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Yesso scallop (Patinopecten yessoensis) is one of the most important cultured mollusc in China. However, the diseases of Yesso scallops, especially abscess disease, occurred frequently and led to massive mortality in recent years. In the present study, 20 bacterial strains were isolated and characterized from the adductor muscle of moribund Yesso scallops in the North Yellow Sea to identify the potential pathogens, and 14 of them were grouped into genus Vibrio. Vibrio neocaledonicus (M-08 strain) was found to be the most dominant strain, and it was able to survive and exhibit haemolytic activity from 8 °C to 36 °C with the highest activity at 32 °C. The pathogenicity of M-08 in Yesso scallops was further investigated by intravalvar injection and immersion challenges, and the cumulative mortality rates were calculated to be 93 % and 53 %, respectively. The activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) increased after M-08 intravalvar injection, and peaked at 3 h and 6 h, respectively. The MDA contents increased and were significantly higher than that in the control group at 3 h after M-08 intravalvar injection. Immediately afterwards, immune response and haemocyte apoptosis were observed in Yesso scallops. Therefore, V. neocaledonicus is the pathogen of abscess disease in the Yesso scallops, which was able to activate the antioxidant system and immune response, and cause haemocyte apoptosis, tissue damage and death sequentially. The information would provide helpful contribution to the prevention and control of abscess disease in Yesso scallop aquaculture.

The oceans continue to warm due to rising atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations. Most climate-change studies of aquaculture species use temperature changes based on coarse-resolution climate models and without considering thermal ranges of an animal. Coarse-resolution climate models are generated by global-scale data, which is insufficient to capture the conditions of coastal areas where most aquaculture activity occurs. Therefore, ocean warming research on coastal organisms requires a more comprehensive design to include broad temperature gradients. By using the ecologically and commercially important coastal whelk Rapana venosa, we combined long-term and short-term experiments and selected 4 temperature treatments (19, 23, 27, and 30°C) to simulate different scenarios to test ocean warming effects on growth rates and foraging performances of whelks. We found that elevated temperature within the whelk’s thermal range (23 and 27°C) significantly increased growth rates and enhanced foraging performances of marine whelks when compared to the current temperature (19°C). Conversely, the whelk’s performance collapsed at 30°C in terms of both growth and foraging behavior. Our research clearly shows that local conditions and the tolerance range of a species must be considered to develop meaningful information for testing the effects of a changing climate. Our study suggests that rapa whelks may increase their feeding and reach larger sizes during warmer periods. Moreover, our study may provide a foundation for future climate research on aquaculture species.

Sea cucumbers have been emerged as important models to study organ regeneration and development owing to the capacity to regenerate its organs quickly after evisceration. Evisceration is a special defense mechanism for sea cucumber to eject all of internal organs when they encounter predators or adverse environmental conditions. However, little was known about the dynamics of bacterial community in coelomic fluid after evisceration. In the present study, evisceration was induced by intracelomic injection of 0.35 M KCl, and the significantly alternation of bacterial community in coelomic fluid of sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus was observed with lower diversity and total bacterial load at 7 dpe (days post evisceration) and 14 dpe. The bacterial community was tended to restore at 28 dpe. In particular, relative abundances of Bacteroidetes and Rubritaleaceae, which involved in degradation of polysaccharides and lipid, increased significantly at 7 dpe (p < 0.05), and returned to the original level at 28 dpe. In addition, the predicted functions of bacterial community indicated that the bacteria associated with metabolism pathways of amino acid, lipid and carbohydrate also increased significantly at 7 dpe. These results suggested that the bacterial community in coelomic fluid of A. japonicus was highly dynamic and could rebuild a stable community structure after evisceration. It was suggested that the enriched metabolic related beneficial bacteria at early stage played a role after evisceration in terms of decomposing polysaccharides and lipid to provide energy.

The digestive glands of marine molluscs are colonized by a large number of microorganisms, and the structure and function of bacterial community could be severely affected by diets. Microalgae is the main food and energy sources for bivalves, while the impact of phytoplankton composition on the bacterial community as well as the health of bivalves are still not well understood. In the present study, the bacterial communities in digestive glands of oyster Crassostrea gigas fed with different diets were compared based on the high-throughput sequencing of partial 16S rRNA gene. There were significant differences of bacterial composition rather than diversity in digestive glands between the oysters fed with diatom dominant diet (Group N, mainly made up of Nitzschia closterium f.minutissima) and dinoflagellate dominant diet (Group P, mainly made up of Prorocentrum micans). The abundances of Prevotella, Vibronaceae, Ruminococcaceae, and Polaribacter were significantly higher in Group N (p < 0.05), and the abundances of Streptophyta and Acidimicrobiales were significantly higher in Group P (p < 0.05). According to the functional prediction results, the bacterial community in Group P displayed weaker capacities of Kdo2-lipid A biosynthesis as well as taurine degradation, and a stronger capacity of glycolysis compared with the bacterial community in Group N. The higher phylogenetic clustering degree of the bacterial community in Group P (p < 0.05) indicated the higher host selectivity on bacteria. These results suggested that the change of phytoplankton composition of diet would have large effects on bacterial communities in oyster digestive glands. The bacterial community in digestive glands of oysters living in dinoflagellate dominant waters would produce harmful impact to hosts. The present study provided a new perspective to explore the potential mechanism for the massive mortalities of oysters.

