Science policy at the crossroads of global change research: Mongolia

In the last more than half a century, the science policies of countries have been interchanging in a cyclical manner between science, technology and innovation policies. In the early period of the evolution of the science policy, priority attention was given to policy matters, and the process of new knowledge generation proceeded at a rapid pace. Highly industrialised countries directly linked science policy with the growth and development of industry, and innovation gradually became the key catalyst of industrial development. But in the developing countries, science policy had a mixed impact on the process of industrialisation, where decision making by the Government had had a powerful impact on their science policy. Science is involved in the introduction and domestication of new knowledge in the education sector, experimentation and application of technology in local development, and guiding the government on its decisions that are economically efficient, environmentally safe, and promotes equality in the society. In this sense, if we regard scientific research as the key resource of “research industry,” then countries need to define a science strategy and policy that would meet this supply and demand, identify and apply the competitive edge of science. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the science policy of Mongolia in the last 50 years in the context of global change based on facts, and to compare it with the historical experience of science policy development in industrialised countries

Improved Tissue-Based Analytical Test Methods for Orellanine, a Biomarker of Cortinarius Mushroom Intoxication.

Orellanine (OR) toxin is produced by mushrooms of the genus Cortinarius which grow in North America and in Europe. OR poisoning is characterized by severe oliguric acute renal failure, with a mortality rate of 10%-30%. Diagnosis of OR poisoning currently hinges on a history of ingestion of Cortinarius mushrooms and histopathology of renal biopsies. A key step in the diagnostic approach is analysis of tissues for OR. Currently, tissue-based analytical methods for OR are nonspecific and lack sensitivity. The objectives of this study were: (1) to develop definitive HPLC and LC-MS/MS tissue-based analytical methods for OR; and (2) to investigate toxicological effects of OR in mice. The HPLC limit of quantitation was 10 µg/g. For fortification levels of 15 µg/g to 50 µg/g OR in kidney, the relative standard deviation was between 1.3% and 9.8%, and accuracy was within 1.5% to 7.1%. A matrix-matched calibration curve was reproduced in this range with a correlation coefficient (r) of 0.97-0.99. The limit of detection was 20 ng/g for LC-MS/MS. In OR-injected mice, kidney OR concentrations were 97 ± 51 µg/g on Day 0 and 17 ± 1 µg/g on termination Day 3. Splenic and liver injuries were novel findings in this mouse model. The new tissue-based analytical tests will improve diagnosis of OR poisoning, while the mouse model has yielded new data advancing knowledge on OR-induced pathology. The new tissue-based analytical tests will improve diagnosis of OR poisoning, while the mouse model has yielded new data advancing knowledge on OR-induced pathology

Biocatalytic properties of horseradish root extract peroxidase (HRP)

The objective of the present work was to examine biocatalytic properties of peroxidase in horseradish acclimatized in our country. We have found that horseradish root extract’s peroxidase (HRP) has Km 2.5 mM and Vmax 5.36 mM·s-1. Maximum activity (pHopt) was estimated at pH 6.0 and enzyme is more stable in alkali, than in acid. The optimum temperature (Topt) for HRP is 40oC and the enzyme is not stable to temperature influence. The horseradish  root’s extract retains enzymatic activity within 21 days. DOI: http://doi.dx.org/10.5564/mjc.v15i0.332 Mongolian Journal of Chemistry 15 (41), 2014, p101-10

Transformační procesy v Mongolsku v letech 1990-2005

Práce se zaměřuje vystínit výchozí podmínky a vývoj transformačního procesu v Mongolsku v období 1990-2005. Rozebírá ekonomické reformy v jednotlivých oblastech hospodářství a jejích výsledky, definuje priority dalšího rozvoje

The transcription factor Ap-1 regulates monkey 20α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase promoter activity in CHO cells

