On the Protection of Intangible Heritage of Russian Folk Oral Music in the Context of Intercultural Communication (Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia)

The article discusses the issues of preserving the genre of Russian folk oral musical creativity in the village of the Argun and the city of Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia, located in the northern part of China. The issue is viewed in the context of intercultural communication between descendants of Russian immigrants and Chinese locals. The article considers the factors in the formation of the ethnic group of Chinese Russians in Hulunbuir, an area of Russian immigrants’ compact settlement, and the markers of their distinct ethnic identity. Chinese Russians are a specific ethnic group since over several generations they fused with the local ethnicities yet preserved their unique cultural background. One of the peculiar aspects of Russian culture observed within the community of Chinese Russians is chastushka, or ditty, a short witty song expressing an individual’s attitude to any happening. The authors give records of the texts of ditties on various subjects, such as love, daily life, politics, etc. The folk genre of chastushka indicates intercultural communication between China and Russia and the integration of ethnic Russians into Chinese society. The article reveals the problems of protection of the Russian chastushka in the region and possible measures of state provision of its protection as intangible cultural heritage. Both national and local authorities take steps to ensure the continuity of various identities within the national identity of China. Several proposals have been put forward for the protection of the local heritage of this genre of the city of Hulunbuir. Such measures may include further research of cultural materials, enhancing tourism in the region, and incorporating ditties into local festivities Based on the historical and cultural significance, the research points to the real impact of Russian folk oral musical creativity in the processes of Russian-Chinese intercultural communication. The authors underline the significance of the ditty as intangible cultural heritage and the need to include the ditty in the list of the cultural heritage of Chinese Russians. The need to create conditions and state-organizational support for various forms of popularization of this genre, especially for those studying the Russian language, to preserve the oral folk musical creativity of Chinese ethnic Russians is substantiated

Measurement of the neutron lifetime using a gravitational trap and a low-temperature Fomblin coating

We present a new value for the neutron lifetime of 878.5 +- 0.7 stat. +- 0.3 syst. This result differs from the world average value (885.7 +- 0.8 s) by 6.5 standard deviations and by 5.6 standard deviations from the previous most precise result. However, this new value for the neutron lifetime together with a beta-asymmetry in neutron decay, Ao, of -0.1189(7) is in a good agreement with the Standard Model.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures; extended content with some correction

UCN anomalous losses and the UCN capture cross-section on material defects

Experimental data shows anomalously large Ultra Cold Neutrons (UCN) reflection losses and that the process of UCN reflection is not completely coherent. UCN anomalous losses under reflection cannot be explained in the context of neutron optics calculations. UCN losses by means of incoherent scattering on material defects are considered and cross-section values calculated. The UCN capture cross-section on material defects is enhanced by a factor of 10^4 due to localization of UCN around defects. This phenomenon can explain anomalous losses of UCN.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure

The Evaluation of V_{ud}, Experiment and Theory

The value of the V_{ud} matrix element of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix can be derived from nuclear superallowed beta decays, neutron decay, and pion beta decay. We survey current world data for all three. Today, the most precise value of V_{ud} comes from the nuclear decays; however, the precision is limited not by experimental error but by the estimated uncertainty in theoretical corrections. Experimental uncertainty does limit the neutron-decay result, which, though statistically consistent with the nuclear result, is approximately a factor of three poorer in precision. The value obtained for $V_{ud}$ leads to a result that differs at the 98% confidence level from the unitarity condition for the CKM matrix. We examine the reliability of the small calculated corrections that have been applied to the data, and assess the likelihood of even higher quality nuclear data becoming available to confirm or deny the discrepancy. Some of the required experiments depend upon the availability of intense radioactive beams. Others are possible today.Comment: 21 pages, 1 figure, LaTe

Simultaneous pancreas‐kidney transplantation in type 1 diabetes mellitus. Clinical options

Simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation (SPKT) is the most promising treatment option for patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) due to diabetic nephropathy (DN). Successful SPKT eliminates uremic intoxication and hyperglycemia – the leading trigger of vascular diabetic complications. Therefore, euglycemia is an important metabolic change in patients after surgery and remains only one of the factors for the saved renal allograft functioning. In the case of resuming renal replacement therapy by dialysis after SPKT, the management and monitoring of the pancreatic graft remains open. Special attention to the pancreatic graft’s function is due to both the potential risk of surgical complications, and some probability of T1DM relapse with the need to resume insulin therapy. In patients with saved function of both transplants, the assessment of the dynamics of diabetic complications in general becomes more important. The results of few studies in this regard remain contradictory. Thus, clinical options can be unpredictably diverse and require not only search for the root cause, but also optimization of rehabilitation tactics, even if the expected results are achieved

