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A study of a set of indicators characterizing the ecological state of forest soils in the mountains of the North-Western Caucasus under broad-leaved and mixed forests has been conducted. The aim of the study has been to assess changes in the biological activity of soils of different genesis after deforestation. The objects of the study have been rendzina, gray forest and gray forest-steppe soils of forest and disturbed ecosystems of the Republic of Adugeya at altitudes from 500 to 1635 m above sea level. Logging plots of different ages (from 10 to 40 years old) after deforestation have been considered. The analyzed indicators have included: the content of total and active carbon, the activity of soil enzymes (catalase, invertase, dehydrogenase, urease, phosphatase), the number of bacteria, as well as an integral index of the biological properties of the soil. The correlation of these indicators with hydrothermal conditions, density of soil structure, penetration resistance, medium reaction, hydrolytic acidity, total absorbed bases and other soil parameters has been evaluated. The level of biological activity of soils in logging areas in the low mountains of Adygea depends on the relief and the timing of restoration after deforestation. Even after several decades of restoration of woody vegetation on the slopes of 12–15° there is no complete return of biological activity to the values of Greyic Phaeozem Eutric of the background forest area. 40 years after logging, the integral index of biological properties of gray forest soil is still 17 % lower than in the control plot. The biological activity of post-forest soils can change in three main directions. On steep slopes, with severe disturbance of the soil and vegetation cover due to the operation of heavy machinery, the integral index of the biological properties of soils decreases by 25–40 % or more without a tendency to recovery. At an average level of disturbance in plots with slight slopes, after an initial decrease, the soils are restored to control values. Restorative successions with intensive development of herbaceous flora and the turf process with slight disturbance can lead to an increase in biological activity above the control values in just 2–3 years. Comprehensive biodiognostic studies using an integral index of the biological state of the soil have revealed, in general, increased stability of low-mountain terrain soils (gray forest and forest-steppe) compared to the soils of the middle mountains of Adygea (rendzina soils). The main degradation factor that reduces the biological activity of soils disturbed by logging is erosion.

Background: Sepsis is a serious clinical condition caused by a dysregulated immune response to infection resulting in multiple organ failure. In the pathogenesis of sepsis, especially that of septic shock, great importance is given to the endothelial marker of vascular regulation, nitric oxide (NO). In septic shock, dysregulation of the vascular tone plays a key role in the development of hypotension. Therefore, the control of the level of nitric oxide and its stable metabolites in critically ill patients is a very important task. Aim: the aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of the electrochemical nitrite detection in the patients blood serum. Methods: The levels of nitric oxide stable metabolites in the blood serum of healthy individuals (n=20) and septic patients (n=25) were studied by the electrochemical method using a composite electrode and by the spectrophotometric method using the Griess reagent. Results: The data in the groups of healthy people and patients with sepsis differ significantly (p 0.00001) both when measured using electrochemical and spectrophotometric methods. The median value of the current response in healthy people was 0.41 A (0.33; 0.55), and the total content of nitric oxide metabolites (NOx) was 26.8 mol/L (20.8; 31.0), while in patients with sepsis, these values were 0.79 A (0.61; 1.28) and 38.89 mol/L (29.64; 57.45), respectively. A negative correlation was found between the data obtained for practically healthy persons (r=-0.696, p=0.0007). Conclusion: The obtained results allow us to conclude that the nitrite measurement in the blood serum by amperometry using a composite electrode is promising as a diagnostic technique.

Objective. To assess the effect of the combined treatment method including preoperative denosumab therapy on the results of treatment of patients with giant cell tumors of the spine. Material and Methods. A single-center retrospective-prospective study of a series of clinical cases included 15 patients with giant cell tumors of vertebrae. The average follow-up period was 56 months. A total of 11 patients received denosumab therapy according to the following scheme: 120 mg subcutaneously on the 1st, 8th, 15th and 28th days of the first month and then once every 28 days. Surgical options included marginal resection, segmental resection, or en-bloc resection with or without spinal reconstruction/stabilization. In the case of locally advanced and inoperable disease, long-term therapy with denosumab was carried out until the disease progressed or seri- ous adverse events appeared. Results. Thoracic vertebrae were involved in 7 (46.6 %) of 15 cases, lumbar in 4 (26.7 %) and cervical in 4 (26.7 %). Local recurrence rate after surgery alone was 40 % (2/5), average time to recurrence onset was 4.5 months. No relapses were observed after combined treatment performed in four patients. Disease progression during long-term denosumab therapy for inoperable disease recurrence was not recorded (0/7). The average number of denosumab injections before surgery and during long-term therapy was 15 and 24 injections, respectively. Denosumab therapy allows reducing the duration of surgery and the volume of blood loss. Conclusion. Combined therapy of giant cell vertebral tumor allows to reduce the risk of recurrence of the disease, as well as to reduce surgery duration and blood loss. Long-term continuous therapy for inoperable cases allows achieving long-term stabilization of the effect. Due to the rarity of giant cell tumors of the spine, a further prospective recruitment of patients is required to study the efficacy and safety of combined therapies.

