Bioindication of Surface Water of Fish Ponds and Streams for the Dynamics of Phosphatase Activity in Hepatopancreas of Aquatic Organisms

Bioindication allows monitoring the ecological state of rivers and ponds. It is the mechanism of the environmental effect on aquatic organisms that the dynamics of interior parameters makes it possible to determine the type of the effect, single emergency or retrospective, even if the environmental damage to surface waters was caused a long time ago. Due to this, the efficiency of taking timely measures to clean toxic water is high. The use of the dynamics of phosphatase activity in hepatopancreas of Unio pictorum mollusks as a test reaction is true to present the picture of pollution. In a case of short-term pollution by household or agricultural wastewater, an increase in the activity of phosphatase in the hepatopancreas of mollusks by 1.5 units/g of protein after 12 hours and by 0.8 units/g of protein after 18 hours was noted, etc. As a result of studies, test responses of mollusks allowed graphs to be constructed to determine the toxicity of the environment. They are proposed for preventive work to identify contamination of fish ponds and streams used for watering of farm animals

Study of Potato Tuber Motion on the Elevator with a Separation Intensifier

Introduction. When harvesting potatoes from the waterlogged soils, the gaps between the elevator bars become clogged, the soil separation efficiency decreases while damage to potato tubers and yield loss increases. In this study, the authors propose a potato harvester intensifier in the paddle conveyor form to improve the separation quality for specific conditions. It is located under the carrying run of the main elevator apron. Aim of the Study. The aim of the study is theoretical justification of the potato harvester paddle intensifier for separating potato tubers from waterlogged soils in order to reduce damage to potatoes during harvesting. Materials and Methods. There was analyzed the work of the separation intensifier with a paddle conveyor located under the carrying side of the potato harvester main elevator with flexible flat blades moving towards the main elevator apron. The intensifier paddle, installed under the elevator carrying side, must act as a pusher when potato tubers stick and fall into the gap between the elevator bars in harvesting potatoes from waterlogged soils. Results. The analysis of potato tuber motion relative to the bar has showed that under the specified parameters and conditions the pitch of blades equal to 210 mm provides the falling of the ball clod from the bar and blade on the conveyor belt without impact. In order to avoid the friction of potato tubers and impurities with bars, the distance between the intensifier conveyor belt and bars must exceed the gap between bars. When the distance between the conveyor belt and bar is equal to 30 mm, the blade pitch is determined to within 1 per cent by the speed of a blade moving relative to the bar. Discussion and Conclusion. The conducted theoretical studies of the blade intensifier of potato harvester separation on overwatered soils revealed its high efficiency, which is confirmed by the results of field experiments

Novel Budesonide Suppository and Standard Budesonide Rectal Foam Induce High Rates of Clinical Remission and Mucosal Healing in Active Ulcerative Proctitis : a Randomised, Controlled, Non-inferiority Trial

Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation.BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Proctitis is the least extensive type of ulcerative colitis, for which rectal therapy is rarely studied and is underused. This study evaluated the efficacy, safety, and patient's preference of a novel formulation of budesonide suppository 4 mg, compared with a commercially available budesonide rectal foam 2 mg, for the treatment of mild to moderate ulcerative proctitis. METHODS: This was a randomised, double-blind, double-dummy, active-controlled trial. Patients were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive either budesonide 4 mg suppository or budesonide 2 mg foam once daily for 8 weeks. The co-primary endpoints were changes from baseline to Week 8 in clinical symptoms, for which clinical remission was defined as having a modified Ulcerative Colitis-Disease Activity Index [UC-DAI] subscore for stool frequency of 0 or 1 and a subscore for rectal bleeding of 0, and mucosal healing, defined as having a modified UC-DAI subscore for mucosal appearance of 0 or 1. Using a more stringent criterion, we additionally analysed deepened mucosal healing, which was defined as a mucosal appearance subscore of 0. Patient's preference, physician's global assessment, and quality of life were also assessed and analysed. RESULTS: Overall, 286 and 291 patients were included in the 4 mg suppository and 2 mg foam groups, respectively. Budesonide 4 mg suppository met the prespecified criterion for non-inferiority to the 2 mg foam in both co-primary endpoints of clinical remission and mucosal healing. Secondary endpoints consistently supported the non-inferiority of the suppository. Trends in favour of the suppository were observed in the subgroup of mesalazine non-responders. More patients reported a preference for the suppository over rectal foam. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with ulcerative proctitis, budesonide 4 mg suppository was non-inferior to budesonide 2 mg foam in efficacy, and both were safe and well tolerated.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Predicting ethnicity with data on personal names in Russia

In this paper we develop a machine learning classifier that predicts perceived ethnicity from data on personal names for major ethnic groups populating Russia. We collect data from VK, the largest Russian social media website. Ethnicity has been determined from languages spoken by users and their geographical location, with the data manually cleaned by crowd workers. The classifier shows the accuracy of 0.82 for a scheme with 24 ethnic groups and 0.92 for 15 aggregated ethnic groups. It can be used for research on ethnicity and ethnic relations in Russia, in particular with VK and other social media data.</p

