Spin-transfer mechanism of ferromagnetism in polymerized fullerenes: AbinitioAb initio calculations

A mechanism of the high temperature ferromagnetism in polymerized fullerenes is suggested. It is assumed that some of the C$_{60}$ molecules in the crystal become magnetically active due to spin and charge transfer from the paramagnetic impurities (atoms or groups), such as hydrogen, fluorine, hydroxyl group OH, amino group NH$_2$, or methyl group CH$_3$, dispersed in the fullerene matrix. The exchange interaction between the spins localized on the magnetically active fullerenes is evaluated using \textit{ab initio} calculations. The nearest neighbour and next nearest neighbour exchange interaction is found to be in the range $0.1\div 0.3$ eV, that is, high enough to account for the room temperature ferromagnetism.Comment: typos corrected, 8 pages, 3 figures, LaTe

Melioidosis in aspects of epidemiology, clinic, and laboratory diagnostics

Melioidosis is a life-threatening infection caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei, an environmental Gram-negative bacterium, inhabitant of moist soils in the tropics and subtropics. There is no licensed vaccine against melioidosis. The main routes of B. pseudomallei infection are percutaneous inoculation, inhalation, or ingestion. Individual cases of vertical, sexual, zoonotic, and nosocomial transmission of melioidosis are described. Risk factors for infection are contact with soil or water (especially during the rainy season). The age over 45, type 2 diabetes, alcoholism, liver disease, chronic lung disease, chronic renal disease, and thalassemia, as well as long-term use of steroids and immunosuppressive therapy, are the main susceptibility factors for melioidosis. Among the affected adult residents of endemic regions, 80% had one or more predisposing factors, among children — about 20%. No significant influence of concomitant diseases on the development of melioidosis in travelers was found. Less than 50% of patients had predisposing factors. The incubation period of melioidosis ranges within 1—21 days; on average, 9 days, in case of sizeable infectious dose, it can be less than one day. There is no post-infectious immunity, and reinfection can occur with a different B. pseudomallei strain after successful treatment. B. pseudomallei is a facultative intracellular pathogen that can invade and multiply inside a wide range of cells, including phagocytic. The acute form of melioidosis is characterized by pneumonia, multiple abscesses, bacteremia, and systemic sepsis. Chronic, subacute, and latent forms are also possible. Antimicrobial therapy is divided into the initial intensive phase and the subsequent eradication phase. B. pseudomallei is resistant to penicillins, first- and second-generation cephalosporins, aminoglycosides, macrolides, chloramphenicol, fluoroquinolones, tetracyclines, trimethoprim, and in some cases to co-trimoxazole, and rarely to ceftazidime. Early diagnosis and appropriate management are crucial in reducing severe complications leading to high mortality, and in preventing disease recurrences. However, there is no pathognomonic melioidosis-specific feature, and the disease is not well known to physicians and microbiologists. The results of serological tests for detection of specific antibodies are ambiguous. The bacterial load of the tested sample limits the detection of antigens. Among the accelerated methods for identifying the causative agent of melioidosis, PCR has the highest sensitivity and specificity. Automated identification using microbiological analyzers generally shows good results, but about 15% of isolates are misidentified. Time-of-flight mass spectrometry with matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization is potentially useful for rapid identification of B. pseudomallei. However, existing databases require optimization by adding the reference spectra for B. pseudomallei

Effect of antibodies to glutamate on age-related memory changes in C57Bl/6 mice

Chronic intranasal administration of antibodies to glutamate to aging C57Bl/6 mice improved passive avoidance conditioning, had no effect on horizontal and vertical locomotor activity, but slowed locomotion in the open-field test. Administration of antibodies to glutamate increased the content of dopamine and its metabolites in mouse hippocampus, but had no effect on the metabolism of neurotransmitter amino acids. In the frontal cortex, antibodies to glutamate did not affect neurotransmitter metabolism, but increased the level of both excitatory and inhibitory amino acids without changing their ratio

Energy-efficient technologies in the educational programs of the architectural higher education schools

The world trends in modern construction correspond to the ecological, rational design, according to "green" standards and applications of the building information modeling – BIM. Herein, we give a short review and some examples of Green, BIM technologies, in different countries. For more effective implementation of "green" building, it is necessary to introduce corresponding thematic in the higher education. Based on a comprehensive analysis of the articles, we described the competencies that a University Graduate must possess, for successful implementation in the industry AEC. Despite the absence of common methods, we developed a practice-oriented approach for teaching students Green BIM technologies and here integration these technologies into the educational process is considered. Some projects of energy-efficient objects, created by students of University of Architecture and Art, meeting requirements of "green" standards, are presented. © 2020, Budapest Tech Polytechnical Institution. All rights reserved

Experience of using some IT-tools for operational management in department of university

Experience of effective communications of the department of applied informatics with students, graduates and staff by means of e-mail, social networks, sending SMS from e-mail, Skype.Приводится опыт эффективных коммуникаций кафедры прикладной информатики с преподавателями, студентами, выпускниками и партнерами: электронная почта, социальные сети, рассылка SMS с e-mail, Skype

Experience in developing virtual reality for architectural objects

В рамках междисциплинарного направления бакалавриата «Прикладная информатика в архитектуре» показаны результаты освоения студентами технологий интерактивной трехмерной графики в реальном времени в виде систем виртуальной реальности с привязкой к соответствующему оборудованию (шлем Oculus Rift).Within the interdisciplinary bachelor “Applied Informatics in Architecture” we show the results of the study by students the technology of interactive threedimensional graphics in real time in the form of virtual reality with binding to the appropriate equipment (headset Oculus Rift)

