Use of a Secondary Current Sensor in Plasma during Electron-Beam Welding with Focus Scanning for Process Control

We consider questions of building a closed-loop focus control system for electron-beam welding. As a feedback signal, we use the secondary current in the plasma that forms above the welding zone. This article presents a model of a secondary current sensor in plasma during electron-beam welding with focus scanning. A comparison of modeled results with experimental data confirms the adequacy of the model. We show that the best results for focus control are obtained when using phase relationships rather than amplitude relationships. We outline the principles for building an EBW focus control system based on parameters of the secondary current in plasma. We simulate the work of a control system’s circuits and demonstrate the stability of the synthesized system. We have conducted pilot tests on an experimental prototype

May Measurement Month 2018: a pragmatic global screening campaign to raise awareness of blood pressure by the International Society of Hypertension

Aims Raised blood pressure (BP) is the biggest contributor to mortality and disease burden worldwide and fewer than half of those with hypertension are aware of it. May Measurement Month (MMM) is a global campaign set up in 2017, to raise awareness of high BP and as a pragmatic solution to a lack of formal screening worldwide. The 2018 campaign was expanded, aiming to include more participants and countries. Methods and results Eighty-nine countries participated in MMM 2018. Volunteers (≥18 years) were recruited through opportunistic sampling at a variety of screening sites. Each participant had three BP measurements and completed a questionnaire on demographic, lifestyle, and environmental factors. Hypertension was defined as a systolic BP ≥140 mmHg or diastolic BP ≥90 mmHg, or taking antihypertensive medication. In total, 74.9% of screenees provided three BP readings. Multiple imputation using chained equations was used to impute missing readings. 1 504 963 individuals (mean age 45.3 years; 52.4% female) were screened. After multiple imputation, 502 079 (33.4%) individuals had hypertension, of whom 59.5% were aware of their diagnosis and 55.3% were taking antihypertensive medication. Of those on medication, 60.0% were controlled and of all hypertensives, 33.2% were controlled. We detected 224 285 individuals with untreated hypertension and 111 214 individuals with inadequately treated (systolic BP ≥ 140 mmHg or diastolic BP ≥ 90 mmHg) hypertension. Conclusion May Measurement Month expanded significantly compared with 2017, including more participants in more countries. The campaign identified over 335 000 adults with untreated or inadequately treated hypertension. In the absence of systematic screening programmes, MMM was effective at raising awareness at least among these individuals at risk

Softwaregestützte Methoden zur Erfassung syntaktischer und semantischer Eigenschaften sinnverwandter Phraseme : Ergebnisse einer exemplarischen Analyse

Der vorliegende Beitrag ist dem korpusbasierten Vergleich von vier Phrasemen des Deutschen mit der Bedeutung 'jemanden/etwas antreiben' gewidmet. Anhand einer maschinellen Auswertung von Belegen aus dem Deutschen Referenzkorpus (DeReKo) werden syntaktische, semantische und kombinatorische Eigenschaften dieser Phraseme beschrieben. Die semantischen Eigenschaften wurden mit der DeReKo-eigenen Kookkurrenzanalyse ermittelt, die morpho-syntaktischen Besonderheiten mit GATE. Verglichen wurden solche Merkmale wie Besetzung der Objektvalenz, Kombinierbarkeit mit Adverbien, Gebrauch mit Negation und Vorkommen unterschiedlicher Zeitformen des Verbs. Es wurden sowohl Gemeinsamkeiten als auch Unterschiede festgestellt.This paper deals with the corpus-based comparison of four German phrasemes with the meaning 'to propel someone/something'. On the basis of a machine evaluation of contexts from the German Reference Corpus (DeReKo), the syntactic, semantic and combinatorial properties of these phrasemes are described. The semantic properties were determined with DeReKo's own co-occurrence analysis, the morpho-syntactic features with GATE. Such features as occupation of object valency, combinability with adverbs, use with negation, and occurrence of different tenses of the verb were compared. Similarities as well as differences were found

Incremental Machine Learning for Soft Pneumatic Actuators with Symmetrical Chambers

