Protein interaction networks define the genetic architecture of preterm birth

The likely genetic architecture of complex diseases is that subgroups of patients share variants in genes in specific networks sufficient to express a shared phenotype. We combined high throughput sequencing with advanced bioinformatic approaches to identify such subgroups of patients with variants in shared networks. We performed targeted sequencing of patients with 2 or 3 generations of preterm birth on genes, gene sets and haplotype blocks that were highly associated with preterm birth. We analyzed the data using a multi-sample, protein–protein interaction (PPI) tool to identify significant clusters of patients associated with preterm birth. We identified shared protein interaction networks among preterm cases in two statistically significant clusters, p < 0.001. We also found two small control-dominated clusters. We replicated these data on an independent, large birth cohort. Separation testing showed significant similarity scores between the clusters from the two independent cohorts of patients. Canonical pathway analysis of the unique genes defining these clusters demonstrated enrichment in inflammatory signaling pathways, the glucocorticoid receptor, the insulin receptor, EGF and B-cell signaling, These results support a genetic architecture defined by subgroups of patients that share variants in genes in specific networks and pathways which are sufficient to give rise to the disease phenotype.

Isolation and Characterization of the First Temperate Virus Infecting Psychrobacillus from Marine Sediments

Viruses are far more abundant than cellular microorganisms in the marine ecosystem. However, very few viruses have so far been isolated from marine sediments, especially hydrothermal vent sediments, hindering the understanding of the biology and ecological functions of these tiny organisms. Here, we report the isolation and characterization of a temperate bacteriophage, named PVJ1, which infects Psychrobacillus from a hydrothermal vent field in Okinawa Trough. PVJ1 belongs to the Myoviridae family of the order Caudovirales. The tailed phage possesses a 53,187 bp linear dsDNA genome, with 84 ORFs encoding structural proteins, genome replication, host lysis, etc. in a modular pattern. The phage genome is integrated into the host chromosome near the 3′-end of deoD, a gene encoding purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP). The phage integration does not appear to disrupt the function of PNP. The phage DNA is packaged by the headful mechanism. Release of PVJ1 from the host cell was drastically enhanced by treatment with mitomycin C. Phages encoding an MCP sharing significant similarity (≥70% identical amino acids) with that of PVJ1 are widespread in diverse environments, including marine and freshwater sediments, soils, artificial ecosystems, and animal intestines, and primarily infect Firmicutes. These results are valuable to the understanding of the lifestyle and host interactions of bacterial viruses at the bottom of the ocean.

Entropy generation optimization of unsteady radiative hybrid nanofluid flow over a slippery spinning disk

Entropy generation investigation of hybrid nanofluidic transport over an unsteady spinning disk is reported in this analysis. The magnetic influence, velocity slips, and thermal radiative effects are included within the flow. Ferrous oxide (Fe3O4) and graphene oxide (GO) are used as tiny nano ingredients, and water (H2O) is the base medium. The dimensional leading equations are settled to dimensionless nonlinear ordinary differential equations (ODEs) by significant similarity transformations. Then, classical RK-4 scheme with a shooting process has been initiated to execute the numerical simulation. The software MAPLE-18 is used to run the entire simulation with an indispensable accuracy rate. Several streamlines, graphs, and requisite tables are executed to divulge the parametric impact on the nanofluidic stream. Entropy generation–related figures are depicted for diverse parameters, and parametric effects on Bejan number are also analyzed. Moreover, the corresponding physical consignments like the measure of the frictional hindrance, heat transport are calculated and reviewed. The entropy generation augments for higher magnetic value but reduces for velocity slip, radiation, and nanoparticle concentration. Hybrid nanofluid gives a lower magnitude in entropy production as compared to the usual nanofluid. Magnetic parameter reduces the Bejan number, while slip factor and nanoparticle concentration amplify such effects. Heat transfer ultimately seems to increase for nanoparticle volume fraction, and the increase rate is 4.01685 for usual nanofluid, but it is 6.7557 for hybrid nanofluid. Also, the numerical fallouts address the possibility of using magnetized spinning disks in space engines and nuclear propulsion, and such a model conveys significant applications in heat transport improvement in so many industrial thermal management equipment and renewable energy systems.

