Radiation-induced stable radicals in calcium phosphates: Results of multifrequency epr, ednmr, eseem, and endor studies

This article presents the results of a study of radiation-induced defects in various synthetic calcium phosphate (CP) powder materials (hydroxyapatite—HA and octacalcium phosphate—OCP) by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy at the X, Q, and W-bands (9, 34, 95 GHz for the microwave frequencies, respectively). Currently, CP materials are widely used in orthopedics and dentistry owing to their high biocompatibility and physico-chemical similarity with human hard tissue. It is shown that in addition to the classical EPR techniques, other experimental approaches such as ELDOR-detected NMR (EDNMR), electron spin echo envelope modulation (ESEEM), and electronnuclear double resonance (ENDOR) can be used to analyze the electron–nuclear interactions of CP powders. We demonstrated that the value and angular dependence of the quadrupole interaction for14 N nuclei of a nitrate radical can be determined by the EDNMR method at room temperature. The ESEEM technique has allowed for a rapid analysis of the nuclear environment and estimation of the structural positions of radiation-induced centers in various crystal matrices. ENDOR spectra can provide information about the distribution of the nitrate radicals in the OCP structure. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Published under the CC BY 4.0 license.Authors would like to thank the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, project no. 18-29-11086. Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia as the Center of Excellence received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme H2020-WIDESPREAD-01–2016-2017- TeamingPhase2 under grant agreement No. 739508, project CAMART2

Синтез и свойства комплекса рения c n-бутанолом и i-бутанолом

First rhenium oxobutoxoderivatives with n-BuOH and i-BuOH have been obtained by electrochemical method. The decomposition rhenium complex with n-BuOH at 412°С in oxidizing atmosphere results in obtaining oxides of Re(VI) and Re(IV) in the condensed phase.Электрохимическим методом получены комплексы рения с n-бутанолом и i-бутанолом. Разложение комплекса с n-BuOH в окислительной атмосфере при 412°С приводит к получению в конденсированной фазе оксидов Re(VI) и Re(IV)

Дифференцированные подходы к выбору срока оперативного лечения туберкулеза внутригрудных лимфатических узлов у детей в период роста туберкулеза с множественной лекарственной устойчивостью

The objective: to develop differentiated approaches to the choice of timing of surgical treatment of intrathoracic lymph node tuberculosis (ITLNTB) in children during the increasing incidence of multiple drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB).Subjects and Methods. 52 patients of 2-12 years old had their intrathoracic lymph nodes removed at different stages of anti-tuberculosis therapy. All children had massive (more than 10-15 mm) conglomerates in their intrathoracic lymph nodes. Additionally to changes in intrathoracic lymph nodes, 12 people had active tuberculous changes in the lungs or bronchial tuberculosis.Results. 5 patients were operated before chemotherapy, 35 patients after 2 months of treatment, and 12 patients underwent surgery afterwards. The elective surgery was performed in 51 children, and 1 child had surgery before the start of chemotherapy due to vital indications (the threat of breakthrough of caseous masses into the trachea).Planned surgical treatment in children with tuberculosis of intrathoracic lymph nodes should be carried out within the following timing: before the start of anti-tuberculosis therapy in the absence of clinical, laboratory and radiological signs of the disease being active; as soon as possible from the start of chemotherapy (it is enough to focus on the results of the first CT control after 2 months of treatment (there should be no tendency to involution of pathological changes) in the presence of minimal signs of tuberculosis activity). The choice of timing of planned surgical treatment is individual and determined by the timing of stabilization of pulmonary changes or the cure of bronchial tuberculosis (after 6, 9, 12 months) in patients with newly diagnosed active tuberculosis of intrathoracic lymph nodes in combination with lung and/or bronchial lesions. The development of life-threatening complications is an absolute indication for emergency surgery.Цель исследования: разработать дифференцированные подходы к выбору сроков оперативного лечения туберкулеза внутригрудных лимфатических узлов (ВГЛУ) у детей в период роста туберкулеза с множественной лекарственной устойчивостью (ТБ-МЛУ).Методы и материалы. На разных сроках противотуберкулезной терапии проведено удаление ВГЛУ 52 пациентам в возрасте 2-12 лет. У всех детей наблюдались массивные (более 10-15 мм) конгломераты ВГЛУ. У 12 чел., помимо изменений во ВГЛУ, отмечались активные туберкулезные изменения в легких или туберкулез бронхов.Результаты. Прооперированы до начала химиотерапии 5 чел., через 2 мес. лечения – 35 чел., в более поздние сроки – 12 чел. В плановом порядке операции выполнены у 51 ребенка, по жизненным показаниям (угроза прорыва казеозных масс в трахею) до начала химиотерапии ‒ у 1 ребенка.Плановое оперативное лечение у детей с туберкулезом ВГЛУ должно проводиться: до начала противотуберкулезной терапии при отсутствии клинико-лабораторных и рентгенологических признаков активности процесса; в максимально короткие сроки от начала химиотерапии (достаточно ориентироваться на результаты первого КТ-контроля через 2 мес. лечения (нет тенденции к инволюции патологических изменений) при наличии минимальных признаков активности туберкулеза). Выбор сроков планового оперативного лечения индивидуален и определяется сроками стабилизации легочного процесса или излечения туберкулеза бронхов (через 6, 9, 12 мес.) у пациентов с впервые выявленным активным туберкулезом ВГЛУ в сочетании с поражением легких и/или бронхов. Развитие жизнеугрожающих осложнений – абсолютное показание для экстренного оперативного вмешательства

