Theoretical Prediction for Synthetic Realization: Pyramidal Systems ClE[E′4R4] (E = B–Ga, E′ = C–Ge, R = SiMe3, SiMetBu2): A DFT Study

Structure and bonding of hybrid group 13/14 pyramidal molecules ClE[R4] (E = B–Ga, E′ = C–Ge, R = SiMe3, SiMetBu2) were studied by DFT calculations. Six pyramidal structures are suggested for their potential synthetic realization

Commercially available diagnostic device use in educational process: Experience and innovation

The publication material discloses the use of the methodology of psychopedagogical diagnostics in working with children and students of different age groups, organized under the leadership of the school psychologist, social educator, school or university teacher or students in Elabuga educational institutions of the Republic of Tatarstan. Here an analysis of the experience of the diagnostic and commercially available device use by the teachers and students of Elabuga Institute of Kazan Federal University (EI KFU) is described, in particular: "Activation meter - AC-9k", "Comfort LOGO", "Personality factor questionnaire (diagnosis of personality traits according to the procedure designed by P. Cattell)". Particular attention is paid to the organization of work with children in the mode of "a fairy-tale therapy": - "Lord of Wonderland", "Island of Childhood" and some other activities. A technology of modified diagnostic children's games (children's game kits) development is proposed as an innovative direction in commercially available diagnostic device use in school and university educational work. The article describes ways to design children's game kits, the techniques and methodology of their use in working with students in schools, additional educational institutions, as well as in the classroom at the children's camp "Intel Summer" and teenage associations "Junior Programmer" and "Young Physicist". According to the authors, the development of commercially available diagnostic children's game kits, as well as their use contribute to professional and creative development of all the members of educational process

Interlayer interaction, shear vibrational mode, and tribological properties of two-dimensional bilayers with a commensurate moir\'e pattern

The potential energy surface (PES) of interlayer interaction of infinite twisted bilayer graphene is calculated for a set of commensurate moir\'e patterns using the registry-dependent Kolmogorov-Crespi empirical potential. The calculated PESs have the same shape for all considered moir\'e patterns with the unit cell size of the PES which is inversely related to the unit cell size of the moir\'e pattern. The amplitude of PES corrugations is found to decrease exponentially upon increasing the size of the moir\'e pattern unit cell. An analytical expression for such a PES including the first Fourier harmonics compatible with the symmetries of both layers is derived. It is shown that the calculated PESs can be approximated by the derived expression with the accuracy within 1%. This means that different physical properties associated with relative in-plane motion of graphene layers are interrelated and can be expressed analytically as functions of the amplitude of PES corrugations. In this way, we obtain the shear mode frequency, shear modulus, shear strength and barrier for relative rotation of the commensurate twisted layers to a fully incommensurate state for the considered moir\'e patterns. This barrier may possibly lead to the macroscopic robust superlubricity for twisted graphene bilayer with a commensurate moir\'e pattern. The conclusions made should be valid for diverse 2D systems of twisted commensurate layers.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures; Supplemental Material: 2 pages, 1 figur

Experimental Designs for Binary Data in Switching Measurements on Superconducting Josephson Junctions

We study the optimal design of switching measurements of small Josephson junction circuits which operate in the macroscopic quantum tunnelling regime. Starting from the D-optimality criterion we derive the optimal design for the estimation of the unknown parameters of the underlying Gumbel type distribution. As a practical method for the measurements, we propose a sequential design that combines heuristic search for initial estimates and maximum likelihood estimation. The presented design has immediate applications in the area of superconducting electronics implying faster data acquisition. The presented experimental results confirm the usefulness of the method. KEY WORDS: optimal design, D-optimality, logistic regression, complementary log-log link, quantum physics, escape measurement

Economic performance or electoral necessity? Evaluating the system of voluntary income to political parties

