European Vector Research Articles

Multifunctional SEVA shuttle vectors for actinomycetes and Gram-negative bacteria.

Actinomycetales, such as the genus Streptomyces, are well‐known cell factories employed to produce a wide variety of secondary metabolites for industrial use. However, not only is the genetic engineering of Streptomyces more complicated and tedious than other model laboratory species, such as Escherichia coli, there is also a considerable lack of genetic tools, hindering its adoption as a common chassis for synthetic biology. In this work, 23 novel shuttle vectors are presented that follow the canonical SEVA (Standard European Vector Architecture) common architecture with the goal of increasing the genetic toolbox repertoire for Streptomyces and other actinomycetes. The ORI module of these plasmids is composed of the combination of two origins of replication, one for Gram‐negative bacteria and the other for Streptomyces, a Gram‐positive bacteria. Origins of replication have been included in the collection for integrative, low‐copy number, and medium‐to‐high‐copy number vectors for Streptomyces. Also, a new selection marker has been developed that confers resistance to apramycin. The functionality of these plasmids was tested via the heterologous expression of GFP and the heterologous production of the plant flavonoid apigenin in Streptomyces albus J1074, with successful results in both cases, therefore expanding the current repertoire of genetic manipulation tools in Streptomyces species.

ОСОБЛИВОСТІ ДЕРЖАВНОГО РЕГУЛЮВАННЯ СТРАХОВОГО РИНКУ УКРАЇНИ У ТРАНСФОРМАЦІЙНИХ УМОВАХ

Досліджено роль держави у процесі регулювання страхової діяльності. Здійснено аналіз сучасного стану страхового ринку, виявлено низку невирішених питань, що стримують його розвиток.Проаналізовано рівень проникнення страхування в Україні та країнах Європи, ступінь концентрації ринку страхування, рівень капіталізації. Досліджено тенденції розвитку страхового ринку в Україні та за кордоном. Наведено перешкоди розвитку страхового ринку в Україні. Охарактеризовано основні напрями реформування страхового ринку України відповідно до бачення НБУ майбутнього регулювання страхового ринку України. Розглянуто зарубіжний досвід функціонування єдиного фінансового мегарегулятора, а також особливості та можливий ефект від його впровадження на базі Національного банку в Україні. Здійснено порівняльний аналіз основних розходжень директив Solvenсy І і Solvenсy ІІ. Оцінено можливості та очікувані наслідки імплементації вимог директиви Solvency ІІ у діяльність українських страхових компаній. Наведено завдання, що стоять перед новим регулятором страхового ринку.Наголошено на важливості забезпечення прийнятного процесу виходу страхових компаній з ринку, а також доцільності створення системи гарантування виплат за договорами довгострокового страхування життя (на основі зарубіжного досвіду — використання моделі Ex-ante).

Genesis of State Social Policy of Ukraine: Administrative and Legal Aspect

The author of the article studies and systematizes the set of available scientific achievements on the origin, formation and development of state social policy of Ukraine, considering the fact that one of the priorities of Ukrainian society in the need for progressive improvement of all mechanisms of public administration is the formation of effective social policy. And taking into account the aggregate of the most urgent issues of the development of our state, connected with overcoming the negative phenomena in a social life, the administrative and legal provision of the reliable mechanism of social protection of the population by public authorities requires particular attention. The author of the research analyzes the historical and legal base of the social sphere of the Ukrainian state since the adoption of the Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine until now. It is emphasized that international legislation aimed at ensuring human rights and freedoms became the basis of regulatory and legal provision of the social sphere in Ukraine.
 It is noted that the analysis of the content of social functions of the Ukrainian state is characterized by the presence of factors of democratic state formation in the society that is focused on the European vector. The author followed the chronological sequence of the formation of social institutions and legislative regulation of social relations in the state, which led to the current state of social policy. The difficult way of the formation of modern social policy of Ukraine, its achievements, weaknesses and perspective directions of the development are highlighted. The author defines the priority directions of future scientific researches in the specified sphere.

