Gravitational Waves in Relativistic Theory of Gravitation

It is shown that, in the framework of Relativistic Theory of Gravitation with massive graviton, gravitational waves, due to the causality condition, do not bear negative energy flows.Comment: 4 page

BREEDING FOR ANTIOXIDANT CONTENT IN GRAIN AS A PROMISING TREND IN OBTAINING HEALTHY FOOD PRODUCTS

According to the Food Security Doctrine of the Russian Federation, there are plans for the nearest future to expand the assortment of healthy food products for the country’s population, so a search for relevant food sources is needed. The substances that may aid to prevent a number of serious human diseases include antioxidants, while one of the important quality parameters in food products and their ingredients is their antioxidant activity. Today, the aggregate content of antioxidants and their antioxidant activity have been identified with sufficient accuracy for vegetables and fruits. At the same time, the whole cereal grain has been found to provide higher quantities of bound polyphenols than the equivalent portion of soft fruits or widely consumed vegetables. These compounds are available for metabolism in the large intestine, and thus can produce a beneficial effect on human health. Additionally, a case study of 30 different breakfast cereals has shown that the levels of polyphenols in an average portion of oat-based cereals (40 g) are matchable with those of vegetables or fruits. It is widely known that oat and barley grains have high nutritional value, contain unsaturated fatty acids, basic minerals, proteins and β-glucans (the highest levels among cereal crops), and are characterized by the presence of diverse chemicals with antioxidant properties. In recent years, research efforts have been started in a number of Western countries to analyze the content of antioxidants in the grain of various cereal crops. In today’s Russia, only a small number of works are dedicated to studying these important chemical compounds in oat and barley grain. It should be mentioned that, although cereal crops are recognized as one of the main components in human diet, the research conducted to determine their antioxidant activity has clearly been insufficient. In order to attract the attention of Russian plant scientists, plant breeders, plant physiologists, geneticists and biotechnologists, a survey of modern publications on this problem is presented

The collection of oat genetic resources held by VIR as a source of information on the history of cultivation and taxonomy of the genus, and breeding trends (a review)

Oat is one of the leading cereals cultivated in the world and in Russia; it has an important fodder and nutritional value. To preserve the entire crop agrobiodiversity worldwide, there is a network of genebanks that hold more than 200,000 oat accessions. International and national genebanks are located in all the world’s countries, but one of the largest oat collections is located in Russia.The global collection of the genus Avena L. (Oats) at the N.I. Vavilov All-Russian Institute of Plant Genetic Resources (VIR) is one of the largest worldwide and consists of over 13,000 accessions. The collection preserves and maintains live accessions of all cultivated oat species: A. sativa L., A. byzantina K. Koch, A. strigosa Schreb. and A. abyssinica Hochst., landraces, breeding lines, spring and winter forms, covered and naked genotypes, and all geographic diversity of 22 wild Avena spp. from 50 countries. This review provides historical background of the collection of cultivated and wild oat species, and who were the main donors of these holdings. The taxonomic system of the genus is briefly presented, which is used as a tool for efficient work and guaranteed safe preservation of accessions. Most of the cultivars developed in Russia have in their pedigree accessions obtained from the global collection of VIR. The passport database contains detailed information about all accessions of the collection, which makes it possible to improve the work with the oat collection, including safe preservation of accessions and their effective evaluation and use as source material for breeding in the leading breeding centers of Russia.Thus, the global oat collection at VIR has factual and potential value for the sustainable development of environmentally friendly agriculture, efficient processing of agricultural products, and production of safe and high-quality food products, including functional foods

Numerical modelling of radiant energy extinction by water medium containing bubbles and particles of various natures

In the framework of the Mie theory, we developed a numerical model of weakly absorbing medium, containing particles having an arbitrary chemical composition. This model can be applied to the study of the extinction characteristics of the optical radiation by a water layer with gas bubbles or volume-shape particles. The results of the numerical experiment illustrate changes in optical properties of the water due to the presence of bubbles or solid particles. The work displays some calculations of the extinction efficiency factor, the extinction coefficient, and transmission function at visible wavelengths. The influences of concentration and sizes of gas bubbles on the extinction characteristics of optical radiation are illustrated. Features of the extinction of radiant energy are discussed as dependent on a size parameter and a complex index of refraction of scatterers

Atomic levels in superstrong magnetic fields and D=2 QED of massive electrons: screening

