Synthesis and Properties of High Tilted Antiferroelectric Esters with Partially Fluorinated Alkoxyalkoxy Terminal Chains

Novel chiral esters with partially fluorinated alkoxyalkoxy terminal chains are described. Their phase transition temperatures, enthalpies, and electrooptical properties are reported. A helical pitch in pure compounds and their mixtures based on selective reflection of light is also characterized

The activity and immunoexpression of cathepsin D in rat male reproductive organs

Cathepsin D is a cysteine endopeptidase that belongs to the lysosomal enzyme family. The aim of the study was to evaluate the enzyme immunoexpression and activity in selected male genital organs in mature Wistar rats. The activity of cathepsin D was measured spectrophotometrically in homogenates of the testis, epididymis, seminal vesicle and prostate. Immunohistochemical staining was also performed in the ductus deferens. Enzyme activity was found in the following sequence: testis>epididymis>dorsal prostatic lobe>seminal vesicle>lateral prostatic lobe>ventral prostatic lobe. Although there were differences in enzyme activity between various organs of the male reproductive system, cathepsin D immunoreactivity was seen exclusively in the Sertoli and Leydig cells in the testis

A case of elongated styloid process in a modern-age skull from Puerto Cabello, Venezuela

Background: The styloid process (SP) arises from cartilage of the second branchial arch and tends to calcify during later life. If the length of the SP is more than 30 mm, it can be considered abnormally elongated. Clinical symptoms associated with elongation of this type are defined as Eagle’s syndrome. The paper presents a case of an elongated SP in a modern skull from Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, obtained from a series of skulls of African slaves kept at the Department of Anthropology, Polish Academy of Sciences in Wroclaw. Materials and methods: The skull belonged to a male individual, aged ca. 55 years at death (maturus). In terms of basic anthropometric features it had slightly greater facial width parameters in comparison to the cerebral part, and a shorter length of neurocranium when compared to average values of morphological features in African skulls from Uganda. Results: Further macroscopic analysis revealed the presence of an elongated SP (ca. 70.1 mm) with secondary lesions remaining after a healed fracture. Imaging of the bone structure of the elongated SP was carried out using a computed to­mography scan, with multilevel image analysis without contrast. The elongation and calcification of the left ligament in anterior orientation could have caused irritation to the structure of cranial nerves, running within the parapharyngeal space, and to sympathetic fibres running in the wall of cervical arteries. Conclusions: Analyses of craniological materials recovered during excavations or as part of old osteological collections are rare due to the fragility of this bone structure, and for that reason they may be a valuable source of information on the health status of historic human populations

Self-reduction of the native TiO2(110) surface during cooling after thermal annealing - in-operando investigations

We investigate the thermal reduction of TiO2 in ultra-high vacuum. Contrary to what is usually assumed, we observe that the maximal surface reduction occurs not during the heating, but during the cooling of the sample back to room temperature. We describe the self-reduction, which occurs as a result of differences in the energies of defect formation in the bulk and surface regions. The findings presented are based on X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy carried out in-operando during the heating and cooling steps. The presented conclusions, concerning the course of redox processes, are especially important when considering oxides for resistive switching and neuromorphic applications and also when describing the mechanisms related to the basics of operation of solid oxide fuel cells

Typology of the antegonial notch in the human mandible

Background: Surgical treatment for serious malocclusions and fractures of the organ of mastication is a golden standard in medicine. Procedures performed on the mandible require detailed knowledge of the anatomy of the organ. Antegonial notching constitutes a serious technical challenge for surgeons. Therefore, a detailed anatomical description of this structure, which is the subject of this paper, is essential. Materials and methods: We analysed 251 human Caucasian mandibles of identified sex and took measurements of all sections describing the mandibular antegonial notch. Depending on the proportion between sections we classified the shape of the antegonial notch into three types. The surface area of the notch was calculated. We analysed the dimorphic and bilateral differences for each of the three types of notch. We used variance analysis for the assessment of statistical difference. Results: The analysis revealed that in both men and women, regardless of body side, the type 3 antegonial notch was the most frequent. Type 3 occurred with a frequency of between 38% in men on the right side and 55.9% in women on the left side of the body. Type 1 was the least frequent. Dimorphic differences in the presence of individual types of antegonial notch were statistically significant only for the left side of the body. The symmetrical type (type 2) occurred more frequently in men (by 11%) than in women. Type 3 was found more frequently in women (by 10%) than in men. Bilateral differences in men were revealed for the frequencies of types 1 and 3. On the right side type 1 was more frequent (by 8%), and on the left side type 3 was also more frequent (by 8%). The greatest surface area was found for the asymmetrical posterior type (type 1). The smallest surface area was found for the asymmetrical anterior type 3. This difference was statistically significant with respect to the surface area of types 1 and type 2 and found for both sexes for both sides of the body. However, no statistically significant differences were found between the surface areas of types 1 or 2. Conclusions: Knowledge of the preangular notch anatomy can be useful for surgeons during reconstructive and plastic procedures on the body of the mandible

Thus far but no further: predatory mites do not migrate effectively into strawberry plantations

