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Proton (1H) magnetic resonance spectroscopy provides a non-invasive and quantitative measure of brain metabolites. Traumatic brain injury impacts cerebral metabolism and a number of research groups have successfully used this technique as a biomarker of injury and/or outcome in both pediatric and adult TBI populations. However, this technique is underutilized, with studies being performed primarily at centers with access to MR research support. In this paper we present a technical introduction to the acquisition and analysis of in vivo 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy and review 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy findings in different injury populations. In addition, we propose a basic 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy data acquisition scheme (Supplemental Information) that can be added to any imaging protocol, regardless of clinical magnetic resonance platform. We outline a number of considerations for study design as a way of encouraging the use of 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy in the study of traumatic brain injury, as well as recommendations to improve data harmonization across groups already using this technique.

The purpose of this study is to identify and study factors of the dynamics of language situations in the information society and to identify speech trends that are characteristic of a number of constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The results of the study are based on a survey of 1,050 Russian speakers living in the Arkhangelsk Region, the Perm Territory and the Udmurt Republic. The survey was carried out in two forms: an online interview using audio calls and an Internet survey using Google Forms. The speech features of the colloquial speech of the inhabitants of the analyzed subjects have been studied. A number of integral and differential tendencies have been identified that are characteristic of the speech of a Russian-speaking linguistic personality in Russia as a whole and in its individual regions. The ways of activating the language policy in these subjects are proposed.

This article presents the results of technical studies of the oil painting by the artist of German origin Werner Tübke “Hiroshima I” (1958). The creative heritage of this author has not been studied enough and represents scattered data on the technology of painting and artistic techniques. The aim of this work was to determine the art materials and painting technology described in his diaries, using the example of his only painting represented in Russia: “Hiroshima I”. For this purpose, an in situ approach was implemented using some simple museum instrumentations—UV-induced visible luminescence, infrared reflectography (IRR), radiography, portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF), Fourier transform Infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and polarizing microscopy using microprobes. As a result, the pigment composition of the painting layers could be determined, the painting technology refined, and a previously unknown hidden portrait of Werner Tübke’s father revealed.

Here, we present DNA aptamers capable of specific binding to glial tumor cells in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo for visualization diagnostics of central nervous system tumors. We selected the aptamers binding specifically to the postoperative human glial primary tumors and not to the healthy brain cells and meningioma, using a modified process of systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment to cells; sequenced and analyzed ssDNA pools using bioinformatic tools and identified the best aptamers by their binding abilities; determined three-dimensional structures of lead aptamers (Gli-55 and Gli-233) with small-angle X-ray scattering and molecular modeling; isolated and identified molecular target proteins of the aptamers by mass spectrometry; the potential binding sites of Gli-233 to the target protein and the role of post-translational modifications were verified by molecular dynamics simulations. The anti-glioma aptamers Gli-233 and Gli-55 were used to detect circulating tumor cells in liquid biopsies. These aptamers were used for in situ, ex vivo tissue staining, histopathological analyses, and fluorescence-guided tumor and PET/CT tumor visualization in mice with xenotransplanted human astrocytoma. The aptamers did not show in vivo toxicity in the preclinical animal study. This study demonstrates the potential applications of aptamers for precise diagnostics and fluorescence-guided surgery of brain tumors.

The development of new technology methods for cryopreservation of animal cells has contributed to the introduction of stem cell banks for clinical use, including transplantation and regenerative veterinary medicine, and their further use to avoid problems of donors’ shortage. The research aims to determine the possibility of using the bone marrow of a domesticated yak as a source of stem cells after slaughter. Moreover, we should determine the suitability of post-mortem biological material for obtaining stem cells based on the index of proliferation and viability of cultured cells. Therefore, we used the following materials and methods: bone marrow, obtained from the femur of a domesticated yak in the post-slaughter period. Bone marrow samples were taken in compliance with the rules of asepsis in a sterile test tube. Thus, we added 0.25% trypsin solution to the biomass (the ratio of bone marrow to the solution is 10:1) and placed it in a refrigerator (t +40 °C) for 24 hours for enzymatic disaggregation. Furthermore, we carried out the culturing of the obtained cells in a CO2 incubator according to the standard method with passivation after the formation of a monolayer by 90%–100%. When culturing a suspension of cells obtained from post-slaughter bone marrow material, we noted the appearance of cell colonies six days after sowing. Periodic passivation of stem cells contributed to an increase in the biomass of actively proliferating cells. In addition, we found that stem cells isolated from post-slaughter bone marrow material of domesticated yak have significant proliferative potential, as evidenced by proliferation indices in the range from the first to the third passages and high cell viability. Thus, one can use the obtained post-mortem material in the form of the bone marrow of a domesticated yak as an additional source of stem cells. This post-mortem biological material is suitable for the isolation of stem cells 72 hours after the slaughter of an animal, which opens up the possibility of its transportation over long distances. The scientific novelty of the research is in the context of the international Convention on Biological Diversity, which means the variability of living organisms from all sources, including ecosystems and ecological complexes they are a part of. Within the strategy and action plan for the conservation of biodiversity of the Russian Federation, the ecosystem service of livestock production is significant for preserving the traditional way of life of the indigenous peoples of Siberia and the Russian Far East (it has regional and local significance). This global problem can be solved by (1) developing cell technologies for species not yet involved in it and (2) improving existing ones.

