[Technoagism and technical behavior of the elderly citizens: results of Russian and Belarusian researches.]

The article is aimed to analyze social effects of digitalization using the example of the elderly in big city. Digitalization in this article is considered in two aspects: as introduction of digital technologies in everyday life (as well as «smart city¼); and digital transformation of professional practices. Special attention is paid to such phenomena as techno-ageism (exclusion of older people from the digital sphere) and related technostress.

Serum levels of neurosteroids in patients with affective disorders.

According modern biological hypotheses of the pathogenesis of affective disorders, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis dysfunction play a special role in the pathogenesis of this condition. Our study shows that the range of neuroprotective neurosteroids is gender- and nosology-dependent. Patients with affective disorders have reduced levels of dehydroepiandrosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate; the most pronounced deficiency of neuroprotective neurosteroids is typical of patients with a single depressive episode. Reduced levels of neurosteroids producing an anabolic effect probably indicate depletion of adaptive capacities of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system in affective disorders.

[Intraoperative hypoxic preconditioning as a method of neuroprotection in operations on internal carotid arteries].

The present work was aimed at assessing safety and efficacy of hypoxic preconditioning of the brain as a method of protecting the central nervous system during operations on the internal carotid artery in patients presenting with atherosclerotic lesions of the carotid arteries. The study included a total of 72 patients who underwent carotid endarterectomy for haemodynamically significant atherosclerosis of carotid arteries. Based on the obtained findings, a conclusion was made on a possibility of using intraoperative hypoxic preconditioning for prevention of ischaemic complications from the development in the perioperative period.

[The application of trans-auricular low-frequency electrical puncture for the treatment of arterial hypertension].

Clinical studies involving 67 patients with arterial hypertension (AH) have demonstrated that a single course of trans-auricular low-frequency electrical puncture produced a marked stress-relieving effect that was manifested as the decreased anxiety level, normalization of neurohumoral regulation of arterial pressure and central hemodynamics, improved tolerance of controlled psycho-emotional loading, beneficial effect on cerebral blood circulation, lipid and electrolyte metabolism. In addition, the proposed therapeutic modality resulted in substantial reduction of arterial pressure. Taken together, these observations give reason to consider it as a promising tool for the treatment of patients presenting with arterial hypertension.

Physiological and phylogenetic characterization of a novel lithoautotrophic nitrite-oxidizing bacterium, 'Candidatus Nitrospira bockiana'.

A new isolate of a lithoautotrophic nitrite-oxidizing bacterium was obtained from internal corrosion deposits from a steel pipeline of the Moscow heating system. The organism oxidized nitrite as the sole energy source and fixed carbon dioxide as the only carbon source. The cells were extremely pleomorphic: loosely wound spirals, slightly curved and even straight rods were detected, as well as coccoid cells. The highest rate of nitrite consumption (1.5 mM nitrite as substrate) was measured at 42 degrees C, with a temperature range of 28-44 degrees C. In enrichment cultures with Nocardioides sp. as an accompanying organism, optimal oxidation of 5.8 mM nitrite occurred at 45 degrees C, with a range of 28-48 degrees C. Neither pyruvate nor yeast extract stimulated nitrification. Organotrophic growth was not observed. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that the novel isolate represents a new sublineage of the genus Nitrospira. On the basis of physiological, chemotaxonomic and molecular characteristics, the name 'Candidatus Nitrospira bockiana' is proposed.

[Early diagnosis of pulmonary hemodynamic disorders in patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis].

A hundred and eleven patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis (PS) were examined to detect early impairments of pulmonary hemodynamics and myocardial function. A package of examinations included Doppler echocardiography at rest and with the Valsalva test, as well as electrocardiography and myocardial scintigraphy. In patients with early PS, right ventricular diastolic dysfunction is shown to be preceded by systolic dysfunction, as manifested itself in the altered ratio of different phases of right ventricular filling. As a method for early diagnosis of latent hypertension, the authors propose to use the Valsalva test to create a short-term volume overload of the right cardiac cavities. The study has indicated that left cardiac dilatation, decreased ejection fraction, left ventricular diastolic dysfunction, and the presence of large focal portions of fibrosis in the ventricular myocardium, interventricular septum, and papillary muscles can be considered to be early Doppler echocardiographic signs of sarcoidosis of the heart in patients with PS.

[Microorganisms in heat supply lines and internal corrosion of steel pipes]. / Mikroorganizmy v teplovykh setiakh i vnutrenniaia korroziia stal'nykh truboprovodov.

In laboratory experiments with batch cultures of thermophilic microorganisms isolated from urban heat supply systems, the growth of sulfate-reducing, iron-oxidizing, and iron-reducing bacteria was found to accelerate the corrosion rate of the steel-3 plates used in the pipelines. In the absence of bacteria and dissolved oxygen, minimal, corrosion was determined. The aforementioned microorganisms, as well as sulfur-oxidizing bacteria, were found to be widespread in water and corrosion deposits in low-alloy steel pipelines (both delivery and return) of the Moscow heat networks, as well as in the corrosion deposits on the steel-3 plates in a testing unit supplied with the network water. The microorganisms were found in samples with water pH ranging from 8.1 to 9.6 and a temperature lower than 90 degrees C. Magnetite, lepidocrocite, goethite, X-ray amorphous ferric oxide were the corrosion products identified on the steel-3 plates, as well as siderite, aragonite, and S0. The effect of microbiological processes on the rate of electrochemical corrosion was evaluated from the accumulation of corrosion deposits and from variation in total and local corrosion of the steel plates in a testing unit.

