ETEKOS experimental ecological system

The problem of changes in the ecology resulting, for example, in increases in water temperature because of discharges from large thermal power plants is considered. An experiment creating a model of such an ecological system is described

Outcome prediction of the measles vaccination in healthcare employees

Vaccination is the only guarantee for elimination of measles infection. Healthcare workers have a 13- to 19-fold higher risk for contracting measles than the general population. The number of individuals in the population who did not respond to vaccination is up to 10%, and their accumulation may lead to an outbreak of the infection. The aim of our research was to find potential predictors of arising post-vaccination measles antibodies in the panel of biochemical and immunological serum markers in healthcare workers. The group of healthcare workers (n = 76) aged from 19 to 51 years, with proven absence of pre-existing anti-measles antibodies were twice vaccinated 3 months apart with live measles culture vaccine (SPA “Microgen”, Russia). Measles-specific IgG, total IgG, IgM, IgA, IFNγ, IL-6, CRP, total protein, ALT, AST, total bilirubin, urea, creatinine, protein fractions were determined before vaccination, 1 month after vaccination, 1 month following revaccination, 1 year after revaccination. ROC analysis was used to gain access to the diagnostic performance of quantitative variables in predicting a categorical outcome. Development of a predictive probability model for the binary outcome was carried out using logistic regression. IFNγ, total IgG, IgM, total bilirubin, ALT activity at various post-immunization stages may be considered potential laboratory predictors of measles vaccination failures in healthcare workers. Meanwhile, the contents of pre-vaccination IFNγ, and IgG to measles virus after first vaccination proved to be most informative indexes, which formed the basis for the development of regression models predicting the risk of both primary and secondary vaccination failures. These models allowed to develop algorithm for predicting failures of the measles vaccination in healthcare workers that can be used for detection of persons at risk for non-forming specific humoral immunity. This algorithm is primarily focused on search for the persons who have not responded to measles vaccination, including subjects with probable immunodeficiency conditions. We do not exclude that, on the basis of revealed predictors following measles vaccination, it would be possible to build prognostic models of vaccination efficiency for other vaccinemanaged infections

Persistence in diving American mink

Background American mink forage on land and in water, with aquatic prey often constituting a large proportion of their diet. Their long, thin body shape and relatively poor insulation make them vulnerable to heat loss, particularly in water, yet some individuals dive over 100 times a day. At the level of individual dives, previous research found no difference in dive depth or duration, or the total number of dives per day between seasons, but mink did appear to make more dives per active hour in winter than in summer. There was also no difference in the depth or duration of individual dives between the sexes, but there was some evidence that females made more dives per day than males. However, because individual mink dives tend to be extremely short in duration, persistence (quantified as the number of consecutive dives performed) may be a more appropriate metric with which to compare diving behaviour under different scenarios. Results Mink performed up to 28 consecutive dives, and dived continually for up to 36 min. Periods of more loosely aggregated diving (termed ‘aquatic activity sessions’) comprised up to 80 dives, carried out over up to 162.8 min. Contrary to our predictions, persistence was inversely proportional to body weight, with small animals more persistent than large ones, and (for females, but not for males) increased with decreasing temperature. For both sexes, persistence was greater during the day than during the night. Conclusions The observed body weight effect may point to inter-sexual niche partitioning, since in mink the smallest animals are females and the largest are males. The results may equally point to individual specialism’s, since persistence was also highly variable among individuals. Given the energetic costs involved, the extreme persistence of some animals observed in winter suggests that the costs of occasional prolonged activity in cold water are outweighed by the energetic gains. Analysing dive persistence can provide information on an animal’s physical capabilities for performing multiple dives and may reveal how such behaviour is affected by different conditions. Further development of monitoring and biologging methodology to allow quantification of hunting success, and thus the rewards obtained under alternative scenarios, would be insightful

Частота пневмококковой пневмонии у взрослых больных терапевтических стационаров на трех территориях Российской Федерации

