Multiple magnon modes in the Co3_3Sn2_2S2_2 Weyl semimetal candidate

We experimentally investigate electron transport in kagome-lattice ferromagnet Co$_3$Sn$_2$S$_2$, which is regarded as a time-reversal symmetry broken Weyl semimetal candidate. We demonstrate $dV/dI(I)$ curves with pronounced asymmetric $dV/dI$ spikes, similar to those attributed to current-induced spin-wave excitations in ferromagnetic multilayers. In contrast to multilayers, we observe several $dV/dI$ spikes' sequences at low, $\approx$10$^4$ A/cm$^2$, current densities for a thick single-crystal Co$_3$Sn$_2$S$_2$ flake in the regime of fully spin-polarized bulk. The spikes at low current densities can be attributed to novel magnon branches in magnetic Weyl semimetals, which are predicted due to the coupling between two magnetic moments mediated by Weyl fermions. Presence of spin-transfer effects at low current densities in Co$_3$Sn$_2$S$_2$ makes the material attractive for applications in spintronics.Comment: final versio

Farmers’ Notion of Climate Change and Response to Rainfall Variability in a Nigerian Coastal Settlement of Oron

The study investigated farmers’ notion of climate change and their response to rainfall variability in Oron, a Coastal settlement in Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria. The specific objectives of the study is to determine farmer’s notion of climate and their response to climate variability. The farmers’ perception of climate change  is necessary for preparedness and planning purposes in an agrarian community in order to boost farm productivity. Through the use of structured questionnaires, data for the study was obtained from 400 farmers’ in 17 randomly sampled villages in Oron. The data was complemented by information obtained through focus group discussion, participatory rural appraisal, direct field observations and in-depth interviews of key informants. To aid the analysis, data on some climatic variables from 2003 to 2013 were obtained from the study area and analysed to show the behavior of annual precipitation, wet  and dry seasons precipitation and to compare results with the farmers’ notion of climate change. In the same vein, the number of drought years occurring in the study area was calculated using Shewale and Kumar (2005) method. The study reveals that (i)  most of the farmers’ were unaware of the concept of climate change, even though they have considerable knowledge of major changes taking place in their environment (ii)  The farmers have general feeling of uncertainty about the best time to plant crops due to the unpredictability of rainfall and the difficulties in planning farming activities  (iii) the number of extreme rain event per year in the study area does not appear to be increasing, indicating that farming has not become more vulnerable to such phenomena. All the farmers indicated the need for  planting early maturing seed and changing the timing of planting, as a response strategies to mitigate the effect of climate variability in the study area. The study, thus concludes that unless urgent steps are taken to educate the farmers’ about their notion of climate variability and the possible pathways to adaptation, the coastal settlement  is vulnerable to food insecurity. Keywords: Climate change; Farmers notion; Rainfall variability; Coastal settlement

Quality of Life in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

© 2016, Springer Science+Business Media New York.The article presents the results of a survey which included 120 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM-2) without complications, without stroke in anamnesis, with no active complaints about loss of memory, and/or other cognitive functions. The assessment tools for cognitive functions were MMSE, MoCA test, and TMT (parts A and B). SF-36 test was used to assess the quality of life (QoL). It was revealed that the QoL in patients with type 2 diabetes was significantly lower than in the general population. The correlation between QoL and the duration of the disease, the degree of cognitive impairment, and emotional state of patients was evaluated. It was revealed that QoL indicators significantly reduced with the growth of cognitive impairment and emotional disorders. The most significant reduction is revealed in the role functioning indexes and role-emotional functioning indexes

The Influence of Diabetes Mellitus Duration and Type of Therapy on Cognitive Decline

© 2016, Springer Science+Business Media New York.We studied 120 patients with compensated diabetes mellitus type 2 (DM-2). The inclusion criterion was the absence of memory loss complaints from the patient and/or his/her relatives. The exclusion criteria were diabetes decompensation, myocardial infarction and/or stroke in anamnesis, glomerular filtration rate below 60 ml/min, the presence of proliferative retinopathy, and/or other endocrine diseases. To diagnose the cognitive decline (CD) we used Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA test), Trail Making Test (parts A and B). 77.5 % patients with type 2 diabetes out of 120 had moderate CD; 5 % had a significant CD (dementia). The control group consisted of 50 patients with arterial hypertension, which was comparable with the DM-2 group. In assessing the correlations, we found that the CD in DM-2 group is independent of disease duration and the type of diabetic therapy. We discovered a positive correlation between the age of patients and the speed of cognitive decline. Comparison of patients in DM-2 group with the control group showed that results in patients with hypertension (MMSE, MoCA test) were significantly higher (p < 0.01), and the test time of TMT part A and part B was significantly lower (p < 0.01) than that in patients with DM-2. The authors believe that the CD in DM-2 has different pathogenic mechanisms than other complications of type 2 diabetes mellitus, in particular, the insulin resistance of brain tissue

Surgical treatment of aortic stenosis in patients with low ejection fraction

A retrospective study of the results of surgical treatment of severe aortic valve stenosis with a low left ventricular ejection fraction was conducted. The study included 38 patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD = 40%) and the maximum transvalvular gradient of 40 mm Hg against the aortic stenosis of various etiology. Patients underwent examination of changes in functional cardiac parameters after the aortic valve replacement under cardiopulmonary bypass. All patients underwent echocardiography that included an integrated 2D and Doppler examination of the heart prior to surgery and 3 months after surgery. A high risk of surgery was expected, according to Euroscore II, nearly 4 to 5%, the average score was 5.8 ± 2.4. The main high-risk factors were low cardiac output, pulmonary hypertension and a heart failure class. Hospital mortality was 0%. The result was the improvement in left ventricular ejection fraction by 10% (p=0.003), and the beginning of the reverse cardiac remodeling. Patients with low LVSD and severe aortic stenosis have a potential clinical effect after surgery with the possible absence of mortality. Surgical treatment of patients with severe aortic stenosis with low left ventricular ejection fraction has shown good results in contrast to the proposed stratification of the surgery risk

