Browsing by Author ""European Union (EU)" and "Horizon 2020""

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A dual colour FISH method for routine validation of sexed Bos taurus semen
(BMC Veterinary Research, 2019) Reinsalu, Olavi; Mikelsaar, Ruth; Mikelsaar, Aavo-Valdur; Hallap, Triin; Jaakma, Ülle; Padrik, Peeter; Kavak, Ants; Salumets, Andres; Kurg, Ants
Background Usage of sexed semen that allows to choose the gender of the calves, is commonly practiced in livestock industry as a profitable breeding alternative, especially in dairy farming. The flow cytometric cell sorting is the only commercially available method for bovine sperm sexing. For validation of the sexing procedure several methods have been developed including sperm fluorescence in situ hybridisation techniques. Latter usually include the use of pre-labelled nucleotides for probe synthesis which is relatively expensive approach compared to combined application of aminoallyl-dUTP and chemical binding of fluorescent dyes. Here a sex determining dual colour bovine sperm fluorescence in situ hybridisation method is presented which is considered more cost-effective technique than the previously reported approaches. Results The reliability of sex chromosome identifying probes, designed in silico, was proven on bovine metaphase plate chromosomes and through comparison with a commercially available standard method. In the dual colour FISH experiments of unsexed and sexed bovine sperm samples the hybridisation efficiency was at least 98%, whereas the determined sex ratios were not statistically different from the expected. Very few cells carried both of the sex chromosome-specific signals (less than 0.2%). Conclusions A protocol for a dual colour bovine sperm FISH method is provided which is cost-effective, simple and fast for sex determination of spermatozoa in bull semen samples.
A framework for including enhanced exposure to naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) in LCA
(The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 2016-11-22) Joyce, Peter James; Goronovski, Andrei; Tkaczyk, Alan Henry; Björklund, Anna
Despite advances in the development of impact categories for ionising radiation, the focus on artificial radionuclides produced in the nuclear fuel cycle means that the potential impacts resulting from increased exposure to naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) are still only covered to a limited degree in life cycle assessment (LCA). Here, we present a potential framework for the inclusion of the exposure routes and impact pathways particular to NORM in LCA.
A novel hypothesis for histone-to-protamine transition in Bos taurus spermatozoa
(2016) Sillaste, Gerly; Kaplinski, Lauris; Meier, Riho; Jaakma, Ülle; Eriste, Elo; Salumets, Andres
DNA compaction with protamines in sperm is essential for successful fertilization. However, a portion of sperm chromatin remains less tightly packed with histones, which genomic location and function remain unclear. We extracted and sequenced histone-associated DNA from sperm of nine ejaculates from three bulls. We found that the fraction of retained histones varied between samples, but the variance was similar between samples from the same and different individuals. The most conserved regions showed similar abundance across all samples, whereas in other regions, their presence correlated with the size of histone fraction. This may refer to gradual histone–protamine transition, where easily accessible genomic regions, followed by the less accessible regions are first substituted by protamines. Our results confirm those from previous studies that histones remain in repetitive genome elements, such as centromeres, and added new findings of histones in rRNA and SRP RNA gene clusters and indicated histone enrichment in some spermatogenesis-associated genes, but not in genes of early embryonic development. Our functional analysis revealed significant overrepresentation of cGMP-dependent protein kinase G (cGMP-PKG) pathway genes among histone-enriched genes. This pathway is known for its importance in pre-fertilization sperm events. In summary, a novel hypothesis for gradual histone-to-protamine transition in sperm maturation was proposed. We believe that histones may contribute structural information into early embryo by epigenetically modifying centromeric chromatin and other types of repetitive DNA. We also suggest that sperm histones are retained in genes needed for sperm development, maturation and fertilization, as these genes are transcriptionally active shortly prior to histone-to-protamine transition.
A speculative outlook on embryonic aneuploidy: Can molecular pathways be involved?
