Absolute Amount Research Articles

Density Analysis of Adsorption Phase in the Thermodynamic Study of Shale Gas Adsorption.

Understanding the adsorption mechanism and precisely predicting the thermodynamic adsorption properties of methane at high pressure are crucial while very challenging for shale gas development. In this study, we demonstrated that the Langmuir adsorption model combining with different empirical methods to determine the adsorption phase density makes the calculated isothermal adsorption heat violate Henry's law at low pressure. For instance, the isothermal adsorption heat calculated by the Langmuir-Freundlich model contradicts Henry's law when the absolute adsorption quantity is zero. Given the current challenge in accurately calculating the adsorption phase density, it is necessary to impose constraints on the parameters of the adsorption model by adhering to Henry's law to maintain thermodynamic consistency. We found that the adsorption phase volume of methane molecules lies between the micropore volume and the total pore volume when shale adsorption reaches saturation. The adsorption mechanism involves not only filling micropores but also monolayer adsorption in meso-macro pores. The high-energy adsorption sites for methane are primarily concentrated in organic matter, while within these methane adsorption areas in shale, the high-energy adsorption sites for water are mainly located in kaolinite within clay minerals. The zero-pressure heat of adsorption is a temperature-independent thermodynamic index, yet it is influenced by the water content. It can therefore be selected as a quantitative measure to evaluate the impact of methane adsorption on water.

Shedding light on the increased carbon uptake by a boreal forest under diffuse solar radiation across multiple scales.

Solar radiation is scattered by cloud cover, aerosols and other particles in the atmosphere, all of which are affected by global changes. Furthermore, the diffuse fraction of solar radiation is increased by more frequent forest fires and likewise would be if climate interventions such as stratospheric aerosol injection were adopted. Forest ecosystem studies predict that an increase in diffuse radiation would result in higher productivity, but ecophysiological data are required to identify the processes responsible within the forest canopy. In our study, the response of a boreal forest to direct, diffuse and heterogeneous solar radiation conditions was examined during the daytime in the growing season to determine how carbon uptake is affected by radiation conditions at different scales. A 10-year data set of ecosystem, shoot and forest floor vegetation carbon and water-flux data was examined. Ecosystem-level carbon assimilation was higher under diffuse radiation conditions in comparison with direct radiation conditions at equivalent total photosynthetically active radiation (PAR). This was driven by both an increase in shoot and forest floor vegetation photosynthetic rate. Most notably, ecosystem-scale productivity was strongly related to the absolute amount of diffuse PAR, since it integrates both changes in total PAR and diffuse fraction. This finding provides a gateway to explore the processes by which absolute diffuse PAR enhances productivity, and the long-term persistence of this effect under scenarios of higher global diffuse radiation.

Minimum Quantity Lubrication (MQL) Supply through Internal Cooling Channels in Drilling Processes

Minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) technologies possess great potential for improving the sustainability of manufacturing processes, which can reduce the absolute quantity of metalworking fluid (MWF) and also enable near-dry chips that are easier to recycle. During drilling in particular, the MWF is transported to the contact zone through internal cooling channels of the drilling tool. The MWF supply and its associated flow behaviour in the transfer from the outlet of the cooling channels to the contact zone have not been sufficiently investigated yet. Great potential is seen in the proper delivery of the MQL into the contact zone. This work aims to visualize and quantify the cooling lubricant supply into the cutting zone using the MQL technique. The visualization of the MQL application is made possible by high-speed shadowgraphic imaging. Detailed image processing is used to evaluate the resulting images. The developed evaluation routine allows for the assessment of the impact of the main process parameters such as the varying pressure of the aerosol generator and the cooling channel diameter. It is found that the oil leaves the cooling channels at the tip of the drill bit in the form of ligaments. An increase in pressure and cooling channel diameter leads to an increase in the frequency of oil ligament separation. Three main flow regimes are identified with different separation frequencies. Low inlet pressures result in intermittently dispersed droplets. The most upper pressure levels lead to an almost continuous dispersion of the oil. At the same time, the air and oil mass flow rates also increase.