SEVA 3.0: an update of the Standard European Vector Architecture for enabling portability of genetic constructs among diverse bacterial hosts.

The Standard European Vector Architecture 3.0 database (SEVA-DB 3.0, http://seva.cnb.csic.es) is the update of the platform launched in 2013 both as a web-based resource and as a material repository of formatted genetic tools (mostly plasmids) for analysis, construction and deployment of complex bacterial phenotypes. The period between the first version of SEVA-DB and the present time has witnessed several technical, computational and conceptual advances in genetic/genomic engineering of prokaryotes that have enabled upgrading of the utilities of the updated database. Novelties include not only a more user-friendly web interface and many more plasmid vectors, but also new links of the plasmids to advanced bioinformatic tools. These provide an intuitive visualization of the constructs at stake and a range of virtual manipulations of DNA segments that were not possible before. Finally, the list of canonical SEVA plasmids is available in machine-readable SBOL (Synthetic Biology Open Language) format. This ensures interoperability with other platforms and affords simulations of their behaviour under different in vivo conditions. We argue that the SEVA-DB will remain a useful resource for extending Synthetic Biology approaches towards non-standard bacterial species as well as genetically programming new prokaryotic chassis for a suite of fundamental and biotechnological endeavours.

Methodological principles of sexual education of youth: European vector

Methodological principles of sexual education of youth: European vector

Migration flows in the European Union - perspectives on the integration of the migrants

The consequences of the EU flows of migration recorded before the pandemic COVID - 19 indicated different expectations for the destination countries based on the need to harmonize two opposite European pressure vectors: one vector is to reduce the negative demographic trends and the other is to create better conditions for all persons to participate to social security and welfare mechanism. Adoption of the rates of migrants reflected a mechanism that requires deepening and reconsidering the dimensions of the social and economic inclusion integrative process of the migrants. Thus, given the diversity of the various approaches at the European level to achieve a balance in demographic policies perspective the article highlights the costs and benefits of an endurance process that aims inclusion of migrants at the local level. Complementary, the social and economic inclusion of migrants is a significant challenge for the Member States of the European Union, meaning that the article analyzes the importance of different indicators favorable to positively integrate the migrants. In this respect, the article outlines the progress, the recent measures implemented and the results recorded by the destination countries which are targeted by the migration flows and the best practices recorded so far. It also summarizes the main directions of valorization and dissemination of policies, strategies, and measures taken for the integration of the migrants in the European Union Member States. Social and economic inclusion at the local level of this category of vulnerable people indicates multiple challenges but also creates significant opportunities aimed to test and validate the fundamental European system articulated by the principles of justice, freedom, and security.

Тенденції розвитку євроінтеграційних процесів в Україні

The article highlights the main trends in the development of the integration processes of Ukraine and the EU. Historical prerequisites and current trends of economic convergence are analyzed. The level of Ukraine's integration with the EU has been determined. The analysis of current processes is based on the comparison of trends in public opinion towards the choice of the European integration vector and the analysis of the characteristic features of the development of the European integration processes since the entry into force of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU. In the analysis of public opinion, the results of the analysis in the dynamics are presented, as well as the modern attitude of the citizens of Ukraine to the choice of the European integration direction is characterized. Positive results of strengthening of integration are defined and its weaknesses are outlined.

