Induced thermoluminescence study of experimentally shock-loaded oligoclase

Artificially induced thermoluminescence (TL) in oligoclase samples which were shock-loaded up to 27 GPa was measured. The essential increase of the TL sensitivity in relation to the total gamma-ray irradiation dose was observed only in samples at the 27 GPa pressure. This result can be explained by the initiation of additional radiation damages in the shocked oligoclace crystal lattice

Evaluation methods basis of strategy development effectiveness of the enterprise

The urgency to study the problem is caused by the necessity to make management decisions in terms of reducing goods life cycle, reducing profitability of production, increasing speed of technological progress. In this context, this article aims to identify and elaborate the tools for integrated diagnostic of strategy efficiency, taking into account the relationship of parameters which characterize various spheres of enterprise activity, and to formulate integral indicator of strategic effectiveness, which can be accepted as the criterion for evaluating the effectiveness of strategic development. The leading approach to the study of this problem was the systems approach, used in the development of methods for efficiency evaluation of strategic development, it allows to identify priority factors of the strategic development of the company. The article substantiates the use of value approach to management as a methodical bases of diagnostics of the effectiveness of the strategic development of the industrial enterprises; the matrix tool was developed, supplementing the information-analytical foundation of management. The results of the research work may be useful for effectiveness evaluation of the strategic development of industrial enterprise and for identifying priority strategic development factors and making recommendations to improve the value of business. © 2016 Zotova et al

Neural network analysis of hyperspectral images of soil

The article approaches to the classification of high-resolution hyperspectral images in the problem of classification of soil species is proposed. A spectral-spatial convolutional neural network with compensation for lighting variations is used as a classifier. The effectiveness of the proposed approach in the problem of classification of hyperspectral images of soils obtained by a scanning hyperspectral camera is shown. The essence of the developed method is to use binary classification together with multiclass, thereby improving the result of the latter

Narrow-jet plasma technology – the way to new standards on welding production

Показана возможность изменения отраслевых стандартов на производство сварных соединений, так как качество сварных швов, полученных после плазменной резки по технологии узкоструйной плазмы без удаления зон термического влияния не уступает показателям, достигаемым после механической разделки.The possibility of changing the industry standards for the production of welded joints is shown, since the quality of welds obtained after plasma cutting using the technology of narrow-jet plasma without removing the zones of thermal influence is not inferior to the indicators achieved after mechanical cutting

Hyperspectral images neural network analysis of unstained micropreparations

The article presents the results of a study of hyperspectral imaging in microscopy to assess pathological changes in unstained medical micropreparations.Hyperspectral imaging was carried out using a system of synchronous shooting and movement of a movable table combined with a stepper motor. To improve the quality of theobtained images, software correction of the illumination of the spectral channels was used. The classification was carried out by a convolutional neural network. This method may be promising for assessing pathological changes in clinical practice. Experimental studies were carried out on histological preparations with different types of tissues without staining with contrasting medical dyes. To assess the reliability of the classification method, a comparison was made with thestandard method using staining of the studied samples

Three-Dimensional Endoscopy-Assisted Excision and Reconstruction for Metastatic Disease of the Dorsal and Lumbar Spine: Early Results

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to explore the role of three-dimensional (3D) endoscopy in surgical management of metastatic disease of the dorsal and lumbar spine. METHODS: This is a prospective study on 33 patients (15 men and 18 women, mean age of 61.6 ± 8.9 years) with biopsy-proven metastatic disease of the spine managed by sequential/staged posterior decompression-stabilization, followed by 3D endoscopy-assisted anterior corpectomy and stabilization with a mesh cage. All patients had significant extradural compression or spinal instability or both. Sixteen patients had neurological deficits. Visual analog scale (VAS), Frenkel grade (neurological deficits), Karnofsky performance status scale, and the 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36) were used for assessment preoperatively and at 3, 6, and 12 months from surgery. RESULTS: At a mean follow-up of 1.7 ± 0.7 years from surgery, 18 patients were alive. VAS showed significant improvement at the latest follow-up compared to preoperative levels (4.39 vs. 6.61, p = 0.001). Karnofsky status did not show any significant improvement. Frenkel grade improved in 5 patients, deteriorated in 4 patients, and remained unchanged in 24 patients. Regarding SF-36 parameters, general health showed deterioration, but role functioning—physical, role functioning—emotional, social functioning, and body pain showed statistically significant improvement. There was no change in physical health, viability, and mental health. Subjectively the surgeons felt better depth perception and smoother surgical experience with the 3D optics technology. The only complication was delayed wound healing in three patients who had a previous history of radiotherapy to the surgical site. CONCLUSIONS: 3D endoscopy is a valuable tool in the management of metastatic spinal disease requiring excision and reconstruction using the combined posterior and anterior approaches. These early results warrant confirmation with more data and longer follow-ups

The Energetics of Li Off-Centering in K1−x_{1-x}Lix_xTaO3_3; First Principles Calculations

K$_{1-x}$Li$_{x}$TaO$_3$ (KLT) solid solutions exhibit a variety of interesting physical phenomena related to large displacements of Li-ions from ideal perovskite A-site positions. First-principles calculations for KLT supercells were used to investigate these phenomena. Lattice dynamics calculations for KLT exhibit a Li off-centering instability. The energetics of Li-displacements for isolated Li-ions and for Li-Li pairs up to 4th neighbors were calculated. Interactions between nearest neighbor Li-ions, in a Li-Li pair, strongly favor ferroelectric alignment along the pair axis. Such Li-Li pairs can be considered "seeds" for polar nanoclusters in KLT. Electrostriction, local oxygen relaxation, coupling to the KT soft-mode, and interactions with neighboring Li-ions all enhance the polarization from Li off-centering. Calculated hopping barriers for isolated Li-ions and for nearest neighbor Li-Li pairs are in good agreement with Arrhenius fits to experimental dielectric data.Comment: 14 pages including 10 figures. To Physical Review B. Replaced after corrections due to referees' remark