In order to design a self-adaptive tracked mechanism that can passively adjust according to the height of different obstacles to improve its obstacle-crossing performance, this paper proposes a linkage-type self-adaptive deformable tracked mechanism. The mechanism based on the planar six-bar mechanism is proposed, and its motion modes and obstacle-crossing capabilities are analyzed. Firstly, based on the characteristics of self-adaptive deformation and the planar six-bar mechanism, a deformable single-degree-of-freedom (DOF) multi-loop mechanism is designed by limiting the DOF and adjusting the link lengths, and subsequently, a linkage-type self-adaptive deformable tracked mechanism module is designed according to the multi-loop mechanism. Secondly, the movement characteristics of the deformable tracked mechanism module are analyzed, and it is obtained that the tracked mechanism has two modes of movement: forward and reverse. These modes include deformable tracked-type obstacle crossing and rocker-arm-type obstacle crossing, respectively. Additionally, it is also obtained that this mechanism is capable of climbing up and descending down slopes. Finally, a prototype model is designed for experimental verification to verify the correctness of the theoretical analysis of the linkage-type self-adaptive deformable tracked mechanism and the feasibility of the obstacle-crossing modes. The results indicate that the linkage-type self-adaptive deformable tracked mechanism is capable of various obstacle-crossing modes, including both forward and reverse movements. These modes encompass the traditional tracked type, the deformable tracked type, and the rocker-arm type, as well as the ability to climb up and descend down slopes. This type of mechanism demonstrates excellent terrain adaptability and is capable of overcoming obstacles, allowing it to traverse some soft and rugged terrain. Consequently, it holds certain application potential.

The potential impact of transitioning from conventional fossil fuel to a non-fossil-fuel vehicle fleet was investigated by measuring primary emissions via extractive sampling of bus plumes and assessing secondary mass formation using the Gothenburg Potential Aerosol Mass (Go:PAM) reactor from 76 in-use transit buses. Online chemical characterization of gaseous and particulate emissions from these buses was conducted using chemical ionization mass spectrometry (CIMS) with acetate as the reagent ion, coupled with the Filter Inlet for Gases and AEROsols (FIGAERO). Acetate reagent ion chemistry selectively ionizes acidic compounds, including organic and inorganic acids, as well as nitrated and sulfated organics. A significant reduction (48 %–98 %) in fresh particle emissions was observed in buses utilizing compressed natural gas (CNG), biodiesels like rapeseed methyl ester (RME) and hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), and hybrid-electric HVO (HVOHEV) compared to diesel (DSL). However, secondary particle formation from photooxidation of emissions was substantial across all the fuel types. The median ratio of particle mass emission factors of aged to fresh emissions increased in the following order: DSL buses at 4.0, HVO buses at 6.7, HVOHEV buses at 10.5, RME buses at 10.8, and CNG buses at 84. Of the compounds that can be identified by CIMS, fresh gaseous emissions from all Euro V/EEV (Enhanced Environmentally friendly Vehicle) buses, regardless of fuel type, were dominated by nitrogen-containing compounds such as nitrous acid (HONO), nitric acid (HNO3), and isocyanic acid (HNCO), alongside small monoacids (C1−C3). Notably, the emission of nitrogen-containing compounds was lower in Euro VI buses equipped with more advanced emission control technologies. Secondary gaseous organic acids correlated strongly with gaseous HNO3 signals (R2=0.85–0.99) in Go:PAM, but their moderate to weak correlations with post-photooxidation secondary particle mass suggest that they are not reliable tracers of secondary organic aerosol formation from bus exhaust. Our study highlights that non-regulated compounds and secondary pollutant formation, not currently addressed in legislation, are crucial considerations in the evaluation of environmental impacts of future fuel and engine technology shifts.

The swap-body vehicle routing problem (SBVRP) represents a specialized extension of the traditional vehicle routing problem (VRP), incorporating additional practical complexities. Effective fuel consumption management and the scheduling of multiple vehicle trips are pivotal strategies for reducing costs and ensuring the sustainability of distribution systems. In response to the acceleration of urbanization, the rising demand for logistics, and the deteriorating living environment, we introduce an SBVRP considering fuel consumption and multiple trips to enable greener, cheaper, and more efficient delivery methods. To tackle the SBVRP, we propose a hybrid multi-population genetic algorithm enhanced with local search techniques to explore various areas of the search space. Computational experiments demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed method and the effectiveness of its components. The algorithm developed in this study provides an optimized solution to the VRP, focusing on achieving environmentally friendly, sustainable, and cost-effective transportation by reducing energy consumption and promoting the rational use of resources.

