Isotropy of Cosmic Rays beyond 10^{20} eV Favors Their Heavy Mass Composition.

We report an estimation of the injected mass composition of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) at energies higher than 10 EeV. The composition is inferred from an energy-dependent sky distribution of UHECR events observed by the Telescope Array surface detector by comparing it to the Large Scale Structure of the local Universe. In the case of negligible extragalactic magnetic fields (EGMFs), the results are consistent with a relatively heavy injected composition at E∼10  EeV that becomes lighter up to E∼100  EeV, while the composition at E>100  EeV is very heavy.

Comparison of Intermolecular Halogen...Halogen Distances in Organic and Organometallic Crystals.

Statistical analysis of halogen...

Taxonomic diversity of the Hipposideros larvatus species complex (Chiroptera: Hipposideridae) in mainland Asia.

Hipposideros larvatus sensu lato constitutes a widespread species complex consisting of morphologically similar forms with a taxonomy that is in need of a revision. Here we present the results of a phylogenetic analysis of members of this species complex based on two mitochondrial (CytB and COI) and seven nuclear (ABHD11, ACOX2, COPS, RAG2, ROGDI2, SORBS2 and THY) genes, and a morphometric analysis. Morphological data, although showing certain diversity, does not allow an accurate delimitation of the taxonomic boundaries and occasionally contradict to genetic grouping.

Size-Dependent Structural, Magnetic and Magnetothermal Properties of YFeO Fine Particles Obtained by SCS.

Iron-containing oxides are the most important functional substance class and find a tremendous variety of applications. An attractive modern application is their use in biomedical technologies as components in systems for imaging, drug delivery, magnetically mediated hyperthermia, etc. In this paper, we report the results of the experimental investigation of submicron YFeO garnet particles obtained in different sizes by solution combustion synthesis (SCS) using glycine organic fuel to discuss the interdependence of peculiarities of the crystal and magnetic structure and size's influence on its functional magnetothermal performance.

Ru-Birds.RU, bird observations from Russia and neighbouring regions: an occurrence dataset.

Background: The dataset covers bird observation occurrences in Russia and neighbouring regions (ex-USSR countries and some other countries of Eastern and Western Europe) from 2001-2021. It is based on the internet platform "Online bird observation diaries" (ru-birds.ru), which allows professional ornithologists and amateur bird lovers to exchange their results and to jointly build a common collection of data.

Infection evolution and spreading models in non-uniform biological systems.

The paper investigates peculiarities of infection evolution and spreading models in non-uniform biological systems of individuals (humans, animals, plants) using the approach of mathematical modeling. The effects of different characteristic features are revealed. A robust tool for prediction of infection evolution (growth and spreading) under different external conditions is developed accounting for spatial non-uniformity of governing parameters.

Rates and pathways of energy migration from the phycobilisome to the photosystem II and to the orange carotenoid protein in cyanobacteria.

The phycobilisome (PBS) is the cyanobacterial antenna complex which transfers absorbed light energy to the photosystem II (PSII), while the excess energy is nonphotochemically quenched by interaction of the PBS with the orange carotenoid protein (OCP). Here, the molecular model of the PBS-PSII-OCP supercomplex was utilized to assess the resonance energy transfer from PBS to PSII and, using the excitonic theory, the transfer from PBS to OCP. Our estimates show that the effective energy migration from PBS to PSII is realized due to the existence of several transfer pathways from phycobilin chromophores of the PBS to the neighboring antennal chlorophyll molecules of the PSII.

[Novel approaches for transurethral en-bloc resection of large bladder tumors].

Objective: to develop optimal techniques of en-bloc resection of large non-muscle invasive bladder tumors, determine the proper method of specimen extraction and assess the quality of specimens obtained by different techniques.

Materials And Methods: A total of 12 patients with primary cT1 bladder cancer underwent transurethral en-bloc resection between January 2018 and March 2019 were enrolled into the study. Tumor size ranged from 3.

Dynamics of supernova bounce in laboratory.

