Accurate measurement of the pulse wave delay with imaging photoplethysmography

© 2016 Optical Society of America.Assessment of the cardiovascular parameters using noncontact video-based or imaging photoplethysmography (IPPG) is usually considered as inaccurate because of strong influence of motion artefacts. To optimize this technique we performed a simultaneous recording of electrocardiogram and video frames of the face for 36 healthy volunteers. We found that signal disturbances originate mainly from the stochastically enhanced dichroic notch caused by endogenous cardiovascular mechanisms, with smaller contribution of the motion artefacts. Our properly designed algorithm allowed us to increase accuracy of the pulse-transit-time measurement and visualize propagation of the pulse wave in the facial region. Thus, the accurate measurement of the pulse wave parameters with this technique suggests a sensitive approach to assess local regulation of microcirculation in various physiological and pathological states

Armenia and Belarus: caught between the EU's and Russia's conditionalities?

This article looks into Armenia's and Belarus’ engagement with the European Union's (EU) and Russia's conditionalities, the two EU Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries that are also members of the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). While paying attention to political, economic (including energy and technical) as well as security dimensions of the EU's and Russia's approaches, as proposed in the present special section, the article demonstrates that the conditionalities extended by the EU and Russia to the two countries in question have differed. In their turn, Armenia and Belarus have reacted differently to Russia's and the EU's conditionalities. Against the backdrop of the changing significance ascribed to both the EU's and Russia's policies towards their common neighbourhood since the 1990s, the present contribution identifies and analyses factors that account for the diverging positions of Armenia and Belarus, including the type of regime, the geopolitical considerations, the stakes in the economic and energy spheres and the predisposition to integration. The article shows that in the resulting complex context, Armenia and Belarus have been able to influence the shape and content of the EU's and Russia's conditionalities, although in a different way and to a different extent.Ministry of Education and Science (UID/CPO/ 00758/2013

On inconsistency of experimental data on primary nuclei spectra with sea level muon intensity measurements

For the first time a complete set of the most recent direct data on primary cosmic ray spectra is used as input into calculations of muon flux at sea level in wide energy range $E_\mu=1-3\cdot10^5$ GeV. Computations have been performed with the CORSIKA/QGSJET and CORSIKA/VENUS codes. The comparison of the obtained muon intensity with the data of muon experiments shows, that measurements of primary nuclei spectra conform to sea level muon data only up to several tens of GeV and result in essential deficit of muons at higher energies. As it follows from our examination, uncertainties in muon flux measurements and in the description of nuclear cascades development are not suitable to explain this contradiction, and the only remaining factor, leading to this situation, is underestimation of primary light nuclei fluxes. We have considered systematic effects, that may distort the results of the primary cosmic ray measurements with the application of the emulsion chambers. We suggest, that re-examination of these measurements is required with the employment of different hadronic interaction models. Also, in our point of view, it is necessary to perform estimates of possible influence of the fact, that sizable fraction of events, identified as protons, actually are antiprotons. Study of these cosmic ray component begins to attract much attention, but today nothing definite is known for the energies $>40$ GeV. In any case, to realize whether the mentioned, or some other reasons are the sources of disagreement of the data on primaries with the data on muons, the indicated effects should be thoroughly analyzed

Течение и исходы острого коронарного синдрома в условиях новой коронавирусной инфекции COVID-19

