Principal Function Research Articles

The Weatherman

This article explores weather forecasting as an emergent technology of governmentality through a detailed ethnography of the ways in which the relationships between weather and crops are rendered knowable in a two-day “participatory scenario planning” (PSP) workshop in Naromoru in the Central Highlands of Kenya. Farmers were “made into meteorologists” and developed their preparedness for hazards, impacts, opportunities, strategies, and responsibilities within the context of facing El Niño. The ethnography targets seemingly novel ways of preparing farmers for El Niño. I argue that the PSP served two principal functions: (1) to redistribute responsibilities of the farmers themselves by making them into “meteorologists”; and (2) to integrate “scientific expertise” with “local knowledge” to generate public trust in the metrological institutions of the postcolonial predictive state.

Do lncRNAs and circRNAs expression profiles influence discoid lupus erythematosus progression?-a comprehensive analysis.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) and circular RNAs (circRNAs)are involved in the progression of discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE), but an understanding of their underlying mechanisms remains elusive. To explore the expression profiles of lncRNAs and circRNAs in DLE, we surveyed the lncRNA/circRNA and mRNA expression profiles in the epithelia of oral DLE and adjacent normal tissues. The lesional and non-lesional lower lips of three DLE patients were analysed by RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq). The principal functions of the significantly deregulated genes were identified using Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses. And the correlated expression networks (coding-noncoding co-expression and lncRNAs-transcription factor-mRNA) were evaluated as well. Hundreds of significantly changed lncRNAs and mRNAs and dozens of significantly changed circRNAs were identified. lncRNA lnc-MIPOL1-6 and IncRNA IncDDX47-3 expressions were correlated with immune response-related genes, including IL19, CXCL1, CXCL11, and TNFSF15. Up-regulated IncRNA-TF network consists of 8 TFs and 74 related lncRNAs. The lncRNA-TF-gene trans-regulation consisting of 204 lncRNAs,39 TFs, and correlated 3 genes. These results demonstrate that lncRNAs and circRNAs can influence the progression of DLE. Certain mRNAs/lncRNAs/circRNAs may have substantial value in DLE diagnosis and therapy.

TRNA‑derived small RNAs: A novel class of small RNAs in human hypertrophic scar fibroblasts.

tRNA-derived small RNAs (tsRNAs) have been shown to play regulatory roles in many physiological and pathological processes. However, their roles in hypertrophic scars remain unclear. The present study investigated differentially expressed tsRNAs in human hypertrophic scar fibroblasts and normal skin fibroblasts via high-throughput sequencing. Several dysregulated tsRNAs were validated by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment, target prediction, coexpression networks and competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) networks were evaluated to discover the principal functions of significantly differentially expressed tsRNAs. In total, 67 differentially expressed tsRNAs were detected, of which 27 were upregulated and 40 downregulated in hyper-trophic scar fibroblasts. The GO analysis indicated that the dysregulated tsRNAs are associated with numerous biological functions, including 'nervous system development', 'cell adhesion', 'focal adhesion', 'protein binding', 'angiogenesis' and 'actin binding'. KEGG pathway analysis revealed that the most altered pathways include 'Ras signaling pathway', 'Rap1 signaling pathway' and 'cGMP-PKG signaling pathway'. The target genes of the differentially expressed tsRNAs participate in several signaling pathways important for scar formation. The results of RT-qPCR were consistent with those of sequencing. MicroRNA (miR)-29b-1-5p was identified as a target of tsRNA-23678 and was downregulated in hypertrophic scar fibroblasts, constituting a negative regulatory factor for scar formation. Furthermore, tsRNA-23761 acted as a ceRNA and bound to miR-3135b to regulate the expression of miR-3135b targets, including angiotensin-converting enzyme. Collectively, these findings reveal that tsRNAs are differentially expressed in human hypertrophic scar fibroblasts, and may contribute to the molecular mechanism and treatment of hypertrophic scars.