Xyloglucan is a highly promising 'green' polymer that has found its application in the food and pharmaceutical industries. Due to its molecular structure similarity to mucin, it has remarkable mucoadhesion properties, which has led to a high research interest in this excipient for the development of transmucosal delivery systems. Thermosensitivity is another promising property of xyloglucan derivatives, which is mainly exhibited by synthetic block copolymers such as pluronics and PLGA derivatives. Delivery systems whose mechanism of active ingredient release is based on temperature sensitivity are widely used in many medical fields, ranging from antitumour therapy to intranasal delivery. Thus, conducting research on the possibility of obtaining and using a new mucoadhesive, fully biocompatible and affordable polymer—xyloglucan—is a promising task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, stimulus-sensitive drug delivery systems have been developed for parenteral administration as a depot system. In situ systems incorporate smart polymers that undergo a phase transition at the site of administration. All parenteral and ocular dosage forms must meet sterility requirements. Careful selection of the sterilization method is required for any type of stimuli-sensitive system. Current sterilization methods are capable of altering the conformation of polymers or APIs to a certain extent, ultimately causing the loss of pharmacological and technological properties of the drug. Unfortunately, the issues of risk assessment and resolution regarding the sterilization of stimuli-sensitive systems, along with ways to stabilize such compositions, are insufficiently described in the scientific literature to date. This review provides recommendations and approaches, formulated on the basis of published experimental data, that allow the effective management of risks arising during the development of in situ systems requiring sterility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several examples are used to illustrate the possibilities of the "irreversible localization" method, when shared use spaces are located in residential buildings so that they cannot be turned into housing, a penthouse or other commercial function in order to accelerate the payback of the residential complex. The real-life possibilities and limitations associated with the inclusion of workplaces, recreational facilities for all-season use such as winter gardens, and built-in low-capacity DOW are considered. Examples represent the most interesting layouts from the modern practice of Moscow, St. Petersburg and other major cities of Russia, as well as some residential complexes in other countries.

Measurements of magnetic fields near seismic sources during solar flares are vital for understanding the dynamics of solar activity. We used spectropolarimetric observations of the X17.2/4B solar flare on 28 October 2003, over a wavelength interval of 43 Å, including the D3, D2, D1, and Ni I 5892.88 Å lines, to analyze the Stokes I ± V profiles. Effective magnetic fields within 0.5–1.5 kG were measured in the D1, D2, and D3 lines at different flare locations, with the photospheric Ni I 5892.88 Å line showing a weaker field of below 0.5 kG. The D3 line showed rapid plasma descents of up to 11 km/s, in contrast to the slower velocities within 2.3 km/s observed in other lines. The differing amplitudes in the I + V and I − V profiles indicated potential non-Zeeman polarization effects. Secondary Stokes V peaks were also detected up to 8 Å from the D3 emission core. Significant altitudinal inhomogeneity in the magnetic field strengths was detected, possibly indicating the local magnetic collapse, facilitating the Lorentz-force driven mechanism of the seismic source excitation.

Recently, materials obtained using supramolecular chemistry approaches, and, in particular, spatially preorganized macrocyclic compounds, have attracted close attention of the researchers. Pillar[n]arenes are of special interest due to their tubular spatial structure and macrocyclic cavity. A similar tubular structure is retained in the supramolecular packaging of pillar[5]arene crystals, forming pores. In this study, we developed a block synthetic approach for the preparation of bis-pillar[5]arene containing amide groups. The ability of the synthesized bis-pillar[5]arene to form stable self-associates in solvents of different polarity (CHCl3 and CH3OH) was demonstrated by the DLS method. In trichloromethane at concentration of 1·10–3 M, monodisperse associates with average hydrodynamic diameter of 227 nm (PDI = 0.28) are formed; in methanol, stable associates (1·10–6 M) have an average hydrodynamic diameter of 136 nm (PDI = 0.21). The results obtained can be used to create new supramolecular systems, molecular machines, or capture and detect various organic molecules.

