Cultural heritage in the food traditions of the Sakha people

The paper emphasizes the importance of studying the traditional Yakut/Sakha food as a historical, sociological, psychological and economic factor in the life of the ethnos. The Sakha are one of the most ancient Turkic peoples. Throughout many centuries, the Sakha managed to preserve their food traditions. Life in severe conditions and sharp continental climate affected the specific features of the Sakha nutrition. The Turkic dishes of the nomadic peoples were adapted to the conditions of the North under the influence of the local inhabitants. This special feature is characterized by the use of northern fish and berries as part of nutrition, while the traditional northern meal mainly consisted of horse meat and dairy products. Like many other Turkic-Mongolian peoples, the Sakha subdivide all food into white/үрүңас[urung as] (dairy food) and black/хара [khara] (meat food). In their cultural tradition, the Sakha would only begin eating the “black” food in winter after butchering cattle/идэhэ [ideghe]. In summer, after the national holiday Ыһыах [Ykhyakh] and during the haymaking season, the Sakha would eat “white” food and fish. Vegetables and flour were introduced to them later with the coming of the first Russians to the territory.Keywords: food traditions, cultural heritage, Turkic culture, white (dairy) food/urung as, black (meat) food/khar

E.M. Meletinskij, Poetica storica della novella

Recensiamo l’edizione italiana, curata da Massimo Bonafin, del libro di Eleazar Moiseevič Meletinskij Poetica storica della novella. Trad. Laura Sestri. Macerata: eum, 2014

Hempseeds (Cannabis spp.) as a source of functional food ingredients, prebiotics and phytosterols

The history of agriculture gives evidence that hemp have been cultivated by farmers near the northern border of agriculture for seed and oil. Nowadays, hemp is a focus of interest as a source of prebiotics and functional food ingredients. This study was aimed at the evaluation of physiologically active metabolomic compounds in the seed of thirty-three Cannabis spp. accessions, representing industrial dual-purpose (fiber and seed), universal, breeding materials used for food, ruderal and recreational landraces grown the Northwest of Russia. Amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids, polysaccharides, polyhydric alcohols, phytosterols and phytol in seeds were measured. The maximum of linoleic acid reached 4379.41 mg 100 g-1, linolenic acid 427.72, oleic acid 1711.19, polysaccharides 13111.28, polyhydric alcohols 2138.38, and sitosterol 79.36. Ruderal hemp was found abundant in phytol (3.46 mg 100 g-1). The food seed/oil material contained the maximum of campesterol and sitosterol. The evaluated hemp accessions may be used as sources of physiologically active and safe ingredients of healthy food and phytosterols as well as in breeding programs to develop hempseed cultivars

La carne in Tolstoj e Dostoevskij: Slavic Sins of the Flesh di Ronald D. LeBlanc

Review of D. LeBlanc, Donald. Slavic Sins of the Flesh: Food, Sex, and Carnal Appetite in Nineteenth-century Russian fiction, Durham: University  of New Hampshire Press, 2009. Print.Recensiamo il saggio di Ronald D. LeBlanc, Slavic Sins of the Flesh: Food, Sex, and Carnal Appetite in Nineteenth-century Russian fiction,  University  of New Hampshire Press, Durham, 2009

Identification of genetic risk factors for Parkinson’s disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common progressive neurodegenerative disorder with a complex and heterogeneous genetic landscape. Approximately 90% of all PD cases are driven by the cumulative effect of several common low-risk genetic variants. Over the last years, genetic studies of familial and sporadic PD cases identified a range of high and low-risk variants, representing approximately 40% of estimated heritability. However, the role of structural variants (SV) in the PD missing heritability remains understudied. Therefore, we investigated SVs in the human cohort enriched for the PD phenotype to expand our knowledge about the putative PD genetic risk factors. We leveraged the matching omics datasets obtained from 95 iPSC lines differentiated into the dopaminergic neuronal-like state to run the SV calling and to directly assess their impact on the gene and transcript expression. We demonstrated a conceptual approach for the genome-wide SV annotation and pathogenicity assessment, addressing the challenges of functional SV effect prediction based on the known properties of genome regions and available multi-omics data. Using this approach, we prioritized a group of non-coding SVs absent in the healthy controls with a strong association with the differential expression of genes whose dysregulation can trigger the development of PD or PD-related phenotype. Discovered variation impacts molecular mechanisms involved in the regulation of signaling processes, oxidative stress response, and neuronal DNA reparation. Additional analysis on the larger PD patient and control cohort has to be conducted for variant-expression association validation and exploration of the allele effect size and penetrance of the prioritized hits. The dataset is publicly available to facilitate the further discovery of SV PD risk association as well as to study sequence signatures and neurological disease-specific SV hot spots

