Experimental study of intrinsic multiple Andreev reflections effect in GdO(F)FeAs superconductor array junctions

We report the first observation of the intrinsic multiple Andreev reflections effect (IMARE) in S-n-S-...-S-arrays (S = superconductor, n = normal metal) formed by "break-junction" technique in GdO(F)FeAs superconductor (Tc = 48 - 53 K). We show that superconducting gap peculiarities at dI/dV-spectra sharpen dramatically in the arrays as compared with that in the single-contact spectra; this enables to improve significantly accuracy of the bulk superconducting parameters determination. Using IMARE, we determined the large and the small gap values \Delta_L = 11 +- 1.1 meV and \Delta_S = 2.6 +- 0.4 meV. The BCS-ratio 2\Delta_L/kTc^{local} = 5.0 - 5.9 > 3.52 (Tc^{local} is the contact area critical temperature) evidences for a strong electron-boson coupling. The results obtained agree well with our previous data by Andreev spectroscopy for single SnS-contacts.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure

Features of effector lymphocyte subsets in patients with uveal melanoma in recurrent and chronic herpesvirus infection

The aim of the study is to conduct a comparative analysis of percentages for peripheral blood effector lymphocyte subsets in patients with uveal melanoma manifested by recurrent and chronic herpesvirus infection. There were 141 subjects enrolled: 70 patients with uveal melanoma, 38 patients with corneal ulcers and involvement of the uveal tract as well as 33 healthy donors. Immunophenotyping was performed by using laser flow cytometry with panel of monoclonal antibodies to differentiate lymphocyte subpopulations. IgM and IgG antibodies to herpesvirus infections were determined by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay on an automatic ELISA analyzer Lazurit (USA) with diagnostic kits of CJSC “Vector-Best” (Koltsovo). The data obtained showed that the absolute number of blood lymphocytes (CD45+) in patients with uveal melanoma did not differ from those in healthy donors. In contrast, patients with corneal ulcers and involvement of the uveal tract had this parameter increased. A decreased relative and absolute count of T cells (CD3+) in uveal melanoma, but increased absolute CD3+ number in inflammation was observed. No difference in relative and absolute content of the CD3+CD4+ helper/inducer subpopulation in patients with recurrent herpesvirus infections was found. Corneal ulcers in cancer patients revealed significantly increased absolute level of CD3+CD4+ helpers/inductor cells. Chronic herpesvirus infection in uveal melanoma patients showed increased relative and absolute number of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CD3+CD8+). Recurrent herpesvirus infection was featured with decreased relative number of T lymphocytes (CD3+CD8+), upon inflammation, there was noted increased absolute and decreased relative number compared with healthy subjects. Double positive T cells increased in tumor and inflammation. B lymphocytes (CD19+) increased in melanoma and inflammation. The relative number of blood natural killer cells (CD16+CD56+) in uveal melanoma increased upon recurrent infection. Inflammation was coupled to decreased relative level of natural killer cells (CD16+CD56+). Melanoma showed no changes in CD4+/ CD8+ ratio; upon inflammation, its increase was noted in acute and chronic herpesvirus infections (p < 0.05). The suppression of the immune system in uveal melanoma, restricting antiviral defense, was revealed. The data obtained seem to be important for development of personalized approaches to prognosis and treatment of patients with uveal melanoma

Цитогенетические нарушения у молодняка крупного рогатого скота, вакцинированного против трихофитии