Carrier as a subject of contractual obligations to provide transport services

The article is devoted to the study of the concept of as a subject of contractual obligations for the provision of transport services. Its relevance is due to the fact that, taking into account the European integration vector of our state, the legislation of Ukraine, including in the field of contractual regulation of transport services, must go the way of maximum approximation to European standards. In this context, reference should be made to the Interinstitutional Agreement between the European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the EU Commission on general guidelines for quality assurance in the design of Community legislation of 22 December 1998 (1999 / C 73/01), the preamble to which states that clear, simple and clear drafting of legislation by the members of the Community is necessary, as such acts must be transparent and understandable to the public and participants in economic relations; concepts or terminology specific to any legal system should be used with caution. It is important that the terminology is stable, uniform both within such an act and in the whole array of existing acts, in particular those relating to one area of regulation. Identical concepts should be expressed in the same terms as far as possible, without deviating from their meaning in ordinary, legal or technical language. Given this, the analysis through the prism of the established requirements of the conceptual apparatus, which is used in the legislation of Ukraine in the regulation of contractual relations for the provision of transport services. The purpose of the study is to formulate the concept and define the legal requirements for the as a subject of contractual obligations to provide transport services in accordance with international and law of Ukraine, distinguishing the concept of with other closest concepts. The concept of in international regulations and legislation of Ukraine is clarified and legal definitions are classified into two groups: 1) in the content of which attention is focused on the object of transportation; 2) in the content of which the object of transportation and the type of transport are indicated. Based on the analysis of special features inherent exclusively to the the model concept of the is proposed: “The is a natural or legal person who has entered into a contract of carriage, owns or otherwise legally owns vehicles and this type of transportation requires its receipt . The main requirements to the as a subject of contractual obligations for the provision of transport services are formulated: 1) it is a party to the contract of carriage, which undertakes to provide transport services on a paid contractual basis; 2) it is a person who on the basis of ownership or other legal grounds owns a vehicle and carries out its operation; 3) obtaining a license, if the implementation of this type of transportation requires its receipt. The concepts of national carrier, carrier, consecutive carrier, substitute carrier are distinguished. The content of the terms carrier and substitute carrier has been found to be identical. The introduction of the concept of the actual is associated with the definition of the liability of the as a party to the contract. In cases where all or part of the carriage is entrusted to the actual the under the contract remains responsible for all carriage. It is argued that the may transfer the performance of the contract of carriage to the actual only in cases where this is established in the content of the contract of carriage. The successive in contrast to the actual is a party to the contract of carriage and, as a rule, is responsible for the part of the carriage that he performed.

European vector of sustainable development of economic and management education in the institute of engineering in the conditions of restructuring

The study is based on the realities of the state and prospects for the development of the national higher education system during the period of active integration processes into the European Higher Education Space and the European Research Space. The analysis of the following aspects is carried out: the current state of the Ukrainian education system, the actions of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine to develop cooperation with international organizations in various areas, in particular, to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in Ukraine, which is especially relevant for the industrial region - Zaporizhzhia region, which concentrates such strategic sectors of the Ukrainian economy as metallurgy, mechanical engineering, electricity. It is emphasized that the legislation of Ukraine on education sets such a goal - development, effective functioning of the education quality assurance system in Ukraine, implementation of a constant and consistent process of improving the quality of education and it is noted that the development strategy of Zaporizhzhia National University (hereinafter ZNU) is to develop and consolidate leading positions aimed at training highly qualified specialists, development of scientific research, increasing the role of the innovative component in the activities of ZNU and its integration into the European and world educational space. It is proved that the restructuring of higher education institutions in Ukraine helps to increase the efficiency of their operation. The changes that took place in the process of joining the Zaporizhzhia State Academy of Engineering (hereinafter ZSIA) to ZNU and as a result of the creation of a structural unit - Engineering Educational and Scientific Institute (hereinafter EESI), which has a non-faculty structure and consists of fifteen departments of different areas of training, are analyzed. The article substantiates the strategic advantages of the project of joining ZSIA to ZNU, which made it possible to diversify the educational programs of Bachelors and Masters educational levels in economics and management with the aim of curricula modern updating and further training of highly qualified specialists for industrial regions, in particular for industrial enterprises, in the fields of mechanical engineering, electric power and small and medium-sized businesses serving "large" industrial enterprises in the region. The results of work on improving the quality of higher education in EESI ZNU in the areas of non-formal and informal education, academic mobility, dual education, creating unique learning conditions for privileged categories of students and students with special needs, further integration of economic and managerial education in engineering education are analyzed.

