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The subject of the study. A concept of OCR systems performance improvement is proposed, which is achieved through the integrated use of special algorithms for preliminary processing of documents picture, an extended set of service functions, and advanced techniques for information protection. Study objectives: development of algorithms that compensate for the influence of the unfavorable points like imperfect lighting conditions overshooting, images geometric deformation, noises, etc., which corrupt the pictured text, on the efficiency of that text recognition. It is needed to provide for a series of service procedures that would ensure adequate data handling while viewing, converting, and storing in standard formats the results, and ensuring the possibility to exchange data in open communication networks. Additionally, it is necessary to ensure the information protection against unauthorized use at the stage of data processing and provide secretiveness of their transmission through the communication channels. Investigation methods and research results: developed and tested algorithms for preliminary picture data processing, namely, for the captured image geometry transformation, picture noise correction with different filters, image binarization when using the adaptive thresholds reduced the negative influence of irregular image portions illumination; in the software, the special services ensure the data processing ease and information protection are affected. In particular, the interactive procedure for text segmentation is proposed, which implies the possibility of anonymizing its fragments and contributes to collecting confidentiality for documents treated. The package for processing document shots contains the face detection algorithm bringing the identification of such information features; it can be used further in the task of face recognition. After the textual doc is recognized, the received data encryption is provided by generating a QR-code and the steganography methods can deliver the privacy of this information transmission. The algorithms' structures are described in detail and the stability of their work under various conditions is investigated. Focused on the case study, docs' text recognition software was developed with the usage of Tesseract version 4.0 optical character recognition program. The program named "HQ Scanner" is written in Python using the present resources of the OpenCV library. An original technique for evaluating the efficiency of algorithms using the criterion of the maximum probability of correct text recognition is implemented in the software. Conclusions. The study results can constitute the basis for developing advanced specialized software for easy-to-use commercial OCR systems.

The article analyses the digitalisation of real estate services in Russia. Empirical works of leading analytical agencies and experts’ academic papers in the field of economic sciences has been summarised and sysrematised. The development key indicators of Russian digital economy, digitalisation level of certain service sectors, digital production features and digital consumption which characterise the digital economy development, have been considered. It has been noted that at present the digital services of in real estate services are at an early stage of development due to the small number of market participants who have fully implemented digital services and online technologies in their activities. It has been revealed that most of the stages of real estate services for the sale or purchase of residential property can be partly or fully realised using digital services and online technologies. Generalised characteristics of real estate services digitalisation at present and prospects for its development have been formulated.

The 2.MED1 phylogenetic branch of Yersinia pestis of the medieval biovar became widespread in the Caspian Sea region, the Caucasus, and the Northern Aral Sea region in the 20th century, causing outbreaks and epizootics of plague there. Some of the formed natural foci of 2.MED1 still show epizootic activity and retain their epidemic potential. In this work, we carried out a phylogenetic analysis of 46 Y. pestis strains of the medieval biovar isolated in the Caucasus, the Caspian Sea, and the Northern Aral Sea regions during epidemic outbreaks and epizootics from 1922-2014. The obtained phylogenetic data, together with epidemiological and epizootological data accumulated over a period of about a hundred years, indicate the presence of two waves of penetration of the 2.MED1 branch into the Caucasus. The first occurred, apparently, in the first half of the 20th century as a result of the penetration of 2.MED1 from the foci of the Northern and North-Western Caspian Sea. The second wave was caused by the spread of 2.MED1 from the Northern Aral to the foci of the North-Western, Northern and Eastern Caspian Sea regions at the beginning of the second half of the 20th century, followed by introduction into the Pre-Caucasus and Transcaucasia. The rapid spread of 2.MED1 could be associated with the transfer of the pathogen by land and sea transport in the process of economic activity of the population.

Steatosis and inflammation have been common gut symptoms in Atlantic salmon fed plant rich diets. Choline has recently been identified as essential for salmon in seawater, and β-glucan and nucleotides are frequently used to prevent inflammation. The study is aimed at documenting whether increased fishmeal (FM) levels (8 levels from 0 to 40%) and supplementation (Suppl) with a mixture of choline (3.0 g/kg), β-glucan (0.5 g/kg), and nucleotides (0.5 g/kg) might reduce the symptoms. Salmon (186 g) were fed for 62 days in 16 saltwater tanks before samples were taken from 12 fish per tank for observation of biochemical, molecular, metabolome, and microbiome indicators of function and health. Steatosis but no inflammation was observed. Lipid digestibility increased and steatosis decreased with increasing FM levels and supplementation, seemingly related to choline level. Blood metabolites confirmed this picture. Genes in intestinal tissue affected by FM levels are mainly involved in metabolic and structural functions. Only a few are immune genes. The supplement reduced these FM effects. In gut digesta, increasing FM levels increased microbial richness and diversity, and changed the composition, but only for unsupplemented diets. An average choline requirement of 3.5 g/kg was indicated for Atlantic salmon at the present life stage and under the present condition.