Genetically Engineered Hematopoietic Progenitors Derived from Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Achieve the Feeder-Free and Robust Production of Neutrophils with the Functional Capacity In Vivo

Chemotherapies for cancers induce granulocytopenia and additively increase the risk of infection. Infections in patients with granulocytopenia, especially neutropenia, have remained as a major problem. Though granulocyte transfusion therapy (GTX) is a therapeutic option against neutropenic infections refractory to supportive therapies, GTX has not been in wide use mainly due to its physical burden on donors. We have previously reported the establishment of genetically engineered hematopoietic progenitors priming neutrophils (NeuP-HPCs) from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) by inducible expression of c-MYC and BMI1, which cultured on OP9 feeder cells, kept expanding until 12 weeks after the induction and were differentiated into functional neutrophils four days after silencing c-MYC and BMI1. In the current study, we sophisticated the previous production system and established a robust and feeder-free production system of neutrophils, for the purpose of donor-free GTX. To enhance the expandability of NeuP-HPCs to be preferably applied in clinical settings, we investigated genes enhancing the expandability of NeuP-HPCs. we performed single-cell analysis of focused 83 transcriptional factors in HPCs and identified the population committing neutrophils in early phase, which enriched the expression of BCL6, CEBPB, CEBPD, and LITAF. As CEBPB provided the two-weeks extension of the expandability among four genes and had a lot of target genes, we conducted the search for target genes of CEBPB which purely enhanced the expandability. Motif analysis of CEBPB revealed that BCL2A1 was the gene associated with the cell proliferation in top-ranked ten target genes, suggesting that BCL2 family genes enhanced the expandability of NeuP-HPCs. Consistent with the result, the expression of BCL2A1, BCL-XL or MCL1, which were the major BCL2 family genes in the development of myeloid cells, enhanced the expandability and kept expanding for at least 16 weeks, indicating that one NeuP-HPC was estimated to generate thousands aliquot of 5.0 x 1010 cells, clinically meaningful scale, in 10 weeks. Notably, NeuP-HPCs expressing BCL-XL (NeuP-HPCs-XL) achieved the feeder-free expansion, suggesting that NeuP-HPCs-XL were preferable to clinical application. Whereas the constitutive expression of BCL2 family genes inhibited the neutrophilic differentiation, NeuP-HPCs-XL with the inducible expression of c-MYC, BMI1, and BCL-XL generated the functional neutrophils, which showed expression of neutrophil-specific markers, CD16b and CD66b, formed toxic granules with lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and produced reactive oxygen species (ROS) with phorbol-12-myristate-13 acetates (PMA). Gene expression profiling by RNA sequence comparing the neutrophils with or without LPS revealed the activation of NF-kB pathway, which was the critical pathway through LPS stimulation. Furthermore, the neutrophils with LPS stimulation recapitulated the expression profile of peripheral blood in patients with gram-negative sepsis. Gene ontology enrichment analysis showed the enrichment of inflammatory response, innate immune response, cytokine activity (including higher expression of IL1A, IL1B, IL6 and TNFa), cell adhesion (including higher expression of ICAM1, also a functional marker of phagocytosis) and chemotaxis (including higher expression of CXCL2, CXCL8, CCL19 and CCL20) with LPS stimulation. These findings indicated that the neutrophils from NeuP-HPCs-XL harbored the principal neutrophil functions including adhesion, chemotaxis, phagocytosis, ROS generation and cytokine production. To assess the function of neutrophils from NeuP-HPCs-XL in vivo, we performed in vivo imaging of the neutrophils expressing luciferase in the mice model of LPS-induced inflammation. In NSG mice harboring the local inflammation induced by intraperitoneal injection of LPS, intraperitoneally administrated neutrophils aggregated specifically at the inflammation site and showed the persistent survival for 72 hours, in marked contrast to the diffuse distribution and the shorter survival for 24 hours in NSG mice without LPS injection. These findings suggested that neutrophils from NeuP-HPCs-XL were functional in vivo. In summary, we achieved the feeder-free and robust production of neutrophils with the functional capacity in vivo. NeuP-HPCs-XL are potential sources of neutrophils for donor-free GTX. Figure Disclosures Miyauchi: Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co. Ltd.: Research Funding. Iwasaki:Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co. Ltd.: Employment. Kawagoshi:Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co. Ltd.: Employment. Kagoya:Nihon Shinyaku: Research Funding; Kyowa Kirin: Speakers Bureau. Kurokawa:Nippon Shinyaku Co., Ltd.: Research Funding; Teijin Limited: Research Funding; Shire Japan K.K.: Speakers Bureau; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Speakers Bureau; Chugai Pharmaceutical Company: Consultancy, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; ONO PHARMACEUTICAL CO., LTD.: Speakers Bureau; Bioverativ Japan ltd.: Consultancy; MSD K.K.: Consultancy, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Celgene K.K.: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Boehringer Ingelheim: Speakers Bureau; Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co., Ltd.: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Daiichi Sankyo Conpany: Speakers Bureau; Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co.,Ltd.: Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Janssen Pharmaceutical K.K.: Speakers Bureau; Shionogi & Co., Ltd: Consultancy, Honoraria; Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.: Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Astellas Pharma Inc.: Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited.: Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Yakult Honsha Company: Speakers Bureau; Pfizer Japan Inc.: Research Funding; Eisai Co., Ltd.: Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Novartis Pharma K.K.: Research Funding.

