Взаимозависимость между объективными и субъективными показателями качества жизни у пациентов с хронической обструктивной болезнью легких

The paper introduces correlations between clinical, functional, laboratory, and self reported parameters of quality of life of COPD patients using the St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire. Close correlations were found between some objective and subjective parameters.В статье представлены результаты корреляционного анализа клинических, функциональных, лабораторных данных и субъективных показателей качества жизни, полученных при помощи заполнения больными хронической обструктивной болезнью легких (ХОБЛ) специального опросника Госпиталя Св. Георгия. Выявлена высокая как положительная, так и отрицательная корреляция между некоторыми объективными и субьективными показателями качества жизни, выявленными при самооценке пациентами ХОБЛ

Scientific, institutional and personal rivalries among Soviet geographers in the late Stalin era

Scientific, institutional and personal rivalries between three key centres of geographical research and scholarship (the Academy of Sciences Institute of Geography and the Faculties of Geography at Moscow and Leningrad State Universities) are surveyed for the period from 1945 to the early 1950s. It is argued that the debates and rivalries between members of the three institutions appear to have been motivated by a variety of scientific, ideological, institutional and personal factors, but that genuine scientific disagreements were at least as important as political and ideological factors in influencing the course of the debates and in determining their final outcome

Analysis of positional candidate genes in the AAA1 susceptibility locus for abdominal aortic aneurysms on chromosome 19

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a complex disorder with multiple genetic risk factors. Using affected relative pair linkage analysis, we previously identified an AAA susceptibility locus on chromosome 19q13. This locus has been designated as the AAA1 susceptibility locus in the Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) database. METHODS: Nine candidate genes were selected from the AAA1 locus based on their function, as well as mRNA expression levels in the aorta. A sample of 394 cases and 419 controls was genotyped for 41 SNPs located in or around the selected nine candidate genes using the Illumina GoldenGate platform. Single marker and haplotype analyses were performed. Three genes (CEBPG, PEPD and CD22) were selected for DNA sequencing based on the association study results, and exonic regions were analyzed. Immunohistochemical staining of aortic tissue sections from AAA and control individuals was carried out for the CD22 and PEPD proteins with specific antibodies. RESULTS: Several SNPs were nominally associated with AAA (p < 0.05). The SNPs with most significant p-values were located near the CCAAT enhancer binding protein (CEBPG), peptidase D (PEPD), and CD22. Haplotype analysis found a nominally associated 5-SNP haplotype in the CEBPG/PEPD locus, as well as a nominally associated 2-SNP haplotype in the CD22 locus. DNA sequencing of the coding regions revealed no variation in CEBPG. Seven sequence variants were identified in PEPD, including three not present in the NCBI SNP (dbSNP) database. Sequencing of all 14 exons of CD22 identified 20 sequence variants, five of which were in the coding region and six were in the 3'-untranslated region. Five variants were not present in dbSNP. Immunohistochemical staining for CD22 revealed protein expression in lymphocytes present in the aneurysmal aortic wall only and no detectable expression in control aorta. PEPD protein was expressed in fibroblasts and myofibroblasts in the media-adventitia border in both aneurysmal and non-aneurysmal tissue samples. CONCLUSIONS: Association testing of the functional positional candidate genes on the AAA1 locus on chromosome 19q13 demonstrated nominal association in three genes. PEPD and CD22 were considered the most promising candidate genes for altering AAA risk, based on gene function, association evidence, gene expression, and protein expression

Iron Behaving Badly: Inappropriate Iron Chelation as a Major Contributor to the Aetiology of Vascular and Other Progressive Inflammatory and Degenerative Diseases

