Investigation of plastic deformation heterogeneities in duplex steel by EBSD

An EBSD analysis of a duplex steel (austeno-ferritic) deformed in tension up to fracture is presented. The main purpose of the paper is to describe, qualitatively and quantitatively, the differences in the behavior of the two phases during plastic deformation. In order to do so, several topological maps are measured on the deformed state using the electron backscatter diffraction technique. Distributions of grain size, misorientation, image quality factor and texture are then analyzed in detail.International audienceAn EBSD analysis of a duplex steel (austeno-ferritic) deformed in tension up to fracture is presented. The main purpose of the paper is to describe, qualitatively and quantitatively, the differences in the behavior of the two phases during plastic deformation. In order to do so, several topological maps are measured on the deformed state using the electron backscatter diffraction technique. Distributions of grain size, misorientation, image quality factor and texture are then analyzed in detail

Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide Rhythms Are Circadian Clock Controlled and Differentially Directed by Behavioral Signals

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier (Cell Press).Daily rhythms in animal physiology are driven by endogenous circadian clocks in part through rest-activity and feeding-fasting cycles. Here, we examined principles that govern daily respiration. We monitored oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide release, as well as tissue oxygenation in freely moving animals to specifically dissect the role of circadian clocks and feeding time on daily respiration. We found that daily rhythms in oxygen and carbon dioxide are clock controlled and that time-restricted feeding restores their rhythmicity in clock-deficient mice. Remarkably, day-time feeding dissociated oxygen rhythms from carbon dioxide oscillations, whereby oxygen followed activity, and carbon dioxide was shifted and aligned with food intake. In addition, changes in carbon dioxide levels altered clock gene expression and phase shifted the clock. Collectively, our findings indicate that oxygen and carbon dioxide rhythms are clock controlled and feeding regulated and support a potential role for carbon dioxide in phase resetting peripheral clocks upon feeding.British Heart FoundationEuropean Research CouncilEuropean Union, Seventh Framework Program, Marie Curie Action

Morphological and ultrasound features of liver fibrosis in children with autoimmune hepatitis

Aim. To study the ultrasound peculiarities of the liver parenchyma stiffness in children with autoimmune hepatitis by shear wave elastography comparing with the results of liver biopsy morphological investigation. Materials and methods. 40 children with autoimmune hepatitis were examined during the period of 2015–2018. All children were provided with a complex of laboratory tests according to the protocol, shear wave elastography of the liver and a puncture biopsy of the liver. The disease activity was ranged with the histological index of activity (IHA) according to Knodell by the results of a morphological study of liver biopsy and biochemical parameters (alanine aminotransferase, total bilirubin, gamma globulin, immunoglobulin G). The stage of the disease was estimated by the METAVIR histological index (HIS) and semi-quantitative elastography of the parenchyma shift wave. A comparison of the relationship between the histological activity of hepatitis and the parameters of the liver stiffness has been made. The changes in 23 children with hypertension were investigated in dynamics of liver stiffness (after 6 and 12 months of treatment). Result. A progressive fibrosis was diagnosed in 72.5 % (n = 29) (METAVIR F2) (χ2 = 16.2; P < 0.001 between the group of children with F1-2 and F3-4 METAVIR). The ROC analysis showed that, the optimal “cut-off point” for the diagnosis of F3 METAVIR fibrosis was the stiffness index of 9.4 kPa, and for F4 METAVIR – 13.0 kPa. Hepatitis activity influenced the stiffness of the liver parenchyma – with a decrease in the activity of the inflammatory process decreased and the rigidity of the liver parenchyma (P > 0.05). Conclusions. In 50 % of children with autoimmune hepatitis, the stage of fibrosis, which was determined by the method of elastography before treatment, corresponded to the data of the morphological study of liver biopsy. The activity of hepatitis affects the liver parenchyma stiffness, with the decrease of inflammatory process activity this index also decreases. The conducted research showed that in the process of treatment (anti-fibrotic and immunosuppressive therapy), after 6 and 12 months, the parameters of liver parenchyma severity decrease significantly (P < 0.05)

High self-selection of Ukrainian refugees into Europe: Evidence from Kraków and Vienna

Almost eight million Ukrainians have fled their country to escape the Russian full-scale invasion. To provide empirical evidence on how beneficiaries of temporary protection who reside in the immediate proximity of Ukraine differ from those who went further and reside in Western European countries, two large-scale rapid-response surveys were conducted in Kraków, Poland, and Vienna, Austria, in spring 2022. Data include information on socio-demographic characteristics, human capital, and return intentions of 472 and 1,094 adult Ukrainian refugees in Poland and Austria, respectively. Contributing to the growing empirical evidence on consistent assortative patterns in refugee inflows into Europe, our findings show that regularities in patterns of self-selection also occur in forced migration contexts where legal routes to safety apply. According to the analysed convenience sample, a tentative conclusion is that the further Ukrainian refugees moved to the West, the more self-selected they tend to be in the key dimensions of formal educational attainment, previous employment, language skills, and urbanity. Results indicate that willingness to stay in Kraków is significantly lower than willingness to remain in Vienna. This suggests that public financial support and living conditions, rather than diaspora networks, are decisive factors in shaping the decision to stay, move to another location or return to Ukraine. The aim to start a new life elsewhere may drive the motivation to choose a more distant destination instead of a neighboring country that allows to return rather quickly. Host countries should be aware of these specific characteristics of their refugee populations and adapt their integration policies accordingly