Establishing a Model for Evaluating Chicken Coccidiosis Resistance Based on Principal Component Analysis

Simple SummaryAvian coccidiosis, an infectious disease caused by seven species of Eimeria that can infect a bird’s digestive tract and significantly retard its growth, is a serious economic disease for chickens. Many studies have demonstrated that host resistance to coccidiosis related to genetic variations can be improved by selective breeding. The parameters for evaluation of resistance to coccidiosis could be objective indicators, such as body weight gain and cecal lesion score, or biochemical indices, such as immune factors or cytokines in the plasma or serum. The aim of the study is to establish an optimal comprehensive evaluation model including a resistance index that can be detected in live chickens (slaughter traits cannot be selected in breeding) based on principal component analysis. The value of individual chickens calculated with the optimal evaluation model is associated with the cecum lesion score; the larger the value, the stronger the resistance to coccidiosis. This illustrated that the optimal model is effective in coccidiosis resistance selection.To establish a coccidiosis resistance evaluation model for chicken selection, the different parameters were compared between infected and control Jinghai yellow chickens. Validation parameters were selected for principal component analysis (PCA), and an optimal comprehensive evaluation model was selected based on the significance of a correlation coefficient between coccidiosis resistance parameters and principal component functions. The following six different parameters were identified: body weight gain 3–5 days post infection and catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), malondialdehyde (MDA) and γ-interferon (IFN-γ) concentrations on the eight day post inoculation. Six principal components and one accumulated contribution of up to 80% of the evaluation models were established by PCA. The results showed that the first model was significantly or highly significantly related to nine resistance parameters (p < 0.01 or p < 0.05), especially to cecal lesions (p < 0.01). The remaining models were related to only 2–3 parameters (p < 0.01 or p < 0.05) and not to cecal lesions (p > 0.05). The values calculated by the optimal model (first model) were significantly negatively correlated with cecal lesion performance; the larger the value, the more resistant to coccidiosis. The model fi1 = −0.636 zxi1 + 0.311 zxi2 + 0.801 zxi3 − 0.046 zxi4 − 0.076 zxi5 + 0.588 zxi6 might be the best comprehensive selection index model for chicken coccidiosis resistance selection.

School Principals’ Work Stress in an Era of New Education Governance

Abstract The worldwide implementation of school governance reforms over the last decades has changed the function and roles of school principals. Now identified as key players, these changes expose them to new health risks. International research has established the principalship to be highly demanding and stressful. This study addresses work stress, its main causes and coping strategies among school principals in French-speaking Switzerland. While they are most frequently bothered by time stressors, coping efforts are primarily directed at reducing or preventing conflictual interpersonal relations.

Poetik der markinischen Christologie: Eine kognitiv-narratologische Exegese

Poetik der markinischen Christologie: Eine kognitiv-narratologische Exegese

Comprehensive Insight into Gibberellin- and Jasmonate-Mediated Stamen Development

In flowering plants, proper development of male generative organs is required for successful sexual reproduction. Stamen primordia arise in the third whorl of floral organs and subsequently differentiate into filaments and anthers. The early phase of stamen development, in which meiosis occurs, is followed by a late developmental phase, which consists of filament elongation coordinated with pollen maturation, anther dehiscence and finally viable pollen grain release. Stamen development and function are modulated by phytohormones, with a key role of gibberellins (GAs) and jasmonates (JAs). Long-term, extensive investigations, mainly involving GA/JA-deficient and GA/JA-response mutants, have led to a better understanding of the hormone-dependent molecular mechanisms of stamen development. In several species, the principal functions of GAs are to stimulate filament elongation through increased cell elongation and to promote anther locule opening. In the GA-dependent regulation of early stamen development, both the tapetum and developing pollen were identified as major targets. JAs mainly control the late stages of stamen development, such as filament elongation, viable pollen formation and anther dehiscence. A hierarchical relationship between GAs and JAs was recognized mainly in the control of late stamen development. By repressing DELLA proteins, GAs modulate the transcriptional activity of JA biosynthesis genes to promote JA production. A high level of JAs induces a complex of transcription factors crucial for normal stamen development.

