Developing tardigrade-inspired material: Track membranes functionalized with Dsup protein for cell-free DNA isolation.

When developing functionalized biomaterials, the proteins from extremophilic organisms, in particular unique tardigrade disordered proteins, are of great value. The damage suppressor protein (Dsup), initially discovered in the tardigrade Ramazzottius varieornatus and found to be an efficient DNA protector under oxidative and irradiation stress, has been hypothesized to possess a good potential for the development of the material, which can isolate cell-free DNA. With this in mind, DNA-nonadsorbing polyethylene terephthalate track membranes have been functionalized using the Dsup protein via covalent bonding with glutaraldehyde.

Aptamer-coated track-etched membranes with a nanostructured silver layer for single virus detection in biological fluids.

Aptasensors based on surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) are of high interest due to the superior specificity and low limit of detection. It is possible to produce stable and cheap SERS-active substrates and portable equipment meeting the requirements of point-of-care devices. Here we combine the membrane filtration and SERS-active substrate in the one pot.

A Combination of Membrane Filtration and Raman-Active DNA Ligand Greatly Enhances Sensitivity of SERS-Based Aptasensors for Influenza A Virus.

Biosensors combining the ultrahigh sensitivity of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and the specificity of nucleic acid aptamers have recently drawn attention in the detection of respiratory viruses. The most sensitive SERS-based aptasensors allow determining as low as 10 virus particles per mL that is 100-fold lower than any antibody-based lateral flow tests but 10-100-times higher than a routine polymerase chain reaction with reversed transcription (RT-PCR). Sensitivity of RT-PCR has not been achieved in SERS-based aptasensors despite the usage of sophisticated SERS-active substrates.

What should be the baseline when calculating excess mortality? New approaches suggest that we have underestimated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and previous winter peaks.

Excess mortality has been used to measure the impact of COVID-19 over time and across countries. But what baseline should be chosen? We propose two novel approaches: an alternative retrospective baseline derived from the lowest weekly death rates achieved in previous years and a within-year baseline based on the average of the 13 lowest weekly death rates within the same year. These baselines express normative levels of the lowest feasible target death rates.

Partnership Context of First Births in Russia: The Enduring Significance of Marriage.

Unlabelled: While cohabitation and non-marital childbearing have been increasing in Russia since 1990, the share of marital first births that are conceived prior to marriage has changed very little since the Soviet era. The prior findings on the stability of trends in premarital conceptions in Russia have been contradictory and inconclusive. This study aims to extend the existing empirical evidence on premarital conceptions in Russia and to contribute to the discussion on the persistence of marriage as the preferred partnership context for parenthood.

Excess mortality in Russia and its regions compared to high income countries: An analysis of monthly series of 2020.

Background: Russia has been portrayed in media as having one of the highest death tolls due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the world. However, the precise scale of excess mortality is still unclear. We provide the first estimates of excess mortality in Russia as a whole and its regions in 2020, placing this in an international context.

Evidence of large systematic differences between countries in assigning ischaemic heart disease deaths to myocardial infarction: the contrasting examples of Russia and Norway.

Background: There is considerable variation in mortality rates from myocardial infarction (MI) across high-income countries, some of which may be artefactual.

Methods: Time trends in mortality rates from ischaemic heart disease (IHD) and MI were analysed for a set of high-income countries from the end of the 1970s. Using individual-level mortality data from Russia (2005-2017) and Norway (2005-2016), we investigated factors associated with the proportion of total IHD deaths certified as due to MI.

Changes in mortality disparities by education in Russia from 1998 to 2017: evidence from indirect estimation.

This article addresses two unresolved methodological issues related to prior research on Russia that was based on census-unlinked data and did not account for the substantial increase in the share of death records with missing information on education. The study uses a proportional mortality analysis method relying on a case-control framework, together with a plausible imputation-based solution for the redistribution of the unknown education on death records. The new results suggest that high levels of inequality persist, but they do not support recent findings indicating that the educational gap in life expectancy has substantially widened.

Prostate cancer screening using chemometric processing of GC-MS profiles obtained in the headspace above urine samples.

The development of screening methods for various types of cancer is of utmost importance as the early diagnostics of these diseases significantly increases the chances for patient's successful medical treatment and recovery. In this study we have developed the procedure for chromatographic profiling of urine samples based on solid-phase microextraction and GC-MS. 50 urine samples (20 from the patients with biopsy conformed prostate cancer and 30 from control group) were studied in the optimized experimental conditions.

Total Synthesis of Natural Lembehyne C and Investigation of Its Cytotoxic Properties.

The first -stereoselective method for the synthesis of the natural marine alkynol lembehyne C, containing a 1,5,9-triene moiety, in 41% yield was developed using the new Ti-catalyzed cross-coupling of oxygenated and aliphatic 1,2-dienes as the key step. It was found for the first time that lembehyne C exhibits moderate cytotoxicity against Jurkat, K562, U937, and HL60 cancer cells and also efficiently induces apoptosis in Jurkat cells, with the cell death mechanism being activated by the mitochondrial pathway. The lembehyne C inhibition of the cell cycle follows the mitotic catastrophe mechanism.

New 1,3-Diynoic Derivatives of Natural Lembehyne B: Stereoselective Synthesis, Anticancer, and Neuritogenic Activity.

