Oncological issues of hormonal contraception and hormone replacement therapy

The article gives critical analysis of numerous epidemiological studies touching upon the problems of carcinogenesis while using hormonal contraception and hormonal replacement therapy and also the expediency of HRT as to oncologic patients after radical treatment.The materials presented testify to relative carcinogenous safety of hormonal contraceptives as to the majority of tumors and even considerable decrease of endometrial and ovarian cancer risk; but some investigations point to the increase о f breast cancer in case о f prolonged application о f hormonal preparations.The results оf the analysis show that HR Tmay be recommended among female population providing active screening, especially of mammary glands and endometrium. Besides that, hormonal preparations are not excluded for rehabilitation of some oncologic patients underthorough monitoring. Yet, there exists burning necessity of continuing cooperated scientific and clinical investigations forfurther studying oncologic aspects of hormonal contraception and HRT.

Comparative longitudinal variation of total IgG and IgA anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in recipients of BNT162b2 vaccination

Objectives This article aims to summarize the 6-month variation of a vast array of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in recipients of BNT162b2 mRNA-based vaccination. Methods The study population consisted of 84 baseline SARS-CoV-2 seronegative healthcare employees (median age 45 years, 53.6% females), receiving mRNA-based BNT162b2 primary vaccination cycle. Blood was collected before the first and second BNT162b2 vaccine doses, as well as 1, 3 and 6 months afterwards. The serum titers of the following anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies were assayed: total anti-RBD (receptor binding domain), anti-spike trimeric IgG, anti-RBD IgG and anti-spike S1 IgA. Results All antibodies’ levels peaked 1 month after vaccination, but then displayed a considerable decrease. The median rates of 6-month decline were −95% for IgG anti-SARS-CoV-2 RBD, −85% for IgG anti-SARS-CoV-2 trimeric spike, −73% for IgA anti-SARS-CoV-2 S1 and −56% for total anti-SARS-CoV-2 RBD antibodies, respectively. The median time of seronegativization was estimated at 579 days for total anti-SARS-CoV-2 RBD antibodies, 271 days for IgG anti-SARS-CoV-2 trimeric spike, 264 days for IgG anti-SARS-CoV-2 RBD and 208 days for IgA anti-SARS-CoV-2 S1, respectively. The rate of seropositive subjects declined from 98–100% at the peak to 50–100% after 6 months. The inter-individual variation of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies reduction at 6 months was 3–44% from the peak. Conclusions The results of this longitudinal serosurvey demonstrate that the titer of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies declined 6 months after BNT162b2 vaccination, with median time of IgG/IgA seronegativization estimated between 7 and 9 months, thus supporting the opportunity of administering vaccine boosters approximately 5 to 6 months after the last dose of the primary vaccination cycle.

Hyper-crosslinked polymers with controlled multiscale porosity for effective removal of benzene from cigarette smoke

A series of hyper-crosslinked polymers (HCPs) with connected hierarchical porous structures were synthesized from phenyl-based precursors of benzene (BEN), benzyl alcohol, aniline, biphenyl, and 1,3,5-triphenylbenzene (TPB) via the knitting method. The porous structures of the HCPs were greatly influenced by substituent groups and BEN ring number in the precursors. HCPs prepared from TPB had the largest surface area and pore volume with multiscale porosity. The porous structure of the HCPs could also be adjusted by the crosslinker amount. Insufficient crosslinking led to incomplete pore architecture, while excessive crosslinking resulted in a considerable decrease in the pore volume. With these HCPs as adsorbents, the BEN yield in the cigarette smoke could be largely reduced due to the connected multiscale porosity and π–π aromatic stacking interaction that facilitated the smoke aerosol passing and the small aromatic molecules absorbing, showing great potential of these HCPs as adsorbents for effective removal of BEN from cigarette smoke.

Comparative longitudinal variation of total, IgG and IgA anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in recipients of BNT162b2 vaccination

