" because the social work never ends": a qualitative study exploring how NGOs responded to emerging needs while upholding responsibility to HIV prevention and treatment during the war in Ukraine.

INTRODUCTION: Since the onset of the Russian invasion on 24 February 2022, the health system in Ukraine has been placed under tremendous pressure, with damage to critical infrastructure, large losses of human resources, restricted mobility and significant supply chain interruptions. Based on a longstanding partnership between the Ukrainian Institute for Social Research after Oleksandr Yaremenko (UISR after O. Yaremenko) and the Institute for Global Public Health at the University of Manitoba, we explore the impact of the full-scale war on non-governmental organizations (NGOs, including charitable organizations) providing services for key population groups in Ukraine. METHODS: We conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with key representatives from NGOs working with key population groups (i.e., people living with HIV, sex workers, men who have sex with men, people who inject drugs and transgender people) throughout Ukraine. Members of the UISR after O. Yaremenko research team recruited participants from organizations working at national, regional and local levels. The research team members conducted 26 interviews (22 with women and four with men) between 15 May and 7 June 2023. Interviews were conducted virtually in Ukrainian and interpretively analysed to draw out key themes. RESULTS: Applying Roels et al.'s notion of "first responders", our findings explore how the full-scale war personally and organizationally impacted workers at Ukrainian NGOs. Despite the impacts to participants' physical and mental health, frontline workers continued to support HIV prevention and treatment while also responding to the need for humanitarian aid among their clients and the wider community. Furthermore, despite inadequate pay and compensation for their work, frontline workers assumed additional responsibilities, thereby exceeding their normal workload during the extraordinary conditions of war. CONCLUSIONS: NGOs play a vital role as responders, adapting their services to meet the emergent needs of communities during structural shocks, such as war. There is an urgent need to support NGOs with adequate resources for key population service delivery and to increase support for their important role in humanitarian aid.

Exploring the impact of military conflict on sex work in Ukraine: Women's experiences of economic burden.

Little is known about the impact of military conflict on sex work from the perspective of sex workers. We attempt to explore the meaning of conflict on sex work by asking women about the changes that they have experienced in their lives and work since the beginning of the 2014 military conflict in eastern Ukraine. The findings in this article are based on qualitative interviews with 43 cisgender women living and practicing sex work in Dnipro, eastern Ukraine. Our analysis highlights the meanings that sex workers have linked to the conflict, with financial concerns emerging as a dominant theme. The conflict therefore functions as a way of understanding changing economic circumstances with both individual and broader impacts. By better understanding the meaning of conflict as expressed by sex workers, we can begin to adapt our response to address emerging, and unmet, needs of the community.

Sex work stigma and the recuperation of moral personhood through gendered labour: sex worker diaries in Ukraine.

Based on a diary writing exercise, this paper illuminates the complex ways in which sex workers in Ukraine actively work through and manage stigma in their daily lives. Pushing beyond the notion of stigma as a static and fixed psychosocial designation that can be readily measured, we argue that stigma is actively confronted by sex workers through various forms of gendered emotional and physical labour that enable them to recuperate a sense of moral personhood. This notion of moral personhood is often tied to wider gender-specific values pertaining to caregiving and motherhood.

Awareness and Utilization of HIV Testing and Prevention Services Among Female Sex Workers in Dnipro, Ukraine: Implications for Prevention Program Strengthening From the Dynamics Study.

