The function of the reproductive system in x-ray-irradiated male rats after the transplantation of a culture of testicular cells from newborn piglets

The effect exerted by transplantation of the 5 day culture of testicles from newly born piglets on the hypogonadal state of mature X-ray irradiated (3 Gy) rats was studied. It has been found that a month after transplantation (two months after irradiation) the hypogonadal state disappeared for a while, which is confirmed by normalization of the weight of seminal vesicles, content of testosterone and biologically active lutropine, restoration of the reproductive function of rats. No significant changes in steroidogenesis activity have been found, which proves a substituent character of transplantation. The effect disappears three months later but certain restoration of the content of nucleic acids in the testicles is observed.     

New high-efficiency low-waste technology at the Vyksa Metallurgical Plant for operating metallurgical equipment with the use of Kompaks® monitoring systems

Introduction of the BER? KOMPAKS® automated system at the Vyksa Metallurgical Plant to safely and efficiently manage the operation of the plant’s equipment has allowed the facility to begin operating that equipment based on real-time evaluations of its actual physical condition. Introduction of the new system has also allowed better coordination of repair-scheduling with ongoing production operations, significantly improved the reliability and readiness of the equipment for operation at 100% capacity, completely eliminated the human factor from the process of monitoring the condition of equipment, and made it possible to check the quality and timeliness of equipment maintenance and repair work so as to ensure safe, efficient operation of the entire production complex.     

Self-adjusting dual-reading digital angle transducer

This article examines the design of the exact readout system of a digital angle transducer in which the possible quasi-sinusoidality of the angle sensor and the simplification of the conversion unit are automatically compensated for by additional devices so as to not significantly affect the accuracy with which angular position is converted into code. Translated from Izmeritel'naya Tekhnika, No. 5, pp. 26–27, May, 1996.     

Hemi- and Homozygous Loss-of-Function Mutations in DSG2 (Desmoglein-2) Cause Recessive Arrhythmogenic Cardiomyopathy with an Early Onset

About 50% of patients with arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM) carry a pathogenic or likely pathogenic mutation in the desmosomal genes. However, there is a significant number of patients without positive familial anamnesis. Therefore, the molecular reasons for ACM in these patients are frequently unknown and a genetic contribution might be underestimated. Here, we used a next-generation sequencing (NGS) approach and in addition single nucleotide polymor-phism (SNP) arrays for the genetic analysis of two independent index patients without familial medical history. Of note, this genetic strategy revealed a homozygous splice site mutation (DSG2–c.378+1G>T) in the first patient and a nonsense mutation (DSG2–p.L772X) in combination with a large deletion in DSG2 in the second one. In conclusion, a recessive inheritance pattern is likely for both cases, which might contribute to the hidden medical history in both families. This is the first report about these novel loss-of-function mutations in DSG2 that have not been previously identi-fied. Therefore, we suggest performing deep genetic analyses using NGS in combination with SNP arrays also for ACM index patients without obvious familial medical history. In the future, this finding might has relevance for the genetic counseling of similar cases.     

A Model of the Dynamics of Heat Exchange and Control of the Cooling Process in a Moving Dense Layer of Hot Blast Furnace Slag

Metallurgist - Within the framework of solving the problem of analyzing and evaluating the practical implementation of dry granulation of BF slag, a mathematical model of the dynamics of heat...     

Spin Currents and Intrinsic Spin-Hall Effect in Low Dimensional Systems

We consider the spin-Hall effect in two-dimensional electron systems (2DES) with Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit couplings (SO). We find nonzero diagonal spin conductivity provided that Dresselhaus coupling is finite. In addition we consider the influence of disorder on spin conductivities in these systems. By comparing with the exact diagonalization method the finite quasiparticle lifetime (Born) approximation we argue that the latter one seems to be sufficient to describe the case when spin-orbit coupling is stronger or comparable with disorder strength. Furthermore, in the framework of Landauer–Buttiker formalism we show that the transverse and diagonal spin conductivities in Rashba plus Dresselhaus SO systems are robust against disorder for finite size systems.     

Kinematic Precision of a Planetary Cycloid—Pin Machine-Tool Drive

The kinematic precision of a planetary cycloid—pin electromechanical drive for a milling and honing machine is determined experimentally. Recommendations are made regarding the design of precision planetary two-row cycloid—pin gears.     

X-ray diffraction,calorimetric, and spectroscopic studies of lithium borate glass activated with various oxide admixtures based on europium

Lithium borate glass activated with europium oxide, europium borate, and europium molybdate has been obtained by melt quenching. It has been found that by excitation with UV light of λ_ex = 365 nm, the highest luminescence intensity is observed in the samples activated with europium molybdate. The extreme europium molybdate concentration at which a sharp drop in the glass optical quality starts is measured. The thermal regions of stability are determined and the thermophysical characteristics (jumps of the thermal capacity in the glass-transition point and thermal effects of crystallization) for lithium borate glass doped with various oxides based on europium are calculated.