New approaches to the design of analgesic medicinal substances

A gamma-pyrone derivative, comenic acid, activates the opioid-like receptor-mediated signaling pathway that modulates the NaV1.8 channels in the primary sensory neuron membrane. These channels are responsible for generation of the nociceptive signal; gamma-pyrones can therefore have a great therapeutic potential as analgesics, and this effect deserves a deeper understanding. The novelty of our approach to the design of a medicinal substance is based on a combination of the data obtained on living neurons using very sensitive physiological methods and the results of quantum-chemical calculations. This approach allows to correlate the molecular structure of gamma-pyrones with their ability to evoke a physiological response of the neuron. Comenic acid can bind two calcium cations. One of them is chelated by the carbonyl and the hydroxyl functional groups, while another one forms the salt bond with the carboxylate anion. Calcium-bound gamma-pyrones are fundamentally different in electrostatic properties from the free gamma-pyrone molecules. These two calcium ions are the key elements involved in ligand-receptor binding. It is very likely ion-ionic interactions between these cations and anionic functional groups of the opioid-like receptor that activate the latter. The calculated intercationic distance of 9.5 Å is a structural criterion for effective ligand-receptor binding of calcium-bound gamma-pyrones.

On domestic animals in Russian and French phraseology

The aim of this article is to compare French and Russian phraseological units including the names of domestic ani-mals (кошка/ chat, собака/ chien, лошадь/ cheval, корова/ vache, свя/ cochon, коза /chèvre, баран/ mouton) which are discussed according to structural, functional and semantic criteria proposed by A.G. Nazarian. According to the structural criterion, phraseological units include: a) non-predicative (жирный как свинья/ gras comme un cochon; ме-тать бисер перед свиньями/ jeter des perles aux cochons), b) partially predicative (cheval qui n’a ni bouche ni éperon) and с) predicative (le chat parti [absent, quand le chat n’est pas là, quand le chat dort], les souris dansent). Idioms (manger de la vache enragée) and unique phraseological units (appeler un chat un chat) are distinguished according to semantic classification. According to the functional criterion, phraseological units are divided into communicative (да-реному коню в зубы не смотрят/ à cheval donné on ne regarde pas la bouche) and non-communicative (конек, глав-ный козырь/ cheval de bataille), including nominative and infinitive units. Comparing Russian and French phraseolog-ical units we can observe the following relations: coincidence of the plan of content and the image (играть как кошка с мышью/ jouer avec sa victime comme un chat avec une souris), coincidence of the plan of content and different im-ages ( не иметь ни кола, ни двора/ n’avoir ni cheval ni mule), difference of the plan of content and of images, but the presence of domestic animal’s name (кошки скребут на душе, avoir un chat dans la gorge). Phraseological units can сontain metaphor, продать (купить) кота в мешке/ vendre (acheter) chat en poche metonymy (Троянский конь/ cheval de Troie), comparison (amoureuse comme une chatte).

Special geometry and the swampland

In the context of 4d effective gravity theories with 8 supersymmetries, we propose to unify, strenghten, and refine the several swampland conjectures into a single statement: the structural criterion, modelled on the structure theorem in Hodge theory. In its most abstract form the new swampland criterion applies to all 4d $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 2 effective theories (having a quantum-consistent UV completion) whether supersymmetry is local or rigid: indeed it may be regarded as the more general version of Seiberg-Witten geometry which holds both in the rigid and local cases.As a first application of the new swampland criterion we show that a quantum-consistent $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 2 supergravity with a cubic pre-potential is necessarily a truncation of a higher-$$ \mathcal{N} $$ N sugra. More precisely: its moduli space is a Shimura variety of ‘magic’ type. In all other cases a quantum-consistent special Kähler geometry is either an arithmetic quotient of the complex hyperbolic space SU(1, m)/U(m) or has no local Killing vector.Applied to Calabi-Yau 3-folds this result implies (assuming mirror symmetry) the validity of the Oguiso-Sakurai conjecture in Algebraic Geometry: all Calabi-Yau 3-folds X without rational curves have Picard number ρ = 2, 3; in facts they are finite quotients of Abelian varieties. More generally: the Kähler moduli of X do not receive quantum corrections if and only if X has infinite fundamental group. In all other cases the Kähler moduli have instanton corrections in (essentially) all possible degrees.

