[Questionnaire of the Ryzhikh National Medical Research Centre for Coloproctology is a new tool for assessing chronic pelvic pain and pelvic organ dysfunction]. / Oprosnik NMITs koloproktologii imeni A.N. Ryzhikh ­ novyi instrument otsenki khronicheskoi tazovoi boli i narusheniya funktsii tazovykh organov.

The article presents the work of a multidisciplinary team of experts from various fields of medicine to optimize the «Questionnaire for assessing chronic pelvic pain and pelvic organ dysfunction (QCPPD) of the Ryzhikh National Medical Research Centre for Coloproctology¼ for use in clinical practice. The survey of respondents was conducted from June 28 to September 28, 2021. As a result of this survey, by repeatedly making edits and clarifications during communication with respondents, the final version was obtained, which allows assessing the patient's subjective sensations by the nature and localization of pelvic pain, sensitivity disorders and pelvic organ function. The main objective of this Questionnaire is to differentiate patients with neurogenic pain from a huge number of patients with chronic pelvic pain. This aspect will allow a more targeted approach to the diagnosis and pathogenetically justified treatment of patients, including after appropriate instrumental examinations. The work of a multidisciplinary team implies a higher degree of objectification and terminological accuracy of the Questionnaire under discussion. The presented version of the «Questionnaire for assessing chronic pelvic pain and pelvic organ dysfunction (QCPPD) of the Ryzhikh National Medical Research Centre for Coloproctology¼ will be primarily used in coloproctological patients with pelvic pain problems and anal incontinence and obstructive defecation. Further studies will be directed to the clinical evaluation of the results of the work carried out.

High-voltage pulsed generator for dynamic fragmentation of rocks.

A portable high-voltage (HV) pulsed generator has been designed for rock fragmentation experiments. The generator can be used also for other technological applications. The installation consists of low voltage block, HV block, coaxial transmission line, fragmentation chamber, and control system block. Low voltage block of the generator, consisting of a primary capacitor bank (300 µF) and a thyristor switch, stores pulse energy and transfers it to the HV block. The primary capacitor bank stores energy of 600 J at the maximum charging voltage of 2 kV. HV block includes HV pulsed step up transformer, HV capacitive storage, and two electrode gas switch. The following technical parameters of the generator were achieved: output voltage up to 300 kV, voltage rise time of ∼50 ns, current amplitude of ∼6 kA with the 40 Ω active load, and ∼20 kA in a rock fragmentation regime (with discharge in a rock-water mixture). Typical operation regime is a burst of 1000 pulses with a frequency of 10 Hz. The operation process can be controlled within a wide range of parameters. The entire installation (generator, transmission line, treatment chamber, and measuring probes) is designed like a continuous Faraday's cage (complete shielding) to exclude external electromagnetic perturbations.

Mega-ampere submicrosecond generator GIT-32.

The GIT-32 current generator was developed for experiments with current carrying pulsed plasma. The main parts of the generator are capacitor bank, multichannel multigap spark switches, low inductive current driving lines, and central load part. The generator consists of four identical sections, connected in parallel to one load. The capacitor bank is assembled from 32 IEK-100-0.17 (0.17 microF, 40 nH, 100 kV) capacitors, connected in parallel. It stores approximately 18 kJ at 80 kV charging voltage. Each two capacitors are commuted to a load by a multigap spark switch with eight parallel channels. Switches operate in ambient air at atmospheric pressure. The GIT-32 generator was tested with 10, 15, and 20 nH inductive loads. At 10 nH load and 80 kV of charging voltage it provides 1 MA of current amplitude and 490 ns rise time with 0.8 Omega damping resistors in discharge circuit of each capacitor and 1.34 MA530 ns without resistors. The net generator inductance without a load was optimized to be as low as 12 nH, which results in extremely low self-impedance of the generator ( approximately 0.05 Omega). It ensures effective energy coupling with low impedance loads like Z pinch. The generator operates reliably without any adjustments in 40-80 kV range of charging voltage. Maximum jitter (relative to a triggering pulse) at 40 kV charging voltage is about 7 ns and lower at higher charging voltages. Operation and handling are very simple, because no oil and no purified gases are required for the generator. The GIT-32 generator has dimensions of 3200 x 3200 x 400 mm(3) and total weight of about 2500 kg, thus manifesting itself as a simple, robust, and cost effective apparatus.

[Posttraumatic epilepsy: diagnosis and clinical variety]. / Posttravmaticheskaia épilepsiia: diagnostika i klinicheskie varianty.

125 patients with posttraumatic epilepsy (PTE) were examined using methods of neurovisualization (CT and MRI) and electroencephalography (EEG), including brain mapped EEG. The research resulted in the conclusion about heterogeneity of the disease. Differential diagnostic criteria were elaborated for three clinical variations of symptomatic epilepsy of the traumatic genesis. Besides, the second variation was a real PTE, with the most clear clinical signs. The knowledge about the ambiguous clinical pattern of the disease may improve therapy and prognosis, evaluate both physical and occupational abilities of the patients more objectively.

[Clinical picture and diagnosis of the Mills syndrome]. / O klinike i diagnostike sindroma Millsa.

Three clinical observations of patients with Mills' syndrome are presented. The clinical peculiarity of the syndrome and the specificity of the pathological process localization in the brain revealed on pneumoencephalographic examination are stressed. The atrophic process in the fronto-parietal parasaggital divisions of the cerebral cortex is regarded as a morphological substrate of the syndrome. A conclusion on the vagueness of the process character and prematurity of the pathogenetic correlations is drawn. Nosological independence of the pathology is not improbable.

[Serotonin metabolism in patients with brain tumors]. / Obmen serotonina u bol'nykh s opukholiami golovnogo mozga.

In patients with brain tumours there was revealed an increase in the content of serotonin, 5-oxyindol acetic acid (5-OAA) and melatonin in the liquor, and of serotonin in the plasma rich with platelets. The content of serotonin or products of its metabolism in the liquor, as well as of serotonin in platelets depends on the involvement of truncus cerebri and hypothalamus in the pathologic process and on the gravity of the patient's condition. The serotonin content, in contrast to 5-OAA, s significantly higher in patients with tumours attended by epileptic attacks. The data obtained testify to a possible role of serotonin in the pathogenetic mechanisms of tumours development in the central nervous system.

[Cerebrospinal fluid melatonin in diseases of the nervous system]. / Melatonin likvora pri zabolevaniiakh nervnoi sistemy.

In 66 patients with some diseases of the nervous system (epilepsy, brain tumors, traumatic brain lesions, discorgenic lumbosacral radiculitis) melatonin content in liquor was determined by a fluorimetric method, especially modified for this purpose. The increase of melatonin concentration in liquor mostly significant in frequent epileptic strokes was found. In brain tumors the hormone content depended upon the severity of the patients' state, the existence of epileptic strokes, brain stem and hypothalamus involvement into the process. In traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhages, in the hypothalamic syndrome, the melatonin content was very high. An assumption on melatonin defensive role in conditions of the nervous system pathology and the topico-diagnostical significance of its study in liquor is made.