Trajectory of age-associated changes in small intestinal microbial community of healthy person metaorganism

The study of the small intestinal microbiota in humans is complicated due to the low availability of biomaterial. Non-invasive methods of metabolomics and bioinformatic data analysis can expand our understanding of the small intestinal microbiota structure and its role in maintaining body homeostasis. Here we assess the trajectory of age-related changes in the small intestinal microbial community of healthy individuals in the context of metaorganism-wide interaction between cytokine and neuroendocrine systems, by using the methods of gas chromatography mass spectrometry of microbial markers (GCMS MM) and optimal scaling. 110 apparently healthy children, adults and elderly individuals were enrolled to the study. The main types of the small intestine microbiota (Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, and Fusobacteria) were quantified in peripheral blood by the GCMS MM method. To construct age-related trajectories of changes in the small intestinal microbiota and parameters of cytokine and neuroendocrine systems, the optimal scaling technique based on the multivariate Gifi transformation (CATPCA method) was used. It was found, that the small intestinal bacterial community of both children and seniors contained significantly lowered total number of microorganisms due to the low number of bacteria of Firmicutes and Actinobacteria types along with high number of members of Proteobacteria and Fusobacteria types compared with adults. Assessment of the trajectory of age-associated changes in microbiota of the small intestine showed that 1) children have strong dynamic fluctuations in the number and links within microbial community along with formation of links between the main regulatory immune and neuroendocrine systems of the metaorganism, 2) adults display plasticity and consistency in functioning of immune and nervous systems that determine the state of dynamic balance of the small intestinal microbiota, 3) healthy aging is characterized by high degree of cooperation between the main members of the bacterial community, which ensures system stability at new level, as one of the mechanisms of host adaptation. Thus, using methods of GCMS MM and optimal scaling, allows us to expand our understanding about age-associated trajectory of changes in the small intestinal microbiota and its cooperation with immune and neuroendocrine systems within the metaorganism, which can be used to develop new methods of therapy for infectious and non-infectious diseases

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS’ LEARNING OUTCOMES IN THE CONTEXT OF DIGITALIZATION OF EDUCATION

The article analyzes the students’ outcomes of learning in different conditions of the educational process. The factors that ensure the effectiveness of learning in classroom, distance and blended formats are distinguished and analyzed. The results of the study suggest that the form of organization of the educational process affects the effectiveness of students’ educational activities.В статье анализируются вопросы результативности обучения в различных условиях организации образовательного процесса. Выделяются и анализируются факторы, обеспечивающие эффективность обучения в очном, дистанционном и смешанном форматах. Результаты исследования позволяют утверждать, что форма организации учебного процесса влияет на результативность учебной деятельности студентов

X-ray line formation in the spectrum of SS 433

The mechanisms for the formation of X-ray lines in the spectrum of SS 433 are investigated by taking into account the radiative transfer inside the jets. The results of Monte Carlo numerical simulations are presented. The effect of a decrease in line intensity due to scattering inside the jet turns out to be pronounced, but it does not exceed 60% in magnitude on the entire grid of parameters. The line broadening due to scattering, nutational motion, and the contribution of satellites can lead to overestimates of the jet opening angle $\Theta$ from the line widths in Chandra X-ray observations. The fine structure of the lines turns out to be very sensitive to the scattering effects. This makes its investigation by planned X-ray observatories equipped with high-resolution spectrometers (primarily Astro-H) a powerful tool for diagnosing the parameters of the jets in SS 433.Comment: 23 pages, 14 figures, to be published in Astronomy Letters, v. 38, n. 7, p. 443 (2012

Correction of dyscrasia of the organism of rats in the conditions of acute ethanol poisoning by the introduction of chelate zinc compound. Morphofunctional characteristics of protective action of the 2,8,9-trihydrozincatrane

It is experimentally proved that the new zinc chelate compound 2,8,9-trihydrozinkatrane has a protective effect on the organism of experimental animals contributing to the improvement of essential metabolic processes. Single intragastric introduction of 2,8,9-trihydrozincatrane in protective dose of 4 mg/kg is an effective method of limitation of development of acute alcoholic poisoning in experimental rats that promotes an increase of tolerance of animals' organisms to multiple negative effects of ethanol and its metabolites

