Psychological Properties and Stress Tolerance of High-Qualified Athletes Specializing in Athletic Walking

У сфері спорту існує стійкий інтерес до поведінкових стратегій спортсменів-професіоналів, тому дослідження психологічних характеристик висококваліфікованих легкоатлетів є досить актуальною темою. У статті піднімається питання особливостей спортивного середовища та проявів стресу у спортсменів. У роботі досліджено психологічні риси особистості висококваліфікованих легкоатлетів, які спеціалізуються у спортивній ходьбі, за шкалою нейротизму та екстраверсії та виявлено їхній рівень нервово-психічної стійкості. Основними чинниками стресу у спортивній діяльності є: гостра конкуренція під час спортивної боротьби, що спрямована на встановлення рекорду або перемогу над супротивником; максимальне фізичне і психологічне напруження під час цієї боротьби; систематичні, тривалі й інтенсивні спортивні тренування, що суттєво впливають на режим життя та побуту. Виокремлено два різновиди стресу у спортсменів: соціально-емоційний та тренувальний.Дослідження 12 висококваліфікованих легкоатлетів, які спеціалізуються із спортивної ходьби, показало, що більшість з них (50 %) володіють здібностями амбіверта. Вони є конкордантами та нормостеніками, які характеризуються значною емоційною стійкістю, доброю адаптованістю, стійкістю до зовнішніх впливів. Проте серед опитуваних є такі, що мають низьку та нижче середньої нервово-психічну стійкість.In the field of sports, there is a strong interest in the behavioral strategies of professional athletes, thus the study of the psychological characteristics of highly skilled athletes is a very topical issue. The article raises the question of the characteristics of the sports environment and the manifestations of stress among athletes. In the paper the psychological features of the personalities of highly qualified athletes who specialize in athletic walking on a scale of neuroticism and extraversion are investigated and the level of neuro-psychological stability of highly skilled athletes specializing in athletic walking is revealed. The main factors of stress in sports activities are: intense competition during a sporting contestation aimed at establishing a record or achieving victory over the rival; maximum physical and psychological stress during the contestation; systematic, long and intense training, which significantly affect the daily regime and everyday life. Two types of stress among athletes are singled out: social-emotional and training.A study of 12 highly qualified athletes who specialize in athletic walking showed that most of them (50 %) have ambivert abilities. They are concordants and normostenics that are characterized by significant emotional stability, good adaptability, resistance to external influences. However, among the respondents there were some with low and below average neuropsychic stability

Protein Tyrosine Kinase Panel As a Tool for Anticancer Drug Design

The discovery of the pharmaceutical potential of small molecule inhibitors of oncogenic protein tyrosine kinases is one of the directions in target therapy in oncology. Presently, investigations aiming at developing new therapeutically important inhibitors have to be based on a combination of computational and experimental approaches including biochitalicical, cell-based or in silico screening and the study of the three-dimensional structure of the kinase active center, in complex with an inhibitor, using crystallography and X-ray analysis or molecular modeling. This work is an example of a combination of inhibitor experimental search with the computational analysis of the potential mechanism of the inhibitors' action, which allowed to propose the 2-hydroxyphenol group as a scaffold for the design of new tyrosine kinase inhibitors

The Blazhko behavior of RV UMa

RV UMa is one of the most extensively studied RR Lyrae stars showing Blazhko modulation. Its photometric observations cover more than 90 years. The published photoelectric observations of RV UMa obtained at the Konkoly Observatory (Kanyo, 1976) were re-considered and completed with previously unpublished data. During the time interval of the observations the periods of both the pulsation and the modulation varied within the ranges of 0.000007 and 0.9 days, respectively. We have found a definite but not strict inverse relation between the pulsation and modulation periods of RV UMa.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in A

INVESTIGATION OF CENTRAL HEMODYNAMICS VIA RIGHT HEART AND PULMONARY ARTERY CATHETERIZATION IN PATIENTS WITH SYSTEMIC CONNECTIVE TISSUE DISEASES

