Judicial protection of environmental rights in the Russian Federation: constitutional and legal basis

The article deals with the problems of determining the nature of environmental rights and the procedure for their protection. The article presents an analysis of the constitutional provisions and norms of the current Russian legislation in the environmental sphere. It is noted that environmental offenses related to the failure of public authorities to fulfil their constitutional and legal obligations in the environmental field should be considered by courts of general jurisdiction according to the rules of administrative proceedings. The idea of creating a system of specialized environmental courts, expressed in science, has been criticized. It is proposed to involve an expert in the case of difficulties in the consideration of cases of environmental violations

Contractile Behavior of Right Atrial Myocardium of Healthy Rats and Rats with the Experimental Model of Pulmonary Hypertension

There is a lack of data about the contractile behavior of the right atrial myocardium in chronic pulmonary heart disease. We thoroughly characterized the contractility and Ca transient of isolated right atrial strips of healthy rats (CONT) and rats with the experimental model of monocrotaline-induced pulmonary hypertension (MCT) in steady state at different preloads (isometric force-length), during slow force response to stretch (SFR), and during post-rest potentiation after a period of absence of electrical stimulation (PRP). The preload-dependent changes in the isometric twitch and Ca transient did not differ between CONT and MCT rats while the kinetics of the twitch and Ca transient were noticeably slowed down in the MCT rats. The magnitude of SFR was significantly elevated in the MCT right atrial strips and this was accompanied by the significantly higher elevation of the Ca transient relative amplitude at the end of SFR. The slow changes in the contractility and Ca transient in the PRP protocol did not differ between CONT and MCT. In conclusion, the alterations in the contractility and Ca transient of the right atrial myocardium of monocrotaline-treated rats with pulmonary hypertension mostly concern the elevation in SFR. We hypothesize that this positive inotropic effect in the atrial myocardium may (partly) compensate the systolic deficiency of the right ventricular failing myocardium

Sustainable management of municipal solid waste: a systematic approach and legal challenges

The problem of sustainable management of municipal solid waste at the legal and organizational levels both in the Russian Federation and in the world is now coming to the fore and requires immediate solutions. After analyzing the documents of strategic planning and other normative legal acts, the authors of the article attempt to consider current legal problems in the field under study in an interesting aspect of the modern state environmental policy of Russia, which implements the UN sustainable development goals in the environmental direction. The authors make judgments that a successful environmental policy aimed at achieving the UN sustainable development goals in the field of waste management and production is possible only if a systematic approach to the implementation of environmental legislation is implemented and should be based on the principles of efficiency, expediency, and others. In conclusion, a number of conclusions are drawn about the legal acts adopted in the Russian Federation and the organizational measures implemented to help solve various problems related to the sustainable development of the most important segment of the economy and the environment – waste disposal and recycling, reducing their volume and the possibility of secondary use

Optimizing the Composition of the Substrate Enhances the Performance of Peroxidase-like Nanozymes in Colorimetric Assays: A Case Study of Prussian Blue and 3,3′-Diaminobenzidine

One of the emerging trends in modern analytical and bioanalytical chemistry involves the substitution of enzyme labels (such as horseradish peroxidase) with nanozymes (nanoparticles possessing enzyme-like catalytic activity). Since enzymes and nanozymes typically operate through different catalytic mechanisms, it is expected that optimal reaction conditions will also differ. The optimization of substrates for nanozymes usually focuses on determining the ideal pH and temperature. However, in some cases, even this step is overlooked, and commercial substrate formulations designed for enzymes are utilized. This paper demonstrates that not only the pH but also the composition of the substrate buffer, including the buffer species and additives, significantly impact the analytical signal generated by nanozymes. The presence of enhancers such as imidazole in commercial substrates diminishes the catalytic activity of nanozymes, which is demonstrated herein through the use of 3,3′-diaminobenzidine (DAB) and Prussian Blue as a model chromogenic substrate and nanozyme. Conversely, a simple modification to the substrate buffer greatly enhances the performance of nanozymes. Specifically, in this paper, it is demonstrated that buffers such as citrate, MES, HEPES, and TRIS, containing 1.5–2 M NaCl or NH4Cl, substantially increase DAB oxidation by Prussian Blue and yield a higher signal compared to commercial DAB formulations. The central message of this paper is that the optimization of substrate composition should be an integral step in the development of nanozyme-based assays. Herein, a step-by-step optimization of the DAB substrate composition for Prussian Blue nanozymes is presented. The optimized substrate outperforms commercial formulations in terms of efficiency. The effectiveness of the optimized DAB substrate is affirmed through its application in several commonly used immunostaining techniques, including tissue staining, Western blotting assays of immunoglobulins, and dot blot assays of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2

Optimization of the diaminobenzidine substrate composition improves the performance of peroxidase-like Prussian Blue nanozymes in colorimetric assays

One of the emerging trends in modern analytical and bioanalytical chemistry is the substitution of enzyme labels, such as horseradish peroxidase, with nanozymes — nanoparticles that possess enzyme-like catalytic activity. Since enzymes and nanozymes typically have different catalytic mechanisms, it is expected that the optimal reaction conditions will also differ. The objective of this paper was to optimize the diaminobenzidine (DAB) chromogenic substrate to enhance the performance of Prussian Blue nanozymes in immunostaining applications. We elucidated that enhancers (such as imidazole), which are typically added to commercial DAB substrate solutions to boost the color signal generated by peroxidase, can suppress the activity of nanozymes. This issue can be resolved by optimizing a nanozyme-specific substrate buffer composition. More specifically, we demonstrated that buffers such as citrate, MES, HEPES, and TRIS containing 1.5-2 M NaCl or NH4Cl substantially increase DAB oxidation by Prussian Blue and provide a higher signal than commercial DAB formulations. Moreover, the composition of the substrate solution (type of buffer, ionic strength, additives) affects signal intensity to the same degree as buffer pH. Tuning the substrate buffer composition is, therefore, a simple and efficient way of signal amplification in nanozyme-based assays. Optimized DAB substrate formulations were applied to Prussian Blue-based tissue staining, western blotting assay of immunoglobulins, and dot blot assay of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2