Репозиторий Университета

© 2020, The Author(s). Instrumented indentation has become an indispensable tool for quantitative analysis of the mechanical properties of soft polymers and biological samples at different length scales. These types of samples are known for their prominent viscoelastic behavior, and attempts to calculate such properties from the indentation data are constantly made. The simplest indentation experiment presents a cycle of approach (deepening into the sample) and retraction of the indenter, with the output of the force and indentation depth as functions of time and a force versus indentation dependency (force curve). The linear viscoelastic theory based on the elastic–viscoelastic correspondence principle might predict the shape of force curves based on the experimental conditions and underlying relaxation function of the sample. Here, we conducted a computational analysis based on this theory and studied how the force curves were affected by the indenter geometry, type of indentation (triangular or sinusoidal ramp), and the relaxation functions. The relaxation functions of both traditional and fractional viscoelastic models were considered. The curves obtained from the analytical solutions, numerical algorithm and finite element simulations matched each other well. Common trends for the curve-related parameters (apparent Young’s modulus, normalized hysteresis area, and curve exponent) were revealed. Importantly, the apparent Young’s modulus, obtained by fitting the approach curve to the elastic model, demonstrated a direct relation to the relaxation function for all the tested cases. The study will help researchers to verify which model is more appropriate for the sample description without extensive calculations from the basic curve parameters and their dependency on the indentation rate.

© 2020, The Author(s). Defects of vitamin B6 metabolism are responsible for severe neurological disorders, such as pyridoxamine 5′-phosphate oxidase deficiency (PNPOD; OMIM: 610090), an autosomal recessive inborn error of metabolism that usually manifests with neonatal-onset severe seizures and subsequent encephalopathy. At present, 27 pathogenic mutations of the gene encoding human PNPO are known, 13 of which are homozygous missense mutations; however, only 3 of them have been characterised with respect to the molecular and functional properties of the variant enzyme forms. Moreover, studies on wild type and variant human PNPOs have so far largely ignored the regulation properties of this enzyme. Here, we present a detailed characterisation of the inhibition mechanism of PNPO by pyridoxal 5′-phosphate (PLP), the reaction product of the enzyme. Our study reveals that human PNPO has an allosteric PLP binding site that plays a crucial role in the enzyme regulation and therefore in the regulation of vitamin B6 metabolism in humans. Furthermore, we have produced, recombinantly expressed and characterised several PNPO pathogenic variants responsible for PNPOD (G118R, R141C, R225H, R116Q/R225H, and X262Q). Such replacements mainly affect the catalytic activity of PNPO and binding of the enzyme substrate and FMN cofactor, leaving the allosteric properties unaltered.

© 2020 Elsevier GmbH Environmental factors have been severally established to play major roles in the pathogenesis of neurodevelopmental disorders including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). ASD is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is associated with symptoms that reduce the quality of life of affected individuals such as social interaction deficit, cognitive impairment, intellectual disabilities, restricted and repetitive behavioural patterns. ASD pathogenesis has been associated with environmental and genetic factors that alter physiologic processes during development. Here, we review literatures highlighting the environmental impact on neurodevelopmental disorders, and mechanisms by which environmental toxins may influence neurodevelopment. Furthermore, this review discusses reports highlighting neurotoxic metals (specifically, lead, mercury, cadmium, nickel and manganese) as environmental risk factors in the aetiology of ASD. This work, thus suggests that improving the environment could be vital in the management of ASD.