Fast, Flexible Closed-Loop Feedback: Tracking Movement in "Real-Millisecond-Time".

One of the principal functions of the brain is to control movement and rapidly adapt behavior to a changing external environment. Over the last decades our ability to monitor activity in the brain, manipulate it while also manipulating the environment the animal moves through, has been tackled with increasing sophistication. However, our ability to track the movement of the animal in real time has not kept pace. Here, we use a dynamic vision sensor (DVS) based event-driven neuromorphic camera system to implement real-time, low-latency tracking of a single whisker that mice can move at ∼25 Hz. The customized DVS system described here converts whisker motion into a series of events that can be used to estimate the position of the whisker and to trigger a position-based output interactively within 2 ms. This neuromorphic chip-based closed-loop system provides feedback rapidly and flexibly. With this system, it becomes possible to use the movement of whiskers or in principal, movement of any part of the body to reward, punish, in a rapidly reconfigurable way. These methods can be used to manipulate behavior, and the neural circuits that help animals adapt to changing values of a sequence of motor actions.

Optimisation model and solution method of multi‐sources guide paths

Guiding accessibility is a principal function of guide sign, which indicates whether the guide signs can guide people to their destinations successfully or not. The authors build an effective model to optimise the guiding accessibility of guide signs with a minimum economic cost. The authors’ work can benefit guide sign setting, and improve the efficiency of the traffic system. Firstly, the authors introduced the representation of the road network, then the accessibility and integrated optimisation of guiding paths are defined. Based on this, an integrated optimisation model is proposed with the optimisation of the guiding path length and the number of guide signs. Then combining with the genetic algorithm, the algorithm is designed to solve the mixed integer linear programming problem. Lastly, Guangzhou Higher Education Center is chosen as the test area. The integrated optimisation of the multiple guiding paths with the destination of Sun Yat-sen University is realised using the proposed model. The experiment results show that the proposed model can realise the integrated optimisation of an unsuccessful guiding path with the minimum economic cost.

Metal ligands in micronutrient acquisition and homeostasis.

Acquisition and homeostasis of micronutrients such as iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) pose specific challenges. Poor solubility and high reactivity require controlled synthesis and supply of ligands to complex these metals extracellularly and intracellularly. Cytosolic labile pools represent only a minute fraction of the total cellular content. Several low-molecular-weight ligands are known in plants, including sulfur ligands (cysteine and peptides), nitrogen/oxygen ligands (S-adenosyl-l-methionine-derived molecules and histidine), and oxygen ligands (phenolics and organic acids). Some ligands are secreted into the extracellular space and influence the phytoavailability of metal ions. A second principal function is the intracellular buffering of micronutrients as well as the facilitation of long-distance transport in xylem and phloem. Furthermore, low-molecular-weight ligands are involved in the storage of metals, predominantly in vacuoles. A detailed molecular understanding is hampered by technical limitations, in particular the difficulty to detect and quantify cellular metal-ligand complexes. More, but still too little, is known about ligand synthesis and the transport across membranes, either with or without a complexed metal. Metal ligands have an immediate impact on human well-being. Engineering metal ligand synthesis and distribution in crops has tremendous potential to improve the nutritional quality of food and to tackle major human health risks.

Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and invadopodia markers in breast cancer: Lumican a key regulator.

A great hallmark of breast cancer is the absence or presence of estrogen receptors ERα and ERβ, with a dominant role in cell proliferation, differentiation and cancer progression. Both receptors are related with Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) since there is a relation between ERs and extracellular matrix (ECM) macromolecules expression, and therefore, cell-cell and cell-ECM interactions. The endocrine resistance of ERα endows epithelial cells with increased aggressiveness and induces cell proliferation, resulting into a mesenchymal phenotype and an EMT status. ERα signaling may affect the transcriptional factors which govern EMT. Knockdown or silencing of ERα and ERβ in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells respectively, provoked pivotal changes in phenotype, cellular functions, mRNA and protein levels of EMT markers, and consequently the EMT status. Mesenchymal cells owe their migratory and invasive properties to invadopodia, while in epithelial cells, lamellipodia and filopodia are mostly observed. Invadopodia, are actin-rich protrusions of plasma membrane, promoting proteolytic degradation of ECM and tumor invasion. Cortactin and MMP-14 govern the formation and principal functions of invadopodia. In vitro experiments proved that lumican inhibits cortactin and MMP-14 expression, alters the formation of lamellipodia and transforms mesenchymal cells into epithelial-like. Conclusively, lumican may inhibit or even reverse the several metastatic features that EMT endows in breast cancer cells. Therefore, a lumican-based anti-cancer therapy which will pharmacologically target and inhibit EMT might be interesting to be developed.