BACKGROUND: Monkey 20α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (20α-HSD) is a catabolic enzyme responsible for converting progesterone into biologically inactive 20α-hydroxyprogesterone, thereby playing a key role in the estrous cycle or pregnancy and allowing ovulation and parturition to occur in most mammalian animals. Monkey 20α-HSD was highly abundant in ovarian and placental tissues during the pre-ovulation and pre-parturition phase and was primarily localized in the syncytiotrophoblast of the placenta. In this study, we focused on the molecular characterization of the monkey 20α-HSD promoter region by conducting reporter assays in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) K1 cells. RESULTS: A reporter assay using constructs of various lengths of the 5′-flanking region (-890-Luc, -513-Luc, -306-Luc, -273-Luc, and -70-Luc) revealed that a region corresponding to the activator protein 1 (Ap-1) located between -281 and -274 bp was essential for the transcriptional activity. Absence of the Ap-1 site in -273-Luc dramatically decreased the transcription levels to the control levels. When the reporter constructs were co-transfected with Ap-1 (Jun) and specificity protein (Sp-1) genes, the transcription activities of the constructs increased with the exception of -273 and -70, while that of the double construct was reduced compared to that of Ap-1 alone. Furthermore, mutational analysis demonstrated that a putative Ap-1 site played an important role in the expression of the reporter gene. These findings were confirmed by EMSA examining the interactions of the protein Ap-1 in a nuclear extract from CHO-K1 cells and the expression levels of the Ap-1 transcription factor in pre-parturition placenta and CHO-K1 cells. Although mut-1 and mut-2 of Ap-1 bound with nuclear extracts from CHO-K1 cells, the transcriptional activity of mut-3 was almost completely suppressed. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that the Ap-1 site (-281 → -274) (5′-TGTCTCAT-3′) plays a crucial role in the activation of the monkey 20α-HSD gene. Thus, we demonstrated that monkey 20α-HSD promoter activity is regulated by the transcription factor Ap-1 in CHO-K1 cells

Key Resource Areas of an Arid Grazing System of the Mongolian Gobi

Arid grazing systems can behave according to both equilibrium and non- equilibrium models, depending on spatial and temporal scales. Regarding spatial aspect, key resource areas with access to water bodies can indeed be in equilibrium with livestock while rainfall dependent areas can be non- equilibrium. It is important to understand the application range of each of the models, since associated management is different. We studied the plant communities on a Mongolian Gobi site, paying particular attention to the communities connected to the water table. We found evidence that the vegetation structure on the main river’s fl oodplain is shaped by grazing, meaning that it is in the equilibrium model condition. This vegetation type covers 7.61% of our study site. We therefore concluded that from a spatial viewpoint, at least 7.61% of our site behaves according to the equilibrium model

Anti-Brucella activity of Caryopteris mongolica Bunge root extract against Brucella melitensis infection in mice

Abstract Background The current treatment for human brucellosis requires a combination of antibiotics for long periods of time, and the reported incidence and prevalence of the disease vary widely in nomadic livestock of Mongolia. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the in vivo antibacterial activity of the C. mongolica root extract against B. melitensis. Methods In this study, we used of 6 groups of mice (n = 5). Five groups of BALB/c mice were inoculated intraperitoneally with the M16 strain of B. melintensis, as follows: (i) one group was used for pretreatment monitoring; (ii) the control group was administered 2% Tween 80 and was used as the non-treatment group; and the other three groups were treated with one oral gavage per day for 21 days with (iii) doxycycline (2 mg/day), (iv) doxycycline (1 mg/day) with root extract (20 mg/day), and (v) C. mongolica root extract (20 mg/day). The one group that was kept non-infected was used as a healthy control group. Results This study demonstrated that daily treatment with doxycycline alone and in combination with C. mongolica root extract significantly reduced splenic infection at the end of treatment. However, the spleen index of both the doxycycline-treated and the combination-treated groups of mice decreased by approximately 50% compared to that of the healthy control mouse group. Treatment with the C. mongolica root extract resulted in a 1.47log reduction in splenic infection compared to the non-treatment group, and the spleen index of the C. mongolica-treated group of mice was the same as that of the normal mouse group. In all treatment groups, neutrophil phagocytic activity significantly decreased, and all treatment groups demonstrated splenic regeneration. Conclusions The present study showed that the C. mongolica root extract may be useful in the treatment of brucellosis patients, in combination with doxycycline or other antibiotics, to reduce the toxicity of high-dosage antibiotics, to prevent the development of antibiotic resistance and to prevent Brucella infection

Tunability of magnetic anisotropy of Co on two-dimensional materials by tetrahedral bonding

Pairing of ?? electronic state structures with functional or metallic atoms makes them possible to engineer physical and chemical properties. Herein, we predict the reorientation of magnetization of Co on hexagonal BN (h-BN) and graphene multilayers. The driving mechanism is the formation of the tetrahedral bonding between sp3 and d orbitals at the interface. More specifically, the intrinsic ?? bonding of h-BN and graphene is transformed to sp3 as a result of strong hybridization with metallic dz2 orbital. The different features of these two tetrahedral bondings, sp2 and sp3, are well manifested in charge density and density of states in the vicinity of the interface, along with associated band structure near the K?? valley. Our findings provide an approach to tailoring magnetism by means of degree of the interlayer hybrid bonds in two-dimensional layered materials