The Promulgation of the Name of the Third Year of Rim-Anum of Uruk

Presentation and discussion of a new source for the year name of a ruler of southern Babylonia in the Old Babylonian periodhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/92473/1/OLA220_Michalowski_Beckman.pd

The role of Src kinase in the TrkB signaling pathway induced by sleep deprivation and sedative-anesthetic drugs

The TrkB signaling pathway plays an important role in synaptic transmission and plasticity. Synaptic plasticity is disrupted in many neurological disorders, such as major depression and dementia. A number of studies indicate that TrkB (tropomyosin-related kinase B) signaling is required for the therapeutic effects of antidepressants. Both conventional and rapid-acting antidepressants encompass the TrkB pathway but the underlying mechanism of this remains unknown. Recent studies have, however, revealed an intriguing link between emergence of slow wave EEG activity (SWA) or sedation and the TrkB pathway. Notably, various anesthetics and sedatives (e.g. isoflurane and medetomidine) that increase SWA concomitantly induce TrkB signalling, and this seems to happen independently of BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), the primary ligand of TrkB. Given the ability of Src kinase to transactivate TrkB in vitro, we have examined the acute effects of medetomidine and isoflurane on SrcY416 and TrkBY816 phosphorylation in the adult rodent cortex and hippocampus by using Western blotting. Pyrazolopyrimidine 2 (PP2), a Src kinase inhibitor, was implemented in order to inhibit TrkB signalling pathway induced by medetomidine. The study was further extended to sleep deprivation experiments to investigate the effects of deep sleep on the Src and TrkB protein phosphorylation. Phosphorylation of GSK3βS9, another important molecular event coupled with antidepressant effects, was also investigated. The results indicate that both isoflurane and medetomidine activate Src kinase and TrkB signalling pathway. Such an effect was not, however, seen in the PP2 study and thus we failed to confirm the mechanistic connection between Src and TrkB. A trend in the phosphorylation of TrkB, Src and GSK3β was found in the brain samples collected after 15 minutes of recovery sleep, suggesting that TrkB signalling is also facilitated during physiological SWA. In conclusion, these results reinforce the hypothesis that SWA occurs simultaneously with TrkB signaling. Future studies are required to test the involvement of Src kinase in this phenomenon

Ultrafast optical properties of stoichiometric and non-stoichiometric refractory metal nitrides TiNx, ZrNx, and HfNx

Refractory metal nitrides have recently gained attention in various fields of modern photonics due to their cheap and robust production technology, silicon-technology compatibility, high thermal and mechanical resistance, and competitive optical characteristics in comparison to typical plasmonic materials like gold and silver. In this work, we demonstrate that by varying the stoichiometry of sputtered nitride films, both static and ultrafast optical responses of refractory metal nitrides can efficiently be controlled. We further prove that the spectral changes in ultrafast transient response are directly related to the position of the epsilon-near-zero region. At the same time, the analysis of the temporal dynamics allows us to identify three time components - the "fast" femtosecond one, the "moderate" picosecond one, and the "slow" at the nanosecond time scale. We also find out that the non-stoichiometry does not significantly decrease the recovery time of the reflectance value. Our results show the strong electron-phonon coupling and reveal the importance of both the electron and lattice temperature-induced changes in the permittivity near the ENZ region and the thermal origin of the long tail in the transient optical response of refractory nitrides

Current issues of the Russian language teaching XIV

Collection of papers “Current issues of the Russian language teaching XIV” is devoted to issues of methodology of teaching Russian as a foreign language, to issues of linguistics and literary science and includes papers related to the use of online tools and resources in teaching Russian. This collection of papers is a result of the international scientific conference “Current issues of the Russian language teaching XIV”, which was scheduled for 8–10 May 2020, but due to the pandemic COVID-19 took place remotely