Features of electronic and lattice mechanisms of transboundary heat transfer in multilayer nanolaminate TiAlN/Ag coatings.

Plasmon resonance heterogeneities were identified and studied along Ag and TiAlN layers within a multilayer stack in nanolaminate TiAlN/Ag coatings. For this purpose, a high-resolution plasmon microscopy was used. The plasmons intensity, energy, and depth of interface plasmon-polariton penetration were studied by scanning reflected electron energy loss spectroscopy. The heat conductivity of such metal-insulator-metal (MIM) nanolaminate coatings was measured by laser reflectometry. Dependencies of thermal conductivity coefficient of coatings, MIM interfaces, and resistivity of Ag layers as a function of the Ag-TiAlN bilayer thickness were calculated on the basis of experimental data. The contribution of plasmon resonance confinement to the abnormal lower thermal conductivity in the MIM metamaterial with Ag layer thickness below 25 nm is discussed. In particular, the results highlight the relevant role of different heat transfer mechanisms between MI and IM interfaces: asymmetry of plasmon-polariton interactions on upper and lower boundaries of Ag layer and asymmetry of LA and TA phonons propagation through interfaces.

[Analgesia of labor in women with diabetes mellitus].

UNLABELLED: The article deals with a study of duration of physiological labors in women with diabetes mellitus. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 120 women were devided into three groups according to method of analgesia. We assessed data of central haemodynamics, efficacy of analgesia, glucose level in blood, conditions of fetus and newborn. RESULTS: We found that epidural analgesia with bupivacaine hydrochloride was an optimal method of labor analgesia in women with diabetes mellitus. This method provided a stabilization of glucose level in blood, normalization of data of central haemodynamics and allowed to avoid anomalies of labor CONCLUSIONS: Analgesia with promedol and paracetamol is a preferable method in case of presence of epidural analgesia contraindications.

Effect of ion doping with donor and acceptor impurities on intensity and lifetime of photoluminescence from SiO2 films with silicon quantum dots.

Doping with donor and acceptor impurities is an effective way to control light emission originated from quantum-size effect in Si nanocrystals. Combined measurements of photoluminescence intensity and kinetics give valuable information on mechanisms of the doping influence. Phosphorus, boron, and nitrogen were introduced by ion implantation into Si+ -implanted thermal SiO2 films either before or after synthesis of Si nanocrystals performed at Si excess of about 10 at.% and annealing temperatures of 1000 and 1100 degrees C. After the implantation of the impurity ions the samples were finally annealed at 1000 degrees C. It is found that, independently of ion kind, the ion irradiation (the first stage of the doping process) completely quenches the photoluminescence related to Si nanocrystals (peak at around 750 nm) and modifies visible luminescence of oxygen-deficient centers in the oxide matrix. The doping with phosphorus increases significantly intensity of the 750 nm photoluminescence excited by a pulse 337 nm laser for the annealing temperature of 1000 degrees C, while introduction of boron and nitrogen atoms reduces this emission for all the regimes used. In general, the effective lifetimes (ranging from 4 to 40 micros) of the 750 nm photoluminescence correlate with the photoluminescence intensity. Several factors such as radiation damage, influence of impurities on the nanocrystals formation, carrier-impurity interaction are discussed. The photoluminescence decay is dominated by the non-radiative processes due to formation or passivation of dangling bonds, whereas the intensity of photoluminescence (for excitation pulses much shorter than the photoluminescence decay) is mainly determined by the radiative lifetime. The influence of phosphorus doping on radiative recombination in Si quantum dots is analyzed theoretically.

Radiocesium in children residing in the western districts of the Bryansk Oblast from 1991-1996.