Introduction: Approximately 240,000 people live with HIV in Ukraine, concentrated among key populations, including sex workers. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) play an important role in the funding and delivery of HIV testing and prevention services in Ukraine. These services are set within the context of national healthcare reforms as well as ongoing armed conflict. This study seeks to describe and understand the usage of HIV testing and prevention services among sex workers in the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro. Methods: A cross-sectional bio-behavioral survey was administered in September 2017-March 2018 among 560 sex workers working in Dnipro. Descriptive analyses of survey data are presented alongside multivariable logistic regression models identifying factors associated with NGO awareness and HIV testing in the past 12 months; adjusted odds ratios (AOR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) are reported. Results: Sixty-two percent of respondents were aware of NGOs offering HIV services. Sixty-eight percent had tested for HIV in the past 12 months, and 51% of those who reported the location of their most recent test were tested at an NGO. Those with 5-9 years in sex work had greater odds of being aware of NGOs (AOR = 5.5, 95%CI: 3.2-9.7) and testing for HIV (AOR = 3.4, 95%CI: 2.0-6.0) compared to those new to the profession. Contact with outreach workers was strongly associated with increased odds of testing (AOR = 13.0, 95%CI: 7.0-24.0). Sex workers in "offices" (brothel-like venues) reported higher odds of testing than all other workplaces, while those in entertainment venues (AOR = 0.3, 95%CI: 0.2-0.5) and public places (AOR = 0.2, 95%CI: 0.1-0.3) reported lower rates. Receiving prevention services, such as free condoms, was associated with increased testing (AOR = 16.9, 95%CI: 9.7-29.3). Discussion: NGOs in Dnipro, Ukraine play an important role in HIV testing and prevention for women involved in sex work. However, focused efforts should be placed on supporting access to these services for women that are newer to sex work, and those working in entertainment venues or public places. Outreach workers appear to support access to HIV prevention information and supplies and facilitate linkages to HIV testing for sex workers.

Songs and morphology in three species of the Chorthippusbiguttulus group (Orthoptera, Acrididae, Gomphocerinae) in Russia and adjacent countries.

Songs and morphology are compared between Chorthippusmiramae (Vorontsovsky, 1928) that was previously named as C.porphyropterus and two other closely related species, C.brunneus (Thunberg, 1815) and C.maritimus Mistshenko, 1951. We compare them because the calling song of C.miramae was previously shown to have song elements similar to those of other two species. One morphological character, the length of stridulatory file, appeared to be the best character to distinguish between all three species. For C.maritimus and C.miramae, we present the morphological descriptions since they are absent in the literature. We also establish the synonymy C.maritimus = C.bornhalmi Harz, 1971, syn. n. = C.biguttuluseximius Mistshenko, 1951, syn. n. In the song analysis, we analyse not only the sound but also the leg-movement pattern, which is very helpful to find a homology between various song elements. We show that the calling song of C.miramae usually contains two elements, one element being similar to the C.brunneus calling song, and another - to the C.maritimus calling song. Despite some similarities, the calling song elements in C.miramae have some peculiarities. The courtship song of C.miramae is similar to the C.brunneus song, whereas the rivalry songs of C.miramae comprise both the maritimus-like elements and the unique ones. C.miramae generally demonstrates a richer song repertoire than the other two species.

Songs and morphology in grasshoppers of the Stenobothrus eurasius group (Orthoptera: Acrdidae: Gomphocerinae) from Russia and adjacent countries: clarifying of taxonomic status.

On the basis of the song and morphological analyses, we revised the status of the subspecies Stenobothrus eurasius eurasius Zubowsky, 1898, and S. eurasius hyalosuperficies Vorontsovskii, 1927. The status of the subspecies S. eurasius hyalosuperficies Vor. has been changed to the species level. The most striking difference between S. eurasius and S. hyalosuperficies lies in the song parameters. The calling songs differ not only in temporal parameters but are also produced by different mechanisms. S. eurasius generates calling songs by common leg stridulation, whereas S. hyalosuperficies produces sound by wing clapping. The courtship songs of both species are complex (contain several elements) and very different in temporal structure. The morphological differences between the two species are not as striking as the differences in bioacoustics: we found the only differences in the hind wing venation. At the same time, we suggest these differences to be important since they might be due to different mechanisms of sound production. We revised the ranges of the two species on the territory of Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan. We also reviewed the type localities of S. eurasius Zub. and designated lectotype and paralectotype of this species.

Alterations in the nigrostriatal system following conditional inactivation of α-synuclein in neurons of adult and aging mice.

