The differential hydro-mechanical variator

© 2015 Ildar Ilgizarovich Salakhov et al. The author has carried out the analysis of dynamic-coupled automatic transmissions and regarded the prospects of their application and development. New design of continuously variable transmission based on differential hydra-mechanical gear train was developed and covered by RF patents No2298125 and No2347966. Principles of work performance for high-torque differential hydra-mechanical gear train based on interoperation equableness of moments opposing one another that are produced at the gear carrier owing to inner forces of differential stages as well as self-actuated pressure variation and hydraulic fluid consumption change when it comes through hydraulic pump and hydraulic actuator

Spatial Structure of Triglycine Determined by the Residual Dipolar Coupling Analysis

The possibility to determine the relatively small organic compound conformations by the approach on the basis of the analysis of the residual dipolar couplings 1H-13C in the molecules partially aligned in lyotropic liquid crystalline media has been considered. This approach has been used in the nuclear magnetic resonance investigation of the triglycine structure in lyotropic medium (cetylpyridinium bromide/n-hexanol). The conformation of triglycine in solution has been established as trans-trans on the basis of the experimental data of observed couplings

Simulations of M87 and Sgr A* imaging with the Millimetron Space Observatory on near-Earth orbits

High resolution imaging of supermassive black holes shadows is a direct way to verify the theory of general relativity at extreme gravity conditions. Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations at millimeter/sub-millimeter wavelengths can provide such angular resolution for supermassive black holes, located in Sgr A* and M87. Recent VLBI observations of M87 with the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) has shown such capabilities. The maximum obtainable spatial resolution of EHT is limited by Earth diameter and atmospheric phase variations. In order to improve the image resolution longer baselines are required. Radioastron space mission has successfully demonstrated the capabilities of Space-Earth VLBI with baselines much larger than Earth diameter. Millimetron is a next space mission of the Russian Space Agency that will operate at millimeter wavelengths. Nominal orbit of the observatory will be located around Lagrangian L2 point of the Sun-Earth system. In order to optimize the VLBI mode, we consider a possible second stage of the mission that could use near-Earth high elliptical orbit (HEO). In this contribution a set of near-Earth orbits is used for the synthetic space-ground VLBI observations of Sgr A* and M87 in joint Millimetron and EHT configuration. General-relativistic magnetohydrodynamic models (GRMHD) for black hole environment of Sgr A* and M87 are used for static and dynamic imaging simulations at 230 GHz. A comparison preformed between ground and space-ground baselines demonstrates that joint observations with Millimetron and EHT significantly improve the image resolution and allow the EHT+Millimetron to obtain snapshot images of Sgr A* probing dynamics at fast timescales.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figure

Neuroendocrine Tumours: a Literature Review

Neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) are a heterogeneous group of malignant neoplasms with diverse morphology and nomenclature. Well-differentiated NETs were historically termed carcinoid tumours, which entailed abundant confusion and misclassification. Cross body-localised NETs have been described from the central nervous system, respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts, larynx, thyroid, skin, breast and urogenital system. The evidence on NET prevalence is diverse, with selected sources estimating a 0.5% rate among total malignancies diagnosed. Carcinoid syndrome is a known important associate of NETs. Its presence resulting from the amine and peptide hypersecretion often facilitates the NET diagnosis, and curative surgery becomes a treatment of choice, if technically feasible. Adjuvant therapy is ambiguous. When surgery is impractical due to a usually advanced NET at diagnosis, drug therapy is adopted to relief symptoms and control the disease

HMDB: a knowledgebase for the human metabolome

The Human Metabolome Database (HMDB, http://www.hmdb.ca) is a richly annotated resource that is designed to address the broad needs of biochemists, clinical chemists, physicians, medical geneticists, nutritionists and members of the metabolomics community. Since its first release in 2007, the HMDB has been used to facilitate the research for nearly 100 published studies in metabolomics, clinical biochemistry and systems biology. The most recent release of HMDB (version 2.0) has been significantly expanded and enhanced over the previous release (version 1.0). In particular, the number of fully annotated metabolite entries has grown from 2180 to more than 6800 (a 300% increase), while the number of metabolites with biofluid or tissue concentration data has grown by a factor of five (from 883 to 4413). Similarly, the number of purified compounds with reference to NMR, LC-MS and GC-MS spectra has more than doubled (from 380 to more than 790 compounds). In addition to this significant expansion in database size, many new database searching tools and new data content has been added or enhanced. These include better algorithms for spectral searching and matching, more powerful chemical substructure searches, faster text searching software, as well as dedicated pathway searching tools and customized, clickable metabolic maps. Changes to the user-interface have also been implemented to accommodate future expansion and to make database navigation much easier. These improvements should make the HMDB much more useful to a much wider community of users

Probiotic Bacteria Produce Conjugated Linoleic Acid Locally in the Gut That Targets Macrophage PPAR γ to Suppress Colitis

