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The particularly interdisciplinary nature of human microbiome research makes the organization and reporting of results spanning epidemiology, biology, bioinformatics, translational medicine and statistics a challenge. Commonly used reporting guidelines for observational or genetic epidemiology studies lack key features specific to microbiome studies. Therefore, a multidisciplinary group of microbiome epidemiology researchers adapted guidelines for observational and genetic studies to culture-independent human microbiome studies, and also developed new reporting elements for laboratory, bioinformatics and statistical analyses tailored to microbiome studies. The resulting tool, called 'Strengthening The Organization and Reporting of Microbiome Studies' (STORMS), is composed of a 17-item checklist organized into six sections that correspond to the typical sections of a scientific publication, presented as an editable table for inclusion in supplementary materials. The STORMS checklist provides guidance for concise and complete reporting of microbiome studies that will facilitate manuscript preparation, peer review, and reader comprehension of publications and comparative analysis of published results.

Infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis is a bacterial eye disease. The disease is characterized by inflammation of the conjunctiva, corneal ulceration and excessive lacrimation. Although this disease does not lead to the death of animals, its economic importance is enormous, since it leads to a decrease in livestock weight gain and a reduction in dairy productivity. The main etiological role in IBK belongs to Moraxella spp. (including in associations with Staphylococcus spp., Streptococcus spp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, E. coli, Proteus). The use of traditional treatment methods, such as the use of antibacterial chemicals, for Moraxella infection may be ineffective due to the factors of resistance and immunity of these bacteria. The development of a vaccine can be expensive and time-consuming, due to the external localization of the infection; it will be difficult to achieve a protective effect. New strategies for the treatment and prevention of bacterial infection open up prospects for the use of bacteriophages. Due to the growing antibiotic resistance of circulating bacterial pathogens and to increase the effectiveness of therapeutic and preventive measures in IBK, the development of phage therapy is relevant. Fundamental studies of biological properties and exploratory studies of virulent active bacteriophages to zoopathogenic Moraxelles are an urgent problem.

The article presents the results of the effect of the feed additive Protein containing bacteria strains Bacillus subtilis, Saccharomyces the dynamics of growth and cerevisiae, Trichoderma development of foals. As a result of the conducted studies, it was found that the feed additive has a positive effect on the body of foals whose mothers received ProVetin during foaling. The weight of foals of the experimental group at birth was 6.7% higher compared to the control group. Further introduction of a feed additive into the diet of foals in the postnatal period also had a beneficial effect, which contributed to higher growth rates – at the age of 3 months, the live weight of the experimental group of foals receiving daily feed additive was 6.3% greater than in the control group; at 6 months – 6.5% more.

Increasingly, large, nationally representative health and behavioral surveys conducted under a multistage stratified sampling scheme collect high dimensional data with correlation structured along some domain (eg, wearable sensor data measured continuously and correlated over time, imaging data with spatiotemporal correlation) with the goal of associating these data with health outcomes. Analysis of this sort requires novel methodologic work at the intersection of survey statistics and functional data analysis. Here, we address this crucial gap in the literature by proposing an estimation and inferential framework for generalizable scalar‐on‐function regression models for data collected under a complex survey design. We propose to: (1) estimate functional regression coefficients using weighted score equations; and (2) perform inference using novel functional balanced repeated replication and survey‐weighted bootstrap for multistage survey designs. This is the first frequentist study to discuss the estimation of scalar‐on‐function regression models in the context of complex survey studies and to assess the validity of various inferential techniques based on re‐sampling methods via a comprehensive simulation study. We implement our methods to predict mortality using diurnal activity profiles measured via wearable accelerometers using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2003‐2006 data. The proposed computationally efficient methods are implemented in R software package surveySoFR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents results on CO2 hydrogenation to dimethyl ether (DME) over bifunctional catalysts consisting of In2O3, supported on natural clay halloysite nanotubes (HNT), and HNT modified with Al-MCM-41 silica arrays. The catalysts were characterized by TEM, STEM, EDX-mapping, NH3-TPD, XRD, low-temperature nitrogen adsorption, TPO, and H2-TPR techniques. Catalytic properties of In2O3/HNT and In2O3/Al-MCM-41/HNT in the CO2 hydrogenation to DME were investigated in a fixed-bed continuous flow stainless steel reactor at 10–40 atm, in the temperature range of 200–300°C, at GHSV = 12,000 h−1 and molar ratio of H2:CO2 = 3:1. The best catalyst for CO2 hydrogenation was In2O3/Al-MCM-41/HNT that provided DME production rate 0.15 gDME·(gcat·h)−1 with DME selectivity 53% and at 40 bar, GHSV = 12,000 h−1, and T = 250°C. It was shown that In2O3/Al-MCM-41/HNT exhibited stable operation for at least 40 h on stream.

The article provides an overview of promising areas of development, identifies the current problems of environmental biotechnology as a promising and developing area that has an impact on the environment and humans. Every year the anthropogenic influence of industry on the biosphere is becoming larger. Depletion of natural resources has become a serious threat to the environment and humans. The desire to improve the quality of life by using the latest technology has contributed to the actualization of such a branch of science as ecological biotechnology. The definition of its goals and objectives, described in this article, reveals the problems associated with the implementation of various methods to improve the environment. In this connection, the prospects of development of biotechnology not only as an applied science, but also as a scientific field, inseparably connected with the protection of human and animal health are considered.

