Analysis and development of effective distance learning practices

Distance education at the present stage of development of the world educational practice has acquired a global character. The range of educational services has significantly expanded; the number of educational organizations and institutions involved in this form of education has increased; a huge number of students use the Internet, gadgets and high-tech services. It has influenced the development of the educational environment around the world. Effective distance education practices are those forms of distance learning that allow students and other students to receive “remote” education via the Internet, if necessary. Such a necessity today has become the epidemiological situation in the world with the spread of infection caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (2019-nCoV). The publication describes those practices that have proven to be effective. Their advantages and disadvantages are analyzed. The ways of developing such practices are determined taking into account a number of characteristic features of distance education: flexibility, modularity, innovative quality control of education, role repertoire of the teacher, economic benefits, etc. Describes specific principles of distance education, allocated based on the study of domestic and foreign authors, content updated by the authors: the principle of free access; the principle of remoteness; the principle of interactivity, the principle of identification; the principle of adequacy and expediency of using digital technologies in distance education. Methodological recommendations for teachers are given. The purpose of our research is to analyze how effective distance education and its forms are for students and primary school teachers who master additional professional training programs. Examples of questionnaires and survey data on the subject under study are given

Cytokine profile in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 of different severity

Analysis of cytokine profile markers in conjunction with the clinical manifestations of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can provide valuable information about the pathogenetic manifestations of the disease, and therefore, in the future, determine drugs that affect the cytokine storm and have an anti-inflammatory effect.Aim. To identify correlations between the parameters of the developed cytokine profile and the clinical course in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 of different severity.Material and methods. The study included 70 hospitalized patients with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19, with a mean age of 58 [50;69] years, including 40 men (57%) and 30 women (43%). The average lung involvement according to computed tomography (CT) at admission was CT-2 [1;3]. Peripheral venous blood was taken at admission, which averaged 7 [6; 8] days from the symptom onset. Standard biochemical parameters were studied, as well as 47 cytokines and chemokines using the Multiplex system (Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany).Results. Correlations was found between the lung involvement degree and the level of IL-8 (r=0,31, p<0,05), IL-15 (r=0,35, p<0,05), IL-18 (r=0,31, p<0,05), MCP-1 (r=0,36, p<0,05), MIG (r=0,50, p<0,05), TNF-α (r=0,41, p<0,05). An inverse correlation was also found in the level of blood oxygen saturation with the same indicators as follows: IL-8 (r=-0,27, p<0,05), IL-15 (r=-0,34, p<0,05), IL-18 (r=-0,31, p<0,05), MCP-1 (r=-0,40, p<0,05), MIG (r=-0,56, p<0,05), TNF-α (r=-0,45, p<0,05). IL-6 levels were significantly elevated in patients with severe COVID-19 (CT3, CT4), while no increase in IL-6 was observed in patients with moderate disease (CT1, CT2). It is noteworthy that in patients with diabetes, the highest values of IL-12, IL-9 were recorded.Conclusion. Hyperinflammatory syndrome in severe COVID-19 is manifested by high levels of IL-6, MIG, MDC, MCP-1, M-CSF, TNF-α, β, IL-8, IL-18, IL-15. With the CT-1 and CT-2, an increase in only the level of IL-18, IL-8 is noted. The identified patterns prove and make it possible to explain a number of systemic inflammatory changes that occur with COVID-19