Group composition of income types and the absolute-relative framing of public good contributions

This paper examines the effect of absolute-relative framing on contributions to a public good. Group members have high and low endowments and the number of high-income members in each group varies between treatments. They make contributions without and with a minimum contribution level. We express the contribution metric either in absolute amount or as a relative proportion of a member's initial endowment. We propose that these institutional designs affect contribution behavior through shifting reference points in decisions. First, as the number of high-type members increases, the average contribution increases, especially among the low-type members in absolute framing. Second, relative framing makes the contribution proportions between high and low types move closer than in absolute framing. Third, the difference in contributions between absolute and relative conditions mostly disappears when the minimum contribution level is introduced. We show that the effects of group members’ endowments, relative framing, and the MCL policy represent the internal, external and the institutional reference point respectively with increasing strength.

Global Warming and Anthropogenic Emissions of Water Vapor.

The two major components of greenhouse gases, CO2 and water, are indispensable for sustaining life on Earth. Water vapor is the most significant greenhouse gas that has provided the earth with an "atmospheric blanket" and prevented the surface of the earth from freezing. However, contemporary climate models largely consider the influence of water vapor as a factor within positive feedback loops, while the possibility of direct anthropogenic emissions of water vapor as primary drivers of global warming remains underexplored. In particular, a common assumption has been that the global atmospheric water vapor will increase by about 6 to 7% in response to each 1 °C of warming caused by the nonaqueous greenhouse gases in accordance with the Clausius-Clapeyron equation, and this increased moisture content will lead to an increased greenhouse gas effect. However, the Clausius-Clapeyron equation is based on two-phase equilibrium, and there is no a priori physical basis that it can be applied to the earth's climate for which the water vapor does not always coexist with a condensed phase. Here, we utilized global specific humidity data from the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data set to examine whether the Clausius-Clapeyron equation can form a basis for such positive feedback commonly assumed in the contemporary climate models. Our results show (1) qualitiatively, the linear nature of the Clausius-Clapeyron equation demonstrates a significant level of consistency when averaged over expansive regions like specific latitudes around the globe, (2) this consistency does not extend to individual locations where a plot of (ln Pv) vs (1/T) becomes nonlinear, indicating substantial undersaturation that varies with time, (3) quantitatively, the discrepancies between the observed and the expected values of the slopes are wide-ranging, and (4) the absolute amount of water vapor increased substantially above the population centers and the agricultural areas in the Northern Hemisphere between 1960 and 2020. Human activities appear to have substantial impacts on the local water vapor content in the atmosphere. Once we assume that anthropogenic emissions of water vapor are the source of local water vapor content in the atmosphere, it can, together with the air circulation patterns (Hadler, Ferrel and polar), provide an explanation for the observations that Arctic ice has been melting at a much more accelerated rate than Antarctic ice.

Os reflexos da pandemia do novo coronavírus na judicialização do direito à saúde perante o Supremo Tribunal Federal

Objective: to identify whether the pandemic situation interfered with the extent and way in which issues relating to the right to health were assessed by the Federal Supreme Court. Methodology: documentary research was carried out, which, after consulting the Federal Supreme Court database, with the filter using the term “health”, returned a total of 1,178 rulings, 447 from the pre-pandemic period and 731 from the pandemic period, which were analyzed and classified according to thematic relevance. After the classification stage discards, 70 rulings were identified in the pre-pandemic period and 167 rulings in the pandemic that effectively deal with the right to health. Results: the pandemic imposed numerous challenges on the health system, so that the Judiciary was urged to speak out in the face of the now established controversies. In these manifestations, it was identified that there was an increase in demands for concentrated control and in the absolute quantity of decisions involving the right to health, as well as that qualitatively, in general, the previous decision-making pattern was maintained, although new themes have emerged. Conclusion: the study concluded that the Supreme Court's tendency remains in favor of the recognition of health rights, using arguments such as the non-offense of the separation of powers and the impossibility of arguing on the possible reservation to prevent their granting. Submission: 01/29/23|Review: 10/24/23|Approval: 10/30/23

