bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Serum PCR in diagnosis of neonatal sepsis caused by bacteria and enteroviruses.
Authors: Rey-Pineda Guillermo , Villanueva-García Dina , Guillén-Coreno Tanya , García-Elorriaga Guadalupe
Published: April 2021

Although blood culture is considered the gold standard for detection of neonatal infections of bloodstream, its result can take from 48-72 h and has low sensitivity. In this study, we determined the usefulness of the panbacterial polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and the panviral RT-PCR in serum, as tests for the early diagnosis of neonatal sepsis. We studied 195 patients with the clinical diagnosis of neonatal sepsis, up to the age of 28 days, hospitalized in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the Hospital Infantil de México “Federico Gómez”, and 195 umbilical cord samples obtained from healthy newborns. Blood cultures, and DNA / RNA extraction were done with a system of primers of the rRNA 16s region, which is highly conserved in a large number of bacteria and a highly conserved non-coding enteroviral 5´ (5’-NCR) region, respectively. The results showed that among the 90 newborns with sepsis and negative PCR, 19 were randomly selected to perform RT-PCR; 26% of them had a positive result. Statistical analysis included the PCR test’s sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) using the clinical diagnosis as the gold standard. PCR sensitivity was 77%, specificity was 83%, PPV was 92% and the NPV was 59%. In summary, panbacterial PCR is useful, quick and effective in the diagnosis of sepsis and should be used as a complement to the microbiological and clinical diagnoses. Although the frequency of enteroviral sepsis was low, in newborns with a negative panbacterial PCR, a panviral RT-PCR is recommended. Our results indicate that molecular diagnosis provides the balance of cost-benefit.
Arterial and Venous Thrombosis as a Symptom of Antiphospholipid Syndrome – A Noticeable Analysis from the Past.
Authors: Kopydłowska Agata , Wojtasińska Ewelina , Kurosz Jolanta , Zawilska Krystyna , Gil Lidia
Published: April 2021

Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), defined as combination of venous and/or arterial thrombosis as well as obstetric complications with antiphospholipid antibodies presence in blood, is an example of acquired thrombophilia. The thrombotic episodes in the APS course are highly recurrent, with an increasing incidence with years after secondary anticoagulant prophylaxis cessation. In between 2005-2011 a study was conducted in Poznań, Poland, with the aim to find a correlation between actual APS diagnostic guidelines (criteria from Sydney’2006) and the clinical feature of thrombosis in this syndrome with coexistence of inherited thrombophilia and risk factors for cardio-vascular disease included. Additionally, a selection of the highest thromboembolic risk group was made among asymptomatic patients with antiphospholipid antibodies (APA) detected to compare with APS patients. An association between a type of laboratory test confirming the longtime APA presence and thrombotic risk was analyzed as well. The follow up had lasted for meanly 47 months and included 75 patients (50 females and 25 males) at the mean age of 43, divided into three groups (25 persons each): I – with asymptomatic APA, IIA – with arterial episodes in the history and IIB – with past venous complications in the course of APS. The majority of them comprised persons with primary APS or with asymptomatic APA (aAPA) - without any other autoimmune diseases. The laboratory tests included: lupus anticoagulant (LA) according to the 3-step procedure recommended by ISTH (International Society on Thrombosis and Hemostasis), anticardiolipin (ACA) – of IgG and IgM class and anti-β2-glycoprotein I (aβ 2 GPI) – of IgG class, both with the cut-off value of 99 percentile. D-dimer and fibrinogen concentration, protein C and antithrombin activity, activated protein C resistance, free protein S concentration, factor VIII were further analyzed. Among comorbidities and risk factors for venous and arterial thrombosis, there was significantly more frequent incidence of autoimmune diseases in the asymptomatic group of people compared to patients after thromboembolic episodes. Most often the aAPA presence was confirmed in the LA tests – the majority of positive results appeared among patients with asymptomatic course and with past venous thrombosis as well and less frequently - in the group of arterial episodes in the history. Any significant differences were found in the reference to the incidence of thrombotic episodes in the retrospective assessment of symptomatic patients and prospective – in the whole investigated group, although the time of their occurrence after beginning of observation period almost doubled in people with past thromboembolic episodes, comparing to the earlier asymptomatic persons.
Planning the Discharge from Paediatric Intensive Care of a Child with Complex Care Needs
Authors: McAllister Maeve , Semple Diarmaid , Healy Martina , Crowe Suzanne
Published: April 2021

Many children admitted to the Paediatric Intensive Care for management of serious illness recover quickly. This is reflected in a mean length of stay is <5 days for many tertiary level critical care units. A small proportion of infants and children require a prolonged paediatric intensive care stay, due to the severity of their illness, complexity of medical and nursing care required, and presence of underlying co-morbidity. This cohort of patients have particular needs when being discharged to ward level care, and onwards to home. This paper reviews the complex care that patients may require in the first days and weeks following discharge from paediatric intensive care. Supported by available published literature, the authors outline the key relevant themes, and make recommendations on how transition to the ward may be facilitated.
Tackling Zero Hunger: A View from Experts
Authors: Kennedy E , Jafari A , Stamoulis K , Callens K
Published: April 2021

