Civil society in East Central Europe: between theoretical conceptualisation and historical contextualisation

This essay offers an analysis of arguments by Ernest Gellner, Jeno Szucz and George Shopflin. Considering civil society as a historical phenomenon, these authors attempt to clarify its essence by tracing the emergence of civil society in Western Europe, and then by employing comparative method, to explain its 'weakness' (or even its failure 'to emerge') in East Central Europe. The essay questions the efficiency of this type of analysis for understanding the phenomenon of civil society. It argues that the inefficiency of macro- and meso-scale analysis of civil society calls for a micro-scale reconsideration and a greater historical contextualisation of sociological and theoretical enquiries, and for a more informed dialogue between history and theory of civil society

Numerical Simulation of Electrochemical Processes at a Tubular Electrode. Application to Spectroscopy

A model of spectroelectrochemical cell design based on a tubular working electrode with optical fibers connected to a spectrometer entering it from two ends is built. Both current and absorbance responses of the cell are numerically simulated and the operation regimes are determined in terms of ranges of governing parameters for chronoamperometry and linear sweep voltammetry

Modelling Complex Chemical Processes in Homogeneous Solutions: Automatic Numerical Simulation

Two algorithms for the determination of the necessary limit of local error for the numerical solution of ordinary differential equation (ODE) systems describing homogeneous chemical and biochemical processes, and for the evaluation of their stiffness are developed. The approach for finding the necessary limit of local error of a numerical ODE solver is justified by the proof of the corresponding theorems. The application of the new algorithms implemented in version 2.1 of KinFitSim software to the simulation of real chemical systems is considered on the example of Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction

Cadherin composition and multicellular aggregate invasion in organotypic models of epithelial ovarian cancer intraperitoneal metastasis.

During epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) progression, intraperitoneally disseminating tumor cells and multicellular aggregates (MCAs) present in ascites fluid adhere to the peritoneum and induce retraction of the peritoneal mesothelial monolayer prior to invasion of the collagen-rich submesothelial matrix and proliferation into macro-metastases. Clinical studies have shown heterogeneity among EOC metastatic units with respect to cadherin expression profiles and invasive behavior; however, the impact of distinct cadherin profiles on peritoneal anchoring of metastatic lesions remains poorly understood. In the current study, we demonstrate that metastasis-associated behaviors of ovarian cancer cells and MCAs are influenced by cellular cadherin composition. Our results show that mesenchymal N-cadherin-expressing (Ncad+) cells and MCAs invade much more efficiently than E-cadherin-expressing (Ecad+) cells. Ncad+ MCAs exhibit rapid lateral dispersal prior to penetration of three-dimensional collagen matrices. When seeded as individual cells, lateral migration and cell-cell junction formation precede matrix invasion. Neutralizing the Ncad extracellular domain with the monoclonal antibody GC-4 suppresses lateral dispersal and cell penetration of collagen gels. In contrast, use of a broad-spectrum matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) inhibitor (GM6001) to block endogenous membrane type 1 matrix metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP) activity does not fully inhibit cell invasion. Using intact tissue explants, Ncad+ MCAs were also shown to efficiently rupture peritoneal mesothelial cells, exposing the submesothelial collagen matrix. Acquisition of Ncad by Ecad+ cells increased mesothelial clearance activity but was not sufficient to induce matrix invasion. Furthermore, co-culture of Ncad+ with Ecad+ cells did not promote a 'leader-follower' mode of collective cell invasion, demonstrating that matrix remodeling and creation of invasive micro-tracks are not sufficient for cell penetration of collagen matrices in the absence of Ncad. Collectively, our data emphasize the role of Ncad in intraperitoneal seeding of EOC and provide the rationale for future studies targeting Ncad in preclinical models of EOC metastasis

Assessing significance of peripheral blood indicators for differential diagnosis and prognosis of thrombotic complications in polycythemia vera and secondary erythrocytosis.

The aim of the study – determining of changes in peripheral blood (PB) in patients with secondary erythrocytosis (SE) and polycythemia vera (PV), detection of discriminatory parameters levels of PB indicators and analyzing of their operating characteristics for differentiation of erythrocytosis and predicting of thrombotic events in patients with PV. Materials and methods. The material for the study was the results of clinical trials of 210 patients with erythrocytosis who underwent differential diagnosis between PV and SE. Results and discussion. The optimal threshold for differential diagnosis of red blood cells content between PV and SE is >6.08•1012/ L, the diagnostic value of the marker equals to the level of a good diagnostic marker (AUC=0.82; 95% CI=0.77-0.87, p <0.0001). Hematocrit threshold is >57.5% with its capacity – 0.72 (0.66-0.78, p <0.0001), that corresponds to the level of a middle diagnostic marker. The most pathognomonic section of white blood cells (WBC) to differentiate erythrocytosis is >8.9•109/L, and the boundary of marker is consistent with a good level of efficiency (AUC=0.79, 95% CI=0.72-0.84, p<0.0001). The efficiency criterion "platelets >287•109 /L" to differentiate erythrocytosis is 0.90 (0.86-0.94, p <0.0001).The predicting effectiveness of cardiovascular events with help of criterion "hematocrit >55%" and "WBC >12.3•109 /L", according to the AUC (AUC=0.65; 95% CI=0.52-0.79, p=0.021 and AUC=0.66; 95% CI=0.55-0.77, p=0.003, respectively), corresponds to the average power level. Conclusion. Hemoglobin has not confirmed its value for the differential diagnosis between PV and SE. Using other parameters of PB with the aim of differentiating PV and SE is rational, but their discriminatory power levels greatly depend on the group erythrocytosis. In our cohort were obtained the following most appropriate criteria for inclusion of patients in the group of patients with PV: "WBC >8.9•109/L", "red blood cells >6.08•1012/L" and "hematocrit >57.5%". The most significant marker of general clinical blood test to differentiate between PV and SE is "platelets >287•109/L". Hematocrit over 55% and WBC over 12.3·109/L are valuable prognostic markers of thrombosis in PV patients, but their use is appropriate only in a cohort of patients with PV without classical factors of cardiovascular events