In the present study, a thaumatin-like protein (CgTLP) was identified from the oyster Crassostrea gigas. The full-length cDNA of CgTLP was of 913 bp with a 5’ untranslated regions (UTR) of 98 bp, a 3’ UTR of 80 bp, and an open reading frame (ORF) of 735 bp encoding a polypeptide of 244 residues. The CgTLP gene was expressed ubiquitously in mantle, gonad, hemocytes, hepatopancreas, gill, and adductor muscle with the higher expression levels in adductor muscle, hemocytes, and hepatopancreas. Immunofluorescence assay indicated that CgTLP was mainly distributed in the cytoplasm of hemocytes. The mRNA expression levels of CgTLP in hemocytes were significantly up-regulated after the stimulations with mannan (13.69-fold, p < 0.05), Pichia pastoris (8.85-fold, p < 0.05) and polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (3.62-fold, p < 0.05), but did not change significantly after stimulations with lipopolysaccharide, peptidoglycan, and Vibrio splendidus. The recombinant CgTLP protein (rCgTLP) significantly inhibited the proliferation of P. pastoris (p < 0.05), while no inhibition towards Staphylococcus aureus and V. splendidus. rCgTLP also displayed obvious β-1,3-glucanase activity, while no enzymatic activity towards chitin. These results collectively indicated that CgTLP was a homologue of TLP, which might play a vital role in defensing against fungal infection in C. gigas.

Hemophagocytic syndrome (HPS) is a rare life-threatening condition caused by massive cytokine release from activated macrophages and lymphocytes. The paper depicts the development of HPS in different infections, malignancies, and autoimmune diseases. It describes a clinical case of hemophagocytic syndrome in a 63-year-old female patient with adult-onset Still’s disease and high fever accompanied by neutrophil leukocytosis and a drastic left leukocyte count shift, high procalcitonin levels, hepatosplenomegaly, edematous syndrome, and progressive multiple organ dysfunction with the development of disseminated intravascular coagulation and adult respiratory distress syndrome. The diagnosis of HPS was established according to the diagnostic criteria and verified by autopsy: phagocytes in liver and lung tissues.

Yesso scallop is a marine bivalve mollusc of economic importance in the coastline of northern China. The frequently outbreak of various diseases has heavily threatened the sustainable development of the scallop industry. The information about the bacterial communities inside and outside the body of Yesso scallop will provide insights into disease prevention, probiotic application and health aquaculture. In the present study, the diversity of bacterial communities in intestines, rectum and gills of Yesso scallop and its habitat waters were investigated. The bacterial diversity and richness in waters were higher than that in intestines, rectum and gills. The microbiota from intestines, rectum, gills of scallop and waters were clearly separated into four clusters by Non-metric multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analysis, suggesting a microbiota selection of scallop at organ scale. Venn diagram suggested that the bacterial community in the body of scallop was more specialized than that in waters. High-throughput sequencing revealed that the main bacterial communities in intestine, rectum and gill were Firmicutes, Tenericute and Proteobacteria, Chlamydiae, Proteobacteria and Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria and Firmicutes, respectively. While the bacterial communities in waters mainly included Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Cyanobacteria. Real-time PCR for bacterial load showed that the total bacterial abundance in waters was significantly higher than that inside the scallop body. The abundance of Bacteroides fragilis in rectum was significantly higher than that in intestines and gills. The results about the bacterial community inside and outside the body of Yesso scallop are helpful to better understand the relationship between the symbiotic bacteria of Yesso scallop and their habitat, and also provided critical information to develop strategies of disease prevention and probiotic application in scallop aquaculture.

A great progress was recently achieved in metastatic melanoma therapy. New targeted therapies allow high efficacy expectations for personalized treatment approaches. BRAF-inhibitors significantly increase time to progression, overall survival and response rate in malignant melanoma patients. Vemurafenib is the first registered in Russia drug of this type. Current clinical data review on vemurafenib is presented in this paper.

On 20 April 2013, Lushan experienced an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0. In seismic assessments, borehole strainmeters, recognized for their remarkable sensitivity and inherent reliability in tracking crustal deformation, are extensively employed. However, traditional data-processing methods encounter challenges when handling massive dataset-s. This study proposes using a Graph WaveNet graph neural network to analyze borehole strain data from multiple stations near the earthquake epicenter and establishes a node graph structure using data from four stations near the Lushan epicenter, covering the years 2010–2013. After excluding the potential effects of pressure, temperature, and rainfall, we statistically analyzed the pre-earthquake anomalies. Focusing on the Guza, Xiaomiao, and Luzhou stations, which are the closest to the epicenter, the fitting results revealed two acceleration events of anomalous accumulation that occurred before the earthquake. Occurring approximately 4 months before the earthquake event, the first acceleration event indicated the pre-release of energy from a weak fault section. Conversely, the acceleration event observed a few days before the earthquake indicated a strong fault section that reached an unstable state with accumulating strain. We tentatively infer that these two anomalous cumulative accelerations may be related to the preparation phase for a large earthquake. This study highlights the considerable potential of graph neural networks in conducting multistation studies of pre-earthquake anomalies.

