Spring wheat biomass estimation by proximal and remote methods in condition of academical field of central Russia

The paper presents the results of comparison of remote and proximal methods of spring wheat biomass monitoring. The study showed a linear relationship between data obtained with groups of methods at early stages of plant development (tillering, booting), when at later stages (earing, flowering) - the methods showed different degrees of interchangeability and did not have a clear relationship between them

Spring wheat yield prediction with empirical regression models using different biomass parameters

Transition to smart agriculture demands tools for non-invasive monitoring of cultivated plants biomass. One of the most widespread and informative biomass indicators is leaf area index (LAI). LICOR 2200C has become de facto standard in modern ecological research for non-invasive LAI estimation. In this paper, on the example of spring wheat crops of the RSAU-MTAA experimental field, the efficiency of yield and biomass parameters prediction using data from AccuPAR LP-80 and LI-COR LAI 2200C was compared. LAI data from both devices obtained at different phenological phases of spring wheat were used as predictor for spring wheat yield models. Comparing the generated models show superiority of AccuPAR LP-80 in yield prediction while LI-COR LAI 2200C shown better result in overall biomass prediction

THE SERBIAN PEOPLE AND THE STATE TO THE TURKISH CONQUEST: THE EXPERIENCE OF HISTORICAL-LEGAL RESEARCH

Purpose: The article analyzes the hypotheses about the Carpathian and Azov ancestral home of the Serbian tribes and the political role of the territory of ancient Raska in the formation of medieval Serbian statehood via comparative legal and historical methods. Methodology: The methodological basis of this study is the dialectical method of cognition of social and legal phenomena and the concepts in their development and interdependence. Data was obtained from scientific, historical, and legal documents. Main Findings: The drafters of the Law sought to overcome the disparity in court proceedings and bring legal norms into a certain system, taking into account the needs of feudalism. The author comes to the conclusion that the preservation of Serbian ethnic identity influenced the restoration of statehood in the XIX century due to the spiritually and economically self-governing zadruge. Applications: This research can be used by historical organizations, educational organizations as well as by history scholars. Novelty/Originality: Serbian people and Turkish conquest has been studied using historical-legal documents

Glycosylation Affects JUNV GPC Trafficking

Junin virus (JUNV), a highly pathogenic New World arenavirus, is the causative agent of Argentine hemorrhagic fever (AHF). The live-attenuated Candid #1 (Can) strain currently serves as a vaccine for at-risk populations. We have previously shown that the Can glycoprotein (GPC) gene is the primary gene responsible for attenuation in a guinea pig model of AHF. However, the mechanisms through which the GPC contributes to the attenuation of the Can strain remain unknown. A more complete understanding of the mechanisms underlying the attenuation and immunogenicity of the Can strain will potentially allow for the rational design of additional safe and novel vaccines. Here, we provide a detailed comparison of both RNA and protein expression profiles between both inter- and intra-segment chimeric JUNV recombinant clones expressing combinations of genes from the Can strain and the pathogenic Romero (Rom) strain. The recombinant viruses that express Can GPC, which were shown to be attenuated in guinea pigs, displayed different RNA levels and GPC processing patterns as determined by Northern and Western blot analyses, respectively. Analysis of recombinant viruses containing amino acid substitutions selected at different mouse brain passages during the generation of Can revealed that altered Can GPC processing was primarily due to the T168A substitution within G1, which eliminates an N-linked glycosylation motif. Incorporation of the T168A substitution in the Rom GPC resulted in a Can-like processing pattern of Rom GPC. In addition, JUNV GPCs containing T168A substitution were retained within the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and displayed significantly lower cell surface expression than wild-type Rom GPC. Interestingly, the reversion A168T in Can GPC significantly increased GPC expression at the cell surface. Our results demonstrate that recombinant JUNV (rJUNV) expressing Can GPC display markedly different protein expression and elevated genomic RNA expression when compared to viruses expressing Rom GPC. Additionally, our findings indicate that the N-linked glycosylation motif at amino acid positions 166–168 is important for trafficking of JUNV GPC to the cell surface, and the elimination of this motif interferes with the GPC release from the ER

Monochromatic computed microtomography using laboratory and synchrotron sources and X-ray fluorescence analysis for comprehensive analysis of structural changes in bones

A combination of X-ray tomography at different wavelengths and X-ray fluorescence analysis was applied in the study of two types of bone tissue changes: prolonged presence in microgravity conditions and age-related bone growth. The proximal tail vertebrae of geckos were selected for investigation because they do not bear the supporting load in locomotion, which allows them to be considered as an independent indicator of gravitational influence. For the vertebrae of geckos no significant differences were revealed in the elemental composition of the flight samples and the synchronous control samples. In addition, the gecko bone tissue samples from the jaw apparatus, spine and shoulder girdle were measured. The dynamics of structural changes in the bone tissue growth was studied using samples of a human fetal hand. The hands of human fetuses of 11–15 weeks were studied. Autonomous zones of calcium accumulation were found not only in individual fingers but in each of the investigated phalanges. The results obtained are discussed

