Occupational diseases among agricultural workers in the Russian Federation: review of statistical data

ArticleThe aim of the study is to analyze the epidemiological situation of occupational diseases among agricultural workers in Russia. To address this task, the analysis of occupational diseases incidence was carried out. Conclusions.For the last decades the proportion of rural working population in Russia is gradually decreasing, but remains noticeably higher than in other industrialized countries. There is a huge difference between entities of the Russian Federation in occupational illnesses incidence rates among agriculture workers, which can be explained by: (a) the distinction of health care availability; (b) lack of occupational physicians in rural areas; (c) the high level of the incidence of non-communicable diseases, which can disguise occupational illnesses among agricultural workers. The improvement of the health care regulatory legal framework, development of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines, quality improvement in postgraduate education of medical doctors in rural areas, increasing in the number of occupational health physicians in rural areas, and implementation of long-term health promotion programs are necessary in order to maintain the heath of agricultural workers in the Russian Federation. This list of priority measures is not sufficient, as it highlights only the main issues in the field of occupational health

Правосубъектность ребенка: актуализация возможностей и их ограничения

The subject of this research is the concept of a child’s legal capacity in an interdisciplinary context and the validity of various approaches for determining the essence and scope of a child’s legal capacity in terms of Russian public and private legislation and to provide suggestions for improvement.Methodology: The authors’ general research methods for cognition are: analysis, synthesis, and abstraction. This research is also based on legal acts and judicial practice, as well as on the opinions of scientists.Results: On the one hand, differentiations in terms of the essence, structure and scope of a child’s legal capacity within the branches of Russian law are justified according to the specifics of their subject and methods of legal regulation. On the other hand, the differences in approaches presented in them, especially according to age criterion, are far from universally justified, and this is especially characteristic of the active component of legal personality – or legal capacity. Thus, 14 and 16 are the ages of legal capacity in terms of constitutional law; 6, 14 and 16 for civil law; 14, 15 and 16 for labour law; 15 for medical law; 10, 14, 15, 16 for family law; etc. The law on education does not indicate any age benchmarks, being oriented towards the school education periods. At the same time, the lower boundaries of ‘minimal legal capacity’ are established only for the sake of civil legal relations and administrative and criminal liability. In other cases, in the assessment of a child’s ability to make legally significant decisions, the law enforcement officer considers a child’s individual psychological characteristics. Typically this approach proves to be correct. Psychological data indicate the development of an acceptable level of cognitive ability by the age of 12; therefore, the formally enshrined concept of child consent to certain legally significant acts beginning at the age of 10 requires discussion and possible adjustment. The ages of 14 and 16 as starting points for basic elements of the legal capacity (legal personality) are reasonable and must be applied systematically; other intermediate solutions are not justified. In terms of a generally correct decision with regard to the moment when the age of legal capacity begins, it would be reasonable to correlate this with the protection of a child’s interests before his/her birth. There is no unified approach to understanding a child’s ability to perform legal duties: in civil law such ability is denied, while in other legal spheres it exists. As for family law, it should be assimilated into the general group. Conclusions: the concept of a child’s legal capacity requires systematization and enhancement as a prerequisite for a reasonable and justified arrangement of children's world – both within the family and in the public sphere.Исследуются актуальные правовые аспекты содержания правосубъектности ребенка различных возрастных категорий, прежде всего его дееспособности, относительно сущности и дифференциации объема которой имеются далеко не всегда обоснованные различия в отраслях российского законодательства – частных и публичных. Анализируется значение нормативно-правовых предписаний об охране его интересов до рождения. На основе обобщения норм различных отраслей российского и зарубежного законодательства, наделяющих ребенка определенными юридическими обязанностями, выявляется необходимость включения данной конструкции и в семейное законодательство. Выводы подкрепляются данными психологической доктрины об особенностях развития ребенка в зависимости от возраста и иных факторов

Glycopeptide antibiotics: structural and functional aspects, human medicinal use, and standardisation