Мозговой нейротрофический фактор и его низкомолекулярные миметики

A literature overview on the structure and physiological effects of the Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has been carried out. Particular attention was paid to the involvement of BDNF in the pathogenesis of depression and approaches to its low-molecular mimetics design.Проведён обзор литературы по структуре и физиологическим эффектам мозгового нейротрофического фактора (BDNF). Особое внимание уделено вовлечённости BDNF в патогенез депрессии и подходам к конструированию его низкомолекулярных миметиков

Challenges in QCD matter physics - The Compressed Baryonic Matter experiment at FAIR

Substantial experimental and theoretical efforts worldwide are devoted to explore the phase diagram of strongly interacting matter. At LHC and top RHIC energies, QCD matter is studied at very high temperatures and nearly vanishing net-baryon densities. There is evidence that a Quark-Gluon-Plasma (QGP) was created at experiments at RHIC and LHC. The transition from the QGP back to the hadron gas is found to be a smooth cross over. For larger net-baryon densities and lower temperatures, it is expected that the QCD phase diagram exhibits a rich structure, such as a first-order phase transition between hadronic and partonic matter which terminates in a critical point, or exotic phases like quarkyonic matter. The discovery of these landmarks would be a breakthrough in our understanding of the strong interaction and is therefore in the focus of various high-energy heavy-ion research programs. The Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) experiment at FAIR will play a unique role in the exploration of the QCD phase diagram in the region of high net-baryon densities, because it is designed to run at unprecedented interaction rates. High-rate operation is the key prerequisite for high-precision measurements of multi-differential observables and of rare diagnostic probes which are sensitive to the dense phase of the nuclear fireball. The goal of the CBM experiment at SIS100 (sqrt(s_NN) = 2.7 - 4.9 GeV) is to discover fundamental properties of QCD matter: the phase structure at large baryon-chemical potentials (mu_B > 500 MeV), effects of chiral symmetry, and the equation-of-state at high density as it is expected to occur in the core of neutron stars. In this article, we review the motivation for and the physics programme of CBM, including activities before the start of data taking in 2022, in the context of the worldwide efforts to explore high-density QCD matter.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures. Published in European Physical Journal

Сравнительный анализ активации пострецепторных сигнальных путей димерными дипептидными миметиками разных петель NGF

On culture of hippocampal HT-22 cells line it is shown that dimeric dipeptide mimetiks of different Loops of NGF realize their action via specific neurotrophic TrkA-receptor and selective activate post-receptor intracellular signal ways. Mimetiks of 1th (GK-6 (10-6M)) and the 3rd Loops (GTS-115 ((10-6M)) evoke activation of two main signal cascades - PI3/Akt and MAP/Erk, while mimetic the 4th loop of NGF (GK-2 (10-8M)) only one - a PI3/Akt-way.На культуре гиппокампальных клеток линии НТ-22 показано, что димерные дипептидные миметики разных петель NGF осуществляют своё действие через специфический нейротрофиновый TrkA-рецептор и относительно избирательно активируют пострецепторные сигнальные пути. Миметики 1-й (ГК-6 (10-6М)) и 3-й петли ГТС-115 ((10-6М)) вызывают активацию двух основных сигнальных каскадов - PI3/Akt и MAP/Erk, в то время как миметик 4-й петли NGF ГК-2 (10-8М)) только одного - Pß/Akt-пути

Predicting drug pharmacokinetics and effect in vascularized tumors using computer simulation

In this paper, we investigate the pharmacokinetics and effect of doxorubicin and cisplatin in vascularized tumors through two-dimensional simulations. We take into account especially vascular and morphological heterogeneity as well as cellular and lesion-level pharmacokinetic determinants like P-glycoprotein (Pgp) efflux and cell density. To do this we construct a multi-compartment PKPD model calibrated from published experimental data and simulate 2-h bolus administrations followed by 18-h drug washout. Our results show that lesion-scale drug and nutrient distribution may significantly impact therapeutic efficacy and should be considered as carefully as genetic determinants modulating, for example, the production of multidrug-resistance protein or topoisomerase II. We visualize and rigorously quantify distributions of nutrient, drug, and resulting cell inhibition. A main result is the existence of significant heterogeneity in all three, yielding poor inhibition in a large fraction of the lesion, and commensurately increased serum drug concentration necessary for an average 50% inhibition throughout the lesion (the IC50 concentration). For doxorubicin the effect of hypoxia and hypoglycemia (“nutrient effect”) is isolated and shown to further increase cell inhibition heterogeneity and double the IC50, both undesirable. We also show how the therapeutic effectiveness of doxorubicin penetration therapy depends upon other determinants affecting drug distribution, such as cellular efflux and density, offering some insight into the conditions under which otherwise promising therapies may fail and, more importantly, when they will succeed. Cisplatin is used as a contrast to doxorubicin since both published experimental data and our simulations indicate its lesion distribution is more uniform than that of doxorubicin. Because of this some of the complexity in predicting its therapeutic efficacy is mitigated. Using this advantage, we show results suggesting that in vitro monolayer assays using this drug may more accurately predict in vivo performance than for drugs like doxorubicin. The nonlinear interaction among various determinants representing cell and lesion phenotype as well as therapeutic strategies is a unifying theme of our results. Throughout it can be appreciated that macroscopic environmental conditions, notably drug and nutrient distributions, give rise to considerable variation in lesion response, hence clinical resistance. Moreover, the synergy or antagonism of combined therapeutic strategies depends heavily upon this environment