Abstract 5016: Building better contrived samples to properly evaluate Next-generation MRD and LBx assays

Abstract Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) is a component of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) that originates from tumor tissue in the plasma of cancer patients. Although ctDNA is a broadly applicable tumor biomarker, the absolute amount of ctDNA varies across indication and stage, with the level of ctDNA present reflective of tumor volume. As novel methods for the characterization of ctDNA develop, there is need to evaluate these assays with appropriate samples. But current commercial reference standards, generated from modified cell lines or oligonucleotides lack important features such as DNA methylation, fragmentation pattern and nucleosome positioning, whilst clinical trial samples lack the required volume to perform multiple tests and often lack proper consent. We have created a framework for generating contrived samples containing the biological features of clinical samples and the attributes of a reference standard. The plasma-in-plasma contrived samples are generated from commercially purchased and fully consented matched tumor and plasma from cancer patients with age and gender matched healthy donor plasma. Samples are characterized by an internally validated 700 gene NGS panel to identify somatic variants and copy number alterations, which establishes ‘ground truth’. A contrived plasma dilution range based on the mean variant allele frequency (VAF) of the concordant somatic variants identified is generated. Using these methods, we have been able to generate sample sets for pan-cancer and disease specific evaluations. We have tested these samples through many novel high sensitivity assays that utilize both tumor-informed and tumor agnostic methods. We have confirmed that plasma-in-plasma contrived samples are amenable to all evaluated assays to date. The FFPE tumor tissue provide results matching clinical trial samples and the extraction yields of cfDNA are within the range of plasma samples from clinical trial data. Each dilution can be generated with replicates for reproducibility metrics. Current models of the sample dilutions have been generated to increase the number of replicates at relevant levels of tumor burden (i.e., 0.01% VAF). Negative samples consisting of the background plasma were also generated for each sample used. These plasma-in-plasma contrived samples have greater commutability to clinical samples than other commercial reference standards, however there are limitations. The complexity of generating these samples restrict the number of unique patients that can be utilized. Also, due to the volume of healthy plasma used as diluent, it is difficult to generate volumes greater than 4ml. To our knowledge, this is the first report examining the generation and usage of a contrived sample set that can be applied to evaluating novel high sensitivity MRD assays with clinical sample commutability. Citation Format: Paul Labrousse, Hugh Russell, David Shera, Daniel Stetson, Barrett Nuttall, Brian Dougherty, Darren Hodgson, James Hadfield. Building better contrived samples to properly evaluate Next-generation MRD and LBx assays [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 5016.

High-Pressure adsorption of supercritical methane and carbon dioxide on Coal: Analysis of adsorbed phase density

The occurrence of supercritical CH4 and CO2 in coal is significant for both coalbed methane recovery and CO2 storage. Adsorption isotherms of CH4 and CO2 on two coals have been measured at three temperatures up to pressures of 25 MPa. Three modified supercritical adsorption models (SL-V, SBET-V, and SDR-V) were used to describe the excess adsorption behavior, with the pressure-independent adsorbed phase volume being considered. The adsorbed phase density (APD) and absolute adsorption amount were calculated based on the modified models and compared with those estimated by previous models. The results indicate that SDR-V is the most suitable for CH4 adsorption due to the dominant role of filling of micropores by CH4, while SBET-V is the most appropriate model for CO2 adsorption because of multilayer adsorption of CO2 in both micropores and meso-macropores. The APD increases with pressure until reaching a maximum value but decreases as temperature increases following a Langmuir-style trend. The previous models, which use a fixed APD, seriously underestimate the absolute adsorption, the extent of which increases with increasing pressure and temperature, leading to significant errors in deep formations with high temperature and pressure conditions. Furthermore, as burial depth increases, the adsorption process can be divided into three stages based on changes in APD and free phase density (FPD). These findings contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the behavior and occurrence of CH4 and CO2 within deep coal seams, enhancing the applicability of CO2-ECBM (CO2 Geological Storage Enhanced Coalbed Methane Recovery).

