In Vivo Imaging of Mammalian Embryos By NIR-I Photoacoustic Tomography and NIR-II Optical Coherence Tomography Using Gold Nanostars as Multifunctional Contrast Agents

Background High resolution, strong contrast and multimodality visualization of live mammalian embryo is an important requirement for studying foetal development. Photoacoustic Tomography (PAT) and Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) are two advanced imaging modalities that has been utilized for embryonic imaging. However, high contrast, multiscale and deep tissue visualization of live embryos remains challenging. Results Here, we demonstrate the use of gold nanostars (GNS) as multimodality contrast agents for the visualization and differentiation of embryos in vivo using NIR-I PAT and NIR-II OCT. We perform NIR-I PAT imaging to confirm in vivo GNS accumulation in the foetuses, and then use a customized NIR-II OCT system to further reveal deep, contrast-enhanced micro features of freshly harvested embryos. We investigate two different GNS administration pathways, i.e. intravenous and intravaginal injection, and significant enhancement of signal, image contrast, and imaging depth are achieved for both PAT and OCT. Conclusions These findings prove that PAT-OCT bi-modal imaging with GNS enhancement provides more accurate structural characteristic of live mammalian embryos, and thus reveal its potential for embryonic development visualization and early abnormality examination. These findings prove that PAT-OCT bi-modal imaging with GNS enhancement provides more accurate structural characteristic of live mammalian embryos, and thus reveal its potential for embryonic development visualization and early abnormality examination.

STRUCTURAL CHARACTERISTIC OF PROBABIES AND SPELLS IN THE AVAR LANGUAGE

Proverbs and sayings in the Avar language have a sentence structure and semantic features. The presence in the structure of proverbial expressions of already established phraseological units, characteristic of the Avar language, is explained by the fact that the Avar language is characterized by phraseological design of concepts that do not have lexical means that adequately convey these concepts.

Symmetry Collapse due to the Presence of Worm-Aromaticity in Ge244-

In this work, we synthesized and isolated a continuous 24-atom cluster Ge244−, which was characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis and Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, showing an elongated worm-like structural characteristic. Theoretical analysis reveals that electron delocalization plays a vital role in the formation and stabilization of the prolate cluster. In contrast with carbon atoms, 4s orbitals of Ge-atoms do not easily hybridize with 4p orbitals and s-type lone-pairs could be localized with high occupancy. Thus, there are not enough electrons to form a stable symmetrical fullerene-like structure such as C24 fullerene. Three aromatic units with two [Ge9] and one [Ge6] species, connected by classical 2c-2e Ge-Ge σ-bonds, have been aligned together forming three independent shielding cones (worm-aromaticity) and eventually caused a collapse of the global symmetry of the prolate cluster.

The Image of the Other as a Structural Characteristic of the Cultural Border on the Example of Ukraine and Donbass

The article is devoted to the specifics of the cultural frontier of Russian culture. The relevance of the article is due to the strengthening in the post-Soviet period of cultural conflicts on the border of Russian civilization. These conflicts on cultural grounds even lead to military action against the bearers of Russian culture, as has been the case in the Ukrainian war against Donbass since 2014. The article examines the borderland as a zone of intercultural interaction, carries out a cultural analysis of the border between cultures and identities, highlights the structural characteristic of the cultural border ‒ the image of the Other. Based on the conducted cultural analysis, the structure of the cultural space of Ukraine and the Donbass, including the wartime situation since 2014 is investigated. The study of the media content of Ukrainian information projects and similar projects in the LPR is carried out on the basis of an information-analytical methodology. Two permanent Ukrainian media projects of the Internews-Ukraine: Revision of History and Propagandarium, which work intensively in the Russian-speaking regions of Ukraine creating and broadcasting the image of the Russian as the Other by methods of aggressive anti-Russian propaganda are considered. We also analyze the activity of the Lugansk cultural site “Dandelion”, which has been operating in Lugansk since 2015 and reflects the cultural life of the city and the republic during this period. An analysis of the site’s materials shows that in the republic in wartime conditions, Russian and world culture is preserved and mastered, intensive work is underway to integrate the republics of Donbass into the cultural space of modern Russia, relying on the historical memory of these territories. The article substantiates that Ukrainian culture is currently a borderland culture, since the image of the Other as the Russian dominates its structure and is imposed on the Russians of Ukraine by propaganda methods. At the same time, the culture of modern Donbass is developing as Russian culture in which the image of the Other as a modern Ukrainian, a carrier of anti-Russian identity is formed. Keywords: Russia, Ukraine, Donbass, borderland culture, the image of the Other, anti-Russian propaganda