The teaching profession in Europe : historical and sociological analysis

A possible effect of direct CP violation in D -> K-S(0)pi(+)pi(-) decay on the gamma measurement from B-+/- -> DK +/-, D -> K-S(0)pi(+)pi(-) Dalitz plot analysis is considered. Systematic uncertainty of gamma coming from the current limits on direct CP violation in D -> K-S(0)pi(+)pi(-) is estimated, and a modified model-independent procedure of B-+/- -> DK +/-, D -> K-S(0)pi(+)pi(-) Dalitz plot analysis is proposed that gives an unbiased gamma measurement even in presence of direct CP violation in charm decays. The technique is applicable to other threebody D decays such as D-0 -> (KSK+K-)-K-0, D-0 -> pi(+)pi(-)pi(0), etc

Antistars as possible sources of antihelium cosmic rays

A minor population of antistars in galaxies has been predicted by some of non-standard models of baryogenesis and nucleosynthesis in the early Universe, and their presence is not yet excluded by the currently available observations. Detection of an unusually high abundance of antinuclei in cosmic rays can probe the baryogenesis scenarios in the early Universe. Recent report of the \textit{AMS-02} collaboration on the tentative detection of a few antihelium nuclei in GeV cosmic rays provided a great hope on the progress in this issue. We discuss possible sources of antinuclei in cosmic rays from antistars which are predicted in a modified Affleck-Dine baryogenesis scenario by Dolgov and Silk (1993). The model allows us to estimate the expected fluxes and isotopic content of antinuclei in the GeV cosmic rays produced in scenarios involving antistars. We show that the flux of antihelium CRs reported by the \textit{AMS-02} experiment can be explained by Galactic anti-nova outbursts, thermonuclear anti-SN Ia explosions, a collection of flaring antistars or an extragalactic source with abundances not violating existing gamma-ray and microlensing constraints on the antistar population.Comment: 14 pages, to be submitted. Comments are welcome

Determination of color formation of multicomponent fruit and vegetable pastes and dried powder fractions during low temperature treatment

The aim of the work is to determine the color formation of multicomponent fruit and vegetable pastes and dried powder fractions at the stages of low-temperature pre-concentration and drying, as one of the factors, maintaining the quality of the products. In the production of organic plant semi-finished products an important factor is the implementation of high-quality technological operations, including heat and mass transfer, which affects the final organoleptic characteristics of products. It is important to take into account the color of raw materials at the stages of blending puree in the production of paste and powder semi-finished products, which requires the introduction of a unified method for assessing the color of raw materials at each stage of the technological operation. An analysis of traditional methods for determining color formation has been performed, as a result of which it has been found, that the most effective method of evaluation is digital, based on photo processing of the prototype. According to this method, the evaluation of color formation in the manufacture of semi-finished fruits and vegetables in accordance with the proposed recipes has been conducted. Color indices of multicomponent pastes and dried fractions based on them for three prototypes were obtained. The brightness of all samples of pastes is in the range - 36.4… 37.0 % with a purity of tone 64.7… 78.2 %, which corresponds to the reddish-orange color, was obtained. After drying the test samples of pastes to the dried fraction, it has been found, that the brightness, depending on the percentage of raw materials in a sample falls in the range of 30.5… 33.2 %, at that the coloration corresponds to colors from bluish-purple to bluish-red with a purity of tone within 34.7… 34.9 %. As a result of evaluation of organoleptic indicators, it has been found, that according to the presented research samples, the best indicators have a sample with 40 % of raw apples, 20 % of pumpkin, 30 % of cranberries and 10 % of hawthorn. The obtained research data will be useful in the development of methods for the production of semi-finished products from vegetable raw materials. The applied digital method of color determination differs in simplicity and economy in comparison with colorimetric and spectrometri

Anode Front-End Electronics for the Cathode Strip Chambers of the CMS Endcap Muon Detector

