Representing Russia in The City of Angels: The church of Holy Virgin Mary

La inaudita historia de la iglesia de Santa María Virgen, en Silver Lake es, simultáneamente, una mordaz historia de los angelenos. Podría ser también una ilustración perfecta de la famosa crítica de Jean Baudrillard de la representación. La iglesia se diseñó originalmente como escenario de una adaptación libre de la novela de León Tolstoi Los Cosacos en el primer Hollywood, una elección dudosa para representar la cultura y el contexto arquitectónico de los cosacos de Terek, lugar donde se desarrollaba la acción de la novela homónima. Una vez reconstruida como estructura permanente, se convirtió en un simulacro sin original: el simulacro de un simulacro previo. Sin embargo, inmediatamente después de su construcción en 1928, la iglesia se convirtió en un lugar de culto muy querido por los emigrantes rusos en Hollywood, y en uno de los santuarios favoritos de la Iglesia ortodoxa rusa del extranjero en general. Este hecho plantea una serie de cuestiones difíciles de resolver, como la comparación entre autenticidad y simulacro, permanencia vs. temporalidad, u honestidad estructural frente a pastiche. Este artículo argumenta que los aspectos representativos de la arquitectura son especialmente valorados por sus usuarios en momentos de grandes cataclismos sociales que amenazan los mismos cimientos de su identidad.The unprecedented history of the church of Holy Virgin Mary, in Silver Lake, is simultaneously a scathing story of the Angelenos. It could also be a perfect illustration of Jean Baudrillard's famous critique of representation. The church was originally designed as the setting for a free adaptation of Leon Tolstoy's novel 'The Cossacks', in the first Hollywood, a dubious choice to represent the culture and architectural context of the Terek Cossacks, where the action was developed of the homonymous novel. Once reconstructed as a permanent structure, it became a simulation without original: the simulation of a previous simulation. However, immediately after its construction in 1928, the church became a place of worship much loved by Russian emigrants in Hollywood, and in one of the favorite shrines of the Russian Orthodox Church abroad in general. This fact raises a series of difficult questions to resolve, such as the comparison between authenticity and simulation, permanence vs. temporality, or structural honesty versus pastiche. This article argues that the representative aspects of architecture are especially valued by its users in moments of great social cataclysms that threaten the very foundations of their identity

С. difficile infection: clinical and pharmacoeconomic assessment of treatment regimens in antibiotic-associated diarrhea

This paper provides a review of the largest studies (over the period of 2017 to 2022) on cost-effectiveness analysis of the recommended treatment algorithms for Clostridioides difficile infection in patients with antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD), including pseudomembranous colitis. The review showed that professional medical societies in Russia, EU and US as well as meta-analyses consistently consider vancomycin as the most important treatment option for AAD and pseudomembranous colitis. The role of metronidazole and fidaxomicin in the treatment of AAD is considered ambiguous. Teicoplanin is recommended for using more commonly based on cost-effectiveness analysis

Fecal microbiota transplantation as a treatment option for patients with recurrent Clostridioides difficile-associated diarrhea

This paper provides a review of the largest studies (over the period of 2017 to 2022) on the use of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) for the treatment of patients with recurrent Clostridioides difficileassociated diarrhea (CDAD), including pseudomembranous colitis. A focus was made on methods of preparation and administration of fecal microbiota product. The recent systematic reviews and metaanalyses consistently consider TFM as an effective treatment option for recurrent CDAD. The different methods of fecal microbiota preparation and administration (fresh, frozen, lyophilized) show similar efficacy but differ by convenience of use

Inhibitors of dipeptidyl-peptidase-4: obvious and probable (literature review)

