SOME ASPECTS OF PREDICTING THE SEVERITY OF VIRUS-INDUCED BRONCHIAL ASTHMA EXACERBATION IN CHILDREN DUE TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC

bronchial asthma is an important medical and social issue directly affects the health of patients, their quality of life, and the direct and indirect economic costs associated with the disease are quite significant. Due to the pandemic caused by a new strain of coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, international and domestic regulations documents have updated the management of patients with asthma. In particular, there have been recommendations for remote visits to assess the patients’ complaints however physical analysis and objective examination are not available during such consultations. It can lead to errors in diagnostic of asthma exacerbation severity and treatment tactic for prescription the reliever therapy. So it is actuality to find out additional indicators to improve the diagnostic and prediction of the severity of the disease exacerbations. Given the urgency of the problem, the aim of the study is to evaluate the clinical and paraclinical parameters in children with virus-induced bronchial asthma exacerbation to predict the severity of the asthma attack and personify the management of patients. Have been examined 47 patients who were hospitalized for disease exacerbation. The severity of a asthma attack was considered a group-forming feature. Statistical analysis was performed using parametric and nonparametric calculation methods, methods of clinical epidemiology and biostatistics. The results of the study give grounds to predict a more severe asthma attack among urban residents who have a phenotype of late-onset asthma. An additional, anamnestic risk of more severe exacerbation of the disease is body weight at birth, which exceeds 3500 g. Among spirometric indicators the highest prognostic criterion for severe bronchial asthma exacerbation was the general index of bronchodilation, which was 15% and above, as well as the index of bronchodilation at the level of the distal airways with a cut-off point of 30% and above. In the presence of the above risk factors for severe asthma attack on the background of confirmed infection with the coronavirus strain SARS-CoV-2 the patient needs hospitalization, antiviral treatment, increasing the dose of inhaled steroids and additional β2-agonists. When predicting a mild or moderate asthma attack provoked by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, it is advisable to continue remote monitoring by an allergist and the management of exacerbation includes a temporary increase daily dose of inhaled glucocorticosteroids and additional using of β2-agonists. It is recommended to avoid taking nebulizers and use individual metered powder or aerosol inhalers in cases of inpatient treatment.

Two Decades of Desiccation Biology: A Systematic Review of the Best Studied Angiosperm Resurrection Plants

Resurrection plants have an extraordinary ability to survive extreme water loss but still revive full metabolic activity when rehydrated. These plants are useful models to understand the complex biology of vegetative desiccation tolerance. Despite extensive studies of resurrection plants, many details underlying the mechanisms of desiccation tolerance remain unexplored. To summarize the progress in resurrection plant research and identify unexplored questions, we conducted a systematic review of 15 model angiosperm resurrection plants. This systematic review provides an overview of publication trends on resurrection plants, the geographical distribution of species and studies, and the methodology used. Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta–Analyses protocol we surveyed all publications on resurrection plants from 2000 and 2020. This yielded 185 empirical articles that matched our selection criteria. The most investigated plants were Craterostigma plantagineum (17.5%), Haberlea rhodopensis (13.7%), Xerophyta viscosa (reclassified as X. schlechteri) (11.9%), Myrothamnus flabellifolia (8.5%), and Boea hygrometrica (8.1%), with all other species accounting for less than 8% of publications. The majority of studies have been conducted in South Africa, Bulgaria, Germany, and China, but there are contributions from across the globe. Most studies were led by researchers working within the native range of the focal species, but some international and collaborative studies were also identified. The number of annual publications fluctuated, with a large but temporary increase in 2008. Many studies have employed physiological and transcriptomic methodologies to investigate the leaves of resurrection plants, but there was a paucity of studies on roots and only one metagenomic study was recovered. Based on these findings we suggest that future research focuses on resurrection plant roots and microbiome interactions to explore microbial communities associated with these plants, and their role in vegetative desiccation tolerance.

Determinants of RSV epidemiology following suppression through pandemic contact restrictions

