General System Theory: the Biotic Systems, Basic Concepts, Laws of Functioning

This article presents a short review of historical background for the creation of the general theory of systems. There are also given basic statements of this theory and as well her scientific significance in the field of scientific facts’ synthesis is shown. The greatest emphasis is placed on biotic systems. There are presented the questions of structure, function and evolution in medical and biological aspects

SOMNOLOGICAL STATUS OF WOMEN IN PHYSIOLOGICAL AND COMPLICATED PREGNANCY IN DEPENDENCE ON STEREOFUNCTIONAL ORGANIZATION OF MOTHER-PLACENTA-FETUS SYSTEM

Purpose: To study peculiarities of pregnant women somnological status with different type of stereofunctional organization of mother-placenta-fetus system.Materials and Methods: 291 pregnant women aged 17 to 36 years made the group of physiological pregnancy (147 pers.) And the group with the threatening pregnancy loss was made by 144 women. Results: We revealed stereospecifics of somnological indices, that is more functional vulnerability of left-oriented motherplacenta-fetus system. Key somnological violations: the deterioration of the quality of sleep, snoring, sleep apnea breathing rhythm disturbances, impaired respiratory function.Summary: At the same time it is important to take into account that neurophysiological substrate that is responsible for central control for the gestational processes is gestational dominanta, determining the full range of central-peripheral relations in a functional system «mother-placenta-fetus», whose role is to maintain the asymmetry of neuro-conductive afferent-efferent effects that prevent abortion

Influence of Near-Alpha Titanium Alloy Sample Surface Preparation on the Results of X-Ray Powder Diffraction Analysis

Samples of two near-α titanium alloys were studied by X-ray diffraction analysis. The surface of the samples was prepared by mechanical polishing with diamond pastes of various grains and electrochemical polishing.Методом рентгеновского дифракционного анализа были исследованы образцы псевдо-α титановых сплавов ПТ3В и ПТ7М, поверхность которых была подготовлена методом механической полировки алмазными пастами различной дисперсности и электрохимической полировки.Работа выполнена при финансовой поддержке РНФ в рамках гранта № 19–73–00295

The peculiarities of clinical manifestations, biochemical and immune response in patients with chronic hepatitis of mixed etiology

У статті представлені дослідження клінічних, біохімічних і імунологічних показників у 31 хворого мікст-гепатит В + С, що проживають в Одеському регіоні. Виявлено кореляційні зв'язки між ступенем фіброзу печінки і деякими імунологічними показниками, що може бути додатковим критерієм тяжкості захворювання і дозволить скласти індивідуальний план ведення пацієнта.The number of patients increases annually, not only with chronic hepatitis C and B, but also patients in whom hepatitis has a mixed etiology. At the same time, the potentiating effect of the association of HBV and HCV with a high risk of developing progressive forms of chronic viral hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma is noted. Viral hepatites mixed etiologies are the result of superinfection, less often co-infection with the sequential or simultaneous activity of several hepatotropic viruses. It has been shown that viral mixed hepatitis is more often caused by a combination of HBV + HCV, as well as HCV + HBV + HDV. At the same time, HCV replication is noted in 64% of cases, and HBV replication - in 58% of cases. The objective: to study the immune status and biochemical parameters in patients with chronic hepatitis of mixed etiology (B + C) for a more accurate assessment of the severity of the pathological process. Materials and methods. There were examined 31 patients with chronic hepatitis В+С; their age was 18-62 years. All patients were evaluated traditional biochemical indices. In order to confirm the diagnosis in all patients by the PCR method, qualitative and quantitative determination of viral RNA and DNA was carried out. Results and its discussion. Clinical signs of the patients with HBV + C did not indicate a cyclic course of the disease, the severity of individual syndromes was uneven. All patients with chronic hepatitis B + C showed a significant increase in transaminase activity: the average value of AST was 2.27, ± 0.7 mmol / l per hour, and ALT - 3.29 ± 0.9 mmol / l per hour. The prothrombin index did not change significantly, its average value was 94.04 ± 0.39%. The study of lymphocyte subpopulations in the peripheral blood of patients with chronic hepatitis B + C established a low expression of CD3 + and CD4 +, as well as an increase in the number of cells expressing the CD8 + and CD19 + antigens compared with healthy individuals. The relationship of fibrotic changes in the liver tissue, biochemical indicators and indicators of cellular immunity was assessed using the Spearman's rank correlation coefficient. There are the next interrelation of such indicators: • a negative (inverse) interrelation between the degree of fibrosis and the content of CD3 +, p <0.01 (patients with VHB+C with a lower degree of fibrosis have a greater number of CD3 + lymphocytes); • a strong negative (inverse) interrelation between the degree of fibrosis and the CD4 + content, p <0.01 (in patients with VHB+C with a lower degree of fibrosis have a greater number of CD4 + lymphocytes is noted); • a negative (inverse) interrelation between the degree of fibrosis and the content of CD16 +, p <0.01 (in patients with HVB+C with a lower degree of fibrosis have a higher number of CD16 + lymphocytes is noted); • a positive (direct) interrelation between the degree of fibrosis and the content of CD19 +, p <0.01 (patients with HVB+C with a lower degree of fibrosis have a smaller number of CD19 + lymphocytes is observed). The presence of a relationship between the degree of fibrosis and immunological parameters in patients with HVB + C allows using the obtained information as one of the additional criteria for the severity of the pathological process. The severity of changes in cellular immunity parameters may serve as an additional criterion for the degree of morphological disorders in the liver tissue.В статье представлены исследования клинических, биохимических и иммунологических показателей у 31 больного микст-гепатитом В+С, проживающих в Одесском регионе. Выявлены корреляционные связи между степенью фиброза печени и некоторыми иммунологическими показателями, что может быть дополнительным критерием тяжести заболевания и позволит составить индивидуальный план ведения пациента