(2018) Tšuiko, Olga; Jatsenko, Tatjana; Parameswaran Grace, Lalit Kumar; Kurg, Ants; Vermeesch, Joris Robert; Lanner, Fredrik; Altmäe, Signe; Salumets, Andres
The journey of embryonic development starts at oocyte fertilization, which triggers a complex cascade of events and cellular pathways that guide early embryogenesis. Recent technological advances have greatly expanded our knowledge of cleavage-stage embryo development, which is characterized by an increased rate of whole-chromosome losses and gains, mixoploidy, and atypical cleavage morphokinetics. Embryonic aneuploidy significantly contributes to implantation failure, spontaneous miscarriage, stillbirth or congenital birth defects in both natural and assisted human reproduction. Essentially, early embryo development is strongly determined by maternal factors. Owing to considerable limitations associated with human oocyte and embryo research, the use of animal models is inevitable. However, cellular and molecular mechanisms driving the error-prone early stages of development are still poorly described. In this review, we describe known events that lead to aneuploidy in mammalian oocytes and preimplantation embryos. As the processes of oocyte and embryo development are rigorously regulated by multiple signal-transduction pathways, we explore the putative role of signaling pathways in genomic integrity maintenance. Based on the existing evidence from human and animal data, we investigate whether critical early developmental pathways, like Wnt, Hippo and MAPK, together with distinct DNA damage response and DNA repair pathways can be associated with embryo genomic instability, a question that has, so far, remained largely unexplored.
A Tale of Two Orthodoxies: Europe in Religious Discourses of Russia and Georgia
(Routledge, 2018) Makarychev, Andrey; Kakabadze, Shota
The article seeks to analyze discourses of two Orthodox Churches—Georgian (GOC) and Russian (ROC)—from the vantage point of their various interconnections with Europe and the ensuing representations of Europe framed in religious terms. Of particular salience are relations between ROC and GOC, on the one hand, and the Roman Catholic Church, on the other, as well as the positioning of both ROC and GOC within the global community of Orthodox Churches. The analyzed political circumstances force religious hierarchs of both institutions, even if they share the similar ambivalence toward the West, to differently reproduce the image of Europe. The broader geopolitical picture puts the GOC in the position of supporting government’s foreign policy agenda which goes in opposition to the Kremlin, in spite of the fact that the former has a lot of common with the Moscow Patriarchate when it comes to criticism toward the Western liberal value systems.
A Time for Alternative Options? Prospects for the Nordic-Baltic Security Community During the Trump Era
(Helsinki: Finnish Institute of International Affairs, 2017) McNamara, Eoin Micheál
A Two-Cohort RNA-seq Study Reveals Changes in Endometrial and Blood miRNome in Fertile and Infertile Women
(2018) Rekker, Kadri; Altmäe, Signe; Suhorutshenko, Marina; Peters, Maire; Martinez-Blanch, Juan F.; Codoñer, Francisco M.; Vilella, Felipe; Simón, Carlos; Salumets, Andres; Velthut-Meikas, Agne
The endometrium undergoes extensive changes to prepare for embryo implantation and microRNAs (miRNAs) have been described as playing a significant role in the regulation of endometrial receptivity. However, there is no consensus about the miRNAs involved in mid-secretory endometrial functions. We analysed the complete endometrial miRNome from early secretory (pre-receptive) and mid-secretory (receptive) phases from fertile women and from patients with recurrent implantation failure (RIF) to reveal differentially expressed (DE) miRNAs in the mid-secretory endometrium. Furthermore, we investigated whether the overall changes during early to mid-secretory phase transition and with RIF condition could be reflected in blood miRNA profiles. In total, 116 endometrial and 114 matched blood samples collected from two different population cohorts were subjected to small RNA sequencing. Among fertile women, 91 DE miRNAs were identified in the mid-secretory vs. early secretory endometrium, while no differences were found in the corresponding blood samples. The comparison of mid-secretory phase samples between fertile and infertile women revealed 21 DE miRNAs from the endometrium and one from blood samples. Among discovered novel miRNAs, chr2_4401 was validated and showed up-regulation in the mid-secretory endometrium. Besides novel findings, we confirmed the involvement of miR-30 and miR-200 family members in mid-secretory endometrial functions.