Objective: to study the socio-cultural and legal nature of the corruption phenomenon in a discursive and communicative context.Methods: the methodological basis of the article is the synthesis of the discursive and communicative theory of J. Habermas and W. Krawietz’s integrative theory of legal reality, focusing on the interdisciplinary study of corruption as an interdisciplinary category, taking into account not only objective, but also subjective components. This determined the choice of research methods (comparative, hermeneutic, and discursive methods).Results: corruption as a phenomenon and the interdisciplinary category reflecting it is determined by social, cultural and psychological factors of the legal reality development. Acting as a complex legal archetype, it defines the value attitudes of consciousness and behavior of the legal communication participants, orienting them to carry out actions aimed at satisfying individual (less often group and social) interests, even if they contradict the law. Corrupt behavior is perceived by a large part of the Russian society as a model of hierarchical interaction of the legal communication subjects, the purpose of which, according to the addressee, is to increase the effectiveness of the addressee’s activities. In addition, corruption is becoming an informal means of “liberation” from the legal requirements, rigid and unfair, according to some representatives of the society. In these conditions, the success of the institutional fight against corruption can be achieved only if this fight involves not only improvement of anti-corruption legislation, but also countering shadow norms, creating a system of anti-incentives for corrupt behavior, including ideologically, through the formation of value attitudes of citizens to reject corrupt practices as unpatriotic and harmful to the rule of law and the legal culture of the society as a whole.Scientific novelty: for the first time in Russian jurisprudence, a study of the category of corruption in the communicative and discursive aspect was conducted.Practical significance: the main provisions and conclusions of the article can be used in scientific and pedagogical activities when considering the issues of the essence and content of the Russian legal reality, in the anti-corruption activities of state and municipal bodies, as well as in anti-corruption education.

Based on multiyear monitoring observations, dynamics of 137Сs intake into the main tissues and organs of aboveground phytomass of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) during 30 years from the Chornobyl accident was determined as well peculiarities of their radioactive contamination. Empirical (observations), radioecological and statistical methods were used. It was found that for the wood increase of values of transfer factor was observed between 1991 and 2002 yrs with the further monotonous decrease of this value up to 2020; in internal bark, 1-year shoots, 2-year shoots, 1-year needles, 2-year needles, twigs thick and twigs thin multiyear dynamics was similar – an increase of values of transfer factor in the period of 1991 - 2002 yrs with further decrease of it up to 2020. At external bark, monotonous decrease of values of transfer factor was found during the whole observation period 1991 - 2020.

Paragangliomas (PGLs) are rare neuroendocrine tumors that can develop from any paraganglion across the body. The carotid body is the most often location of PGLs in the head and neck region. Carotid PGLs (CPGLs) are characterized by predominantly non-aggressive behavior; however, all tumors have the potential to metastasize. To date, molecular mechanisms of paraganglioma progression remain elusive. We report a case of a 38-year-old woman with metastatic CPGL manifesting as a recurrent tumor with lymph node metastasis. The tumor was fast-growing and had a high Ki-67 proliferation index. Immunohistochemical (IHC) examination and whole-exome sequencing were performed for both recurrent tumor and metastasis. A germline pathogenic splice acceptor variant in the SDHB gene was found in the patient. Immunoreactivity of the SDHB subunit was weak diffuse in both samples, indicating deficiency of the succinate dehydrogenase. Moreover, the recurrent tumor exhibited loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at the SDHB locus, that is according to Knudson’s "two-hit" hypothesis of cancer causation. We also identified a rare somatic promotor mutation in the TERT gene associated with the tumor progression. Obtained results confirmed the indicative role of the germline SDHB mutation for metastatic CPGLs, as well as the potential prognostic value of the TERT promoter mutation.

