3-PHENACYLURIDINE-DERIVED HYPNOTICS: ANTHOLOGY, STRUCTUREACTIVITY RELATIONSHIPS AND SYNTHESIS OF SEVERAL ACYCLONUCLEOSIDE ANALOGUES

This work was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, project # 18-33-00421

Осаждение наноразмерных пленок полимера методом электронно-лучевого диспергирования политетрафторэтилена в вакууме на поверхность трековой мембраны

Исследованы структурные и электрохимические свойства композитных мембран, образующихся при осаждении на поверхность полипропиленовой трековой мембраны слоя полимера, полученного электронно-лучевым диспергированием политетрафторэтилена в вакууме

Electron-spin-resonance in the doped spin-Peierls compound Cu(1-x)Ni(x)GeO3

ESR-study of the Ni-doped spin-Peierls compound CuGeO3 has been performed in the frequency range 9-75 GHz. At low temperatures the g-factor is smaller than the value expected for Cu- and Ni-ions. This anomaly is explained by the formation of magnetic clusters around the Ni-ions within a nonmagnetic spin-Peierls matrix. The transition into the AFM-state detected earlier by neutron scattering for doped samples was studied by means of ESR. For x=0.032 a gap in the magnetic resonance spectrum is found below the Neel temperature and the spectrum is well described by the theory of antiferromagnetic resonance based on the molecular field approximation. For x=0.017 the spectrum below the Neel point remained gapless. The gapless spectrum of the antiferromagnetic state in weekly doped samples is attributed to the small value of the Neel order parameter and to the magnetically disordered spin-Peierls background.Comment: 16 pages, LATEX, 12 figures, submitted to Journal of Physics : Condensed Matte

Magnetic Resonance of the Intrinsic Defects of the Spin-Peierls Magnet CuGeO3

ESR of the pure monocrystals of CuGeO3 is studied in the frequency range 9-75 GHz and in the temperature interval 1.2-25 K. The splitting of the ESR line into several spectral components is observed below 5 K, in the temperature range where the magnetic susceptibility is suppressed by the spin-Peierls dimerization. The analysis of the magnetic resonance signals allows one to separate the signals of the S=1/2- and S=1 defects of the spin-Peierls phase. The value of g-factor of these signals is close to that of the Cu-ion. The additional line of the magnetic resonance is characterized by an anomalous value of the g-factor and by the threshold-like increase of the microwave susceptibility when the microwave power is increasing. The ESR signals are supposingly attributed to two types of the planar magnetic defects, arising at the boundaries of the domains of the spin-Peierls state with the different values of the phase of the dimerization.Comment: LATEX-text, 12 PS-figures, typos corrected, LATEX-style change

Infiornativity lacrimal fluid interleukins in diagnostics and development of angle-closure glaucoma in elderly subjects

An increased percentage of the elderly subjects in pattern of contemporary society, along with other causes and risk factors, is accompanied by rise in the incidence of glaucoma. By 2020, according to international studies it is expected that prevalence of glaucoma patients in the world would increase up to 80 million subjects. Among the elderly, glaucoma is a common pathology, which development is associated with local disturbances in interleukin profile. However, the features of the latter in patients with primary closed-angle glaucoma in the elderly were poorly examined. Studies of local interleukin status were conducted mainly in patients with suspected or initial manifestations of primary open-angle glaucoma. The features of lacrimal fluid interleukin shift in a target group of elderly patients suffering from stage II primary closed-angle glaucoma virtually gained no attention. In addition, a limited range of local interleukins in patients with such pathology in previous studies was examined. In addition, informativity of lacrimal fluid interleukins in elderly glaucoma patients was not assessed too based on objective methods. The aim of the current study was to outline features and informativity of local interleukin profile indicators in 58 elderly patients with primary closed-angle glaucoma stage II, aged 60—74 years (main group) and 27 age-matched elderly subjects lacking such pathology. The level of interleukins in the lacrimal fluid was determined with the enzyme immunoassay “Multiscan” analyzer (Finland) by using sandwich ELISA (R&D Diagnostic Inc., USA). Informativity of measuring various interleukins was calculated according to the generally accepted formula. It was found that local interleukin profile in elderly patients with primary closed-angle glaucoma was mainly featured with increased amount of IL-2, IL-17, IL-8, but decreased IL-10. Hence, such local interleukins displayed peak informativity. The data obtained should be used in the diagnostics and treatment of such pathology, as well as of applied importance to unveil novel mechanisms behind development, diagnostics and corroboration for selective immuno-tropic therapy of primary closed-angle glaucoma

