Modernization of Air Supply Unit for Oxidation Towers Used in Bitumen Production

Chemical and Petroleum Engineering - The hydrodynamics of oxidation towers used for bitumen production were studied using a model tower having transparent walls. Experiments were carried out in two...     

Criteria of excitation of explosive decomposition of silver azide by pulsed radiation

The process of explosive decomposition of silver azide in a pulsed electron radiation field was studied by the method of high-speed time-resolution optical spectroscopy. The criteria of excitation of explosive decomposition were determined. It is shown that in the case of short pulses, the critical parameter is the integral energy of the exciting pulse, whereas with the use of long pulses it is the pulse energy flux density.Published for purposes of discussionKemorovo. Translated from Fizika Goreniya i Vzryva, Vol. 28, No. 4, pp. 87–90, July–August, 1992.     

Athermal initiation of detonation of silver and lead azides by impulses of fast electrons

Published data on the initiation of the detonation of explosives by a single impulse of energy (impact, friction, spark or light beam) have been analyzed, using the heat theory of detonation. Supported by experimental work on the initiation of the detonation of explosives by an impulse of fast electrons, a model to describe the athermal initiation of the detonation of silver and lead azides by a dense beam of fast electrons is considered. It is proposed that in this case, the seat of initiation is in the region with a highly excited electron subsystem, formed by the concentration of free electrons and holes, generated by the radiation.Kemerovo. Translated from Fizika Goreniya i Vzryva, Vol. 29, No. 2, pp. 75–77, March–April, 1993.     

Grouping Techniques for Scheduling Problems: Simpler and Faster

In this paper we describe a general grouping technique to devise faster and simpler approximation schemes for several scheduling problems. We illustrate the technique on two different scheduling problems: scheduling on unrelated parallel machines with costs and the job shop scheduling problem. The time complexity of the resulting approximation schemes is always linear in the number n of jobs, and the multiplicative constant hidden in the O(n) running time is reasonably small and independent of the error ε. Supported by Swiss National Science Foundation project 200020-109854, “Approximation Algorithms for Machine scheduling Through Theory and Experiments II”. A preliminary version of this paper appeared in the Proceedings of ESA’01.     

New 2,2-difluoro-1,3,2(2H)oxazaborines and merocyanines derived from them

Synthetic methods have been developed to prepare oxazaborines, the azaanalogues of 2,2-difluoro-1,3,2(2H)dioxaborines, which can form merocyanine dyes. The first oxazaborine merocyanines with the isomeric position of the coordinating nitrogen atom have also been obtained. Comparing the spectral properties of donor-acceptor dioxa- and oxazaborine dyes, it is seen that substitution of the 3-O atom by the NH group in the chelate ring has a slight effect on absorption and fluorescence band positions but causes the intensity redistribution between the 0-0 and 0-1 vibronic absorption peaks and thus induces a change in the absorption band shape due to the enhanced solvation of oxazaborines. Substitution of the 1-O ring atom by the NPh group leads to a bathochromic shift and a manifold increase in the fluorescence quantum yield for the corresponding boron chelate dyes.     

Drosophila as a Model System for Studying of the Evolution and Functional Specialization of the Y Chromosome

The Y chromosome is one of the sex chromosomes found in males of animals of different taxa, including insects and mammals. Among all chromosomes, the Y chromosome is characterized by a unique chromatin landscape undergoing dynamic evolutionary change. Being entirely heterochromatic, the Y chromosome as a rule preserves few functional genes, but is enriched in tandem repeats and transposons. Due to difficulties in the assembly of the highly repetitive Y chromosome sequence, deep analyses of Y chromosome evolution, structure, and functions are limited to a few species, one of them being Drosophila melanogaster. Despite Y chromosomes exhibiting high structural divergence between even closely related species, Y-linked genes have evolved convergently and are mainly associated with spermatogenesis-related activities. This indicates that male-specific selection is a dominant force shaping evolution of Y chromosomes across species. This review presents our analysis of current knowledge concerning Y chromosome functions, focusing on recent findings in Drosophila. Here we dissect the experimental and bioinformatics data about the Y chromosome accumulated to date in Drosophila species, providing comparative analysis with mammals, and discussing the relevance of our analysis to a wide range of eukaryotic organisms, including humans.     

Hippocampal Over-Expression of Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) Is Associated with Susceptibility to Stress-Induced Anhedonia in Mice

The phenomenon of individual variability in susceptibility/resilience to stress and depression, in which the hippocampus plays a pivotal role, is attracting increasing attention. We investigated the potential role of hippocampal cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), which regulates plasticity, neuroimmune function, and stress responses that are all linked to this risk dichotomy. We used a four-week-long chronic mild stress (CMS) paradigm, in which mice could be stratified according to their susceptibility/resilience to anhedonia, a key feature of depression, to investigate hippocampal expression of COX-2, a marker of microglial activation Iba-1, and the proliferation marker Ki67. Rat exposure, social defeat, restraints, and tail suspension were used as stressors. We compared the effects of treatment with either the selective COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib (30 mg/kg/day) or citalopram (15 mg/kg/day). For the celecoxib and vehicle-treated mice, the Porsolt test was used. Anhedonic (susceptible) but not non-anhedonic (resilient) animals exhibited elevated COX-2 mRNA levels, increased numbers of COX-2 and Iba-1-positive cells in the dentate gyrus and the CA1 area, and decreased numbers of Ki67-positive cells in the subgranular zone of the hippocampus. Drug treatment decreased the percentage of anhedonic mice, normalized swimming activity, reduced behavioral despair, and improved conditioned fear memory. Hippocampal over-expression of COX-2 is associated with susceptibility to stress-induced anhedonia, and its pharmacological inhibition with celecoxib has antidepressant effects that are similar in size to those of citalopram.