The unique ecosystems of the Abraus peninsula on the Caucasian Black Sea coast persisted in the Utrish State Nature Reserve (Russia), are represented by dry Eastern Mediterranean subtropics with a large number of endemics and relics that have been persisted from the Tertiary period. This is one of the few places in Russia where juniper pistachio (Pistacia atlantica, Juniperus excelsa, J. foetidissima, J. oxycedrus) woodlands grow. In 2016–2018, a study was conducted on the content of the biological properties of brown soils in two areas of the Abraus peninsula. The main focus is on the monitoring of Vodopadnaya shchel' on the Utrish State Nature Reserve monitoring site, located in the post-fire area of juniper woodland (Pistacia atlantica, Juniperus excelsa, J. foetidissima, J. oxycedrus) at an altitude of 110–140 m a.s.l. on the southern spurs of the Ridge Navagir. The fire happened in 2009. Additionally, in April 2018, the site of the burnt area of 2013 was investigated in the immediate vicinity of the Sukhaya shchel' of the Utrish State Nature Reserve. The area of the burnt site was several hectares including violation of terrestrial vegetation and changes in the ecological state of the soil. We have demonstrated that brown soils are rare for Russia (Cromic Cambisol and Cromi-Leptic Luvisol according to the WRB international classification). But these are widespread in most parts of the Abraus peninsula, including the Utrish State Nature Reserve. The main features of brown soils include the brown colour of the soil profile; intense textural lining of the middle part of the soil profile; eluvial-illuvial type of decarbonisation closed to neutral reaction of the environment; soil richness with elements of mineral nutrition. The studied soils in the Utrish State Nature Reserve are characterised by higher stoniness and rubble, no carbonate growths, fragmentation of the forest floor due to the low-mountain dissected relief of the territory. We have studied the ecological and biological properties of these soils in response to fire (e.g. temperature, moisture, soil bulk density, organic carbon and carbonate content, bacteria abundance, catalase, peroxidase, dehydrogenase, and invertase activities). In the grass-shrub stage, the restorative succession was in both burnt areas. The fire had a significant effect on the ecological and biological properties of brown soils 5–9 years after the fire impact. Many of the biological properties of post-fire soils differed significantly in comparison with the properties of control areas of juniper light forest. The organic carbon content and biological activity of post-fire soils as a whole are reduced as compared with the soils of control areas of juniper light forest. In this case, a high variation of the biological parameters of the soil was noted in different parts of the same burnt area. The variation is associated both with the peculiarities of the mountain relief, and with the nature of the vegetation, which forms refugia different in the number of plant residues. The rate of carbon dioxide production in the surface horizons of the burnt area soil is more than 2 times lower than the values in control areas. Five years after the fire, the post-fire soil of the Sukhaya shchel' area contained almost half of the humus content at the 5 cm surface layer compared to the soil of the control area of juniper woodlands. At a depth of 15–25 cm, the difference between the soils areas remained at the same level as for the upper horizons. Thus, we demonstrated a significant effect of fires on the biological parameters of the subtropical soils in the Utrish State Nature Reserve, which has been persisted for many years.

