Diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis immunity among healthcare professionals and pregnant women in the Moscow region, Russian federation: A preliminary cross-sectional study

Despite more than 50 years of primary immunization against diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus in Russia, complicated illnesses, including fatal ones, still occur. The goal of this preliminary cross-sectional study is to see how well pregnant women and healthcare workers are protected against diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus. The required sample size (pregnant women and healthcare professionals, as well as pregnant women of two age categories) for this preliminary cross-sectional study was calculated using a confidence value of 0.95 and a probability of 0.05. The required number of participants in each group calculated sample size must be at least 59 people. In the Moscow region (Solnechnogorsk city, Russia), a cross-sectional study of pregnant patients and healthcare professionals interacting with children regularly as part of their job from numerous medical organizations was conducted in the year 2021 (n = 655). Antibodies to diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis toxoids and microorganisms were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The STATISTICA and IBM SPSS Statistics 26.0 were used to process the study results statistically. Descriptive statistics methods, the Mann-Whitney U-test, discriminant analysis with the stepwise selection and analysis of ROC-curves were applied. IgG against diphtheria was found in 99.5% of pregnant women, tetanus in 91.5%, and pertussis in only 36.5%. According to the results of the discriminant analysis, the value of IgG to pertussis is linked to the value of IgA to pertussis and the gestational periods. Immunity to diphtheria was discovered in 99.1% of medical personnel, tetanus in 96.9%, and pertussis in 43.9%, no significant variations with age. When comparing the levels of immunity of pregnant women and healthcare professionals, it was shown that healthcare workers have greater levels of immunity against diphtheria and tetanus. The novel contribution of this study is that it will reveal the proportion of those vulnerable to pertussis, diphtheria, and tetanus among health workers and pregnant women in all age groups under the current national immunization program in Russia. Considering the data obtained from the preliminary cross-sectional study, we believe that it is necessary to conduct a full-scale study on a larger sample and, based on that, make certain changes to the national immunization program in Russia.

Study of the Deep Processes of COVID-19 in Russia: Finding Ways to Identify Preventive Measures

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a huge impact on all areas of human life. Since the risk of biological threats will persist in the future, it is very important to ensure mobilization readiness for a prompt response to the possible emergence of epidemics of infectious diseases. Therefore, from both a theoretical and practical standpoint, it is currently necessary to conduct a thorough examination of the COVID-19 epidemic. The goal of this research is to investigate the underlying processes that led to the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia and to identify ways to improve preventive measures and ensure mobilization readiness for a quick response to potential COVID-19-like pandemics. This research will analyze the daily dynamics of the number of infection cases and the number of new lethal cases of COVID-19. We analyzed the daily number of new cases of COVID-19 infection N(d), the daily number of new lethal cases L(d), their percentage ratio L(d)/N(d) 100% in Russia for 2 years of the pandemic (from the beginning of the pandemic to 23 March 2022), the rate of increase and decrease of these indicators (dN(d)/dd and dL(d)/dd), as well as their spectra created on the basis of wavelet analysis. Wavelet analysis of the deep structure of the N(d) and L(d) wavelet spectra made it possible to identify the presence of internal cycles, the study of which makes it possible to predict the presence of days with the maximum number of infections and new deaths in a pandemic similar to COVID-19 and outline ways and methods for improving preventive measures and measures to ensure mobilization readiness for a rapid response to the potential emergence of pandemics similar to COVID-19.

Analysis of the Face Mask Use by Public Transport Passengers and Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic

(1) Background: The use of face masks and gloves in public places directly shows the commitment of the population to the established regulations. Public transport is one of the most-at-risk places of contamination. The aim of the study was to analyze the face mask use by public transport passengers and workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. (2) Methods: Public transport passengers and workers were surveyed. Periodic intermittent selective observation was used to gauge the level of adherence to the established regulations among public transport passengers. Factor analysis was used to identify factors determining the face-mask-wearing comfort. (3) Results: The majority of passengers (87.5%) and all transport workers (100%) used face masks and gloves. Most of the users wore only face masks. Only 41.6% of passengers and 74.7% of transport workers wore face masks correctly. Motivational attitudes at the implementation of preventive measures were determined: established regulations in the public place (55.8%) and the protection of one's own health and the health of family members (44.2%). Only 22.5% of those wearing face masks believed that doing so will have any effect on the spread of an infectious disease, and 10.8% wore masks to maintain the health of people around themselves. A low level of social responsibility was demonstrated. For 53.4% of workers, face mask wearing was uncomfortable. The majority of workers had adverse reactions to mask wearing: feeling short of breath (52.8%), hyperemia of face skin (33.8%), and facial hyperhidrosis (67.4%). (4) Conclusions: The comfort of wearing a mask is determined by adverse reactions occurrence, the properties of the mask, working conditions, and the duration of wearing the face mask. It is necessary to develop recommendations to reduce wearing discomfort. These recommendations, along with methods of raising the social responsibility of the population, can contribute to a greater commitment of the population to non-specific prevention measures.

