The Reports of the Russian Empire Officials on the Semirechye Region: A Historiographic Analysis

The paper describes the process of scientific substantiation of the Russian Empire's preliminary preparation for the colonisation of the Kazakh steppes in the second half of the 19th century. The purpose of the paper is to analyse the political, as well as the economic situation (development of animal husbandry and agriculture) in the Semirechye region based on sources compiled with the help of the works of military officials of 19th century tsarist Russia. The paper also provides an assessment and comparative analysis of the subjective characteristics of historical sources on the region development. Considering the study of the region until the end of the 19th century, the authors have found that Semirechye was of interest for the Russian Empire in terms of the presence of important natural resources. Based on the methods of scientific research, we also identified the relationship between the ethnographic, political and economic development of the region. In general, the paper shows the importance of the reports of military officials as valuable primary sources of information

Case report: Successful experience using continuous infusion of meropenem in a geriatric patient with hip fracture complicated by sepsis

This article highlights a clinical case of successful treatment of a 79-year-old multimorbid patient with a hip fracture resulting from a household injury. On the first day, the patient’s injury was complicated by infection and pneumonia. As a result, arterial hypotension, tachysystole, and respiratory failure progressed. With manifestations of sepsis, the patient was transferred to the intensive care unit. Surgical treatment in such a situation was contraindicated due to the high operational and anesthesiological risks, the unstable severe condition of the patient, as well as the presence of concomitant pathology in the form of coronary heart disease, obesity, and schizophrenia. According to the new sepsis management guideline, it was decided to use a continuous 24-h infusion of meropenem in addition to the complex treatment of sepsis. The use of continuous infusion of meropenem in this clinical situation may have caused the patient’s clinical improvement, which increased her quality of life and decreased the length of ICU stay and total hospital stay, despite an unfavorable cumulative prognosis and a high risk of in-hospital mortality

Modelling bluetongue risk in Kazakhstan

Background: Bluetongue is a serious disease of ruminants caused by the bluetongue virus (BTV). BTV is transmitted by biting midges (Culicoides spp.). Serological evidence from livestock and the presence of at least one competent vector species of Culicoides suggests that transmission of BTV is possible and may have occurred in Kazakhstan. Methods: We estimated the risk of transmission using a mathematical model of the reproduction number R$_{0}$ for bluetongue. This model depends on livestock density and climatic factors which affect vector density. Data on climate and livestock numbers from the 2466 local communities were used. This, together with previously published model parameters, was used to estimate R$_{0}$ for each month of the year. We plotted the results on isopleth maps of Kazakhstan using interpolation to smooth the irregular data. We also mapped the estimated proportion of the population requiring vaccination to prevent outbreaks of bluetongue. Results: The results suggest that transmission of bluetongue in Kazakhstan is not possible in the winter from October to March. Assuming there are vector-competent species of Culicoides endemic in Kazakhstan, then low levels of risk first appear in the south of Kazakhstan in April before spreading north and intensifying, reaching maximum levels in northern Kazakhstan in July. The risk declined in September and had disappeared by October. Conclusion: These results should aid in surveillance efforts for the detection and control of bluetongue in Kazakhstan by indicating where and when outbreaks of bluetongue are most likely to occur. The results also indicate where vaccination efforts should be focussed to prevent outbreaks of disease

Constitutive activation of T cells by γ2-herpesviral GPCR through the interaction with cellular CXCR4

Members of the herpesviral family use multiple strategies to hijack infected host cells and exploit cellular signaling for their pathogenesis and latent infection. Among the most intriguing weapons in the arsenal of pathogenic herpesviruses are the constitutively active virally-encoded G protein-coupled receptors (vGPCRs). Even though vGPCRs contribute to viral pathogenesis such as immune evasion and proliferative disorders, the molecular details of how vGPCRs continuously activate cellular signaling are largely unknown. Here, we report that the vGPCR of Herpesvirus saimiri (HVS), an oncogenic gamma 2-herpesvirus, constitutively activates T cells via a heteromeric interaction with cellular CXCR4. Constitutive T cell activation also occurs with expression of the vGPCR of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), but not the vGPCR of Epstein-Barr virus. Expression of HVS vGPCR down-regulated the surface expression of CXCR4 but did not induce the degradation of the chemokine receptor, suggesting that vGPCR/CXCR4 signaling continues in cytosolic compartments. The physical association of vGPCR with CXCR4 was demonstrated by proximity ligation assay as well as immunoprecipitation. Interestingly, the constitutive activation of T cells by HVS vGPCR is independent of proximal T cell receptor (TCR) signaling molecules, such as TcR beta, Lck, and ZAP70, whereas CXCR4 silencing by shRNA abolished T cell activation by vGPCRs of HVS and KSHV. Furthermore, previously identified inactive vGPCR mutants failed to interact with CXCR4. These findings on the positive cooperativity of vGPCR with cellular CXCR4 in T cell activation extend our current understanding of the molecular mechanisms of vGPCR function and highlight the importance of heteromerization for GPCR activity. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.1111Ysciescopu

Novel avian paramyxovirus isolated from gulls in Caspian seashore in Kazakhstan.

