[Evaluation of the effectiveness of Riamilovir in the complex therapy of patients with COVID-19].

AIM: In this study we evaluated the effects of Riamilovir on SARS-CoV-2 viral shedding and on admission duration in patients with moderate COVID-19. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We have used data from 69 health records of patients with moderate severe PCR confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. Control group included 34 patients treated with off-label riamilovir 1250 mg per day for 5 days (250 mg 5 times a day), comparison groups 35 patients, who received ribavirin and umifenovir 800 mg a day for 5 days. The antiviral therapy was administered within 72 hours from the onset of the disease. The primary endpoints were elimination of virus in oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal swabs on 7 day of admission and discharge from the hospital by 14 day. RESULTS: Patients assigned to riamilovir had significantly shorter time to clinical improvement as well as increased PCR negative rate by day 7. CONCLUSION: Yearly administration of riamilovir as opposed to the umifenovir and ribavirin in therapy of moderate SARS-CoV-2 infection was associated with significant shorter time to clinical improvement by 14 day of hospitalization. PCR negative rate by 7 days of hospitalization is significantly more likely in riamilovir group.

20 dB net-gain polarization-insensitive fiber optical parametric amplifier with >2 THz bandwidth.

A black-box polarization insensitive fiber optical parametric amplifier (PI-FOPA) is characterized for the first time using a commercial 127 Gb/s polarization-division multiplexed PDM-QPSK transponder within a multiplex of twenty-two equivalent DWDM signals across a 2.3 THz bandwidth portion of the C-band. The PI-FOPA employs a recently demonstrated diversity loop arrangement comprising two lengths of highly nonlinear fiber (HNLF) with the parametric pump being removed after the first HNLF in both directions about the loop. This arrangement is named the Half-Pass Loop FOPA or HPL-FOPA. In total, a record equivalent 2.3 Tb/s of data is amplified within the HPL-FOPA for three different pump power regimes producing net-gains of 10 dB, 15 dB and 20 dB (averaged over all signals). For the latter two regimes, the gain bandwidth is observed to extend considerably beyond the C-band, illustrating the potential for this design to amplify signals over bandwidths commensurate with the EDFA and beyond. Under the 15 dB gain condition, the average OSNR penalty to achieve 10-3 bit error rate for all twenty three signals was found to be 0.5 ± 0.3 dB. Worst case penalty was 0.8 ± 0.3 dB, verifying the use of the architecture for polarization insensitive operation. The growth of four-wave mixing signal-signal crosstalk is additionally characterized and found to be gain independent for a fixed output power per signal. A simple effective length model is developed which predicts this behavior and suggests a new configuration for significantly reduced crosstalk.

In-line and cascaded DWDM transmission using a 15dB net-gain polarization-insensitive fiber optical parametric amplifier.

We demonstrate and characterize polarization-division multiplexed (PDM) DWDM data transmission for the first time in a range of systems incorporating a net-gain polarization-insensitive fiber optical parametric amplifier (PI-FOPA) for loss compensation. The PI-FOPA comprises a modified diversity-loop architecture to achieve 15dB net-gain, and up to 2.3THz (~18nm) bandwidth. Three representative systems are characterized using a 100Gb/s PDM-QPSK signal in conjunction with emulated DWDM neighbouring channels: (a) a 4x75km in-line fiber transmission system incorporating multiple EDFAs and a single PI-FOPA (b) N cascaded PI-FOPA amplification stages in an unlevelled Nx25km recirculating loop arrangement, with no EDFAs used within the loop signal path, and (c) M cascaded PI-FOPA amplification stages as part of an Mx75.6km gain-flattened recirculating loop system with the FOPA compensating for the transmission fiber loss, and EDFA compensation for loop switching and levelling loss. For the 4x75km in-line system (a), we transmit 45x50GHz-spaced signals ('equivalent' data-rate of 4.5Tb/s) with average OSNR penalty of 1.3dB over the band at 10-3 BER. For the unlevelled 'FOPA-only' 25.2km cascaded system (b), we report a maximum of eight recirculations for all 10x100GHz-spaced signals, and five recirculations for 20x50GHz-spaced signals. For the 75.6km levelled system

Ultra-flat wideband single-pump Raman-enhanced parametric amplification.

