Diabetic retinopathy: history, modern approaches to management, prospective views of prevention and treatment

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a serious complication of diabetes mellitus (DM). As DR progresses, it could be complicated with a significant decrease or complete loss of vision. It is the leading cause of blindness in the working-age population and, according to global estimates, occurs in one in every three patients with diabetes. DR has been studied for more than 160 years, and the implementation of retinal laser coagulation into clinical practice in the 20th century, and then vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitors in the 21th century, allowed us to influence vascular proliferation in DR and reduce the risk of vision loss from diabetic macular oedema (DME). However, these tools can only stop the progression of DR at the stages with risk of complications with vision loss, and prevention – screenings and the impact on risk factors (hyperglycaemia, arterial hypertension, and dyslipidemia) – remains as the main method of management of DR. Possible new risk factors (hypodynamy, obesity, body weight deficiency, and obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome) attract a lot of attention, and there is ongoing research for early markers of DR in the fundus, which could allow more active influence on the pathological process in its early stages. This review focuses on epidemiology, history of research, proven and possible risk factors, and current and promising approaches to the prevention and treatment of DR, including accurate, less traumatic laser techniques (PASCAL, NAVILAS, and D-MPL), and intravitreal antiangiogenic drugs in studies

On the issue of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the combustion of organic fuels

Relevance. Russia has ratified the Paris Climate Agreement. However, European legislation is ambiguously aimed at extracting its own benefits in the current international relations, especially during the period of sanctions against Russia. Expectation of introduction of a carbon tax on the products and services of industry organizations requires a comprehensive analysis of the situation in the field of technology and technologies that contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Aim. Study of approaches and technologies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions that stimulate the environmentally friendly production of thermal and electrical energy; identification of promising and affordable greenhouse gas condensation technology for domestic energy and features of its application. Object. The list of greenhouse gases was established by the Kyoto Protocol in 1996. The main of greenhouse gases for the energy sector are emissions of carbon dioxide generated by burning fuel in generating heat and electricity. Methods. Analysis of literature data on technologies for utilization of greenhouse gases, the possibilities of its use and reduction of emissions. Analytical calculations were performed to assess the effectiveness of carbon dioxide condensation technology. Results. The authors have carried out the analysis of literature data on regulatory requirements, UN recommendations and aspects of greenhouse gas utilization. They established a promising and affordable technology of greenhouse gas condensation in order to capture and absorb carbon dioxide during fuel combustion when producing thermal and electrical energy. The paper introduces the economic assessment of the costs of purchasing sorbents and the possibility of their extraction and conclusions on the utopian of the tasks of the Paris Climate Agreement

Observation of the Cabibbo-suppressed decay Xi_c+ -> p K- pi+

We report the first observation of the Cabibbo-suppressed charm baryon decay Xi_c+ -> p K- pi+. We observe 150 +- 22 events for the signal. The data were accumulated using the SELEX spectrometer during the 1996-1997 fixed target run at Fermilab, chiefly from a 600 GeV/c Sigma- beam. The branching fractions of the decay relative to the Cabibbo-favored Xi_c+ -> Sigma+ K- pi+ and Xi_c+ -> X- pi+ pi+ are measured to be B(Xi_c+ -> p K- pi+)/B(Xi_c+ -> Sigma+ K- pi+) = 0.22 +- 0.06 +- 0.03 and B(Xi_c+ -> p K- pi+)/B(Xi_c+ -> X- pi+ pi+) = 0.20 +- 0.04 +- 0.02, respectively.Comment: 5 pages, RevTeX, 3 figures (postscript), Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Efficiency of Finding Muon Track Trigger Primitives in CMS Cathode Strip Chambers

In the CMS Experiment, muon detection in the forward direction is accomplished by cathode strip chambers~(CSC). These detectors identify muons, provide a fast muon trigger, and give a precise measurement of the muon trajectory. There are 468 six-plane CSCs in the system. The efficiency of finding muon trigger primitives (muon track segments) was studied using~36 CMS CSCs and cosmic ray muons during the Magnet Test and Cosmic Challenge~(MTCC) exercise conducted by the~CMS experiment in~2006. In contrast to earlier studies that used muon beams to illuminate a very small chamber area ($< \! 0.01$~m$^2$), results presented in this paper were obtained by many installed CSCs operating {\em in situ} over an area of $\approx \! 23$~m$^2$ as a part of the~CMS experiment. The efficiency of finding 2-dimensional trigger primitives within 6-layer chambers was found to be~$99.93 \pm 0.03\%$. These segments, found by the CSC electronics within $800$~ns after the passing of a muon through the chambers, are the input information for the Level-1 muon trigger and, also, are a necessary condition for chambers to be read out by the Data Acquisition System

A reafferent and feed-forward model of song syntax generation in the Bengalese finch

Adult Bengalese finches generate a variable song that obeys a distinct and individual syntax. The syntax is gradually lost over a period of days after deafening and is recovered when hearing is restored. We present a spiking neuronal network model of the song syntax generation and its loss, based on the assumption that the syntax is stored in reafferent connections from the auditory to the motor control area. Propagating synfire activity in the HVC codes for individual syllables of the song and priming signals from the auditory network reduce the competition between syllables to allow only those transitions that are permitted by the syntax. Both imprinting of song syntax within HVC and the interaction of the reafferent signal with an efference copy of the motor command are sufficient to explain the gradual loss of syntax in the absence of auditory feedback. The model also reproduces for the first time experimental findings on the influence of altered auditory feedback on the song syntax generation, and predicts song- and species-specific low frequency components in the LFP. This study illustrates how sequential compositionality following a defined syntax can be realized in networks of spiking neurons

CMS physics technical design report : Addendum on high density QCD with heavy ions

Peer reviewe

Where bias begins: a snapshot of police officers’ beliefs about factors that influence the investigative interview with suspects

The aim of the current study was to obtain a snapshot of police officer’s beliefs about factors that may influence the outcome of the investigative interview with suspects. We created a 26-item survey that contained statements around three specific themes: best interview practices, confessions and interviewee vulnerabilities. Police officers (N = 101) reported their beliefs on each topic by indicating the level of agreement or disagreement with each statement. The findings indicated that this sample of officers held beliefs that were mostly consistent with the literature. However, many officers also responded in the mid-range (neither agree nor disagree) which may indicate they are open to developing literature-consistent beliefs of the topics. Understanding what officers believe about factors within the investigative interview may have implications for future training. It may also help explain why some officers do not consistently apply best practices (i.e. strong counterfactual beliefs) versus officers who reliably apply literature-consistent practices to their interviews (i.e. knowledge-consistent beliefs).This research is supported by a fellowship awarded from the Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate Program, The House of Legal Psychology (EMJD-LP) with Framework Partnership Agreement (FPA) 2013-0036 and Specific Grant Agreement (SGA) 2015-1610 awarded to Nicole Adams.Published onlin

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals &lt;1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data