Processing of household waste in the BTLSS using the wet combustion method.

The present study discusses physicochemical methods of organic waste processing in closed biotechnical life support systems (BTLSS). Sanitary and household cotton wastes were processed by the method of wet combustion in hydrogen peroxide using an alternating current electric field - a promising physicochemical method for organic waste processing in the BTLSS. The highest efficiency of the process (in terms of power consumption, duration of the process, and oxidation rate) was achieved in experiments with oxidation of a combination of cotton fabrics and urea-containing wastes such as human urine and feces. The reason for this must be that urea is a reactive aqueous solvent of cellulose.

Lipids and fatty acids of two pelagic cottoid fishes (Comephorus spp) endemic to Lake Baikal.

Matured females of two Lake Baikal endemic fish species, Comephorus baicalensis and Comephorus dybowski, have been investigated for lipid of the whole body and specific tissues (liver, muscles, ovaries), phospholipid classes and fatty acids of neutral and polar lipids. Total lipid in the body (38.9% fresh weight), liver (23.5%) and muscles (14.5%) of C. baicalensis were greater than those of C. dybowski (4.7, 8.7 and 2.6%, respectively); only their ovaries were similar (5.3 and 5.6% lipid, respectively). In both species, phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine were the major phospholipids, ranging from 60.7 to 75.1% of total phospholipid and 14.5-25.7%, respectively. In most cases, monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) were the major fatty acid group in C. baicalensis, whereas polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) were the major group in C. dybowski. The MUFA 18:1(n-9) prevailed over other fatty acids in C. baicalensis and varied from 19% in polar lipids of muscles to 56.1% in neutral lipids of muscles. In polar lipid of C. dybowski, the PUFA 22:6(n-3) prevailed over other fatty acids in muscles and ovaries, while 16:0 dominated polar liver lipids and neutral lipids of all tissues. Other major fatty acids included 16:1(n-7), 18:1(n-7), and 20:5(n-3). Values of the (n-3)/(n-6) fatty acid ratio for neutral lipids of C. baicalensis (0.5-0.9) are well below the range of values characteristic either for marine or freshwater fish, while these values for polar lipids (1.6-1.8) are in the range typical of freshwater fish. Neutral lipid fatty acid ratios in C. dybowski (2.5-3.1) allow it to be assigned to freshwater fish, but polar lipids (2.8-3.7) leave it intermediary between freshwater and marine fish.

[Sanitary-hygienic characteristics of work conditions and health status of workers in nitric acid production industry]. / Sanitarno-gigienicheskaia kharakteristika uslovii truda i sostoianie zdorov'ia rabochikh, zaniatykh v proizvodstve azotnoi kisloty.

Workers engaged in thin nitric acid manufacturing are exhibited to the combined action of both physical and chemical factors (noise, heating microclimate, nitric oxides, ammonia). Within the working hours, ECG changes and arterial blood pressure instability are displayed in operators and technicians. Influenza, acute respiratory disorders and osseo-muscular diseases present the main causes of morbidity with temporary disability. Technicians are characterized by a markedly greater morbidity rate. Ammonia and nitric oxides, as aggressive media, lead to higher rates of oral mucoid, hard dental tissues and periodontium lesions. Health-related labour conditions improvement measures are proposed.

[Problems of improving working conditions for workers engaged in the production of nitrogen mineral fertilizers]. / Voprosy ozdorovleniia uslovii truda rabochikh, zaniatykh v proizvodstve azotnykh mineral'nykh udobrenii.

The study results show that significant improvement of labour conditions can be achieved due to the introduction of a new distribution pattern of technological equipment, further improvement of equipment supply of the technological process, further mechanization of production operations, rational arrangement and disposition of control desks for technological processes, utilization of possible means of protection against noise, improvement of measuring machines, rational organization of the workplace for packing of stock-produced products and application of the means of small-scale mechanization, rational distribution of the sections of packing, filling and loading.

[Functional state of the sensomotor systems of patients with tics]. / Funktsional'noe sostoianie sensomotornykh sistem u bol'nykh s tikami.

In 60 children from 4 to 14 years of age with tics and in a group of 90 normal children, the state of the motor sphere (with the aid of the Ozeretsky metric scale for determination of motor exceptionality), cortical sensomotor functions (by the Luria method) and electromyography was studied. Patients with tics demonstrated immaturity of the motor sphere and the higher levels of its regulation. The conclusion is made about the perinatal conditioned retardation in the development of the premotor-neostriatal system. Treatment directed toward stimulation of the metabolic processes in the nervous tissue and the development of motor functions is recommended.