Objective was to investigate an effect of anti-adhesion hyaluronic-containing resorbable gel on the course of traumatic spinal cord disease caused by a simulated contusion spinal cord injury (SCI) in rats. Material and methods A moderate spinal cord injury was simulated at the Th9 level of 40 female Wistar rats that were randomly divided into 2 groups. Group I received hyaluronic-containing absorbable antiadhesion gel Antiadgezin® that was intraoperatively applied to the dura mater of experimental rats; Group II of control rats received no gel. The BBB locomotor rating scale was used to evaluate the extent of recovered pelvic limb function. The animals were sacrificed on days 5, 15, 30, 60 and 90. Paraffin and epoxy semi-thin 1 μm sections were used for morphological examination of the spinal cord using light microscopy. Results The gel used for contusion SCI in rats caused neither significant changes during postoperative period nor local infectious and inflammatory complications, and showed no negative impact on functional results. Morphological examination revealed pathomorphological changes that were identical for both groups and characteristic of contusion SCI showing softening, necrosis of the nervous tissue, tissue and cell detritus of gray and white matter, small cysts in the early stages of the experiment; progression of syringomyelia and formation of large cysts primarily seen in the gray matter and the onset of regenerative processes in the white matter at 60 and 90 days of the experiment. Conclusion The absence of a negative effect of the anti-adhesion hyaluronic-containing resorbable gel on the functional results, and morphological characteristics of the spinal cord offer the opportunity of the further experimental use as a carrier of substance composition initiating beneficial metabolic and neuroprotective action for transdural delivery in simulated SCI.

Objective. To conduct a morphometric analysis of the soleus muscle of rats after moderate spinal cord contusion injury. Material and Methods. Experiments were performed on female Wistar rats aged 8–12 months, weighing 270–320 g. Animals of the experimental group (n = 25) underwent laminectomy at the T9 level under general anesthesia and modeling of spinal contusion injury of moderate severity. Intact rats constituted the control group (n = 10). Euthanasia was performed on the 5th, 15th, 30th, 60th, 90th, and 180th days of the experiment. Paraffin sections were stained with hematoxylin-eosin and Masson, the diameters of muscle fibers were determined by computer morphometry, and histograms of their distribution were obtained. Results. In the soleus muscle, the signs of reversible reparative processes prevailed in response to neurotrophic damage. It was evidenced by a local increase in the diversity of myocyte diameters and the loss of polygonality of their profiles, focal destruction of muscle fibers, ac- tivation of the connective tissue component, disorganization of some intramuscular nerve conductors, and vascular fibrosis of perimysium. Nevertheless, the histostructure of an intact muscle prevailed in the course of the experiment, which was confirmed by the data of morphometric analysis. All histograms of the distribution of the muscle fiber diameters are unimodal with a mode in the range of 30–41 μm. On the 180th day, the maximum myocyte diameters in the histogram of the left limb muscle belonged to the range of 21–30 μm, which was typical for histograms in the intact group. Conclusion. The nature of the plastic reorganization of the soleus muscle when neurotrophic control is impaired indicates compensatory regeneration of muscle tissue by the type of restitution, which opens up the possibility of predicting the rehabilitation period. It is advisable to take this into account when developing medical and social programs and therapeutic measures, where the most important role is played by superficial neuromuscular and functional electrical stimulation.

Background. The study belongs to the direction of personalized medical care and is devoted to determining the geometric parameters of ECG leads in modeling the electrical activity of the heart. The aim of the work is to develop software for calculating the geometric parameters of ECG lead points and visualizing the human chest using a 3D model. Materials and methods. The work uses a three-dimensional model of the human chest, created in the Blender environment. When developing the software, the OpenGL and GLUT graphic libraries, the Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 development environment, and the C++ programming language were used. Results. The developed software makes it possible to determine the intersections of the lead vectors (from the heart to the lead point on the surface of the chest) with objects inside the chest and calculate the corresponding geometric parameters. The performance is demonstrated on 3 different examples. Conclusions. The developed program implements the display of the surface of the human chest, ribs and lungs, the calculation of the geometric parameters of the lead points. The obtained parameters can be used in the process of personalized diagnostics based on the model of the electrical activity of the heart.

To evaluate the degree of tuberculous lesions of the lungs, the method has been developed for coding and quantitative assessment of chest computed tomography results (chest CT) based on the presence of the following signs in each lobe of the lung: infiltrative and/or small focal changes – +1 point, focal formations (tuberculomas) – +2 points, cavitary changes (cavities) – +4 points. If there are all elements in the lobe, the maximum score is given – 7. The X-ray signs of tuberculous changes in the lungs are recorded in the form of a five-digit code "* * * | * *", where * corresponds to the lung lobe and is replaced by a figure corresponding to the total score calculated for this lobe. The arithmetic mean of the numbers in the code allows estimating the dissemination of tuberculosis: the higher the value, the more severe pathological changes in the lungs. The authors experimentally found that in the treatment of multiple and extensive drug resistant pulmonary tuberculosis with, the timing of sputum conversion (rs = 0.442; p < 0.01) and healing of cavities (rs = 0.575; p < 0.05) directly depended on the severity of tuberculous changes in the lungs, revealed by chest CT and evaluated using the proposed method.

