Sexual Exploitation as a Minor, Violence, and HIV/STI Risk among Women Trading Sex in St. Petersburg and Orenburg, Russia.

Child sexual exploitation (CSE) is a major risk factor for acquiring human immunodeficiency virus/sexually transmitted infections (HIV/STI), violence and other health concerns, yet few studies have examined these associations in Russia until now. This study examines the prevalence of CSE (those entering the sex trade as a minor) among women in the sex trade in Russia and how exposures and behaviors related to violence and HIV/STI structural risks differ from those who entered the sex trade as an adult. Women in the sex trade ( = 896) in St.

Potential impact of implementing and scaling up harm reduction and antiretroviral therapy on HIV prevalence and mortality and overdose deaths among people who inject drugs in two Russian cities: a modelling study.

Background: Most new HIV infections among people who inject drugs (PWID) in eastern Europe and central Asia occur in Russia, where PWID have a high risk of overdose. In Russia, use of opioid agonist therapy (OAT) is prohibited, and coverage of needle and syringe programmes (NSPs) and antiretroviral therapy (ART) is poor. We aimed to assess the effects that scaling up harm reduction (ie, use of OAT and coverage of NSPs) and use of ART might have on HIV incidence and the frequency of fatal overdoses among PWID in two cities in the Ural Federal District and Siberian Federal District, where the prevalence of HIV is high or increasing in PWID.

Police sexual coercion and its association with risky sex work and substance use behaviors among female sex workers in St. Petersburg and Orenburg, Russia.

Background: Extensive research documents that female sex workers (FSWs) in Russia are very vulnerable to abuses from police, including police sexual coercion. However, despite qualitative data suggesting abusive policing practices are more likely for FSWs contending with substance abuse issues and risky sex work contexts, there is a paucity of quantitative study evaluating these associations specifically in terms of police sexual coercion. Such research is needed to guide structural interventions to improve health and safety for FSWs in Russia and globally.

Individual-level, network-level and city-level factors associated with HIV prevalence among people who inject drugs in eight Russian cities: a cross-sectional study.

Objectives: To ascertain HIV prevalence among people who inject drug (injection drug users (IDUs)) in the Russian Federation and identify explanations for the disparity in different cities.

Design: Cross-sectional survey with serological testing for HIV and hepatitis C virus prevalent infections.

Setting: 8 Russian cities-Irkutsk, Omsk, Chelyabinsk, Yekaterinburg, Naberezhnye Chelny, Voronezh, Orel and St Petersburg.

Sexual Partners of Street-Based Female Sex Workers in St. Petersburg, Russia: A Model of Partnership Characteristics as a Basis for Further Research.

Street-based sex work in Russia, as in many countries, carries with it a high risk for violence and the transmission of infectious diseases. The male partners of female sex workers are both cause and recipient of such risks. Because little is known about the men, we undertook a preliminary study to determine the feasibility of recruiting and interviewing them, develop typologies that describe partners, and derive hypotheses for further study and risk reduction intervention projects.

Clients of street-based female sex workers and potential bridging of HIV/STI in Russia: results of a pilot study.

In Russia, sexual transmission of HIV is increasing and street-based female sex workers (FSW) have a high HIV prevalence, but the role of male clients of FSW in HIV transmission and bridging to the general population has not been studied. Sixty-two male clients completed structured interviews during February-March of 2010 in St. Petersburg Russia.

Drug network characteristics and HIV risk among injection drug users in Russia: the roles of trust, size, and stability.

We investigated the influence of drug network characteristics including trust, size, and stability on HIV risk behaviors and HIV testing among injection drug users (IDUs) in St. Petersburg, Russia. Overall, male and female IDUs who reported having high levels of trust in their drug networks were significantly more likely to share syringes than those with lower levels of trust (OR [95% CI]) 2.

[Chemical modification of heparin].

