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Serum ferritin is considered one of the predictors of severe forms of diseases and an increased mortality risk in patients with various diseases. However, the results of the studies performed to date are not heterogeneous and the usefulness of measuring serum ferritin in all inpatients, including those with COVID‑19, is being questioned. The study included the results of measuring serum ferritin in 761 adult patients, of which in the main group 634 were confirmed with COVID‑19, and 127 patients from the comparison group were hospitalized with other diagnoses. Differences in serum ferritin concentration in the main group (COVID‑19 “+”: survivors: Me 295.2, 95% CI: 353.8–449.1 µg/l, non-survivors Me 285.9, 95% CI: 309.9–628.9 µg/l) and in the comparison group (COVID‑19 “-”: survivors Me 267.2: 95% CI 268.2–526.0 µg/l, non-survivors Me 197.7, 95% CI: 110.3–529.0 µg/l) depending on the outcomes of the disease were not statistically significant. At the same time, in the cohort of the non-survivors, serum ferritin above 500 µg/l with COVID‑19 was 23.75 times more common, and in the cohort with a ferritin concentration above 1500 µg/l, 17.75 times more common than ferritin in the group of inpatients without COVID–19. Our results indicate the impracticality of measuring serum ferritin for all inpatients; however, they confirm the fact that selective measurement of serum ferritin in patients with severe course of diseases, especially infectious diseases, makes it possible to identify a category of patients with a high risk of developing hyperinflammation.

Abstract— Bioaugmentation, i.e., increasing the abundance of certain microorganisms in the community by adding appropriate cells or establishing the conditions promoting their growth, is widely used in environmental technologies. Its application for launching of the anammox reactors is usually limited to introduction of anammox bacteria. We expected addition of nitrifiers during anammox bioreactor launching to stimulate the anammox process due to rapid production of nitrite, which anammox bacteria use for ammonium oxidation. The present work investigated the effect of introduction of a nitrifying community on the composition and activity of the microbial community in an anammox reactor. At the time of inoculation of a laboratory SBR reactor, an active nitrifying community (5 days old) (ASB) (bioaugmenting activated sludge, ASB) containing group I nitrifiers, primarily Nitrosospira, was added (1 : 100 by biomass) to anammox activated sludge (ASA) stored for 1 month at 4°C and exhibiting low metabolic activity. The use of ASB resulted in increased efficiency of nitrogen removal. While noticeable nitrogen removal in the control (7%) was observed since day 11 of incubation, nitrogen removal in the experimental reactor began on day 4 at the level of 20%. Nitrogen removal after 30 days of incubation was ~60% in the experiment and 20% in the control. The rate of ammonium oxidation in the presence of ASB increased due to activity of nitrifying bacteria (during the first 10 days of operation) and anammox bacteria of the genus Brоcadia, which were already present in ASA (throughout all period of operation). Activity of group II nitrifiers (genera Nitrobacter and Nitrococcus), which were present in ASB, prevented accumulation of nitrite, which in high concentrations is toxic to both nitrifiers and anammox bacteria. High activity of the Nitrosospira nitrifiers introduced with ASB probably provided the anammox bacteria with one of the substrates (nitrite), promoting their rapid growth. During subsequent operation of the reactor, nitrifiers of the genus Nitrosomonas from the initial ASA community were mainly responsible for growth of the anammox bacteria. Thus, ASA bioaugmentation at the loading of the anammox reactor by active nitrifiers resulted in significantly improved efficiency of ammonium removal via the anammox process and accelerated transition of the reactor to the working mode.

