Russian Universities as Actors of Arctic Science Diplomacy

Abstract. This article examines the role of Russian universities in emerging and further developing Arctic science diplomacy (ASD). According to authors, in the current geopolitical conditions Russian universities are significant ASD actors which perform a number of important functions for the organization of international scientific cooperation with foreign countries and making a positive image of Russia in the world. The paper uses a systemic approach to identify Russian universities’ contribution to the ASD development through various mechanisms: joint research projects and publications with foreign partners, the organization of international events on the Arctic issues and participation in prestigious international conferences on the Arctic research area, joint polar expeditions (land and maritime), and participation of Russian scientists in international Arctic scientific organizations, etc. The university ASD is exemplified by the Russian leading universities – St. Petersburg State University, Moscow State University, Northern (Arctic) Federal University, etc. The study demonstrated that maintaining a dialogue on an ongoing basis within the framework of research and educational activities of universities can contribute to the systematic establishment of cooperation in other areas of international relations, the search for innovative solutions for the benefit of the development of the entire Arctic region

Effect of Electric Field on the Swelling Behavior of Cross-linked Copolymers of Poly(ethylene oxide) Bis-macromonomers with Methacrylic Acid

The hydrogels capable to interpolymer complex formation have been synthesized by direct radical copolymerization of methacrylic acid with poly(ethylene oxide) bis-macromonomer bearing methacrylate terminal groups. The swelling behavior of these hydrogels in electric field has been studied. The hydrogels were shown to undergo contraction or additional swelling depending on solution pH. In weakly acidic region (pH 5.1) the contraction of the network was observed. In these conditions the swelling behavior of the hydrogel is affected by the complex formation between unionized carboxylic groups and oxyethylene units within the networks and the gel sample has relatively low swelling degree and network charge. In basic region (pH 9.18) the polycomplex is destroyed and the network has higher charge density and higher swelling degree. Under the action of electric field such hydrogel swells additionally. An increase in ionic strength of  solution decreases the amplitude of hydrogels contraction

Molecular diagnostics of primary immunodeficiencies in Sverdlovsk region

The article presents the results of the work performed by the laboratory of molecular diagnostics at the Medical Center “Health Care of Mother and Child” for the diagnosis of primary immunodeficiency in Sverdlovsk region over 5 years. The laboratory was organized in 2009 to verify the diagnosis of monogenic hereditary diseases included in the Neonatal Screening Program in the Russian Federation, e.g., phenylketonuria, cystic fibrosis, classical galactosemia. Over time, the range of diagnosed nosologies expanded, and since 2014, the laboratory has included in studies of a new group of disorders, i.e., congenital errors of immunity. Every year the Regional Registry of patients with primary immunodeficiencies (PIDs) replenished by 20 to 70 persons, thus comprising 15 to 43% of the entire Russian Registry for these conditions. As of 03/01/2020, the registry of patients with a clinical diagnosis of “primary immunodeficiency” consisted of 526 people, more than half of them (275) being children under 18 years of age. According to the expert calculations, the frequency of detected PID cases in the Sverdlovsk region is 1:10 480 inhabitants, which indicates not only high level of the existing clinical immunology service, but also the high expected frequency of PID in the region. Until 2014, verification of the “primary immunodeficiency” diagnosis in the patients from Sverdlovsk region was traditionally carried out in Moscow clinics (Dmitry Rogachev National Medical Research Center of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Immunology, Moscow Research Centre for Medical Genetics). Over 6 years of cooperation between regional immunological service with the medical genetic center, 47 children received molecular genetic confirmation of the diagnosis of congenital immunity errors at the laboratory of Regional Medical Center “Health Care of Mother and Child”. The authors present the data of Regional Registry of patients, classified into nosological forms of immune-dependent pathology and provide a detailed description of diagnostic procedures for the patients with various PIDs. A deletion of chromosome 22 (Di Giorgi syndrome) was found in 43 people, mutations in the Btk gene (X-linked agammaglobulinemia) were revealed in 7 patients and 6 members of their families, Nijmegen syndrome was confirmed in 1 child, a familial case of ADA-deficiency, difficult for diagnostics, was decided. The results of the study encourage the authors for further expansion of the spectrum of detectable disorders diagnosis, and give a hope that development of regional laboratories at this level may improve the diagnostic algorithm for PID diagnostic procedures in Russia, i.e., from prenatal and neonatal screening to the development of gene therapy for certain forms of immune-dependent disorders

