Formation of Innovative Strategies of Regional Economic Development

The new contours of innovative development of economic systems associated with the appearance of network models of innovation and new types of innovation: social, sustainable, user and inclusive,  differ from the traditional approach to the functioning of the raw material model of the economy. The role and place of innovation infrastructure of economic systems in the development of national innovation systems remains paramount.  In this research, the essence of the definition of "innovation infrastructure" in relation to economic systems is supplemented and expanded. In doing so, it specifies the factors providing the formation of the infrastructure of innovative activity of the economic systems which have an impact on the innovativeness of elements of economic systems at the micro-, meso- and macro level. The subject-object structure of information infrastructure of innovative activity of economic systems including business environment, innovative environment, information environment and communication environment is proposed. In addition, it also proposes the model of development of infrastructure of innovative activity focused on technological innovations on the basis of implementation of technological platforms. The worked out model of development of technological infrastructure of innovative activity of the economic system (macro level) contains the directions of transformation of the meso- and micro level where a special role is assigned to the creation of free economic zones which contribute to the development of new forms of interaction of the R&D sector with the real sector of the economy, which will increase the susceptibility of the economic system of Russia and society as a whole to innovation and lead to the development of technological entrepreneurship and the formation of an innovative economy of a new type

The limits of normal approximation for adult height

Adult height inspired the first biometrical and quantitative genetic studies and is a test-case trait for understanding heritability. The studies of height led to formulation of the classical polygenic model, that has a profound influence on the way we view and analyse complex traits. An essential part of the classical model is an assumption of additivity of effects and normality of the distribution of the residuals. However, it may be expected that the normal approximation will become insufficient in bigger studies. Here, we demonstrate that when the height of hundreds of thousands of individuals is analysed, the model complexity needs to be increased to include non-additive interactions between sex, environment and genes. Alternatively, the use of log-normal approximation allowed us to still use the additive effects model. These findings are important for future genetic and methodologic studies that make use of adult height as an exemplar trait

Identification of tissue-specific and common methylation quantitative trait loci in healthy individuals using MAGAR

Background Understanding the influence of genetic variants on DNA methylation is fundamental for the interpretation of epigenomic data in the context of disease. There is a need for systematic approaches not only for determining methylation quantitative trait loci (methQTL), but also for discriminating general from cell type-specific effects. Results Here, we present a two-step computational framework MAGAR (https://bioconductor.org/packages/MAGAR), which fully supports the identification of methQTLs from matched genotyping and DNA methylation data, and additionally allows for illuminating cell type-specific methQTL effects. In a pilot analysis, we apply MAGAR on data in four tissues (ileum, rectum, T cells, B cells) from healthy individuals and demonstrate the discrimination of common from cell type-specific methQTLs. We experimentally validate both types of methQTLs in an independent data set comprising additional cell types and tissues. Finally, we validate selected methQTLs located in the PON1, ZNF155, and NRG2 genes by ultra-deep local sequencing. In line with previous reports, we find cell type-specific methQTLs to be preferentially located in enhancer elements. Conclusions Our analysis demonstrates that a systematic analysis of methQTLs provides important new insights on the influences of genetic variants to cell type-specific epigenomic variation

Identification of tissue-specific and common methylation quantitative trait loci in healthy individuals using MAGAR.

BackgroundUnderstanding the influence of genetic variants on DNA methylation is fundamental for the interpretation of epigenomic data in the context of disease. There is a need for systematic approaches not only for determining methylation quantitative trait loci (methQTL), but also for discriminating general from cell type-specific effects.ResultsHere, we present a two-step computational framework MAGAR ( https://bioconductor.org/packages/MAGAR ), which fully supports the identification of methQTLs from matched genotyping and DNA methylation data, and additionally allows for illuminating cell type-specific methQTL effects. In a pilot analysis, we apply MAGAR on data in four tissues (ileum, rectum, T cells, B cells) from healthy individuals and demonstrate the discrimination of common from cell type-specific methQTLs. We experimentally validate both types of methQTLs in an independent data set comprising additional cell types and tissues. Finally, we validate selected methQTLs located in the PON1, ZNF155, and NRG2 genes by ultra-deep local sequencing. In line with previous reports, we find cell type-specific methQTLs to be preferentially located in enhancer elements.ConclusionsOur analysis demonstrates that a systematic analysis of methQTLs provides important new insights on the influences of genetic variants to cell type-specific epigenomic variation

Microbiome Responses to an Uncontrolled Short-Term Diet Intervention in the Frame of the Citizen Science Project