Effects of methyl terminal and carbon bridging groups ratio on critical properties of porous organosilicate-glass films

Organosilicate glass-based porous low dielectic constant films with different ratios of terminal methyl to bridging organic (methylene, ethylene and 1,4-phenylene) groups are spin-on deposited by using a mixture of alkylenesiloxane with organic bridges and methyltrimethoxysilane, followed by soft baking at 120–200◦ C and curing at 430◦ C. The films’ porosity was controlled by using sacrificial template Brij® L4. Changes of the films’ refractive indices, mechanical properties, k-values, porosity and pore structure versus chemical composition of the film’s matrix are evaluated and compared with methyl-terminated low-k materials. The chemical resistance of the films to annealing in oxygen-containing atmosphere is evaluated by using density functional theory (DFT). It is found that the introduction of bridging groups changes their porosity and pore structure, increases Young’s modulus, but the improvement of mechanical properties happens simultaneously with the increase in the refractive index and k-value. The 1,4-phenylene bridging groups have the strongest impact on the films’ properties. Mechanisms of oxidative degradation of carbon bridges are studied and it is shown that 1,4-phenylene-bridged films have the highest stability. Methylene-and ethylene-bridged films are less stable but methylene-bridged films show slightly higher stability than ethylene-bridged films. © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

African Mountain Thistles: Three New Genera in the Carduus-Cirsium Group

The floras on the highest mountains in tropical eastern Africa are among the most unique floras in the world. Despite the exceptionally high concentration of endemic species, these floras remain understudied from an evolutionary point of view. In this study, we focus on the Carduus-Cirsium group (subtribe Carduinae) to unravel the evolutionary relationships of the species endemic to the tropical Afromontane and Afroalpine floras, aiming to improve the systematics of the group. We applied the Hyb-Seq approach using the Compositae1061 probe set on 190 samples (159 species), encompassing representatives of all genera of Carduinae. We used two recently developed pipelines that enabled the processing of raw sequence reads, identification of paralogous sequences and segregation into orthologous alignments. After the implementation of a missing data filter, we retained sequences from 986 nuclear loci and 177 plastid regions. Phylogenomic analyses were conducted using both concatenated and summary-coalescence methods. The resulting phylogenies were highly resolved and revealed three distinct evolutionary lineages consisting of the African species traditionally referred to as Carduus and Cirsium. Consequently, we propose the three new genera Afrocarduus, Afrocirsium and Nuriaea; the latter did notably not belong to the Carduus-Cirsium group. We detected some incongruences between the phylogenies based on concatenation vs. coalescence and on nuclear vs. plastid datasets, likely attributable to incomplete lineage sorting and/or hybridization

The origins and spread of domestic horses from the Western Eurasian steppes

This is the final version. Available on open access from Nature Research via the DOI in this recordData availability: All collapsed and paired-end sequence data for samples sequenced in this study are available in compressed fastq format through the European Nucleotide Archive under accession number PRJEB44430, together with rescaled and trimmed bam sequence alignments against both the nuclear and mitochondrial horse reference genomes. Previously published ancient data used in this study are available under accession numbers PRJEB7537, PRJEB10098, PRJEB10854, PRJEB22390 and PRJEB31613, and detailed in Supplementary Table 1. The genomes of ten modern horses, publicly available, were also accessed as indicated in their corresponding original publications57,61,85-87.NOTE: see the published version available via the DOI in this record for the full list of authorsDomestication of horses fundamentally transformed long-range mobility and warfare. However, modern domesticated breeds do not descend from the earliest domestic horse lineage associated with archaeological evidence of bridling, milking and corralling at Botai, Central Asia around 3500 BC. Other longstanding candidate regions for horse domestication, such as Iberia and Anatolia, have also recently been challenged. Thus, the genetic, geographic and temporal origins of modern domestic horses have remained unknown. Here we pinpoint the Western Eurasian steppes, especially the lower Volga-Don region, as the homeland of modern domestic horses. Furthermore, we map the population changes accompanying domestication from 273 ancient horse genomes. This reveals that modern domestic horses ultimately replaced almost all other local populations as they expanded rapidly across Eurasia from about 2000 BC, synchronously with equestrian material culture, including Sintashta spoke-wheeled chariots. We find that equestrianism involved strong selection for critical locomotor and behavioural adaptations at the GSDMC and ZFPM1 genes. Our results reject the commonly held association between horseback riding and the massive expansion of Yamnaya steppe pastoralists into Europe around 3000 BC driving the spread of Indo-European languages. This contrasts with the scenario in Asia where Indo-Iranian languages, chariots and horses spread together, following the early second millennium BC Sintashta culture