The Orbital Order Parameter in La0.95Sr0.05MnO3 probed by Electron Spin Resonance

The temperature dependence of the electron-spin resonance linewidth in La0.95Sr0.05MnO3 has been determined and analyzed in the paramagnetic regime across the orbital ordering transition. From the temperature dependence and the anisotropy of linewidth and $g$-value the orbital order can be unambiguously determined via the mixing angle of the wave functions of the $e_{\rm g}$-doublet. The linewidth shows a similar evolution with temperature as resonant x-ray scattering results

SNP-Based Chromosomal Microarray Analysis for Detecting DNA Copy Number Variations in Fetuses with a Thickened Nuchal Fold

The aim of the study was to assess the diagnostic potential of SNP-based chromosomal microarray analysis for detecting pathogenic copies number variations (CNVs) in fetuses with a normal karyotype, in which an increase in the nuchal translucence of >2.5 mm was detected by ultrasound at a gestational age of 11 weeks to 13 weeks 6 days. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included 225 pregnant women who underwent invasive prenatal diagnostic procedures following the detection of an isolated thickening of the fetal nuchal fold. The fetal material obtained was examined using a cytogenetic test; if a normal karyotype was confirmed, chromosomal microarray analysis was performed as a second-line test. RESULTS: Pathogenic CNVs were detected in 22 of 225 fetuses (9.8%) with a normal karyotype. Of these 22 fetuses, pathogenic CNVs not classified as syndromes were detected in 14 cases (63.6%), and those previously described as syndromes — in 8 cases (36.4%). In 9 fetuses (41%), CNVs in two non-homologous chromosomes were determined; these findings indicated a high likelihood of carrying balanced translocations in the parents. Indeed, when analyzing the parent’s karyotype, in 8 out of 9 couples, balanced translocations were found in one of the parents. CONCLUSION: Using chromosomal microarray analysis in fetuses with a thickened nuchal fold makes it possible to increase the ability to detect chromosomal imbalances, including those caused by pathological meiotic segregation of parental reciprocal translocation

Data-Based Approach to Educational Programs Quality Management

Цель данной статьи – описание и обоснование подхода к управлению качеством образовательных программ, разработанного и апробированного в Университете ИТМО начиная с 2019 года. В статье представлены основные индикаторы оценки и результаты апробации данного подхода в университете. Основной единицей качества является образовательная программа. Она имеет продолжительный жизненный цикл и отвечает запросам большинства стейкхолдеров университета. С учетом всех особенностей образовательной программы предлагается комплексный набор показателей для оценки ее качества, что дает возможность объективно управлять ею на основе полученных данных. Для анализа жизненного цикла образовательной программы разработан внутренний рейтинг и представлены примеры рекомендаций по его итогам. Описаны преимущества подхода управления образовательными программами, представлены пути по дальнейшему развитию. Статья может быть интересна руководителям и управленческим командам высших учебных заведений, а также исследователям в области высшего образования.The purpose of this article is to describe and justify the approach to assessing the quality of educational programs that have been developed and tested at ITMO University since 2019. The article presents the main indicators of assessment and the results of testing this approach at the university. The main unit of quality is an educational program, as it has a long-life cycle and meets the needs of most stakeholders of the educational organization. Taking into account all the features of an educational program, the authors propose a comprehensive set of indicators to assess its quality, which makes it possible to objectively manage it data-based. In conclusion, for completing the task of analyzing the life cycle of an educational program, the authors present an internal rating of educational programs, concise examples of recommendations based on its results. The advantages of the approach to managing educational programs are described, and ways for further development are presented. The article may be of interest to the managers and management teams of institutions of higher education, as well as to the researchers in this field

Heightened Vulnerability to MDR-TB Epidemics after Controlling Drug-Susceptible TB

