Light and Scanning Electron Microscopic Analysis of Silene stenophylla Seeds Excavated from Pleistocene-Age (Kolyma)

We studied the morphology of ancient seeds of the Silene species (Caryophyllaceae) excavated from feeding chambers of ancient ground squirrels (Geomys, subgenus Urocitellus) burrows buried in the Late Pleistocene Age permafrost deposits of Kolyma lowland (Siberia). The ancient seeds were compared to seeds of extant species of S. alba, S. chlorantha, S. nutans and S. stenophylla plants presently growing in the same and neighboring regions. Using Light (LM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), the ancient seeds were identified to be of Silene stenophylla (Ledeb.)

Grape (Vitis vinifera) seeds from Antiquity and the Middle Ages Excavated in Hungary - LM and SEM analysis

Grape (Vitis vinifera) seed remains were excavated at Roman and Medieval archeological sites in Hungary and analyzed by LM (Light Microscopy) and SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy). Excavation sites included Budapest (Aquincum; 2nd - 4th CENT. A.D. Hungary) and Keszthely (Fenékpuszta) of the Roman Age (5th CENT. A.D., Hungary); and Gyır (Ece; 11-12th CENT. A.D., Hungary), Debrecen (13th CENT. A.D., Hungary) and the King’s Palace of Árpád Dinasty at the Castle of Buda, Budapest (15th CENT. A.D., Hungary) of the Middle Ages. Ancient seeds were compared to thirty current grape varieties of similar seed size, shape, and morphology (Szabó et al. 2007´). The modern grape variety Vitis vinifera cv. ‘kék bakator’ (syn.:‘Blue Bocca d’Oro’; ‘aranybogyó’) was found most similar in seed morphology to one of the ancient samples (15th CENT. Debrecen, Hungary) which indicates the antiquity of this cultivar

Most-favored-nation clauses in commercial contracts: legal and economic analysis and proposal for a guideline

The prevalent use of “most favored nation” (MFN) clauses in commercial agreements has garnered significant attention in the economics and legal literature and by practitioners and enforcement agencies. From an antitrust standpoint, there is a strong consensus that while MFN provisions can lead to procompetitive outcomes or at least play a competitively neutral role, they may also result in competitive harm and a loss of consumer welfare. Therefore, US and EU enforcement agencies and courts have held that MFNs should be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, considering the specific characteristics of both the contractual provision and the industry. While a case-by-case approach is valid, it is not ideal from a variety of standpoints: that of the competition authorities seeking to make best use of their limited resources and that of practitioners seeking to advise their clients. Accordingly, published guidelines on the use of MFNs, containing presumptions and safe harbors, would be both efficient and useful. The paper argues that it would increase the efficiency and accuracy of antitrust enforcement if one of the leading competition authorities issued MFN guidelines. The paper suggests a set of presumptions and safe harbors that should be included in any such guidelines. © 2015, The Author(s)

The relationship between malignant skin diseases and health literacy and protection from sun and skin cancer: a case-control study

Objective: In recent years, skin cancer increased with the increase in sun exposure of people all over the world. In this study, we aimed to find out how much people in Turkey know about how to protect themselves from the sun and skin cancer, how they act to protect themselves from the sun and skin cancer, how they feel about sun protection, and how well they understand health issues. Patients and Methods: This study was designed as a case-control study. This study included 105 patients who were followed up in our clinic with malignant skin diseases (malignant melanoma (MM), basal cell carcinoma (BCC), and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC)) between March 2020 and March 2021. Our control group comprised 105 healthy volunteers. This study collected data with a data collection form and the Health Literacy Scale. Results: The results showed that the mean knowledge level of the control group was higher than that of the case group. Similarly, the mean behavior of protection from sun and skin cancer and mean sun protection attitude is higher in the control group than in the malignant skin diseases group. There is a statistically significant difference between the mean health literacy levels of the malignant skin disease group and the control group. The mean health literacy levels of the malignant skin disease group are lower than the control group. There is a statistically significant effect of health literacy, age, knowledge level of protection from sun and skin cancer, and behavior of protection from sun and skin cancer on the probability of skin cancer. Conclusions: Increasing the level of knowledge may positively affect compliance with skin cancer preventive measures and decrease skin cancer-related morbidity and mortality