Alexithymia and psychosomatic diseases in adolescents: primary headaches

Background. Alexithymia is traditionally regarded as a factor which influences the development of psychosomatic diseases and contribute to a more severe and prolonged course of somatic diseases the high level of alexithymia indicates the deficit in  cognitive processes associated with awareness, exteriorization and regulation of feelings and emotions. In recent years, a lot of research has been conducted on the comorbidity of alexithymia and psychosomatic diseases in adults, but there are very few studies in relation to children and adolescents.The aim. To analyze psychosomatic diseases associated with the high level of alexithymia in adolescents, to study the correspondence of alexithymia and central sensitization (CS) in adolescents with primary headaches (migraine and tension-type headache).Methods. The diagnosis of headache was based on the criteria for the International Classification of Headache, 3rd edition. The study group included 84 adolescents, average age – 14 [13; 16] (51 females, 33 males). CS was assessed using the Russian version of “Central Sensitization Inventory” (2020) for adolescents. Alexithymia was  assessed using the Russian version of “Alexithymia questionnaire for children” (2019). Headache intensity was measured using the Visual Analogue Scale. There were also assessed the number of months and days per month with headaches; duration of night sleep; age of phrasal speech start.Results and discussion. The results showed the direct correlation between levels of alexithymia and central sensitization (rS = 0.49; p = 0.00001), the number of days with headaches per month and central sensitization severity (rS = 0.24; p = 0.027). There was no significant correlation between alexithymia severity and headaches duration (rS= 0.06; p = 0.5), no reliable results on the correspondence of alexithymia severity, age of phrasal speech start and nocturnal sleep.Conclusion. A high level of alexithymia is observed in adolescents with various somatic diseases. Primary headaches are associated with a high level of alexithymia and the severity of central sensitization. Pediatricians and neurologists should be advised to assess the level of alexithymia and central sensitization in adolescents with headaches

Main method of diagnosis of silent myocardial ischemia

© 2016, International Journal of Pharmacy and Technology. All rights reserved.The presence of “silent” myocardial ischemia is an unfavorable prognostic factor increasing the risk of coronarogenic complications by 2-19 times, the risk of sudden death by 3-9 times. Early and timely diagnosis of ischemic heart disease is a strategic objective, and a clinical, social and economic problem. The analysis of recent publications devoted to the diagnosis of SMI was conducted. The SMI diagnosis is based on various instrumental methods of research that can objectify the presence of myocardial ischemia. The most common and available SMI diagnostic techniques are electrocardiographic methods. SMI can be rarely detected with standard ECG at rest, more often - with Holter ECG, one can identify the number of SMI episodes and their duration, draw parallels with the nature of the patient’s activity during the day, conduct the analysis of ischemic episodes circadian variability, and their correlation with the heart rate and ectopic activity. In case of insufficient data of ECG at rest and Holter ECG, the exercise tests are performed: exercise stress test (EST), treadmill test. Cardioselective test with transesophageal atrial electrical stimulation (TEES), excluding a number of peripheral factors, in which the imposition of artificial frequent heart rhythm causes an increase in myocardial oxygen demand. The assessment of coronary flow reserve, myocardial perfusion can be conducted with the use of coronary angiography (CAG), perfusion tomoscintigraphy (method of single photon emission computed tomography), and electron beam computed tomography. There is a direct correlation between the presence of the SMI phenomenon and detection of stenosis of coronary arteries (CA). A multislicecomputed tomography (MSCT) - coronary angiography is a noninvasive technique for evaluation of the CA state, which allows identifying pathological changes and clarifying the indications for the choice of preventive or treatment method for coronary heart disease. The local myocardial contractility is determined with: echocardioscopy (ECHOCS), stress-ECHOCS, stress-ECHOCS with tissue Doppler imaging, and the radiopaque or radionuclide ventriculography. Heart imaging with the help of magnetic-resonance imaging (MRI) provides a detailed assessment of structural features of the cardiac and vascular chambers, allows investigating the intracardiac hemodynamics, functional performance of the heart, measuring the velocity of blood flow in large vessels. In most cases, cardiac MRI can serve as a method of a second-line diagnosis upon obscure results of other methods of research (especially ECHOCS). Knowing the basic methods of diagnosis allows identifying patients with SMI and starting early treatment, preventing thereby the adverse outcome

Modelling the black hole silhouette in Sgr A* with ion tori

We calculate the "observed at infinity" image and spectrum of the accretion structure in Sgr A*, by modelling it as an optically thin, constant angular momentum ion torus in hydrodynamic equilibrium. The physics we consider includes a two-temperature plasma, a toroidal magnetic field, as well as radiative cooling by bremsstrahlung, synchrotron and inverse Compton processes. Our relativistic model has the virtue of being fully analytic and very simple, depending only on eight tunable parameters: the black hole spin and the inclination of the spin axis to our line of sight, the torus angular momentum, the polytropic index, the magnetic to total pressure ratio, the central values of density and electron temperature and the ratio of electron to ion temperatures. The observed image and spectrum are calculated numerically using the ray-tracing code GYOTO. Our results demonstrate that the ion torus model is able to account for the main features of the accretion structure surrounding Sgr A*.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, submitted to A &