The purpose of the presented literature review was an attempt to sum up current estimates of the effect of the use of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors (iDPP-4) in the algorithms of both traditional (diabetes mellitus) and a number of alternative nosologies, in particular, oncological and neurological pathology, as well as a new coronavirus infection (COVID-19). To do this, the most large-scale (as a rule) publications of 2018–2021 devoted to the problems under consideration were analyzed. The search was carried out by keywords in the Pubmed information base (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov). Factors contributing to the widespread use of IDP-4 in clinical practice are both pharmacologically clear mechanism of action and efficacy, as well as the possibility of oral use, a successful pharmacokinetic profile, low toxicity, in particular, a low risk of hypoglycemia. Newly obtained data on the mechanisms of mechanisms are discussed. Renoprotective action, the presence of cardioprotection is debated. The biochemical prerequisites for the possible effectiveness of iDPP-4 as blockers of the development of a hyperimmune reaction that causes, in particular, the severe course of the new coronavirus infection are discussed. At the same time, the results of studies of various designs are categorically compared, indicating both in favor of the use of iDPP-4 in patients with COVID-19, and not noticing its expediency. It is concluded that, given the large-scale biochemical role of DPP-4, it is important both to continue the active use of its inhibitors in diabetes mellitus, and to expand attempts to use them in a number of other nosologies, including COVID-19

Quantitative multiplex detection of plant pathogens using a novel ligation probe-based system coupled with universal, high-throughput real-time PCR on OpenArrays™

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Diagnostics and disease-management strategies require technologies to enable the simultaneous detection and quantification of a wide range of pathogenic microorganisms. Most multiplex, quantitative detection methods available suffer from compromises between the level of multiplexing, throughput and accuracy of quantification. Here, we demonstrate the efficacy of a novel, high-throughput, ligation-based assay for simultaneous quantitative detection of multiple plant pathogens. The ligation probes, designated Plant Research International-lock probes (PRI-lock probes), are long oligonucleotides with target complementary regions at their 5' and 3' ends. Upon perfect target hybridization, the PRI-lock probes are circularized via enzymatic ligation, subsequently serving as template for individual, standardized amplification via unique probe-specific primers. Adaptation to OpenArrays™, which can accommodate up to 3072 33 nl PCR amplifications, allowed high-throughput real-time quantification. The assay combines the multiplex capabilities and specificity of ligation reactions with high-throughput real-time PCR in the OpenArray™, resulting in a flexible, quantitative multiplex diagnostic system.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The performance of the PRI-lock detection system was demonstrated using 13 probes targeting several significant plant pathogens at different taxonomic levels. All probes specifically detected their corresponding targets and provided perfect discrimination against non-target organisms with very similar ligation target sites. The nucleic acid targets could be reliably quantified over 5 orders of magnitude with a dynamic detection range of more than 10⁴. Pathogen quantification was equally robust in single target versus mixed target assays.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This novel assay enables very specific, high-throughput, quantitative detection of multiple pathogens over a wide range of target concentrations and should be easily adaptable for versatile diagnostic purposes.</p

Oscillating magnetoresistance in diluted magnetic semiconductor barrier structures

Ballistic spin polarized transport through diluted magnetic semiconductor (DMS) single and double barrier structures is investigated theoretically using a two-component model. The tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) of the system exhibits oscillating behavior when the magnetic field are varied. An interesting beat pattern in the TMR and spin polarization is found for different NMS/DMS double barrier structures which arises from an interplay between the spin-up and spin-down electron channels which are splitted by the s-d exchange interaction.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Alignment Dynamics of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes in Pulsed Ultrahigh Magnetic Fields

We have measured the dynamic alignment properties of single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) suspensions in pulsed high magnetic fields through linear dichroism spectroscopy. Millisecond-duration pulsed high magnetic fields up to 56 T as well as microsecond-duration pulsed ultrahigh magnetic fields up to 166 T were used. Due to their anisotropic magnetic properties, SWNTs align in an applied magnetic field, and because of their anisotropic optical properties, aligned SWNTs show linear dichroism. The characteristics of their overall alignment depend on several factors, including the viscosity and temperature of the suspending solvent, the degree of anisotropy of nanotube magnetic susceptibilities, the nanotube length distribution, the degree of nanotube bundling, and the strength and duration of the applied magnetic field. In order to explain our data, we have developed a theoretical model based on the Smoluchowski equation for rigid rods that accurately reproduces the salient features of the experimental data.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figure