Anisotropic relaxation in NADH excited states studied by polarization-modulation pump-probe transient spectroscopy

We present the results of experimental and theoretical studies of fast anisotropic relaxation and rotational diffusion in the first electron excited state of biological coenzyme NADH in water-ethanol solutions. The experiments have been carried out by means of a novel polarization-modulation transient method and fluorescence polarization spectroscopy. For interpretation of the experimental results a model of the anisotropic relaxation in terms of scalar and vector properties of transition dipole moments and based on the Born-Oppenheimer approximation has been developed. The results obtained suggest that the dynamics of anisotropic rovibronic relaxation in NADH under excitation with 100~fs pump laser pulses can be characterised by a single vibration relaxation time $\tau_v$ laying in the range 2--15~ps and a single rotation diffusion time $\tau_r$ laying in the range 100--450~ps a subject of ethanol concentration. The dependence of the times $\tau_v$ and $\tau_r$ on the solution polarity (static permittivity) and viscosity has been determined and analyzed. Limiting values of an important parameter $\langle P_2(\cos\theta(t))\rangle$ describing the rotation of the transition dipole moment in the course of vibrational relaxation has been determined from experiment as function of the ethanol concentration and analyzed.Comment: 14 pages, 13 figure

Development of sportsman students' autonomy in the educational environment of electronic information and foreign language teachers’ readiness to this process

The study addresses the major factors preventing foreign language (FL) teachers from effective use of electronic information educational environment (EIEE) at the institutes of higher learning (IHL) in Russia to develop learner autonomy. Upon holding interviews and taking polls of 60 respondents from three universities helped the authors find out that these factors include: sketchy knowledge of information and communication technologies among foreign language teachers; poor standards of material and technical resources capability at universities; inadequate readiness of FL teachers to apply new information and communication technologies; insufficient level of FL teachers motivation to use innovative ITs at work. The contributors have worked out a number of pedagogical conditions that should be provided at the IHL to clear the barriers mentioned above: gradual development of FL teachers readiness to use the EIEE (the IT competence acquisition based on learning management systems (LMS); FL teachers activity stimulation to work in the EIEE through creating modular courses); setting up the EIEE in the IHL, which can translate all e-learning possibilities into action, the LMS, software and documentation among them. The said pedagogical conditions have successfully been tested and implemented at RUDN University

Assessment of Heterogeneity in the Development and Use of Land Resources in the Central Chernozem Macroregion

The formation and development of land relations in Russia at the level of macroregions takes place with the adaptation of new trends in spatial development and is largely based on taking into account factors that affect the results of the use of natural resource

Study of Convergence and Divergence of EAEU Integration Processes Based on the Gini Index

Regionalization and participation at the integration associations represent a typical way of national economic development. To be inside an integration process allows member states to address better their socio-economic problems and political coordination. The stability and resilience of integration associations are critical to their success. In this optic the integration associations may be subjects convergence and divergence. These phenomena may be envisaged in the income inequality of the participating countries.Aim. To study the features and prospects of the socio-economic convergence within the EEU member states, the EEU strategic contour and within the main trends of integration processes in Eurasia.Task. The tasks are following. The first one is to study the sustainability of the EEU and within its strategic contours formed by agreements on free trade zones through the convergent and divergent trends assessment. The second task is to conduct a comparative analysis of Eurasian integration to the European Union and ASEAN development.Methods. Assess the level and dynamics of income inequality among the EEU states and samples of states with which the EEU has agreements on free trade zones, which are the CIS, Serbia, Vietnam, Iran and Singapore, as well as states with which such agreements are planned to be concluded in the near future. This list of the EEU’s prospect partners includes Egypt, Israel and India, based on the Gini index, using the European Union and ASEAN as reference parameters. Use calculations to interpret the processes of convergence and divergence of various types of integration processes.Results. The estimates showed, in general, a significant interpretive potential of the interstate Gini index. The study particular results demonstrated that the EEU has a level of convergence comparable to the level of the EU before the accession of a large array of states in 2004. The level of convergence of the CIS, estimated using the Gini index, is comparable to the current level of the European Union. It was also revealed that both in the EU and in the CIS, the reduction in inequality over the selected analysis interval does not have a clear prospect. Calculations also showed the convergence of states within the EEU and its strategic contours to be sensitive to external shocks, while the convergence of ASEAN states is more directed.Conclusions. The approach used by the authors to assess the convergence of integration processes based on the calculation of the interstate Gini index explains with sufficient completeness the reasons for the successful development of the EEU and its sustainability. At the same time, the use of the interstate Gini index for the analysis of convergence and divergence of integration processes made it possible to conclude that the integration models of the states of the Global North and the Global South are diverse

Pulsed voltage cold atmospheric plasma jet and gold nanoparticles enhance cytotoxic anticancer effect

