How much space is needed for biodiversity conservation?

The EU's 2030 Biodiversity Strategy and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework call for 30% coverage of land and sea protected areas and strict protection for 10% of land area to prevent and reverse biodiversity loss. Ukraine has declared its aspiration to integrate into the European Union and must back up its statements with action and do everything to achieve such ambitious conservation goals. Like many European countries, Ukraine faces great challenges on this route. The significant level of anthropogenic transformation of the territories makes it very difficult to find new areas to expand the boundaries of the nature reserve fund. The practical steps to create nature reserves are significantly limited by legal mechanisms that guarantee land users' ownership of the relevant land plots. An important task in nature conservation is to develop indicators that can clearly and easily demonstrate the importance of areas for conservation. Such tools are necessary to convince policy makers and land users of the need to protect the relevant areas. The indicators of importance for biodiversity conservation should be scale-independent, as both large areas and small areas are important for conservation. In this article, we consider the case of a project to expand the boundaries of the Dnipro-Orylskiy Nature Reserve by adding five areas directly adjacent to it. The number of species included in the various Red Data Lists was chosen as an indicator of the conservation value of the territory. The species-area relationship was used to assess the role of scale. The number of species on the Red Lists was considered instead of the classical relationship that considers the total number of species in a community. The normalised deviation from the regression relationship was considered as an indicator of the conservation value of the respective area, which is statistically independent of the area of the site. The different Red Lists are compiled according to different criteria, so the indicator of conservation value for each Red List focuses on the relevant conservation aspect. The results of the conservation value assessment can be presented graphically, which clearly demonstrates the role of the respective areas in the maintenance of biological diversity. The proposed algorithm for assessing conservation value can be applied to a wide range of environmental protection tasks. In terms of further research, it is important to assess the role of ecosystem function assessment in the design of protected areas

Impact of inter-ventricular lead distance on cardiac resynchronization therapy outcomes

Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) has been shown as an essential treatment of patients with heart failure, leading to improvements in symptoms, left ventricular (LV) function, and survival. However, up to 30% of appropriately selected patients remain non-responders to CRT. The aim of our study was to test a hypothesis on the impact of lead positioning in the ventricular walls on CRT response in patients with advanced chronic heart failure with and without pre-operative inter and intra-ventricular myocardial dyssynchrony. We examined 53 guideline-selected CRT candidates. Response to CRT was defined in 6 months after implantation of CRT devices. All patients underwent standard and Doppler echocardiography for assessment of LV function and mechanical dyssynchrony. Individual right ventricular (RV) and LV lead tip position, inter-lead distance, and the horizontal and vertical components were measured on the radiograph images with using an automated custom made software Our results showed that the RLV inter-lead distance is an essential parameter correlated with the CRT outcomes. A logistic model comprising the RLV inter-lead distance with parameters of dyssynchrony demonstrated a high predictive power for odds of CRT success. © 2017 IEEE Computer Society. All rights reserved.Research was supported by Act 211 Government of the Russian Federation, agreement № 02.A03.21.0006 and Program of the RAS Presidium #I.33П

Gastrointestinal manifestations in patients with a new coronavirus infection

The aim of the study - to determine the frequency of gastrointestinal symptoms in coronavirus infection in the period from 2020 to 2022Цель исследования - определить частоту встречаемости гастроинтестинальных симптомов при коронавирусной инфекции в период с 2020 г по 2022

Spectral and localization properties of the Dirichlet wave guide with two concentric Neumann discs

Bound states of the Hamiltonian describing a quantum particle living on three dimensional straight strip of width $d$ are investigated. We impose the Neumann boundary condition on the two concentric windows of the radii $a$ and $b$ located on the opposite walls and the Dirichlet boundary condition on the remaining part of the boundary of the strip. We prove that such a system exhibits discrete eigenvalues below the essential spectrum for any $a,b>0$. When $a$ and $b$ tend to the infinity, the asymptotic of the eigenvalue is derived. A comparative analysis with the one-window case reveals that due to the additional possibility of the regulating energy spectrum the anticrossing structure builds up as a function of the inner radius with its sharpness increasing for the larger outer radius. Mathematical and physical interpretation of the obtained results is presented; namely, it is derived that the anticrossings are accompanied by the drastic changes of the wave function localization. Parallels are drawn to the other structures exhibiting similar phenomena; in particular, it is proved that, contrary to the two-dimensional geometry, at the critical Neumann radii true bound states exist.Comment: 25 pages, 7 figure

Algorithm for cancelling inhaled corticosteroids in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Regional Meeting of Experts

