Search

Liver cirrhosis continues to be an acute problem of modern medicine due to the high rates of its prevalence and mortality. The high mortality rate is caused by the development of the number of life–threatening complications in decompensated forms of liver cirrhosis – hepatorenal syndrome, infections and varicose bleeding. Hepatorenal syndrome and infections are the result of immunological shifts occurring during decompensation of liver cirrhosis. Currently available literature data do not allow us to create a complete picture of the functional state of various links of adaptive immunity with decompensated liver cirrhosis. The aim of the research was to study the characteristic features of adaptive immunity in patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis. Material and methods. The prospective cohort study included 136 patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis, who received inpatient treatment in the hepatological department of the multidisciplinary hospital. The cohort of examined patients was divided into two groups, one of which included patients with liver cirrhosis of viral origin (n = 78), the other – patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis (n = 58). In addition to the generally accepted standard methods, the patient examination program included immunological tests: identification of T- and B-lymphocytes, immunoregulatory and activated subpopulations of T-lymphocytes by the method of immunophenotyping peripheral blood mononuclear cells using monoclonal antibodies. The serum levels of immunoglobulins IgM, IgG, IgA, circulating immune complexes were determined by immunoturbidimetric method. Results. The study of indicators of the humoral link of adaptive immunity revealed an increase in the number of B cells, an increase in IgM, IgG, IgA and circulating immune complexes in patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis. The cellular link of adaptive immunity was characterized by an increase in the relative content of T helper cells, activated T cells against the background of a decrease in the number of immature T cells and T regulatory cells. Conclusions. The distinctive features of adaptive immunity in patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis are simultaneous activation of both humoral and cellular components, which, apparently, supports the systemic inflammatory process and the associated progressive liver fibrosis.

In order to evaluate the efficiency of the catalytic aquathermolysis process, physical modeling was carried out on bituminous sediments of Paleocene–Miocene carbonate rocks, characterized by the presence of open and closed fractures. In this context, three filtration experiments were performed on an unextracted reservoir model with extra-viscous oil (EVO). Prior to the experiments, the mineral composition of the rock was determined by X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) and the content of organic matter and coking products was determined before and after the experiment by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) as well as the group composition of oil (SARA) before and after the experiment by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), gas composition at the fluid separation line, and oil displacement coefficient (ODC). The results of the conducted experiments show that the efficiency of displacement of extraviscous oil could be significantly increased by the use of a solvent and the combined use of a solvent and a catalyst (+9.3% and +17.1% of the oil displacement coefficient, respectively), which is associated with the processes of oil refining.

The laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) was measured for a

The timely diagnosis and treatment of post-infectious glomerulonephritis (PIGN) is currently limited by the erased and low-symptom nature of the disease, which leads to the search for informative biological markers of the disease, which can be used as immunological indicators of blood and urine. The study was carried out in order to establish the characteristic changes in the immunological parameters of blood and urine in patients with PIGN. The study included 60 patients with PIGN from among the patients, hospitalized in the nephrology department of the Republican Clinical Hospital of Health Care Ministry of the Chuvash Republic in 2015-2018. In addition to the generally accepted research methods, the patients underwent: 1) the determination of indicators of innate and acquired immune response in the blood (CD3+ -, CD3+ CD4+-, CD3+CD8+-, CD4+CD25+-, CD95+-, CD20+-, CD14+CD282+-, CD14+CD284+- cells; levels of IgG, IgA, IgM, circulating immune complexes, C3, C4) and urine (levels of IgG, IgA, IgM, C3, C4); 2) the determination of the levels of cytokines - IL-1β, Ra-IL-1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-8, IL-10, IL-17A in blood serum and urine. The data obtained were compared with those of the group of healthy individuals. The changes in blood immunological parameters, identified in the group of patients with PIGN, indicate the activation of innate immunity (the increase in the number of CD14+TLR2+- cells) and the humoral component of adaptive immunity (the increase in the number of B-lymphocytes, hyperimmunoglobulinemia - the increase in IgM and IgA levels) against the background of the decrease in the number of T (CD3+) - lymphocytes and regulatory (CD4+CD25high) - cells, hypocomplementemia (decreased levels of C3, C4). The increase in the content of C3, IgG and IgA was found in the urine. The cytokine profile of blood in patients with PIGN was characterized by the increase in the levels of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-1β, Ra-IL-1β, IL-2, IL-8, IL-10, IL-17A, with the exception of IL-4, which remained on the levels of healthy individuals. The cytokine profile of urine in patients was characterized by the increase in the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1β, IL-2, IL-8, IL-17A and anti-inflammatory cytokine - IL-10, with no changes in the content of Ra-IL-1β and IL-4. The revealed features of the immunological profile of blood and urine in patients with PIGN reflect the immunopathogenetic mechanisms of this disease.

