Raman Scattering:From Structural Biology to Medical Applications

This is a review of relevant Raman spectroscopy (RS) techniques and their use in structural biology, biophysics, cells, and tissues imaging towards development of various medical diagnostic tools, drug design, and other medical applications. Classical and contemporary structural studies of different water-soluble and membrane proteins, DNA, RNA, and their interactions and behavior in different systems were analyzed in terms of applicability of RS techniques and their complementarity to other corresponding methods. We show that RS is a powerful method that links the fundamental structural biology and its medical applications in cancer, cardiovascular, neurodegenerative, atherosclerotic, and other diseases. In particular, the key roles of RS in modern technologies of structure-based drug design are the detection and imaging of membrane protein microcrystals with the help of coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS), which would help to further the development of protein structural crystallography and would result in a number of novel high-resolution structures of membrane proteins—drug targets; and, structural studies of photoactive membrane proteins (rhodopsins, photoreceptors, etc.) for the development of new optogenetic tools. Physical background and biomedical applications of spontaneous, stimulated, resonant, and surface- and tip-enhanced RS are also discussed. All of these techniques have been extensively developed during recent several decades. A number of interesting applications of CARS, resonant, and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy methods are also discussed

Правова природа самочинного будівництва як комплексної категорії: питання теорії та практики

The article is devoted to the problems of spontaneous construction in comparing the public interest in ensuring the sustainability of civil turnover, the introduction of as much property as possible through the elimination of certain defective legal regimes, as well as private interests of landowners, developers and some other participants in civil turnover (customers, contractors, equity investors, etc.). The approach to defining the essence of unauthorized construction as a way to acquire ownership of certain real estate, which has certain defects in the identification process, as well as in terms of behavioral and object perception of this legal phenomenon is determined. It is established that in the legislation of the European Union there is a perception of the property law (Germany, Austria) and the binding legal law (France) model of the legal nature of spontaneous construction. Ukrainian legislation reproduces the features of both models within the Civil Code of Ukraine and special regulations. It is emphasized that the law-making legal fact for the recognition of the relevant real right to unauthorized construction is a court decision or a decision of an administrative body. At the same time, in order for the emergence of property rights, the case law does not in any way level the existence of the procedure for putting immovable property into civil circulation. The judicial practice and the development of the science of civil law are analyzed, on the basis of which it is concluded that the current approach, which differentiates construction activities, endowed with signs of unauthorized construction, where the determinants are the place of its holding, the volume and quality characteristics associated with the lawful or illegal use of land. Given the behavioral or objective perception of the legal nature of unauthorized construction, an analysis of the case law of courts of various instances, resulting in the own vision of resolving legal situations to regulate public relations for unauthorized construction depending on the legal status of entities claiming to legitimize it, or the legal regime of such property. According to the results of the study of the content of the draft Concept of renewal of the Civil Code of Ukraine, attention was drawn to the prospects for further improvements in the legal regulation of civil relations in relation to unauthorized construction.У статті досліджено правову природу самочинного будівництва у співставленні публічного інтересу щодо забезпечення сталості цивільного обороту, введення до нього якомога більшої кількості майна шляхом усунення певних дефектних правових режимів, а також приватних інтересів власників земельних ділянок, забудовників та інших учасників цивільного обороту (замовників, підрядників, пайових інвесторів тощо). Виокремлено підхід до визначення сутності самочинного будівництва як способу набуття права власності на певне нерухоме майно, яке має окремі дефекти у процедурі легітимації, а також із точки зору поведінкового та об’єктового сприйняття вказаного правового явища

Rhodopsin Channel Activity Can Be Evaluated by Measuring the Photocurrent Voltage Dependence in Planar Bilayer Lipid Membranes