Одномоментная лапароскопическая билатеральная нефруретерэктомия, аллотрансплантация трупной почки и формирование везикостомы у больного с нейрогенным мочевым пузырем

We present a case of simultaneous laparoscopic bilateral nephroureterectomy, cadaveric kidney allotransplantation and performance of vesicostomy. This observation shows that patients with end-stage kidney disease, primarily caused by neurogenic bladder dysfunction, can be successfully treated via surgery. The course of early postoperative period and further rehabilitation did not differ significantly from that obtainable after standard kidney allotransplantation.В статье представлен случай одномоментной лапароскопической билатеральной нефруретерэктомии, аллотрансплантации трупной почки и формирование везикостомы. Данное наблюдение показывает возможность успешного хирургического лечения у пациентов с терминальной стадией почечной недостаточности, первопричиной которой являлась нейрогенная дисфункция мочевого пузыря. Течение раннего послеоперационного периода и дальнейшая реабилитация существенно не отличались от таковых после стандартной аллотрансплантации почки

Study of levitating nanoparticles using ultracold neutrons

Physical adsorption of atoms, molecules and clusters on surface is known. It is linked to many phenomena in physics, chemistry, and biology. Usually the studies of adsorption are limited to the particle sizes of up to ~10^2-10^3 atoms. Following a general formalism, we apply it to even larger objects and discover qualitatively new phenomena. A large particle is bound to surface in a deep and broad potential well formed by van der Waals/ Casimir-Polder forces. The well depth is significantly larger than the characteristic thermal energy. Nanoparticles in high-excited bound states form two-dimensional gas of objects quasi-freely traveling along surface. A particularly interesting prediction is small-energy-transfer scattering of UCN on solid/ liquid surfaces covered by such levitating nanoparticles/ nano-droplets. The change in UCN energy is due to the Doppler shift induced by UCN collisions with nanoparticles; the energy change is about as small as the UCN initial energy. We compare theoretical estimations of our model to all relevant existing data and state that they agree quite well. As our theoretical formalism provides robust predictions and the experimental data are rather precise, we conclude that the recently discovered intriguing phenomenon of small heating of UCN in traps is due to their collisions with such levitating nanoparticles. Moreover, this new phenomenon might be relevant to the striking contradiction between results of the neutron lifetime measurements with smallest reported uncertainties as it might cause major false effects in these experiments; thus it affects fundamental conclusions concerning precision checks of unitarity of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix, cosmology, astrophysics. Dedicated measurements of UCN up-scattering on specially prepared surfaces and nanoparticles levitating above them might provide a unique method to study surface potentials.Comment: 20 pages, 12 figure