The dependence of the threshold fluence for surface ablation of such crystalline materials as silicon and diamond (with orientations (001) and (111)) on the direction of linear polarization of ultrashort pulses of different duration (0.3–3.3 ps) with a wavelength of 515 nm has been studied for the first time. The obtained values of the ablation fluence threshold $${{F}_{{{\text{abl}}}}}$$ demonstrate for all oriented plates a noticeable dependence on the az-imuth of the laser pulses polarization for all three durations. The azimuthal modulation of the $${{F}_{{{\text{abl}}}}}$$ value ranges from 30 to 90% and is associated with the width of the band gap for different crystallographic directions of these crystalline materials, appearing upon laser polarization coinciding with these directions. The results obtained will allow to optimize the polarization parameters of ultrashort laser pulses for processing various crystalline materials.

The core component of the silicon tracking system (STS) of the BM@N experiment at NICA is a module of CBM STS type. It consists of state-of-the-art components developed for the CBM project at FAIR: a double-sided microstrip silicon sensor, stack of low-mass micro-cables and two front-end boards (FEBs) for the readout of the P- and N-sides of the sensor. New PCB designs for the two geometries of FEBs were developed to fulfill integrational requirements of the BM@N STS project and connectivity scheme. Front-end electronics of the STS is based on STS-XYTER ASIC. Dies are installed on the PCB with a wire-bonding technology which is used due to a high density of components on the FEB. Before the module assembly all ASICs are tested and certified in a special Pogo-pin test circuit. Test algorithm for the characterization of the analog part of the STS-XYTER ASIC was developed and tested for one STS-XYTER ASIC on the FEB and will be implemented for the test bench with Pogo-pin test circuit.

The major upgrade of the BM@N experiment for the heavy ion program is a new hybrid tracking system. It consists of seven planes of GEM detectors and four silicon tracking stations based on the modules with double-sided microstrip silicon sensors of CBM type. The BM@N silicon tracking system (STS) will conceptually inherit the data acquisition system (DAQ) from the CBM silicon tracker currently in development for FAIR. This is an entirely data driven acquisition system relying on purely self-triggering readout channels, which will also be adopted for the operation with BM@N trigger. The core components of the readout chain are front-end boards (FEB), GBTxEmu board and GBTxEmu readout interface (GERI) board. The front-end board is an integrated part of the STS module. The main components of FEB are eight STS-XYTER ASICs which are needed for the readout of one side of the silicon sensor. The GBTxEmu board comprises an FPGA which emulates functionality of the CERN GBTx ASIC and provides a bidirectional optical link between front-end electronics and data processing boards in the computer nodes. The GERI board implements the following functionalities: concentrating and preprocessing of the data stream, filtering of the data according to the BM@N trigger signals and providing an interface for the detector control system (DCS) to configure readout electronics.

