Features of the course of coronavirus infection in patients after thoracic and cardiac surgery

Objective: To study the features of the coronavirus infection course in cardiosurgical and thoracic patients to determine the factors potentially affecting the possibility of lethal outcome. To identify the predictors of fatal outcome based on the analyses of the features of the coronavirus infection course in this category of patients.Material and methods: During the analyzed period 80 patients from the departments of thoracic surgery and cardiac surgery were transferred to the infectious diseases department: 20 patients from the cardiac surgery department (CSD) – group 1; 60 patients from the thoracic surgery departments (TSD) – group 2. A control group number 3 consisting of 59 non-thoracic and non-cardiosurgical patients was also formed. According to the disease outcome the patients were divided into two groups: group 1 – fatal outcome, group 2 – recovery.Results: Out of 80 patients, lethal outcome was recorded in 25 cases: 22 patients of the thoracic profile (36% of the total number of transferred from this department) and 3 patients of the cardiosurgical profile (15% of the total number of those transferred from the cardiac surgery department). 20 out of 20 cardiac patients had been operated on the day before, 49 out of 60 thoracic patients also underwent surgery. 3 people from the group of non-operated patients transferred from departments of thoracic surgery died. Moreover, after pneumonectomy, fatal outcome was recorded in 7 out of 8 cases (87.5%).Conclusion: During the analyses of indicators it was revealed that the number of fatal outcomes in patients of the thoracic profile with COVID-19 infection is higher than of the cardiosurgical profile and in the infectious diseases department. Presumably, this is due to the fact that coronavirus infection affects the lungs to a greater extent, and in patients with a thoracic profile (in particular, those who have undergone resection interventions), the volume of the lung parenchyma is initially reduced. This is confirmed particularly by the highest percentage of fatal outcomes after pneumonectomy. Cardiosurgical patients after surgical interventions do not have a reduction in the functioning lung parenchyma, which creates an additional “reserve” for recovery. Moreover, men predominate among patients of the thoracic profile, with the survival rate lower in all groups compared to women. Patients transferred from thoracic departments showed higher rates of systemic inflammation, which indicates a more severe course of the viral infection and the possible development of complications.When analyzing the predictors of lethal outcome, the following factors were identified: male gender and, in general, a more severe course of a viral infection (low saturation, a high percentage of lung lesions on CT, more pronounced changes in laboratory screening). The studied factors are associated with a large number of fatal outcomes in thoracic and cardiac surgery patients. Among the factors that do not affect the prognosis are diabetes mellitus, stroke and myocardial infarction in history.Thus, patients diagnosed with coronavirus infection that developed after thoracic surgery had the most unfavorable prognosis. The revealed patterns are of interest for optimizing the routing of this category of patients in order to prevent coronavirus infection

О требованиях к специалистам по метрологии в наноиндустрии в проекте профессионального стандарта «Специалист по метрологии в наноиндустрии»

Development of the nano industry and emergence of new product types manufactured with the use of nanotechnologies raises an issue of accurate measurement of unique nano material parameters. One of the main conditions for metrological assurance of innovative nano productsis existence of a professional labour market providing specialists with knowledge and skills pertaining to nano material studies, production technology, control of nano materials and nano objects in the technological process and products, as well as pertaining to the formation of normative and methodological documents regulating the frame work of metrological assurance at the enterprise. The present paperis devotedto the description of main provisions outlined in the draft professional standard "A metrology specialist in the nano industry"Развитие наноиндустрии и появление новых видов продукции, произведенной с применением нанотехно-логий, ставит вопрос о точном измерении параметров уникальных образцов наноматериалов. Одним из основных условий метрологического обеспечения инновационной продукции наноиндустрии является наличие рынка труда квалифицированных специалистов, обладающих знаниями, навыками и умениями в области исследования наноматериалов, технологии ее производства, контроля наноматериалов и нанообъектов в технологическом процессе и в продукции, а также в области формирования нормативных и методических документов, регламентирующих основы метрологического обеспечения на предприятии. Настоящая статья посвящена описанию основных положений, изложенных в проекте профессионального стандарта «Специалист по метрологии в наноиндустрии»

Thyroid cancer risk in Belarus among children and adolescents exposed to radioiodine after the Chornobyl accident

BACKGROUND: Previous studies showed an increased risk of thyroid cancer among children and adolescents exposed to radioactive iodines released after the Chornobyl (Chernobyl) accident, but the effects of screening, iodine deficiency, age at exposure and other factors on the dose-response are poorly understood. METHODS: We screened 11 970 individuals in Belarus aged 18 years or younger at the time of the accident who had estimated (131)I thyroid doses based on individual thyroid activity measurements and dosimetric data from questionnaires. The excess odds ratio per gray (EOR/Gy) was modelled using linear and linear-exponential functions. RESULTS: For thyroid doses \u3c5 \u3eGy, the dose-response was linear (n=85; EOR/Gy=2.15, 95% confidence interval: 0.81-5.47), but at higher doses the excess risk fell. The EOR/Gy was significantly increased among those with prior or screening-detected diffuse goiter, and larger for men than women, and for persons exposed before age 5 than those exposed between 5 and 18 years, although not statistically significant. A somewhat higher EOR/Gy was estimated for validated pre-screening cases. CONCLUSION: 10-15 years after the Chornobyl accident, thyroid cancer risk was significantly increased among individuals exposed to fallout as children or adolescents, but the risk appeared to be lower than in other Chornobyl studies and studies of childhood external irradiation

ВАРИАНТЫ И ПЕРСПЕКТИВЫ ПЕРЕПРОФИЛИРОВАНИЯ ЛЕКАРСТВЕННЫХ ПРЕПАРАТОВ ДЛЯ ИСПОЛЬЗОВАНИЯ В ТЕРАПИИ ОНКОЛОГИЧЕСКИХ ЗАБОЛЕВАНИЙ

Recently many new approaches for repurposing or repositioning of the clinically used drugs have been developed. Drug repurposing  allows not only to use known schemes for the synthesis of  biologically active compounds, but also to avoid multiple studies that  are necessary for drug approval process – analysis of  pharmacokinetics, carcinogenicity, acute and chronic toxicity,  including cardiotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, allergenicity etc. It makes  possible to reduce the number of experimental studies as well as  costs of investigations. In cancer research drug repurposing includes screening for medicines used nowadays for the treatment of patients with non-cancer diseases which possess anticancer activity or able to enhance the effects of the standard anticancer chemotherapy, and  search for new applications of known anticancer drugs for the  treatment of different cancer types. Scientific rationale for the search of the compounds with potential anticancer properties among drugs  with different applications is based on the multiple cross-talks of  signaling pathways, which can inhibit cell proliferation. Modern  advances in genomics, proteomics and bioinformatics, development  of permanently improving databases of drug molecular effects and  high throughput analytical systems allow researchers to analyze  simultaneously a large bulk of existing drugs and specific molecular targets. This review describes the main approaches and  resources currently used for the drug repurposing, as well as a  number of examples.В настоящее время появились новые программы по перепрофилированию или перепозиционированию лекарственных средств, используемых в медицинской практике.  Перепрофилирование препаратов позволяет не только использовать отработанные схемы  синтеза биологически активных соединений, но и избежать проведения исследований,  необходимых для внедрения новых лекарственных препаратов в медицинскую практику, по  фармакокинетике, канцерогенности, острой и хронической токсичности, в том числе  кардиотоксичности, нефротоксичности, аллергенности и т.д. Это создает возможность сократить объем необходимых исследований и снизить затраты на них. В онкологии  программы перепрофилирования лекарственных средств включают как поиск препаратов,  обладающих противоопухолевой активностью или потенцирующих действие  противоопухолевых препаратов, среди известных и широко применяемых лекарственных  средств, используемых для лечения неонкологических заболеваний, так и анализ  возможности использования уже известных противоопухолевых препаратов для лечения  каких-либо новых нозологических форм заболевания. Основанием для поиска  противоопухолевых свойств среди препаратов иного назначения является тот факт, что  сигнальные пути в клетке характеризуются большим количеством перекрестных  взаимодействий и некоторые из них могут ингибировать пролиферацию опухолевых клеток.  Современные достижения геномики, протеомики, биоинформатики, появление объемных баз данных по молекулярным эффектам лекарственных препаратов, мощных аналитических систем и их постоянное совершенствование уже позволяет исследователям  одновременно проанализировать большое количество существующих препаратов в  применении к конкретной молекулярной мишени. В обзоре рассмотрены основные подходы  и ресурсы, использующиеся в настоящее время для перепрофилирования лекарственных  препаратов, а также приведен ряд примеров

