Secondary Prevention and Quality of Life of Patients with Stable Coronary Heart Disease

Aim. To assess the quality of life of patients with stable coronary heart disease (CHD) initially and 12 months after drug and non-drug secondary prophylaxis according to clinical guidelines.Material and methods. 73 patients (57 men, 16 women) with confirmed stable coronary artery disease were included in the study, of which 44 patients described a clinic for angina pectoris of functional class I-IV. The study included 2 patient visits: an initial treatment visit (V0) and a repeat visit after 12 months (V2). At both visits, blood pressure (BP), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c), quality of life (QL) were assessed using SAQ (Seattle Angina Questionnaire), drug therapy. Compliance with 5 basic principles of prevention was also assessed, which included: (1) healthy lifestyle (healthy lifestyle) (rejection of bad habits (smoking), moderate physical activity, lowcholesterol and low-carb diet); (2) normalization of body weight; (3) optimal drug therapy (the frequency of taking medications was evaluated using the original questionnaire); (4) achievement of target values of LDL-c in the entire group; (5) blood pressure in hypertensive patients. During V0, if necessary, drug therapy was adjusted in accordance with clinical recommendations. During V2, 57 patients (47 men and 10 women) were examined. The response was 80.8%.Results. After 12 months of follow-up, a statistically significant improvement in exercise tolerance (p=0.003), angina stability index (p=0.045) and the frequency of stress angina attacks (p=0.003) was noted when assessing the median of QL indicators. After 12 months of follow-up, 59% of patients used optimal drug therapy, including 4 drugs according to clinical guidelines. A healthy lifestyle (regular physical activity and smoking cessation) was achieved in 20.4% after 12 months of follow-up, the target level of LDL-c ˂ 1.8 mmol/L was achieved in 44.5% of patients, and the target blood pressure was achieved in 74,6%. The achievement of all 5 principles of secondary prevention of coronary heart disease according to the results of the work carried out by the visit after 12 months of follow-up was revealed only in 7% of patients (4 patients), and the implementation of 4 principles of prevention was noted in a quarter of patients from the group (24.5%, n=14).Conclusions. With drug and non-drug secondary prevention of coronary heart disease in patients with stable CHD after a year of follow-up, a statistically significant increase in QL indicators was noted due to increased exercise tolerance and a decrease in the frequency of angina attacks. Nevertheless, the basic principles of prevention were fully implemented only in 7% of patients

THE USE OF FIBERGLASS POSTS FOR THE RESTORATION OF DAMAGED TEETH

<p><i><strong>Abstract</strong></i></p><p><i>An assessment was made of the quality of restoration of the crowns of pulpless teeth using glass fiber pin constructions from Glassix, which were fixed on a flowable photopolymer composite using various light guides. The length to which the Dentsply liquid SDR filling material polymerizes in the root canal was determined when using modified and conventional light guides for polymerization.</i></p><p><strong>References:</strong></p><ol><li>BiomechanicalEvaluation of a Tooth Restored with High Performance Polymer PEKK Post-Core System: A 3D Finite Element Analysis / Ki-Sun Lee, Joo-HeeShin, JongEun Kim [et al. ] // BioMed Research International. - 2017. - Article ID 1373127. - P.9.</li><li>Grjutcner A. Tekuchij kompozit JesDiAr- umnyj zamenitel' dentina / A. Grjutcner // DentArt. –– 2011. –– №2. –– S. 45-52.</li><li>Zakon Ukrainy «O gosudarstvennyh sanitarnyh normah i pravilah» ot 11 avgusta 2014 g. № 552 [Jelektronnyj resurs]. Rezhim dostupa: http://zakon2.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/z1067-14#n18.</li><li>Popovich I.Ju. Biofizicheskie osnovy restavracii koronok Devital'nye frontal'nye zuby: avtoref. dis. na soiskanie nauch. stepeni kand. med. nauk: spec. 14.01.22 "Stomatologija" / I.Ju. Popovich. – Poltava, 2009. –155 s.</li></ol&gt

Effects of Novel Photosynthetic Inhibitor [CuL₂]Br₂ Complex on Photosystem II Activity in Spinach

