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A varus deformity (VD) of the lower limbs results in greater loading of the medial compartment of the knee joint (KJ), leading to its degenerative changes and, eventually, to progressive osteoarthritis (OA) of the joint. The aim of the study was to investigate the mid-term changes in gait biomechanics and clinical symptoms in patients with VD of KJ and OA before and six months after surgical correction.The study enrolled 25 patients with medial OA of grade 2-3 according to Kellgren-Lawrence and a VD of 3°, who underwent arthroscopic lavage and debridement of the knee joint followed by corrective osteotomy. The control group included 20 healthy adults. Clinical and biomechanical assessments were done twice: immediately prior to and six months after the surgical treatment. Biomechanical parameters of gait were recorded using an inertial sensor system.According to our findings, there was a statistically significant post-operative increase in the knee extension amplitude by 1.4° in female patients and an insignificant extension increase in male patients. The mean postoperative KOOS score was 66.7 points (46 to 91) in the patient group, 67.1 points (54 to 91) in males, and 59.5 points (46 to 64) in females. As early as six months after a valgus osteotomy, we already observed improved biomechanics of the KJ motions compared to pre-operative data. By that time, the swing flexion amplitude of the affected KJ had increased and became symmetrical, which had not been the case before surgery. We observed a total of three changes in the KJ kinematics after surgery: increased swing flexion amplitudes in both KJs, a decreased extension amplitude in the affected KJ, and increased first flexion amplitudes in both KJs.According to our study, the midterm outcomes after a valgus osteotomy showed clinical improvements based on the VAS and KOOS scores, which were however less pronounced than in similar studies with a longer assessment term after surgery. We also found a significant increase in the amplitude of joint extension, but only in females. As the function of the operated joint is concerned, valgus osteotomy restored the kinematics of walking movements to a nearly normal gait with increased first and second flexion amplitudes. The function of KJ becomes symmetric though the non-operative side. Thus, the healthy and functionally more capable side is copying the movement pattern of the affected side. Hence, the non-operative leg is functioning less efficiently than it is required by the walking pace.

Helicity is a useful concept both for $AdS_4$ and CFT${}_3$ studies. We work out the complete $AdS_4/CFT_3$ dictionary for spinning fields/operators in the spinor-helicity base that allows one to scalarize any $n$-point contact vertex. $AdS_4$-vertices encode correlation functions of conserved currents, stress-tensor and, more generally, higher spin currents in a simple way. We work out the dictionary for Yang-Mills- and gravity-type theories with higher derivative corrections as well as some higher spin examples and exemplify the relation to the three-dimensional bosonization duality. The bosonization can be understood as a simple surgery: vertices/correlators are built via an EM-duality transformation by sewing together (anti)-Chiral higher spin gravities, to whose existence the three-dimensional bosonization duality can be attributed., Comment: 39 + Appendices + Biblio = 54 pages

We investigate the swampland distance conjecture in higher-spin gravity. To this end, we study multicritical generalizations of large-$N$ vector models, bosonic and fermionic, and we compute the quantum information distance along selected renormalization-group trajectories toward the higher-spin limit. In striking contrast to the expected exponential decay of higher-spin masses or anomalous dimensions, we find that infinite-distance limits in these models lead to a power-like decay. This suggests that stringy exponential decays are characteristic of matrix-like gauge theories, rather than vector models. We corroborate this notion studying the information distance along coupling variations in Chern-Simons-matter CFTs, where matrix-like degrees of freedom dominate over vector-like ones., 33+9 pages, 8 figures

The work is devoted to the problem of crack formation in thin sublayers of silicon oxide during pulsed heating of interconnects on single-crystal silicon wafers. It was shown that the passage of current pulses with an amplitude of up to 8 × 1010 A/m2 and a duration of up to 500 μs leads to thermal destruction of the interconnects and contributes to the formation of microcracks in SiO2 films along the metallization path. The magnitude of the mechanical stresses arising in the structure during thermal shock is estimated. It is shown that in contrast to SiO2 films, the level of mechanical stresses in silicon is insufficient for cracking near the source of thermal shock. It was also found that the nature of cracking in a dielectric film depends on the quality of the deposition of the dielectric film and the metal film, as well as the state of the dielectric-metal interface.

