Pronounced Gain Research Articles

Thermal Oxidation Characteristics and Kinetics of Micron Aluminum Powder in Different Ambient Oxygen Concentration Atmospheres

This paper examines the effect of oxygen concentration on the oxidation process and properties of aluminum particles, providing valuable insights for production and storage. Micron-grade aluminum powders were tested at heating rates of 5, 7.5, 10, and 15 K/min under oxygen concentrations of 7, 11, 15, 21, and 30 vol%. Results indicate a two-step mass gain oxidation process, with less pronounced mass gain at lower oxygen concentrations. SEM and XRD characterized the morphological and crystalline changes during oxidation. Lowering oxygen concentration from 30 vol% to 7 vol% increased the onset oxidation temperature by 17.1 °C. Increasing the proportion of inert gas in the atmosphere increases the ignition temperature of aluminum powder. The mathematical modeling approach of AKTS was used to decouple and analyze the thermal effects of simultaneous melting and oxidation, using the Friedman method to show that the apparent activation energy is about 350 kJ/mol in low-oxygen atmospheres (7 vol% and 11 vol%). The kinetics of aluminum oxidation were found to be closely related to the oxygen concentration, and based on the kinetics parameter, it is possible to predict a minimum limiting oxygen concentration.

Presaccadic Attention Depends on Eye Movement Direction and Is Related to V1 Cortical Magnification.

With every saccadic eye movement, humans bring new information into their fovea to be processed with high visual acuity. Notably, perception is enhanced already before a relevant item is foveated: During saccade preparation, presaccadic attention shifts to the upcoming fixation location, which can be measured via behavioral correlates such as enhanced visual performance or modulations of sensory feature tuning. The coupling between saccadic eye movements and attention is assumed to be robust and mandatory and considered a mechanism facilitating the integration of pre- and postsaccadic information. However, until recently it had not been investigated as a function of saccade direction. Here, we measured contrast response functions during fixation and saccade preparation in male and female observers and found that the pronounced response gain benefit typically elicited by presaccadic attention is selectively lacking before upward saccades at the group level-some observers even showed a cost. Individual observer's sensitivity before upward saccades was negatively related to their amount of surface area in primary visual cortex representing the saccade target, suggesting a potential compensatory mechanism that optimizes the use of the limited neural resources processing the upper vertical meridian. Our results raise the question of how perceptual continuity is achieved and how upward saccades can be accurately targeted despite the lack of-theoretically required-presaccadic attention.

Effects of Diet Macronutrient Composition on Weight Loss during Caloric Restriction and Subsequent Weight Regain during Refeeding in Aging Mice.

Caloric restriction (CR) induces weight loss, but is associated with rapid weight regain upon return to ad libitum feeding. Our aim was to investigate effects of the macronutrient composition of the diet on weight loss and regain in elderly mice. Males, 18 months old, of the C57BL/6J strain were subjected to 4-week 30% CR followed by 4 weeks of ad libitum refeeding on either high-carb (HC), high-fat (HF) or high-protein (HP) diets (n = 22 each). Mice (n = 11) fed a chow diet ad libitum served as a control group (CON). Body mass and food intake were monitored daily. Twenty-four-hour indirect calorimetry was used to assess energy expenditure and substrate oxidation. Muscle and fat mass were evaluated with dissection of the tissues. Serum leptin and ghrelin levels were also measured. CR-induced weight loss did not differ between the diets. Weight regain was particularly fast for HF as mice overshot their initial weight by 12.8 ± 5.7% after 4-week refeeding when HC and HP mice reached the weight of the CON group. Weight regain strongly correlated with energy intake across the groups. The respiratory exchange ratio was lower in HF mice (0.81 ± 0.03) compared to HC (0.94 ± 0.06, p < 0.001), HP (0.89 ± 0.04, p < 0.001) and CON mice (0.91 ± 0.06, p < 0.01) during the refeeding. Serum leptin levels were higher in HF mice (1.03 ± 0.50 ng/mL) compared to HC (0.46 ± 0.14, p < 0.001), HP (0.63 ± 0.28, p < 0.05) or CON mice (0.41 ± 0.14, p < 0.001). Thus, CR induces similar weight loss in aging mice irrespective of the diet's macronutrient composition. An HF diet leads to excessive energy intake and pronounced gain in body fat in spite of increased fat oxidation and serum leptin during the refeeding after CR.