We draw attention to recent high-explosive (HE) experiments which provide compression of macroscopic amount of matter to high, even record, values of pressure in comparison with other HE experiments. The observed bounce after the compression corresponds to processes in core-collapse supernova explosions after neutrino trapping. Conditions provided in the experiments resemble those in core-collapse supernovae, permitting their use for laboratory astrophysics.

Voltage-dependent activation in EAG channels follows a ligand-receptor rather than a mechanical-lever mechanism.

Ether-a-go-go family (EAG) channels play a major role in many physiological processes in humans, including cardiac repolarization and cell proliferation. Cryo-EM structures of two of them, K10.1 and human ether-a-go-go-related gene (hERG or K11.

Dynamic microtubules drive fibroblast spreading.

When cells with a mesenchymal type of motility come into contact with an adhesive substrate they adhere and start spreading by the formation of lamellipodia. Using a label-free approach and virtual synchronization approach we analyzed spreading in fibroblasts and cancer cells. In all cell lines spreading is a non-linear process undergoing isotropic or anisotropic modes with first fast (5-20 min) and then slow (30-120 min) phases.

Isotopic evidence for oligotrophication of terrestrial ecosystems.

Human societies depend on an Earth system that operates within a constrained range of nutrient availability, yet the recent trajectory of terrestrial nitrogen (N) availability is uncertain. Examining patterns of foliar N concentrations and isotope ratios (δN) from more than 43,000 samples acquired over 37 years, here we show that foliar N concentration declined by 9% and foliar δN declined by 0.6-1.

Influence of "Enriched Environment" on Behavior and Neurogenesis in Mice Selected by Cognitive Trait.

Mice selected for high score in the extrapolation test (EX line) and kept under conditions of "enriched environment" for 3 months demonstrated changes in locomotor and exploratory activity and enhanced reaction to novelty. The relative brain weight was higher and neurogenesis in the hippocampal fascia dentate was more intensive in this group. In non-selected mice, the changes were similar, but insignificant in many cases.

Building Atomic Models of the Ion Channels Based on Low Resolution Electron Microscopy Maps and Homology Modeling.

Voltage-gated potassium channels play pivotal roles in excitable and non-excitable cells. For many decades, structural properties and molecular mechanisms of these channels were inferred from functional observations. At the turn of the twenty-first century, structural biology revealed major aspects in the structural basis of ion channel organization, permeation, and gating.

Stop-Frame Filming and Discovery of Reactions at the Single-Molecule Level by Transmission Electron Microscopy.

We report an approach, named chemTEM, to follow chemical transformations at the single-molecule level with the electron beam of a transmission electron microscope (TEM) applied as both a tunable source of energy and a sub-angstrom imaging probe. Deposited on graphene, disk-shaped perchlorocoronene molecules are precluded from intermolecular interactions. This allows monomolecular transformations to be studied at the single-molecule level in real time and reveals chlorine elimination and reactive aryne formation as a key initial stage of multistep reactions initiated by the 80 keV e-beam.

Simple entry into N-tert-butyl-iminophosphonamide rare-earth metal alkyl and chlorido complexes.

In situ protolysis reaction of a highly basic and sterically hindered N,N'-di-tert-butyl-iminophosphonamide ligand Ph2P([double bond, length as m-dash]N-tBu)(NH-tBu) = (NPN(tBu))H (1) with equimolar or hemimolar amounts of rare-earth metal tris-alkyls leads to dialkyl [(NPN(tBu))Ln(CH2SiMe3)2(THF)n] (Ln = Sc, n = 0 (2), Ln = Y, n = 1 (3)) and monoalkyl species [(NPN(tBu))2Ln(CH2SiMe3)] (Ln = Y (4), Nd (6), Sm (7)). One-pot reaction of [ScCl3(THF)3]/1/MeLi in 1/2/3 eq. ratio gives [(NPN(tBu))2Sc(THF)CH3] 5.

Development of a Highly Specific Fluorescence Immunoassay for Detection of Diisobutyl Phthalate in Edible Oil Samples.

The diisobutyl phthalate (DiBP) hapten containing an amino group was synthesized successfully, and the polyclonal antibody against 4-amino phthalate-bovine serum albumin (BSA) was developed. On the basis of the polyclonal antibody, a rapid and sensitive indirect competitive fluorescence immunoassay (icFIA) has been established to detect DiBP in edible oil samples for the first time. Under the optimized conditions, the quantitative working range of the icFIA was from 10.

