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Advances in cancer treatment require continuous improvement and the search for new therapies. Methods for direct photogeneration of singlet oxygen in tissue using IR lasers may be an effective alternative to photodynamic tumor therapy. The physical limitation for the direct photogeneration of singlet oxygen in a biological medium is the low absorption cross section of molecular oxygen. To overcome this limitation, it is necessary to use infrared radiation with a high power density, which in a living system is limited by thermal effects. A promising direction in the development of this approach could be the use of pulsed laser irradiation. By solving the problem of direct photogeneration of cytotoxic concentrations of singlet oxygen in a biological environment, including tumor tissue, without simultaneous heating to biocritical temperatures, it is possible to develop new effective and safe methods for the treatment of malignant neoplasms. Key words: single oxygen, direct photogeneration, reactive oxygen species, cancer therapy, photobiomodulation.

Tumor acidity is one of the hallmarks of cancer. The use of glycolysis as the main source of ATP production due to the metabolic reprogramming of cancer cells makes their intracellular pH alkaline and extracellular pH acidic. This metabolic reprogramming and acidification are part of the general defenses that allow malignant cells to survive, multiply, spread, and become resistant to therapies. Tumor acidity may also be associated with a poor prognosis for cancer patients, and clinicians should consider this when diagnosing and determining optimal treatment. On the other hand, the inversion of the pH gradient in tumors could be a weakness, which will allow the development of new promising therapies. Pharmacological inhibition of pH regulation pathways and alkalinization of the tumor appear to be prospective therapeutic options for cancer treatment. Alkalization therapy does not contradict standard treatment methods and can be used in combination to increase effectiveness. Here, we have tried to summarize the basic knowledge about tumor acidity and related potential cancer treatment options.

High incidence of inoperable tumors of the gastrointestinal tract and respiratory system are required the palliative methods to restore the patency of these organs. There is also a need in case of endoscopic treatment for the I stage tumors is not possible. Photodynamic therapy is a promising method for the treatment of esophageal cancer and non-small cell lung cancer; however, despite this fact, it is still not widely used worldwide. In this article based on the literature data we review the effectiveness, safety and possibility of using endoscopic photodynamic therapy as an complementary or primary therapy for early and inoperable tumors of the gastrointestinal tract and respiratory system.

Excitons in lead bromide perovskites exhibit high binding energy and high oscillator strength, allowing for a strong light-matter coupling regime in the perovskite-based cavities localizing photons at the nanoscale. This opens up the way for the realization of exciton-polariton Bose-Einstein condensation and polariton lasing at room temperature -- the inversion-free low-threshold stimulated emission. However, polariton lasing in perovskite planar photon cavities without Bragg mirrors has not yet been observed and proved experimentally. In this work, we employ perovskite metasurface, fabricated with nanoimprint lithography, supporting so-called exceptional points to demonstrate the room-temperature polariton lasing. The exceptional points in exciton-polariton dispersion of the metasurface appear upon optically pumping in the nonlinear regime in the spectral vicinity of a symmetry-protected bound state in the continuum providing high mode confinement with the enhanced local density of states beneficial for polariton condensation. The observed lasing emission possesses high directivity with a divergence angle of around 1$^\circ$ over one axis. The employed nanoimprinting approach for solution-processable large-scale polariton lasers is compatible with various planar photonic platforms suitable for on-chip integration., 12 pages, 3 figures

Immune therapy is one of the most promising areas of cancer treatment. It is aimed at a cascade of processes responsible for the antitumor immune response. The involved regulatory mechanisms become targets for various therapeutic approaches aimed at restoring the impaired functions of immune cells that eliminate cancer cells. The ability of malignant cells to affect receptors of immune checkpoints is one of the most important mechanisms for suppressing antitumor immunity. The development of immune check-point inhibitors (ICIs) based on monoclonal antibodies, as well as the methods of adoptive cell therapy (ACT), are a breakthrough in the immunotherapy of malignant diseases, but it carries a number of limitations such as insufficient efficiency, safety and cost-effectiveness. The use of RNA interference technologies opens up prospects for the development of fundamentally new class of ICIs and, as a consequence, the development of more efficient ACT methods. This review presents the main problems and prospects of the use of small interfering RNA (siRNA) as the ICIs are highlighted in order to optimize modern AKT approaches

Tumor acidosis affects every stage of cancer development, from dysplasia to full-blown metastatic disease. Survival strategies of malignant cells in an acidic microenvironment and pH gradient inversion promote resistance to chemotherapy, radiotherapy and immunotherapy, and suppress the antitumor immune response. It is necessary to consider the low pH of the microenvironment both when diagnosing and when choosing the most optimal treatment regimen. The development of methods for non-invasive measurement of tumor pH, methods for direct and indirect correction of acidosis, new pH-activated and pH-targeted drugs is required. In this work, we consider some aspects related to the altered acid-base state of the tumor, which may be significant for the clinician.