Soviet Planning: What and Why Is Relevant in the XXI Century

Planning has become widespread in countries with different socio-economic systems. At the same time, both the evaluation of the results of using planned methods and these planned methods themselves have significant differences. They depend both on the features of the socio-economic systems in which planning was applied, and on the tasks that it solved. To study these dependencies, it is useful to turn to the experience of planning in the USSR, which demonstrates different options for using planning methods. During the years of the new economic policy, planning functioned in the conditions of a broad development of market and capitalist relations. Therefore, the planning methods were adapted to the market conditions. The planning itself was mainly indicative, and the achievement of planned results was built by influencing the economic interests of economic entities. Therefore, it is possible to find a significant similarity in the model of Soviet planning during the years of the new economic policy and those planning methods that were used in the post-war period in Europe, Japan, and then in the new industrial countries. The model of directive planning, which was developed in the USSR in the 1930s of the twentieth century, provided both certain advantages in the development of the economy (the mobilization and concentration of significant masses of resources for deep structural changes in the economy, the implementation of large scientific, technical and social projects), and was burdened with serious contradictions. The Soviet model of directive planning did not have effective institutions that expressed the economic interests of enterprises and their collectives, did not create incentives for technical re-equipment of existing enterprises, and ultimately led to the predominance of the interests of the top government departments. To prevent the development of such contradictions, one-sided reflection of the interests of narrow social groups, the planned system should be built on democratic grounds.

Transcriptome analyses of female black tiger shrimps (Penaeus monodon) for reproductive trait using RNA-sequencing approach

The black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) is the widely cultured aquaculture species in Vietnam and worldwide. Production of P. monodon postlarvae still relies on the wild broodstock due to their higher fecundity and larval quality in comparison with the domesticated broodstock. Therefore, the current study applied an RNA-sequencing approach by the Illumina platform to generate the transcriptomic resources for the wild and domesticated females at the previtellogenic stage of ovaries (stage 0). Total clean reads were 20,977,708 for the wild female and 31,185,197 for the domesticated female. De novoassembly was employed to generate 35,870 contigs with an average length of 1,018 bp and N50 length of 1,488 bp. The ratios of contigs possessing significant similarity through annotation across seven databases ranged from 19.74 to 47.77%. Top hit species from BLASTx searches included Hyalella azteca, Cryptotermes secundus, Zootermopsis nevadensis, followed by Penaeus sp.. We identified a total of 5,788 differentially expressed transcripts between the ovaries of wild and domesticated shrimps. The differentially expressed transcripts were further enriched according to the classification terms of Gene Ontology (GO). Results of GO enrichment analysis in the wild female indicated that many genes such as hemolymph clottable, peritrophin, ecdysteroid were up-regulated while the following genes, including serine protease, alpha-L-fucosidase-like, actin, catenin alpha were down-regulated. The current study provides more transcriptomic resources for the reproductive trait in P. monodon. These resources are potentially applied for the improvement of reproduction in the domesticated shrimp.

KARL GOTTLOB ANTON AND JOHANN GOTTFRIED HERDER

Рассматривается вопрос о возможном влиянии труда К.Г. Антона (1751-1818) «Первый опыт описания происхождения, обычаев, нравов, мнений и знаний древних славян» на формирование образа славян в трактате И. Г. Гердера (1744-1803) «Идеи к философии истории человечества». На основании сравнения содержания первого тома труда Антона (1783) и посвященной славянам главы из четвертой части трактата Гердера (1791) делается вывод о значительном сходстве представлений Антона и Гердера о славянах. Показано, что Гердер во многом основывал свои представления о славянах на историческом опыте «вендов», то есть полабских славян (включая лужицких сербов), подробно рассмотренных в труде Антона. The paper examines the question of the possible influence of the work of K. G. Anton (1751-1818) «The first experience of describing the origin, customs, morals, opinions and knowledge of the ancient Slavs» on the formation of the image of the Slavs in the treatise of I. G. Herder (1744-1803) «Ideas for the philosophy of the history of mankind». It is concluded that there is a significant similarity in the ideas of Anton and Herder about the Slavs. It is shown that Herder, like Anton, largely based his ideas about the Slavs on the historical experience of the Wends, that is the Polabian Slavs (including the Lusatian Serbs), examined in detail by Anton.