Studies were conducted to study the effect of the feed additive ProVetin on the physiological and biochemical parameters of horses. The beneficial effect of the feed additive on the hematological and biochemical profile of the blood of horses was noted. Depending on the dose of the feed additive, the activation of the body's defense mechanisms and energy metabolism is established. In the group of animals receiving a feed additive at a dose of 20 g per head, 45 days after the start of administration, an increase in the level of hemoglobin and erythrocytes relative to the initial level was noted – by 1.6% (142.4 ±13.9 g / l, P < 0.05) and 6.9% (9.3± 0.8 x1012 / l, P < 0.05) accordingly. In horses treated with ProVetin at a dose of 30 g per head, after 1.5 months, hemoglobin increased by 1% (146.9±12.2 g/l, P < 0.05), the number of red blood cells by 2.1% (9.0±1.4x1012/l), total protein by 16% (76.6±6.0 g/ll, P ≤ 0.05), albumins by 19% (38.4±2.6 g/l, P ≤ 0.05).

Air pollution has a serious impact on human health. Deterioration of the air environment causes 7 million premature deaths annually. Despite the active implementation of various environmental programmes and technical resources aimed at preserving and protecting the environment from anthropogenic factors, over 90% of the world's population live in cities that do not meet the air quality recommendations of the World Health Organisation (WHO). Intense and constant technogenic load necessitates continuous monitoring of atmospheric air quality. Sufficient, systematic and representative information is needed to study the spatial and temporal distribution of substances in the air basin, to predict pollution levels and to make correct environmental decisions. Environmental monitoring is a tool for obtaining such information. In this work the analysis of influence of radioactive waste of nuclear power plants on a radiation level of environment is executed and the tasks of its ecological monitoring in areas of location of the enterprises of nuclear power industry are considered.

To ensure the safety of the drugs being developed and their guaranteed effectiveness, large-scale experiments using sufficient groups and types of test objects are required. The composition of the studied preparation, which includes the main representatives of rhizospheric microorganisms sorbed on mineral sorbent, allows us to judge its environmental safety. At the same time, the preparations offered for organic farming should have sufficient effectiveness, stimulating the growth and development of cultivated plants. The article presents the results of an experimental study and analyzes the effect of the mineral-biological drug Glauxin on the intensity of development of a test culture – Lettuce variety «Vostorg». The formed groups of experience and control, and identical growing conditions made it possible to obtain objective data, and the number of test objects in the groups (n=50) was sufficient for statistical processing of the results obtained. To obtain the most complete picture of the effect of the drug being developed, observations were carried out for 60 days, which exceeds the productive period of this culture by 15 days. To determine the most effective ways of using the drug Glauxin, two treatment schemes were applied to the tested plants: with soaking of seeds and without pre-soaking, using the studied drug only when watering and spraying. The results obtained indicate a high stimulating activity of the drug, allow us to judge its safety, because in the recommended modes of use they do not cause physiological changes and violations of the development of the test culture of lettuce. Based on the results obtained, conclusions were drawn about the most effective method of using the mineral-biological drug Glauxin, statistical data processing will allow us to draw conclusions about the economic efficiency of its use on an industrial scale.

By the conductometric method, the dependence of the specific electrical conductivity (χ) of five apple juice samples on the volume fraction (φ) of apple juice in a solution with distilled water. The dependence χ in the range φ from 0 to 1 acquires a power-law character (the correlation coefficient is close to 1), since a significant part of the mineral composition of apple juices consists of various organic acids. The technique fully complies with the principles of “green” chemistry, since the “waste” is apple juice diluted with distilled water.

The article considers approaches to the development of criteria for assessing the quality of scientific research in St. Petersburg Mining University, Russia (Mining University), the functioning of which contains the main features of research university as well as of a scientific organization. The research methods include expert assessments, analysis and synthesis and other desk research methods. Based on the analysis of the results of the scientific activity of the organization in recent years, a set of basic quantitative indicators has been developed, as well as a set of additional qualitative indicators of the effectiveness of the scientific departments of the university. Qualitative indicators, including the rating assessment of the research carried out by the Scientific and Technical Council of the university, are designed to complement the widely used scientometric data. Thus, scientometric, financial indicators and a comprehensive (multifactorial) qualitative assessment can serve as criteria for the quality assessment for the scientific activity of the university. The information obtained is relevant for the formation of a quality management system for scientific research at Mining University, as well as for other research universities with a similar organizational structure. However, the conclusions obtained cannot be automatically extended to the procedures for the formation of quality management systems for scientific research in organizations of a different profile.

Antibacterial photodynamic therapy (a‐PDT) has emerged as a promising non‐invasive therapeutic modality that utilizes the combination of a photosensitive agent, molecular oxygen, and excitation light to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS), demonstrating remarkable activity against multidrug‐resistant bacterial infections. However, the effective use of conventional photosensitizers is significantly limited by a number of their shortcomings, namely, poor water solubility and low selectivity. Herein, we present a novel biocompatible water‐soluble nanocomposite based on hydrophobic tetraphenylporphyrin (TPP) molecules and hydrophilic ternary AgInS2/ZnS quantum dots incorporated into a chitosan matrix as an improved photosensitizer for a‐PDT. We demonstrated that TPP molecules could be successfully transferred into chitosan solution while remaining primarily in the form of monomers, which are capable of singlet oxygen generation. We performed a detailed analysis of the Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) between quantum dots and TPP molecules within the nanocomposite and proposed the mechanism of the singlet oxygen efficiency enhancement via FRET. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]