Electro-optical effect of unpolarized light modulation in homeoplanar structures of ferroelectric and ferrielectric liquid crystals.

A clearly expressed effect of unpolarized light electro-optical modulation by homeoplanar structures of a smectic C* ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) and a ferrielectric liquid crystal (FerriLC) was discovered and investigated for the first time to our knowledge. This effect of electrically controlled light scattering is insensitive to the applied voltage sign, as for polymer-dispersed nematic liquid crystals (PDLCs), but the electro-optical modulation frequency reaches the kilohertz range. Occurrence conditions and essential features of the effect, as well as its physical origin, are discussed.

War in Ukraine and dialysis treatment: human suffering and organizational challenges.

In January 2021, there were 9648 patients in Ukraine on kidney replacement therapy, including 8717 on extracorporeal therapies and 931 on peritoneal dialysis. On 24 February 2022, foreign troops entered the territory of Ukraine. Before the war, the Fresenius Medical Care dialysis network in Ukraine operated three medical centres.

Broad temperature range ferrielectric liquid crystal as a highly sensitive quadratic electro-optical material.

A chiral smectic liquid crystal in which a ferrielectric phase with a helix pitch p less than 125 nm exists over a temperature range of at least from -3°C to +36°C has been developed. Such a wide temperature range (including room temperatures) of the ferrielectric phase with a subwavelength helix pitch has been achieved for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, which creates opportunities for the practical use of ferrielectric liquid crystals. A quadratic electro-optical effect caused by deformations of the helix in an electric field is observed in the ferrielectric phase, and the Kerr coefficient, which reaches almost 200 nm/V, is significantly higher than the same coefficient for the blue phase and for the smectic C* phase, which means a higher sensitivity of the developed ferrielectric liquid crystal to the electric field.

Helical Nanostructures of Ferroelectric Liquid Crystals as Fast Phase Retarders for Spectral Information Extraction Devices: A Comparison with the Nematic Liquid Crystal Phase Retarders.

Extraction of spectral information using liquid crystal (LC) retarders has recently become a topic of great interest because of its importance for creating hyper- and multispectral images in a compact and inexpensive way. However, this method of hyperspectral imaging requires thick LC-layer retarders (50 µm-100 µm and above) to obtain spectral modulation signals for reliable signal reconstruction. This makes the device extremely slow in the case of nematic LCs (NLCs), since the response time of NLCs increases proportionally to the square of the LC-layer thickness, which excludes fast dynamic processes monitoring.

Apolipoprotein A-I Stimulates Cell Proliferation in Bone Marrow Cell Culture.

Culturing of bone marrow cells in serum-free RPMI-1640 medium led to a decrease in the rate of DNA biosynthesis. Addition of HDL or their main protein component apolipoprotein A-I to the culture medium dose-dependently increased the rate of [3H]-thymidine incorporation into DNA. The maximum stimulation was achieved at HDL concentration of 80 μg/ml and apolipoprotein A-I concentration of 20 μg/ml.

Effect of Native and Modified Apolipoprotein A-I on DNA Synthesis in Cultures of Different Cells.

Culturing of bone marrow cells in serum-free RPMI-1640 medium for 24 h was accompanied by a decrease in the rate of [3H]-thymidine incorporation into DNA. Addition of native apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I) or plasma LDL and HDL to the culture medium increased this parameter. In contrast to native apoA-I, its modified form decelerated DNA synthesis in bone marrow cells.

[Diagnostics of the changes arising in an oral cavity at oncological sick senior age groups (review)].

Article is devoted to the changes happening in an oral cavity and in oral liquid under the influence of preparations of the oncological diseases used for treatment. Considering that research of oral liquid belongs to one of noninvasive methods of diagnostics and can be used with success for definition and correction of conditions of the mucous membrane of an oral cavity at the patients of advanced and senile age passing polychemotherapeutic treatment, this type of research is the extremely perspective for a gerontostomatology.

[The efficiency of the enzyme immunoassay test system opisthorchiasis-CIC-EIA-best to detect circulating immune complexes containing opisthorchis antigens in the serum of patients with opisthorchiasis].

The efficacy of a kit of Opisthorchiasis-CIC-EIA-Best reagents was evaluated using 270 sera from patients in the study and control groups. The kit showed a sufficient sensitivity (not less than 87.2%) and a high specificity (not less than 97.

Isomorphous substitutions of rare earth elements for calcium in synthetic hydroxyapatites.

Polycrystalline hydroxyapatites Ca(10-x)REE(x)(PO(4))(6)(OH)(2-x)O(x) were synthesized and studied by X-ray powder diffraction, infrared absorption, diffuse-reflectance spectroscopy, and thermogravimetry. The solubility limits x(max) of rare earth elements (REE) in Ca hydroxyapatites decreases with an increasing REE atomic number from x(max) = 2.00 for La, Pr, and Nd to x(max) = 0.

[Complex therapy of echinococcosis in children].