We experimentally optimize a single pump fiber optical parametric amplifier in terms of gain spectral bandwidth and gain variation (GV). We find that optimal performance is achieved with the pump tuned to the zero-dispersion wavelength of dispersion stable highly nonlinear fiber (HNLF). We demonstrate further improvement of parametric gain bandwidth and GV by decreasing the HNLF length. We discover that Raman and parametric gain spectra produced by the same pump may be merged together to enhance overall gain bandwidth, while keeping GV low. Consequently, we report an ultra-flat gain of 9.6 ± 0.5 dB over a range of 111 nm (12.8 THz) on one side of the pump. Additionally, we demonstrate amplification of a 60 Gbit/s QPSK signal tuned over a portion of the available bandwidth with OSNR penalty less than 1 dB for Q2 below 14 dB.

Highly efficient optical parametric amplifier tunable from near- to mid-IR for driving extreme nonlinear optics in solids.

We have developed a robust optical parametric amplifier (OPA) based on three-AgGaS2-crystal pumping by a Cr:Forsterite GW femtosecond laser system, generating 150 fs pulses in dual bands of 1.6-2.0 µm (signal wave) and 3.5-5.5 µm (idler wave). By introducing a negative prechirp to the pump, a combined efficiency in two waves of greater than 10% was achieved, with signal energy up to 110 µJ and idler energy up to 43 µJ. Operation parameters of the system (intensity up to 90 TW/cm2) make OPA a promising tool for driving nonlinear optical phenomena, including generation of optical harmonics and laser-induced extreme states of matter in solids and liquids. As a proof of principle, we generated harmonics up to the sixth order and sum frequencies in 5 mm thick polycrystalline ZnSe.

Multi-terawatt picoseconds 10-µm СО2 laser system: design and parameters' control.

The basic principles for design of an advanced multi-terawatt СО(2) laser system are considered. The key amplifiers' parameters were evaluated by numerical modeling. The potential advantage of using pulsed chemical DF-СО(2) laser as a final amplifier over an electro-ionization TE-СО(2) laser is outlined. The dynamics of noise development along the chain of amplifiers and a resultant contrast ratio are analyzed. The evaluated parameters allowed to suggest a system with a mid-pressure final DF-СО(2) laser which can generate a single 15-TW 2.5-ps pulse.

Ionization-assisted guided-wave pulse compression to extreme peak powers and single-cycle pulse widths in the mid-infrared.

Ionization-assisted spectral broadening of high-energy 10.6 µm laser pulses in a gas-filled hollow waveguide is shown to yield single-cycle pulses with multiterawatt peak powers in the mid-IR. While the highest quality of pulse compression is achieved in the regime of weak ionization, careful management of complex ionization-assisted spectral broadening of guided-wave fields is the key to compressing the output of advanced high-power mid-IR laser sources to single-cycle pulse widths.

tRNAPhe deprived of 3'-terminal adenosyl residue does not stimulate adenosine aminoacylation catalyzed by phenylalanyl-tRNA synthetase from Escherichia coli.

Phenylalanyl-tRNA synthetase from Escherichia coli does not catalyze the [14C]phenylalanyl residue transfer from phenylalanyl-adenylate to adenosine either in the presence or absence of homologous tRNAPhe and tRNA(-A Phe). When the reaction mixture contained dithiothreitol, radioactive substance was detected having a mobility on HPLC column close to that of aminoacyladenosine. The amount of this product depended on the concentration of dithiothreitol in the mixture. Phenylalanyl residue was suggested to undergo transfer from aminoacyladenylate to dithiothreitol molecule.

[Effects of prostaglandins E2 and F2 alpha on the hypothalamo-hypophyseal-adrenal system and thyroid function in mice with Lewis lung carcinoma]. / Vliianie prostaglandinov E2 i F2 alfa na gipotalamo-gipofizarno-nadpochechnikvuiu sistemu i tireoidnuiu funktsiiu u myshei s kartsinomoi legkogo L'iuis.

It has been determined that prostaglandins E2 and F2 alpha being exogenously inoculated during the premetastatic period to mice with metastatic Lewis lung carcinoma in equal degree activate neurocytes of supraoptic and paraventricular hypothalamus nuclei, playing the important role in secretion of peptidergic hypophysial adrenal gland complex, but they exert unequal influence on pituitary body, adrenal cortex and thyroid apparatus. F2 alpha stimulates the pituitary body corticotrophic function, secretory function of spongiocytes and thyrocytes, identifies the thyroxin and triiodothyronine utilization, E2, on the contrary, does not influence these indices or reduces them. Obviously, the mentioned above differences between E2 and F2 alpha may be explained by their different influences on antimetastatic resistance.

[Device for simultaneous bilateral stretching of biological objects without displacing the site under study]. / Prisposoblenie dlia odnovremennogo dvukhstoronnego rastiazheniia biologicheskikh ob"ektov bez smeshcheniia issleduemoi tochki.