БЕЛКИ КЛЕТОЧНОЙ ПОДВИЖНОСТИ В КАРЦИНОМЕ ЭНДОМЕТРИЯ И ЭНДОМЕТРИАЛЬНОЙ ГИПЕРПЛАЗИИ: СВЯЗЬ С РИСКОМ РАЗВИТИЯ РАКА

Introduction. Proteins associated with cellular motility are known to play an important role in invasion and metastasis of cancer, however there is no evidence of their association with the development of malignant tumors including endometrial cancer (EC).The aim of the present study was to investigate the levels of actin-binding proteins, p45-Ser-β-catenin, and calpain activity in endometrial hyperplasia and in EC.Material and Methods. Total calpain activity, p45-Ser β-catenin, Arp3, gelsolin, cofillin and thymosin β-4 levels were evaluated in 43 postmenopausal patients with stage I–II endometrioid EC and 40 endometrial hyperplasia patients. Flow cytometry and Western blotting were used for expression determination of p45 Ser β-catenin and actin-biding proteins. Total calpain activity was estimated by fluorimetric method.Results. Levels of cofilin-1, thymosin β-4 and calpain activity were higher in cancer tissues than in endometrial hyperplasia. Cofilin-1 and thymosin β-4 levels were associated with the depth of myometrial invasion. The thymosin β-4 expression was correlated with the presence of tumor cervical invasion. Revealed correlations between the actin-binding proteins, p45-Ser-β-catenin and total calpain activity in endometrial hyperplasia tissue, but not in the tissue of cancer, is evidence of the involvement of these proteases in regulation of cell migration in endometrial hyperplasia. Levels of thymosin β-4, cofilin and total calpain activity are independent cancer risk factors in patients with endometrial hyperplasia.Conclusion. The level of actin-binding proteins as well as the total calpain activity were enhanced in endometrium carcinoma tissues compared to endometrial hyperplasia. The levels of thymosinβ-4, cofilin and total calpain activity in endometrial hyperplasia tissues are associated with a hyperplasia transition to cancer and may be considered as predictive biomarkers. Введение. Известно, что белки, связанные с клеточной подвижностью, играют важную роль в инвазии и метастазировании злокачественных опухолей, тем не менее нет данных об их связи с развитием новообразований, в том числе рака эндометрия (РЭ).Целью исследования было изучение уровня актин-связывающих белков, p45-Ser-β-катенина и активности кальпаинов при гиперплазии эндометрия и при РЭ.Материал и методы. Общая активность кальпаинов, уровни p45-Ser β-катенина, Arp3, гельзолина, кофиллина и тимозина β-4 были оценены у 43 больных раком эндометрия I–II стадии в постменопаузе и у 40 пациенток с гиперплазией эндометрия. Проточную цитометрию и вестерн-блоттинг использовали для определения экспрессии p45 Ser β-катенина и актин-связывающих белков. Общая активность кальпаинов оценивалась флуориметрическим методом.Результаты. Уровни кофилина-1, тимозина β-4 и активность кальпаинов были выше в тканях злокачественных опухолей, чем при гиперплазии эндометрия. Уровни кофилина-1 и тимозина β-4 были связаны с глубиной инвазии рака эндометрия в миометрий. Содержание тимозина β-4 коррелировало с наличием инвазии опухоли в шейку матки. Выявленные корреляции между актин-связывающими белками, р45-Ser-β-катенином и общей активностью кальпаинов в ткани гиперплазии эндометрия, но не в ткани рака свидетельствуют об участии этих протеаз в регуляции клеточной миграции при гиперплазии эндометрия. Уровни тимозина-4, кофилина и общая активность кальпаинов являются независимыми факторами риска развития рака у пациентов с гиперплазией эндометрия.Заключение. Уровень актин-связывающих белков, а также общая активность кальпаинов были повышены в тканях карциномы эндометрия по сравнению с гиперплазией эндометрия. Уровни тимозина-4, кофилина и общая активность кальпаинов в тканях гиперплазии эндометрия могут быть независимыми факторами риска развития рака.

Functional characterization and biological significance of Yersinia pestis lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis genes

The Gram negative bacterium Yersinia pestis is the etiological agent of flea transmitted fulminant systemic rodent zoonosis and the reason of the three devastating pandemics of plague Lipopolysaccharide (LPS, endotoxin) is an impor tant factor of pathogenicity of Gram negative bacteria. The full LPS molecule (S form LPS) consists of three well defined domains: i) lipid A composed of sugars, fatty acids, and phosphate; it represents the endotoxic princi ple of the LPS and anchors it in the outer membrane; ii) a core oligosaccharide containing charged groups; and iii) an O specific polysaccharide (O antigen), which carries ISSN 0006 2979, Biochemistry (Moscow), 2011, Vol. 76, No. 7, pp. 808 822. © Pleiades Publishing, Ltd., 2011. Published in Russian in Biokhimiya, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 7, pp. 989 1005 Abstract-In silico analysis of available bacterial genomes revealed the phylogenetic proximity levels of enzymes responsible for biosynthesis of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of Yersinia pestis, the cause of plague, to homologous proteins of closely relat ed Yersinia spp. and some other bacteria (Serratia proteamaculans, Erwinia carotovora, Burkholderia dolosa, Photorhabdus luminescens and others). Isogenic Y. pestis mutants with single or double mutations in 14 genes of LPS biosynthetic path ways were constructed by site directed mutagenesis on the base of the virulent strain 231 and its attenuated derivative. Using high resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, the full LPS structures were elucidated in each mutant, and the sequence of monosaccharide transfers in the assembly of the LPS core was inferred. Truncation of the core decreased sig nificantly the resistance of bacteria to normal human serum and polymyxin B, the latter probably as a result of a less effi cient incorporation of 4 amino 4 deoxyarabinose into lipid A. Impairing of LPS biosynthesis resulted also in reduction of LPS dependent enzymatic activities of plasminogen activator and elevation of LD 50 and average survival time in mice and guinea pigs infected with experimental plague. Unraveling correlations between biological properties of bacteria and partic ular LPS structures may help a better understanding of pathogenesis of plague and implication of appropriate genes as potential molecular targets for treatment of plague