© 2020, The Author(s). The fate of melanin in the epidermis is of great interest due to its involvement in numerous physiological and pathological processes in the skin. Melanin localization can be assessed ex vivo and in vivo using its distinctive optical properties. Melanin exhibits a characteristic Raman spectrum band shape and discernible near-infrared excited (NIR) fluorescence. However, a detailed analysis of the capabilities of depth-resolved confocal Raman and fluorescence microspectroscopy in the evaluation of melanin distribution in the human skin is lacking. Here we demonstrate how the fraction of melanin at different depths in the human skin in vivo can be estimated from its Raman spectra (bands at 1,380 and 1,570 cm−1) using several procedures including a simple ratiometric approach, spectral decomposition and non-negative matrix factorization. The depth profiles of matrix factorization components specific to melanin, collagen and natural moisturizing factor provide information about their localization in the skin. The depth profile of the collagen-related matrix factorization component allows for precise determination of the dermal–epidermal junction, i.e. the epidermal thickness. Spectral features of fluorescence background originating from melanin were found to correlate with relative intensities of the melanin Raman bands. We also hypothesized that NIR fluorescence in the skin is not originated solely from melanin, and the possible impact of oxidized species should be taken into account. The ratio of melanin-related Raman bands at 1,380 and 1,570 cm−1 could be related to melanin molecular organization. The proposed combined analysis of the Raman scattering signal and NIR fluorescence could be a useful tool for rapid non-invasive in vivo diagnostics of melanin-related processes in the human skin.

© 2020 EManuscript Technologies. All rights reserved. Relevance In the context of the global financial crisis, there is a shortage of budgetary resources that exacerbates the problem of meeting the social needs of the Russian citizens, including medical services. Currently, there is an active reform of audit activities associated with changes in the system of relations between countries, integration processes, restructuring of the institutional structure of business entities in the country and their assets. The central problem in these conditions is the further development of the organization and methodology of audit activity and its methodological binding to business entities of different organizational and legal forms. Purpose: To analyse the current situation on the audit of medical organizations and to justify the need to create a methodology for its implementation.

© 2020 EManuscript Technologies. All rights reserved. Relevance In the context of the global financial crisis, there is a shortage of budgetary resources that exacerbates the problem of meeting the social needs of the Russian citizens, including medical services. Currently, there is an active reform of audit activities associated with changes in the system of relations between countries, integration processes, restructuring of the institutional structure of business entities in the country and their assets. The central problem in these conditions is the further development of the organization and methodology of audit activity and its methodological binding to business entities of different organizational and legal forms. Purpose: To analyse the current situation on the audit of medical organizations and to justify the need to create a methodology for its implementation.

© 2020 EManuscript Technologies. All rights reserved. Relevance In the context of the global financial crisis, there is a shortage of budgetary resources that exacerbates the problem of meeting the social needs of the Russian citizens, including medical services. Currently, there is an active reform of audit activities associated with changes in the system of relations between countries, integration processes, restructuring of the institutional structure of business entities in the country and their assets. The central problem in these conditions is the further development of the organization and methodology of audit activity and its methodological binding to business entities of different organizational and legal forms. Purpose: To analyse the current situation on the audit of medical organizations and to justify the need to create a methodology for its implementation.

© 2020 Elsevier Ltd The PEKK material can be used in prosthodontics for framework manufacturing and is commonly laminated with veneering composites to achieve a better esthetics. Various surface treatment methods including sandblasting, etching, laser and cold plasma treatments were reported to enhance the adhesive properties of dental polymers. Both tensile and shear bond test were employed to quantify the bond strength between PEKK and veneering composites. The present in vitro study aims to evaluate the influence of acetylene, argon, air, nitrogen and oxygen plasma on the shear bond strength between PEKK and one veneering composite. Firstly, to determine which bond test type should be applied, n = 40 PEKK specimens were treated with argon plasma. Both shear and tensile bond tests were performed and compared to the control group (n = 40). In shear bond testing, values were 8.14 ± 1.70 MPa for Argon plasma while 5.83 ± 1.42 MPa for control group. In tensile bond testing, Argon plasma 1.50 ± 0.51 MPa while control group 0.58 ± 0.50 MPa. Afterwards n = 160 PEKK specimens were treated with rocatec sandblasting (n = 20), adhesive (n = 20), acetylene (n = 20), argon (n = 20), air (n = 20), nitrogen (n = 20), oxygen (n = 20) plasma types and compared to the untreated control group (n = 20) using shear bond strength test (SBS). Additionally surface roughness and scanning electron microscopy analyses were performed. The following SBS values were revealed: 10.22 ± 1.06 MPa for rocatec; 9.89 ± 3.08 MPa for acetylene, 9.16 ± 1.48 MPa for adhesive, 7.54 ± 1.52 MPa for argon, 7.09 ± 1.99 MPa for air, 7.03 ± 1.48 MPa for nitrogen, 5.69 ± 1.59 MPa for oxygen plasma types and 4.71 ± 1.54 MPa for the control group. All groups, except control group, showed SBS over 5 MPa, which means that they are suitable for the clinical application, according to ISO 10477. Acetylene showed the highest SBS among all plasma types (p < 0.0001), which was on a level of rocatec sandblasting group. Rocatec and acetylene groups demonstrated Ra values significantly different to the reference group (p < 0.0001). Plasma treatment especially with acetylene gas can be an effective more convenient surface treatment method for strengthening the bond strength between PEKK and veneering composites than traditional sandblasting/adhesive treatment.

