Protocol for Seahorse Analysis of Ex Vivo Mouse Brown and White Adipose Tissues

The mitochondrial stress test is a gold-standard approach for assessing adipose tissue physiological functions and pathological changes. Here, we present a protocol for conducting Seahorse assays using ex vivo mouse brown and white adipose depots. We describe steps for rehydrating the cartridge, preparing freshly harvested fat depots, placing them onto an islet capture plate, and incubating them in a non-CO2 incubator. We then detail procedures for adding mitochondrial stressor solutions and conducting the mitochondrial stress test using the Seahorse XFe24 Analyzer. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to An et al.1

Non-Markovian effect on the quantum discord

We study the non-Markovian effect on the dynamics of the quantum discord by exactly solving a model consisting of two independent qubits subject to two zero-temperature non-Markovian reservoirs, respectively. Considering the two qubits initially prepared in Bell-like or extended Werner-like states, we show that there is no occurrence of the sudden death, but only instantaneous disappearance of the quantum discord at some time points, in comparison to the entanglement sudden death in the same range of the parameters of interest. It implies that the quantum discord is more useful than the entanglement to describe quantum correlation involved in quantum systems.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Текущее управление отходамив банках 11 азиатских стран и ESG-отчетность Сбербанка

The relevance of the topic lies in the fact that the level of competitiveness of a bank in waste management will have an increasing impact on its ESG ratings in the future. The purpose of this paper is to improve waste management in a bank (mainly faulty office equipment and paper waste). However, not all banks use active management methods in waste management, so this article offers recommendations for the successful management of key indicators. The article uses data on waste from banks in Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Kuwait, India, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the UAE, and Vietnam. The objectives of the study include: identification of the essence of the competitiveness of waste management in a bank; consideration of the types of competitiveness of waste management; assessment of the impact of blockchain technology on the competitiveness of waste management; assessment of minimizing waste management costs in a bank. A method for waste composition and waste export based on statistical analysis and a regression model. It used data about the current waste management activities of a bank. This study uses data from an annual time series covering the period from 2013 to 2021. The results of the study confirm that the problem of electronic waste of banks in Asia can be solved by increasing financing and a complete analysis of bank waste. There are points of novelty in the article: (1) the essence of the competitiveness of waste management in a bank is determined, which consists in the recycling of most waste and not in their disposal; (2) the ideas of the competitiveness of waste management are considered in Sberbank; (3) the impact of blockchain technology on the competitiveness of waste management in banks is assessed; (4) an assessment of the competitiveness of waste management in a commercial bank is given. In order to better understand the factors influencing the production of e-waste in the region, the study focuses on the significance of addressing the rising problem of e-waste in Asia and the need for better collection and analysis of waste data in a bank. The main conclusion is the need to recycle waste and increase recycling costs in the future, which is the most environmentally friendly option compared to incineration.Актуальность темы заключается в возрастающей роли ESG-рейтингов кредитных организаций, на которые может оказать отрицательное влияние уровень управления отходами в банках. Цель исследования — разработка рекомендаций по улучшению управления отходами в кредитных организациях (в основном это неисправная офисная техника и бумажные отходы). Использованы данные по управлению отходами банков в таких странах, как Бангладеш, Китай, Индонезия, Кувейт, Индия, Малайзия, Непал, Пакистан, Шри-Ланка, ОАЭ, Вьетнам. задачи исследования: выявить сущность конкурентоспособности управления отходами в банке; рассмотреть виды конкурентоспособности управления отходами; оценить влияние технологии блокчейн на конкурентоспособность управления отходами; оценить минимизацию затрат на управление отходами в банке. Применяется метод, основанный на регрессионной модели и статистическом анализе композиции отходов и экспорта отходов. Используются данные годовых временных рядов, охватывающих период с 2013 по 2021 г. Результаты исследования подтверждают, что проблема электронных отходов кредитных организаций в Азии может быть решена за счет повышения финансирования и полного анализа данных по отходам банков. Новизна исследования состоит в следующем: (1) определена сущность конкурентоспособности управления отходами в банках, которая состоит во вторичной переработке большинства отходов, а не в их утилизации; (2) рассмотрены виды конкурентоспособности обращения с отходами в Сбербанке; (3) оценено влияние технологии блокчейн на конкурентоспособность управления отходами в банках; (4) дана оценка конкурентоспособности управления отходами в банках. В исследовании подчеркивается важность решения растущей проблемы электронных отходов в Азии и необходимость более полного сбора и анализа данных об отходах в банках для лучшего понимания факторов, определяющих образование электронных отходов в регионе. Сделан вывод о необходимости переработки отходов и повышения расходов на их переработку в будущем, что является наиболее экологичным вариантом по сравнению со сжиганием