This article describes the experience of using the type I interferon inhibitor anifrolumab (AFM) in a patient with a torpid course of systemic lupus erythematosus. The reason for prescribing AFM was the need for a quick achievement of low disease activity due to a planned hip replacement. Dynamic observational data over a six-month period confirmed that AFM enables a rapid achievement of low disease activity without increasing the dose of glucocorticoids, significantly improve the patient's quality of life and even prepare them for major surgery without exacerbating the underlying process.

Certification standards for non-volatile particulate matter (nvPM) emissions from aircraft engines have recently been adopted by ICAO as the CAEP10 standard in 2016 and the CAEP11 standard in 2019. The measurements of the nvPM levels are prescribed in ICAO (2019) and SAE documents (2021). The measurement system specifications are designed to minimize the volatile contributions to the measured nvPM quantities. In a series of “certification-like” measurement campaigns that were used to collect data for developing the ICAO nvPM standards, the volatile particulate matter (vPM) contributions to the measured nvPM were quantified. An Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) in concert with a Cavity Attenuation Phase Shift (CAPS) monitor were used to measure the vPM and nvPM levels, respectively. These vPM contributions are primarily representative of coatings on the nvPM soot particles. Data from a range of engine designs were collected and the relative amounts of vPM to nvPM were ascertained to determine how much the vPM component could affect the nvPM quantification. For the engines evaluated, which span a variety of in‑service engines in the commercial fleet, the vPM contributions are small, averaging 3 % of the nvPM mass value, and were usually relatively independent of engine power condition.

The fusion of low-cost unmanned aerial systems (UAS) with advanced photogrammetric techniques has revolutionized 3D terrain reconstruction, enabling the automated creation of detailed models. Concurrently, the advent of 3D Gaussian Splatting has introduced a paradigm shift in 3D data representation, offering visually realistic renditions distinct from traditional polygon-based models. Our research builds upon this foundation, aiming to integrate Gaussian Splatting into interactive simulations for immersive virtual environments. We address challenges such as collision detection by adopting a hybrid approach, combining Gaussian Splatting with photogrammetry-derived meshes. Through comprehensive experimentation covering varying terrain sizes and Gaussian densities, we evaluate scalability, performance, and limitations. Our findings contribute to advancing the use of advanced computer graphics techniques for enhanced 3D terrain visualization and simulation.

Aim. To analyse the results of using transesophageal pacing (TEP) for correction of atrial fibrillation of type I (AF). Material and methods. The study included 1283 patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) and newly diagnosed AF. All the patients were examined with transthoracic echocardiography, received basic antianginal treatment. AF was corrected with TEP. Results. Sinus rhythm was reestablished in 83.48% patients, in 67.33% TEP was made without previous antiarrhythmic therapy, in the rest patients with this pretreatment. The best result was observed in pre-pacing administration of amiodaron or its combination with hinidin-durules. Only 2.88% patients retained AF after TEP. Conclusion. TEP is an effective method of type I AF treatment.

Abstract The full data set of the Daya Bay reactor neutrino experiment is used to probe the effect of the charged current non-standard interactions (CC-NSI) on neutrino oscillation experiments. Two different approaches are applied and constraints on the corresponding CC-NSI parameters are obtained with the neutrino flux taken from the Huber-Mueller model with a 5% uncertainty. For the quantum mechanics-based approach (QM-NSI), the constraints on the CC-NSI parameters ϵ eα and ϵ eα s $$ {\epsilon}_{e\alpha}^s $$ are extracted with and without the assumption that the effects of the new physics are the same in the production and detection processes, respectively. The approach based on the weak effective field theory (WEFT-NSI) deals with four types of CC-NSI represented by the parameters [ε X ] eα . For both approaches, the results for the CC-NSI parameters are shown for cases with various fixed values of the CC-NSI and the Dirac CP-violating phases, and when they are allowed to vary freely. We find that constraints on the QM-NSI parameters ϵ eα and ϵ eα s $$ {\epsilon}_{e\alpha}^s $$ from the Daya Bay experiment alone can reach the order O $$ \mathcal{O} $$ (0.01) for the former and O $$ \mathcal{O} $$ (0.1) for the latter, while for WEFT-NSI parameters [ε X ] eα , we obtain O $$ \mathcal{O} $$ (0.1) for both cases.