© 2020 Elsevier Ltd The purpose of this study is the mechanical characterization of the mid-to- old-age human anterior lens capsules (ALCs) obtained by capsulorhexis using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and a nanoindenter at different spatial scales. The dependencies on the human age, presence or absence of pseudoexfoliation syndrome (PEX), and application of trypan blue staining during the surgery were analyzed. The measurements on both the anterior (AS) and epithelial (ES) sides of the ALC were conducted and the effect of cells present on the epithelial side was carefully accounted for. The ES of the ALC had a homogenous distribution of the Young's modulus over the surface as shown by the macroscale mapping with the nanoindenter and local AFM indentations, while the AS was more heterogeneous. Age-related changes were assessed in groups ranging from the mid-age (from 48 years) to old-age (up to 93 years). We found that the ES was always stiffer than the AS, and this difference decreased with age due to a gradual decrease in the Young's modulus of the ES and an increase in the modulus of the AS. No significant changes were found in the mechanical properties of ALCs of PEX patients versus the PEX-free group, as well as in the properties of the ALC with and without trypan blue staining.

© 2020 The Authors. Journal of Cellular Physiology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC SLC2A3 encodes the predominantly neuronal glucose transporter 3 (GLUT3), which facilitates diffusion of glucose across plasma membranes. The human brain depends on a steady glucose supply for ATP generation, which consequently fuels critical biochemical processes, such as axonal transport and neurotransmitter release. Besides its role in the central nervous system, GLUT3 is also expressed in nonneural organs, such as the heart and white blood cells, where it is equally involved in energy metabolism. In cancer cells, GLUT3 overexpression contributes to the Warburg effect by answering the cell's increased glycolytic demands. The SLC2A3 gene locus at chromosome 12p13.31 is unstable and prone to non-allelic homologous recombination events, generating multiple copy number variants (CNVs) of SLC2A3 which account for alterations in SLC2A3 expression. Recent associations of SLC2A3 CNVs with different clinical phenotypes warrant investigation of the potential influence of these structural variants on pathomechanisms of neuropsychiatric, cardiovascular, and immune diseases. In this review, we accumulate and discuss the evidence how SLC2A3 gene dosage may exert diverse protective or detrimental effects depending on the pathological condition. Cellular states which lead to increased energetic demand, such as organ development, proliferation, and cellular degeneration, appear particularly susceptible to alterations in SLC2A3 copy number. We conclude that better understanding of the impact of SLC2A3 variation on disease etiology may potentially provide novel therapeutic approaches specifically targeting this GLUT.