Un drammatico ritorno: Dmitrij P. Svjatopolk-Mirskij nel Regno Unito e in Unione Sovietica

Recensiamo l’edizione russa dei saggi del critico lette- rario Dmitrij Mirskij, O literature i iskusstve. Stat’i i recen- zii 1922-1937, a cura di O.A.Korostelev e M.V. Efimov, trad. russa di M.V. Efimov, introduzio- ne di Gerald S. Smith, Moskva: Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie, 2014.

Наноалмазы как идеальные наноносители для циансодежащих цитостатиков

Цианосодержащие цитостатики - новый класс открытых нами лекарств, которые благодаря цианогруппам хорошо закрепляются на наноалмазах, с увеличением активности

A special role of Na,K-ATPaseand its molecular partners for astrocyte function

Astrocytes are glial cells that express several specific transporters and channels with specialized functions to maintain water, ion and neurotransmitter concentrations in order to preserve normal neuronal function. Astrocytes express two catalytic isoforms of plasma membrane enzyme Sodium Potassium-ATPase (Na,K-ATPase), that are essential for several of astrocyte’s functions. In each cycle Na,K-ATPase actively transports 3 Na+ ions out of the cell and 2 K+ ions into the cell, using the energy of one ATP molecule. Na,K-ATPase establishes transmembrane Na+ gradient that allows for efficient Na+-coupled transport, including glutamate uptake. Na,K-ATPase is also responsible for active K+ uptake from extracellular space and therefore maintenance of extracellular K+ homeostasis. The overall goal of this thesis was to study the molecular and functional interactions between the Na,K-ATPase and other proteins responsible for astrocyte function. The water channel aquaporin 4 (AQP4) is abundantly expressed in astrocytes. Emerging evidence suggests that AQP4 facilitates extracellular K+ clearance by astrocytes and contributes to recovery of neuronal excitability. We found that AQP4 can assemble with its regulator metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5) and with Na,K-ATPase. The AQP4 NH2-terminus was shown to interact with Na,K-ATPase catalytic α subunit and with mGluR5. Föster resonance energy transfer (FRET) studies in primary astrocytes derived from rat striatum showed that interaction occurs in intact cells. Thus AQP4/Na,K- ATPase/mGluR5 can form a macromolecular complex in astrocytes, that may be of functional importance for the regulation of water and K+ homeostasis in the brain. Astrocytes express two isoforms of the Na,K-ATPase catalytic α subunit: the ubiquitous α1 and the α2, which in the brain is predominantly expressed in astrocytes. The α2 isoform has lower Na+ affinity than α1. We explored the relative roles of the α1 and α2 isoforms for the support of Na+-coupled glutamate uptake in primary astrocytes. We found that the α2 isoform contributes to a more efficient restoration of increases in intracellular sodium concentration ([Na+]i) evoked by the Na+-coupled glutamate uptake. Both α1 and α2 interacted molecularly with glutamate transporters via the 1st intracellular loop, but the interaction with α2 appeared stronger. The study points to a specific role for α2 in the handling of [Na+]i transients in astrocytes and suggests that α1 and α2 may differ with regard to capacity to interact with the glutamate transporters. Mutations in the Na,K-ATPase α2 subunit are associated with the neurological disease familial hemiplegic migraine type 2 (FHM2). In this study we ii determined α1 and α2 abundance and glutamate uptake in primary cultures from heterozygous and homozygous α2 mutant mice carrying the human knock-in FHM2-mutation G301R. Both α2 abundance and glutamate uptake were significantly reduced in astrocytes expressing the mutant α2. The plasma membrane expression of mutant Venus-tagged α2 was also reduced in comparison to wild type α2. The results suggest that reduced capacity of astrocytes expressing α2 G301R mutant to take up glutamate, may lead to temporary increases in ambient glutamate concentration that, at least to some extent, may contribute to the symptoms in FHM2

Результаты ревизионного эндопротезирования коленного сустава с применением индивидуальных имплантатов