The etiology and pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD) are tightly linked to the gain-of-function of α-synuclein. However, gradual accumulation of α-synuclein aggregates in dopaminergic neurons of substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) leads to the depletion of the functional pool of soluble α-synuclein, and therefore, creates loss-of-function conditions, particularly in presynaptic terminals of these neurons. Studies of how this late-onset depletion of a protein involved in many important steps of neurotransmission contributes to PD progression and particularly, to worsening the nigrostriatal pathology at late stages of the disease are limited and obtained data, are controversial. Recently, we produced a mouse line for conditional knockout of the gene encoding α-synuclein, and here we used its tamoxifen-inducible pan-neuronal inactivation to study consequences of the adult-onset (from the age of 6 months) and late-onset (from the age of 12 months) α-synuclein depletion to the nigrostriatal system. No significant changes of animal balance/coordination, the number of dopaminergic neurons in the SNpc and the content of dopamine and its metabolites in the striatum were observed after adult-onset α-synuclein depletion, but in aging (18-month-old) late-onset depleted mice we found a significant reduction of major dopamine metabolites without changes to the content of dopamine itself. Our data suggest that this might be caused, at least partially, by reduced expression of aldehyde dehydrogenase ALDH1a1 and could lead to the accumulation of toxic intermediates of dopamine catabolism. By extrapolating our findings to a potential clinical situation, we suggest that therapeutic downregulation of α-synuclein expression in PD patients is a generally safe option as it should not cause adverse side effects on the functionality of their nigrostriatal system. However, if started in aged patients, this type of therapy might trigger slight functional changes of the nigrostriatal system with potentially unwanted additive effect to already existing pathology.

Contributions to the study of the grasshopper (Orthoptera: Acrididae: Gomphocerinae) courtship songs from Kazakhstan and adjacent territories.

Male courtship songs of 9 grasshopper species of Gomphocerinae from Kazakhstan and Orenburg region and Altai Republic of Russia were studied. We analyzed not only the sound, but also the stridulatory movements of the hind legs to more entirely describe the songs. We also analyze the frequency spectra of the songs and the whole visual display during courtship. The courtship songs of three species, Stenobothrus miramae, Chorthippus dubius and Ch. angulatus, were studied for the first time. In four species, Omocestus haemorrhoidalis, O. petraeus, Myrmeleotettix pallidus, Ch.karelini, we found certain differences in temporal pattern of the courtship songs in comparison with the previous data on the respective species from other regions. In five species, O. viridulus, S. miramae, M. pallidus, Ch. dubius and Ch. karelini, various parts of elaborate courtship songs differed in the carrier frequency. In four species, O. haemorrhoidalis, O. petraeus, M. pallidus and Ch. dubius, the dominant frequencies of the courtship song were shown to lie in the range higher than 20 kHz. The conspicuous movements of antennae and legs during courtship were studied in M. pallidus, S. miramae and Gomphocerus sibiricus.

Possibilities of Manufacturing Products from Cermet Compositions Using Nanoscale Powders by Additive Manufacturing Methods.

Complicated wear-resistant parts made by selective laser melting (SLM) of powder material based on compositions of metal and ceramics can be widely used in mining, oil engineering, and other precision engineering industries. Ceramic-metal compositions were made using nanoscale powders by powder metallurgy methods. Optimal regimes were found for the SLM method. Chemical and phase composition, fracture toughness, and wear resistance of the obtained materials were determined. The wear rate of samples from 94 wt% tungsten carbide (WC) and 6 wt% cobalt (Co) was 1.3 times lower than that of a sample from BK6 obtained by the conventional methods. The hardness of obtained samples 2500 HV was 1.6 times higher than that of a sample from BK6 obtained by the traditional method (1550 HV).

Genetic inactivation of alpha-synuclein affects embryonic development of dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra, but not the ventral tegmental area, in mouse brain.