© 2020 Age estimation is an important procedure in the forensic practice, especially when it comes to the criminal imputability of juvenile offenders. This study aimed to compare two radiographic methods for dental age estimation in a population of subadults from Northeast Brazil considering their performance on allocating individuals below or above the age threshold of 18 years. A cross-sectional observational study was designed. The sample consisted of 1200 panoramic radiographs of Northeastern Brazilian females (n = 600) and males (n = 600) aged between 16 and 21 years. Dental age estimation was performed using the London Atas technique and Cameriere's third molar maturity index (I3M). Statistical tests were performed to assess the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of the two methods on distinguishing individuals below or above the legal age threshold of 18 years. Considering the total sample, the London Atlas technique reached sensitivity of 92.3%, specificity of 56% and accuracy of 79.9%. I3M revealed sensitivity of 94.1%, specificity of 55.4% and accuracy of 79.8%. Specificity rates systematically decreased when the sample was progressively stratified based on age groups that narrowed close to 18 years. The methods performed very similar (0.878). The combination of methods did not improve the performance on dental age estimation. The London Atlas and the I3M methods similarly distinguished Brazilian individuals as minors or not. Their performance, however, was suboptimal because of the low rates of specificity that could negatively influence on Court decisions. In other words, the methods could wrongly classify minors into the age of legal majority (culminating in false positives). In practice, the misleading classification could restrict individual rights (in the civil scenario) or even support more severe penalties (in the criminal scenario).

© 2020 Synthesis of high energy density and long durability electrode materials are huge urgency for futuristic hybrid supercapacitors (HSCs). In the present work, self-assembled three-dimensional (3D)-mesoporous regimented pristine and neodymium (Nd) doped α-Mn2O3 microspheres (MSs) are prepared by simple hydrothermal method. Due to uniform morphology, presence of oxygen vacancies, mesoporous robust structure, and optimum doping (Nd5%-doped Mn2O3 3D-MSs) offers a high specific capacitance of 862.14 F g−1 (431.07 C g−1) at 0.5 A g−1 with superior cycling retention of 97.30% after 2000 cycles. Additionally, a pouch-type HSC device is fabricated using Nd5%-Mn2O3 3D-MSs as a battery-type positive electrode and activated carbon (AC) as a capacitive-type negative electrode. The fabricated device delivers a maximum energy density of 32.26 Wh kg−1 at a power density of 800 W kg−1 with superior cyclic retention and exhibit a little loss of 4.56% after 10,000 cycles. This superior performance is due to robust microstructures that can alleviate swelling and shrinking of active material at cycling test. Two pouch-type HSCs are connected in series to power light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for real-time applicability. Overall, this study demonstrates that rational doping, porous architecture, oxygen vacancies, and robust micro-nano structure greatly assist to achieve high energy density as well as long life HSCs devices.

© 2020 Cigarette butts (CBs) represent the most common, though poorly biodegradable, type of waste on Earth. Thrown on the soil surface, they can remain unchanged for years, poisoning surrounding ecosystems with toxins accumulated during the smoking process. However, there is practically no data on the effect of smoked CBs on soil biota or soil animals in particular, nor on the potential of edaphic fauna to facilitate their decomposition. One of the most promising agents among soil animals are earthworms, which are known to be beneficial in the processes of recalcitrant organic matter degradation and stimulation of microbial activity in detrital food webs. In a microcosm experiment with the sod podzolic soil, we aimed at testing the effect of the commonly cultured epigeic earthworm Eisenia fetida (Savigny 1826) on the biodegradation rate of CBs and the possible adverse effects of this waste on the species. The experiment had a full-factorial design with three categorical predictors: CB number (0, 1 and 3 per microcosm); smoking condition (smoked and unsmoked CBs) and two levels of earthworm amendment (0 and 4 per microcosm). During 70 days of the experiment, we did not observe any smoked CB-induced mortality of earthworms. The addition of E. fetida significantly increased the CB mass loss across all treatment combinations. Specifically, earthworms improved the decomposition rate from 30 to 36% (p < 0.05), on average. However, this improvement was mainly associated with CB paper wrapping consumption. The inhibition of CO2 emission in microcosms with CBs and earthworms suggested the direct consumption of this waste by E. fetida, rather than modulation of the degradation potential of a microbial community. E. fetida appears to thus be a moderately promising agent for CB biodegradation with the simultaneous reduction in carbon loss from soil through the microbial channel in the studied soil type. These results open perspectives for the further evaluation of the role of soil macroinvertebrates in recalcitrant organic waste management in general and CBs in particular. We demonstrated that earthworms can efficiently decompose smoked and unsmoked cigarette butts regardless of their toxic potential and simultaneously reduce associated microbial activity.

