A cycle of works on manufacturing and studying laser and magnetooptical ceramics with a focus on their thermo-optical characteristics performed by the research team is analyzed. Original results that ...have not been published before such as measurements of the Verdet constant in the Zr:TAG, Re:MgAl2O4, and ZnAl2O4 ceramics are also presented.
Samples of TAG ceramics doped with Ce and Pr ions (0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2 at.% concentrations) and with Ho ions (0.5 at.%) were studied. The wavelength dependence of the Verdet constant of each sample in ...the 405 nm - 1064 nm range was measured, and analytical approximation was found. The obtained value of the Verdet constant of the studied TAG ceramics did not depend on the dopant concentration and type in the studied range of concentrations. The dependence of thermally induced depolarization on laser radiation power was investigated, and the magneto - optical figure of merit was estimated for each studied sample. It was demonstrated that doping of ceramics can provide a substantial reduction of the magneto-optical figure of merit. The obtained results will be useful for creating Faraday isolators and rotators based on TAG ceramics.
Light plays a vital role on the growth and development of plant. On the base of white light with high color rendering to the benefit of human survival and life, we proposed to improve "color ...rendering" of LED lighting for accelerating the growth of lettuce. Seven spectral LED lights were adopted to irradiate the lettuces under 150 μmol·m
·s
for a 16 hd
photoperiod. The leaf area and number profiles, plant biomass, and photosynthetic rate under the as-prepared LED light treatments were investigated. We let the absorption spectrum of fresh leaf be the emission spectrum of ideal light and then evaluate the "color rendering" of as-prepared LED lights by the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient and CIE chromaticity coordinates. Under the irradiation of red-yellow-blue light with high correlation coefficient of 0.587, the dry weights and leaf growth rate are 2-3 times as high as the sharp red-blue light. The optimized LED light for lettuce growth can be presumed to be limited to the angle (about 75°) between the vectors passed through the ideal light in the CIE chromaticity coordinates. These findings open up a new idea to assess and find the optimized LED light for plant growth.
Chronic liver disease (CLD), manifested as hepatic injury, is a major cause of global morbidity and mortality. CLD progresses to fibrosis, cirrhosis, and-ultimately-hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) if ...left untreated. The different phenotypes of CLD based on their respective clinical features and causative agents include alcoholic liver disease (ALD), non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD), and drug-induced liver injury (DILI). The preferred treatment modality for CLD includes lifestyle modification and diet, along with limited pharmacological agents for symptomatic treatment. Moreover, oxidative stress (OS) is an important pathological mechanism underlying all CLD phenotypes; hence, the use of antioxidants to manage the disease is justified. Based on available clinical evidence, silymarin can be utilized as a hepatoprotective agent, given its potent antioxidant, antifibrotic, and anti-inflammatory properties. The role of silymarin in suppressing OS has been well established, and therefore silymarin is recommended for use in ALD and NAFLD in the guidelines approved by the Russian Medical Scientific Society of Therapists and the Gastroenterology Scientific Society of Russia. However, to discuss the positioning of the original silymarin in clinical guidelines and treatment protocols as a hepatoprotective agent for managing CLD concomitantly with other therapies, an expert panel of international and Russian medical professionals was convened on 11 November 2020. The panel reviewed approaches for the prevention and treatment of OS, existing guidelines for patient management for CLD, and available evidence on the effectiveness of silymarin in reducing OS, fibrosis, and hepatic inflammation and presented in the form of a narrative review.
Key messages
An expert panel of international and Russian medical professionals reviewed existing guidelines for ALD, NAFLD, MAFLD, and DILI to establish consensus recommendations that oxidative stress is the common pathophysiological mechanism underlying these conditions.
The panel also discussed the positioning of original silymarin in clinical guidelines and treatment protocols as a hepatoprotective agent for managing CLD concomitantly with other therapies.
The panel reviewed the effectiveness of 140 mg original silymarin three times a day in reducing oxidative stress in chronic liver diseases such as ALD, NAFLD, MAFLD, and DILI.
Nowadays, dynamically developing optical (photonic) technologies play an ever-increasing role in medicine. Their adequate and effective implementation in diagnostics, surgery, and therapy needs ...reliable data on optical properties of human tissues, including skin. This paper presents an overview of recent results on the measurements and control of tissue optical properties. The issues reported comprise a brief review of optical properties of biological tissues and efficacy of optical clearing (OC) method in application to monitoring of diabetic complications and visualization of blood vessels and microcirculation using a number of optical imaging technologies, including spectroscopic, optical coherence tomography, and polarization- and speckle-based ones. Molecular modeling of immersion OC of skin and specific technique of OC of adipose tissue by its heating and photodynamic treatment are also discussed.