Prior infection with one strain TB has been linked with diminished likelihood of re-infection by a new strain. This paper attempts to determine the role of declining prevalence of drug-susceptible TB in enabling future epidemics of MDR-TB.A computer simulation of MDR-TB epidemics was developed using an agent-based model platform programmed in NetLogo (See http://mdr.tbtools.org/). Eighty-one scenarios were created, varying levels of treatment quality, diagnostic accuracy, microbial fitness cost, and the degree of immunogenicity elicited by drug-susceptible TB. Outcome measures were the number of independent MDR-TB cases per trial and the proportion of trials resulting in MDR-TB epidemics for a 500 year period after drug therapy for TB is introduced.MDR-TB epidemics propagated more extensively after TB prevalence had fallen. At a case detection rate of 75%, improving therapeutic compliance from 50% to 75% can reduce the probability of an epidemic from 45% to 15%. Paradoxically, improving the case-detection rate from 50% to 75% when compliance with DOT is constant at 75% increases the probability of MDR-TB epidemics from 3% to 45%.The ability of MDR-TB to spread depends on the prevalence of drug-susceptible TB. Immunologic protection conferred by exposure to drug-susceptible TB can be a crucial factor that prevents MDR-TB epidemics when TB treatment is poor. Any single population that successfully reduces its burden of drug-susceptible TB will have reduced herd immunity to externally or internally introduced strains of MDR-TB and can experience heightened vulnerability to an epidemic. Since countries with good TB control may be more vulnerable, their self interest dictates greater promotion of case detection and DOTS implementation in countries with poor control to control their risk of MDR-TB

Comparative review of methods for diagnosing chromosomal abnormalities in fetuses with malformations and / or echographic markers of chromosomal pathology

The article presents a comparative analysis of methods used for the diagnosis of genetic pathology in fetuses with malformations and / or developmental abnormalities. The standard cytogenetic analysis of the karyotype is most widely implemented and used, however, the low resolution of this method in 8Mb does not allow for the detection of microdeletions and microduplications, which in turn in 5-6% of cases are the causes of malformations and / or developmental abnormalities in the fetus. When using chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) it increases the diagnostic efficacy of prenatal diagnosis, which allows making a diagnosis in a timely manner, determining the prognosis for the life of the child after birth. The choice of method for diagnosing genetic pathology in fetuses with congenital malformations and / or developmental abnormalities is currently not regulated and is often based on the technical capabilities of the laboratory. At the moment, a large amount of data has been accumulated confirming the effectiveness of the use of SNP microarrays compared to classical cytogenetic methods.В статье представлен сравнительный анализ методов, применяемых для диагностики хромосомных аномалий у плодов, имеющих пороки развития и/или эхографические маркеры хромосомной патологии. Наиболее широко внедрен и используется стандартный цитогенетический анализ кариотипа, однако небольшая разрешающая способность данного метода в 8Мb не позволяет выявлять микроделеции, микродупликации, которые в свою очередь в 5-6% случаев являются причинами пороков и/или аномалий развития у плода. Применение хромосомного микроматричного анализа (ХМА) увеличивает диагностическую эффективность пренатальной диагностики, и позволяет своевременно поставить диагноз, определив прогноз для жизни ребенка после рождения. Выбор метода диагностики генетической патологии у плодов с ВПР и/или аномалиями развития на данный момент ничем не регламентирован и зачастую основан на технических возможностях лаборатории. На данный момент, накоплен большой массив данных, подтверждающих эффективность применения SNP-микроматриц по сравнению с классическими цитогенетическими методами

Functional Conservation of Cis-Regulatory Elements of Heat-Shock Genes over Long Evolutionary Distances

Transcriptional control of gene regulation is an intricate process that requires precise orchestration of a number of molecular components. Studying its evolution can serve as a useful model for understanding how complex molecular machines evolve. One way to investigate evolution of transcriptional regulation is to test the functions of cis-elements from one species in a distant relative. Previous results suggested that few, if any, tissue-specific promoters from Drosophila are faithfully expressed in C. elegans. Here we show that, in contrast, promoters of fly and human heat-shock genes are upregulated in C. elegans upon exposure to heat. Inducibility under conditions of heat shock may represent a relatively simple “on-off” response, whereas complex expression patterns require integration of multiple signals. Our results suggest that simpler aspects of regulatory logic may be retained over longer periods of evolutionary time, while more complex ones may be diverging more rapidly

Impact of aspirin on takotsubo syndrome: a propensity score-based analysis of the InterTAK Registry

Aims: The aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of aspirin on prognosis in takotsubo syndrome (TTS). Methods and results: Patients from the International Takotsubo (InterTAK) Registry were categorized into two groups based on aspirin prescription at discharge. A comparison of clinical outcomes between groups was performed using an adjusted analysis with propensity score (PS) stratification; results from the unadjusted analysis were also reported to note the effect of the PS adjustment. Major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE: a composite of death, myocardial infarction, TTS recurrence, stroke or transient ischaemic attack) were assessed at 30-day and 5-year follow-up. A total of 1533 TTS patients with known status regarding aspirin prescription at discharge were included. According to the adjusted analysis based on PS stratification, aspirin was not associated with a lower hazard of MACCE at 30-day [hazard ratio (HR) 1.24, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.50\u20133.04, P = 0.64] or 5-year follow-up (HR 1.11, 95% CI 0.78\u20131.58, P = 0.58). These results were confirmed by sensitivity analyses performed with alternative PS-based methods, i.e. covariate adjustment and inverse probability of treatment weighting. Conclusion: In the present study, no association was found between aspirin use in TTS patients and a reduced risk of MACCE at 30-day and 5-year follow-up. These findings should be confirmed in adequately powered randomized controlled trials. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01947621