The sustainable development goals (SDGs) represent a global agreement on priorities for health, environment, social and economic development (UN, 2016). SDG2 – zero hunger – explicitly addresses food insecurity, malnutrition in all its forms and sustainable agriculture. Countries are pursuing a range of policies and programs to achieve the targets embedded in SDG2. The European Union has invested in 66 countries under the FIRST program (Food Insecurity Impact, Resilience, Sustainability, and Transformation); 24 of the FIRST countries are priorities for EU investments. In 2019, FAO was asked by the EU to conduct a stocktaking exercise for the 24 priority FIRST countries to ascertain, to date, the progress in addressing SDG2. The stocktaking involved four related activities: 1. Country diagnostic reports 2. Literature Review of articles relevant to food security, nutrition, agriculture, social safety nets, gender and political economy 3. Quantitative analyses 4. Key informant interviews. Details on the results of 1, 2 and 3 can be found in a companion publication (Kennedy et al, 2020). The purpose of the key informant interviews was to capture experiential evidence that is often not adequately captured in journal articles. The interviews provided a “boots on the ground” perspective that helped elucidate the challenges at the country level in implementing policies and programs targeting SDG2. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the information provided by thought leaders involved in various aspects of SDG2 in 24 FIRST countries.
Non-Operative Treatment for Tracheoesophageal Fistulae in Intensive Care Unit: Our Experience
Authors: Palma DM , Cracchiolo AN , Librizzi D , Sala A , Agrusa L
Published: April 2021

Introduction: The aim of our retrospective analysis is to evaluate the results of conservative management of acquired tracheoesophageal fistulae (TEF). TEF are rare but potentially life-threatening emergencies which can be of either spontaneous or iatrogenic origin. Spontaneous ones can be congenital or secondary to malignancy. For acquired ones numerous causes have been documented, the most common of which are endotracheal and tracheostomy tube-related injuries. Methods: From February 2016 to March 2019 seven patients (5 men; 2 women) with acquired TEF were diagnosed in our intensive care unit (ICU). The injury occurred after dilational percutaneous tracheostomy in three patients, after esophageal endoscopy in one patient, after cuff-related ruptures in three intubated and mechanically ventilated patients. Our patients had no particular medical history. Mean age: 46 years. Mean duration of signs before diagnosis: 8 hours. The median length of the injury was 1,4 cm. The mean duration of hospitalization in the ICU was 31 days. Results: All patients underwent conservative management: antibiotic therapy, close brochoscopic controls, percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy and tomographic investigation. No mediastinitis was observed. Two patients died from causes unrelated to the tracheal injury. Conclusions: Successful management of acquired TEF requires a fast and straightforward diagnostic evaluation. According to our experience, conservative management of TEF may be a save option in patients with uncomplicated ventilation and moderate and nonprogressive emphysema.
Study of awareness of diabetic retinopathy and its implications among diabetic patients visiting at a tertiary eye care center
Authors: Hemalatha BC  , Kalpana BN  , Shilpa YD  , Ravi B  , Sulakod Keerti S , Tumbadi Kavitha L
Published: April 2021

The aim of this study was to assess the awareness of diabetic retinopathy among diabetic patients.

A cross-sectional survey was conducted between from 2017 to 2019. The analysis was based on a representative sample of 624 adult subjects. Multivariable logistic analysis was used to examine socio-demographic factors associated with the levels of awareness, treatment and control of diabetes mellitus.

In our study 624 participants interviewed, among them 62% were males. rest were females. Most of the study subjects were non-vegetarian (74%). and were illiterates (40%). In our study, 92% were of type 2 DM, among them nearly 44.7% were on multidrug treatment. About 31% were diagnosed with DM after developing systemic complications. On examination, it was found 44.1% had proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR), 22.1 % required surgical intervention due to vision-threatening complication. Awareness regarding separate eye treatment for diabetic retinopathy was not known among 55 % of the patients. The periodicity of follow-up once treated for eye disease was poor, 74.1% being unaware.

In this study majority of patients were in the advanced stage of diabetic retinopathy and associated with systemic complications. Thus educating the patients about the diabetic disease, diet and multi-organ involvement and its complications and importance of regular follow-up and how to prevent significant ocular and systemic morbidity.
Reversal of optic nerve function and visual outcome in traumatic optic neuropathy
Authors: Singh Dheerendra , Kubrey Sooraj Singh , Kumar Kavita
Published: April 2021

Traumatic optic neuropathy (TON) refers to an acute injury to the optic nerve secondary to ocular trauma. The study was conducted to evaluate the visual outcome in cases of TON and to study reversal of optic nerve function after emergency ophthalmic intervention.

To evaluate the visual outcome in cases of TON, study the factors affecting final visual outcome and to evaluate the optic nerve function in cases of TON.