Observation-based data of primary and secondary organic carbon in ambient particulate matter (PM) are essential for model evaluation, climate and air quality research, health effect assessments, and mitigation policy development. Since there are no direct measurement tools available to quantify primary organic (POC) and secondary organic carbon (SOC) as separate quantities, their estimation relies on inference approaches using relevant measurable PM constituents. In this study, we measured hourly carbonaceous components and major ions in PM2.5 for a year and a half in suburban Hong Kong from July 2020 to December 2021. We differentiated POC and SOC using a novel Bayesian inference approach. The hourly POC and SOC data allowed us to examine temporal characteristics varying from diurnal and weekly patterns to seasonal variations, as well as their evolution characteristics during individual PM2.5 episodes. A total of 65 city-wide PM2.5 episodes were identified throughout the entire study period, with SOC contributions during individual episodes varying from 10 % to 66 %. In summertime typhoon episodes, elevated SOC levels were observed during daytime hours, and high temperature and NOx levels were identified as significant factors contributing to episodic SOC formation. Winter haze episodes exhibited high SOC levels, likely due to persistent influences from regional transport originating from the northern region to the sampling site. Enhanced SOC formation was observed with increase in the nocturnal NO3 radical (indicated by the surrogate quantity of [NO2][O3]) and under conditions characterized by high water content and strong acidity. These results suggest that both NO3 chemistry and acid-catalyzed aqueous-phase reactions likely make notable contributions to SOC formation during winter haze episodes. The methodology employed in this study for estimating POC and SOC provides practical guidance for other locations with similar monitoring capabilities in place. The availability of hourly POC and SOC data is invaluable for evaluating and improving atmospheric models, as well as understanding the evolution processes of PM pollution episodes. This, in turn, leads to more accurate model predictions and a better understanding of the contributing sources and processes.

Researchers have recently paid attention to social contact patterns among individuals due to their useful applications in such areas as epidemic evaluation and control, public health decisions, chronic disease research and social network research. Although some studies have estimated social contact patterns from social networks and surveys, few have considered how to infer the hierarchical structure of social contacts directly from census data. In this paper, we focus on inferring an individual's social contact patterns from detailed census data, and generate various types of social contact patterns such as hierarchical-district-structure-based, cross-district and age-district-based patterns. We evaluate newly generated contact patterns derived from detailed 2011 Hong Kong census data by incorporating them into a model and simulation of the 2009 Hong Kong H1N1 epidemic. We then compare the newly generated social contact patterns with the mixing patterns that are often used in the literature, and draw the following conclusions. First, the generation of social contact patterns based on a hierarchical district structure allows for simulations at different district levels. Second, the newly generated social contact patterns reflect individuals social contacts. Third, the newly generated social contact patterns improve the accuracy of the SEIR-based epidemic model.

The damage to fastener holes in aerospace aluminum structures presents significant challenges for aircraft durability, and conventional bushing methods for repairing oversized holes often fall short due to the lack of metallurgical bonding and limited edge distance availability. This study investigates additive friction stir deposition, a non-melting additive process, as a viable alternative for the structural repair of aerospace fastener holes. The repair process, demonstrated on AA7050 (Al-Zn-Mg-Cu-Zr) hole structures, involves filling oversized holes with new material and machining to restore the original hole size. The repaired hole coupons are defect-free and exhibit good fatigue performance under fully reversed tension-compression loading (R = -1). At a nominal stress amplitude of 123.5 MPa, the average number of cycles to failure is 12,666 for unrepaired baseline coupons and 17,372 for effectively repaired coupons. Restoring complex geometries without compromising fatigue performance has been difficult in aerospace applications; this study marks the first demonstration of additive repair that consistently outperforms the unrepaired baseline coupons. Notably, the result is achieved through a low-energy, cost-effective solution without the need for post-repair heat treatment. Except for a few outliers, the post-repair fatigue performance generally remains inferior to that of undamaged, pristine coupons, likely due to precipitate evolution in AA7050 caused by the thermomechanical processing nature of additive friction stir deposition. This evolution weakens the repair region and the adjacent base material, leading to faster crack initiation and growth compared to the properly aged base material, AA7050-T7451.

The article discusses the possibility of using such plant raw materials as pumpkin varieties of Michurinskaya, Krasnaya Malyshka and hybrid Azhur medoviy F1, calendula flower powder, corn flour when designing new types of multicomponent chips ensuring the principle of resource saving due to the involvement of apple production pomace in the technological process juice. A comprehensive analysis of plant raw materials used in the production of chips was carried out for the total content of antioxidants, polyphenolic composition (flavonols, catechins, anthocyanins), the presence of ascorbic acid and beta-carotene. Among the varieties and hybrids of pumpkin, in terms of the total content of water-soluble antioxidants, Krasnaya Malyshka and Azhur Medoviy F1 stand out, then apple pomace, corn flour are ranked in increasing antioxidant value, and the leader here is calendula flower powder. The content of polyphenols in the hybrid Azhur medoviy F1 is higher than in the varieties of Michurinskaya and Krasnaya Malyshka by an average of 42%. The maximum content of ascorbic acid was found in Krasnaya Malyshka pumpkin, but at the same time this variety is inferior in beta-carotene content to two other varieties Michurinskaya and the hybrid Azhur medoviy F1 by 58 and 54%, respectively. Apple pomace can act as an additional source of ascorbic acid and flavonols, calendula flower powder – ascorbic acid, polyphenols and beta-carotene, and corn flour – flavonols, catechins and beta-carotene. All pumpkin varieties and hybrids studied in the work ensure that the finished multicomponent chips, taking into account the established recommended consumption rate – 30 g per day, contain functional ingredients – ascorbic acid, beta-carotene and flavonols at a level of more than 15% of the physiological consumption rate per day.