Soft robotics is a specialized field of robotics that focuses on the design, manufacture, and control of robots made of soft materials, as opposed to those made of rigid links. One of the primary challenges for the future use of continuous or hyper-redundant robotics systems in industrial and medical technology is the development of suitable modeling and control approaches. Due to the complex non-linear behavior of soft materials and the unpredictable motion of actuators, the task of modeling complex soft actuators is very time-consuming. As a result, earlier studies have undertaken research into model-free methods for controlling soft actuators. In recent years, machine learning (ML) methods have become widely popular in research. The adaptability of an ML model to a non-linear soft drive system alongside the varying actuation behavior of soft drives over time as a result of material characteristics and performance requirements is the key rationale for including an ML model. The system requires the online updating of the ML model in order to work with the non-linear system. Sequential data collected from the test bench and converted into a hypothesis are used to perform incremental learning. These methods are called lifelong learning and progressive learning. Real-time data flow training is combined with incremental learning (IL), and a neural network model is tuned sequentially for each data input. In this article, a method for the intelligent control of soft pneumatic actuators based on an incremental learning algorithm is proposed. A soft pneumatic actuator was subjected to three distinct test conditions in a controlled test environment for a specified duration of data gathering. Additionally, data were collected through finite element method simulations. The collected data were used to incrementally train a neural network, and the resulting model was analyzed for errors with both training and test data. The training and testing errors were compared for different incremental learning (IL) algorithms, including K-nearest neighbors, a decision tree, linear regression, and a neural network. The feasibility of the modulo-free intelligent control of soft pneumatic actuators based on an incremental learning algorithm was verified, solving the problem of the control of software actuators

Correlation between mitochondrial dysfunction of spermatozoa and their biological adequacy

One of the most significant indicators affecting male fertility is the sperm nuclear and mitochondrial DNA fragmentation index (DFI). DNA damage depends on biotic and abiotic factors, leading to oxidative stress (O.S.). This research aimed to investigate the relationship between mitochondrial dysfunction of spermatozoa and their biological adequacy. The research material was frozen-thawed sperm samples from the Ayrshire, Russian Black Pied Holstein, Russian Red Pied Holstein, Limousin, and Polled Russian breeding bulls. Assessments of mobility, morphology, and fragmentation index were performed using computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA). It was found that there is a negative correlation between sperm activity and mitochondrial dysfunction with the correlation coefficient r = -0.24. The incidence of abnormal spermatozoa correlated with sperm dysfunction r = 0.77. The nDNA fragmentation index in chromatin varied from 0 to 25%

Forecasting the impact on endangered wildlife species affected by the planned restoration of wetlands after peat mining (Nizhny Novgorod region, Russia)

This paper is aimed to generalize and analyze information about endangered wildlife species in the disturbed fen site (comparing the state of surrounding wetlands) to predict their condition during rehabilitation and restoration of the site and subsequent monitoring during successional processes in the wetland ecosystems. The research was carried out on the territory of the Biosphere Reserve of UNESCO “Nizhegorodskoe Zavolzhye” on the example of the Kamskoe–Osinovye Kotly mire, which is a part of the Ramsar wetlands “Kama-Bakaldino Mires” (Nizhny Novgorod region). The area of the mire is about 15,000 hectares. A part of the mire with a total area of 2,770 hectares was drained and disturbed as a result of peat extraction since the 1970s to 1990s. We carried out surveys of flora and vegetation counts of small mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles, butterflies and moths in 2021. Also for the analysis we used research data obtained in 1981-2019. A total of 58 endangered wildlife species listed in the Red Data Book of the Nizhny Novgorod region were registered in the studied territory, 14 species of which were discovered here for the first time. The location of the site which are planned to be restored, in the central part of the mire, surrounded by undisturbed communities is a condition for its successful restoration with the full biota after watering. Secondary watering of the site of former peat mining will not cause damage to endangered wildlife species. To maintain biodiversity and conserve the complex of meadow and semi-forest species we recommend carrying out the haymaking in the open spaces adjacent to the mire on the territory of the projected national park. Also we believe the succession processes in the mire and the endangered wildlife species conditions to have to be controlled

Особенности клинической манифестации субкомпенсированного дисбактериоза кишечника кошек при оценке эффективности его коррекции