Vertical distribution and phylogenetic characterization of marine Archaea in the western subarctic Pacific

Archaea represent a prevalent and abundant microbial group and are believed to play a crucial role in marine ecosystems. Archaeal distribution remains poorly resolved in the western subarctic Pacific (WSP). We investigated the relative abundance, vertical distribution, and phylogenetic composition of Archaea in WSP. The abundance of Euryarchaeota marine group II (Poseidoniales) was the highest (> 77%) in the epipelagic layer and decreased with depth, the abundance of Thaumarchaeota increased with depth, and Euryarchaeota marine group III (Pontarchaea) was absent in the epipelagic layer but was highly abundant in mesopelagic and bathypelagic layers. Based on phylogenic analyses of archaeal 16S rRNA gene partial sequences, we noted that archaeal phylotypes in the epipelagic layer were different from those in the mesopelagic and bathypelagic layers. The phylogenetic composition in the archaeal community was strongly segregated along a depth gradient. The Shannon index and the richness values revealed that the mesopelagic layer was the most diverse habitat of the archaeal community. Additionally, the trends of the vertical distribution of Archaea and Thaumarchaeota, elucidated through the qPCR assay, at station K2 were similar to those documented in other ocean regions, although their absolute quantity was low. Moreover, the unexpected bias in qPCR was noted to be caused by the commonly used Thaumarchaeota-specific primer MCGI391F, which mismatched some sequences derived from the epipelagic water.

Re-cognition of adsorption phase density and adsorption phase volume: Insights from methane adsorption behavior

The determination of adsorption phase density significantly influences the assessment of gas occurrence state and gas content within in-situ reservoirs, particularly for the evaluation of gas content in deep coalbed reservoirs. Despite the extensive research on adsorption phase density, various calculation methods encounter limitations due to the inability to directly measure it. Simultaneously, the considerable disparity in results obtained from various adsorption phase density methods hampers the accurate determination of adsorbed gas and free gas content in deep coal seams. To address these challenges, this study systematically reviews calculation methods and highlights issues related to adsorption phase density. Considering practical experimental conditions, two new calculation methods are proposed: the adsorption potential adsorption phase density (APD) method and limit adsorption phase density (LAD) method. These methods enable the directional calculation of adsorption phase density based on the unknown or known absolute adsorption amount. The obtained results reveal that the adsorption phase density obtained through the APD method exhibits variations in temperature and pressure. For different coal rank samples, the range of actual adsorption phase density at different temperatures under high pressures is expected to fall between 0.30 g/cm3 and 0.40 g/cm3. The range can serve as a theoretical upper limit value for refining adsorption phased density models. The adsorption phase density acquired through the LAD method exhibits variations in temperature and pressure, whereas the adsorption phase volume remains unaffected by changes in temperature and pressure. The computed outcomes from the LAD method align with those derived from nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), adsorption phase volume (APV), and molecular simulation methods, affirming the accuracy and applicability of the adsorption phase density determined via the LAD method. It is envisaged that these research findings will enhance the precise determination of adsorption phase density and assist in discerning the occurrence state of deep coalbed methane and, potentially, carbon dioxide sequestration.