Whilst the public funding of political parties is the norm in western democracies, its comprehensive introduction has been resisted in Britain. Political and electoral arrangements in Britain require parties to function and campaign on a regular basis, whilst their income follows cycles largely related to general elections. This article shows that the best predictor of party income is the necessity of a well-funded general election campaign rather than party performance. As a result, income can only be controlled by parties to a limited degree, which jeopardises their ability to determine their own financial position and fulfil their functions as political parties

Elication of an excitation center in the depth of tissue by visualization with high-frequency electric field

Hardware and software system, which makes it possible to visualize the glow center, marker of the excitation center in tissue, in the electric field, is created. The system was tested in 14 experiments with sinoatrial nodes of cat's hearts, which's fist excitation's center is in the depth of the right auricle's myocardium, and in 30 experiments with frog's venous sinuses, which's first excitation's center is situated in the superficial layer of the sinus wall. Also observations were held with deeply situated center - in cat's tooth's pulp, which is surrounded by insulators: dentine and tooth's enamel. The ability of visualization the excitation's center was developed at localizations in different depths

Synchrotron x-ray fluorescence and extended x-ray absorption fine structure analysis

The advent of dedicated synchrotron radiation sources has led to a significant increase in activity in many areas of science dealing with the interaction of x-rays with matter. Synchrotron radiation provides intense, linearly polarized, naturally collimated, continuously tunable photon beams, which are used to determine not only the elemental composition of a complex, polyatomic, dilute material but also the chemical form of the elements with improved accuracy. Examples of the application of synchrotron radiation include experiments in synchrotron x-ray fluorescence (SXRF) analysis and extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) analysis. New synchrotron radiation x-ray microprobes for elemental analysis in the parts per billion range are under construction at several laboratories. 76 references, 24 figures

Эколого-технологические риски применения жидкого аммиака в районах Крайнего Севера.

The risks of the emergent ecological and technical situation as a result of using liquid ammonia as a refrigerating medium in construction in Far Northern regions have been considered. Affective zone modeling/simulation during ammonia ejection into the atmosphere has been built. A model of reaction between ammonia and plastic frozen ground has been suggested. A conclusion of ammonia monitoring in the atmosphere and advisability/expediency of liquid ammonia substitution on alternative refrigerating medium, Freon-22, has been drawnРассмотрены риски возникновения чрезвычайных экологических и технических ситуаций при авариях, связанных с использованием жидкого аммиака в качестве хладагента при строительстве в зонах вечной мерзлоты. Проведено моделирование зоны поражения при выбросах аммиака в атмосферу. Предложена модель взаимодействия аммиака с пластично мерзлыми грунтами. Сделан вывод о необходимости мониторинга аммиака в атмосферном воздухе и целесообразности замены жидкого аммиака на альтернативный хладагент - хладон-22

Vascular endothelial growth factor acts as an osteolytic factor in breast cancer metastases to bone

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a proangiogenic cytokine that is expressed highly in many solid tumours often correlating with a poor prognosis. In this study, we investigated the expression of VEGF and its receptors in bone metastases from primary human breast tumours and further characterised its effects on osteoclasts in vitro. Breast cancer metastases to bone were immunohistochemically stained for VEGF, its receptors VEGFR1 and 2 (vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1 and 2), demonstrating that breast cancer metastases express VEGF strongly and that surrounding osteoclasts express both VEGFR1 and VEGFR2. RAW 264.7 cells (mouse monocyte cell line) and human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were cultured with VEGF, RANKL and M-CSF. VEGF and RANKL together induced differentiation of multinucleated, tartrate-resistant acid phophatase (TRAP)-positive cells in similar numbers to M-CSF and RANKL. The PBMCs were also able to significantly stimulate resorption of mineralised matrix after treatment with M-CSF with RANKL and VEGF with RANKL. We have shown that VEGF in the presence of RANKL supports PBMC differentiation into osteoclast-like cells, able to resorb substrate. Vascular endothelial growth factor may therefore play a role in physiological bone resorption and in pathological situations. Consequently, VEGF signalling may be a therapeutic target for osteoclast inhibition in conditions such as tumour osteolysis