Уроборос и другие экстернальные эффекты полевой научной инфраструктуры

Acknowledgments: The results of the project "Infrastructure of Scientific Knowledge and Territorial Development", carried out within the framework of the Basic Research Program at the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE University) in 2019, are presented in this work. The article examines the functioning of the field research infrastructure (marine biological stations, specially protected natural areas, museum-reserves) in terms of the external effects it generates. These processes are described in the context of contemporary transformations of the conservation policy in Russia. The proposed analytical typology of these types of impact includes a consideration of negative and positive externalities - both those associated with the scientific activity itself (the emergence of private research stations) and the emergence of new economic forms of activity (tourism) - as well as the spread of new social practices. The paradoxical "Ouroboros effect" has been identified and described: the principle of noninterference, implicit in the conservation regime, in some cases prevents the use of measures aimed at saving protected flora and fauna. Examples of how these external effects contribute to the processes of touristifica-tion, revitalization, and gentrification of rural areas are also considered. Particular attention is paid to the role of scholars in the formation of local historical and cultural identity. Overall, the study allows us to draw a general conclusion about the significant and diverse effects of the presence of field research infrastructure on home territories, effects not directly related to the core activities of these institutions. The emergence of these effects is determined by the concentration, in research stations, of people with a high level of cultural capital. These people may foster the emergence of new forms of economic activity in the territory, as well as acts as the transmitters of social and organisational practices new to this local context

The Neuromodulatory Impact of Subthalamic Nucleus Deep Brain Stimulation on Gait and Postural Instability in Parkinson's Disease Patients: A Prospective Case Controlled Study

Background: Subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) has been an established method in improvement of motor disabilities in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. It has been also claimed to have an impact on balance and gait disorders in PD patients, but the previous results are conflicting.Objective: The aim of this prospective controlled study was to evaluate the impact of STN-DBS on balance disorders in PD patients in comparison with Best-Medical-Therapy (BMT) and Long-term-Post-Operative (POP) group.Methods: DBS-group consisted of 20 PD patients (8F, 12M) who underwent bilateral STN DBS. POP-group consisted of 14 post-DBS patients (6F, 8M) in median 30 months-time after surgery. Control group (BMT-group) consisted of 20 patients (11F, 9M) who did not undergo surgical intervention. UPDRS III scale and balance tests (Up And Go Test, Dual Task- Timed Up And Go Test, Tandem Walk Test) and posturography parameters were measured during 3 visits in 9 ± 2months periods (V1, V2, V3) 4 phases of treatment (BMT-ON/OFF, DBS-ON/OFF).Results: We have observed the slowdown of gait and postural instability progression in first 9 post-operative months followed by co-existent enhancement of balance disorders in next 9-months evaluation (p < 0.05) in balance tests (Up and Go, TWT) and in posturography examination parameters (p < 0.05). The effect was not observed neither in BMT-group nor POP-group (p > 0.05): these groups revealed constant progression of static and dynamic instability (p > 0.05).Conclusions: STN-DBS can have modulatory effect on static and dynamic instability in PD patients: it can temporarily improve balance disorders. mainly during first 9 post-operative months, but with possible following deterioration of the symptoms in next post-operative months