Formation and reproduction of gut microbiome begins at birth, while change in its composition depends mainly on various genetic, nutritional and environmental factors. The article considers the features of clinical manifestation of subcompensated intestinal dysbiosis in cats in assessing the effectiveness of its treatment. The studies were carried out on the basis of Department of Veterinary Medicine, RUDN University, and the clinical work was conducted at private veterinary clinics: ‘Avettura’, ‘Epiona’, ‘In the World with Animals’. Cats were selected for the experiment as they arrived at the initial appointment at veterinary clinics. The diagnosis of suspected intestinal dysbacteriosis was made considering anamnesis, clinical examination, and microbiological tests. The severity of intestinal dysbacteriosis was assessed on the results of clinical and laboratory studies. During the research, clinical and diagnostic approaches for subcompensated intestinal dysbacteriosis in cats were improved. Furthermore, effective ways of its treatment were developed. For subcompensated intestinal dysbacteriosis, administration of ‘Lactobifadol’ probiotic, ‘Vetelakt’ prebiotic and ‘Azoksivet’ immunomodulator showed the greatest therapeutic effect, which led to an overall clinical improvement in 5.50 days. Therapeutic efficacy of B 3 regimen was also clearly evidenced by the positive changes in intestinal microbiota and hematological blood parameters during the pharmacorrection. Improvement of clinical diagnostic approaches, prognosis of intestinal dysbiosis of varying severity and treatment effectiveness in cats require will allow to study intestinal dysbiotic disorders in other animal speciesФормирование и размножение микробиома кишечника начинается с рождения, в то время как изменение его состава зависит главным образом от различных генетических, пищевых и экологических факторов. Приведены особенности клинической манифестации субкомпенсированного дисбактериоза кишечника кошек при оценке эффективности его коррекции. Исследования проведены на базе департамента ветеринарной медицины Российского университета дружбы народов, а клиническая часть работы выполнена на базе частных клиник ветеринарной медицины: «Аветтура», «Эпиона», «В мире с животными». Кошек в эксперимент подбирали по мере их поступления на первичный прием в ветклиники. Диагноз при подозрении на дисбактериоз кишечника ставили комплексно с учетом данных анамнеза, клинического осмотра, а также микробиологических исследований. Оценку степени тяжести дисбактериоза кишечника осуществляли на основании проведенных клинико-лабораторных исследований. В ходе исследования усовершенствованы клинико-диагностические подходы при субкомпенсированном дисбактериозе кишечника у кошек, а на основании этого разработаны эффективные пути его коррекции. Показано, что при субкомпенсированном дисбактериозе кишечника назначение пробиотика «Лактобифадола» в комплексе с пребиотиком «Ветелакт» и иммуномодулятором «Азоксивет» показывает наибольший терапевтический эффект, что приводит к общему клиническому улучшению уже на 5,5 сутки. О терапевтической эффективности схемы В3 наглядно свидетельствует также позитивная динамика содержимого микробиоты кишечника и гематологических показателей крови в процессе проведения фармакокоррекции. Совершенствование клинико-диагностических подходов и прогнозирование при дисбактериозе кишечника у кошек различной степени тяжести, а также оценка эффективности его коррекции создают предпосылки для дальнейшего изучения дисбиотических нарушений кишечного тракта у других видов животных

Лечение кошек при холангиогепатите

Acute bacterial cholangiohepatitis of cats is a common disease associated with the inflammation of bile ducts and liver parenchyma, characterized by development of a pronounced hepatodepressive syndrome (hypoalbuminemia), cytolysis (increase in serum activity of alanine and asparagine transaminase), cholestasis (increase in serum concentration of bilirubin, cholesterol, activity of alkaline phosphatase and gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase), intoxication, dehydration, mesenchymal- inflammatory and pain syndromes. The aim of the research was to study the effectiveness of treatment for acute bacterial cholangiohepatitis in cats with average severity of the pathology course. According to inclusion and exclusion criteria, the study included a cohort of cats (n = 12) with acute bacterial cholangiohepatitis. Clinical, hematological, ultrasonographic, statistical methods of investigation were used in this work. For sick cats with medium severity form of cholangiohepatitis, when administered as a complex therapy the combination of marbofloxacin, metronidazole, ursodeoxycholic acid, cyancobolamine, tocopherol acetate, infusion therapy also had a good therapeutic effect, which was accompanied by improved clinical and laboratory performance. In the blood of cats with cholangiohepatitis, in the background of intensive therapy, there was a significant decrease in white blood cell count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and in serum, there was an increase in albumin concentration, reduction of creatinine, aminotransferase activity, alkaline phosphatase, gamma- glutamyltranspeptidase, lipase.Острый бактериальный холангиогепатит кошек представляет собой чрезвычайно распространенную патологию, связанную с воспалением паренхимы печени и желчных протоков, характеризующуюся развитием гепатодепрессивного синдрома (гипоальбуминемии), цитолиза (повышение активности аспарагиновой и аланиновой трансаминазы в сыворотке крови), холестаза (повышение сывороточной концентрации билирубина, холестерина, активности гамма-глутамилтранспептидазы и щелочной фосфатазы), интоксикации, дегидратации, мезенхимально-воспалительного и болевого синдромов. Цель исследования - изучить эффективность лечения кошек с острым бактериальным холангиогепатитом при средней степени тяжести течения патологии. Согласно критериям включения и исключения в исследование проводили на группе кошек (n = 12) с острым бактериальным холангиогепатитом. Использовали клинические, гематологические, ультразвуковые, статистические методы исследования. У больных кошек при средней форме холангиогепатита при назначении в составе комплексной терапии комбинация метронидазола, марбофлоксацина, урсодезоксихолевой кислоты, токоферола ацетата, цианкоболамина при инфузионном введении оказывала хороший терапевтический эффект, что сопровождалось улучшением клинико-лабораторных показателей. В крови кошек с холангиогепатитом на фоне интенсивной терапии наблюдалось достоверное снижение количества лейкоцитов, скорости оседания эритроцитов, а в сыворотке крови - повышение концентрации альбумина, снижение активности аминотрансферазы, гамма-глутамилтранспептидазы, щелочной фосфатазы, липазы, концентрации креатинина

