bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Сondition of urogenital tract microbiotes and pro- and antioxidant system in male azoospermia
Authors: Vorobets M. Z. , Melnyk O. V. , Kovalenko I. V. , Fafula R. V. , Borzhievsky A. T. , Vorobets Z. D. 
Published: January 2022

Over the past 20 years, there has been a clear trend to increase in the number of infertile men in Ukraine, their percentage reaches 50% in infertile couples. There is a significant percentage of male infertility caused by azoospermia – the lack of sperm in the ejaculate. In male infertility, azoospermia is found in 10–15% of patients, among other forms of pathospermia. Given the ambiguity of ideas about the etiology, pathogenesis and treatment and diagnostic approaches for various types of infertility, it remains important to clarify the relationship of urogenital infections with the regulatory systems of cells, including the state of the pro- and antioxidant system and the search for additional markers. 119 patients with various forms of azoospermia were examined. All patients underwent the following studies: spermogram, infectious screening, inhibin B, lipid peroxidation, activity of enzymes of the glutathione antioxidant system in sperm plasma and blood serum. Infectious screening included analysis of urethral secretions, bacteriological examination of sperm or prostate secretion, assessment of the species and quantitative composition of the microflora of the male urogenital tract. According to the results of spermogram and other diagnostic methods, a non-obstructive form of azoospermia was detected in 69 patients. In obstructive azoospermia, ejaculate as such was absent. It is suggested that inhibin B may be an important medical diagnostic test for azoospermia. As a result of the conducted researches the importance of determining the concentration of inhibin B as a marker of azoospermia was demonstrated and a negative correlation of moderate strength between the content of inhibin B and testosterone level in the plasma of men with non-obstructive azoospermia was revealed. It was found that Ureaplasma pervum and Ureaplasma urealyticum infect the male genitourinary system to the greatest extent among a number of microorganisms, both in non-obstructive and obstructive forms of azoospermia. Enterococcus faecalis is more pronounced in the sperm fluid in the non-obstructive form of azoospermia and prostate secreton in the obstructive form of azoospermia. In the non-obstructive form of azoospermia in the seminal plasma and serum, the processes of lipid peroxidation intensify, the concentration of reduced glutathione decreases and the activities of the enzymes of the glutathione antioxidant system (glutathione peroxidase and glutathione transferase) decrease. It can be considered that an important diagnostic test for the nonobstructive form of azoospermia is the ratio of reduced glutathione to oxidized glutathione in sperm plasma.
Evaluation of the effectiveness of prophylactic strategies for cytomegalovirus infection in pediatric kidney recipients
Authors: Tsirulnikova O. M. , Gadzhieva P. M. , Miloserdov I. A. , Saydulaev D. A. , Pashkova I. E. 
Published: January 2022

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is the most severe viral infection in renal transplant recipients, which can occur in the post-transplant period in both adult and pediatric recipients. Developing and applying an effective prevention and treatment strategy for pediatric renal graft recipients is a priority. Objective: to compare the effectiveness of the protocols used for the prevention of CMV infection in pediatric kidney transplant recipients.Materials and methods. The study enrolled 118 patients who underwent primary kidney transplantation at Shumakov National Medical Research Center of Transplantology and Artificial Organs. Based on retrospective analysis, all recipients were divided into two groups, depending on the prophylactic strategy after kidney transplantation. The followup period for pediatric kidney recipients ranged from 108 to 1803 (623.5 ± 379.5) days. CMV infection activity was monitored by polymerase chain reaction.Results. The frequency of CMV infection activation episodes at 3 and 6 months was independent of the prophylaxis strategy used. The recurrence rate of CMV infection one year after surgery was significantly lower (p = 0.037) with Strategy 2. No cases of CMV syndrome or CMV disease, graft dysfunction, or chronic rejection associated with CMV infection were reported. Increasing the dose of antiviral drugs in Strategy 1 did not increase the risk of cytotoxicity and nephrotoxicity, which are reversible (creatinine levels were not significantly different in the study groups at 3, 6, 12 months, p = 0.542, p = 0.287, p = 0.535, respectively). The incidence of kidney graft rejection did not increase in patients with lower doses of immunosuppressants in Strategy 2.Conclusion. Both prophylactic strategies are effective in pediatric kidney recipients. However, the choice of a strategy depends on the individual characteristics of the patient and requires a personalized approach.
Pattern of menstrual cycle after kidney transplant in reproductive women
Authors: Khan M. T. , Hamid R. , Rashid Sh. , Jahan E. , Lal N. , Ishtiaq R. 
Published: January 2022