Advanced projects of exploration and use of the Moon and other planets of the Solar system involve extensive use of robotic systems for space purposes and, in particular, anthropomorphic robot assistants for space expedition crews. The challenges of effective organization of interaction between the cosmonauts and robot assistants are of particular importance. The article examines the main ergonomic problems that arise in the development and use of collaborative robots, the content of the process of ergonomic support for their development and the methodological approach to its implementation. The results of the experimental research are also presented.

We present the study of interaction of fluorescein derivatives, MitoFluo and C 8 -Fl with two types of liposomes modeling cellular and mitochondrial membranes. Polarization anisotropy, fluorescence lifetimes, and rotational diffusion times have been determined from time-resolved polarized fluorescence experiments. The analysis of the experimental results has shown that both fluorescein derivatives interact with liposomes and that MitoFluo embeds in liposomes more effectively than C 8 -Fl.

В настоящее время большое количество исследований посвящено изучению противоопухолевой активности наночастиц и соединений серебра, одним из которых является нитрат серебра. В данной работе была определена цитотоксическая активность нитрата серебра на клеточных культурах К-562, HeLa, Мононуклеарных клетках (МНК) переферической крови человека, а также эмбриональных фибробластах мыши 3T3b и трансформированных эмбриональных фибробластах мыши 3T3-SV40 с помощью методов проточной цитофлуорометрии и колориметричесого МТС-теста. Также в работе показана противоопухолевая активность нитрата серебра in vivo в отношении солидной опухоли Эрлиха.

It has been shown that the state of the human immune system and its activity determines the development, course and prognosis of many oncological diseases. To date, various immunotherapeutic approaches have been developed, of which the most promising is adoptive cell therapy (ACT). An increase in the effectiveness of this type of therapy could be achieved by using synthetic small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) to suppress the expression of key immune checkpoint (ICI) genes (PD1, CTL4) in T-lymphocytes, which are involved in cellular immunosuppression. However, there is a problem of selecting an effective method for delivering such siRNAs to T-lymphocytes. In the present study, we developed a synthetic siRNA specific to the mRNA sequence of the PD1 gene and evaluated the efficiency of its delivery to activated human T-lymphocytes using chemically modified siRNA, histone H1, – 18 – Global science. Development and novelty and the liposomal agent HiperFect. Ex vivo activated T-lymphocytes from healthy donors were used. The efficiency of siRNA transfection into cells and its confirmation was assessed using flow cytofluorometry and confocal microscopy. As a result of the study, a high (51%) efficiency of transfection into these cells using chemically modified "self-delivering" siRNA was shown. For other methods of delivery of miRNA to T-lymphocytes, low efficiency is shown. Thus, our data suggest that of the three approaches used in this work for miRNAs delivery to activated T-lymphocytes, the most effective is the use of “self-delivering” chemically modified cholesterol miRNA.

We consider quality (Q) factor of accidental bound states in the continuum in bilayer resonators consisting of low-index dielectric rods. The dependence of Q factor on the number of periods shows that Q factors increase with the increasing number of rods. We calculated the dependence of the resonator Q factor on the disorder by two methods: analytical (multiple scattering theory) and numerical (finite difference method) and showed that the results are in good agreement. Also, we investigated the dependence of the resonance frequency on disorder.

Anthropomorphic robots are an integral part of the technical support of human activities. Possessing human kinematics, they are able to perform the required manipulations with external objects. At this stage, there is no intelligent control system capable of making decisions about the necessary movements of the anthropomorphic manipulator. This determined the creation of external control systems. In this case, the most rational is the control carried out by an operator through a special copying set up device. In the presented article, the fundamental principles defining a schematic structure of a copying set up device are justified. Providing the anthropomorphic manipulator kinematics similar to the human hand kinematics is possible through the implementation of two additional mobilities. Along with seven traditional degrees of freedom connecting the output links, additional ones should be installed within the anthropomorphic robot framework. The structure of three-movable rotational pairs, providing registration of rotation angles in the shoulder and wrist joints, should be implemented in the form of kinematic connections. The choice of the variant of their construction is determined by the conditions of rational functioning of the anthropomorphic manipulator and the possibilities of the drives placing.