In this study, a set of ZnO-based thin films were prepared on glass substrates at various substrate temperatures via the direct current magnetron sputtering of ceramic targets with the following compositions: pure ZnO, Al-doped ZnO with doping levels of 1 and 2 at.%, Ga-doped ZnO with doping levels of 1 and 2 at.%, and (Al, Ga)-co-doped ZnO with doping levels of 1 and 2 at.% for each impurity metal. The dependencies of sheet resistance, carrier concentration, and Hall mobility on the substrate temperature were studied for the deposited films. The results of evaluating the electrical performances of the films were compared with the data of their XRD study. According to the XRD data, among all the deposited ZnO films, the maximum crystallinity was found in the co-doped thin film with doping levels of 2 at.% for each impurity metal, deposited at a substrate temperature of 300 °C. It was revealed that the observed increase in the Hall mobility and carrier concentration for the co-doped films may, in particular, be due to the difference in the preferred localization of Ga and Al impurities in the ZnO film: the Ga ions were mainly incorporated into the crystal lattice of ZnO nanocrystallites, while the Al impurity was mostly localized in the intercrystalline space at the grain boundaries.

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is increasingly used to treat severe cases of acute respiratory or cardiac failure. Hemorrhagic complications represent one of the most common complications during ECMO, and can be life threatening. The purpose of this study was to elucidate pathophysiological mechanisms of ECMO-associated hemorrhagic complications and their impact on standard and viscoelastic coagulation tests. The study cohort included 27 patients treated with VV-ECMO or VA-ECMO. Hemostasis was evaluated using standard coagulation tests and viscoelastic parameters investigated with rotational thromboelastometry. Anticoagulation and hemorrhagic complications were analyzed for up to seven days depending on ECMO duration. Hemorrhagic complications developed in 16 (59%) patients. There were 102 discrete hemorrhagic episodes among 116 24-hour-intervals, of which 27% were considered to be clinically significant. The highest number of ECMO-associated hemorrhages occurred on the 2nd and 3rd day of treatment. Respiratory tract bleeding was the most common hemorrhagic complication, occurring in 62% of the 24-hour intervals. All 24-hours-intervals were divided into two groups: "with bleeding" and "without bleeding". The probability of hemorrhage was significantly associated with abnormalities of four parameters: increased international normalized ratio (INR, sensitivity 71%, specificity 94%), increased prothrombin time (PT, sensitivity 90%, specificity 72%), decreased intrinsic pathway maximal clot firmness (MCFin, sensitivity 76%, specificity 89%), and increased extrinsic pathway clot formation time (CFTex, sensitivity 77%, specificity 87%). In conclusions, early ECMO-associated hemorrhagic complications are related to one traditional and two novel viscoelastic coagulation abnormalities: PT/INR elevation, reduced maximum clot firmness due to intrinsic pathway dysfunction (MCFin), and prolonged clot formation time due to extrinsic pathway dysfunction (CFTex). When managing hemostasis during ECMO, derangements in PT/INR, MCFin and CFTex should be focused on.

The purpose of this study was to determine morphologic and morphometric structure and arterial vascularization of glandula interdigitalis in male Hemshin sheep. In the study, 40 feet (20 fore-feet, 20 hind-feet) were used as material. Latex was injected into arteries of fore- and hindfeet in order to determine vascularization of glandula interdigitalis. In the study, 6 measurements were taken from different points of glandula interdigitalis in order to determine its morphometric values. These values were statistically analyzed. Consequently, length of the gland was measured as 30.18±1.93 mm in fore-feet and 25.67±1.77 mm in hind-feet. The gland in fore-feet was determined to be considerably greater than the gland in hind-feet (P

Abstract Background Awareness of age‐related features of carcinogenesis and the importance of cellular immunity is crucial for developing effective antitumor therapies for specific patient groups. Methods In this study, we examined different populations of cancer stem cells (CSCs) and circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in "young" (8‐10 weeks) and "aged" (80‐82 weeks) C57BL/6 male mice. We used an orthotopic model of Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) to evaluate the effectiveness of cell therapy targeting lung cancer through reprogrammed CD8‐positive T cells (rCD8+ T cells) in mice from two different ages. Results The findings revealed that tumor progression with age is primarily caused by impaired recruitment of T cells to the lungs. Additionally, a lower number of CTCs and CSCs were observed in younger mice compared to the older mice. The antitumor effect of rCD8+ T cells in aged mice was found to be inferior to that in young mice, which can be attributed to the reduced impact of therapy on specific CSCs populations. Conclusions These results offer new insights into the treatment of lung cancer using rCD8+ T cells. Considering the age‐related characteristics influencing disease progression, this therapy has the potential to significantly enhance the effectiveness of treatment methods.