The photon polarization operator in superstrong magnetic fields induces the dynamical photon "mass" which leads to screening of Coulomb potential at small distances $z\ll 1/m$, $m$ is the mass of an electron. We demonstrate that this behaviour is qualitatively different from the case of D=2 QED, where the same formula for a polarization operator leads to screening at large distances as well. Because of screening the ground state energy of the hydrogen atom at the magnetic fields $B \gg m^2/e^3$ has the finite value $E_0 = -me^4/2 \ln^2(1/e^6)$.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figure

The results of orthotopic heart transplantation using the bicaval technique

Circulatory failure, which develops in the final stages of the course of the most heart diseases, is a link in the progressive process. This process is accompanied by a significant decrease in the quality of life, as well as high disability and mortality. Heart transplantation increases the survival of patients with chronic heart failure, increases tolerance to physical exertion, improves the quality of life of patients and allows most of them to return to vigorous activity. Aim. The work is devoted to the analysis of the results of orthotopic heart transplantation in patients with a progressive course of chronic heart failure that cannot be treated conservatively. Materials and methods. We analyzed the clinical course of heart transplants in 55 patients. There were 46 (83.6 %) men and 9 (16.4 %) women among the recipients. The average age was 46.0 ± 10.0 years. Results. The result of the conducted retrospective study revealed that in-hospital (early) and one-year (longterm) survival among patients in our study was 92.7 % and 81.8 %, respectively. Conclusions. Heart transplantation is the most effective method of treatment for terminal heart failure. The quality of life of heart transplant patients improves significantly after surgery and is the main factor in the development of heart transplantation nowadays. The main causes of death were acute graft dysfunction, rejection reactions, and coronary heart disease of the transplanted heart. Problems related to cardiac graft dysfunction and rejection in the early and long-term period still need to be definitively resolved

Modification of Coulomb law and energy levels of the hydrogen atom in a superstrong magnetic field

We obtain the following analytical formula which describes the dependence of the electric potential of a point-like charge on the distance away from it in the direction of an external magnetic field B: \Phi(z) = e/|z| [ 1- exp(-\sqrt{6m_e^2}|z|) + exp(-\sqrt{(2/\pi) e^3 B + 6m_e^2} |z|) ]. The deviation from Coulomb's law becomes essential for B > 3\pi B_{cr}/\alpha = 3 \pi m_e^2/e^3 \approx 6 10^{16} G. In such superstrong fields, electrons are ultra-relativistic except those which occupy the lowest Landau level (LLL) and which have the energy epsilon_0^2 = m_e^2 + p_z^2. The energy spectrum on which LLL splits in the presence of the atomic nucleus is found analytically. For B > 3 \pi B_{cr}/\alpha, it substantially differs from the one obtained without accounting for the modification of the atomic potential.Comment: version to be published in Physical Review D (incorrect "Keywords" in previous version have been cancelled

Postslaughter state of muscle tissue of pigs depending on the duration of pre-slaughter fasting

Changes in the muscle tissue microstructure lead to changes in meat quality. One of the causes of the myopathy development is animal stress. Pigs experience the strongest stress during pre-slaughter holding. The study of the postmortem meat structure depending on fasting time is a topical task. The objects of the research were samples of m. L. dorsi obtained after slaughter from pigs that differed in fasting time: 4 (group 1), 8 (group 2), 10 (group 3), 16 (group 4) and 18 (group 5) hours (N = 20, n = 4). Investigation of the microstructure and morphometric measurements were carried out on preparations stained with hematoxylin and eosin. Myopathic changes in muscle tissue were assessed using a semi-quantitative method developed earlier. All studied samples were characterized by the uniform condition of muscle tissue. Statistically significant differences between individual groups were observed regarding the number and area of giant fibers, sarcomere length, diameter of muscle fibers and proportion of muscle fibers, which diameter was lower or higher by 1/3 than the mean fiber diameter. An increase in the pre-slaughter holding time reduced the number and area of giant fibers (r = –0.8437 and –0.5796, respectively), as well as the diameter of “normal” fibers (r = –0.5337), which positively influenced pork quality. Groups 1, 2 and 3 were characterized by the presence of signs of moderate and pronounced myopathy. Only one carcass with pronounced myopathic signs was revealed in each of groups 4 and 5. In group 4, one carcass did not have signs of myopathy. Pre-slaughter holding during 4, 8 and 10 hours led to deterioration of pork quality. The recommended fasting time is 16 hours