The present study was a Prospective observational study, 49 patients presented after ocular trauma in the Department of Ophthalmology, Gandhi Medical College and Associated Hamidia Hospital, Bhopal during January 2018 to June 2019. A detailed history was taken and examination was done. Time since injury was noted and optic nerve functions were assessed using modes such as VEP, perimetry, color vision, contrast sensitivity and presence/absence of RAPD. Partcipants were subjected to CT scan of head to assess associated injuries. The patients were managed medically by giving 5 doses of IV methylprednisolone for five days with tapering oral tablet prednisolone and observed for 3 months of followup from the initiation of treatment. All the data entered in proforma and results obtained on the basis of variables were discussed.

Most common mode of injury was RTA 68.4%.VEP improved significantly following steroid. Visual recovery was observed in 37.1% patients. The present study observed statistically significant association of final visual outcome was observed with time elapsed between injury and treatment and associated skull/maxilla or orbital bone fractures.

The pattern of visual recovery depends upon the visual acuity at presentation, type of injury, time elapsed between injury and initiation of treatment, associated skull or orbital fractures and patient compliance as better is the visual acuity at presentation, better is the visual recovery.
Pediatric normative Retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in south Indian population
Authors: Ganekal Sunil , Ganekal Varun
Published: April 2021

To study the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness in pediatric age group and its correlation with age, gender, refractive error and axial length

Prospective observational study of 200 eyes of 100 children aged between 5-18 years presenting to the ophthalmic department. All children underwent detailed ophthalmic evaluation and SD OCT examination for RNFL thickness, Standard RNFL assessment protocol was used. Mean RNFL thickness in micrometers along the whole circle circumference, four quadrants, 12’o clock hours were obtained. RNFL measurements included average/full circle thickness — RNFL-FC (360ºmeasure), temporal quadrant thickness, RNFL-T, superior quadrant thickness, RNFL-S, nasal quadrant thickness, RNFL-N, inferior quadrant thickness, RNFL-I.

Mean age was 13.3 ± 2.4 years. The refractive error in spherical equivalent was -0.28 ± 0.91 dioptre (SE). The mean axial length was 23.1 ± 0.7mm. The mean global RNFL thickness (RNFL-FC) was 97.0 ± 8.8mm (range 79.4 -114.6). RNFL thickness was maximum in the inferior quadrant (RNFL-I) 126 ± 13.7mm followed in order by superior (RNFL-S) 126 ± 16.3mm, nasal (RNFL-N) 70.5 ± 12.3mm and temporal (RNFL-T) 63.4 ± 9.2mm, in both the sexes. For every increase in one diopter of spherical equivalent of refractive error the mean RNFL increased by 3.77 microns and there was a reduction in mean RNFL thickness by 4.86 micron for every 1mm increase in axial length.

RNFL varied minimally with gender. Positive correlation was seen with refractive error while inverse or negative correlation was seen with axial length and age. RNFL measurements could serve as reference for further studies on pediatric glaucoma or other optic nerve head pathologies.
Association of serum lipid levels and social factors with diabetic retinopathy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: Study from tertiary care center of Western Maharashtra
Authors: Cardoza Namratha Judith , O K Radhakrishnan  , Desai Chaitali , Mohankumar Kavitha , Mohan Madhuvanthi
Published: April 2021

To study the prevalence of dyslipidemia and to find out the correlation between serum lipid levels and social factors like occupation, locality(urban/rural) and education status with diabetic retinopathy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

200 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus were segregated into 2 categories:- First category of patients with diabetic retinopathy and second category of patients without diabetic retinopathy. Serum lipid levels of subjects were measured and social history like occupation, locality (urban/rural) and education status was taken. Observations were compared to check association between above factors and diabetic retinopathy.

The prevalence of dyslipidemia was found to be 75.50%. Mean ± SD of LDL(mg/dL) in patients with diabetic retinopathy was 118.86 ± 40.58 which was significantly higher as compared to patients without diabetic retinopathy (p value=0.006). No significant association was seen in the distribution of total cholesterol(mg/dL), HDL(mg/dL), Triglyceride(mg/dL) with diabetic retinopathy (p value>.05). 10% of patients with DR worked as clerks while 52% were homemakers, thus, significant association was seen in the relationship of occupation with the presence of diabetic retinopathy (p value<.05). Diabetic retinopathy was more prevalent among type 2 diabetics living in urban areas (p<0.0001). 16% of patients with DR had studied up to primary school while 28% of patients with DR had studied up to high school, thus significant association was seen between the education status of the patients and the occurrence of diabetic retinopathy (p value<.05).