Metabolic syndrome as an actual health problem (analytical review)

Metabolic syndrome among different age groups is one of the priority problems of modern health care in many countries. Currently, the medical and social significance of the metabolic syndrome is related o the high specific weight among the causes of disability and mortality, which, along with this, is the leading risk factor for cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, diseases, diabetes mellitus and their complications. The high prevalence of metabolic syndrome in the world ranges from 44.9% in Japan to 50.9% in Spain. Due to the continued increase in the proportion of the elderly and senile population, a further increase in the incidence of metabolic syndrome is predicted, and a pronounced gain in health care costs for outpatient and inpatient medical care. &#x0D; The purpose of the study is to analyze the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome and its components according to the data of domestic and foreign reports. &#x0D; Russian and foreign scientific reports, monographs, and collections of articles for 2003–2019 were retrospectively studied using computer search engines and peer-reviewed journals in international databases (Scopus, Web of Sciences). As a result of the search, 164 articles were selected for analysis, from which 128 works and materials were excluded due to incomplete information, unrepresentative sampling, and other reasons.36 publications served as the basis for this study. &#x0D; An enlargement in the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in various countries, including Russia, with an increase in the age of the population in combination with arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, in the risk of developing cardiovascular complications by 2–3 times in the combination of metabolic syndrome with arterial hypertension and by 5 times-with diabetes mellitus. &#x0D; Data on the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome will allow health care managers implementing preventive measures and, above all, to correct modifiable risk factors for the metabolic syndrome, such as obesity and hypertension, which are the most common components of the metabolic syndrome

Self-mixing interference in a thin-slice solid-state laser with few feedback photons per observation period

Formation of a peculiar lasing pattern leading to a TEM00-like mode accompanied by a nonzero bright outer-ring emission (namely, a modified TEM00 mode) was observed in a 300-\mu m-thick LiNdP4O12 (LNP) laser with reflective flat end mirrors that was pumped with a laser diode whose focused spot size was larger than the lasing beam spot size determined by the thermal lens effect. The photon lifetimes of the laser oscillations were found to be greatly shortened to \tau_{p} = 6.74 ps as compared with those in pure TEM00 mode operation, while the fluorescence lifetime was \tau = 130 \mu s. The formation of the peculiar transverse mode was theoretically treated in terms of the pump-intensity-dependent thermal lens effect, which yields the lasing beam spot sizes in the resultant optical cavity. In addition, transverse spatial hole burning of population inversions due to the preceding transverse eigenmode intensity and the associated anti-guidance of the pure TEM00 field leading to formation of the TEM00 with an emergent outer ring emission was shown to appear with increasing pump power through the electric lens (i.e., population lens) effect, in which almost all of the population inversion contributes to lasing with a pronounced effective modal gain. Self-mixing laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV) experiments and numerical simulations revealed that spontaneous emission factors in the peculiar mode oscillations were greatly decreased in comparison with those in pure TEM00 mode operation. The present thin-slice solid-state laser possessing a large fluorescence-to-photon lifetime and decreased spontaneous emission factor enabled us to detect LDV signals in the regime of few feedback photons per observation period.

Analysis of Organic Rankine Cycle efficiency and vapor generator heat transfer surface in function of the reduced pressure

In the paper presented is analysis of the influence of reduced pressure on efficiency and heat transfer area of vapor generator of Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) in case of subcritical and supercritical parameters of operation. Compared are two cases of subcritical and supercritical ORC featuring a similar arrangement of heat source supply and heat removal, that is featuring the same temperatures of working fluid before the turbine, and the same condensation temperature in the respective cycles. The analysis is helpful in selection of the appropriate pressure in the vapor generator. In accomplished analyses a selection of wet ORC working fluids are scrutinized for a given range of heat source temperatures with respect to influence on efficiency of thermodynamic cycle and vapor generator area of heat transfer on installation and operation costs to illustrate the issue. Investment cost of a vapor generator in the ORC cycle accounts for a main share of expenditure alongside the cost of the expanding machine. Results of calculations show that from the point of view of cycle efficiency and size of vapor generator the pressures close to critical fluid pressure are usually optimal. Some working fluids feature even an optimal pressure. For the region close to critical point authors elaborated own method for heat transfer coefficients elaboration, which is useful in more exact estimations of heat transfer process in vapor generator. In case of a heat source with a relatively high temperature, it is better to consider a thermodynamic cycle with supercritical parameters even if as a result the vapor generator is slightly larger than for the case of a subcritical cycle. There will always be a more pronounced gain in efficiency compared to the expense induced by the heat transfer surface area of vapor generator.