Antimicrobial peptides: An alternative to antibiotic for mitigating the risks of Antibiotic resistance in aquaculture

The utilization of antibiotics increases the prevalence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in various matrices and poses the potential risk of ARG transmission, garnering global attention. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) represent a promising novel category of antimicrobials that may address the urgent issue of antibiotic resistance. Here, a zebrafish cultivation assay in which zebrafish were fed a diet supplemented with AMP (Cecropin A) or antibiotics was conducted to determine the effects of the intervention on the microorganisms and antibiotic resistance spectrum in zebrafish gut samples. Cecropin A treatment decreased the α-diversity of the microbiota. Moreover, NMDS (nonmetric multidimensional scaling) results revealed that the β-diversity in the microbiota was more similar between the control (CK) and Cecropin A samples than between the antibiotic treatment groups. The absolute quantity of ARGs in the AMP treatment was less than that observed in the antibiotic treatment. The findings indicated that FFCH7168, Chitinibacter and Cetobacterium were the most significant biomarkers detected in the CK, Cecropin A and antibiotic treatments, respectively. Although the use of antibiotics notably enhanced the occurrence of multidrug-resistant bacteria, the application of Cecropin A did not lead to this phenomenon. The results indicated that the application of AMPs can effectively manage and control ARGs in aquaculture.

Phenotypic and functional exhaustion of circulating CD3+ CD56+ NKT-like cells in colorectal cancer patients.

CD3+ CD56+ NKT-like cells are crucial to antitumor immune surveillance and defense. However, research on circulating NKT-like cells in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients is limited. This investigation selected 113 patients diagnosed with primary CRC for preoperative peripheral blood collection. The blood from 106 healthy donors at the physical examination center was acquired as a healthy control (HC). The distribution of lymphocyte subsets, immunophenotype, and functional characteristics of NKT-like cells was comprehensively evaluated. Compared to HC, primary CRC patients had considerably fewer peripheral NKT-like cells in frequency and absolute quantity, and the fraction of NKT-like cells was further reduced in patients with vascular invasion compared to those without. The NKT-like cells in CRC patients had a reduced fraction of the activating receptor CD16, up-regulated expression of inhibitory receptors LAG-3 and NKG2A, impaired production of TNF-α and IFN-γ, as well as degranulation capacity. Moreover, the increased frequency of NKG2A+ NKT-like cells and the decreased expression of activation-related molecules were significantly correlated with tumor progression. In detail, NKG2A+ NKT-like cells indicated increased PD-1 and Tim-3 and reduced TNF-α than NKG2A- subgroup. Blocking NKG2A invitro restored cytokine secretion capacity in NKT-like cells from CRC patients. Altogether, this research revealed that circulating NKT-like cells in CRC patients exhibited suppressive phenotype and functional impairment, which was more pronounced in NKG2A+ NKT-like cells. These findings suggest that NKG2A blockade may restore anti-tumor effector function in NKT-like cells, which provides a potential target for immunotherapy in CRC patients.

Topographic Distribution of miRNAs (miR-30a, miR-223, miR-let-7a, miR-let-7f, miR-451, and miR-486) in the Plasma Extracellular Vesicles.

There are many articles on the quantitative analysis of miRNAs contained in a population of EVs of different sizes under various physiological and pathological conditions. For such analysis, it is important to correctly quantify the miRNA contents of EVs. It should be considered that quantification is skewed depending on the isolation protocol, and different miRNAs are degraded by nucleases with different efficiencies. In addition, it is important to consider the contribution of miRNAs coprecipitating with the EVs population, because the amount of miRNAs in the EVs population under study is skewed without appropriate enzymatic treatment. By studying a population of EVs from the blood plasma of healthy donors, we found that the absolute amount of miRNA inside the vesicles is commensurate with the amount of the same type of miRNA adhered to the outside of the EVs. The inside/outside ratio ranged from 1.02 to 2.64 for different investigated miRNAs. According to our results, we propose the hypothesis that high occupancy of miRNAs on the outer surface of EVs influence on the transporting RNA repertoire no less than the inner cargo received from the host cell.

Terrestrial algae: pioneer organisms of carbonate rock solutional weathering in South China karst.