Predicting perceived ethnicity with data on personal names in Russia

In this paper, we develop a machine learning classifier that predicts perceived ethnicity from data on personal names for major ethnic groups populating Russia. We collect data from VK, the largest Russian social media website. Ethnicity was coded from languages spoken by users and their geographical location, with the data manually cleaned by crowd workers. The classifier shows the accuracy of 0.82 for a scheme with 24 ethnic groups and 0.92 for 15 aggregated ethnic groups. It can be used for research on ethnicity and ethnic relations in Russia, with the data sets that have personal names but not ethnicity

Bioindication of Surface Water of Fish Ponds and Streams for the Dynamics of Phosphatase Activity in Hepatopancreas of Aquatic Organisms

Bioindication allows monitoring the ecological state of rivers and ponds. It is the mechanism of the environmental effect on aquatic organisms that the dynamics of interior parameters makes it possible to determine the type of the effect, single emergency or retrospective, even if the environmental damage to surface waters was caused a long time ago. Due to this, the efficiency of taking timely measures to clean toxic water is high. The use of the dynamics of phosphatase activity in hepatopancreas of Unio pictorum mollusks as a test reaction is true to present the picture of pollution. In a case of short-term pollution by household or agricultural wastewater, an increase in the activity of phosphatase in the hepatopancreas of mollusks by 1.5 units/g of protein after 12 hours and by 0.8 units/g of protein after 18 hours was noted, etc. As a result of studies, test responses of mollusks allowed graphs to be constructed to determine the toxicity of the environment. They are proposed for preventive work to identify contamination of fish ponds and streams used for watering of farm animals.</jats:p

Conceptual Model of Energy Efficiency for Environmentally Safe Utilization of Liquid Pig Manure

Introduction. The growth of production capacity of livestock enterprises results in increased environmental pressures on bio- and agrocenoses, created by potential energy carriers, one of which is liquid pig manure. Representative parameters, which characterize the energy value, are the total content of nitrogen and its various forms N2 = 3...8 kg/m3; phosphorus oxide P2O5 = 3...6 kg/m3; potassium oxide K2O = 2...4 kg/m3; chemical oxygen consumption to the mass of organic matter 1.2, biochemical 0.42. In parallel, the groups of Escherichia coli, staphylococci, enterococci, aerobic spore-forming microorganisms, various forms of eggs, protozoan cysts and Eimeria oocysts are also the environmental burden. In addition, the physical and rheological properties of liquid manure can have a significant impact on energy efficiency and the way of its further utilization. In terms of agricultural chemistry, the most rational option for its utilization is fractional use in the form of organic fertilizer that is possible only under the conditions of sanitary and epidemiological safety, which is an energy-intensive process depending on various factors. The purpose of this study is to develop a conceptual model of the energy efficiency of operational impacts in obtaining an environmentally safe cycle of utilizing liquid pig manure. Materials and Methods. The object of the study is the operational impacts in obtaining an environmentally safe cycle of utilizing liquid pig manure; the subject is the function of maximizing the energy efficiency of this object under the conditions of sanitary-epidemiological and agrochemical restrictions. There is conducted the analysis of factors and their categorization depending on the type of functional impact. Results. A conceptual model of operational impacts in producing environmentally safe liquid pig manure has been developed, which determines the components of specific energy consumption, the factors affecting them, and the restrictions imposed on them. This model is the source data for the factor analysis and statistical models. Discussion and Conclusion. The practical significance of the work is the identification and categorization of factors depending on the type of functional impact on the operations of the preparatory cycle of ecologically safe utilization of pig manure that can provide initial data for developing specific research methods and statistical models.</jats:p

Novel Budesonide Suppository and Standard Budesonide Rectal Foam Induce High Rates of Clinical Remission and Mucosal Healing in Active Ulcerative Proctitis: a Randomised, Controlled, Non-inferiority Trial

Abstract Background and Aims Proctitis is the least extensive type of ulcerative colitis, for which rectal therapy is rarely studied and is underused. This study evaluated the efficacy, safety, and patient’s preference of a novel formulation of budesonide suppository 4 mg, compared with a commercially available budesonide rectal foam 2 mg, for the treatment of mild to moderate ulcerative proctitis. Methods This was a randomised, double-blind, double-dummy, active-controlled trial. Patients were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive either budesonide 4 mg suppository or budesonide 2 mg foam once daily for 8 weeks. The co-primary endpoints were changes from baseline to Week 8 in clinical symptoms, for which clinical remission was defined as having a modified Ulcerative Colitis-Disease Activity Index [UC-DAI] subscore for stool frequency of 0 or 1 and a subscore for rectal bleeding of 0, and mucosal healing, defined as having a modified UC-DAI subscore for mucosal appearance of 0 or 1. Using a more stringent criterion, we additionally analysed deepened mucosal healing, which was defined as a mucosal appearance subscore of 0. Patient’s preference, physician’s global assessment, and quality of life were also assessed and analysed. Results Overall, 286 and 291 patients were included in the 4 mg suppository and 2 mg foam groups, respectively. Budesonide 4 mg suppository met the prespecified criterion for non-inferiority to the 2 mg foam in both co-primary endpoints of clinical remission and mucosal healing. Secondary endpoints consistently supported the non-inferiority of the suppository. Trends in favour of the suppository were observed in the subgroup of mesalazine non-responders. More patients reported a preference for the suppository over rectal foam. Conclusions In patients with ulcerative proctitis, budesonide 4 mg suppository was non-inferior to budesonide 2 mg foam in efficacy, and both were safe and well tolerated. </jats:sec