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The coronavirus outbreak is a global event that has bypassed national borders and affected the entire world. Therefore, examining social representations of can reveal the problems that structure people's experiences in a particular social context. To identify social representations of the coronavirus, the authors conducted a survey within the territory of the Sverdlovsk region. The survey covered the period from March 11 to May 11, 2020. The data were collected in two stages: at the first stage, there were 31 confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection in Russia, but no cases had yet been recorded in the Sverdlovsk region;at the second stage, the number of cases reached 1952 in the Sverdlovsk region and 221 344 throughout the country. The study used the word association tests, The Semantic Differential Scale (V.F. Petrenko), The Psychic Activation Assessment Methodology (L.A. Kurgan and T.A. Nemchin) and the questionnaire survey techniques. The findings showed that the significance of the coronavirus problem for the respondents varied in different periods of the pandemic. The core of the social representation is sustainable and coherent. It reflects the results of the media impact: death, panic. It also remains stable regardless of the time and involvement of the respondents in the pandemic. The potential alteration zone serves as a kind of 'taming' of knowledge about the coronavirus, the operationalization of the coronavirus perception content into the language of changes in a person's everyday life-the coronavirus pandemic is understood as a 'flu epidemic' and the need for self-isolation is a 'vacation', an opportunity 'to stay at home'. Observation of the immediate affective reaction of the respondents to the trigger 'coronavirus' uncovered the presence of emotional tension and the prevalence of negative experiences in them. The survey also showed that in the pandemic, being the main source of information and a means of communication, the media set trends for developing perceptions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)

Owing to exceptionally high selectivity, membranes based on palladium alloys are widely used for obtaining high-purity hydrogen. An important issue for providing high hydrogen permeability of the membranes is to form the required phase composition. The structural organization of the solid solutions consisting of Cu–36.4 at .% Pd and Cu–50 at .% Pd were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), electron diffraction (ED), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDXS). It was found that the former composition can be ordered in the temperature range of 300–400 °C and in the heating (up to 800 °C)–cooling cycle. In the presence of excess Cu atoms (27.2%), this structure can be represented by CsCl type structural units (β-phase) and distributed body center cubic (BCC) copper structural units in the corresponding concentration dose. The formation of a single crystal ordered phase within the mosaic blocks of the disordered phase was established. Experimental evidence was obtained for the separation of the α-phase solid solution in the elemental composition; the very low rate of ordering inherent in this system was attributed to this effect. The hydrogen permeability of a foil of the equiatomic composition was described.

We have studied the effect of surface lamp processing on the hydrogen permeability of membrane foil produced by rolling an ingot of a Pd–Cu solid solution. Such processing has been shown to remove sorption products from the membrane surface and to significantly improve the hydrogen permeability of the membranes at temperatures of up to 300°C. The use of a reactor with a cleaned PdCu membrane allows the hydrogen yield in the methanol steam reforming process in the presence of a Ni0.2Cu0.8/Ce0.3Zr0.7O2–δ catalyst to be raised relative to that in a conventional flow reactor owing to the displacement of thermodynamic equilibrium as a result of the removal of hydrogen from the reaction zone. The effect of membrane surface cleaning by lamp processing is most clearly demonstrated by examining the yield of high-purity hydrogen in the permeate zone. Whereas at 360°C the yield of high-purity hydrogen in a reactor containing a membrane with a cleaned surface increased by just 15%, membrane surface cleaning by lamp processing ensured a 15‑fold gain at 260°C. This is due to the considerable difference between the hydrogen permeabilities of the membranes at low temperatures and its gradual decrease at high temperatures.

Surface modification of GaAs in sulfur vapor by different procedures and subsequent annealing and thermal oxidation have an advantageous effect on the properties of heterostructures, ensuring binding of the constituent components of the substrate and the formation of films with a uniform surface, without well-defined defects. The approaches proposed in this work allow films of nanometer thickness with resistivity from ~108 to ~1010 Ω cm to be grown on the surface of GaAs by a simple method.

