Is Poor Sleep Quality Associated With Greater Disability in Patients With Multiple Sclerosis?

Poor sleep is a serious burden for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). The aim of this study is to assess whether the association between sleep quality and disability in MS patients is direct or mediated by depression, pain, and fatigue. We collected data from 152 patients with MS who filled out the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory and one item of the Short Form-36 regarding pain. The relationship between poor sleep and disability was found to be indirect, mediated by depression (p &lt;0.05), pain (p &lt;0.001) and physical fatigue (p &lt;0.01). Treatment of sleep disturbances may have beneficial effects beyond improving sleep. It may reduce depression, pain, and physical fatigue, which in turn may lessen disability.</p

Evolution of the vertebrate corneal stroma

Although the cornea is the major refractive element of the eye, the mechanisms controlling corneal shape and hence visual acuity remain unknown. To begin to address this question we have used multiphoton, non-linear optical microscopy to image second harmonic generated signals (SHG) from collagen to characterize the evolutionary and structural changes that occur in the collagen architecture of the corneal stroma. Our studies show that there is a progression in complexity of the stromal collagen organization from lower (fish and amphibians) to higher (birds and mammals) vertebrates, leading to increasing tissue stiffness that may control shape. In boney and cartilaginous fish, the cornea is composed of orthogonally arranged, rotating collagen sheets that extend from limbus to limbus with little or no interaction between adjacent sheets, a structural paradigm analogous to 'plywood'. In amphibians and reptiles, these sheets are broken down into broader lamellae that begin to show branching and anastomosing with adjacent lamellae, albeit maintaining their orthogonal, rotational organization. This paradigm is most complex in birds, which show the highest degree of lamellar branching and anastomosing, forming a 'chicken wire' like pattern most prominent in the midstroma. Mammals, on the other hand, diverged from the orthogonal, rotational organization and developed a random lamellar pattern with branching and anastomosing appearing highest in the anterior stroma, associated with higher mechanical stiffness compared to the posterior stroma

Technological schemes of liquefition of natural gas with the consideration of energy conservation conditions

The production of liquefied natural gas is a laborious and energy-consuming process associated with the use of cryogenic technologies. The main component in the composition of LNG is methane, the boiling point of which is –160 ℃. Recently, the Russian Federation has increased the need to use liquefied natural gas in various sectors of the economy. In addition, there is an increase in the demand for LNG supplies to the world market. In this regard, there was an urgent need to reduce energy costs, which leads to a cheaper cost of production of liquefied natural gas.Производство сжиженного природного газа является трудоемким и энергозатратным процессом, связанным с использованием криогенных технологий. Основным компонентом в составе СПГ является метан, температура кипения которого равна –160 ℃. В последнее время в Российской Федерации возросла потребность в использовании сжиженного природного газа в различных отраслях хозяйства. Кроме того, наблюдается увеличение спроса поставок СПГ на мировой рынок. В связи с этим, возникла острая необходимость сокращения энергозатрат, что влечет за собой удешевление стоимости производства сжиженного природного газа

DEVELOPMENT OF EXTERNAL ELEMENTS TO REDUCE WEAR ON THE GAS COOLER FOR THE SHELL IGCC PROCESS

Ранее проводилось CFD-моделирование эрозионного износа входных поверхностей конвективного газоохладителя (ГО) ПГУ-ВЦГ по схеме Shell. Были выполнены три варианта расчетов с различной конфигурацией обтекателя. По результатам было установлено, что установка обтекателя улучшает распределение потока газа по каналам ГО, однако требуется зона, в которой поток успеет перераспределиться перед входом в каналы ГО. Для этого планируется увеличить высоту установки обтекателя и провести оптимизацию этого параметра. Также для уменьшения износа будет рассмотрена установка фальш-рядов.Numerical modeling of the erosion wear of the convection gas cooler input surfaces for the combined cycle process (IGCC) with Shell integrated gasification was performed using CFD software. There are 3 calculations with different bluff body configurations. Based on the results obtained, it was concluded that it is advisable to install a fairing to reduce erosive wear on the surfaces of the gas cooler heat exchanger. To do this, we plan to increase the height of the fairing and optimize this parameter. Also, to reduce wear, the installation of false rows will be considered