Stable fourfold configurations for small vacancy clusters in silicon from ab initio calculations

Using density-functional-theory calculations, we have identified new stable configurations for tri-, tetra-, and penta-vacancies in silicon. These new configurations consist of combinations of a ring-hexavacancy with three, two, or one interstitial atoms, respectively, such that all atoms remain fourfold. As a result, their formation energies are lower by 0.6, 1.0, and 0.6 eV, respectively, than the ``part of a hexagonal ring'' configurations, believed up to now to be the lowest-energy states

5d-4f luminescence of Ce3, Gd3 and Lu3 in LiCaAlF6

The emission and excitation spectra as well as decay kinetics of luminescence due to 5d4f transitions in Ce3, Gd3 and Lu3 ions doped into LiCaAlF6 crystals have been analyzed with high spectral and time resolution using synchrotron radiation for excitation. The rich fine structure originating from electronic origins of transitions and their phonon replica has been well resolved and identified. Experimental data are compared with the spectra simulated in the framework of the semiphenomenological models of the crystal field and the crystal lattice dynamics. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

КОНЦЕНТРИРОВАНИЕ СКАНДИЯ ПРИ ПЕРЕРАБОТКЕ ВОЗГОНА ПРОИЗВОДСТВА АЛЮМИНИЕВО-СКАНДИЕВОЙ ЛИГАТУРЫ

The composition and characteristics of the sublimate of the aluminum–scandium Al–2%Sc master-alloy production are investigated using electron microscopy, electron probe microanalysis, X-ray phase analysis, and inductively coupled plasma emission spectroscopy. It is established that the sublimate consists of particles 1–5 μm in size by 60 %; the coarser of them have a shell, inside which, inclusions (segments, particles, pieces) of various phases are present. The sublimate consists of metal aluminum (~35 %), two modifications of aluminum fluoride (~57 % total), and the rest is corundum. The scandium content is 0,5–0,6 wt %. It is shown that the use of hydrometallurgic methods is reasonable for its processing. The method of preparing «rich» concentrate with 3–11 wt % Sc from this type of waste by the treatment of the sublimate with the 10-% caustic soda solution at80 °C is proposed.С использованием электронной микроскопии, микрозондового анализа, дериватографии, рентгенофазового анализа и эмисионно-спектрального метода с индукционно связанной плазмой исследованы состав и характеристики возгона производства алюминиево-скандиевой лигатуры Al–2%Sc. Установлено, что он на 60 % состоит из частиц размером до 5 мкм, более крупные из них имеют оболочку, внутри которой находятся включения (сегменты, частицы, кусочки) различных фаз. В составе возгона присутствуют металлический алюминий (~35 %), две модификации фторида алюминия (суммарно ~57 %), остальное – корунд. Содержание скандия составляет 0,5–0,6 мас.%. Показано, что для переработки этого концентрата целесообразно использование гидрометаллургических методов. Предложен способ получения «богатого»концентрата с 3–11 мас.% Sc из этого вида отходов путем обработки возгона 10 %-ным раствором едкого натра при температуре 80 °С

Vacuum-ultraviolet 5d-4f luminescence of Gd3+ and Lu3+ ions in fluoride matrices

The VUV 4 f n-1 5d-4 f n luminescence and luminescence excitation spectra of Gd3+ (n=7) in LiGdF4, GdF3, LiYF4: Gd3+, and YF3: Gd3+, and of Lu3+ (n=14) in LiLuF4, LuF3, and LiYF4: Lu3+ have been analyzed with high spectral resolution. In systems with intermediate electron-phonon coupling, zero-phonon lines, and phonon sidebands were observed. The excitation spectra of dilute systems exhibit rich fine structure originating from electronic origins of transitions and their phonon replica. Theoretical calculations explicitly taking into account a microscopic model of the crystal field and the crystal lattice vibrational spectra agree well with experimental data and are the basis for a safe analysis of the spectra. © 2007 The American Physical Society

Ultrasound examination with contrast in the diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease. The results of the pilot study

Aim. Assessment of diagnostic significance of informativeness and security of ultrasonography with contrast enhancement drug SonoVue in the diagnosis of Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). Materials and methods. The pilot conducted a prospective study which involved 15 patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). All patients gave written consent to participate in the study and processing of personal data. The study included adult patients with an established diagnosis of UC and CD, with proven clinical activity of the disease. Activity was evaluated based on clinical and laboratory data on the scale of best (CDAI >150) for patients with CD and on a scale of Trulove-Witts (2-3 stage) and the Mayo index (DAI) for patients with UC. All the patients underwent colonoscopy with biopsy, ultrasound examination of abdominal cavity organs with the study of the vascularization of the intestinal wall (color Doppler, power Doppler, contrast study). Results. The use of contrast showed additional features in the instrumental evaluation of activity of inflammatory process, identification of complications and assessment of prognosis. Conclusion. The results of ultrasound of the bowel with contrast can be used to assess the activity and stage of disease in patients with UC or CD