DYNAMICS OF GOOSE GROWTH WITH THE COMBINED USE OF PROBIOTIC VETOM 1 AND ENROFLAXACIN

This article presents data on the effect of the probiotic preparation Vetom 1 based on the spore-forming bacteria strain Bacillus subtilis DSM 32424. The authors also presented the combined effect of Vetom 1 and a 10 % enrofloxacin solution on the growth rate of geese. Throughout the experiment, the geese were kept in floor cages on deep, non-replaceable bedding. The authors formed three experimental and control groups of 10 goslings each according to the principle of peer pairing. The goslings of the experimental groups were given the probiotic Vetom 1; Vetom 1 in combination with enrofloxacin with subsequent replacement by the probiotic Vetom 1. Geese of the control group were not given the drug. The authors observed an increase in the absolute weight and average daily gain of the experimental geese under the effect of the studied preparations. The authors found a pronounced mass gain when applying Vetom 1 at a dose of 50 mg/kg body weight once a day for 30 days. When using Vetom 1, a pronounced average daily gain in goslings was observed both on day 15 and during the period of the drugs after action (day 30-60). The preparations in the studied doses have no toxic effect on the body of geese.

Entrainment of somatosensory beta and gamma oscillations accompany improvement in tactile acuity after periodic and aperiodic repetitive sensory stimulation

Previous research showed that repetitive sensory stimulation entrains neural oscillations at the stimulation rate, facilitates long-term potentiation like perceptual learning, and improves behavioural performance. For example, short-time repetitive tactile stimulation improved tactile acuity measured with two-point or spatial orientation discrimination tests. The behavioural gain was maximal for a stimulation rate of 20 Hz, the same frequency at which repetitive somatosensory stimulation elicits a steady-state response with maximum amplitude. The current study investigated whether sensory stimulation must be strictly periodic to induce perceptual learning and whether the 20-Hz steady-state response plays a crucial role in the neural mechanisms of perceptual learning. In a crossover-designed experiment, young, healthy adults received sensory stimulation to the fingertip on three subsequent days. The stimulation was either periodic or temporally randomized (aperiodic) with the same number of stimuli. Tactile acuity was assessed with a grating orientation discrimination task, and brain activity was measured with magnetoencephalography (MEG). Stimulus type-by-session interactions were found for behavioural and brain data. Tactile acuity improved more after a session with aperiodic than periodic stimulation. Beta-band 20-Hz steady-state responses were localized in the primary somatosensory cortex contralateral to the stimulated finger and had larger amplitudes after periodic than aperiodic stimulation. Both stimulus types also elicited gamma oscillations, which increased in amplitude more with aperiodic than periodic stimulation. Sensory stimuli caused a phase reset of sensorimotor beta oscillations phase-coupled to alpha oscillations. The system of stimulus-related oscillations was discussed as underlying temporal processing. Learning may result from facilitating the temporal code. More pronounced behavioural gain with aperiodic than periodic stimulation suggests beneficial effects of temporal stimulus variability for perceptual learning.

Effects of acetazolamide on control of breathing in sleep apnea patients: Mechanistic insights using meta-analyses and physiological model simulations.

Obstructive and central sleep apnea affects ~1 billion people globally and may lead to serious cardiovascular and neurocognitive consequences, but treatment options are limited. High loop gain (ventilatory instability) is a major pathophysiological mechanism underlying both types of sleep apnea and can be lowered pharmacologically with acetazolamide, thereby improving sleep apnea severity. However, individual responses vary and are strongly correlated with the loop gain reduction achieved by acetazolamide. To aid with patient selection for long‐term trials and clinical care, our goal was to understand better the factors that determine the change in loop gain following acetazolamide in human subjects with sleep apnea. Thus, we (i) performed several meta‐analyses to clarify how acetazolamide affects ventilatory control and loop gain (including its primary components controller/plant gain), and based on these results, we (ii) performed physiological model simulations to assess how different baseline conditions affect the change in loop gain. Our results suggest that (i) acetazolamide primarily causes a left shift of the chemosensitivity line thus lowering plant gain without substantially affecting controller gain; and (ii) higher controller gain, higher paCO2 at eupneic ventilation, and lower CO2 production at baseline result in a more pronounced loop gain reduction with acetazolamide. In summary, the combination of mechanistic meta‐analyses with model simulations provides a unified framework of acetazolamide’s effects on ventilatory control and revealed physiological predictors of response, which are consistent with empirical observations of acetazolamide's effects in different sleep apnea subgroups. Prospective studies are needed to validate these predictors and assess their value for patient selection.