Алгоритм замещения агентов dataflow-сети на платформе Smart-M3

The paper presents an agent substitution algorithm for a dataflow network implemented on the Smart-M3 platform. Such a substitution allows to transfer control and computational context from an unexpectedly disconnected agent to a programmable substitute agent for the period of absence of the first agent in the network. It also guarantees integrity of the information flow, i.e. the functioning of all dependent services is not disrupted after the agent disconnection. When the agent returns to the network the reverse substitution occurs also with keeping integrity of the information flow. The paper gives a description of the dataflow network implementation and substitution mechanism structure on the Smart-M3 platform. The detailed description of the substitution algorithm including initialization, registration, and bidirectional substitution phases is given. The proposed substitution algorithm was implemented by the authors in the substitution mechanism as a part of the RedSIB semantic information broker on the Smart-M3 platform.Рассматривается алгоритм замещения агента dataflow-сети, реализованной на платформе Smart-M3. Такое замещение позволяет перенести управление и контекст вычислений от преждевременно отключившегося агента к программируемому агенту-заместителю на время отсутствия первого агента в сети. При этом гарантируется целостность информационных потоков, то есть функционирование всех зависимых сервисов не нарушается при отключении агента. При возвращении агента в сеть происходит обратное замещение также с сохранением целостности всех информационных потоков. Приведено описание реализации dataflow-сети и структуры механизма замещения агентов для платформы Smart-M3. Дано детальное описание алгоритма замещения, включающее процедуры инициализации, регистрации и двунаправленного замещения агентов. Предложенный алгоритм замещения реализован авторами в механизме замещения в брокере семантической информации RedSIB на платформе Smart-M3.

Deficient Induction Response in a Xenopus Nucleocytoplasmic Hybrid

Defects in induction signaling and response underlie the nucleocytoplasmic incompatibility between two evolutionarily distant frog species, while specific treatments partially restore this response in explants and whole embryos

SURF1 knockout cloned pigs : early onset of a severe lethal phenotype

Leigh syndrome (LS) associated with cytochrome c oxidase (COX) deficiency is an early onset, fatal mitochondrial encephalopathy, leading to multiple neurological failure and eventually death, usually in the first decade of life. Mutations in SURF1, a nuclear gene encoding a mitochondrial protein involved in COX assembly, are among the most common causes of LS. LSSURF1 patients display severe, isolated COX deficiency in all tissues, including cultured fibroblasts and skeletal muscle. Recombinant, constitutive SURF1 12/ 12 mice show diffuse COX deficiency, but fail to recapitulate the severity of the human clinical phenotype. Pigs are an attractive alternative model for human diseases, because of their size, as well as metabolic, physiological and genetic similarity to humans. Here, we determined the complete sequence of the swine SURF1 gene, disrupted it in pig primary fibroblast cell lines using both TALENs and CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing systems, before finally generating SURF1 12/ 12 and SURF1 12/+ pigs by Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT). SURF1 12/ 12 pigs were characterized by failure to thrive, muscle weakness and highly reduced life span with elevated perinatal mortality, compared to heterozygous SURF1 12/+ and wild type littermates. Surprisingly, no obvious COX deficiency was detected in SURF1 12/ 12 tissues, although histochemical analysis revealed the presence of COX deficiency in jejunum villi and total mRNA sequencing (RNAseq) showed that several COX subunit-encoding genes were significantly down-regulated in SURF1 12/ 12 skeletal muscles. In addition, neuropathological findings, indicated a delay in central nervous system development of newborn SURF1 12/ 12 piglets. Our results suggest a broader role of sSURF1 in mitochondrial bioenergetics

Analysis of Imprinted Gene Expression in Normal Fertilized and Uniparental Preimplantation Porcine Embryos

In the present study quantitative real-time PCR was used to determine the expression status of eight imprinted genes (GRB10, H19, IGF2R, XIST, IGF2, NNAT, PEG1 and PEG10) during preimplantation development, in normal fertilized and uniparental porcine embryos. The results demonstrated that, in all observed embryo samples, a non imprinted gene expression pattern up to the 16-cell stage of development was common for most genes. This was true for all classes of embryo, regardless of parental-origins and the direction of imprint. However, several differentially expressed genes (H19, IGF2, XIST and PEG10) were detected amongst the classes at the blastocyst stage of development. Most interestingly and despite the fact that maternally and paternally expressed genes should not be expressed in androgenones and parthenogenones, respectively, both uniparental embryos expressed these genes when tested for in this study. In order to account for this phenomenon, we compared the expression patterns of eight imprinted genes along with the methylation status of the IGF2/H19 DMR3 in haploid and diploid parthenogenetic embryos. Our findings revealed that IGF2, NNAT and PEG10 were silenced in haploid but not diploid parthenogenetic blastocysts and differential methylation of the IGF2/H19 DMR3 was consistently observed between haploid and diploid parthenogenetic blastocysts. These results appear to suggest that there exists a process to adjust the expression status of imprinted genes in diploid parthenogenetic embryos and that this phenomenon may be associated with altered methylation at an imprinting control region. In addition we believe that imprinted expression occurs in at least four genes, namely H19, IGF2, XIST and PEG10 in porcine blastocyst stage embryos

Использование искусственного интеллекта у больных с новой коронавирусной инфекцией для прогнозирования течения заболевания в условиях инфекционного стационара

