Complexes of Gunfl ints of the 18th – 19th Centuries from the Crimea

The authors address the problem of identification of the gunflints in the Modern Time complexes. Gunflints are a specific type of historical and archaeological sources. Distribution of these products is entirely connected with distribution of firearms with flintlock ignition mechanisms. The typology of gunflints is essentially similar to the typology of Stone Age microlith inserts. In both cases fragments of blades and lamellar flakes served as workpieces. The authors describe three small complexes of gunflints from the Crimea. Flints have been found on the eighteenth-century Russian military camps in Bakhchisarai and Belogorsk, also in Sevastopol. The complex from Sevastopol is connected with the Eastern War (1853–1856). The published gunflint inserts fully meet the standards of West European gunflints. A large share of flints has a lead shell which was intended to fix the flint in the hammer of ignition mechanism. Parameters of flints suggest application of guns of various calibers in the Russian army. The place of production of gunflints is still uncertain

Synthesis and studies of N-vinylcaprolactam/N-vinylimidazole copolymers taht exhibit the ”proteinlike” behaviour in aquesous media

Proteinlike copolymers were first predicted by the computer-aided biomimetic design (Physica A 1998, 249, 253-261). These copolymers consist of comonomer units of differing hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity. Heterogeneous blockiness, characteristic for such copolymers, facilitates chain folding with the formation of specific spatial packing: a dense core consisting of hydrophobic units and a polar shell formed by hydrophilic units. This paper describes the synthesis of N-vinylcaprolactam/N-vinylimidazole copolymers via the redox-initiated radical copolymerization in the medium of 10% aqueous DMSO at the temperatures both below and above the phase separation threshold. The synthesized macromolecular products were separated into thermally precipitating and nonprecipitating fractions. Their molecular weight characteristics were evaluated using size-exclusion chromatography; their comonomer composition was determined from 1H NMR spectra of copolymers dissolved in DMSO-d6. The temperature-dependent behavior of copolymer macromolecules in water was investigated by thermonephelometry, high-sensitivity differential scanning calorimetry, and 1H NMR spectroscopy of the copolymers dissolved in D2O. It was shown that thermally nonprecipitating copolymer fractions obtained at initial comonomer molar ratios of 85:15 and 90:10 can be identified as proteinlike copolymers

Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells Modified with the NS5A Gene of Hepatitis C Virus Induce a Cellular Immune Response Exceeding the Response to DNA Immunization with This Gene

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is one of the basic culprits behind chronic liver disease, which may result in cirrhosis and hepatocarcinoma. In spite of the extensive research conducted, a vaccine against HCV has not been yet created. We have obtained human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) and used them for expressing the HCV NS5A protein as a model vaccination platform. Sixteen hMSC lines of a different origin were transfected with the pcNS5A-GFP plasmid to obtain genetically modified MSCs (mMSCs). The highest efficiency was obtained by the transfection of dental pulp MSCs. C57BL/6 mice were immunized intravenously with mMSCs, and the immune response was compared with the response to the pcNS5A-GFP plasmid, which was injected intramuscularly. It was shown that the antigen-specific lymphocyte proliferation and the number of IFN-γ-synthesizing cells were two to three times higher after the mMSC immunization compared to the DNA immunization. In addition, mMSCs induced more CD4+ memory T cells and an increase in the CD4+/CD8+ ratio. The results suggest that the immunostimulatory effect of mMSCs is associated with the switch of MSCs to the pro-inflammatory phenotype and a decrease in the proportion of myeloid derived suppressor cells. Thus, the possibility of using human mMSCs for the creation of a vaccine against HCV has been shown for the first time

Zinc-Containing Magnetic Oxides Stabilized by a Polymer: One Phase or Two?

Here we developed a new family of Zn-containing magnetic oxides of different structures by thermal decomposition of Zn­(acac)₂ in the reaction solution of preformed magnetite nanoparticles (NPs) stabilized by polyphenylquinoxaline. Upon an increase of the Zn­(acac)₂ loading from 0.15 to 0.40 mmol (vs 1 mmol of Fe­(acac)₃), the Zn content increases, and the Zn-containing magnetic oxide NPs preserve a spinel structure of magnetite and an initial, predominantly multicore NP morphology. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) of these samples revealed that the surface of iron oxide NPs is enriched with Zn, although Zn species were also found deep under the iron oxide NP surface. For all the samples, XPS also demonstrates the atom ratio of Fe³⁺/Fe²⁺ = 2:1, perfectly matching Fe₃O₄, but not ZnFe₂O₄, where Fe²⁺ ions are replaced with Zn²⁺. The combination of XPS with other physicochemical methods allowed us to propose that ZnO forms an ultrathin amorphous layer on the surface of iron oxide NPs and also diffuses inside the magnetite crystals. At higher Zn­(acac)₂ loading, cubic ZnO nanocrystals coexist with magnetite NPs, indicating a homogeneous nucleation of the former. The catalytic testing in syngas conversion to methanol demonstrated outstanding catalytic properties of Zn-containing magnetic oxides, whose activities are dependent on the Zn loading. Repeat experiments carried out with the best catalyst after magnetic separation showed remarkable catalyst stability even after five consecutive catalytic runs

Trans-national migration and the issue of ‘ethnic’ solidarity: Finnish Roma elite and Eastern European Roma migrants in Finland

From 2007 to 2008, the presence of migrant-beggars from Eastern European countries in Finland has brought about much discussion regarding the status of this group in what is perceived as a model welfare state. The beggars, identified mainly Roma from Romanian and Bulgaria, were not easily fitting within the ideals of work culture within a Nordic welfare society. Moreover, no clear demarcation was made between the groups of migrant Roma and the national, Finnish Roma community. This paper focuses on the views of some of the Finnish Roma ‘elite’ regarding the presence of Roma beggars in the Helsinki area, dealing with the interactions between national and migrant Roma in the city of Helsinki as a consequence of Eastern European Roma migration to this area and bringing into question the limitations of an ethnic approach to Roma migration. The focus is on analysing the contradictions and ambiguities in what could easily (yet problematically) be understood as ‘intra-ethnic’ relations

Metabolic reprogramming of the tumor

Cancer is classically considered as a genetic and, more recently, epigenetic multistep disease. Despite seminal studies in the 1920s by Warburg showing a characteristic metabolic pattern for tumors, cancer bioenergetics has often been relegated to the backwaters of cancer biology. This review aims to provide a historical account on cancer metabolism research, and to try to integrate and systematize the metabolic strategies in which cancer cells engage to overcome selective pressures during their inception and evolution. Implications of this renovated view on some common concepts and in therapeutics are also discussed. © 2012 Macmillan Publishers Limited All rights reserved.SCOPUS: re.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe