Hidden infrared star clusters in our Galaxy: follow-up observations

AbstractWe are reporting some recent results from our long-term program aimed at characterizing the obscured present-day star cluster population in the Galaxy. Our goal is to expand the current census of the Milky Way's inner stellar disk to guide models seeking to understand the structure and recent star-formation history of our Galaxy. The immediate goal is to derive accurate cluster physical parameters using precise infrared photometry and spectroscopy. So far, we observed approximately 60 star cluster candidates selected from different infrared catalogs. Their nature, reddening, distance, age and mass are analyzed. Two of them, Mercer 3 and Mercer 5, are new obscured Milky Way globular clusters. Among the newly identified open clusters, the objects [DBS2003] 179, Mercer 23, Mercer 30, Mercer 70, and [DBS2003] 106 are particularly interesting because they contain massive young OB and Wolf–Rayet stars with strong emission lines

Inventions in the Area of Nanomaterials and Nanotechnologies. Part II

Introduction. Advanced technologies impress people’s imagination demonstrating the latest achievements (materials, methods, systems, technologies, devices etc.) that dramatically change the world. This, first of all, concerns nanotechnological inventions designed by scientists, engineers and specialists from different countries. Main part. The article provides an abstract overview of inventions of scientists, engineers and specialists from different countries: Germany, Russia, USA, et al. The results of the creative activity of scientists, engineers and specialists, including inventions in the field of nanotechnology and nanomaterials allow, when introduced to industry, achieving a significant effect in construction, housing and communal services, and related sectors of the economy. For example, the task resolved by the invention «A composition on the basis of oxide nanostructures to provide surface with superhydrophobic properties», means to design a new method of obtaining materials with superhydrophobic properties which possess improved performance and functional characteristics which can be applied in various areas: power engineering, electronics, machine-building, construction, ship-building, aviation, aerospace and food industries. The feature of the invention is that the surfaces demonstrate superhydrophobic properties and, as a result of that, their applying allows protecting metal structures, such as power lines, frame structures, roofs, from ice formation and dirtying. The technical result is possible due to the use of composition on the basis of oxide nanostructures to provide surface with superhydrophobic properties. The composition contains tetraethoxysilane and tetraisopropyl titanate as structure-forming agents, hexamethyldisilazane as hydrophobic element, isopropyl alcohol as dissolvent, non-spheric nanocrystal titanium dioxide with particle size from 10 to 50 nm as a grow accelerator of anisotropic structures to provide specified roughness of the surface. The specialist can be also interested in the following inventions in the area of nanotechnologies: a composite heat-conducting material on the basis of nanoliquid, a nanocomposite material on the basis of potassium titanate, a method of obtaining of nanodispersed powders, hybrid supercondenser on the basis of nanosized nickel hydroxide, etc. Conclusion. One of the most challenging tasks the economy of every country faces is to increase industrial competitiveness through technological upgrade. From the side of the state and companies the principal object to control in this process are the people and enterprises dealing with introduction of inventions and new technologie

Inventions of Scientists, Engineers and Specialists from Different Countries in the Area of Nanotechnologies. Part V

Introduction. Advanced technologies impress people\u27s imagination demonstrating the latest achievements (materials, methods, systems, technologies, devices etc.) that dramatically change the world. This, first of all, concerns nanotechnological inventions designed by scientists, engineers and specialists from different countries. Main part. The article provides an abstract overview of inventions of scientists, engineers and specialists from different countries: Russia, USA, China, Belarus, Italy. The results of the creative activity of scientists, engineers and specialists, including inventions in the field of nanotechnology and nanomaterials allow, when introduced to industry, achieving a significant effect in construction, housing and communal services, and related sectors of the economy. For example, the invention Protective coating and method of its application relates to the field of protecting metals from corrosion. To obtain a protective coating, a composition containing an industrial oil with a powder of a phosphorusmodified copper-carbon nanocomposite is applied to the surface of an unalloyed steel and subjected to thermochemical activation by heating for 20 minutes at a temperature of 100-200 degrees C. During the formation of the coating, strong donor-acceptor bonds of iron atoms with phosphorus, which are in the composition of the copper-carbon nanocomposite, are formed. In the course of experiments, it was found that heating samples with a coating of oil with the addition of a phosphorus-modified copper-carbon nanocomposite to 100-200 degrees C increases the chemical activity of the nanocomposite, as a result of which a protective coating forms on the surface, which reduces the corrosion rate depending on the concentration of the modified metal-carbon nanocomposite. by 70-95%. The following inventions in the field of nanotechnology are also of interest to specialists: a method for obtaining a nanostructured surface of a metal workpiece by laser treatment, a device for producing nanodispersed metal oxides, a method for producing a nanostructured composite material based on aluminum, a method for modifying the surfaces of plates of a brazed plate heat exchanger, etc. Conclusion. One of the most challenging tasks the economy of every country face is to increase industrial competitiveness through technological upgrade. From the side of the state and companies the principal object to control in this process are the people and enterprises dealing with introduction of inventions and new technologies