In December 2019, cases of severe respiratory infection were reported in Wuhan, China. The disease was caused by a new, previously undescribed coronavirus, structurally similar to the then known SARS-CoV virus. The World Health Organization has named the new virus SARS-CoV-2 and the disease it causes COVID-19. The problem of COVID-19 is exacerbated by the rapid spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the development of life-threatening complications, the main of which is pneumonia. Due to the severity of the condition, from 5 to 10 % of patients are treated in intensive care units.SARS-CoV-2 initially attacks the respiratory system and causes symptoms such as fever, vomiting, headache, dizziness, general weakness, and diarrhea. Then these symptoms intensify in different directions, and the disease can often lead to death.Initially, only a few methods of symptomatic treatment were available and clinical trials of drugs that had previously shown their effectiveness against infection with the MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV viruses began. Temporary recommendations have appeared suggesting the use of some drugs both in monotherapy and in combination.In patients with hematologic malignancies, the immune response to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is significantly reduced, which explains the high mortality rate (up to 38 %) of these patients hospitalized for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Recently, antiviral drugs and monoclonal antibodies have become available for pre- or post-exposure prophylaxis, as well as for early treatment of COVID-19. These treatments should be offered to patients at high risk of severe COVID-19 and to those who have not responded to vaccination. However, as changes in the genetic structure of the virus accumulate, some treatments may lose their clinical effectiveness against new variants.The combination of hematological malignancies and new coronavirus infection causes a more severe course of COVID-19 compared to the population and high mortality. Factors for an unfavorable prognosis for new coronavirus infection in patients with hematological malignancies include age over 60 years, a high comorbidity index, diagnoses such as acute leukemia, especially acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome, disease status (relapse, progression, as well as newly diagnosed acute leukemia), severe COVID-19, agranulocytosis (myelotoxic or tumor).

Positive matrix factorization (PMF) has been widely used to apportion the sources of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) by utilizing PM chemical speciation data measured at the receptor site(s). Traditional PMF, which typically relies on long-term observational datasets of daily or lower time resolution to meet the required sample size, has its reliability undermined by changes in source profiles; thus, it is inherently ill-suited for apportioning sporadic sources or ephemeral pollution events. In this study, we explored short-term source apportionment of PM2.5 using a set of bihourly chemical speciation data over a period of 37 d in the winter of 2019–2020. PMF run with campaign-wide data as input (PMFref) was initially conducted to obtain reference profiles for the primary source factors. Subsequently, short-term PMF analysis was performed using the Source Finder Professional (SoFi Pro). The analysis sets a window length of 18 d and constrained the primary source profiles using the a-value approach embedded in SoFi Pro software. Rolling PMF was then conducted with a fixed window length of 18 d and a step of 1 d using the remaining dataset. By applying the a-value constraints to the primary sources, the rolling PMF effectively reproduced the individual primary sources, as evidenced by the slope values close to unity (i.e., 0.9–1.0). However, the estimation for the firework emission factor in the rolling PMF was lower compared with PMFref (slope: 0.8). These results suggest the unique advantage of short-term PMF analysis in accurately apportioning sporadic sources. Although the total secondary sources were well modeled (slope: 1.0), larger biases were observed for individual secondary sources. The variation in source profiles indicated higher variabilities for the secondary sources, with average relative differences ranging from 42 % to 173 %, while the primary source profiles exhibited much smaller variabilities (relative differences of 8 %–26 %). This study suggests that short-term PMF analysis with the a-value constraints in SoFi Pro can be utilized to apportion primary sources accurately, while future efforts are needed to improve the prediction of individual secondary sources. Additionally, future rapid source apportionment analysis can benefit from utilizing a library of source profiles derived from existing measurement data, thereby significantly reducing the time lag associated with receptor modeling source apportionment techniques.

The UNIfied Partitioning-Aerosol phase Reaction (UNIPAR) model was integrated into the Comprehensive Air quality Model with extensions (CAMx) to process secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation by capturing multiphase reactions of hydrocarbons (HCs) in regional scales. SOA growth was simulated using a wide range of anthropogenic HCs, including 10 aromatics and linear alkanes with different carbon lengths. The atmospheric processes of biogenic HCs (isoprene, terpenes, and sesquiterpene) were simulated for major oxidation paths (ozone, OH radicals, and nitrate radicals) to predict day and night SOA formation. The UNIPAR model streamlined the multiphase partitioning of the lumping species originating from semi-explicitly predicted gas products and their heterogeneous chemistry to form non-volatile oligomeric species in both organic aerosol and inorganic aqueous phase. The CAMx–UNIPAR model predicted SOA formation at four ground urban sites (San Jose, Sacramento, Fresno, and Bakersfield) in California, United States, during wintertime 2018. Overall, the simulated mass concentrations of the total organic matter, consisting of primary organic aerosol and SOA, showed a good agreement with the observations. The simulated SOA mass in the urban areas of California was predominated by alkane and terpene oxidation products. During the daytime, low-volatility products originating from the autoxidation of long-chain alkanes considerably contributed to the SOA mass. In contrast, a significant amount of nighttime SOA was produced by the reaction of terpene with ozone or nitrate radicals. The spatial distributions of anthropogenic SOA associated with aromatic and alkane HCs were noticeably affected by the southward wind direction, owing to the relatively long lifetime of their atmospheric oxidation, whereas those of biogenic SOA were nearly insensitive to wind direction. During wintertime 2018, the impact of inorganic aerosol hygroscopicity on the total SOA budget was not evident because of the small contribution of aromatic and isoprene products, which are hydrophilic and reactive in the inorganic aqueous phase. However, an increased isoprene SOA mass was predicted during the wet periods, although its contribution to the total SOA was little.