The studies of the functional properties of retinal-containing proteins often include experiments in model membrane systems, e.g., measurements of electric current through planar bilayer lipid membranes (BLMs) with proteoliposomes adsorbed on one of the membrane surfaces. However, the possibilities of this method have not been fully explored yet. We demonstrated that the voltage dependence of stationary photocurrents for two light-sensitive proteins, bacteriorhodopsin (bR) and channelrhodopsin 2 (ChR2), in the presence of protonophore had very different characteristics. In the case of the bR (proton pump), the photocurrent through the BLM did not change direction when the polarity of the applied voltage was switched. In the case of the photosensitive channel protein ChR2, the photocurrent increased with the increase in voltage and the current polarity changed with the change in the voltage polarity. The protonophore 4,5,6,7-tetrachloro-2-trifluoromethyl benzimidazole (TTFB) was more efficient in the maximizing stationary photocurrents. In the presence of carbonyl cyanide-m-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP), the amplitude of the measured photocurrents for bR significantly decreased, while in the case of ChR2, the photocurrents virtually disappeared. The difference between the effects of TTFB and CCCP was apparently due to the fact that, in contrast to TTFB, CCCP transfers protons across the liposome membranes with a higher rate than through the decane-containing BLM used as a surface for the proteoliposome adsorption

Reversibility of retinal ischemia due to central retinal artery occlusion by hyperbaric oxygen

Amir Hadanny,1,2 Amit Maliar,1 Gregory Fishlev,1 Yair Bechor,1 Jacob Bergan,1 Mony Friedman,1 Isaac Avni,2,3 Shai Efrati1,2,4,5 1Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research, Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, Zerifin, Israel; 2Sackler School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel; 3Opthalmology Department, Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, Zeirifin, Israel; 4Research and Development Unit, Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, Zerifin, Israel; 5Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel Purpose: Ischemic retinal damage can be reversed by hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) as long as irreversible infarction damage has not developed. However, the time window till irreversible damage develops is still unknown. The study aim was to evaluate the effect of HBOT and determine possible markers for irreversible retinal damage.Materials and methods: Retrospective analysis of 225 patients treated with HBOT for central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO) in 1999–2015. One hundred and twenty-eight patients fulfilled inclusion/exclusion criteria: age >18 years, symptoms <20 hours, and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) <0.5 logMAR.Results: Time delay from symptoms to treatment was 7.8±3.8 hours. The BCVA was significantly improved after HBOT, from 2.14±0.50 to 1.61±0.78 (P<0.0001). The proportion of patients with clinically meaningful visual improvement was significantly higher in patients without cherry-red spot (CRS) compared to patients with CRS at presentation (86.0% vs 57.6%, P<0.0001). The percentage of patients with final BCVA better than 1.0 was also significantly higher in patients without CRS vs patients with CRS at presentation (61.0% vs 7.1%, P<0.0001). There was no correlation between CRS and the time from symptoms. HBOT was found to be safe, and only 5.5% of patients had minor, reversible, adverse events.Conclusion: HBOT is an effective treatment for non-arteritic CRAO as long as CRS has not formed. The fundus findings, rather than the time delay, should be used as a marker for irreversible damage. Keywords: HBOT, hyperbaric oxygen, central retinal artery occlusion, cherry-red spot, CRAO, retinal ischemi

Tribological properties of mineral oils modified with metallic nano-particles

The suspensions of metallic nano-particles stabilised with different surfactants can considerably reduce the wear of friction surfaces. Fe and Fe+Cu nano-particles can reduce the wear up to 30-45 % even taking into account the wear resistance properties of surfactants itself. Oils suspensions with nano-particles stabilise the friction torque comparing to friction of pure surfactants' suspensions, in most cases significantly reduce the friction coefficient (up to 40 %) and contribute to reducing trend of friction coefficient. Tribological efficiency of oil modified with surfactant lanolin FVE VO2 and Fe+Cu nano-particles show clear correlation of friction measurements with wear tests. Optical investigations show that it could be partially explained by forming of different wear resistant films on friction surfaceVytauto Didžiojo universitetasŽemės ūkio akademij