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•Structured flexible and transparent PANI film is designed via an ecofriendly and scalable fabrication approach.•The flexible multifunctional sensors present highly sensitivity to ...different stimuli, including pressure and VOC gas.•A high sensitivity (1.104 kPa-1) with ultra-low detection limits (0.64 Pa).•High Moisture resistance and a response value as low as 10 ppb to NH3.•It has potential applications in electronic skin, healthcare detection.
Flexible and wearable electronic multifunctional sensors have promising applications in healthcare detection, electronic skins (e-skins) and motion detection. However, it remains a great challenge to manufacture eco-friendly sensors that are versatile, flexible, transparent, comfortable to wear and suitable for mass production. A special flexible transparent polyaniline (PANI) film with a bionic rose micro-dome structure was designed via an eco-friendly and scalable manufacturing approach. Benefiting from the special micro-structure modification, the multifunctional flexible sensor presents high sensitivity to different stimuli, including pressure and VOC gases. Taking advantages of the construction of the rose micro-dome structure, the structured PANI (s-PANI) film exhibits high sensitivity (1.104 kPa−1), ultra-low detection limit (0.64 Pa), and it can accurately monitor small movements of the human body. Moreover, due to the high moisture resistance of s-PANI film and the increased contact area with NH3, it has increased sensitivity in response to NH3 and can reach detection limit as low as 10 ppb. This novel and cost-effective strategy for the simple preparation of high-performance, multifunctional and flexible PANI film offers the opportunity to develop environmentally friendly devices on a large scale.
Genetics and environmental and lifestyle factors deeply affect cardiovascular diseases, with atherosclerosis as the etiopathological factor (ACVD) and their early recognition can significantly ...contribute to an efficient prevention and treatment of the disease. Due to the vast number of these factors, only the novel "omic" approaches are surmised. In addition to genomics, which extended the effective therapeutic potential for complex and rarer diseases, the use of "omics" presents a step-forward that can be harnessed for more accurate ACVD prediction and risk assessment in larger populations. The analysis of these data by artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML) strategies makes is possible to decipher the large amount of data that derives from such techniques, in order to provide an unbiased assessment of pathophysiological correlations and to develop a better understanding of the molecular background of ACVD. The predictive models implementing data from these "omics", are based on consolidated AI best practices for classical ML and deep learning paradigms that employ methods (e.g., Integrative Network Fusion method, using an AI/ML supervised strategy and cross-validation) to validate the reproducibility of the results. Here, we highlight the proposed integrated approach for the prediction and diagnosis of ACVD with the presentation of the key elements of a joint scientific project of the University of Milan and the Almazov National Medical Research Centre.
This article is devoted to the study of trace metals in the bottom sediments of watercourses in the area of the developed Lomonosov diamond deposit, which is the largest industrial diamond deposit in ...Europe. Samples of river sediments were taken from the Zolotitsa River and all its tributaries in the area of the diamond deposit. In addition, samples of kimberlites and rocks were selected from the quarries. It was established that the average concentration of metals in all types of rocks extracted from the quarries was significantly higher than that in river sediments and naturally decreased in the following order: kimberlites (D
3
-C
2
), Vendian enclosing rocks (V
2
) and overlying Quaternary and Carboniferous deposits (Q and C
2
). The results suggest that the mining and beneficiation complex plays a significant role in increasing the metal content in the river sediments, which is reliably recorded by the change in the physicochemical parameters of river sediments due to the anthropogenic impacts. The heavy metal pollution in river sediments in the area of Lomonosov diamond deposits is due to three main factors: (1) the discharge of quarry water into the peatbog-filtration fields and then into the river, (2) erosion of the rock dumps and natural factors and (3) the process by which the products from the weathering of kimberlites are transferred to the riverbed, and this transfer process requires further clarification. The results of this research can provide management references for the pollution control of the diamond mining industrial zone and the prevention of basin environmental risks.
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•The model of metal growth inside the anodic alumina with branched pores is developed.•Model predicts the dependence of anodic alumina filling on deposition regime.•Branched pores ...affect the uniformity of anodic alumina filling with electrodeposits.•Branched pores make growth front of metal nanowires inside template multimodal.
A comparative study of electrochemical growth of nanowires in the anodic alumina templates with various degree of porous structure ordering is performed. Scanning electron microscopy and coulometric analysis are used for experimental evaluation of the average filling of pores with metal. The theoretical model of metal growth inside anodic alumina templates is proposed. The model takes into account the presence of branched channels in the real structure of anodic alumina and operates with completeness of template filling achieved at the moment when metal reaches the external surface of the oxide film. In case of the diffusion-controlled regime the strong dependence of the pore filling factor on the thickness of porous film and the degree of its structure ordering is predicted theoretically and observed experimentally. The influence of the nature of limiting current on the homogeneity and completeness of template filling is discussed.
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