Introduction. The rapid aging of the world and Russian population and the associated medical, demographic, and socioeconomic problems determine the increased interest in the issue of aging. Aim and objectives. to study the features and causes of changes in age-related mortality, life expectancy (LE), and aging in Russia in the second half of the XX century compared to other countries. Material and methods. We used the Human Mortality Database survival tables to estimate the expected and maximum life expectancy. The aging rate was calculated using the Gompertz–Makeham formula and the increment of total mortality. Graphs were built using Microsoft Office Excel’s standard tools and the computer program Aging of Populations developed by us. Results. Until the middle of the XX century, significant aging rate changes did not accompany a sharp increase in Le. Later with a relatively small increase in LE, it decreases sharply. Deceleration of aging was observed for all studied countries (from 12 to 36 for different available historical periods) for all studied parameters and progresses to the end of the studied period. For Russia, the decline in the aging rate that began simultaneously 7 with other countries in 1960–1970's slows down and is restored only by 2000. Discussion. Improvements in living conditions and health outcomes lead to an increase in the proportion of the elderly population structure. However, these same processes reduce the rate of individual aging. Improving medical and social care for retired people reduces their mortality rate. Still, it produces a phenomenon of delayed mortality in later ages (the phenomenon of inversion of centenarians’ total mortality – from reduced to increased). Nevertheless, the use of the mortality rate increment indicator shows that the decline in the aging rate for centenarians persists. Conclusion. The identified trends in mortality are useful for developing areas of preventive and socio-medical impact on the population’s health.

It was found that changes in the mortality rate with age, minus the background constant of the Gompertz–Makeham formula, the increment in the mortality rate, as well as the exponential coefficient of this formula, reflect the actual rate of human aging. Using age-related mortality data for 40 countries, it is shown that the rate of aging does not change significantly over history and is almost the same for different countries from the mid-18th to the mid-20th century. It was noted that its linear growth persists (on a logarithmic scale), starting from the end of the period of development and growth of the body until the age of centenarians, when the speed of aging is reduced (due to the inherited longevity of the population). However, since the mid-20th century for the first time in history, slowing of the rate of aging in all parameters, including maximum life span, which is apparently associated with pronounced success in the economy and in health and social care, has been noted.

X-ray diffraction has been used to study the phase composition and determine the lattice parameter of the β- and α-phases in foil of a Pd–Cu solid solution with a composition that ensures reversibility of the β $$ \rightleftarrows $$ α transformations: with the structure of the β- and α-phases and a two-phase structure. The thermal expansion coefficient of the Pd–Cu solid solution has been determined for the first time.

We have studied the phase composition and texture of a Pd–Cu solid solution with a nearly equiatomic composition in different steps of the preparation of membrane foil by rolling to 300, 175, 100, and 20 μm and 7-μm-thick foil produced by magnetron sputtering of a target having the same composition as the foil. We have identified orientation relationships between the β- and α-phases in the as-prepared two-phase structures and demonstrated that, after heating to 600°C and subsequent cooling, the ordered solid solutions (β-phase) prepared by the two processes, have identical textures, which can be understood in terms of the transformation mechanism.

The effectiveness of flash lamp processing and ion beam sputtering in surface cleaning of membrane foil from a Pd–Cu solid solution produced by rolling has been assessed using cyclic voltammetry and atomic force microscopy. It has been shown that it is reasonable to use cyclic voltammetry for assessing the degree of foil surface cleaning and that combined surface processing of membrane foil is effective in foil surface cleaning. Ion beam processing reproducing the surface elemental composition corresponding to the original composition of the solid solution and increasing surface roughness is a factor of 1.3 more effective than combined surface processing.

