The European internet-based patient and research database for primary immunodeficiencies: results 2006-2008

Primary immunodeficiencies (PID) are rare diseases; therefore transnational studies are essential to maximize the scientific outcome and to improve diagnosis and therapy. In order to estimate the prevalence of PID in Europe as well as to establish and evaluate harmonized guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of PID, the European Society for Immunodeficiencies (ESID) has developed an internet-based database for clinical and research data on patients with PID. This database is a platform for epidemiological analyses as well as the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies and the identification of novel disease-associated genes. Within 4 years, 7430 patients from 39 countries have been documented in the ESID database. Common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) represents the most common entity, with 1540 patients or 20.7% of all entries, followed by isolated immunoglobulin (Ig)G subclass deficiency (546 patients, 7.4%). Evaluations show that the average life expectancy for PID patients varies from 1 to 49 years (median), depending on the type of PID. The prevalence and incidence of PID remains a key question to be answered. As the registration progress is far from finished we can only calculate minimum values for PID, with e.g. France currently showing a minimum prevalence of 3.72 patients per 100,000 inhabitants. The most frequently documented permanent treatment is immunoglobulin replacement; 2819 patients (42% of all patients alive) currently receive this form of treatment

PROBLEMS OF DEVELOPMENT OF THE CSTO AND INCREASE OF ITS ROLE IN ENSURING COLLECTIVE SECURITY IN EURASIA

In article problems of development of standard bases of the Collective Security Treaty Organization and increase of its role in ensuring collective security in Eurasia are researched. The authors note that an important problem is the condition of legal bases of cooperation of the states entering into the CSTO. The analysis of regulations of the CSTO has shown that their norms in most cases don't contain necessary mechanisms of realization in which development in an independent order the management board at the organization is engaged. Also there is no uniform standardly fixed strategy of actions and reactions of the states of the CSTO to the international and interstate conflicts. Development of legal base of the international relations of the CSTO with the leading international organizations of the Asian region is investigated historically. The special attention is paid to partnership of the CSTO with the leading international organizations having significant effect on a condition of collective security in Eurasia. Memorandums of cooperation with the UN, SCO, the CIS, EurAsEC, the Union State, the Plan of Colombo, are signed by Regional anti-terrorist structure of SCO, the Anti-terrorist center and Coordination service of Council of commanders of border troops of the CIS. The authors note that the CSTO acts as the block capable to resist in the designated region of expansion of "the western values", not always reasonable and interesting to the Euroasian community. Now the tendency of gradual transformation of the CSTO from military education in multipurpose international structure was designated

Computer Engineering System Application for Calculating the Aerodynamic Characteristics of Cargo Separated from the Aircraft

Ensuring the safety of the cargo separated from the aircraft is one of the most important criteria in the development of cargo transportation systems. The article shows that the experimental studies using wind tunnels are time- and cost-consuming. Therefore, at the early stages in designing an aerodynamic configuration of the aircraft the software systems of solid modeling and computational fluid dynamics are, usually, used. The article describes the shortcomings of such software systems because of the large-scale computational costs. The offered technique for calculating the aerodynamic characteristics of cargo separated from the aircraft uses two main points. Firstly, in calculations a strategy of reducing a size of the grid cells when approaching to the object surface was used. Secondly, in modeling the trajectories of the separated cargo in the neibourhood of carrier aircraft a multivariate interpolation was used for prossessing the results of computational experiments and their subsequent applications.The proposed technique allowed a significant reduction of the computational costs when determining the aerodynamic characteristics. This technique was used to evaluate a reliabiity of obtained results through their comparison with available experimental data.</p

Mathematical Modelling of Operational Stability of Sowing Machines' Mechanical Systems

