Molecular Characterisation and Phylogeny of Tula Virus in Kazakhstan.

Orthohantaviruses are zoonotic pathogens that play a significant role in public health. These viruses can cause haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome in Eurasia. In the Republic of Kazakhstan, the first human cases were registered in the year 2000 in the West Kazakhstan region.

SARS-CoV-2: International Investigation Under the WHO or BWC.

In late 2019, the novel and highly infectious coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 caused a worldwide outbreak of a severe respiratory infectious disease, known as COVID-19. The disease has started in China and turned into one of the worst pandemics in human history. Due to the very fast global spread of the pathogen, COVID-19 is a great challenge for the Public Health Systems.

Building Scientific Capability and Reducing Biological Threats: The Effect of Three Cooperative Bio-Research Programs in Kazakhstan.

Cooperative research programs aimed at reducing biological threats have increased scientific capabilities and capacities in Kazakhstan. The German Federal Foreign Office's German Biosecurity Programme, the United Kingdom's International Biological Security Programme and the United States Defense Threat Reduction Agency's Biological Threat Reduction Program provide funding for partner countries, like Kazakhstan. The mutual goals of the programs are to reduce biological threats and enhance global health security.

Zika virus replication in glioblastoma cells: electron microscopic tomography shows 3D arrangement of endoplasmic reticulum, replication organelles, and viral ribonucleoproteins.

Structural changes of two patient-derived glioblastoma cell lines after Zika virus infection were investigated using scanning transmission electron tomography on high-pressure-frozen, freeze-substituted samples. In Zika-virus-infected cells, Golgi structures were barely visible under an electron microscope, and viral factories appeared. The cytosol outside of the viral factories resembled the cytosol of uninfected cells.

Eight Years of Collaboration on Biosafety and Biosecurity Issues Between Kazakhstan and Germany as Part of the German Biosecurity Programme and the G7 Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction.

In 2013, the German Federal Foreign Office launched the German Biosecurity Programme with the aim to minimise risks associated with biological substances and pathogens. In this context, the German-Kazakh Network for Biosafety and Biosecurity was established in 2013 and constitutes a successful collaboration between Kazakh and German biomedical organisations, under the co-management of the Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology (IMB), and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. Ever since then, a network of scientists, stake holders and policymakers has been established, aiming to work on highly pathogenic, potential biological warfare agents with the focus on biosafety and biosecurity, surveillance, detection and diagnostics, networking and awareness raising of these agents in Kazakhstan.

Occurrence of Anti-Rickettsia spp. Antibodies in Hospitalized Patients with Undifferentiated Febrile Illness in the Southern Region of Kazakhstan.

Undifferentiated febrile illness still represents a demanding medical problem all over the world, but primarily in low- and middle-income countries. Scientific and clinical investigations related to undifferentiated febrile illness and rickettsial diseases in Kazakhstan are lacking. This study reflects the investigation of antibodies against spotted fever group (SFG) and typhus group (TG) rickettsiae in patients with undifferentiated febrile illness in the southern region of Kazakhstan (Almaty and Kyzylorda oblasts).

The prevalence of Borrelia in Ixodes persulcatus in southeastern Kazakhstan.

Borreliosis is one of the most common vector-borne zoonotic diseases in the world. Limited data are available regarding Borrelia spp. and their genotypes in Kazakhstan.

Prenatally traumatized mice reveal hippocampal methylation and expression changes of the stress-related genes Crhr1 and Fkbp5.

In our previous study, we found that prenatal trauma exposure leads to an anxiety phenotype in mouse pups, characterized by increased corticosterone levels and increased anxiety-like behavior. In order to understand the mechanisms by which aversive in utero experience leads to these long-lasting behavioral and neuroendocrine changes, we investigated stress reactivity of prenatally traumatized (PT) mice, as well as the expression and methylation levels of several key regulatory genes of the stress axis in the dorsal hippocampus (dHPC) of the PT embryo and adult mice. We detected increased corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor 1 (Crhr1) and decreased FK506 binding protein 5 (Fkbp5) mRNA levels in the left dHPC of adult PT mice.