Background. In reproductive women, transplant disturbs the menstrual cycle pattern. The two major conditions usually encountered are amenorrhea and menorrhagia.The objective of the study was to assess the pattern of menstrual cycle after kidney transplant in reproductive women.Materials and methods. This cross-sectional study was carried out in a public sector hospital of Karachi, Pakistan. A total 69 patients of reproductive age were included who underwent living kidney donor transplant for more than a year ago. Women having genital tract infection, using hormonal treatment, organic cause of genital tract, clotting disorder and severe cardiac and/ or peripheral vascular disease were excluded. Frequency and percentages were calculated for demographic characteristics. Correlation and association analysis was calculated for type of menstruation with menstrual cycle pattern. A P-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results. Majority of female included in the study aged between 35–39 years (36, 52.2%). The most frequent menstrual disturbance observed was heavy menstrual bleeding (22, 31.9%) and amenorrhea (21, 30.4%). Only 2.9% cases showed normal menstrual pattern. The cross tabulation indicated that 26.1% patients had amenorrhea, 24.6% had oligomenorrhea and 31.9% had menorrhagia. The Durbin–Watson value of 0.656 indicated a strong positive relationship between menstruation cycle pattern (dependent variable) and type of menstruation, marital status, donor’s age, children and living location of the patients (independent variables).Conclusion. From the result of the present study, it is concluded that the reproductive age women have shown a disturbed pattern of menstrual cycle after kidney transplant. The major observation was that such patients reported amenorrhea, menorrhagia, oligomenorrhea and hypomenorrhea.
Mechanical properties of native and decellularized aortic wall after long-term storage in biocide solutions
Authors: Vasilyeva M. B. , Kuznetsova E. V. , Rusakova Ya. L. , Chepeleva E. V. , Sergeevichev D. S. , Juravleva I. Yu. 
Published: January 2022

Objective: to determine the optimal method for long-term wet storage of donor material (50 days after collection), with maximum ability to preserve the original mechanical characteristics.Materials and methods. Porcine aortic wall fragments were used as objects of study. Half of the original material underwent detergent-based decellularization. The entire material (native and processed) was placed for 50 days in biocidal solutions: complex alcohol solution; ethanol and glycerol mixture; antibiotics mixture. Then the tests for mechanical strength of native and decellularized samples were carried out by the method of uniaxial longitudinal and circumferential stress.Results. Storage of native material in all media resulted in a significant increase in tensile strength. In the «complex alcohol solution», «ethanol and glycerol mixture», and «antibiotic mixture» group, tensile strength increased by 1.38-, 1.72- and 1.62-fold compared to the native control in circumferential tension. Also, in the «complex alcohol solution» group, the decellularized material was 1.57-fold stronger than the native in circumferential tension. In the «antibiotic mixture» group, the decellularized material was 1.33-fold less strong than the native in longitudinal tension. According to elongation to rupture data, significantly greater plasticity was noted in the «ethanol-glycerol» storage group for the decellularized aortic wall compared to the control group (1.5-fold). Young’s modulus did not reliably differ from those of control in all experimental groups regardless of the stress direction. Notably, decellularized specimens clearly tended to be stiffer under circumferential stress.Conclusion. Detergent-based decellularization of the porcine aortic wall and subsequent storage of these samples in our chosen experimental solutions for 50 days does not significantly affect the elastic properties of the material. Our proposed treatment methods partially increase the stiffness of the material after storage in alcohol-containing solutions.
Bioactive coating for tissue-engineered smalldiameter vascular grafts
Authors: Surguchenko V. A. , Nemets E. A. , Belov V. Yu. , Sevastianov V. I. 
Published: January 2022

Objective: to develop a method for modifying composite small-diameter porous tubular biopolymer scaffolds based on bacterial copolymer poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) and gelatin modified with a double-layered bioactive coating based on heparin (Hp) and platelet lysate (PL) that promote adhesion and proliferation of cell cultures.Materials and methods. Composite porous tubular biopolymer scaffolds with 4 mm internal diameter were made by electrospinning from a 1 : 2 (by volume) mixture of a 10% solution of poly(3-hydroxybutyrateco- 3-hydroxyvalerate) copolymer, commonly known as PHBV, and a 10% solution of gelatin, respectively, in hexafluoro-2-propanol. The structure of the scaffolds was stabilized with glutaraldehyde vapor. The scaffolds were modified with a bioactive Hp + PL-based coating. The surface morphology of the samples was analyzed using scanning electron microscopy. Biological safety of the modified scaffolds in vitro (hemolysis, cytotoxicity) was evaluated based on the GOST ISO 10993 standard. Interaction with cultures of human endothelial cell line (EA. hy926) and human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hADMSCs) was studied using vital dyes.Results. We developed a method for modifying small-diameter composite porous tubular biopolymer scaffolds obtained by electrospinning from a mixture of PHBV and gelatin modified with double-layered bioactive coating based on covalently immobilized Hp and human PL. The modified scaffold was shown to have no cytotoxicity and hemolytic activity in vitro. It was also demonstrated that the developed coating promotes hADMSC adhesion and proliferation on the external surface and EA.hy926 on the internal surface of the composite porous tubular biopolymer scaffolds in vitro.Conclusion. The developed coating can be used for the formation of in vivo tissueengineered small-diameter vascular grafts.
Ex post facto authorisation in South African environmental assessment legislation: a critical review
Authors: Paschke P , Glazewski J 
Published: January 2022

