies asiáticas, cinco tenían secuencias cox1 idénticas o muy emparentadas con las secuencias publicadas encontradas en el continente o en las islas del Japón y, por tanto, se trata de invasoras recientes

arch^{arch}PbMoO4 scintillating bolometer as detector to searches for the neutrinoless double beta decay of 100^{100}Mo

The archPbMoO4 scintillating crystal has been produced from archaeological lead for the first time. The advanced technique for deep purification of lead against chemical impurities was used resulting in 99.9995% purity level of final material. The archPbMoO4 crystal was characterized by means of cryogenics bolometric measurements and demonstrates excellent performances as a scintillating bolometer. The energy resolution (0.3% at 1462 keV of 40K), the high light yield (5.2 keV/MeV for γs, and 1.2 keV/MeV for α particles) and the highly efficient particle identification achieved with this detector, representing the high quality of the crystal. As a final proof for the feasibility of the archPbMoO4 crystal as a promising detector to search for the neutrinoless double β-decay of 100Mo, the crystal should be produced using the LTG Czochralski technique to prevent the possible contamination during the crystal growth and to increase the production yield

The mitochondrial genome of <i>Dendrobaena tellermanica</i> Perel, 1966 (Annelida: Lumbricidae) and its phylogenetic position

Earthworms are an important ecological group that has a significant impact on soil fauna as well as plant communities. Despite their importance, genetic diversity and phylogeny of earthworms are still insufficiently studied. Most studies on earthworm genetic diversity are currently based on a few mitochondrial and nuclear genes. Mitochondrial genomes are becoming a promising target for phylogeny reconstruction in earthworms. However, most studies on earthworm mitochondrial genomes were made on West European and East Asian species, with much less sampling from other regions. In this study, we performed sequencing, assembly, and analysis of the mitochondrial genome of Dendrobaena tellermanica Perel, 1966 from the Northern Caucasus. This species was earlier included into D. schmidti (Michaelsen, 1907), a polytypic species with many subspecies. The genome was assembled as a single contig 15,298 bp long which contained a typical gene set: 13 protein-coding genes (three subunits of cytochrome c oxidase, seven subunits of NADH dehydrogenase, two subunits of ATP synthetase, and cytochrome b), 12S and 16S ribosomal RNA genes, and 22 tRNA genes. All genes were located on one DNA strand. The assembled part of the control region, located between the tRNA-Arg and tRNA-His genes, was 727 bp long. The control region contained multiple hairpins, as well as tandem repeats of the AACGCTT monomer. Phylogenetic analysis based on the complete mitochondrial genomes indicated that the genus Dendrobaena occupied the basal position within Lumbricidae. D. tellermanica was a rather distant relative of the cosmopolitan D. octaedra, suggesting high genetic diversity in this genus. D. schmidti turned out to be paraphyletic with respect to D. tellermanica. Since D. schmidti is known to contain very high genetic diversity, these results may indicate that it may be split into several species

Application of parallel calculations in large scale optimization problems

Chuhai A. M. Application of parallel calculations in large scale optimization problems / A. M. Chuhai, S. B. Shekhovtsov, Rogelio Corrales Diaz // Протидія кіберзагрозам та торгівлі людьми: зб. матеріалів Міжнар. наук.-практ. конф. (м. Харків, 26 листоп. 2019 р.) / МВС України, Харків. нац. ун-т внутр. справ ; Координатор проектів ОБСЄ в Україні. – Харків : ХНУВС, 2019. – С. 273-274.У тезах доповіді аналізується застосування паралельних обчислень та проблеми великомасштабної оптимізації.The thesis of the report analyzes the application of parallel computing and large-scale optimization problems.В тезисах доклада анализируется применение параллельных вычислений и проблемы крупномасштабной оптимизации

Silver(I) coordination compounds with polydentate pyrimidine ligands: thermochromism of luminescence

The main goal of this work is to study how the substituent in position 2 of the pyrimidine ring affects both luminescent properties and structures of silver(I) complexes. A series of coordination compounds, [AgL1NO3], [AgL1X]n, [Ag2(L2)2X2] (X = I, Br, Cl–), [AgL1(PPh3)Y] (Y = CF3SO3, BF4, NO3), [AgL3NO3·CH3CN]n, have been synthesized and structurally characterized. According to the X-ray single data, the complexes [AgL1NO3], [AgL1(PPh3)Y] adopt mononuclear structures; the complexes [Ag2(L2)2X2] are binuclear; [AgL1X]n and [AgL3NO3·CH3CN]n are polymeric compounds.The research was supported by the President of the Russian Federation Grant for young scientists МК-1219.2020.3; by Russian Foundation for Basic Research and the government of the Novosibirsk region of the Russian Federation, grant № 18–43–540016 r_a

