Evaluation of Lake’s Svityaz Ecological Condition by Vegetation Complexes of Aqualtic Biotopes Several Years’ Dynami

Типізація біотопів фіталі оз. Світязь та ретроспективний аналіз космічних знімків дали змогу оцінити трансформацію літорального макрофітного комплексу протягом 25-річного періоду (1988–2012 рр.). Направ-леність цих процесів свідчить про перебудови фітоценозів макрофітів, зменшення площ природних рослинних угруповань, посилення деградації зарослої зони озера та евтрофікацію водойми. Typification of lake’s Svityaz phytal biotopes and retrospective analysis of space pictures archive allowed to evaluate water macrophytes growth transformation during 25-years operiod (1988–2012). Theese processes’ trend indicates natural vegetation areas decreasing, increasing of degradation rate of lake’s overgrowed shallowes and vegetation communities transformation into more eutrophic ones.Роботу виконано в НЦЕБМ НАН України та на базі Центру космічних досліджень НАН Україн

Estudio de una escultura con inscripción ibérica procedente del santuario del Cerro de los Santos

La línea de trabajo sobre imagen en la cultura ibérica ha aportado a la arqueología ibérica excelentes resultados, tanto desde el punto de vista de la dinamización teórica de la disciplina, como en su aplicación concreta al estudio y la interpretación de determinados programas iconográficos en sus contextos arqueológicos (OLMOS 1992, 1996; ARANEGUI 1997, entre otros). Uno de los sujetos de investigación de especial relevancia de esta línea ha sido la religiosidad y sus diversas manifestaciones. En este sentido, los exvotos ibéricos labrados en caliza y bronce (RUIZ BREMÓN 1989a; PRADOS1992), sin olvidar aquellos elaborados en terracota, representan un material de estudio privilegiado

Comparative characteristic of the effect of anti-inflammatory therapy on the blood and urine levels of growth factors in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

The purpose of our work was to compare the effect of aceclofenac and meloxicam on the level of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGFβ1) and vascular endothelial growth factor in the blood and urine in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods. RA patients were allocated into three groups: I group included the patients with RA without CKD presence (n = 47), group II – patients with RA with CKD stage 1 (n = 46), group III – patients suffered from RA with CKD stage 2 (n = 45). To form the group of comparison 20 healthy persons of appropriate age category were examined. Complex clinical-laboratory examination of all patients was performed during the period of extensive clinical manifestations (before nonsteroid anti-inflammatory drug (NAIP) administration), in a week and in 2 weeks during carrying out therapy with NAIP. Treatment was also carried out in accordance with the existing principles of therapy RA and of the revealed nephrologic diseases. In a complex of patients’ therapy aceclofenac was included. Influence of aceclofenac was compared with meloxicam. Concentrations of TGFβ1 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the blood and urine were studied using an immunofermental method. Results. In a week of anti-inflammatory therapy, a significantly decrease in the levels of the studied factors was found in all patients’ groups. The blood VEGF level was lower by 11.90% in the aceclofenac group compared to the meloxicam group. Urine VEGF and TGFβ1 levels were decreased by 5.53% and 39.40%, respectively, in patients with aceclofenac therapy compared with the meloxicam group. After two weeks of the aceclofenac therapy a significant decrease of TGFβ1 and VEGF in the blood (p<0.05) and urine (p <0.001) of the CKD patients with RA were determined. Conclusion. The use of aceclofenac as a new generation of NSAIDs for the complex treatment of patients with RА and comorbid CKD improves the therapy efficiency due to reducing the blood and urine levels of growth factors

Criteria of vital activity lesions as a methodological basis for determining disability.

Evaluation of the functional state of the patient is the basis for recognizing him persistently incapacitated. The reform in the field of medicine in our country entrusts the function of the initial selection of such patients to general practitioners and primary care physicians. In 2001, the working group of the World Health Organization approved the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. There are 7 basic parameters for detailing the functioning of a person: the ability to self-service, to move, to work, to orientate, to control own behavior, to learn, to communicate. The ability to self-service characterizes a person's capability to provide own physiological needs, to adhere to own hygiene and to perform daily activities. A person with a preserved capacity for self-service does not depend on other people.The ability to move allows the person to move in space independently: to walk, to run, to overpass the obstacles, to use public transport. If this criterion is limited, the person needs more time to overcome the distance or uses the additional support or needs help from outside. The ability to orient allows the person to analyze the surrounding world with the help of eyes and ears.The ability to communicate provides an opportunity to establish contacts and maintain relationships with other people. For communication spoken, written and non-verbal speech is used. The ability to control one's own behavior consists in the awareness of one's own personality and one's own place in the world, limited by certain norms and rules of behavior. The ability to learn allows the person to perceive, comprehend, accumulate and reproduce the information. Due to this,the person can accumulate knowledge and skills. Ability to work allows the person to perform work according to the level of one’s own education. The definition of criteria for disability and the degree of their severity requires a certain level of medical training for general practitioners and primary care physicians

Experimental evidence that livestock grazing intensity affects cyclic vole population regulation processes

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The method of determining the forces in the tendon apparatus of human fingers