PRINCIPLES: Platinum agents cause DNA cross-linking and oxidative damage. Genetic polymorphisms of GSTP1 and XRCC1 involved in glutathione metabolic and DNA repair pathways may explain inter individual differences in chemosensitivity and clinical outcome in NSCLC patients treated with platinum-based regimens. METHODS: We used DNA sequencing methods to evaluate genetic polymorphisms of the GSTP1A313G and XRCC1G28152A in 111 patients with stage IV NSCLC treated with platinum-based chemotherapy. Clinical response was evaluated according to RECIST criteria after 2–3 cycles of chemotherapy and time to progression (TTP) was calculated from the time of initial treatment to disease progression. RESULTS: GSTP1A313G and XRCC1G28152A polymorphisms, both alone and in combination, were significantly associated with response to treatment and clinical outcome (p

Migration is one of the most important problems of modern society and is considered not only as a simple mechanical movement of people, but as a complex social process that affects many aspects of public life. Today, migration has acquired a global level, since the nature of migration processes, namely its scale, is the main feature of globalization. Migration processes have an impact on all spheres of public life of countries and regions, as a result of which they leave an imprint in the political, socio-economic and cultural-psychological spheres. As a result, modern countries face a range of consequences, both positive and negative. The study of the impact of migration on the life and development of society in the aggregate of its negative and positive consequences is relevant both at the global level and at the level of individual regions of our country.The object of the research is migration processes of the modern world in the context of globalization. The subject of the research is the consequences of migration processes in European countries and the Russian state. The purpose of the research is to analyze a new migration situation in the world and identify its trends.

Neural networks, trained with the ADAM algorithm followed by a globally convergent modification to Newton’s method, are developed to predict the threshold gain of the fundamental and first higher-order modes as functions of the refractive-index profile in a quantum cascade laser cavity. The networks are used to optimize the design of a refractive-index profile that provides essentially single-spatial-mode performance in a nominally multi-moded cavity by maximizing the threshold-gain differential between the modes. The use of neural networks allows the optimization to be performed in seconds, instead of days or weeks which would be required if Maxwell’s equations were repeatedly solved to obtain the threshold gains.

According to modern concepts, myocarditis is an inflammatory disease of the myocardium, diagnosed on the basis of generally accepted histological, immunological, immunohistochemical criteria. Previously, most researchers believed that the most common cardiac extra-articular manifestation of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is pericarditis. In the last decade, using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the heart, it turned out that myocarditis in patients with rheumatoid arthritis is not a rare manifestation of the disease. Recently, there is increasing evidence that inflammatory cytokines in RA can also directly cause chronic myocardial damage, further contributing to the development of chronic heart failure (CHF). In our clinical case, myocarditis developed in a patient with active refractory rheumatoid arthritis. The myocardial lesion in the patient was characterized by pronounced echocardiographic signs of restrictive cardiomyopathy, a significant decrease in the ejection fraction with the development of heart failure, various rhythm disturbances in combination with acute renal dysfunction, which led to the formation of cardiorenal syndrome (CRS). Complete regression of myocarditis and cattle occurred precisely against the background of effective treatment of refractory rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with basic antirheumatic drugs and the successful use of biological therapy.

The nitrogen isotope ratio ^14 N/ ^15 N is a powerful tool to trace Galactic stellar nucleosynthesis and constrain Galactic chemical evolution. Previous observations have found lower ^14 N/ ^15 N ratios in the Galactic center and higher values in the Galactic disk. This is consistent with the inside-out formation scenario of our Milky Way. However, previous studies mostly utilized double isotope ratios also including ^12 C/ ^13 C, which introduces additional uncertainties. Here we present observations of C ^14 N and its rare isotopologue, C ^15 N, toward a sample of star-forming regions measured by the IRAM 30 m and/or the ARO 12 m telescope at λ ∼ 3 mm wavelength. For those 35 sources detected in both isotopologues, physical parameters are determined. Furthermore, we have obtained nitrogen isotope ratios using the strongest hyperfine components of CN and C ^15 N. For those sources showing small deviations from local thermodynamical equilibrium and/or self-absorption, the weakest hyperfine component, likely free of the latter effect, was used to obtain reliable ^14 N/ ^15 N values. Our measured ^14 N/ ^15 N isotope ratios from C ^14 N and C ^15 N measurements are compatible with those from our earlier measurements of NH _3 and ^15 NH _3 (Paper I), i.e., increasing ratios to a Galactocentric distance of ∼9 kpc. The unweighted second-order polynomial fit yields $\tfrac{{{\rm{C}}}^{14}{\rm{N}}}{{{\rm{C}}}^{15}{\rm{N}}}\,=\,(-4.85\pm 1.89)\,{\mathrm{kpc}}^{-2}\times {R}_{\mathrm{GC}}^{2}+(82.11\pm 31.93)\,{\mathrm{kpc}}^{-1}\times {R}_{\mathrm{GC}}\,-(28.12\pm 126.62)$ . Toward the outer galaxy, the isotope ratio tends to decrease, supporting an earlier finding by H ^13 CN/HC ^15 N. Galactic chemical evolution models are consistent with our measurements of the ^14 N/ ^15 N isotope ratio, i.e., a rising trend from the Galactic center region to approximately 9 kpc, followed by a decreasing trend with increasing R _GC toward the outer Galaxy.

