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Surrogate measures are becoming increasingly used to measure suspended sediment flux, but only few particular computer techniques of data processing are recently developed. This study demonstrates capabilities of acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs) to infer information regarding suspended-sand concentrations in river systems and calculate suspended sediment flux via big data analytics which includes process of analyzing and data mining of measurements based on ADCP signal backscatter intensity data. We present here specific codes done by R language using RStudio software with open-source tidyverse and plotly packages aimed to generate tables containing data of suspended load for cells, verticals and whole cross-section based on backscattering values from 600 kH Teledyne RDInstruments RioGrande WorkHorse ADCP unit, as well perform estimates of morphometric, suspended sediment concentration (SSC) and velocity characteristics of the flow. The developed tools enabled to process large data array consisting of over 56,526,480 geo-referenced values of river depth, streamflow velocity, and backscatter intensity for each river cross-section measured at six case study sites in Russia.

The spectrometric characteristics of CdZnTe detectors are largely determined by the nonuniformity of the material and the influence of the negative polarization effects associated with the formation of space charges in the sensitive volume of the detector. They change the electric field distribution in the detector and affect the efficiency of the charge carrier collection. An analysis of the waveforms of the output pulses was used to investigate the uniformity of the charge collection and electric field distribution in the detectors when irradiated by the alpha particles. The influence of infrared (IR) illumination on these parameters was evaluated. IR illumination had no positive effect on the planar detector but greatly improved the charge collection in quasi-hemispherical detectors in the peripheral (corner) regions. The output pulse amplitude increased, and the rise time notably decreased. Polarization that occurred predominantly in the corner regions at low temperatures (from −30 °C to −20 °C) was eliminated using IR illumination.

This article discusses the possibilities and limitations of CdZnTe (CZT) quasi-hemispherical detectors operating over a wide temperature range and at high-gamma radiation fluxes. The results of the negative influence of low- and high-operating temperatures, as well as high-radiation fluxes on spectrometric characteristics of CZT detectors and possible ways to eliminate performance deterioration, are presented. The impact of infrared (IR) illumination parameters, such as wavelength and irradiation intensity on the spectroscopy performance of detectors, was investigated. A correctly chosen IR illumination wavelength and intensity were shown to significantly improve the energy resolution of CZT quasi-hemispherical detectors, allowing their stable operation in high-gamma radiation fluxes and extend the operating temperature range toward low temperatures. The influences of bias voltage values and temperatures on the quasi-hemispherical CZT detectors’ operating ability at high-gamma radiation fluxes were studied.

An analyzed substance’s signal intensity and detection sensitivity in surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) significantly depend on the size and agglomeration degree of nanoparticles (NPs) forming the enhancing structure. Structures were manufactured by aerosol dry printing (ADP), where NPs’ agglomeration depends on printing conditions and additional particle modification techniques. The influence of agglomeration degree on SERS signal enhancement was studied in three types of printed structures using the methylene blue model molecule as an analyte. We demonstrated that the ratio between individual NPs and agglomerates in a studied structure strongly affects SERS signal amplification, and structures formed mainly from non-agglomerated NPs enhance the signal better. In this sense, aerosol NPs modified by pulsed laser radiation provide better results than thermally modified NPs, since in laser modification a larger number of individual NPs is observed due to the absence of secondary agglomeration effects in the gas stream. However, increasing gas flow may minimize the secondary agglomeration, since the time allotted for the agglomeration processes is reduced. In this paper, we show how different NPs’ agglomeration tendencies influence SERS enhancement to demonstrate the process of using ADP to form inexpensive and highly efficient SERS substrates with huge application potential.

In this work, we have, for the first time, experimentally verified the hypothesis of reducing the agglomeration rate of aerosol nanoparticles produced by spark discharge upon decreasing the carrier gas temperature in the range of 24 °C to –183 °C. The synthesis of nanoparticles was implemented as a result of spark ablation of electrodes manufactured from Au with a purity of 99.998% installed in a specially designed gas chamber dipped into liquid nitrogen (−196 °C) to cool down the carrier gas supplied through one of hollow electrodes. It follows from the analysis of transmission electron microscopy images that both the average size of primary nanoparticles and the degree of their sintering become lower if the gas is cooled. For example, in the case of using nitrogen as a carrier gas, the average size of primary nanoparticles decreases from 9.4 nm to 6.6 nm as the gas temperature decreases from 24 °C to –183 °C. This also causes the aggregates to become more branched, manifested by the reduction in their solidity from 92% to 76%. The agglomeration model of Feng based on Smoluchowski theory was employed to calculate particle size distributions that were found to be consistent with the experimental data. The gold nanoparticles synthesized at room and cryogenic temperatures of the carrier gas (N₂, Ar + H₂, He) were used to pattern plasmonic nanostructures on ceramic alumina substrates by using aerosol jet printing technology for the purpose of demonstrating the possibility of their application in surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). The SERS enhancement factor was estimated at 2 × 106 from the analysis of SERS and normal Raman spectra of 1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethylene used as an analyte.