Being one of the most functionally loaded systems, the human hand and its anatomical structures are damaged quite often. Thus, injuries to the interphalangeal joints account for up to 60 % of all hand injuries. Post-traumatic arthrosis, contractures with persistent pain syndrome, stiffness and ankylosis of the joints are distinguished among the consequences of hand joint injuries. With the development of the endoprosthesis method, the use of which allows to restore the lost function of the organs of the musculoskeletal system, new opportunities are opening up in the rehabilitation of patients with various injuries of the joints of the hand. However, when using this method, there are certain complications associated with the wear of the implant, the reaction of the surrounding tissues to the material from which the prosthesis is made, and the design features of endoprostheses. That is, the success of treatment when using endoprostheses depends to some extent on the design of the implant. It is possible to carry out a primary analysis of the effectiveness of the proposed design of the endoprosthesis with the help of specialized software complexes. Despite the power of specialized software, building digital models of biological objects and performing calculations is quite a difficult task. In order to carry out a numerical study, in addition to knowing of the geometry of objects and their mechanical properties, it is also necessary to understand the conditions of interaction between the model fragments and the loading scheme. Aim. Develop a technique for analytical determination of forces in the tendons of the fingers. Materials and methods. The research was carried out using the provisions and methods of theoretical mechanics and resistance of materials. As a calculation case, this paper proposes to consider the determination of forces in the tendons of the index finger of the right upper limb. Results. As a result of the performed calculations, analytical expressions were obtained to determine the forces that occur in the flexor tendons of the index finger. Conclusions. The obtained analytical expressions allow us to estimate the magnitude of forces that occur in the tendons of the fingers. The results of the calculations can be used in the construction of digital models of the fingers and perform numerical studies

Genetic relationships between spring emergence, canopy phenology and biomass yield increase the accuracy of genomic prediction in Miscanthus

Miscanthus has potential as a bioenergy crop but the rapid development of high-yielding varieties is challenging. Previous studies have suggested that phenology and canopy height are important determinants of biomass yield. Furthermore, while genome-wide prediction was effective for a broad range of traits, the predictive ability for yield was very low. We therefore developed models clarifying the genetic associations between spring emergence, consequent canopy phenology and dry biomass yield. The timing of emergence was a moderately strong predictor of early-season elongation growth (genetic correlation >0.5), but less so for growth later in the season and for the final yield (genetic correlation <0.1). In contrast, early-season canopy height was consistently more informative than emergence for predicting biomass yield across datasets for two species in Miscanthus and two growing seasons. We used the associations uncovered through these models to develop selection indices that are expected to increase the response to selection for yield by as much as 21% and improve the performance of genome-wide prediction by an order of magnitude. This multivariate approach could have an immediate impact in operational breeding programmes, as well as enable the integration of crop growth models and genome-wide predictionpublishersversionPeer reviewe

I. Flux and color variations of the quadruply imaged quasar HE 0435-1223

aims: We present VRi photometric observations of the quadruply imaged quasar HE 0435-1223, carried out with the Danish 1.54m telescope at the La Silla Observatory. Our aim was to monitor and study the magnitudes and colors of each lensed component as a function of time. methods: We monitored the object during two seasons (2008 and 2009) in the VRi spectral bands, and reduced the data with two independent techniques: difference imaging and PSF (Point Spread Function) fitting.results: Between these two seasons, our results show an evident decrease in flux by ~0.2-0.4 magnitudes of the four lensed components in the three filters. We also found a significant increase (~0.05-0.015) in their V-R and R-i color indices. conclusions: These flux and color variations are very likely caused by intrinsic variations of the quasar between the observed epochs. Microlensing effects probably also affect the brightest "A" lensed component.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figure

Museomics Dissects the Genetic Basis for Adaptive Seasonal Coloration in the Least Weasel

Dissecting the link between genetic variation and adaptive phenotypes provides outstanding opportunities to understand fundamental evolutionary processes. Here, we use a museomics approach to investigate the genetic basis and evolution of winter coat coloration morphs in least weasels (Mustela nivalis), a repeated adaptation for camouflage in mammals with seasonal pelage color moults across regions with varying winter snow. Whole-genome sequence data were obtained from biological collections and mapped onto a newly assembled reference genome for the species. Sampling represented two replicate transition zones between nivalis and vulgaris coloration morphs in Europe, which typically develop white or brown winter coats, respectively. Population analyses showed that the morph distribution across transition zones is not a by-product of historical structure. Association scans linked a 200-kb genomic region to coloration morph, which was validated by genotyping museum specimens from intermorph experimental crosses. Genotyping the wild populations narrowed down the association to pigmentation gene MC1R and pinpointed a candidate amino acid change cosegregating with coloration morph. This polymorphism replaces an ancestral leucine residue by lysine at the start of the first extracellular loop of the protein in the vulgaris morph. A selective sweep signature overlapped the association region in vulgaris, suggesting that past adaptation favored winter-brown morphs and can anchor future adaptive responses to decreasing winter snow. Using biological collections as valuable resources to study natural adaptations, our study showed a new evolutionary route generating winter color variation in mammals and that seasonal camouflage can be modulated by changes at single key genes

Extreme Magnification Microlensing Event OGLE-2008-BLG-279: Strong Limits on Planetary Companions to the Lens Star

We analyze the extreme high-magnification microlensing event OGLE-2008-BLG-279, which peaked at a maximum magnification of A ~ 1600 on 30 May 2008. The peak of this event exhibits both finite-source effects and terrestrial parallax, from which we determine the mass of the lens, M_l=0.64 +/- 0.10 M_Sun, and its distance, D_l = 4.0 +/- 0.6. We rule out Jupiter-mass planetary companions to the lens star for projected separations in the range 0.5-20 AU. More generally, we find that this event was sensitive to planets with masses as small as 0.2 M_Earth ~= 2 M_Mars with projected separations near the Einstein ring (~3 AU).Comment: 25 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Ap