Design of Primers for Detection and Typing of β-Lactamase Genes from Pathogenic Species of <i>Burkholderia</i>

The set of oligonucleotide primers was designed to identify β-lactam-resitance determinats in isolates of pathogenic Burkholderia using PCR. Simultaneously identified was certain molecular class of detected β-lactamases. PCR with primers specific to metallo-β-lactamase (class B) and oxacillinase of D-ala carboxypeptidase family (class D of β-lactamase) gene sequences allowed to differentiate among pseudomallei group of Burkholderia species

Assessment of Resistance in <i>Burkholderia pseudomallei</i> to Benzalkonium Chloride and Antibiotics

The aim of the study was to investigate the features of resistance formation in Burkholderia pseudomallei to quaternary ammonium compounds, as well as to analyze its influence on the development of antibiotic resistance.Materials and methods. 10 strains of melioidosis causative agent with typical cultural and morphological properties have been studied. The selection of variants resistant to benzalkonium chloride was carried out by successive passages on a dense nutrient medium with the addition of a disinfectant in increasing concentrations. The determination of sensitivity to benzalkonium chloride was performed through serial dilutions in agar, to antibacterial drugs from the groups of sulfonamides, β-lactams and tetracyclines – using disk diffusion method. Statistical processing of the obtained results was conducted with the help of the Microsoft Excel 2019 software. Arithmetic mean values and errors of mean values were calculated. The significance of differences between the parameters was determined applying Student’s t-test.Results and discussion. All parental strains showed a similar degree of resistance to the disinfectant compound and most of the strains – susceptibility to the antibiotics tested. Cultivation of B. pseudomallei strains on a nutrient medium with the addition of benzalkonium chloride led to an increase in resistance to this disinfectant. In addition, an increase in the level of resistance to all studied antibiotics was found. Statistical processing of the data collected revealed a significant correlation between the change in sensitivity to benzalkonium chloride and the emergence of resistance to amoxicillin/ clavulanic acid and ceftazidime. It was found that the causative agent of melioidosis, with a natural high susceptibility to benzalkonium chloride, has a high potential for developing resistance to this disinfectant compound, which is of practical importance in the development of disinfection regimens using quarternary ammonium compounds. For the first time, a direct correlation between a decrease in the sensitivity to benzalkonium chloride in B. pseudomallei and emergence of resistance to amoxicillin/clavulonic acid and ceftazidime has been demonstrated

Polyelectrolyte nanocontainers: controlled binding and release of indomethacin

Herein, polyelectrolyte capsules containing anti-inflammatory drug indomethacin were formed using layer-by-layer strategy, which involves alternative deposition of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes, such as poly(acrylic acid) and poly(ethyleneimine) (or chitosan) onto the drug substrate. Two variants of encapsulation have been implemented: direct deposition of polyelectrolytes onto indomethacin dispersed in water at рН 6, and preliminary formation of soft matrix by solubilization of indomethacin in micellar solutions of cationic surfactants. The inclusion of indomethacin into nanosized polyelectrolyte capsules (hydrodynamic diameter of three- and five-layer capsules is 90–180 nm) has given a new form of indomethacin with the drug content of 0.20–0.25%, which exceeds its limiting solubility in water nearly by the factor of 40. The choice of materials and procedures used for preparation of capsules, as well as the number of polyelectrolyte layers that form shell has provided the control of the drug release from capsule and resulted in the design of pharmaceutical dosage forms with long-lasting effect

Comparative Analysis of Potential Determinants of Resistance to Aminoglycosides in <i>Burkholderia pseudomallei</i> Strains with Different Level of Sensitivity to Gentamicin

The aim of the study was to identify and compare potential determinants of aminoglycoside resistance in gentamicin susceptible Burkholderia pseudomallei strains.Materials and methods. A bioinformatics analysis of whole genome shotgun sequences of three B. pseudomallei strains having different levels of sensitivity to gentamicin was carried out.Results and discussion. B. pseudomallei is intrinsically resistant to aminoglycosides. Such strains, as a rule, are not taken into account in the classical scheme of isolation and identification. At the same time, there were no significant differences in the clinical manifestations of melioidosis during infection with gentamicin-resistant and sensitive strains. In B. pseudomallei strains of different sequence types (ST70, ST948, and ST1566), point missense mutations were found in the genes of three efflux pumps of the RND family: AmrAB-OprA, BpeAB-OprB, BpeEF-OprC, and one with unknown functions, as well as in the gene aminoglycoside-6’-N-acetyltransferase AAC(6’)-III. All three strains had amino acid substitutions in the AmrA periplasmic linker: ARG160SER, Arg116Gln and Gly237Arg, Thr317Lys, respectively. In moderately sensitive strains (ST948 and ST1566), an identical Val222Met substitution was found in the repressor of the AmrAB-OprA operon, AmrR. It is likely that the intermediate level of sensitivity to gentamicin in the studied strains is mediated by the constitutive expression of the AmrAB-OprA operon, which partially compensates for the structural defects. It is also possible that a dinucleotide deletion in the AAC (6’)-III aminoglycoside-6’-N-acetyltransferase gene, as well as detected mutations in the homologues of the periplasmic linker (BPSL2234) of an uncharacterized efflux operon of the RND family, are involved in the loss of resistance to gentamicin