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Most municipal solid waste (MSW) in Russia is disposed of in landfills, and only a relatively small fraction is recycled. The landfilling of waste leads to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and air and groundwater pollution. However, recently, there have been some initiatives to improve waste management in the country. We assessed the economic and environmental benefits of waste recycling in the Murmansk region, in which a new waste recycling plant has been operating since 2019. We found that MSW recycling in the Murmansk region has induced a small, positive, job creation effect and could potentially lead to a non-negligible reduction in GHG emissions. Extrapolating the results from this case study to the country level, we found that recycling landfilled MSW in Russia could save approximately 154 million tons of GHG emissions in carbon dioxide equivalents annually, which is comparable to the total CO2 emissions from Algeria. The positive environmental and health-related impacts from the extensive implementation of MSW recycling in the country could be substantial. From this case study, we also learned that one of the biggest challenges for the waste recycling company in the Murmansk region is finding profitable markets for recycled materials. Moreover, due to the high investment and operational costs, recycling MSW led to a substantial increase in communal fees. However, there is potential to make waste recycling more cost effective. Most MSW in the Murmansk region is still separated at the recycling plant, while separating waste at the source could substantially reduce operational costs. Other challenges in the large-scale implementation of MSW recycling in Russia, such as a lack of investments and the population’s willingness to recycle waste, are also discussed.

Prenatal ethanol exposure produces severe changes in brain, liver, and kidney through mechanisms involving growth factors. These molecules regulate survival, differentiation, maintenance, and connectivity of brain, liver, and kidney cells. Despite the abundant available data on the short and mid-lasting effects of ethanol intoxication, only few data show the long-lasting damage induced by early ethanol administration. The aim of this study was to investigate changes in nerve growth factor (NGF), brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in brain areas, liver, and kidney of 18-mo-old male mice exposed perinatally to ethanol at 11% vol or to red wine at the same ethanol concentration. The authors found that ethanol per se elevated NGF, BDNF, HGF, and VEGF measured by ELISA in brain limbic system areas. In the liver, early exposure to ethanol solution and red wine depleted BDNF and VEGF concentrations. In the kidney, red wine exposure only decreased VEGF. In conclusion, the present study shows that, in aged mice, early administration of ethanol solution induced long-lasting damage at growth factor levels in frontal cortex, hippocampus, and liver but not in kidney. Otherwise, in mice exposed to red wine, significant changes were observed in the liver and kidney but not in the hippocampus and frontal cortex. The brain differences in ethanol-induced toxicity when ethanol is administered alone or in red wine may be related to compounds with antioxidant properties present in the red wine.

The purpose of this study was to assess the immediate and midterm effects of embolization of the angiogenic component of renal angiomyolipoma in which a mixture of ethanol and polyvinyl alcohol is used as a permanent obliterator.Seventeen patients with 18 renal angiomyolipomas (size range, 5.5-20 cm; mean size, 10 cm) were treated with transcatheter embolization over an 8-year period. Embolization was performed with a mixture of 96% ethanol and polyvinyl alcohol particles. Follow-up with CT (mean follow-up period, 22.4 months) and one (mean, 14 months) or two (mean, 27 months) angiographic examinations were conducted to evaluate changes in the size of the tumor and to look for recurrence of the angiogenic component.All initial angiograms showed the characteristic tortuous, hypervascular, and aneurysm-forming angiogenic component. Immediate complete obliteration was achieved in 17 tumors (94.4% technical success rate). There was one partial technical failure. Mean tumor size was reduced to 7.6 cm (mean size reduction, 24%). Fourteen patients with 15 tumors underwent one angiographic follow-up examination (mean time after treatment, 14 months), and four patients underwent two angiographic follow-up examinations (mean time after treatment, 27 months). Reduction of the angiogenic component occurred in 10 (66.6%) of the tumors and complete obliteration in five (33.3%) of the tumors. No retroperitoneal hemorrhage or tumor growth was seen during the follow-up period. No complications were encountered.We found a mixture of ethanol and polyvinyl alcohol an efficient embolizing agent with a sustained midterm effect in the management of renal angiomyolipoma. Repeated embolization was needed in tumors with a large angiogenic component. Tumor shrinkage after embolization was minimal.

The ability of 14 men to discriminate between successively paired velocity presentations was impaired by alcohol particularly with higher stimulus speeds and for the presentation order fast-slow. Alcohol also increased the number of false alarms.