The formation of soil in karst ecosystem has always been a scientific problem of great concern to human beings. Algae can grow on the exposed and non-nutrition carbonate surface, inducing and accelerating weathering of rock substrates, thus promoting soil formation. Yet the actual contribution of algae to solutional weathering intensity remains unclear. In this study, we performed weathering simulation experiment on two algae species (Klebsormidium dissectum (F.Gay) H.Ettl & G.Gärtner and Chlorella vulgaris Beijerinck), which were screened from carbonated rock surfaces from a typical karst region in South China. The results showed: (1) both algae have solutional weathering effect on carbonate rock, (2) there is no difference of solutional intensity observed, yet the solutional modes are different, suggesting different ecological adaptative strategies, (3) algae on carbonate rocks have higher carbonic anhydrase activity (CAA) and secrete more extracellular polysaccharide (EPS), accelerating rock weathering. (4) The absolute dissolution amount of carbonate rock with algae participation is 3 times of that of without algae. These results indicate the significant impact of terrestrial algae on carbonate rock solutional weathering and provides quantitative evidence that terrestrial algae are pioneer species. It also contributes to our further understanding of soil formation in karst ecosystems in South China.

Levels of eosinophils and interleukin-5 and severity of atopic dermatitis in the presence of psychosocial stress

BACKGROUND: Skin damage in atopic dermatitis is caused by the participation of several immune cells and their inflammatory mediators. However, data on correlations between the severity of atopic dermatitis, combined with and without food allergies (severity of atopic dermatitis (SCORAD) index, etc.), and the levels of eosinophils and interleukin-5 are scarce and contradictory. No studies have compared the frequency of eczematous reactions occurring at different times or immediate allergic reactions in the above patients. Moreover, no studies or certain studies have reported results on the frequency of the combination of atopic dermatitis and food allergies, its various degrees of severity depending on these indicators, levels and relationships of the concentration of eosinophils, and interleukin-5 in the presence of psychosocial stress.
 AIM: To study the frequency and severity of the course, skin reactions in patients with atopic dermatitis, with and without food allergies, and levels and correlations of interleukin-5 and eosinophils in the presence of psychosocial stress in patients in the Donbass region.
 MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 165 patients with atopic dermatitis were examined. Questionnaire survey, anamnesis collection, and general clinical and specific allergological examinations were performed, and the levels of interleukin-5, absolute quantity, and percentage of eosinophils in the peripheral blood were determined. Two subgroups of patients with atopic dermatitis were analyzed: 1) those with food allergies and 2) those without food allergies. Persons living in areas with high and low shelling intensities were also identified. Data were statistically processed using the domestic program Medstat (Donetsk).
 RESULTS: In patients with atopic dermatitis, randomly selected from those who applied for an appointment with allergists-immunologists, this disease was combined with food allergy in 81.2% of cases. The severity of atopic dermatitis and eosinophil levels were significantly higher in the group with food allergies. Stable direct reliable correlations of varying strength have been established between the severity of atopic dermatitis (SCORAD index and its indicators) and the absolute quantity, percentage of eosinophils, and interleukin-5 level, as well as between the above laboratory parameters. Differences were found in the frequency of recording eczematous and immediate skin reactions. The residence of patients with atopic dermatitis with and without food allergies in areas that differed in shelling intensity was associated with the severity of atopic dermatitis and the level of eosinophils and interleukin-5.
 CONCLUSION: In most patients, atopic dermatitis is combined with food allergy, and the severity of its combination with food allergy increases. Therefore, reliable correlations of the SCORAD index with blood eosinophilia and interleukin-5 levels are revealed. The severity of atopic dermatitis and biomarkers in both subgroups increased when they lived in areas with high intensity of shelling.

Quantitative profiling of posttranslational modifications of pathological tau via sarkosyl fractionation and mass spectrometry.