Method and Computer System for Dialog Optimization of Aging Biomarker Panels for Biological Age Assessment

A concept, method, algorithm, and computer system (CS) of step-by-step dialog optimization of biomarker (BM) panels for assessing human biological age (BA) according to a number of universal criteria based on incomplete and noisy data have been developed. This system provides the ability to automatically build BM panels for BA assessment and to increase the accuracy of BA determination while reducing the number of measured BMs. The optimization criteria are as follows: high correlation of BMs with chronological age (CA); minimum size of BM panels, obtained by rejecting highly cross-correlated BMs; high accuracy of BA assessment; high accuracy of BA/CA dependency interpolation; absence of outliers in BM values, which reduce the BA assessment accuracy; rejection of panels resulting in a high standard deviation for the BA-CA difference; and possible additional criteria entered by the researcher according to the task specifics. The CS input consists of data on physiological, biochemical, and other BMs that change with age. The CS output is a panel of BMs optimized according to the specified optimization criteria. The CS is user-friendly. It allows the user to add optimization criteria that the researcher considers to be important or to remove criteria that the user considers incorrect. The CS may be used in solving practical problems of anti-aging medicine, such as the treatment and prevention of age-related chronic non-infectious diseases representing the main causes of death. The authors' point of view on the role and place of BA diagnostics in this area is discussed.

Autophagy in Hepatocytes during Distant Tumor Growth

Structural changes in the liver of CBA mice were studied during the development of experimental hepatocarcinoma-29 inoculated into the hip. A decrease in the volume density of hepatocyte cytoplasm, mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, and lipid inclusions and an increase in the volume density of lysosomal structures during tumor growth were observed. All stages of intracellular autophagy were recorded by the method of electron microscopy. These stages included the appearance of autophagosomes, autophagolysosomes, and secondary lysosomes in the hepatocyte cytoplasm. Fragments of cytoplasm, glycogen rosettes, mitochondria, and fragments of endoplasmic reticulum with ribosomes were found in autophagosomes. The obtained data indicate the development of non-selective autophagy in the liver during distant tumor growth in aimed at the maintenance of intracellular homeostasis in hepatocytes and energy and trophic homeostasis of organism.

APOPTOSIS AND AUTOPHAGY IN HEPATOCARCINOMA CELLS INDUCED BY DIFFERENT FORMS OF LITHIUM SALTS

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the aggressive and resistant to drug therapy cancer. It is believed that the development of HCC is correlated with dysregulation of programmed cell death. So, the search for effective inducers of HCC cell death is very important. The aim of the work was to identify structural changes leading to HCC cell death when exposed to nanoscale and original forms of lithium salts. Using light and electron microscopy and flow cytometry, structural features of autophagy and apoptosis in HCC cells after their incubation with various forms of lithium salts has been revealed. It is shown that a more pronounced effect on HCC-29 cells have nanoscale forms of lithium carbonate and lithium citrate. At the same time, nanoscale lithium citrate mainly induced apoptosis, and nanosized form of lithium carbonate, along with apoptosis, induced autophagic death of HCC-29cells.

[Clinical aspects of analgesia with intravenous paracetamol in the early postoperative period]

This open one-center study included 40 patients operated on the abdomen and chest, who had moderate resting pain in the immediate postoperative hours. Paracetamol was used as a dropwise intravenous 1-g infusion for 10-15 min; the dose of the agent was 4 g. The interval of paracetamol re-infusion was not early than 4 hours. If additional analgesia was required, opioid analgesics (promedol, tramadol) were administered. As a whole, assessment of analgesia within 24 hours showed excellent and good results reported by patients in 85% of cases; and in 71% of the patients the intensity of postoperative pain was less than they had expected before surgery. The use of opioid analgesics was required in 65% of the patients and 25% did not need these agents. The remaining 10% of the patients received a combination of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, paracetomol, and opioids. Postoperative analgesia based on the intravenous infusion of paracetamol in a single dose of 1 g (4 g/day) caused a reduction in the intensity and duration of pain. The intravenous formulation of paracetamol should be regarded as one of the essential nonopioid components of multimodality therapy for pain in patients in the early postoperative period.