Stimulus Contrast Affects Spatial Integration in the Lateral Geniculate Nucleus of Macaque Monkeys.

Gain-control mechanisms adjust neuronal responses to accommodate the wide range of stimulus conditions in the natural environment. Contrast gain control and extraclassical surround suppression are two manifestations of gain control that govern the responses of neurons in the early visual system. Understanding how these two forms of gain control interact has important implications for the detection and discrimination of stimuli across a range of contrast conditions. Here, we report that stimulus contrast affects spatial integration in the lateral geniculate nucleus of alert macaque monkeys (male and female), whereby neurons exhibit a reduction in the strength of extraclassical surround suppression and an expansion in the preferred stimulus size with low-contrast stimuli compared with high-contrast stimuli. Effects were greater for magnocellular neurons than for parvocellular neurons, indicating stream-specific interactions between stimulus contrast and stimulus size. Within the magnocellular pathway, contrast-dependent effects were comparable for ON-center and OFF-center neurons, despite ON neurons having larger receptive fields, less pronounced surround suppression, and more pronounced contrast gain control than OFF neurons. Together, these findings suggest that the parallel streams delivering visual information from retina to primary visual cortex, serve not only to broaden the range of signals delivered to cortex, but also to provide a substrate for differential interactions between stimulus contrast and stimulus size that may serve to improve stimulus detection and stimulus discrimination under pathway-specific lower and higher contrast conditions, respectively.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Stimulus contrast is a salient feature of visual scenes. Here we examine the influence of stimulus contrast on spatial integration in the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN). Our results demonstrate that increases in contrast generally increase extraclassical suppression and decrease the size of optimal stimuli, indicating a reduction in the extent of visual space from which LGN neurons integrate signals. Differences between magnocellular and parvocellular neurons are noteworthy and further demonstrate that the feedforward parallel pathways to cortex increase the range of information conveyed for downstream cortical processing, a range broadened by diversity in the ON and OFF pathways. These results have important implications for more complex visual processing that underly the detection and discrimination of stimuli under varying natural conditions.

Ganho ósseo apical a longo prazo após Instalação do implante combinado com elevação do seio maxilar sem enxerto.

Fundo: Avaliar as alterações na altura óssea apical / ganho ósseo por até 8 anos após a colocação do implante combinada com elevação simultânea do seio interno do assoalho do seio (ISFE) sem o uso de enxerto.&#x0D; Métodos: 217 implantes foram colocados em combinação com ISFE sem enxerto e integrados com sucesso na maxila posterior de 138 pacientes. As radiografias após a cirurgia ao longo de um período de avaliação de até 8 anos foram analisadas. Alterações na altura óssea apical e marginal relacionadas aos implantes foram medidas. As diferenças na altura óssea ao longo do período do estudo foram avaliadas pelo teste de Wilcoxon. Para identificar possíveis fatores de influência no ganho ósseo apical e perda óssea marginal, foram realizadas seleções de regressão linear regressiva e modelos de regressão linear mista.&#x0D; Resultados: Nos aspectos apicais dos implantes, observou-se ganho ósseo vertical médio significativo de 2,4 mm (mesial) e 2,6 mm (distal) após 6 meses ( p &lt; 0,05). A análise radiográfica produziu ganho ósseo adicional de até aproximadamente 3,5 mm durante o período do estudo. A altura óssea inicial pequena foi cruzada com ganho ósseo apical mais pronunciado ( p &lt; 0,05).&#x0D; Conclusões: Se os implantes forem colocados combinados com o ISFE sem enxerto, pode-se esperar um ganho ósseo vertical significativo, especialmente no primeiro ano pós-operatório. Menor altura óssea inicial está associada a uma maior probabilidade de maior ganho ósseo.