Background: This article aims to summarize the 6-month variation of a vast array of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in recipients of BNT162b2 mRNA-based vaccination.Methods: The study population consisted of 84 baseline SARS-CoV-2 seronegative healthcare employees (median age 45 years, 53.6% females), receiving mRNA-based BNT162b2 vaccination. Blood was collected before the first and second BNT162b2 vaccine doses, as well as 1, 3 and 6 months afterwards. The serum titers of the following anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies were assayed: total anti-RBD, anti-spike trimeric IgG, anti-RBD IgG and anti-spike S1 IgA.Results: All antibodies levels peaked 1 month after vaccination, but then displayed a considerable decrease. The median rates of 6-month decline were -95% for IgG anti-SARS-CoV-2 RBD, -85% for IgG anti-SARS-CoV-2 trimeric spike, -73% for IgA anti-SARS-CoV-2 S1 and -56% for total anti-SARS-CoV-2 RBD antibodies, respectively. The median time of seronegativization was estimated at 579 days for total anti-SARS-CoV-2 RBD antibodies, 271 days for IgG anti-SARS-CoV-2 trimeric spike, 264 days for IgG anti-SARS-CoV-2 RBD and 208 days for IgA anti-SARS-CoV-2 S1, respectively. The rate of seropositive subjects declined from 98-100% at the peak to 50-100% after 6 months. The inter-individual variation of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies reduction at 6 months was 3-44% from the peak.Conclusions: The results of this longitudinal serosurvey demonstrate that the titer of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies declined 6 months after BNT162b2 vaccination, with median time of IgG/IgA seronegativization estimated between 7-9 months, thus supporting the opportunity of administering vaccine boosters approximately 6 months after the last dose.

Ferrocement as a Retrofitting Material for Beam Column Joint

Structure safety is of utmost importance in modern days. Now- a- days ferrocement is gaining popularity as a retrofitting material due to ease of its application and availability. The most critical location of failure in any structure is beam column joint. The aim of this paper is to analyse the effect of retrofitting on beam column joint using ferrocement as a retrofitting material. Square wire mesh and triangular wire mesh was used for retrofitting beam column joint. Beam column joint is designed using ductile detailing code IS 13930:2016. Axial and reverse cyclic displacement load is applied on the specimen. Further unstrengthen and strengthened specimen were analysed using ANSYS software. A comparative study was done and it was concluded that after retrofitting, the specimen shows considerable decrease in total deformation. It shows that retrofitted beam column joint was more stable than the unstrengthened beam column joint. So, to increase the serviceability of any structure it is recommended to retrofit the structure. Keywords: BCJ, ferrocement, wire mesh, retrofitting

Five-Year Changes in Community-Level Sport Participation, and the Role of Gender Strategies

Background: The rate of participation in community-based sport by boys and men has been double that of girls and women. Contributing to this is the fact that some sports have been traditionally male-only or at least very male-dominated.Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate changes in participation in sport by sex and age across 10 major sports in Australia over a 4-year period. In conjunction with the analysis of participation trends, the gender strategies that were developed and implemented during this time are reviewed.Methods: This study encompassed all sport participants registered with one of 10 State Sporting Associations in Victoria, Australia in 2015 and in 2019. Participation rates by region, age and sex were calculated. State sport and health policies relating to female participation in sport were reviewed.Results: There were 749,037 registrations in 2015 and 868,266 in 2019. A comparison between 2015 and 2019 shows increases in participation for women and girls across all age groups (4–84 years), and highest increases for those aged 4 (6.6%) and 5–9 (4.7%). For boys there was a considerable decrease in participation for those aged 5–9 years (−3.8%).Discussion: This study provides evidence that whilst participation in sport is still dominated by males, the gap might be gradually closing and this is in line with recent strategies and investments into sport and wider cultural developments in society. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Specificfeatures of evolution of dense atomized superheated water plumes and peculiarities of its diagnostics

Experimental study of evolution of plumes of atomized metastable superheated water during its discharge through convergent-divergent nozzles is conducted. Dispersion characteristics of dense plumes in micron and submicron droplet diameter ranges are obtained. Theoretical and prediction analyses of different coagulation mechanisms in the considered two-phase flow are performed. The negligible effect of Brown-type coagulation is shown. It is also demonstrated that turbulent coagulation can change the fraction of micron-diameter droplets within 9%. In addition, for the first time, an “inertial” mechanism of coagulation is considered for the studied plumes under the conditions of plume baking in a cocurrent flow or in the ambient air. It can lead to a considerable decrease in the submicron-droplet mass fraction, which is observed in experiments even at a small distance from the nozzle cut. The predicted data are compared with experimental ones obtained at theexperimental setup.

