Wavelet analysis for polarization inhomogeneous laser images of blood plasma

The possibilities of the local wavelet-analysis of polarization-inhomogeneous laser image of human blood plasma were considered. The set of statistics, correlation and fractal parameters of the distributions of wavelet-coefficients that are characterize different scales of the polarization maps of polycrystalline networks of amino acids of blood plasma were defined. The criteria for the differentiation of the transformation of birefringence optical-anisotropic structures of blood plasma at different scales of their geometric dimensions were determined

The effect of perioperative analgesia with omnopon and parecoxib on the endocytic activity of murine phagocytes on the model of tumor surgery

We used the model of surgical tumor removal to compare the effect of anesthesia with opioid analgesic omnopon and selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor parecoxib on the endocytic activity of phagocytes of different localization sites. 50 C57/black mice were transplanted with Lewis lung carcinoma in the hind paw pad. After 22 days, the tumor paw was amputated. Analgesics (omnopon 10 mg/kg, parecoxib – 20 mg/kg) were administered 30 min before the operation and once per day for 3 days after the surgery. Assessment of the endocytic activity of phagocytes was performed by FACS analysis before the surgery, at days 1 and 3 after the surgery. It was found that parecoxib analgesia maintained the endocytic activity of blood and spleen phagocytes in the postoperative period. At day 3 after the surgery in parecoxib-treated animals phagocytic activity of splenic granulocytes were 2.2 times higher compared to that in the group receiving opioid analgesia. Phagocytic indices of monocytes in parecoxib-treated mice were also 1.6 and 2.5 times higher for blood and spleen monocytes, respectively. Thus, parecoxib analgesia maintained the activity of blood and spleen phagocytes in mice after the surgical tumor removal at a much higher level as compared with the omnopon analgesia

A baseline evaluation of atmospheric and river discharge conditions in the Hudson Bay Complex during 2016-2018

In this article, we examine atmospheric and river discharge conditions within the Hudson Bay Complex for the BaySys 2016–2018 field program time frame. Investigated in particular is a subset of European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Re-Analysis - Interim (ERA-Interim) atmospheric forcing variables, namely 2-m surface temperature, 10-m surface winds, precipitation, and sea-level pressure, in addition to river discharge. Results from this assessment show that 2016 was characterized by unusually warm conditions (terrestrial and marine) throughout the annual cycle; 2017 by strong cyclone activity in March and high precipitation in January, October, and November; and 2018 by cold and windy conditions throughout the annual cycle. Evaluation of terrestrial conditions showed higher than normal land surface temperatures (the Hudson Bay physical watershed) for all of the 2016–2018 period (excluding a colder than normal spell August–November 2018), particularly in January (2016 and 2017), higher than normal precipitation in October (2016 and 2017), and higher than normal terrestrial discharge to the Hudson Bay Complex in March (2016 and 2017), with drier than average June through October (2016–2018)

Application of Solar Activity Time Series in Machine Learning Predictive Modeling of Precipitation-Induced Floods

This research is devoted to the determination of hidden dependencies between the flow of particles that come from the Sun and precipitation-induced floods in the United Kingdom (UK). The analysis covers 20 flood events during the period from October 2001 to December 2019. The parameters of solar activity were used as model input data, while precipitations data in the period 10 days before and during each flood event were used as model output. The time lag of 0–9 days was taken into account in the research. Correlation analysis was conducted to determine the degree of randomness for the time series of input and output parameters. For establishing a potential causative link, machine learning classification predictive modeling was applied. Two approaches, the decision tree, and the random forest were used. We analyzed the accuracy of classification models forecast from 0 to 9 days in advance. It was found that the most important factors for flood forecasting are proton density with a time lag of 9, differential proton flux in the range of 310–580 keV, and ion temperature. Research in this paper has shown that the decision tree model is more accurate and adequate in predicting the appearance of precipitation-induced floods up to 9 days ahead with an accuracy of 91%. The results of this study confirmed that by increasing technical capabilities, using improved machine learning techniques and large data sets, it is possible to improve the understanding of the physical link between the solar wind and tropospheric weather and help improve severe weather forecasting

Simultaneous Induction of Glycolysis and Oxidative Phosphorylation during Activation of Hepatic Stellate Cells Reveals Novel Mitochondrial Targets to Treat Liver Fibrosis

Upon liver injury, hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) transdifferentiate to migratory, proliferative and extracellular matrix-producing myofibroblasts (e.g., activated HSCs; aHSCs) causing liver fibrosis. HSC activation is associated with increased glycolysis and glutaminolysis. Here, we compared the contribution of glycolysis, glutaminolysis and mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) in rat and human HSC activation. Basal levels of glycolysis (extracellular acidification rate similar to 3-fold higher) and particularly mitochondrial respiration (oxygen consumption rate similar to 5-fold higher) were significantly increased in rat aHSCs, when compared to quiescent rat HSC. This was accompanied by extensive mitochondrial fusion in rat and human aHSCs, which occurred without increasing mitochondrial DNA content and electron transport chain (ETC) components. Inhibition of glycolysis (by 2-deoxy-D-glucose) and glutaminolysis (by CB-839) did not inhibit rat aHSC proliferation, but did reduce Acta2 (encoding alpha-SMA) expression slightly. In contrast, inhibiting mitochondrial OXPHOS (by rotenone) significantly suppressed rat aHSC proliferation, as well as Col1a1 and Acta2 expression. Other than that observed for rat aHSCs, human aHSC proliferation and expression of fibrosis markers were significantly suppressed by inhibiting either glycolysis, glutaminolysis or mitochondrial OXPHOS (by metformin). Activation of HSCs is marked by simultaneous induction of glycolysis and mitochondrial metabolism, extending the possibilities to suppress hepatic fibrogenesis by interfering with HSC metabolism

Sediment-laden sea ice in southern Hudson Bay: Entrainment, transport, and biogeochemical implications

During a research expedition in Hudson Bay in June 2018, vast areas of thick (>10 m), deformed sediment-laden sea ice were encountered unexpectedly in southern Hudson Bay and presented difficult navigation conditions for the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Amundsen. An aerial survey of one of these floes revealed a maximum ridge height of 4.6 m and an average freeboard of 2.2 m, which corresponds to an estimated total thickness of 18 m, far greater than expected within a seasonal ice cover. Samples of the upper portion of the ice floe revealed that it was isothermal and fresh in areas with sediment present on the surface. Fine-grained sediment and larger rocks were visible on the ice surface, while a pronounced sediment band was observed in an ice core. Initial speculation was that this ice had formed in the highly dynamic Nelson River estuary from freshwater, but δ^{18}O isotopic analysis revealed a marine origin. In southern Hudson Bay, significant tidal forcing promotes both sediment resuspension and new ice formation within a flaw lead, which we speculate promotes the formation of this sediment-laden sea ice. Historic satellite imagery shows that sediment-laden sea ice is typical of southern Hudson Bay, varying in areal extent from 47 to 118 km2 during June. Based on an average sediment particle concentration of 0.1 mg mL^{–1} in sea ice, an areal extent of 51,924 km2 in June 2018, and an estimated regional end-of-winter ice thickness of 1.5 m, we conservatively estimated that a total sediment load of 7.8 × 106 t, or 150 t km^{–2}, was entrained within sea ice in southern Hudson Bay during winter 2018. As sediments can alter carbon concentrations and light transmission within sea ice, these first observations of this ice type in Hudson Bay imply biogeochemical impacts for the marine system