Supertransferred hyperfine interactions in layer LaSrGa0.995Cu0.005O4

The EPR allowing a direct observation of supertransferred hyperfine fields on the nuclei of the next-nearest cations to copper ion in the structure of LaSrGa0.995Cu0.005O4 isomorphous to the superconducting cuprates prove the far delocalisation of the spin density. The theoretical analysis of the value and mechanisms of this process by the method of configurational interaction leads to a good agreement with the experiment. It is shown that the cascade processes involving simultaneous electron transfers from the oxygen to the copper atom and from the neighbouring cation to the same oxygen, in the fragment considered bring a substantial contribution into polarisation of 3s-shell of gallium ion. A comparison of the supertransferred hyperfine fields and g-tensor values in the studied, diluted LaSrGa0.995Cu0.005O4 crystal and in the La2CuO4 cuprate confirms the validity of the local centre approach in the analysis of cuprate properties. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved

Sunlight-Exposed Biofilm Microbial Communities Are Naturally Resistant to Chernobyl Ionizing-Radiation Levels

BACKGROUND: The Chernobyl accident represents a long-term experiment on the effects of exposure to ionizing radiation at the ecosystem level. Though studies of these effects on plants and animals are abundant, the study of how Chernobyl radiation levels affect prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbial communities is practically non-existent, except for a few reports on human pathogens or soil microorganisms. Environments enduring extreme desiccation and UV radiation, such as sunlight exposed biofilms could in principle select for organisms highly resistant to ionizing radiation as well. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To test this hypothesis, we explored the diversity of microorganisms belonging to the three domains of life by cultivation-independent approaches in biofilms developing on concrete walls or pillars in the Chernobyl area exposed to different levels of radiation, and we compared them with a similar biofilm from a non-irradiated site in Northern Ireland. Actinobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Acidobacteria and Deinococcales were the most consistently detected bacterial groups, whereas green algae (Chlorophyta) and ascomycete fungi (Ascomycota) dominated within the eukaryotes. Close relatives to the most radio-resistant organisms known, including Rubrobacter species, Deinococcales and melanized ascomycete fungi were always detected. The diversity of bacteria and eukaryotes found in the most highly irradiated samples was comparable to that of less irradiated Chernobyl sites and Northern Ireland. However, the study of mutation frequencies in non-coding ITS regions versus SSU rRNA genes in members of a same actinobacterial operational taxonomic unit (OTU) present in Chernobyl samples and Northern Ireland showed a positive correlation between increased radiation and mutation rates. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results show that biofilm microbial communities in the most irradiated samples are comparable to non-irradiated samples in terms of general diversity patterns, despite increased mutation levels at the single-OTU level. Therefore, biofilm communities growing in sunlight exposed substrates are capable of coping with increased mutation rates and appear pre-adapted to levels of ionizing radiation in Chernobyl due to their natural adaptation to periodical desiccation and ambient UV radiation

Distribution and abundance of western gray whales off northeastern Sakhalin Island, Russia, 2001’003

In 2001’003, >60,000 km of aerial surveys and 7,700 km of vessel surveys were conducted during June to November when critically endangered Korean–Okhotsk or western gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) were present off the northeast coast of Sakhalin Island, Russia. Results of surveys in all years indicated gray whales occurred in predominantly two areas, (1) adjacent to Piltun Bay, and (2) offshore from Chayvo Bay, hereafter referred to as the Piltun and offshore feeding areas. In the Piltun feeding area, the majority of whales were observed in waters shallower than 20 m and were distributed from several hundred meters to ∼ 5 km from the shoreline. In the offshore feeding area during all years, the distribution of gray whales extended from southwest to northeast in waters 30’5 m in depth. During all years, the distribution and abundance of whales changed in both the Piltun and offshore feeding areas, and both north–south and inshore–offshore movements were documented within and between feeding seasons. The discovery of a significant number of whales feeding in the offshore area each year was a substantial finding of this study and raises questions regarding western gray whale abundance and population levels, feeding behavior and ecology, and individual site-fidelity. Fluctuations in the number of whales observed within the Piltun and offshore feeding areas and few sightings outside of these two areas indicate that gray whales move between the Piltun and offshore feeding areas during their summer–fall feeding season. Seasonal shifts in the distribution and abundance of gray whales between and within both the Piltun and offshore feeding areas are thought, in part, to be a response to seasonal changes in the distribution and abundance of prey. However, the mechanism driving the movements of whales along the northeast coast of Sakhalin Island is likely very complex and influenced by a multitude of factors