ИССЛЕДОВАНИЕ СТРУКТУРЫ И ФАЗОВОГО СОСТАВАПОРОШКОВЫХ АЛЮМОФОСФОРИСТЫХ ЛИГАТУР

There were developed powder aluminium-phosphorus master alloys for modification of hypereutectic silumins. There was se-lected the best performance processing of powder mixes in the high-energy planetary mill that ensured minimum losses of feed stock and microstructure with uniform and disperse distribution of the proeutectoid constituents’ particles in aluminium matrix. By means of X-ray diffraction study was investigated phase composition of obtained master alloys. There was demonstrated high efficiency of the modification of hypereutectic silumins Al–17wt.%Si by alloying of phosphorus (0,008 wt.%) obtained master alloys.Разработаны порошковые алюмофосфористые лигатуры для модифицирования заэвтектических силуминов. Выбраны оптимальные режимы обработки порошковых смесей в высокоэнергетической планетарной мельнице, обеспечивающие минимальные потери исходного материала и микроструктуру с однородным и дисперсным распределением в алюминиевой матрице частиц избыточных фаз. Методом микрорентгеноспектрального анализа исследован фазовый состав полученных лигатур. Показана высокая эффективность модифицирования заэвтектического силумина Al–17мас.%Si введением фосфора (0,008 мас.%) полученными лигатурами

Neutrino factory

The properties of the neutrino provide a unique window on physics beyond that described by the standard model. The study of subleading effects in neutrino oscillations, and the race to discover CP-invariance violation in the lepton sector, has begun with the recent discovery that θ13>0. The measured value of θ13 is large, emphasizing the need for a facility at which the systematic uncertainties can be reduced to the percent level. The neutrino factory, in which intense neutrino beams are produced from the decay of muons, has been shown to outperform all realistic alternatives and to be capable of making measurements of the requisite precision. Its unique discovery potential arises from the fact that only at the neutrino factory is it practical to produce high-energy electron (anti)neutrino beams of the required intensity. This paper presents the conceptual design of the neutrino factory accelerator facility developed by the European Commission Framework Programme 7 EUROν Design Study consortium. EUROν coordinated the European contributions to the International Design Study for the Neutrino Factory (the IDS-NF) collaboration. The EUROν baseline accelerator facility will provide 10^21 muon decays per year from 12.6 GeV stored muon beams serving a single neutrino detector situated at a source-detector distance of between 1 500 km and 2 500 km. A suite of near detectors will allow definitive neutrino-scattering experiments to be performed

Listeria pathogenesis and molecular virulence determinants

The gram-positive bacterium Listeria monocytogenes is the causative agent of listeriosis, a highly fatal opportunistic foodborne infection. Pregnant women, neonates, the elderly, and debilitated or immunocompromised patients in general are predominantly affected, although the disease can also develop in normal individuals. Clinical manifestations of invasive listeriosis are usually severe and include abortion, sepsis, and meningoencephalitis. Listeriosis can also manifest as a febrile gastroenteritis syndrome. In addition to humans, L. monocytogenes affects many vertebrate species, including birds. Listeria ivanovii, a second pathogenic species of the genus, is specific for ruminants. Our current view of the pathophysiology of listeriosis derives largely from studies with the mouse infection model. Pathogenic listeriae enter the host primarily through the intestine. The liver is thought to be their first target organ after intestinal translocation. In the liver, listeriae actively multiply until the infection is controlled by a cell-mediated immune response. This initial, subclinical step of listeriosis is thought to be common due to the frequent presence of pathogenic L. monocytogenes in food. In normal indivuals, the continual exposure to listerial antigens probably contributes to the maintenance of anti-Listeria memory T cells. However, in debilitated and immunocompromised patients, the unrestricted proliferation of listeriae in the liver may result in prolonged low-level bacteremia, leading to invasion of the preferred secondary target organs (the brain and the gravid uterus) and to overt clinical disease. L. monocytogenes and L. ivanovii are facultative intracellular parasites able to survive in macrophages and to invade a variety of normally nonphagocytic cells, such as epithelial cells, hepatocytes, and endothelial cells. In all these cell types, pathogenic listeriae go through an intracellular life cycle involving early escape from the phagocytic vacuole, rapid intracytoplasmic multiplication, bacterially induced actin-based motility, and direct spread to neighboring cells, in which they reinitiate the cycle. In this way, listeriae disseminate in host tissues sheltered from the humoral arm of the immune system. Over the last 15 years, a number of virulence factors involved in key steps of this intracellular life cycle have been identified. This review describes in detail the molecular determinants of Listeria virulence and their mechanism of action and summarizes the current knowledge on the pathophysiology of listeriosis and the cell biology and host cell responses to Listeria infection. This article provides an updated perspective of the development of our understanding of Listeria pathogenesis from the first molecular genetic analyses of virulence mechanisms reported in 1985 until the start of the genomic era of Listeria research

Roadmap on dynamics of molecules and clusters in the gas phase

This roadmap article highlights recent advances, challenges and future prospects in studies of the dynamics of molecules and clusters in the gas phase. It comprises nineteen contributions by scientists with leading expertise in complementary experimental and theoretical techniques to probe the dynamics on timescales spanning twenty order of magnitudes, from attoseconds to minutes and beyond, and for systems ranging in complexity from the smallest (diatomic) molecules to clusters and nanoparticles. Combining some of these techniques opens up new avenues to unravel hitherto unexplored reaction pathways and mechanisms, and to establish their significance in, e.g. radiotherapy and radiation damage on the nanoscale, astrophysics, astrochemistry and atmospheric science

FATTY LIVER DISEASE. MODERN PATHOGENETIC APPROACH TO THERAPY

Since 1980 when L. Ludwig et al. [1] identified changes in the liver characteristic of alcohol-induced hepatitis in persons who didn’t misuse alcohol, intense study of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) started. The definition of NAFLD has two major principles: a morphological pattern in biopsy ma terial microscopy completely corresponds to changes induced by alcoholic pathology and the major etiologic factors is lacking – alcoholic at hepatotoxic dosages. Obligatory condition is to rule out viral, drug, metabolic and other reasons [2]