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We investigated the presence of a molecular pathway from hepatic 11-βHSD-1 to brain MAO-A in the dynamics of plasma corticosterone involvement in anxiety development. During 14 days following repeated exposure of rats to predator scent stress for 10 days, the following variables were measured: hepatic 11-βHSD-1 and brain MAO-A activities, brain norepinephrine, plasma corticosterone concentrations, and anxiety, as reflected by performance on an elevated plus maze. Anxiety briefly decreased and then increased after stress exposure. This behavioral response correlated inversely with plasma corticosterone and with brain MAO-A activity. A mathematical model described the dynamics of the biochemical variables and predicted the factor(s) responsible for the development and dynamics of anxiety. In the model, hepatic 11-βHSD-1 was considered a key factor in defining the dynamics of plasma corticosterone. In turn, plasma corticosterone and oxidation of brain ketodienes and conjugated trienes determined the dynamics of brain MAO-A activity, and MAO-A activity determined the dynamics of brain norepinephrine. Finally, plasma corticosterone was modeled as the determinant of anxiety. Solution of the model equations demonstrated that plasma corticosterone is mainly determined by the activity of hepatic 11-βHSD-1 and, most importantly, that corticosterone plays a critical role in the dynamics of anxiety following repeated stress. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

The relationship between sp2/sp3-hybridizations ratio of atomic bonds in diamond-like carbon ( DLC --- Diamond-Like Carbon) and its electrical resistivity for coatings with a thickness in the range 22-70 nm prepared by vacuum arc deposition on silicon substrate of the KDB-8 brand has been established. It is established, that an increase in the coating thickness from 22 to 70 nm is accompanied by a decrease in the specific transverse electrical resistance of samples from 17 to 2 GΩ·m. This effect is explained by an increase in the proportion of carbon atoms with sp2-hybridization of electronic orbitals from 86 to 91%, which leads to the appearance of an additional number of π-bonds. A mathematical model, describing the spatial distribution of current when measuring transverse I-V characteristic, has been developed. The results obtained will be useful in creating resistive layers on the electrodes of gas-discharge detectors of charged particle to limit the amount of current in the event of rare spark discharges inside them caused by the registration of random highly ionizing particles. Keywords: ( DLC), electrical properties of thin films, hybridization of electronic orbitals, Raman scattering, I-V characteristic.

Background: Rats exposed to chronic predator scent stress mimic the phenotype of complex post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in humans, including altered adrenal morphology and function. High‐ and low‐anxiety phenotypes have been described in rats exposed to predator scent stress (PSS). This study aimed to determine whether these high‐ and low‐anxiety phenotypes cor-relate with changes in adrenal histomorphology and corticosteroid production. Methods: Rats were exposed to PSS for ten days. Thirty days later, the rats’ anxiety index (AI) was assessed with an elevated plus‐maze test. Based on differences in AI, the rats were segregated into low‐ (AI ≤ 0.8, n = 9) and high‐ (AI > 0.8, n = 10) anxiety phenotypes. Plasma corticosterone (CORT) concentrations were measured by ELISA. Adrenal CORT, desoxyCORT, and 11‐dehydroCORT were measured by high‐performance liquid chromatography. After staining with hematoxylin and eosin, adrenal his-tomorphometric changes were evaluated by measuring the thickness of the functional zones of the adrenal cortex. Results: Decreased plasma CORT concentrations, as well as decreased adrenal CORT, desoxyCORT and 11‐dehydroCORT concentrations, were observed in high‐ but not in low-anxiety phenotypes. These decreases were associated with increases in AI. PSS led to a significant decrease in the thickness of the zona fasciculata and an increase in the thickness of the zona intermedia. The increase in the thickness of the zona intermedia was more pronounced in low‐anxiety than in high‐anxiety rats. A decrease in the adrenal capsule thickness was observed only in low‐anxiety rats. The nucleus diameter of cells in the zona fasciculata of high‐anxiety rats was significantly smaller than that of control or low‐anxiety rats. Conclusion: Phenotype‐associated changes in adrenal function and histomorphology were observed in a rat model of complex post‐traumatic stress disorder. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Temperature and magnetic field dependencies of sheet resistance R#(T,B) in polycrystalline CVD graphene, investigated in the range of 2≤ T≤ 300 K and magnetic fields 0≤ B≤ 8 T, allowed to determine carrier transport mechanisms in single-layered and twisted CVD graphene. It is shown that for R#(T,B) curves for such samples are described by the interference quantum corrections to the Drude conductivity independently on type of precursor and peculiarities of graphene transfer from Cu foil onto the various substrates (glass or SiO2). The twisted CVD graphene samples have demonstrated additional contribution of 2D hopping conductivity into the R#(T,B) dependencies. Keywords: graphene, single layer, twisted layers, CVD, carrier transport, magnetoresistance.

