Formation conditions and parameters of mini-landslides on agricultural slope landscapes

The paper investigated the stability of agricultural land slopes to mini-shear landslides on the basis of a numerical assessment of the influence of soil parameters in the Volga-Vyatka region of Russia on its frictional properties. It has been established that at a moisture content of 0.30 ± 0.04 m3/m3 of gray forest soil and 0.22 ± 0.04 m3/m3 of soddy-podzolic soil, the contribution of soil stickiness to the soil friction coefficient was the most significant, which was due both to the aggregation of soil particles and to the destruction of soil capillaries, and corresponded to the lower limit of soil plasticity. On the basis of the ratio proposed in the paper, a numerical assessment of the ratio of the power and length of the landslide along the slope for different slope angles was carried out, the results of which correspond to real landslide processes on natural and artificial slopes of agricultural land

Chemical heterogeneity as a factor of improving the strength of steels manufactured by selective laser melting technology

The aim of this paper was to establish the causes of the heterogeneity of the chemical composition of the metal obtained by the LC technology. The powdered raw material was made from a monolithic alloy, which was fused by the SLM, the initial raw material was a laboratory melting metal of a low-carbon chromium-manganese-nickel composition based on iron. To determine the distribution pattern of alloying chemical elements in the resulting powder, electron-microscopic images of thin sections were combined with X-ray analysis data on the cross-sections of the powder particles. As a result, it was found that transition (Mn, Ni) and heavy (Mo) metals are uniformly distributed over the powder particle cross-sections, and the mass fraction of silicon (Si) is uneven: in the center of the particles, it is several times larger in some cases. The revealed feature in the distribution of silicon is supposedly due to the formation of various forms of SiO4 upon the cooling of the formed particles. The internal structure of the manufactured powder is represented by the martensitic structure of stack morphology. After laser fusion, etched thin sections revealed traces of segregation heterogeneity in the form of a grid with cells of ~ 200 μm

Some types of carbon-based nanomaterials as contrast agents for photoacoustic tomography

This paper is devoted to the study of various carbon-based nanomaterials as photoacoustic contrast agents. The research work was performed on agarose-based tissue phantom containing inclusions with and without carbon-based nanomaterials. The inclusion was created with the higher density compared to phantom in order to simulate a tumor. A specially designed photoacoustic probe was introduced for measuring a level of photoacoustic signal and its enhancement caused by the nanoinclusions presence. The probe consists of a buffer for time separation of the signal coming from the excitation source, piezoelectric transducer, and amplifier. A point-by-point measurement of the signal was performed to obtain a two-dimensional map from magnitude of photoacoustic signal and phase delay of the signal registration. From phase delay the 3D photoacoustic images were reconstructed by evaluation of the depth coordinate based on the tissue sound velocity. As an excitation source the light radiation from Nd:YAG laser with a 16 ns pulse duration and a 1064 nm wavelength was used. Firstly, we considered tissue phantom with a tumor covered by graphene oxide as a reference one. It has been shown that the use of graphene oxide leads to significant improvement of the image contrast. Further, the tumors labelled with nanodiamonds (NDs) and carbon fluoroxide (CFO) nanoparticles (NPs) were studied systematically. Amplitude of the photoacoustic signals registered from such tumor phantoms are one order of magnitude lower than the signal ensured by graphene oxide. All three types of the studied carbon-based nanomaterials (GO, NDs, CFO) give stable photoacoustic signal, this allows to consider them as good candidates for further in-vitro experiments in photoacoustic imaging for biological applications. The dependences of the signal level as a function of the NPs concentration were measured for types of NPs. Considering much more efficient penetration of NDs and CFO NPs inside the cells as well as their extremely low cytotoxicity, these both types of carbon nanomaterials could be used for further in-vivo experiments

Analyticity and Minimality of Nonperturbative Contributions in Perturbative region for αˉs\bar\alpha_s

It is shown, that the possibility of a freezing of QCD running coupling constant at zero in the approach with "forced analyticity" can not be in accord with Schwinger-Dyson equation for gluon propagator. We propose to add to the analytic expression the well-known infrared singular term $1/q^2$ as well as pole term corresponding to "excited gluon". With this example we formulate the principle of minimality of nonperturbative contributions in perturbative (ultraviolet) region, which allows us to fix ambiguities in introduction of nonperturbative terms and maintain the finiteness of the gluon condensate. As a result we obtain estimates of the gluon condensate, which quite agree with existing data. The nonzero effective mass of the "excited gluon" leads also to some interesting qualitative consequences.Comment: 11 pages, LATEX, 1 Table (calculation of gluon condensate corrected, Table extended

Olaparib combined with abiraterone in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2 trial