Heparin was modified at carboxyl groups by reaction with several pharmacologically important amino-containing compounds in aqueous medium in the presence of 1-ethyl-3-[3-(dimethylamino)propyl]carbodiimide. In dependence on the nature of the amine and the ratio of reagents, conjugates containing 36-100% amide and 0-25% isoureidocarbonyl groups were synthesized. Isoureidoarylamide groups are present, along with amide moieties, in the products of heparin modification by hydroxyl-containing aromatic amines.

[Study of myocardial morphology in chronic obstructive bronchitis complicated by pulmonary hypertension based on the results of endomyocardial biopsy].

Endomyocardial biopsy along with right heart catheterization was first performed in 12 patients with chronic obstructive bronchitis complicated by transient or sustained pulmonary hypertension. Light and electron microscopic findings showed signs of severe myocardial dystrophy in 7 patients and prevalent hypertrophy in the remaining patients. Endomyocardial biopsy provided valuable information on the state of the myocardium, yielding evidence for the heretogeneous nature of right ventricular myocardial changes.

[Characteristics of morphological changes in ovary wounds after the use of steel and plastic scalpels].

A comparative study of steel and plasma scalpel use in ovary operations is carried out in an experiment. 25 fertile female rabbits were operated on, in each one ovary was dissected by a steel scalpel, the other--by a plasma one. Sampling was performed on the 3-d, 7, 14, 21, 28-30-th day.

[Cardiogenic shock in dilated cardiomyopathy].

The present communication is based on an examination of 33 cases with dilated cardiomyopathy and 48 with severe myocarditis. Nine patients with dilated cardiomyopathy were diagnosed as having developed cardiogenic shock. Clinical examination, echocardiography, right heart and pulmonary artery probing were performed.

[Clinico-morphological characteristics of dilated cardiomyopathy].

The paper presents the results of a clinicomorphological study of 50 patients with dilated cardiomyopathy. ECG, echocardiography, x-ray revealed atrial fibrillation, parasystole, extrasystole, impairment of intraventricular conduction, symptoms of a focal cicatricial myocardial lesion, high end-systolic and end-diastolic volumes, reduced ejection fraction, marked axial dilatation of the heart. Morphologic evaluation showed diffuse and diffuse microfocal cardiosclerosis, combination of sites of hypertrophic myocardiocytes with dystrophic foci, atrophy, sclerosis.

[Clinico-morphological characteristics of pericardial mesothelioma].

The authors describe clinical and morphological features of a rare tumor, pericardial mesothelioma. Their findings lead them to a conclusion that the epithelioid cell form (tubular and papillary variants) is the most incident histologic form of this tumor. They emphasize that life-time diagnosis of pericardial mesothelioma is of paramount importance because rational chemotherapy permits prolongation of the patient's survival.

[Myocardium in chronic obstructive lung diseases].

The analysis of endomyocardial biopsies (10 specimens) and clinical observations suggests the conclusion: myocardial lesions in OPD patients with pulmonary hypertension are due to metabolic and hemodynamic disturbances. In addition to myocardial hypertrophy, myocardial dystrophy contributes to development of cor pulmonale.

[Hyperthermia as a method for treating prostatic adenoma].

Local microwave hyperthermia was used in 15 patients aged 60 to 76 years with prostatic adenoma on an inpatient (n = 8) and outpatient (n = 7) basis. Severe clinical symptoms of prostatic adenoma was considered indication and urinary and prostatic stones were contraindications. Every patient received 6 hyperthermia treatments (41 to 42 degrees C) with a 915 or 460 MHz device.

[Surgical treatment of myasthenia gravis in children].

Thymectomy was included in the complex of therapeutic measures in the management of generalized myasthenia in 41 children. Much attention was given to preoperative management in which plasmapheresis was applied along with the traditional methods. As a result, maximum compensation of the myasthenic disorders was achieved and spontaneous respiration was restored in 9 patients who were given artificial ventilation of the lungs before the operation.

[Endomyocardial biopsy in complicated congenital heart defects].

Endomyocardial biopsy followed by myocardium examination helps detect the changes characteristic of bacterial endocarditis at different stages. This allows rational treatment conducive to a favorable course of the postoperative period.