The crystalline alkaloid of calycanthus glaucus

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Creative tourism in Saint Petersburg: the state of the art

Tourism development in St. Petersburg, which is a major cultural centre, has improved in terms of tourist flows; both tourism demand and tourist products have become more diverse. These improvements give grounds for a fairly optimistic prognosis for the tourist industry in St. Petersburg. At the same time, there are a number of factors which may endanger sustainable development of tourism in St. Petersburg. The current situation calls for a more flexible and innovative approach to industry development. Among these factors are the pronounced seasonal character of tourism, the short-term visits of most of the tourists, and the rather conservative, academic cultural image of St. Petersburg, which compromises the city’s appeal as a destination for certain tourist segments. Another critical limitation on the development of cultural tourism in general and of creative tourism in particular is the low involvement of the population in cultural and tourist events held in the city. This makes it relevant to look for new approaches for creative tourism development in St. Petersburg as an important tool for the sustainable development of the industry. This article considers the existing and potential competitive advantages of St. Petersburg as a tourist destination on the basis of creative tourism development

Urinary clusterin and cystatin B as biomarkers of tubular injury in dogs following envenomation by the European adder

Diagnosing acute kidney injury remains a challenge since the established renal biomarkers, serum creatinine (sCr) and symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA) reflect glomerular function and not tubular injury. Sensitive tubular markers such as urinary clusterin (uClust) and cystatin B (uCysB) have been proposed to detect AKI at an earlier stage. Since envenomation by the European adder (Vipera berus berus) could serve as a spontaneous disease model of AKI we investigated these new biomarkers in affected dogs. Concentrations of uClust and uCysB as well as sCr and SDMA were analyzed retrospectively in stored samples from 26 dogs with snake envenomation and 13 healthy controls. Higher concentrations of uClust (P <0.012) and uCysB (P <0.001) were observed in the snake-envenomed group. Normalization of uClust and uCysB to urinary creatinine did not alter the results. No differences were observed in sCr and SDMA between the snake-envenomed group and the healthy control group. Spearman rank correlation analysis revealed a strong association of uClust with uCysB in the snake-envenomed dogs (r = 0.75 P <0.001) but not in the healthy controls. The high percentage of snake-envenomed dogs with increased uClust and uCysB concentrations in the absence of increased sCr and SDMA suggests renal tubular injury in the affected dogs. Larger prospective case-controlled studies are warranted to evaluate the clinical utility and prognostic value of these biomarkers.Peer reviewe

Creative tourism in Saint Petersburg: the state of the art

Tourism development in St. Petersburg, which is a major cultural centre, has improved in terms of tourist flows; both tourism demand and tourist products have become more diverse. These improvements give grounds for a fairly optimistic prognosis for the tourist industry in St. Petersburg. At the same time, there are a number of factors which may endanger sustainable development of tourism in St. Petersburg. The current situation calls for a more flexible and innovative approach to industry development. Among these factors are the pronounced seasonal character of tourism, the short-term visits of most of the tourists, and the rather conservative, academic cultural image of St. Petersburg, which compromises the city’s appeal as a destination for certain tourist segments. Another critical limitation on the development of cultural tourism in general and of creative tourism in particular is the low involvement of the population in cultural and tourist events held in the city. This makes it relevant to look for new approaches for creative tourism development in St. Petersburg as an important tool for the sustainable development of the industry. This article considers the existing and potential competitive advantages of St. Petersburg as a tourist destination on the basis of creative tourism development

A thermoplastic vest to prevent self mutilation in experimental flap surgery in rats

Poster presented at: 8th International Conference on Head and Neck Cancer in Toronto, Canada. Introduction: Rats are frequently utilized for both research and training related to reconstructive head and neck surgery. The femoral neurovascular complex represents a useful mode for microvascular anastomosis, both for the purposes of testing adjuncts designed to improve anastomotic patency rates, as well as for residents and students to gain experience in microvascular surgery outside the operating room. Additionally, the rat proves useful in investigations examining the survivability of both random and axial pattern skin flaps

Crescimento inicial de pinhão-manso sob efeito de calagem e adubação, em solos de Mato Grosso do Sul.