Elevated serum LDL levels were found to be a significant risk factor for diabetic retinopathy. Clerks and homemakers were more predisposed to diabetic retinopathy. Subjects who received education up to primary school and high school and subjects living in urban areas had significantly increased rates of diabetic retinopathy.
Intravitreal triamcinolone as a cost effective treatment for late-onset pseudophakic cystoid macular edema: A case series
Authors: Hansdak Amod , Shankar Sarala , Venipriya S  , Prasanth Hannah Ranjee , Djeamourthy Suriya
Published: April 2021

We present a case series of late-onset Pseudophakic cystoid macular edema who presented 10 years to 4 years after cataract surgery with recent-onset diminution of vision. Their vision in the affected eye ranged from 6/24 with an OCT macular map showing multiple cystoid spaces suggestive of cystoid macular edema. Other causes for CME were ruled out. The central macular thickness ranged from 577 to 557 microns. All the patients received a single dose of 0.1ml of 4mg/ml intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide. On the first post-procedure day, all the patient's visual acuity had improved to 6/6 and OCT showed a significant reduction in central macular thickness to 387-301 microns. This improvement in vision and macular thickness persisted at 3 months follow up. Late-onset of pseudophakic cystoid macular edema is a rare cause of postoperative vision loss, economically and easily treatable with a single dose of intravitreal triamcinolone.
Effect of intravitreal bevacizumab in the uninjected fellow eye of patients treated for retinal disorders
Authors: Kumar K V Praveen , Mogra Shailesh , Reddy Sridhara , Satyasri B  , Kumar Poninder
Published: April 2021

Elevated levels of VEGF is implicated in the pathogenesis of ocular neovascular diseases such as exudative age-related macular degeneration, proliferative diabetic retinopathy, diabetic macular edema, central and branch retinal vein occlusion, neovascular glaucoma, and retinopathy of prematurity. Bevacizumab a full-length humanized murine monoclonal antibody is being used as an off-label drug in the treatment of above disorders. When administered intravitreally, bevacizumab may have a therapeutic effect in the uninjected fellow eye. The objective of the present study is to determine the effects in the untreated fellow eye of intravitreal bevacizumab after a single dose in the contralateral affected eye in patients with similar retinal pathology.

The study was a non-randomized, interventional prospective study. Thirty consecutive patients with similar retinal pathologies in both the eyes were enrolled. All patients in the study underwent a detailed ophthalmic examination including a dilated fundus examination. All patients underwent fundus fluorescein angiography and optical coherence tomography of macula. All suitable patients identified were given intravitreal injections of 1.25 mg bevacizumab. The eye to be injected was selected based on the severity of pathology, affecting the macular status, as depicted by the clinical picture, visual acuity, OCT and FFA. The injections were given under topical anaesthesia. Patients were subsequently followed up on day 2, day 7 and day 21. After 4 weeks FFA and OCT were repeated. The results were tabulated and statistical analysis was done.

The study included 30 eyes of 30 patients with similar retinal pathology in both the eyes the mean age of patients was 64 yrs. 10 eyes had AMD, 9 eyes had PDR, 5 eyes had CNVM, 3 eyes had CME, 2 eyes had myopic CNVM, 1 eye had CRVO. The mean visual acuity at presentation in the uninjected fellow eye was 0.69 ± 0.41 log MAR units. All patients received atleast one intravitreal injection of bevacizumab 1.25mg in one of the affected eyes and the response was observed in the fellow eye. Among the 30 patients who received injection, 29(72.5%) patients showed some improvement in visual acuity chart after the first injection in the fellow eye and in 11(27.5%) patients vision remained same. The initial improvement was seen within one week in most patients. The mean central macular thickness in the fellow eye on OCT at baseline 515.64 + 1.
Management of Coats’ disease with RazumabTM (World’s first biosimilar ranibizumab) and laser photocoagulation: A case report
Authors: Sharma Shashikant , Sharma Bhagwati Prasad
Published: April 2021

We report a case of a 19-year-old Indian male with stage 2 Coats’ disease who was managed with monthly intravitreal biosimilar ranibizumab injections (n=3) along with laser photocoagulation in the right eye. Post-treatment, significant reductions were seen in the exudation, angioma-like lesions, central macular thickness and edema in the retina. At the last follow-up at 9 months after intravitreal biosimilar ranibizumab initiation, distant vision improved from best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of 5/60 at baseline to 6/18, and near vision from ‘not able to read’ to N/12 in the right eye.
Enzyme linked immunosorbantassay- lab diagnosis: A review
Authors: Bai J K Sonia , Midhun N , K V Chakrapani , G Haripriya , Sai Pathuri Chandra Kiran Venkata , Ramalakshmi N Surya
Published: April 2021

Immunoassays are generally antigen antibody analytical methods used for quantitative or for qualitative analysis. They are most commonly used for diagnostic purposes, drug monitoring in pharmacokinetic studies and in the quality control. ELISA is the most common used immunoassay where an enzyme is linked to detect the antibodies in the blood. ELISA tests are more accurate compared to other antibody-assays as it yields quantitative results. This review article describes ELISA and its applications, types and limitations.
Prevalence and antibiogram of Burkholderia species isolated from a tertiary care hospital
Authors: Joy Linju , K B Anita , Chitrabanu N Ashwin
Published: April 2021

The genus which was earlier considered as a soil saprophyte, is now gaining importance as a human pathogen. The pathogenic species include , , , and . Ongoing studies on spp. have resulted in the isolation of newer subspecies from human samples.