One of the fundamental tenets underlying environmental assessment both internationally and in South Africa is that it is anticipatory in nature in that it is essentially an evaluation of the effects likely to arise from a major project or other action significantly affecting the natural or artificial environment. Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is therefore a systematic and integrative process for considering possible impacts prior to a decision being taken on whether or not a proposal should be given approval to proceed.
This article argues that the current legislative basis for environmental assessment in South Africa, namely Part V of the Environment Conservation Act 73 of 1998 (ECA) and regulations made under it, reflects this philosophy. It argues that the phenomenon of ex post facto or retrospective environmental authorisation is ultra vires and thus not permissible under the current legislative regime.
Finally the article outlines and assesses the environmental assessment regime under the National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998 (NEMA) and recent amendments to it under the NEMA Amendment Act 8 of 2004, which will in future govern the environmental assessment process. The amending Act introduces a new section 24G into the anticipated environmental assessment regime which will permit ex post facto or retrospective environmental authorisation. The authors argue that this is an unwelcome development which will militate against the purposes underlying environmental assessment.
Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development: the Changing Mission of the Higher School
Authors: Izmailova M. A. 
Published: January 2022

Purpose: of the article is to study the basic principles of higher education and their impact on the formation of a socially active position of universities and their involvement in achieving sustainable development goals on the scale of global humanity.Methods: is based on the application of systemic and institutional approaches to the study of the role of higher education in solving the problems of society, as well as a group of methods of scientifc cognition: dialectical and retrospective, induction and deduction, comparative analysis, the method of rating assessment and others.Results: the essence of the fundamental principles of higher education – academic freedom and academic responsibility, which form the value basis of classical education in its historical period of development, is revealed. In modern conditions, these principles are increasingly reﬂected in the activities of universities related to their key role in solving economic, social and environmental problems. More and more often universities declare their social responsibility and prove it by the example of their decisions in the conditions of social crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic isconsidered one of the crisis situations, and the measures taken by the university leadership to support the teaching staﬀ and its student audience are a kind of indicator of social responsibility. The range of tasks in which the higher school is involved is quite wide. It covers problems of a global nature, one of which is the search for ways of sustainable development of mankind: universities take responsibility for achieving the selected Sustainable Development Goals and report to society for the eﬀectiveness of this area of their activities.Conclusions and Relevance: the implementation by universities of socially responsible behavior towards their internal stakeholders (teachers, students, employees), integration into solving vital problems of society, as well as involvement in achieving Sustainable Development Goals clearly demonstrate the transformation of their mission. Universities enter into an active dialogue with society to solve problems at diﬀerent levels of economic systems, making eﬀorts to combine the spheres of knowledge production, scientifc research expected by society, the transformation of knowledge and scientifc results into practice through the initiation of new directions and activities, technological transformation of the scientifc and educational space, diversifcation of channels of interaction with society
Methodology for Assessing the Transport Accessibility of Capital Objects in a Megacity Based on Geoinformation Data
Authors: Mkhitaryan S. V. , Musatova Zh. B. , Murtuzalieva T. V. , Timokhina G. S. , Shirochenskaya I. P. 
Published: January 2022

