Monitoring the Technical Condition of Dams of Hydroelectric Power Plants with an Automated Monitoring and Earthquake Registration System

An approach is described that has been developed for auxiliary monitoring of technical condition of hydropower plant dams. It is based on analysis of changes in dynamic characteristics of dams obtained by an automated monitoring and earthquake registration system that records microseismic vibrations of structures. The configuration of the system as well as the results of seismometric monitoring of the dam of Krasnoyarsk hydroelectric power plant are described. To study behavior of the dam under normal and extreme loads it was proposed to develop a model of the dam with the use of the finite element method.     

Photooxidation of benzene-structured compounds: influence of substituent type on degradation kinetic and sum water parameters

The combined influence of substituent type and UV/H₂O₂ process parameters on the degradation of four aromatic water pollutants was investigated using modified 3³ full factorial design and response surface methodology. Degradation kinetics was described by the quadratic polynomial model. According to the applied ANOVA, besides pH and [H₂O₂], model terms related with the pollutant structure are found to be significant. Different optimal operating conditions and values of observed degradation rate constants were determined for each of the pollutants indicating that the type of substituent influences the overall process effectiveness over structurally defined degradation pathway. Biodegradability (BOD₅/COD) and toxicity (TU) were evaluated prior to the treatment and at the reference time intervals t_1/2(P), t_3/4(P), t_1/4(OC) and t_1/2(OC) corresponding to the real time required to reduce the concentration of parent pollutant and organic content for 1/2, 3/4, 1/4 and 1/2 of initial amount. The observed differences are correlated to the structural differences of studied aromatics.     

CD91 Derived Treg Epitope Modulates Regulatory T Lymphocyte Response,Regulates Expression of Costimulatory Molecules on Antigen-Presenting Cells,and Rescues Pregnancy in Mouse Pregnancy Loss Model

The loss of immune tolerance to fetal antigens may result in reproductive failure. The downregulated number and activity of T regulatory lymphocytes, which are critical for the establishment of immune tolerance to fetal antigens, during pregnancy may lead to miscarriage. The adoptive transfer of Tregs prevents fetal loss in abortion-prone mice. Recently, we demonstrated that the administration of tregitopes, which are short peptides found in human and mouse immunoglobulins (IgGs), decreased the incidence of abortions in female CBA/J mice mated with DBA/2J mice. Here, two non-IgG source peptides (SGS and LKD) that can potentially bind to the major histocompatibility complex II (MHC II) with high affinity and induce Treg expansion were designed in silico. The immune dysregulation-induced pregnancy failure mouse model was used to evaluate the effect of SGS and LKD on immune response and pregnancy outcome. The fetal death rate in the SGS-treated group was lower than that in the phosphate-buffered saline-treated group. SGS and LKD upregulated the splenic pool of Tregs and modulated the T-helper cell (Th1)/Th2-related cytokine response at the preimplantation stage. Additionally, SGS and LKD downregulated the expression of CD80 and MHC class II molecules in splenic CD11c⁺ antigen-presenting cells. Thus, SGS treatment can result in beneficial pregnancy outcomes. Additionally, SGS peptide-mediated immunomodulation can be a potential therapeutic strategy for immune dysregulation-induced pregnancy failure.     

Scalable minimum fatigue control of dispatchable wind farms

As wind energy penetration increases, wind power plants may be required to regulate their power production according to the load‐balancing needs of the power system. This presents an opportunity: when a wind farm tracks a power set‐point, its wind turbines are free to continuously vary their power production as long as the sum of their productions meets the power demand. Here, we present an intuitive wind turbine coordination policy that uses this flexibility to minimize the aggregate fatigue load on the turbines. An important property is that the policy is scalable enough to be applied to any wind farm size. Specifically, the computational effort required to compute and reconfigure the optimal coordination policy is the same as that of a single stand‐alone turbine, and the only centralized information processing needed to implement it is a single averaging operation. The efficiency of the coordination policy is illustrated in a simulation study based on real wind farm data. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Square-Planar vs. Trigonal Bipyramidal Geometry in Pt(II) Complexes Containing Triazole-Based Glucose Ligands as Potential Anticancer Agents

This article describes the synthesis, characterization, and biological activity of novel square-planar cationic platinum(II) complexes containing glucoconjugated triazole ligands and a comparison with the results obtained from the corresponding five-coordinate complexes bearing the same triazole ligands. Stability in solution, reactivity with DNA and small molecules of the new compounds were evaluated by NMR, fluorescence, and UV–vis absorption spectroscopy, together with their cytotoxic action against pairs of immortalized and tumorigenic cell lines. The results show that the square-planar species exhibit greater stability than the corresponding five-coordinate ones. Furthermore, although the square-planar complexes are less cytotoxic than the latter ones, they exhibit a certain selectivity. These results simultaneously demonstrate that overall stability is a fundamental prerequisite for preserving the performance of the agents and that coordinative saturation constitutes a point in favor of their biological action.     

Human Papillomaviruses as Infectious Agents in Gynecological Cancers. Oncogenic Properties of Viral Proteins

Human papillomaviruses (HPVs), which belong to the Papillomaviridae family, constitute a group of small nonenveloped double-stranded DNA viruses. HPV has a small genome that only encodes a few proteins, and it is also responsible for 5% of all human cancers, including cervical, vaginal, vulvar, penile, anal, and oropharyngeal cancers. HPV types may be classified as high- and low-risk genotypes (HR-HPVs and LR-HPVs, respectively) according to their oncogenic potential. HR-HPV 16 and 18 are the most common types worldwide and are the primary types that are responsible for most HPV-related cancers. The activity of the viral E6 and E7 oncoproteins, which interfere with critical cell cycle points such as suppressive tumor protein p53 (p53) and retinoblastoma protein (pRB), is the major contributor to HPV-induced neoplastic initiation and progression of carcinogenesis. In addition, the E5 protein might also play a significant role in tumorigenesis. The role of HPV in the pathogenesis of gynecological cancers is still not fully understood, which indicates a wide spectrum of potential research areas. This review focuses on HPV biology, the distribution of HPVs in gynecological cancers, the properties of viral oncoproteins, and the molecular mechanisms of carcinogenesis.     

Liposomal Formulation of a PLA2-Sensitive Phospholipid–Allocolchicinoid Conjugate: Stability and Activity Studies In Vitro

To assess the stability and efficiency of liposomes carrying a phospholipase A2-sensitive phospholipid-allocolchicinoid conjugate (aC-PC) in the bilayer, egg phosphatidylcholine and 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoylphosphatidylglycerol-based formulations were tested in plasma protein binding, tubulin polymerization inhibition, and cytotoxicity assays. Liposomes L-aC-PC10 containing 10 mol. % aC-PC in the bilayer bound less plasma proteins and were more stable in 50% plasma within 4 h incubation, according to calcein release and FRET-based assays. Liposomes with 25 mol. % of the prodrug (L-aC-PC25) were characterized by higher storage stability judged by their hydrodynamic radius evolution yet enhanced deposition of blood plasma opsonins on their surface according to SDS-PAGE and immunoblotting. Notably, inhibition of tubulin polymerization was found to require that the prodrug should be hydrolyzed to the parent allocolchicinoid. The L-aC-PC10 and L-aC-PC25 formulations demonstrated similar tubulin polymerization inhibition and cytotoxic activities. The L-aC-PC10 formulation should be beneficial for applications requiring liposome accumulation at tumor or inflammation sites.