In recent years, glycopeptide antibiotics have been widely used to treat severe bacterial infections. The long-term use of first-generation antibiotics of this group (vancomycin, teicoplanin) has contributed to the emergence of bacteria resistant to them. The problem of resistance has motivated the development of three new glycopeptide antibiotics: dalbavancin, telavancin, and oritavancin. The aim of this study was to consolidate and analyse the data from literature and current quality standards related to glycopeptide antibiotics. The article presents basic information about the discovery of glycopeptide antibiotics of natural origin (vancomycin, teicoplanin) and their derivatives (telavancin, oritavancin, dalbavancin). It briefly characterises the structures of the glycopeptide antibiotics under consideration and describes their main properties, application, and distribution in the pharmaceutical market. The article also gives information on the spectra of antibacterial activity of vancomycin, teicoplanin, and their semi-synthetic derivatives. It considers approaches to vancomycin and teicoplanin standardisation and covers the main requirements of leading pharmacopoeias for the quality of vancomycin, teicoplanin, and the corresponding medicinal products. According to the study results, glycopeptide antibiotics are still widely prescribed because of their high effectiveness in diseases caused by Gram-positive bacteria. However, at present, leading pharmacopoeias have developed and implemented quality standards only for two antibiotics of the group: vancomycin and teicoplanin. According to the results of literature consolidation, further modification of glycopeptide antibiotics is aimed at creating compounds characterised by prolonged action and greater effectiveness against pathogenic microorganisms. Thus, the attention of researchers should be directed to further standardisation of the newest derivatives of glycopeptide antibiotics: telavancin, oritavancin, and dalbavancin

The Restoration of the Function of the Thumb using Sequential Arthroplasty of the Trapeziometacarpal and Metacarpophalangeal Joints

Background. The opposition function of the thumb is extremely important and is provided mainly due to the biomechanical features of the trapeziometacarpal and metacarpophalangeal joints. Surgical treatment of complex deformities of these joints is often described in isolated studies, and there are practically no descriptions of the results of their combined treatment. The authors of the article did not find a single report on total arthroplasty of the adjacent joints of the thumb.Aim of the study. To analyze the clinical observation of two patients in the early period after performing sequential non-simultaneous total arthroplasty of the trapeziometacarpal and metacarpophalangeal joints of the thumb using ceramic endoprostheses. Both endoprostheses were presented in pairs with two unconnected components, installed using the press-fit method. When the head and cup interact, there are no shear forces in them that impede multiaxial movements.Materials and methods. The study included two patients: a 67-year-old man and a 77-year-old woman. Patients had stage 3 osteoarthritis of the trapeziometacarpal and metacarpophalangeal joints of the thumb and underwent staged surgical treatment (about 2–3 years between the stages). In 1 month and 1 year after the treatment we assessed the results using clinical and instrumental research methods.Conclusion. No complications were observed during the follow-up. There were no indications for revision surgery. The design features of ceramic endoprostheses, due to their short stems, make it possible to combine components in the adjacent joints of the thumb. In our opinion, joint arthroplasty is an effective and promising method of functional restoration. It remains the patient’s last hope for maintaining painless, stable mobility of the thumb

Determination of Vancomycin B and Vancomycin Impurities by Liquid Chromatography

The preferred test methods for control of product-related impurities in medicinal products are high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with a fine sorbent, and ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC), which allow for better chromatographic separation of active substances and related impurities, reduction of time costs, and saving of material resources. The aim of the study was to develop HPLC and UPLC test procedures and assess the chromatographic separation capacity and efficiency in order to improve determination of the main vancomycin component and related impurities. Materials and methods: vancomycin hydrochloride lyophilisate for oral solution and solution for injection, and vancomycin hydrochloride reference standard (USP RS) were used as test objects. Agilent 1290 Infinity liquid chromatography system, and Chromolith® Performance RP-18e, Kinetex C18, Nucleodur C18 Isis, Zorbax RRHD Eclipse Plus C18, and LiChrospher® RP-18 columns were used for the testing. Results: HPLC analysis using a Chromolith® column (100×4.6 mm) reduces the testing time by 10 minutes compared to the USP test procedure, and by 15 minutes compared to the British Pharmacopoeia procedure. The proposed test procedure requires less eluent and increases chromatographic separation efficiency. UPLC analysis using a Kinetex C18 column (50×4.6 mm, 2.6 μm) made it possible to reduce the testing time by two thirds compared to the British Pharmacopoeia procedure. The use of isocratic elution greatly simplified the testing. The testing time under the proposed chromatographic conditions was 10 minutes. Conclusions: the selected HPLC and UPLC test conditions made it possible to significantly reduce the time of testing, minimise the use of expensive reagents, and increase efficiency of chromatographic separation in the determination of vancomycin impurities and the main component Vancomycin B