Представлено сучасний формат стратегії і програми навчання майбутніх спеціалістів ступеня доктора філософії за спеціальністю 224 «Технології медичної діагностики та лікування» галузі знань 22 «Охорона здоров'я». Методами експертного оцінювання проаналізовано розвиток теорії і практики застосування технологій діагностики та лікування захворювань внутрішніх органів, у тому числі інформаційних. Уніфіковано сучасні технології клінічних лабораторних і променевих методів дослідження, що сприяють підвищенню якості надання медичної допомоги; методи променевої терапії, що сприяють підвищенню ефективності лікування онкологічних і неонкологічних захворювань, а також методи прийняття рішень у діагностиці, лікуванні та прогнозуванні станів пацієнта. По завершенню навчання, здобувачі вищої освіти третього рівня мають оволодіти загальнонауковими компетентностями, здобути універсальні навики дослідника та мовні компетентності. Тематика курсів професійної підготовки розроблена з метою сприяння здатності інтегрувати знання та розв'язувати складні завдання в мультидисциплінарних і трансдисциплінарних контекстах. Отже, зміст запропонованої освітньо-наукової програми за спеціальністю 224 «Технології медичної діагностики та лікування» направлено на підготовку висококваліфікованих і конкурентоспроможних спеціалістів ступеня доктора філософії та здобуття ними в процесі навчання необхідних теоретичних знань, що носять мультидисциплшарний характер, та комплексу практичних умінь, навиків і компетентностей для виконання інноваційних наукових досліджень та впровадження отриманих результатів у практичну охорону здоров'я.

The subject of study in the article is the formulation of a modern concept of improving the quality of work of optical recognition systems by using a set of various algorithms for preprocessing document images at the user's discretion. The research synthesizes algorithms that compensate for external negative influences (unfavorable geometric factor, poor lighting conditions when photographing, the effect of noise, etc.). The methods used imply a certain sequence of data preprocessing stages: geometric transformation of the original images, their processing with a set of various filters, image equalization without increasing the noise level to increase the contrast of images, the binarization of images with adaptive conversion thresholds to eliminate the influence of uneven photo illumination. The following results were obtained. A package of algorithms for preliminary processing of photographs of documentation has been created, in which, to increase the functionality of data identification, a face detection algorithm is also built in, intended for their further recognition (face recognition). A number of service procedures are provided to ensure the convenience of data processing and their information protection. In particular, interactive procedures for text segmentation with the possibility of anonymizing its individual fragments are proposed. It helps provide the confidentiality of the processed documents. The structure of the listed algorithms is described and the stability of their operation under various conditions is investigated. Based on the results of the research, a text recognition software was developed using the Tesseract version 4.0 optical character recognition (OCR) program. The program "HQ Scanner" is written in Python using the OpenCV library. An original technique for evaluating the effectiveness of the algorithms using the criterion of the maximum probability of correct text recognition has been implemented in software. A large number of examples of system operation and software testing results are provided. Conclusions. The results of the research conducted are a basis for developing software for creating cost-effective and easy-to-use OCR systems for commercial use.

Currently, due to the lack of specific etiotropic therapy, rituximab is widely used for the treatment of most autoimmune diseases of the central and peripheral nervous system. Rituximab is a chimeric monoclonal antibody with specificity for CD20, the antigen found on the surface of normal and malignant B-lymphocytes. It is used mainly in hematological practice. It is used off-label for the treatment of neurological diseases. The world literature describes the use of rituximab for the treatment of such pathologies as autoimmune encephalitis, neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder, multiple sclerosis, primary angiitis of the central nervous system, immune-mediated inflammatory polyneuropathy, myasthenia gravis, refractory to basic immunosuppressive therapy. This article provides an overview of the world literature on the use of rituximab in neurological practice, describes our own experience of its use on the basis of the Department of Neurology № 1 of Pavlov University (Saint Petersburg, Russia).

