Proton and cadmium adsorption by the archaeon Thermococcus zilligii: Generalising the contrast between thermophiles and mesophiles as sorbents

Adsorption by microorganisms can play a significant role in the fate and transport of metals in natural systems. Surface complexation models (SCMs) have been applied extensively to describe metal adsorption by mesophilic bacteria, and several recent studies have extended this framework to thermophilic bacteria. We conduct acid-base titrations and batch experiments to characterise proton and Cd adsorption onto the thermophilic archaeon Thermococcus zilligii. The experimental data and the derived SCMs indicate that the archaeon displays significantly lower overall sorption site density compared to previously studied thermophilic bacteria such Anoxybacillus flavithermus, Geobacillus stearothermophilus, G. thermocatenulatus, and Thermus thermophilus. The thermophilic bacteria and archaea display lower sorption site densities than the mesophilic microorganisms that have been studied to date, which points to a general pattern of total concentration of cell wall adsorption sites per unit biomass being inversely correlated to growth temperature

Brain tissue properties differentiate between motor and limbic basal ganglia circuits

Despite advances in understanding basic organizational principles of the human basal ganglia, accurate in vivo assessment of their anatomical properties is essential to improve early diagnosis in disorders with corticosubcortical pathology and optimize target planning in deep brain stimulation. Main goal of this study was the detailed topological characterization of limbic, associative, and motor subdivisions of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) in relation to corresponding corticosubcortical circuits. To this aim, we used magnetic resonance imaging and investigated independently anatomical connectivity via white matter tracts next to brain tissue properties. On the basis of probabilistic diffusion tractography we identified STN subregions with predominantly motor, associative, and limbic connectivity. We then computed for each of the nonoverlapping STN subregions the covariance between local brain tissue properties and the rest of the brain using high-resolution maps of magnetization transfer (MT) saturation and longitudinal (R1) and transverse relaxation rate (R2*). The demonstrated spatial distribution pattern of covariance between brain tissue properties linked to myelin (R1 and MT) and iron (R2*) content clearly segregates between motor and limbic basal ganglia circuits. We interpret the demonstrated covariance pattern as evidence for shared tissue properties within a functional circuit, which is closely linked to its function. Our findings open new possibilities for investigation of changes in the established covariance pattern aiming at accurate diagnosis of basal ganglia disorders and prediction of treatment outcom

ОЭЗ как фактор ускоренного экономического роста региональной экономики (на примере АО «Особая экономическая зона технико-внедренческого типа «Томск»)

Выявлены основные проблемы функционирования особых экономических зон и рассмотрены перспективы развития ОЭЗ ТВТ "Томск".The main problems of the functioning of special economic zones are identified and the prospects of development into special economic zones of the technical-innovative type "Tomsk" are considered

Dominant Effect of Near-Interface Native Point Defects on ZnO Schottky Barriers

The authors used depth-resolved cathodoluminescence spectroscopy and current-voltage measurements to probe metal-ZnO diodes as a function of native defect concentration, oxygen plasma processing, and metallization. The results show that resident native defects in ZnO single crystals and native defects created by the metallization process dominate metal-ZnO Schottky barrier heights and ideality factors. Results for ZnO(0001) faces processed with room temperature remote oxygen plasmas to remove surface adsorbates and reduce subsurface native defects demonstrate the pivotal importance of crystal growth quality and metal-ZnO reactivity in forming near-interface states that control Schottky barrier properties

Characterization of Turing diffusion-driven instability on evolving domains

In this paper we establish a general theoretical framework for Turing diffusion-driven instability for reaction-diffusion systems on time-dependent evolving domains. The main result is that Turing diffusion-driven instability for reaction-diffusion systems on evolving domains is characterised by Lyapunov exponents of the evolution family associated with the linearised system (obtained by linearising the original system along a spatially independent solution). This framework allows for the inclusion of the analysis of the long-time behavior of the solutions of reaction-diffusion systems. Applications to two special types of evolving domains are considered: (i) time-dependent domains which evolve to a final limiting fixed domain and (ii) time-dependent domains which are eventually time periodic. Reaction-diffusion systems have been widely proposed as plausible mechanisms for pattern formation in morphogenesis

Dissociation constants and thermodynamic properties of amino acids used in CO2 absorption from (293 to 353) K

The second dissociation constants of the amino acids βalanine, taurine, sarcosine, 6-aminohexanoic acid, DL-methionine, glycine, L-phenylalanine, and L-proline and the third dissociation constants of L-glutamic acid and L-aspartic acid have been determined from electromotive force measurements at temperatures from (293 to 353) K. Experimental results are reported and compared to literature values. Values of the standard state thermodynamic properties are derived from the experimental results and compared to the values of commercially available amines used as absorbents for CO 2 capture.

From bench to bedside: in vitro and in vivo evaluation of a neonate-focused nebulized surfactant delivery strategy.