Sistem Informasi Rektrutmen Calon Perangkat Desa sebagai Ruang Partisipasi Warga dan Pemerintah Desa Cangkring Rembang Karanganyar Demak

&lt;span lang="EN-US"&gt;he purpose of this research is to find out the description of the prospective village apparatus recruitment system applied to the Cangkring Rembang village government system, to analyze the recruitment system of village apparatuses that are applied for system development in the form of web-based candidate village recruitment information system design. This research was conducted in the village of Cangkring Rembang, Karanganyar District, Demak. Cangkring Rembang Demak village government in carrying out its duties, principal and government functions is one of them is the process of recruiting prospective village officials is still done manually. With manual systems documents can be lost, damaged and stored in several different storage spaces. In addition, the verification process for prospective applicant data takes a long time. Another disadvantage, if the document is needed at any time for public publication needs is not recorded properly so that it can not be used as decision making quickly. The application development method uses the waterfall approach. The results of this study are a system of recruiting prospective village officials who can provide alternatives (solutions) for prospective applicants, especially in the process of recruiting prospective village officials. With the development of a web system, in addition to documents, it is easier to store in the online storage space, organizing recruitment of prospective village officials can run transparently and participatively. A participatory government system shows open governance, one of which is by providing various information that can be accessed by every citizen&lt;/span&gt;

Viral targeting of PDZ polarity proteins in the immune system as a potential evasion mechanism.

PDZ proteins are highly conserved through evolution; the principal function of this large family of proteins is to assemble protein complexes that are involved in many cellular processes, such as cell-cell junctions, cell polarity, recycling, or trafficking. Many PDZ proteins that have been identified as targets of viral pathogens by promoting viral replication and spread are also involved in epithelial cell polarity. Here, we briefly review the PDZ polarity proteins in cells of the immune system to subsequently focus on our hypothesis that the viral PDZ-dependent targeting of PDZ polarity proteins in these cells may alter the cellular fitness of the host to favor that of the virus; we further hypothesize that this modification of the cellular fitness landscape occurs as a common and widespread mechanism for immune evasion by viruses and possibly other pathogens.-Gutiérrez-González, L. H., Santos-Mendoza, T. Viral targeting of PDZ polarity proteins in the immune system as a potential evasion mechanism.

Classification of Platelet Aggregates by Agonist Type

Platelets are anucleate cells in blood whose principal function is to stop bleeding by forming aggregates for hemostatic reactions. In addition to their participation in physiological hemostasis, platelet aggregates are also involved in pathological thrombosis and play an important role in inflammation, atherosclerosis, and cancer metastasis. The aggregation of platelets is elicited by various agonists, but these platelet aggregates have long been considered indistinguishable and impossible to classify. Here we present an intelligent method for classifying them by agonist type. It is based on a convolutional neural network trained by high-throughput imaging flow cytometry of blood cells to identify and differentiate subtle yet appreciable morphological features of platelet aggregates activated by different types of agonists. The method is a powerful tool for studying the underlying mechanism of platelet aggregation and is expected to open a window on an entirely new class of clinical diagnostics, pharmacometrics, and therapeutics.

Integrative analysis of the lncRNA-associated ceRNA network reveals lncRNAs as potential prognostic biomarkers in human muscle-invasive bladder cancer.

BackgroundLong noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play important roles in competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) networks involved in the development and progression of various cancers, including muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC).PurposeThis study aims to construct the lncRNA-associated ceRNA network and identify lncRNA signatures correlated with the clinical features of MIBC tissue samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TGCA) database.MethodsThe differential expression profiles of MIBC associated lncRNAs, miRNAs and mRNAs were obtained from TCGA. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses were performed to determine the principal functions of significantly dysregulated mRNAs. The dysregulated lncRNA-associated ceRNA network of MIBC was constructed based on the bioinformatics data, and the correlations between lncRNA expression and clinical features were analyzed using a weighted gene coexpression network analysis (WGCNA). Six cancer specific lncRNAs from the ceRNA network were randomly selected to detect their expression in 32 paired MIBC tissue samples and 5 bladder cancer cell lines using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR).ResultsThe ceRNA network was constructed with 30 lncRNAs, 13 miRNAs and 32 mRNAs. Seventeen lncRNAs in the ceRNA network correlated with certain clinical features, and only 1 lncRNA (MIR137HG) correlated with the overall survival (OS) of patients with MIBC (log-rank test P<0.05). GO and KEGG analyses revealed roles for the potential mRNA targets of MIR137HG in epithelial cell differentiation and the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) signaling pathways. The expression data from TCGA were highly consistent with the verification results of the MIBC tissue samples and bladder cancer cell lines.ConclusionThese findings improve our understanding of the regulatory mechanism of the lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA ceRNA network and reveal potential lncRNAs as prognostic biomarkers of MIBC.

