“CYTOKINE” MODEL OF PATHOGENESIS OF CHRONIC HEART FAILURE AND THE OPPORTUNITIES OF NEW THERAPEUTIC STRATEGY IN DECOMPENSATED PATIENTS

Neurohumoral model of pathogenesis of chronic heart failure (CHF) made it possible to develop new therapeutic approaches in patients with CHF . However , it became obvious that the ways of activation of neurohumoral systems in CHF are much more complicated. The increase in local synthesis of hormones causes the activation of inflammatory cytokines and protooncogenes, which have various negative effects. This allowed formulating immunoinflammatory conception of CHF pathogenesis, according to which the increase in interleukine-6 blood level is the marker of unfavorable prognosis for CHF , and the level of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) straightly correlates with severity of clinical condition and neurohumoral activity in CHF . The growth of TNF-α in CHF progressing as well as its reduction in successful treatment do not exclude the probability of positive effect of therapy , focused on the reduction of TNF-α concentration. The pathogenesis peculiarities of CHF including cytokine aggression demand the necessity of development of new therapy approaches with the use of cytokine system modulators

Флюоресцентная диагностика предопухолевой и опухолевой патологии эндометрия

The technique of fluorescence hysteroscopy with Alasens includes visual assessment of fluorescence of Alasens-induced protoporphyrin IX and local fluorescence spectroscopy. The technique allows to improve the efficacy of early diagnosis for endometrial pathology including early endometrial cancer, to assess definitely an extent of pre-tumor and tumor process. The sensitivity of fluorescence hysteroscopy accounts for 100%, the specificity – 98%. Технология флюоресцентной гистероскопии с препаратом аласенс включает визуальную оценку флюоресценции аласенс-индуцированного протопорфирина IX и локальную флюоресцентную спектроскопию. Технология позволяет повысить эффективность ранней диагностики патологии эндометрия, в том числе ранних форм рака эндометрия, достоверно оценить распространенность предопухолевого и опухолевого процесса. Чувствительность флюоресцентной гистероскопии составляет 100%, специфичность 98%.

Review of Hantavirus Infections in the World, Epidemiological Situation on Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome in the Russian Federation in 2020 and a Forecast for 2021

The review used the data from operational monitoring carried out by the Reference Center for Monitoring over HFRS – “Kazan Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology of the Rospotrebnadzor”, based on official data provided by the Rospotrebnadzor institutions in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Statistical processing was conducted using conventional methods of variation statistics applying the Excel program. Over the past decades, hantavirus diseases have become very relevant and spread throughout the world. In the territory of the Russian Federation, natural foci of HFRS are located in the European part of the country, Western Siberia and Far East. The most epidemically active foci are situated in the European part of Russia. Over the past decade, the intensive incidence rate of HFRS in the Russian Federation stayed within the range of 3.0–9.5 per 100 thousand of the population, the long-term average annual indicator – 5.2 per 100 thousand of the population. In 2020, 3845 cases of HFRS were registered (2.62 per 100,000 of the population). There was a decrease in the incidence of HFRS by 3.6 times, compared with the indicators of 2019. A factor that may have influenced the decrease in the incidence of HFRS was the depression of the epizootic process among small mammals, the main carriers of HFRS pathogens, due to natural and climatic factors. The nature of the distribution of HFRS incidence across the territory of the Russian Federation in 2020 was heterogeneous. Statistical processing of the data made it possible to identify 5 groups of territories that differ in the level of HFRS incidence. Almost all constituent entities of the Volga Federal District and the Kostroma Region belonging to the Central Federal District were classified as groups of territories with high and very high incidence rates. In 2021, the deterioration of the epidemiological situation is predicted in the summer-autumn period of the year in the Volga Federal District and four entities of the Central Federal District

Колебания ледников Северного и Южного ледниковых полей Патагонии по данным мониторинга с Международной космической станции

Quantitative indicators of changes in 37 glaciers of the Patagonian Northern and Southern glacial fields were determined by means of decoding and analysis of photographs obtained by astronauts from the Russian segment of the International Space Station. On the basis of this information it was concluded that in 2002–2016 the glaciers of both fields of Patagonia continued to retreat. The frontal parts of the nine glaciers retained their positions, while others reduced at an average rate of several dozen up to 430 m/year. Repeated monitoring of 16 glaciers from this selection and analysis of the data obtained in 2016–2019 confirm this conclusion. The only exception was the O’Higgins Glacier, which did not change position of its frontal part for 12 years and then retreated in 2018–2019 to 1,250 m. In some cases, a gradual decrease in area of the frontal part of the glacier was accompanied by a sharp collapse of the lower zone with the formation of extensive fields of icebergs. The dynamics of the Bruggen Glacier (Pius XI) are not typical for the region under consideration: for many years this glacier has been advancing. This development cannot be explained without detailed field investigation in the area of snow and ice accumulation of the glacier. Perhaps that was due to a snow-drift transport in an extensive area of accumulation that supported the preservation of the size of the glacier tongue, and even its advance. According to our observations, the average rate of retreat of the glaciers of the Western and Eastern slopes of the Southern Ice Field significantly decreased since 2010, i.e. their degradation slowed down. At the same time, glaciers of the Northern Ice Field continued to decrease intensively.В результате анализа фотоснимков с Международной космической станции определены изменения 37 ледников Северного и Южного ледниковых полей Патагонии. В 2002–2016 гг. ледники обоих полей продолжали отступать, но их отступание с 2010 г. замедлилось, хотя некоторые ледники Северного ледникового поля продолжают интенсивно сокращаться. Лишь ледник Брюгген (Пия XI) на Южном ледниковом поле в течение многих лет наступает