Summary. The authors investigated a rate of morbidity of pneumococcal pneumonia in 2010–2011 in therapeutic adult inpatients at three Russian regions using sputum culturing of pathogens and the BinaxR NOW Streptococcus pneumoniae urine test (USA). Two hundred and sixty six patients with radiologically confirmed community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) were examined. Streptococcus antigen in urine was detected in 19.9 % of them including 24.2 % in the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic, 25.9 % in Novgorod region, 10.6 % in Samara city. Sputum cultures yielded S. pneumoniae in 20.4 % of patients including 7.0 %, 44.2 % and 22.1 % of patients in regions, respectively. In total, CAP caused by S. pneumoniae was confirmed with lab methods in 13.1 % and in 5.8 %, 30.2 % and 11.7 % patients, respectively. Streptococcus antigen in urine was detected in 25.7 % of patients with severe CAP and in 37.9 % of patients older than 40 years and with co-morbidity who died from CAP. Streptococcus antigen in urine was detected in 29.4 % of patients with CAP complicated by pleural effusion, in 18.5 % of patients with CAP without pleural effusion and in 15.0 % of mild CAP. Streptococcus antigen in urine was detected in 1/3 of patients with positive throat culture and in a half of patients with positive sputum culture for S. pneumoniae. The sensitivity of this test in patients with pneumococcal CAP confirmed by bacteriological methods was 64.3 % and its specificity was 90.9 %. Therefore, the high prevalence of pneumococcal CAP in adult patients admitted to a hospital and severe course of the disease with the risk of death in patients older that 40 years with co-morbidity provide an urgent need for pneumococcal vaccination of these cohorts

Fastloc-GPS reveals daytime departure and arrival during long-distance migration and the use of different resting strategies in sea turtles

Determining the time of day that animals initiate and end migration, as well as variation in diel movement patterns during migration, provides insights into the types of strategy used to maximise energy efficiency and ensure successful completion of migration. However, obtaining this level of detail has been difficult for long-distance migratory marine species. Thus, we investigated whether the large volume of highly accurate locations obtained by Argos-linked Fastloc-GPS transmitters could be used to identify the time of day that adult green (n = 8 turtles, 9487 locations) and loggerhead (n = 46 turtles, 47,588 locations) sea turtles initiate and end migration, along with potential resting strategies during migration. We found that departure from and arrival at breeding, stopover and foraging sites consistently occurred during the daytime, which is consistent with previous findings suggesting that turtles might use solar visual cues for orientation. Only seven turtles made stopovers (of up to 6 days and all located close to the start or end of migration) during migration, possibly to rest and/or refuel; however, observations of day versus night speed of travel indicated that turtles might use other mechanisms to rest. For instance, turtles travelled 31% slower at night compared to day during their oceanic crossings. Furthermore, within the first 24 h of entering waters shallower than 100 m towards the end of migration, some individuals travelled 72% slower at night, repeating this behaviour intermittently (each time for a one-night duration at 3–6 day intervals) until reaching the foraging grounds. Thus, access to data-rich, highly accurate Argos-linked Fastloc-GPS provided information about differences in day versus night activity at different stages in migration, allowing us, for the first time, to compare the strategies used by a marine vertebrate with terrestrial land-based and flying species

Establishment of the principle of universal jurisdiction and its implementation by bodies of international criminal justice

The article explains the concept of universal jurisdiction, the gradual emergence and recognition of the principle of the jurisdiction in international law. It shows the possibility and conditions for the exercise of universal jurisdiction by bodies of international criminal justice, in particular, the International criminal court

Real-time detection of denial-of-service attacks in IEEE 802.11p vehicular networks

A method for real-time detection of Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks in IEEE 802.11p vehicular ad-hoc networks (VANETs) is proposed. The study is focused on the "jamming" of periodic position messages (beacons) exchanged by vehicles in a platoon. Probabilities of attack detection and false alarm are estimated for two different attacker models