Segregated Conductive Polymer Composite with FeO-Decorated Graphite Nanoparticles for Microwave Shielding.

Graphite nanoplatelets (GNPs)-the segregated ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE)-based composites with hybrid filler-decorated with FeO were developed. Using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy, it was shown that the decorated component has the shape of separate granules, or their clusters were distributed evenly over the GNPs surface. The individual FeO nanoparticles are predominantly rounded, with diameters of approximately 20-60 nm.

RNAi-Mediated Silencing of in Pupae via Dehydration and Soaking Results in Multiple Defects in Cuticular Development.

Mosquitoes transmit a range of pathogens, causing devastating effects on human health. Population genetic control strategies have been developed and successfully used for several mosquito species. The most important step in identifying potential targets for mosquito control is the understanding of gene function.

The chromosome-scale genome assembly for the West Nile vector Culex quinquefasciatus uncovers patterns of genome evolution in mosquitoes.

Background: Understanding genome organization and evolution is important for species involved in transmission of human diseases, such as mosquitoes. Anophelinae and Culicinae subfamilies of mosquitoes show striking differences in genome sizes, sex chromosome arrangements, behavior, and ability to transmit pathogens. However, the genomic basis of these differences is not fully understood.

Employees' support strategies for mental wellbeing during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic: Recommendations for employers in the UK workforce.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and beyond for many businesses, employees have had to adapt to new ways of working due to disruptions in traditional practices. It is therefore crucial to understand the new challenges that employees are facing when it comes to taking care of their mental wellbeing at work. To that end, we distributed a survey to full-time UK employees (N = 451) to explore how supported they felt throughout the pandemic, and to identify whether there are any additional types of support they would like to receive.

Estimating the benefits of stream water quality improvements in urbanizing watersheds: An ecological production function approach.

Streams in urbanizing watersheds are threatened by economic development that can lead to excessive sediment erosion and surface runoff. These anthropogenic stressors diminish valuable ecosystem services and result in pervasive degradation commonly referred to as "urban stream syndrome." Understanding how the public perceives and values improvements in stream conditions is necessary to support efforts to quantify the economic benefits of water quality improvements.

Mechanisms of regulation of motility of the gastrointestinal tract and the hepatobiliary system under the chronic action of nanocolloids.

Modern cutting edge technologies of chemical synthesis enable the production of unique nanostructures with excess energy and high reactivity. Uncontrolled use of such materials in the food industry and pharmacology entail a risk for the development of a nanotoxicity crisis. Using the methods of tensometry, mechanokinetic analysis, biochemical methods, and bioinformatics, the current study showed that chronic (for six months) intragastrical burdening of rats with aqueous nanocolloids (AN) ZnO and TiO caused violations of the pacemaker-dependent mechanisms of regulation of spontaneous and neurotransmitter-induced contractions of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) smooth muscles (SMs), and transformed the contraction efficiency indices (AU, in Alexandria units).

Plasmonic enhancement of the antibacterial photodynamic efficiency of a zinc tetraphenylporphyrin photosensitizer/dextran polyacrylamide anionic copolymer/Au nanoparticles hybrid nanosystem.

A zinc tetraphenylporphyrin photosensitizer/dextran polyacrylamide anionic copolymer/Au nanoparticles (ZnTPP/D--PAAan/AuNPs) triple hybrid nanosystem was synthesized in water-based solution as a nanodrug for potential photodynamic therapy applications. Dynamic light scattering studies showed that the nanosystem is stable against aggregation and sedimentation for several days after preparation. The dependence of the ZnTPP fluorescence intensity on the gold concentration in the ZnTPP/D--PAAan/AuNPs nanosystem has been revealed to be non-monotonic, with a maximum 2.

ZnO and TiO Nanocolloids: State of Mechanisms that Regulating the Motility of the Gastrointestinal Tract and the Hepatobiliary System.

Using the transmission electron microscopy (TEM)/high-resolution TEM (HRTEM) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) methods, it was shown that the nanocolloids of ZnO contain hydrolyzed ZnO nanoparticles (NPs). Typically, the nanocrystalline ZnO/Zn(OH) core is covered by an amorphous shell of zinc hydroxides, preventing the encapsulated crystal core from dissolving. Similar studies were carried out with TiO nanocolloids.

OTOACOUSTIC EMISSION AND AUDITORY BRAINSTEM RESPONSE IN PATIENTS WITH AUTOIMMUNE THYROIDITIS.

The function of the outer hair cells (OHC) in patients with euthyroid autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT) was investigated in frequency range of 1000 - 8000 Hz. Our aim was to measured of AIT factors influence on auditory function in patients with no subjective sensations of hearing loss. For this study we selected patients with euthyroid AIT.

alone is sufficient to convert female into fertile males and is needed for male flight.

A dominant male-determining locus (M-locus) establishes the male sex (M/m) in the yellow fever mosquito, , a gene in the M-locus, was shown to be a male-determining factor (M factor) as somatic knockout of led to feminized males (M/m) while transient expression of resulted in partially masculinized females (m/m), with male reproductive organs but retained female antennae. It was not clear whether any of the other 29 genes in the 1.3-Mb M-locus are also needed for complete sex-conversion.

[Skull base defects multilayer plasty in patients with spontaneous cerebrospinal fluid leak: our experience].

Spontaneous cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak is one of the types of non-traumatic CSF leaks in which the etiologic factor is unknown. Skull base defects transnasal endoscopic plasty is the initial method of surgical repair of spontaneous cerebrospinal fluid leaks. METHODS: Forty-five patients with spontaneous CSF leaks were managed using multilayer transplant technique.

