Overexpression of adenosine A2A receptors in rats: effects on depression, locomotion, and anxiety

Adenosine A2A receptors (A2AR) are a sub-type of receptors enriched in basal ganglia, activated by the neuromodulator adenosine, which interact with dopamine D2 receptors. Although this reciprocal antagonistic interaction is well-established in motor function, the outcome in dopamine-related behaviors remains uncertain, in particular in depression and anxiety. We have demonstrated an upsurge of A2AR associated to aging and chronic stress. Furthermore, Alzheimer's disease patients present A2AR accumulation in cortical areas together with depressive signs. We now tested the impact of overexpressing A2AR in forebrain neurons on dopamine-related behavior, namely depression. Adult male rats overexpressing human A2AR under the control of CaMKII promoter [Tg(CaMKII-hA2AR)] and aged-matched wild-types (WT) of the same strain (Sprague-Dawley) were studied. The forced swimming test (FST), sucrose preference test (SPT), and the open-field test (OFT) were performed to evaluate behavioral despair, anhedonia, locomotion, and anxiety. Tg(CaMKII-hA2AR) animals spent more time floating and less time swimming in the FST and presented a decreased sucrose preference at 48 h in the SPT. They also covered higher distances in the OFT and spent more time in the central zone than the WT. The results indicate that Tg(CaMKII-hA2AR) rats exhibit depressive-like behavior, hyperlocomotion, and altered exploratory behavior. This A2AR overexpression may explain the depressive signs found in aging, chronic stress, and Alzheimer's disease

Symmetry of the remanent state flux distribution in superconducting thin strips: Probing the critical state

The critical-state in a thin strip of YBaCuO is studied by magneto-optical imaging. The distribution of magnetic flux density is shown to have a specific symmetry in the remanent state after a large applied field. The symmetry was predicted [PRL 82, 2947 (1999)] for any Jc(B), and is therefore suggested as a simple tool to verify the applicability of the critical-state model. At large temperatures we find deviations from this symmetry, which demonstrates departure from the critical-state behavior. The observed deviations can be attributed to an explicit coordinate dependence of $j_c$ since both a surface barrier, and flux creep would break the symmetry in a different way.Comment: 5 pages including 5 eps figures, submitted to PR

Superconducting-coil--resistor circuit with electric field quadratic in the current

It is shown for the first time that the observed [Phys. Lett. A 162 (1992) 105] potential difference Phi_t between the resistor and the screen surrounding the circuit is caused by polarization of the resistor because of the kinetic energy of the electrons of the superconducting coil. The proportionality of Phi_t to the square of the current and to the length of the superconducting wire is explained. It is pointed out that measuring Phi_t makes it possible to determine the Fermi quasimomentum of the electrons of a metal resistor.Comment: 2 pages, 1 figur

Superconductivity in multi-phase Mg-B-O compounds

Structures of MgB2-based materials manufactured under pressure (up to 2 GPa) by different methods having high superconducting performance and connectivity are multiphase and contain different Mg-B-O compounds. Some oxygen can be incorporated into MgB2 and boron into MgO structures, MgBx (X=4-20) inclusions contain practically no oxygen. Regulating manufacturing temperature, pressure, introducing additions one can influence oxygen and boron distribution in the materials and thus, affect the formation, amount and sizes of Mg-B-O and MgBx inclusions and changing type of pinning, pinning force and so affect critical current density jc. The boron concentration increase in initial Mg and B mixture allows obtaining sample containing 88.5 wt% of MgB12 with Tc of 37.4 K (estimated magnetically)