The β $$ \rightleftarrows $$ α phase transformations in foil of the Pd–52 at % Cu solid solution prepared by rolling have been studied using X-ray diffractometry and resistivity measurements during thermal heating–cooling cycles or lamp processing (LP) using light from high-power pulsed xenon lamps, followed by cooling. The results demonstrate that complete ordering of the two-phase (α + β) as-prepared (as-rolled) foil follows the sequence (α + β) → β → α → β in the first heating–cooling cycle and β → α → β in the second and subsequent cycles. When a radiative energy critical for a given thickness of foil with an ordered structure is delivered to the foil surface, an irreversible β → α phase transformation occurs, whose rate can be three orders of magnitude higher than the rate characteristic of the disordering process during Joule heating. After LP, the reversibility of the β $$ \rightleftarrows $$ α phase transformations, inherent in the initial, ordered structure, is observed in a second thermal cycle: heating to 700°C and cooling. The sequence of phase transitions is α → β → α → β in the first cycle and β → α → β in the second and subsequent cycles. The localization of light in the skin layer and finite thermal conductivity offer the possibility of producing a structure with a phase composition gradient at subcritical irradiation times. The fact that the LP-stabilized α-phase persists up to 300°C makes it possible to compare the mechanical properties of foil samples having identical elemental compositions but different (ordered and disordered) structures.

The purpose of the review is to identify the effects of natural aging processes and accompanying age-related diseases on the personal labor potential of a person in modern conditions of socio-economic development. Personal labor potential is subject to the processes of natural biological aging. Improvements in living conditions and advances in health care lead to an increase in the proportion of the elderly in the population structure, but these same processes can reduce the rate of individual aging, the risks of age-related diseases and death. The aging process reduces overall viability, which is accompanied by an increased risk of age-related chronic diseases. For these diseases, personal risk levels should be assessed, and preventive measures should be taken in a timely manner. There are risk markers for various diseases that increase in frequency with age, as well as markers of increased overall mortality. The assessment of individual aging is based on indicators of biological age, which should be considered to assess personal labor potential.

This article is devoted to studying morphological, structural, and orientation transformations and variations of elemental composition during growth of films of Pd–Pb solid solution upon magnetron sputtering of Pd–5 at % Pb target in an Ar environment (10–1 Pa); the initial vacuum is 10–3 Pa; growth rate is 4 nm/s; magnetron power during growth of thin films is 630–650 W and of thick films is 750–790 W. It is established that nucleation and growth of films of Pd–Pb solid solution take place according to the Volmer–Weber growth mode and are accompanied by collective recrystallization. The stage of labyrinth morphology is achieved at an average thickness of 10 nm. This stage is characterized by nanocrystalline structure and uniaxial texture 〈 111〉 . Existence of the second component (Pb) suppresses multiple twinning peculiar to Pd island films. The elemental composition in the film bulk is characterized by a decrease in Pb concentration.

In accordance with the orientation ratio (110), [001]β || (111), [$$1\bar {1}0$$]α established by fast electron diffraction between the ordered (β) and disordered (α) phases in the foil of a Pd + 57 at % Cu solid solution, the atomic structure of the interface is modeled by molecular dynamics. It is found that the structural and size discrepancies are compensated by interfacial dislocations with Burgers vectors a/2〈111〉 in coordinates of the β-phase.

—Using data gathered from 40 countries throughout a historical period covering two and a half centuries, we studied the peculiarities of age-related changes in the aging rate for the countries in the world and elucidated the possibilities and limitations of the method for quantitatively measuring the aging effect according to parameters related to the analysis of population mortality. Mortality rate and its derivatives are variables of the Gompertz formula: m(t) =$${{R}_{0}}\exp (kt)$$, where m is the mortality rate at time t (age), R0 is the initial mortality level, and k is the rate of mortality increase; both components are believed to be associated with aging, and of the Gompertz–Makeham formula (with an additional coefficient A as the constant mortality rate, which depends on external conditions). The A and R0 components are not necessarily uniform for different ages and affect each other, changing controversially, as well as the R0 and k components. To characterize the external effects on mortality, it is better to use the R0 of the Gomperеtz formula; when the values of external effects on mortality are high, the k component of the Gomperеtz formula can be used to evaluate aging. At the same time, when the A coefficient is low, it is better to use the k component of the Gompertz–Makeham formula. In this case, absolute comparison of the components of the Gompertz and Gompertz–Makeham formulas is not reasonable because these components may differ considerably. The mortality increment d(m) is the best indicator to reflect the biological nature of aging and the changes of the latter for an exact age. However, it may reflect certain particular changes in total mortality for certain ages. Using this indicator, it can be observed that the main patterns of the aging process have persisted throughout all historical periods and for all countries. The mortality curves for early periods of history are discontinuous and distorted due to the faults of the methods for collecting primary data and not because of actual events. Hence, it is necessary to remember that the components of the formulas may have biological meaning only when mathematical proof is supported by biological methods and data.