This study addresses the construction of mathematical models for the operational stability of mechanical systems in agricultural seeders. The objects of research are the coulter systems of seeders with a support-packer roller and direct sowing planters, which are the disc working bodies of most sowing machines. The complexity in mathematical modeling of systems stability is due to a significant number of factors whose values are of variable and random character. To model them, it is proposed to explore the stability of systems based on their control parameters: lengths and angles of inclination, installation height of nodes and parts of a seeder, etc. The endogenous and exogenous parameters that include the following: step at sowing, soil surface depth and its properties, dimensions and weight of seeds, etc., are fixed at preset limits, in accordance with agricultural conditions. Difficulties in solving such systems of differential equations and obtaining the analytical solutions are explained by the condition for an inverse problem: the forces that act on a system must by in a constant equilibrium. The proposed modeling of system stability is based on the Lyapunov second method, which implies the construction and investigation of functions of perturbed motion at variable control parameters. We have established expressions for determining the stage of asymptotic stability of the system, which are characterized by the magnitude of time and distance that are required to return it to the unperturbed state. The obtained resulting mathematical expressions allowed us to establish significant factors: the length of a hitch, the rigidity of a spring, the inclination angle of a hitch, distance to the point of Fastening a spring rod, which define the perturbed path of the coulter system. The result of modeling is the obtained damping character of the perturbed motion of the examined systems, as well as the established dependences of perturbed path of coulter systems on the above-specified parameters.To test the adequacy of the derived mathematical expressions for determining the stability of sowing machines, to refine the ranges in the variation of significant parameters, we carried out an experimental research. We employed the procedure for a multi-factorial experiment. As a result, with the help of the developed modelling method and based on the experiment conducted, we determined the rational parameters for working bodies of sowing machines of different types, which could be applied for efficient operation and in the design process of similar machines

Mathematical Modelling of Operational Stability of Sowing Machines' Mechanical Systems

This study addresses the construction of mathematical models for the operational stability of mechanical systems in agricultural seeders. The objects of research are the coulter systems of seeders with a support-packer roller and direct sowing planters, which are the disc working bodies of most sowing machines. The complexity in mathematical modeling of systems stability is due to a significant number of factors whose values are of variable and random character. To model them, it is proposed to explore the stability of systems based on their control parameters: lengths and angles of inclination, installation height of nodes and parts of a seeder, etc. The endogenous and exogenous parameters that include the following: step at sowing, soil surface depth and its properties, dimensions and weight of seeds, etc., are fixed at preset limits, in accordance with agricultural conditions. Difficulties in solving such systems of differential equations and obtaining the analytical solutions are explained by the condition for an inverse problem: the forces that act on a system must by in a constant equilibrium. The proposed modeling of system stability is based on the Lyapunov second method, which implies the construction and investigation of functions of perturbed motion at variable control parameters. We have established expressions for determining the stage of asymptotic stability of the system, which are characterized by the magnitude of time and distance that are required to return it to the unperturbed state. The obtained resulting mathematical expressions allowed us to establish significant factors: the length of a hitch, the rigidity of a spring, the inclination angle of a hitch, distance to the point of Fastening a spring rod, which define the perturbed path of the coulter system. The result of modeling is the obtained damping character of the perturbed motion of the examined systems, as well as the established dependences of perturbed path of coulter systems on the above-specified parameters.To test the adequacy of the derived mathematical expressions for determining the stability of sowing machines, to refine the ranges in the variation of significant parameters, we carried out an experimental research. We employed the procedure for a multi-factorial experiment. As a result, with the help of the developed modelling method and based on the experiment conducted, we determined the rational parameters for working bodies of sowing machines of different types, which could be applied for efficient operation and in the design process of similar machines

Localization regions of supervision on the aerospace images with the use of line calculation fractals dimension and their between line treatment

Предложен метод локализации областей наблюдения с использованием построчного вычисления фрактальных размерностей и их межстрочной обработкой. Разработанный метод позволяет устойчиво выделять объекты на цифровых аэрокосмических изображениях и автоматизировать процесс их обработки. Метод состоит из нескольких этапов обработки и может быть реализован программноалгоритмически на персональном компьютере. Применение данного метода позволяет локализовать области наблюдения на слабоконтрастных изображениях.Запропонований метод локалізації областей спостереження з використанням порядкового обчислення фрактальних розмірностей та їх міжрядковою обробкою. Розроблений метод дозволяє стійко виділяти об'єкти на цифрових аерокосмічних зображеннях та автоматизувати процес їх обробки. Метод складається з декількох етапів обробки і може бути реалізований програмно-алгоритмічно на персональному комп'ютері. Застосування даного методу дозволяє локалізувати області спостереження на слабоконтрастних зображеннях.The method localization of regions supervision is offered with the use of line calculation of fractals dimension and their between line treatment. The developed method allows steadily to select objects on digital aerospace representations and automatize the process of their treatment. A method consists of a few stages of treatment and can be realized programmaticalgorithmically on the personal computer. Application of this method allows to localize the regions of supervision on the images of weak contrast