Long-term apical bone gain after implant placement combined with internal sinus-floor elevation without graft

BackgroundTo assess changes in apical bone height/bone gain over up to 8 years after implant placement combined with simultaneous internal sinus-floor elevation (ISFE) without use of graft.Methods217 implants were placed in combination with graft-free ISFE and successfully healed in the posterior maxilla of 138 patients. Radiographs after surgery across an evaluation time of up to 8 years were analyzed. Changes in apical and marginal bone height related to the implants were measured. Differences in bone height over the study period were evaluated by use of Wilcoxon tests. To identify possible influencing factors on apical bone gain and marginal bone loss, backward linear regression variable selections and linear mixed regression models were performed.ResultsAt the apical aspects of the implants, significant mean vertical bone gain of 2.4 mm (mesial) and 2.6 mm (distal) was observed after 6 months (p < 0.05). Radiographic analysis yielded additional bone gain of up to approximately 3.5 mm over the study period. Small initial bone height was crossed with more pronounced apical bone gain (p < 0.05).ConclusionsIf implants are placed combined with graft-free ISFE, significant vertical bone gain, especially in the first year post-op, can be expected. Smaller initial bone height is associated with a higher likelihood for greater bone gain.

Modulation of the Self-Assembly of π-Amphiphiles in Water from Enthalpy- to Entropy-Driven by Enwrapping Substituents.

Depending on the connectivity of solubilizing oligoethylene glycol (OEG) side chains to the π‐cores of amphiphilic naphthalene and perylene bisimide dyes, self‐assembly in water occurs either upon heating or cooling. Herein, we show that this effect originates from differences in the enwrapping capability of the π‐cores by the OEG chains. Rylene bisimides bearing phenyl substituents with three OEG chains attached directly to the hydrophobic π‐cores are strongly sequestered by the OEG chains. These molecules self‐assemble at elevated temperatures in an entropy‐driven process according to temperature‐ and concentration‐dependent UV/Vis spectroscopy and calorimetric dilution studies. In contrast, for rylene bisimides in which phenyl substituents with three OEG chains are attached via a methylene spacer, leading to much weaker sequestration, self‐assembly originates upon cooling in an enthalpy‐driven process. Our explanation for this controversial behavior is that the aggregation in the latter case is dictated by the release of “high energy water” from the hydrophobic π‐surfaces as well as dispersion interactions between the π‐scaffolds which drive the self‐assembly in an enthalpically driven process. In contrast, for the former case we suggest that in addition to the conventional explanation of a dehydration of hydrogen‐bonded water molecules from OEG units it is in particular the increase in conformational entropy of back‐folded OEG side chains upon aggregation that provides the pronounced gain in entropy that drives the aggregation process. Thus, our studies revealed that a subtle change in the attachment of solubilizing substituents can switch the thermodynamic signature for the self‐assembly of amphiphilic dyes in water from enthalpy‐ to entropy‐driven.

SAT-587 Molecular Markers of Beige Adipose Following ESR1 Knockdown in the Mediobasal Hypothalamus of Adult Female Rhesus Monkeys