transformations in a thin ~4 m foil of PdCu solid solution were investigated by x-ray diffractometry and measurement of electrical resistance in heating-cooling cycles during thermal or rapid photon treatment by radiation of high-power pulsed xenon lamps. It has been found that a single rapid photon treatment for 0,3 s (the energy dose of the radiation entering the sample is 10 j cm‑2) leads to a complete disordering of the solid solution at a rate 400 times greater than in the heat treatment mode used (heating at a rate of 15 K min‑1).

The widespread formation of unfavorable environmental, the swiftness of modern life with large information and psycho-emotional loads and extremely natural and climatic cataclysms, as well as harmful addictions and wrong way of life of modern human, lead to the development of stress and disruption of the mechanisms of adaptation of the human body and its accelerated wear. This stimulates the development of research on the creation of new methods of integrated assessment of health and quantitative assessment of the aging processes of the body systems and the whole body, as well as the possibilities of new methods of risk assessment of climatic and environmentally related pathological and age-related diseases. The aim of the work was to consider the methodology of quantitative assessment of individual health and the rate of aging of the human body on the basis of the system index of Biological age (BA); description of its essence and structure, requirements for tests - biomarkers of aging used as the index of BA, definition of possibilities and scope of application of the BA method in modern practice of Biomedicine. The use of modern methods of scientific analysis - a systematic approach to the analysis of the processes of human aging and determine its quantitative side - the value of BA, allows a reasonable approach to the choice of the number of BM, to take into account their information content and precision, and the cost of diagnostics and availability for different users, to take into account the specific objectives of the researcher. The use of the index-partial BA allows individual approaching the choice of biomarkers and create personalized panels for the definition of BA programs for the prevention of aging in personalized preventive medicine. The complexity of the content and calculation of indices of BA requires automation and the use of methods of modern computer science and computer calculations and programs. For this purpose, we have created special computer software for diagnosing aging by calculating the BA indices with the possibility of choosing BM and automatic calculation of indicators and conclusions.

Предложена методика модифицирования InP в парах серы, методом локального рентгеноспектрального микроанализа подтверждено её наличие на поверхности. Дляплёнок нанометрового диапазона толщины (до 50 нм), выращенных термическим оксидированием InP с предварительно обработанной в парах серы поверхностью, методом Оже-электронной спектроскопии установлено послойное распределение компонентов. По данным атомно-силовой микроскопии модифицирование InP серой приводит к формированию поверхности с зернистой структурой, более упорядоченной по сравнению с эталоном (собственное термооксидирование фосфида индия). Несмотря на то, что в результирующих плёнках сера не обнаружена, они обладают полупроводниковыми свойствами, тогда как для собственных оксидных слоёв на InP характерна омическая проводимость REFERENCES Markov V. F., Mukhamedzyanov Kh. N., Maskaeva L. N. Materialy sovremennoj jelektroniki [Materials of modern electronics]. Ekaterinburg, Publishing Ural. un-one, 2014, 272 p. (in Russ.) 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Introduction. The deepening of medical and demographic problems associated with the sharp aging of the population is an obstacle to the effective socio-economic development of countries, determining the increased interest in the problem of aging. The aim of the study is to study the features and causes of changes in age mortality in Russia of the twentieth century. Material and methods. Used a table of survival for the 1960-2000 years for Russia to calculate the components of the formula of Gompertz, the intensity of mortality and its increments, using the Excel program, and developed the computer program “Aging of populations»; the adequacy of the calculated (according to the Gompertz formula) and true mortality rate was estimated by the correlation coefficient (“r”). Results. The data obtained clearly show the presence of 4 stages of mortality change: reduction of child mortality; increased mortality of working age (20-65 years); the same mortality of retirement ages (65-85 years); increased mortality in the ages of long-livers (from 85-90 years). Discussion. It can be concluded that the improvement of medical and social care for children and pensioners reduces child mortality and produces the phenomenon of “delayed mortality” of pensioners: reducing the intensity of mortality (the rate of aging) in this age period. The latter leads to the phenomenon of inversion of total mortality for ages of long-livers (from reduced to increased). Use instead of overall intensity of mortality of its increment leads to the conclusion however, that the decrease in the rate of ageing for the ages of centenarians persists. For working person age mortality is increasing, which is obviously due to the increasing stress and environmental difficulties of modern cities. During the pension period, mortality rates are equalized for all studied historical periods. The reduction of the external component of mortality of the Gompertz formula makes the graph more linear over a longer age period (the contribution of the external component of Makeham, the constant, to the exponential component of biological aging, decreases). Conclusion. The detected trends in mortality indicate the direction of preventive and socio-medical impact on the health of the population.

