Ab initio guided minimal model for the "Kitaev" material BaCo2_2(AsO4_4)2_2: Importance of direct hopping, third-neighbor exchange and quantum fluctuations

We present a simple three-parameter exchange model to describe the interactions of the lowest doublet of the honeycomb cobaltate BaCo$_2$(AsO$_4$)$_2$, which has been proposed as a possible candidate for Kitaev physics. Remarkably, it is the third-neighbor interactions, both isotropic and anisotropic, that are responsible for the unique ground state of BaCo$_2$(AsO$_4$)$_2$, stabilized by quantum fluctuations. By considering two {\it ab initio}-based complementary approaches, we analyze the electronic structure of BaCo$_2$(AsO$_4$)$_2$ and extract effective spin models that justify the minimal model. Both methods show that the dominant direct hopping makes the bond-dependent Kitaev term negligible moving the material away from the sought-after spin-liquid regime. Moreover, a significantly large third-nearest neighbor hopping supports the observed importance of the third-neighbor interactions in the stabilization of the standout double-zigzag ground state of BaCo$_2$(AsO$_4$)$_2$.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure

Raman Scattering:From Structural Biology to Medical Applications

This is a review of relevant Raman spectroscopy (RS) techniques and their use in structural biology, biophysics, cells, and tissues imaging towards development of various medical diagnostic tools, drug design, and other medical applications. Classical and contemporary structural studies of different water-soluble and membrane proteins, DNA, RNA, and their interactions and behavior in different systems were analyzed in terms of applicability of RS techniques and their complementarity to other corresponding methods. We show that RS is a powerful method that links the fundamental structural biology and its medical applications in cancer, cardiovascular, neurodegenerative, atherosclerotic, and other diseases. In particular, the key roles of RS in modern technologies of structure-based drug design are the detection and imaging of membrane protein microcrystals with the help of coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS), which would help to further the development of protein structural crystallography and would result in a number of novel high-resolution structures of membrane proteins—drug targets; and, structural studies of photoactive membrane proteins (rhodopsins, photoreceptors, etc.) for the development of new optogenetic tools. Physical background and biomedical applications of spontaneous, stimulated, resonant, and surface- and tip-enhanced RS are also discussed. All of these techniques have been extensively developed during recent several decades. A number of interesting applications of CARS, resonant, and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy methods are also discussed

The Tatar layer of words in the system of kinship terms of the Besermans

The purpose of this study is to identify and systematize the terms of kinship of Tatar origin in the Beserman dialect. The terms of kinship in the Udmurt language are relatively well studied. However, the terminology of Tatar origin as a separate lexico-semantic layer has not previously been considered in publications. Meanwhile, the study of such vocabulary can help shed light on the problems of the ethnogenesis of the Besermans, which is very important. This study was carried out mainly on the basis of T. I. Teplyashina’s monograph “The Language of the Besermans” and her field notes. The goals were achieved using descriptive and statistical methods, as well as the method of etymological analysis. Thirty-two Beserman terms of Tatar origin were identified and systematized, which allowed a new look at Besermian-Tatar contacts. In one of the periods, Besermans and Tatars had very close relationships up to interethnic marriages. The presence of special terms denoting the relatives of the husband among the Besermans, which are absent in other Udmurt dialects but correspond to the terms of the Chepetsk Tatars, may indicate that not only Besermian women married Tatars, but also Tatar women married Beserman men

About N. P. Steinfeld’s Comparative Besermian Dictionary

The work is devoted to the study of one of the first written sources representing the Besermian dialect. Such sources are of particular importance, because the problem of the ethnic history of the Besermians is still debatable. In the work the descriptive method and partly the method of etymological analysis were used. In the analysis of the vocabulary material, special attention was paid to the correct reading of words and their interpretation. N. P. Steinfeld did not develop a clear system for transmitting the sounds of the Besermian dialect. However, it seems to us that the confusion in fixing words is primarily a reflection of the pronunciation features that the compiler of the dictionary tried to catch in the process of fixing each word. In some cases, he noticed such features in the speech of the Besermians that eluded even experienced linguists. As for the vocabulary, it should be said that most of the Besermian words have a common Udmurt distribution. The proximity of the Besermian dialect not only to the Northern, but also to the Southern dialect of the Udmurt language is observed. There are few own Besermian lexical units. Among them there are Tatar and Chuvash loanwords that are absent in other dialects. In this source, we have not identified Bulgarisms used only in the Besermian dialect