Analysis structure of signals from the output phase detector of coherently-impulsive radar for determination of character motion man

Запропоновано метод аналізу структури сигналів з виходу фазового детектора когерентно-імпульсної РЛС з використанням фазових портретів і фрактальної розмірності. Проведений аналіз зміни структури фазових портретів від характеру рухів людини на фоні підстилаючої поверхні. Розглянута можливість використання фазових портретів і фрактальної розмірності для розпізнавання характеру руху людини.Предложен метод анализа структуры сигналов с выхода фазового детектора когерентно-импульсной РЛС с использованием фазовых портретов и фрактальной размерности.The method analysis of structure signals is offered from the output of phase detector coherently-impulsive radar with the use phases portraits and fractal dimension

Properties of Hybrid Complexes Composed of Photosynthetic Reaction Centers from the Purple Bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides and Quantum Dots in Lecithin Liposomes

A photosynthetic reaction center (RC) is a natural mesoscopic structure with dimensions of ~10 nm However, for creating a RC-based hybrid energy transformer it is necessary to solve some problems. First, it is necessary to obtain a high stability of photosynthetic pigment-protein complexes in vitro, because without photoprotection and repair systems they are subject to pronounced photodestruction. Second, the solar light absorption by the pigment-protein complexes of RCs is not equally efficient throughout the whole spectrum: the main absorption bands of the RC pigments are in the blue and near infrared regions of the spectrum, and it is impor- ISSN 0006-2979, Biochemistry (Moscow), 2014, Vol. 79, No. 11, pp. 1183-1191. © Pleiades Publishing, Ltd., 2014. Original Russian Text © V. E. Zagidullin, E. P. Lukashev, P. P. Knox, N. Kh. Seifullina, O. S. Sokolova, E. V. Pechnikova, H. Lokstein, V. Z. Paschenko, 2014, published in Biokhimiya, 2014, Vol. 79, No. 11, pp. 1452-1463 On-Line Papers in Press, as Manuscript BM14-145, Published on September 7, 2014. 1183 Abbreviations: BChl, bacteriochlorophyll; BPheo, bacteriopheophytin; D-D, detergent-and dialysis-based method of liposomes preparation; RC, photosynthetic reaction center; QDs, quantum dots. * To whom correspondence should be addressed. Abstract-Quantum dots (QDs) can absorb ultraviolet and long-wavelength light energy much more efficiently than natural light-harvesting proteins and transfer the excitation energy to photosynthetic reaction centers (RCs). Inclusion into liposomes of RC membrane pigment−protein complexes combined with QDs as antennae opens new opportunities for using such hybrid systems as a basis for artificial energy-transforming devices that potentially can operate with greater efficiency and stability than devices based only on biological components. RCs from Rhodobacter sphaeroides and QDs with fluorescence maximum at 530 nm (CdSe/ZnS with hydrophilic covering) were embedded in lecithin liposomes by extrusion of a solution of multilayer lipid vesicles through a polycarbonate membrane or by dialysis of lipids and proteins dispersed with excess detergent. The dimensions of the resulting hybrid systems were evaluated using dynamic light scattering and by transmission cryoelectron microscopy. The efficiency of RC and QD interaction within the liposomes was estimated using fluorescence excitation spectra of the photoactive bacteriochlorophyll of the RCs and by measuring the fluorescence decay kinetics of the QDs. The functional activity of the RCs in hybrid complexes was fully maintained, and their stability was even increased. Properties of Hybrid Complexes Composed of Photosyntheti