This article continues a series of works by the authors devoted to most of the karyopathological effects of vaccines used in agriculture. The authors of the test cytogenetic analysis of the impact caused by the LTF130 vaccine from an attenuated culture of the fungus Trichophyton verrucosum TF-130 L VGNKI in peripheral blood lymphocytes of healthy 30-day-old healthy Holstein Colonial calves. The experiment was conducted on the material and technical basis of two departments: veterinary genetics and biotechnology, epizootiology and microbiology, FSBEI HE “Novosibirsk State Agrarian University”. The authors found that the spectrum of induced cytogenetic disorders included polyploid, hyper- and hypoploid cells, chromatid and chromosome breaks, and single and paired fragments of chromosomes, regardless of the time since the introduction of the vaccine. They did not differ from the spectrum of spontaneously occurring mutations in this species. It was noted that among cells with a changed number of chromosomes, polyploid cells with tetraploid sets (79.3–91.9%) and aneuploid cells with hypoploid sets (45.7–74.3%) of chromosomes predominated. The authors found a decrease in the frequency of polyploid cells seven days after vaccination of calves against trichophytosis to 1.6%, control - 3.4 ± 0.57% (P < 0.01). An increase in the frequency of hyperploid cells 14 days after vaccination of calves against trichophytosis up to 3.69% was revealed due to trisomy (2.91 ± 0.74%, P < 0.05) and tetrasomy (0.78 ± 0.39%, P < 0.01). An increase in the frequency of cells with chromosome aberrations was found 2 and 7 days after vaccination of calves against trichophytosis, respectively, to 5.74 and 5.24% due to breaks (4.49 ± 1.03 and 3.31 ± 0.66%, P < 0.01–0.01) and paired fragments of chromosomes (1.38 ± 0.43%, Р < 0.05).Данная статья является продолжением серии работ авторов, посвящённых изучению кариопатологических эффектов вакцин, применяемых в сельском хозяйстве. Проведён цитогенетический анализ последствий, вызываемых вакциной ЛТФ-130 из аттенуированной культуры гриба Trichophyton verrucosum ТФ-130 Л ВГНКИ в лимфоцитах периферической крови у клинически здоровых голштинизированных чёрно-пёстрых телят 30-дневного возраста. Эксперимент выполнен на материально-технической базе кафедры ветеринарной генетики и биотехнологии и кафедры эпизоотологии и микробиологии ФГБОУ ВО Новосибирского ГАУ. Установлено, что спектр индуцированных цитогенетических нарушений включал полиплоидные, гипер- и гипоплоидные клетки, хроматидные и хромосомные разрывы, одиночные и парные фрагменты хромосом, независимо от времени с момента введения вакцины, и не отличался от спектра спонтанно возникающих мутаций у данного вида. Отмечено, что среди клеток с изменённым числом хромосом преобладали полиплоидные клетки с тетраплоидными наборами (79,3–91,9%) и анеуплоидные клетки с гипоплоидными наборами (45,7–74,3%) хромосом. Обнаружено снижение частоты полиплоидных клеток через 7 суток после вакцинации телят против трихофитии до 1,6%, контроль – 3,4 ± 0,57% (Р < 0,01). Выявлено увеличение частоты гиперплоидных клеток через 14 суток после вакцинации телят против трихофитии до 3,69% за счёт трисомии (2,91 ± 0,74%, Р < 0,05) и тетрасомии (0,78± 0,39%, Р < 0,01). Найдено увеличение частоты клеток с аберрациями хромосом через 2 и 7 суток после вакцинации телят против трихофитии соответственно до 5,74 и 5,24% за счёт разрывов (4,49 ± 1,03 и 3,31 ± 0,66%, Р < 0,01–0,01) и парных фрагментов хромосом (1,38 ± 0,43%, Р < 0,05)

CERN Proton Synchrotron Complex High-Level Controls Renovation

After a detailed study of the Proton Synchrotron (PS) complex requirements by experts of CERN controls & operation groups, a proposal to develop a new system, called Injector Controls Architecture (InCA), was presented to and accepted by the management late 2007. Aiming at the homogenisation of the control systems across CERN accelerators, InCA is based on components developed for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) but also new components required to fulfil operation needs. In 2008, the project was in its elaboration phase and we successfully validated its architecture and critical use-cases during several machine development sessions. After description of the architecture put in place and the components used, this paper describes the planning approach taken combining iterative development phases with deployment in operation for validation sessions

Predictive model of small choroidal melanoma progression after eye-saving treatment based on clinical, morphometric and immunological parameters