Анализ финансовой эффективности энергетических проектов и производства возобновляемой энергии в России

The authors study the development of the oil and gas industry and assess the financial efficiency of the use of renewable energy sources, which determine the relevance of the research topic. The purpose of this work is to study the effectiveness of the development of the Russian energy sector and its contribution to the world economy. The main question to which this article should give an answer is that how the Russian power industry will develop in corresponding to the global trends in energy consumption. This paper uses a method for finding the parameters of the efficiency of renewable energy sources using exponential smoothing. The paper uses data from the analytical report of British Petroleum and the Bloomberg system for the period from January 2012 to December 2019. The result of the study shows an improvement in the accuracy of the predicted values, while previous models had higher standard error estimates. The novelty of the study is to achieve accurate results of the forecast of fossil-fuel consumption for 3 years ahead (the forecast accuracy is 80.5). The article concludes that while Russian oil and gas projects are very important for the Russian economy until now, renewable energy projects are more beneficial. In addition, Russia does not seem to support the global trend towards a renewable and sustainable economy. Although oil and gas prices remain acceptable, unforeseen changes in the behavior of real buyers can hinder the efficiency of the Russian economy and lead to a disruption of Russia’s economic growth if Russia does not decisively steer towards renewable energy from now on. The growth of the Russian power industry corresponds to the global trends in fossil energy consumption (while fossil prices, thus incomes keep worsening), and thus innovative solutions for enhancing renewable energies must be adopted. The article proves that many pipeline projects (South Stream, Turkish Stream, Nord Stream 2) move the Russian energy sector back to the past because they just contradict existing trends.Авторы изучают развитие нефтегазовой отрасли и оценивают финансовую эффективность использования возобновляемых источников энергии, что определяет актуальность темы исследования. Целью данной работы является изучение эффективности развития российского энергетического сектора и его вклада в мировую экономику. Главный вопрос, на который должна дать ответ эта статья, заключается в том, как будет развиваться российская энергетика в соответствии с мировыми тенденциями потребления энергии. Авторы применяют метод параметров эффективности возобновляемых источников энергии с использованием экспоненциального сглаживания. Исследование основано на данных аналитического отчета British Petroleum и системы Bloomberg за период с января 2012 по декабрь 2019 г. В результате показано улучшение точности прогнозируемых значений, в то время как предыдущие модели имели более высокие оценки стандартной ошибки. Новизна исследования заключается в достижении точных результатов прогноза потребления ископаемого топлива на 3 года вперед (точность прогноза составляет 80,5). Сделан вывод о том, что, хотя российские нефтегазовые проекты до сих пор очень важны для российской экономики, проекты в области возобновляемых источников энергии более выгодны. Кроме того, Россия, похоже, не поддерживает глобальную тенденцию к возобновляемой и устойчивой экономике. Хотя цены на нефть и газ остаются приемлемыми, непредвиденные изменения в поведении реальных покупателей могут помешать развитию российской экономики и привести к нарушению экономического роста России, если она не будет ориентироваться на возобновляемые источники энергии. Рост российской электроэнергетики соответствует мировым тенденциям (в то время как цены на ископаемые ресурсы, следовательно, и доходы продолжают падать), и поэтому необходимо принять инновационные решения по расширению использования возобновляемых источников энергии. В статье доказано, что многие проекты («Южный поток», «Турецкий поток», «Северный поток-2») направляют российский энергетический сектор в прошлое, противореча мировым тенденциям в энергетике

Causal Mediation Analysis with Multiple Time-Varying Mediators

In longitudinal studies with time-varying exposures and mediators, the mediational g-formula is an important method for the assessment of direct and indirect effects. However, current methodologies based on the mediational g-formula can deal with only one mediator. This limitation makes these methodologies inapplicable to many scenarios. Hence, we develop a novel methodology by extending the mediational g-formula to cover cases with multiple time-varying mediators. We formulate two variants of our approach that are each suited to a distinct set of assumptions and effect definitions and present nonparametric identification results of each variant. We further show how complex causal mechanisms (whose complexity derives from the presence of multiple time-varying mediators) can be untangled. A parametric method along with a user-friendly algorithm was implemented in R software. We illustrate our method by investigating the complex causal mechanism underlying the progression of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. We found that the effects of lung function impairment mediated by dyspnea symptoms and mediated by physical activity accounted for 13.7% and 10.8% of the total effect, respectively. Our analyses thus illustrate the power of this approach, providing evidence for the mediating role of dyspnea and physical activity on the causal pathway from lung function impairment to health status

