Polarization Switching Between Electric and Magnetic Quasi-Trapped Modes in Bianisotropic All-Dielectric Metasurfaces

A general strategy for the realization of electric and magnetic quasi-trapped modes located at the same spectral position is presented. This strategy's application makes it possible to design metasurfaces allowing switching between the electric and magnetic quasi-trapped modes by changing the polarization of the incident light wave. The developed strategy is based on two stages: the application of the dipole approximation for determining the conditions required for the implementation of trapped modes at certain spectral positions and the creation of the energy channels for their excitation by introducing a weak bianisotropy in nanoparticles. Since excitation of trapped modes results in a concentration of electric and magnetic energies in the metasurface plane, the polarization switching provides possibilities to change and control the localization and distribution of optical energy at the sub-wavelength scale. A practical method for spectral tuning of quasi-trapped modes in metasurfaces composed of nanoparticles with a preselected shape is demonstrated. As an example, the optical properties of a metasurface composed of silicon triangular prisms are analyzed and discussed

Bioregulation of amplitude-phase biological activity of Candida albicans by women reproductive tract microsymbionts

In this study, we propose a chronobiological method for examining inter-microbial interactions in bacterial and fungal associations in female reproductive tract. Fungal and bacterial species were isolated in 45 women of reproductive aged 19–35, with regular menstrual cycle, applying no hormonal contraceptives, without previous gynecological surgery, abortions, miscarriages with vaginal eubiosis and dysbiosis in history. Sexually transmitted diseases (HIV infection, syphilis, gonorrhea, trichomoniasis, chlamydiosis) were excluded in all subjects. Proliferation rate, morphogenesis and phospholipase activity were examined within the 48-hour period every 4 hours, in winter time, Moon phase IV. The data obtained were assessed by using Student’s t-test, Wilcoxon test, and least squares method. All subjects were divided into the groups: group 1 — women with vaginal eubiosis, group 2 — women with vaginal dysbiosis. It was shown that in all subjects experimental parameters of C. albicans cultures showed a diurnal dynamics characterized in healthy women by circadian rhythms with a single peak of activity. However, in women with vaginal dysbiosis C. albicans was characterized by significant ultradian (around 12 hours long) rhythms with two peaks of biological activity. Concurrence and consistency in manifested physiological functions related to clinical isolates was coupled to temporal pattern of distributed biological resources in fungi depending on course of infectious process. It was found that in vaginal eubiosis exometabolites released by dominant associated microbiota did not significantly change microbiota-related amplitude-phase parameters. The data obtained evidenced that temporal pattern of parameters related to C. albicans from healthy individuals was stable and independent on bacterial metabolites. In contrast, dominant microsymbiont in vaginal dysbiosis inhibited fungi-related rhythms, which might be important in establishing lactobacillus-associated biotope colonization resistance. Effects of metabolites released by the associated microbiota typical to dysbiosis was revealed by increased mesor, amplitude, preserved biorhythm spectral pattern in examined properties as well as amplitude-phase characteristics indicating at enhanced or sustained C. albicans adaptive potential. Therefore, the amplitude-phase parameter of C. albicans physiological activity served as a marker of opposite (enhanced/weakened) effect of microsymbiont survival described in “microbial dominant-associate” pairs

Combinatorial CRISPR-Cas9 screens for de novo mapping of genetic interactions.

We developed a systematic approach to map human genetic networks by combinatorial CRISPR-Cas9 perturbations coupled to robust analysis of growth kinetics. We targeted all pairs of 73 cancer genes with dual guide RNAs in three cell lines, comprising 141,912 tests of interaction. Numerous therapeutically relevant interactions were identified, and these patterns replicated with combinatorial drugs at 75% precision. From these results, we anticipate that cellular context will be critical to synthetic-lethal therapies

Скрининг латентной туберкулезной инфекции с применением аллергена туберкулезного рекомбинантного