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization recognized the outbreak of the disease COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) and the spread of the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), which caused this disease, as a pandemic. The SARS-CoV-2 virus stimulates the production of antigen-specific antibodies for which commercial tests have been developed. The issue of diagnosing antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 became especially acute together with the beginning of mass vaccination of the population. Due to the fact that the reading of the result depends on the test format, it is necessary to understand how the antigenic target, the composition of the immunoglobulins and the way of expressing the result affect its interpretation. When analyzing the literature, it was found that with COVID-19, antibodies to the nucleocapsid antigen of SARS-CoV-2 can be detected somewhat earlier than antibodies to the spike antigen; virus-neutralizing antibodies are directed to the receptor-binding domain, seroconversion of immunoglobulins M and G begins simultaneously, and tests for total antibodies are potentially more sensitive due to the ability to capture antibodies with various features of the immune response. The problem of incomparability of quantitative results obtained on different systems is also noted. These factors must be taken into account when choosing a test for detecting antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, which will adequately solve a specific clinical and epidemiological problem.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is characterized by immune activation in response to viral spread, in severe cases leading to the development of cytokine storm syndrome (CSS) and increased mortality. Despite its importance in prognosis, the pathophysiological mechanisms of CSS in COVID-19 remain to be defined. Towards this goal, we analyzed cytokine profiles and their interrelation in regard to anti-cytokine treatment with tocilizumab in 98 hospitalized patients with COVID-19. We performed a multiplex measurement of 41 circulating cytokines in the plasma of patients on admission and 3–5 days after, during the follow-up. Then we analyzed the patient groups separated in two ways: according to the clusterization of their blood cytokines and based on the administration of tocilizumab therapy. Patients with and without CSS formed distinct clusters according to their cytokine concentration changes. However, the tocilizumab therapy, administered based on the standard clinical and laboratory criteria, did not fully correspond to those clusters of CSS. Furthermore, among all cytokines, IL-6, IL-1RA, IL-10, and G-CSF demonstrated the most prominent differences between patients with and without clinical endpoints, while only IL-1RA was prognostically significant in both groups of patients with and without tocilizumab therapy, decreasing in the former and increasing in the latter during the follow-up period. Thus, CSS in COVID-19, characterized by a correlated release of multiple cytokines, does not fully correspond to the standard parameters of disease severity. Analysis of the cytokine signature, including the IL-1RA level in addition to standard clinical and laboratory parameters may be useful to define the onset of a cytokine storm in COVID-19 as well as the indications for anti-cytokine therapy.

Formation of a community of phosphate-accumulating microorganisms in a laboratory sequential batch reactor (SBR) ensuring alternated aerobic and anaerobic conditions during periodic removal and addition of the medium were investigated. The bioreactor removed 50% phosphorus from the incoming medium after 22 days from the start-up. Microscopy and X-ray microassay revealed the of cells of diverse morphology that contained phosphorus-enriched granules. High-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene fragments carried out on days 0, 8, 15, and 22 showed changes in the community composition and its decreasing diversity. On day 22, approximately twofold increase of the relative abundances of Bacteroidetes (up to 43% of the 16S rRNA gene sequences) and Proteobacteria of the classes alpha (up to 15%) and beta (up to 27%) was observed. While at the onset of the reactor operation, typical PAOs related to “Candidatus Accumulibacter” (class Betaproteobacteria) constituted 0.2% of the community, they were not detected on day 22. The most likely PAO candidates were beta-proteobacteria of the genus Dechloromonas, the share of which increased from 0.7 to 11% by the time of the highest phosphorus removal from the inflowing medium. The relative abundance of heterotrophs of the genus Zoogloea (family Rhodocyclaceae) increased from 0.1 to 11.5%.

This review summarizes the results of the study of bacterial communities of seasonally thawed soil horizons in the polar tundra of Russia. It has been shown that the representatives of different physiological groups of microorganisms developing in the soils of this extremely cold habitat are involved in the global biological cycle of carbon. Light has been thrown upon the role of microorganisms in the formation of volatile organic compounds including gases (methane, hydrogen) during anaerobic decomposition of soil organic matter and their uptake by aerobic bacteria, which are a kind of bacterial filter for volatile organic compounds on their way to the atmosphere. It has been shown that the bacteria of Soehngen cycle developing in the soil of the polar tundra of Russia at low temperatures control the flow of methane, one of the greenhouse gases formed by the anaerobic microbial community at the methanogenic step, into the atmosphere. The community also includes methylotrophic bacteria using oxidized and substituted methane derivatives as carbon and energy sources, which are a biofilter for volatile C1 compounds on their way to the atmosphere. The pure cultures of psychrophilic and psychroactive representatives of hydrogen, methanotrophic, methylotrophic, heterotrophic bacteria of the microbial community of tundra soil have been described. It has been shown that the microbial community is characterized by high species diversity. In general, the bacteria of the seasonally thawed horizon of tundra soil are adapted to exist in extreme habitats: cold tundra ecosystems.