Personalized nutrition is of increasing interest to individuals actively monitoring their health. The relations between the duration of diet intervention and the effects on gut microbiota have yet to be elucidated. Here we examined the associations of short-term dietary changes, long-term dietary habits and lifestyle with gut microbiota. Stool samples from 248 citizen-science volunteers were collected before and after a self-reported 2-week personalized diet intervention, then analyzed using 16S rRNA sequencing. Considerable correlations between long-term dietary habits and gut community structure were detected. A higher intake of vegetables and fruits was associated with increased levels of butyrate-producing Clostridiales and higher community richness. A paired comparison of the metagenomes before and after the 2-week intervention showed that even a brief, uncontrolled intervention produced profound changes in community structure: resulting in decreased levels of Bacteroidaceae, Porphyromonadaceae and Rikenellaceae families and decreased alpha-diversity coupled with an increase of Methanobrevibacter, Bifidobacterium, Clostridium and butyrate-producing Lachnospiraceae- as well as the prevalence of a permatype (a bootstrapping-based variation of enterotype) associated with a higher diversity of diet. The response of microbiota to the intervention was dependent on the initial microbiota state. These findings pave the way for the development of an individualized diet.</p

Analysis of competition in the services market

The thesis deals with the analysis of market competition hairdressing services, concretely with analysis of three salons which provide hairdressing services in the Centre of Prague. Preliminary I present and define key terms that play basic role in the analysis of competition in the chosen field (competition, the specifics of hairdressing market, the specifics of consumer behavior). To make my own research I elected standards that influence customers when they choose a hairdressing salon, and I created questionnaire. During valuation I commented point gains. Total score were used to to evaluate the competitive position of hairdressing salons in the market

Analysis of competition in the services market

Bakalářská práce se zabývá analýzou konkurence na trhu kadeřnických služeb, konkrétně analýzou tří salonů poskytujících kadeřnické služby v centru Prahy. V úvodu své práce uvádím a definuji klíčové pojmy, které hrají zásadní roli při analýze konkurence ve vybraném oboru (konkurence a její druhy, specifika trhu kadeřnických služeb, specifika chování spotřebitelů). Pro vlastní výzkum jsem zvolila kritéria, která ovlivňují zákazníka při výběru kadeřnického salonu, a sestavila dotazník. Při hodnocení jsem okomentovala bodové zisky. Celkový bodový zisk jsem použila k hodnocení konkurenčního postavení kadeřnických salonů na trhu.The thesis deals with the analysis of market competition hairdressing services, concretely with analysis of three salons which provide hairdressing services in the Centre of Prague. Preliminary I present and define key terms that play basic role in the analysis of competition in the chosen field (competition, the specifics of hairdressing market, the specifics of consumer behavior). To make my own research I elected standards that influence customers when they choose a hairdressing salon, and I created questionnaire. During valuation I commented point gains. Total score were used to to evaluate the competitive position of hairdressing salons in the market

Varicose veins of lower extremities: Insights from the first large-scale genetic study.

Varicose veins of lower extremities (VVs) are a common multifactorial vascular disease. Genetic factors underlying VVs development remain largely unknown. Here we report the first large-scale study of VVs performed on a freely available genetic data of 408,455 European-ancestry individuals. We identified the 12 reliably associated loci that explain 13% of the SNP-based heritability, and prioritized the most likely causal genes CASZ1, PIEZO1, PPP3R1, EBF1, STIM2, HFE, GATA2, NFATC2, and SOX9. VVs-associated variants within these loci exhibited pleiotropic effects on several phenotypes including blood pressure/hypertension and blood cell traits. Gene set enrichment analysis revealed gene categories related to abnormal vasculogenesis. Genetic correlation analysis confirmed known epidemiological associations between VVs and deep venous thrombosis, weight, rough labor, and standing job, and found a genetic overlap with multiple traits that have not been previously suspected to share common genetic background with VVs. These traits included educational attainment, fluid intelligence and prospective memory scores, walking pace (negative correlation with VVs), smoking, height, number of operations, pain, and gonarthrosis (positive correlation with VVs). Finally, Mendelian randomization analysis provided evidence for causal effects of plasma levels of MICB and CD209 proteins, and anthropometric traits such as waist and hip circumference, height, weight, and both fat and fat-free mass. Our results provide novel insight into both VVs genetics and etiology. The revealed genes and proteins can be considered as good candidates for follow-up functional studies and might be of interest as potential drug targets