Background. The presence of extensive bone defects significantly complicates the possibility of stable fixation and correct spatial positioning of the revision endoprosthesis components. The primary task of revision surgery is to restore the lost bone. The use of modern implants makes it possible to replace large metaphyseal defects of the tibia and femur, including AORI type 2B и 3 bone defects. The aim of the study was to evaluate the long-term results of surgical treatment of patients with extensive bone defects (2B and 3 according to AORI) of the proximal tibia and/or distal femur using custom-made implants for revision knee arthroplasty. Methods. A retrospective clinical study was performed in 24 patients who underwent revision arthroplasty using individual implants (9 femoral and 18 tibial) made on a 3D printer in the period from 2017 to 2021. T3 defect according to AORI classification was diagnosed in 12 patients (50%), F3 defect in 1 (4.17%), F2B in 8 (33.3%), T2B in 6 (25%). All patients before surgery and 3, 6, 12 months after surgery were surveyed according to the international scales VAS, KSS, WOMAC and SF-36. Results. At the follow-up examination 12 months after the surgery, 9 out of 24 patients (37.510%) walked without additional means of support, 10 out of 24 (41.710%) with a cane, 4 out of 24 (16,78%), walkers 1 out of 24 (4.210%). There were no periprosthetic fractures during surgery and in the postoperative period. When evaluating the functional state of the knee joint, an excellent result was registered in 45.810% and 33.310%; good in 37.510% and 54.210%; satisfactory in 16.678% and 12.57% according to the KSS and WOMAC scales, respectively. When assessed on the VAS scale, there was a positive trend in the form of statistically significant decrease in pain in all patients (p0.01). Conclusion. The use of individual implants made using additive 3D printing technologies in revision knee arthroplasty in the presence of extensive bone defects (2B and 3 according to AORI) allows to perform an organ-preserving surgery without loss of the statodynamic function of the lower limb. This study has limitations due to the small sample size. We believe that it is promising to study the long-term results of surgical treatment of patients with extensive bone defects (2B and 3 AORI) of the proximal tibia and /or distal femur using individually manufactured implants for revision knee replacement and a comparative analysis of these results with those using conventional implants.Актуальность. Наличие обширных костных дефектов существенно осложняет возможность стабильной фиксации и корректного пространственного позиционирования ревизионных компонентов эндопротеза. Первостепенной задачей ревизионного вмешательства является восполнение объема утраченной костной ткани. Использование современных имплантатов позволяет замещать большие по объему метафизарные дефекты большеберцовой и бедренной костей, включая дефекты костной ткани AORI-типа 2B и 3. Цель исследования представить клинико-рентгенологические результаты оперативного лечения пациентов с обширными костными дефектами (2B и 3 по AORI) проксимального отдела большеберцовой и/или дистального отдела бедренной костей с использованием индивидуально изготовленных имплантатов для ревизионного эндопротезирования коленного сустава. Материал и методы. Проведено ретроспективное исследование 24 пациентов, которым в период с 2017 по 2021 г. было выполнено ревизионное эндопротезирование с использованием индивидуальных имплантатов (9 бедренных и 18 большеберцовых), изготовленных на 3D-принтере. Дефект типа T3 по классификации AORI диагностирован у 12 больных (50%), T2B у 6 (25%), дефект F3 у 1 (4,17%), F2B у 8 (33,3%). Всем пациентам до операции и через 3, 6, 12 мес. после операции выполнялось анкетирование по международным шкалам VAS, KSS, WOMAC и SF-36. Результаты. На контрольном осмотре через 12 мес. после операции без дополнительных средств опоры передвигались 9 из 24 пациентов (37,5%), с помощью трости 10 из 24 (41,7%), костылей 4 из 24 (16,7%), ходунков 1 из 24 (4,2%). Перипротезных переломов во время операции и в послеоперационном периоде не зарегистрировано. При оценке функционального состояния коленного сустава отличный результат был зарегистрирован у 45,8% и 33,3%; хороший у 37,5% и 54,2%; удовлетворительный у 16,67% и 12,5% по шкалам KSS и WOMAC соответственно. При оценке по шкале VAS отмечалась положительная динамика в виде статистически значимого уменьшения болевого синдрома у всех больных (р0,01). Заключение. У всех пациентов в послеоперационном периоде произошло улучшение показателей по SF-36, KSS, WOMAC и VAS. При рентгенологическом исследовании у 23 из 24 больных отсутствовало расшатывание компонентов эндопротеза. У всех пациентов было достигнуто прецизионное соответствие имплантата костному дефекту. Использование индивидуальных имплантатов, изготовленных с помощью аддитивных технологий 3D-печати, в ревизионном эндопротезировании коленного сустава при наличии обширных дефектов костной ткани (2B и 3 по AORI) позволяет выполнить органосохранную операцию без потери статодинамической функции нижней конечности