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The paper presents analytical models for calculating the response to a pulse excitation in a turn of a meander line. One of the models was used to derive a condition for equalizing the voltage amplitudes for three pulses at the end of the turn which has different per-unit-length delays of even and odd modes. The obtained models and equalization condition were validated by quasistatic simulation. The results will allow for accelerated design and optimization of this type of structures for protection against ultrawide band pulses without costly multivariate analysis and calculation of response, Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, preprint

Ethylene is known to influence the cell cycle (CC) via poorly characterized roles whilst nitric oxide (NO) has well-established roles in the animal CC but analogous role(s) have not been reported for plants. As NO and ethylene signaling events often interact we examined their role in CC in cultured cells derived from Arabidopsis thaliana wild-type (Col-0) plants and from ethylene-insensitive mutant ein2-1 plants. Both NO and ethylene were produced mainly during the first 5 days of the sub-cultivation period corresponding to the period of active cell division. However, in ein2-1 cells, ethylene generation was significantly reduced while NO levels were increased. With application of a range of concentrations of the NO donor, sodium nitroprusside (SNP) (between 20 and 500 μM) ethylene production was significantly diminished in Col-0 but unchanged in ein2-1 cells. Flow cytometry assays showed that in Col-0 cells treatments with 5 and 10 μM SNP concentrations led to an increase in S-phase cell number indicating the stimulation of G1/S transition. However, at ≥20 μM SNP CC progression was restrained at G1/S transition. In the mutant ein2-1 strain, the index of S-phase cells was not altered at 5–10 μM SNP but decreased dramatically at higher SNP concentrations. Concomitantly, 5 μM SNP induced transcription of genes encoding CDKA;1 and CYCD3;1 in Col-0 cells whereas transcription of CDKs and CYCs were not significantly altered in ein2-1 cells at any SNP concentrations examined. Hence, it is appears that EIN2 is required for full responses at each SNP concentration. In ein2-1 cells, greater amounts of NO, reactive oxygen species, and the tyrosine-nitrating peroxynitrite radical were detected, possibly indicating NO-dependent post-translational protein modifications which could stop CC. Thus, we suggest that in Arabidopsis cultured cells NO affects CC progression as a concentration-dependent modulator with a dependency on EIN2 for both ethylene production and a NO/ethylene regulatory function.

Recent therapeutic advances for managing low-risk prostate cancer include the active surveillance and focal treatment. However, locating a tumor and detecting its volume by adequate sampling is still problematic. Development of predictive biomarkers guiding individual therapeutic choices remains an ongoing challenge. At the same time, prostate cancer magnetic resonance imaging is gaining increasing importance for prostate diagnostics. The high morphological resolution of T2-weighted imaging and functional MRI methods may increase the specificity and sensitivity of diagnostics. Also, recent studies founded an ability of novel biomarkers to identify clinically insignificant prostate cancer, risk of progression, and association with poor differentiation and, therefore, with clinical significance. Probably, the above mentioned methods would improve tumor characterization in terms of its volume, aggressiveness, and focality. In this review, we attempted to evaluate the applications of novel imaging techniques and biomarkers in assessing the significance of the prostate cancer.