Lesion of the dopaminergic neurons of the nigrostriatal system is a key feature of Parkinson's disease (PD). Alpha-synuclein is a protein that is a major component of Lewy bodies, histopathological hallmarks of PD, and is involved in regulation of dopamine (DA) neurotransmission. Previous studies of knockout mice have shown that inactivation of alpha-synuclein gene can lead to the reduction in number of DA neurons in the substantia nigra (SN). DA neurons of the SN are known to be the most affected in PD patients whereas DA neurons of neighboring ventral tegmental area (VTA) are much less susceptible to degeneration. Here we have studied the dynamics of changes in TH-positive cell numbers in the SN and VTA during a critical period of their embryonic development in alpha-synuclein knockout mice. This precise study of DA neurons during development of the SN revealed that not only is the number of DA neurons reduced by the end of the period of ontogenic selection, but that the way these neurons are formed is altered in alpha-synuclein knockout mice. At the same time, DA neurons in the VTA are not affected. Alpha-synuclein exerts a modulating effect on the formation of DA neurons in the SN and has no effect on the formation of DA neurons in VTA, the structure that is much less susceptible to degeneration in a brain with PD, suggesting a potential role of alpha-synuclein in the development of the population of DA neurons in substantia nigra.

Generation of mouse lines with conditionally or constitutively inactivated Snca gene and Rosa26-stop-lacZ reporter located in cis on the mouse chromosome 6.

α-Synuclein is involved in many important molecular processes in neuronal cells and their synapses, and its malfunction has been linked to the development of Parkinson's and certain other neurodegenerative diseases. Animal models allowing tightly monitored conditional inactivation of the encoding gene, Snca, are indispensible for studies aimed at understanding normal function of α-synuclein in various neuronal populations and its role in pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases. We have recently reported the production of several novel mouse lines for manipulating expression of the endogenous Snca gene, including a line for Cre-recombinase-driven conditional inactivation of the gene (mice with floxed Snca) and a new line with a constitutive knockout of α-synuclein. Rosa26-stop-lacZ reporter cassette is commonly used for monitoring efficiency of Cre-recombination but in mouse genome Snca and Rosa26 loci are located on the same chromosome. Here we describe production of lines with a modified Snca locus, either floxed or constitutively inactivated and the Rosa26-stop-lacZ reporter cassette located in cis on the mouse chromosome 6. These new mouse lines are invaluable for fast identification of cells with inactivation of Snca by Cre-recombination and represent useful tools for in vivo studies of α-synuclein function and dysfunction.

A novel resource for studying function and dysfunction of α-synuclein: mouse lines for modulation of endogenous Snca gene expression.

Pathological modification of α-synuclein is believed to be an important event in pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease and several other neurodegenerative diseases. In normal cells this protein has been linked to many intracellular processes and pathways. However, neither normal function of α-synuclein in neuronal and certain other types of cells nor its exact role in the disease pathogenesis is well understood, which is largely due to limitations of animal models used for studying this protein. We produced and validated several novel mouse lines for manipulating expression of the endogenous Snca gene coding for α-synuclein. These include a line for conditional Cre-recombinase-driven inactivation of the gene; a line for conditional Flp-driven restoration of a neo-cassete-blocked α-synuclein expression; a new line with a "clean" constituent knockout of the gene as well as a line carrying this knockout locus and Rosa26-stop-lacZ reporter locus linked at the same mouse chromosome 6. Altogether these lines represent a set of new useful tools for studies of α-synuclein normal function and the role of this protein in disease pathogenesis.

Chronic administration of Dimebon does not ameliorate amyloid-ß pathology in 5xFAD transgenic mice.

Dimebon has been tested as a potential modifier of Alzheimer's disease (AD), resulting in mixed clinical trial outcomes. Originally utilized as an antihistamine, Dimebon was later found to ameliorate AD symptoms in initial human trials. Although subsequent trials have reportedly failed to replicate these finding, there is a growing body of evidence that Dimebon might be neuroprotective in certain models of neurodegeneration. The precise mechanism by which Dimebon is thought to act in AD is unclear, though changes in receptor activity, mitochondria function, and autophagy activity have been proposed. It is thus necessary to test Dimebon in transgenic animal model systems to determine if and how the drug affects development and manifestation of pathology, and which pathogenic processes are altered. In the present study we treated mice harboring five familial mutations associated with hereditary AD (5xFAD line) with a chronic regime of Dimebon. The compound was not found to improve the general health or motor behavior of these mice, nor prevent accumulation of Aß peptides in the brain. Modest changes in response to an anxiogenic task were, however, detected, suggesting Dimebon might improve behavioral abnormalities and cognition in disease in a mechanism independent of protecting against amyloidosis.