Tau protein aggregation is associated with posttranslational modifications (PTMs) in 75% of all dementia cases. The distribution of tau pathology and the presence of specific tau phosphorylation sites of interest are typically visualized and measured using antibodies. However, previous knowledge of the target epitopes is required. Additionally, antibodies can be used in a semi-quantitative manner but cannot be used to determine the absolute amount of tau or the extent of the modifications at specific sites or domains. Here we present a discovery assay that characterizes the global qualitative and quantitative tau modification landscape of a sample without a priori knowledge. Our workflow uses sarkosyl fractionation to extract the pathological tau species from sample-limited brain specimens, followed by mass spectrometry (MS) to characterize and quantify tau PTMs. The two-step MS-based proteomics approach includes an exploratory tau PTM analysis and a targeted full-length expressed stable isotope-labeled tau assay, which monitors specific unmodified tau peptides using a heavy isotope-labeled internal standard as a reference. This enables the absolute quantification of the respective tau peptides and the total tau amount in the sample, thus providing the modification extent of tau PTMs. This approach provides precise, comprehensive, qualitative and quantitative tau PTM profiling of the sample. It also enables the detailed molecular comparison of tau across multiple experiments, including a comparison between neurodegenerative diseases, stages of the disease, human patient heterogeneity and characterization of animal models. The approach is useful for studying the molecular features of pathological tau in neurodegeneration. The procedure requires 7-8 d and is suitable for users with expertise in targeted and untargeted MS-based protein analysis.

Effect of peptides of trophoblastic Β1 glycoprotein on peripheral and local T-regulatory lymphocytes level in Wistar rats with allogeneous bone marrow cell transplantation

Objective. The range of peptide drugs is expanding, but no drug with immunosuppressive activity has yet been found. Considering the fact that the trophoblastic β1-glycoprotein (PSG) is a fetoplacental protein with immunosuppressive activity, short peptide fragments of this protein were studied in the formation of an immune response in a situation of allogeneic cell transplantation. To study the effect of PSG peptides (YECE, YQCE, YVCS, and YACS) on the levels of peripheral and local T-regulatory cells (Treg) during the formation of an immune response to the introduction of allogeneic bone marrow cells (BM) in a dynamic experiment on Wistar rats.
 Materials and methods. We used an original host-versus-graft model in male Wistar rats without preconditioning of recipients. Animals were injected with PSG peptide fragment composition against a background of allogeneic intraperitoneal transplantation of BM cells in a dynamic experiment, in which the following parameters were evaluated: the level of peripheral "true" Tregs (CD4+CD25+FOXP3+), CD4+CD25-FOXP3+ cells, and FOXP3 expression in mesenteric lymph nodes. Material was collected on days 3 and 21 of the experiment.
 Results. PSG peptide administration against a background of allogeneic BM cells was found to reduce the absolute and relative amount of Treg in the peripheral blood of rats on days 3 and 21 of the experiment. PSG peptides against the background of the introduction of allogeneic BM cells reduced the absolute and relative amounts of CD4+CD25-FOXP3+ cells on the day 3 of the experiment. The introduction of PSG peptides against the background of the introduction of BM cells resulted in a relative decrease in FOXP3 expression in the T zone of mesenteric lymph nodes on the day 21 of the experiment.
 Conclusions. Thus, the PSG peptides did not have the expected effect on the level of peripheral and local Treg cells; moreover, the presence of the peptides led to a decrease in the number of these cells.

Features of anthropometric indicators as a phenotypic characteristic of undifferentiated connective tissue dysplasia syndrome