The front-end electronics system for the anode signals of the CMS Endcap Muon cathode strip chambers has about 183000 channels. The purposes of the anode front-end electronics are to acquire precise muon timing information for bunch crossing number identification at the Level-1 muon trigger system and to provide a coarse radial position of the muon track. Each anode channel consists of an input protection network, amplifier, shaper, constant-fraction discriminator, and a programmable delay. The essential parts of the electronics include a 16-channel amplifier-shaper-discriminator ASIC CMP16 and a 16-channel ASIC D16G providing programmable time delay. The ASIC CMP16 was optimized for the large cathode chamber size (up to 3 x 2.5 m2) and for the large input capacitance (up to 200 pf). The ASIC combines low power consumption (30 mW/channel) with good time resolution (2 - 3 ns). The del ay ASIC D16G makes possible the alignment of signals with an accuracy of 2.2 ns. This note presents the anode front-end electronics structure and results of the preproduction and the mass production tests, including radiation resistance and reliability tests. The special set of test equipment, techniques, and corresponding software developed and used in the test procedures are also described

Copper Inhibits the Water and Glycerol Permeability of Aquaporin-3

Aquaporin-3 (AQP3) is an aquaglyceroporin expressed in erythrocytes and several other tissues. Erythrocytes are, together with kidney and liver, the main targets for copper toxicity. Here we report that both water and glycerol permeability of human AQP3 is inhibited by copper. Inhibition is fast, dose-dependent, and reversible. If copper is dissolved in carbonic acid-bicarbonate buffer, the natural buffer system in our body, doses in the range of those observed in Wilson disease and in copper poisoning caused significant inhibition. AQP7, another aquaglyceroporin, was insensitive to copper. Three extracellular amino acid residues, Trp128, Ser152, and His241, were identified as responsible for the effect of copper on AQP3. We have previously shown that Ser152 is involved in regulation of AQP3 by pH. The fact that Ser152 mediates regulation of AQP3 by copper may explain the phenomenon of exquisite sensitivity of human erythrocytes to copper at acidic pH. When AQP3 was co-expressed with another AQP, only glycerol but not water permeability was inhibited by copper. Our results provide a better understanding of processes that occur in severe copper metabolism defects such as Wilson disease and in copper poisoning

Genetic variability and population structure of endangered Panax ginseng in the Russian Primorye

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The natural habitat of wild <it>P. ginseng </it>is currently found only in the Russian Primorye and the populations are extremely exhausted and require restoration. Analysis of the genetic diversity and population structure of an endangered species is a prerequisite for conservation. The present study aims to investigate the patterns and levels of genetic polymorphism and population structures of wild <it>P. ginseng </it>with the AFLP method to (1) estimate the level of genetic diversity in the <it>P. ginseng </it>populations in the Russian Primorsky Krai, (2) calculate the distribution of variability within a population and among populations and (3) examine the genetic relationship between the populations.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Genetic variability and population structure of ten <it>P. ginseng </it>populations were investigated with Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) markers. The genetic relationships among <it>P. ginseng </it>plants and populations were delineated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The mean genetic variability within populations was high. The mean level of polymorphisms was 55.68% at the population level and 99.65% at the species level. The Shannon's index ranged between 0.1602 and 0.3222 with an average of 0.2626 at the population level and 0.3967 at the species level. The analysis of molecular variances (AMOVA) showed a significant population structure in <it>P. ginseng</it>. The partition of genetic diversity with AMOVA suggested that the majority of the genetic variation (64.5%) was within populations of <it>P. ginseng</it>. The inter-population variability was approximately 36% of the total variability. The genetic relationships among <it>P. ginseng </it>plants and populations were reconstructed by Minimum Spanning tree (MS-tree) on the basis of Euclidean distances with ARLEQUIN and NTSYS, respectively. The MS-trees suggest that the southern <it>Uss</it>, <it>Part </it>and <it>Nad </it>populations may have promoted <it>P. ginseng </it>distribution throughout the Russian Primorye.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The <it>P. ginseng </it>populations in the Russian Primorye are significant in genetic diversity. The high variability demonstrates that the current genetic resources of <it>P. ginseng </it>populations have not been exposed to depletion.</p