Cotton (Gossypium spp.) is the most important natural fiber source in the world. The genetic potential of cotton can be successfully and efficiently exploited by identifying and solving the complex fundamental problems of systematics, evolution, and phylogeny, based on interspecific hybridization of cotton. This study describes the results of interspecific hybridization of G. herbaceum L. (A1-genome) and G. mustelinum Miers ex Watt (AD4-genome) species, obtaining fertile hybrids through synthetic polyploidization of otherwise sterile triploid forms with colchicine (C22H25NO6) treatment. The fertile F1C hybrids were produced from five different cross combinations: (1) G. herbaceum subsp. frutescens × G. mustelinum; (2) G. herbaceum subsp. pseudoarboreum × G. mustelinum; (3) G. herbaceum subsp. pseudoarboreum f. harga × G. mustelinum; (4) G. herbaceum subsp. africanum × G. mustelinum; (5) G. herbaceum subsp. euherbaceum (variety A-833) × G. mustelinum. Cytogenetic analysis discovered normal conjugation of bivalent chromosomes in addition to univalent, open, and closed ring-shaped quadrivalent chromosomes at the stage of metaphase I in the F1C and F2C hybrids. The setting of hybrid bolls obtained as a result of these crosses ranged from 13.8–92.2%, the fertility of seeds in hybrid bolls from 9.7–16.3%, and the pollen viability rates from 36.6–63.8%. Two transgressive plants with long fiber of 35.1–37.0 mm and one plant with extra-long fiber of 39.1–41.0 mm were identified in the F2C progeny of G. herbaceum subsp. frutescens × G. mustelinum cross. Phylogenetic analysis with 72 SSR markers that detect genomic changes showed that tetraploid hybrids derived from the G. herbaceum × G. mustelinum were closer to the species G. mustelinum. The G. herbaceum subsp. frutescens was closer to the cultivated form, and its subsp. africanum was closer to the wild form. New knowledge of the interspecific hybridization and synthetic polyploidization was developed for understanding the genetic mechanisms of the evolution of tetraploid cotton during speciation. The synthetic polyploids of cotton obtained in this study would provide beneficial genes for developing new cotton varieties of the G. hirsutum species, with high-quality cotton fiber and strong tolerance to biotic or abiotic stress. In particular, the introduction of these polyploids to conventional and molecular breeding can serve as a bridge of transferring valuable genes related to high-quality fiber and stress tolerance from different cotton species to the new cultivars.

In our work, thermal properties, phase transitions, and processes of molecular relaxation of nitrate and perchlorate ions in the lithium nitrate–potassium nitrate binary eutectic system doped with lithium perchlorate LiClO4 were studied by differential scanning calorimetry and Raman spectroscopy. The values of specific electrical conductivity of the LiNO3–KNO3 nitrate eutectic and the LiNO3–KNO3–LiClO4 ternary salt system were also obtained. The electrical conductivity was investigated up to melting temperatures and it was found that the addition of lithium perchlorate LiClO4 to the LiNO3–KNO3 binary eutectic leads to an increase in the specific ionic conductivity of the ternary salt system. Lithium perchlorate functions as an active additive that promotes the increase of ion mobility due to competing mechanisms of anion-cation interactions. The value of specific ionic conductivity reaches a maximum in the system when 0.2 mol of lithium perchlorate is added. It has been established that with the increasing addition of lithium perchlorate to the nitrate eutectic, the melting peak of the LiNO3–KNO3 eutectic decreases. For the composition with an initial content of 0.5LiClO4, a phase transition of the LiNO3–KNO3 eutectic is not registered. It is obvious that in the system take place an exchange reaction between potassium nitrate and lithium perchlorate with the formation of KClO4 and LiNO3. This conclusion is also confirmed by the data of Raman scattering spectra, which show that with increasing addition of LiClO4, the peak of fully symmetric stretching vibration ν1(KNO3) decreases and the peak of ν1(KClO4) is observed. The addition of 0.5 mol of LiClO4 leads to the total disappearance of the peak of ν1(KNO3). Interionic interactions in the salt systems, leading to changes in the local symmetry of the NO3ˉ-ion, are reflected in their transport and thermodynamic properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]