Updated overall survival from the MONALEESA-3 trial in postmenopausal women with HR+/HER2− advanced breast cancer receiving first-line ribociclib plus fulvestrant

Background The phase III MONALEESA-3 trial included first- (1L) and second-line (2L) patients and demonstrated a significant overall survival (OS) benefit for ribociclib + fulvestrant in patients with hormone receptor–positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2–negative (HR+/HER2−) advanced breast cancer (ABC) in the final protocol-specified and exploratory (longer follow-up) OS analyses. At the time of these analyses, the full OS benefit of 1L ribociclib was not completely characterized because the median OS (mOS) was not reached. As CDK4/6 inhibitor (CDK4/6i) + endocrine therapy (ET) is now a preferred option for 1L HR+/HER2− ABC, we report an exploratory analysis (median follow-up, 70.8 months; 14.5 months longer than the prior analysis) to fully elucidate the OS benefit in the MONALEESA-3 1L population. Methods Postmenopausal patients with HR+/HER2− ABC were randomized 2:1 to 1L/2L fulvestrant + ribociclib or placebo. OS in 1L patients (de novo disease or relapse > 12 months from completion of [neo]adjuvant ET) was assessed by Cox proportional hazards model and Kaplan–Meier methods. Progression-free survival 2 (PFS2) and chemotherapy-free survival (CFS) were analyzed. MONALEESA-3 is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02422615). Results At data cutoff (January 12, 2022; median follow-up time, 70.8 months), mOS was 67.6 versus 51.8 months with 1L ribociclib versus placebo (hazard ratio (HR) 0.67; 95% CI 0.50–0.90); 16.5% and 8.6% of ribociclib and placebo patients, respectively, were still receiving treatment. PFS2 (HR 0.64) and CFS (HR 0.62) favored ribociclib versus placebo. Among those who discontinued treatment, 16.7% and 35.0% on ribociclib or placebo, respectively, received a subsequent CDK4/6i. No new safety signals were observed. Conclusions This analysis of MONALEESA-3 reports the longest mOS thus far (67.6 months) for 1L patients in a phase III ABC trial. These results in a 1L population show that the OS benefit of ribociclib was maintained through extended follow-up, further supporting its use in HR+/HER2− ABC.This work was supported by Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation. The funder of this study, in agreement with the authors and the study steering committee members, designed this study. Representatives of the trial sponsor performed data collection and the subsequent analysis

Increasing leadership capacity for HIV/AIDS programmes by strengthening public health epidemiology and management training in Zimbabwe

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Increased funding for global human immunodeficiency virus prevention and control in developing countries has created both a challenge and an opportunity for achieving long-term global health goals. This paper describes a programme in Zimbabwe aimed at responding more effectively to the HIV/AIDS epidemic by reinforcing a critical competence-based training institution and producing public health leaders.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The programme used new HIV/AIDS programme-specific funds to build on the assets of a local education institution to strengthen and expand the general public health leadership capacity in Zimbabwe, simultaneously ensuring that they were trained in HIV interventions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The programme increased both numbers of graduates and retention of faculty. The expanded HIV/AIDS curriculum was associated with a substantial increase in trainee projects related to HIV. The increased number of public health professionals has led to a number of practically trained persons working in public health leadership positions in the ministry, including in HIV/AIDS programmes.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Investment of a modest proportion of new HIV/AIDS resources in targeted public health leadership training programmes can assist in building capacity to lead and manage national HIV and other public health programmes.</p