ИСПОЛЬЗОВАНИЕ 320-СРЕЗОВОЙ ПЕРФУЗИОННОЙ КОМПЬЮТЕРНОЙ ТОМОГРАФИИ В ВИЗУАЛИЗАЦИИ РАКА ПРЕДСТАТЕЛЬНОЙ ЖЕЛЕЗЫ

Visualization of prostate cancer remains an actual problem in urology and oncology. Purpose of the study – evaluation of prostate cancer visualization using 320-slice perfusion computed tomography (PCT). PCT results of 15 patients with suspected prostate cancer were evaluated. Studies were performed with the 320-slice spiral computed tomography Aquilion One (Toshiba, Japan). Perfusion of the prostate was calculated by the maximum gradient. Next, the areas of interest were placed on each perfusion map. For each of the areas of interest, the following indicators were calculated: the average blood flow velocity, normalized blood flow velocity, the difference of blood flow velocity in the contralateral areas of interest, the difference of the normalized blood flow velocity in the contralateral areas of interest. Differences between indexes depending on the results of histological examination for each area of interest were evaluated by the variance analysis and by pairwise comparison with the Tukey’s criterion. Statistical significance of differences was assessed by the specialized computer language R v 3.2, using pROC packets. Totally, 180 biopsies were obtained. 19 – prostate cancer Σ Gleason 6, 17 – prostate cancer Σ Gleason 7, 5 – prostate cancer Gleason Σ 8, 7 – inflammation, 121 – not pathological, 11 – prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN). The areas under the ROC curves for the studied parameters were: average blood flow velocity 0.6343, normalized blood flow velocity 0.5300, difference of blood flow velocity in contralateral areas of interest 0.5875, difference of normalized blood flow velocity in the contralateral areas of interest 0.6263. The results of our study shows low sensitivity of the method in detection of lowgrade prostate cancer.Визуализация рака предстательной железы (РПЖ) остается актуальной проблемой в урологии и онкологии. Цель исследования – оценка возможности визуализации РПЖ с помощью 320срезовой перфузионной компьютерной томографии (ПКТ). Были оценены результаты обследования 15 пациентов с подозрением на РПЖ. Исследования были выполнены на 320срезовом спиральном компьютерном томографе Aquilion One (Toshiba, Япония). Перфузию предстательной железы вычисляли методом максимального градиента. Далее на каждой перфузионной карте размещали зоны интереса. Для каждой из зон интереса рассчитывали следующие показатели: средняя скорость кровотока, нормализованная скорость кровотока, разница скорости кровотока в контрлатеральных зонах интереса, разница нормализованной скорости кровотока в контрлатеральных зонах интереса. Различия между показателями в зависимости от результатов гистологического исследования каждой из зон интереса оценивали дисперсионным анализом с последующим попарным сравнением с критерием Тьюки. Статистическую значимость различий оценивали в специализированном языке программирования R v3.2, с применением пакетов «pROC». Всего было получено 180 биоптатов. Из них 19 – РПЖ Σ Глисона 6, 17 – РПЖ Σ Глисона 7, 5 – РПЖ Σ Глисона 8, 7 – воспаление, 121 – отсутствие патологических изменений, 11– простатическая интраэпителиальная неоплезия. Площади под ROC-кривыми изучаемых показателей: средняя скорость кровотока – 0,6343, нормализованная скорость кровотока – 0,5300, разница скорости кровотока в контрлатеральных зонах интереса – 0,5875, разница нормализованной скорости кровотока в контрлатеральных зонах интереса – 0,6263. Результаты нашего исследования демонстрируют малую чувствительность метода в выявлении РПЖ низкой степени злокачественности

PepFect 14, a novel cell-penetrating peptide for oligonucleotide delivery in solution and as solid formulation

Numerous human genetic diseases are caused by mutations that give rise to aberrant alternative splicing. Recently, several of these debilitating disorders have been shown to be amenable for splice-correcting oligonucleotides (SCOs) that modify splicing patterns and restore the phenotype in experimental models. However, translational approaches are required to transform SCOs into usable drug products. In this study, we present a new cell-penetrating peptide, PepFect14 (PF14), which efficiently delivers SCOs to different cell models including HeLa pLuc705 and mdx mouse myotubes; a cell culture model of Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy (DMD). Non-covalent PF14-SCO nanocomplexes induce splice-correction at rates higher than the commercially available lipid-based vector Lipofectamine™ 2000 (LF2000) and remain active in the presence of serum. Furthermore, we demonstrate the feasibility of incorporating this delivery system into solid formulations that could be suitable for several therapeutic applications. Solid dispersion technique is utilized and the formed solid formulations are as active as the freshly prepared nanocomplexes in solution even when stored at an elevated temperatures for several weeks. In contrast, LF2000 drastically loses activity after being subjected to same procedure. This shows that using PF14 is a very promising translational approach for the delivery of SCOs in different pharmaceutical forms

The neutron and its role in cosmology and particle physics

Experiments with cold and ultracold neutrons have reached a level of precision such that problems far beyond the scale of the present Standard Model of particle physics become accessible to experimental investigation. Due to the close links between particle physics and cosmology, these studies also permit a deep look into the very first instances of our universe. First addressed in this article, both in theory and experiment, is the problem of baryogenesis ... The question how baryogenesis could have happened is open to experimental tests, and it turns out that this problem can be curbed by the very stringent limits on an electric dipole moment of the neutron, a quantity that also has deep implications for particle physics. Then we discuss the recent spectacular observation of neutron quantization in the earth's gravitational field and of resonance transitions between such gravitational energy states. These measurements, together with new evaluations of neutron scattering data, set new constraints on deviations from Newton's gravitational law at the picometer scale. Such deviations are predicted in modern theories with extra-dimensions that propose unification of the Planck scale with the scale of the Standard Model ... Another main topic is the weak-interaction parameters in various fields of physics and astrophysics that must all be derived from measured neutron decay data. Up to now, about 10 different neutron decay observables have been measured, much more than needed in the electroweak Standard Model. This allows various precise tests for new physics beyond the Standard Model, competing with or surpassing similar tests at high-energy. The review ends with a discussion of neutron and nuclear data required in the synthesis of the elements during the "first three minutes" and later on in stellar nucleosynthesis.Comment: 91 pages, 30 figures, accepted by Reviews of Modern Physic