In recent years the significant deterioration of health has been observed in schoolchildren. As per official data only 20% of children graduating from school are considered to be completely healthy, and 60% suffer from chronic diseases, i.e. belong to health groups III, IV and V, among which there are many children belonging to tuberculosis risk groups and suffering from undetected latent tuberculous infection. The efficiency of the new technique aimed to detect active tuberculous infection in children and adolescents of health groups III, IV and V has been evaluated. Screening proved the reduction in the number of patients in need of TB doctor advising by 8.4 fold compared to traditional mass diagnostics with tuberculin. Hyperergic reactions to diaskintest are 6 fold less common compared to Mantoux test. And 99.2% of children referred to TB doctor were registered to the dispensary follow-up versus 23.4% of children referred to TB doctor as per mass tuberculin testing results. (p < 0.001). Thus the validity of referral to TB doctor increased 4.2 fold. The detection rate of active forms of tuberculosis made 0.4 per 1000 examinations versus 0.1 in case of mass screening with tuberculin testing.В последние годы наблюдается существенное ухудшение состояния здоровья школьников. По официальным данным, лишь 20% детей, заканчивающих школу, считаются полностью здоровыми, а 60% имеют хронические заболеваниями, т. е. III, IV или V группу здоровья, среди которых велика доля детей, относящихся к группам риска по туберкулезу и имеющих невыявленную латентную туберкулезную инфекцию. Проведена оценка эффективности нового метода выявления активной туберкулезной инфекции у детей и подростков III, IV и V групп здоровья. Скрининговое исследование показало уменьшение числа пациентов, нуждающихся в консультации фтизиатра, в 8,4 раза по сравнению с традиционной массовой туберкулинодиагностикой. Гиперергические реакции на пробу с диаскинтестом выявляются в 6 раз реже по сравнению с пробой Манту. При этом на диспансерный учет у врача-фтизиатра взято 99,2% детей от направленных на консультацию против 23,4% детей, направленных по результатам массовой туберкулинодиагностики (p < 0,001). Таким образом, в 4,2 раза увеличилась обоснованность направления ребенка к врачу-фтизиатру. Выявляемость активных форм туберкулеза новым методом составила 0,4 на 1 000 обследованных против 0,1 при проведении массовой традиционной туберкулинодиагностики

Организация деятельности противотуберкулезных медицинских учреждений в условиях пандемии COVID-19

The article analyzes the organization of work of N.V. Postnikov Samara Regional Clinical TB Dispensary in 2020. The special procedure has been developed for COVID-19 tests in patients referred to TB department. All cases of the new coronavirus infection (COVID-19) in tuberculosis patients that occurred in the Samara region in 2020 (n = 31) were studied. Infection control activities are the following: separate filter boxes have been provided for personnel and patients in each department; two observational departments have been organized where patients are admitted depending on the type of medical care. The polymerase chain reaction has been used to examine patients for COVID-19 before admission to TB hospital for planned medical care, and express tests for immunoglobulins M and G have been used when patients were admitted in an emergency. Of the 30 cases of intravital detection of concurrent infections (tuberculosis + COVID-19), in 56.7% (17 people), COVID-19 was treated in the in-patient unit specializing in treatment of the new coronavirus infection, and in 43.3% (13 people), treatment was outpatient; lethality made 1/30 (3.33%).Проанализирована организация работы ГБУЗ «Самарский областной клинический противотуберкулезный диспансер им. Н. В. Постникова» в 2020 г. Разработан алгоритм обследования пациентов на COVID-19 при направлении в туберкулезное отделение. Изучены все случаи новой коронавирусной инфекции (COVID-19) у больных туберкулезом в Самарской области в 2020 г. (n = 31). Меры инфекционной безопасности: организованы раздельные фильтр-боксы для сотрудников и пациентов в каждом структурном подразделении; выделены два обсервационных отделения в зависимости от формы оказания медицинской помощи. Обследование пациентов на COVID-19 перед госпитализацией в туберкулезный стационар проводилось методом полимеразной цепной реакции при оказании медицинской помощи в плановой форме, экспресс-методом определения иммуноглобулинов M и G – при оказании помощи в неотложной/экстренной форме. Из 30 случаев прижизненного выявления сочетанной патологии (туберкулез + COVID-19) в 56,7% (17 человек) лечение COVID-19 осуществлялось в условиях стационара для оказания медицинской помощи пациентам с новой коронавирусной инфекцией, в 43,3% (13 человек) – амбулаторно, летальность составила 1/30 (3,33%)

Скрининг детей и подростков на туберкулезную инфекцию в России – прошлое, настоящее, будущее