We proposed a novel method of nanostructure preparation for observation of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) and metal-enhanced fluorescence (MEF) based on the deposition of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) above the thin dye film by dry aerosol printing. We detected various enhanced SERS and MEF signals of films of malachite green (MG) and rhodamine B (RhB) mixtures, depending on the surface packing density of Au NPs on the strip, and found the optimum one to achieve the 3.5 × 105 SERS enhancement. It was shown that statistical methods of chemometrics such as projection on latent structures provided the opportunity to distinguish SERS of MG from 100 ppm RhB in a mixture, whereas separation of MEF signals are feasible even for a mixture of MG and 1 ppm RhB due to two-photon excitation.

This study investigates the processes of interaction of nanosecond pulsed-periodic laser radiation with the flow of aerosol agglomerates of gold nanoparticles synthesized in a spark discharge. Nanoparticles in a gas flow are spatially separated nano-objects whose interaction with each other and with the walls of an experimental cell was insignificant. Therefore, the energy absorbed by nanoparticles was used only for their own heating with further shape and size modification and on heat transfer to the surrounding gas. In the research, we used laser radiation with wavelengths of 527 and 1053 nm at pulse energies up to 900 µJ and pulse repetition rates up to 500 Hz. The dynamics of changes in the nanoparticles size during their sintering process depending on the laser pulses energy is characterized by an S-shaped shrinkage curve. Complete sintering of the initial agglomerates with their transformation into spherical nanoparticles is achieved by a series of impacting laser pulses. The result of nanoparticles’ laser modification is largely determined by the pulse energy and the efficiency of the nanoparticles’ radiation absorption.

In this study, we investigated biodeterioration of materials used in tempera painting by analyzing the structure of the microbiome in ancient tempera paintings exhibited in State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia. Samples were obtained from 16th-century paintings, including a grand Russian Orthodox icon "The Church Militant" (all exhibits were without visible signs of biodeterioration), and from surrounding walls and ceilings (with vast zones of visible microbial growth). A number of microorganisms isolated from visible signs of environmental bio-damage were also detected in tempera paintings kept in temperature- and humidity-controlled conditions unfavorable for the growth of microflora. To determine the biodegrading potential of the microbiome for tempera paintings, we developed a set of mock layers from paintwork materials used in tempera painting of 16th century and their modern analogues and inoculated them with cultures containing filamentous fungi and bacteria. The susceptibility to microbial degradation of individual tempera painting materials was examined by micro-Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, which enabled detection of even invisible signs of biodeterioration. The results indicate that the microorganisms isolated from paintings and surrounding areas in the museum are capable of causing significant damage of various tempera materials, among which varnishes were the most resistant; however, the addition of antiseptic (sodium pentachlorophenolate) can inhibit microbial growth on sturgeon glue.

For nanoparticle synthesis in a spark discharge, the influence of the degree of electrode asymmetry in the rod-to-rod configuration, using the example of silver electrodes, on the energy efficiency and nanoparticle composition is studied. The asymmetry degree was determined by the angle between electrodes’ end faces. Two types of discharge current pulses were used: oscillation-damped and unipolar, in which electrodes changed their polarities and had a constant polarity during a single discharge, respectively. A significant influence of the asymmetry degree of the electrode arrangement on the synthesized nanoparticle size, agglomeration and concentration, and on the synthesis energy efficiency, has been established. An increase in the degree of the electrode asymmetry with the oscillation-damped discharge current pulse led to an increased mass production rate and energy efficiency of nanoparticle synthesis, a significant fraction of which had large dimensions of more than 40 nm. The effect of the transfer of synthesized nanoparticles to the opposite electrode at the unipolar discharge current pulse led to the appearance of electroerosive instability, manifested in the formation of a protrusion on the anode surface, around which spark discharges, leading to its further growth and electrode gap closure.

The demand for the development of local laser sintering of nanoparticle arrays is explained by the expanding needs for printed electronics for functional microstructure formation, on heat-sensitive substrates in particular. This work is based on the research into the sintering of arrays of silver nanoparticles synthesized in a spark discharge and deposited on a substrate by focused aerosol flow. The sintering was done by continuous and pulsed lasers with wavelengths 527, 980 and 1054 nm. Sintered samples were studied by measuring the resistivity, cross-section profile area and microstructure features. The highest average conductivity, equal to the half of the bulk silver conductivity, was achieved when sintering by continuous radiation with a wavelength 980 nm. The results showed that when using pulsed radiation the direct heating of nanoparticles in the sample surface layer dominates with the formation of a pore-free conductive layer of around 0.5 μm thick and crystallite of 70−80 nm size. It was found that laser sintering by radiation with a wavelength 527 nm required an order of magnitude lower specific energy costs as compared to the longwave laser radiation. The high energy efficiency of laser sintering is explained by special conditions for radiation absorption at plasmon resonance.