Aberrant expression of genes associated with stemness and cancer in endometria and endometrioma in a subset of women with endometriosis
(2018) Ponandai-Srinivasan, Sakthivignesh; Andersson, Karin L; Nister, Monica; Saare, Merli; Hassan, Halima A; Varghese, Suby J; Peters, Maire; Salumets, Andres; Gemzell-Danielsson, Kristina; Lalitkumar, Parameswaran Grace Luther
STUDY QUESTION Is there molecular evidence for a link between endometriosis and endometriosis-associated ovarian cancers (EAOC)? STUDY ANSWER We identified aberrant gene expression signatures associated with malignant transformation in a small subgroup of women with ovarian endometriosis. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY Epidemiological studies have shown an increased risk of EAOC in women with ovarian endometriosis. However, the cellular and molecular changes leading to EAOC are largely unexplored. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION CD73+CD90+CD105+ multipotent stem cells/progenitors (SC cohort) were isolated from endometrium (n = 18) and endometrioma (n = 11) of endometriosis patients as well as from the endometrium of healthy women (n = 14). Extensive phenotypic and functional analyses were performed in vitro on expanded multipotent stem cells/progenitors to confirm their altered characteristics. Aberrant gene signatures were also validated in paired-endometrium and -endometrioma tissue samples from another cohort (Tissue cohort, n = 19) of endometriosis patients. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTINGS, METHODS Paired-endometrial and -endometriotic biopsies were obtained from women with endometriosis (ASRM stage III–IV) undergoing laparoscopic surgery. Control endometria were obtained from healthy volunteers. Isolated CD73+CD90+CD105+ SC were evaluated for the presence of known endometrial surface markers, colony forming efficiency, multi-lineage differentiation, cell cycle distribution and 3D-spheroid formation capacity. Targeted RT-PCR arrays, along with hierarchical and multivariate clustering tools, were used to determine both intergroup and intragroup gene expression variability for stem cell and cancer-associated markers, in both SC+ and tissue cohorts. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE Isolated and expanded SC+ from both control and patient groups showed significantly higher surface expression of W5C5+, clonal expansion and 3D-spheroid formation capacity (P < 0.05) compared with SC−. The SC+ cells also undergo mesenchymal lineage differentiation, unlike SC−. Gene expression from paired-endometriosis samples showed significant downregulation of PTEN, ARID1A and TNFα (P < 0.05) in endometrioma compared with paired-endometrium SC+ samples. Hierarchical and multivariate clustering from both SC+ and tissue cohorts together identified 4 out of 30 endometrioma samples with aberrant expression of stem cell and cancer-associated genes, such as KIT, HIF2α and E-cadherin, altered expression ratio of ER-β/ER-α and downregulation of tumour suppressor genes (PTEN and ARID1A). Thus, we speculate that above changes may be potentially relevant to the development of EAOC. LARGE-SCALE DATA N/A. LIMITATIONS, REASON FOR CAUTION As the reported frequency of EAOC is very low, we did not have access to those samples in our study. Moreover, by adopting a targeted gene array approach, we might have missed several other potentially-relevant genes associated with EAOC pathogenesis. The above panel of markers should be further validated in archived tissue samples from women with endometriosis who later in life developed EAOC. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS Knowledge gained from this study, with further confirmation on EAOC cases, may help in developing screening methods to identify women with increased risk of EAOC. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S) The study is funded by the Swedish Research Council (2012-2844), a joint grant from Stockholm County and Karolinska Institutet (ALF), RGD network at Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska Institutet for doctoral education (KID), Estonian Ministry of Education and Research (IUT34-16), Enterprise Estonia (EU48695), Horizon 2020 innovation program (WIDENLIFE, 692065), European Union’s FP7 Marie Curie Industry-Academia Partnerships and Pathways funding (IAPP, SARM, EU324509) and MSCA-RISE-2015 project MOMENDO (691058). All authors have no competing interest.
Assessment of NORM in bauxite residue to facilitate valorization
(2nd Bauxite Residue Valorisation and Best Practices Conference, 2018) Goronovski, Andrei; Tkaczyk, Alan H.
