Regulation of transcription by SRF and MRTF

The serum response factor (SRF) is a transcription factor involved in the regulation of cell proliferation and migration. At cytoskeletal genes, SRF acts cooperatively with the actin-regulated myocardin-related transcription factors MRTF-A and MRTF-B. In addition to regulating MRTFs’ subcellular localization, G-actin also controls their nuclear activities. Previous work showed that nuclear accumulation of MRTF-A in the absence of an activating signal is sufficient for its association with genomic loci but not for target gene activation, demonstrating a repressive effect of nuclear actin on MRTF activity. However, the exact mechanism is unclear. The data presented below demonstrates that G-actin interferes with ternary complex formation between SRF and MRTF on DNA. In response to G-actin depletion, MRTF is recruited to target gene promoters and activates gene expression, whereas increasing the concentration of G-actin inhibits MRTF recruitment to target promoters. We used inhibition of the Crm1 nuclear export receptor and reconstitution of MRTF-A/MRTF-B null cells with a constitutively nuclear MRTF- NLS to induce MRTF nuclear accumulation in the absence of an activating signal. Under resting G-actin levels, nuclear MRTF is recruited to target promoters, albeit at reduced levels, and induces non-productive transcription. TTseq and RNAseq experiments demonstrate that while RNA Polymerase II is engaged in elongation, no pre-mRNA accumulates. This inhibited transcriptional state correlates with aberrant Pol II CTD phosphorylation, Mtr4 recruitment and degradation of the nascent transcripts by the nuclear exosome. Inhibition of phosphorylation at Ser7 of the Pol II CTD is sufficient to induce Mtr4-mediated degradation of MRTF- dependent transcripts under induced conditions

Company Management Improvement Using Electronic Tools for Analysis of Employees’ Feedback

The paper considers the importance of the proper human capital management for the success of organisations in the knowledge society. It provides theoretical background for human resources management and the approaches applied for ensuring employees’ commitment and motivation. On this base is proposed a new electronic tool as an extension of existing human resource management software with the objective to collect objective and subjective feedback from employees needed for the proper human resource strategy

METHODOLOGICAL AND METHODICAL ISSUES OF THE ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY OF AGRICULTURE AND AGRICULTURAL FARMS

Based on a critical review of scientific literature, the category ‘economic sustainability’ is defined as the dynamic development of agrarian systems over a long period of time in line with the changes in the external and internal environment which ensures efficient performance, good financial condition and competitiveness. We observe the hierarchical levels of the system for assessing economic sustainability to first select the principles, and then the criteria and indicators to be employed in the assessment, so as to reveal the characteristics and the underlying and significant aspects of the performance of the agricultural sector and agricultural farms

Evaluation of agrarian sustainability in Bulgaria

Abstract. This article presents a holistic approach for assessing agrarian sustainability in Bulgaria based on its economic, social and ecological aspects on sectoral macro-level. It is based on official statistical and other information as well as on expert evaluation. Our study has found that the Bulgarian agriculture on macro-level has good sustainability. Some of the sustainability aspects have higher levels such as the economic aspect, while others like social and environmental aspects are inferior. Study results could help in focusing the political efforts, so that the agrarian sustainability, in its social and ecological aspect, could be increased. However, a further research is needed to evaluate the level of sustainability at micro-level, so that the major issues and problem areas are addressed accordingly.Keywords. Agrarian sustainability, Sustainability indicators, Ecological aspects, Bulgarian agriculture.JEL. Q10, Q56, R33

Application of New Generation Geometrical Product Specifications—Position Tolerancing

The geometrical product specifications (GPSs) from new generation are composed of several standards issued by the ISO/TC 213. They are related to the way of denoting the requirements in the design engineering drawings, such as drawing indication, definition of tolerance and values of specifications, characteristic, parameters and definitions of actual features. They also include requirements relating to compare verification, measure instrument and calibrate size, distance, radius, angle, form and position of geometrical features, roughness profile, waviness profile, primary profile, surface imperfection and edges. A lot of new and mathematical terms, the size system, indications of dimensions other than linear sizes by using geometrical tolerances, uncertainty series, etc. are introduced in this chapter. The aim of this chapter is to explain the new requirements of new generation standards for geometrical product specifications related to positional deviation. The advantages and disadvantages of the possibility to indicate the accurate requirements for location of surfaces and axes are discussed

EFFECTIVENESS OF MANUAL THERAPY ADDED TO CONVENTIONAL PHYSIOTHERAPY PROTOCOL IN PATIENTS WITH SURGICALLY TREATED PROXIMAL HUMERAL FRACTURES

