Procedural aspects of healthcare quality control in Latvia and its effect on legal protection of patients

According to the European Commission data, 8–12% of patients cared for in hospitals throughout the European Union have suffered accidents related to the healthcare provided for them. The Directive 2011/24/EU of the European Parliament and Council of 9th March 2011 on the application of patients’ rights in cross-border healthcare provides that the Member States should ensure that patients have easily accessible and transparent appeal procedures and mechanisms that provide possibilities for legal remedies in cases of inflicted harm during medical treatment according to regulations of the respective Member State. Healthcare quality control mechanisms are intended for two major purposes: to identify accidents that have occurred during medical treatment and to prevent similar accidents from reoccurring in the future. The aim of this article is to evaluate, firstly, the procedural aspects of healthcare quality control mechanisms in Latvia and, secondly, how healthcare quality control mechanisms have been affected with the implementation of the Directive 2011/24/EU in Latvian legal order, providing for a specific legal remedy – the newly created Medical risk fund. Conclusions are made on the procedural nature of the patients’ right to submit complaints and also the developments in Latvian court practice related to the healthcare quality control. The authors have also analysed regulations related to the Medical risk fund, its influence on the civil liability mechanisms of medical practitioners, as well as the patient’s right to obtain just compensation for the harm inflicted to his health and the legal nature of opinions of the Health Inspectorate of Latvia.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Efficient Technology for Introduction Catch-Crops Into Soil

A sharp decrease in the number of cattle in Latvia has essentially affected the possibilities to introduce organic fertilizers into soil. A solution of this problem may be growing catch-crop plants. The purpose of this study is to clarify the factors, technologies and machinery ensuring good and widespread introduction of catch-crops (winter rape, spring rape, red clover, fallow) without their previous shredding. It is found that unthreaded catch- crop plants may be qualitatively introduced into soil using a combined aggregate by orienting them in the direction of the movement of the aggregate and inclining them towards the surface of the field (rolling with the roller) and simultaneously plugging in with a plough which has a disk knife in front of each body to cut the inclined plants and a greater width (50 cm), and adjustable mouldboard curvature having improved skimmers to avoid clogging and to turn over the arable strips in a better way and to ensure more complete plugging of plants into soil. The technology of introducing catch-crops into soil without previous disintegration has been tested in practice and it is an environment-saving means of preserving and raising soil fertility. It is economically efficient in comparison with the introduction of previously shredded plants presently used on farms. It is possible to raise the introduction quality of unthreaded plants (also long-stalked ones) to 96-98%. Optimization the technology and the plough completion allow save labor – 1.4-1.8 men h ha-1, fuel 6-8 kg ha-1 and financial means 5,60-7,20 Ls ha-1

Hydrogen-Producing Escherichia Coli Strains, Overexpressing Lactose Permease: FT-IR Analysis of the Lactose-Induced Stress

Lactose permease gene (lacY) was overexpressed in the septuple knock-out mutant of Escherichia coli, previously engineered for hydrogen production from glucose. It was expected that raising the lactose transporter activity would elevate the intracellular lactose concentration, inactivate the lactose repressor, induce the lactose operon, and in result, stimulate the overall lactose consumption and conversion. However, overexpression of the lactose transporter caused a considerable growth delay of the recombinant strain on lactose, resembling to some extent the ‘lactose killing’ phenomenon, described by Dykhuizen and Hartl [1]. Therefore, the recombinant strain was subjected to selection on lactose-containing media. Selection on plates with 3% lactose yielded a strain with a decreased content of the recombinant plasmid, yet with an improved ability to grow and produce hydrogen on lactose. Macromolecular analysis of its biomass by means of FT-IR spectroscopy demonstrated that increase of the cellular polysaccharide content might contribute to the adaptation of E. coli to lactose stress

Photoinduced 1,2,3,4-Tetrahydropyridine Ring Conversions

Stable heterocyclic hydroperoxide can be easily prepared as a product of fast oxidation of a 1,2,3,4-tetrahydropyridine by 3O2 if the solution is exposed to sunlight. The driving force for the photoinduced electron transfer is calculated from electrochemical and spectroscopic data. The outcome of the reaction depends on the light intensity and the concentration of O2. In the solid state the heterocyclic hydroperoxide is stable; in solution it is involved in further reactions

Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of 2-(5-Methyl-4-Phenyl-2-Oxopyrrolidin-1-Yl)-Acetamide Stereoisomers as Novel Positive Allosteric Modulators of Sigma-1 Receptor

Novel positive allosteric modulators of sigma-1 receptor represented by 2-(5-methyl-4-phenyl-2-oxopyrrolidin-1-yl)-acetamide enantiomers were synthesised using an asymmetric Michael addition of 2-nitroprop-1-enylbenzene to diethyl malonate. Following the chromatographic separation of the methyl erythro- and threo-4-nitro-3R- and 3S-phenylpentanoate diastereoisomers, target compounds were obtained by their reductive cyclisation into 5-methyl-4- phenylpyrrolidin-2-one enantiomers and the attachment of the acetamide group to the heterocyclic nitrogen. Experiments with electrically stimulated rat vas deference contractions induced by the PRE-084, an agonist of sigma-1 receptor, showed that (4R,5S)- and (4R,5R)-2-(5-methyl-4-phenyl-2-oxopyrrolidin-1-yl)- acetamides with an R-configuration at the C-4 chiral centre in the 2-pyrrolidone ring were more effective positive allosteric modulators of sigma-1 receptor than were their optical antipodes