Нарушения в тромбоцитарном звене гемостаза больных острым гепатитом В

Обследовано 90 больных острым гепатитом В с различной тяжестью течения болезни. В сыворотке крови и эритроцитах больных изучали концентрацию диеновых конъюгатов и малонового диальдегида. Исследовали показатели тромбоцитарного звена гемостаза: количество тромбоцитов, степень и время агрегации тромбоцитов. Установлено уменьшение количества тромбоцитов, повышение степени и удлинение времени агрегации тромбоцитов в первые дни желтушного периода.90 patients with diff erent forms of acute hepatitis B were examined. Concentration of dienic conjugates and malonic dialdehyde were investigated in patients’ serum and erythrocytes. Indexes of hemostasis trombocytes chain were studied: trombocytes’ number, degree and time of trombocytes’ aggregation. Decreasing of trombocytes’ number, increasing of degree and prolongation of time of trombocytes’ aggregation were found

Sustainable Food Systems At Urban Public Universities: A Survey Of U‐21 Universities

Urban communities are challenged by the conventional food system in diverse ways. To mitigate these challenges, a growing sustainable food system (SFS) movement mobilizes existing resources—including public institutions—to resolve disparities in access to healthy food, increase economic opportunities, conserve natural resources, and build a stronger, more local food system. Many public universities located in inner cities have adopted missions committing themselves to the improvement of their cities and regions. They also perform anchoring roles to revitalize their immediate neighborhoods, and, in a contemporary extension of their civic purposes, embrace sustainability as an institutional goal. Urban public universities therefore can play many SFS leadership roles, including through links to innovative scholarship, campus dining halls, other food retail such as farmers markets, and civic engagement activities such as community gardens. Through a study of 21 urban public universities, this paper investigates the presence and characteristics of SFS leadership, underlying rationales, and factors that support and oppose leadership.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/112274/1/juaf12149.pd