Diet-induced weight loss is often limited in its magnitude and often of short duration, followed by weight regain. On the contrary, bariatric surgery now commonly used in the treatment of severe obesity favors large and sustained weight loss, with resolution or improvement of most obesity-associated comorbidities. The mechanisms of sustained weight loss are not well understood. Whether changes in the various components of energy expenditure favor weight maintenance after bariatric surgery is unclear. While the impact of diet-induced weight loss on energy expenditure has been widely studied and reviewed, the impact of bariatric surgery on total energy expenditure, resting energy expenditure, and diet-induced thermogenesis remains unclear. Here, we review data on energy expenditure after bariatric surgery from animal and human studies. Bariatric surgery results in decreased total energy expenditure, mainly due to reduced resting energy expenditure and explained by a decreased in both fat-free mass and fat mass. Limited data suggest increased diet-induced thermogenesis after gastric bypass, a surgery that results in gut anatomical changes and modified the digestion processes. Physical activity and sustained intakes of dietary protein may be the best strategies available to increase non-resting and then total energy expenditure, as well as to prevent the decline in lean mass and resting energy expenditure.

Spontaneous cell-mediated cytotoxicity has been shown to be augmented after therapeutic infarction of human renal carcinomas. The effector cell responsible for the enhanced cytotoxicity was characterized by fractionation by adherence to nylon-wool and serum-coated plastic surfaces, density, and reactivity with certain monoclonal antibodies. The effector cell was nonadherent, sedimented in the lighter fractions of a 40-53% discontinuous Percoll gradient, and was not affected by preincubation with OKT 3 antibody selectively blocking cytotoxic T lymphocytes. About 70% of effector cells expressed the HNK-1 and 50% the OKM-1 antigenic markers. Cytotoxicity was high against the NK-sensitive target K-562 and low against the relatively NK-resistant target cell Daudi. These data define the effector cell mediating the increased cell-mediated cytotoxicity induced by infarction of renal carcinomas as a natural killer cell.

Abstract Metabolic syndrome (MetS) refers to the pathological state of metabolic disorders in the body's proteins, fats, carbohydrates and other substances. MetS is a systemic metabolic disease. Periodontal disease is also a part of systemic inflammatory diseases. Among Chinese patients with middle-aged and elderly MetS, the periodontal morbidity is very high, which is due to the involvement of inflammatory mediators in the pathogenesis of MetS and periodontal disease. The latter may also be a risk factor for the former's morbidity and promotion of disease progression. At present, there are not many investigations and studies on periodontal examination data and periodontal disease prevalence of patients with MetS. Coal mine workers, especially coal mine underground workers, have different work natures and different working environments. See related report. We will collect the clinical diagnosis and treatment information of the enrolled patients. We will focus on checking the incidence of periodontal disease and recording. Establish a database, check every 10 medical records, and make corrections in time to ensure data accuracy. We will popularize oral hygiene knowledge for the included patients and guide them to brush their teeth correctly and how to use dental floss. We will perform periodontal examination on the patients’ teeth by site and record the plaque index, gingival sulcus bleeding index, periodontal pocket exploration depth and other indicators. We will repeat the above inspection items and record in the second and fourth weeks of the experiment. This study will explore the correlation between periodontal disease and MetS of coal mine workers. We aim to clarify the role and mechanism of MetS in the occurrence and development of periodontal diseases, guide the prevention of periodontal diseases, and thus reduce the prevalence of periodontal diseases. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, ChiCTR2000034177, Registered on 27 June 2020

Freshwater snails are intermediate hosts for a number of trematodes of which some are of medical and veterinary importance. The trematodes rely on specific species of snails to complete their life cycle; hence the ecology of the snails is a key element in transmission of the parasites. More than 200 million people are infected with schistosomes of which 95% live in sub-Saharan Africa and many more are living in areas where transmission is on-going. Human infection with the Fasciola parasite, usually considered more of veterinary concern, has recently been recognised as a human health problem. Many countries have implemented health programmes to reduce morbidity and prevalence of schistosomiasis, and control programmes to mitigate food-borne fascioliasis. As these programmes are resource demanding, baseline information on disease prevalence and distribution becomes of great importance. Such information can be made available and put into practice through maps depicting spatial distribution of the intermediate snail hosts.A biology driven model for the freshwater snails Bulinus globosus, Biomphalaria pfeifferi and Lymnaea natalensis was used to make predictions of snail habitat suitability by including potential underlying environmental and climatic drivers. The snail observation data originated from a nationwide survey in Zimbabwe and the prediction model was parameterised with a high resolution Regional Climate Model. Georeferenced prevalence data on urinary and intestinal schistosomiasis and fascioliasis was used to calibrate the snail habitat suitability predictions to produce binary maps of snail presence and absence.Predicted snail habitat suitability across Zimbabwe, as well as the spatial distribution of snails, is reported for three time slices representative for present (1980-1999) and future climate (2046-2065 and 2080-2099).It is shown from the current study that snail habitat suitability is highly variable in Zimbabwe, with distinct high- and low- suitability areas and that temperature may be the main driving factor. It is concluded that future climate change in Zimbabwe may cause a reduced spatial distribution of suitable habitat of host snails with a probable exception of Bi. pfeifferi, the intermediate host for intestinal schistosomiasis that may increase around 2055 before declining towards 2100.