The study was undertaken to know the prevalence of spp among the clinical isolates in our hospital setup, to identify and also to evaluate their antibiogram.

Various clinical samples from patients were analysed along with their demographic data. All the specimens were processed according to the standard microbiology procedures.

In a total of 4115 culture positive samples, 951 (23.11%) were identified as Non Fermenting Gram Negative Bacilli (NFGNB). 30 (3.2%) of these NFGNB were identified as spp. with an overall prevalence rate of 0.72%. 12 (40%) were further identified as and 18 (60%) as complex. 76.7% of the patients were above 40 years and a male preponderance was also observed (80%). Diabetes mellitus was found to be the major risk factor (60%) and fever was the commonest presentation (53.3%). Antibiotic sensitivity testing showed highest sensitivity to minocycline and cotrimoxazole and the least to imipenam.

This study provides a baseline data of the present scenario of infections in our hospital. A continuing study will be beneficial in identifying a number of cases as this is a grossly under-reported organism.
A bacterial and fungal profile of sputum samples in a tertiary care hospital in Puducherry
Authors: Prabha R , G Dhivya , S Pramodhini , Easow Joshy M
Published: April 2021

The microscopic examination of gram stained sputum sample aids in diagnosis of patients with lower respiratory tract infections. Gram stain plays the key role in deciding the appropriateness of the quality of the sputum sample received in the laboratory for culture. It helps to determine the represent ativeness of the sample for the site of collection intended.

This study was done to correlate gram stain findings with culture and to assess the use of Gram stain in sputum examination in diagnostic microbiology.

During 2017 (July to December) a total of 133 sputum samples were quality assessed using Bartlett’s grading system. The total scoring was done and sample showing score of 1 and above were cultured and identified based on colony characteristics, gram staining morphology and biochemical reactions.

One hundred and thirty-three sputum samples were collected from patients with suspected lower respiratory tract infection. Of the 133 samples, 110(79%) were accepted and 23 (21%) were found to be unacceptable by Bartlett criteria. Potential pathogens were grown in 84 samples in the acceptable category. Normal respiratory flora were grown in 26 samples. Out of 84 samples, 63 samples were positive for bacterial growth and 21 showed fungal growth. Out of 63 bacterial growth, 44 were from in-patients and 19 were from out-patients. Among these bacterial isolates, 23 isolates were followed by 16 isolates were , 10 isolates were , 6 isolates were Staphylococcus aureus, 2 isolates were species, 3 isolates were and 3 isolates were Serratia marcesens.

All the sputum samples should be subjected to gram staining before culture to differentiate true pathogens from contaminating flora on culture.
Use of digital twins for mathematical modeling of ultrasonic drilling of titanium blanks
Authors:   Ulyanovsk State Technical University, Savelyev K. S. , Ilyushkin M. V. ,   Ulyanovsk Research Institute of Aviation Technology and Production Organization, Kiselev E. S. ,   Ulyanovsk State Technical University
Published: April 2021

The paper considers the creation and research of a virtual prototype of titanium blanks drilling using the Lagrange and Galerkin method. The developed finite-element models are designed to study the process of mechanical treatment and optimize technological cutting parameters. The paper presents the results of computational investigation of titanium blanks drilling using mathematical modeling programs, which allow complete simulating operating procedures in a computer (digital twin). As a program to simulate the process of removing the allowance from a titanium workpiece, the authors used a multipurpose software product of finite-element modeling and analysis of highly-linear dynamic processes using various Ls-DYNA time integration schemes. The application of the Galerkin method allows adequately describing the drilling process with the introduction of the ultrasonic field energy into a treatment zone, can significantly reduce the duration of experimental research and evaluates the influence of the cutting mode elements and the tool design parameters on the power and energy aspects of the formation of new machine parts surfaces. Both methods are applicable to create various processes of mechanical treatment, however, the Lagrange method is less sensitive to the ultrasonic field energy. The introduction of the ultrasonic field energy into the drilling zone of workpieces made of hard-processing titanium alloys can significantly reduce energy costs. As a result of the simulation, the authors obtained a calculation file containing the simulation process, the solution of which visually reflects the drilling process of a titanium workpiece in a real-life setting with the removal of chips. However, for complete verification of numerical study results, it is necessary to carry out an experimental check and make adjustments to the calculated data.
THE COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT OPERATIONS AND INVESTIGATIVE ACTIVITIES ON THE EXAMPLE OF EXAMINATION OF PREMISES, BUILDINGS, STRUCTURES, CRIME SCENE EXAMINATION, AND SEARCH
Authors:   Togliatti State University, Muruzidi A. V. , Olinder N. V. ,   Togliatti State University
Published: April 2021