НАПРЯМИ УДОСКОНАЛЕННЯ МЕХАНІЗМІВ ФОРМУВАННЯ ТА РЕАЛІЗАЦІЇ ДЕРЖАВНОЇ ПОЛІТИКИ У СФЕРІ ЄВРОПЕЙСЬКОЇ ІНТЕГРАЦІЇ УКРАЇНИ

In modern conditions the issue of forming and implementing of new state policy in the sphere of European integration is relevant for Ukraine, which corresponds to the modern challenges of today. As the integration of Ukraine into the European space in order to become a member of the EU is a civilization choice of the country in the future. Therefore, the European vector of development of our country needs appropriate reform efforts to improve the existing mechanisms of formation and implementation of state policy in this area. The task of public authorities at all levels, relying on the existing institutional and legal system, using and improving the appropriate mechanisms of formation and implementation of state policy in this field, as well as mobilizing available resources (human, material, financial, etc.), is to provide rules and procedures of inter- institutional coordination and cooperation of key performers and stakeholders in the Europian integration sphere of Ukraine in order to solve tasks, that are: supporting of the rule of law, fighting with corruption, reaching of macroeconomy stability etc. In modern conditions state policy of Ukraine which is aimed at joining the European Union should prognosticate corresponding change in political, economic, social, legal processes in the country, as well as the improvement of legislation in accordance with the European standards. Ukraine’s accession to the European Union is possible only under the condition of building a democratic state with developed economy, ensuring high rates of economic growth, pursuing prudent social policy, positive changes towards ensuring a high standard of living of the population and ensuring its basic freedoms. And the prospect of the EU membership of Ukraine, as integral part of Europe is a strategic direction of the country transformations, which have to be oriented towards the model of social development that is in force in the EU members countries.

Joint Universal Modular Plasmids: A Flexible Platform for Golden Gate Assembly in Any Microbial Host.

Modular cloning standards based on Golden Gate DNA assembly allow for construction of complex DNA constructs over several rounds of assembly. Despite being reliable and automation-friendly, each standard uses a specific set of vectors, requiring researchers to generate new tool kits for novel hosts and cloning applications. JUMP vectors (Valenzuela-Ortega and French, bioRxiv 799585, 2019) combine the robustness of modular cloning standards with the Standard European Vector Architecture and a flexible design that allows researchers to easily modify the vector backbone via secondary cloning sites. This flexibility allows for JUMP vectors to be used in a wide variety of applications and hosts.

APPLICATION OF THE INTERDISCIPLINARY RELATIONS FOR HIGHER EDUCATION QUALITY ASSURANCE

The article highlights the issue of ensuring the quality of higher education through the prism of the use of interdisciplinary links on the example of the study of historical disciplines and foreign languages. The analysis of the legal framework, as well as the scientific literature made it possible to identify effective ways to ensure the quality of higher education. One of them is the application of the principles of interdisciplinary relations. The implementation of the interdisciplinary approach is considered as a promising method for the professional training of students of the Faculty of History with the use of knowledge of a foreign language. It is proposed to create integrated programs, teaching professional disciplines in English. It is recommended to offer students English literature. In the context of the interdisciplinary approach, the integration of professional components using the skills of linguistic literacy is considered. The concept of interdisciplinary research is based on the premise that concepts and facts are not studied in isolation from each other. Implementation of the disciplinary approach is considered as a promising method for professional training of students for the application of knowledge in other disciplines. The European vector of higher education development is determined by the high level of requirements for the specialist, which necessitates the search for effective ways to ensure the quality of higher education. One of the directions of updating the learning process is the integration of educational material from different disciplines, namely: historical disciplines and foreign language. To apply the principle of interdisciplinary links, it is important to use the CLIL approach in foreign language classes. The teaching of professional disciplines in English is relevant today in domestic universities, as it is an important factor in increasing prestige, internationalization and improving the quality of professional training. When creating integrated programs to enhance the independent cognitive activity of students of the Faculty of History, it is important to recommend students to English-language literature. The use of interdisciplinary connections allows students of the Faculty of History to discover their creative potential and develop as a person.