COVID-19 and Aviation

The crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic has undeniably affected many aspects of life from conveniences of everyday living to global economic repercussions. Due to the widespread mandated lockdowns early in the pandemic, the economy inevitably suffered greatly as evidenced by the stock market’s unpredictability (6) and the 1.8 trillion USD in bailouts to private sectors from the US government. (18) The pandemic imposes a significant strain on several aspects of life as we know it, but the substantial effects on the travel industry, with particular focus on the aviation industry, will be the focus of this paper. This paper discusses various challenges such as the overall effect on the airlines due to the considerable decrease in the revenue of airlines, effect on global cargo transportation, the airworthiness of the aircraft, the profound impact the pilots face concerning the maintenance of their medical certificate and flying currencies, the effects on the pilot’s mental health, public health challenges and various considerations for airlines moving forward. Despite these repercussions on the aviation industry due to the mandated shutdowns, the aviation industry had its challenges even before the COVID-19 pandemic. This literature review was conducted via search engines such as Google, Google Scholar, and PubMed with search keywords including “coronavirus, pandemic, aviation industry, lockdown, and airlines”.

STUDI KASUS KEMIRINGAN GEDUNG 4 LANTAI AKIBAT KEGAGALAN FONDASI DI PANGKAL PINANG

Foundation is the lower structure of the building located below the ground that has the function to bear the load of the building. The building has been standing for ± 5 years and the slope of the building is ± 1-20. The authors analyzed soil bearing capacity, settlement and the slope of the building and the possibility of repairing the building for reuse. In 1 pile cap there are 4 bore piles with a depth of 6m-12m, because the pile cap data is not obtained then the size and thickness is assumed and the soil data used is secondary data without lab data derived from soil data in locations adjacent to the building site that is ±100m from the building site. After the analysis, soil bearing capacity is not strong to bear the dead load of the building when using a foundation with a depth of 6m-12m, there is a possibility that the foundation used is not suitable and there is a reduction in the load of the building due to the presence of other buildings that are adjacent to the building in the analysis resulting in a considerable decrease and slope of the building.Fondasi adalah struktur bagian bawah bangunan yang terletak di bawah permukaan tanah yang mempunyai fungsi memikul beban bangunan. Bangunan ini sudah berdiri selama ± 5 tahun dan kemiringan bangunan sebesar ± 1-20. Penulis menganalisis daya dukung tanah, penurunan tanah dan kemiringan bangunan dan kemungkinan memperbaiki bangunan agar dapat digunakan kembali. Pada 1 pile cap terdapat 4 buah bore pile dengan kedalaman 6m–12m, karena data pile cap tidak diperoleh maka ukuran dan ketebalannya diasumsikan dan data tanah yang digunakan adalah data sekunder tanpa data lab yang berasal dari data tanah di lokasi berdekatan dengan lokasi bangunan yang berjarak ±100m dari lokasi bangunan. Setelah di analisis, daya dukung tanah tidak kuat untuk menahan beban mati bangunan bila menggunakan fondasi dengan kedalaman 6m–12m dan ada kemungkinan fondasi yang digunakan tidak sesuai dan terjadi reduksi beban bangunan karena adanya bangunan lain yang berdempetan dengan bangunan yang di analisis sehingga mengakibatkan penurunan dan kemiringan bangunan yang cukup besar.

Effect of chelating agents on phytoxicity and bioaccumulation of heavy metals in vascular plants

In this work the effect of chelating agents ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA) and nitrilotriacetate (NTA) on phytotoxicity and bioaccumulation of Cd and Co in tobacco plants (Nicotiana tabacum L.) hydroponically grown in diluted Hoagland media (HM) spiked with 109Cd and 60Co was studied. Speciation analysis using a program Visual MINTEQ showed, that the portion of bioavailable ionic Me2+ forms significantly decreased in the presence of EDTA or NTA in 25% HM for account of [Me-EDTA]2- or [Me-NTA]- complexes. We found that the equimolar addition of EDTA or NTA to 50 μmol/dm3 CdCl2 or CoCl2 in HM positively diminished phytotoxicity of Cd or Co on tobacco plants. Bioaccumulation of Cd by tobacco roots during 8 d cultivation was minimally affected in the presence of equimolar concentrations of EDTA or NTA to 10 μmol/dm3 CdCl2 in media. On the contrary, equimolar concentration of EDTA or NTA added into HM caused considerable decrease of Co uptake by tobacco roots. Cadmium showed higher mobility in conductive tissues of tobacco plants than cobalt and the transport ratio in the presence of EDTA or NTA increased 2-times or 3-times in comparison with control experiments (without addition of chelates), respectively. In the case of cobalt this effect was observed in a less extent. Obtained data suggest the possibilities and constraints in the use of chelating agents in phytoextraction technologies in term of phytotoxicity, uptake and translocation of metals in plant tissues.