In practice, criminal intelligence as a form of control is often carried out without proper procedural arrangement. This issue is very urgent and problematic as, according to the criminal procedure code, evidence obtained when examining a crime scene in respect of procedural legislation violation often cannot be considered admissible. The paper considers the existing forms of gathering evidence and facts of a crime when investigating a crime scene; two of them – inspection and search – are procedural; one is a criminal intelligence action – premises, buildings, structures, terrain compartments, and vehicles examination. The authors carried out a comparative analysis of these forms and concluded on the gaps in the Russian criminal procedure legislation. The paper gives a brief overview of obtaining evidence when investigating crime scenes in the legislative acts of the former republics of the Soviet Union, in particular the Republics of Kazakhstan, Belarus, Estonia, and Azerbaijan. The authors considered the legislation on the operative search activity of foreign countries. The paper presents a comparative table reflecting the positive and negative aspects of the applicable legislation, the advantages and disadvantages of investigative activities and criminal intelligence under the study; studies the issues of entering the materials of operative search activity into the crime case file. As the basic conclusion, the authors highlight that by nature and inner content, the investigative activities under the study (a crime scene examination, a search) and criminal intelligence (premises, buildings, structures, terrain compartments, and vehicles; public and non-public examination) duplicate each other in some degree.
STATE ACCUSER’S WAIVER OF PROSECUTION
Authors:   Ural Law Institute of the Russian Federation Ministry of Internal Affairs, Stelmakh V. V.
Published: April 2021

The current Russian criminal procedural law provides the possibility of the state accuser’s waiver to handle the prosecution, which entails a mandatory cessation of criminal proceedings. However, some procedural aspects of the refusal to hold the charge are not fully regulated, which causes difficulties in law enforcement practice. The paper briefly analyses the legality of introducing compromise principles into criminal proceedings since the refusal to prosecute is often interpreted as a particular case of compromise. The author argues that concord is suitable for activity based on dispositivity and particular principles (civil proceedings), though cannot be a driving force of criminal proceedings of the public legal nature aimed at achieving the truth about the circumstances of a crime committed. The paper considers the possibility, within the framework of the current legislation, to prevent an unreasonable decision of the refusal to hold the charge. The author analyzes the ability of a victim to refer to the superior public procurator as well as to implement the criminal prosecution independently. The paper states that the current law in terms of the regulation of waiver of prosecution does not fully correspond to the purpose and social orientation of criminal proceedings. In this regard, the author analyzes the by-laws of the General Procurator of the Russian Federation arranging this procedure and providing for the necessity for prior consent of a procurator who approved the indictment. The paper concludes that the law needs to be adjusted to optimize the regulation of the waiver of prosecution and formulates concrete proposals.
ECOLOGICAL AND TECHNOGENIC SAFETY: SPECIAL ASPECTS OF CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND PROBLEMS OF LEGAL REGULATION
Authors:   Togliatti State University, Chuklova E. V.
Published: April 2021

Ecological safety is not a new area of scientific research, however, there is still no single definition of the concept, and no signs and measures to ensure ecological safety are studied. The paper attempts to consider special aspects of the conceptual framework of environmental and technogenic safety enshrined both in domestic and foreign legislation. The author examines the environmental legislation norms, both Russian and foreign enshrining legal security values in this area, as well as the practice of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation; analyzes various views on the concept of ecological safety. The research sets a goal to identify differences in the content of categories under the study, which is a prerequisite for the efficient activity of an executor of law in the sphere of provision of corresponding types of safety. The author attempts to develop a unified approach to the understanding of ecological and technogenic safety firstly as scientific categories, which in the future can become the basis for consistent implementation of national security policy in the framework of the legal protection of the environment to balance private and public interests. The novelty of the study is in the conclusions about the scope and content of the concepts of environmental and technogenic safety. As a result of the study, the author formulates the differences in the wording of such categories as ecological safety and technogenic safety, attributes of ecological and technogenic safety, and gives their definitions.
BOARD GAME AS A MEANS OF DEVELOPING INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS
Authors:   Tula State University, Opanasets A. S.
Published: April 2021

The paper analyzes the project-based method as a means of developing the intercultural competence of university students in the course of learning a foreign language. The application of this method is caused by the high requirements of the university academic programs and the necessity to search for pedagogical technologies, methods, and approaches that contribute to the imitation of real communication situations in the course of studying a foreign language by students of non-linguistic specialties. The author describes the project-based method as an approach in teaching undergraduates of the academic program “Advertising and public relations” to make a creative project. The paper presents the results of a survey regarding the students’ preferences in the forms of educational activities used in class; describes the students’ experience in creating a board game as a creative project for the Foreign Language course. The stages of the project activity – preparatory, technological, and final – are described in detail, the meaning of each stage is explained, a detailed description of the exercises used at all stages is given. The author paid particular attention to the criteria for evaluating the project activities. The paper presents the results of monitoring that identifies the level of students' proficiency in lexical, cultural, and historical material on the given topic before and after the implementation of the project-based method. The author underlines the potential of the project-based technique in enhancing the existing intercultural awareness and cognitive interest of the students, improving their skills of learning new information as well as lexical, cultural, and historical material.
THE ESTIMATION OF MATURITY LEVEL OF COGNITIVE UNIVERSAL LEARNING ACTIVITIES OF THE 7-9 GRADES’ STUDENTS AT THE MATHEMATICS LESSONS IN THE CONDITIONS OF TWO-SUBJECT MONITORING
Authors:   V.P. Astafiev Krasnoyarsk State Pedagogical University, Berseneva O. V. , Gavrilyuk A. S. ,   Municipal autonomous educational institution A.E. Bochkin gymnasium No. 10
Published: April 2021