The modern concept of judicial protection of intellectual property rights

Introduction. The European integration vector of Ukraine's development has significantly increased the requirements for the quality of legal and regulatory support for the effective protection of human rights, which is one of the main conditions for integration into the European political, legal, economic and cultural space. The analysis of existing works shows that the attention of the scientific community to the judicial protection of intellectual property rights has intensified in connection with the creation of the Supreme Court of Intellectual Property in 2017. However, as of 2019, the court is still in the process of forming a judicial corps. In view of this, it seems appropriate to summarize existing developments in the relevant field. The purpose of the paper is to summarize the conceptual foundations of judicial protection of intellectual property rights. Results. The article presents the results of research into the modern concept of judicial protection of intellectual property rights. Emphasis is placed on the availability of research-related work performed in different jurisdictions. It is emphasized that the bulk of studies on intellectual property rights and certain aspects of their judicial protection are concentrated in the field of civil law, but equally important are studies of economic, criminal and administrative nature. It is noted that the cross-sectoral nature of the institute of intellectual property rights has affected the development of an interdisciplinary judicial and legal approach to solving problems of securing these rights. The importance of scientific understanding of the legal status of the High Court on Intellectual Property is emphasized. The importance of taking into account the European experience of judicial protection of intellectual property rights in the context of the processes of European integration of Ukraine is emphasized. Conclusion. The trends identified are as follows. First, intellectual property rights research is carried out at both general and sectoral levels. Secondly, an important area of development of theoretical and methodological support for the judicial protection of intellectual property rights is the study of the legal status, peculiarities of formation and future functioning of the High Court on intellectual property issues. Thirdly, it is of utmost importance to the factors that enhance the effectiveness of intellectual property rights protection in the context of Ukraine's European integration aspirations.

European Choice of Ukraine: Prerequisites, Contents and Main Factors

The proclamation of the Act on State Independence of Ukraine is a significant milestone in the history of the Ukrainian people on their way to national self-determination. A new phase of development has begun since 1991 when institutional factors have become crucial. First of all the creation of the Ukrainian state as a new national-state phenomenon takes place. During the years of independencethe process of Ukrainian state development was accompanied by opposition of political forces, which defended the multidirectional vectors of civilization development.The article deals with the issues of the European choice of Ukraine, as a strategic orientation of the socio-political development of the country, a priority direction of its national-state self-determination. The authors set out to analyze the prerequisites, substantive aspects, major internal and external factors that have influenced Ukraine's choice of a European vector of development.The study is based on the principles of objectivity, dialectics, historicism, social determinism, pluralism. The authors use general scientific methods, including inductive-deductive, analogies, modeling, etc. The comparative method has become an instrument of comparison, and consequently knowledge of the peculiarities of the state-political systems of Ukraine and other countries, which have become the benchmarks in the process of Ukraine's foreign policy self-determination.The article analyzes the attitude of Ukrainian citizens to the foreign policy and foreign economic development vectors of our country. It is revealed that the general rejection of the multilateralismpolicy significantly changed due to the Orange Revolution, when a sharp polarization occurred in society. The denial of the negative practices of V. Yanukovych's regime was manifested in the non-alternative choice of the European vector of Ukraine's development. The period of the presidency of P. Poroshenko has once again proved that only a radical implementation of the political, legal and social norms and standards of the EU will make it possible to overcome the oligarchic traits of the state – political system of Ukraine.Ukraine's European integration aspirations, such as a manifestation of its national-state self-determination, began to gain international legal prominence from the moment when the EU embarked on an enlargement to the East course. Ukraine, as a candidate for membership in a united Europe, has to undergo a series of transformations to adapt to EU norms and standards.However, the European choice as a project of national self-determination was confronted with a number of contradictions and inconsistencies between the mutual expectations of the subjects of this process, which led to the crisis of the whole project and political crises in Ukraine. A number of factors have hindered the implementation of the European integration plan, ranging from the internal instability of Western orientations within the country itself, the unwillingness of European Union members to further enlargement, and the massive opposition from Russia seeking to keep Ukraine in its political orbit.