Improving the Ranking of Russian Smart Cities

Вследствие тенденций цифровизации и урбанизации большую роль в реализации парадигмы устойчивого развития стал играть умный город, выступая основным объектом управления устойчивым развитием. Умный город должен стать устойчивым умным городом, и первый шаг в этом направлении - разработка системы «диагностики текущего состояния», или рейтинга умных городов, который учитывает не только международные стандарты, специфику развития российских городов, но и компоненты устойчивости развития. Гипотеза исследования состоит в том, что методика рейтингования должна отражать эти компоненты и быть основой для анализа динамики устойчивого развития в разрезе выбранных критериев и факторов. В основе разработанной методики, позволяющей оценивать города с численностью населения свыше 100 тыс. чел. в разрезе социальной, экологической, экономической и управленческой компонент лежат теория многомерных сравнений и метод расстояний. Комплексная оценка умного города включает 71 показатель, показатели сгруппированы в 8 критериев: человек, социальная сплоченность, экономика, управление, экология и окружающая среда, транспорт, градостроительство, технологии. Разработан рейтинг, включающий 171 город, и выявлены региональные особенности российских умных городов в разрезе представленных критериев. Статистической базой выступили российские и зарубежные статистические базы данных, а также данные отраслевых агентств. В пятерку разработанного рейтинга вошли города Москва, Санкт-Петербург, Балашиха, Краснодар и Казань. Среди значимых вывяленных региональных особенностей - лидерство Центрального федерального округа, а также сильная дифференциация по группам показателей «градостроительство» и «технологии». Ежегодный расчет комплексной оценки позволяет выявить динамику развития умных городов, оценить эффективность принимаемых решений и ход их реализации, планировать развитие городского хозяйства в рамках реализации федеральных и региональных проектов цифровизации РФ, а также принимать решения по повышению устойчивости городских агломераций при реализации проекта «Умный город».Digitalisation and urbanisation have led to smart city becoming a key element of the concept of sustainable development, acting as an object of sustainable development management. Thus, a smart city must become a sustainable smart city. The first step is the creation of the system of current state diagnostics or smart city ranking. This ranking should consider international standards, the specificity of Russian urban development, as well as various components of sustainable development. It is hypothesised that the ranking methodology reflecting these components can be used to analyse the dynamics of sustainable development based on the chosen criteria and factors. To assess social, environmental, economic and management components of cities with a population of more than 100,000 people, the proposed technique relies on the theory of multiple comparisons and the distance method. The comprehensive assessment of smart cities includes 71 indicators grouped into 8 criteria: people, social cohesion, economy, management, ecology and the environment, transport, urban planning, technology. The study analysed Russian and international statistical databases, as well as data from industry agencies. The ranking of 171 cities was developed; regional features of Russian smart cities were identified using the selected criteria. The cities of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Balashikha, Krasnodar and Kazan are at the top of the ranking. The leadership of the Central Federal District and a significant differentiation by the criteria “urban planning” and “technology” are the key regional features. Annual comprehensive assessment can be used to track the dynamics of the development of smart cities, evaluate the effectiveness of decision-making and implementation, plan urban development based on federal and regional digitalisation projects, as well as create strategies to enhance the sustainability of Russian smart cities

Evolution of the electronic structure with size in II-VI semiconductor nanocrystals

In order to provide a quantitatively accurate description of the band gap variation with sizes in various II-VI semiconductor nanocrystals, we make use of the recently reported tight-binding parametrization of the corresponding bulk systems. Using the same tight-binding scheme and parameters, we calculate the electronic structure of II-VI nanocrystals in real space with sizes ranging between 5 and 80 {\AA} in diameter. A comparison with available experimental results from the literature shows an excellent agreement over the entire range of sizes.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures, accepted in Phys. Rev.

Importin α7 Is Essential for Zygotic Genome Activation and Early Mouse Development

Importin α is involved in the nuclear import of proteins. It also contributes to spindle assembly and nuclear membrane formation, however, the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Here, we studied the function of importin α7 by gene targeting in mice and show that it is essential for early embryonic development. Embryos lacking importin α7 display a reduced ability for the first cleavage and arrest completely at the two-cell stage. We show that the zygotic genome activation is severely disturbed in these embryos. Our findings indicate that importin α7 is a new member of the small group of maternal effect genes

Flux-Induced Vortex in Mesoscopic Superconducting Loops

We predict the existence of a quantum vortex for an unusual situation. We study the order parameter in doubly connected superconducting samples embedded in a uniform magnetic field. For samples with perfect cylindrical symmetry, the order parameter has been known for long and no vortices are present in the linear regime. However, if the sample is not symmetric, there exist ranges of the field for which the order parameter vanishes along a line, parallel to the field. In many respects, the behavior of this line is qualitatively different from that of the vortices encountered in type II superconductivity. For samples with mirror symmetry, this flux-induced vortex appears at the thin side for small fluxes and at the opposite side for large fluxes. We propose direct and indirect experimental methods which could test our predictions.Comment: 6 pages, Latex, 4 figs., uses RevTex, extended to situations far from cylindrical symmetr

Analysis of Immunogenicity of Intracellular CTAR Fragments of Epstein—Barr Virus Latent Phase Protein LMP1

© 2017, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC. Intracellular fragments of latent phase protein LMP1 of Epstein—Barr virus, denoted as CTAR1/2/3, can trigger a variety of cell cascades and contribute to the transforming potential of the virus. Generation of recombinant proteins CTAR1/2/3 is expected to yield more ample data on functional and immunogenic characteristics of LMP1. We created genetic constructs for prokaryotic expression of LMP1 CTAR fragments and selected optimal conditions for their production and purification. Using a new library of LMP1 CTAR fragments, we carried out epitope mapping of a diagnostic anti-LMP1 antibody S12. Analysis of polyclonal serum antibodies from mice immunized with full-length LMP1 confirmed immunogenicity of CTAR elements comparable with that of full-length protein