KV7/KCNQ Channels Are Functionally Expressed in Oligodendrocyte Progenitor Cells

Background: KV7/KCNQ channels are widely expressed in neurons and they have multiple important functions, including control of excitability, spike afterpotentials, adaptation, and theta resonance. Mutations in KCNQ genes have been demonstrated to associate with human neurological pathologies. However, little is known about whether K V7/KCNQ channels are expressed in oligodendrocyte lineage cells (OLCs) and what their functions in OLCs. Methods and Findings: In this study, we characterized KV7/KCNQ channels expression in rat primary cultured OLCs by RT-PCR, immunostaining and electrophysiology. KCNQ2-5 mRNAs existed in all three developmental stages of rat primary cultured OLCs. K V7/KCNQ proteins were also detected in oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs, early developmental stages of OLCs) of rat primary cultures and cortex slices. Voltage-clamp recording revealed that the IM antagonist XE991 significantly reduced KV7/KCNQ channel current (IK(Q)) in OPCs but not in differentiated oligodendrocytes. In addition, inhibition of K V7/KCNQ channels promoted OPCs motility in vitro. Conclusions: These findings showed that K V7/KCNQ channels were functionally expressed in rat primary cultured OLCs an

Developmental Transcriptomic Features of the Carcinogenic Liver Fluke, Clonorchis sinensis

Clonorchis sinensis is the causative agent of the life-threatening disease endemic to China, Korea, and Vietnam. It is estimated that about 15 million people are infected with this fluke. C. sinensis provokes inflammation, epithelial hyperplasia, and periductal fibrosis in bile ducts, and may cause cholangiocarcinoma in chronically infected individuals. Accumulation of a large amount of biological information about the adult stage of this liver fluke in recent years has advanced our understanding of the pathological interplay between this parasite and its hosts. However, no developmental gene expression profiles of C. sinensis have been published. In this study, we generated gene expression profiles of three developmental stages of C. sinensis by analyzing expressed sequence tags (ESTs). Complementary DNA libraries were constructed from the adult, metacercaria, and egg developmental stages of C. sinensis. A total of 52,745 ESTs were generated and assembled into 12,830 C. sinensis assembled EST sequences, and then these assemblies were further categorized into groups according to biological functions and developmental stages. Most of the genes that were differentially expressed in the different stages were consistent with the biological and physical features of the particular developmental stage; high energy metabolism, motility and reproduction genes were differentially expressed in adults, minimal metabolism and final host adaptation genes were differentially expressed in metacercariae, and embryonic genes were differentially expressed in eggs. The higher expression of glucose transporters, proteases, and antioxidant enzymes in the adults accounts for active uptake of nutrients and defense against host immune attacks. The types of ion channels present in C. sinensis are consistent with its parasitic nature and phylogenetic placement in the tree of life. We anticipate that the transcriptomic information on essential regulators of development, bile chemotaxis, and physico-metabolic pathways in C. sinensis that presented in this study will guide further studies to identify novel drug targets and diagnostic antigens

Ceramides and mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation in obesity

Obesity is an epidemic, complex disease that is characterized by increased glucose, lipids, and low-grade inflammation in the circulation, among other factors. It creates the perfect scenario for the production of ceramide, the building block of the sphingolipid family of lipids, which is involved in metabolic disorders such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. In addition, obesity causes a decrease in fatty acid oxidation (FAO), which contributes to lipid accumulation within the cells, conferringmore susceptibility to cell dysfunction. C16:0 ceramide, a specific ceramide species, has been identified recently as the principal mediator of obesity-derived insulin resistance, impaired fatty acid oxidation, and hepatic steatosis. In this review, we have sought to cover the importance of the ceramide species and their metabolism, the main ceramide signaling pathways in obesity, and the link between C16:0 ceramide, FAO, and obesity.This work was supported by the Ministry of Spain (MINECO) Grants SAF2013-45887-R (to L.H.), SAF2014-52223-C2-1-R (to D.S.), and SAF2014-52223-C2-2-R (to N.C.), and cofunded by the Fondos Europeos de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER); and by Centro de Investigacion Biom ´ edica en Red de Fisiopatolog ´ ´ıa de la Obesidad y la Nutricion (CIBEROBN) Grant CB06/03/0001 ´ (to D.S.); Government of Catalonia Grant 2014SGR465 (to D.S.); Marato TV3 Foundation (to D.S., N.C.); and the ´ European Foundation for the Study of Diabetes (EFSD)/ Janssen-Rising Star and L’Or´eal-UNESCO “For Women in Science” research fellowships (to L.H.)Peer reviewe