The low effectiveness of the existing ways of treatment of glomerulonephritis (GN) requires the development of new treatment methods and profound studying of mechanisms of development of (GN). A review of modern literature data indicates a relationship between the development of (GN) with infection and activation of various components of the immune response. Pathogen-associated molecular patterns of infectious pathogens act as "danger signals" that activate Toll-like receptors of innate immune cells, as a result, a cascade of intracellular chain reactions is triggered, causing the production of growth factors and cytokines. The cytokine environment determines the pathway of differentiation of (CD 4+) helper cells into (Th1), (Th2), (Th17), and regulatory T cells (T reg). According to published data, a key link in the (GN) immunopathogenesis is an imbalance in the ratio of the activity of subpopulations of T helper cells, manifesting inhibition activity of (T reg) on a background of activation of effector cells ( T eff ) – (Th1), (Th2), (Th17). The activity of (Th1), (Th17)-cells are realized in the cellular mechanisms of the immunopathogenesis of (GN), while (Th2)-cells provide activation of the humoral component of adaptive immunity and the production of antibodies involved in the formation of immune complexes (ICs). This is a general scheme of the immunopathogenesis of (GN), which has specific variations depending on the clinical and morphological form of (GN). In post-infectious (GN), the activation of the humoral link of adaptive immunity with the formation of (ICs) and their subsequent deposition in the capillaries of the glomeruli comes to the fore. A feature of the immune complex process in patients with (IgA) nephropathy is the formation of "nephritogenic" ICs containing abnormal (IgA) (with impaired glycosylation of the IgA molecule) and anti-glycan antibodies. (ICs) isolated from patients with membranous nephropathy contain the podocyte receptor of phospholipase A2 (PLA 2 R) and anti- (PLA 2 R) autoantibodies belonging to (IgG 4). The central link in the immunopathogenesis of minimal changes in nephropathy is the development of an immediate hypersensitivity reaction. The prevalence of activation of the cellular mechanism of adaptive immunity acts as the main mechanism for the development of focal segmental nephrosclerosis.

In recent years, primary immunodeficiencies have turned from the class of rare diseases to the category of more common disorders which may be encountered by doctors of any clinical discipline. The first case of primary immunodeficiency disorder (PID) in Chuvashia was detected in 1993. Since that time, the Department of Internal Diseases with the Course of Clinical Immunology at the I. Ulyanov Chuvash State University registered all the cases of PID diagnosed in the region, introducing them into the Republican Registry of PID. The study was aimed for searching epidemiological indexes, clinical and laboratory manifestations of PID in Chuvash region. The study was based on the patient data obtained by retrospective analysis of 85 case histories of PID patients, treated at different departments of the Republican Clinical Hospital, and the City Chuvash Pediatric Clinical Hospital of Public Health Ministry in 2000-2019, as well as on 49 outpatient records of the patients included into the Regional PID Registry. Various forms of PIDs were diagnosed according to the criteria developed by the European Society for Immunodeficiency and the Pan-American Group on Immunodeficiency (1999). The results of this study showed that the incidence of PID in the Chuivash Region is 3.4:100,000. The incidence of common variable immune deficiency (CVID), the most common form of PID in the region, was 1.58 per 100,000 population. The average age at the time of CVID diagnosis in Chuvash patients was 30.4±16.1 years, and the age of CVID debut was 11.3±15.0 years. The delay in proper diagnosis from the moment of clinical manifestation of CVID was, on average, 17.9 years in the region. At the time of CVID diagnosis, the patients showed marked decrease in the levels of 3 or 2 immunoglobulin classes (IgG and IgA), and T-helper cell contents (CD3+CD4+) in peripheral blood. Prevalence of selective IgA deficiency with сlinical symptoms was 0.83 per 100,000 population of the region, and the incidence of the asymptomatic form of this PID was 1 : 167. In patients with selective IgA deficiency, there were also disorders in the T cell system manifesting as decreased relative number of cytotoxic T-cells as well as elevated IgG and IgM levels. The age of diagnosis of X-linked agammaglobulinemia in the region was 3.5±3.0 years. In addition to disturbances of humoral adaptive immunity in children with this disease, a decrease in absolute T cell numbers was detected. In conclusion, the article describes disturbances of postvaccinal immunity in a pregnant patient with CVID, with asymptomatic clinical course, thus leading to false interpretation of the serological markers of TORCH infections and wrong strategy of pregnancy management.

Periodic nanostructures with a period of about 100–150 nm are formed on the surface of nanoporous silicate glass irradiated by sharply-focused laser pulses with a wavelength of 515 nm and a duration of 300 fs and are visualized by scanning electron microscopy. The reflection/transmission spectroscopy of the formed nanostructures in the visible range reveals their antireflection effect.

A report is given on the main results from the NUCLEON space experiment. The composition and spectrum of cosmic rays is measured in the range of 2 to 500 TeV. Spectra of particular nuclei, including nickel and secondary nuclei, are obtained. The dependence of the ratio between the fluxes of protons and helium nuclei on magnetic rigidity is investigated. A universal knee is found in the magnetic rigidity spectra of different nuclei.

