Models and algorithms for complex analysis of large corpuses of Russian poetic texts

We propose the algorithm of automated definition of the genre type and semantic characteristics of poetic texts in Russian. We formulated the approaches to the construction of a joint (“two-dimensional”) classifier of genre types and stylistic colouring of poetic texts, based on the definition of interdependence of the type of genre and stylistic colouring of the text. On the basis of these approaches the principles of formation of the training samples for the algorithms for the definition of styles and genre types were analysed. The computational experiments were conducted using the corpus of texts of A. S. Pushkin\u27s Lyceum lyrics to select the most accurate algorithm for classifying poetic texts, including using the most well-known techniques for ensembling basic algorithms in composition, such as weighted voting, boosting and stacking, and single words, bigrams and trigrams were used as characteristic features of poems

GATA6 Is a Crucial Regulator of Shh in the Limb Bud

In the limb bud, patterning along the anterior-posterior (A-P) axis is controlled by Sonic Hedgehog (Shh), a signaling molecule secreted by the “Zone of Polarizing Activity”, an organizer tissue located in the posterior margin of the limb bud. We have found that the transcription factors GATA4 and GATA6, which are key regulators of cell identity, are expressed in an anterior to posterior gradient in the early limb bud, raising the possibility that GATA transcription factors may play an additional role in patterning this tissue. While both GATA4 and GATA6 are expressed in an A-P gradient in the forelimb buds, the hindlimb buds principally express GATA6 in an A-P gradient. Thus, to specifically examine the role of GATA6 in limb patterning we generated Prx1-Cre; GATA6fl/fl mice, which conditionally delete GATA6 from their developing limb buds. We found that these animals display ectopic expression of both Shh and its transcriptional targets specifically in the anterior mesenchyme of the hindlimb buds. Loss of GATA6 in the developing limbs results in the formation of preaxial polydactyly in the hindlimbs. Conversely, forced expression of GATA6 throughout the limb bud represses expression of Shh and results in hypomorphic limbs. We have found that GATA6 can bind to chromatin (isolated from limb buds) encoding either Shh or Gli1 regulatory elements that drive expression of these genes in this tissue, and demonstrated that GATA6 works synergistically with FOG co-factors to repress expression of luciferase reporters driven by these sequences. Most significantly, we have found that conditional loss of Shh in limb buds lacking GATA6 prevents development of hindlimb polydactyly in these compound mutant embryos, indicating that GATA6 expression in the anterior region of the limb bud blocks hindlimb polydactyly by repressing ectopic expression of Shh

Peculiarities of Linguistic Situation of Multinational Guiana

The analysis of the sociolinguistic situation in Guiana, an overseas department and a region of France is presented in the article. The history of the settlement of this territory by speakers of different languages is considered. An overview of the demolinguistic situation in the region is presented, statistical data of the latest population censuses are given. A review and analysis of the results of anthropological, linguistic and sociolinguistic surveys conducted by French scientists in Guiana at the end of the 20th and the first decades of the 21st centuries is made. The novelty of the study is seen in the fact that the linguistic situation is considered simultaneously with the analysis of existing laws on languages, since only adopted laws can allow members of the linguistic community to assert and protect their rights. Particular attention is paid to the use of the Guianan Creole and French languages in various social and communicative areas: in the institutions of executive power, in the main area of the functioning of the language — the education system, in the areas of trade and the media. The relevance of the article is due to the special attention of the Russian and world community to the language situation and the solution of language problems in multi-ethnic states, as well as to the preservation of indigenous languages

Language Situation and Language Policy in the Canadian Province of New Brunswick

The analysis of sociolinguistic situation in the Canadian province of New Brunswick is offered in the article. The history of the settlement of this territory by representatives of different linguistic cultures — the French and the British — is considered. An overview of the demo linguistic situation in the province is given. The statistical data of the latest population censuses are presented. Particular attention is paid to the use of the minority French language in various social and communicative spheres in New Brunswick at the present stage: in the legislative and executive branches, in the main sphere of the language functioning — in the sphere of education, in the spheres of services, trade and the media. The author dwells on the problem of variation of the Acadian French language in a situation of institutional bilingualism, when the French language is constantly under the influence of the dominant English language. The relevance of the article is due to the attention of the Russian and world community to the position of minority languages in a multilingual society and the problem of their preservation. The novelty of the research is seen in the fact that the ongoing language policy is considered simultaneously with the analysis of existing laws on language, since only adopted laws can allow members of the linguistic minority to assert and defend their rights