Additionally to the assessment of the external environment for the evaluation of the hygienic welfare of the population it is ultimately important to assess the health status, the index of which should be monitored as early as possible. Prenosological changes are the most early and common, they reflect the cumulative impact of adverse effects of the external environment of very different nature and their evaluation on human health is the most important. For a more accurate and standardized assessment of such effects we have developed a number of computer systems, allowing to estimate both physical and mental health and performance, and also biological age of a person. Our programs involve individual records of customer data, both physical and mental activity in everyday life, the degree of stress tolerance, the presence of occupational hazards, exercise, food tastes etc. Design of programs includes standardized windows: data entry, tabular and graphical output of results in comparison with age-related standards, output of the text and conclusion the database with the ability to view them and compare the results of several visits. Database programs have similar form and can be presented in a ExCel format for the statistical treatment. Overall, we have developed a computer system for the assessment of physical and mental health, working capability and biological age, that is a powerful tool for the accurate and standardized evaluation of the external adverse environmental influences on the health and general well-being, provides ways to an early preclinical diagnosis and environmental well-being and can be widely used in sanitary and hygienic monitoring of the health status of the population.

Проведены исследования начальных стадий роста пленок ниобата лития на Si в процессе ВЧМР, исследовано влияние условий ВЧМР и последующих обработок (ТО, ИФО, БТО) на структуру, субструктуру и ориентацию получаемых покрытий. Установлено, что начальные стадии роста пленок ниобата лития в процессе ВЧМР на подогретой до 550 °С Si подложке характеризуются островковым зарождением кристаллитов и последующей их коалесценцией. Показана возможность управления текстурой пленок ниобата лития в процессе ВЧМР в условиях воздействия плазмы ВЧ-разряда, путем изменения состава рабочего газа. Показан эффект ИФО в кристаллизации аморфных пленок состава ниобата лития, заключающийся в формировании однофазной нанокристаллической пленки ниобата лития, в процессе обработки на воздухе. ИСТОЧНИК ФИНАНСИРОВАНИЯ Исследование выполнено при финансовой поддержке РФФИ, проект № 18-33-00836. ЛИТЕРАТУРА Lu Y, Dekker P., Dawes J.M. Journal of Crystal Growth, 2009, vol. 311, pp. 1441-1445. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2008.12.035 Poghosyan A. R., Guo R., Manukyan A. L., Grigoryana S. G. SPIE, 2007, vol. 6698, pp. 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.734353 Kadota M., Suzuki Y., Ito Y. Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, 2011, vol. 50, pp. 1-5. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1143/jjap.50.07hd10 Hao L., Li Y., Zhu J., Wu Z., Wang J., Liu X., Zhang W. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 2014, vol. 599, pp. 108-113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2014.02.078 Gupta V., Bhattacharya P., Yuzyuk Yu. I., Katiyar R. S. Mater. Res., 2004, vol. 19, N 8, pp. 2235-2239. https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2004.0322 Tan S., Gilbert T., Hung C.-Y., and Schlesinger T. E. Phys. Lett., 1996, vol. 68, p. 2651. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.116270 Shih W.-C., Sun X.-Y. Physica B: Condensed Matter, 2010, vol. 405, no. 6, pp. 1619–623. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physb.2009.12.054 Barinov S. M., Belonogov E. K., Ievlev V. M., et al. DokladyPhysical Chemistry, 2007, vol. 412, no. 1, pp. 15-18. https://doi.org/10.1134/s0012501607010058 Hansen P. J., Terao Y., Wu Y., York R. A., Mishra U. K., Speck J. S. Vac. Sci. Technol., 2005, vol. 23, № 1, pp. 162-167. https://doi.org/10.1116/1.1850106 Sumets M., Ievlev V., Kostyuchenko A., Vakhtel V., Kannykin S., Kobzev A. Thin Solid Films, 2014, vol. 552, pp. 32–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsf.2013.12.005 Seok-Won Choi, et al. The Korean Journal of Ceramics, 2000, vol. 6, no. 20, pp. 138-142. Ievlev V. M., Soldatenko S. A., Kushhev S. B., Gorozhankin Ju. V. Inorganic Materials, 2008, vol. 44, no. 7, pp. 705-712. https://doi.org/10.1134/s0020168508070066 Ievlev V. M., Turaeva T. L., Latyshev A. N., et al. The Physics of Metals and Metallography, 2007, vol. 103, no. 1, pp. 58-63. https://doi.org/10.1134/s0031918x07010073