Measurements of 137Cs body burden were carried out in 1991-1996 for children residing in the western part of Bryansk Oblast (Russia) where area contamination with 137Cs following the Chernobyl accident varied from 0.03-3.7 MBq m(-2). The mean and median values of 137Cs specific activity (SA) in the bodies of children 5-15 y old for the whole period of surveillance averaged for 26,029 measurements was 85 Bq kg(-1) and 49 Bq kg(-1), respectively. Mean values in different places of residence varied from 30-342 Bq kg(-1) for the settlements where the number of examinees was not less than 50. There is a moderately strong relationship between mean SA in the settlement and the level of area contamination with 137Cs. A strong seasonal effect on 137Cs body burden was found. The ratio of average SA values is 1:1.75 for spring to autumn 1992-1995 in the settlement where the largest number of children was examined. This effect might be attributed to a seasonal change in diet. Based on questionnaire information on individual consumption of locally produced foods, the descending rank of contribution of food items to 137Cs intake by children was found to be: meat-mushrooms-milk-vegetables. Assuming that the dose distribution would follow the distribution of SA values, internal doses to the whole body from ingested 137Cs were assessed. The mean value of annual internal dose averaged for the whole set of measurements is 0.21 mSv, and the median of the individual dose distribution is 0.12 mSv y(-1) For 2% of the total sample the annual dose exceeded 1 mSv, with the highest individual dose being 9 mSv in 1994 for a 7-y-old girl.

Relationship between the 137Cs whole-body counting results and soil and food contamination in farms near Chernobyl.

We measured the radioactivity in the soil and child food samples from farms near Mogilev (56-270 GBq km(-2) 137Cs), Gomel (36-810 GBq km(-2) 137Cs), and Klincy (59-270 GBq km(-2) 137Cs), who had whole-body 137Cs counting results measured as part of a health examination in the Chernobyl Sasakawa Health and Medical Cooperation Project. Soil contamination on the family farm seems to be the main source of human contamination because most of the people in the area live on small farms and they and their domestic animals eat crops from the farms. A clear correlation was found between the children's whole-body 137Cs counting results and the radioactivity in their food (correlation coefficient: 0.76; confidence level of correlation: 3.2 x 10(-9)). There were also significant correlations between the whole-body 137Cs counting results and both the radioactivity of the soil samples (correlation coefficient: 0.22; confidence level of correlation: 0.0107) and the average contamination level of their current residence (correlation coefficient: 0.20; confidence level of correlation: 0.0174).

[Determination of antioxidative potential of biological fluids by using semiconductor chemical sensors]. / Opredelenie antioksidatnogo potentsiala biologicheskikh zhidkostei s pomoshch'iu poluprovodnikovykh khimicheskikh sensorov.

A procedure has been developed for determining the concentrations of superoxide anion radical (SOAR) in aprotonic fluids by using semiconductor chemical sensors. SOAR life in pure solutions is 6.3 hours. Supplements of biological fluids (blood, urine, plasma) increase the rate of SOAR death. There is a great difference in the reaction rate of SOAR with biological fluids in apparently healthy and ill individuals. It is suggested that the above procedure opens vistas both for studies of vital activity and for diagnosis of abnormalities.

[Immunoreactive disorders and their correction in patients with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment complicated by vitreoretinal proliferation]. / Narusheniia immunoreaktivnosti i ikh korrektsiia u bol'nykh s regmatogennoi otsloikoi setchatki, oslozhnennoi vitreoretinal'noi proliferatsiei.

Examination of the immunologic state of 73 patients with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment complicated by vitreoretinal proliferation has revealed correlation between the severity of the latter and disturbances in the immune state of the patient's body. 44% of patients with the stage C and 62% of patients with the stage D have immunodeficiency expressed by reduced level of T- and B-lymphocytes and their subpopulation. It is shown that disturbances in immunoreactivity can serve as an unfavourable sign for prognosis of effectiveness of surgical intervention in patients with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment. In 70% of the patients these disturbances lead to unfavourable outcome of the operation. For normalization of the revealed disturbances in the immune state, immunomodulator thymaline was used in a complex treatment of 17 patients. The preparation rose the effectiveness of the treatment in 78% of patients and reduced the number of postoperative complications. It is recommended to study the immunologic state of the patient with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment complicated by vitreoretinal proliferation for the purpose of its further correction and a higher effectiveness of surgical treatment of such patients.

[Comparative evaluation of the effectiveness of different variants for treating gastric polyposis]. / Sravnitel[naia otsenka éffektivnosti razlichnykh variantov lecheniia polipoza zheludka.

An analysis of long-term results of different kinds of treatment of 922 patients with polyposis of the stomach has been made. Endoscopic polypectomy was found to have most favorable results. Treatment of benign polyps was more effective as compared with transitional and malignant ones. In patients with multiple polyps the development of gastric cancer was observed in most cases. The authors make a conclusion that endoscopic control should be permanently performed in patients with polyposis of the stomach.