The inhomogeneity of the spectrum of cosmic rays in the region of 10 TV (small knee), observed in the data of direct experiments of cosmic rays, is considered in terms of isotropic diffusion from a single close source. It is shown that such a description is possible. The area of possible space-time localization of the source and its energetics are determined.

Birefringent microstructures recorded at a fixed depth under the action of laser pulses with a wavelength of 1030 nm, different durations in the range of 0.3–3.8 ps, and different energies have been obtained for the first time in the bulk of a fluorite plate. The dependences of the retardance in microstructures for orthogonal polarizations on the energy/intensity of radiation are monotonically increasing at any directions of laser pulses. A mechanism has been proposed for the formation of birefringent microstructures at the reflection of laser pulses from the near-critical bulk plasma near the focal region with the formation of a standing electromagnetic wave in front of the plasma along the optical axis. This wave is fixed in the material in the form of arrays of nanostructures planes (nanogratings) with the orientation of grooves of local modification of the material and its refractive index perpendicular to the laser polarization. The observed sublinear increase in the retardance in birefringent microstructures with an increase in the energy/intensity of laser radiation is described within this mechanism.

A clinical case of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is presented. Since childhood the patient had preclinical lupus: leukopenia, anemia, photoallergy, vasculitis, and serological changes a-SS-A (+++), but at that time the findings did not meet the criteria for SLE. At the initial examination of the woman at the age of 24 years, a clinical blood test revealed hemoglobin 101 g/l, leukopenia 3.2×109/l, ESR 41 mm/h, hyper-γ-globulinemia 29%. The immunological blood analysis revealed a-DNA (+++), a-SS-A (+++), aSm (+++), aRNP (+++). The diagnosis was "Systemic lupus erythematosus of chronic (at the beginning) course, activity of the 1st degree (2 points by the SLEDA scale): with hematological disorders (leukopenia), immunological disorders (ANA+)". Metypred was administered at a dose of 16 mg/day, followed by the dose reduction to 6 mg/day and Plaquenil 400 mg/day. The woman received inpatient and outpatient treatment, repeatedly consulted in the Federal State Budgetary Institution "V.A. Nasonova Research Institute" under the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences. At the age of 26, the diagnosis was made: "Systemic lupus erythematosus, grade 2 activity with skin lesions of the type of subacute cutaneous lupus, cheilitis, lymphadenopathy", blood tests revealed leukopenia, lymphopenia, anemia, as well as immunological disorders: a-n DNA 93.4 u/ml, aSm > 200 u/ml, aRo > 200 u/ml, C3 0.63 g/l, rheumatoid factor 69.5 mIU/ml, ANA (Нер-2) 1/640 Sp. A complex therapy was performed with the use of Metypred, Cyclophosphane and Azathioprine. Against the background of the therapy, the patient's condition is stable, but immunological disorders are preserved: persistent high positivity for aRo-SS-A and the presence of the rheumatoid factor. The case demonstrates the need for an in-depth examination of women with anemia of unknown origin in combination with leukopenia to exclude systemic diseases of the connective tissue.

Asymmetric resonances are detected in experimentally measured extinction spectra of gold and palladium alloy particles. To determine the effect of the particle chemical composition on the resonance shape, the extinction cross section of nanoparticle heptamer was numerically simulated as a function of the ratio of elements in the alloy.

The transmission coefficient of a 30-nm-thick silver film for single visible laser pulses with a wavelength of 515 nm and a duration of 300 fs decreases steadily with an increase in the peak intensity of the pulses, which means that the absorption coefficient of the material increases accordingly. Taking into account the high initial density of free s electrons in the material, the heating of the electron gas corresponds to a monotonic increase in the absorption coefficient of silver as a function of the electron temperature. At the same time, photoinjection of additional nonequilibrium free carriers (~1022 cm–3) caused by multiphoton d–s interband transitions from quasibound d states lying below the Fermi level can also be successfully invoked to qualitatively explain the dependence of the absorption coefficient on the peak intensity of the laser pulses. It is shown by the example of silver that, in order to describe changes in the optical properties of transition metals during an ultrashort excitation laser pulse, one has to take into account both the interband photoinjection of additional carriers and the characteristics of the resulting nonequilibrium states of the electron gas. The relative contributions from these two factors are largely determined by the relation between the width of the band gap between the Fermi level in the s band and the top of the d bands and the photon energy.

