Institute for Physics and Power Engineering

Background. Cervical stenosis (CS) is a result of the cervical canal scarring, which leads to its narrowing or complete occlusion with obliteration of the external os. Currently, the treatment of cervical stenosis and stricture is not standardized in clinical practice, and this issue is also not addressed in Russian and international clinical guidelines. Since cervical cancer is an important obstetric-gynecological and oncological problem, it requires the search for adequate therapies available in outpatient settings. Promising are biomedical agents derived from collagen-containing gels – extracellular matrix biomimetics used in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Recent research shows they can model cell differentiation. Aim. To evaluate the effectiveness of extracellular matrix biomimetics, a heterogeneous implantable gel formulation, Sphero®GEL, produced in Russia, for the treatment of CS of various origins. Materials and methods. The study included 15 patients with CS and a mean age of 40.5 ± 11.9 years. Most patients (73.3%) had cervical intraepithelial neoplasias of varying severity, for which cervical conization was performed. Due to the stricture of the cervical canal, 12/12 (100%) of patients of reproductive age had dysmenorrhea symptoms; the mean pain severity according to the Visual Analog Scale was 4.38 ± 2.29. All patients received two 2.0 mL intracervical injections of the drug with an interval of 28 days. Method of use for Sphero®GEL MEDIUM: punctual injections of 0.5 mL in the cervix stroma at a depth of 3 mm pointwise along the circumference of the external os at 3, 6, 9, 12 o’clock positions and 1.5 mL multipositionally along the entire circumference and length of the cervical canal at a depth of 25 mm at 3, 6, 9, 12 o’clock positions. Two injections were performed with an interval of 28 days; the mean interval was 31.1 ± 5.8 days. The median follow-up of patients was 8 months. Results. After 3 months of treatment, the cervical canal patency was restored in 10/15 (66.7%) patients (the mean Hegar’s diameter was 3.67 ± 1.37 mm); after 6 months, it was restored in 14/15 (93.3%) patients (the mean diameter was 4.78 ± 0.85 mm). The mean pain severity on the Visual Analog Scale at 6 months was 0.91 ± 1.59, which was statistically significantly lower than before treatment (p = 0.005). No adverse events were reported during the treatment. High treatment adherence was observed: 4 points on the Morisky–Green scale in 14/15 (93.3%), while the prolonged interval between doses (31.1 ± 5.8 days instead of 28 days) was not statistically significant (p 0.05) and was due to the onset of the menstrual period. Conclusion. Intracervical injections of a heterogeneous, implantable gel formulation, Sphero®GEL, are an effective method of non-surgical treatment for CS of various origins.

Abstract Accurate neutron capture cross sections are essential for the design and operation of fast reactors using MOX fuels. For $$^{242}$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mmultiscripts> <mml:mrow/> <mml:mrow/> <mml:mn>242</mml:mn> </mml:mmultiscripts> </mml:math> Pu, the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) recommends 8–12% accuracy in the fast energy region (2–500 keV), compared to the current uncertainty of 35%. Moreover, integral experiments and previous measurements suggest the evaluated $$^{242}$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mmultiscripts> <mml:mrow/> <mml:mrow/> <mml:mn>242</mml:mn> </mml:mmultiscripts> </mml:math> Pu(n, $$\gamma $$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mi>γ</mml:mi> </mml:math> ) cross section is overestimated, particularly in the JEFF-3.3 library, which shows a 14% overestimation between 1 keV and 1 MeV. Recent measurements from LANSCE reported a 20–30% reduction in the 1–40 keV range relative to evaluations. To solve these discrepancies, the $$^{242}$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mmultiscripts> <mml:mrow/> <mml:mrow/> <mml:mn>242</mml:mn> </mml:mmultiscripts> </mml:math> Pu(n, $$\gamma $$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mi>γ</mml:mi> </mml:math> ) cross section was measured from 1 to 600 keV at CERN n_TOF-EAR1 facility using a 95(4) mg $$^{242}$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mmultiscripts> <mml:mrow/> <mml:mrow/> <mml:mn>242</mml:mn> </mml:mmultiscripts> </mml:math> Pu target, enriched to 99.959%. Gamma rays from neutron capture were detected with an array of $$\hbox {C}_6\hbox {D}_6$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:msub> <mml:mtext>C</mml:mtext> <mml:mn>6</mml:mn> </mml:msub> <mml:msub> <mml:mtext>D</mml:mtext> <mml:mn>6</mml:mn> </mml:msub> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> scintillators and a novel application of the Pulse Height Weighting Technique was employed. The resulting cross section presents a systematic uncertainty between 8 and 12%, reducing the current uncertainties of 35% and achieving the accuracy requested by the NEA. Analysis using FITACS produced average resonance parameters, consistent with the analysis of the resolved resonance region. Our data align well with Wisshak and Käeppeler, and are 10–14% lower than JEFF-3.3 in the 1–250 keV range, helping to achieve consistency with integral benchmarks. At higher energies, our results are in reasonable agreement with ENDF/B-VIII.1 and JEFF-3.3. In contrast, DANCE results appear to underestimate the cross section by a factor of 2–3 above a few keV.