ISSN exercise & sport nutrition review: research & recommendations

Sports nutrition is a constantly evolving field with hundreds of research papers published annually. For this reason, keeping up to date with the literature is often difficult. This paper is a five year update of the sports nutrition review article published as the lead paper to launch the JISSN in 2004 and presents a well-referenced overview of the current state of the science related to how to optimize training and athletic performance through nutrition. More specifically, this paper provides an overview of: 1.) The definitional category of ergogenic aids and dietary supplements; 2.) How dietary supplements are legally regulated; 3.) How to evaluate the scientific merit of nutritional supplements; 4.) General nutritional strategies to optimize performance and enhance recovery; and, 5.) An overview of our current understanding of the ergogenic value of nutrition and dietary supplementation in regards to weight gain, weight loss, and performance enhancement. Our hope is that ISSN members and individuals interested in sports nutrition find this review useful in their daily practice and consultation with their clients

THE PROBLEM OF INTERCEPTING PARKING SYSTEMS DESIGN IN CITIES

Consistent determination of the main problems concerning the system of intercepting parking – lot design with the purpose of transport systems improvement downtown is grounded. The given approach allows to fully satisfy the demand for parking-lots of urban transport systems in combination with the system of downtown parkings and the capacity of the highway network

On requirements for the metrology specialists in the nano industry in the draft professional standard "a metrology specialistin the nano industry"

Development of the nano industry and emergence of new product types manufactured with the use of nanotechnologies raises an issue of accurate measurement of unique nano material parameters. One of the main conditions for metrological assurance of innovative nano productsis existence of a professional labour market providing specialists with knowledge and skills pertaining to nano material studies, production technology, control of nano materials and nano objects in the technological process and products, as well as pertaining to the formation of normative and methodological documents regulating the frame work of metrological assurance at the enterprise. The present paperis devotedto the description of main provisions outlined in the draft professional standard "A metrology specialist in the nano industry

Three-year monitoring of the reproductive behavior of adolescent girls

In the article, the authors raise the issue of protection of the reproductive health of adolescent girls. 50 adolescent girls, who studied in the technical and humanitarian classes of the secondary general school in Vladimir, were enrolled in the study. They had participated in the anonymous questionnaire survey for 3 years. It was found that the majority of adolescent girls had a low level of knowledge on reproductive health, as well as altered sexual behaviour (attitude toward the family, motherhood, childbirth, abortion, marriage), moreover the indicators on these issues deteriorated with the passage of time. The religious schoolgirls from families with two or more children showed the «highest» reproductive attitudes; they were negative about abortion

New valuable plant species in phytoremediation of copper polluted lands

The data obtained during screening among several plant species from three different families are present here. It was shown that in seedling stage all of three species (common ice plant, rape and vica) were characterized as relatively high tolerant plants when incubated under excess copper. All of investigated species could be recommended as highly effective phytoremediators for territories with medium to high level of toxic metals

Statistical analysis of sizing features of dust generated under the mechanical metal-working

Introduction. The paper considers the mathematical analysis of the fractional composition of dust generated during the operation of the rail-cutting machine. It is established that the studied polydisperse material is well described by the one-parameter exponential distribution. At the same time, the lognormal particle size distribution, whose parameters are determined by mathematical programming methods, seems adequate for the purposes of calculating cyclones. The work objective was to develop mathematical methods for correct averaging of the size and mass parameters of dust under the solid metal machining.Materials and Methods. We studied the possibility of approximating experimental data by Rosin – Rammler distributions (classical, generalized three-parameter P(x, D, n, m), and simplified exponential P(x), in which n = 1). The corresponding results were compared to each other and to the data of approximation of the lognormal and double lognormal functions. These results indicate close approximation quality using the following model distributions P(x):• five-parameter double lognormal;• three-parameter type of Rosin-Rammler;• two-parameter classical Rosin - Rammler;• one-parameter exponential.Results. The primary physical analysis of cutting waste was carried out by the laboratory measuring complex Fritsch Analysette 22 Compact which uses the LALLS – low angle laser scattering method. The built-in software provides output of measurement results in primary graphic and digital forms. It was found that the simplest exponential distribution is best suited for a detailed analysis of the dust particle-size distribution based on the experimental data.This distribution enables reproduction of all the integral indicators provided by the instrumental measuring complex along with the graphical data.Discussion and Conclusions. The results obtained can be used to rationalize the local suction machine, and the mathematical models and algorithms can be used for the parametric analysis of any dust captured by cyclones