Soil and soil breathing remote monitoring: A short review

The efficiency of agricultural use of soils depends directly on their quality indicators, which include an extended set of characteristics: from data of the environmental situation to the component composition of the soil air. Therefore, for a more complete survey of agricultural land in order to determine their qualitative indicators and subsequent application, it is necessary to carry out comprehensive monitoring while simultaneously studying the characteristics of soils and their air composition. The article is devoted to the literature analysis on the remote monitoring of soils and soil air. Particular attention was paid to the relationship between soil type and soil air composition and it was found that the soil air composition (in the combination with pH and humidity parameters) can assess the type, quality and environmental condition of soils. Since when developing a remote monitoring system of soil air soil moisture and soil structure significantly affect the processes occurring in soils, and ultimately the quantitative composition of soil air, it is very important to know the dependence of the soil air composition on the type and quality of the soil itself, the influence of moisture, structure and other parameters on it. It was shown that the use of sensors is a promising direction for the development of the soils and soil air remote monitoring. It was indicated that soil and soil air remote monitoring in real time will provide reliable, timely information on the environmental status of soils and their quality. Commercial sensors that can be used to determine CO2, O2, NOx, CH4, CO, H2 and NH3 were considered and the technique for sensor signal processing was chosen. A remote monitoring system with the use of existing commercial sensors was proposed, the movement of which can be realized with the help of quadcopter, which will allow parallel scanning of the soils and the land terrain. Such a system will make it possible to correctly assess the readiness of soils for planting, determine their intended use, correctly apply fertilizers, and even predict the yield of certain crops. Thereby, this approach will create a modern on-line system for full monitoring of soil, land and rapid response in the case of its change for the agro-industrial sector

Group B Streptococcus vaccine development: present status and future considerations, with emphasis on perspectives for low and middle income countries.

Globally, group B Streptococcus (GBS) remains the leading cause of sepsis and meningitis in young infants, with its greatest burden in the first 90 days of life. Intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis (IAP) for women at risk of transmitting GBS to their newborns has been effective in reducing, but not eliminating, the young infant GBS disease burden in many high income countries. However, identification of women at risk and administration of IAP is very difficult in many low and middle income country (LMIC) settings, and is not possible for home deliveries. Immunization of pregnant women with a GBS vaccine represents an alternate pathway to protecting newborns from GBS disease, through the transplacental antibody transfer to the fetus in utero. This approach to prevent GBS disease in young infants is currently under development, and is approaching late stage clinical evaluation. This manuscript includes a review of the natural history of the disease, global disease burden estimates, diagnosis and existing control options in different settings, the biological rationale for a vaccine including previous supportive studies, analysis of current candidates in development, possible correlates of protection and current status of immunogenicity assays. Future potential vaccine development pathways to licensure and use in LMICs, trial design and implementation options are discussed, with the objective to provide a basis for reflection, rather than recommendations

Nurses' perceptions of aids and obstacles to the provision of optimal end of life care in ICU

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Functional polymorphism of the serotonin reuptake transporter SLC6A4 gene in various clinical variants of irritable bowel syndrome

Rationale: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a multifactorial disease, the genetic aspect of which is being actively studied.Aim: To investigate functional polymorphism of the serotonin reuptake transporter (SERT) SLC6A4 gene of various clinical variants of IBS.Materials and methods: We performed a cross-sectional single center study in 79 Caucasian patients with IBS (according to the Rome criteria IV). The patients were divided into two groups: group 1, IBS with diarrhea (IBS-D, n = 45) and group 2, IBS with constipation (IBS-C, n = 34). The control group included 59 Caucasian patients with gastrointestinal disorders without IBS. Polymorphism 5-HTTLPR of the SLC6A4 gene was assessed in all subjects. In group 1 patients, blood serotonin levels were measured and psychological tests were performed, including Spielberger's State / Trait Anxiety Inventory, quality of life by SF36 and GSRS, Asthenia scale, VAS scores for pain intensity.Results: Thirty-five of 45 (77.8%) patients with IBS-D carried the mutant S allele, which was significantly more frequent than in the IBS-C group (p = 0.002) and in the control group (p = 0.005). There were no statistically significant differences (p = 0.54) in the frequency of detection of the homozygous LL genotype (normal allele) and the heteroand homozygous mutant alleles (SL and SS) genotype between the IBS-C and control patients. In the IBS-D group, a gender difference for the mutant SS allele of 5-HTTLPR was found, with significantly higher frequency in female patients (p = 0.0147). No significant gender differences in the genotype distribution between the patients with IBS-C and the control group were found. There were also no differences in blood serotonin levels in the IBS patients with various 5-HTTLPR types (p = 0.086); they were all in the reference range. However, there was a trend towards lower serotonin levels in the LL genotype carriers compared to those with the SS/SL polymorphisms. The Gastroenterological inventory GSRS demonstrated significantly higher total score for the constipation syndrome in the patients with homozygous LL 5-HTTLPR polymorphism, compared to that in the patients with the SS/SL genotype (p = 0.013).Conclusion: The results may be related to lower expression of the SLC6A4 gene in the carriers of the mutant allele in the 5-HTTLPR promoter and subsequent decreased rate of serotonin uptake, with resulting stimulation of the gastrointestinal tract. The SERT polymorphism of the SLC6A4 gene is worth further investigation as a potential candidate gene in the IBS pathophysiology

Towards a Versatile Photoreactive Platform for Biosensing Applications

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