The production of peroxide and superoxide is an inevitable consequence of aerobic metabolism, and while these particular "reactive oxygen species" (ROSs) can exhibit a number of biological effects, they are not of themselves excessively reactive and thus they are not especially damaging at physiological concentrations. However, their reactions with poorly liganded iron species can lead to the catalytic production of the very reactive and dangerous hydroxyl radical, which is exceptionally damaging, and a major cause of chronic inflammation. We review the considerable and wide-ranging evidence for the involvement of this combination of (su)peroxide and poorly liganded iron in a large number of physiological and indeed pathological processes and inflammatory disorders, especially those involving the progressive degradation of cellular and organismal performance. These diseases share a great many similarities and thus might be considered to have a common cause (i.e. iron-catalysed free radical and especially hydroxyl radical generation). The studies reviewed include those focused on a series of cardiovascular, metabolic and neurological diseases, where iron can be found at the sites of plaques and lesions, as well as studies showing the significance of iron to aging and longevity. The effective chelation of iron by natural or synthetic ligands is thus of major physiological (and potentially therapeutic) importance. As systems properties, we need to recognise that physiological observables have multiple molecular causes, and studying them in isolation leads to inconsistent patterns of apparent causality when it is the simultaneous combination of multiple factors that is responsible. This explains, for instance, the decidedly mixed effects of antioxidants that have been observed, etc...Comment: 159 pages, including 9 Figs and 2184 reference

The role of magnesium in the treatment of symptoms climacteric syndrome

According to epidemiological studies, about 30% of residents in Russia receive less than 70% of the daily magnesium intake, while magnesium deficiency manifests much more often in women than in men. The prevalence of magnesium deficiency is 1.3 times higher among the female population. Women are more sensitive to magnesium deficiency and normally have higher deposited concentrations of this element. Objective of the study: evaluate the effectiveness of magnesium in the management of menopausal syndrome symptoms. Materials and methods: 30 female patients, aged 47 to 57 years, with various menopausal syndrome symptoms underwent clinical and laboratory examination. In addition to the general clinical examination, all patients underwent atomic absorption spectroscopy to determine serum Mg2+ ions concentrations. All patients received menopausal hormone therapy in combination with magnesium supplement using Magnesium Diasporal 300. Results and discussions: The severe climacteric symptoms relief and an increase in the serum magnesium levels were recorded against the background of the therapy

The Effect of Storing Temperature and Variety Features on the Culinary Properties of Potato

This study aimed to determine the effect of storage temperature on the preservation and culinary properties of different varieties of potatoes. It was established that at a storage temperature of 2…4 °С the yield of marketable products for early ripening varieties is 88.22±1.53 % on average, for medium ripening ones is 96.87±1.09 %. Natural weight loss by tubers of all varieties during the storage period averaged 4.2 %, of which 72.9 % accounted for moisture evaporation, 27.1 % due to weight loss. Storage temperatures 0…2 °С lead to an increase in the natural weight loss to 5.53±0.2 % in early ripening varieties, to 5.21±0.53 % in medium ripening ones. The yield of marketable products for early varieties is, respectively, 87.46±1.37 and 89.92±1.09 %.In terms of dry matter, starch, and vitamin C, raw protein, the early group of varieties outperform the medium ripening one. The difference in dry matter content between the varieties reached 8.2 %, starch ‒ 7.0 %, sugar ‒ 0.05 %, vitamin C ‒ 5.6 mg/100 g, raw protein ‒ 1.4 %. When stored, the loss of dry matter was in the range of 2.8–5.2 %, starch ‒ 7.1 % of its initial content, while sugars increased to 12.6 %. The losses of vitamin C by the ripening groups were in the range of 14.8–34.5 %.It was established that the varieties Savannah and Tornado are distinguished by the set of indicators for the content of basic nutrients after harvesting and after storage. The total quality ratio at the end of storage is 0.88 and 0.86, respectively. According to the set of indicators that characterize the culinary properties of potato, the varieties Banba and Christina should rank first both at laying and at the end of storage; among the medium ripening varieties ‒ the variety Setanta.The overall estimate of potato tuber quality largely depends on the organoleptic characteristics (mealiness, taste, and tuber cooking property). The correlation coefficient is 0.918, 0.845, and 0.733, respectively. The mealiness of potato tubers has a strong direct link to taste (r=0.894) and an inverse strong link to sugar content (r=−0.725). The mealiness of tubers depends on the content of sugars and starch (r=−0.679 and r=0.571). The potato tuber crumb resistance to darkening depends on the content of vitamin C (r=0.872