The αGal Epitope of the Histo-Blood Group Antigen Family Is a Ligand for Bovine Norovirus Newbury2 Expected to Prevent Cross-Species Transmission

Among Caliciviridae, the norovirus genus encompasses enteric viruses that infect humans as well as several animal species, causing gastroenteritis. Porcine strains are classified together with human strains within genogroup II, whilst bovine norovirus strains represent genogroup III. Various GI and GII human strains bind to carbohydrates of the histo-blood group family which may be shared among mammalian species. Genetic relatedness of human and animal strains as well as the presence of potentially shared ligands raises the possibility of norovirus cross-species transmission. In the present study, we identified a carbohydrate ligand for the prototype bovine norovirus strain Bo/Newbury2/76/UK (NB2). Attachment of virus-like particles (VLPs) of the NB2 strain to bovine gut tissue sections showed a complete match with the staining by reagents recognizing the Galα1,3 motif. Alpha-galactosidase treatment confirmed involvement of a terminal alpha-linked galactose. Specific binding of VLPs to the αGal epitope (Galα3Galβ4GlcNAcβ-R) was observed. The binding of Galα3GalαOMe to rNB2 VLPs was characterized at atomic resolution employing saturation transfer difference (STD) NMR experiments. Transfection of human cells with an α1,3galactosyltransferase cDNA allowed binding of NB2 VLPs, whilst inversely, attachment to porcine vascular endothelial cells was lost when the cells originated from an α1,3galactosyltransferase KO animal. The αGal epitope is expressed in all mammalian species with the exception of the Hominidaea family due to the inactivation of the α1,3galactosyltransferase gene (GGTA1). Accordingly, the NB2 carbohydrate ligand is absent from human tissues. Although expressed on porcine vascular endothelial cells, we observed that unlike in cows, it is not present on gut epithelial cells, suggesting that neither man nor pig could be infected by the NB2 bovine strain

Epizootic Activity of Natural Plague Foci in the Territory of the Russian Federation in 2011, and Prognosis for 2012

Carried out is the assessment of epizootic activity of natural plague foci in the Russian Federation and in the Republic of Kazakhstan during the period of 2000-2010. It is specified that 38 plague microbe strains have been isolated in the territory of the Russian Federation, the total area of epizooties being 882,5 km2. Plague microbe strains are isolated in the territory of East-Caucasian high-mountain and Altai mountain natural foci. Identified are the reasons of low epizootic activity of plain and low-mountain natural plague foci in the Russian Federation. Outlined is the role of climatic factors in the development of current intense depression in numbers of carriers and vectors of plague. Put forward is the prognosis on the low epizootic activity of the natural plague foci in the Russian Federation in 2012. It is substantiated that the emergence of local epizooties in 2012 is to take place in the territory of Altai mountain, Tuvin mountain and East-Caucasian high-mountain natural plague foci

Effects of nutrient enrichment on surface microbial community gene expression in the oligotrophic North Pacific Subtropical Gyre

Marine microbial communities are critical for biogeochemical cycles and the productivity of ocean ecosystems. Primary productivity in the surface ocean is constrained by nutrients which in part are supplied by mixing with deeper water. Little is known about the time scales, frequency, or impact of mixing on microbial communities. We combined in situ sampling using the Environmental Sample Processor and a small-scale mixing experiment with lower euphotic zone water to determine how individual populations respond to mixing. Transcriptional responses were measured using the MicroTOOLs (Microbiological Targets for Ocean Observing Laboratories) microarray, which targets all three domains of life and viruses. The experiment showed that mixing substantially affects photosynthetic taxa as expected, but surprisingly also showed that populations respond differently to unfiltered deep water which contains particles (organisms and detritus) compared to filtered deep water that only contains nutrients and viruses, pointing to the impact of biological interactions associated with these events. Comparison between experimental and in situ population transcription patterns indicated that manipulated populations can serve as analogs for natural populations, and that natural populations may be frequently or continuously responding to nutrients from deeper waters. Finally, this study also shows that the microarray approach, which is complementary to metatranscriptomic sequencing, is useful for determining the physiological status of in situ microbial communities