Sensory Semantic Component as the Basis for Synaesthesia Formation in Language: a Case Study of Arthur Rimbaud’s Poem "Le Bateau ivre" ("The Drunken Boat") and its Russian Translations

The current article considers the phenomenon of synaesthesia in a literary text on the material of the Russian and French languages. Our study proposes a new approach to a linguistic analysis of synaesthesia at the levels of words and word combinations. It introduces a systemic model describing groups of words related to sensory perception which serve as a basis for synaesthetic word combinations’ formation. The units of analysis were selected from a manually prepared author’s corpus of parallel texts including Arthur Rimbaud’s poem “Le Bateau ivre” and its 15 Russian translations. In order to classify the types of words related to sensory perception the notion of sensory semantic component (SSC) was introduced. The words were classified according to a number of criteria: the component criterion (number of SSCs within a word); the modal criterion (correlation with a sensory modality); the structural criterion (morphological structure of a word); and the criterion of semantic representation (the place of an SSC within a word’s semantics). At for the component criterion, all the words were classified by the number of SSCs as monocomponent (90 %) or multicomponent (10 %). If a word is classified as multicomponent, its SSCs can either belong to the same modality (and so, it is characterized as monosensory), or refer to different modalities (multisensory). The words from our corpus are generally monocomponent, i.e. they contain no more than one SSC. However, 10 % of the preselected words contain more than one SSC and are characterized by a complex morphological structure, representing, in fact, compounds. Multicomponent and complex words are typical only of the Russian part of the corpus. As far as the modal criterion is concerned, the French and Russian parts of the corpus provide similar results: sight appears to be the dominant modality for all the texts analyzed, whereas the sense of smell is the least common. As for the semantic representation of SSCs within a word’s meaning, this component is essential and determinant for 90 % of the units analyzed. The words containing SSCs belong to different parts of speech. In the French part of the corpus, the most common are adjectives (55 %), followed by nouns (27 %), verbs (9 %), participles I and II (9 %). As for the Russian texts, adjectives are also the most common (43 %), followed by nouns (35 %), verbs (14 %), participles I and II (5 %), gerunds (2 %), and adverbs (1 %).

The Classification of Mechanical Models of Road Pavements

A review of mechanical models of road pavements in the form of a proposal of classification of these models is presented. It is assumed an autonomy of the following elements of pavement model: the models of structural layers, the subgrade model, the interlayer bonding models, including bonding of pavement structure with its subgrade, the models of external impacts on pavement layers, including load of heavy traffic, the models of pavement environment impacts on structural layers’ borders (lateral) and subgrade borders (including the lower one) – according to the selected criteria such as structural criterion, material criterion (physical criterion), dimension criterion and model scope (purpose) criterion − in the frame of assumptions of the classical Newtonian deterministic mechanics. The presented attempt to classify mechanical models of road pavements supports to orientate the roadmen community within a scope of the mechanistic modelling of these structures.

Predicted Dynamic and Structural Criterion of Evaluation of Gravitational Waves

The cosmic (physical) vacuum according to modern data possesses the properties of a material medium. In combination with the celestial bodies, this medium is capable of forming dynamic structures. Presumably, these structures have a wave nature, and in their development, the gravitational waves, emitted by the stars and their planetary systems can take part. It is believed that physical vacuum is almost weightless matter. However, this study postulates its high density, as a condition for adaptation of the fundamental physical laws for different mediums and substances. The product of this density and gravitational constant gives vent to the frequency, which is entitled to the probable frequency of the gravitational wave background of space and equals to .06 Hz (rounded). The supposed spectrum of gravity waves of the solar system could become a model for the spectral analysis of extra-solar systems and the evaluation of habitable planets.

Aromaticities of Five Membered Heterocycles through Dimethyldihydropyrenes Probe by Magnetic and Geometric Criteria

Aromaticities of five membered heterocycles, containing up to three heteroatoms, are quantified through the dimethyldihydropyrene (DHP) probe. Bond fixation caused by the fusion of heterocycles to the dimethyldihydropyrene nucleus (DHPN) was measured by changes in the1H NMR chemical shifts (magnetic) and bond lengths alterations (structural criterion). Chemical shifts of dihydropyrenes were calculated at GIAO HF/6-31G(d)//B3LYP/6-31+G(d). For1H NMR chemical shift analysis, two nonaromatic reference models are studied. Among the studied heterocycles, pyrazole and triazole are about 80–85% aromatic relative to benzene, through both magnetic and geometric criteria. Thiazole and oxazoles are found least aromatic where quantitative estimates of aromaticities are about 34–42%, relative to benzene. These quantitative estimates of aromaticities of five membered heterocycles are also comparable to those from aromatic stabilization energies. The quantification of aromaticity through energetic, magnetic, and structural criteria can deliver the similar inferences provided that suitable reference systems are chosen.