Laser-driven structural transformations in dextran--PNIPAM copolymer/Au nanoparticles hybrid nanosystem: the role of plasmon heating and attractive optical forces.

Laser induced structural transformations in a dextran grafted-poly(-isopropylacrylamide) copolymer/Au nanoparticles (D--PNIPAM/AuNPs) hybrid nanosystem in water have been observed. The laser induced local plasmonic heating of Au NPs leads to Lower Critical Solution Temperature (LCST) phase transition in D--PNIPAM/AuNPs macromolecules accompanied by their shrinking and aggregation. The hysteresis non-reversible character of the structural transformation in D--PNIPAM/AuNPs system has been observed at the decrease of laser intensity, the aggregates remains in solution after the turn-off the laser illumination.

Partial-arm translocations in evolution of malaria mosquitoes revealed by high-coverage physical mapping of the Anopheles atroparvus genome.

Background: Malaria mosquitoes have had a remarkable stability in the number of chromosomes in their karyotype (2n = 6) during 100 million years of evolution. Moreover, autosomal arms were assumed to maintain their integrity even if their associations with each other changed via whole-arm translocations. Here we use high-coverage comparative physical genome mapping of three Anopheles species to test the extent of evolutionary conservation of chromosomal arms in malaria mosquitoes.

Titanium Dioxide Modulation of the Contractibility of Visceral Smooth Muscles In Vivo.

Electronic scanning microscopy was used in the work to obtain the image and to identify the sizes of titanium dioxide (TiO) nanoparticles 21 ± 5 nm. The qualitative and quantitative elemental analysis of the preparations of the caecum, antrum, myometrium, kidneys, and lungs of the rats, burdened with titanium dioxide, was also performed. It was established using the tenzometric method in the isometric mode that the accumulation of titanium dioxide in smooth muscles of the caecum resulted in the considerable, compared to the control, increase in the frequency of their spontaneous contractions, the decrease in the duration of the contraction-relaxation cycle, and the decrease in the indices of muscle functioning efficiency (the index of contractions in Montevideo units (MU) and the index of contractions in Alexandria units (AU)).

Extracellular Synthesis of Luminescent CdS Quantum Dots Using Plant Cell Culture.

The present study describes a novel method for preparation of water-soluble CdS quantum dots, using bright yellow-2 (BY-2) cell suspension culture. Acting as a stabilizing and capping agent, the suspension cell culture mediates the formation of CdS nanoparticles. These semiconductor nanoparticles were determined by means of an UV-visible spectrophotometer, photoluminescence, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and XRD.

Biosynthesis of luminescent CdS quantum dots using plant hairy root culture.

Unlabelled: CdS nanoparticles have a great potential for application in chemical research, bioscience and medicine. The aim of this study was to develop an efficient and environmentally-friendly method of plant-based biosynthesis of CdS quantum dots using hairy root culture of Linaria maroccana L. By incubating Linaria root extract with inorganic cadmium sulfate and sodium sulfide we synthesized stable luminescent CdS nanocrystals with absorption peaks for UV-visible spectrometry at 362 nm, 398 nm and 464 nm, and luminescent peaks at 425, 462, 500 nm.

A standard photomap of ovarian nurse cell chromosomes in the European malaria vector Anopheles atroparvus.

Anopheles atroparvus (Diptera: Culicidae) is one of the main malaria vectors of the Maculipennis group in Europe. Cytogenetic analysis based on salivary gland chromosomes has been used in taxonomic and population genetic studies of mosquitoes from this group. However, a high-resolution cytogenetic map that could be used in physical genome mapping in An.

Mitotic-chromosome-based physical mapping of the Culex quinquefasciatus genome.

The genome assembly of southern house mosquito Cx. quinquefasciatus is represented by a high number of supercontigs with no order or orientation on the chromosomes. Although cytogenetic maps for the polytene chromosomes of this mosquito have been developed, their utilization for the genome mapping remains difficult because of the low number of high-quality spreads in chromosome preparations.

Mosquito genomics. Highly evolvable malaria vectors: the genomes of 16 Anopheles mosquitoes.

Variation in vectorial capacity for human malaria among Anopheles mosquito species is determined by many factors, including behavior, immunity, and life history. To investigate the genomic basis of vectorial capacity and explore new avenues for vector control, we sequenced the genomes of 16 anopheline mosquito species from diverse locations spanning ~100 million years of evolution. Comparative analyses show faster rates of gene gain and loss, elevated gene shuffling on the X chromosome, and more intron losses, relative to Drosophila.

Localized traveling waves in vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers with frequency-selective optical feedback.

Spatially self-localized states have been found in a model of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers with frequency-selective optical feedback. The structures obtained differ from most known dissipative solitons in optics in that they are localized traveling waves. The results suggest a route to realization of a cavity soliton laser using standard semiconductor laser designs.

[Viscoelastic characteristics of protein solutions and micromechanics of their motion in porous carriers].

The interactions of model proteins with the templates of porous carriers in biosensors were analyzed in terms of events occurring during the molecular contact of biopolymers with a solid. The viscoelastic properties of casein and albumin at small widths of the layer of the solution applied to the crystal were estimated using the dynamic method of piezoqartz resonator. The experimental data on the viscoelastic characteristics of protein solutions of different concentrations were compared with the characteristics of their tangential motion in porous carriers from cellulose nitrate.