Macular pigment Raman detector for clinical applications

Journal ArticleClinical studies of carotenoid macular pigments (MP) have been limited by the lack of noninvasive, objective instruments. We introduce a novel noninvasive optical instrument, an MP Raman detector, for assessment of the carotenoid status of the human retina in vivo. The instrument uses resonant excitation of carotenoid molecules in the visible wavelength range, and quantitatively measures the highly specific Raman signals that originate from the single- and double-bond stretch vibrations of the pi-conjugated carotenoid molecule's carbon backbone. The instrument is a robust, compact device and suitable for routine measurements of MP concentrations in a clinical setting. We characterized and tested the instrument in clinical studies of human subjects to validate its function and to begin to establish its role as a possible screening test for macular pathologies. We also show that the MP Raman spectroscopy technology has potential as a novel, highly specific method for rapid screening of carotenoid antioxidant levels in large populations at risk for vision loss from age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness of the elderly in the developed world

Testing eigenstate decoherence hypothesis in a model of collisional decoherence

The eigenstate decoherence hypothesis (EDH) asserts that each individual eigenstate of a large closed system is locally classical-like. We test this hypothesis for a heavy particle interacting with a gas of light particles. This system is paradigmatic for studies of the quantum-to-classical transition: The reduced state of the heavy particle is widely believed to rapidly loose any nonclassical features due to the interaction with the gas. Yet, we find numerical evidence that the EDH is violated: certain eigenstates of this model are manifestly non-classical. Only the weak version of EDH referring to the majority (instead of the totality) of eigenstates holds

Сибирский щит Волжской твердыни

On the fundamental work “The Siberian Shield of the Volga Stronghold”, telling about the contribution of the Siberians and the Far-Easterns to the defeat of Nazi invaders and their Hungarian, Romanian, Italian satellites and the Spanish “Blue Division” on the banks of Volga, the Great Russian River.О фундаментальном труде «Сибирский щит Волжской твердыни», повествующем о вкладе сибиряков и дальневосточников в разгром гитлеровских захватчиков и их венгерских, румынских, итальянских сателлитов и испанской «Голубой дивизии» на берегах великой русской реки Волги

Сибиряки - защитники и победители

Review of publication "Siberians in the battle for Moscow", which is part of the anthology "Tobolsk, and the whole of Siberia", published by the Public Charitable Foundation "Revival of Tobolsk."Обзор издания «Сибиряки в битве за Москву», входящего в состав альманаха «Тобольск и вся Сибирь», выпущенного Общественным благотворительным фондом «Возрождение Тобольска»