Inverse and forward kinematics and workspace analysis of a novel 5-DOF (3T2R) parallel–serial (hybrid) manipulator:

The proposed study provides a solution of the inverse and forward kinematic problems and workspace analysis for a five-degree-of-freedom parallel–serial manipulator, in which the parallel kinematic chain is made in the form of a tripod and the serial kinematic chain is made in the form of two carriages displaced in perpendicular directions. The proposed manipulator allows to realize five independent movements—three translations and two rotations motion pattern (3T2R). Analytical relationships between the coordinates of the end-effector and five controlled movements provided by manipulator's drives (generalized coordinates) were determined. The approach of reachable workspace calculation was defined with respect to available design constraints of the manipulator based on the obtained algorithms of the inverse and forward kinematics. Case studies are considered based on the obtained algorithms of inverse and forward kinematics. For the inverse kinematic problem, the solution is obtained in accordance with the given laws of position and orientation change of the end-effector, corresponding to the motion along a spiral-helical trajectory. For the forward kinematic problem, various assemblies of the manipulator are obtained at the same given values of the generalized coordinates. An example of reachable workspace designing finalizes the proposed study. Dimensions and extreme values of the end-effector orientation angles are calculated

Water uptake of subpollen aerosol particles: Hygroscopic growth, cloud condensation nuclei activation, and liquid-liquid phase separation

Pollen grains emitted from vegetation can release subpollen particles (SPPs) that contribute to the fine fraction of atmospheric aerosols and may act as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), ice nuclei (IN), or aeroallergens. Here, we investigate and characterize the hygroscopic growth and CCN activation of birch, pine, and rapeseed SPPs. A high-humidity tandem differential mobility analyzer (HHTDMA) was used to measure particle restructuring and water uptake over a wide range of relative humidity (RH) from 2 % to 99.5 %, and a continuous flow CCN counter was used for size-resolved measurements of CCN activation at supersaturations (S) in the range of 0.2 % to 1.2 %. For both subsaturated and supersaturated conditions, effective hygroscopicity parameters, κ, were obtained by Köhler model calculations. Gravimetric and chemical analyses, electron microscopy, and dynamic light scattering measurements were performed to characterize further properties of SPPs from aqueous pollen extracts such as chemical composition (starch, proteins, DNA, and inorganic ions) and the hydrodynamic size distribution of water-insoluble material. All investigated SPP samples exhibited a sharp increase of water uptake and κ above ∼95 % RH, suggesting a liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS). The HHTDMA measurements at RH >95 % enable closure between the CCN activation at water vapor supersaturation and hygroscopic growth at subsaturated conditions, which is often not achieved when hygroscopicity tandem differential mobility analyzer (HTDMA) measurements are performed at lower RH where the water uptake and effective hygroscopicity may be limited by the effects of LLPS. Such effects may be important not only for closure between hygroscopic growth and CCN activation but also for the chemical reactivity, allergenic potential, and related health effects of SPPs

Agrobacterium tumefaciens-Induced Bacteraemia Does Not Lead to Reporter Gene Expression in Mouse Organs

Agrobacterium tumefaciens is the main plant biotechnology gene transfer tool with host range which can be extended to non-plant eukaryotic organisms under laboratory conditions. Known medical cases of Agrobacterium species isolation from bloodstream infections necessitate the assessment of biosafety-related risks of A. tumefaciens encounters with mammalian organisms. Here, we studied the survival of A. tumefaciens in bloodstream of mice injected with bacterial cultures. Bacterial titers of 108 CFU were detected in the blood of the injected animals up to two weeks after intravenous injection. Agrobacteria carrying Cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S promoter-based constructs and isolated from the injected mice retained their capacity to promote green fluorescent protein (GFP) synthesis in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves. To examine whether or not the injected agrobacteria are able to express in mouse organs, we used an intron-containing GFP (GFPi) reporter driven either by a cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter or by a CaMV 35S promoter. Western and northern blot analyses as well as RT-PCR analysis of liver, spleen and lung of mice injected with A. tumefaciens detected neither GFP protein nor its transcripts. Thus, bacteraemia induced in mice by A. tumefaciens does not lead to detectible levels of genetic transformation of mouse organs

Screening ethnically diverse human embryonic stem cells identifies a chromosome 20 minimal amplicon conferring growth advantage

The International Stem Cell Initiative analyzed 125 human embryonic stem (ES) cell lines and 11 induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell lines, from 38 laboratories worldwide, for genetic changes occurring during culture. Most lines were analyzed at an early and late passage. Single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis revealed that they included representatives of most major ethnic groups. Most lines remained karyotypically normal, but there was a progressive tendency to acquire changes on prolonged culture, commonly affecting chromosomes 1, 12, 17 and 20. DNA methylation patterns changed haphazardly with no link to time in culture. Structural variants, determined from the SNP arrays, also appeared sporadically. No common variants related to culture were observed on chromosomes 1, 12 and 17, but a minimal amplicon in chromosome 20q11.21, including three genes expressed in human ES cells, ID1, BCL2L1 and HM13, occurred in >20% of the lines. Of these genes, BCL2L1 is a strong candidate for driving culture adaptation of ES cells