In this paper, experimental studies for bare soil radiobrightnesses at frequency of 6.9 GHz were carried out at a test site with meteorological parameters being registered. On the other hand, temperature and moisture profiles in soil were simulated using the land surface processes. As a result, the temperature and moisture profiles were determined. With these data the radiobrightness patterns could be simulated using the radiation transfer theory. The value of moist soil complex dielectric constant as a function of depth was calculated using the spectroscopic soil dielectric model with the soil bound water influence being taken into account. Finally, diurnal variations of radiobrightnesses were simulated and the results of that simulation were compared with the measured data. The observed and simulated diurnal trends of radiobrightness were found to be in a good agreement, thus proving the land surface processes radiobrightness model coupled with the spectral dielectric model to be an efficient instrument for developing data processing algorithms in radiothermal remote sensing.

The Indiana University Cyclotron Facility (IUCF) has constructed and placed in operation a Low Energy Neutron Source (LENS) using a 10 mA, 7 MeV proton beam incident on a beryllium target. The proton delivery system (PDS) consists of a 25 keV proton injector, an AccSys Technology, Inc. PL7 Linac [1] and a proton beamline (PBL) with non-linear beam spreading [2]. The accelerator and beamline equipment used in this construction are refurbished and upgraded components from the IUCF CIS/Cooler synchrotron [3] facility. After commissioning the beam current at 7 MeV will be 10 mA with a pulse width of up to 300 μs and > 1% duty factor. The PDS was constructed and commissioning started in 2004. First operating results will be described.

Methods of control of mobile robotic systems are described. To solve the problem of real time motion planning and control of several mobile robots, it is necessary to apply methods of neural control, combined with artificial intelligence (AI). The control system may be of single-level type (with equal robots) and two-level type with a special coordinator (supervisor), which provides motion coordination for individual robots. The main and most difficult problem of optimal control of a robot team is to plan robots motion, concerning both obstacles in the working zone and other moving robots. In mathematical sense the problem can be considered as optimization of the whole system functional which consists of individual robot functionals with constraint of some common resources. For a group of mobile robots such resources are represented by a free space in the working zone.

Multi-agent robot system (MARS) represents a group of autonomous robots, which corporately solve common task in real time in dynamic environment. The paper describes methods of multi-agent control of MARS and neurocontrol of mobile robots-agents. To solve the problem of MARS control in real time, it is proposed to combine methods of artificial intelligence (AI) and neurocontrol. Multi-agent control system has a hierarchical structure with parallel processing features. It includes strategic and tactical levels of control. At the strategic control level a number of problems is solved: common MARS task decomposition into series of local sub-tasks of robots-agents, optimal sub-task distribution between robots-agents, global environment modeling and avoidance of robot collisions. At the tactical control level problems such as control of robots-agents, local obstacle modeling, optimal path planning for robots-agents, programming of movement of agents along planned paths, adaptive control of robot actuators, are solved.

Methods and principles of optimal and adaptive control of mechanical systems are discussed, as well as principles of their neural implementation for optimal control in real time. Optimal programmed controllers, feedback controllers, adaptive controllers and programmers of optimal movements of nonlinear mechanical systems with reversible dynamics are synthesised. Methods of optimal and adaptive controller and programmer parameters adjustment are proposed, and parallel (neural) architectures for their implementation are discussed.

The radiation sensitivity of pine wood nematodes has been tested over a range of dose values with a cesium-137 irradiator. Lethal doses were found to lie in a range above 6–8 kGy, too high to make this an economically attractive means of deinfestation for commercial woodchips.

Principal unconformities and terminal folding, on the time scale from Belomorian through Caledonian, are correlated tentatively for constituents of the East European Platform (Baltic Shield, Ukrainian Massif, Eastern Margin, and their subordinates), Canadian Shield and Greenland, parts of Great Britain, and northern margin of the African Platform. — IGR Staff.

The type study, based on a vast body of geophysical data and on thousands of boreholes of which hundreds are deep enough to enter the crystalline basement of the East European Platform, reveals structural and positional characteristics of ridges, troughs, domes, placosynclines, and other expressions of tectonic disturbances. The grouping and extent of certain local structures depending entirely on secondary platformal tectonic structures is motivated by the incidence of hydrocarbon accumulations therein. As to their general tectonic background, it is created by positions and shapes of aulocogenes [furrows], positions and forms of aprons of syneclises and anteclises, structures of pericratonic downwarps, etc. Hence the very occurrence of local structures of genetically and morphologically different types within ancient platforms is not random or accidental but is a manifestation of the platform's over-all plan, as discussed and repsented on the map.--V. P. Sokoloff.

This paper discusses the design of a state observer for an electric drive with pulse-width modulation of control signal and time division of reconstruction and control processes. An equation was formulated as the basis for the operation algorithm of the switching device, which provides switching on the control action of the electric drive when the transient processes in the state observer are over. The efficiency of the state observer operation algorithm was estimated for the direct current electric drive with a speed regulator.