The results of the marketing analysis of the market of special equipment for housing and communal services of Russia are presented. Market trends have been analysed, the sales dynamics of municipal machinery have been characterised and segments of the product portfolio of domestic manufacturers have been identified. The article analyzes the features of the development of two key product segments - the segment of snowplows and snow loaders, as well as the segment of garbage trucks. It is proved that they have a high market potential and objective prerequisites for import substitution, but they need to improve marketing support. The authors proposed and justified a set of measures to improve marketing activities, including development of financial instruments to support customers, expansion of the product line, improvement of distribution strategies, optimisation of call centers and the development of exports using state support tools.

The aim of the work was the identification and genetic characterization of Vibrio cholerae O1 strains of the El Tor biovar sensitive to polymyxin B among isolates imported to Russia.Materials and methods. We used 56 toxigenic and non-toxigenic strains of V. cholerae isolated from patients and from the environmental samples on the territory of Russia in 1970-2020. Resistance to polymyxin B was determined according to MR4.2.2218-07. The ability of strains to form a biofilm on the abiotic surface was assessed by a photometric method. Nucleotide sequences of genes were determined using UGENE 1.32 and MEGA X software. Phylogenetic analysis and tree construction were performed using "maximum parsimony" method in MEGA X software.Results and discussion. Two genetically modified strains of V. cholerae O1 biovar El Tor, M1509 and 3265/80, which were imported to Russia from India in 2012 and 2014, respectively, were identified. The analysis of 12 genes responsible for the resistance of V. cholerae O1 biovar El Tor strains to polymyxin B demonstrated that these strains contain the allele of the carRS gene, which is typical for all strains of cholera vibrio sensitive to polymyxin B. Study of V. cholerae M1509 and 3265/80 phylogeny based on SNP analysis showed that they fall into the same cluster with isolates containing the carRS allele isolated in India (2015) and Bangladesh (2018). V. cholerae M1509 and 3256/8 strains had the ability to form a biofilm similar to those observed in other genetically modified strains of cholera vibrio included into analysis.Conclusion. Highly virulent strains of the cholera agent with altered diagnostically significant features are imported into Russia, which should be taken into account when identifying V. cholerae O1 biovar El Tor strains isolated from patients and environmental samples during monitoring studies.

Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSDs) are autoimmune inflammatory disorders accompanied by central nervous system damage, widespread immunemediated demyelination, and axonal damage, involving mainly the optic nerves, spinal cord, and area postrema. The diagnostic capabilities, administration and routing of patients, and therapeutic approaches to this disease need to be improved. During several expert councils held in 2019–2021 in different regions of the Russian Federation, we discussed multiple issues related to various aspects of medical care for patients with NMOSDs. As a result, the experts developed further steps necessary to improve the medical care to these patients: to write and publish clinical guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of NMOSDs; to consider the possibility of optimizing the NMOSDs diagnostic program including the aquaporin-4 antibodies (AQP4-IgG) testing; to evaluate the implementation of a set of measures aimed at including the corresponding laboratory investigations into the system of state guarantees (together with the institutions of the Ministry of Health of Russia), if there is clinical and economic feasibility; to include the issues of timely NMOSDs evaluation in educational programs initiated by the scientific medical community, in order to raise awareness of primary care neurologists in relation to the clinical and neuroimaging signs of probable NMOSDs; to assess the possibility of introducing routing schemes for patients with NMOSDs at the regional level; to work out a decision on the collection of NMOSDs epidemiological and clinical data in the Russian Federation.

Objective: to study the condition of the cornea, as well as its epithelial and endothelial cells, while maintaining in vitro at various temperature conditions, under the influence of a number of factors, including bioregulators isolated from blood serum and cornea of the bovine, and epidermal growth factor.Methods. The study was carried out on rabbit corneas stored at temperatures of +4, –86 °C, as well as the cultivation of endothelial and epithelial cells isolated from the cornea after storage at these temperatures, followed by histological and immunohistochemical studies.Results. Storage of the cornea at +4 °C for 10 days leads to corneal edema and significantly reduces their transparency, both bioregulators partially prevent a decrease in the transparency of the cornea, while the endothelial layer lyses in groups with the addition of epidermal growth factor and corneal bioregulator; but remains in the cornea with the addition of a serum bioregulator. All three factors contribute to the preservation of the Bowman membrane. In the corneas stored at –86 °C on the 30th day, a preserved endothelial layer was observed, and the epithelium retained its multilayering in all groups with the addition of factors other than the control group. In the control samples, the epithelial layer partially exfoliated, the endothelial layer was almost completely lysed. Both bioregulators stimulated the proliferation of cells isolated from the native cornea and enhanced the action of the epidermal growth factor. Similar results were obtained on cells isolated from stored corneas for 2 weeks at –86 °C. In the case of combined use of the epidermal growth factor and bioregulators on the 30th day, the endothelial layer was mainly preserved, the Descemet’s membrane was not broken. In the control samples, the epithelium was mainly single-layered, partially exfoliated, and the endothelial layer was completely lysed.Conclusion. Storage of cornea during hypothermia (+4 °С) does not provide corneal viability for longer than 10 days. Storage under conditions of cryopreservation (–86 °C) ensures the viability of the cornea for 60 days. Adding bioregulators and an epidermal growth factor to the basic preservation medium allows one to obtain a structurally safe and viable cornea, while all cellular layers of the cornea, including the endothelial layer, are preserved and viable.