UROGENITAL TRACT MICROFLORA IN SEXUAL PARTNERS WITH CHRONIC GENITOURINARY TRICHOMONIASIS

Trichomonas infection is a scientific and clinical problem in dermatology, urology, obstetrics and gynecology. This infection in men and women is often causes to urethritis, cystitis, prostatitis, post-abortion infection, premature labor and other diseases. This literature review has shown that in spite of a lot of numbers of scientific data concerning the impact of trichomoniasis to urogenital bioceonosis of both men and women, there is no enough data about influence of trichomoniasis to urinary microecology in sexual partners. Meanwhile, this question is in the field of scientific and applied interest and need to be studied

Xenobiotic-induced activation of human aryl hydrocarbon receptor target genes in Drosophila is mediated by the epigenetic chromatin modifiers

Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) is the key transcription factor that controls animal development and various adaptive processes. The AHR\u27s target genes are involved in biodegradation of endogenous and exogenous toxins, regulation of immune response, organogenesis, and neurogenesis. Ligand binding is important for the activation of the AHR signaling pathway. Invertebrate AHR homologs are activated by endogenous ligands whereas vertebrate AHR can be activated by both endogenous and exogenous ligands (xenobiotics). Several studies using mammalian cultured cells have demonstrated that transcription of the AHR target genes can be activated by exogenous AHR ligands, but little is known about the effects of AHR in a living organism. Here, we examined the effects of human AHR and its ligands using transgenic Drosophila lines with an inducible human AhR gene. We found that exogenous AHR ligands can increase as well as decrease the transcription levels of the AHR target genes, including genes that control proliferation, motility, polarization, and programmed cell death. This suggests that AHR activation may affect the expression of gene networks that could be critical for cancer progression and metastasis. Importantly, we found that AHR target genes are also controlled by the enzymes that modify chromatin structure, in particular components of the epigenetic Polycomb Repressive complexes 1 and 2. Since exogenous AHR ligands (alternatively - xenobiotics) and small molecule inhibitors of epigenetic modifiers are often used as pharmaceutical anticancer drugs, our findings may have significant implications in designing new combinations of therapeutic treatments for oncological diseases. © Akishina et al

Inflammatory markers in cystic fibrosis patients with lung Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection.

Chronic endobronchial inflammation and bacterial infection are the main causes of morbidity and mortality in cystic fibrosis (CF), an autosomal recessive genetic disorder associated with improper function of chloride channels. Inflammation in CF lung is greatly amplified after Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection. In this study the relationship between P. aeruginosa status and inflammatory markers has been investigated. Seventeen CF children in acute lung exacerbation were examined. CF patients without P. aeruginosa infection were characterized by elevated activity of sputum elastase, reduced response of peripheral blood lymphocytes to PHA and significant resistance to the antiproliferative action of glucocorticoids. These parameters were normalized after antibiotic treatment. The patients with prolonged P. aeruginosa infection demonstrated extremely high levels of elastase activity and elevated amounts of sputum IL-8 and TNF-alpha. Although antibiotic treatment resulted in clinical improvement, it failed to suppress excessive immune response in the lung. The data indicate that CF patients with prolonged P. aeruginosa need the modified treatment, which should include immunomodulating drugs and protease inhibitors as well as antibacterial therapy

Combination of hypomorphic mutations of the Drosophila homologues of aryl hydrocarbon receptor and nucleosome assembly protein family genes disrupts morphogenesis, memory and detoxification

Aryl hydrocarbon receptor is essential for biological responses to endogenous and exogenous toxins in mammals. Its Drosophila homolog spineless plays an important role in fly morphogenesis. We have previously shown that during morphogenesis spineless genetically interacts with CG5017 gene, which encodes a nucleosome assembly factor and may affect cognitive function of the fly. We now demonstrate synergistic interactions of spineless and CG5017 in pathways controlling oxidative stress response and long-term memory formation in Drosophila melanogaster. Oxidative stress was induced by low doses of X-ray irradiation of flies carrying hypomorphic mutation of spineless, mutation of CG5017, and their combination. To determine the sensitivity of these mutants to pharmacological modifiers of the irradiation effect, we irradiated flies growing on standard medium supplemented by radiosensitizer furazidin and radioprotector serotonin. The effects of irradiation were investigated by analyzing leg and antenna morphological structures and by using real-time PCR to measure mRNA expression levels for spineless, Cyp6g1 and Gst-theta genes. We also examined long-term memory in these mutants using conditioned courtship suppression paradigm. Our results show that the interaction of spineless and CG5017 is important for regulation of morphogenesis, long-term memory formation, and detoxification during oxidative stress. Since spineless and CG5017 are evolutionary conserved, these results must be considered when evaluating the risk of combining similar mutations in other organisms, including humans