Enhancing the performance of predatory mites is often regarded as the best biological control approach towards the spider mite Tetranychus urticae, the main pest of strawberry plantations. Optimizing the colonization of plantations by predators from adjacent areas such as field margins is seen as an important component of conservation biocontrol. We have investigated the factors contributing to enhancing the numbers of predatory mites (Acari: Phytoseidae), such as management of the field margins, vegetation composition and the effect of the presence of woody species. We also tested the penetration of the phy-toseiids from the field margins into the crop. In a study carried out in 14 open-field exten-sively managed strawberry plantations in Poland we found phytoseiids to be abundant in field margins; 14 taxa were discovered. However, only two species Amblyseius andersoniand Euseius finlandicus dispersed a modest distance into the crop. We found that the diver-sity and densities of the predatory mites were enhanced somewhat by the management type of the field margins; especially the spontaneous vegetation favoured the presence of phyto-seiids. However, despite the predatory mites being rather retained in the field margins also significant reduction in numbers of their prey T. urticae was recorded over the course of the year. The low penetration of predatory mites into the main part of the field, indicates that conservation biological control measures in the field margin might not be sufficient on their own to enhance the impact of predatory mites within the main part of the fields

Ultrafast microscopy of a twisted plasmonic spin skyrmion

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the American Institute of Physics via the DOI in this recordData availability: The theoretical simulation results and experimental ITR-PEEM data are available from the authors upon request. The analytical model of topological skyrmion field textures is presented in the paper and the supplementary material.We report a transient plasmonic spin skyrmion topological quasiparticle within surface plasmon polariton vortices, which is described by analytical modeling and imaging of its formation by ultrafast interferometric time-resolved photoemission electron microscopy. Our model finds a twisted skyrmion spin texture on the vacuum side of a metal/vacuum interface and its integral opposite counterpart in the metal side. The skyrmion pair forming a hedgehog texture is associated with co-gyrating anti-parallel electric and magnetic fields, which form intense pseudoscalar E·B focus that breaks the local time-reversal symmetry and can drive magnetoelectric responses of interest to the axion physics. Through nonlinear two-photon photoemission, we record attosecond precision images of the plasmonic vectorial vortex field evolution with nanometer spatial and femtosecond temporal (nanofemto) resolution, from which we derive the twisted plasmonic spin skyrmion topological textures, their boundary, and topological charges; the modeling and experimental measurements establish a quantized integer photonic topological charge that is stable over the optical generation pulse envelope.NSF Center for Chemical Innovation on Chemistry at the Space-Time LimitONR MUR

Regularizing cosmological singularities by varying physical constants

Varying physical constant cosmologies were claimed to solve standard cosmological problems such as the horizon, the flatness and the $\Lambda$-problem. In this paper, we suggest yet another possible application of these theories: solving the singularity problem. By specifying some examples we show that various cosmological singularities may be regularized provided the physical constants evolve in time in an appropriate way.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, Revtex4-1, an improved version to appear in JCA

Genetic variability of the grey wolf Canis lupus in the Caucasus in comparison with Europe and the Middle East: distinct or intermediary population?

Despite continuous historical distribution of the grey wolf (Canis lupus) throughout Eurasia, the species displays considerable morphological differentiation that resulted in delimitation of a number of subspecies. However, these morphological discontinuities are not always consistent with patterns of genetic differentiation. Here we assess genetic distinctiveness of grey wolves from the Caucasus (a region at the border between Europe and West Asia) that have been classified as a distinct subspecies C. l. cubanensis. We analysed their genetic variability based on mtDNA control region, microsatellite loci and genome-wide SNP genotypes (obtained for a subset of the samples), and found similar or higher levels of genetic diversity at all these types of loci as compared with other Eurasian populations. Although we found no evidence for a recent genetic bottleneck, genome-wide linkage disequilibrium patterns suggest a long-term demographic decline in the Caucasian population – a trend consistent with other Eurasian populations. Caucasian wolves share mtDNA haplotypes with both Eastern European and West Asian wolves, suggesting past or ongoing gene flow. Microsatellite data also suggest gene flow between the Caucasus and Eastern Europe. We found evidence for moderate admixture between the Caucasian wolves and domestic dogs, at a level comparable with other Eurasian populations. Taken together, our results show that Caucasian wolves are not genetically isolated from other Eurasian populations, share with them the same demographic trends, and are affected by similar conservation problems

Centrifugal melt spinning of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)/triacontene copolymer fibres

Polyvinylpyrrolidone/1-triacontene (PVP/TA) copolymer fibre webs produced by centrifugal melt spinning were studied to determine the influence of jet rotation speed on morphology and internal structure as well as their potential utility as adsorbent capture media for disperse dye effluents. Fibres were produced at 72 C with jet head rotation speeds from 7000 to 15,000 r min-1. The fibres were characterised by means of SEM, XRD and DSC. Adsorption behaviour was investigated by means of an isothermal bottle point adsorption study using a commercial disperse dye, Dianix AC-E. Through centrifugal spinning nanofibers and microfibers could be produced with individual fibres as fine as 200–300 nm and mean fibre diameters of ca. 1–2 lm. The PVP/TA fibres were mechanically brittle with characteristic brittle tensile fracture regions observed at the fibre ends. DSC and XRD analyses suggested that this brittleness was linked to the graft chain crystallisation where the PVP/TA was in the form of a radial brush copolymer. In this structure, the triacontene branches interlock and form small lateral crystals around an amorphous backbone. As an adsorbent, the PVP/TA fibres were found to adsorb 35.4 mg g-1 compared to a benchmark figure of 30.0 mg g-1 for a granular-activated carbon adsorbent under the same application conditions. PVP/TA is highly hydrophobic and adsorbs disperse dyes through the strong ‘‘hydrophobic bonding’’ interaction. Such fibrous assemblies may have applications in the targeted adsorption and separation of non-polar species from aqueous or polar environments