In the new Euratom Basic Safety Standard (BSS), materials with elevated concentrations of natural radionuclides can be considered as a potential source of radiological exposure. Such materials are often found in mining and metal extractive industries, where natural radionuclides are likely to end up and accumulate in the residue streams. Radiological assessment of the produced residues is a first and often sufficient step to demonstrate worker safety against radiological exposure. Bauxite Residue (BR) is an example of a material which has an elevated natural radionuclide concentration. BR used in this work is coming from Greece and was assessed to be below the BSS reference levels and therefore does not pose a significant risk of elevated radiological exposure. The processing of BR might result in further radionuclide accumulation in secondary residues, which also should be characterized to demonstrate the radiological safety of workers. In this work, the radiological properties of the residues produced after applying different extractive techniques for the recovery of iron, alumina and Rare Earth Elements (REE) were examined. All the analyzed samples were produced at the laboratory scale. The results suggest that for these residues, there is no significant radionuclide accumulation which would cause potentially elevated radiological exposure.
Authoritarianism and corporatism in the Baltics
(Routledge, 2017) Kasekamp, Andres
Balancing between consolidation and cartel. The effects of party law in Estonia.
(Routledge, 2017) Pettai, Vello
Over the last decade the institutionalist study of political parties has taken a new turn. The turn has been toward the in-depth study of party law and party regulation. Such institutions ostensibly operate as uniform determinants of behavior, regardless of population size. Hence, the case of Estonia, while being small in size and population, is interesting because it has been one of the more successful post-communist party systems to consolidate over the last 20 years. The argument in this chapter is therefore that this outcome has been a combination of increasing regulation in five particular domains: constitutional provisions, electoral rules, party registration requirements, parliamentary rules, and party finance. These are profiled as they appear across a chronological overview of changes in party law and party regulation over the last 20 years.
Baltic Perspectives on the Ukraine Crisis: Europeanization in the Shadow of Insecurity
(Foundation for Good Politics, 2018) Vilson, Maili
This article reviews the policy positions of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania with respect to the Ukraine crisis – the biggest foreign policy challenge for the Baltic states since they regained independence. Ukraine dominated the Baltic foreign policy agenda from the outbreak of the crisis, because it touched upon a dimension of existential threat for the Baltic countries. While giving an overview of the main policy domains where the effect of the Ukraine crisis could be observed, this article demonstrates that the three Baltic countries adopted a comprehensive approach to security and foreign policymaking, underlining cooperation both at a national and European level. In light of this, the Ukraine crisis can be seen as a maturity test for postindependence Baltic foreign policy.
The Baltic Sea Region: practising security at the overlap of the European and the post-Soviet society of states
(2016) Linsenmaier, Thomas
The chapter ‘The Baltic Sea Region: Practicing Security at the Overlap of the European and the Post-Soviet Society of States’ puts forward an interpretative framework for understanding the political dynamics currently on display in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR). It does so from the perspective of the English School of International Relations, approaching the BSR as a particular sub-set of relations, a borderland, in the wider interplay between the European and the post-Soviet regional international society. Given Russia’s presence as the ‘Other within’, events occurring in the wider constellation, such as the conflict in Ukraine, affect also Baltic Sea regionalism and the security constellation in the area. With ambiguity over Russia’s normative outlook resolved, the patterns of regional differentiation cutting across the BSR become manifest. Cooperative frameworks in the area have come under strain and patterns of securitisation increasingly diverge along the regional divide. Drawing on the conceptual apparatus of the English School, the chapter suggests understanding security practice in the BSR before the background of the interplay of two regional international societies, the European and the post-Soviet regional international society.
Belarus’s Asymmetric Relations with Russia: the Case of Strategic Hedging?
(University of Tartu Press, 2017) Preiherman, Yauheni
Belarus is a country with a commonly misunderstood foreign policy, which cannot be grasped by the classic bandwagoning-balancing dichotomy. The paper argues that under the conditions of deeply embedded geostrategic asymmetries and with a view to by-passing structural restrictions of its foreign policy, Belarus pursues strategic hedging, in particular in its relations with Russia.
