Fast electrochemical membrane actuator:Design, fabrication and preliminary testing

An actuator based on water electrolysis with a fast change of voltage polarity is presented. It demonstrates a new actuation principle allowing significant increase the operation frequency of the device due to fast termination of the produced gas. The actuator consists of a working chamber with metallic electrodes and supplying channels filled with an electrolyte. The chamber is formed in a layer of SU-8 and covered by a flexible polydimethylsiloxane membrane, which deforms as the pressure in the chamber increases. Design, fabrication procedure, and first tests of the actuator are described

Influence of CSP 310 and CSP 310-like proteins from cereals on mitochondrial energetic activity and lipid peroxidation in vitro and in vivo

BACKGROUND: The development of chilling and freezing injury symptoms in plants is known to frequently coincide with peroxidation of free fatty acids. Mitochondria are one of the major sources of reactive oxygen species during cold stress. Recently it has been suggested that uncoupling of oxidation and phosphorylation in mitochondria during oxidative stress can decrease ROS formation by mitochondrial respiratory chain generation. At the same time, it is known that plant uncoupling mitochondrial protein (PUMP) and other UCP-like proteins are not the only uncoupling system in plant mitochondria. All plants have cyanide-resistant oxidase (AOX) whose activation causes an uncoupling of respiration and oxidative phosphorylation. Recently it has been found that in cereals, cold stress protein CSP 310 exists, and that this causes uncoupling of oxidation and phosphorylation in mitochondria. RESULTS: We studied the effects of CSP 310-like native cytoplasmic proteins from a number of cereal species (winter rye, winter wheat, Elymus and maize) on the energetic activity of winter wheat mitochondria. This showed that only CSP 310 (cold shock protein with molecular weight 310 kD) caused a significant increase of non-phosphorylative respiration. CSP 310-like proteins of other cereals studied did not have any significant influence on mitochondrial energetic activity. It was found that among CSP 310-like proteins only CSP 310 had prooxidant activity. At the same time, Elymus CSP 310-like proteins have antioxidant activity. The study of an influence of infiltration by different plant uncoupling system activators (pyruvate, which activates AOX, and linoleic acid which is a substrate and activator for PUMP and CSP 310) showed that all of these decreased lipid peroxidation during cold stress. CONCLUSIONS: Different influence of CSP 310-like proteins on mitochondrial energetic activity and lipid peroxidation presumably depend on the various subunit combinations in their composition. All the plant cell systems that caused an uncoupling of oxidation and phosphorylation in plant mitochondria can participate in plant defence from oxidative damage during cold stress

Search for the Cryptoexotic Member of the Baryon Antidecuplet 1/2+ in the Reactions pi- p --> pi- p and pi- p --> K L

The main goal of this proposal is the search for a narrow cryptoexotic nucleon resonance by scanning of the pi- p system invariant mass in the region (1610-1770) MeV with the detection of pi- p and K Lambda decays. The scan is supposed to be done by the variation of the incident pi- momentum and its measurement with the accuracy of up to +-0.1% (better than 1 MeV in terms of the invariant mass in the whole energy range) with a set of proportional chambers located in the first focus of the magnetooptical channel. High sensitivity of the method to the resonance under search is shown. The secondary particles scattered from a liquid hydrogen target are detected by sets of the wire drift chambers equipped with modern electronics. The time scale of the project is about 3 years. The budget estimate including manpower, the apparatus and operation cost, is about 40 million rubles. The beam time required is (4-6) two week runs on "high" (10 GeV/c) flattop of the ITEP proton synchrotron.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures. v2: an acknowledge adde

Association of carotid atherosclerosis and peripheral artery disease in patients with type 2 diabetes: risk factors and biomarkers

BACKGROUND: Carotid atherosclerosis (CA) and lower extremity peripheral artery disease (PAD) is a common and potentially life-threatening comorbidity in diabetes.AIM: to determine risk factors and biomarkers of the association of CA and PAD in patients with type 2 diabetes.MATERIALS AND METHODS: A single-center cross-sectional comparative study was carried out. Three hundred ninety one patients with type 2 diabetes were included. Duplex ultrasound of carotid and low limb arteries, screening/monitoring of diabetic complications and associated diseases, and assessment of glycemic control, biochemical and coagulation parameters were performed. Factors involved in vascular wall remodeling, including calponin-1, relaxin, L-citrulline, matrix metalloproteinase-2 and -3, were measured in blood serum by ELISA.RESULTS: The signs of CA and PAD were observed in 330 and 187 patients respectively. In 178 patients, both CA and PAD were revealed. The risk of combined involvement of carotid and lower extremity arteries was higher in patients with diabetic retinopathy (OR=2.57, p<0.001), chronic kidney disease (OR=4.48, p<0.001), history of myocardial infarction (OR=5.09, p<0.001), coronary revascularization (OR=4.31, p<0.001) or cerebrovascular accident (OR=3.07, p<0.001). In ROC-analysis, age ≥65.5 years (OR=3.43, p<0.001), waist-to-hip ratio ≥0.967 (OR=3.01, p=0.001), diabetes duration ≥12.5 years (OR=3.7, p<0.001), duration of insulin therapy ≥4.5 years (OR=3.05, p<0.001), duration of arterial hypertension ≥16.5 years (OR=1.98, p=0.002), serum L-citrulline ≥68 µmol/l (OR=3.82, p=0.003), and mean amplitude of glucose excursions ≥3.72 mmol/l (OR=1.79, p=0.006) were the risk factors for atherosclerosis of two vascular beds. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, age, diabetes duration and waist-to-hip ratio were independent risk factors for association of CA and PAD (p=0.005, p=0.0003, and p=0.004 respectively).CONCLUSION: In subjects with type 2 diabetes, carotid and lower extremity atherosclerotic disease is associated with age, diabetes duration, abdominal obesity, microvascular and macrovascular complications, glucose variability, and high serum levels of L-citrulline

Features and causes of gerontological ageism in the provision of medical and social assistance

Based on the data of the author’s sociological survey of medical and social workers, the article analyzes the prevalence of ageism in the activities of medical and social workers, its factors and prerequisite

LIGHT/TNFSR14 Can Regulate Hepatic Lipase Expression by Hepatocytes Independent of T Cells and Kupffer Cells

Abstract LIGHT/TNFSF14 is a costimulatory molecule expressed on activated T cells for activation and maintenance of T cell homeostasis. LIGHT over expressed in T cells also down regulates hepatic lipase levels in mice through lymphotoxin beta receptor (LTbR) signaling. It is unclear whether LIGHT regulates hepatic lipase directly by interacting with LTbR expressing cells in the liver or indirectly by activation of T cells, and whether Kupffer cells, a major cell populations in the liver that expresses the LTbR, are required. Here we report that LIGHT expression via an adenoviral vector (Ad-LIGHT) is sufficient to down regulate hepatic lipase expression in mice. Depletion of Kupffer cells using clodronate liposomes had no effect on LIGHT-mediated down regulation of hepatic lipase. LIGHT-mediated regulation of hepatic lipase is also independent of LIGHT expression by T cells or activation of T cells. This is demonstrated by the decreased hepatic lipase expression in the liver of Ad-LIGHT infected recombination activating gene deficient mice that lack mature T cells and by the Ad-LIGHT infection of primary hepatocytes. Hepatic lipase expression was not responsive to LIGHT when mice lacking LTbR globally or only on hepatocytes were infected with Ad-LIGHT. Therefore, our data argues that interaction of LIGHT with LTbR on hepatocytes, but not Kupffer cells, is sufficient to down regulate hepatic lipase expression and that this effect can be independent of LIGHT's costimulatory function