Choroidal melanoma is a malignant tumor characterized by early metastasis and poor vital prognosis. Prognostic indexes for the tumor development are of importance, depending on various factors and making it possible to optimize therapeutic measures. Usage of present models for prediction of the uveal melanoma course enables optimal management of the patients with a malignant tumor upon primary admission, and to perform maximally efficient counseling. So far, however, a complex of clinical, morphometric and immunological indexes predictive for unfavorable course of initial choroidal melanoma following the eye-saving treatment remains not fully determined. Our purpose was to create a prognostic model for initial choroidal melanoma after eye-saving treatment, basing on clinical, morphometric and immunological parameters.We have performed examination and treatment of 31 patients with small choroidal melanoma (53.7 to 12.2 years old). To perform the analysis, we used clinical data (age, decreased vision, tumor localization, degree of pigmentation, presence of hemorrhages, orange pigmentation), morphometric indexes (intra- and subretinal exudate and disorganization of pigment of the retinal epithelium) and immunological parameters (serum levels of pro-inflammatory, pro-angiogenic, proliferative, metastasis-causing cytokines). Selection of variables for this model was based on assessment of significant differences between the groups with chorio-retinal scar (n = 14) and residual tumor and/or continued tumor growth (n = 17).Multivariate analysis with conditional exclusion of variables revealed prognostic significance with four markers: morphometric, i.e., disorganization of the pigment in retinal pigment epithelium – Z1 (rs = 0.455); immunological, increased blood serum concentration of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) – Z2 (rs = 0.377); level of pro-inflammatory chemokine RANTES – Z3 (rs = 0.362), content of transforming growth factor (TGF-2â) – Z4 (rs = 0.431). A formula was calculated where P (z) is the value of the logistic function; Z, linear combination of symptoms; bo , intercept (free term), bi – regression coefficients for parameters Zi.P (z) = 1 : 1 + e – b0– b1z1– b2z2– b3z3– b4z4The logistic function increases monotonically and takes the values from 0 to 1 for any b and Z values [P∈ (0;1)]. If P (Z) is under the cutoff value, chorioretinal scar prognosis is predicted, at the higher values, a residual tumor or continued growth is expected. In ROC analysis, the area under the curve with this model was 0.891±0.11, thus providing good predictive quality.Usage of the predictive model is a possible solution for planning and correcting treatment strategy in the patients with small choroidal melanoma, in order to minimize complications and errors, and to ensure control of treatment

Features of systemic cytokine production in Behcet's disease associated with uveitis without ocular lesions

Behcet's disease (BD) is a systemic disease underlyed by chronic vasculitis. Hyperactivity of innate and adaptive immunity plays important role in its pathogenesis. Uveitis occurs in 30-70% of the patients, often recurring and reducing visual function. The objective of our work was to study the features of systemic production of immune mediators in BD patients, depending on presence and activity of uveitis. 116 BD patients were divided into 3 groups: (1) 41 patients with active uveitis (UA), (2) 64 subjects with uveitis remission (UR), (3) 11 uveitis-free BD patients (WU). Control group (CG) comprised 34 conditionally healthy people. Detection rate (%) and contents (pg/ml) were measured for IL-1β IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-12p70, IL-13, IL-18, IFNγ, CCL2/MCP-1, CCL3/MIP-1α, CCL4/MIP-1β, CCL5/RANTES, CCL11/Eotaxin, СXCL1/GRO-α, CXCL8/IL-8, CXCL10/IP-10, CXCL12/SDF-1α, GM-CSF, TNFα in blood serum by means of multiplex analysis using MAGPIX analyzer (Luminex Corp., USA), Procarta Plex “Human Th1/Th2&Chemokine Panel 20 plex” kits (Bioscience, Austria). TGF-P1, TGF-P2 levels were assayed by ELISA-test (“Vfector-Best”). All the BD patients showed high detection rates of CXCL1/GRO-α (but not its level) in comparison with CG. Detection rate and levels of IL-6, IL-8 were increased in 1st and 2nd BD groups, compared to CG. In UR, unlike UA and WU groups, IL-4 was detected more often than in CG. WU patients showed increased detection rate of only CXCL1/GRO -α. When compared with UA, WU patients had lower serum concentrations of IFNγ, MCP-1, IP-10, MIP-1a, SDF-1α, TGF-β1; UR patients also showed decreased serum levels of IL-18, Eotaxin, GRO-α, RANTES, TGF-β2. Our results indicate the importance of angiogenic and proinflammatory chemokines and cytokines in pathogenesis of BD uveitis, as well as imbalanced production of various immunomediators. Higher detection rates and levels of IL-6 and IL-8 in UA and UR patients may result from weak persistent intraocular inflammation, even upon relief of clinical symptoms, thus, probably, requiring therapeutic correction