Background The Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell line is the main host for the high-titer production of therapeutic and diagnostic proteins in the biopharmaceutical industry. In most cases, plasmids for efficient protein expression in CHO cells are based on the cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter. The autologous Chinese hamster eukaryotic translation elongation factor 1α (EEF1A1) promoter is a viable alternative to the CMV promoter in industrial applications. The EEF1A1 promoter and its surrounding DNA regions proved to be effective at maintaining high-level and stable expression of recombinant proteins in CHO cells. EEF1A1-based plasmids’ large size can lead to low transfection efficiency and hamper target gene amplification. We hypothesized that an efficient EEF1A1-based expression vector with a long terminal repeat fragment from the Epstein-Barr virus (EBVTR) could be truncated without affecting promoter strength or the long-term stability of target gene expression. Methods We made a series of deletions in the downstream flanking region of the EEF1A1 gene, and then in its upstream flanking region. The resulting plasmids, which coded for the enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP), were tested for the level of eGFP expression in the populations of stably transfected CHO DG44 cells and the stability of eGFP expression in the long-term culture in the absence of selection agents. Results It was shown that in the presence of the EBVTR fragment, the entire downstream flanking region of the EEF1A1 gene could be excluded from the plasmid vector. Shortening of the upstream flanking region of the EEF1A1 gene to a length of 2.5 kbp also had no significant effect on the level of eGFP expression or long-term stability. The EBVTR fragment significantly increased expression stability for both the CMV and EEF1A1 promoter-based plasmids, and the expression level drop during the two-month culture was more significant for both CMV promoter-based plasmids. Conclusion Target protein expression stability for the truncated plasmid, based on the EEF1A1 gene and EBVTR fragment, is sufficient for common biopharmaceutical applications, making these plasmid vectors a viable alternative to conventional CMV promoter-based vectors.

Abstract Introduction Brain age, the estimation of a person's age from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) parameters, has been used as a general indicator of health. The marker requires however further validation for application in clinical contexts. Here, we show how brain age predictions perform for the same individual at various time points and validate our findings with age‐matched healthy controls. Methods We used densely sampled T1‐weighted MRI data from four individuals (from two densely sampled datasets) to observe how brain age corresponds to age and is influenced by acquisition and quality parameters. For validation, we used two cross‐sectional datasets. Brain age was predicted by a pretrained deep learning model. Results We found small within‐subject correlations between age and brain age. We also found evidence for the influence of field strength on brain age which replicated in the cross‐sectional validation data and inconclusive effects of scan quality. Conclusion The absence of maturation effects for the age range in the presented sample, brain age model bias (including training age distribution and field strength), and model error are potential reasons for small relationships between age and brain age in densely sampled longitudinal data. Clinical applications of brain age models should consider of the possibility of apparent biases caused by variation in the data acquisition process.

The term free-water volume fraction (FWVF) refers to the signal fraction that could be found as the cerebrospinal fluid of the brain, which has been demonstrated as a sensitive measure that correlates with cognitive performance and various neuropathological processes. It can be quantified by properly fitting the isotropic component of the magnetic resonance (MR) signal in diffusion-sensitized sequences. Using N=287 healthy subjects (178F/109M) aged 25-94, this study examines in detail the evolution of the FWVF obtained with the spherical means technique from multi-shell acquisitions in the human brain white matter across the adult lifespan, which has been previously reported to exhibit a positive trend when estimated from single-shell data using the bi-tensor signal representation. We found evidence of a noticeably non-linear gain after the sixth decade of life, with a region-specific variate and varying change rate of the spherical means-based multi-shell FWVF parameter with age, at the same time, a heteroskedastic pattern across the adult lifespan is suggested. On the other hand, the FW corrected diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) leads to a region-dependent flattened age-related evolution of the mean diffusivity (MD) and fractional anisotropy (FA), along with a considerable reduction in their variability, as compared to the studies conducted over the standard (single-component) DTI. This way, our study provides a new perspective on the trajectory-based assessment of the brain and explains the conceivable reason for the variations observed in FA and MD parameters across the lifespan with previous studies under the standard diffusion tensor imaging.