The rapid development of 3D bioprinting technology has not been critically evaluated for its potential clinical applications… The ability of 3D manufacturing to create organ-like structures obscures the fact that the formed grafts are not physiologically relevant. We hypothesize that researchers do not use techniques that allow for the evaluation of the micro-architectonics of formed implants and mainly focus on biocompatibility and commonly observed immunological responses. This study aims to investigate the morphological landscape of the basics of 3D bioprinting through a systematic review of the outcomes of the experimental implantation of bioprinted constructs. A systematic search was conducted in the PubMed database using the following query: (bioprinting OR printing OR bioprinted OR printed OR bioinks) AND (cell OR cells) AND (implantation OR implanted OR in vivo) AND (goat OR porcine OR pig OR swine OR dog OR rabbit OR sheep) NOT (human OR humans). This systematic review evaluated the preformed studies of the in vivo assessment the 3D-bioprinted constructs, and 41 articles meeting the inclusion criteria were selected. We concluded that 3D bioprinting has limited applications for forming living tissue for orthotopic implantation. Additionally, quantitative methods for evaluating the properties and morphological quality of implanted bioprinted constructs have not been developed for tissue engineering applications.

The paper presents results of researches of way of increase in exit of effective hi-tech large-size articles from quartz ceramics in the conditions of mass production by means of completion of surface defects are stated.

Using the activation technique without chemical separation, cross sections for the production of 119 fission products—from $${}^{72}$$ Zn to $${}^{151}$$ Pm—belonging to 32 different chemical elements (Zn, Ga, Ge, As, Br, Se, Kr, Rb, Sr, Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, Tc, Ru, Rh, Pd, Ag, Cd, In, Sn, Sb, Te, I, Xe, Cs, Ba, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Pm) were measured under independent irradiation of two metallic $${}^{232}$$ Th foils with 20.9 MeV protons. The irradiations were carried out at the NS-20M facility, based on the I-2 linear proton accelerator, and lasted 1 hour and 1 minute. The proton flux was determined using monitor reactions $${}^{\textrm{nat}}$$ Cu( $$p,x$$ ) $${}^{62}$$ Zn and $${}^{\textrm{nat}}$$ Cu( $$p,x$$ ) $${}^{63}$$ Zn. The obtained results, together with data from other authors available in the EXFOR database and our previously measured data (also included in EXFOR) for proton energies of 100, 200, 800, 1200, and 1600 MeV, are presented in the form of excitation functions and mass yield curves. The $${}^{232}$$ Th fission product cross sections were modeled using the PHITS-3.31 code with the INCL4.6/GEM, JAM/GEM, and Bertini/GEM models for 42 proton energies in the range from 0.01 to 3 GeV. Cumulative cross sections for fission products in the mass range $$72<A<151$$ were computed using custom software based on the independent cross sections obtained from PHITS-3.31 output. For selected proton energies (20.9, 100, 200, 800, 1200, and 1600 MeV), a comparison between calculated and experimental results was performed using standard statistical criteria ( $$\bar{F}$$ , $$\Delta\bar{F}$$ and $$\langle F\rangle$$ ), allowing evaluation of the predictive performance of each model implemented in PHITS-3.31. In addition, the GEF2023/2.1 code was used to analyze the mass yields of $${}^{232}$$ Th fission products.

We describe a method and a setup based on it which has been used to measure the production cross sections of the delayed-neutron precursors (9Li, 16C, and 17N) and the fractional delayed-neutron yields in interactions between relativistic protons with an energy of 1 GeV and target nuclei with mass numbers in the range of 12−238. Measurements have been made at the synchrocyclotron facility of the Petersburg Institute of Nuclear Physics (PNPI), Gatchina. The measured cross section for the generation of 17N nuclei versus the mass of target nuclei are shown as an illustration of the method. The fractional delayed-neutron yields in interactions of relativistic protons with 238U nuclei are also presented.