AaTs-1: A Tetrapeptide from Androctonus australis Scorpion Venom, Inhibiting U87 Glioblastoma Cells Proliferation by p53 and FPRL-1 Up-Regulations

Glioblastoma is an aggressive cancer, against which medical professionals are still quite helpless, due to its resistance to current treatments. Scorpion toxins have been proposed as a promising alternative for the development of effective targeted glioblastoma therapy and diagnostic. However, the exploitation of the long peptides could present disadvantages. In this work, we identified and synthetized AaTs-1, the first tetrapeptide from Androctonus australis scorpion venom (Aa), which exhibited an antiproliferative effect specifically against human glioblastoma cells. Both the native and synthetic AaTs-1 were endowed with the same inhibiting effect on the proliferation of U87 cells with an IC50 of 0.56 mM. Interestingly, AaTs-1 was about two times more active than the anti-glioblastoma conventional chemotherapeutic drug, temozolomide (TMZ), and enhanced its efficacy on U87 cells. AaTs-1 showed a significant similarity with the synthetic peptide WKYMVm, an agonist of a G-coupled formyl-peptide receptor, FPRL-1, known to be involved in the proliferation of glioma cells. Interestingly, the tetrapeptide triggered the dephosphorylation of ERK, p38, and JNK kinases. It also enhanced the expression of p53 and FPRL-1, likely leading to the inhibition of the store operated calcium entry. Overall, our work uncovered AaTs-1 as a first natural potential FPRL-1 antagonist, which could be proposed as a promising target to develop new generation of innovative molecules used alone or in combination with TMZ to improve glioblastoma treatment response. Its chemical synthesis in non-limiting quantity represents a valuable advantage to design and develop low-cost active analogues to treat glioblastoma cancer.