A concept, method, algorithm, and computer system (CS) of step-by-step dialog optimization of biomarker (BM) panels for assessing human biological age (BA) according to a number of universal criteria based on incomplete and noisy data have been developed. This system provides the ability to automatically build BM panels for BA assessment and to increase the accuracy of BA determination while reducing the number of measured BMs. The optimization criteria are as follows: high correlation of BMs with chronological age (CA); minimum size of BM panels, obtained by rejecting highly cross-correlated BMs; high accuracy of BA assessment; high accuracy of BA/CA dependency interpolation; absence of outliers in BM values, which reduce the BA assessment accuracy; rejection of panels resulting in a high standard deviation for the BA-CA difference; and possible additional criteria entered by the researcher according to the task specifics. The CS input consists of data on physiological, biochemical, and other BMs that change with age. The CS output is a panel of BMs optimized according to the specified optimization criteria. The CS is user-friendly. It allows the user to add optimization criteria that the researcher considers to be important or to remove criteria that the user considers incorrect. The CS may be used in solving practical problems of anti-aging medicine, such as the treatment and prevention of age-related chronic non-infectious diseases representing the main causes of death. The authors' point of view on the role and place of BA diagnostics in this area is discussed.

The phase and structural transformations that Pd–Ru(7 at %) solid solution thin films undergo during thermal oxidation in oxygen in the temperature range 570–1070 K are studied by transmission electron microscopy, high-energy electron diffraction, and reflection high-energy electron diffraction. With increasing oxidation temperature, the phase composition is found to change in the order: Pd–Ru(7 at %) solid solution → Pd–Ru(7 at %) + PdO + RuO2 → PdO + RuO2 → PdO–RuO2 solid solution. We show that the complete oxidation of Pd–Ru(7 at.%) thin films to form single-phase films of the PdO–RuO2 solid solution takes place at a temperature of 100 K higher compared to pure palladium films. The resistance sensor response of the prepared PdO−RuO2 oxide films to ozone in air is studied for the first time. The results suggest that this is a promising material for use in gas-sensing applications.

The plot of the mortality rate minus the constant A of the Gompertz-Makeham equation and the plot of the mortality intensity increment d(m) reflect the actual rate of biological aging. It was shown that since the middle of the 20th century there has been a slowdown in aging for all the countries of the world that were studied (for available periods in the history), in all parameters: R0 and k coefficients of the Gompertz equation, mortality intensity increment d(m) and maximum life span. The slowdown in the aging rate of continues to the present. The probable cause is a significant improvement in medical and social care and quality of life since the mid-20th century and the possible influence of the therapy of chronic diseases on the aging processes.