An original method has been developed for the synthesis of 1,3-dyine derivatives of natural lembehyne B in high yields (50-67%) and with high selectivity (>98%). The key stage of the synthesis is new Ti-catalyzed cross-cyclomagnesiation of oxygenated and aliphatic 1,2-dienes induced by Grignard reagents. For studying the effect of the structure on the antitumor and neuritogenic activities, a series of lembehyne B analogues with different distances between the terminal hydroxy group and the 1,3-diyne moiety was prepared and tested for neuritogenic activity on mouse neuroblastoma Neuro 2A cells and for cytotoxicity, induction of apoptosis, and effects on the cell cycle using Jurkat, U937, K562, HeLa, and Hek293 tumor cell lines.

Spatial patterns of male alcohol-related mortality in Belarus, Lithuania, Poland and Russia.

Introduction And Aims: Eastern Europe is known to suffer from a large burden of alcohol-related mortality. However, persisting unfavourable conditions at the national level mask variation at the sub-national level. We aim to explore spatial patterns of cause-specific mortality across four post-communist countries: Belarus, Lithuania, Poland and Russia (European part).

The changing relation between alcohol and life expectancy in Russia in 1965-2017.

Introduction And Aims: In the 1990s, a strong inverse relationship between life expectancy (LE) in Russia and mortality from alcohol poisoning was observed. This association is remarkable as this cause accounts for less than 2% of deaths each year. It can be explained by treating the alcohol poisoning mortality as the best available measure in Russia of the population prevalence of harmful drinking in any year which in turn associated with mortality from a wide range of causes.

Patterns in the relationship between life expectancy and gross domestic product in Russia in 2005-15: a cross-sectional analysis.

Background: Since 2005, Russia has made substantial progress, experiencing an almost doubling of per-capita gross domestic product by purchasing power parity (GDP [PPP]) to US$24 800 and witnessing a 6-year increase in life expectancy, reaching 71·4 years by 2015. Even greater gains in GDP (PPP) were seen for Moscow, the Russian capital, reaching $43 000 in 2015 and with a life expectancy of 75·5 years. We aimed to investigate whether mortality levels now seen in Russia are consistent with what would be expected given this new level of per-capita wealth.

Recent Mortality Trend Reversal in Russia: Are Regions Following the Same Tempo?

After several decades of negative trends and short-term fluctuations, life expectancy has been increasing in Russia since 2004. Between 2003 and 2014, the length of life rose by 6.6 years among males and by 4.

Decomposing Current Mortality Differences Into Initial Differences and Differences in Trends: The Contour Decomposition Method.

This study proposes a new decomposition method that permits a difference in an aggregate measure at a final time point to be split into additive components corresponding to the initial differences in the event rates of the measure and differences in trends in these underlying event rates. For instance, when studying divergence in life expectancy, this method allows researchers to more easily contrast age-specific mortality trends between populations by controlling for initial age-specific mortality differences. Two approaches are assessed: (1) an additive change method that uses logic similar to cause-of-death decomposition, and (2) a contour decomposition method that extends the stepwise replacement algorithm along an age-period demographic contour.

Do people who experience incarceration age more quickly? Exploratory analyses using retrospective cohort data on mortality from Ontario, Canada.

Objectives: We aimed to explore whether mortality data are consistent with the view that aging is accelerated for people with a history of incarceration compared to the general population, using data on mortality rates and life expectancy for persons in Ontario, Canada.

Methods: We obtained data from the Ontario Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services on all adults admitted to provincial correctional facilities in Ontario in 2000, and linked these data with death records from provincial vital statistics between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2012. We used life table methods to calculate mortality rates and life expectancies for this cohort by sex and 5-year age group.

The first total synthesis of the marine acetylenic alcohol, lembehyne B - a selective inducer of early apoptosis in leukemia cancer cells.

The communication reports a new stereoselective method for the synthesis of a natural acetylenic alcohol, lembehyne B. The key stage of the process uses new cross-cyclomagnesiation reaction of aliphatic and oxygenated 1,2-dienes with Grignard reagents in the presence of a catalytic amount of CpTiCl. A study of the cytotoxic properties of lembehyne B on tumor cell lines using flow cytometry demonstrated that this is a selective inducer of early apoptosis of the Jurkat, HL-60 and K562 cell cultures and hypodiploid (sub-G1) sub-population inducer in cell cycle studies for all cell lines used.

The Huge Reduction in Adult Male Mortality in Belarus and Russia: Is It Attributable to Anti-Alcohol Measures?

Background And Aim: Harmful alcohol consumption has long been recognized as being the major determinant of male premature mortality in the European countries of the former USSR. Our focus here is on Belarus and Russia, two Slavic countries which continue to suffer enormously from the burden of the harmful consumption of alcohol. However, after a long period of deterioration, mortality trends in these countries have been improving over the past decade.

The effects of the 2006 Russian alcohol policy on alcohol-related mortality: an interrupted time series analysis.

Background: The aim of this study was to determine the impact of a set of 2006 Russian alcohol policies on alcohol-related mortality in the country.

Methods: We used autoregressive integrated moving average interrupted time series techniques to model the impact of the policy on the number of sex-specific monthly deaths of those aged 15+ years due to alcohol poisoning, alcoholic cardiomyopathy, alcoholic liver cirrhosis, and alcohol-related mental and behavioral disorders. The time series began in January 2000 and ended in December 2010.

The impact of a national alcohol policy on deaths due to transport accidents in Russia.

Aims: To determine the impact of a suite of 2006 Russian alcohol control policies on deaths due to traffic accidents in the country.

Design, Setting And Participants: We used autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) interrupted time-series techniques to model the impact of the intervention on the outcome series. The time-series began in January 2000 and ended in December 2010.