A mechanical device is offered for stretching biological objects by 2--6 mm. This is set on the microscope stage and allows simultaneous and independent stretching to the opposite sides, keeping the fixed position of any definite object point. The device and principles of operation are described taking for ellustration experiments with the crayfish receptor that involved an intercellular registration of electrical parametres of the mechanoreceptor neuron under adequate stimulation.

[Changes in lactotropocytes following administration of a pineal factor which stimulates prolactin secretion]. / Izemeniia laktotropotisitov pri vvedenii faktora épifiza, stimuliruiushchego sekretsiiu prolaktina.

Effects of a factor extracted from the epiphysis on the ultrastructure of adenohypophyseal cells of immature female rats have been stuided. This factor exerted it effects mainly on lactotropocytes on stimulating their differentiation and proliferation. In the lactotropocyte cytoplasm, ultrastructural changes were noticed in elements of the protein-synthesizing system suggesting a sharp enhancing of the synthesis and release of prolactin. The study supported the earlier supposion that the epiphyse may contain a factor similar in its effect to hypothalamic prolactoliberin.

[Morphometric study of the ultrastructure of cells of the zona fasciculata of the adrenals in rats under stress]. / Morfometricheskoe issledovanie ul'trastruktury kletok puchkovoi zony kory nadpochechnikov krys pri stresse.

A morphometrical study of cell ultrastructures of zona fasciculata of rat adrenal cortex was performed in norm and after immobilization during 4 or 24 hours. A 4 hour's immobilization (alarm reaction) is characterized by adrenocorticocyte activation: relative volumes of mitochondria and reticulum increase by 1.1 and 1.2 times, resp., and lipid volume decrease by 2.6 times. 24 hours after immobilization (the stage of maximal strain), mitochondrion and reticulum volumes decrease by 1.5 and 1.7 times, resp., compared to the initial ones, and autophagosome volumes increase sharply reaching 11% of the cytoplasm volume, i.e. this is the evidence of degeneration clearly registered morphometrically.

[Epidemiological and immunological criteria of the effectiveness of immunization with adsorbed DPT vaccine by the old and new schedules]. / Epidemiologicheskie i immunologicheskie kriterii éffektivnosti immunizatsii AKDS-vaktsinoi po staromu i novomu kalendariam.

The study revealed that the immunization of children with adsorbed DPT vaccine from the age of 3-4 months, as compared with the immunization of children from the age of 5-6 months, did not lead to an essential increase in the coverage of children with immunization at the period under study (1970-1983) and did not affect the total level of pertussis morbidity, as well as the proportion of children aged up to 1 year in the total number of pertussis cases. Children immunized at an early age produced antibodies in titers, equivalent to the titers in older children, but their immunity against pertussis, in contrast to their immunity against diphtheria and tetanus, was retained for a shorter period. The injection of adsorbed DPT vaccine at the age of 3-4 months was accompanied by a poorly pronounced increase in the content of IgG, the predominant synthesis of IgM and the suppression of the synthesis of IgA. The shift of the start of vaccination to the age of 3-4 months has probably some immunological grounds for diphtheria and tetanus, but it is premature with respect to pertussis.

[Diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular system diseases in middle age]. / Sakharnyi diabet i bolezni serdechno-sosudistoi sistemy v pozhilom vozraste.

The data on the interrelationship of diabetes mellitus and atherosclerosis are shown. To characterize the frequency of cardiovascular lesions and their different character according to age in patients with diabetes, the results of clinical analysis of 2,540 patients and the findings of thorough clinical and laboratory examination of 1,154 individuals, 20.1% of whom were over 60, are presented. The high frequency of angiopathies (84.6%) confirms the "atherogenics" effect of diabetes mellitus. The age differences consist in the predominance of organic lesions among elderly persons. The frequent occurrence of a disturbed glucose tolerance test and the development of diabetes mellitus in these patients are evidence of the "diabetogenic" effect of atherosclerosis. Some hormonal and metabolic mechanisms are investigated for the interpretation of the pathogenesis of cardiovascular lesions in diabetes. The contribution of contrainsular hormones (somatotrophic hormone, adrenal hormones) and hyperlipidemia to the development of diabetic angiopathies is substantiated. The difference between diabetic macroangiopathies and atherosclerosis in nondiabetic individuals is discussed on the strength of the results of electron microscopy of the mucle capillaries. It is concluded that these two diseases, which are widely encountered among elderly individuals, have hormonal, metabolic, and genetic developmental mechanisms in common.