Fermented foods have a longer shelf life and higher nutritional value. Sauerkraut products depend on the quality of the raw material. Not every cabbage variety is suitable for processing. The present research objective was to test several cabbage hybrids for natural fermentation, microbiological parameters, and native sugar content after four months of storage. The study featured twelve new-generation white cabbage hybrids of Russian selection and sauerkraut foods. The experimental batches were stored for four months at –1–0°C. Fermentation occurred at 21°C and final pH ≤ 3.6. The sugar content and titratable acidity were measured by standard methods. The method of limiting dilutions was applied to determine the microbial count. The microbiological seeding process followed standard procedures. The highest content of total sugars before fermentation belonged to the late-ripening hybrids Prestizh F1 (5.92%), Gertsoginya F1 (5.82%), and Idillia F1 (5.28%), as well as to the late-ripening Atlant F1 (5.49%). The greatest sugar content was registered in Prestizh F1 (4.78%), Kontinent F1 (4.30%), and Gertsoginya F1 (4.07%). The mass fraction of titratable acids in terms of lactic acid averaged 1.04% for all the samples. The difference in the chemical composition depended on the hybrid and microbial count during fermentation. The lactic acid bacteria content was as high as 8.17×107 CFU/cm3 in Severyanka F1. All the samples were resistant to undesirable microflora, i.e., yeasts and molds. All the cabbage hybrids were suitable for fermentation even after four months of storage. Their own lactic microflora was sufficient for fermentation and traditional sensory properties.

Целью исследования явилось изучение эффективности лечения пациентов после артроскопической реконструкции передней крестообразной связки с применением индивидуальной физической реабилитации. Материалы и методы. В исследование включены 834 пациента в возрасте 18–55 лет (464 мужчины и 370 женщин) с диагнозом «разрыв передней крестообразной связки коленного сустава». Пациенты были распределены на две группы: контрольную – 530 человек (302 мужчины и 228 женщин), которые получали стандартное послеоперационное лечение; основную – 304 человека (162 мужчины и 142 женщины), которые помимо стандартного послеоперационного лечения получали комплексную индивидуальную реабилитацию. Эффективность лечения оценивали с помощью субъективных ортопедических опросников в ходе динамического наблюдения (до операции и через 1 год после операции и реабилитации). Результаты. Спустя 1 год после артроскопической реконструкции передней крестообразной связки и физической реабилитации у пациентов основной группы установлены статистически значимо более высокие медианы эффективности лечения по данным ортопедических опросников, чем у контрольной. Важно также отметить, что пациенты основной группы статистически значимо чаще демонстрировали высокие показатели эффективности лечения по сравнению с представителями контрольной группы. Таким образом, исследование подтвердило, что применение комплексной индивидуальной реабилитации у пациентов, перенесших хирургическое вмешательство после разрыва передней крестообразной связки, значимо улучшает их физическое и психическое состояние.

The paper is devoted to the study of factors affecting the timeliness of response to the effects of malicious software. The analysis of anti-virus protection tools in computer systems is carried out. The analysis is based on expert assessments of protection measures against the effects of malicious software and expert assessment of the time parameters of anti-virus tools. The requirements for the time characteristics of anti-virus tools in the computer systems are defined and justified. The paper provides options for the formal presentation of characteristics for assessing the implementation of information processes in the computer systems and the timeliness of responding to the effects of the malicious software. The characteristics that clarify the model of information security threat in the computer systems are analyzed by taking into account the specifics of the use of the malicious software. The substantiation of mathematical abstraction for the formal representation of a sequence of random events associated with the implementation of the threat of the impact of the malicious software on the computer systems is given, analytical expressions are obtained to evaluate anti-virus protection measures and the actions of the violator to implement unauthorized access. Hypotheses are formulated and proved regarding the adequacy of the use of a temporary computer systems resource by antivirus tools.

The phase velocity of a laser-driven wakefield can be efficiently controlled in a plasma channel. A beatwave of two long laser pulses is used. The frequency difference between these two laser pulses equals the local plasma frequency, so that the slow resonant excitation of the plasma wave is possible. Because the driver energy is spread over many plasma periods, the interference pattern can run with an arbitrary velocity along the channel and generate the wakefield with the same phase velocity. This velocity is defined by the channel radius and the structure of laser transverse modes excited in the channel. The wake velocity can be matched exactly to the witness velocity. This can be the vacuum speed of light for ultra-relativistic witnesses, or subluminal velocities for low-energy, weakly relativistic witnesses such as muons.