Purpose Treatment of muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) remains challenging, especially for elderly and/or comorbid patients. Patients who are unfit for or refuse surgery should receive bladder-preserving multimodality treatment (BPMT), consisting of transurethral resection of the bladder tumor (TURB) followed by combined chemoradiotherapy (CRT). We aimed to investigate the effectiveness of vinorelbine, a chemotherapeutic agent not routinely used for MIBC, in patients referred to CRT who are unfit for standard chemotherapy and would thus rely solely on radiotherapy (RT). Methods We retrospectively analyzed 52 consecutive patients with MIBC who received standard CRT with cisplatin (n = 14), CRT with vinorelbine (n = 26), or RT alone (n = 12). Primary endpoints were median overall survival (OS) and median cancer-specific survival (CSS). Secondary endpoints were median local control (LC), median distant control (DC), and OS, CSS, LC, and DC after 1, 2, and 3 years, respectively. Results Median OS and CSS were significantly higher for patients who received vinorelbine as compared to RT alone (OS 8 vs. 22 months, p = 0.003; CSS 11 months vs. not reached, p = 0.001). Median LC and DC did not differ significantly between groups. Vinorelbine was well tolerated with no reported side effects >grade II. Conclusion Our results suggest that CRT with vinorelbine is well tolerated and superior to RT alone in terms of OS and CSS. Therefore, this treatment regime might constitute a new treatment option for patients with MIBC who are unfit for or refuse surgery or standard chemotherapy. This study encourages a randomized controlled trial to compare this new regime to current standard therapies.

Using the Schwinger-Keldysh-formalism, reformulated in arXiv:2108.01695 as an effective field theory in Euclidean anti-de Sitter, we evaluate the one-loop cosmological four-point function of a conformally coupled interacting scalar field in de Sitter. Recasting the Witten cosmological correlator as flat space Feynman integrals, we evaluate the one-loop cosmological four-point functions in de Sitter space in terms of single-valued multiple polylogarithms. From it we derive anomalous dimensions and OPE coefficients of the dual conformal field theory at space-like, future infinity. In particular, we find an interesting degeneracy in the anomalous dimensions relating operators of neighboring spins., 47 pages. v2: minor corrections. Version published in JHEP

There exists a natural $L_\infty$-algebra or $Q$-manifold that can be associated to any (gauge) field theory. Perturbatively, it can be obtained by reducing the $L_\infty$-algebra behind the jet space BV-BRST formulation to its minimal model. We explicitly construct the minimal models of self-dual Yang-Mills and self-dual gravity theories, which also represents their equations of motion as Free Differential Algebras. The minimal model regains all relevant information about the field theory, e.g. actions, charges, anomalies, can be understood in terms of the corresponding $Q$-cohomology., 23 pages + Appendices + Refs = 40 pages

The exportation of fast reactors with a closed nuclear fuel cycle to countries that do not have nuclear weapons could commence within the next few decades, which will require strengthening the non-proliferation regime and improving the effectiveness of IAEA safeguards. Both requirements can be achieved by improving the system of accounting and management of nuclear materials and the reliability of their physical protection. It is well known that the current errors of the accounting and control system do not guarantee the implementation of the non-proliferation regime. The achievable errors and the required time and labor will have to be determined so that the accounting and control system would allow a conclusion about unauthorized interference in the fuel reprocessing process and, consequently, compliance/violation of the nonproliferation regime. The system of physical protection of nuclear material is better prepared for monitoring the non-proliferation regime, but additional studies of its stability on the territory of the importing state are needed.

The local behavior of mappings with the inverse Poletsky inequality between metric spaces is studied. The case where one of the spaces satisfies the condition of weak sphericalization, is similar to the Riemannian sphere (extended Euclidean space), and is locally linearly connected under a mapping is considered. It is proved that the equicontinuity of the corresponding families of mappings of two domains, one of which is a domain with a weakly flat boundary, and another one is a fixed domain with a compact closure, the corresponding weight in the main inequality being supposed to be integrable.