Our studies in female marmoset monkeys show that the ablation of ovarian estradiol (E2) production fails to alter energy homeostasis or body fat accumulation. Peripheral E2 may therefore not play a crucial role in metabolic regulation in female primates. shRNA-mediated knockdown of ESR1 expression in the hypothalamic ventromedial nucleus (VMN) in adult female rodents, however, induces obesity and suggests ESR1 is a hypothalamic target for E2 regulation of energy homeostasis, and likely mediates thermogenesis in brown/beige adipose depots. In female primates, including humans, the hypothalamic estrogen receptor mediating metabolic regulation is unknown. To test the hypothesis that ESR1 mediates female primate regulation of energy homeostasis, 11 ovary intact, adult female rhesus macaques, pair housed with female peers, received five 12µl MRI-guided MBH infusions into the rostral-to-caudal extent of both right and left VMN. Each infusion comprised a gadolinium contrast agent and ~3–4 x 1010 adeno-associated virus 8 (AAV8) particles containing either an shRNA specific for ESR1 (n=6, ERaKD) or scrambled shRNA (n=5, control). Mid-surgery MRI scans identified targeting accuracy. ~ 1.5 yrs following AAV8 infusion, pronounced gain in BMI enabled conversion of 83% of ERaKD females to overweight/obese compared to 20% of controls (p=0.08). Percent increase in BMI remained intermittently greater (p<0.05) than controls thereafter. Adipose depots were harvested at necropsy ~2.5–3 yrs following treatment. Total RNA was isolated using the Qiagen AllPrep DNA/RNA/miRNA Universal kit. RNA was reverse transcribed with High-Capacity cDNA Reverse Transcription kit (Applied Biosystems). All quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) were performed on a StepOnePlus System using Power SYBR Green master mix (Applied Biosystems). Primer sequences were designed using NCBI Primer-Blast. Expression of TATA-box binding protein (TBP) was used as the internal control housekeeping gene. The relative expression of target genes was measured using the comparative cycle threshold (Ct) method with results expressed as target mRNA expression relative to TBP using the formula 2^-delta Ct. Upper body beige adipose represents an organ system in primates, including humans, involved in thermogenesis. Axillary beige adipose depots in ERaKD females, however, did not exhibit significantly diminished gene expression for selected markers of beige adipocytes, including PAT2, CD137 and C/EBPβ, compared to control females. More crucially, thermogenically relevant UCP1 expression also did not differ between ERaKD females and controls. Taken together, these results suggest that knockdown of VMN ESR1 in adult female monkeys, while inducing modest weight gain after 1.5 years, may not markedly alter beige adipose gene expression of initially selected thermogenically relevant genes.

Full mtDNA genome sequencing of Brazilian admixed populations: A forensic-focused evaluation of a MPS application as an alternative to Sanger sequencing methods

The use of Massive Parallel Sequencing (MPS) techniques have been proposed by the forensic community as an alternative to Sanger sequencing methods in routine forensic casework analysis regarding mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). Interesting features of MPS include high throughput, ability to simultaneously genotype a significant number of samples by barcoding techniques, processing automation, reduced time and costs, among others. Advantages include the capability of generating full mtDNA genome sequences versus usual techniques, usually limited to hypervariable or control regions exclusively. In this work, 96 reference single-source samples from three different Brazilian cities were subjected to full mtDNA genome sequencing by MPS techniques using an early-access version of Precision ID mtDNA Whole Genome Panel on an Ion Torrent PGM platform (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA). Complete, high-quality sequences were obtained and sequencing performance was evaluated via four different metrics. As a subset of evaluated samples have been previously submitted for Sanger sequencing of the control region, a comparative analysis of both methods’ results was conducted in order to compare technique adequacy within a forensic context. Even though this study is one of the first to report full mtDNA genome sequences for Brazilian admixed populations, the observed haplotypes exhibit a predominance of Native American and African maternal lineages in the studied sample set, reproducing results described in the literature for control regions only. Interpopulation analysis among Brazilian and 26 worldwide populations was also carried out. The results indicate that MPS-generated full mtDNA genome sequences may have great utility in forensic real casework applications, with a pronounced gain of genetic information and discrimination power provided by coding region evaluation and the enhanced capacity of heteroplasmies determination. Database construction and other relevant factors concerning implementation of such techniques in Brazilian forensic laboratories are also discussed.

DYNAMICS OF INDICES OF THE STATE OF HEALTH OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS IN THE CITY OF ST. PETERSBURG FOR 20 YEARS

The objective of the research was to study the dynamics of health indices of children and adolescents of the city of Saint Petersburg for 20 years. We analyzed official statistical data of general and primary morbidity rate of children aged of 0-14 years and adolescents aged 15-17 years, the incidence of chronic diseases in schoolchildren (7-17 years), as well as there was held a comparative analysis of the health state of senior schoolchildren in 5 Saint Petersburg schools with advanced content of education based on indices of the pathological prevalence rate, physical development, non-specific resistance, adaptation status. The study was executed according to approved standard methods. In the study, over a 20-year period there was revealed a steady trend of health deterioration of children and adolescent population of the city as a whole, and schoolchildren enrolled in the program with advanced content of education as well. The prevalence rate of diseases in children has increased by 72.0%, while primary morbidity increased by 70.4%. Adolescents aged 15-17 years showed more pronounced gain of indices than in children, the level of general and primary morbidity rate has increased by 2 times. In the structure of general and primary morbidity of children and adolescents first ranking places were held by respiratory diseases, injuries, poisoning, diseases of the skin and subcutaneous tissue. In chronic morbidity of schoolchildren there were prevailed diseases of the musculoskeletal system, diseases of the eye and its appendages, respiratory diseases. There was established the gain in the pathological prevalence rate in schoolchildren with advanced content of education. In the majority of the surveyed high school students there were diagnosed polysystemic changes in health status. Negative trends in the health status of children and adolescents of the city of Saint - Petersburg were confirmed by indices of nonspecific resistance: immunological tests, key elements of protective enzyme systems of the body. In order to stabilize the growth of children and adolescent incidence there were suggested directions of prevention work.

