Converting non-Mesogenic to Mesogenic Stacking of Amino-s-Triazine-Based Dendrons with p-CN Phenyl Unit by Eliminating Peripheral Dipole

Three new amino-s-triazine-based dendrons, 1a, 1b, and 1c, containing an aryl-CN moiety in the dendritic skeleton were prepared in 72–81% yields (1a: R1 = − N(n-C8H17)2, R2 = n-OC8H17, 1b: R1 = R2 = − N(n-C8H17)2, 1c: R1 = − N(n-C8H17)2, R2 = − N(n-C4H9)2). Dendrons 1a with N(n-C8H17)2 and n-OC8H17 peripheral substituents, surprisingly, did not show any mesogenic phase during the thermal process. However, non-mesogenic 1a can be converted to mesogenic 1b or 1c by eliminating the peripheral dipole arising from the alkoxy substituent; dendron 1b only comprising the same N(n-C8H17)2 peripheral groups showed a ~25 °C mesogenic range on heating and ~108 °C mesogenic range on cooling. In contrast, dendron 1c possessing different N(n-CmH2m+1)2 (m = 8 versus m = 4) peripheral units, having similar stacking as 1b, exhibited a columnar phase on thermal treatment, but its mesogenic range (~9 and ~66 °C on heating and cooling, respectively) was much narrower than that of 1b, attributed to 1c’s less flexible alkyl chains in the peripheral part of dendron. Dendron 1a with the alkoxy substituent in the peripheral skeleton, creating additional dipole correspondingly, thus, leads to the dendritic molecules having a non-mesogenic stacking. Without the peripheral dipole for intermolecular side-by-side interaction, dendrons 1b and 1c exhibit a columnar phase on thermal treatment because of the vibration from the peripheral alkyl chain.

Post-Soviet Russia as a Product of Half-Disintegration of the USSR: Facts and Interpretation

The article shows the interconnection in the development of social and economic institutes of the USSR and post-soviet Russia and that on the post-Soviet space and in the Russian Federation a system of the semi-peripheral oligarchic bureaucratic capitalism has occurred, of which an economic stagnation is typical. The author proposes a review of the statistical data of three post-soviet evolution stages (1992–1998, 1999–2007, from 2008 until now), the causes of the economic decline of the 1990s, with accentuating the degradation of the technological basis and growing social contradictions, negative economic, and demographic consequences. The causes of negative evolution of Russia’s economy and society are shown. The answer is given to the questions: (1) what social forces were behind the reforms in the USSR and what social forces took over the power after the USSR vanished and (2) why Russia became a dependent, semi-peripheral part of the global economic system.