Bayesian localization of CNV candidates in WGS data within minutes

Background: Full Bayesian inference for detecting copy number variants (CNV) from whole-genome sequencing (WGS) data is still largely infeasible due to computational demands. A recently introduced approach to perform Forward-Backward Gibbs sampling using dynamic Haar wavelet compression has alleviated issues of convergence and, to some extent, speed. Yet, the problem remains challenging in practice. Results: In this paper, we propose an improved algorithmic framework for this approach. We provide new space-efficient data structures to query sufficient statistics in logarithmic time, based on a linear-Time, in-place transform of the data, which also improves on the compression ratio. We also propose a new approach to efficiently store and update marginal state counts obtained from the Gibbs sampler. Conclusions: Using this approach, we discover several CNV candidates in two rat populations divergently selected for tame and aggressive behavior, consistent with earlier results concerning the domestication syndrome as well as experimental observations. Computationally, we observe a 29.5-fold decrease in memory, an average 5.8-fold speedup, as well as a 191-fold decrease in minor page faults. We also observe that metrics varied greatly in the old implementation, but not the new one. We conjecture that this is due to the better compression scheme. The fully Bayesian segmentation of the entire WGS data set required 3.5 min and 1.24 GB of memory, and can hence be performed on a commodity laptop

Mechanical motion promotes expression of Prg4 in articular cartilage via multiple CREB-dependent, fluid flow shear stress-induced signaling pathways

Lubricin is a secreted proteoglycan encoded by the Prg4 locus that is abundantly expressed by superficial zone articular chondrocytes and has been noted to both be sensitive to mechanical loading and protect against the development of osteoarthritis. In this study, we document that running induces maximal expression of Prg4 in the superficial zone of knee joint articular cartilage in a COX-2-dependent fashion, which correlates with augmented levels of phospho-S133 CREB and increased nuclear localization of CREB-regulated transcriptional coactivators (CRTCs) in this tissue. Furthermore, we found that fluid flow shear stress (FFSS) increases secretion of extracellular PGE2, PTHrP, and ATP (by epiphyseal chondrocytes), which together engage both PKA- and Ca++-regulated signaling pathways that work in combination to promote CREB-dependent induction of Prg4, specifically in superficial zone articular chondrocytes. Because running and FFSS both boost Prg4 expression in a COX-2-dependent fashion, our results suggest that mechanical motion may induce Prg4 expression in the superficial zone of articular cartilage by engaging the same signaling pathways activated in vitro by FFSS that promote CREB-dependent gene expression in this tissue.National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (U.S.) (Grant AR60331

Indigenous Languages of the North, Siberia and the Far East: Current Status and Development Prospects

The study was carried out with the focus on the current issues of sociolinguistics related to the search for ways to preserve the languages of small peoples. The article systematizes data on the state of the languages of the indigenous peoples of the Russian Federation living in the North, Siberia and the Far East, presented in modern publications of historians and linguists, and the documents that reflect the results of the 2010 population census of the Russian Federation, considers the influence of sociolinguistic factors on the language situation in these territories. Having analyzed the world experience of legal language legislation on preserving the cultures and languages of small peoples, the authors attempted to apply some global criteria to the Russian legislation and socio-economic practice and identified socially significant criteria for establishing the language situation in relation to the languages of the indigenous peoples of the Russian Federation living in the North, Siberia and the Far East: the total number of speakers of the language, the use of the language in the education system, the availability of educational and methodological materials for teaching, the factor of inter-generational transmission of a language, the attitudes to the functional benefits from practicing the language among its native speakers. By compiling a methodology for categorizing the language survival type five prototypes of the language state were identified on the basis of statistical data: safe; relatively safe; endangered; critically endangered; close to extinction or dead languages. The authors offered a set of extralinguistic criteria for obtaining objective data on the state of the language and made a supposition that despite the evidence that the languages of the indigenous small-numbered northern peoples of the Russian Federation, with rare exceptions, are on the verge of extinction, significant efforts are being made by the government of the country and the indigenous northern peoples themselves to preserve these languages

Genetic Influences on Brain Gene Expression in Rats Selected for Tameness and Aggression

Inter-individual differences in many behaviors are partly due to genetic differences, but the identification of the genes and variants that influence behavior remains challenging. Here, we studied an F2 intercross of two outbred lines of rats selected for tame and aggressive behavior towards humans for more than 64 generations. By using a mapping approach that is able to identify genetic loci segregating within the lines, we identified four times more loci influencing tameness and aggression than by an approach that assumes fixation of causative alleles, suggesting that many causative loci were not driven to fixation by the selection. We used RNA sequencing in 150 F2 animals to identify hundreds of loci that influence brain gene expression. Several of these loci colocalize with tameness loci and may reflect the same genetic variants. Through analyses of correlations between allele effects on behavior and gene expression, differential expression between the tame and aggressive rat selection lines, and correlations between gene expression and tameness in F2 animals, we identify the genes Gltscr2, Lgi4, Zfp40 and Slc17a7 as candidate contributors to the strikingly different behavior of the tame and aggressive animals