Real-time imaging of hepatitis C virus infection using a fluorescent cell-based reporter system

Author Manuscript 2010 August 1Hepatitis C virus (HCV), which infects 2–3% of the world population, is a causative agent of chronic hepatitis and the leading indication for liver transplantation1. The ability to propagate HCV in cell culture (HCVcc) is a relatively recent breakthrough and a key tool in the quest for specific antiviral therapeutics. Monitoring HCV infection in culture generally involves bulk population assays, use of genetically modified viruses and/or terminal processing of potentially precious samples. Here we develop a cell-based fluorescent reporter system that allows sensitive distinction of individual HCV-infected cells in live or fixed samples. We demonstrate use of this technology for several previously intractable applications, including live-cell imaging of viral propagation and host response, as well as visualizing infection of primary hepatocyte cultures. Integration of this reporter with modern image-based analysis methods could open new doors for HCV research.New York (State). Dept. of Health (Empire State Stem Cell Fund Contract C023046)United States. Public Health Service (Grant R01 DK56966)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Roadmap for Medical Research Grant 1 R01 DK085713-01)Howard Hughes Medical Institute (Investigator

Stability of Yellow Fever Virus under Recombinatory Pressure as Compared with Chikungunya Virus

Recombination is a mechanism whereby positive sense single stranded RNA viruses exchange segments of genetic information. Recent phylogenetic analyses of naturally occurring recombinant flaviviruses have raised concerns regarding the potential for the emergence of virulent recombinants either post-vaccination or following co-infection with two distinct wild-type viruses. To characterize the conditions and sequences that favor RNA arthropod-borne virus recombination we constructed yellow fever virus (YFV) 17D recombinant crosses containing complementary deletions in the envelope protein coding sequence. These constructs were designed to strongly favor recombination, and the detection conditions were optimized to achieve high sensitivity recovery of putative recombinants. Full length recombinant YFV 17D virus was never detected under any of the experimental conditions examined, despite achieving estimated YFV replicon co-infection levels of ∼2.4×106 in BHK-21 (vertebrate) cells and ∼1.05×105 in C710 (arthropod) cells. Additionally YFV 17D superinfection resistance was observed in vertebrate and arthropod cells harboring a primary infection with wild-type YFV Asibi strain. Furthermore recombination potential was also evaluated using similarly designed chikungunya virus (CHIKV) replicons towards validation of this strategy for recombination detection. Non-homologus recombination was observed for CHIKV within the structural gene coding sequence resulting in an in-frame duplication of capsid and E3 gene. Based on these data, it is concluded that even in the unlikely event of a high level acute co-infection of two distinct YFV genomes in an arthropod or vertebrate host, the generation of viable flavivirus recombinants is extremely unlikely

Calcified Algae for Tissue Engineering.

This book presents the latest advances in marine structures and related biomaterials for applications in both soft- and hard-tissue engineering, as well as controlled drug delivery

Characteristics of Teacher Stress during Distance Learning Imposed by the COVID-19 Pandemic

Recent studies show that stress levels are higher among teachers than in many other occupational groups. Semi‑structured interviews with 14 teachers from various regions of Russia were conducted to investigate the characteristics of psychological stress and coping strategies in the context of the abrupt transition to distance learning imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. In remote schooling, teachers have to implement education programs despite their own pandemic anxiety, provide emotional support to students, and stimulate their motivation for learning. It appears from the interview data that teacher stress is elevated by the absence or lack of support from school administrators and a substantial increase in teacher workload caused by the need to search for new techniques of teaching and preparing for classes from a distance, intensified communication with students and their parents, and the growing amount of homework assignments to review. The stress factors specific to the pandemic include the new work-from-home setup and changes in the work-life balance. The most common strategies of coping with stress and reducing its consequences include an effort to search for the silver lining and/or new opportunities, seeking social and emotional support, physical exercise, and hobby activities