[Photochemical activity of photosystem II and hydrogen photoproduction in sulfur-deprived Chlamydomonas reinhardtii mutants D1-R323D and D1-R323L]

The role of photosystem II in hydrogen photoproduction by Chlamydomonas reinhardtii cells was studied in mutants with modified D1-protein. In D1-R323D and D1-R323L mutants, the replacement of arginine by aspartate or leucine, respectively, resulted in the disruption of electron transport at the donor side of photosystem II. The rate of oxygen evolution in D1-R323D decreased twice as compared to the pseudo-wild type (pWT), and in D1-R323L no oxygen evolution was detected. The latter mutant was not capable of photoautotrophical growth. The dynamics of changes in oxygen content, the reduction of photosystem II active reaction centers (deltaF/F(1)m), and hydrogen production rate in pWT were found to be similar to the wild type if cultivated under sulfur deprivation in a closed bioreactor. The observed gradual decrease in the deltaF/F(1)m value turned to a sharp drop almost to zero followed by a partial recovery during which the production of hydrogen set in. The transition to the anaerobic phase in D1-R323D cultured in a sulfur-deprived medium occurred earlier than it happened in pWt under the same conditions. However, the partial recovery of photosystem II activity and hydrogen production started at a later time, and the rate of hydrogen production was low. The D1-R323L mutant incapable of oxygen evolution entered the rapidly anaerobiosis but produced no hydrogen. The kinetics of photoinduced redox transitions in P700 was similar in all investigated strains and was not affected by diuron addition. This implies that the mutants had a pool of reducers, which could donate electrons through the quinone pool or cytochrome to photosystem I. However, in D1-R323L mutant lacking the active photosystem II, this condition was not sufficient to support hydrogenase activity.

The dependence of algal H2 production on Photosystem II and O2 consumption activities in sulfur-deprived Chlamydomonas reinhardtii cells

Chlamydomonas reinhardtii cultures, deprived of inorganic sulfur, undergo dramatic changes during adaptation to the nutrient stress [Biotechnol. Bioeng. 78 (2002) 731]. When the capacity for Photosystem II (PSII) O(2) evolution decreases below that of respiration, the culture becomes anaerobic [Plant Physiol. 122 (2000) 127]. We demonstrate that (a) the photochemical activity of PSII, monitored by in situ fluorescence, also decreases slowly during the aerobic period; (b) at the exact time of anaerobiosis, the remaining PSII activity is rapidly down regulated; and (c) electron transfer from PSII to PSI abruptly decreases at that point. Shortly thereafter, the PSII photochemical activity is partially restored, and H(2) production starts. Hydrogen production, which lasts for 3-4 days, is catalyzed by an anaerobically induced, reversible hydrogenase. While most of the reductants used directly for H(2) gas photoproduction come from water, the remaining electrons must come from endogenous substrate degradation through the NAD(P)H plastoquinone (PQ) oxido-reductase pathway. We propose that the induced hydrogenase activity provides a sink for electrons in the absence of other alternative pathways, and its operation allows the partial oxidation of intermediate photosynthetic carriers, including the PQ pool, between PSII and PSI. We conclude that the reduced state of this pool, which controls PSII photochemical activity, is one of the main factors regulating H(2) production under sulfur-deprived conditions. Residual O(2) evolved under these conditions is probably consumed mostly by the aerobic oxidation of storage products linked to mitochondrial respiratory processes involving both the cytochrome oxidase and the alternative oxidase. These functions maintain the intracellular anaerobic conditions required to keep the hydrogenase enzyme in the active, induced form.

Effect of nitrite on primary photosynthetic processes in isolated chloroplasts of wheat grown under various conditions of nitrogen supply

In wheat chloroplasts, NO2- (5 mM) inhibited non-cyclic phosphorylation coupled to the linear electron flow through both photosystems but stimulated cyclic phosphorylation with phenazine methosulfate (plus diuron) and electron flux from an artificial electron donor through PSI and methylviologen to oxygen. During light energization of chloroplasts, NO2- increased the F740/F695 ratio in the low-temperature fluorescence spectra, thus suggesting that the energy of absorbed quanta is redistributed in favor of PSI. Nitrite also stimulated the activity of Mg2+-dependent H+-ATPase. Changes in the slow component of the induction curve of delayed fluorescence also suggest that NO2- affects energy transformation processes that are coupled to electron transport in the chloroplasts. Nitrite had no effect on these functional characteristics of thylakoids and chloroplasts isolated from plants grown under nitrogen deficiency in the medium.

[Effect of stress factors on carboxypeptidase H activity in areas of the rat brain]

It is established that carboxypeptidase H activity increases as affected by various stress factors in the rat brain departments. The increase of the enzyme activity because of the emotional-pain stress is of continuous character. Possible role of carboxypeptidase H in the development of the stress response is discussed.

[The use of a concentrate of antithrombin III and disaggregants in the preoperative preparation of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis]

A study of the blood coagulation system in 32 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis before surgical intervention showed that reduction of the antithrombine III activity and related enhancement of the thrombin formation reaction and suppression of deaggregation capacities of thrombocytes reflect the latent process of pathological intravascular blood coagulation. The authors suggest justification of restoring the reduced antithrombine blood capacitance and normalization of the deaggregation capacity of thrombocytes by means of the antithrombine III concentrate and disaggregants in the complex preoperative care.