Carbon-bearing iron phases and the carbon isotope composition of the deep Earth.

The carbon budget and dynamics of the Earth's interior, including the core, are currently very poorly understood. Diamond-bearing, mantle-derived rocks show a very well defined peak at δ(13)C ≈ -5 ± 3‰ with a very broad distribution to lower values (∼-40‰). The processes that have produced the wide δ(13)C distributions to the observed low δ(13)C values in the deep Earth have been extensively debated, but few viable models have been proposed.

The Evolution of Compact Binary Star Systems.

We review the formation and evolution of compact binary stars consisting of white dwarfs (WDs), neutron stars (NSs), and black holes (BHs). Mergings of compact-star binaries are expected to be the most important sources for forthcoming gravitational-wave (GW) astronomy. In the first part of the review, we discuss observational manifestations of close binaries with NS and/or BH components and their merger rate, crucial points in the formation and evolution of compact stars in binary systems, including the treatment of the natal kicks, which NSs and BHs acquire during the core collapse of massive stars and the common envelope phase of binary evolution, which are most relevant to the merging rates of NS-NS, NS-BH and BH-BH binaries.

Alternatingly twisted β-hairpins and nonglycine residues in the disallowed II' region of the Ramachandran plot.

The structure of the SH3 domain of α-spectrin (PDB code 1SHG) features Asn47 in the II' area of the Ramachandran plot, which as a rule admits only glycine residues, and this phenomenon still awaits its explanation. Here, we undertook a computational study of this particular case by means of molecular dynamics and bioinformatics approaches. We found that the region of the SH3 domain in the vicinity of Asn47 remains relatively stable during denaturing molecular dynamics simulations of the entire domain and of its parts.

Environmental broadening of the CTTS bands: the hexaammineruthenium(II) complex in aqueous solution.

Cluster ab initio quantum chemistry approach is developed to simulate the charge-transfer-to-solvent (CTTS) absorption band and satellite ligand field bands of hexaammineruthenium(II) ion in aqueous solution. Several cluster models, including 16, 21, and 38 water molecules, are explored for this purpose. TDDFT method with long-range corrected BLYP (LC-BLYP) functional is used to obtain the vertical transition characteristics, and DFT B3LYP is used for calculation of the ground state geometry and vibrational frequencies of the solvated complex.

Comparative proteomics of cell division mutants and wild-type of Synechococcus sp. strain PCC 7942.

Bacterial cell division is a highly co-ordinated and fine-tuned process. In the unicellular cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. strain PCC 7942, inactivating mutations in the ftn2 and ftn6 genes block cell division and result in a phenotype with extensively elongated cells.

An Arabidopsis mutant that is resistant to the protoporphyrinogen oxidase inhibitor acifluorfen shows regulatory changes in tetrapyrrole biosynthesis.

Several Arabidopsis mutants of the ecotype Dijon were isolated that show resistance to the herbicide acifluorfen, which inactivates protoporphyrinogen oxidase (PPOX), an enzyme of tetrapyrrole biosynthesis. This enzyme provides protoporphyrin for both Mg chelatase and ferrochelatase at the branchpoint, which leads to chlorophyll and heme, respectively. One of the mutations, aci5-3, displays semidominant inheritance.

Two-phase channel structures based on alpha-cyclodextrin-polyethylene glycol inclusion complexes.

Wide-angle X-ray scattering observations of alpha-cyclodextrin (CD)-poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) inclusion complexes (ICs) have shown for the first time that two crystalline columnar modifications (forms I and II) are produced in the process of their formation. This was made possible by precise azimuthal X-ray diffraction scanning of oriented IC samples. Form I is characterized by CDs threaded onto PEG chains and arranged along channels in the order head-to-head/tail-to-tail, while form II is formed by unbound CDs also arranged into columns in a head-to-tail and also possibly a head-to-head/tail-to-tail manner, probably as a result of template crystallization on the form I IC crystals.