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На основе развития концепции тройной спирали и моделей инновационного процесса предложено интеграционная модель развития инновационной системы Украины и модель открытого инновационного процесса. Обосновано, что развитие инновационной системы Украины существенно зависит от внедрения открытых инновационных процессов в научных организаций и предприятиях Украины. Предложены показатели оценки и управления открытыми инновационными процессами. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Overweight clusters with high blood pressure (BP), but the independent contribution of both risk factors remains insufficiently documented. In a prospective population study involving 8467 participants (mean age 54.6 years; 47.0% women) randomly recruited from 10 populations, we studied the contribution of body mass index (BMI) to risk over and beyond BP, taking advantage of the superiority of ambulatory over conventional BP. Over 10.6 years (median), 1271 participants (15.0%) died and 1092 (12.9%), 637 (7.5%) and 443 (5.2%) experienced a fatal or nonfatal cardiovascular, cardiac or cerebrovascular event. Adjusted for sex and age, low BMI (<20.7 kg m−2) predicted death (hazard ratio (HR) vs average risk, 1.52; P<0.0001) and high BMI (⩾30.9 kg m−2) predicted the cardiovascular end point (HR, 1.27; P=0.006). With adjustments including 24-h systolic BP, these HRs were 1.50 (P<0.001) and 0.98 (P=0.91), respectively. Across quartiles of the BMI distribution, 24-h and nighttime systolic BP predicted every end point (1.13⩽standardized HR ⩽1.67; 0.046 ⩽P<0.0001). The interaction between systolic BP and BMI was nonsignificant (P⩾0.22). Excluding smokers removed the contribution of BMI categories to the prediction of mortality. In conclusion, BMI only adds to BP in risk stratification for mortality but not for cardiovascular outcomes. Smoking probably explains the association between increased mortality and low BMI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

No reliable data on risk factors of Alzheimer's disease (AD) are available in Russia. We aimed to evaluate the relative importance of various putative environmental and medical risk factors of AD in a Russian population. We conducted a hospital-based case–control study. Two hundred and sixty consecutive AD patients and an equal number of cognitive impairment-free control subjects matched for sex, age, level of education and place of birth selected from nursing homes and other long-term healthcare facilities in the Novosibirsk region for the period from 1998 to 2002 were examined. A conditional logistic regression analysis was employed to calculate odds ratios (OR) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) for various putative risk factors. Of the 260 patients with AD, 187 (72%) were females. Patients’ age varied from 40 to 89 years (mean ± SD: 69.2 ± 7.7 years). The majority of the patients (77%) had secondary education and 12% had university education. Risk factors independently associated with AD were family history of parkinsonism among first-degree relatives (OR = 4.2; 95% CI 1.2–15.1), hypothyroidism (OR = 2.7; 95% CI 1.1–6.7), and history of head trauma with loss of consciousness (OR = 1.7; 95% CI 1.0–2.8). The most important risk factors for AD in the Russian community are family history of parkinsonism, hypothyroidism and a history of head trauma with loss of consciousness. These findings have implications for developing preventive strategies of AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the European Project on Genes in Hypertension (EPOGH), we investigated in three populations to what extent in a family-based study, left ventricular mass (LVM) was associated with the C-532T and G-6A polymorphisms in the angiotensinogen (AGT) gene. We randomly recruited 221 nuclear families (384 parents and 440 offspring) in Cracow (Poland), Novosibirsk (Russia), and Mirano (Italy). Echocardiographic LVM was indexed to body surface area, adjusted for covariables, and subjected to multivariate analyses, using generalized estimating equations and quantitative transmission disequilibrium tests in a population-based and family-based approach, respectively. We found significant differences between the two Slavic centres and Mirano in left ventricular mass index (LVMI) (94.9 vs 80.4?g/m2), sodium excretion (229 vs 186?mmol/day), and the prevalence of the AGT-6A (55.7 vs 40.6%) and-532T (16.8 vs 9.4%) alleles. In population-based as well as in family-based analyses, we observed positive associations of LVMI and mean wall thickness (MWT) with the-532T allele in Slavic, but not in Italian male offspring. Furthermore, in Slavic male offspring, LVMI and MWT were significantly higher in carriers of the-532T/-6A haplotype than in those with the-532C/-6G or-532C/-6A allele combinations. In women, LVMI was neither associated with single AGT gene variants nor with the haplotypes (0.19