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) associated with systemic connective tissue diseases (SCTD) is a poor prognostic manifestation of the latter that result in death if untreated. The invasive determination of hemodynamic parameters is prominent in diagnosing the disease and determining its treatment policy and prognosis.Objective: to analyze the results of catheterization in PAH-SCTD patients admitted to the V.A. Nasonova Research Institute of Rheumatology.Subjects and methods. The investigation included 59 patients admitted to the V.A. Nasonova Research Institute of Rheumatology from September 2009 to September 2014. PAH was diagnosed in accordance with the conventional guidelines. All the patients underwent right heart and pulmonary artery (PA) catheterization at the diagnosis and over time during treatment.Results and discussion. All the patients included in the trial met the pre-capillary pulmonary hypertension (PH) criteria: mean pulmonary artery pressure (MPAP) ≥25 mm Hg; and PA wedge pressure (PAWP) <15 mm Hg. The exclusion of other causes of PH (pulmonary fibrosis, left heart disease, and thromboembolism), as well as a high transpulmonary pressure gradient >15 mm Hg and pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) >3 Wood units could diagnose PAH in all our patients. There was a statistically highly significant association between pathological hemodynamic changes and functional class (FC). FC was found to be most closely correlated with right atrial pressure (RAP), cardiac output (CO), PVR, and cardiac index (CI). Among the most common manifestations of heart failure, only the presence of peripheral edemas was associated with worse hemodynamic parameters in PAH. It should be noted that out of two biomarkers (N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide and uric acid), the former is largely related to the magnitude of changes in hemodynamic factors. The critical values of hemodynamic parameters were due to extreme edema – anasarca (RAP >17 mm Hg, PVR >20 Wood units, CI <14 ml/m2). Analysis of clinical and instrumental parameters in relation to FC revealed a linear relationship of RAP, CO, and PVR between the level of these parameters and FC; moreover, the highest correlation coefficients were observed for the hemodynamic parameters characterizing right ventricular systolic function. It is remarkable that no MPAP changes were found; only patients with FC IV showed its slight increase (from 51±8 to 55±8 mm Hg; р = 0.087). PAWP remained unchanged regardless of FC. Conclusion. Thus, the hemodynamic parameters determined in patients with PAH-SCTD during right heart and LA catheterization are closely related to the manifestations of respiratory and heart failure, the biomarkers, and FC of PAH

Внутривенный илопрост в комплексной терапии сосудистых нарушений у пациентов с системными заболеваниями соединительной ткани

Systemic connective tissue diseases, systemic scleroderma in particular, constitute a group of diseases in which vascular disorders underlying diverse clinical manifestations are one of the pathogenetic components. Raynaud 's syndrome and ulceration are the most common symptoms of these diseases, which influence quality of life in patients and require constant drug therapy. The paper discusses the authors' clinical experience with intravenous iloprost used in the combination therapy of the vascular manifestations of systemic scleroderma and systemic lupus erythematosus.Системные заболевания соединительной ткани, в частности системная склеродермия, представляют собой группу болезней, при которых одним из патогенетических звеньев являются сосудистые нарушения, лежащие в основе разнообразных клинических проявлений. Синдром Рейно и образование язв — наиболее частые симптомы этих заболеваний, влияющие на качество жизни пациентов и требующие постоянной лекарственной терапии. В статье обсуждается собственный клинический опыт использования внутривенного илопроста в комплексной терапии сосудистых проявлений системной склеродермии и системной красной волчанки

ASSESSMENT OF THE IMMUNOGENICITY AND SAFETY OF 23-VALENT POLYSACCHARIDE PNEUMOCOCCAL VACCINE IN PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATIC DISEASES

Objective: to investigate the immunogenicity and safety of 23-valent polysaccharide pneumococcal vaccine in patients with rheumatic diseases (RD).Subjects and methods. The prospective open-label comparative study enrolled 133 people (102 (76.7%) women and 31 (23.3%) men) aged 23 to 76 years, including 79 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 16 with systemic sclerosis, and 7 with dermatomyositis/polymyositis, as well as 31 subjects without systemic inflammatory RD (a control group), who had a recent history of at least two cases of lower respiratory tract infections (bronchitis, pneumonia). At their inclusion, all the patients with RD were receiving ant-inflammatory therapy, including 52 taking methotrexate (MT), 14 – leflunomide (LEF), and 13 – MT + tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) inhibitors. The 23-valent polysaccharide pneumococcal vaccine Pneumo-23 (Sanofi Pasteur, France) was administered in a single dose of 0.5 ml subcutaneously during continuous MT or LEF therapy for the underlying disease or 3–4 weeks before the use of TNF-α inhibitors. Clinical examinations of the patients and conventional laboratory studies were performed during control visits (1, 3, and 12 months after vaccination). The serum levels of anti-pneumococcal capsular polysaccharide antibodies were measured in 102 patients by enzyme immunoassay using commercial VaccZymeTM Anti-PCP IgG Enzyme Immunoassay kits (The Binding Site Group Ltd, United Kingdom).Results and discussion. No clinical and radiological symptoms of pneumonia were recorded in any case during the follow-up period of 12 months. The patients with RD and the control group showed a significant, more than double increase in anti-pneumococcal antibodies 12 months following vaccination. Vaccination was well tolerated: 90 (68%) patients displayed no adverse events; 37 (28%) had pain, cutaneous swelling and hyperemia up to 2 cm in diameter at the site of injection for vaccination;6 (4%) had low-grade fever. There were no episodes of a RD exacerbation or any new autoimmune disorders during the follow-up period.Conclusion. The findings were suggestive of the sufficient immunogenicity and good tolerability of 23-valent pneumococcal vaccine in patients with RD

