Statistical-probability simulation of the organoleptic properties of grape wines

Approaches to the evaluation of generalized wine quality indices based on a set of the quantitative characteristics of single parameters and their organoleptic rating were studied with the use of statistical-probability simulation methods. A general linear model (multiple linear regression) was constructed to predict degustation evaluation values from the concentrations of volatile substances (acetaldehyde, ethyl acetate, methanol, higher alcohols, acetic acid, and furfural) and wine quality classes (high, medium, low, and adulterated). The wine quality class was identified by discriminant analysis based on the concentrations of the above volatile substances. A program module was developed for the automation of a calculation procedure. The average absolute deviation of predicted values from degustation evaluation data in a test sample was 5.8%.     

Transmutation of radioactive nuclear waste — present status and requirement for the problem-oriented nuclear data base

Transmutation of long-lived actinides and fission products becomes an important issue of the overall nuclear fuel cycle assessment, both for existing and future reactor systems. Reliable nuclear data are required for analysis of associated neutronics. The present paper gives a review of the status of nuclear data analysis focusing on the waste transmutation problem.      

A thin film model

Using the theory of fiber bundles we construct a new model of a thin polycrystal film. The quantum equations of motion thereby obtained are used to determine the regularity of the influence of substructural ordering on the physical characteristics of the film.Translated fromMatematicheskie Metody i Fiziko-Mekhanicheskie Polya, Issue 28, 1988, pp. 36–40.     

Testing convexity of figures under the uniform distribution

We consider the following basic geometric problem: Given , a 2‐dimensional black‐and‐white figure is ?‐ far from convex if it differs in at least an ? fraction of the area from every figure where the black object is convex. How many uniform and independent samples from a figure that is ?‐ far from convex are needed to detect a violation of convexity with constant probability? This question arises in the context of designing property testers for convexity. We show that uniform samples (and the same running time) are necessary and sufficient for detecting a violation of convexity in an ?‐far figure and, equivalently, for testing convexity of figures with 1‐sided error. Our algorithm beats the lower bound by Schmeltz [32] on the number of samples required for learning convex figures under the uniform distribution. It demonstrates that, with uniform samples, we can check if a set is approximately convex much faster than we can find an approximate representation of a convex set.     

Nucleon channel coupling in electrodisintegration of nuclei

The process of nuclear excitation above threshold for nucleon decay in high energy electron scattering is considered. On the basis of the particle-hole shell model a formalism is proposed which allows one to describe electroexcitation of nuclei in a unified manner both in the resonance and quasielastic scattering regions. Numerical calculations were made for the ¹²C nucleus taking into account the mixing of proton and neutron configurations (channels) of the particle-hole type in the continuum.     

Autohesion of commercial elastomer systems

The effect of the chemical structure of the plasticizer on the autohesive strength of elastomer systems has been investigated with reference to P-200 and SKN-40 elastomers containing a series of sebacates and phthalates. Increasing the length of the hydrocarbon radical of the plasticizer molecule increases the autohesion of nonpolar P-200 and reduces that of polar SKN-40. The data confirm the existence of different plasticization mechanisms in nonpolar and polar elastomers and are consistent with a diffusion autohesion model.Mekhanika Polimerov, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 296–299, 1968     

Ring artefact suppression in real-time x-ray tomography

A ring artefact suppression algorithm in x-ray tomography is proposed and allows one to process input data in real time. The algorithm is based on methods of the theory of inverse and ill-posed problems. Its numerical implementation uses minimisation of the smoothing Tikhonov’s functional with the conjugate gradient method.     

Bis-Amiridines as Acetylcholinesterase and Butyrylcholinesterase Inhibitors: N-Functionalization Determines the Multitarget Anti-Alzheimer’s Activity Profile

Using two ways of functionalizing amiridine—acylation with chloroacetic acid chloride and reaction with thiophosgene—we have synthesized new homobivalent bis-amiridines joined by two different spacers—bis-N-acyl-alkylene (3) and bis-N-thiourea-alkylene (5) —as potential multifunctional agents for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). All compounds exhibited high inhibitory activity against acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) with selectivity for BChE. These new agents displayed negligible carboxylesterase inhibition, suggesting a probable lack of untoward drug–drug interactions arising from hydrolytic biotransformation. Compounds 3 with bis-N-acyl-alkylene spacers were more potent inhibitors of both cholinesterases compared to compounds 5 and the parent amiridine. The lead compounds 3a–c exhibited an IC₅₀(AChE) = 2.9–1.4 µM, IC₅₀(BChE) = 0.13–0.067 µM, and 14–18% propidium displacement at 20 μM. Kinetic studies of compounds 3a and 5d indicated mixed-type reversible inhibition. Molecular docking revealed favorable poses in both catalytic and peripheral AChE sites. Propidium displacement from the peripheral site by the hybrids suggests their potential to hinder AChE-assisted Aβ₄₂ aggregation. Conjugates 3 had no effect on Aβ₄₂ self-aggregation, whereas compounds 5c–e (m = 4, 5, 6) showed mild (13–17%) inhibition. The greatest difference between conjugates 3 and 5 was their antioxidant activity. Bis-amiridines 3 with N-acylalkylene spacers were nearly inactive in ABTS and FRAP tests, whereas compounds 5 with thiourea in the spacers demonstrated high antioxidant activity, especially in the ABTS test (TEAC = 1.2–2.1), in agreement with their significantly lower HOMO-LUMO gap values. Calculated ADMET parameters for all conjugates predicted favorable blood–brain barrier permeability and intestinal absorption, as well as a low propensity for cardiac toxicity. Thus, it was possible to obtain amiridine derivatives whose potencies against AChE and BChE equaled (5) or exceeded (3) that of the parent compound, amiridine. Overall, based on their expanded and balanced pharmacological profiles, conjugates 5c–e appear promising for future optimization and development as multitarget anti-AD agents.     

Motion of a nitrogen molecule over the screw dislocation core in a body-centered cubic lattice

It is shown that the motion of a diatomic molecule in the screw dislocation core can be described by the Frenkel-Kontorova soliton for a displacement of the center of mass of the molecule. The amplitude of such a soliton is completely determined by the relation between the size of the molecule and the dislocation parameters.