There is a hypothesis among the scientists that COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2 have negative effect on the immune system. Many reports on multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS) development after COVID-19 are published worldwide. Whereas, the impact of this infection on prevalence and course of any other infectious diseases has not been studied. The aim of the study is to draw attention to the estimation of other infectious diseases course after COVID-19 by analyzing the clinical case of pneumococcal septicemia in 17 years old boy who has undergone COVID-19. We obtained data about COVID-19 during the analysis of the child's medical history. The course of infectious process was similar to the course of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), compared by clinical manifestations. The results of ELISA blood assay have proved it: we revealed IgG to SARS-CoV-2. However, PCR test revealed S. pneumoniae DNA in blood, so MIS-C diagnosis was excluded. The role of SARS-CoV-2 in other diseases in postcovid period can not be excluded, and it requires further studies. Development of screening and rehabilitation principles is recommended despite the severity of COVID-19 in children.

This article discusses a model of primordial black hole (PBH) formation at the reheating stage. These small/massive black holes appear due to the specific properties of the compact extra dimensions. The latter gives rise to the low energy model, containing an effective scalar field potential capable of domain wall production. Formed during inflation, these walls are quite dense, meaning they collapse soon after inflation ends. Discussion of the model is framed by the scope of multidimensional f(R)-gravity. We study the possibility of the pure gravitational formation of primordial black holes (PBHs). Interpreting the scalar curvature of compact extra space Rn as an effective scalar field in an Einstein framework and consider effective scalar-field theory that might potentially be capable of producing domain walls with a certain choice of parameters. Hence, we demonstrate that f(R)-gravity contains a mechanism for PBH formation. The study assumed that cosmological inflation is an external process, which satisfied all the cosmological constraints on our mechanism.

The aim was to evaluate the relationship between gut dysbiosis and hemodynamic changes (hyperdynamic circulation) in cirrhosis, and between hemodynamic changes and complications of this disease. This study included 47 patients with cirrhosis. Stool microbiome was assessed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Echocardiography with a simultaneous assessment of blood pressure and heart rate was performed to assess systemic hemodynamics. Patients with hyperdynamic circulation had more severe cirrhosis, lower albumin, sodium and prothrombin levels, higher C-reactive protein, aspartate aminotransferase and total bilirubin levels, and higher incidences of portopulmonary hypertension, ascites, overt hepatic encephalopathy, hypoalbuminemia, hypoprothrombinemia, systemic inflammation, and severe hyperbilirubinemia than patients with normodynamic circulation. Patients with hyperdynamic circulation compared with those with normodynamic circulation had increased abundance of Proteobacteria, Enterobacteriaceae, Bacilli, Streptococcaceae, Lactobacillaceae, Fusobacteria, Micrococcaceae, Intestinobacter, Clostridium sensu stricto, Proteus and Rumicoccus, and decreased abundance of Bacteroidetes, Bacteroidaceae, Holdemanella, and Butyrivibrio. The systemic vascular resistance and cardiac output values correlated with the abundance of Proteobacteria, Enterobacteriaceae, Bacilli, Streptococcaceae, Lactobacillaceae, Micrococcaceae, and Fusobacteria. Heart rate and cardiac output value were negatively correlated with the abundance of Bacteroidetes. The mean pulmonary artery pressure value was positively correlated with the abundance of Proteobacteria and Micrococcaceae, and negatively with the abundance of Holdemanella.