Gender, Age, Family and Territorial Features of Dietary and Physical Activity Patterns in Russian Youths

Objective: Identifying dietary and physical activity (PA) patterns in Russian youths and examining their dependence on gender, age, family characteristics and area of residence features. The research involved 783 school students 10–17 years of age and their parents living in the cities of Moscow and Murmansk. Using the principal component analysis, four integral indices were identified that characterized the habits and dietary patterns, PA and lifestyle. Boys, compared with girls, were more likely to consume unhealthy foods but less likely to practice malnutrition. Within the age ranges of 13–15 years old and 16–17 years old, the proportions of school students with a poor sleep pattern and low PA were higher than in children 10–12 years of age. In smoking families, children were less likely to consume healthy foods and more likely to eat unhealthy foods. In Murmansk school students, compared with their Moscow peers, a reduction in both sleep time and PA was observed less often. Our study demonstrated that the most significant factors of a balanced and healthy diet, rational daily routine and lifestyle in school students were their gender and age characteristics, as well as some contextual factors

Priešpaskutinio (vėlyvojo vidurinio pleistoceno) tarpledynmečio urano-torio izochroninio datavimo rezultatai Mardasavo pjūvio nuoguluose Lietuvoje

The Snaigupėlėe Interglacial gyttja was dated first by the uranium- thorium isochron method in the Mardasavas parastratotype section,. Southeastern Lithuania. The isochron-corrected 230Th / U ages are 202.4 + 38.6/-22.9 ka (TSD method) and 220.6 + 35.3 / 20.5 ka (L/L method). Theses dates correspond to the second part of the Interglacial. The range of the obtained ages is close to the age limit of the MOIS 7 stage of deep sea sediments (186-242 ka). The 230Th / U dates obtained on gyttja from the Mardasavas section are in fact the corresponding deposits of the penultimate (Snaigupėlė) Interglacial within MOIS 7 present in Lithuania. One more Interglacial warming (Snaigupėlė = Drenthe-Wartha - Cherepet) is recognized between the Butėnai = Holsteinian = Likhvinian Interglacial of the Middle Pleistocene and the Merkine = Eemian = Mikulino = Kazantsovian Interglacial of the Late Pleistocene. The warm climate event of MOIS 7 is of broad transcontinental or even hemispheral significance rather than a local phenomenon in the Last European Plain

Regional Living Conditions and Individual Dietary Characteristics of the Russian Population

The goal of our study was to examine the effects of the regional characteristics of the living environment on individual a priori and a posteriori dietary patterns of the Russian population. For the analysis, we used cross-sectional data from the Epidemiology of Cardiovascular Diseases in the Regions of the Russian Federation study from 2013–2014. The sample included 18,054 men and women 25–64 years of age from 12 regions. Based on the frequency of consumption of basic foods, four a posteriori empirical dietary patterns (EDPs), along with an a priori cardioprotective dietary pattern (CPDP), were identified. To describe the regional living environment, five regional indices were used. Adherence to the meat-based EDP was directly associated with deterioration of social living conditions and a more northerly location for the region of residence. The probability of a CPDP increased with greater deterioration of social living conditions, aggravation of demographic crises, and higher industrial development in the region, as well as with declines in the economic development of the region, income, and economic inequality among the population. We detected several gender-dependent differences in the associations established. The patterns revealed reflect the national dietary preferences of Russians, and the regional indices characterize the effect of the living environment

Association of Vital Exhaustion with Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Diseases, Quality of Life and Lifestyle in 41–44-Year-Old Muscovite Men