High-Density Transcriptional Initiation Signals Underline Genomic Islands in Bacteria

Genomic islands (GIs), frequently associated with the pathogenicity of bacteria and having a substantial influence on bacterial evolution, are groups of “alien” elements which probably undergo special temporal–spatial regulation in the host genome. Are there particular hallmark transcriptional signals for these “exotic” regions? We here explore the potential transcriptional signals that underline the GIs beyond the conventional views on basic sequence composition, such as codon usage and GC property bias. It showed that there is a significant enrichment of the transcription start positions (TSPs) in the GI regions compared to the whole genome of Salmonella enterica and Escherichia coli. There was up to a four-fold increase for the 70% GIs, implying high-density TSPs profile can potentially differentiate the GI regions. Based on this feature, we developed a new sliding window method GIST, Genomic-island Identification by Signals of Transcription, to identify these regions. Subsequently, we compared the known GI-associated features of the GIs detected by GIST and by the existing method Islandviewer to those of the whole genome. Our method demonstrates high sensitivity in detecting GIs harboring genes with biased GI-like function, preferred subcellular localization, skewed GC property, shorter gene length and biased “non-optimal” codon usage. The special transcriptional signals discovered here may contribute to the coordinate expression regulation of foreign genes. Finally, by using GIST, we detected many interesting GIs in the 2011 German E. coli O104:H4 outbreak strain TY-2482, including the microcin H47 system and gene cluster ycgXEFZ-ymgABC that activates the production of biofilm matrix. The aforesaid findings highlight the power of GIST to predict GIs with distinct intrinsic features to the genome. The heterogeneity of cumulative TSPs profiles may not only be a better identity for “alien” regions, but also provide hints to the special evolutionary course and transcriptional regulation of GI regions

Burnout among surgeons before and during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: an international survey

Background: SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has had many significant impacts within the surgical realm, and surgeons have been obligated to reconsider almost every aspect of daily clinical practice. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study reported in compliance with the CHERRIES guidelines and conducted through an online platform from June 14th to July 15th, 2020. The primary outcome was the burden of burnout during the pandemic indicated by the validated Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure. Results: Nine hundred fifty-four surgeons completed the survey. The median length of practice was 10 years; 78.2% included were male with a median age of 37 years old, 39.5% were consultants, 68.9% were general surgeons, and 55.7% were affiliated with an academic institution. Overall, there was a significant increase in the mean burnout score during the pandemic; longer years of practice and older age were significantly associated with less burnout. There were significant reductions in the median number of outpatient visits, operated cases, on-call hours, emergency visits, and research work, so, 48.2% of respondents felt that the training resources were insufficient. The majority (81.3%) of respondents reported that their hospitals were included in the management of COVID-19, 66.5% felt their roles had been minimized; 41% were asked to assist in non-surgical medical practices, and 37.6% of respondents were included in COVID-19 management. Conclusions: There was a significant burnout among trainees. Almost all aspects of clinical and research activities were affected with a significant reduction in the volume of research, outpatient clinic visits, surgical procedures, on-call hours, and emergency cases hindering the training. Trial registration: The study was registered on clicaltrials.gov "NCT04433286" on 16/06/2020

Centrality evolution of the charged-particle pseudorapidity density over a broad pseudorapidity range in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=2.76TeV

Peer reviewe

Моделирование тепловых условий процесса совмещенной прокатки-прессования

Were obtained the dependences and through them analyzed the thermal interaction of the metal and the tool during combined rolling-extruding. Given graphs temperature change of deformable metal to obtain rods by method CRE at various geometrical and technological parameters of the processПолучены зависимости и проанализировано температурное взаимодействие металла и инструмента в ходе совмещенной прокатки-прессования. Представлены графики изменения температуры деформируемого металла для получения прутков методом СПП при разных геометрических и технологических параметрах процесс

Patient-Specific iPSC-Based Models of Huntington’s Disease as a Tool to Study Store-Operated Calcium Entry Drug Targeting

Neurodegenerative pathologies are among the most serious and socially significant problems of modern medicine, along with cardiovascular and oncological diseases. Several attempts have been made to prevent neuronal death using novel drugs targeted to the cell calcium signaling machinery, but the lack of adequate models for screening markedly impairs the development of relevant drugs. A potential breakthrough in this field is offered by the models of hereditary neurodegenerative pathologies based on endogenous expression of mutant proteins in neurons differentiated from patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Here, we study specific features of store-operated calcium entry (SOCE) using an iPSCs-based model of Huntington’s disease (HD) and analyze the pharmacological effects of a specific drug targeted to the calcium channels. We show that SOCE in gamma aminobutyric acid-ergic striatal medium spiny neurons (GABA MSNs) was mediated by currents through at least two different channel groups, ICRAC and ISOC. Both of these groups were upregulated in HD neurons compared with the wild-type neurons. Thapsigargin-induced intracellular calcium store depletion in GABA MSNs resulted in predominant activation of either ICRAC or ISOC. The potential anti-HD drug EVP4593, which was previously shown to have neuroprotective activity in different HD models, affected both ICRAC and ISOC