The transmission spectra of femtosecond laser pulses in the mid-IR range (5–6.6 μm) were investigated of submonolayer of Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria on a silicon plate in the region of characteristic absorption bands of proteins and lipids, as well as stationary spectra after irradiation. Invertible “translucence” of samples in the region of characteristic bands of bacteria and blue shift these bands indicating the destruction of hydrogen bonds were discovered. The possibility of inactivation of pathogenic bacteria by selective IR laser denaturation of functional proteins by resonance irradiation of low average power is discussed.

Two-photon absorption has been systematically studied in Ca3(VO4)2 and Ca2.7Sr0.3(VO4)2 crystals, both of which are prospective nonlinear optical and laser host materials. A strong dependence of the two-photon absorption coefficients on the orientation of the laser beam polarization with respect to the optical c-axis of the crystals is revealed. The measured coefficients for perpendicular and parallel orientations were 50 ± 10 cm/TW and 19 ± 4 cm/TW in Ca3(VO4)2, and 18 ± 3 cm/TW and 10 ± 2 cm/TW in Ca2.7Sr0.3(VO4)2, respectively. Thus, to minimize optical losses caused by two-photon absorption, an orientation of Ca2.7Sr0.3(VO4)2 crystals with the laser beam polarization parallel to the crystal optical c-axis is preferred.

The mid-infrared (IR)-sensitive n/p-junction was fabricated on a p-doped silicon (Si) wafer via ultrashort laser n-type surface hyperdoping and high-temperature annealing. First, the n-type sulfur ...

The authors present the current status of the NUCLEON-2 mission aimed at directly measuring the chemical and isotope composition of galactic cosmic rays. A model-independent method of analysis and the results of an analysis of the beam-test experiment are presented. Future plans as part the Detector Part of the System for Investigating and Irradiating Perspective Semiconductor Micro- and Nanoelectronic Products with High-Energy Ion Beams as Part of the Nica Megaproject (abbreviated DPS-NICA) project are presented.

Today the task of ensuring the radiation resistance of ICs for space exploration is very important. To solve this problem, a detailed examination of radiation effects on electronics is required. In this paper, the DPS-NICA project, aimed at solving these problems, is presented, as are preliminary simulation results that confirm the operability of the fundamental methods of this project.

The autolocalization of electrons photoexcited by laser pulses with a wavelength of 525 nm in the visible range and with a duration of 150 fs in an electron-hole plasma (density ∼1021 cm−3) in natural diamond at room temperature occurs unsteadily through step-by-step multiple (up to nine acts) emission of an optical phonon at subpicosecond times. This process is manifested for the probe photoluminescence signal in its fine periodic structure in the band gap beginning from the interband absorption edge. The intensity of multiphonon photoluminescence peaks reaches a maximum after four to six emission acts, where the energy of an electron-softened optical phonon is recovered and the broadening of peaks increases monotonically. Attributing the broadening of peaks to the kinetics of the emission of a successive phonon, one can compare their widths to the time dynamic scale of the electron-hole plasma and multiphonon emission during autolocalization. Then, the initial increase in the intensity of the peaks demonstrates the emission of phonons during autolocalization, whereas saturation and subsequent decrease are due to the subpicosecond Auger recombination of the plasma, which significantly suppresses photoluminescence because of the sharp decrease in the hole density (to 1019 cm−3), but not the process of autolocalization itself.

Active and passive hybrid ways are described for controlling biofilms and the planktonic form of pathogenic microorganisms based on different bactericidal nanomaterials obtained with modern laser technologies. An innovative mobile laser application of the complete suppression of biofilms in situ is described.