Intravenous iloprost in the combination therapy of vascular disorders in patients with systemic connective tissue diseases

Systemic connective tissue diseases, systemic scleroderma in particular, constitute a group of diseases in which vascular disorders underlying diverse clinical manifestations are one of the pathogenetic components. Raynaud 's syndrome and ulceration are the most common symptoms of these diseases, which influence quality of life in patients and require constant drug therapy. The paper discusses the authors' clinical experience with intravenous iloprost used in the combination therapy of the vascular manifestations of systemic scleroderma and systemic lupus erythematosus

Demographic and clinical differences between idiopathic and scleroderma-related pulmonary arterial hypertension: Russian National Registry analysis

Pulmonary arterial hypertension associated with systemic sclerosis (SSc-PAH) and idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) belong to group I in the clinical classification of PH, but there is evidence for significant differences in their survival due to current therapy.  Objective: the objective of this report is to compare pts with (SSc-PAH) and (IPAH) based on data of Russian National Registry.  Patients and methods: in the study we included 52 pts with IPAH and 50 with SSc-PAH. There were no differences in functional class (FC). Diagnosis was based on RHC.  Results. At the moment of diagnosis average age of patients with SSc-PAH was 15 year higher (p<0.0001). 6MWD was somewhat more in IPAH group. Borg index was higher in SSc-APAH (4.2±2.1 vs 3.3±1.5); p<0.049. The degree of heart failure (HF) and respiratory failure (RF) did not differ. Dyspnea was the most common among the first symptoms (94% in SSc-PAH and 73% in IPAH). Syncope were observed only in IPAH. In both the diagnosis was verified quite late (in SSc-PAH group in 33 (13; 56.5mts), IPAH – in 30.5 (13.3; 76.3mts). Signs of HF were detected in both groups with equal frequency (76% and 65% respectively). Advanced stage of PAH including symptoms of HF were detected with equal frequency. Only ECHO revealed pericardial effusion more frequently in pts with SSc-PAH (56% vs 35%, p<0.05). Also they had more frequently weight lost (14% vs 2%, p<0.05). Hemodynamics estimation revealed significant haemodynamic differences: sRVP (73.4±19.1 mm Hg) and mPAP (49.1±11.5 mm Hg) in SSc-PAH were significantly lower, than in IPAH (85.9±25.6 mm Hg and 57.5±15.3 mm Hg). dRVP and mRVP were significantly higher in SSc (7.02±5.59 and 28.5±12.7 mm Hg), compared to 0.95±7.6 and 11.7±6.0 mm Hg respectively. Whereas CO values were equal, the average PVR was higher in IPAH (13.2 vs 10.6 WU, р<0.005). RAP levels were equal at both groups. FVC was within normal limits in groups, but DLCO was lower in SSc-PAH group (46.9±13.5% vs 68.5±12.8%). Hb in SSc-APAH group was significantly lower (136±22 g/l vs 149±19 g/l), erythrocyte count was almost same is both groups (4.9±0.6 and 5.1±0.7×1012/l). C-reactive protein in patients with SSc-PAH was higher (9.4±15.1 vs 1.1±1.0 mg/l); p<0.001. Significant decrease in survival during the second and third years of observation was revealed in SSc-PAH group. Difference in 5 years survival between the two groups was 15%, difference was close to statistically significant (p=0.06).  Conclusion: although general clinical appearance of patients with SSc-APAH and IPAH looks similar, there are significant differences in hemodynamic indexes and laboratory signs between the two groups. This factor leads to difference in progress and outcome of the disease