—Modeling of the human aging process was performed based on the relationship between overall viability and the processes of growth and self-renewal of tissues, which is presumably regulated by the centers of the vegetative brain. The presence of two regulatory centers, which stimulate and inhibit such growth, as well as the spontaneous degradation of the cells in those centers at different rates, allowed us to simulate the periods of growth, retardation, and decrease of the rate of the growth or self-renewal of tissues. The resulting curve corresponds to the real entire mortality intensity curve for populations, which is known to best describe the growth and aging processes. Such a correspondence between the model and the mortality curve, which is usually described by the Gompertz formula only for the middle part of the curve, was obtained for the first time. The model complies with the regulatory theory of aging and connects aging processes with the processes of regulation of growth and tissue self-renewal.

Composite membranes with a thin selective layer based on the Pd–46 at % Cu or Pd–5 at % Pb solid solution on the surface of a bilayer heterostructure with two-level porosity in the form of Kh18N10T steel/nanoporous titanium oxide (steel/rutile) are fabricated. The structure of the selective 4-μm-thick layer is found to have no through pores, and a metal does not penetrate into the nanopores in titanium oxide. The selective layer in both versions has a fine submicrocrystalline granular structure, which is caused by the presence of a second component in the Pd–Pb layer and by a two-phase composition of the Pd–Cu layer. In the temperature range 200–300°C, the hydrogen permeability of the membrane based on the two-phase Pd–Cu solid solution is higher than the membrane based on the Pd–Pb solid solution by a factor of 1.7–2.0.

The method of potentiostatic anodic-cathodic chronoamperometry of atomic hydrogen injection into a metal film and its subsequent extraction is theoretically discussed. By combining the methods for studying the phase-structure state and surface morphology with multicycle cathodic-anodic chronoamperometry, the injection (and subsequent extraction) of atomic hydrogen into a 47Pd53Cu (at %) film synthesized by ion-plasma spraying is studied. It is found that the initial stage of hydrogenation proceeds under the mixed diffusion-phase-boundary control and passes to the purely diffusion control in 3–4 s. The main kinetic parameters of the stages of phase-boundary hydrogen penetration and its solid-phase diffusion are found. It is shown that the mass transfer in the film alloy proceeds mainly through the grain bodies rather than along intergrain boundaries. The increase in the β-phase content in the alloy leads to the noticeable increase in the diffusion coefficient of hydrogen, whereas the effective equilibrium constant of the phase-boundary process decreases.

β $$ \rightleftarrows $$ α transformations in a thin ~4 µm foil of the PdCu solid solution have been studied by X-ray powder diffraction and measurement of electrical resistance in heating–cooling cycles during heat treatment or rapid photon treatment by radiation of high-power pulsed xenon lamps. It has been found that a single rapid photon treatment for 0.3 s (the radiation energy dose delivered to the sample is 10 J cm–2) leads to a complete disordering of the solid solution at a rate 400 times higher than in that achieved under heat treatment conditions (heating rate of 15 K min–1).

We review the progression of aging as a sequential development of multiple syndromes analogous to other diseases. This generalized approach may allow practicing physicians to consider the signs of aging as manifestations of a poly-syndrome disease and facilitate prevention, diagnosis and treatment of common aging-related dysfunctions.

Background. Neuropsychology is a science with its own specific concepts, terms, and methods of analysis of disturbances in psychological development. One of the essential concepts of neuropsychological methodology, according to A.R. Luria, is that of a neuropsychological syndrome, which takes into account both the functional organization of the brain and the behavioral system. However, this concept isn’t mentioned in the majority of his publications, and thus is not well known by neuropsychologists. There is no clear understanding of this concept within the works of modern neuropsychologists. This omission has a strong influence on the way analysis and interpretation of developmental difficulties is carried out today. Objective. The objective of this study is to present an example of the successful application of qualitative syndromic analysis to the case of a Mexican preschool child with developmental problems and learning disabilities. Design. The clinical analysis was applied to the case of a 6 year old girl with learning disabilities, whose difficulties had been attributed primarily to a low level of general brain activation. Results. The authors assert that the advantages of A.R. Luria’s syndromic approach to clinical cases of difficulties in development and learning disabilities, are that it opens up the potential for finding the general causes on different levels: neuronal maturation, brain mechanisms, activity and personality. Conclusion. The authors conclude that the topic of syndromic analysis in child neuropsychology requires further scientific discussion. The necessity for revising levels of analysis of clinical cases should be taken in account.