Trajectory of age-associated changes in small intestinal microbial community of healthy person metaorganism

The study of the small intestinal microbiota in humans is complicated due to the low availability of biomaterial. Non-invasive methods of metabolomics and bioinformatic data analysis can expand our understanding of the small intestinal microbiota structure and its role in maintaining body homeostasis. Here we assess the trajectory of age-related changes in the small intestinal microbial community of healthy individuals in the context of metaorganism-wide interaction between cytokine and neuroendocrine systems, by using the methods of gas chromatography mass spectrometry of microbial markers (GCMS MM) and optimal scaling. 110 apparently healthy children, adults and elderly individuals were enrolled to the study. The main types of the small intestine microbiota (Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, and Fusobacteria) were quantified in peripheral blood by the GCMS MM method. To construct age-related trajectories of changes in the small intestinal microbiota and parameters of cytokine and neuroendocrine systems, the optimal scaling technique based on the multivariate Gifi transformation (CATPCA method) was used. It was found, that the small intestinal bacterial community of both children and seniors contained significantly lowered total number of microorganisms due to the low number of bacteria of Firmicutes and Actinobacteria types along with high number of members of Proteobacteria and Fusobacteria types compared with adults. Assessment of the trajectory of age-associated changes in microbiota of the small intestine showed that 1) children have strong dynamic fluctuations in the number and links within microbial community along with formation of links between the main regulatory immune and neuroendocrine systems of the metaorganism, 2) adults display plasticity and consistency in functioning of immune and nervous systems that determine the state of dynamic balance of the small intestinal microbiota, 3) healthy aging is characterized by high degree of cooperation between the main members of the bacterial community, which ensures system stability at new level, as one of the mechanisms of host adaptation. Thus, using methods of GCMS MM and optimal scaling, allows us to expand our understanding about age-associated trajectory of changes in the small intestinal microbiota and its cooperation with immune and neuroendocrine systems within the metaorganism, which can be used to develop new methods of therapy for infectious and non-infectious diseases

Получение низкозастывающего дизельного топлива для надёжной работы техники в районах Крайнего Севера и Арктики

In the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) there are many winter roads for transportation of food and essential goods. As a rule, vehicles are running on a diesel fuel on such roads. Despite the difficulties in operating diesel vehicles under extremely low temperatures, diesel vehicles are much more powerful and economical than gasoline ones. Problems with start and operation of a diesel engine are associated with low-temperature properties of diesel fuel. The process involved in refining oil to create a winter class diesel fuel is expensive and complex because paraffinic hydrocarbons must be removed.Therefore, today it is important to produce winter classes of diesel fuel by compounding a pour point depressant and a summer class of fuel. When using additives, problems arise with the choice of their concentration. Those limits that the manufacturer recommends in real life show a negative result.There is no wide range of those additives in Yakutia so the authors chose for experiments Dewaxol additives that diminish sedimentation during fuel transportation. So, during the study of the impact of Dewaxol additive, that contained amides and imides of mono- and dicarboxylic acids on the diesel fuel, it was considered how, at various concentrations of the additive and the heating temperature of fuel, the cloud point decreases, and sedimentation stability improves. The least squares method has allowed describing optimal concentration of pour point depressant. The study resulted in the conclusion that the fuel with a high content of depressant-dispersant additive has the best sedimentation stability.В Республике Саха (Якутия) функционирует множество автозимников для перевозки продовольствия и товаров первой необходимости. Как правило, по таким дорогам ездят автомобили, работающие на дизельном двигателе. Несмотря на трудности в эксплуатации дизельной техники при экстремально низких температурах, дизельная техника намного мощнее и экономичнее бензиновой. Проблемы с запуском и работой дизельного двигателя связаны с низкотемпературными свойствами дизельного топлива. Процесс переработки нефти для создания зимнего сорта дизельного топлива сопровождается большими затратами и сложной технологией, потому что необходимо удалить парафиновые углеводороды.Поэтому сегодня актуально производство зимних сортов дизельного топлива путём компаундирования депрессорной присадки и летнего сорта топлива. При использовании присадок возникают проблемы с выбором их концентрации. Те пределы, которые рекомендует производитель, в реальной жизни показывают отрицательный результат.В Якутии отсутствует широкий спектр таких присадок, поэтому авторы остановили свой выбор для проведения экспериментов присадках Dewaxol, которые уменьшают отложения при перевозке топлива. В ходе изучения воздействия присадки Dewaxol, в составе которой были амиды и имиды моно- и дикарбоновых кислот, на дизельное топливо было рассмотрено, как при различных концентрациях присадки и температуре нагрева топлива снижается температура помутнения и улучшается седиментационная устойчивость. Метод наименьших квадратов позволил описать оптимальную концентрацию депрессорной присадки. В результате исследования выяснилось, что наилучшей седиментационной устойчивостью обладает топливо с высоким содержанием депрессорно-диспергирующей присадки