Fast optical variability of SS 433

We study the optical variability of the peculiar Galactic source SS 433 using the observations made with the Russian Turkish 1.5-m telescope (RTT150). A simple technique which allows to obtain high-quality photometric measurements with 0.3-1 s time resolution using ordinary CCD is described in detail. Using the test observations of nonvariable stars, we show that the atmospheric turbulence introduces no significant distortions into the measured light curves. Therefore, the data obtained in this way are well suited for studying the aperiodic variability of various objects. The large amount of SS 433 optical light curve measurements obtained in this way allowed us to obtain the power spectra of its flux variability with a record sensitivity up to frequencies of ~0.5 Hz and to detect its break at frequency =~2.4e-3 Hz. We suggest that this break in the power spectrum results from the smoothing of the optical flux variability due to a finite size of the emitting region. Based on our measurement of the break frequency in the power spectrum, we estimated the size of the accretion-disk photosphere as 2e12 cm. We show that the amplitude of the variability in SS 433 decreases sharply during accretion-disk eclipses, but it does not disappear completely. This suggests that the size of the variable optical emission source is comparable to that of the normal star whose size is therefore R_O \approx 2e12 cm \approx 30 R_sun. The decrease in flux variability amplitude during eclipses suggests the presence of a nonvariable optical emission component with a magnitude m_R=~13.2.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy Letters. The original version in Russian is available at http://hea.iki.rssi.ru/rtt150/ru/ss433_pazh10/pss433_fast.pd

Energic metabolism studies in pediatric cancer patients

The aim. To estimate heat capacity (C) measurements for individual dietary support of pediatric cancer patients during chemotherapy. Material and methods. 43 cancer children are examined. Group 1: 15 children, 5 children receiving polychemotherapy, 10 children – in post-BMT period (5 of them were re-examined on clinical indications). Thus we got 21 resting heat capacity measures. Group 2 includes 14 children with cancer after completing chemotherapy. Group 3 (control group) – 14 children with gastroenterological pathology. (C) is determined by indirect calorimetry, then basal metabolic rate (BMR) is calculated by formula BMR=90%C and compared with (Cf), calculated by formula WHO (1985). The results. In group 1 the average values of BMR and Еоф considerably differ: 986,5 and 1285,9 kcal accordingly (p<0,05). In group 2 BMR value is lower than Cf, however the difference is inconsiderable. The amount of children with decreased BMR in group 1 is considerably higher than in groups 2 and 3 – 76,2%; 42,9% and 28,6% accordingly (p<0,05). On the contrary group 3 includes more children with increased BMR, than group 1 (p<0,01). The marked decrease of heat capacity (C decrease) in group 1 is mainly associated with toxic effects of polychemotherapy and BMT on metabolic processes. Conclusion. The findings justify the need to monitor the pediatric cancer patients during special treatment to estimate their heat capacity to work out individual programs of dietary support with further assessment of effectiveness and correction

PREVALENCE OF HIGH CARCINOGENIC RISK HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS IN THE REPUBLIC OF SAKHA (YAKUTIA), ST. PETERSBURG AND THE REPUBLIC OF KARELIA

Results of the study in three regions of the Russian Federation have shown widespread of high carcinogenic human papillomavirus among patients of dermatovenerological and gynecological profile. Detection of viral DNA in the material from the cervix and urethra ranged from 25,2 (Karelia) to 42,5 (Sakha Republic (Yakutia) per 100 examined patients. In all areas in 2010-2011 first place was occupied by 16-th virus genotype - from 11,5 (Sakha Republic (Yakutia) to 15,9 (St. Petersburg) per 100 patients. Prevalence of 11 other types differs. In the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) the second rank place was occupied by types 31 and. 51 (8,0 per 100 examined patients), in St. Petersburg - by 56 and 31 types (9,7 and. 7,6 per 100 patients). Age risk group contains patients of the age of 20-29 years. Information on circulating genotypes of the virus is a necessary part of surveillance to validate vaccination against human papillomavirus infection and evaluation of its efficiency

Optical Identification of Four Hard X-ray Sources from the Swift All-Sky Survey

We present the results of our optical identifications of four hard X-ray sources from the Swift all-sky survey. We obtained optical spectra for each of the program objects with the 6-m BTA telescope (Special Astrophysical Observatory, Russian Academy of Sciences, Nizhnii Arkhyz), which allowed their nature to be established. Two sources (SWIFT J2237.2+6324} and SWIFT J2341.0+7645) are shown to belong to the class of cataclysmic variables (suspected polars or intermediate polars). The measured emission line width turns out to be fairly large (FWHM ~ 15-25 A), suggesting the presence of extended, rapidly rotating (v~400-600 km/s) accretion disks in the systems. Apart from line broadening, we have detected a change in the positions of the line centroids for SWIFT J2341.0+7645, which is most likely attributable to the orbital motion of the white dwarf in the binary system. The other two program objects (SWIFT J0003.3+2737 and SWIFT J0113.8+2515) are extragalactic in origin: the first is a Seyfert 2 galaxy and the second is a blazar at redshift z=1.594. Apart from the optical spectra, we provide the X-ray spectra for all sources in the 0.6-10 keV energy band obtained from XRT/Swift data.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, will be published in Astronomy Letters, 38, No.5, pp.281-289 (2012

Crowdsourcing Fungal Biodiversity : Revision of Inaturalist Observations in Northwestern Siberia