Background Patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer and homologous recombination repair (HRR) mutations have a better response to treatment with the poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitor olaparib than patients without HRR mutations. Preclinical data suggest synergy between olaparib and androgen pathway inhibitors. We aimed to assess the efficacy of olaparib plus the androgen pathway inhibitor abiraterone in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer regardless of HRR mutation status. Methods We carried out this double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled phase 2 trial at 41 urological oncology sites in 11 countries across Europe and North America. Eligible male patients were aged 18 years or older with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer who had previously received docetaxel and were candidates for abiraterone treatment. Patients were excluded if they had received more than two previous lines of chemotherapy, or had previous exposure to second-generation antihormonal drugs. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) using an interactive voice or web response system, without stratification, to receive oral olaparib 300 mg twice daily or placebo. All patients received oral abiraterone 1000 mg once daily and prednisone or prednisolone 5 mg twice daily. Patients and investigators were masked to treatment allocation. The primary endpoint was investigator-assessed radiographic progression-free survival (rPFS; based on Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors version 1.1 and Prostate Cancer Clinical Trials Working Group 2 criteria). Efficacy analyses were done in the intention-to-treat population, which included all randomly assigned patients, and safety analyses included all patients who received at least one dose of olaparib or placebo. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01972217, and is no longer recruiting patients. Findings Between Nov 25, 2014, and July 14, 2015, 171 patients were assessed for eligibility. Of those, 142 patients were randomly assigned to receive olaparib and abiraterone (n=71) or placebo and abiraterone (n=71). The clinical cutoff date for the final analysis was Sept 22, 2017. Median rPFS was 13·8 months (95% CI 10·8–20·4) with olaparib and abiraterone and 8·2 months (5·5–9·7) with placebo and abiraterone (hazard ratio [HR] 0·65, 95% CI 0·44–0·97, p=0·034). The most common grade 1–2 adverse events were nausea (26 [37%] patients in the olaparib group vs 13 [18%] patients in the placebo group), constipation (18 [25%] vs eight [11%]), and back pain (17 [24%] vs 13 [18%]). 38 (54%) of 71 patients in the olaparib and abiraterone group and 20 (28%) of 71 patients in the placebo and abiraterone group had grade 3 or worse adverse events, including anaemia (in 15 [21%] of 71 patients vs none of 71), pneumonia (four [6%] vs three [4%]), and myocardial infarction (four [6%] vs none). Serious adverse events were reported by 24 (34%) of 71 patients receiving olaparib and abiraterone (seven of which were related to treatment) and 13 (18%) of 71 patients receiving placebo and abiraterone (one of which was related to treatment). One treatment-related death (pneumonitis) occurred in the olaparib and abiraterone group. Interpretation Olaparib in combination with abiraterone provided clinical efficacy benefit for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer compared with abiraterone alone. More serious adverse events were observed in patients who received olaparib and abiraterone than abiraterone alone. Our data suggest that the combination of olaparib and abiraterone might provide an additional clinical benefit to a broad population of patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer

ARCHES: A Randomized, Phase III Study of Androgen Deprivation Therapy With Enzalutamide or Placebo in Men With Metastatic Hormone-Sensitive Prostate Cancer

PURPOSE: Enzalutamide, a potent androgen-receptor inhibitor, has demonstrated significant benefits in metastatic and nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of enzalutamide in metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC). METHODS: ARCHES (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02677896) is a multinational, double-blind, phase III trial, wherein 1,150 men with mHSPC were randomly assigned 1:1 to enzalutamide (160 mg/day) or placebo, plus androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), stratified by disease volume and prior docetaxel chemotherapy. The primary end point was radiographic progression-free survival. RESULTS: As of October 14, 2018, the risk of radiographic progression or death was significantly reduced with enzalutamide plus ADT versus placebo plus ADT (hazard ratio, 0.39; 95% CI, 0.30 to 0.50; P < .001; median not reached v 19.0 months). Similar significant improvements in radiographic progression-free survival were reported in prespecified subgroups on the basis of disease volume and prior docetaxel therapy. Enzalutamide plus ADT significantly reduced the risk of prostate-specific antigen progression, initiation of new antineoplastic therapy, first symptomatic skeletal event, castration resistance, and reduced risk of pain progression. More men achieved an undetectable prostate-specific antigen level and/or an objective response with enzalutamide plus ADT (P < .001). Patients in both treatment groups reported a high baseline level of quality of life, which was maintained over time. Grade 3 or greater adverse events were reported in 24.3% of patients who received enzalutamide plus ADT versus 25.6% of patients who received placebo plus ADT, with no unexpected adverse events. CONCLUSION: Enzalutamide with ADT significantly reduced the risk of metastatic progression or death over time versus placebo plus ADT in men with mHSPC, including those with low-volume disease and/or prior docetaxel, with a safety analysis that seems consistent with the safety profile of enzalutamide in previous clinical trials in castration-resistant prostate cancer