Cancer Biomarker Discovery: The Entropic Hallmark

Background: It is a commonly accepted belief that cancer cells modify their transcriptional state during the progression of the disease. We propose that the progression of cancer cells towards malignant phenotypes can be efficiently tracked using high-throughput technologies that follow the gradual changes observed in the gene expression profiles by employing Shannon's mathematical theory of communication. Methods based on Information Theory can then quantify the divergence of cancer cells' transcriptional profiles from those of normally appearing cells of the originating tissues. The relevance of the proposed methods can be evaluated using microarray datasets available in the public domain but the method is in principle applicable to other high-throughput methods. Methodology/Principal Findings: Using melanoma and prostate cancer datasets we illustrate how it is possible to employ Shannon Entropy and the Jensen-Shannon divergence to trace the transcriptional changes progression of the disease. We establish how the variations of these two measures correlate with established biomarkers of cancer progression. The Information Theory measures allow us to identify novel biomarkers for both progressive and relatively more sudden transcriptional changes leading to malignant phenotypes. At the same time, the methodology was able to validate a large number of genes and processes that seem to be implicated in the progression of melanoma and prostate cancer. Conclusions/Significance: We thus present a quantitative guiding rule, a new unifying hallmark of cancer: the cancer cell's transcriptome changes lead to measurable observed transitions of Normalized Shannon Entropy values (as measured by high-throughput technologies). At the same time, tumor cells increment their divergence from the normal tissue profile increasing their disorder via creation of states that we might not directly measure. This unifying hallmark allows, via the the Jensen-Shannon divergence, to identify the arrow of time of the processes from the gene expression profiles, and helps to map the phenotypical and molecular hallmarks of specific cancer subtypes. The deep mathematical basis of the approach allows us to suggest that this principle is, hopefully, of general applicability for other diseases

Search for gravitational-lensing signatures in the full third observing run of the LIGO-Virgo network

Gravitational lensing by massive objects along the line of sight to the source causes distortions of gravitational wave-signals; such distortions may reveal information about fundamental physics, cosmology and astrophysics. In this work, we have extended the search for lensing signatures to all binary black hole events from the third observing run of the LIGO--Virgo network. We search for repeated signals from strong lensing by 1) performing targeted searches for subthreshold signals, 2) calculating the degree of overlap amongst the intrinsic parameters and sky location of pairs of signals, 3) comparing the similarities of the spectrograms amongst pairs of signals, and 4) performing dual-signal Bayesian analysis that takes into account selection effects and astrophysical knowledge. We also search for distortions to the gravitational waveform caused by 1) frequency-independent phase shifts in strongly lensed images, and 2) frequency-dependent modulation of the amplitude and phase due to point masses. None of these searches yields significant evidence for lensing. Finally, we use the non-detection of gravitational-wave lensing to constrain the lensing rate based on the latest merger-rate estimates and the fraction of dark matter composed of compact objects

Membrane potential changes via potassium channels in endothelial cells and the resulting effect on leukocyte rolling

Bibliography: p. 94-110Some pages are in colour

Przesunięcia modalne wsparciem mobilności w przestrzeni transportowej Unii Europejskiej

The paper presents results of studies on modal shift as an element that supports mobility within the European Transport Area. The authors have focused particularly on the TSL sector and share data obtained from the analysis of changes in industrial structure in the road transport of goods, domestic cargo transport, EU cargo transport and the proportion of domestic to international road transport volume over the period 2010–2015. Transport industrial structure between diverse modes of transport has not been changing radically within the EU and currently is 50:33:12:4:0.1 representing, respectively, road, maritime, rail, inland waterways, and air transport. Conclusion from the research boils down to the observation that changes in industrial structure of transport pose a real challenge to the development of the EU transport area.Artykuł prezentuje wyniki badań dotyczące przesunięć modalnych jako elementu wsparcia dla mobilności w przestrzeni transportowej Unii Europejskiej. Autorzy artykułu koncentrują się szczególnie na sektorze TSL (transport, spedycja, logistyka), prezentując dane dotyczące analizy zmian struktury gałęziowej w odniesieniu do transportu lądowego towarów, krajowego transportu towarowego, transportu towarowego w UE oraz relacji przewozów samochodowych krajowych do międzynarodowych w latach 2010–2015. Struktura gałęziowa oraz udział procentowy różnych rodzajów transportu w całkowitej liczbie tonokilometrów nie zmieniają się w UE radykalnie z roku na rok i obecnie (dane za rok 2015) udział ten wynosi: 50,6 proc. – transport drogowy, 32,7 proc. – morski, 12,3 proc. – kolejowy, 4,3 proc. – żegluga śródlądowa i 0,1 proc. – transport lotniczy. Z badań i obserwacji wynika konkluzja, że zmiany gałęziowe transportu stanowią istotne wyzwanie dla rozwoju przestrzeni transportowej UE