The stages of formation and development of activated sludge biofilm carrying out the anammox process in a laboratory sequencing batch reactor (SBR) with complete biomass retention on the carrier were investigated using light, epifluorescence, and electron microscopy. Light microscopy revealed biofilm formation on the carrier to occur within one week. Rod-shaped and filamentous microorganisms were the first to attach on the carrier and acted as a skeleton for biofilm formation, thus playing an important role in colonization of the carrier. Epifluorescence microscopy revealed physiologically active anammox bacteria of the genera Candidatus “Brocadia” and Ca. “Jettenia” in the biofilms. Selective autofluorescence of the colonies of anammox bacteria Ca. “Jettenia” was observed. This autofluorescence was probably caused by specific proteins in the extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), their synthesis and/or amount depending on the colony age and the physiological state of the cells. Structural organization of the colonies of anammox bacteria was investigated by electron microscopy. High-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene fragments revealed the presence of sequences affiliated with members of the phyla Chloroflexi, Bacteroidetes, Planctomycetes, and Proteobacteria in the biofilms. Apart from anammox bacteria, anaerobic and facultatively anaerobic organotrophs, stage I nitrifiers, denitrifiers, and sulfate reducers were detected. Members of the genus Ca. “Brocadia” were predominant among the anammox bacteria, probably due to better adhesion of their cells to the carrier or to their competitive advantage over Ca. “Jettenia” in the presence of organic acids (acetate and formate) in the medium.

Gram-negative, aerobic, chemo-organotrophic and bacteriochlorophyll a-containing bacterial strains, KEBCLARHB70RT, KAMCLST3051 and KAMCLST3152, were isolated from the thalli of Cladonia arbuscula and Cladonia stellaris lichens. Cells from the strains were coccoid and reproduced by binary division. They were motile at the early stages of growth and utilized sugars and alcohols. All strains were psychrophilic and acidophilic, capable of growth between pH 3.5 and 7.5 (optimum, pH 5.5), and at 4–30 °C (optimum, 10–15 °C). The major fatty acids were C18 : 1 ω7c and C18 : 0; the lipids were phosphatidylcholines, phosphatidylethanolamines, phosphatidic acids, phosphatidylglycerol, glycolipids, diphosphatidylglycerol and polar lipids with an unknown structure. The quinone was Q-10. The DNA G+C content was 67.8 mol%. Comparative 16S rRNA gene analysis together with other data, supported that the strains, KEBCLARHB70RT, KAMCLST3051 and KAMCLST3152 belonged to the same species. Whole genome analysis of the strain KEBCLARHB70RT and average amino acid identity values confirmed its distinctive phylogenetic position within the family Acetobacteraceae . Phenotypic, ecological and genomic characteristics distinguished strains KEBCLARHB70RT, KAMCLST3051 and KAMCLST3152 from all genera in the family Acetobacteraceae . Therefore, we propose a novel genus and a novel species, Lichenicoccus roseus gen. nov., sp. nov., for these novel Acetobacteraceae members. Strain KEBCLARHB70RT (=KCTC 72321T=VKM B-3305T) has been designated as the type strain.

The sensitivity of anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing (anammox) bacteria to environmental fluctuations is a frequent cause of reactor malfunctions. It was hypothesized that the addition of formate and folate would have a stimulating effect on anammox bacteria, which in turn would lead to the stability of the anammox process under conditions of a sharp increase in ammonium load, i.e., it helps overcome a stress factor. The effect of formate and folate was investigated using a setup consisting of three parallel sequencing batch reactors equipped with a carrier. Two runs of the reactors were performed. The composition of the microbial community was studied by the 16S rRNA gene profiling and metagenomic analysis. Among anammox bacteria

In recent decades, healthcare has faced the challenge of providing quality care with limited funding. Due to the fact that medical laboratories widely use modern technological solutions, assessing the profitability of the laboratory as a whole and the contribution of each type of cost to measurement are relevant. The direct costs of the test are mainly generated by the costs of reagents and personnel. The high level of automation in large laboratory centres allows increasing the technological efficiency of equipment and significantly reducing the contribution of personnel to doing research. Innovative technology solutions shift the role of the laboratory physician from performing measurement to managing laboratory processes, quality assurance, and medical advice.