The paper presents the first analysis of crowdsourcing data of all observations of fungi (including lichens) and myxomycetes in Northwestern Siberia uploaded to iNaturalist.org to date (24.02.2022). The Introduction presents an analysis of fungal diversity crowdsourcing globally, in Russia, and in the region of interest. Materials and methods describe the protocol of uploading data to iNaturalist.org, the structure of the crowdsourcing community. initiative to revise the accumulated data. procedures of data analysis, and compilation of a dataset of revised crowdsourced data. The Results present the analysis of accumulated data by several parameters: temporal, geographical and taxonomical scope, observation and identification efforts, identifiability of various taxa, species novelty and Red Data Book categories and the protection status of registered observations. The Discussion provides data on usability of crowdsourcing data for biodiversity research and conservation of fungi, including pros and contras. The Electronic Supplements to the paper include an annotated checklist of observations of protected species with information on Red Data Book categories and the protection status, and an annotated checklist of regional records of new taxa. The paper is supplemented with a dataset of about 15 000 revised and annotated records available through Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). The tradition of crowdsourcing is rooted in mycological societies around the world, including Russia. In Northwestern Siberia, a regional mycological club was established in 2018, encouraging its members to contribute observations of fungi on iNaturalist.org. A total of about 15 000 observations of fungi and myxomycetes were uploaded so far, by about 200 observers, from three administrative regions (Yamalo-Nenetsky Autonomous Okrug, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, and Tyumen Region). The geographical coverage of crowdsourcing observations remains low. However. the observation activity has increased in the last four years. The goal of this study consisted of a collaborative effort of professional mycologists invited to help with the identification of these observations and analysis of the accumulated data. As a result, all observations were reviewed by at least one expert. About half of all the observations have been identified reliably to the species level and received Research Grade status. Of those, 90 species (195 records) represented records of taxa new to their respective regions: 876 records of 53 species of protected species provide important data for conservation programmes. The other half of the observations consists of records still under-identified for various reasons: poor quality photographs, complex taxa (impossible to identify without microscopic or molecular study). or lack of experts in a particular taxonomic group. The Discussion section summarises the pros and cons of the use of crowdsourcing for the study and conservation of regional fungal diversity, and summarises the dispute on this subject among mycologists. Further research initiatives involving crowdsourcing data must focus on an increase in the quality of observations and strive to introduce the habit of collecting voucher specimens among the community of amateurs. The timely feedback from experts is also important to provide quality and the increase of personal involvement.Peer reviewe

Lenvatinib Therapy in Patients with Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Real Clinical Practice

Aim. To determine lenvatinib treatment outcomes in patients with advanced unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (uHCC) in real clinical practice.Patients and methods. A multicenter retrospective observational study included 58 patients with a confirmed uHCC diagnosis receiving lenvatinib. At baseline, ECOG, Child-Pugh and BCLC scores were assessed. The objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), median overall survival (OS) and median progression-free survival (PFS) rates were assessed. In addition, adverse effects (AE) during treatment were monitored.Results. The median OS and PFS comprised 14.6 (95 % CI 10.6–18.6) and 11.1 months (95 % CI 8.31–13.8), respectively. The ORR amounted to 32.8 %, while DCR reached the level of 79.3 %. The levels of ORR and DCR were not statistically significantly different between the patients with stages B and C according to the BCLC staging system, with grades 0 and 1 according to ECOG, with classes A and B according to the Child-Pugh score, with viral and non-viral HCC etiology, with and without extrahepatic spread, and with and without portal vein invasion. Patients with alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) blood levels <200 ng/mL showed significantly higher ORR and DCR compared to those with AFP levels >200 ng/mL (44.4 % vs. 13.6 %, p = 0.015; and 88.9 % vs. 63.6 %, p = 0.021, respectively). The uHCC stage according to BCLC, ECOG functional status, Child-Pugh class, presence or absence of extrahepatic spread and viral etiology had no effect on the OS and PFS median levels. Patients with macroscopic portal vein invasion had a significantly lower PFS compared with those lacking this complication: 3.97 (0.00-8.07) vs. 11.1 (8.46-13.7), p = 0.053. AFP levels ≥200 ng/mL adversely affected survival rates: median OS comprised 12.0 (5.95-18.9) months in the group of patients with AFP ≥200 ng/mL vs. 16.1 (8.73-23.5) months in the group of patients having AFP <200 ng/mL, p = 0.020. AEs were registered in 81.0% (n = 47) of patients. Among the most common AEs were arterial hypertension (32.8 %), weakness (24.1 %), weight loss (12.1 %) and appetite loss (10.3 %). Due to AEs, Lenvatinib was withdrawn in 5 (8.6 %) patients.Conclusion. Lenvatinib confirmed its efficacy and safety in patients with uHCC in real clinical practice. The treatment outcome might be affected by AFP levels and the presence of macroscopic portal vein invasion. Further comparative studies into treatment regimens applied in real clinical practice are required