THE CROSS-BORDER EDUCATIONAL SPACE OF THE UKRAINIAN DANUBE REGION: UPDATING THE COMPETENCE PARADIGM

The European vector for the development of higher education necessitates the reproduction of the best national educational traditions, as well as the updating of the system of training of future specialists in the field of education in accordance with European educational standards. A significant difference between the changes in the transformations of the present is the increasing requirements for the professional training of future science teachers, given the multidimensional specificity of their professional activities.One way of updating the content of education and matching it with contemporary needs is competency education as a strategically significant factor in enhancing the competitiveness of future teachers. In addition, the range of competences associated with many factors is becoming more relevant today as they are indicators of future teachers’ readiness for professional activity. It is obvious that the training of a competent specialist capable of effective pedagogical activity in the conditions of the new Ukrainian school is a priority area for the professional training of future science teachers in the parameters of European standards.It is clear that a modern higher education institution cannot respond in a timely manner to the dynamics of environmental changes affecting global, national and regional levels. The most competent approach in the preparation of future educators involves the creation of a kind of environment oriented to integrate scientific and educational potential, the use of international cooperation opportunities in the creation of a single educational space. Internationalization and globalization of higher education in this perspective are the founders of state educational policy and determine the rethinking of the phenomenon of the university as a social institution, its specific role in the development of regional, national and international multicultural space.Cross-border cooperation at the higher education level is becoming a powerful conglomerate of the mutual influence of national higher education systems and a bilingual didactic component of vocational training. In terms of the issues raised, it should be noted that cross-border cooperation lays a solid foundation for realizing the competency potential of modern HEA. Thus, the removal of any barriers becomes the leitmotif of contextual analysis of the concept of competence in the dimension of cross-border updated understanding.

CRIMINAL AND LEGAL PROTECTION OF THE RIGHTS OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY FOR MEDICINES: PROBLEMS OF JUDICIAL PROTECTION

The socio-economic, political and legal situation of Ukraine is burdened by a military-armed conflict, a regime of martial law in its certain regions, and in general, intensifies the actualization of the protective function of the state in all spheres of vital activity of society, and especially in the sphere of ensuring the human right to life and health.The heart of modern state policy of Ukraine is based on the European and international vector of state development, its main institutions, including legal ones, which are reflected in the strategies, concepts, programs of development and covered by the reforms that are carried out in our country. The prerequisites for economical, politicaland social stability in our country today are the guarantee of economic security of the state, and one of its directions are the ensuring of criminal protection of intellectual property, whose objects, through their profitability, attract the attention of the criminal world and become the object of criminal encroachment. Crimes against intellectual property rights for medicinal products combine economic and intellectual property crimes, which further complicate the organization of counteraction to them, both from the point of view of criminal prosecution and the use of organizational, administrativeand criminal measures to prevent them. The competitive environment that is characteristic of a market economy is due to an urgent need for the security and protection of intellectual property rights for medicines as a vital object of intellectual property right that ensures the fundamental human right to life and health. The role of criminaljustice and the institute of judicial protection of intellectual property rights for medicines is conditioned by the real needs of society in legal protection. Today it can be argued that intellectual property rights for medicines have both a low level of legal protection and problems of judicial protection, that is, a practical realization of these rights. In view of the organizational and legal obstacles, the newly created The High Court of Intellectual Property in Ukraine for several years have never started its work, which in turn creates obstacles to the protection of intellectual property rights in court. In the field of criminal law, further active research today requires the study of objects of intellectual property rights as objects of criminal law protection in order to create proper protection of them by the rules of criminal law and to provide the legal basis for the activity of The High Court of Intellectual property.