Analysis of Sparse and Noisy Ocean Current Data Using Flow Decomposition. Part II: Applications to Eulerian and Lagrangian Data

Part 2The capability of the reconstruction scheme developed in Part I is demonstrated here through three practical applications. First, the nonlinear regression model is used to reproduce the upper-layer three-dimensional circulation of the eastern Black Sea from model data distorted by white and red noises. Second, the quasigeostrophic approximation is used to reconstruct the shallow water circulation pattern in an open domain with various sampling strategies. Third, the large-scale circulation in the Southern Ocean is reproduced from the First Global Atmospheric Research Program (GARP) Global Experiment (FGGE) drifter data with noncontrollable noise statistics. All three cases confirm that the theoretical approach is robust to various noise-to-signal ratios, number of observations, and station disposition. Using the simplified open boundary condition for analyzing long-term observational data is recommended because the nonlinear regression procedure requires considerable computer resources.This research was sponsored by the Office of Naval Research, Naval Oceanographic Office, and the Naval Postgraduate School.Leonid Ivanov also thanks the International Field Office of the Office of Naval Research for support under the Grant N00014-02-1-4058. This work was partially conducted by Leonid Ivanov while he held a National Research Council Research Associateship Award at the Naval Postgraduate School, and while he visited the University of Delaware

Numerical analysis of the stress-strain state of osteotomies of the first metatarsal bone

Deviation of the first toe to the outside, interconnected with the deviation of the first metatarsal bone to the inside, occurs in 46% of patients of the older age group and is called valgus deformity of the first toe. The negative impact of this pathology on the quality of life of patients is the reason for seeking medical help, the gold standard of which is surgical correction, and the basic surgical technique is osteotomy (sawing the bone and fixing its fragments with implants) of the first metatarsal. At the same time, an ideal osteotomy should provide initial stability in the early postoperative period. However, a large number of ways to perform osteotomy, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each of the surgical techniques, do not allow to consider one of them as the most successful. In this regard, the aim of the work was to develop and validate a biomechanical model of osteotomy of the first metatarsal bone to analyze its stability and reliability depending on the type of osteotomy, the degree of displacement of bone fragments, as well as the number of fastening screws. In this study, biomechanical modeling of the most commonly used variants of osteotomy of the first metatarsal bone of the foot in the surgical treatment of its valgus deformity was carried out. For this purpose, 10 models of osteotomies of a separate first metatarsal bone were created, which were then subjected to static loading to analyze their stress-strain state and assess their success. Successful (stable and reliable) treatment options were identified, as well as unsuccessful ones. Two of the ten options considered were unsuccessful – scarf type osteotomies with displacement of bone fragments by 2/3 of its diameter and fixed with a single screw. It was revealed that osteotomies of the chevron type showed higher stability in comparison with scarf osteotomies. As a result, we note that in this study, numerical experiments were conducted for the first time to compare the stability and strength of the most commonly used variants of osteotomies based on a single bone model. A biomechanical model of scarf osteotomy of the first metatarsal bone has been developed and validated on the basis of mechanical experiments

Sostoyanie sloya atlanticheskikh vod v Severnom Ledovitom okeane v 2007-2009 gg. (The state of Atlantic water layer in the Arctic Ocean in 2007-2009, in Russian)

Oceanographic studies during IPY 2007/2009 provided new information on spatial variability of hydrographic parameters. Detailed pattern of irregularities in the Atlantic Water (AW) layer was documented in the Nansen Basin. Spatial scales of temperature distribution and the depth of the upper boundary of AW were estimated. In the Canadian Basin spatial variations of temperature were less pronounced. During IPY 2007/2008 the area occupied by AW has increased. According to our estimations the positive temperature anomaly in some regions was as high as 1,5°C, which is about 70% of temperature maximum in 1950-1959. The upper boundary of AW (zero degree isotherm) rose by 40-120 m around the Mendeleyev Ridge and in the Amundsen Basin. At the same time, in the Canada Basin and in the western Fram Strait the AW thickness decreased by similar value. Heat content of the AW layer around the major part of the Arctic Ocean exceeded mean climatic value, except for the compact area north of Franz Josef Land, where small negative anomaly was observed. Throughout 2008 mean temperature and maximum temperature in the AW layer were higher than mean climatic values. At the same time, the state of AW layer in the inflow region, east of Fram Strait along the continental margin to the Laptev Sea, substantially changed in comparison with 2007. Mean and maximum temperature of AW dropped by 0,25/0,5°C. Heat content and the Thickness of AW layer have also decreased. Basing on the obtained results, we conclude that during 2008/2009 there was a neneral reverse trend in AW parameters towards mean climatic results