FEATURES OF THERAPY FOR PANIC DISORDER, ASSOCIATED WITH THE SARS-COV-2 PANDEMIC

Введение. В силу существенной схожести симптомов острого респираторного синдрома SARS-CoV-2 и панического расстройства (ПР), диагностика представляет значительные трудности. ПР имеют тенденцию развиваться хронически, с рецидивами на протяжении всей жизни. Цель работы: выявить особенности клинического проявления ПА/ПР на фоне COVID-19 и обосновать оптимальную схему терапии. Методы. Проведен анализ данных 86 пациентов, у которых диагностировано ПР при обращении на консультативный неврологический прием КФ UMC с мая 2020 г по май 2021 г. Скрининг панического расстройства проведен по Шкале тревоги Шихана (Sheehan Anxiety Rating Scale, ShARS). Результаты. Среди пациентов было 54 (62,8%) женщины и 32(37,2%) мужчины. По шкале ShARS тяжелым тревожное расстройство (80 баллов и выше) определено у 39 (45,3%), у остальных тревога (от 30 до 80 баллов) - клинически выраженная. Диагноз ПР у 21(24,4%) был диагностирован ранее заражения ковидной инфекцией. У остальных, выставлен впервые 26 (30,2%) пациентам, ранее не обращавшихся к неврологу и 39 (45,3%) пациентам, обращавшихся к неврологу с диагнозами соматоформная вегетативная дисфункция, сосудистая цефалгия, мигрень, обсессивно-компульсивное расстройство. Бронхиальная астма отмечалась в анамнезе в 13 (15,1%) случаях. Разновидности панических приступов были расценены как большие (развернутые) ПР (4 симптома и более) - у 55 (64%), в остальных случаях как симптоматически бедные. Особенность течения ПР на фоне SARS-CoV-2 определяется возникновением на фоне ипохондрических фобий. В то же время агорафобии и избегающего поведения, характерных для ПР, не отмечалось. Заключение. Использование бензодиазепинов для анксиолитических целей, противоастматических препаратов может быть контрпродуктивным в лечении тревожных расстройств. Ятрогенный риск наслаивается на возможную гипокалиемию, удлинение интервала QTc, артериальную гипертензию, вызванную COVID-19. Оценка результатов проведённого нейрофармакологического анализа и назначения препаратов анксиолитического действия Бифрен, в более тяжелых случаях ПР Прегабина показала клинический положительный эффект. Introduction. Due to the significant similarity between the symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 acute respiratory syndrome and panic disorder (PD), diagnosis presents significant difficulties. PD tend to develop chronically, with lifelong relapses. Purpose of the work: to identify the features of the clinical manifestation of PD in the presence of COVID-19 and to substantiate the optimal therapy regimen. Methods. We analyzed the data of 86 patients who were diagnosed with PD when they applied for a consultative neurological appointment CF UMC from May 2020 to May 2021. Panic disorder was screened according to the Sheehan Anxiety Rating Scale (ShARS). Results. Among the patients there were 54 (62.8%) women and 32 (37.2%) men. On the ShARS scale, severe anxiety disorder (80 points and higher) was identified in 39 (45.3%), in the rest anxiety (from 30 to 80 points) was clinically expressed. The diagnosis of PD in 21 (24.4%) was diagnosed earlier than contracting a covid infection. The rest were exposed for the first time to 26 (30.2%) patients who had not previously visited a neurologist and 39 (45.3%) patients who visited a neurologist with diagnoses of somatoform autonomic dysfunction, vascular cephalgia, migraine, obsessive-compulsive disorder. A history of bronchial asthma was observed in 13 (15.1%) cases. The types of panic attacks were regarded as large (extensive) PR (4 symptoms or more) - in 55 (64%), in other cases as symptomatically poor. The peculiarity of the course of PR against the background of SARS-CoV-2 is determined by the occurrence of hypochondriac phobias against the background. At the same time, agoraphobia and avoidant behavior characteristic of PD were not observed. Conclusion. The use of benzodiazepines for anxiolytic purposes, anti-asthma drugs may be counterproductive in the treatment of anxiety disorders. The iatrogenic risk is superimposed on possible hypokalemia, prolongation of the QTc interval, arterial hypertension caused by COVID-19. Evaluation of the results of the neuropharmacological analysis and the appointment of drugs with anxiolytic action Bifren, in more severe cases of Pregabin in PR showed a clinical positive effect.

A novel deep neural network for hidden target detection in images

The significant similarity between the hidden target and the background makes it difficult to find camouflaged people, such as warriors in warfare, or even camouflaged objects in natural environments. Hence, it is hard to ascertain these concealed targets. To address this issue, a novel deep neural network is proposed in this paper that produces an estimated mask within the hidden target for an input image. Our approach consists of two phases: hidden target segmentation and hidden target identification. For the first phase, we propose the Multilevel Attention Network (MA-Net), which generates the camouflaged target mask based on a Multi-Attention Module (MAM) that helps distinguish the hidden people from the background. Later on, the concealed target will be highlighted in the second phase. Experimental results on the camouflaged people dataset demonstrate that our proposed method can achieve state-of-the-art performance for hidden target detection.

Metagenomics Analysis of the Wheat Virome Identifies Novel Plant and Fungal-Associated Viral Sequences

Wheat viruses including wheat streak mosaic virus, Triticum mosaic virus, and barley yellow dwarf virus cost substantial losses in crop yields every year. Although there have been extensive studies conducted on these known wheat viruses, currently, there is limited knowledge about all components of the wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) virome. Here, we determined the composition of the wheat virome through total RNA deep sequencing of field-collected leaf samples. Sequences were de novo assembled after removing the host reads, and BLASTx searches were conducted. In addition to the documented wheat viruses, novel plant and fungal-associated viral sequences were identified. We obtained the full genome sequence of the first umbra-like associated RNA virus tentatively named wheat umbra-like virus in cereals. Moreover, a novel bi-segmented putative virus tentatively named wheat-associated vipovirus sharing low but significant similarity with both plant and fungal-associated viruses was identified. Additionally, a new putative fungal-associated tobamo-like virus and novel putative Mitovirus were discovered in wheat samples. The discovery and characterization of novel viral sequences associated with wheat is important to determine if these putative viruses may pose a threat to the wheat industry or have the potential to be used as new biological control agents for wheat pathogens either as wild-type or recombinant viruses.