Efficient and biologically safe mode of cold atmospheric plasma jet (CAPJ) is crucial for the development of CAPJ-based anticancer therapy. In the experiment and numerical simulations, by changing the pulse duration of a positive-pulsed voltage, we found the optimal CAPJ mode with regular streamer propagation. CAPJ regimes with a maximum discharge current at a temperature T<42 C substantially suppressed the viability of cancer cells. To enhance cell killing, gold nanoparticles (NPs) were added to the cells before and after the CAPJ exposure. Combination of CAPJ, generated with positive pulsed voltage, and gold nanoparticles decreased viability of NCI-H23 epithelial-like lung adenocarcinoma, A549 lung adenocarcinoma, BrCCh4e-134 breast adenocarcinoma and uMel1 uveal melanoma cells. Polyethylene glycol-modified nanoparticles with attached fluorescent label were used to visualize the uptake of NPs. We demonstrated that NPs efficiently entered the cells when were added to the cells just before CAPJ exposure or up to two hours afterwards. The efficiency ofNPs penetration into cells positively correlated with the induced cytotoxic effect: it was maximal when NPs was added to cells right before or immediately after CAPJ exposure. Summarizing, the treatment with optimal CAPJ modes in combination with modified NPs, bearing the cancer-addressed molecules and therapeutics may be next strategy of strengthening the CAPJ-based antitumor approaches.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figures, submitted to Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics The research was funded by Russian Science Foundation grant number 22-49-08003. The research on uMel1 cells cultivation was funded by Russian Science Foundation grant number 23-14-0028

The susceptibility and excitation spectrum of (VO)2_2P2_2O7_7 in ladder and dimer chain models

We present numerical results for the magnetic susceptibility of a Heisenberg antiferromagnetic spin ladder, as a function of temperature and the spin-spin interaction strengths $J_\perp$ and $J_{||}$. These are contrasted with new bulk limit results for the dimer chain. A fit to the experimental susceptibility of the candidate spin-ladder compound vanadyl pyrophosphate, (VO)$_2$P$_2$O$_7$, gives the parameters $J_\perp = 7.82$ meV and $J_{||} = 7.76$ meV. With these values we predict a singlet-triplet energy gap of $E_{gap} = 3.9$ meV, and give a numerical estimate of the ladder triplet dispersion relation $\omega(k)$. In contrast, a fit to the dimer chain model leads to $J_1=11.11$ meV and $J_2=8.02$ meV, which predicts a gap of $E_{gap} = 4.9$ meV.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures available upon request, RevTex 3.0, preprint ORNL-CCIP-94-04 / RAL-94-02

Intravenous ibandronate reduces the incidence of skeletal complications in patients with breast cancer and bone metastases

Background: This phase III study compared the efficacy of the new potent bisphosphonate, ibandronate, with placebo as intravenous (i.v.) therapy in metastatic bone disease due to breast cancer. Patients and methods: A total of 466 patients were randomised to receive placebo (n = 158), or 2 mg (n = 154) or 6 mg (n = 154) ibandronate every 3-4 weeks for up to 2 years. The primary efficacy parameter was the number of 12-week periods with new bone complications, expressed as the skeletal morbidity period rate (SMPR). Bone pain, analgesic use and safety were evaluated monthly. Results SMPR was lower in both ibandronate groups compared with the placebo group; the difference was statistically significant for the ibandronate 6 mg group (P = 0.004 versus placebo). Consistent with the SMPR, ibandronate 6 mg significantly reduced the number of new bone events (by 38%) and increased time to first new bone event. Patients on ibandronate 6 mg also experienced decreased bone pain scores and analgesic use. Treatment with ibandronate was well tolerated. Conclusions: These results indicate that 6 mg i.v. ibandronate is effective and safe in the treatment of bone metastases from breast cance

Formation of a macro-region for the effective management of the industrial complex

The article is devoted to the scientific and theoretical research of methodological approaches to determining the importance of macroregional socio-economic systems. A system of indicators is proposed for assessing the role of a macroregion in the national economy, reflecting its specificity as an integration territory and characterizing the level, degree and intensity of interaction between the actors of the macroregional economic and industrial comple

Inelastic Neutron Scattering from the Spin Ladder Compound (VO)2P2O7

We present results from an inelastic neutron scattering experiment on the candidate Heisenberg spin ladder vanadyl pyrophosphate, (VO)2P2O7. We find evidence for a spin-wave excitation gap of $E_{gap} = 3.7\pm 0.2$ meV, at a band minimum near $Q=0.8 A^{-1}$. This is consistent with expectations for triplet spin waves in (VO)2P2O7 in the spin-ladder model, and is to our knowledge the first confirmation in nature of a Heisenberg antiferromagnetic spin ladder.Comment: 11 pages and 2 figures (available as hard copy or postscript files from the authors, send request to [email protected] or [email protected]), TEX using jnl, reforder and eqnorder, ORNL-CCIP-94-05 / RAL-94-04

A RESPONSE OF THE "RESERVOIR-WELL" SYSTEM TO DISTANT EARTHQUAKES

The results of joint processing of hydrogeological and seismic data obtained at the Large-Scale Research Facilities "Mid-Latitude Geophysical Observation Complex "Mikhnevo" for a 12-year observation period are presented in the article. Responses of the "reservoir-well" system to the passage of seismic waves from distant earthquakes with magnitudes of 6.3-9.0, recorded at the epicentral distances from 1863 to 16507 km, have been identified in the database. Maximum values of groundwater level variations and ground velocity under seismic impact have been determined. The power-law dependence of the levels amplitudes of confined and weakly confined aquifers on the maximum vertical ground velocity has been established. A spectral analysis of 6-hour intervals (3 hours before and 3 hours after earthquakes) of seismic and hydrogeological data was performed. The frequencies corresponding to the maximum values of ground velocity and groundwater level variations were determined in the normalized spectra. The intervals within which the extremes of the hydrogeological responses are traced at background values of the ground velocity are identified in the low-frequency range. The amplitude-frequency characteristics of the "reservoir-well" systems differ under seismic impacts at epicentral distances up to 4901 km. The responses of the systems to earthquakes at epicentral distances of 11024-14026 km are similar