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) accounts for 80–90% of kidney cancers worldwide. Small C-terminal domain phosphatases CTDSP1, CTDSP2, and CTDSPL (also known as SCP1, 2, 3) are involved in the regulation of several important pathways associated with carcinogenesis. In various cancer types, these phosphatases may demonstrate either antitumor or oncogenic activity. Tumor-suppressive activity of these phosphatases in kidney cancer has been shown previously, but in general case, the antitumor activity may be dependent on the choice of cell line. In the present work, transfection of the Caki-1 cell line (ccRCC morphologic phenotype) with expression constructs containing the coding regions of these genes resulted in inhibition of cell growth in vitro in the case of CTDSP1 (p < 0.001) and CTDSPL (p < 0.05) but not CTDSP2. The analysis of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data showed differential expression of some of CTDSP genes and of their target, RB1. These results were confirmed by quantitative RT-PCR using an independent sample of primary ccRCC tumors (n = 52). We observed CTDSPL downregulation and found a positive correlation of expression for two gene pairs: CTDSP1 and CTDSP2 (rs = 0.76; p < 0.001) and CTDSPL and RB1 (rs = 0.38; p < 0.05). Survival analysis based on TCGA data demonstrated a strong association of lower expression of CTDSP1, CTDSP2, CTDSPL, and RB1 with poor survival of ccRCC patients (p < 0.001). In addition, according to TCGA, CTDSP1, CTDSP2, and RB1 were differently expressed in two subtypes of ccRCC—ccA and ccB, characterized by different survival rates. These results confirm that CTDSP1 and CTDSPL have tumor suppressor properties in ccRCC and reflect their association with the more aggressive ccRCC phenotype.

Novel magnetic nanocomposite materials based on Fe3O4 nanoparticles coated with iron and silica glycerolates (MNP@Fe(III)Glyc and MNP@Fe(III)/SiGlyc) were obtained. The synthesized nanocomposites were characterized using TEM, XRD, TGA, VMS, Mössbauer and IR spectroscopy. The amount of iron and silica glycerolates in the nanocomposites was calculated from the Mössbauer spectroscopy, ICP AES and C,H-elemental analysis. Thus, it has been shown that the distribution of Fe in the shell and core for MNP@Fe(III)Glyc and MNP@Fe(III)/SiGlyc is 27:73 and 32:68, respectively. The synthesized nanocomposites had high specific magnetization values and a high magnetic response to the alternating magnetic field. The hydrolysis of shells based on Fe(III)Glyc and Fe(III)/SiGlyc in aqueous media has been studied. It has been demonstrated that, while the iron glycerolates shell of MNP@Fe(III)Glyc is resistant to hydrolysis, the silica glycerolates shell of MNP@Fe(III)/SiGlyc is rather labile and hydrolyzed by 76.4% in 24 h at 25 °C. The synthesized materials did not show cytotoxicity in in vitro experiments (MTT-assay). The data obtained can be used in the design of materials for controlled-release drug delivery.

Fluid particle detection technology is of great importance in the oil and gas industry for improving oil-refining techniques and in evaluating the quality of refining equipment. The article discusses the process of creating a computer vision algorithm that allows the user to detect water globules in oil samples and analyze their sizes. The process of developing an algorithm based on the convolutional neural network (CNN) YOLOv4 is presented. For this study, our own empirical base was proposed, which comprised microphotographs of samples of raw materials and water–oil emulsions taken at various points and in different operating modes of an oil refinery. The number of images for training the neural network algorithm was increased by applying the authors’ augmentation algorithm. The developed program makes it possible to detect particles in a fluid medium with the level of accuracy required by a researcher, which can be controlled at the stage of training the CNN. Based on the results of processing the output data from the algorithm, a dispersion analysis of localized water globules was carried out, supplemented with a frequency diagram describing the ratio of the size and number of particles found. The evaluation of the quality of the results of the work of the intelligent algorithm in comparison with the manual method on the verification microphotographs and the comparison of two empirical distributions allow us to conclude that the model based on the CNN can be verified and accepted for use in the search for particles in a fluid medium. The accuracy of the model was AP@50 = 89% and AP@75 = 78%.