Electric Field Control of Soliton Motion and Stacking in Trilayer Graphene

The crystal structure of a material plays an important role in determining its electronic properties. Changing from one crystal structure to another involves a phase transition which is usually controlled by a state variable such as temperature or pressure. In the case of trilayer graphene, there are two common stacking configurations (Bernal and rhombohedral) which exhibit very different electronic properties. In graphene flakes with both stacking configurations, the region between them consists of a localized strain soliton where the carbon atoms of one graphene layer shift by the carbon-carbon bond distance. Here we show the ability to move this strain soliton with a perpendicular electric field and hence control the stacking configuration of trilayer graphene with only an external voltage. Moreover, we find that the free energy difference between the two stacking configurations scales quadratically with electric field, and thus rhombohedral stacking is favored as the electric field increases. This ability to control the stacking order in graphene opens the way to novel devices which combine structural and electrical properties

Band Structure Mapping of Bilayer Graphene via Quasiparticle Scattering

A perpendicular electric field breaks the layer symmetry of Bernal-stacked bilayer graphene, resulting in the opening of a band gap and a modification of the effective mass of the charge carriers. Using scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy, we examine standing waves in the local density of states of bilayer graphene formed by scattering from a bilayer/trilayer boundary. The quasiparticle interference properties are controlled by the bilayer graphene band structure, allowing a direct local probe of the evolution of the band structure of bilayer graphene as a function of electric field. We extract the Slonczewski-Weiss-McClure model tight binding parameters as $\gamma_0 = 3.1$ eV, $\gamma_1 = 0.39$ eV, and $\gamma_4 = 0.22$ eV.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure

Quantum integrability and Bethe ansatz solution for interacting matter-radiation systems

A unified integrable system, generating a new series of interacting matter-radiation models with interatomic coupling and different atomic frequencies, is constructed and exactly solved through algebraic Bethe ansatz. Novel features in Rabi oscillation and vacuum Rabi splitting are shown on the example of an integrable two-atom Buck-Sukumar model with resolution of some important controversies in the Bethe ansatz solution including its possible degeneracy for such models.Comment: Latex, 7 pages, 1 figure. Final version to be published in J Phys A (as Letter

Blood pressure and renal function responses in workers exposed to lead for up to six years

The Study for Promotion of Health in Recycling Lead (SPHERL) assessed the blood pressure (BP) and renal function (RF) responses for up to 6 years in the workers without previous occupational lead exposure. BP was the average of five consecutive readings and the estimated glomerular filtration rate was derived from serum creatinine (eGFRcrt) and cystatin C (eGFRcys). Blood lead (BL) was measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (detection limit 0.5 μg/dL). The statistical methods included multivariable-adjusted mixed models and interval-censored Cox regression analysis. The 234 workers analyzed were on average 28.5 years old and included 91.9% men. The baseline BL concentration was 4.35 μg/dL and increased 3.17-fold over follow-up (median: 2.03 years; range: 0.92–6.45 years). The changes in BP and RF were not significantly correlated with the follow-up-to-baseline BL ratio (p ≥.51 and p ≥.18, respectively). The fully-adjusted changes in systolic/diastolic BP associated with a doubling of BL were −0.25/−0.12 mm Hg (CI: −0.94 to 0.44/−0.66 to 0.42 mm Hg). Accordingly, the incidence of stage-1 or -2 hypertension was not associated with the BL change (p ≥.063). Similarly, the changes in eGFRcrt and eGFRcys associated with a 3-fold BL increment were not significant, amounting to −0.70 mL/min/1.73 m2 (CI: −1.70 to 0.30 mL/min/1.73 m2) and −1.06 mL/min/1.73 m2 (−2.16 to 0.03 mL/min/1.73 m2). In conclusion, the BP and RF responses to an over 3-fold BL increment were small and not significant confirming the safety of modern lead-handing facilities operating under current safety rules.</p