Aim: To determine the association of anthropometric indicators with the severity of dysplastic phenotype in the age group of 14–18 years.Material and Methods. An anthropometric survey of 382 volunteers was conducted according to the recommendations of Norton, Kevin on 54 indicators. Anthropometric numerical data of individual traits, as well as the calculated percentage and absolute amount of fat, muscle and bone components, and, accordingly, the coefficients of the predominance of ecto-, meso- and endomorphic components in the somatotype structure and indices were processed by methods of variational statistics to obtain averages. The analysis of indicators of physical development of adolescents (height for age, body mass index (BMI) for age) was carried out in accordance with the methodological recommendations of the World Health Organization on the Z-score system using the software “WHO AnthroPlus” v.1.0.4. for children 5–19 years old. The degree of severity of the phenotypic signs of undifferentiated connective tissue dysplasia (UCTD) was formed according to the point system, taking into account the presence of professional sports in the daily life of volunteers in the past and present.Results. The minimum severity of the dysplastic phenotype was registered in 20% of cases, the average – in 25% of the examined, pronounced signs of UCTD were observed in 55% of boys and girls. In the structure of anthropometric data, the indicators characterizing UCTD were revealed, especially with a pronounced degree of manifestation: high growth, an increase in chest circumference, the ratio of hand to height, foot to height and arm span to height (p < 0.05). Among the surveyed with pronounced signs of UCTD, 59% were engaged in professional sports, namely high-static, medium-dynamic disciplines (gymnastics, figure skating, volleyball, light and weightlifting). In the vector analysis of the components of the catfish examined with an average degree (7–14 points) and a pronounced UCTD phenotype (more than 14 points) are characterized by large endomorphy and mesomorphy indices (p < 0.05). With an increase in the severity of the UCTD phenotype, an increase in the number and change in the quality of associations of the average score of the scale of phenotypic manifestations with anthropometric parameters was registered.Conclusion. The wide prevalence of phenotypic signs of UCTD in a representative sample of children and adolescents in Tomsk was revealed. The relationship between the frequency of the main signs of UCTD and physical activity has been established. The constitutional features of the physique of persons with preclinical manifestations of UCTD are determined. Associations of the degree of severity of the UCTD phenotype with anthropometric parameters have been recorded. Taking into account the fact of genotypic conditioning of the physique and the hereditary nature of the dysplastic phenotype, as well as the data obtained, an anthropometric examination with the identification of the somatotype can be offered as a screening of UCTD.

Combining Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) with Conventional Treatments for Major Depressive Disorder.

For many of the complementary and alternative (CAM) medicine methods, it is biologically plausible to expect that they could provide additional benefits in the treatment of major depressive disorder (e.g., enhanced initial response, augmentation, and tolerability) when combined with conventional treatments. Although most likely not comprehensively, herein we critically review current explicit clinical data pertaining to the most extensively evaluated CAMs in this setting: physical activity/exercise, mind and body methods, acupuncture, light therapy, diet, probiotics, various nutrients, and herbal preparations. While the absolute amount of data is enormous, the number of reliable primary studies (randomized controlled trials) and, particularly, meaningful meta-analyses of such studies are very limited. Consequently, the certainty of evidence about benefit or no benefit is very low for each of the addressed CAMs.

The controlled engineering of surface oxygen defects on Bi2Zr2O7 compounds for catalytic soot combustion by adjusting the preparation methods.

The quantity of surface oxygen vacancies/defects is critical to promote the reactivity of metal oxide catalysts. Therefore, for the controlled engineering of Bi2Zr2O7 with rich surface defects for soot combustion, four different methods have been adopted. Bi2Zr2O7 compounds with a defective fluorite phase but with varied surface vacancy concentrations have been successfully synthesized by various methods. The best catalyst (Bi2Zr2O7-CP) was fabricated by a facile co-precipitation method. Both O2- and O22- were the active surface sites whose number positively correlated to the number of surface oxygen vacancies and determined the activity. Moreover, a sample with more surface vacancies usually had weaker Zr-O bonds, which could be the intrinsic factor to enhance the activity. In addition, a novel and simple method has been developed to accurately titrate the absolute amount of soot reactive oxygen sites and calculate the TOF values. In conclusion, by optimizing the preparation methods, Bi2Zr2O7 catalysts with rich surface defects can be tuned, which may help in designing more applicable soot oxidation catalysts.