[Thermoreceptor function of the stretch receptors of the river crayfish]. / Termoretseptornaia funktsiia retseptora rastiazheniia rechnogo raka

Cooling of the crayfish stretch receptor leads to increase and then decrease the spike frequency of slowly adapting (SA) neuron (maximum frequency at 15 degrees). Impulse activity of quickly adapting (QA) neuron arises about 12 degrees and is recoding for a long time (sometimes during 30 min.). Raising the temperature from 20 degrees to 30 degrees results in a gradual increase of the SA neuron spike frequency. Characteristic for cold thermoreceptors dynamic discharge is observed. Infra-red (IR) radiation (lambda=1--3 mum) causes a decrease of SA neuron spike frequency. QA neuron generates a brief discharge after cuting IR radiation. IR radiation acts on somato-dendro-muscle (sensory) region only. Analysis with polarizing microscope shows that the IR radiation effect on the structural organization of neurons is contrary the effect of warming and colding. It is proposed that the IR radiation effect is defined by the rise of temperature gradient in solution (dT/dx). Obtained results indicate that the crayfish stretch receptor belongs to the type of mechanocoldreceptors.

[The mineral element content of the blood in healthy persons living in regions of endemic goiter and Urov (Kashin-Bek) disease]. / Soderzhanie nekotorykh mineral'nykh élementov v krovi zdorovykh liudei, prozhivaiushchikh v raionakh zobnoi i urovskoi (bolezni Kashina--Beka) éndemii.

Atomic-absorption spectrophotometry was used to study blood sera of 135 healthy people aged 18 to 60 years, living under the conditions of continental climate with trace elements and iodine deficiency in the environment. The changes in the content of minerals in the peripheral blood were discovered to be related to the age, characterized in most cases by a decrease of their content with age. The data given in the paper confirm the reduction of trace elements to the lower limits of normal in all the age groups living in the Western regions of this country.

[The ultrastructure of the chromaffin cells of the adrenal medullary substance in different forms of pheochromocytoma]. / Ul'trastruktura khromaffinnykh kletok mozgovogo veshchestva nadpochechnikov pri razlichnykh formakh feokhromotsitomy.

The ultrastructure of adrenal medullar pheochromocytoma cells has no specific features, although these cells are characterized by morphological signs of high functional activity. Secretory granules of pheochromocytoma cells have variable morphology and electron density. Granule content is released from cells by diffusion or exocytosis. The structure of adrenocytes and noradrenocytes has features which allow to distinguish cell types from each other.

[Electron microscopic study of rat hepatocytes following exposure to dicyclohexylamine nitrite and an oil-soluble salt of cyclohexylamine]. / Elektronnomikroskopicheskoe izuchenie gepatotsitov krys pri deistvii nitrita ditsiklogeksilamina i maslorastvorimoi soli tsiklogeksilamina.

Ultrastructural changes were studied in the rat liver under the effect of dicyclohexylamine nitrite and oil-soluble salt of cyclohexylamine in doses of 1/10 LD50. Both substances are stated to cause damages in the structure of hepatocytes even after three days of exposure. Dicyclohexylamine nitrite shows a more pronounced effect displayed in developed dystrophic changes of cytoplasmic organelles and in the presence of osmiophil bodies.

[Ultrastructure of rat adenohypophysis following exposure to several amines of the polymathylene series]. / Ul'trastruktura adenogipofiza krys pri deistvii nekotorykh aminov polimetilenovogo riada.

Adenohypophysis ultrastructure was studied under the effect of dicyclohexylamine nitrite and oil-soluble salt of cyclohexylamine used as inhibitors of the atmospheric corrosion of metals. It is stated that even due to the early effect they cause a morphofunctional rearrangement of the organ in spite of the same reaction of the adenohypophysis cells to M-1 and dicyclohexylamine nitrite the effect of the latter causes more distinct and pronounced changes.

[The pathomorphological characteristics of the action on the body of the antitumor antibiotic asterin under stress conditions]. / Patomorfologicheskaia kharakteristika deistviia na organizm protivoopukholevogo antibiotika asterina v usloviiakh stressa.

The action (on the organism) of antitumour antibiotic asterine isolated from plant of family Asteraceae under stress conditions at D. K. Zabolotnyi Institute of Microbiology and Virology has been pathomorphologically characterized. Asterine is stated to be able to decrease the harmful effect of stressor, preventing the expression of structural alterations in adrenal glands, cortex and lungs of stress-subjected organism. Adaptogenic effect of antitumour antibiotic is confirmed.