This article presents the results of a computational and theoretical analysis of reducing the consumption of natural uranium in VVER-type reactors with an erbium burnable absorber when reusing spent fuel. Calculations were carried out on a simplified model of fuel burnout in a reactor using partial refueling without fuel assembly permutations. A comparative analysis of the consumption of natural uranium when using gadolinium and erbium as burnable absorbers for options with uranium and REMIX fuel was carried out. It has been shown that for options using REMIX fuel, the loss in natural uranium consumption when using erbium compared to the option with gadolinium is reduced by 50%.

Reactor experiments play a crucial role in studying the properties of candidate fuel rod materials for designed nuclear power facilities. To obtain information on real-time temperature changes of experimental fuel rod samples, they are instrumented with thermocouples. Correctness of the measurements performed depends on various factors, among which the quality of thermocouple mounting on the surface of the tested sample is important. In preparation for fuel experiments in the IR-8 reactor National Research Centre “Kurchatov Institute” pre-reactor tests of experimental fuel rods and their models should be performed. The paper considers the calculation-experimental method, its application allows to obtain the inertia values of thermocouples fixed on the control object in different ways. Requirements to the inertia of thermocouples used in tests are determined with the reference to parameters of nonstationary processes under study. Comparison between obtained values of the total inertia of fixed thermocouples and the experimental model can also be used to draw conclusions about the mounting quality. To work out the method of inertia determination, a special laboratory stand was developed, through which experimental values were obtained for thermocouples fixed in two different ways on the sample surface. The description and results of approbation of analytical model to determine the error of sample temperature measurements by thermocouples are described. The possibilities of using the developed calculation-experimental method when preparing reactor investigations of prototype fuel rods are considered.

Experimental results for hydrides reorientation in unirradiated E635 guide tubes are presented. The key parameter for reorientation – the threshold stress was found. Some features of microstructure of hydrides with different orientation are discussed. For cooling rates, which are specific for active zones of pressurized water reactors, δ-hydride is shown to be the only phase that occurs.

The impact of the generation of conduction electrons due to the laser-induced photoelectric effect on the charge dynamics of the semiconductor layer of the photocathode q(t) is considered. Qualitative and quantitative agreement between the dependence q(t) and the data of a numerical experiment has been achieved.

Experiments with polarized beams for electric dipole moment search in the NICA accelerator complex implies the design of additional bypass channels. Such alternative channels will make it possible to use NICA as a storage ring and collect enough statistical data.

The lattice of the fourth-generation of the SYLA electron storage synchrotron of 6 GeV is scaled using the resources of the National Research Center Kurchatov Institute. Parameters of the storage synchrotron that provide design parameters of electron beams in the accumulator have been calculated. The dynamic aperture, momentum acceptance, and Touschek lifetime of the beams were determined, both in the case of no errors in the adjustment of magnetic structure elements and field values in a closed orbit and in their presence, taking into account losses due to synchrotron radiation and quantum excitation. Kicker magnets have been adapted to provide efficient off-axis injection.

The results are presented for resolving the issue of deviation of the amplitude ratio of electromagnetic fields from the calculated values in the prototype buncher of the accelerating section of linear electron accelerator for applied purposes. Variational characteristics have been calculated, the structure model has been adjusted, and possible causes and solutions of the problem have been outlined.

The development of controlled targeted drug delivery systems for personalized cancer therapy is one of the most important tasks of modern medicine. Controlled delivery and releasing of antitumor drugs provide a reduction in their toxicity to normal human cells and reduce the severity of side effects of cancer therapy. Multilayer polymeric capsules (MPCs) are promising potential candidates for the development of delivery systems based on them. MPCs are produced by layer-by-layer adsorption of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes on the surface of a charged microsubstrate of spherical shape. This method allows to obtain MPCs of different structures and functionalize them with antitumor agents and biomolecules for cancer targeted delivery. The paper presents the main stages of the production of MPCs and analyzes the efficiency of loading the anticancer drug doxorubicin (DOX) within the MPCs using passive diffusion.

In present work we have developed a method for synthesis of vorinostat-loaded nanoparticles based on a copolymer of lactic and glycolic acids. We optimized the method using Box-Banken design. The nanoparticles synthesized via the optimized technology had a spherical shape, which was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy. An average diameter of the nanoparticles was 196 nm, a polydispersity index was 0.089, and a zeta potential was –22.3 mV. The drug loading in the nanoparticles was 0.91 wt %, and the analysis was performed by high-performance liquid chromatography.

The study of the interactions between systems for targeted drug delivery and components of human biological fluids is one of the actual directions in the development of personalized therapy strategies for a variety of human diseases. Encapsulation of drugs in microcarriers enables drug intactness and their prolonged release in their target organ. The structure and surface properties of microcarriers determine their overall biocompatibility and features of their interaction with biomolecules. In the presented work, the core/polyelectrolyte shell microparticles and polyelectrolyte microcapsules with a dissolved core, which have different degrees of structural rigidity, were obtained. Their interaction with human serum and plasma proteins was analyzed. The obtained results demonstrate that the proteins that bind to the surface of polyelectrolyte microparticles with different structures have a distinctive profile.

The paper presents the first results of a series of experiments to study the mechanism of binding of microvesicles to an addressable cell using the method of scanning fluorescent confocal microscopy. A new approach has been developed to visualize the penetration of microvesicles into the cell.

Nanocrystalline cerium dioxide is a promising material for biomedical applications due to its ability to perform the functions of various enzymes and inactivate free radicals. One of the ways to tune the physicochemical properties of nanoparticles and its biocatalytic activity is to modify the crystal lattice structure by means of doping with trivalent rare earth ions. Peroxidase, oxidase activity, and the ability to inactivate the hydroxyl radical by pure and doped maltodextrin-coated cerium dioxide nanoparticles are studied in the present paper.

Photonic crystals based on porous silicon (pSi) are of much interest for both basic and applied research. Embedding luminophores into these structures allows controlling their emissive properties, which holds promise for laser and display applications, as well as for investigation of light–matter interaction. At the same time, the development of photonic crystals in which the spectral position of the photonic band gap can be shifted by external factors offers prospects for designing new photonic and optoelectronic materials. In this study, we suggest a technology for the fabrication of hybrid systems based on quantum dots (QDs) and photochromic liquid crystalline nematic mixtures embedded into pSi microcavities (MCs). When QDs are embedded into the MC, their photoluminescence (PL) spectrum narrows due to the Purcell effect and weak coupling between the exciton transitions in the QDs and the eigenmode of the pSi MC. Exposure to UV light causes a long-wavelength shift of the PL spectrum of the hybrid structure, whereas exposure to visible light shifts the spectrum back towards shorter wavelengths. This photo-optical response can be used to control the PL properties of the hybrid systems and design new photonic, optoelectronic, and sensing devices on their basis.