The effects of the novel [CuL2]Br2 complex (L = bis{4H-1,3,5-triazino [2,1-b]benzothiazole-2-amine,4-(2-imidazole)}copper(II) bromide complex) on the photosystem II (PSII) activity of PSII membranes isolated from spinach were studied. The absence of photosynthetic oxygen evolution by PSII membranes without artificial electron acceptors, but in the presence of [CuL2]Br2, has shown that it is not able to act as a PSII electron acceptor. In the presence of artificial electron acceptors, [CuL2]Br2 inhibits photosynthetic oxygen evolution. [CuL2]Br2 also suppresses the photoinduced changes of the PSII chlorophyll fluorescence yield (FV) related to the photoreduction of the primary quinone electron acceptor, QA. The inhibition of both characteristic PSII reactions depends on [CuL2]Br2 concentration. At all studied concentrations of [CuL2]Br2, the decrease in the FM level occurs exclusively due to a decrease in Fv. [CuL2]Br2 causes neither changes in the F0 level nor the retardation of the photoinduced rise in FM, which characterizes the efficiency of the electron supply from the donor-side components to QA through the PSII reaction center (RC). Artificial electron donors (sodium ascorbate, DPC, Mn2+) do not cancel the inhibitory effect of [CuL2]Br2. The dependences of the inhibitory efficiency of the studied reactions of PSII on [CuL2]Br2 complex concentration practically coincide. The inhibition constant Ki is about 16 µM, and logKi is 4.8. As [CuL2]Br2 does not change the aromatic amino acids’ intrinsic fluorescence of the PSII protein components, it can be proposed that [CuL2]Br2 has no significant effect on the native state of PSII proteins. The results obtained in the present study are compared to the literature data concerning the inhibitory effects of PSII Cu(II) aqua ions and Cu(II)-organic complexes

Biohybrid solar cells: Fundamentals, progress, and challenges

Over the last two decades many reports have been published on diverse types of biohybrid electrodes utilizing components of the photosynthetic apparatus. Currently, the development of such devices does not extend beyond laboratory research. In the future, these electrodes could be used in biosensors, solar cells, and as a new technique to investigate photosynthetic pigment-protein complexes. Efficiency of light-to-current conversion is particularly important for solar cell applications. Selection of a suitable substrate for special pigment-protein complexes is a significant challenge for building an inexpensive and efficient device. Various combinations of pigment-protein complexes and substrates, as well as different measurement conditions make it difficult to directly compare performance of various solar cells. However, it has been shown, that one of the possible substrate materials, namely nanostructured TiO2, is the most preferred material for the immobilization of pigment-protein complexes in terms of both cost and efficiency. The photocurrent values reaching several mA, were reported for TiO2-based biohybrid electrodes. However, the efficiency of TiO2-based biohybrid is still far from its potential maximum value due to fundamental challenges related to designing an optimum interface between TiO2 nanostructure and pigment-protein complexes containing electron transferring cofactors. To date, counterproductive back reactions, also referred to as charge recombination, still dominate and lower internal quantum efficiency of these systems. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Influence of osmolytes on the stability of thylakoid-based dye-sensitized solar cells

In recent years, there has been considerable interest in incorporating naturally occurring components of the photosynthetic apparatus into man-made solar cells, because of the high quantum efficiency of photosynthetic reaction centers. One hurdle to overcome regarding the use of native membranes in these devices is their limited lifespans. In this study, we used stabilizers to increase the long-term viability of biomolecules in vitro, thereby alleviating this challenge. In this regard, it is known that osmolytes, such as glycine betaine (GB) and sucrose, preserve photosynthetic activity in isolated photosystems. Upon investigation of the thermal protection properties of GB and sucrose in thylakoid-based dye-sensitized solar cells, we report that the addition of GB and sucrose to the thylakoid photosensitizer maintains nonzero photocurrent in the thylakoid-based solar cell upon heating to 50 degrees C. At 50 degrees C, the GB-containing cell displayed about a fourfold increase in photocurrent than the control cell, in which the photocurrent was decreased to nearly zero. The addition of 0.5M and 1M sucrose has respectively caused nearly 40% and 70% increases in photoinduced electron transfer activity over the control at 35 degrees C. Similarly, though to a lesser extent, 1M GB caused an approximate 40% increase in electron transfer activity as well. Moving forward, this approach will be extended to alternative membrane protein isolation strategies, allowing for an accurate comparison with traditional detergent-isolated complexes, with the ultimate goal of developing a cost-effective and sustainable solar cell

Genome diversity and evidence of recombination and reassortment in nanoviruses from Europe

The recent identification of a new nanovirus, pea necrotic yellow dwarf virus, from pea in Germany prompted us to survey wild and cultivated legumes for nanovirus infections in several European countries. This led to the identification of two new nanoviruses black medic leaf roll virus (BMLRV) and pea yellow stunt virus (PYSV), each considered a putative new species. The complete genomes of a PYSV isolate from Austria and three BMLRV isolates from Austria, Azerbaijan and Sweden were sequenced. In addition, the genomes of five isolates of faba bean necrotic yellows virus (FBNYV) from Azerbaijan and Spain and those of four faba bean necrotic stunt virus (FBNSV) isolates from Azerbaijan were completely sequenced, leading to the first identification of FBNSV occurring in Europe. Sequence analyses uncovered evolutionary relationships, extensive reassortment and potential remnants of mixed nanovirus infections, as well as intra- and intercomponent recombination events within the nanovirus genomes. In some virus isolates, diverse types of the same genome component (paralogues) were observed, a type of genome complexity not described previously for any member of the family Nanoviridae. Moreover, infectious and aphid-transmissible nanoviruses from cloned genomic DNAs of FBNYV and BMLRV were reconstituted that, for the first time, allow experimental reassortments for studying the genome functions and evolution of these nanoviruses. © 2014 The Authors