Exploiting Native Al2O3 for Multispectral Aluminum Plasmonics

Aluminum, despite its abundance and low cost, is usually avoided for plasmonic applications due to losses in visible/infrared regimes and its interband absorption at 800 nm. Yet, it is compatible with silicon CMOS processes, making it a promising alternative for integrated plasmonic applications. It is also well known that a thin layer of native Al2O3 is formed on aluminum when exposed to air, which must be taken into account properly while designing plasmonic structures. Here, for the first time we report exploitation of the native Al2O3 layer for fabrication of periodic metal-insulator-metal (MIM) plasmonic structures that exhibit resonances spanning a wide spectral range, from the near-ultraviolet to mid-infrared region of the spectrum. Through fabrication of silver nanoislands on aluminum surfaces and MIM plasmonic surfaces with a thin native Al2O3 layer, hierarchical plasmonic structures are formed and used in surface-enhanced infrared spectroscopy (SEIRA) and surface-enhanced Raman spectrocopy (SERS) for detection of self-assembled monolayers of dodecanethiol. (Chemical Equation Presented). © 2014 American Chemical Society

Study of ultrastructural changes on the cochleae caused by various intonations used in classical music

The aim of this study is to investigate the differences on ultrastructure of the cochleae caused by different classic musical opuses with different intonations. Guinea pigs were grouped into 3, one of which was the control and the other two were the experimental groups. While the first group, which was the control, was not exposed to any music, the second group was exposed to classic musical opuses with extensive intervals (40 decibel) and third group was exposed to classical music opuses with strained intonations (60 decibel) for 6 h a day with 15 min-intervals for totally 10 days. Cochleae tissue samples were taken from the guinea pigs at the end of the tenth day. They were examined at the electron microscopic level. In addition to compansatris processes on the cochleae, thickening on the stereocilias of hair cells and basal membranes and proliferation on the synaptic terminalles of afferent nerves caused by extensive intonations were observed. Extremely obvious degenerative differences such as damage in neuroepitelial cells, nerves and synaptic terminalles as well as compansatris processes caused by strained intonations were determined. As a result of all these observations it was concluded that continuously listening to the strained intonations used in musical opuses has a very harmful effect on the auditory system. © 2008 Academic Journals Inc

Seizure protein 6 controls glycosylation and trafficking of kainate receptor subunits GluK2 and GluK3

Seizure protein 6 (SEZ6) is required for the development and maintenance of the nervous system, is a major substrate of the protease BACE1 and is linked to Alzheimer's disease (AD) and psychiatric disorders, but its molecular functions are not well understood. Here, we demonstrate that SEZ6 controls glycosylation and cell surface localization of kainate receptors composed of GluK2/3 subunits. Loss of SEZ6 reduced surface levels of GluK2/3 in primary neurons and reduced kainate-evoked currents in CA1 pyramidal neurons in acute hippocampal slices. Mechanistically, loss of SEZ6 in vitro and in vivo prevented modification of GluK2/3 with the human natural killer-1 (HNK-1) glycan, a modulator of GluK2/3 function. SEZ6 interacted with GluK2 through its ectodomain and promoted post-endoplasmic reticulum transport of GluK2 in the secretory pathway in heterologous cells and primary neurons. Taken together, SEZ6 acts as a new trafficking factor for GluK2/3. This novel function may help to better understand the role of SEZ6 in neurologic and psychiatric diseases

Fabrication of exchange coupled hard/soft magnetic nanocomposites: Correlation between composition, magnetic, optical and microwave properties

This paper studied the exchange coupling performance beside structural and microwave properties of SrFe12O19 (SFO) and x(CoTm0.01Tb0.01Fe1.98O4) (CoTmTb) (x ≤ 3.0) hard/soft ferrites nanocomposites (NCs). The structure and morphology of NCs were investigated by XRD, SEM, TEM and HR-TEM. Diffuse reflectance spectroscopic (DRS) measurements were applied on hexagonal ferrite, on spinel ferrite nanoparticles and on hard/soft NCs to specify the optical properties. Estimated Eg data are in a range between 1.32 and 1.79 eV. The magnetic properties were also inspected via measurements of magnetization (M) against magnetic field (H) at 300 K (RT) and 10 K (LT). The measurements performed at RT along with the plots of dM/dH versus H indicated that the NCs display good magnetic properties (exchange coupling behavior). The magnetic parameters such as (Ms, Mr, and Hc) show an enhancement in their values with an increasing the soft content at RT. Similarly, the maximum energy product (BH)max rises and reaches its max value for SFO/3(CoTmTb) NCs. Microwave properties of the SFO/x(CoTmTb) NCs were measured in the frequency range 33–50 GHz. From measured S11 and S21 parameters the main electrodynamic characteristics – permittivity and permeability (real and imaginary parts) were computed. © 2021 The Author(s)This work was financially supported by the Deanship for Scientific Research (Project application No. 2020-164-IRMC) of Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (IAU ? Saudi Arabia). Microwave characterization was partially supported by the Russian Science Foundation (Agreement No. 19-72-10071 from 06 Aug. 2019)