The necessity to perform diagnostic procedures within the contemporary process of teaching mathematics is caused by the importance of timely obtaining of the information on the current maturity level of the subject, meta-subject, and personal learning outcomes of students. The task is to choose an assessment technique adequate in educational trends and scientifically grounded. The authors propose to solve the issue of estimation of cognitive universal activities of the 7-9 grades’ students at the mathematics lessons in the conditions of two-subject monitoring. The paper shows that cognitive universal learning activities are a dynamic and important newly formed structure of a person depending on the age peculiarities in the formation process and should be considered in the maturity level assessment. The authors propose and substantiate the structure and step-by-step composition of the cognitive universal learning activities, which allow demonstrating them in a diagnosable view. It made it possible to identify and characterize the maturity level and criteria of the considered learning activities, assessment stages and procedures, and diagnostic tools. The paper presents the author’s conceptual model to assess cognitive universal learning activities when teaching mathematics, which demonstrates the important characteristic of the assessment process – a nonlinear nature. The research resulted in the identification of a specific principle of the assessment of cognitive universal learning activities – a two-subject principle. The implementation of this principle makes it possible to use the subject material to determine the maturity level of both the subject and meta-subject learning results. The authors describe the diagnostic tools, present the diagnostics process chart, the system of assessing certain tasks and give an example of typical assignments on the Equations topic of Algebra course for 7th grade.
DATA ANALYSIS USING FRACTAL GEOMETRY AND SELF-SIMILARITY METHODS
Authors:   Krasnodar University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, Zhmurko D. Yu.
Published: April 2021

At the moment, the researchers of the market and economic indicators (cycles) scarcely use (due to the utter skepticism) for their calculations mathematical techniques to find fractal patterns (self-similarities) determining the movement of the studied indicators trend (or some state of the studied sector of the agricultural economy). These tools showed their efficiency in predicting the macroeconomic time series of performance indicators of some regional participants in the sugar sub-complex of the agro-industrial complex. Some elements of such patterns have proven themselves well in the construction of indicators of advanced development. They belong to the class of express methods of trend identification. In terms of efficiency and time expenditures, they are significantly superior to mathematical tools such as artificial neural networks, genetic algorithms, fuzzy logic methods, etc. The paper implements the search for stable price patterns in the history of price quotations similar to the current values. The idea is that any price pattern has taken place in the past: having this pattern properly identified, it is possible to predict to a high precision the behavior of any segment of the agro-industrial market. The author considered the forecasting methods belonging to the class of phase-fractal analysis and self-similarity methods. Besides, the author emphasizes the adaptation of such techniques when predicting the indicators of regional participants in the sugar sub-complex of the agro-industrial complex. Within the practical part of the work, the author applied the elements of phase-fractal analysis for the spurious response rejection. It allowed significantly decreasing the information noise in one dimension spectra. The results of applied calculations and practical implementation confirmed the possibility of using the tool in predicting the economic performance of large industrial enterprises of the sugar sub-complex. The results obtained for the described models allow performing multivariate calculations for the same indicators. The results of using phase-fractal analysis and self-similarity methods in forecasting tasks demonstrated the possibility of solving them and confirmed their practical significance.
THE INFLUENCE OF CORONAVIRUS INFECTION ON THE GLOBAL ECONOMY: SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES
Authors:   Dagestan State University of National Economy, Medzhidov Z. U.
Published: April 2021

The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic seriously affects the world economy: it became a challenge for the world economy and the institutes of global economic regulation. This paper considers possible social and economic consequences of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic for the world economy, analyzes the incidence of this infection in the countries of the world, and examines the COVID-19 impact on employment and personal incomes, on the loss in the global GDP. The study identified that the COVID-19 would most seriously influence the loss of revenues of the population and the growth in the number of poor people, the increase in unemployment in some industries, such as in the service industry. At the same time, the development of online technology and artificial intellect became promising areas. The author proposes the ways to reduce social and economic consequences of coronavirus pandemic on the global economy, which are based on the provision of national medical services with the sufficient amount of public funds; the adoption or strengthening of targeted measures to support individuals (for example, self-employed), companies, and local communities; the provision of macroeconomic insurance as the targeted measures will not cover many of the secondary consequences of social and economic shock. The paper concludes that COVID-19 can influence the global economy in three ways: directly affecting production, creating a supply chain, and violating market relations, as well as financially affecting firms and financial markets. However, much depends on the reaction of the public to this disease.
GENESIS OF THE CONCEPT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Authors:   Vladivostok State University of Economics and Service, Vitchkovskiy N. A. , Osipov V. A. ,   Vladivostok State University of Economics and Service
Published: April 2021