Morphotypes and genetic diversity of <i>Dendrobaena schmidti</i> (Lumbricidae, Annelida)

Dendrobaena schmidti (Michaelsen, 1907) is a polymorphic earthworm species from the Caucasus and adjacent regions. Adult D. schmidti individuals have highly variable body size (from 1.5 to well over 10 cm) and color (from dark purple to total lack of pigmentation), so a lot of subspecies of D. schmidti have been described; however, the existence of most of them is currently under dispute. We studied the genetic diversity of D. schmidti from seven locations from the Western Caucasus using mitochondrial (a fragment of the cytochrome oxidase I gene) and nuclear (internal ribosomal transcribed spacer 2) DNA. For both genes studied, we found that our sample was split into two groups. The first group included somewhat bigger (3-7.5 cm) individuals that were only slightly pigmented or totally unpigmented (when fixed by ethanol). The second group contained small (1.7-3.5 cm) specimens with dark purple pigmentation. In one of the studied locations these two groups were found in sympatry. However, there were no absolute differences either in general appearance (pigmented/unpigmented, small/big) or among diagnostic characters. Although the two groups differed in size (the majority of individuals from the first group were 5-6 cm long, and of the second one, 2-3 cm), the studied samples overlapped to a certain degree. Pigmentation, despite apparent differences, was also unreliable, since it was heavily affected by fixation of the specimens. Thus, based on the obtained data we can conclude that D. schmidti consists of at least two species that have identical states of diagnostic characters, but differ in general appearance

Temperature and excitation wavelength dependent emission of silver(I) complexes with an aminopyrimidine ligand

The research was supported by the President of the Russian Federation Grant for young scientists МК-1219.2020.3; by Russian Foundation for Basic Research and the government of the Novosibirsk region of the Russian Federation, grant № 18–43–540016 r_a

Discovery of the 151^{151}Eu α\alpha decay

We report on the first compelling observation of $\alpha$ decay of $^{151}$Eu to the ground state of $^{147}$Pm. The measurement was performed using a 6.15 g Li$_6$Eu(BO$_3$)$_3$ crystal operated as a scintillating bolometer. The Q-value and half-life measured are: Q = 1948.9$\pm 6.9(stat.) \pm 5.1(syst.)$ keV, and T$_{1/2}=\left( 4.62\pm0.95(stat.)\pm0.68(syst.)\right) \times 10^{18}$ y . The half-life prediction of nuclear theory using the Coulomb and proximity potential model are in good agreement with this experimental result

Rethinking “democratic backsliding” in Central and Eastern Europe – looking beyond Hungary and Poland

This essay introduces contributions to a special issue of East European Politics on “Rethinking democratic backsliding in Central and Eastern Europe”, which seeks to expand the study of democratic regression in CEE beyond the paradigmatic cases of Hungary and Poland. Reviewing these contributions, we identify several directions for research: 1) the need to critique “democratic backsliding”, not simply as a label, but also as an assumed regional trend; 2) a need to better integrate the role of illiberal socio-economic structures such as oligarchical structures or corrupt networks; and 3) a need to (re-)examine the trade-offs between democratic stability and democratic quality. We also note how insights developed researching post-communist regions such as Western Balkans or the post-Soviet space could usefully inform work on CEE backsliding. We conclude by calling for the study of CEE democracy to become more genuinely interdisciplinary, moving beyond some narrowly institutionalist comparative political science assumptions

Дирофиляриоз: двухстороннее поражение плевры в сочетании с паразитарной пневмонией под маской туберкулеза

The article describes a rare clinical case of pulmonary dirofilariasis (caused by Dirofilaria repens) manifesting as a combination of bilateral pleural lesions with recurrent exudative pleurisy and parasitic pneumonia mimicking tuberculosis. Based on published data, the pathogenetic mechanisms of the disease development and its specific course are described.Представлено редкое клиническое наблюдение легочного дирофиляриоза (возбудитель Dirofilaria repens), проявляющегося сочетанием двухстороннего поражения плевры с рецидивирующим экссудативным плевритом и паразитарной пневмонией, протекающих под маской туберкулезного процесса. По данным литературы описаны патогенетические механизмы формирования болезни и особенности течения