Zinc oxide-nickel cermet selective coatings obtained by sequential electrodeposition

The investigation of pulse electrodepositing modes influence on crystal structure, morphology and optical properties of ZnO has revealed the conditions in which quasi-one-dimensional (1D) ZnO nanorod arrays are formed as separate nanorods. Due to a sufficiently high resistance of zinc oxide, the electrodeposition of nickel on the fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO)/ZnO surfaces carried out in space between the ZnO nanorods. An incomplete filling of the gaps between nanorods by the nickel nanoparticles through subsequent Ni electrodeposition ensured the creation of ZnO–Ni graded cermets. The cermets, in which electrochemical filling of the spaces between ZnO nanorods by Ni, was performed in the pulse mode. It provided higher absorption of visible and near IR light. It was shown that the manufactured ZnO–Ni graded cermets have high light absorption combined with comparatively low thermal losses, so these cermets are promising cheap and affordable selective coatings for solar heat collectors

Fleas (Siphonaptera) of small mammals in the northern taiga of Western Siberia

The purpose of the research is to identify the composition of fleas, and infection rates in small mammals in the northern taiga of Western Siberia; and to summarize information on fleas in the studied area. Materials and methods. In 2008, 2010, and 2016–2021, records of small mammals and their ectoparasites (fleas) were made in the northern taiga of Western Siberia. Parasitological survey was performed for 1363 specimens of insectivores and rodents of 13 species that were recorded using trap trenches, drift fences and trap-lines. A total of 1524 fleas of 18 species were recorded. Indices widely accepted in parasitology were used to assess quantitative indicators of fleas. Results and discussion. Based on the results of our own research and literature sources, small mammals in the northern taiga of Western Siberia were found to have specimens of 28 flea species. The flea fauna of the study area was represented by shrew fleas (Corrodopsylla birulai, Palaeopsylla sorecis), bird fleas (Ceratophyllus gallinae, C. garei), and specific species (Ceratophyllus anisus, C. indages, C. sciurorum, Megabothris walkeri, Leptopsylla segnis). Peromyscopsylla silvatica, Corrodopsylla birulai, Megabothris rectangulatus, Amalaraeus penicilliger, and Amphipsylla sibirica comprise the backbone of the flea fauna of small mammals in the northern taiga of Western Siberia

COMPREHENSIVE EVALUATION OF THE NATURAL TULAREMIA FOCUS IN THE CONFLUENCE OF IRTYSH AND OB RIVERS

Objective of the study is to conduct the complex investigations aimed at identification of circulation pathways of tularemia agent, as well as to define the main carriers and vectors of the disease. Materials and methods. Trap trench method, trap fences and trap-lines were used to catch small mammals for examination. Bacteriological testing on tularemia infection in animals was carried out using spleen samples. In addition, water samples were studied. Results and conclusions. In 2015, performed were complex zoological-parasitological and bacteriological studies aimed at identification of circulation pathways of tularemia agent in the natural focus of floodplain-river type in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous District – Yugra, in the confluence of Irtysh and Ob rivers. The total volume of the material tested was 542 specimens of small mammals of 16 species and 447 specimens of amphibians belonging to 4 species. It was established that, compared to 2013, zoocoenosis restructuring in the floodplain habitats occurred. The main carrier and a massive source of tularemia infection – the water vole – was excluded from the small mammals’ community. Also, ectoparasites composition changed; no specific ectoparasites of the water vole were to be found. In 2015, in the confluence of Irtysh and Ob rivers, lukewarm epizooty among the small mammals was observed. Essential for the occurrence of acute tularemia epizooty prerequisites were absent

COMBINED POWER PLANT FOR ELECTRIC POWER GENERATION AND DESALINATION OF SEAWATER

The article considers the problem of water and energy security. I analyzed the availability of water and energy of the Crimean peninsula. It proposed a solution in the form a combined installation for electric power generation and desalination of seawater.В работе рассмотрена проблема обеспеченности водными и энергетическими ресурсами. Проведен анализ обеспеченности водой и энергией полуострова Крым. В работе предложено решение в виде комбинированной установки для выработки электрической энергии и опреснения морской воды

Are Long-Range Structural Correlations Behind the Aggregration Phenomena of Polyglutamine Diseases?