Megakaryocytopoiesis under hypoxic conditions.

Acute and chronic hypoxia led to acceleration of proliferation and differentiation of bone marrow megakaryocytes and increase in their functional activity. The count of young cells in the peripheral blood increased during acute hypoxia. Chronic hypoxia led to increase in the number of old platelets with lower functional activity, which was accompanied by thrombocytosis.

[Interference therapy in combined treatment of patients with chronic nonspecific salpingoophoritis]. / Iterferentsterapiia v kompleksnom lechenii bol'nykh khronicheskim nespetsificheskim sal'pingooforitom.

Neurotropic interference therapy (NIT) was studied as monotherapy and in combination with iodine-bromide water in 50 patients with chronic nonspecific salpingoophoritis. NIT was found effective in the above disease as it improved clinical picture, reproductive function, psychoemotional condition of the patients. The addition of iodine-bromide water to NIT potentiates and prolongs neurotropic, endocrine, analgetic and anti-inflammatory effects of NIT.

[The characteristics of the hypotensive effect of combined cryo- and interference therapy in arterial hypertension patients]. / Osobennosti gipotenzivnogo éffekta sochetannoi kriointerferentsterapii u bol'nykh arterial'noi gipertoniei.

Cryotherapy was combined with interference currents in the treatment of 93 patients with mild and moderate hypertension. Compared to single use of these factors, their combination potentiates hypotensive effect, i.e. lowers systolic and diastolic pressure already after the first procedure, stabilizes it after 3-4 procedures.

[Absorption of nitric oxide by a strain of Bacillus stearothermophilus and its use in a bioreactor for purifying air]. / Pogloshchenie okisi azota shtammom Bacillus stearothermophilus i ego ispol'zovanie i bioreaktore dlia ochistki vozdukha.

A new Bacillus stearothermophilus strain, INMI 50, was isolated and identified. Cells of this strain immobilized on a ceramic carrier demonstrated a high NO uptake in a bioreactor. The bioreactor volume was 4 l; air flow, 100 l/h; initial NO concentration, 5 ppm; and temperature, 60 degrees C. Glycerol or 1,2-propanediol was used as carbon and energy source. The uptake of NO was 60-90% of the initial concentration over six months of continuous operation of the bioreactor. The developed procedure can be used for removal of nitrogen oxide from products of combustion of diesel fuel or from air in production areas.

[The formation of a hypotensive effect from interference currents in hypertension patients]. / Formirovanie gipotenzivnogo éffekta interferentsionnymi tokami u bol'nykh gipertonicheskoi bolezn'niu.

A hypotensive effect of interference currents given in single and course regimens and its underlying hemodynamic mechanisms were studied in 92 patients with essential hypertension. The interference transcerebrally or on the kidney projection area. Transcerebral interference therapy was administered currents decreased both systolic and diastolic arterial pressure. This was achieved due to positive shifts in central hemodynamics irrespective of hemocirculation types. The effect, more persistent than that obtained after renal projection area exposure, was recorded even upon a single procedure. Interference therapy on the renal projection area lowered only diastolic arterial pressure and provided favourable hemodynamic shifts in hypokinetic circulation.

[Crocoite reduction by a culture of Pseudomonas chromatophila sp. nov]. / Vosstanovlenie krokoita kul'turoi Pseudomonas chromatophila sp. nov.

Two cultures of chromium reducing bacteria have been isolated from samples of water accumulated at the bottom of an open-cut chromium deposit and from industrial sewage. The cultures were found to be identical. The cultures are described and their taxonomical position is discussed. They have been classed as Psuedomonas chromatophila sp. nov. the cultures reduce Cr(VI) from crocoite PbCrO4 to Cr(III). A possibility of chromium reducing bacteria being involved in the conversion of crocoite to chromite in the oxidation zone of chromite deposits is discussed.

[Participation of nitrifying bacteria in the disintegration of serpentinous ultrabasic rock]. / Uchastie nitrifitsiruiushchikh bakterii v vyvetrivanii serpentinizirovannykh ul'trabazitov.

Nitrifying bacteria were found to be widely distributed among the products of the weathering crust of ultrabasite rocks. Nitrosospira briensis and Nitrobacter winogradskyi involved in the first and second phases of nitrification, respectively, were detected and isolated as pure cultures. In experiments conducted with a pure culture of Nitrosospira briensis, a correlation was established between degradation of serpentinite by this culture and an increase in the content of nitrites in the growth medium. The presence of nitrogen compounds in the deposits, as well as wide distribution of nitrifying bacteria, suggests that this bacterial group along with other, in particular, heterotrophic microorganisms participates in weathering of serpentinized ultrabasite rocks, leaching of elements, and formation of the weathering crust.