EFFECT OF HUMAN HERPES VIRUS REACTIVATION ON SYSTEMIC CYTOKINE PRODUCTION IN PATIENTS WITH BEHCET’S DISEASE AND UVEITIS

Behcet’s disease (BD) is a systemic autoinflammatory-autoimmune disease (chronic systemic vasculitis) of unknown etiology, almost 70% of patients develop uveitis. BD pathogenesis is complex, human herpesviruses (HHV) play an important role among infectious trigger factors. Ability of herpesviruses to modulate cytokine production and evade host’s immune response is known.Aim of the study was to assess the effect of Herpes simplex virus type 1, Herpes simplex virus type 2, Cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus on systemic levels of chemokines, pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in BD with and without uveitis. Serum samples were collected from 116 BD patients chronically infected with HHV and examined in ELISA-test for markers of HHV reactivation (IgG-antibodies to immediate early HSV antigens 1, 2 and CMV, early EBV antigen). Concentration of IL-1β, IFNγ, MCP-1, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-8, IL-12p70, IL-13, IL-18, TNFα, GMCSF, Eotaxin, GRO-α, IP-10, MIP-1α, MIP-1β, SDF-1α, RANTES detected in multiplex analysis. TGF-β1, TGF-β2 were measured in ELISA-test. Depending on presence and activity of uveitis 3 groups of patients with BD were identified: group 1 – active uveitis, group 2 – remission of uveitis, group 3 – BD without ocular manifestations. After serological study 2 subgroups were highlighted in each group: a) patients with antibody markers of reactivation of at least one HHV, b) patients chronically infected with HHV, without serological signs of reactivation. Mean level and detection rate of cytokines and chemokines in patients with active uveitis (1a, 1b) and in remission (2a, 2b) were compared with patients without eye damage (3a, 3b). Chronic HHV infection (subgroup “b”) was compared with reactivation (subgroup “a”). A significant increase of MCP-1/ CCL2, MIP-1α/CCL3, MIP-1β/CCL4, RANTES/CCL5, IP-10, SDF-1α chemokines in serum, as well as IFNγ, TGF-β1, and TGF-β2 was observed in patients with uveitis (regardless of their activity) and HHV reactivation compared to patients without uveitis. Our data indicate that systemic production of cytokines and chemokines in BD patients and uveitis could be affected by the activity of chronic herpesvirus infections, and the greatest changes are related to chemokines

Pyrolysis of Polyacrylonitrile/Technical Hydrolytic Lignin Composites

One important problem is utilization of technical hydrolytic lignin (the waste formed in paper-and-pulp and hydrolysis industry). For a practical implementation, the essential task of transforming insoluble hydrolytic lignin into low molecular weight products with high degree of functionalization should be performed. In prospect, these products can serve as raw materials for synthesis of various organic compounds demanded in chemical industry. Among other things, activation and fragmentation of hydrolytic lignin yields low molecular weight compounds which may be used for modifying synthetic polymers (polymer-analogous transformations). In the present work, the search for the optimal solvents (activators) for technical hydrolytic lignin (THL) has been conducted; the dimethyl sulfoxide/water binary mixture proved to be the best solvent. Methods of thermal analysis (thermogravimetric analysis, TGA; differential thermal analysis, DTA; differential scanning calorimetry, DSC; thermal volumetric analysis, TVA) combined with pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS) were used to determine the grades of technical hydrolytic lignin most suitable for activation and fragmentation. The necessary conditions for thermal treatment of lignin samples and concentrations of initial compounds (lignin and polyacrylonitrile, PAN) in the binary solvent mixture (dimethyl sulfoxide/water) facilitating maximum THL fragmentation and its successful interaction with PAN were found. When using the dimethylsulfoxide-water binary mixture (70:30 mass ratio) as a solvent, homogeneous forming solution of initial components (THL-PAN) was prepared. With the use of syringe method, form-stable fibers with a maximum lignin content of 80% and strength of about 50 MPa were obtained. Analytical pyrolysis of composites (products of THL-PAN interaction in the binary solvent) allowed us to suggest a mechanism for THL fragmentation involving the binary solvent