The article presents a brief overview of the establishment and development of screening system in the pediatric population for tuberculosis and latent tuberculosis infection - from Koch alt-tuberculin to modern recombinant tuberculosis allergens for intradermal administration and in vitro laboratory tests. It gives extensive data on clinical research and the introduction into practical public health of the Russian Federation of the test with recombinant tuberculosis allergen as a screening method for tuberculosis in children from 8 to 14 years old inclusively.Представлен краткий обзор становления и развития системы скрининга детского населения на туберкулез и на латентную туберкулезную инфекцию – от альт-туберкулина Коха до современных рекомбинантных аллергенов туберкулезных для внутрикожного введения и лабораторных тестов in vitro. Приведены обширные данные о клиническом исследовании и внедрении в практическое здравоохранение РФ пробы с аллергеном туберкулезным рекомбинантным в качестве скрининга на туберкулез у детей с 8 до 14 лет включительно

Milestones in the Observations of Cosmic Magnetic Fields

Magnetic fields are observed everywhere in the universe. In this review, we concentrate on the observational aspects of the magnetic fields of Galactic and extragalactic objects. Readers can follow the milestones in the observations of cosmic magnetic fields obtained from the most important tracers of magnetic fields, namely, the star-light polarization, the Zeeman effect, the rotation measures (RMs, hereafter) of extragalactic radio sources, the pulsar RMs, radio polarization observations, as well as the newly implemented sub-mm and mm polarization capabilities. (Another long paragraph is omitted due to the limited space here)Comment: Invited Review (ChJA&A); 32 pages. Sorry if your significant contributions in this area were not mentioned. Published pdf & ps files (with high quality figures) now availble at http://www.chjaa.org/2002_2_4.ht

КРИТЕРИИ ЭФФЕКТИВНОСТИ ЛЕЧЕНИЯ ТУБЕРКУЛЕЗА У ДЕТЕЙ В СОВРЕМЕННЫХ УСЛОВИЯХ

The main objective of a phthisiologist following up and treating children and adolescents with local forms of tuberculosis is to achieve complete clinical cure with minimal remaining post-tuberculosis changes. Evaluation of treatment progress is important since it defines not only the duration of chemotherapy and follow-up but it also serves a prognostic criterion of stable clinical cure and prevention of relapse in the future. New criteria for evaluation of tuberculosis activity and clinical cure in children and adolescents were assessed. It was proved that Mantoux test could not be the criterion of the disease activity. While results of the test with tuberculous recombinant allergen (TRA) performed at the moment of clinical cure did not depend on the volume and severity of changes and allowed assessing the activity of the disease with any intensity of specific changes in chest lymph nodes and lung tissue, and TRA test served as a criterion of activity of mycobacterial population in the host.Основной целью работы врача-фтизиатра в процессе диспансерного наблюдения и лечения детей и подростков с локальными формами туберкулеза является полноценное клиническое излечение с минимальными остаточными посттуберкулезными изменениями. Оценка динамики процесса на фоне проводимого лечения представляется важной, так как определяет не только длительность необходимого курса противотуберкулезной химиотерапии и диспансерного наблюдения, но и является прогностическим критерием для стойкого клинического излечения и отсутствия рецидива заболевания в дальнейшем. Проведена оценка новых критериев активности и клинического излечения туберкулеза у детей и подростков. Показано, что проба Манту не может являться критерием активности туберкулезного процесса. Напротив, результаты пробы с аллергеном туберкулезным рекомбинантным (АТР) на момент клинического излечения туберкулеза не зависят от объема и степени выраженности изменений и позволяют оценивать активность заболевания при любой выраженности специфических изменений во внутригрудных лимфатических узлах и легочной ткани, а значит, проба с АТР является критерием активности микробной популяции микобактерий туберкулеза в организме человека

Seamless Gene Tagging by Endonuclease-Driven Homologous Recombination

Gene tagging facilitates systematic genomic and proteomic analyses but chromosomal tagging typically disrupts gene regulatory sequences. Here we describe a seamless gene tagging approach that preserves endogenous gene regulation and is potentially applicable in any species with efficient DNA double-strand break repair by homologous recombination. We implement seamless tagging in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and demonstrate its application for protein tagging while preserving simultaneously upstream and downstream gene regulatory elements. Seamless tagging is compatible with high-throughput strain construction using synthetic genetic arrays (SGA), enables functional analysis of transcription antisense to open reading frames and should facilitate systematic and minimally-invasive analysis of gene functions