Lainasanatutkimus Virittäjässä ja muualla

Artikkelissa käsitellään suomen kielen lainasanakerrostumien tutkimushistoriaa Suomessa, erityisesti Virittäjän sivuilla, vuodesta 1869 (jolloin Vilhelm Thomse­nin Den gotiske sprogklasses indflydelse på den finske julkaistiin) nykypäivään. Kir­joituksessa keskitytään suomen vanhimpien (esihistoriallisten) lainasanojen käsit­telyyn. Lainasanatutkimus voidaan jakaa kolmeen aikakauteen: nuorgrammaattiseen klassiseen kauteen, pimeään keskiaikaan (äännelaittomuuksien aikaan) sekä strukturalistiseen renessanssiin (uuteen aikaan). Nuorgrammatiikan aika alkoi Thomsenin myötä, ja se oli Virittä­jässä produktiivisen ja korkeatasoisen lainasanatutkimuksen aikaa. Tämä päättyi vä­hitellen 1920- ja 1930-luvulle tultaessa, kun suomalaiset tutkijat ryhtyivät vieroksu­maan lainaetymologioita, joita pidettiin epäisänmaallisina osassa tutkijayhteisöä. Tänä ”omaperäisiä” etymologioita suosineena aikana julkaistiin kuitenkin yksittäisiä laadukkaita lainasanatutkimuksia myös Virittäjän sivuilla. Vuodesta 1970 alkaen Jorma Koivulehto ja seuraajansa veivät lainasanatutkimuksen uuteen aikaan, ja myös Virittäjässä esitettiin useita uusia germaanisia ja balttilaisia sekä joitakin arjalaisia ja muita indoeurooppalaisia lainaetymologioita. Tästä lähtien lainasanatutkimukselle on ollut ominaista strukturalistinen lähestymistapa ja jo Thomsenin painottamien äännesubstituutioiden merkityksen korostaminen. Kuitenkin 2000- ja erityisesti 2010-luvulla lainasanatutkimus on jäänyt Virittäjässä varsin vähäiseen asemaan, vaikka yksittäisiä hyviä lainaetymologioita lehden sivuilla on viime vuosikymmeninäkin julkaistu. Loanword research in Virittäjä and elsewhere The article discusses the history of Finnish loanword research in Finland, especially in the journal Virittäjä, from 1869 (the year when Vilhelm Thomsen’s Den gotiske sprogklasses indflydelse på den finske was published) to the present day, concentrating on the earliest (prehistoric) loanwords in Finnish. The history of loanword research can be split to three distinct periods: the neogrammarian classical age, the dark middle ages (the age of ‘sound lawlessness’) and the structuralist renaissance (the modern age). The classical age started with Thomsen, and in Virittäjä this was a fruitful period featuring many high-quality loan etymologies. This period gradually came to an end during the 1920s and 1930s, when Finnish researchers became more wary of loan etymologies, which were considered by some to be unpatriotic. However, during this period when ‘native’ etymologies were preferred, a number of accomplished loanword studies were published in Virittäjä. From 1970 onwards, Jorma Koivulehto and his colleagues began a revival of loanword research, and Virittäjä too saw the publication of many new Germanic and Baltic etymologies, in addition to several Indo-Iranian and other Indo-European studies. The structuralist approach and the emphasis on sound substitution (already explored by Thomsen) became characteristic of loanword research during this period. However, throughout the 2000s and notably the 2010s, loanword research has become a more peripheral part of Virittäjä’s content, though some good etymologies have been published in the journal during the last two decades.

Design development and study of an elastic sectional screw operating tool

The results of an elastic sectional screw operating tool development and its production technique are presented in the article under consideration. The operating tool has been made to fix the elastic sections, providing the transportation of bulk materials of agricultural production, in order to ensure their minimal damage and the process minimal power capacity. The article presents constructed regression dependencies and response surfaces for the effects of the design, kinematic and technological parameters of a sectional screw operating tool on power consumption and the damage rate of grain material in the process of its transportation. As the result of the conducted experimental research, authors came to a conclusion that the arrangement of an elastic auger without a gap between its peripheral part and the inner surface of the guiding tube significantly reduces vibrations in the process of conveying bulk material.

Assessment of the volume of harvested wood in accordance with the vital state of wood species

During selective felling on the territory of 3.9 ha, 181 m3 of wood, 35% of which is dead wood. Among them, pine (16 m3), spruce (27 m3), birch (8 m3) and aspen (12 m3) were found. The volume of cut viable wood was 118 m3, including 50 m3 of pine, 44 m3 of spruce, 14m 3 of birch and 10 m3 of aspen. The values obtained do not exceed the forest declaration data. To determine the stumps from dead coniferous trees, the following criteria were tested: complete or partial absence of bark, the presence of traces of the vital activity of insect pests and abundance worm dust. Species-specific criteria are proposed: in pine – the presence of rot of the peripheral part of the wood, brown color of sapwood and bast; spruce – the presence of heart rot and wood destroying fungi. In deciduous species, the main criterion for isolating stumps from dead trees has been tested – the presence of wood-destroying fungi, in aspen – heart rot caused by tinder fungi. We recommend using these criteria to resolve legal claims against forest users in the removal and assessment of harvested wood.

Ganglioneuroma and Its Very Rare Localisation: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Ganglioneuroma is a very rare benign tumor growing from the vegetative, autonomic nervous system. It grows from the central or peripheral part. We describe cervical ganglioneuroma in a 38-year-old man growing in the C7/Th1 foramen area on the right before the fibers enter the ganglion stellatum. It is a non-dumbbell shaped tumor growing between ganglion stellatum and ganglion cervicale. Treatment is resection with total tumor excess. Complete surgical resection is a very effective therapy. The relapse of the tumor is not described in literature studies. Similar type of this case has been described only once in literature and reviewed from anglophone literature, which is selected with the exclusion of neurofibromatosis and with localization in the neck area [1].