Purpose: to present the author's methodology and the test results for calculating integral indicators of transport accessibility on the basis of weighted normalized private indicators for three housing estates in Moscow.Methods: the study is based on the application of methods for collecting factual material, its processing, systematic, comparative historical and structural-functional analysis, which were supplemented by multivariate analysis of secondary information using content analysis of existing methods for calculating indicators of transport accessibility of capital objects. The results and conclusions of the research are based on the use of the author's methodology for calculating integral indicators of transport accessibility based on weighted normalized private indicators for three housing estates in Moscow. The analysis of a possible set of criteria for assessing transport accessibility of housing estates in Moscow metropolis was carried out on the basis of the use of a geographic information system database GIS NextGIS QGIS.Results: a review of methodological approaches to the calculation of objective quantitative indicators characterizing the transport accessibility of capital objects is carried out; the author's methodology for calculating the integral indicators of the transport accessibility of residential complexes in Moscow is presented and tested on the basis of weighted normalized private criteria / indicators. The use of the authors’ methodology for calculating integral indicators of transport accessibility based on weighted normalized private criteria / indicators made it possible to calculate the values of indicators of transport accessibility for three housing estates in Moscow, calculate an integrated score for a set of transport accessibility criteria for each housing estate, to give a comparative quantitative assessment of their transport accessibility, to conduct a rating of housing estates in terms of their transport accessibility.Conclusions and Relevance: the presented results of approbation of the author's methodology for calculating the integral indicators of transport accessibility for housing estates in Moscow allow to conduct a comparative and dynamic analysis of housing estates (or larger units) transport accessibility. The results of such an analysis can be applied in order to develop programs for transport infrastructure development of the megacity as a whole, its certain districts and city parts, as well as to assess such programs efciency. The authors see the directions for future research in the defnition and calculation of indicators based on the city dwellers perception of the transport accessibility
Regional Development and Interregional Migration Decisions in Jakarta
Authors: Hamzah Nurdin . , Sukanto . , Yunisvita . 
Published: January 2022

Purpose: this study aims to examine the community's decision to migrate between regions in the Jabodetabek area using the KRL Commuterline public transportation and analyse regional criteria based on regional development based on Oriented Development Transit, where these criteria become integration with community movements in migrating to an area.Methods: secondary data is used to fnd the number of people in migrating obtained from pt. Kai Indonesia. While to complete and explain each variable to be studied using primary data with several questions through a questionnaire submitted to 398 people who migrate between regions using logistic regression analysis techniques in their measurements. While to analyze the criteria for regional development in each region using an assessment approach from the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy. With qualitative analysis techniques and to assist in this research, a spatial approach is used which is used to display a picture of the distribution of migration.Results: (1) Regional development in each part of the Jabodetabek area is in the silver standard category which indicates that the regional development project has almost met the performance targets that have been conceptualized by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy. (2) People in making decisions to migrate between regions will be aﬀected by the variables of distance, travel costs, gender, travel time, migration destination and regional development, while age and transit distance cannot provide a large enough inﬂuence on people's movements in migrating.Conclusions and Relevance: the results of the study prove that regional development in the Jabodetabek area tends to be a non-metropolitan area where people who move prefer areas that are integrated with public facilities that lead to the destination rather than towards the metropolitan area, this is evidenced by the standard silver criteria obtained in the area in Jabodetabek.
Evaluation of relationship between biochemical parameters and osteoporosis in patients with β-thalassemia major
Authors: Hamidpour Mohsen , Jafari Fatemeh , Mehrpouri Mahdieh , Azarkyvan Azita , Bashash Davod , Khadem Maboudi Ali Akbar 
Published: January 2022

Background: Osteoporosis is one of the late complications of β-Thalassemia major. The pathogenesis of osteoporosis depends on different factors. Ineffectiveness of hematopoiesis is the major factor, and the other factors are defected by hormonal functions or biochemical parameters. Osteoclasts hyperactivity in thalassemia increases the serum receptor activator of nuclear factor Kappa B ligand (RANKL), which plays a crucial role in bone development. This study aimed to evaluate the biochemical and hormonal parameters in patients with β-thalassemia major and their association with osteoporosis.
Materials and Methods: In this case-control study, 52 patients with β-thalassemia major and 23 with thalassemia minor as controls were enrolled. The patients’ Bone Mineral Density (BMD) was measured using the Dual Energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) method, and 6 mL peripheral blood of the patients and controls was obtained to detect hormonal and biochemical parameters. Data were analyzed using ANOVA, Spearman correlation coefficient, and T-test.
Results: The mean of BMD in patients was 0.59±0.01 and 0.69±0.11 in femur and vertebrae, respectively. The biochemical parameters in the (patients/ controls) including calcium and alkaline phosphatase (ALK) were 9.1/ 10.2 mg/dL and 171.1/310 IU, respectively indicating a significant decrease (P< 0.05) compared to the controls. On the contrary, the mean levels of Ferritin and Zinc were 1914.18 µg/L and 113.92 mg/mL, respectively which were significantly increased (P= 0.015 and P=0.045, respectively). There was a negative correlation between the femurs BMD of patients with the RANKL level (r= - 0.8, p = 0.034) and the vertebrae BMD of patients with a Parathormone (PTH) level (r= - 0.8, P = 0.028).
Conclusion: The study results indicated that the hyperactivity of RANKL and PTH in thalassemia patients might cause osteoporosis; therefore, detecting biomarkers mentioned above could be useful to diagnose osteoporosis.