43 research outputs found
From nanomaterials and nanotechnologies to the alternative energy
In this review, a special attention is focused on the three types of nanocrystalline objects of greatest interest for power engineering, namely, solar cells, lithium-ion batteries and solid-state hydrogen storage. Their structural features, manufacturing techniques as well as the relationship between structure and energy capacity are considered. The state and prospects of application of nanocrystalline structures in renewable energy are analysed.У даному огляді особлива увага приділяється трьом видам нанокристалічних об єктів, що представляють найбільший інтерес для енергетики, а саме, сонячним елементам, літій-йонним батареям і твердотільним накопичувачам водню. Розглянуто їхні структурні особливості, технології виготовлення, а також взаємозв'язок між структурою й енергетичною місткістю. Проаналізовано стан і перспективи використання нанокристалічних структур у відновлюваній енергетиці.В данном обзоре особое внимание уделяется тр м видам нанокристаллических объектов, представляющих наибольший интерес для энергетики, а именно, солнечным элементам, литий-ионным батареям и тв рдотельным накопителям водорода. Рассмотрены их структурные особенности, технологии изготовления, а также взаимосвязь между структурой и энергетической мкостью. Проанализировано состояние и перспективы использования нанокристаллических структур в возобновляемой энергетике
POSSIBILITIES OF COMBINATIONAL MAGNESIAL AND NEUROPROTECTOR THERAPY IN PATIENTS WITH EARLY CEREBROVASCULAR PATHOLOGY
The serum level of magnesium was evaluated in 232 teenagers and adolescents with early cerebrovascular diseases aged 16–21 years. In cases of magnesium deficiency, monotherapy with complex magnesium medication is an effective treatment both for concurrent magnesium deficiency and for early forms of cerebrovascular pathology with different patterns of vascular response (hyper_ and hypoconstrictive variants). Maximum normotensive effect of the therapy and maximal efficacy in treating vertigo and headaches is reached in combinational therapy with vinpocetin and complex magnesium medication. a combination of complex magnesium medication with bylobil potentiates antiasthenic effect, mostly through diminishing excessive neuron muscular irritability and paresthesiae.Key words: teenagers, magnesium, b6 vitamin, cavinton, bylobil, potentiative therapy, early forms of cerebrovascular diseases
Great explosive eruptions on Kamchatka during the last 10,000 years: Self-similar irregularity of the output of volcanic products
Temporal irregularity of the output of volcanic material is studied for the sequence of large (V ≥ 0.5 km3, N = 29) explosive eruptions on Kamchatka during the last 10,000 years. Informally, volcanic productivity looks episodic, and dates of eruptions cluster. To investigate the probable self-similar clustering behavior of eruption times, we determine correlation dimension Dc. For intervals between events 800 and 10,000 years, Dc ≈ 1 (no self-similar clustering). However, for shorter delays, Dc = 0.71, and the significance level for the hypothesis Dc < 1 is 2.5%. For the temporal structure of the output of volcanic products (i.e., for the sequence of variable-weight points), a self-similar “episodic” behavior holds over the entire range of delays 100–10,000 years, with Dc = 0.67 (Dc < 1 at 3.4% significance). This behavior is produced partly by the mentioned common clustering of event dates, and partly by another specific property of the event sequence, that we call “order clustering”. This kind of clustering is a property of a time-ordered list of eruptions, and is manifested as the tendency of the largest eruptions (as opposed to smaller ones) to be close neighbors in this list. Another statistical technique, of “rescaled range” (R/S), confirms these results. Similar but weaker-expressed behavior was also found for two other data sets: historical Kamchatka eruptions and acid layers in Greenland ice column. The episodic multiscaled mode of the output of volcanic material may be a characteristic property of a sequence of eruptions in an island arc, with important consequences for climate forcing by volcanic aerosol, and volcanic hazard
POSSIBILITIES OF COMBINATIONAL MAGNESIAL AND NEUROPROTECTOR THERAPY IN PATIENTS WITH EARLY CEREBROVASCULAR PATHOLOGY
The serum level of magnesium was evaluated in 232 teenagers and adolescents with early cerebrovascular diseases aged 16–21 years. In cases of magnesium deficiency, monotherapy with complex magnesium medication is an effective treatment both for concurrent magnesium deficiency and for early forms of cerebrovascular pathology with different patterns of vascular response (hyper_ and hypoconstrictive variants). Maximum normotensive effect of the therapy and maximal efficacy in treating vertigo and headaches is reached in combinational therapy with vinpocetin and complex magnesium medication. a combination of complex magnesium medication with bylobil potentiates antiasthenic effect, mostly through diminishing excessive neuron muscular irritability and paresthesiae.Key words: teenagers, magnesium, b6 vitamin, cavinton, bylobil, potentiative therapy, early forms of cerebrovascular diseases
Estimation of derivatives with respect to parameters of a functional of a diffusion process moving in a domain with absorbing boundary
Rational strategy for studying microbiome of the ocular surface of people using hard contact lenses by method of 16s rrna gene metabarcoding