Synthesis of new bis(seleno-imidazolone) derivatives bearing the alkyl and aryl moieties at the N(1) atom of the five-membered ring was developed. Cytotoxicity of the synthesized compounds against A549, VA-13, MCF-7, and HEK293T cell lines was evaluated.

We obtain analogs of the results on equicontinuity of families of quasiregular mappings that take no values from a fixed continuum. We prove that these families are equicontinuous whenever the quasiconformality characteristics of the mappings have finite mean oscillation at every inner point. In this context, we also prove the equicontinuity of generalized quasiisometries of Riemannian manifolds.

New 3,5-disubstituted-1,2,4-thiadiazoles were synthesized and together with a series of their analogs obtained earlier were tested for cytotoxic activity to breast adenocarcinoma MCF-7 and lung carcinoma A 549 cells. The selectivity of cytotoxic action was determined in comparison to etiologically noncancerous breast epithelial cells MCF-10A and lung fibroblasts VA13. From five- to six-fold selectivity of cytotoxic action was revealed for 3,4-dichlorophenyl-{3-[2-(2-morpholin-4-ylethylamino)propyl]-[1,2,4]thiadiazol-5-yl}amine and (2-{5-[(4-diethylami-nobenzyl)pyridin-3-ylmethylamino]-[1,2,4]thiadiazol-3-yl}-1-methylvinyl)-(2,2,6,6-tetra-methylpiperidin-4-yl)amine in the pairs A 549/VA13 and MCF-7/MCF-10A, respectively. Some structure—property relationships for the compounds under study were discussed.

The Delta (B.1.617.2) variant was the predominant UK circulating SARS-CoV-2 strain between May and December 2021. How Delta infection compares with previous variants is unknown. This prospective observational cohort study assessed symptomatic adults participating in the app-based COVID Symptom Study who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 from May 26 to July 1, 2021 (Delta overwhelmingly the predominant circulating UK variant), compared (1:1, age- and sex-matched) with individuals presenting from December 28, 2020 to May 6, 2021 (Alpha (B.1.1.7) the predominant variant). We assessed illness (symptoms, duration, presentation to hospital) during Alpha- and Delta-predominant timeframes; and transmission, reinfection, and vaccine effectiveness during the Delta-predominant period. 3581 individuals (aged 18 to 100 years) from each timeframe were assessed. The seven most frequent symptoms were common to both variants. Within the first 28 days of illness, some symptoms were more common with Delta versus Alpha infection (including fever, sore throat, and headache) and some vice versa (dyspnoea). Symptom burden in the first week was higher with Delta versus Alpha infection; however, the odds of any given symptom lasting ≥ 7 days was either lower or unchanged. Illness duration ≥ 28 days was lower with Delta versus Alpha infection, though unchanged in unvaccinated individuals. Hospitalisation for COVID-19 was unchanged. The Delta variant appeared more (1.49) transmissible than Alpha. Re-infections were low in all UK regions. Vaccination markedly reduced the risk of Delta infection (by 69-84%). We conclude that COVID-19 from Delta or Alpha infections is similar. The Delta variant is more transmissible than Alpha; however, current vaccines showed good efficacy against disease. This research framework can be useful for future comparisons with new emerging variants.

Dispersion of a passive tracer by water waves is of significant importance for many scientific and technological problems including bio-diversity of marine life, ecological impact of anthropogenic incidents, planning of rescue operation and global oceanic transport. Formally, turbulent dispersion of a passive tracer by surface waves is a Brownian motion caused by a prescribed noise, viz., random fluctuations of the wave field. From this perspective, it is similar to the conventional dispersion by tracer particles by turbulent flows initially described in the seminal work of Richardson, Taylor and Obukhov. The additional challenges of this problem are imposed by the complexity of the underlining wave field—different dispersion relations and correlation structure, directionality and its spread, wave breaking—and this complexity necessitates further theoretical and experimental research. The aim of the present study is experimental validation of scaling relations for the mean drift and mean variance of tracer particles predicted by the wave turbulence theory. We report results of a set of targeted experiments in a large three-dimensional wave tank where the positions of the tracer particles—modelled as surface drifters—were tracked down with optical cameras. The experimental data are analysed and discussed in the light of the weak turbulence theory.