BACKGROUND: Non-invasive delivery of nebulized surfactant has been a neonatology long-pursued goal. Nevertheless, the clinical efficacy of nebulized surfactant remains inconclusive, in part, due to the great technical challenges of depositing nebulized drugs in the lungs of preterm infants. The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of delivering nebulized surfactant (poractant alfa) in vitro and in vivo with an adapted, neonate-tailored aerosol delivery strategy. METHODS: Particle size distribution of undiluted poractant alfa aerosols generated by a customized eFlow-Neos nebulizer system was determined by laser diffraction. The theoretical nebulized surfactant lung dose was estimated in vitro in a clinical setting replica including a neonatal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) circuit, a cast of the upper airways of a preterm neonate, and a breath simulator programmed with the tidal breathing pattern of an infant with mild respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). A dose-response study with nebulized surfactant covering the 100-600\u2009mg/kg nominal dose-range was conducted in RDS-modelling, lung-lavaged spontaneously-breathing rabbits managed with nasal CPAP. The effects of nebulized poractant alfa on arterial gas exchange and lung mechanics were assessed. Exogenous alveolar disaturated-phosphatidylcholine (DSPC) in the lungs was measured as a proxy of surfactant deposition efficacy. RESULTS: Laser diffraction studies demonstrated suitable aerosol characteristics for inhalation (mass median diameter, MMD\u2009=\u20093\u2009\u3bcm). The mean surfactant lung dose determined in vitro was 13.7%\u2009\ub1\u20094.0 of the 200\u2009mg/kg nominal dose. Nebulized surfactant delivered to spontaneously-breathing rabbits during nasal CPAP significantly improved arterial oxygenation compared to animals receiving CPAP only. Particularly, the groups of animals treated with 200\u2009mg/kg and 400\u2009mg/kg of nebulized poractant alfa achieved an equivalent pulmonary response in terms of oxygenation and lung mechanics as the group of animals treated with instilled surfactant (200\u2009mg/kg). CONCLUSIONS: The customized eFlow-Neos vibrating-membrane nebulizer system efficiently generated respirable aerosols of undiluted poractant alfa. Nebulized surfactant delivered at doses of 200\u2009mg/kg and 400\u2009mg/kg elicited a pulmonary response equivalent to that observed after treatment with an intratracheal surfactant bolus of 200\u2009mg/kg. This bench-characterized nebulized surfactant delivery strategy is now under evaluation in Phase II clinical trial (EUDRACT No.:2016-004547-36)

From bench to bedside: In vitro and in vivo evaluation of a neonate-focused nebulized surfactant delivery strategy

Background: Non-invasive delivery of nebulized surfactant has been a neonatology long-pursued goal. Nevertheless, the clinical efficacy of nebulized surfactant remains inconclusive, in part, due to the great technical challenges of depositing nebulized drugs in the lungs of preterm infants. The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of delivering nebulized surfactant (poractant alfa) in vitro and in vivo with an adapted, neonate- tailored aerosol delivery strategy. Methods: Particle size distribution of undiluted poractant alfa aerosols generated by a customized eFlow-Neos nebulizer system was determined by laser diffraction. The theoretical nebulized surfactant lung dose was estimated in vitro in a clinical setting replica including a neonatal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) circuit, a cast of the upper airways of a preterm neonate, and a breath simulator programmed with the tidal breathing pattern of an infant with mild respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). A dose-response study with nebulized surfactant covering the 100\u2013600 mg/kg nominal dose-range was conducted in RDS-modelling, lung-lavaged spontaneously-breathing rabbits managed with nasal CPAP. The effects of nebulized poractant alfa on arterial gas exchange and lung mechanics were assessed. Exogenous alveolar disaturated-phosphatidylcholine (DSPC) in the lungs was measured as a proxy of surfactant deposition efficacy. Results: Laser diffraction studies demonstrated suitable aerosol characteristics for inhalation (mass median diameter, MMD = 3 \u3bcm). The mean surfactant lung dose determined in vitro was 13.7% \ub1 4.0 of the 200 mg/kg nominal dose. Nebulized surfactant delivered to spontaneously-breathing rabbits during nasal CPAP significantly improved arterial oxygenation compared to animals receiving CPAP only. Particularly, the groups of animals treated with 200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg of nebulized poractant alfa achieved an equivalent pulmonary response in terms of oxygenation and lung mechanics as the group of animals treated with instilled surfactant (200 mg/kg). Conclusions: The customized eFlow-Neos vibrating-membrane nebulizer system efficiently generated respirable aerosols of undiluted poractant alfa. Nebulized surfactant delivered at doses of 200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg elicited a pulmonary response equivalent to that observed after treatment with an intratracheal surfactant bolus of 200 mg/kg. This bench-characterized nebulized surfactant delivery strategy is now under evaluation in Phase II clinical trial (EUDRACT No.:2016\u2013004547-36)

Predicting age from the transcriptome of human dermal fibroblasts

Biomarkers of aging can be used to assess the health of individuals and to study aging and age-related diseases. We generate a large dataset of genome-wide RNA-seq profiles of human dermal fibroblasts from 133 people aged 1 to 94 years old to test whether signatures of aging are encoded within the transcriptome. We develop an ensemble machine learning method that predicts age to a median error of 4 years, outperforming previous methods used to predict age. The ensemble was further validated by testing it on ten progeria patients, and our method is the only one that predicts accelerated aging in these patients

Система анализа геологических карт с помощью инструментов компьютерного зрения и машинного обучения

Несколько областей компьютерного зрения было исследовано в данной работе для того, чтобы разработать два модуля системы анализа структурных геологических карт – модуль анализа изображений и модуль исправления результатов анализа. Ряд различных современных методов машинного и глубокого обучения был применен на практике. Все подходы были оценены на синтетической выборке. На тестовой выборке были рассчитаны метрики mAP, IOU, F1 score.Several areas of computer vision were researched in order to develop two modules of a structural maps analysis system – image analysis and results correction modules. Multiple modern machine learning and deep learning methods were applied in this master’s thesis, such as. Different approaches were tested in the development process. All of them were validated on synthetic data. Three evaluation metrics (mAP, IOU, F1 score) were calculated during validation