© 2020, Media Sphera Publishing Group. All rights reserved. The study is based on the hypothesis that high taxonomic diversity of bacteria detectable on the eye surface by molecular genetic methods is attributed to the high level of its contamination by skin microflora. Such contamination would make it problematic to identify the fractions of real ocular surface microbiome, which remains behind the one-percent cut-off threshold adopted in the metagenomic analysis. Hard contact lenses for long-wearing act as a physical filter preventing DNA contamination from random microorganisms, and at the same time providing adhesion to the living cells of bacteria and fungi. To confirm this assumption, a detailed analysis of references was carried out, supplemented by original laboratory research. Material and methods. The analysis included 16 hard contact lenses obtained from 11 patients with impaired refraction (myopia). Additionally, conjunctival mucosa scrapings were collected from 42 patients. Samples were cross-analyzed by 16S rRNA gene se-quencing using 454 GS Junior (Ion Torrent) and Illumina MiSeq platforms. Results. Results obtained by the Illumina platform (analysis of the V3-V4 variable region of the 16S rRNA gene) showed better con-vergence with the data of culture tests reported in the literature. The major microorganism groups found were: Acinetobacter (39%), Gluconacetobacter (10.8%), Propionibacterium (9.3%), Corynebacterium (9.3%), Staphylococcus (7.2%), Streptococcus (7%), Pseudomonas (4.1%), Micrococcus (3.3%), Yersinia (3%), Chondromyces (2.4%), Serratia (2.3%), and Bacillus (2.1%). Analysis of the samples obtained directly from the mucosa revealed dominance of typical skin-associated microorganisms. Conclusion. The present study proposes a contamination-reduction algorithm for microbiological testing of the ocular surface using hard contact lenses for prolonged wearing as a carrier for microbial DNA
Lynch Syndrome Germline Mutations in Breast Cancer: Next Generation Sequencing Case-Control Study of 1,263 Participants
© Copyright © 2020 Nikitin, Chudakova, Enikeev, Sakaeva, Druzhkov, Shigapova, Brovkina, Shagimardanova, Gusev and Gordiev. Genome instability—the increased tendency of acquiring mutations in the genome and ability of a cell to tolerate high mutation burden—is one of the drivers of cancer. Genome instability results from many causes including defects in DNA repair systems. Previously, it has been shown that germline pathogenic mutations in DNA Mismatch Repair (MMR) pathway cause cancer-predisposing Lynch Syndrome. We proposed that Lynch Syndrome-related germline mutations (LS-mutations) are associated with breast cancer (BC). In this study, we performed Targeted Next-Generation Sequencing of MMR pathway genes MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, EPCAM, and PMS2 in a cohort of 711 patients with hereditary BC, 60 patients with sporadic BC, and 492 healthy donors. Sixty-nine patients (9.7%) with hereditary BC harbored at least one germline mutation in the MMR pathway genes, of them 32 patients (4.5%) harbored mutations in MMR pathway genes which we define as pathogenic or likely pathogenic, and of them 26 patients (3.6%) did not have any pathogenic mutations in DDR pathway genes, compared to two mutations in MMR pathway genes (0.4%) detected in a group of 492 healthy donors [p = 0.00013, OR = 8.9 (CI 95% 2.2–78.4)]. Our study demonstrates that LS-mutations are present in patients with hereditary BC more frequently than in healthy donors, and that there is an association of hereditary BC and mutations c.1321G>A in MLH1, c.260C>G and c.2178G>C in MSH2, c.3217C>T in MSH6, c.1268C>G and c.86G>C in PMS2 genes. This finding provides a rationale for including pathogenic LS-mutations into genetic counseling tests for patients with hereditary BC
New group of transmembrane proteins associated with desiccation tolerance in the anhydrobiotic midge Polypedilum vanderplanki
© 2020, The Author(s). Larvae of the sleeping chironomid Polypedilum vanderplanki are known for their extraordinary ability to survive complete desiccation in an ametabolic state called “anhydrobiosis”. The unique feature of P. vanderplanki genome is the presence of expanded gene clusters associated with anhydrobiosis. While several such clusters represent orthologues of known genes, there is a distinct set of genes unique for P. vanderplanki. These include Lea-Island-Located (LIL) genes with no known orthologues except two of LEA genes of P. vanderplanki, PvLea1 and PvLea3. However, PvLIL proteins lack typical features of LEA such as the state of intrinsic disorder, hydrophilicity and characteristic LEA_4 motif. They possess four to five transmembrane domains each and we confirmed membrane targeting for three PvLILs. Conserved amino acids in PvLIL are located in transmembrane domains or nearby. PvLEA1 and PvLEA3 proteins are chimeras combining LEA-like parts and transmembrane domains, shared with PvLIL proteins. We have found that PvLil genes are highly upregulated during anhydrobiosis induction both in larvae of P. vanderplanki and P. vanderplanki-derived cultured cell line, Pv11. Thus, PvLil are a new intriguing group of genes that are likely to be associated with anhydrobiosis due to their common origin with some LEA genes and their induction during anhydrobiosis
Regulation of Proteins in Human Skeletal Muscle: The Role of Transcription
© 2020, The Author(s). Regular low intensity aerobic exercise (aerobic training) provides effective protection against various metabolic disorders. Here, the roles played by transient transcriptome responses to acute exercise and by changes in baseline gene expression during up-regulation of protein content in human skeletal muscle were investigated after 2 months of aerobic training. Seven untrained males were involved in a 2 month aerobic cycling training program. Mass-spectrometry and RNA sequencing were used to evaluate proteome and transcriptome responses to training and acute exercise. We found that proteins with different functions are regulated differently at the transcriptional level; for example, a training-induced increase in the content of extracellular matrix-related proteins is regulated at the transcriptional level, while an increase in the content of mitochondrial proteins is not. An increase in the skeletal muscle content of several proteins (including mitochondrial proteins) was associated with increased protein stability, which is related to a chaperone-dependent mechanism and/or reduced regulation by proteolysis. These findings increase our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying regulation of protein expression in human skeletal muscle subjected to repeated stress (long term aerobic training) and may provide an opportunity to control the expression of specific proteins (e.g., extracellular matrix-related proteins, mitochondrial proteins) through physiological and/or pharmacological approaches