Quiz of students about the education quality on department of microbiology, virology and immunology

We analyzed the students’ satisfaction about the education quality on department of microbiology, virology and immunology in 2017-2018 academic year. Students evaluated quality of lectures and seminars, convenience of the education schedule and representation of the educational material on the departmentВ статье приведен анализ степени удовлетворенности студентов всех факультетов в 2017-2018 учебном году качеством обучения на кафедре микробиологии, вирусологии и иммунологии Уральского государственного медицинского университета и оценки их готовности применять полученные знания для успешного усвоения последующих дисциплин. Были проанализированы следующие показатели: удовлетворенность студентов лекционным курсом, удовлетворенность планом и проведением практических занятий, качеством методического сопровождением изучаемых на кафедре дисциплин, качеством представления материалов на сайт

Modern educational technologies in teaching microbiology, virology and immunology

New Federal Educational Standards of higher professional education for medical specialties, introduced in 2011, imply enhanced usage of new educational technologies, including those based on IT. One of the actual problems caused by introduction of modern technologies is quality assessment of teaching. The quality of teaching based on IT in the course of microbiology, virology and immunology was estimated by quantitative approach using the level of students' satisfaction revealed by questionnaire. Students from several faculties were polled at the second and at the third year of study. It was established that introduction of modern educational technologies improves the quality of perception and learning of educational materials.Новые федеральные государственные образовательные стандарты высшего профессионального образования по медицинским специальностям, введенные в действие в 2011 году, предусматривают широкое использование в образовательном процессе новых, в том числе компьютерных технологий. Определение удовлетворенности обучающихся качеством преподавания дисциплин с применением современных технологий является актуальным. Проведено анкетирование студентов 2-3 курсов разных факультетов с целью выяснения качества восприятия и усвоения учебных материалов по микробиологии, вирусологии и иммунологии. Установлено, что использование современных образовательных технологий повышает заинтересованность студентов в образовательном процессе, что благоприятно отражается на уровне усвоения программного материала

First Results from the AMoRE-Pilot neutrinoless double beta decay experiment

The Advanced Molybdenum-based Rare process Experiment (AMoRE) aims to search for neutrinoless double beta decay (0$\nu\beta\beta$) of $^{100}$Mo with $\sim$100 kg of $^{100}$Mo-enriched molybdenum embedded in cryogenic detectors with a dual heat and light readout. At the current, pilot stage of the AMoRE project we employ six calcium molybdate crystals with a total mass of 1.9 kg, produced from $^{48}$Ca-depleted calcium and $^{100}$Mo-enriched molybdenum ($^{48\textrm{depl}}$Ca$^{100}$MoO$_4$). The simultaneous detection of heat(phonon) and scintillation (photon) signals is realized with high resolution metallic magnetic calorimeter sensors that operate at milli-Kelvin temperatures. This stage of the project is carried out in the Yangyang underground laboratory at a depth of 700 m. We report first results from the AMoRE-Pilot $0\nu\beta\beta$ search with a 111 kg$\cdot$d live exposure of $^{48\textrm{depl}}$Ca$^{100}$MoO$_4$ crystals. No evidence for $0\nu\beta\beta$ decay of $^{100}$Mo is found, and a upper limit is set for the half-life of 0$\nu\beta\beta$ of $^{100}$Mo of $T^{0\nu}_{1/2} > 9.5\times10^{22}$ y at 90% C.L.. This limit corresponds to an effective Majorana neutrino mass limit in the range $\langle m_{\beta\beta}\rangle\le(1.2-2.1)$ eV

