Russia's New Engineering Policy in Global Politics

In this study, the authors give a definition, basis and description of a new conceptual metaphor “solid power”. The main hypothesis of the authors is based on the fact that the American concepts of soft and smart power allow to build doctrines, strategies and scenarios that support for ideological formation of policy “hard power” veiled under the idea of promoting the “model” of American democracy and the justification of military intervention and economic pressure on other countries, with the voluntary consent / participation of citizens. The United States are rapidly losing their political credibility in the international arena. De facto: the impetus for this was the events in Ukraine, which exposed the weak points in the American law enforcement scenarios. The authors believe that Russia is pursuing a new script, based on “solid power” as a new form of political power, the basis of which is the: dialogue, trust, unity. The authors came to the conclusion that Russia by using such resource as “solid power” is able to withstand “hard power”, that is the power that actually became a legitimate tool of American foreign policy

How to attract young people to science? (based on materials of sociological research)

Involvement of young people into science at the present time is relevant not only in Russia but as well in countries with big experience in this process. The article states that profession of scientist is considered prestigious in the United States and positioned at 4th place in the rating, wheras in Russia it is only at 19th place in the similar rating. The conclusion is based on the sociological studies conducted in the United States and Russia. The authors speculate that changes in public policy in Russia, aimed at recovering of scientific potential, had an impact on young people's ideas and motivation for scientific work. The article provides an analysis of the sociological study conducted by the National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU), which aims to determine the willingness and possibility to engage in scientific work. The authors note that TPU entered the federal program "5-100-2020" at 4th place in the ranking of the best universities in Russia and has extensive experience, research base, international training programs, exchanges, and internships with best universities in the United States and Europe. The main conclusions of the study is that master students are ready to engage in scientific work; conditions created at the university are the backbone for the development of scientific career of the students; the highest motivation for students is the satisfaction in their scientific advisors

Ambulatory blood pressure in hypertensive patients with left ventricular hypertrophy: efficacy of first-line combination perindopril/indapamide therapy

Roland Asmar1, Juan Garcia-Puig2, Philippe Gosse3, Yuri A Karpov4, Peter Wilhem De Leeuw5, Dieter Magometschniggs6, Lajos Matos7, Roland Schmieder81Institut Cardiovasculaire, Paris, France; 2Hospital La Paz, Madrid, Spain; 3Hôpital Saint André, Bordeaux, France; 4Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Moscow, Russia; 5Academisch Ziekenhuis, Maastricht, the Netherlands; 6Institut für Hypertoniker, Vienna, Austria; 7Hungarian Institut of Cardiology, Budapest, Hungary; 8Medizinische FakultÄt, Erlangen GermanyBackground: Ambulatory blood pressure (BP) is more sensitive than office BP and is highly correlated with the left ventricular mass (LVM) of hypertensive patients with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). Methods: In this prospectively designed ancillary study of the PICXEL trial, the effects of first-line combination perindopril/indapamide on ambulatory BP were compared with those of monotherapy with enalapril in 127 patients. Hypertensive patients with LVH received once daily either perindopril 2 mg/indapamide 0.625 mg (n = 65) or enalapril 10 mg (n = 62) for 52 weeks. Dose adjustments were allowed for uncontrolled BP. Twenty-four-hour ambulatory BP and echocardiographic parameters were measured at baseline, week 24, and week 52. Results: At study end, both treatments significantly improved ambulatory BP compared with baseline (p ≤ 0.01). Perindopril/indapamide treatment reduced 24-hour and daytime systolic BP (SBP) and pulse pressure (PP) significantly more than enalapril treatment (p < 0.01). No significant between-group differences were noted for diastolic BP (DBP) or for night-time measurements. Trough/peak ratios were higher with perindopril/indapamide than with enalapril (88.5 vs 65.8 for SBP and 86.7 vs 63.9 for DBP, respectively). The global smoothness index was higher with perindopril/indapamide than with enalapril (6.6 vs 5.2 for SBP and 5.6 vs 4.9 for DBP, respectively). With perindopril/indapamide treatment, LVM index was significantly reduced (−9.1 g/m2 from baseline; p vs baseline <0.001). More patients required dose increases with enalapril (87%) than with perindopril/indapamide (71%). No unusual safety elements were noted.Conclusions: First-line perindopril/indapamide combination decreased ambulatory SBP and PP, and LVM more effectively than enalapril.Keywords: left ventricular hypertrophy, ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, perindopril, indapamide, enalapri

A Systematic Approach For Kinematic Design Of Upper Limb Rehabilitation Exoskeletons

Kinematic structure of an exoskeleton is the most fundamental block of its design and is determinant of many functional capabilities of it. Although numerous upper limb rehabilitation devices have been designed in the recent years, there is not a framework that can systematically guide the kinematic design procedure. Additionally, diversity of currently available devices and the many minute details incorporated to address certain design requirements hinders pinpointing the core kinematics of the available devices to compare them against each other. This makes the review of literature for identifying drawbacks of the state of the art systems a challenging and puzzling task. In fact, lack of a unifying framework makes designing rehabilitation devices an intuitive process and prone to biases from currently available designs. This research work proposes a systematic approach for kinematic design of upper limb rehabilitation exoskeletons based on conceptual design techniques. Having defined a solution neutral problem statement based on the characteristics of an ideal device, the main functionality of the system is divided into smaller functional units via the Functional Decomposition Method. Various directions for concept generation are explored and finally, it has been shown that a vast majority of the current exoskeleton designs fit within the proposed design framework and the defined functionalities

Transcatheter transfemoral aortic valve replacement in a patient with acromegaly and severe left ventricular myocardial hypertrophy. Case report

Main causes of secondary hypertrophic cardiomyopathy include acromegalic cardiomyopathy. Heart damage in patients with the acromegaly is mediated both by the direct action of growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor-1, and increased deposition of collagen and lymphomononuclear cells in the myocardium, which leads to architectural changes, disturbances in fluid and electrolyte balance, severe left ventricular myocardial hypertrophy, diastolic and systolic left ventricular dysfunction and chronic heart failure. This article presents the world's first described observation demonstrating the possibility of successful transfemoral aortic valve repair to a comorbid patient with severe aortic stenosis according to the potential risks caused by the active form of the acromegaly

A Phylogenetic Analysis of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Sequences in Kiev: Findings Among Key Populations

Background: The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic in Ukraine has been driven by a rapid rise among people who inject drugs, but recent studies have shown an increase through sexual transmission. Methods: Protease and reverse transcriptase sequences from 876 new HIV diagnoses (April 2013–March 2015) in Kiev were linked to demographic data. We constructed phylogenetic trees for 794 subtype A1 and 64 subtype B sequences and identified factors associated with transmission clustering. Clusters were defined as ≥2 sequences, ≥80% local branch support, and maximum genetic distance of all sequence pairs in the cluster ≤2.5%. Recent infection was determined through the limiting antigen avidity enzyme immunoassay. Sequences were analyzed for transmitted drug resistance mutations. Results Thirty percent of subtype A1 and 66% of subtype B sequences clustered. Large clusters (maximum 11 sequences) contained mixed risk groups. In univariate analysis, clustering was significantly associated with subtype B compared to A1 (odds ratio [OR], 4.38 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 2.56–7.50]); risk group (OR, 5.65 [95% CI, 3.27–9.75]) for men who have sex with men compared to heterosexual males; recent, compared to long-standing, infection (OR, 2.72 [95% CI, 1.64–4.52]); reported sex work contact (OR, 1.93 [95% CI, 1.07–3.47]); and younger age groups compared with age ≥36 years (OR, 1.83 [95% CI, 1.10–3.05] for age ≤25 years). Females were associated with lower odds of clustering than heterosexual males (OR, 0.49 [95% CI, .31–.77]). In multivariate analysis, risk group, subtype, and age group were independently associated with clustering (P < .001, P = .007, and P = .033, respectively). Eighteen sequences (2.1%) indicated evidence of transmitted drug resistance. Conclusions Our findings suggest high levels of transmission and bridging between risk groups

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

Notes for genera: basal clades of Fungi (including Aphelidiomycota, Basidiobolomycota, Blastocladiomycota, Calcarisporiellomycota, Caulochytriomycota, Chytridiomycota, Entomophthoromycota, Glomeromycota, Kickxellomycota, Monoblepharomycota, Mortierellomycota, Mucoromycota, Neocallimastigomycota, Olpidiomycota, Rozellomycota and Zoopagomycota)

Compared to the higher fungi (Dikarya), taxonomic and evolutionary studies on the basal clades of fungi are fewer in number. Thus, the generic boundaries and higher ranks in the basal clades of fungi are poorly known. Recent DNA based taxonomic studies have provided reliable and accurate information. It is therefore necessary to compile all available information since basal clades genera lack updated checklists or outlines. Recently, Tedersoo et al. (MycoKeys 13:1--20, 2016) accepted Aphelidiomycota and Rozellomycota in Fungal clade. Thus, we regard both these phyla as members in Kingdom Fungi. We accept 16 phyla in basal clades viz. Aphelidiomycota, Basidiobolomycota, Blastocladiomycota, Calcarisporiellomycota, Caulochytriomycota, Chytridiomycota, Entomophthoromycota, Glomeromycota, Kickxellomycota, Monoblepharomycota, Mortierellomycota, Mucoromycota, Neocallimastigomycota, Olpidiomycota, Rozellomycota and Zoopagomycota. Thus, 611 genera in 153 families, 43 orders and 18 classes are provided with details of classification, synonyms, life modes, distribution, recent literature and genomic data. Moreover, Catenariaceae Couch is proposed to be conserved, Cladochytriales Mozl.-Standr. is emended and the family Nephridiophagaceae is introduced