Free-space Ν2+ lasers generated in strong laser fields: the role of molecular vibration.

We investigate free-space lasing actions from molecular nitrogen ions (N2+) at the wavelengths of ~391 nm and ~428 nm. Our results show that pronounced gain can be measured at either 391 nm or 428 nm laser wavelength with a pump laser centered at 800 nm wavelength, whereas the gain at 391 nm laser wavelength completely disappears when the wavelength of the pump laser is tuned to 1500 nm. Our theoretical analysis reveals that the different gain behaviors can be attributed to the vibrational distribution of populations in X2Σg+(v=0) and X2Σg+(v=1) states as the N2+ ions are generated by photoionization in the laser fields, giving rise to more robust (i.e., less sensitive to the pump laser wavelength) population inversion for generating the 428 nm laser.

Pathophysiological mechanisms of neuropathic pain: comparison of sensory phenotypes in patients and human surrogate pain models

As an indirect approach to relate previously identified sensory phenotypes of patients suffering from peripheral neuropathic pain to underlying mechanisms, we used a published sorting algorithm to estimate the prevalence of denervation, peripheral and central sensitization in 657 healthy subjects undergoing experimental models of nerve block (NB) (compression block and topical lidocaine), primary hyperalgesia (PH) (sunburn and topical capsaicin), or secondary hyperalgesia (intradermal capsaicin and electrical high-frequency stimulation), and in 902 patients suffering from neuropathic pain. Some of the data have been previously published. Randomized split-half analysis verified a good concordance with a priori mechanistic sensory profile assignment in the training (79%, Cohen κ = 0.54, n = 265) and the test set (81%, Cohen κ = 0.56, n = 279). Nerve blocks were characterized by pronounced thermal and mechanical sensory loss, but also mild pinprick hyperalgesia and paradoxical heat sensations. Primary hyperalgesia was characterized by pronounced gain for heat, pressure and pinprick pain, and mild thermal sensory loss. Secondary hyperalgesia was characterized by pronounced pinprick hyperalgesia and mild thermal sensory loss. Topical lidocaine plus topical capsaicin induced a combined phenotype of NB plus PH. Topical menthol was the only model with significant cold hyperalgesia. Sorting of the 902 patients into these mechanistic phenotypes led to a similar distribution as the original heuristic clustering (65% identity, Cohen κ = 0.44), but the denervation phenotype was more frequent than in heuristic clustering. These data suggest that sorting according to human surrogate models may be useful for mechanism-based stratification of neuropathic pain patients for future clinical trials, as encouraged by the European Medicines Agency.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF BREAST CANCER PREVALENCE RATE OF THE OF URBAN AND RURAL FEMALE POPULATION OF THE REPUBLIC OF KHAKASSIA

In article the comparative characteristic of a morbidity rate of the breast cancer (BC) of urban and rural female population of the Republic of Khakassia in 1999-2013 is given. The main tendencies of the dynamics of a BC prevalence rate are revealed: the more pronounced gain in the morbidity rate of the urban population (Abakan), the significant growth in the prevalence rate in the female population of districts of the Republic; the increase of the number of cases in working-age women

Short-term vision gains at 12 weeks correlate with long-term vision gains at 2 years: results from the BEVORDEX randomised clinical trial of bevacizumab versus dexamethasone implants for diabetic macular oedema

AimTo determine whether early vision gains predict long-term visual outcomes in the BEVORDEX randomised clinical trial of bevacizumab or dexamethasone implants for diabetic macular oedema.MethodsPost hoc analysis of 68 study...