Introduction COVID-19 related non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) led to a suppression of RSV circulation in winter 2020/21 throughout Europe and an off-season resurgence in Summer 2021 in several European countries. We explore how such temporary interruption may shape future RSV epidemiology and what factors drive the associated uncertainty. Methods We developed an age-structured dynamic transmission model to simulate pre-pandemic RSV infections and hospitalisations. We sampled parameters governing RSV seasonality, immunity acquisition and duration of post-infection immunity and retained those simulations that qualitatively fit the UK's pre-pandemic epidemiology. From Spring 2020 to Summer 2021 we assumed a 50% reduced contact frequency, returning to pre-pandemic levels from mid-May 2021. We simulated transmission forwards until 2023 and evaluated the impact of the sampled parameters on the projected trajectories of RSV hospitalisations. Results Following a lifting of contact restrictions in summer 2021 the model replicated an out-of-season resurgence of RSV. If unmitigated, paediatric RSV hospitalisation incidence in the 2021/22 season was projected to increase by 32% to 67% compared to pre-pandemic levels. The size of the increase depended most on whether infection risk was primarily determined by immunity acquired from previous exposure or general immune maturation. While infants were less affected, the increase in seasonal hospitalisation incidence exceeded 100% in 1-2 year old children and 275% in 2-5 year old children, respectively, in some simulations where immunity from previous exposure dominated. Consequently, the average age of a case increased by 1 to 5 months, most markedly if there was strong immunity acquisition from previous exposure. If immunity to infection was largely determined by age rather than previous exposure, the 2021/22 season started earlier and lasted longer but with a peak incidence lower or similar to pre-pandemic levels. For subsequent seasons, simulations suggested a quick return to pre-pandemic epidemiology, with some slight oscillating behaviour possible depending on the strength of post-exposure immunity. Conclusion COVID-19 mitigation measures stopped RSV circulation in the 2020/21 season and generated immunity debt that will likely lead to a temporary increase in RSV burden in the season following the lifting of restrictions, particularly in 1 to 5 year old children. A more accurate understanding of immunity drivers for RSV is needed to better predict the size of such an increase and plan a potential expansion of pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical mitigation measures.

Elevated Post K-Pg Export Productivity in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean

The global heterogeneity in export productivity after the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction is well documented, with some sites showing no change on geologic timescales, some demonstrating sustained decline, and a few showing a somewhat surprising increase. However, these records come from sites so widespread that a key outstanding question is the geographic scale of changes in export productivity, and whether similar environments (open ocean gyres, western boundary currents) responded similarly or whether heterogeneity is unrelated to environment. To address this, we developed three new Ba/Ti export productivity records from sites in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean which, combined with published data from a fourth site in the Chicxulub Crater itself, allows us to reconstruct regional changes in post K-Pg export productivity for the first time. We find that, on a regional scale, export productivity change is homogenous, with all four sites showing a ~300 kyr period of elevated export production just after the boundary, followed by a longer period of decline. Interestingly, this interval of elevated export production appears to coincide with the post K-Pg global micrite layer, which is thought to at least partially have been produced by blooms of carbonate-producing cyanobacteria and other picophytoplankton. We note from a global comparison of sites that elevated export productivity appears to be most common in tropical waters, which suggests that changing plankton ecology evidenced by the micrite layer altered the biological pump in a way that encouraged a temporary increase in export production in the tropics.

International Remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean amid the COVID-19 Crisis: A Push for Digitalization?

Remittances constitute a significant safety net for millions of households in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Consequently, changes in international transfers can be a crucial agent of transmission of the COVID-19 induced economic crisis from richer to poorer nations and from urban to rural areas. Relying on data on queries to the search engine Google between December 2018 and July 2021, this study looks at the evolution of demand for in-person versus digital international transfer services and evaluates if take-up rates of different types of service providers trace the initial drop and subsequent rebound of remittances. The recovery of remittances was accompanied by a modest and temporary increase in the interest in digital mechanisms for sending money to home countries, which is accompanied by lower demand for brick-and-mortar service providers.

Tuberculosis trend among native and foreign-born people over a 17 year period (2004–2020) in a large province in Northern Italy

Tuberculosis (TB) incidence should decline by 20% in the Europe in 2015–2020, in line with End-TB milestones. We retrospectively evaluated TB notifications in the province of Brescia from 2004 to 2020. Cases were classified per patient origin and entitlement to Health Assistance for foreign born people: Italians (ITA), Foreigners permanently entitled (PEF) or Temporarily Entitled (TEF) to Health Regional Assistance. Poisson regression analysis was performed to assess associations between incidence and age, sex, continent of origin and year of notification. Overall 2279 TB cases were notified: 1290 (56.6%) in PEF, 700 (30.7%) in ITA and 289 (12.7%) in TEF. Notifications declined from 15.2/100,000 in 2004 to 6.9/100,000 in 2020 (54.6% reduction, temporary increase in 2013–2018 for TEF). Age (Incidence Risk Ratio, IRR, 1.02, 1.019–1.024 95%CI), sex (IRR 1.22, 1.12–1.34 95%CI), and continent of origin were positively associated with notifications (IRR 34.8, 30.8–39.2 95%CI for Asiatic, and IRR 20.6, 18.1–23.4 95%CI for African origin), p < 0.001. Notification decline was sharper in 2020, especially among TEF. End-TB milestone for 2020 was reached, but foreigners continue to represent a high risk group for the disease. Discontinuation of services due to the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with a sharp decrease in TB notification in 2020.