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) therapies are modestly successful and associated with significant side effects. Thus, the investigation of novel approaches to prevent colitis is important. Probiotic bacteria can produce immunoregulatory metabolites in vitro such as conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a polyunsaturated fatty acid with potent anti-inflammatory effects. This study aimed to investigate the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the anti-inflammatory efficacy of probiotic bacteria using a mouse model of colitis. The immune modulatory mechanisms of VSL#3 probiotic bacteria and CLA were investigated in a mouse model of DSS colitis. Colonic specimens were collected for histopathology, gene expression and flow cytometry analyses. Immune cell subsets in the mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN), spleen, blood and colonic lamina propria cells were phenotypically and functionally characterized. Fecal samples and colonic contents were collected to determine the effect of VSL#3 and CLA on gut microbial diversity and CLA production. CLA and VSL#3 treatment ameliorated colitis and decreased colonic bacterial diversity, a finding that correlated with decreased gut pathology. Colonic CLA concentrations were increased in response to probiotic bacterial treatment, but without systemic distribution in blood. VSL#3 and CLA decreased macrophage accumulation in the MLN of mice with DSS colitis. The loss of PPAR γ in myeloid cells abrogated the protective effect of probiotic bacteria and CLA in mice with DSS colitis. Probiotic bacteria modulate gut microbial diversity and favor local production of CLA in the colon that targets myeloid cell PPAR γ to suppress colitis

A Global Metabolic Shift Is Linked to Salmonella Multicellular Development

Bacteria can elaborate complex patterns of development that are dictated by temporally ordered patterns of gene expression, typically under the control of a master regulatory pathway. For some processes, such as biofilm development, regulators that initiate the process have been identified but subsequent phenotypic changes such as stress tolerance do not seem to be under the control of these same regulators. A hallmark feature of biofilms is growth within a self-produced extracellular matrix. In this study we used metabolomics to compare Salmonella cells in rdar colony biofilms to isogenic csgD deletion mutants that do not produce an extracellular matrix. The two populations show distinct metabolite profiles. Even though CsgD controls only extracellular matrix production, metabolite signatures associated with cellular adaptations associated with stress tolerances were present in the wild type but not the mutant cells. To further explore these differences we examine the temporal gene expression of genes implicated in biofilm development and stress adaptations. In wild type cells, genes involved in a metabolic shift to gluconeogenesis and various stress-resistance pathways exhibited an ordered expression profile timed with multicellular development even though they are not CsgD regulated. In csgD mutant cells, the ordered expression was lost. We conclude that the induction of these pathways results from production of, and growth within, a self produced matrix rather than elaboration of a defined genetic program. These results predict that common physiological properties of biofilms are induced independently of regulatory pathways that initiate biofilm formation

Comparative Genomic Analysis of Pathogenic and Probiotic Enterococcus faecalis Isolates, and Their Transcriptional Responses to Growth in Human Urine

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is the most common infection caused by enterococci, and Enterococcus faecalis accounts for the majority of enterococcal infections. Although a number of virulence related traits have been established, no comprehensive genomic or transcriptomic studies have been conducted to investigate how to distinguish pathogenic from non-pathogenic E. faecalis in their ability to cause UTI. In order to identify potential genetic traits or gene regulatory features that distinguish pathogenic from non-pathogenic E. faecalis with respect to UTI, we have performed comparative genomic analysis, and investigated growth capacity and transcriptome profiling in human urine in vitro. Six strains of different origins were cultivated and all grew readily in human urine. The three strains chosen for transcriptional analysis showed an overall similar response with respect to energy and nitrogen metabolism, stress mechanism, cell envelope modifications, and trace metal acquisition. Our results suggest that citrate and aspartate are significant for growth of E. faecalis in human urine, and manganese appear to be a limiting factor. The majority of virulence factors were either not differentially regulated or down-regulated. Notably, a significant up-regulation of genes involved in biofilm formation was observed. Strains from different origins have similar capacity to grow in human urine. The overall similar transcriptional responses between the two pathogenic and the probiotic strain suggest that the pathogenic potential of a certain E. faecalis strain may to a great extent be determined by presence of fitness and virulence factors, rather than the level of expression of such traits

The analysis of spring wheat productivity by the method of principal component

The work deals with the use of the factor analysis to reduce the importance of factors affecting spring wheat productivity. To carry out the analysis among eight most affecting on crop productivity factors we used the dataset of 32 years. All the dataset has been pre-normalized, being centered and presented in tabular form. Eight principal components were calculated, and the factor loadings were determined. According to the factor loadings it has been decided to take four principal components describing 84% of general dispersion. Each principal component has been presented as a linear combination of factor loadings and factors. The use of principal components allowed reducing the size of initial dataset from eight factors to four ones. The obtained information has been given in the space of principal components. The new coordinates of the experimental dataset on spring wheat productivity has been estimated by the received interdependences. The initial dataset has been given in a graphic form to search latent interdependences among factors. The number of diagrams in four principal components is six variables in a binary space and four ones in tree-dimensional space. It has been given a diagram of the data according to the first and the fourth principal component. The location of the points shows that the largest value of kernel weight is connected with high indexes of gluten content. It has been constructed a model on the basis of neural network (multiclass perceptron) with one input, one output and one latent layer. The neural network has been preliminary studied according to initial dataset and checked for adequac