The complex interplay of climate, TBEV vector dynamics and TBEV infection rates in ticks-Monitoring a natural TBEV focus in Germany, 2009-2018.

Background: Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is the most important tick-borne viral disease in Eurasia and causes disease in humans and in a number of animals, among them dogs and horses. There is still no good correlation between tick numbers, weather conditions and human cases. There is the hypothesis that co-feeding due to simultaneous occurrence of larvae and nymphs may be a factor for the increased transmission of the virus in nature and for human disease.

Vectors, molecular epidemiology and phylogeny of TBEV in Kazakhstan and central Asia.

Background: In the South of Kazakhstan, Almaty Oblast' (region) is endemic for tick-borne encephalitis, with 0.16-0.32 cases/100,000 population between 2016-2018.

Genome-Wide DNA Methylation Patterns in Children Exposed to Nonpharmacologically Treated Prenatal Depressive Symptoms: Results From 2 Independent Cohorts.

Background: Maternal depressive symptoms are a common phenomenon during pregnancy and are related to negative outcomes for child development and health. Modifications in child DNA methylation are discussed as an underlying mechanism for the association between prenatal depressive symptoms and alterations in child outcomes. However, formerly reported genome-wide associations have yet to be replicated.

Serological investigation of orthohantaviruses in patients with fever of unknown origin in Kazakhstan.

Objective: Orthohantaviruses are geographically widely distributed and present various clinical manifestations from mild symptoms to the severe form of haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) in Eurasia. Official registration of HFRS in Kazakhstan started in the year 2000. However, the true prevalence of human infections by orthohantaviruses within Kazakhstan is unknown.

Salivary and hair cortisol as biomarkers of emotional and behavioral symptoms in 6-9 year old children.

The aim of the present work is to investigate the association of salivary and cumulative cortisol levels with emotional and behavioral symptoms in a Franconian Cognition and Emotion Studies (FRANCES) general population cohort of 158 6- to 9 year old children. Salivary cortisol values were measured by one-day diurnal cortisol profile, whereas cumulative cortisol was estimated via one-month hair cortisol concentrations (rHCC). Nearly all significant associations of clinical symptoms with child cortisol indices were age dependent: We report emotional symptoms being associated with lower rHCC in younger children (6.

Prevalence of Rickettsia species in ticks including identification of unknown species in two regions in Kazakhstan.

Background: Over 60 years ago clinical patterns resembling tick-borne rickettsioses have been described for the first time in Kazakhstan. Since 1995 the incidence of clinical cases of tick-borne rickettsioses in humans seems to be rising but studies on epidemiological data regarding the occurring etiological agents, tick vector species, prevalence and distribution throughout Kazakhstan are still scarce to date. The aim of the study was molecular investigation of ticks for spotted-fever group rickettsiae in the endemic Kyzylorda region and the so far considered as non-endemic Almaty region.

Seroepidemiological and molecular investigations of infections with Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus in Kazakhstan.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to detect the seroprevalence of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) in patients with fever of unknown origin (FUO) in endemic (Kyzylorda) and non-endemic (Almaty) oblasts of Kazakhstan.

Methods: Paired serum samples from 802 patients with FUO were collected. Serum samples were investigated by ELISA to detect IgG and IgM antibodies against CCHFV.

Prenatal Alcohol Exposure Is Associated With Adverse Cognitive Effects and Distinct Whole-Genome DNA Methylation Patterns in Primary School Children.

Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) is known to elicit a broad range of systemic effects, including neurophysiological alterations that result in adverse behavioral and cognitive outcomes. However, molecular pathways underlying these long-term intrauterine effects remain to be investigated. Here, we tested a hypothesis that PAE may lead to epigenetic alterations to the DNA resulting in attentional and cognitive alterations of the children.

Associations of prenatal depressive symptoms with DNA methylation of HPA axis-related genes and diurnal cortisol profiles in primary school-aged children.

Epigenetic DNA modifications in genes related to the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis are discussed as a mechanism underlying the association between prenatal depression and altered child HPA activity. In a longitudinal study, DNA methylation changes related to prenatal depressive symptoms were investigated in 167 children aged 6 to 9 years. At six candidate genes, 126 cytosine-guanine dinucleotides were considered without correcting for multiple testing due to the exploratory nature of the study.