Influence of known prediction factors on indications for surgical treatment and its results in patients with metastatic spinal disease

The possibilities of assessing the prognosis of the course of the disease in patients with metastatic lesions of the spine are analyzed. The surgical approach to the treatment of metastatic spine lesions is palliative. According to the data of the conducted studies, in patients who underwent surgical treatment in combination with systemic therapy, radiation treatment significantly improved the quality of life. Knowledge of the prognostic factors and their use in clinical practice in planning makes it possible to determine the method and adequate type of surgical treatment. Using prognostic factors, it is possible to estimate the life expectancy in this severe category of patients. The results of the assessment using scoring systems of Tokuhashi, Sioutos, Tomita, Van der Linden, Bauer are presented. The differences between them for the prediction are shown. It is noticed that the scales do not take into account the use of systemic treatment of cancer and the morphology of tumors, namely the presence of mutations. Considering the above, it was concluded that treatment planning and its scope should be based on a thorough assessment of the history, clinical picture and prognosis of the disease course. It is necessary to search for and develop new prognostic factors that can provide objective information about the possible life expectancy. It is important to develop factors that take into account the influence of the presence of mutations in the tumor and the effectiveness of systemic treatment on the life expectancy of patients. An accurate determination of the postoperative life expectancy will improve the quality of medical care for this category of patients and achieve optimal quality of life indicators.Проанализированы данные исследований о возможностях оценки прогноза течения заболевания у больных с метастатическим поражением позвоночника. Хирургический подход к лечению метастатического поражения позвоночника является паллиативным. По данным проведенных исследований, у пациентов, которым проведено хирургическое лечение в сочетании с системной терапией, лучевым лечением достоверно наблюдается улучшение качества жизни. Знание факторов прогноза и их применение в клинической практике при планировании дает возможность определить способ и адекватный объем хирургического лечения. С помощью факторов прогноза можно оценить предполагаемую продолжительность жизни у данной тяжелой категории пациентов. Приведены результаты оценки с применением систем прогноза Tokuhashi, Sioutos, Tomita, Van der Linden, Bauer. Показаны различия шкал по включенным в них факторам прогноза. Указано, что шкалы не учитывают применение системного лечения онкологического заболевания и морфологию опухолей, а именно, наличие мутаций. Учитывая вышесказанное, сделано заключение о том, что планирование лечения и его объем должны основываться на тщательной оценке данных анамнеза, клиники и прогноза течения заболевания. Необходимы поиск и разработка новых прогностических факторов, способных дать объективную информацию о возможной продолжительности жизни. Важна разработка факторов, учитывающих влияние наличия мутаций в опухоли и эффективность системного лечения на продолжительность жизни пациентов. Точное определение послеоперационной продолжительности жизни позволит улучшить качество медицинской помощи данной категории пациентов и достичь оптимальных показателей качества жизн

МОДЕЛИРОВАНИЕ ДЖОУЛЕВА НАГРЕВА В СРЕДЕ COMSOL MULTIPHYSICS

Using the example of thermal processes in a resistor, an algorithm for simulating the Joule heating in a COMSOL Multiphysics environment is shown. The choice of materials and the assignment of their properties for electronic products are considered. The process of creating two-dimensional models of temperature distribution in electronic components of medical electronics is shown.На примере тепловых процессов в резисторе показан алгоритм моделирования Джоулева нагрева в среде COMSOL Multiphysics. Рассмотрен выбор материалов и задание их свойств для изделий электронной техники. Показан процесс создания двухмерных моделей распределения температуры в электронных компонентах средств медицинской электроники

MultiMSOAR 2.0: An Accurate Tool to Identify Ortholog Groups among Multiple Genomes

The identification of orthologous genes shared by multiple genomes plays an important role in evolutionary studies and gene functional analyses. Based on a recently developed accurate tool, called MSOAR 2.0, for ortholog assignment between a pair of closely related genomes based on genome rearrangement, we present a new system MultiMSOAR 2.0, to identify ortholog groups among multiple genomes in this paper. In the system, we construct gene families for all the genomes using sequence similarity search and clustering, run MSOAR 2.0 for all pairs of genomes to obtain the pairwise orthology relationship, and partition each gene family into a set of disjoint sets of orthologous genes (called super ortholog groups or SOGs) such that each SOG contains at most one gene from each genome. For each such SOG, we label the leaves of the species tree using 1 or 0 to indicate if the SOG contains a gene from the corresponding species or not. The resulting tree is called a tree of ortholog groups (or TOGs). We then label the internal nodes of each TOG based on the parsimony principle and some biological constraints. Ortholog groups are finally identified from each fully labeled TOG. In comparison with a popular tool MultiParanoid on simulated data, MultiMSOAR 2.0 shows significantly higher prediction accuracy. It also outperforms MultiParanoid, the Roundup multi-ortholog repository and the Ensembl ortholog database in real data experiments using gene symbols as a validation tool. In addition to ortholog group identification, MultiMSOAR 2.0 also provides information about gene births, duplications and losses in evolution, which may be of independent biological interest. Our experiments on simulated data demonstrate that MultiMSOAR 2.0 is able to infer these evolutionary events much more accurately than a well-known software tool Notung. The software MultiMSOAR 2.0 is available to the public for free