This paper reviews the potential use of fuzzy c-means clustering (FCM) and explores modifications to the distance function and centroid initialization methods to enhance image segmentation. The application of interest in the paper is the segmentation of breast tumours in mammograms. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in Canadian women. Early detection reduces treatment costs and offers a favourable prognosis for patients. Classical methods, like mammograms, rely on radiologists to detect cancerous tumours, which introduces the potential for human error in cancer detection. Classical methods are labour-intensive, and, hence, expensive in terms of healthcare resources. Recent research supplements classical methods with automated mammogram analysis. The basic FCM method relies upon the Euclidean distance, which is not optimal for measuring non-spherical structures. To address these limitations, we review the implementation of a Mahalanobis-distance-based FCM (FCM-M). The three objectives of the paper are: (1) review FCM, FCM-M, and three centroid initialization algorithms in the literature, (2) illustrate the effectiveness of these algorithms in image segmentation, and (3) develop a Python package with the optimized algorithms to upload onto GitHub. Image analysis of the algorithms shows that using one of the three centroid initialization algorithms enhances the performance of FCM. FCM-M produced higher clustering accuracy and outlined the tumour structure better than basic FCM.

Ecdysone signaling in Drosophila remains a popular model for investigating the mechanisms of steroid action in eukaryotes. The ecdysone receptor EcR can effectively bind ecdysone-response elements with or without the presence of a hormone. For years, EcR enhancers were thought to respond to ecdysone via recruiting coactivator complexes, which replace corepressors and stimulate transcription. However, the exact mechanism of transcription activation by ecdysone remains unclear. Here, we present experimental data on 11 various coregulators at ecdysone-responsive loci of Drosophila S2 cells. We describe the regulatory elements where coregulators reside within these loci and assess changes in their binding levels following 20-hydroxyecdysone treatment. In the current study, we detected the presence of some coregulators at the TSSs (active and inactive) and boundaries marked with CP190 rather than enhancers of the ecdysone-responsive loci where EcR binds. We observed minor changes in the coregulators’ binding level. Most were present at inducible loci before and after 20-hydroxyecdysone treatment. Our findings suggest that: (1) coregulators can activate a particular TSS operating from some distal region (which could be an enhancer, boundary regulatory region, or inactive TSS); (2) coregulators are not recruited after 20-hydroxyecdysone treatment to the responsive loci; rather, their functional activity changes (shown as an increase in H3K27 acetylation marks generated by CBP/p300/Nejire acetyltransferase). Taken together, our findings imply that the 20-hydroxyecdysone signal enhances the functional activity of coregulators rather than promoting their binding to regulatory regions during the ecdysone response.

Turpentine oil, owing to the presence of 7–50 terpenes, has analgesic, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, antibacterial, anticoagulant, antioxidant, and antitumor properties, which are important for medical emulsion preparation. The addition of turpentine oil to squalene emulsions can increase their effectiveness, thereby reducing the concentration of expensive and possibly deficient squalene, and increasing its stability and shelf life. In this study, squalene emulsions were obtained by adding various concentrations of turpentine oil via high-pressure homogenization, and the safety and effectiveness of the obtained emulsions were studied in vitro and in vivo. All emulsions showed high safety profiles, regardless of the concentration of turpentine oil used. However, these emulsions exhibited dose-dependent effects in terms of both efficiency and storage stability, and the squalene emulsion with 1.0% turpentine oil had the most pronounced adjuvant and cytokine-stimulating activity as well as the most pronounced stability indicators when stored at room temperature. Thus, it can be concluded that the squalene emulsion with 1% turpentine oil is a stable, monomodal, and reliably safe ultradispersed emulsion and may have pleiotropic effects with pronounced immunopotentiating properties.

Omnipresent microplastics (MPs) in marine ecosystems are ingested at all trophic levels and may be a vector for the transfer of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) through the food web. We fed rotifers polyethylene MPs (1–4 µm) spiked with seven congeners of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and two congeners of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). In turn, these rotifers were fed to cod larvae from 2–30 days post-hatching (dph), while the control groups were fed rotifers without MPs. After 30 dph, all the groups were fed the same feed without MPs. Whole-body larvae were sampled at 30 and 60 dph, and four months later the skin of 10 g juveniles was sampled. The PCBs and PBDEs concentrations were significantly higher in MP larvae compared to the control larvae at 30 dph, but the significance dissipated at 60 dph. Expression of stress-related genes in cod larvae at 30 and 60 dph showed inconclusive minor random effects. The skin of MP juveniles showed disrupted epithelial integrity, fewer club cells and downregulation of a suite of genes involved in immunity, metabolism and the development of skin. Our study showed that POPs were transferred through the food web and accumulated in the larvae, but that the level of pollutants decreased once the exposure was ceased, possibly related to growth dilution. Considering the transcriptomic and histological findings, POPs spiked to MPs and/or MPs themselves may have long-term effects in the skin barrier defense system, immune response and epithelium integrity, which may potentially reduce the robustness and overall fitness of the fish.