bitstream/item/66215/1/32010.pdfFERTBIO

“Идя ко святому Иакову”: древнерусское граффито XII в. в Аквитании

In 2015 in Pons, in the former province of Saintonge, an Old Russian pilgrim graffito was found on the wall of the parish church of St. Vivien, a monument of the mid-12th century. It is the second graffito found in France after the one discovered at St. Gilles Abbey. The town of Pons is located on the westernmost route of Santiago de Compostela (via Turonensis) and is noteworthy because of the preserved pilgrim almshouse of the latter half of the 12th century. On the walls of its long archway are horseshoe drawings made by medieval pilgrims, the latest of which, dating from the 16th–17th centuries, bends around a name that is also apparently written in Cyrillic script. The earlier inscription, which appears at the base of the northern end wall of the original façade of the St. Vivien church, is made in the name of one Ivan Zavidovich: “Ivano ps[а]lo Zavi|doviche ida ko | svętomu Ię|kovu” (= ‘Ivan Zavidovich wrote this when going to Saint James’). The most probable palaeographic dating is in the 1160s–1180s. As suggested by birch bark manuscripts, the name of Ivan’s father, Zavid, was popular among Novgorod boyars. Novgorod is also the place with the greatest indirect evidence of the occurrence in Old Russia of the western cult of St. James. This well preserved inscription is an important epigraphic discovery, but its main value lies in the direct evidence of pilgrimages by Russians to the shrine of St. James in Galicia.В 2015 г. в городе Понсе, в бывшей провинции Сентонж, на стене приходской церкви Сен-Вивьен, памятника середины XII в., было обнаружено древнерусское паломническое граффито. Это вторая после граффито из аббатства Сен-Жиль подобная находка во Франции. Стоящий на самом западном пути в Сантьяго-де-Компостела (via Turonensis) г. Понс интересен сохранившимся в нем паломническим госпиталем второй половины XII в. На стенах его длинной проходной арки — вырезанные средневековыми пилигримами подковы, наиболее поздняя из которых обрамляет имя, очевидно, также написанное кириллицей (XVI–XVII вв.). Надпись в основании северного торца первоначального фасада церкви Сен-Вивьен сделана от лица некоего Ивана Завидовича: “Ивано ѱ҃ло Зави\довиче ида ко\ свѧтомоу Иѧ\ковоу”. Ее наиболее вероятная палеографическая датировка — 1160–80-е гг. По данным берестяных грамот и летописей имя отца Ивана Завид было популярно в среде новгородского боярства. С Новгородом же связано и наибольшее число косвенных свидетельств проникновения на Русь западного культа апостола Иакова Старшего. Хорошая сохранность надписи делает ее важной эпиграфической находкой, однако главная ее ценность состоит в прямом документальном доказательстве факта хождения древнерусских паломников к мощам святого Иакова в Галисию

In vitro bio-functional performances of the novel superelastic beta-type Ti-23Nb-0.7Ta-2Zr-0.5N alloy

International audienceThe materials used for internal fracture fixations and joint replacements are mainly made of metals which still face problems ranging from higher rigidity than that of natural bone to leaching cytotoxic metallic ions. Beta (β)-type titanium alloys with low elastic modulus made from non-toxic and non-allergenic elements are desirable to reduce stress shielding effect and enhance bone remodeling. In this work, a new β-type Ti-23Nb-0.7Ta-2Zr-0.5N alloy with a Young's modulus of approximately 50 GPa was designed and characterized. The behavior of MC3T3-E1 pre-osteoblasts on the new alloy, including adhesion, proliferation and differentiation, was evaluated by examining the cytoskeleton, focal adhesion formation, metabolic activity and extracellular matrix mineralization. Results indicated that the pre-osteoblast cells exhibited a similar degree of attachment and growth on Ti-23Nb-0.7Ta-2Zr-0.5N and Ti-6Al-4V. However, the novel alloy proved to be significantly more efficient in sustaining mineralized matrix deposition upon osteogenic induction of the cells than Ti-6Al-4V control. Further, analysis of RAW 264.7 macrophages cytokine gene and protein expression indicated no significant inflammatory response. Collectively, these findings suggest that the Ti-23Nb-0.7Ta-2Zr-0.5N alloy, which has an increased mechanical biocompatibility with bone, allows a better osteogenic differentiation of osteoblast precursor cells than Ti-6Al-4V and holds great potential for future clinical prosthetic applications