Between Trump's America and Putin's Russia: Nordic-Baltic Security Relations amid Transatlantic Drift
(Royal Irish Academy, 2017) McNamara, Eoin Micheál
With the ‘return of geopolitics’ in Europe signalled in earnest by Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, this article examines the implications of DonaldTrump’s unpredictable US security policy for regional security in Northern Europe. While Trump’s public rhetoric chastising NATO creates uncertainties for Europe’s security, his administration’s policy has remained committed to NATO’s deterrence efforts. Against initial expectations for US-Russia rapprochementbased on realpolitik during the Trump era, controversies and the administration’s security policy actions have brought some unexpected discord in relations with Russia. A realist ‘grand bargain’ between Moscow and Washington that marginalises Nordic and Baltic security interests has become a remote prospect. Despite these reprieves, enhanced Nordic-Baltic security and defence cooperation is increasingly necessary. Overcoming occasional divergence in strategic preferences for effective military cooperation will ensure that the Nordic and Baltic states can strengthen regional deterrence and improve political relations with the Trump administration in an era of possible ‘transatlantic drift’.
Beyond Geopolitics: Russian Soft Power, Conservatism, and Biopolitics
(Brill’s publications, 2018) Makarychev, Andrey
This article offers a new approach to Russian foreign policy under Putin’s presidency as shifting from its ‘soft power’ model to what might be characterized through the prism of biopower. The author discusses the various meanings attached to the concept of attraction, and scrutinises the biopolitical turn in Russia as a domestic phenomenon and as a key element of Russia’s power projection abroad. It is argued that biopolitics as a power instrument can play different roles – it can be a tool to construct Russian national (and simultaneously imperial) identity and to distinguish Russia from the West, and channel for communication with conservative forces across the globe.
Biopolitical art and the struggle for Sovereignty in Putin’s Russia. Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern
(Routledge, 2019) Makarychev, Andrey; Medvedev, Sergey
This article addresses the public appeal of political actionism in today’s Russia through analysis of the political art of Pyotr Pavlensky. The research uses the methodological paradigm of biopower and biopolitics, as outlined by Michel Foucault and further critically developed by Giorgio Agamben, since it helps to better understand both the oppressive nature of the Russian state, and the protest art of Pavlensky. The article seeks to unpack the struggle for the human body that has started in Russia in recent years, with the state imposing its normalizing and regulatory mechanisms upon private lives and corporeal practices of individuals, and people’s responses by re-claiming their bodies, from an open public discussion of sexuality, domestic violence and gender equality, to the radical exposure of the body by artists like Pavlensky. As the argument goes, the centerpiece of political controversy is not just the battle for the human body, but a battle for sovereignty, defining the limits of state intervention, the borders of the political community and the rights of the individual. The article asks a number of questions: how Pavlensky’s performances can be explained within the framework of the biopolitical regime of Putin’s rule? Whether Pavlensky’s use of his own body for political purposes (a “biopolitical art’ of sorts) is a response to the increased biopolitical intervention of the Russian state that has marked Putin’s third term in office? Why did political protest become corporeal? How does the individual body turn into a tool for political contestation and how does it embody collective meanings? How the politicization of the body transpires, and how an individual body can incarnate a collective body of nation?
Biopolitical conservatism and “pastoral power”: a Russia – Georgia meeting point.
(Tbilisi: Georgian Institute of Politics., 2017) Makarychev, Andrey
The paper applies the concept of biopolitics to the analysis of Russia's relations with Georgia. It highlights the centrality of Orthodoxy for Russia's "soft power" and religious diplomacy.
Biopolitics and national identities: between liberalism and totalization
(Routledge, 2017) Makarychev, Andrey
This is an introductory article to the special cluster on the biopolitical reading of nation-building in post-Soviet countries. The authors explain the advatnages of using the biopolitical approach to countries with hybrid identities, and discuss the totalizing potential of biopolitical narratives
Biopolitics and Russian Studies: An Introduction
(Brill’s publications, 2018) Makarychev, Andrey
This introductory article explains how the concept of biopolitics can be used as an analytical tool in the sphere of Russian studies. The author elucidates different approaches to the idea of biopolitics in contemporary political philosophy, and relates the extant theoretical debate to the ongoing political and academic discussions on power and identity in Russia, both from domestic and international perspectives. He claims that biopolitical vocabulary is a nuanced cognitive instrument for unpacking a plethora of social and cultural dimensions inherent to relations of power, and further conceptualizing the specificity of post-Soviet illiberal regimes.