A new fireworm (Amphinomidae) from the Cretaceous of Lebanon identified from three-dimensionally preserved myoanatomy

© 2015 Parry et al. Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated. The attached file is the published version of the article

A large spin-up rate measured with INTEGRAL in the High Mass X-ray Binary Pulsar SAXJ2103.5+4545

The High Mass X-ray Binary Pulsar SAXJ2103.5+4545 has been observed with INTEGRAL several times during the last outburst in 2002-2004. We report a comprehensive study of all INTEGRAL observations, allowing a study of the pulse period evolution during the recent outburst. We measured a very rapid spin-up episode, lasting 130days, which decreased the pulse period by 1.8s. The spin-up rate, pdot=-1.5e-7 s/s, is the largest ever measured for SAXJ2103.5+4545, and it is among the fastest for an accreting pulsar. The pulse profile shows evidence for temporal variability, apparently not related to the source flux or to the orbital phase. The X-ray spectrum is hard and there is significant emission up to 150keV. A new derivation of the orbital period, based on RXTE data, is also reported.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in A&

The Harm of Alcohol to Human Health

Употребление горячительных напитков неизбежно наносит вред человеческому здоровью, как в физическом, так и в психическом плане. Зачастую, злоупотребители не осознают масштаб последствий своей плохой привычки. Человек, употребляющий алкоголь, разъедает себя изнутри, разъедает все вокруг себя, пресекает возможность иметь здоровое и развитое потомство.The use of strong drinks inevitably harms human health, both physically and mentally. Oftentimes, abusers are unaware of the magnitude of the consequences of their bad habit. A person who drinks alcohol eats away at himself from the inside, eats away at everything around him, prevents the possibility of having healthy and developed offspring

X-ray line formation in the spectrum of SS 433

The mechanisms for the formation of X-ray lines in the spectrum of SS 433 are investigated by taking into account the radiative transfer inside the jets. The results of Monte Carlo numerical simulations are presented. The effect of a decrease in line intensity due to scattering inside the jet turns out to be pronounced, but it does not exceed 60% in magnitude on the entire grid of parameters. The line broadening due to scattering, nutational motion, and the contribution of satellites can lead to overestimates of the jet opening angle $\Theta$ from the line widths in Chandra X-ray observations. The fine structure of the lines turns out to be very sensitive to the scattering effects. This makes its investigation by planned X-ray observatories equipped with high-resolution spectrometers (primarily Astro-H) a powerful tool for diagnosing the parameters of the jets in SS 433.Comment: 23 pages, 14 figures, to be published in Astronomy Letters, v. 38, n. 7, p. 443 (2012

Effect of the reverse shock on the parameters of the observed X-Ray emission during the 1998 outburst of CI Cam

Based on the model of interaction between spherically symmetrical expanding matter and the external medium, we have estimated the parameters of the matter heated by the shock that was produced in the envelope ejected by the explosion of a classical nova during its interaction with the stellar wind from the optical companion. Using this model, we have shown that the matter ejected during the outburst in the system CI Cam had no steep velocity gradients and that the reverse shock could heat the ejected matter only to a temperature of ~0.1 keV. Therefore, this matter did not contribute to the mean temperature and luminosity of the system observed in the energy range 3-20 keV.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Состояние безопасности дорожного движения в Арктической зоне Российской Федерации