Неврологические и нейрохирургические аспекты гипофосфатазии

Hypophosphatasia is a rare hereditary progressive disease caused by a mutation in ALPL gene and characterized by low activity of alkaline phosphatase. Due to the disruption of the bone mineralization process, ricket-like deformations of the skeleton occur in the clinic picture more frequently but other systemic manifestations can be also observed as respiratory insufficiency, urinary tract damage, and neurological disorders. Seizures, delayed physical and psychomotor development, attention deficit disorder, muscle weakness, fatigue, intracranial hypertension associated with the development of craniosynostosis are revealed in these patients. The severity of the disease depends on age: the highest mortality is reported in younger patients, in perinatal and infantile forms of hypophosphatasia. Diagnosis is based on the identification of specific clinical manifestations: retardation of growth and development, skeletal deformities, pain in muscles and joints, premature tooth loss. In laboratory tests, a steady decrease in alkaline phosphatase level is detected taking into account age and sex specification. If possible, alkaline phosphatase substrates are measured: levels of pyridoxal-5-phosphate in the blood and phosphoethanolamine in urine are higher at low enzyme activity. Radiographs of long bones typically reveal characteristic ‘tongues’ of lucency projecting from growth plates into metaphyses, hypomineralization, osteopenia, various kinds of deformation. All patients with suspected hypophosphatasia should be consulted by a clinical geneticist and evaluated to identify possible mutation in the ALPL gene.Гипофосфатазия — редкое наследственное прогрессирующее заболевание, вызванное мутацией в гене ALPL, вследствие которой угнетается активность щелочной фосфатазы. Из-за нарушения процесса минерализации костной ткани в клинической картине преобладают рахитоподобные деформации скелета, но зачастую возникают и другие системные проявления — нарушение дыхания, поражение мочевыделительной системы и неврологические расстройства. У пациентов выявляют судороги, задержку физического и психомоторного развития, дефицит внимания, мышечную слабость, быструю утомляемость, внутричерепную гипертензию, связанную с развитием краниосиностозов. Тяжесть гипофосфатазии зависит от времени ее манифестации: наибольшая смертность регистрируется при перинатальной и инфантильной формах заболевания. Диагностика основана на выявлении характерных клинических симптомов — задержки роста и развития, деформации скелета, болей в мышцах и суставах, преждевременного выпадения зубов. В лабораторных анализах отслеживается стойкое снижение уровня щелочной фосфатазы с учетом возраста и пола пациента; при низкой активности фермента уровни субстратов щелочной фосфатазы пиридоксаль-5-фосфат в крови и фосфоэтаноламина в моче всегда повышены. На рентгенограммах длинных трубчатых костей обнаруживаются «языки» просветления, проецирующиеся от зоны роста в метафизы, а также гипоминерализация, остеопения и другие деформации. Все пациенты с подозрением на гипофосфатазию должны быть проконсультированы клиническим генетиком и обследованы на выявление мутации в гене ALPL.КОНФЛИКТ ИНТЕРЕСОВАвторы декларируют отсутствие конфликтов интересов, связанных с публикацией настоящей статьи

Diverse Forms of RPS9 Splicing Are Part of an Evolving Autoregulatory Circuit

Ribosomal proteins are essential to life. While the functions of ribosomal protein-encoding genes (RPGs) are highly conserved, the evolution of their regulatory mechanisms is remarkably dynamic. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, RPGs are unusual in that they are commonly present as two highly similar gene copies and in that they are over-represented among intron-containing genes. To investigate the role of introns in the regulation of RPG expression, we constructed 16 S. cerevisiae strains with precise deletions of RPG introns. We found that several yeast introns function to repress rather than to increase steady-state mRNA levels. Among these, the RPS9A and RPS9B introns were required for cross-regulation of the two paralogous gene copies, which is consistent with the duplication of an autoregulatory circuit. To test for similar intron function in animals, we performed an experimental test and comparative analyses for autoregulation among distantly related animal RPS9 orthologs. Overexpression of an exogenous RpS9 copy in Drosophila melanogaster S2 cells induced alternative splicing and degradation of the endogenous copy by nonsense-mediated decay (NMD). Also, analysis of expressed sequence tag data from distantly related animals, including Homo sapiens and Ciona intestinalis, revealed diverse alternatively-spliced RPS9 isoforms predicted to elicit NMD. We propose that multiple forms of splicing regulation among RPS9 orthologs from various eukaryotes operate analogously to translational repression of the alpha operon by S4, the distant prokaryotic ortholog. Thus, RPS9 orthologs appear to have independently evolved variations on a fundamental autoregulatory circuit

International Asteroid Warning Network Timing Campaign : 2019 XS

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