Three isolates APMV/gull/Kazakhstan/5976/2014, APMV/gull/Kazakhstan/ 5977/2014 and APMV/gull/Kazakhstan/5979/2014, were obtained from independent samples during annual surveillance for avian influenza and paramyxoviruses in wild birds from the Caspian Sea coast in Western Kazakhstan, and were initially identified as putative paramyxoviruses on the basis of electron microscopy. Hemagglutination Inhibition Assays with antisera to nine known APMV serotypes (APMV1-9) indicated no relation to any of them. Next generation sequencing of whole genome sequences indicated the three isolates were genetically identical, and had a nucleotide structure typical for all APMVs, consisting of six genes 3'-NP-P-M-F-HN-L-5'. Phylogenetic analyses, and assessment of amino acid identities, suggested the most closely related lineages to be APMV-2, 8, 10 and 15, but the novel isolate had less than 64% identity to them and all other known avian paramyxoviruses. This value was above levels considered to generally define other APMV serotypes. Estimates of the evolutionary divergence of the nucleotide sequences of the genomes of APMVs have shown that novel Kazakhstan APMV strain was closest to APMV-2, APMV-8, APMV-10 and APMV-15, with calculated distance values of 2.057, 2.058, 2.026 and 2.286 respectively, which is above values considered to differentiate other serotypes (observed minimum was 1.108 between APMV-1 and recently isolated APMV/UPO216/Korea). Together, the data suggest that isolate APMV/gull/Kazakhstan/5976/2014 and other two should be considered as the first representative of a novel APMV-20 group, and is the first time that avian paramyxoviruses have been found infecting members of the gull family, extending the known taxonomic host range

Anthelminthic and antimicrobial effects of hedge woundwort (Stachys sylvatica L.) growing in Southern Kazakhstan

The Stachys L. genus has been widely used in traditional medicine in many countries throughout the world. The study aimed to investigate the chemical composition and bioactivity of the hydroethanolic extract (50% v/v) obtained by ultrasonication from the aerial flowering parts of Stachys sylvatica L. (SSE) collected in Almaty region (Southern Kazakhstan). According to RP-HPLC/PDA analysis the leading metabolites of the SSE belonged to polyphenols: chlorogenic acid and its isomers (2.34 mg/g dry extract) and luteolin derivatives (1.49 mg/g dry extract), while HPLC-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS-based qualitative fingerprinting revealed the presence of 17 metabolites, mainly chlorogenic acid and its isomers, flavonoid glycosides, and verbascoside with its derivatives. GC-MS analysis of the volatile metabolites showed mainly the presence of diterpenoids and fatty acid esters. A reduction in the viability of nematodes Rhabditis sp. was obtained for the SSE concentration of 3.3 mg/mL, while 11.1 mg/mL showed activity comparable to albendazole. The SSE exhibited higher activity against Gram-positive (MIC = 0.5–2 mg/mL) than Gram-negative bacteria and yeast (MIC = 8 mg/mL), exerting bactericidal and fungicidal effects but with no sporicidal activity. The SSE showed some antiviral activity against HCoV-229E replicating in MRC-5 and good protection against the cytopathic effect induced by HHV-1 in VERO. The SSE was moderately cytotoxic towards human cervical adenocarcinoma (H1HeLa) cells (CC50 of 0.127 mg/mL after 72 h). This study provides novel information on the SSE extract composition and its biological activity, especially in the context of the SSE as a promising candidate for further antiparasitic studies

A QUASI-QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF FLIPPED CLASSROOM IMPLEMENTATION IN AN ENGINEERING COURSE: FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE

Students have different learning approaches and acquire knowledge in different ways owing to their varied perceptions and grasping abilities. Treating students equally, following the traditional teacher-cantered approach, may not be effective and calls for innovations in knowledge dissemination. This article takes a student-centric approach to implement a ‘flipped classroom’ model in an engineering course for constructivism (i.e. experience-based learning), and students’ personalized learning. The performance of the flipped classroom approach is compared with the traditional lecturing approach using four lenses: students’ grades, students’ reflection using three surveys at different stages during the semester, teacher’s observation, and peer observation. In most of the existing approaches, analysis of the qualitative survey data is performed manually without computer assistance, and therefore these are criticized for being primeval and instinctive. In this research, a novel approach, based on fuzzy logic, is devised to evaluate the qualitative survey responses from the students. It is shown in this research, that the linguistic survey responses can be summarized in an index more meaningfully using a fuzzy logic-based approach. The results further showed that the flipped classroom model helped students to improve their grades and enhance engagements with their teacher and their peers. Increased interaction, during interactive class activities, was instrumental in evolving students’ problem-solving and critical analysis skills towards better learning experiences. Furthermore, students’ survey results, analyzed using the novel fuzzy indexing and a non-parametric statistical test showed that the intervention in the form of flipped classes was effective and found to be statistically significant. The findings of this study may help other academics, endeavoring for experience-based, and students’ personalized learning