Comparative morphological and anatomical characteristics of Saussurea amara (L.) DC. and S. salsa pall. Spreng

In this paper, the authors conducted research of the comparative morphological and anatomical characteristics of two species of Saussurea, which grow in the steppes of Central Kazakhstan - S. amara L. (S. bitter) and S. salsa Pall. Spreng. (S. solonchak). Researchers revealed a number of clear distinctive morphological and anatomical signs of the over ground organs of S. amara and S. salsa, which make it possible to distinguish these species both as at the stage of collection of plants and also in the process of laboratory examination of the raw materials. The distinctive features of the anatomical stems of S. amara and S. salsa are the degree of furrows, strongly marked sclerenchyma of the conducting beams, and the size of parenchymatous cells of the primary cortex and the core. S. amara compared with S. salsa is characterized by more furrowed stems, less sclerenchyma in the conducting vascular bundles and smaller parenchymatous cells

Synthetic human cell fate regulation by protein-driven RNA switches

Understanding how to control cell fate is crucial in biology, medical science and engineering. In this study, we introduce a method that uses an intracellular protein as a trigger for regulating human cell fate. The ON/OFF translational switches, composed of an intracellular protein L7Ae and its binding RNA motif, regulate the expression of a desired target protein and control two distinct apoptosis pathways in target human cells. Combined use of the switches demonstrates that a specific protein can simultaneously repress and activate the translation of two different mRNAs: one protein achieves both up- and downregulation of two different proteins/pathways. A genome-encoded protein fused to L7Ae controlled apoptosis in both directions (death or survival) depending on its cellular expression. The method has potential for curing cellular defects or improving the intracellular production of useful molecules by bypassing or rewiring intrinsic signal networks

Состав и содержание экдистероидов в растениях Silene fruticulosa (Pall.) Schischk

The ecdysteroid profile of Silene fruticulosa (Pall.) Schischk growing in Kazakhstan has been investigated. It has been shown that the plant contained ecdysterone (2.4 g/kg of dry weight), 2-deoxyecdysone (0.45 g/kg) and 2-deoxyecdysterone (0.11 g/kg).Предпринято изучение экдистероидного профиля смолевки кустарничковой Silene fruticulosa (Pall.) Schischk, которая встречается на всей территории Казахстана в природных местообитаниях. Показано, что надземные части данного растения содержат экдистерон (содержание 2.4 г/кг сухой массы), 2-дезоксиэкдизон (0.45 г/кг) и 2-дезоксиэкдистерон (0.11 г/кг)

Methods of Constructing Models and Optimizing the Operating Modes of A Chemical Engineering System for the Production of Benzene in A Fuzzy Environment

The study object: the chemical engineering system for production of benzene and optimization of the system operation modes based on modeling. An approach to the effective solution of problems of optimization of operating modes of real chemical engineering systems was proposed. Since such systems are usually multicriterial and characterized by the fuzziness of initial information, an approach to the development of their models and optimization of their operating modes in a fuzzy environment was proposed. The essence of this approach lies in the construction of mathematical models and optimization of system operation modes based on the system analysis methodology using available information of deterministic, statistical, and fuzzy nature. Statements of the problems of optimization by means of chemical engineering systems in a fuzzy environment have been obtained by modifying various principles of optimality for working in a fuzzy environment. Based on a modification of the principles of maximin and Pareto optimality, a heuristic algorithm for solving the formulated optimization problem was proposed based on the use of knowledge and experience of decision-makers. The proposed method of model construction and an optimization algorithm were implemented in practice when constructing models of benzene and rectification columns of a chemical engineering system of production of benzene when formulating and solving the problem of optimizing their operation modes in a fuzzy environment. Analysis and comparison of optimization results allow us to conclude about the effectiveness of the proposed fuzzy approach to solving optimization problems in a fuzzy environment. As a result of optimization of the benzene production process, the benzene yield increased by 1.45 thousand t or by 1.1 %, the raffinate output volume increased by 0.4 thousand t in conditions of upholding constraints on benzene quality. The proposed approach makes it possible to assess the degree of upholding of fuzzy constraint

Architecture of high-affinity unnatural-base DNA aptamers toward pharmaceutical applications

We present a remodeling method for high-affinity unnatural-base DNA aptamers to augment their thermal stability and nuclease resistance, for use as drug candidates targeting specific proteins. Introducing a unique mini-hairpin DNA provides robust stability to unnatural-base DNA aptamers generated by SELEX using genetic alphabet expansion, without reducing their high affinity. By this method, >80% of the remodeled DNA aptamer targeting interferon-γ (K(D) of 33 pM) survived in human serum at 37 °C after 3 days under our experimental conditions, and sustainably inhibited the biological activity of interferon-γ