Effect of Retinohypothalamic Tract Dysfunction on Melatonin Level in Patients with Chronic Disorders of Consciousness

Objective: The aim of this study is to compare the secretion level of nocturnal melatonin and the characteristics of the peripheral part of the visual analyzer in patients with chronic disorders of consciousness (DOC). Materials and Methods: We studied the level of melatonin in 22 patients with chronic DOC and in 11 healthy volunteers. The fundus condition was assessed using the ophthalmoscopic method. Results: The average level of nocturnal melatonin in patients with DOC differed by 80% from the level of indole in healthy volunteers. This reveals a direct relationship between etiology, the level of consciousness, gaze fixation, coma recovery scale-revised score and the level of melatonin secretion. Examination by an ophthalmologist revealed a decrease in the macular reflex in a significant number of DOC patients, which in turn correlates negatively with the time from brain injury and positively with low values of nocturnal melatonin.

Age-Related Changes in Zinc, Copper and Selenium Levels in the Human Prostate

Pathophysiological changes in the prostate gland—benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and prostatic adenocarcinoma (PCa)—are closely related to the age of men. In the prostate gland, zinc is of particular importance for its proper functioning, especially with regard to the effects of hormonal disorders. The aim of this study was to evaluate zinc, copper and selenium concentrations in different parts of the prostate gland in relation to age and the nature of pathological changes. Zinc and copper were determined by the AAS method and selenium by the spectrofluorometric method. The concentration of zinc in the central part of the prostate increases with age, and in patients over 36 years it is twice as high as in the peripheral part, where no increase in the level of this element was observed with the age of patients. The above data confirm a possible influence of zinc on the formation of PCa (located mostly in the peripheral part of the prostate, with low levels of zinc) and BPH in the central part where the levels of this element are the highest. The results apparently confirm the disturbed homeostasis of zinc and other essential elements in the etiology of BPH and PCa.

Activation of NF-κB signaling via cytosolic mitochondrial RNA sensing in kerotocytes with mitochondrial DNA common deletion

Scar formation as a result of corneal wound healing is a leading cause of blindness. It is a challenge to understand why scar formation is more likely to occur in the central part of the cornea as compared to the peripheral part. The purpose of this study was to unravel the underlying mechanisms. We applied RNA-seq to uncover the differences of expression profile in keratocytes in the central/peripheral part of the cornea. The relative quantity of mitochondrial RNA was measured by multiplex qPCR. The characterization of mitochondrial RNA in the cytoplasm was confirmed by immunofluoresence microscope and biochemical approach. Gene expression was analyzed by western blot and RT qPCR. We demonstrate that the occurrence of mitochondrial DNA common deletion is greater in keratocytes from the central cornea as compared to those of the peripheral part. The keratocytes with CD have elevated oxidative stress levels, which leads to the leakage of mitochondrial double-stranded RNA into the cytoplasm. The cytoplasmic mitochondrial double-stranded RNA is sensed by MDA5, which induces NF-κB activation. The NF-κB activation thereafter induces fibrosis-like extracellular matrix expressions and IL-8 mRNA transcription. These results provide a novel explanation of the different clinical outcome in different regions of the cornea during wound healing.

Firm local embeddedness in an insular region: The Åland Islands compared to Finland

The present study analyzes the difference between the Åland Islands — an insular and peripheral part of Finland — and Finland as a whole in terms of firm local embeddedness. The analysis utilizes matched employee-employer longitudinal data for all businesses in Finland, including the Åland Islands, from 2006 to 2014. Local embeddedness is modelled both as tenure (the number of years a key stakeholder in a firm has lived in the same municipality as the firm) and by calculating the geographical distance the key stakeholder lives from the focal firm. Contrary to our expectations, we find that for our tenure measure of local embeddedness, firms are actually less locally embedded in the peripheral region than in the larger country. However, our distance measure of local embeddedness performs as expected with firms in the peripheral region. We hypothesize that that there may be an optimal level of local embeddedness, above which a local firm does not necessarily gain by further increasing its local embeddedness.