Aim. To create algorithm and risk calculator for predicting the lethal outcome in patients with COVID-19.Materials and methods. Based on machine learning approach mortality risk calculator was developed in Almazov National Medical Research Centre using data of the hospitalised patients with an established diagnosis of COVID-19 (n=4071).Results. This mathematical model, which includes 11 significant features, has been proposed for estimation of fatal outcomes in the Clinical Infectious Hospital named after S.P. Botkin. Some key features were not assessed in most hospitals according to accepted standards of care for COVID-19. So systematic analysis of factors affecting the course of disease in patients (n=2876) were conducted and «urea» and «total protein» were replaced with «sex» and «BMI». Modified algorithm demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity. Conclusion. This calculator is able to predict hospitalisation outcome with high accuracy in patients infected with different strains of SARS-CoV-2. This decision support system may be used for risk stratification and following correct patients routing.Цель: создать алгоритм и разработать калькулятор расчета риска летального исхода у больных COVID-19 со средней и тяжелой степенью, госпитализированных  в инфекционный стационар.Материалы и методы: на основании данных пациентов с подтвержденным диагнозом COVID-19, госпитализированных в Национальный медицинский исследовательский центр им. В.А. Алмазова в период с 05.2020 г. по 08.2021 г. (n=4071), создан калькулятор прогнозирования риска летального исхода с применением технологии машинного обучения.Результаты: разработанный алгоритм, включающий 11 значимых признаков, был применен для расчета риска летального исхода в Клинической инфекционной больнице им. С.П. Боткина в период с 05.09.2022 г. по 01.03.2023 г. Учитывая, что факторы «Мочевина»  и «Общий белок» не входили в стандарт обследования госпитализированных больных, в качестве новых доступных для большинства инфекционных стационаров признаков с применением машинного обучения (n=2876) были выбраны факторы «Пол» и «ИМТ». Такая модификация позволила адаптировать  настоящий  алгоритм к применению в клинической практике, сохранив высокую чувствительность и специфичность модели.Заключение: данный калькулятор позволяет с высокой долей вероятности прогнозировать исход госпитализции, в том числе при различных штаммах вируса SARS-CoV-2. Применение такого алгоритма поддержки принятия клинических решений может рассматриваться как вспомогательный инструмент стратификации риска и дальнейшей корректной маршрутизации пациента в условиях избыточной нагрузки на систему здравоохранения

Клинический случай успешного лечения тяжелого рефрактерного подагрического артрита

Цель данной работы — демонстрация дополнительных возможностей лечения тяжелого рефрактерного подагрического артрита, для чего мы приводим клинический случай. Пациент находился на стационарном лечении в терапевтическом отделении Центра реконструктивной и восстановительной медицины (университетская клиника) Одесского национального медицинского университета по поводу тяжелого рефрактерного подагрического артрита, полиартрита с поражением обоих голеностопных суставов, лучезапястных суставов, мелких суставов кистей и стоп. После неудачных попыток лечения пациента «стандартными» методами, мы успешно применили пульс-терапию метилпреднизолоном. Лечение подагрического артрита остается сложной задачей, решение которой требует комплексного подхода с учетом многих факторов, в том числе индивидуальной реакции на назначаемую терапию. Пульс-терапия метилпреднизолоном может быть эффективной в лечении тяжелого острого рефрактерного подагрического артрита.The purpose of this work was to demonstrate additional treatment options for severe refractory gouty arthritis. To achieve this goal we present a clinical case. The patient was on inpatient treatment at the Therapeutic Department of the Center of Reconstructive and Restorative Medicine (University Clinic) of the Odessa National Medical University due to severe refractory gouty arthritis, polyarthritis with injury of both ankle joints, wrist and small joints of the hands and feet. In order to treat the acute attack of gouty arthritis in this patient, we consistently used: colchicine, different non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, glucocorticosteroids in mild-to-moderate doses and different analgetics. After unsuccessful attempts to treat the patient with standard methods, we successfully applied pulsed therapy with methylprednisolone. Treatment of gouty arthritis remains a complex task, the solution of which requires an integrated approach taking into account many factors, including individual response to the prescribed therapy. Pulse therapy with methylprednisolone can be effective in treating severe acute refractory gouty arthritis

Місце трудових та соціально-забез­печувальних прав у системі прав людини

Чанишева Г. І., Лагутіна І. В., Краснов Є. В.,Трюхан О. А., Сорочишин М. В., Римар Б. А., Кайтанський О. С., Медвідь А. О. Місце трудових та соціально-забез­печувальних прав у системі прав людини / Г. І. Чанишева, І. В. Лагутіна, Є. В. Краснов, О. А. Трюхан , М. В. Сорочишин , Б. А. Римар, О. С. Кайтанський, А. О. Медвідь // Наукові праці Національного університету «Одеська юридична академія». Т. 17 / голов. ред. М. В. Афанасьєва ; МОН України, НУ «ОЮА». – Одеса : Юрид. л-ра, 2015. – C. 201-231.У статті досліджується місце трудових та соціально-забезпечувальних прав у системі прав людини. Аналізуються юридична природа та своєрідність трудових і соціально-забезпечувальних прав. Визначаються поняття, юридична природа та структура колективних трудових прав, особистих немайнових трудових прав, а також окремих індивідуальних, колективних трудових прав, соціально-забезпечувальних прав. Вносяться пропозиції щодо удосконалення чинного трудового і соціально-забезпечу¬ вального законодавства, проекту Трудового кодексу України у сфері нормативного за¬ кріплення та реалізації окремих трудових і соціально-забезпечувальних прав