A treatment algorithm for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) implies that all patients with COPD should receive long-acting anticholinergic bronchodilators, long-acting β2 -agonists, or a combination of these drugs as the basic therapy. Inhaled corticosteroids (IHCs) are indicated for a limited group of patients with COPD and have a number of contraindications. Clear indications for the IHCs use as dual therapy in combination with long-acting β2 -agonists, or as triple therapy in addition to long-acting anticholinergic bronchodilators combination, were determined. IHCs in combination with long-acting bronchodilators are prescribed for patients with COPD in cases of non- infectious exacerbations recurring during the year in frames of treatment with long-acting bronchodilators with anamnestic indications or the presence of bronchial asthma and/or the eosinophil number in the blood test without exacerbation >300 cells/μl. Algorithm for IHC cancellation has been developed for patients with COPD due to several causes: complications development as a result of IHC prolonged treatment; evidence of the benefits or equivalent effects of long-acting bronchodilators compared to inhaled corticosteroid-containing therapy.Алгоритм лечения хронической обструктивной болезни легких (ХОБЛ) подразумевает, что все пациенты с ХОБЛ должны получать длительнодействующие антихолинергические бронходилататоры (ДДАХ), длительнодействующие β2 -агонисты (ДДБА) либо сочетания этих препаратов в качестве базисной терапии. Ингаляционные глюкокортикостероиды (ИГКС) показаны ограниченной группе пациентов с ХОБЛ и имеют ряд противопоказаний. Определены четкие показания к применению ИГКС в качестве двойной терапии в сочетании с ДДБА либо тройной терапии дополнительно в сочетании с ДДАХ. ИГКС в сочетании с ДДБД назначаются больным с ХОБЛ в случаях повторяющихся в течение года неинфекционных обострениях на фоне лечения ДДБД при анамнестических указаниях или наличии бронхиальной астмы и/или количестве эозинофилов крови вне обострения >300 кл./мкл. Разработан алгоритм отмены ИГКС у пациентов с ХОБЛ в связи с развитием осложнений в результате длительной терапии ИГКС и наличием доказательств преимущества или равнозначного эффекта ДДБД в сравнении с ИГКС-терапией

Photoluminescent Scaffolds Based on Natural and Synthetic Biodegradable Polymers for Bioimaging and Tissue Engineering

Non-invasive visualization and monitoring of tissue-engineered structures in a living organism is a challenge. One possible solution to this problem is to use upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) as photoluminescent nanomarkers in scaffolds. We synthesized and studied scaffolds based on natural (collagen—COL and hyaluronic acid—HA) and synthetic (polylactic-co-glycolic acids—PLGA) polymers loaded with β-NaYF4:Yb3+, Er3+ nanocrystals (21 ± 6 nm). Histomorphological analysis of tissue response to subcutaneous implantation of the polymer scaffolds in BALB/c mice was performed. The inflammatory response of the surrounding tissues was found to be weak for scaffolds based on HA and PLGA and moderate for COL scaffolds. An epi-luminescent imaging system with 975 nm laser excitation was used for in vivo visualization and photoluminescent analysis of implanted scaffolds. We demonstrated that the UCNPs’ photoluminescent signal monotonously decreased in all the examined scaffolds, indicating their gradual biodegradation followed by the release of photoluminescent nanoparticles into the surrounding tissues. In general, the data obtained from the photoluminescent analysis correlated satisfactorily with the histomorphological analysis

Photoluminescent Scaffolds Based on Natural and Synthetic Biodegradable Polymers for Bioimaging and Tissue Engineering

Non-invasive visualization and monitoring of tissue-engineered structures in a living organism is a challenge. One possible solution to this problem is to use upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) as photoluminescent nanomarkers in scaffolds. We synthesized and studied scaffolds based on natural (collagen—COL and hyaluronic acid—HA) and synthetic (polylactic-co-glycolic acids—PLGA) polymers loaded with β-NaYF4:Yb3+, Er3+ nanocrystals (21 ± 6 nm). Histomorphological analysis of tissue response to subcutaneous implantation of the polymer scaffolds in BALB/c mice was performed. The inflammatory response of the surrounding tissues was found to be weak for scaffolds based on HA and PLGA and moderate for COL scaffolds. An epi-luminescent imaging system with 975 nm laser excitation was used for in vivo visualization and photoluminescent analysis of implanted scaffolds. We demonstrated that the UCNPs’ photoluminescent signal monotonously decreased in all the examined scaffolds, indicating their gradual biodegradation followed by the release of photoluminescent nanoparticles into the surrounding tissues. In general, the data obtained from the photoluminescent analysis correlated satisfactorily with the histomorphological analysis