Оцінка екологічного стану водосховищ гідроенергетичного призначення на р. Південний Буг за гідрогеологічними показниками

Проаналізовано особливості гідробіологічних угрупувань водосховищ гідроенергетичного призначення р.Південний Буг. Дослідження проведено за такими показниками: видовий склад, кількість, біомаса, трофічні характеристики, індекс сапробності за Пантле-Букком, за Балушкіною (для угрупувань бентосу), індекс видового різноманіття Шеннона окремо за чисельністю та біомасою, індекс Пареле, рибопродуктивність водосховищ

An improved nearest neighbor method for the estimation of the gamma photon entry point in monolithic scintillator detectors for PET

Several improvements of the k-nearest neighbor (k-NN) method for the determination of the entry point (x, y) of a gamma photon in a monolithic scintillator PET detector have been investigated with the aim to obtain better spatial resolution and/or to enable faster detector calibration by reducing the amount of required reference data and by allowing for calibrating with a line source. These methods were tested on a dataset measured with a SiPM-array-based monolithic LYSO detector. It appears that 10% to 25% better spatial resolution can be obtained compared to the standard approach. Moreover, some of the improved methods using two orders of magnitude less reference data, yield essentially the same spatial resolution as the standard method, which reduces the time needed for calibration as well as entry point computation. Finally, line source calibration is shown to be possible with some of the methods, yielding better results than the standard method and allowing much faster and easier collection of the reference data.</p

The effect of three-dimensional visualisation on performance in endoscopic sinus surgery:A clinical training study using surgical navigation for movement analysis in a randomised crossover design

Objectives: Endoscopic imaging techniques and endoscopic endonasal surgery (EES) expertise have evolved rapidly. Only few studies have assessed the effect of three-dimensional (3D) endoscopy on endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS). The present study aimed to objectively and subjectively assess the additional value of 3D high-definition (HD) endoscopy in ESS. Design: A randomized crossover study of endoscopic surgery performance, using five ESS tasks of varying complexity, performed on Thiel embalmed human specimens. Setting: Simulated surgical environment. Participants: Thirty participants, inexperienced in ESS. Main outcome measures: Performance was assessed using video imaging, surgical navigation and questionnaires. Main outcome measures were as follows: efficiency (defined by time to task completion), distance covered inside the nose, average velocity towards target, accuracy (measured by error rate), and subjective assessment of endoscope characteristics. Results: During ESS tasks, both efficiency and accuracy did not differ significantly between 2D HD and 3D HD endoscopy. Subjectively, imaging characteristics of the 3D HD endoscope were rated significantly better. Conclusions: ESS performance of inexperienced participants was not significantly improved by the use of 3D HD endoscopy during ESS tasks, although imaging characteristics of the 3D HD endoscope were rated significantly better. Surgical field characteristics and surgical techniques are likely to influence any additional value of 3D HD endoscopy

Axon-Myelin Unit Blistering as Early Event in MS Normal Appearing White Matter

Objective: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative disease of unknown etiology. Although the prevalent view regards a CD4 +-lymphocyte autoimmune reaction against myelin at the root of the disease, recent studies propose autoimmunity as a secondary reaction to idiopathic brain damage. To gain knowledge about this possibility we investigated the presence of axonal and myelinic morphological alterations, which could implicate imbalance of axon-myelin units as primary event in MS pathogenesis. Methods: Using high resolution imaging histological brain specimens from patients with MS and non-neurological/non-MS controls, we explored molecular changes underpinning imbalanced interaction between axon and myelin in normal appearing white matter (NAWM), a region characterized by normal myelination and absent inflammatory activity. Results: In MS brains, we detected blister-like swellings formed by myelin detachment from axons, which were substantially less frequently retrieved in non-neurological/non-MS controls. Swellings in MS NAWM presented altered glutamate receptor expression, myelin associated glycoprotein (MAG) distribution, and lipid biochemical composition of myelin sheaths. Changes in tethering protein expression, widening of nodes of Ranvier and altered distribution of sodium channels in nodal regions of otherwise normally myelinated axons were also present in MS NAWM. Finally, we demonstrate a significant increase, compared with controls, in citrullinated proteins in myelin of MS cases, pointing toward biochemical modifications that may amplify the immunogenicity of MS myelin. Interpretation: Collectively, the impaired interaction of myelin and axons potentially leads to myelin disintegration. Conceptually, the ensuing release of (post-translationally modified) myelin antigens may elicit a subsequent immune attack in MS. ANN NEUROL 2021;89:711–725