Proximal humerus fractures are the third most common fractures in adult patients. In developed economies, there is a tendency to increase the number of these fractures due to the aging population. Physical therapy is recognized as an important component in the management regardless of the fracture type or treatment protocol. The purpose of this blind, randomized study was to compare the effectiveness of two physical therapy interventions on the shoulder range of motion and function after surgical treatment of proximal humerus fracture: 1) supervised therapeutic exercise only (Control group – CG), 2) supervised therapeutic exercise with manual soft tissue mobilization and massage (Experimental group – EG). Ninty-six subjects diagnosed with proximal humerus fracture treated operatively were randomly assigned to one of these two groups. The rehabilitation included four phases, in each of which the patients underwent ten procedures. Shoulder range of motion was assessed with a universal goniometer for flexion, extension abduction, internal rotation and external rotation. International SFTR method of measuring and recording joint motion was used. The results were analyzed with the statistical program SPSS Statistics 19. At the end of the study, we found statistically significant better results in the EG in flexion (152.8° ± 22.3°), abduction (145.3° ± 24.2°), external (61.1° ± 11.8°) and internal (75.3° ± 11.6°) rotations, compared to CG: flexion (140.7° ± 22.0°), abduction (130.6° ± 24.4°), internal (51.8° ± 15.6°) and external (63.5° ± 14.1°) rotations with statistical significance (p < 0.05). The extension showed improvement in both study groups, within the EG results being 52.9° ± 15.9° and in the CG 49.9° ± 5.5° - with no statistically significant difference between them. The DASH (Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand) scale was used for functional assessment of upper extremity. We established that the application of manual soft tissue mobilization with massage in the postoperative rehabilitation of patients with proximal humerus fractures leads to more effective restoration of shoulder joint function

Er det deilig å være thai i Norge? : en kvalitativ undersøkelse om hvilke utfordringer unge thai-immigranter har i møte med norsk språk og kultur

Master's thesis MIKA, VID Specialized University, Stavanger, May 2018Formålet med denne studien er å finne ut av hvilke utfordringer unge thai-immigranter har i møte med norsk språk og kultur. Den overordnede problemstillingen er i hvilken grad unge thai-immigranter integreres i de norske samfunnet. For å belyse dette stiller jeg to forskningsspørsmål. Det første vil finne svar på hvilke faktorer spiller inn i integrering og inkludering av unge thai-immigranter i det norske samfunnet. Det andre spørsmålet søker svar på hvilke faktorer spiller inn i språkopplæringen, og hvilke utfordringer unge thai-immigranter opplever i møte med det norske språket. Utfordringene unge immigranter fra Thailand møter knytter seg både til språkinnlæring, integreringsprosesser og majoritetens holdninger til dem. Ved å presentere observasjonene i denne studien og utfordringene unge thai-immigranter opplever, håper jeg å vekke bevissthet rundt problematikken og oppfordre for grundigere videre forskning og eventuelt bedre oppfølging av deres behov når det gjelder språkopplæring. Det er intervjupersonenes fortellinger og refleksjoner i konteksten de befinner seg i som står sentralt i undersøkelsen og derfor har jeg valgt å bruke kvalitativ tilnærming og hermeneutisk fremgangsmåte for å belyse problemstillingen. Jeg har brukt semistrukturerte intervjuer for å innsamle data, og intervjuet fem thailandske ungdommer i alder mellom 16 og 20 år og to voksne immigranter fra Thailand i alder mellom 25 og 39 år. I teksten referer jeg ofte til både ungdommer og voksne som unge thai-immigranter. Denne betegnelsen referer til thai-immigranter i skole- og arbeidslivsaktiv alder. Jeg skiller mellom yngre, som beskriver informantene i alder mellom 16 og 20, og voksne, som refererer til informantene mellom 25 og 39 år. For å beskrive konteksten intervjupersonene befinner seg i, har jeg presentert deler av opplæringsloven og en rekke offentlige utredninger. Forskningsspørsmålene er satt i lys av et utvalg av relevant teori og tidligere forskning. Analysen av data avdekker utfordringer unge thai-immigranter har i møte med norsk språk og kultur, som kan påvirke deres integrering i det norske samfunnet til den grad majoritetssamfunnet ønsker.submittedVersionMV 17 S

"The Bees' needs" : using molecular analysis of bee collected pollen to understand which plants play an important role in honey bee forage

Summary: Honey bees and other pollinators provide essential pollination services to agriculture and the environment; however they are under increasing pressure from changes in land management, disease and climate change. Current mitigation places emphasis on establishing flower meadows to improve nutritional diversity, but preserving what is already in place is also of importance. ‘CSI Pollen’ was a recent European citizen science project coordinated by COLOSS, investigating the diversity of pollen collected by honey bees in many countries across Europe. Volunteer beekeepers sampled pollen from colonies every three weeks during the foraging season over a two to three year period, creating a huge collection of data and samples. A selection of samples collected from 14 Scottish sites during the second year of study in 2015 were analysed by DNA fingerprinting to identify pollen gathered by honey bees at critical points of the colony’s life cycle; some results and potential implications for land use are discussed here