Psychosocial factors at work have been found to predict a range of health outcomes but their effect on mental health outcomes has not been extensively studied. This paper explores the relationship between psychosocial factors at work and depression in three countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The data come from a cross-sectional study of working men (n = 645) and women (n = 523) aged 45-64 years, randomly selected from population registers in Novosibirsk (Russia), Krakow (Poland) and Karvina-Havirov (Czech Republic). The questionnaire included questions on the effort and reward at work, job control, the full CES-D scale of depression, and a range of other characteristics. Linear regression was used to estimate the association between depression score and work characteristics: the logarithm of the effort-reward ratio, and continuous job control score. The means of the depression score were 10.5 for men and 14.2 for women. After controlling for age, sex and country, effort-reward ratio (logarithmically transformed) was strongly related to depression score; a 1 SD increase in the log transformed effort-reward ratio was associated with an increase in the depression of 2.0 points (95% CI 1.5; 2.4), and further adjustment did not materially change the effect. Job control was inversely associated with depression score in Poland and the Czech Republic (not in Russia) but the association was largely eliminated by controlling for socioeconomic characteristics. This study suggests that the effort-reward imbalance at work is related to prevalence of depression in these central and eastern European populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Mortality from cardiovascular diseases in Russia is among the highest in the world but little is known about its distribution by socio-demographic factors. We investigated this question in a prospective cohort study based on the Novosibirsk MONICA Project.Method: The cohort consisted of 6485 men and 4919 women aged 25 to 64 years at baseline, examined in 4 surveys in 1984, 1985/86, 1988/89, and 1994/95, and followed up for an average 10.3 (range 3.1-15.2) years. Participants reported their education and marital status in a questionnaire; the information on risk factors was collected in a short medical examination.Results: A total of 836 male and 226 female deaths occurred during the follow up. High education was associated with reduced mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease, and coronary heart disease in both genders. Age-adjusted relative risk of death from cardiovascular diseases for university vs. primary education was 0.6 (0.4-0.8) in men and 0.4 (0.2-0.8) in women. Adjustment for coronary risk factors and marital status substantially reduced the relative risk in men but not in women. There was no consistent relation between education and stroke. Unmarried men had higher mortality from all causes, cardiovascular and coronary heart disease than married subjects; the increased risk of divorced men was not explained by coronary risk factors or low education. Unmarried women had higher all-cause mortality than married women but associations between marital status and cardiovascular diseases were inconsistent.Conclusion: The educational differences in total and cardiovascular mortality in Russia are of similar direction and magnitude as in western populations. The educational differences in cardiovascular mortality in women and the increased mortality of divorced men were not explained by classical risk factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVES: To examine, on empirical data, whether drinking patterns, in addition to overall alcohol consumption, contribute to differences in rates of alcohol related problems between populations. DESIGN: Cross sectional survey. SETTINGS: One Russian, one Polish, and one Czech city. PARTICIPANTS: 1118 men and 1125 women randomly selected from population registers. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Problem drinking; negative social consequences of drinking; alcohol consumption and drinking pattern. RESULTS: Rates of problem drinking and of negative consequences of drinking were much higher in Russian men (35% and 18%, respectively) than in Czechs (19% and 10%) or Poles (14% and 8%). This contrasts with substantially lower mean annual intake of alcohol reported by Russian men (4.6 litres) than by Czech men (8.5 litres), and with low mean drinking frequency in Russia (67 drinking sessions per year, compared with 179 sessions among Czech men). However, Russians consumed the highest dose of alcohol per drinking session (means 71 g in Russians, 46 g in Czechs, and 45 g in Poles), and had the highest prevalence of binge drinking. In women, the levels of alcohol related problems and of drinking were low in all countries. In ecological and individual level analyses, indicators of binge drinking explained a substantial part of differences in rates of problem drinking and negative consequences of drinking between the three countries. CONCLUSIONS: These empirical data confirm high levels of alcohol related problems in Russia despite low volume of drinking. The binge drinking pattern partly explains this paradoxical finding. Overall alcohol consumption does not suffice as an estimate of alcohol related problems at the population level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 825T allele of the G-protein β[SUB3]-subunit is associated)with increased intracellular signalling. Its association with hypertension is inconsistent. We, therefore, studied the C825T polymorphism in relation to ambulatory blood pressure as well as left ventricular structure and function in two European populations. We genotyped 248 parents and 318 offspring, enrolled