Epidemic process of influenza in Yekaterinburg, Russian Federation, in 2016-2017

The article presents the results of an epidemiological observational study of the respiratory infection morbidity, estimation of the morbidity rates, the duration of the epidemic in Yekaterinburg in 2016 and 2017 for various age groups and the etiological decoding of the infectious agents that caused a rise in the incidence of these infections in a city hospital performed using laboratory techniques. The laboratory assessment showed that Hong Kong influenza virus A (H3N2) was predominant in the study period.Целью исследования являлась оценка эпидемического процесса гриппа в эпидсезон 2016-2017 г.г. в г. Екатеринбурге по результатам регистрируемой заболеваемости и лабораторной диагностики выявленных случаев заболеваний. В статье представлены результаты эпидемиологического наблюдения за заболеваемостью острыми респираторными вирусными инфекциями, расчет интенсивных показателей заболеваемости, продолжительность эпидемии в различных возрастных группах в эпидсезон 2016-2017 гг. в г. Екатеринбурге и этиологическая расшифровка лабораторными методами инфекционных агентов, послуживших причиной подъема заболеваемости данными инфекциями в городском стационаре. Лабораторные исследования показали, что в указанный период доминировал вирус гриппа A(H3N2) гонконгской линии

Mapping social work across 10 countries: Structure, intervention, identity and challenges

An emerging global consciousness and rising attention given to international social work development has seen the recognition of comparative research within the profession. Understanding the functioning and organisation of social work within various country contexts is critical in order to formulate knowledge around its overall impact, successes and challenges, allowing social workers to learn from one another and build professional consolidation. The profession is mapped out in 10 countries, reflecting on its structure, identity and development. Although the profession is developing globally, it is also experiencing significant challenges. Key insights, conclusions and recommendations for future research are presented

Genetic diversity of Escherichia coli in gut microbiota of patients with Crohn's disease discovered using metagenomic and genomic analyses

© 2018 The Author(s). Background: Crohn's disease is associated with gut dysbiosis. Independent studies have shown an increase in the abundance of certain bacterial species, particularly Escherichia coli with the adherent-invasive pathotype, in the gut. The role of these species in this disease needs to be elucidated. Methods: We performed a metagenomic study investigating the gut microbiota of patients with Crohn's disease. A metagenomic reconstruction of the consensus genome content of the species was used to assess the genetic variability. Results: The abnormal shifts in the microbial community structures in Crohn's disease were heterogeneous among the patients. The metagenomic data suggested the existence of multiple E. coli strains within individual patients. We discovered that the genetic diversity of the species was high and that only a few samples manifested similarity to the adherent-invasive varieties. The other species demonstrated genetic diversity comparable to that observed in the healthy subjects. Our results were supported by a comparison of the sequenced genomes of isolates from the same microbiota samples and a meta-analysis of published gut metagenomes. Conclusions: The genomic diversity of Crohn's disease-associated E. coli within and among the patients paves the way towards an understanding of the microbial mechanisms underlying the onset and progression of the Crohn's disease and the development of new strategies for the prevention and treatment of this disease

European registry on the management of helicobacter pylori infection (HP-EUREG protocol): The first results of Russian centers

Aim: To assess the clinical practice of diagnosis and treatment in patients with Helicobacter pylori infection and to compare this practice with the international guidelines in the European Registry on the management of Helicobacter pylori infection, Hp-EuReg protocol), a multicenter prospective observational study initiated by the European Helicobacter and Microbiota Study Group. Materials and methods: The data of 813 patients infected with H. pylori and entered in the Hp-EuReg register by the Russian centers in 2013-2015 were analyzed. Results: The most common methods for the primary diagnosis of H. pylori infection are histology (40.3%), rapid urease test (35.7%), and serology (17.2%). The duration of H. pylori eradication therapy was 7, 10, and 14 days in 18.0, 49.3, and 25.1%, respectively. To monitor the effectiveness of treatment, the investigators used a histological examination (34%), a urea breath test (27.3%), H. pylori stool antigen (22.8%), and a rapid urease test (16.3%). A serological test was carried out in 2.5% of the cases. No monitoring was done in 13.5% of the patients. The average eradication efficiency was 82.6%. If the therapy was ineffective, 80% of physicians did not intend to prescribe a new cycle of treatment. Conclusion: Significant differences were found between clinical practice and the current guidelines

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival