Speech Act Characteristics of English Internet Forums

Speech acts of different types, typical for texts of Internet forums, are characterized. The novelty of the work is seen in the material of the study: Internet discourse appeared and became the subject of research relatively recently, and many of its genres have not yet been fully explored, especially since this type of discourse is in constant development and is undergoing changes. The relevance of the work is determined by the fact that it is carried out in the sphere of pragmalinguistics. It is concluded that the high frequency of directive speech acts is conditioned by the genre of Internet forum. The authors show that these texts quite often contain expressives. It is revealed that representatives as well as interrogatives make up a small percentage of the total number of speech acts in the material and can be seen mostly in the initial posts. Commissives and declarations are not present in the sample of this study, from which it is concluded that they are present in Internet forums in isolated cases. The author studies in more detail the decision-making speech acts as the most widespread in the studied material, analyzes the degree of their categoricity, as well as language means that soften the tone of decision-making speech acts. Explicit and implicit directives vary

Problem of Typology of Intertextual Inclusions and Their Role in Intertext Structure (by Material of Magazine and Newspaper Articles)

The problem of typology of intertextual inclusions and their role in a text structure is considered. To denote semantically rich inclusions linking the text with the precedent text and requiring the reader to make efforts to recognize these links, the term intext , which was proposed by P. Kh. Torop, is used. The views of linguists on understanding of the category “text” and relationship between the precedent text and the recipient text are presented. Definitions of intertextuality and intext are given. Classification of intext functions is proposed. The relevance of the study is due to the lack of study of the functioning of intexts in the framework of magazine and newspaper articles. The novelty of the work lies in the analysis of functions of intexts on the material of modern press. The analysis reveals the most common intextic functions in such articles: text-generating / constructive, commenting, ironic, expressive, poetic, referential and appellate. Attributed and non-attributed intexts are distinguished and the importance of presence or absence of there marking is discusses. Differences in volume of used intexts, which can consist of one word or represent a broad intertextual inclusion, are revealed. Particular attention is paid to the use of allusions and quotations, performing the function of increment of meaning in intertexts

Agreement of body adiposity index (BAI), bioimpedance analysis and ultrasound scanning in determining body fat

BACKGROUND: The steadily increasing number of people with obesity requires the development of simple and accurate methodological approaches to assess the absolute and relative amount of body fat mass. The body adiposity index (BAI) is one of the indices proposed to assess the body fat percentage. However, the comparison analysis of common methods, i.e., of bio-electrical impedance analysis and ultrasound scanning, and BAI was not performed for the Russian population.AIM: Comparison analysis of the body fat percentage estimates by bio-electrical impedance analysis, ultrasound scanning, and body adiposity index in the group of adult male and females.MATERIALS AND METHODS: An examination of healthy males and females from Moscow was conducted. Height, weight, waist and hip circumferences were measured. The body fat percentage was obtained by bio-electrical impedance analysis — BIA (ABC-02 Medas), ultrasound scanning — US (BodyMetrixTM, IntelaMetrix), and body adiposity index.RESULTS: 263 females and 134 males aged 18 to 73 years participated in the study. Correlation coefficients between BAI values and the body fat percentage obtained by BIA and US were 0.749 and 0.763 (p<0.000), respectively. Comparison of body fat percentage measurements obtained by BAI, BIA and US showed the low agreement (ССС<0.90) between BAI and other methods in pooled sample as well as in the female and male groups. Comparison of the US and BAI methods revealed higher level of agreement (ССС=0.84 [0.80–0.86]) and no systematic bias. Lower level of agreement was obtained in the group of males.CONCLUSION: Conducted study allows to conclude that, at the individual level, BAI is not an appropriate method for estimating the body fat percentage relatively to other indirect methods. However, all three methods can be used in the group of pooled males and females when testing at the population level

Effect of glucocorticoids on bone metabolism in replacement therapy of adrenal insufficiency. Literature review

Adrenal insufficiency (AI) is a syndrome caused by disturbance in the synthesis and secretion of hormones of the adrenal cortex, which ensure the vital activity, energy and water-salt homeostasis. The widest hormonal deficiency is observed in primary hypocorticism, when the synthesis of not only glucocorticoids (GC) and adrenal androgens, but also mineralocorticoids is disrupted. Lifelong replacement therapy with GCs for this pathology may be associated with a risk of bone loss and osteoporosis. However, at present, there are no clear guidelines for diagnosis of bone condition, including and bone mineral density (BMD) monitoring during treatment with GCs in patients with AI. This review summarizes collected data on the key pathogenetic links of glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis, incidence of decreased BMD and fractures in patients with AI. In this review factors that influence bone metabolism in this cohort of patients are considered: the type and the dose of prescribed GCs, the type (primary, secondary, HH in congenital adrenal cortex dysfunction) and the duration of AI, age, gender, and the presence of concomitant endocrine disorders (hypogonadism, growth hormone (GH) deficiency). In addition, the review presents data on the effect of adrenal androgen replacement therapy and recombinant GH therapy on bone metabolism in secondary AI

Functional brain MRI in the setting of drug correction of obesity

AIMS. Study of the dynamics of brain activity using functional MRI (fMRI) in obese patients treated with sibutramine (Reduxine®).MATERIALS AND METHODS. The study enrolled patients with a body mass index (BMI) ≥30 kg/m2 . All participants underwent initial brain fMRI mapping. The obesity cohort was treated with sibutramine at a dose of 10 or 15 mg per day for 3 months. After treatment patients with obesity underwent a second fMRI mapping to assess changes against the initial mapping.RESULTS. The study included: 30 patients (86,7% women) with mean age of 31 [27.25; 36] years, mean body weight (BW)  - 106 [95.75; 121.75] kg, mean BMI 37.4 [33.55; 41.9] kg/m2 , mean waist circumference (WC) - 109 [100; 114.75] cm. The most marked activation volume (via fMRI) was observed in patients with obesity (before treatment) in the visual cortex (occipital lobes). After 3 months of treatment with sibutramine, 80% of patients lose ≥5% of BW. Mean BW decrease was -7.2 [-13.46; -5.37] kg, BMI decrease — -7.2 [-13.49; -5.34] кг/м2 , WC decrease — -6.9 [-11.88; -4.03] см, p <0,05. According to fMRI data, a  decrease in brain activation in the projection of the occipital lobes (35%), left insula (44%), and increase inactivation by 70% in the area of the left DMPF.CONCLUSION. A dynamic study of brain activity using fMRI in obese patients showed that during treatment with sibutramine, a decrease in body weight is accompanied by a decrease in activation in the projection of the occipital lobes and the left insular lobe of the brain, and an increase in activation in the area of the left DMPFC. These data may indicate a decrease in the emotional perception of high-calorie food, a decrease in motivation to eat it, and an increase in cognitive control. In general, the noted dynamics of the functional activity of the brain in obese patients against the background of obesity therapy can be regarded as a change in previously formed patterns of eating behavior

Consensus position of endocrinologists and pathologists on coding causes of death in patients with diabetes mellitus (expert opinion)

Coding of the causes of death of patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) in the Russian Federation is one of the long-discussed problems, due to the comorbidity of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and a number of contradictions in the key regulatory documents regulating the statistics of mortality in this category of patients, which acquires particular relevance in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, due to its negative impact on the outcomes of the course of COVID-19 and mortality risks. In pursuance of the decisions of the Minutes of the meeting of the working group under the project committee of the National Project «Health» on identifying patterns in the formation of mortality rates of the population dated January 20, 2021 No. 1, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation T.A. Golikova, experts of two directions - endocrinology and pathological anatomy, prepared a Draft of agreed recommendations on the Rules for coding the causes of death of patients with diabetes, causing the greatest problems in terms of the use of ICD-10 when choosing the initial cause of death, including in the case of death from CVD and COVID-19

Узкополосная фототерапия и препарат натриевой соли синтетического дипептида гамма-D-глутамил-D-триптофана в качестве комбинированного метода лечения псориаза: комплексная и сравнительная оценка