The growing importance of intellectual property as an economic asset raises the issue of the content of intellectual property in the scientific discussions and the identification of scientific prerequisites for the formation and development of the intellectual property theory. The paper aims at the improvement of the conceptual and theoretical views on the economic category of intellectual property through establishing the dialectical interrelation with the concept of property. The authors propose considering intellectual property as a materially expressed result of the mental (intellectual) activity of a person, which invests its creator (author) or legal entities with the exclusive right for it, and it is confirmed by the relevant officially issued protection documents (patents or certificates) or statutory prescribed copyright norms. The research revealed the dichotomous nature of intellectual property. The study of property and intellectual property categories allowed establishing their dialectical opposition in terms of materiality and possibility of copying a legal object, the urgency and territorial limitation of property rights, and, most important, the dynamics of value in the process of consumption. However, the property and intellectual property categories also have a dialectical unity, which is not noted in the scientific literature. It is expressed in the mechanism of origin of property rights (in both cases, they are related to the problem of limited resources resulting in the necessity to choose the variant of an asset use), and in the mechanism of application of these rights, associated with the presence of both the right and the restrictions of this right, as well as liabilities of a copyright holder.
FINANCIAL AND ECONOMIC STATE OF AGRICULTURE IN THE CONDITIONS OF EXPORT-ORIENTED STRATEGY OF AGRO-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX
Authors:   Federal Rostov Agrarian Scientific Center (FRASC), Kholodova M. A. , Miroshnichenko T. A. ,   Federal Rostov Agrarian Scientific Center (FRASC), Svyatogorov N. A. ,   Federal Rostov Agrarian Scientific Center (FRASC)
Published: April 2021

The stable financial and economic state of agriculture largely determines the success of the implementation of the export-oriented strategy for the development of the agro-industrial complex of Russia chosen by the state. The authors analyzed and studied the main factors affecting the financial and economic condition of key agriculture sectors of the Russian Federation. The study identified the problems hindering the significant ramp-up of the crop and animal products output, the main of which are: the insufficient technical potential of agriculture, low level of investment activity, the imperfect mechanism for allocating preferential investment and short-term loans to agricultural producers, the disparity in prices for agricultural products and manufactured goods, the insufficient state support for the industry, the shortage of personnel potential in agriculture, etc. Despite the existing problems, the authors highlight the tendency of the growth in crop and animal products output and strengthening of the financial state of agricultural enterprises resulting from the implementation of the state policy of import substitution and the introduction of food embargo on basic foods. At the same time, the volatility of prices for crop and animal products negatively affects the financial results of agricultural producers, leads to the deficiency of own funds for technical reequipment of production, the introduction of technological innovations, the faster increase in production volumes and serves as an obstacle when implementing the targeted guidelines of the state concept of export-oriented development of the industry. The study noted the growth of debt under credits and loans and overdue accounts payable per one agriculture organization resulted from the pre-bankruptcy of several large-scale agricultural holdings. To strengthen the financial and economic state of agriculture, the authors recommended improving the mechanisms of state stimulation to attract financial resources of private investors, increasing the volume of state support for agricultural producers, providing preferential investment and short-term loans to agriculture, and expanding state support programs for small and medium-sized forms of agriculture in the countryside.
Inspeção e execução de contrapisos em edifício: um estudo de caso
Authors: Silva Pedro Magno Pereira da , Almeida Fernando do Couto Rosa
Published: April 2021

O piso é um dos subsistemas mais importantes de uma edificação, pois ele oferece suporte e serve como base para realização das atividades no interior da construção. Muitas das propriedades dos pisos estão relacionadas às superfícies de apoio nas quais eles são assentados, sendo o contrapiso o substrato mais utilizado para intermediar a base estrutural e o revestimento final. Além disso, tal subsistema está sujeito a surgimento de manifestações patológicas, causadas por diversos fatores. Neste contexto, o objetivo do presente trabalho foi identificar as manifestações patológicas de um contrapiso de uma edificação selecionada e avaliar a sua recuperação com base nas boas práticas de execução e reparo desse subsistema. Para isso, foram analisados os principais aspectos do contrapiso, e suas potenciais manifestações patológicas, bem como foram levantados os principais procedimentos para execução de um contrapiso. Foi apresentado ainda um estudo de caso em que os problemas observados no piso de uma edificação foram tratados por meio da reconstrução do contrapiso. Portanto, concluiu-se que o contrapiso, construído conforme as recomendações técnicas e também considerando as condições da edificação, apresentou desempenho satisfatório para atuar como base para o revestimento aplicado na obra estudada.