Immunotherapeutic treatment of autoimmune diseases should aim to inactivate autoaggressive memory T-cells and restore immune tolerance. It is envisaged that three approaches could be used to achieve this goal: stimulation of anti-idiotypic immune responses by vaccination with pathogenic T-cells; administration of suboptimal doses of antibodies (Abs) against two or more surface T-cell markers to provide selective Ab-mediated destruction of activated pathogenic memory T-cells; and induction of oral immune tolerance. The proposal entails the use of T-cell vaccination (TCV) or Ab-based therapy as an initial approach to reduce autoantigenic T-cell sensitization. Subsequently, the implementation of oral immunotherapy (OIT) is recommended to reinstate a consistent immune tolerance.

Tumor growth and expansion are determined by the immunological tumor microenvironment (TME). Typically, early tumorigenic stages are characterized by the immune system not responding or weakly responding to the tumor. However, subsequent tumorigenic stages witness the tumor promoting its growth and metastasis by stimulating tumor-protective (pro-tumor) inflammation to suppress anti-tumor immune responses. Here, we propose the pivotal role of inflammation control in a successful anti-cancer immunotherapy strategy, implying that available and novel immunotherapeutic modalities such as inflammation modulation, antibody (Ab)-based immunostimulation, drug-mediated immunomodulation, cancer vaccination as well as adoptive cell immunotherapy and donor leucocyte transfusion could be applied in cancer patients in a synergistic manner to amplify each other’s clinical effects and achieve robust anti-tumor immune reactivity. In addition, the anti-tumor effects of immunotherapy could be enhanced by thermal and/or oxygen therapy. Herein, combined immune-based therapy could prove to be beneficial for patients with advanced cancers, as aiming to provide long-term tumor cell/mass dormancy by restraining compensatory proliferation of surviving cancer cells observed after traditional anti-cancer interventions such as surgery, radiotherapy, and metronomic (low-dose) chemotherapy. We propose the Inflammatory Prognostic Score based on the blood levels of C-reactive protein and lactate dehydrogenase as well as the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio to effectively monitor the effectiveness of comprehensive anti-cancer treatment.

Background: We studied direct effects of human granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) on phenotypical characteristics and cytokine-production of non-activated and activated human monocytes/macrophages (Mc/Mphs) and T cells. Methods: Purified Mc/Mphs were activated by bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 1 μg/ml) for 24 h, while T cells were activated by particles conjugated and antibodies (Abs) against human CD2, CD3, and CD28 for 48 h. Results: GM-CSF treatment (0.01–10 ng/ml) was shown to reduce percentages of CD197 (CCR7)-positive cells in non-activated Mph cultures, without affecting significantly CD14+ (LPS co-receptor), CD16+ (FcγRIII, low-affinity Fc-receptor), CD119+ (interferon-gamma receptor 1), and CD124+ (IL4 receptor α-subunit) cells. In addition, GM-CSF reduced relative numbers of CD197+ cells, as well as CD14+, CD16+, and CD119+ cells in activated Mph cultures without affecting CD124+ cell distribution. GM-CSF at the highest dose of 10 ng/ml enhanced TNF-α and IL-6 (but not IL-1β and IL-10) production in activated Mc/Mphs. In activated T cell cultures, GM-CSF at 0.1–1.0 ng/ml augmented CD38+ cell numbers in naïve СD45RA+/СD197+ and central memory СD45RA−/СD197+ cell subsets, with no effect on effector СD45RA−/СD197− and terminally differentiated effector СD45RA+/СD197− cells. GM-CSF at a low dose (0.01 ng/ml) down-regulated INF-γ production, while at a high dosage (10.0 ng/ml) up-regulated IL-2 and IL-4 production. Conclusion: In general, the results suggest that GM-CSF is able to facilitate the implication of both Mph and T cells in the adaptive immunogenesis.