Зараженность мышевидных грызунов лесных массивов Белгородской области иксодовыми клещами

Rodents are one of the largest groups of existing mammals and number more than 2,270 known species, which is almost 42 % of the total biodiversity of worldwide-distributed mammals (except Antarctica and some islands). They are well adapted to various habitats and are known to live alongside people and livestock complexes. The purpose of the study was to study infestation of mice with ixodid ticks in forests of the Belgorod region adjacent to livestock and poultry farms. The study was carried out in 2019—2022. The extensiveness of mice infestation was observed in Sylvaemus sylvaticus species, which was 13.26 % higher (P < 0.05) than in Sylvimus flavicollis, and 24.33 % higher (P < 0.01) than in Apodemus agrarius. The intensity of infestation with preimaginal (larvae and nymphs) stages of Ixodes ricinus ticks had wide fluctuations depending on the type of synanthropic rodent. Thus, the highest intensity was noted in Sylvaemus sylvaticus mice, which was 8.73 and 13.56 % higher (P < 0.001) compared to Sylvimus flavicollis and Apodemus agrarius mice, respectively. The maximum infestation of male synanthropic mouse species was 31 ticks in Sylvaemus sylvaticus, 19 ticks in Sylvimus flavicollis, and 9 ticks in Apodemus agrarius. The intensity of infestation in synanthropic mice was the highest in the summer months (from July to August) and decreased slightly in autumn. In autumn, 41.2 % of the examined rodents were infested with ticks, the predominant species was Ixodes ricinus (larvae). Larvae and nymphs of Ixodes ricinus ticks were more often attached to rodents in the head area (mainly on the ears) — 82 %, less often on other parts of the body — 18 %. A smaller number of ticks were present on neck, body, legs, sometimes parasites were found on tail.Грызуны — одна из самых больших групп существующих млекопитающих, известно более 2270 видов, что составляет почти 42 % общего биоразнообразия млекопитающих, имеющих всемирное распространение (за исключением Антарктиды и некоторых островов). Они хорошо приспособлены к различным средам обитания и, как известно, чаще всего сосуществуют вблизи людей и животноводческих комплексах при их глобальном расселении. Цель исследования — изучить зараженность иксодовыми клещами мышевидных грызунов лесных массивов Белгородской области, прилегающих к животноводческим и птицеводческим комплексам и фермам. Исследование выполняли с 2019 по 2022 гг. Экстенсивность инвазии мышевидных грызунов, обнаруженных в лесных массивах вблизи сельскохозяйственных комплексов и ферм Белгородской области, наблюдалась нами на мышах вида Sylvaemus sylvaticus, что на 13,26 % больше (Р < 0,05) от зараженности вида Sylvimus flavicollis, и на 24,33 % более (Р < 0,01) от экстенсивности инвазии по виду мышей Apodemus agrarius. Интенсивность инвазии по преимагинальным (личинкам и нифам) стадиям клещей Ixodes ricinus имела широкие колебания в зависимости от вида синантропного грызуна. Так, наибольшим данный показатель был отмечен нами по виду мышей Sylvaemus sylvaticus, что на 8,73 % больше (Р < 0,001) от вида Sylvimus flavicollis и на 13,56 % больше от вида мышей Apodemus agrarius. Максимальная зараженность самцов синантропных видов мышей составила 31 особь по виду Sylvaemus sylvaticus, 19 особей клещей по виду Sylvimus flavicollis и 9 паразитов по виду Apodemus agrarius. Интенсивность инвазии синантропных мышей была самой высокой в летние месяцы (с июля по август) и несколько снижалась осенью. Осенью 41,2 % исследованных грызунов были поражены клещами, при этом преобладали личинки Ixodes ricinus. Личинки и нимфы иксодовых клещей вида Ixodes ricinus чаще были прикреплены в области головы грызунов (преимущественно на ушах) — 82 %, реже на других частях тела — 18 %. Меньшее количество клещей было подкреплено на шее, туловище, лапках, иногда обнаруживали паразитов на хвосте мышей