The article deals with the issue of road safety in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation.The analysis of road traffic accidents over the past 10 years that occurred in the Arctic zone of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) was carried out for the first time ever. The study refers to the total number of road traffic accidents, accidents due to the fault of pedestrians, accidents due to the unsatisfied condition of streets and roads, accidents involving children under 16 years of age, accidents involving drivers with signs of alcohol intoxication and accidents committed by drivers without the right to drive vehicles. Based on the data obtained, a coefficient K was proposed that characterises the state of road safety in the Arctic regions in comparison with traffic safety in general in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).The analysis of road traffic accident statistics has shown that many accidents are the fault of drivers without a driver’s license and revealed the districts with respectively the highest and lowest number of accidents as per their types listed above.Despite the huge territory and the small number of inhabitants, and consequently the low population density, the number of accidents in the Arctic zone of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) has been increasing every year necessitating efforts to improve road safety.В статье рассмотрен вопрос по безопасности дорожного движения в Арктической зоне Российской Федерации.Впервые проведён анализ дорожно-транспортных происшествий, произошедших на территории Арктической зоны Республики Саха (Якутия) за последние десять лет. Проанализировано общее количество ДТП, ДТП по вине пешеходов, ДТП из-за неудовлетворительного состояния улиц и дорог, ДТП с участием детей до 16 лет, ДТП с участием водителей с признаками опьянения и ДТП, допущенных водителями без права на управление транспортными средствами.На основе полученных данных был предложен коэффициент «К», который характеризует состояние безопасности дорожного движения в Арктических районах по сравнению с безопасностью движения в целом по Республике Саха (Якутия).Проведённый анализ статистики ДТП показал, что большое количество ДТП происходит по вине водителей без прав на управление транспортными средствами. Также были выявлены районы с наиболее высоким и низким количеством произошедших ДТП по перечисленным выше видам. Несмотря на огромную территорию и небольшое число жителей, а, соответственно, и низкую плотность населения, количество ДТП в Арктической зоне Республики Саха (Якутия) увеличивается с каждым годом, что диктует целесообразность проведения мероприятий по повышению безопасности дорожного движения

XMM-Newton observations of IGRJ18410-0535: The ingestion of a clump by a supergiant fast X-ray transient

IGRJ18410-0535 is a supergiant fast X-ray transients. This subclass of supergiant X-ray binaries typically undergoes few- hour-long outbursts reaching luminosities of 10^(36)-10^(37) erg/s, the occurrence of which has been ascribed to the combined effect of the intense magnetic field and rotation of the compact object hosted in them and/or the presence of dense structures ("clumps") in the wind of their supergiant companion. IGR J18410-0535 was observed for 45 ks by XMM-Newton as part of a program designed to study the quiescent emission of supergiant fast X-ray transients and clarify the origin of their peculiar X-ray variability. We carried out an in-depth spectral and timing analysis of these XMM-Newton data. IGR J18410-0535 underwent a bright X-ray flare that started about 5 ks after the beginning of the observation and lasted for \sim15 ks. Thanks to the capabilities of the instruments on-board XMM-Newton, the whole event could be followed in great detail. The results of our analysis provide strong convincing evidence that the flare was produced by the accretion of matter from a massive clump onto the compact object hosted in this system. By assuming that the clump is spherical and moves at the same velocity as the homogeneous stellar wind, we estimate a mass and radius of Mcl \simeq1.4\times10^(22) g and Rcl \simeq8\times10^(11) cm. These are in qualitative agreement with values expected from theoretical calculations. We found no evidence of pulsations at \sim4.7 s after investigating coherent modulations in the range 3.5 ms-100 s. A reanalysis of the archival ASCA and Swift data of IGR J18410-0535, for which these pulsations were previously detected, revealed that they were likely to be due to a statistical fluctuation and an instrumental effect, respectively.Comment: Accepted for publication on A&A. V2: Inserted correct version of Fig.1