(1) Background: Vital exhaustion (VE) is no less of an important risk factor (RF) for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and cardiovascular events than the well-known RFs. Insufficient knowledge of the relationship between VE and CVD RF, quality of life, and lifestyle was the rationale for this study. (2) Methods: We examined 301 Muscovite men 41–44 years of age. The categorization of RFs for CVD was carried out in accordance with conventionally considered criteria. In order to evaluate the lifestyle and quality of life in study participants, we were offering them a self-filling questionnaire developed by I.A. Gundarov. The presence of VE signs was assessed using a 14-item short version of the Maastricht Vital Exhaustion Questionnaire scale (MVEQ). All study subjects were classified into three ordered groups depending on the distribution of VE indicators by tertiles: Group 1 consisted of men with a low VE (0–2 points), Group 2 included males with a medium VE score (3–5 points), and Group 3 comprised subjects with high VE scores (6–14 points). To analyze the obtained data, we used one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Pearson’s chi-squaredtest (χ2), Goodman and Kruskal’s gamma, and linear regression analysis. (3) Results: We established that every third male (36.8%) had VE signs, while 10.6% of men had high VE levels. With an increase of VE in men, the frequency of arterial hypertension (AH) was increasing as well, and it was significantly higher in men with a high VE compared to their peers with a low VE (48.4% versus 33%; p = 0.03). A significant linear relationship was discovered between VE levels and excessive alcohol consumption (p = 0.001). The strongest linear associations were found between the VE level, and both psychosocial stress indicator and the amount of consumed ethanol. Self-assessment of personal happiness, job and sleep satisfaction, residential living conditions, and spiritual needs, as well as psychosocial stress indicator, total amount of consumed ethanol, and muscle strength (hand-grip dynamometry), were independent determinants of the VE level, and, collectively, they explained 46.6% of its variability. The greatest contribution to VE was made by the personal happiness level, explaining 25.5% of its variability. The proportions of the VE variance uniquely explained by various factors were as follows: 9.3% by the psychosocial stress, 4.9% by job satisfaction, 2.8% by sleep satisfaction, 2.3% by total consumption of ethanol, 1.6% by muscle strength, 1.1% by living conditions in the residential neighborhood, and just 0.8% by spiritual needs. (4) Conclusion: High VE levels in 41–44-year-old men are associated with AH, sedentary behavior, excessive alcohol consumption, and lower values of most indicators of both lifestyle and quality of life

Dynamics of adreneractivity after transfer of myocardial infarction: annual observation

Aim. To study the change in the -adrenergic reactivity of red blood cell membranes in patients during the first year after acute myocardial infarction. Materials and methods. The study included 25 patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) who signed informed consent to participate in the study. The erythrocyte membrane -adrenoreactivity index (-ARM) was determined in venous blood samples upon admission to the intensive care unit, one day after admission, 6 and 12 months after the index MI was transferred using the BETA-ARM-AGAT reagent kit (Agat-Med, Russia). Results. According to the results of dynamics assessment of -APM during the first day, patients included in the study were divided into 2 groups. Group 1 (n=14) included patients who had an increase in -APM in the first day, and group 2 (n=21) included patients in whom -ARM either did not change or decreased. At the time of admission to the hospital in the formed groups, there were no differences in the -APM index and clinical and anamnestic characteristics. A day after hospitalization, the value of -APM in group 1 significantly exceeded the same indicator in group 2 (p=0.02). At the periods of 6 and 12 months, the -APM indices in the groups did not differ. In the 2nd group of patients, the progression of chronic heart failure to one or more functional classes (NYHA) was significantly more often compared with the 1st group. Conclusion. The study showed that on the first day in patients with AMI, both an increase and a decrease in the activity of the sympathoadrenal system are possible with a further leveling of these differences over the next year. For a group of patients with decreased activity of sympathoadrenal system on the first day, a more unfavorable course of heart failure in the post-infarction period is characteristic