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Web-surveys are one of the most popular forms of primary data collection used for various researches. However, mass surveys involve some challenges. It is required to consider different platforms and browsers, as well as different data transfer rates using connections in different regions of the country. Ensuring guaranteed data delivery in these conditions should determine the right choice of technologies for implementing web-surveys. The paper describes the solution to transfer a questionnaire to the client side in the form of an archive. This technological solution ensures independence from the data transfer rate and the stability of the communication connection with significant survey filling time. The conducted survey benefited the service of education psychologists under the federal Ministry of Education. School psychologists consciously took part in the survey, realizing the importance of their opinion for organizing and improving their professional activities. The desire to answer open-ended questions in detail created a part of the answers in the dataset, where there were several sentences about different aspects of professional activity. An important challenge of the problem is the Russian language, for which there are not as many tools as for the languages more widespread in the world. The survey involved 20,443 school psychologists from all regions of the Russian Federation, both from urban and rural areas. The answers did not contain spam, runaround answers, and so on as evidenced by the average response time. For the surveys, an authoring development tool DigitalPsyTools.ru was used. Dataset: http://dx.doi.org/10.17632/m32kz6jjcx.1 Dataset License: CC-BY-4.0.

© 2020, Ecozone, OAIMDD. All rights reserved. The article presents the historical stages of the formation and development of the ideas of Deontology and medical ethics and highlights the world community‟s interest in relevant problems of Bioethics. The principles of ethical-deontological relations are shown on the example of priest-doctors‟ difficult but at the same time vivid life path. The priests presented in the article are great personalities in world history.

© 2020, Ecozone, OAIMDD. All rights reserved. The article presents the historical stages of the formation and development of the ideas of Deontology and medical ethics and highlights the world community‟s interest in relevant problems of Bioethics. The principles of ethical-deontological relations are shown on the example of priest-doctors‟ difficult but at the same time vivid life path. The priests presented in the article are great personalities in world history.

© 2020, Ecozone, OAIMDD. All rights reserved. The article presents the historical stages of the formation and development of the ideas of Deontology and medical ethics and highlights the world community‟s interest in relevant problems of Bioethics. The principles of ethical-deontological relations are shown on the example of priest-doctors‟ difficult but at the same time vivid life path. The priests presented in the article are great personalities in world history.

© 2020, Ecozone, OAIMDD. All rights reserved. The article presents the historical stages of the formation and development of the ideas of Deontology and medical ethics and highlights the world community‟s interest in relevant problems of Bioethics. The principles of ethical-deontological relations are shown on the example of priest-doctors‟ difficult but at the same time vivid life path. The priests presented in the article are great personalities in world history.

© 2020, Ecozone, OAIMDD. All rights reserved. The article presents the historical stages of the formation and development of the ideas of Deontology and medical ethics and highlights the world community‟s interest in relevant problems of Bioethics. The principles of ethical-deontological relations are shown on the example of priest-doctors‟ difficult but at the same time vivid life path. The priests presented in the article are great personalities in world history.

© 2020, Ecozone, OAIMDD. All rights reserved. The article presents the historical stages of the formation and development of the ideas of Deontology and medical ethics and highlights the world community‟s interest in relevant problems of Bioethics. The principles of ethical-deontological relations are shown on the example of priest-doctors‟ difficult but at the same time vivid life path. The priests presented in the article are great personalities in world history.