Principal functions of impulsive difference operators on semi axis

In this paper, we investigate the continuous spectrum and resolvent operator of a second-order difference operator with an impulsive condition. Then, under certain conditions, we prove finiteness of eigenvalues, spectral singularities. At last, we present principal functions of corresponding impulsive operator.

Spectral expansion of Sturm-Liouville problems with eigenvalue-dependent boundary conditions

In this paper, we consider the operator L generated in L₂(R₊) by the differential expression l(y)=-y′′+q(x)y,x∈R₊:=[0,∞) and the boundary condition ((y′(0))/(y(0)))=α₀+α₁λ+α₂λ², where q is a complex valued function and α_{i}∈C,[mbox] \mbox{\:} i=0,1,2α₂. We have proved that spectral expansion of L in terms of the principal functions under the condition q∈AC(R₊), lim_{x→∞}q(x)=0, sup[e^{e√x}|q′(x)|] 0 taking into account the spectral singularities. We have also proved the convergence of the spectral expansion.

Comprehensive analysis of long noncoding RNAs and mRNAs expression profiles and functional networks during chondrogenic differentiation of murine ATDC5 cells.

Chondrogenic differentiation is a coordinated biological process orchestrated by various cell signaling pathways, involving complex pathways regulated at both transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are emerging as important regulators in the modulation of multiple cell processes. However, the potential roles of lncRNAs and their regulatory mechanisms in chondrogenic differentiation remain largely unclear. In this study, microarray was performed to detect the expression profiles of lncRNAs and messenger RNAs (mRNAs) during chondrogenic differentiation of murine chondrogenic cell line ATDC5. Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis were performed to explore their functions. Coding-noncoding co-expression (CNC) and competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) networks were also constructed with bioinformatics methods. The results revealed that 1009 lncRNAs and 1206 mRNAs were differentially regulated during chondrogenic differentiation. GO and KEGG pathway analysis indicated that the principal functions of the transcripts were associated with system development and extracellular matrix-receptor interaction, TGF-β signaling, and PI3K-Akt signaling pathways. The CNC network showed that lncRNA AK136902 was positively correlated with prostaglandin F receptor (FP). The ceRNA network covered 3 lncRNAs, 121 miRNAs and 241 edges. The upregulated lncRNA AK136902, AK016344, and ENSMUST00000180767 might promote chondrogenic differentiation by acting as ceRNAs. Knockdown of lncRNA AK136902 could inhibit the mRNA expression of FP and other chondrogenic related genes, including Aggrecan and Col2a1 during chondrogenic differentiation. Our results provide a new perspective on the modulation of lncRNAs during chondrogenic differentiation.

Variational Interpolation of Functionals in Transport Theory Inverse Problems

It is known that dual representation of problems (through the main function and its adjoint in the Lagrange sense) makes it possible to formulate an effective perturbation theory on which the successive approximation method in the inverse problem theory relies. Let us suppose that according to preliminary predictions, a solution to the inverse problem (for example, the structure of medium of interest) belongs to a certain set A. Then selecting a suitable (trial, reference) element a0 as an unperturbed one and applying the perturbation theory, one can approximately describe the behavior of a solution to the forward problem in this domain and find a subset A0 that matches the measurement data best. However, as the accuracy requirements increase, the domain of applicability of the first approximation A0 is rapidly narrowing, and its expansion via addition of higher terms of the expansion complicates the solving procedure. For this reason, a number of works have searched for unperturbed approaches, including the method of variational interpolation (VI method). In this method, not one but several reference problems a1, a2,...,an are selected, from which a linear superposition of the principal function and the adjoint one is constructed, followed by determination of coefficients from the condition of stationarity of the form of the desired functional representation. This paper demonstrates application of the VI method to solving inverse problems of cosmic rays astrophysics in the simplest statement.