This paper describes carrier transport mechanisms in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) films and porous PET-based membranes (PMs) obtained by irradiating pristine PET film with swift heavy ions, with subsequent chemical etching in an alkali (NaOH) solution. The obtained PMs had through nanochannels (pores) with an average diameter of 720-750 nm. We observed that in the temperature range 240-300 K, the current-voltage characteristics I(V) of the initial Cu|PET|Cu structure obeyed the improved Mott--Gurney law, which is based on the Mark--Helfrich model for a space-charge-limited current (SCLC) mechanism for electron transport. It was found for the first time that creation of nanochannels in PMs resulted in a significant increase in the electric current density (by about three orders of magnitude) while maintaining the SCLC mechanism. The enhanced current density is explained by the formation of a highly conductive layer along the inner surface of the walls of the nanochannel that are covered with carboxyl end groups, which are created by alkaline hydrolysis. According to the model, the surface states formed by these groups enable the drift of additional electrons injected from the copper electrodes under the action of the bias voltage. Keywords: polyethylene terephthalate, electron transport, space-charge-limited current mechanism, Mark--Helfrich injection model.

The aim of the present study was study changes in antidepressant-like responses to Vitamin D3 (VD3) supplementation in three different doses (1.0, 2.5, and 5.0 mg/kg, s.c.) in long-term ovariectomized (OVX) rats treated with low dose of 17β-E2 (0.5 μg/rat, s.c.) during chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS). Sucrose preference (SPT), forced swimming (FST), and open-field (OFT) tests were administered to measure depression-like behavior. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and serotonine (5-HT) and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) levels in the hippocampus were measured by ELISA, western blotting analysis, and by using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), respectively.The findings demonstrated that VD3 (5.0 mg/kg, s.c.) in a combination with low dose of 17β-E2 increased sucrose consumption in the SPT and decreased depression-like in the FST of the long-term OVX rats exposed to CUMS. VD3 (5.0 mg/kg) resulted in significant elevated levels of hippocampal BDNF protein expression, as well as to the normalization of 5-HT and 5-HIAA levels in long-term OVX rats plus 17β-E2 compared to the OVX rats plus solvent or 17β-E2 submitted to CUMS. There were no significant effects of VD3 (1.0 and 2.5 mg/kg) treatment on both BDNF protein levels and 5-HT turnover in the hippocampus of the long-term OVX rats treated with 17β-E2 exposed to CUMS compared to the long-term OVX with CUMS rats plus solvent.In conclusion, VD3 (5.0 mg/kg, s.c.) in a combination with low dose of 17β-E2 had a synergic antianhedonic- and antidepressant-like effects in the adult female rats following long-term ovariectomy submitted to CUMS. This is the first study in long-term OVX female rats showing beneficial effects of VD3 on depression-like behavior that are depended on the presence/absence of stressful factors.

The Compass++/Amber (proto-)collaboration proposes to establish a “New QCD facility at the M2 beam line of the CERN SPS” and perform in phase-1, i.e. starting in the year 2022, three experiments that will use either muons or hadrons delivered by the existing M2 beam line: (1) Proton charge radius measurement using muon-proton elastic scattering, (2) Drell-Yan and J/Psi production experiments using the conventional M2 hadron beam, (3) Measurement of proton-induced antiproton production cross sections for dark matter searches.

A New QCD facility at the M2 beam line of the CERN SPS COMPASS++/AMBER