We have characterized the conformational ensembles of polyglutamine peptides of various lengths (ranging from to ), both with and without the presence of a C-terminal polyproline hexapeptide. For this, we used state-of-the-art molecular dynamics simulations combined with a novel statistical analysis to characterize the various properties of the backbone dihedral angles and secondary structural motifs of the glutamine residues. For (i.e., just above the pathological length for Huntington's disease), the equilibrium conformations of the monomer consist primarily of disordered, compact structures with non-negligible -helical and turn content. We also observed a relatively small population of extended structures suitable for forming aggregates including - and -strands, and - and -hairpins. Most importantly, for we find that there exists a long-range correlation (ranging for at least residues) among the backbone dihedral angles of the Q residues. For polyglutamine peptides below the pathological length, the population of the extended strands and hairpins is considerably smaller, and the correlations are short-range (at most residues apart). Adding a C-terminal hexaproline to suppresses both the population of these rare motifs and the long-range correlation of the dihedral angles. We argue that the long-range correlation of the polyglutamine homopeptide, along with the presence of these rare motifs, could be responsible for its aggregation phenomena

Solvent Effects on Ionization Potentials of Guanine Runs and Chemically Modified Guanine in Duplex DNA: Effect of Electrostatic Interaction and Its Reduction due to Solvent

We examined the ionization potential (IP) corresponding to the free energy of a hole on duplex DNA by semiempirical molecular orbital theory with a continuum solvent model. As for the contiguous guanines (a guanine run), we found that the IP in the gas phase significantly decreases with the increasing number of nucleotide pairs of the guanine run, whereas the IP in water (OP, oxidation potential) only slightly does. The latter result is consistent with the experimental result for DNA oligomers in water. This decrease in the IP is mainly due to the attractive electrostatic interaction between the hole and a nucleotide pair in the duplex DNA. This interaction is reduced in water, which results in the small decrease in the IP in water. This mechanism explains the discrepancy between the experimental result and the previous computational results obtained by neglecting the solvent. As for the chemically modified guanine, the previous work showed that the removal of some solvent (water) molecules due to the attachment of a neutral functional group to a guanine in a duplex DNA stabilizes the hole on the guanine. One might naively have expected the opposite case, since a polar solvent usually stabilizes ions. This mechanism also explains this unexpected stabilization of a hole as follows. When some water molecules are removed, the attractive electrostatic interaction stabilizing the hole increases, and thus, the hole is stabilized. In order to design the hole energetics by a chemical modification of DNA, this mechanism has to be taken into account and can be used. 1

HE-LHC: The High-Energy Large Hadron Collider – Future Circular Collider Conceptual Design Report Volume 4

In response to the 2013 Update of the European Strategy for Particle Physics (EPPSU), the Future Circular Collider (FCC) study was launched as a world-wide international collaboration hosted by CERN. The FCC study covered an energy-frontier hadron collider (FCC-hh), a highest-luminosity high-energy lepton collider (FCC-ee), the corresponding 100 km tunnel infrastructure, as well as the physics opportunities of these two colliders, and a high-energy LHC, based on FCC-hh technology. This document constitutes the third volume of the FCC Conceptual Design Report, devoted to the hadron collider FCC-hh. It summarizes the FCC-hh physics discovery opportunities, presents the FCC-hh accelerator design, performance reach, and staged operation plan, discusses the underlying technologies, the civil engineering and technical infrastructure, and also sketches a possible implementation. Combining ingredients from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the high-luminosity LHC upgrade and adding novel technologies and approaches, the FCC-hh design aims at significantly extending the energy frontier to 100 TeV. Its unprecedented centre-of-mass collision energy will make the FCC-hh a unique instrument to explore physics beyond the Standard Model, offering great direct sensitivity to new physics and discoveries