The paper deals with the research focused on the reflection of Russian and French basic values in proverbs - language units that most clearly demonstrate the value systems. Based on the fact that each nation has a certain hierarchically organized set of values, which partially coincide with other cultures but can have their own characteristics, it is important to identify both their universal and culture-specific features. This will allow us not only to build the hierarchy of values of a certain nation but also to conduct a comparative analysis of different languages and cultures from an axiological perspective. To get a general idea of the reflection of values and their hierarchy in proverbs, we have conducted our research on the basis of Russian and French lexicographical material. According to our hypothesis, the thematic classification of proverbs in dictionaries and the corresponding category titles enable us to reveal directly or indirectly the values of a particular nation, and the quantitative correlation of proverbs within each theme can give us an idea of the hierarchy of values: a bigger or smaller number of proverbs on a certain topic indicates the degree of their importance in the consciousness of native speakers of a corresponding linguistic community. The paper presents the preliminary data of the research carried out on a limited material in order to test the methodology chosen by the authors. The research was based on the card index of 2400 Russian and French proverbs elicited from specialized lexicographic sources by means of continuous sampling. The emphasis was made on the French practical material, and the Russian material served as a background for comparative analysis. The paper presents the number of proverbs within each topic, the data giving a general picture of the hierarchy of values (the topics are listed in the descending order of the quantitative indicator). It also contains the results of the comparative analysis. The research has confirmed the possibility of identifying basic values, building their hierarchy and determining the dominant value based on the analysis of the proverbial bank, in particular, the headings of the thematic classification indicated in the lexicographical sources, and the number of units in each topic. The results make it possible to clarify the understanding of the Russian and French linguistic worldviews and can be used in the process of the linguistic and axiological analyses of different languages.

The transportation industry of a modern city involves the effective systems for the road traffic management. To manage any object is impossible without understanding its specifics. The tasks of road traffic management are based on mathematical models of traffic flows. The "following the leader" model based on the linear dynamic interval of vehicles has become widely accepted in the model analysis. The paper discusses the mathematical model of the linear dynamic interval of vehicles; the model is identified structurally and parametrically. Coefficients of the model are analyzed in detail; a generalized assessment of the dynamic performance of the traffic flow, evolved in various road conditions, is given. The study has resulted in the proposed basic models for traffic flows that can be used for algorithmic support of the model analysis of traffic flows and the road traffic management.

Abstract  The paper presents estimates for the latent period of the induction of radiogenic solid cancers among Chernobyl emergency workers (males) living in six central regions of Russia. The analysis is based on medical and dosimetry data gathered by the National Radiation and Epidemiological Registry over the time period from 1986 to 2005. The cohort includes 59,770 persons who stayed in the exposure zone (30-km zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant) in 1986–1987. There were 2,718 cases of solid tumors identified during the follow-up time in this cohort. The mean radiation dose in the cohort is 0.13 Gy. The radiation risk and latent period were estimated using the method of maximum likelihood. The excess relative risk per unit dose was found to be 0.96 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.3–1.7) and the minimum latent period for induction of solid tumors is 4.0 years (95% CI: 3.3–4.9). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I would like to analyze the nouvelle Popi (1930) by Teodor Scorţescu (1893‑1976), an author unjustly forgotten in his country, in order to identify cultural relativism lessons emerging from a story with Greek subject told by a Romanian. The narrative relates a love affair on the background of the great "National Discord" (Εθνικός Διχασμός), that is to say, the "fierce hate" which, since the World War I, had torn Greece, between supporters of King Constantine and those of the liberal leader Eleftherios Venizelos. A young Romanian, on business trip in this humiliated by defeat and shaken by revolutionary convulsions country, observes the raging political passions of his hosts, first with amused detachment, and then he learns to put it to use to seduce a beautiful Athenian woman and to drive away an annoying rival. The double posture of the narrator gives to Scorţescu’s story a double kind of profile. On the one hand, as a "study of manners", it may teach the Greeks the benefits to contemplate domestic things with the eyes of a stranger, and in this sense seems, relatively speaking, a "Persian letter" à la Montesquieu. On the other hand, Popi is also a "libertine" story that, with a little nod to Diderot, focuses on the art of make speaking a too quiet feminine "jewel".

To remove sulfur-containing compounds (SCC) from the diesel fraction 200–360 °C extraction systems have been created based on coordinating organic solvents—dimethylformamide and dimethylsulfoxide, metal chlorides (CoCl2, CuCl2, CdCl2, MnCl2 and CrCl3), and metal trifluoroacetates (Co(TFA)2, Cu(TFA)2 and Mn(TFA)2). Using PMR spectroscopy the coordination of metal chloride and metal trifluoroacetate on the oxygen atom in the carbonyl group of DMF was shown to redistribute electron density in the solvent molecule and to enhance properties of the acceptor center localized on the nitrogen atom. The removal of sulfur-containing compounds from the diesel fraction proceeded under mild conditions—at the temperature of 25 °C and atmospheric pressure. The degree of SCC removal from the diesel fraction in 30 minutes extraction was more than 90%. The interaction of organic solvents with metal salts and sulfur-containing compounds of the diesel fraction was considered within the framework of the concept of “hard and soft acids and bases” (HSAB). The most complete SCC extraction was carried out with DMF-Mn(TFA)2, MnCl2 and CrCl3 systems, that was probably connected with the implementation of the ‘hard base–hard acid’ system.