External Communication of Autonomous Crews Under Simulation of Interplanetary Missions

Two experiments, with 17-day and 120-day isolation, were carried out within the frame of the Scientific International Research in Unique Terrestrial Station (SIRIUS) international project at the Institute of Biomedical Problems (Moscow, Russia). Manifestations of the “detachment” phenomenon in the crew – mission control center (MCC) communication previously identified in the Mars-500 project were confirmed in this study. As in the Mars-500 experiment, in the SIRIUS-19, the landing simulation in the halfway of isolation caused a temporary increase of crew communication with MCC. We also revealed several differences in the communication styles of male and female crew members. By the end of the experiment, there was a convergence of communication styles of all the SIRIUS crew members and also an increase in crew cohesion.

A Locus Coeruleus- dorsal CA1 dopaminergic circuit modulates memory linking

Individual memories are often linked so that the recall of one triggers the recall of another. For example, contextual memories acquired close in time can be linked, and this is known to depend on temporary increase in excitability that drive the overlap between dorsal CA1 (dCA1) hippocampal ensembles encoding the linked memories. Here, we show that the Locus Coeruleus (LC) cells projecting to dCA1 have a key permissive role in contextual memory linking, without affecting contextual memory formation, and that this effect is mediated by dopamine and not by noradrenaline. Additionally, we found that LC to dCA1 projecting neurons modulate the excitability of dCA1 neurons, and the extent of overlap between dCA1 memory ensembles, as well as the stability of coactivity patterns within these ensembles. This discovery of a neuromodulatory system that specifically affects memory linking without affecting memory formation, reveals a fundamental separation between the brain mechanisms that modulate these two distinct processes.

Why Change a Winning Team? Explaining Post-Election Cabinet Reshuffles in Four Westminster Democracies

Incumbent prime ministers who win re-election often reshuffle their cabinet ministers. These post-election cabinet reshuffles have important implications for policymaking and present a puzzle: why would prime ministers alter the ‘winning team’ that has just received an electoral mandate? Existing literature has largely overlooked post-election reshuffles, so offers few compelling answers. At most, a plausible but under-theorised and untested conventional wisdom suggests that electoral success increases prime ministers’ authority over their ministers. This article thus provides the first systematic study of post-election cabinet reshuffles in single-party governments. It argues that re-elected prime ministers use a temporary increase in their authority to pre-empt future leadership challenges by moving or sacking cabinet rivals. Larger election victories should thus produce larger reshuffles. However, analysis of post-election cabinet reshuffles in four ‘Westminster’ democracies since 1945 shows no support for this expectation, suggesting that further work is needed to understand these important political events.

EFFECT OF PARENTERAL INFLUENZA VACCINATION ON THE CELL COMPOSITION AND ITS MICROBIOTA OF THE OROPHARYNGEAL SECRETION IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC INFLAMMATORY DISEASES OF THE UPPER RESPIRATORY TRACT

Relevance. Until recently, the issues of changes in immunological and microbiological parameters of the oropharynx in vaccinated against viral infections remain insufficiently covered. Objective: to determine the effect of parenteral influenza vaccination on the cellular and microbial composition of the oropharyngeal secretion in patients with chronic inflammatory diseases of the upper respiratory tract with the presence of anamnestic antibodies to vaccine strains of viruses. Materials and methods. Oropharyngeal secretion samples of 18 patients with chronic inflammatory diseases of the upper respiratory tract studied before and 3, 12, and 36 weeks after vaccination with inactivated split influenza vaccine. As control 25 donors were used. The cell composition of the sediment was determined. A microbiological study of the oropharyngeal secretion was performed. Results. At 3 and 12 weeks after vaccination, vaccinated patients significantly changed the relative rates of entry into the oropharyngeal secretion of lymphocytes and the composition of its microbiota while maintaining its total number. After 36 weeks, the cell composition and the representation of pathogenic and opportunistic microflora practically returned to baseline with a significant increase in the total microbiota. Conclusions. Parenteral administration of inactivated split vaccine to persons with chronic inflammatory diseases of the upper respiratory tract with the presence in the blood of anamnestic antibodies to vaccine strains of viruses is accompanied by a simultaneous temporary increase in lymphocyte representation with a simultaneous decrease in the number of transfusion microflora in the oropharyngeal secretion.