Results of the immune-enzyme assay (IEA) of children with liver and lung echinococcosis before and after the operation were analyzed. The IEA accuracy was 91% for liver echinococcosis and 57% for lung echinococcosis. Sensitivity was 86% and 55, respectively.

Two hsp23 genes in the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata: structural characterization, heat shock regulation and developmental expression.

In the present study, we characterized a 3320-bp genomic DNA fragment encoding two medfly (Ceratitis capitata) homologues of the Drosophila melanogaster heat shock protein 23 (hsp23) gene, named Cchsp23-alphaand -beta. The two medfly hsp23 genes are transcribed in opposite directions and encode two almost identical proteins. Furthermore, the two genes exhibit a very high degree of similarity in their 5' untranslated and proximal promoter regions.

[Acid-base state of blood in pregnant rats after application of lead acetate].

It was shown that the increase of lead content in the blood, liver, placenta of female rats, rat embryo and embryo's liver (by 80.4; 30.9; 26.

[Effect of dental status on the quality of life in elderly patients].

The article deals with the quality of life in old and very old persons in terms of their dental status. Oral mucous coat status is an important criterion in the evaluation of the status of other organism tissues, including dental and maxillary system tissues, and exerts a significant effect on the quality of life in old and very old persons.

[Age-related oral mucosa alterations].

The article presents a short review of the published data devoted to the age-related alterations of oral mucosa in the last decade.

[The severity of clinical signs of a tuberculous process in first detected patients].

The severity of clinical signs of pulmonary tuberculosis was studied in first detected patients. A hundred and sixty-eight case histories of the patients admitted to a town tuberculosis dispensary in 2004 were analyzed. A total of 87 (51.

[Specificity of antibodies to diphtheria toxin subunits in children with various forms of diphtheria infections].

In order to study the specificity of serum antibodies to separate subunits of diphtheria toxin, SDS-electrophoresis of diphtheria toxin preliminary disintegrated on the subunits via trypsin treatment was performed, followed by immunoblotting assay. 86 blood serum samples of children with diphtheria carriers of toxigenic and non-toxigenic strains of Corynebacterium diphtheriae as well as children with other infectious diseases similar to diphtheria in their clinical manifestation, and healthy ones immunized with DTP-vaccine were tested. A special computer program was written and applied for results processing and assumption.

Life after electrical injury. Risk factors for psychiatric sequelae.

Long-term cognitive and emotional deficits have been commonly reported in electrical injury (EI) survivors. However, it remains undetermined what factors may lead to the development of such effects in some patients and not in others. In this study, we hypothesized that certain elements of subjective EI experience may predict specific psychiatric sequelae.

Electrical injury through the eyes of professional electricians.

This paper presents the first results of an attitudinal survey that was conducted among professional electricians in order to explore their knowledge and beliefs related to occupational electrical injury. Four hundred eighty-one out of 1200 questionnaires were returned and analyzed. The presented statistical and qualitative data reflect electricians' personal experiences with electrical injury, their communication patterns around electrical trauma, their understanding of possible electrical injury sequelae, their safety beliefs and attitudes towards occupational dangers, and the reasons for their occupational choice.

[Investigation of the protein composition and immunochemical properties of Toxoplasma gondii excretory and secretory antigen].

The major proteins of T. gondii excretory and secretory antigens (ESA) obtained during cultivation of tachyzoites by using cultured Vero cells were shown to have molecular weights of 79, 70, 57, 48, 36, and 29 kD. ESA and somatic antigen immunoblotting demonstrated that there were noticeable differences in the immunoactive proteins of these antigens.

[The dynamics of the catecholamine level in the biological fluids of patients with chronic posttraumatic osteomyelitis living in different ecological regions].

Overall, sixty-seven patients living in different ecological regions were examined to study effects of ecological factors on the catecholamine concentration in biological fluids in patients with chronic posttraumatic osteomyelitis (CPO). The data obtained showed that CPO causes abnormalities of catecholamine metabolism, which get even more aggravated under the influence of an adverse ecological factor, an abnormal radiation impact in particular, this being confirmed by analysis of findings in those patients residing in different ecological regions.

[HTLV-I nucleotide sequence in the cell genome of a patient with T-cell prolymphocytic leukemia].

Molecular cloning has been done of DNA isolated from leukocytes of a patient with T-cell prolymphocytic leukemia. Three HTLV-I-containing recombinant clones have been obtained and their restriction-hybridization analysis performed. None of the clones contained a complete HTLV-I provirus.

[Detection of HTLV-I virus in patients with myeloproliferative hemoblastoses].

An association of HTLV-I virus with myelomonocytic leukemia was established by serologic and molecular-biologic procedures. Antibodies to one or two HTLV-I proteins were identified in 10 out of 30 patients with myelomonocytic leukemia; both antibodies to certain HTLV-I proteins and an integrated provirus were detected in 3 cases. Upon examination of donor blood, antibodies to one or two HTLV-I proteins were found in 0.