in the European Project on Genes in Hypertension in Cracow, Poland (n=286) and in Novosibirsk, Russian Federation (n=280). The 24-h ambulatory blood pressure was recorded using oscillometric SpaceLabs 90207 monitors. Within each centre, a single observer performed two-dimensionally guided M-mode echocardiography and Doppler sonography to measure left ventricular structure (American Society of Echocardiography conventions) and diastolic function: early (E) and late (A) peak diastolic inflow velocities. We used analysis of covariance and generalized estimating equations to allow for covariables and nonindependence among related subjects. Genotype frequencies were similar (P=0.25) in Cracow and Novosibirsk and amounted to 44.7% for CC, 47.2% for CT, and 8.1% for TT. Among parents (mean age: 51.3 years) -- but not among offspring (mean age 25.1 years) -- 24-h, daytime and night time systolic blood pressures were 5-6 mmHg higher in TT homozygotes than in C allele carriers. In TT homozygous parents (-8.2 cm/sec, P=0.004) as well as in TT homozygous offspring (-7.5 cm/sec, P=0.02), the E-wave was significantly reduced, which in offspring also resulted in a lower E/A ratio (-0.25, P=0.002). Neither in parents nor in offspring, left ventricular mass index was associated with the C825T polymorphism. In conclusion, in TT homozygotes of both generations, early left ventricular relaxation was reduced. In TT homozygous parents, the latter observation might be because of the higher systolic pressure associated with the TT genotype. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Moderate alcohol consumption is associated with reduced cardiovascular mortality, but binge drinking is thought to be detrimental. We examined effects of heavy and binge drinking in a population with high rates of binge drinking.Methods: We did a prospective cohort study in Novosibirsk, Russia, in 6502 men aged 25-64 years at baseline who were examined in WHO MONICA (monitoring trends and determinants in cardiovascular disease surveys) in 1985/86, 1988/89, and 1994/95, and in a pilot study in 1984. We assessed alcohol intake and drinking pattern by questionnaire; binge drinking was defined as consumption of 160 g or greater of pure alcohol on a typical occasion. Participants were followed-up for a median of 9.5 years (range 3.1-15.2).Findings: There were 836 deaths in the cohort, 395 of which resulted from cardiovascular diseases. Prevalence of binge drinking at baseline was 16% (n=1005). Adjusted relative risks for binge drinking at least once a month (compared with consumption of <80 g pure alcohol) were 1.05 (95% CI 0.80-1.36) for deaths from all causes, 0.99 (0.66-1.50) for deaths from cardiovascular disease, 1.27 (0.81-1.99) for deaths from coronary heart disease, and 2.08 (1.08-3.99) for death from external causes. Risk of total and cardiovascular mortality was raised in a small group of frequent heavy drinkers (5% [264] of all drinkers); for this group, adjusted relative risks were 1.61 (1.04-2.50) for total mortality and 2.05 (1.09-3.86) for deaths from cardiovascular disease.Interpretation: The risk of death from cardiovascular disease seems to be increased in frequent heavy drinkers, but is not necessarily associated with episodic binge drinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This meta-analysis attempted to derive pooled estimates for the putative association between echocardiographic or electrocardiographic left ventricular hypertrophy and the deletion/insertion (D/I) polymorphism of the angiotensin-I converting enzyme. Case-control studies were combined, using the Mantel and Haenszel approach. Joint P-values for continuous variables were calculated by Stouffer's method. Continuous measurements of left ventricular mass, which were reported in different units, were expressed on a percentage scale using the within-study mean of the II genotype as the denominator. The computerised database used for this analysis, included 28 reports with an overall sample size of 6638 subjects. The prevalence of the D allele was significantly lower in Japanese (37.2%) than in Caucasians (56.2%). A funnel plot including 12 case-control studies (4094 subjects) suggested that no publication bias was present. Overall, left ventricular hypertrophy was not associated with the D allele. Compared with the II genotype, the excess risks of left ventricular hypertrophy associated with DD and DI genotypes were only 14% (95% CI: 0.92-1.42; P = 0.23) and 5% (95% CI: 0.87-1.28; P = 0.61), respectively. However, the sensitivity analysis showed that in untreated hypertensive patients the DD genotype, compared with II homozygozity, was associated with a 192% (P = 0.002) higher risk of left ventricular hypertrophy. If left ventricular mass was analysed as a continuous trait across 23 studies (5438 subjects), overall no association with the D/I polymorphism was present. However, if untreated hypertensive patients were analysed separately, echocardiographic left ventricular mass was on average 10.1% (95% CI: 4.8-15.5%; P = 0.001) higher in DD homozygotes than in the II reference group. Thus, in untreated hypertensive patients, in case-control studies as well as association studies, the D allele behaved as a marker for left ventricular hypertrophy. These findings support... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]