Hepatorenal syndrome is a life-threatening complication of liver cirrhosis. 90% of patients with liver cirrhosis die within 2 months since the onset of hepatorenal syndrome development. For many years the hypothesis of the hemodynamic mechanism of hepatorenal syndrome development was accepted as the only true one, according to this hypothesis compensatory systemic vasodilation in response to portal hypertension causes renal ischemia and the development of functional specific acute kidney damage, the so-called “hepatorenal syndrome – acute kidney damage”. In recent years some works were published that substantiate the role of a systemic inflammatory reaction in the development of hepatorenal syndrome; this inflammatory reaction being associated with activation of innate immunity cells in response to a bacterial infection, including that to the microflora of the intestine which is adjacent to the liver. Data has been obtained which indicated that Toll-like receptors (TLRs), in particular TLR4 and TLR9 are involved in the development of hepatorenal syndrome.

Modification of the surface of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) deposited on a copper foil under the influence of nanosecond laser radiation with different peaks fluence was studied by using infrared spectroscopy of attenuated total reflection and optical microscopy. The dependences of the wetting angle of the texture surface with water on the peak fluence of laser radiation were measured. The obtained various relief textures demonstrate a sharp drop in water contact angles from (∼50°) to super hydrophilic (∼15°), which allows us to design and fabricate micro-scale elements of laboratory devices for the tasks of bactericidal treatment, collection and removal of liquids, as well as their separation and purification. A stable increase in the contact angles of water with the surface of the textures to hydrophobic (up to ∼140°) observed over time indicates degradation of the polymer coating.

Unique sulfur- and carbon- doped silicon nanoparticles, as well as partially oxidized, are obtained by nanosecond laser ablation of silicon in liquid carbon disulfide. Detailed structural, chemical, and optical characterization of these particles was performed by scanning and transmission electron microscopy, IR spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and Raman scattering spectroscopy. It is shown that the sulfur concentration in particles is on the order of 1 at %, owing to which they demonstrate a considerable absorption in the mid-IR region.

Silicon glass was microstructured by means of linear one-dimensional scanning of a tightly focused femtosecond laser beam with visible spectrum and different polarization in the bulk of the material. Optical microscopy revealed the formation of microstructures demonstrating enhanced extinction in the blue spectral range when the laser beam had linear or circular polarization. However, no birefringence was found in the microstructures.

The aim of the NUCLEON space experiment was to measure spectra of high-energy cosmic rays. Direct measurements of energy spectra of protons and nuclei of cosmic rays which allow separating particles in charge are required to solve important astrophysical problems. The satellite was launched on December 26, 2014, and operated for three years. Measured spectra of protons and alpha particles in the energy range of 2–500 TeV per particle have been presented. The results have been analyzed and compared to other experimental data for lower energies. The ratio of fluxes of protons and alpha particles is nearly constant in a wide range of magnetic rigidities (3–100 TV). Thus, the behavior of the ratio of the spectra is significantly different from a similar dependence in the region of lower magnetic rigidities measured in other experiments. One of the possible explanation of this effect can be given within a model with one close source.

The filamentation of focused 300 fs laser pulses with variable polarization azimuth in bulk of synthetic HPHT diamond demonstrates the possibility of polarization-dependent bandgap control for crystal dielectric photoexcitation. This directly affects the value of the filamentation threshold power, which exhibits the distinct dependence on the polarization azimuth angle. The nonlinear photoluminescence yield, when focusing ultrashort laser pulses with variable polarization in bulk of the synthetic diamond, indicates different polarization-dependent regimes in the dynamics of electron-hole plasma formation, arising due to different processes of photoexcitation and recombination of free carriers during the filamentation process. Thus, at the onset of the filamentation process, at relatively low intensities, the photoluminescence yield rate depends on polarization azimuth controlling bandgap, while at high intensities the resulting dense absorbing plasma exhibits isotropy with respect to laser radiation polarization, and photoluminescence yield weakly depends on polarization azimuth.

The formation of hexagonal microarrays of nanoholes (metasurfaces) in a 50-nm hydrogenated amorphous silicon film by means of three-beam interference of femtosecond laser pulses of the visible range (wavelength 515 nm) is studied experimentally with various exposures of the film. Characterization of arrays by scanning electron and optical microscopy, as well as optical transmission and reflection microspectroscopy, shows that an increase in the number of fixed energy laser pulses leads to a gradual evaporative formation of nanoholes in the film and, overall, the metasurface. Raman microspectroscopy reveals a simultaneous growth of the volume content of the crystal phase.