MAIN AREAS OF IMPROVING THE QUALITY MANAGEMENT IN TOURIST SERVICES

Introduction. The quality of tourist services has attracted increasing attention in the context of the European integration vector of the economy of our country. Therefore, the formation of general principles and areas of quality management for the competitiveness of the hospitality industry. Tourism companies are faced with the need to increase competitiveness in the domestic and international markets, the effectiveness of management decisions and business performance, the problems of adaptation to the characteristics of emerging markets and the need to realize market opportunities, all of which characterize the inefficient management of the tourism business. Methods. The research is formed on the basis of systematic and holistic approaches, structural modelling and monographic study of the issue of improving the quality of tourist services. Results. The basic directions of improving the management of quality of services of tourist activity are formed. The state standards in the sphere of tourism in accordance with the international quality standards are completed and harmonized. An educational and professional course “Implementation of national standards of tourist services harmonized with international and European normative documents” has been proposed, which intensifies interest in the integration of Ukraine into the EU general economic space. It will help university graduates in the further professional activity of specialists in tourism services and hotel and restaurant business. Discussion. The expected impact of the vocational training course will be based on the presentation of the best European tourism strategies and practices; expanding and deepening knowledge of the European Directives and ISO standards for tourism; approbation of the European experience in tourist services; promotion of the European model of quality of tourist services. Keywords: European standards, tourist service, quality, tourism, tourist service.

Newly identified DNA methyltransferases of Ixodes ricinus ticks

DNA methylation at the fifth position of cytosine (5mC) and at the sixth position of adenine (6 mA) plays an important role in the regulation of the gene expression and, in eukaryotes, is essential for normal development. For Ixodes ricinus, the most common European arthropod vector of human and animal pathogens, the DNA methylation profile and the role of DNA methylation in tick development are still under discussion. Our goal was to analyze the status of I. ricinus DNA methylation at different life stages and identify enzymes that produce this type of DNA modification. We found that 5mC and 6mA are present in I. ricinus genomic DNA at all life stages. In the transcriptome of I. ricinus, we identified the sequences of the putative IrDNMT1, IrDNMT3, and IrDAMT enzymes, and bioinformatic analysis and three-dimensional modeling predicted their DNA methylation activity. This confirms that I. ricinus possesses a complete DNA methylation toolkit. Our results suggest that DNA methylation is important for the physiology and transstadial development of ticks.

SEVA 3.0: an update of the Standard European Vector Architecture for enabling portability of genetic constructs among diverse bacterial hosts.

The Standard European Vector Architecture 3.0 database (SEVA-DB 3.0, http://seva.cnb.csic.es) is the update of the platform launched in 2013 both as a web-based resource and as a material repository of formatted genetic tools (mostly plasmids) for analysis, construction and deployment of complex bacterial phenotypes. The period between the first version of SEVA-DB and the present time has witnessed several technical, computational and conceptual advances in genetic/genomic engineering of prokaryotes that have enabled upgrading of the utilities of the updated database. Novelties include not only a more user-friendly web interface and many more plasmid vectors, but also new links of the plasmids to advanced bioinformatic tools. These provide an intuitive visualization of the constructs at stake and a range of virtual manipulations of DNA segments that were not possible before. Finally, the list of canonical SEVA plasmids is available in machine-readable SBOL (Synthetic Biology Open Language) format. This ensures interoperability with other platforms and affords simulations of their behaviour under different in vivo conditions. We argue that the SEVA-DB will remain a useful resource for extending Synthetic Biology approaches towards non-standard bacterial species as well as genetically programming new prokaryotic chassis for a suite of fundamental and biotechnological endeavours.

Local self-government system as an institutional basis of local activity at local level

The article is devoted to the study of conceptual aspects of determining the system of local self-government as an institutional basis for urban development at the level of functioning of a local society (territorial community). It is argued that attracting European experience is an important area of municipal reform, since the comprehensive implementation of the European vector of Ukraine’s foreign policy requires the creation of an effective public administration system and the intensification of work in this direction by local state executive authorities and local self-government bodies.