Machine detector interface for the e+e−e^+e^- future circular collider

The international Future Circular Collider (FCC) study aims at a design of $pp$, $e^+e^-$, $ep$ colliders to be built in a new 100 km tunnel in the Geneva region. The $e^+e^-$ collider (FCC-ee) has a centre of mass energy range between 90 (Z-pole) and 375 GeV (tt_bar). To reach such unprecedented energies and luminosities, the design of the interaction region is crucial. The crab-waist collision scheme has been chosen for the design and it will be compatible with all beam energies. In this paper we will describe the machine detector interface layout including the solenoid compensation scheme. We will describe how this layout fulfills all the requirements set by the parameters table and by the physical constraints. We will summarize the studies of the impact of the synchrotron radiation, the analysis of trapped modes and of the backgrounds induced by single beam and luminosity effects giving an estimate of the losses in the interaction region and in the detector.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures, 62th ICFA ABDW on High Luminosity Circular $e^+e^-$ Colliders, eeFACT2018, Hong Kong, Chin

A comparison of national approaches to setting ecological status boundaries in phytobenthos assessment for the European Water Framework Directive: results of an intercalibration exercise

The European Union (EU)'s Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires that all Member States participate in intercalibration exercises in order to ensure that ecological status concepts and assessment levels are consistent across the EU. This paper describes one such exercise, performed by the countries in the Central/Baltic Geographical Intercalibration Group stretching from Ireland in the west to Estonia in the east and from the southern parts of Scandinavia to the northern regions of Spain and Italy (but excluding alpine regions, which were intercalibrated separately). In this exercise, methods used to measure ecological status of rivers using benthic diatoms were compared. Ecological status is estimated as the ratio between the observed value of a biological element and the value expected in the absence of significant human impact. Approaches to defining the 'reference sites', from which these 'expected' values were derived, varied from country to country. Minimum criteria were established as part of the exercise but there was still considerable variation between national reference values, reflecting typological differences that could not be resolved during the exercise. A simple multimetric index was developed to compare boundary values using two widely used diatom metrics. Boundary values for high/good status and good/moderate status set by each participant were converted to their equivalent values of this intercalibration metric using linear regression. Variation of ±0.05 EQR units around the median value was considered to be acceptable and the exercise provided a means for those Member States who fell significantly above or below this line to review their approaches and, if necessary, adjust their boundaries

Characterization of the Partitioning System of Myxococcus Plasmid pMF1

pMF1 is the only autonomously replicating plasmid that has been recently identified in myxobacteria. This study characterized the partitioning (par) system of this plasmid. The fragment that significantly increased the retaining stability of plasmids in Myxococcus cells in the absence of selective antibiotics contained three open reading frames (ORFs) pMF1.21-pMF1.23 (parCAB). The pMF1.22 ORF (parA) is homologous to members of the parA ATPase family, with the highest similarity (56%) to the Sphingobium japonicum ParA-like protein, while the other two ORFs had no homologs in GenBank. DNase I footprinting and electrophoretic mobility shift assays showed that the pMF1.23 (parB) product is a DNA-binding protein of iteron DNA sequences, while the product of pMF1.21 (parC) has no binding activity but is able to enhance the DNA-binding activity of ParB to iterons. The ParB protein autogenously repressed the expression of the par genes, consistent with the type Ib par pattern, while the ParC protein has less repressive activity. The ParB-binding iteron sequences are distributed not only near the partitioning gene loci but also along pMF1. These results indicate that the pMF1 par system has novel structural and functional characteristics