Attention, cognitive control and motivation in ADHD: Linking event-related brain potentials and DNA methylation patterns in boys at early school age.

In order to better understand the underpinnings of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), we targeted the relationship of attentional, cognitive control and motivational processes with DNA methylation patterns of 60 candidate genes in boys at early school age. Participants (6 to 8 years; N = 82) were selected from a German longitudinal cohort (FRANCES). ADHD-related behaviour was assessed via maternal ratings.

[Epigenetic modifications in children associated with maternal emotional stress during pregnancy].

Besides typical physical and hormonal changes during pregnancy, this life period is often associated with an increased emotional and mental stress for women. For the child, the time in utero is regarded as a critical developmental period since adverse stimuli during pregnancy can have lasting consequences for the fetal and postnatal health and development. Thus, prenatal depression, anxiety and stress are considered as risk factors for developmental delay, emotional and behavioral problems.

Autophagy-Associated Protein SmATG12 Is Required for Fruiting-Body Formation in the Filamentous Ascomycete Sordaria macrospora.

In filamentous fungi, autophagy functions as a catabolic mechanism to overcome starvation and to control diverse developmental processes under normal nutritional conditions. Autophagy involves the formation of double-membrane vesicles, termed autophagosomes that engulf cellular components and bring about their degradation via fusion with vacuoles. Two ubiquitin-like (UBL) conjugation systems are essential for the expansion of the autophagosomal membrane: the UBL protein ATG8 is conjugated to the lipid phosphatidylethanolamine and the UBL protein ATG12 is coupled to ATG5.

Germinal Center Kinases SmKIN3 and SmKIN24 Are Associated with the Sordaria macrospora Striatin-Interacting Phosphatase and Kinase (STRIPAK) Complex.

The striatin-interacting phosphatase and kinase (STRIPAK) complex is composed of striatin, protein phosphatase PP2A and protein kinases that regulate development in animals and fungi. In the filamentous ascomycete Sordaria macrospora, it is required for fruiting-body development and cell fusion. Here, we report on the presence and function of STRIPAK-associated kinases in ascomycetes.

Deletion of Smgpi1 encoding a GPI-anchored protein suppresses sterility of the STRIPAK mutant ΔSmmob3 in the filamentous ascomycete Sordaria macrospora.

The striatin interacting phosphatase and kinase (STRIPAK) complex, which is composed of striatin, protein phosphatase PP2A and kinases, is required for fruiting-body development and cell fusion in the filamentous ascomycete Sordaria macrospora. Here, we report on the interplay of the glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored protein SmGPI1 with the kinase activator SmMOB3, a core component of human and fungal STRIPAK complexes. SmGPI1 is conserved among filamentous ascomycetes and was first identified in a yeast two-hybrid screen using SmMOB3 as bait.

New conserved structural fields for supercooled liquids.

By considering Voronoi tessellations of the configurations of a fluid, we propose two new conserved fields, which provide structural information not fully accounted for by the usual 2-point density correlation functions. One of these fields is scalar and associated with the volume of the Voronoi cell, whereas the other one, termed the "geometric polarisation", is vectorial and related to the local anisotropy of the configurations. We study the static and dynamical properties of these fields in the supercooled regime of a model glass-forming liquid.

Full genome sequences and preliminary molecular characterization of three tick-borne encephalitis virus strains isolated from ticks and a bank vole in Slovak Republic.

The full genome sequences of three tick-borne encephalitis virus strains, two isolated from Ixodes ricinus ticks and one from the brain of a bank vole, Myodes glareolus, originating from the Slovak Republic were determined. Nucleotide sequences were found to be very similar (>99.5 % nt-identity) with only one distinct amino acid (aa) difference to each other.

Complete Genome Sequence of Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus Strain A104 Isolated from a Yellow-Necked Mouse (Apodemus flavicollis) in Austria.

Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) strain A104 was isolated from the brain of a yellow-necked mouse in Austria in 1990. The complete genome sequence was 11,097 nucleotides long. Comparison with TBEV prototype strain Neudoerfl showed 32 amino acid exchanges and the absence of an internal poly(A) stretch within the 3' noncoding region.