Abstract We analyzed the clinical condition of patients with COVID-19 of varying severity, changes in instrumental and laboratory parameters, and assessed the impact of the severity of the course of a new coronavirus infection on the outcomes of acute coronary syndrome.AIM OF STUDY To study the mutual influence of acute coronary syndrome and the new coronavirus infection COVID-19 on the nature of the course and outcomes of the disease.Materia l and methods In March 21, 2020 – May 31, 2021, 3 625 patients were treated for COVID-19, including 131 patients with acute coronary syndrome due to COVID-19 disease. All patients underwent a number of studies: computed tomography of the chest, electrocardiography, echocardiography, monitoring of biomarkers of myocardial damage, diagnostic coronary angiography and, if necessary, intracoronary therapeutic intervention.Results Data on the distribution of patients with COVID-19 according to the presence or absence of ST segment elevation on the electrocardiogram and the degree of lung tissue damage, as well as information on mortality in these groups, are presented. The role of troponin I in the assessment of myocardial ischemia was analyzed. The direct dependence of its level on the volume of lung damage was found. The inverse relationship was shown between the degree of damage to the lung tissue and the indices of oxygen saturation in the blood. A poor prognostic value of low left ventricular ejection fraction in patients with COVID-19 disease has been described.Conclusions The development of acute coronary syndrome in the course of COVID-19 significantly worsens the prognosis of the disease, which requires the development of algorithms for providing medical care to patients in this category, as well as maximum vigilance in their treatment.ЦЕЛЬ ИССЛЕДОВАНИЯ Изучить взаимное влияние ОКС и НКИ COVID-19 на характер течения и исходы заболевания.МАТЕРИАЛ И МЕТОДЫ В ГБУЗ «НИИ СП им. Н.В. Склифосовского ДЗМ» с 21 марта 2020 по 31 мая 2021 года по поводу COVID-19 находились на лечении 3625 пациентов. В том числе по поводу ОКС на фоне заболевания COVID-19 госпитализирован 131 пациент. Всем больным был проведен ряд исследований: компьютерная томография органов грудной клетки, электрокардиография, эхокардиография, контроль биомаркеров повреждения миокарда, диагностическая коронароангиография и, при необходимости, интракоронарное лечебное вмешательство.РЕЗУЛЬТАТЫ Представлены данные о распределении больных COVID-19 по признаку наличия или отсутствия элевации сегмента ST на электрокардиограмме и степени поражения легочной ткани, а также сведения о летальности в данных группах. Проанализирована роль биомаркера тропонин I в оценке ишемии миокарда. Обнаружена прямая зависимость его уровня от объема повреждения легких. Показана обратная зависимость между степенью поражения легочной ткани и показателями сатурации кислорода в крови. Описано неблагоприятное прогностическое значение низкой фракции выброса левого желудочка у пациентов с заболеванием COVID-19.ЗАКЛЮЧЕНИЕ Развитие острого коронарного синдрома на фоне COVID-19 значительно ухудшает прогноз заболевания, что требует разработки алгоритмов оказания медицинской помощи больным этой категории, а также максимальной настороженности при их лечении

ЛЕГОЧНОЕ КРОВОТЕЧЕНИЕ: ЭНДОСКОПИЧЕСКАЯ ДИАГНОСТИКА И ЛЕЧЕНИЕ

In the article, we report the incidence and etiology of pulmonary hemorrhage, and modern classifications according to the literature data. Methods of endoscopic diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary hemorrhage are analyzed.В представленной статье на основе данных литературы приведены сведения о распространенности и этиологии легочных кровотечений (ЛК), изложены современные классификации. Проанализированы методы эндоскопической диагностики и лечения ЛК

Sexuality, rights and personhood: tensions in a transnational world

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This article discusses what happens when normative ‘global’ discourses of rights and individuated sexual identity confront the messiness of ‘local’ realities. It considers the tensions that emerge when the relationship between sexual and social identities is not obvious and the implications of such tensions for public health and sexual rights activism. These questions are addressed through debates over the naming of male-to-male sexualities and desires in the context of globalization and the growth of a large NGO (non-governmental organization) sector in urban Bangladesh.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The material in the paper draws on a research project undertaken in 2008-9 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. A fundamental objective was to produce a contextualized understanding of sexuality in Dhaka city. Methods used included structured interviews, focus group discussions and informal conversations with a range of participants (students, factory workers, public health professionals and sexual minorities). The aim was to generate a conceptual and analytical framework around sexuality and rights rather than to undertake an empirical survey of any one population.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>As descriptors, globalized identity categories such as Men who have Sex with Men (MSM), used by public health providers, the state and donors; and gay/lesbian, invoked by human rights activists and transnational NGOs, are too narrow to capture the fluid and highly context-specific ways in which gender and sexually nonconforming persons understand themselves in Bangladesh. Further, class position mediates to a significant degree the reception, appropriation or rejection of transnational categories such as MSM and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT). The tension is reflected in the sometimes fraught relations between service providers to MSM, the people they serve and an emerging group who identify as LGBT.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A simple politics of recognition will be inadequate to the task of promoting health and human rights for all; such a strategy would effectively exclude individuals who do not necessarily connect their sexual practices with a specific sexual or social identity.</p