Interdisciplinary Study of Egyptian Mummies from the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts Collection at the National Research Centre “Kurchatov Institute”

Crystallography Reports - Nine ancient Egyptian mummies (dated preliminarily to the period from the 1st mill. BCE to the first centuries CE) from the collection of the State Pushkin Museum of Fine...     

Electrochemical reduction and radical anions of benzo[b]thioxanthene-6,11,12-trione and thioxanthene-1,4,9-trione

The electrochemical reduction of benzo[b]thioxanthene-6,11,12-trione and thioxanthene-1,4,9-trione in DMSO, MeCN and HMPA is an EE process, which is characterized by two separate one electron reversible peaks on cyclic voltammograms, first peak retains reversibility in DMSO–H2O mixtures, corresponding radical anions were obtained by one electron reduction of the above compounds and characterized by EPR and DFT calculations at the (U)B3LYP/6-31+G* level of theory.     

Analysis of the imperfection of opal-like photonic crystals synthesized on conducting substrates

The type and degree of imperfection for opal-like photonic crystals on conducting substrates have been investigated using synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering with a microradian resolution. It has been demonstrated that self-assembly of poly(styrene) spheres by the vertical deposition method leads to the formation of a face-centered cubic structure on a mica/Au substrate and a random hexagonal close packing on a glass substrate with the In₂O₃(SnO₂) conducting coating.     

1,2,5-Thiadiazole 2-oxides: selective synthesis,structural characterization,and electrochemical properties

A new general procedure for the selective synthesis of 1,2,5-thiadiazole 2-oxides (including fused derivatives) 8a,b,c,g,h from the reaction of vic-glyoximes with S₂Cl₂ and pyridine in acetonitrile was elaborated together with general procedure for the synthesis of 1,2,5-thiadiazoles 7a–i, 10, 12, and 14 from the same starting materials and reagents. Molecular structures of 3,4-dimethyl-1,2,5-thiadiazole 2-oxide 8a and [1,2,5]thiadiazolo[3,4-b]quinoxaline 10 were confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Electrochemical properties of 1,2,5-thiadiazole 2-oxides 8 were studied by cyclic voltammetry and different behavior was observed for monocyclic and benzo-fused derivatives. With compounds 8g and 17, previously unknown deoxygenation of 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole 1-oxides was discovered by electrochemical reduction, and resulted 2,1,3-benzothiadiazoles 7g and 19 were detected in the forms of their radical anions by EPR spectroscopy combined with DFT calculations.     

Optical parametric oscillator on dipolaritons

The dynamics of dipolariton states in a planar microcavity under pumping into the middle dipolariton branch is investigated. It is shown that, in the case of exact resonance, the system exhibits an aperiodic behavior whereby pump dipolaritons are converted into dipolaritons of the idler and signal modes.     

Quantitative analysis of intramolecular interactions of all-trans-α,ω-diphenylpolyenes with one to four double bonds

We have analyzed intensity distributions in fine structure fluorescence spectra of three all-trans-diphenylpolyenes with number of double bonds n = 1?4 in solutions in n-paraffins at 4.2 K. Modeling of spectra by representing each of the vibronic transitions by a zero-phonon line and a phonon wing with certain parameters (width, Debye-Waller factor) made it possible to determine the relative intensities of vibronic transitions. We have calculated and comparatively analyzed the parameters of intramolecular interactions that form fine structure spectra of stilbene and investigated compounds.     

Synthesis and Biological Activity of 3-Aryl-5-(aryloxymethyl)-1,2,4-oxadiazoles

Russian Journal of Organic Chemistry - A preparative procedure has been developed for the synthesis of a series of new medicinally relevant 3-aryl-5-(aryloxymethyl)-1,2,4-oxadiazoles in...     

Optimal control of dengue epidemic outbreaks under limited resources

In this paper, we reflect upon control intervention practices habitually exerted by healthcare authorities in tropical areas that suffer from incidental outbreaks of dengue fever, in particular, the city of Cali, Colombia. Such control interventions, principally based on the insecticide spraying, are carried out sporadically in order to overcome an ongoing epidemic or at least to reduce its size. It is worth pointing out that control actions of this type do not usually account for sufficient budget because epidemic outbreaks are difficult to predict. In practical terms, these occasional control interventions are performed by spraying, as quickly as possible, all existing stock of insecticide (regardless of its lethality) and employing all available manpower. The goal of this paper is to design better strategies for insecticide-based control actions, which are capable of preventing more human infections at no additional cost, and to reveal the obsolescence of current vector eradication practices. Our approach relies on dynamic optimization, where the number of averted human infections is maximized under budget constraint and subject to a simple dengue transmission model amended with one control variable that stands for the insecticide spraying. As a result, we obtain structurally robust control intervention policies that demonstrate better performance and higher resilience to possible budget limitations than traditional modus operandi.