Adapting agricultural water use to climate change in a post-Soviet context: challenges and opportunities in southeast Kazakhstan

The convergence of climate change and post-Soviet socio-economic and institutional transformations has been underexplored so far, as have the consequences of such convergence on crop agriculture in Central Asia. This paper provides a place-based analysis of constraints and opportunities for adaptation to climate change, with a specific focus on water use, in two districts in southeast Kazakhstan. Data were collected by 2 multi-stakeholder participatory workshops, 21 semi-structured in-depth interviews, and secondary statistical data. The present-day agricultural system is characterised by enduring Soviet-era management structures, but without state inputs that previously sustained agricultural productivity. Low margins of profitability on many privatised farms mean that attempts to implement integrated water management have produced water users associations unable to maintain and upgrade a deteriorating irrigation infrastructure. Although actors engage in tactical adaptation measures, necessary structural adaptation of the irrigation system remains difficult without significant public or private investments. Market-based water management models have been translated ambiguously to this region, which fails to encourage efficient water use and hinders adaptation to water stress. In addition, a mutual interdependence of informal networks and formal institutions characterises both state governance and everyday life in Kazakhstan. Such interdependence simultaneously facilitates operational and tactical adaptation, but hinders structural adaptation, as informal networks exist as a parallel system that achieves substantive outcomes while perpetuating the inertia and incapacity of the state bureaucracy. This article has relevance for critical understanding of integrated water management in practice and adaptation to climate change in post-Soviet institutional settings more broadly

High proportion of recurrent germline mutations in the BRCA1 gene in breast and ovarian cancer patients from the Prague area

BACKGROUND: Germline mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes have been shown to account for the majority of hereditary breast and ovarian cancers. The purpose of our study was to estimate the incidence and spectrum of pathogenic mutations in BRCA1/2 genes in high-risk Czech families. METHODS: A total of 96 Czech families with recurrent breast and/or ovarian cancer and 55 patients considered to be at high-risk but with no reported family history of cancer were screened for mutations in the BRCA1/2 genes. The entire coding sequence of each gene was analyzed using a combination of the protein truncation test and direct DNA sequencing. RESULTS: A total of 35 mutations in the BRCA1/2 genes were identified in high-risk families (36.5%). Pathogenic mutations were found in 23.3% of breast cancer families and in 59.4% of families with the occurrence of both breast and ovarian cancer. In addition, four mutations were detected in 31 (12.9%) women with early onset breast cancer. One mutation was detected in seven (14.3%) patients affected with both a primary breast and ovarian cancer and another in three (33.3%) patients with a bilateral breast cancer. A total of 3 mutations in BRCA1 were identified among 14 (21.4%) women with a medullary breast carcinoma. Of 151 analyzed individuals, 35 (23.2%) carried a BRCA1 mutation and 9 (6.0%) a BRCA2 mutation. One novel truncating mutation was found in BRCA1 (c.1747A>T) and two in BRCA2 (c.3939delC and c.5763dupT). The 35 identified BRCA1 mutations comprised 13 different alterations. Three recurrent mutations accounted for 71.4% of unrelated individuals with detected gene alterations. The BRCA1 c.5266dupC (5382insC) was detected in 51.4% of mutation positive women. The mutations c.3700_3704del5 and c.181T>G (300T>G) contributed to 11.4% and 8.6% of pathogenic mutations, respectively. A total of eight different mutations were identified in BRCA2. The novel c.5763dupT mutation, which appeared in two unrelated families, was the only recurrent alteration of the BRCA2 gene identified in this study. CONCLUSION: Mutational analysis of BRCA1/2 genes in 151 high-risk patients characterized the spectrum of gene alterations and demonstrated the dominant role of the BRCA1 c.5266dupC allele in hereditary breast and ovarian cancer

Fluorescence diagnosis of pre-tumor and tumor pathology of endometrium

The technique of fluorescence hysteroscopy with Alasens includes visual assessment of fluorescence of Alasens-induced protoporphyrin IX and local fluorescence spectroscopy. The technique allows to improve the efficacy of early diagnosis for endometrial pathology including early endometrial cancer, to assess definitely an extent of pre-tumor and tumor process. The sensitivity of fluorescence hysteroscopy accounts for 100%, the specificity – 98%. </p