The paper presents the results of a comparative study of various immunosuppressive treatment methods of medium severity vulgar psoriasis (PASI from 10 to 20). The parameters used were PASI indices, p53 apoptosis marker expression indices, and expression indices of T-regulatory cell marker Foxp3. The study involved 96 patients, from 18 to 60 years old, divided by randomization into three groups. Patients in the 1st group (n = 32) received narrow-band phototherapy according to a 4-day regimen. We used the Waldmann UV-7002K instrument and F79/120W-TL01 lamps generating radiation with a maximum emission at a wavelength of 311 nm. We started with a dose of 0.05–0.1 J/cm2, subsequently increased by 0.05–0.1 J/cm2 for each procedure, in the absence of erythema. In total, patients received 12–15 procedures, with a course dose of 4.7–7.65 J/cm2. In the 2nd group (n = 32), patients were treated with the sodium salt of the synthetic gamma-D-glutamyl-D tryptophan dipeptide. Patients of the 3rd group (n = 32) underwent combination therapy, which included both methods described above. As a result of treatment, the greatest decrease in the PASI index, as well as the level of expression of the marker of Foxp3 T-regulatory cells, was observed among patients who received the combined regimen. The data obtained indicate the high therapeutic efficacy of narrow-band phototherapy in combination with the sodium salt of the synthetic gamma-D glutamyl-D tryptophan synthetic dipeptide. It was also noted that the immunohistochemical marker p53, reflecting the cellular renewal of psoriatic papule keratinocytes, is an informative molecular-cellular indicator of the effectiveness of narrow-band phototherapy.В работе представлены результаты сравнительного исследования различных иммуносупрессивных методов лечения вульгарного псориаза среднетяжёлой степени (PASI от 10 до 20). В качестве оцениваемых параметров использовали индекс PASI, уровни экспрессии маркера апоптоза р53 и экспрессии маркера Т-регуляторных клеток Foxp3. В исследование были включены 96 пациентов в возрасте от 18 до 60 лет, разделённые методом рандомизации на три группы. Пациенты в 1-й группе (n=32) получали узкополосную фототерапию по 4-дневной схеме. Использовали прибор «Waldmann UV-7002K» и лампы F79/120W-TL01, генерирующие излучение с максимальной эмиссией на длине волны 311 нм. Начинали с дозы 0,05 – 0,1 Дж/см2, повышая в последующем на 0,05 – 0,1 Дж/см2 каждую процедуру, при отсутствии эритемы. Всего пациенты получали от 12 до 15 процедур с курсовой дозой облучения 4,7 –7,65 Дж/см2. Во 2-й группе (n=32) пациентам проводили терапию натриевой солью синтетического дипептида гамма-D-глутамил-D-триптофана. Пациентам 3-й группы (n=32) проводили комбинированную терапию, включающую в себя сочетание двух вышеописанных методик. В результате лечения наибольшее снижение индекса PASI, а также уровня экспрессии маркера Т-регуляторных клеток Foxp3 наблюдали среди пациентов, получивших комбинированную схему. Полученные данные свидетельствуют о высо- кой терапевтической эффективности узкополосной фототерапии в комбинации с препаратом натриевой соли синтетического дипептида гамма- D-глутамил-D-триптофана. Также было отмечено, что иммуногистохимический маркер р53, отражающий клеточное обновление кератиноцитов псориатической папулы, является информативным молекулярно-клеточным показателем эффективности узкополосной фототерапии

Relationship of depressive disorders with hypertension, its control and other metabolic risk factors in the Tyumen Oblast population of men and women. Data from the study “Epidemiology of Cardiovascular Diseases and their Risk Factors in Regions of Russian Federation” (ESSE-RF)

Aim. To study the association between depression and metabolic cardiovascular risk factors, hypertension (HTN) and its control in a random sample of Tyumen Oblast population of men and women aged 25-64 years.Material and methods. The study object was a random sample of the population of the Tyumen and the Tyumen Oblast aged 25-64 years, examined as part of the ESSE-RF epidemiological study. The study included 1658 participants. Among them, 30,3% (n=503) were men, while 69,7% (n=1155) — women. Mean age was 48,9±11,4 years. The prevalence of metabolic risk factors (hyperlipidemia, carbohydrate metabolism disorder, obesity), hypertension and the likelihood of its control in men and women with different levels of depressive disorders diagnosed using the HADS scale were assessed.Results. Compared with participants without depression, persons with psychological disorders were significantly more likely to have HTN (55,5% vs 47,6%, p<0,01), elevated levels of total cholesterol (TC) (63,9% vs 54,0%, p<0,01) and low-density lipoproteins (LDL) (66,7% vs 60,3%, p<0,05), carbohydrate metabolism disorders (8,3% vs 5,2% p<0,05), obesity (49,2% vs 37,7%, p<0,01). Significantly more often hypertensive subjects without depression took antihypertensive drugs effectively (odds ratio (OR) — 1,747, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1,001-3,053) and controlled blood pressure (OR — 1,533, 95% CI, 1,05-2,36). There was no association between the use of antihypertensives and the level of depressive disorders. Among women with depression (HADS>7), dyslipidemia (65,5% vs 57,4% for TC, p<0,05; 71,0% vs 62,9% for LDL, p<0,05), carbohydrate metabolism disorders (10,1% vs 5,2%, p<0,01), obesity (53,3% vs 43,2%, p<0,01), HTN (60,6% vs 45,6%, p<0,01) were more common. Men with clinical depression were more likely to have HTN (69,0% vs 47,7%, p<0,05), with a high level of depression — hyperlipidemia (58,9% vs 46,7% for TC, p<0,05; 67,1% vs 53,9% for LDL, p<0,05). Women with elevated depression levels were less likely to take antihypertensive drugs (30% vs 49,4%, p<0,01) and control hypertension (13,8% vs 21,2%, p<0,05).Conclusion. The data obtained confirm the association of depressive disorders with metabolic risk factors and the likelihood of HTN control, which is especially significant among women